Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi Discussion Thread (SPOILERS WITHIN)

[appetite4illusions]

47 minutes ago, tsinindy said:

It doesn't take balls to kill Luke Skywalker.  In fact I'd say the opposite...bc it was going to happen in this movie or the next.

It's fine for a director to kill him at the end of the last film...after his job is done. To do it in the middle film is a bold, bold move and it does take balls, because whoever that director is, is going to be criticized and vilified by fans who wanted Luke to remain the ultimate action figure. What director wouldn't want one more film of Luke swinging his lightsaber? The choice to kill him early wouldn't be any other directors first, second or third instinct. 

It's very similar to how Rian Johnson ended his last film, Looper. He made Joe Gordon Leavitt a martyr character by sacrificing his life to give the story purpose. It was a declarative ending that elevates the entire meaning.

[tsinindy]

24 minutes ago, appetite4illusions said:

It's fine for a director to kill him at the end of the last film...after his job is done. To do it in the middle film is a bold, bold move and it does take balls, because whoever that director is, is going to be criticized and vilified by fans who wanted Luke to remain the ultimate action figure. What director wouldn't want one more film of Luke swinging his lightsaber? The choice to kill him early wouldn't be any other directors first, second or third instinct. 

It's very similar to how Rian Johnson ended his last film, Looper. He made Joe Gordon Leavitt a martyr character by sacrificing his life to give the story purpose. It was a declarative ending that elevates the entire meaning.

Yah, don't care.  As I said killling Luke was going to happen.  This film next film...it's not bold it just is.  But you can slob his knob all you want if you feel it was so bold

Edited December 15, 2017 by tsinindy

[RussTCB]

Went to sleep for a bit and I've had a little more time to think on it. Now I'm at the point where I think I actually didn't like it overall.

Believe it or not, the force flying thing didn't bother me all that much. Some things I didn't like off the top of my head:

The first 40 minutes or so seemed like a mess. Reminded me of Suicide Squad with the quick cuts. It was like "this is going on. wait. this is going on. wait. this is going on!"
I don't mind the amount of humor that was in it but a LOT of it seemed out of place. The interaction between Hux & Poe at the beginning being a prime example.
What was with the ending? Hey everyone! Some random kid has The Force too, see, he used it on a mop and has a cool decoder ring!
Run time. There were MANY scenes that could've been cut down which would've given the movie a much faster pace.

BTW, can we pour some out for Ackbar??
 

[OmarBradley]

 

On 12/13/2017 at 2:59 PM, CheapJon said:

Leia "supermanning" back into the ship was the absolute worst part of the movie, wasn't it? 

It didn't sit well with me either. BUT, my years of SW gaming and book-reading are telling me there were cases of force-sensitive individuals who are not yet trained, being able to tap into the force in emergency/high stress situations. I thought it looked really kooky, and that it was an unnecessary scene - but unlike a lot of other things in this new trilogy, I did not think it inconsistent with SW lore.

On 12/13/2017 at 4:04 PM, Amir said:

That, and a few too many quips which undercut dramatic moments, especially for Luke.

Yup. Avengers-style shit comedy. Doesn't fit with SW. The Disney is showing. It was sort of OK in TFA, but it bothered me more here.

On 12/14/2017 at 4:50 AM, AtariLegend said:

 

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Thought it was pretty good, but there were a few too many fake outs (characters quite clearly dying, but not actually) in places. The twists were cool, but when you do a twist reversing a twist it's silly. I thought it was cool that they didn't actually kill of Luke since he wasn't actually there, but then they go and kill him off anyway.

Loved the Rey/Luke stuff until the final part of the story (Luke vs. First Order). The Leia stuff was cool, however I'm very surprised they didn't just kill her off. I mean they can't use cgi for her in episode IX surely.

However the Finn section of the story was really a shaggy dog tale right? It didn't further the plot and casino subplot was the weakest section of the story.

 

Agreed. If you're going to kill Leia or Finn; do it. Don't make ridiculous savior scenarios. And yeah that's my thinking... of the 3 main heroes from the original trilogy, they've killed off the two living ones, and saved the only dead one (despite her having a perfectly good reason to die: thrown into space).

 

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They made the right decision killing of Smoke as a twist and I loved Ren/Kylo vs. his guards, but I'm not sure Kylo is strong enough to hold part 3 by himself as the central antagonist.

Also liked Yoda showing up. Clearly they're making sure you know Luke's still going to be in episode IX as a force ghost.

Agree and also liked this decision a lot. Snoke kept telling Kylo, "kill Han to complete your training," "kill Rey to complete your training." But a true Sith completes his/her training generally when... they kill their master. 

BUT, wtf? Who was Snoke? How did he meet Kylo? Why was he super powerful? Where was he during the original trilogy? Is he Sith? Wtf? Who's the big bad guy now? Kylo? LOL. Kid can barely tie his shoes.

I thought Yoda looked terrible. He looked better in prequels. And I didn't like him showing up. If he can just show up and freakin' call lightning down from the skies, how about helping the Resistance out a bit?

I liked the movie. But it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. There's too much Disney, and not enough LucasFilms/Arts. 

And, at the end of TLJ, the Resistance is nearly decimated, and they have no base. We have one film left in the trilogy. They're going to rebuild the entire Resistance AND (presumably) win the "war" all in one movie? The plot seems to be moving oddly. Perhaps there is a way it works, but I can't see it at the moment.

And ffs, hated the very last scene. And the whole casino thing too - did not feel Star Warsy. But codebreaker guy was good. Oh and Phasma is unnecessary. 

Random question: what happened to Luke's green lightsaber? He seemed to have it when he was training his students (the scene in Kylo's hut), but he doesn't use it at the very end vs. Kylo. I do recall he fought Vader with it in ROTJ, can't remember if he lost it there when Palpatine was torturing him (been a while since I've watched).

Edited December 15, 2017 by OmarBradley

[Powerage5]

1 hour ago, OmarBradley said:

 

It didn't sit well with me either. BUT, my years of SW gaming and book-reading are telling me there were cases of force-sensitive individuals who are not yet trained, being able to tap into the force in emergency/high stress situations. I thought it looked really kooky, and that it was an unnecessary scene - but unlike a lot of other things in this new trilogy, I did not think it inconsistent with SW lore.

Yup. Avengers-style shit comedy. Doesn't fit with SW. The Disney is showing. It was sort of OK in TFA, but it bothered me more here.

I liked the movie. But it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. There's too much Disney, and not enough LucasFilms/Arts. 

And, at the end of TLJ, the Resistance is nearly decimated, and they have no base. We have one film left in the trilogy. They're going to rebuild the entire Resistance AND (presumably) win the "war" all in one movie? The plot seems to be moving oddly. Perhaps there is a way it works, but I can't see it at the moment.

And ffs, hated the very last scene. And the whole casino thing too - did not feel Star Warsy. But codebreaker guy was good. Oh and Phasma is unnecessary. 

Random question: what happened to Luke's green lightsaber? He seemed to have it when he was training his students (the scene in Kylo's hut), but he doesn't use it at the very end vs. Kylo. I do recall he fought Vader with it in ROTJ, can't remember if he lost it there when Palpatine was torturing him (been a while since I've watched).

He may or may not still had it on Aach-To. We know he had it when he went to confront Ben in the flashback. The point of him using Anakin's lightsaber is it was another clue to the projection twist, along with his younger appearance, and the fact that his footprints didn't show in the salt while Kylo's did. 

 

I really loved this one, saying that after seeing it twice last night actually. I'll give all my thoughts tonight after work. 

[luciusfunk]

Better than TFA, but not saying much. Disney fucked up making these sequels. The whole Resistance storyline was boring. 

[Becket]

Any one notice this is the first Star Wars movie that no one said "I have a bad feeling about this"? I really liked it but was expecting a bit more. Didn't like the fact that Rey's parents were nobodies. And no real explanation of who Snoke is. 

[tsinindy]

Just now, Becket said:

Any one notice this is the first Star Wars movie that no one said "I have a bad feeling about this"? I really liked it but was expecting a bit more. Didn't like the fact that Rey's parents were nobodies. And no real explanation of who Snoke is. 

The explanation is BB8 said it at one point, Rian Johnson is on record as saying it's in there, so that's all anyone can really assume.  Honestly it's a nit picky point but you shouldn't fuck with that kind of tradition by trying be clever and having a bot say.   Pretty douchey really.  

Could have cut half the dumbass lame jokes to make room for that time honored tradition, IMO

[luciusfunk]

The alien should have said it as Luke milked it. 

[ZoSoRose]

I fucking loved it although it took a lot of risks for a SW movie that will take a minute to sit with me. Going to see it again tonight. 

[luciusfunk]

So who the fuck was Snoke?

 

Just about every theory I've heard is better than what we got. WTF was that Rian?

[luciusfunk]

http://comicbook.com/starwars/2017/12/15/star-wars-last-jedi-rotten-tomatoes-audience-score-low/

[Chewbacca]

Good lord. I can't believe they ditched heir to the empire and all the vong wars for this...

[Silent Jay]

Quote

In a recent interview with the magazine, Hamill said he had a small conflict with director Rian Johnson. "I at one point had to say to Rian, 'I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you’ve made for this character.'" And that's just… I mean, damn. I don't know how I'd react to that. I imagine it kind of being like writing fanfic of your favorite hero, and then having that hero say "This is bad and wrong." To your face.

Quote

 

Hamill says he wishes the studio would have given consideration to Lucas’ ideas for the new Star Wars films. He says:

“What I wish is that they had been more accepting of his guidance and advice. Because he had an outline for ‘7,’ ‘8,’ and ‘9’. And it is vastly different to what they have done.”

 

 

[luciusfunk]

I agree with Luke. 

[Zeppelin]

It's fun seeing Hamill's reaction. His reaction is 99% of the fanbase's reaction to the prequels. The only problem is that Lucas should've known better.

[AncientEvil80]

17 hours ago, appetite4illusions said:

Bold and brilliant.

This film felt very much like Skyfall.  A touchstone entry in a long series of films. One done with such a heightened level of artistry that it elevates the material to something breathtaking. 

And the chances it takes...only auteurs like Rian Johnson or Sam Mendes can do films like this. 

This owns and alters Star Wars in a tremendous way. Bravo.

Oh look at a SUCKER right here, right now. 

[AncientEvil80]

On 12/13/2017 at 3:53 PM, Lies They Tell said:

Wasn't a fan of TFA. Rogue One was a bit better. I have high hopes for this one. According to the reviews this one's not playing it too safe, which is exactly what I needed to hear to get excited. Hopefully the reviews are right and not something that Disney paid them to say.

You gonna be disappointed for sure. buddy boy..

[Eric Cantona]

Now I'm afraid to say I loved it  

[appetite4illusions]

12 minutes ago, AncientEvil80 said:

Oh look at a SUCKER right here, right now. 

Bite me. 

[RussTCB]

The more I think back on it, the more I'm moving from "I slightly disliked it" to "I disliked it greatly" 

[Amir]

For all their flaws, I thought the prequels had fantastic scores; ROTS has some of John Williams’ best work. From these last two films, the only track I’ve really become enamoured with is The Jedi Steps from TFA.

[nickzark]

i loved the movie..was very good. and with good ending

[Daedalus]

Just saw it... can't really decide if I like it or not.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I thought it was fucking dreadful. I haven't been this bored from a star wars film since Phantom Menace.