Star Wars, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (picture, short, 90s)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just saw it yesterday.
Well, I can just confirm that Disney effectively killed the saga.
To be frank, it was obvious from #7. Out of all fics and other works they decided to go with the most ridiculous one, written by people with zero talent.
Yes. The impression I had coming out of #7 was "Didn't I see that film back in 1977?"
I haven't seen the latest one yet, and who knows if I'll even bother to go. There are quite a few films out now that I am actually excited to see; the latest Star Wars film is not one of them. And that's sad.
George gave them different with the Prequels and they get crapped on (half because of sloppy writing and direction and the clean look versus the used future of the earlier films)....
The prequels got crapped on because they were badly written, poorly-directed, contradicted significant background elements from the first trilogy, and (most of all) because George Lucas clearly didn't understand that the story of Anakin Skywalker was a tragedy, and so he tried to make it a "family friendly movie the kiddies will love!!!" with the addition of characters like Jar-Jar Binks and copious use of CGI spectacle. That doesn't work, for the same reason you can't direct a family-friendly, upbeat remake of The Godfather trilogy or Taxi Driver. A story about how a promising young man comes to embrace evil is never going to be a "fun for all ages" movie.
You can bet your bottom dollar that Disney disavowed the reams of Star Wars fictions so they could cherry pick the choice fruits of other writers' labors.
Anyway, regardless of how one feels about The Rise of Skywalker —
Spoiler
I was impressed by the film having no fewer than eight legacy characters onscreen.
And there are even more, but you hear only their voices.
I saw this today. WOW! I personally think that the problems this movie had, were mainly because of the problems of 8. In other words, in 8, the story got written into a corner, and they had to spend time in 9 writing themselves out of those corners. I also feel that certain critical plot points in 9 would have been introduced in 8 had JJ written 8 as well so there isn't this sudden, almost jarring surprise. I also feel like this "trilogy" as-written is actually a duology with one random filler movie. If you just watched 15 minutes of key scenes from 8, you could do 7 to 9 without missing anything.
In the places where 9 can stand on its own, it did, and did so superbly. Was this a rehash of any previous movie? No. There are similarities, but let's face it, any series centered on good vs. evil with the idea of a singular greater good (The Force), and characters boxed into one or the other with the ability to change, is going to have repetition. Was there fanservice? Yes. So what? We're fans, we're there to see what we like. Overall, well done! After 8, I was focused on the spectacle of the scenes, but with 9, I'm focused on the story and characters, and actually feel something. I admit, I cried at a few scenes, those are the movies I love.
Were there issues? Sure. Some key ones (in spoiler tags since they're specific):
Spoiler
Force teleportation.
Grabbing the necklace and transporting lightsabers. The former could have been done just by Kylo seeing the necklace, the second could have had Kylo force-pulling it up to him. This is a technique that came out of nowhere and makes little sense even within Star Wars.
C-3POs memory restoration.
It takes all the punch out of the buildup and the "having one last look at all my friends" line. Would have worked a LOT better to have kept him wiped.
Star Destroyers.
Way too overpowered. Would have been better to have shown a large ship bristling with guns sterilizing a planet rather than simply destroying it.
Cosign me on that. I felt like I could flense the choice bits of TLJ away to make an lnterlude between TFA and TRoS and miss absolutely nothing.
And yes on:
Spoiler
The Star Destroyers all having Death Star capability. Yes, the eyes rolled when I saw an entire planet blown apart like confetti once again, with the ship not having to mind the monolithic debris field that would result.
And if we got the Expanded Universe as it was originally entailed, we would see complaints. Not that they went safe, which I can agree to, but that it wasn't what they red. A lot of people who read novels that become movies complain about that stuff too. It isn't just with the Star Wars fans. The problem with Star Wars fans is they can't be satisfied. George gave them different with the Prequels and they get crapped on (half because of sloppy writing and direction and the clean look versus the used future of the earlier films) and then Disney makes one movie that is safe and one that isn't and both are complained about.
As for the "film for a new generation" I can somewhat agree. To some people Jurassic Park isn't a great movie, Jurassic World is. Don't get me wrong, I love my Jurassic World, but Jurassic Park is my second favorite movie of all time, right behind Empire Strikes Back
Jurassic Park hasn't aged that well for me. I want a reboot of One Million Years B.C. so I can see babes running around in their furs in the middle of winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
Holdo was annoying (coincidentally she was in Jurassic Park and was awesome in her role there...)
She's also the daughter of Bruce Dern.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
Ackbar was already killed in the event that should have killed Leia so he was out.
Just more proof Johnson's outline sucked.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
I thought that in initial viewing and the rewatch when showing my father The Last Jedi to catch him up. The impact was missing due to her being annoying. In fact, I didn't like Last Jedi as much upon rewatch for some strange reason. Perhaps it is good but not in a rewatchable way. I think in some ways it is The Phantom Menace of the Disney releases. I expect that it is the one to go the way of the Skywalker Saga in the machete order.
TLJ is lame, but it does have better acting and some great VFX, not to mention Mark Hamill. The prequels don't interest me in the slightest nowadays.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
Phasma was under-utilized but that happens in huge universe movies, like Star Wars. Boba Fett anyone? All he did was collect Jabba's bounty on Han and stood around most of his appearances. I mean people wanted more Qui-Gon than what they got in The Phantom Menace. I'm sure people myself included wanted more Count Douku than we got in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith too. Also we all know how under-utilized Darth Maul was... I'm numb to it, due to how many characters are nothing burgers.
They went out of their way to generate a greater mystique around Phasma, inciting greater expectations for her in the second film. OTOH, Darth Maul was expected to step up the lightsaber skills, and that's exactly what he did.
More Qui-Gonn? Never heard that one before.
As for Boba Fett, he's an example of shadow character that somehow managed to become popular thanks t his name, his look and no dialogue.
Many elements of the redacted Expanded Universe, now called Legends, informed the more mythological elements of this film. One of which is the miraculous return of Emperor Palpatine; in the Dark Empire run of comic books in the 90's, Luke Skywalker senses the deceased Emperor when he hears his voice echoing across the galaxy. He follows it to the Emperor's lair where he reveals that he survived by passing his essence into a clone body. And that the dark side affords that kind of power. Later he attempts to turn the Jedi twins (Luke and Leia) against each other. Events play out similarly in this film; Kylo Ren heeds the Emperor's voice from across the stars and tracks him to the unknown regions. Palpatine's body is barely functioning and he's surrounded by cloning pods. Later in the film he intends on Rey killing him and allowing his essence to pass to her.
Many elements of the redacted Expanded Universe, now called Legends, informed the more mythological elements of this film. One of which is the miraculous return of Emperor Palpatine; in the Dark Empire run of comic books in the 90's, Luke Skywalker senses the deceased Emperor when he hears his voice echoing across the galaxy. He follows it to the Emperor's lair where he reveals that he survived by passing his essence into a clone body. And that the dark side affords that kind of power. Later he attempts to turn the Jedi twins (Luke and Leia) against each other. Events play out similarly in this film; Kylo Ren heeds the Emperor's voice from across the stars and tracks him to the unknown regions. Palpatine's body is barely functioning and he's surrounded by cloning pods. Later in the film he intends on Rey killing him and allowing his essence to pass to her.
Jesus! RIP Star Wars. I feel that Episode 8 railroad whatever ideas JJ Abram had with Episode 7 (if any). This trilogy was poorly executed and it was pretty much a $$$ ploy. George Lucas should have sold the company once he completed the saga.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
