Star Wars Anthology Discussion

[Henry Gale]

I mean, I've seen the movie a bunch now, and I surprisingly don't have strong thoughts about Starkiller Base or that scene, since they both seem like means to an end to get Rey's, Finn's, Kylo's and Poe's (in the most rehashed, familiar way of the four) to resonant places I really like.

I have thought over time that from a storytelling perspective, the base really should've destroyed Jakku. I know it might not have been in the same system for them to see like Han does in the scene, but what better way to motivate and develop Rey's character at that point (when the script would've already generally had her as a mess from her lightsaber vision) than to give her no home to go back to? The only other speaking character we know there is Pegg's villainous pawner (and in not exactly canon deleted scenes we even see he made it off of Jakku to get to Maz's tavern planet).

[Gittes]

I thought Kylo Ren remained a threat throughout the film.

The revelation of his aspirational, self-conscious qualities didn't dilute this sense of him as a formidable opponent. Instead, it injected a kind of erratic, hotheaded mania into that familiar mold, which, in combination with his combative prowess, made him seem more dangerous than Darth Vader. This is partly why that snow-strewn battle near the end was so riveting. These films have continuously upheld this ideal of force-wielding, saber-brandishing mastery as the carrot for certain characters to chase, with the ultimate payoff being the spectacle of watching two learned adversaries exchange blows. TFA offers an alternative by staging a battle between two characters whose competency is considerable, but also less static and straightforward than that of their predecessors. This is because Rey seems to be communing with a kind of latent, mnemonic osmosis — an imperfect, mysterious transmission between novice and warrior — and Kylo is seeing red while nursing physical and psychic wounds.

[Ezee E]

The criticism isn't on the sustained threat throughout the movie, but how quickly, and without any conflict, that it took to figure out how to destroy the Starkiller.

In A New Hope, we knew there was an entire mission that occurred beforehand, got plans to Obi-Wan Kenobi that had direction. They couldn't just blow up the Death Star either as they had to rescue Leia first.

In this scene, it went by, "There's gotta be a way to blow it up." "There is, right there. Boom and it's gone." "Cool. Not so bad." Watching that scene, it's almost spoof-worthy.

I LIKE The Force Awakens. Quite a bit actually. But this was something that I definitely criticized about it.

[Gittes]

The criticism isn't on the sustained threat throughout the movie, but how quickly, and without any conflict, that it took to figure out how to destroy the Starkiller.

I wasn't intending to address that, though. Just talking about Ren in response to earlier remarks that were specifically about how the character passes muster as a threat.

[megladon8]

The ending sabre battle still gives me chills.

Beautifully shot, packed to the brim with emotion and ethos. Great stuff.

[Henry Gale]

The revelation of his aspirational, self-conscious qualities didn't dilute this sense of him as a formidable opponent. Instead, it injected a kind of erratic, hotheaded mania into that familiar mold, which, in combination with his combative prowess, made him seem more dangerous than Darth Vader. This is partly why that snow-strewn battle near the end was so riveting. These films have continuously upheld this ideal of force-wielding, saber-brandishing mastery as the carrot for certain characters to chase, with the ultimate payoff being the spectacle of watching two learned adversaries exchange blows. TFA offers an alternative by staging a battle between two characters whose competency is considerable, but also less static and straightforward than that of their predecessors. This is because Rey seems to be communing with a kind of latent, mnemonic osmosis — an imperfect, mysterious transmission between novice and warrior — and Kylo is seeing red while nursing physical and psychic wounds.

The ending sabre battle still gives me chills.

Beautifully shot, packed to the brim with emotion and ethos. Great stuff.

Absolutely. I got severely choked up both times I saw that sequence on opening weekend last December.

If anything in Rogue One delivers something nearly as powerful, I'll be ecstatically satisfied.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It was nice to see a Jedi swordfight not overdependent on CG doubles and kooky acrobatics after the Prequels, for sure, and Kylo punching his wound was an inspired touch, but I didn't much of an emotional charge out of it. By that point, Abrams' storytelling had lost me.

[transmogrifier]

Yeah for me it was just a another thing that happened. Nothing in the film sticks; it's so wrapped up in looking the part and so resolutely NOT being the prequels that there is no room for soul. When you can kill off a main character and all you think of is "Huh, just like Kenobi" then something is not right.

[Dukefrukem]

[megladon8]

[

Show Spoiler

Some snapshots from the prosthetics development room hint that there may be scenes with Vader out of his suit.

]

[Dukefrukem]

Yeh someone posted that spoiler on a site I was reading. There's actually a shot if it in one of the featurettes they put out.

May want to consider spoil tagging that Meg. It would have been cool to be surprised by that.

[Gittes]

It would have been cool to be surprised by that.

I agree. Not trying to scold, though. I just would have preferred not to have known that, so maybe others feel the same way and we can spare them the info. Then again, I'm probably more averse to spoilers than most of the folks on this forum.

Speaking of spoilers, I'm looking forward to eventually seeking the context behind this .gif and learning which spoiled detail causes Alan Tudyk's reaction.

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[Winston*]

Darth Vader being in this at all makes me pretty ambivalent about seeing it.

[TGM]

[Dukefrukem]

Yes. Yes they are. The FX does NOT hold up and only dilutes the experience.

The only things they actually improved in the Special Edition are:

1. The see-through snow speeder matting.
2. Cloud City looks 32423423423423423 times better.
3. Some X-Wing shots in ANH.

Everything else sucks. Han fucking shot first.

[TGM]

[Skitch]

I agree with him, except two is worse than one.

[Dukefrukem]

Lots of positive buzz from the world premiere.

[Ezee E]

Lots of positive buzz from the world premiere.

Of course. I'm pumped myself, but who wouldn't enjoy being at a premiere of a Star Wars movie?

[Gittes]

It's interesting that apparently half of the footage shown in the trailers isn't in the movie itself. I definitely like that approach, even though it may not be symptomatic of a deliberate strategy but rather the undulations of production? I'm not sure.

[Dukefrukem]

Of course. I'm pumped myself, but who wouldn't enjoy being at a premiere of a Star Wars movie?

Most are saying it's better than Force Awakens. Which, admittedly isn't hard to do, but that's the buzz I was hoping for.

[number8]

Gambino at the Critics Choice, already growing that Lando stache.

[[ETM]]

Well, better than the foot in the door is awesome.

[Gittes]

There was actually evidence of that floating around shortly after the announcement. Looks good, especially in the picture you posted.

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[Morris Schæffer]

Most are saying it's better than Force Awakens. Which, admittedly isn't hard to do, but that's the buzz I was hoping for.

Which I resaw yesterday and for all its flaws, which remain, it keeps going down really smoothly. The 3d blu-ray was spectacular at times.

Anyhow, just 5 more days for Rogue One. My first real Imax 3D experience too so I'm thrilled.