Wow is right ! Whoever put that together gets an A+
Greatest Star Wars Movie
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9hwGZFPSmw
I found TLJ to be an overlong mash up of Empire and RotJ with a tremendous amount of convenient screenwriting and incomprehensible decisions. There about 3 or 4 scenes which I actually enjoyed, at least for a time, but on the whole I found the film pretty uninteresting.
However, after watching the above video, I have come to agree that the entire movie was almost one big troll effort by the director. He literally burned everything down that was built up in The Force Awakens and left us right back at square one by the end of Last Jedi. That is a satisfying bait and switch against all the SW pop-culture super freaks out there, who try to decipher every detail until the next film comes out. However, like Jay says, the idea works better on paper than in actual implementation. It leaves the movies feeling emptier than they otherwise already would due to poor writing. I don’t really want to watch a rebellion build itself up from nothing for a THIRD time. I didn’t even want to watch a rebellion build itself up a second time, but that’s what we were given anyway.
People wanted a return to the Star Wars of old and I guess they got it. At least for now, Disney is only willing to riff (with slavish devotion) on the themes and aesthetic established in Ep IV-V-VI. People rail on the prequels for being terrible and in many senses they are. But I have always seen that as more of an execution problem than a thematic one. There are some pretty mature and even classical concepts in Ep I-II-III which live up to the SW space-opera characterization. I appreciate that ability to tell a different story. I think I put a higher premium on originality than full on execution. You can’t make great films without both, but if I have to choose I would rather see a new and interesting film with some flaws than a shiny, flawless film that I have seen 5 times before. Unfortunately the prequels just tripped over themselves, mostly due their creator’s meddling. But did anyone think we would ever pine for the days of George Lucas? Yet here we are.
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Right on LF!
Man, you got to wonder if the writers of the 2 new Star Wars movies were either total hacks or actually had ideas that were simply overridden by executives who said: “No new ideas. Too risky. Just rehash original films with more politically correct characters…. etc.”
As you say, the thematic arc of: Republic, corruption, downfall to empire, tyranny, then rebellion restoring freedom; was done already Doing it again is just boring, not to mention incomprehensible. No one has yet to explain to me how the “New Order” managed to get up off its feet after the downfall of the Empire. Was the New Republic just totally incompetent? What was the point of the “Resistance” if there was already a Republic? Etc… Etc…
Just think what they could have done if they invested some “original” thought into the new movies?
How about: After the fall of the Empire, we pick up with an older Luke trying to rebuild the Jedi Order and follow all the travails of that, maybe reveal that its much hard than it looks, and a bunch of “students” run off to terrorize and get rich or something off their new powers and Luke and some of his “good” acolytes have to stop it. Maybe reveal that after the fall of the Empire, there is a general hatred of the “force” and “Jedis” for getting the universe in so much trouble in the first place, etc… so that Luke and his students are always under suspicion if not under threat…etc.
Don’t make the follow up movies big space operas but more singular character studies of Jedis, good and bad, and their powers…etc.
Oh wait, I guess that won’t sell toys…
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And this would have been accomplished if they would have simply followed up the novels.
Starting with Admiral Thrawn rebuilding the Empire, Boba Fett freeing himself out of the Sarlaac getting married and still trys to recollect bis Bounty on Solo, Luke creating a new Jedi Order and has to battle with Dark siders and so on…. -
I’ve never read the follow-on books. How did the Imperial remnant deal with the betrayal of Vader? Did they even know about it? Did luke blab all over the place? Or did some “sense” that Vader turned? How did this affect the morale of the remnants?
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@aequitas:
And this would have been accomplished if they would have simply followed up the novels.
It sems silly that they didn’t appeciate any of the books well enough to adapt when many of them were best-sellers with a significant fanbase.
How did the Imperial remnant deal with the betrayal of Vader?
I don’t think that becomes public knowledge. Luke does share that info with one ex-Imperial with a vendetta, but otherwise, I think he only tells family.
(Please correct me if I’m wrong AeV … been many years since I read the books, and I stopped just before the Yuuzhan Vong books started).
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All the EU written before the sale to Disney is now considered “Legends” and has been replaced by officially sanctioned material. This timeline sums up all the novels written to date:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/a-timeline-of-everything-we-know-happened-after-return-1820781008
The gist is after signing an armistice with the Empire (not surrender accords), the New Republic for some reason demilitarizes while the Imperial remnants are re-branded as the First Order mysteriously finds the resources (with a severely reduced tax base, to be sure) to build Starkiller Base as well as to buy tons of new Star Destroyers and TIEs from those dastardly defense contractors who love to gamble (perhaps the New Republic should’ve played ball with them, too). Leia forms the Resistance as a paramilitary organization to counter this threat, but it’s apparent the most she could scrounge were a few Mon Calamari cruisers and some support ships.
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The Last Jedi was clearly superior to Empire Strikes Back… proof is all here (possible sarcasm)
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Haven’t seen the new movie yet, but the Clone Wars television cartoon featured some of the best Star Wars storytelling of recent years, especially the season 5 Darth Maul arc. Star Wars Rebels is watchable but not quite as good, though moving towards climax now with Thrawn as the main antagonist. Chopper is probably my all-time favorite Star Wars character.
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Haven’t seen the new movie yet, but the Clone Wars television cartoon featured some of the best Star Wars storytelling of recent years, especially the season 5 Darth Maul arc. Star Wars Rebels is watchable but not quite as good, though moving towards climax now with Thrawn as the main antagonist. Chopper is probably my all-time favorite Star Wars character.
I think Rebels is every bit as good as Clone Wars. I haven’t caught any of the new season yet but I’m eager for it to hit blu-ray. The Rebels creators get Star Wars a lot more than our recent film creators do.
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