I saw “The Last Jedi” yesterday evening with a couple of teens, and we loved it. I’ll probably see it again in the next couple of weeks because my husband couldn’t make it to last night’s show and will want to see it on the big screen too. I already look forward to a second viewing and to discovering new Easter Eggs I missed the first time around.
It’s been interesting, as a fan of the franchise, reading comments here and elsewhere that sharply criticize or vociferously defend TLJ. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. I’ve landed firmly in the pro-TLJ camp after seeing it. I think it struck an excellent balance between staying true to the spirit of the franchise and striking out in a new direction.
That’s about as much as I can say without getting into specifics, which we don’t want to do because a lot of folks haven’t had a chance to see the movie yet. So, if you’re in the mood to discuss the film with spoilers, click on the image above. That’ll take you to a hidden thread, which is entitled “Last Jedi Hidden Spoilers Thread.”
Otherwise, the NON-hidden comment section below is open for any topic — except spoilers!
Corner Stone
Finally! The electrolytes we need!
rikyrah
Thanks for the thread. Can’t wait to see it.
Hunter Gathers
Two and a half hours of the female characters telling the male characters to cut the fucking bullshit and giving Lucas the finger.
Loved it.
Humboldtblue
Am I the only one who watched the first Star Wars movie (as an excited kid) and was left with a big ol’ hearty MEH. I haven’t watched another iteration of the series since. The popularity escapes me.
Mike in NC
Saw the first of the “Star Wars” movies (way back in 1977 was it?) and I never wanted to see another one.
Humboldtblue
@Mike in NC:
I guess that answers my question.
kindness
I liked the movie. It didn’t really add any new info to the franchise other than showing Adam Driver to be a conflicted evil person. What I thought the movie served more as is a vehicle for sequels. It offered up more questions than answers. Which is OK. I’ll go see those future sequel movies too.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
TLC?
Major Major Major Major
The link to the hidden thread doesn’t work on mobile.
raven
@Humboldtblue: This. . .
eclare
@Humboldtblue: My thoughts exactly. Saw the original. Yawn.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I switched to Desktop on the phone and now I can see it.
Corner Stone
@Humboldtblue: I think every kid at some point has had a fantasy where they are powerful enough to stop the bad guy, use their mind to make things move, and generally save the day using a flashy, noisy light saber. So the stories opened up the potential, they just had awful pacing and even worse dialog.
NotMax
So if it’s the last Jedi there won’t be any more movies, right?
:)
Betty Cracker
@Major Major Major Major: It does on my iPhone.
Corner Stone
I have seen some here and a few other places say that Empire is the best movie in the early two trilogies. That may or may not be accurate but it is still an awful and nearly unwatchable movie.
JPL
Movie review: The Christmas Inheritance
The movie itself uses low budget actors, and the story line is schmaltzy and predictable.
Verdict: If you need an escape from the republicans looting the treasury, then this might be the movie for you. Mocking it is okay.
Spoiler, it makes the Christmas Prince appear to be oscar worthy.
NotMax
Linked to it only a scant few days ago but this thread cries out for a reprise.
Lee
I’m not reading all of the post or the comments, but I did want to share that I’m going to see it in about 2.5 hours.
We normally see Star Wars movies at midnight but we had to wait as our oldest wanted to see it with us. We had to wait for her to get home from college
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: I don’t get the Star Wars, hype at all. The first three movies were good not great, the prequels were terrible. I haven’t watched the new set.
Major Major Major Major
@Betty Cracker: perhaps you are logged in and it’s different. FYWP and all. It just takes me (and mnem) to the picture.
Humboldtblue
@Corner Stone:
I gotcha, and I remember distinctly a conversation I had with one of my older sisters who had come back from college and who asked me if I was excited to see the original. I was but I was far more interested in the Guns of Navarrone and the Longest Day. I’ve always envied those who get enjoyment from science fiction it just never caught my fancy. Two of my neighborhood playmates had every Star Trek and Star Wars toy you could get, I was just more focused the Civil War and WW2. (The first two Dune books were great)
LurkerNoLonger
@Hunter Gathers:
how so?
Corner Stone
@schrodingers_cat: I haven’t seen any of them past Ep III: Revenge of the Sith, so I have seen six of the ones that exist so far. Until the more recent ones show up on cable TV I’m not going looking for them.
ruemara
I felt Luke was a punk ass motherfucker. Sitting around moping and crying while he had power to do something. Which should make sense considering how critical I am of a certain branch of progressiveism. And I say it as a total Luke fan.
You know, if you’re not a fan, shutting up about it is free.
Just One More Canuck
@Corner Stone: I was home with the flu a few years ago, and decided to watch the original three movies. After watching Billy Dee Williams chew through Empire and Jedi, death, or going back to work, would have been a sweet relief
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Red Letter media was commenting that the SW fans seem to get themselves hyped up with the trailers to the point the movie can’t possibly live up to what they are imagining it to be, thus all the passionate hate.
Major Major Major Major
@ruemara: Luke was a punk-ass motherfucker. Luke always has been. He’s good when the cards are down, but at the end of the day he really just wants to go to Tosche Station for power converters.
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Fandom ruins quality.
ruemara
@Major Major Major Major: He failed so hard to be a 10th of what he could’ve been. He made me mad.
Leia, made me proud. And as hokey as popsicle force pull Leia was, I loved it. Plus Poe needed a solid ass kicking. He killed so many bombers. But the female characters made me thrilled and I loved the Rey parentage. Destiny through dynasty should die.
Corner Stone
@Just One More Canuck: “This deal is getting worse all the time!”
A Ghost To Most
@Humboldtblue: @Mike in NC:
Trekkies.
schrodingers_cat
@Corner Stone: Same here. Jar Jar Binks and the young Anakin were so bad, makes me reluctant to go seek out these new movies.
PsiFighter37
I’ve grown to hate it more and more since I saw it. Rian Johnson literally took a steaming dump on the series. I hope Disney enjoys trying to continue to cultivate a franchise that has only last 40+ years due to intense fandom – and it has now alienated a huge portion of those fans.
I’m not going to see Episode IX in theaters. I wonder if JJ Abrams is pissed that anything of importance in TFA basically got discarded.
Oh, and fuck Rian Johnson.
Miss Bianca
I remember seeing the original “Star Wars” (Episode IV, I guess we call it now) in the movie theater when it first came out, and I loved it. Have enjoyed the others (Empire, Jedi, Force Awakens) both more and less (couldn’t get thru’ the Lucas messes subsequent to the Phantom Menace, sorry). Just got the notification that “Rogue One” came in for me, and looking forward to that one!
Erin in Flagstaff
I’m one of those in the LOVE it group. I saw it a second time last night. I enjoyed Mark Hamill’s performance in this movie, though I guess I could see it pissing off some people. It seems the fate of a master Jedi to go off in the wilderness for years and become a hermit.
I also enjoyed watching the Kylo and Rey scenes. It kept me wondering what would be the outcome of this strange relationship. I want to see where the next movie takes them.
As for Carrie Fisher’s Leia, did anyone else tear up every time the camera spent time on her? The Last Jedi had me dealing with all kinds of emotions.
Corner Stone
@Humboldtblue: I don’t find myself geeking out about any sci-fi series, although I have enjoyed several different flavors over the years. And you see people talking about going against “the canon”. I couldn’t tell you what the SW canon was if you were offering me a chance to #SavageNutpunch GOP leadership. It’s also a time to slip the surly bonds of earth and not get amped up about the broken laws of physics. Although I do find myself wondering about logistics. Like how did they deliver so many AT-AT’s to the surface of planet Hoth so quickly?
Major Major Major Major
@Erin in Flagstaff:
Yes ☹️
Bostondreams
As a life-long Star Wars fan, I loved it! Will see it a third time this week. :)
AliceBlue
@Humboldtblue:
Same here. I saw the first one when I was in my early 20s and I fell asleep during the show.
NotMax
@Miss Bianca
Still have a bootleg Betamax cassette of the original (no Episode IV in the opening crawl) presented to me by someone who shall remain anonymous in June of ’77, about two weeks after it opened. I had gone to see it the last week of that May. First thing did after exiting the theater was to walk down 2 or 3 doors to a Sam Goody’s record shop and purchase the double album music soundtrack.
ruemara
@Erin in Flagstaff: All kinds. She was the only one left in the story (besides Chewie) and in reality …
I’m guessing this thread is actually the hybrid of discussing the movie & discussing how you don’t get why people like Star Wars.
p.a.
I’m enjoying the Disney takeover. I just find Kylo’s resemblance to Pete Townshend circa 1969 a bit distracting. Want to see him windmill the lightsaber.
Leto
@PsiFighter37: I’m pretty much at this point.
Icicle Leia was just dumb. Luke being a punk ass, reverting to ANH Luke, was dumb. Kylo/Rey scenes were neat, but didn’t advance anything to the story. Captain Phasma was nice non-character throughout the entire thing. Why even have her? Just insert any other random Stormtrooper into those scenes and it would’ve been just as effective. Just from a story perspective, it was bad.
@Corner Stone:
Same way we got troops from England to Normandy: transport ships. You can see them in the background during the scene where EmoVader (Darth Tantrum) is standing in front of the window overlooking the bay.
Humboldtblue
@Corner Stone:
When it comes to questions about military operations the answer is always logistics. I have no answers as to the logistical capabilities of the Death Star, however. I do follow a very funny sub on reddit called r/theempiredidnothingwrong and they champion the bad guys as the good guys.
Leto
@ruemara:
Well you’re not a true movie snob if you don’t hate popular culture. I’m sure we’ll be back to talking about Bogart movies in no time (because AMC flicks from the 30s-50s is what this crowd typically goes apeshit over).
JaneSays
@Humboldtblue: That’s exactly how I’ve always felt about The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Yeah, I know. Blasphemy. MEH.
Miss Bianca
@p.a.: OK, you just made LOL at work! I was thinking he looked like a very young version of Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, but yes, I can see young Pete Townshend in there as well!
ETA: for the record, since I have always found both Alan Rickman *and* Pete Townshend to be ultra-dreamy, I am fully expecting to enjoy Adam Driver as eye candy, as well!
Leto
@Humboldtblue: This is the first film in the series where they’ve bothered to talk about fuel. This is right up there with “trade negotiations” as far as compelling plot device drivers.
JaneSays
@Corner Stone: The Force Awakens is already available on Starz, and Rogue One is available on Netflix.
NotMax
@Corner Stone
“The Golden Age of Science Fiction is thirteen.”
– Peter Scott Graham
Fair Economist
@Leto:
Pack it in, folks. Thread has been won.
Corner Stone
@JaneSays: Well, I’ll be. Don’t have Starz but do have the Netflix, at least until the FCC steals it from me. Thanks.
mad citizen
@Humboldtblue: Same for me. I watched the first one on cable tv when I was in college. Fell asleep in the middle of it and never had any desire to watch another.
Betty Cracker
@ruemara: Join us on the
Dark Sidehidden thread for a more substantive, spoiler-laden discussion with no “gah, I hate Star Wars” comments (yet).WaterGirl
@JPL: Oh my.
NotMax
@schrodingers_cat
Or, as he very quickly came to be called, Mannequin Skywalker.
Corner Stone
@Leto: My observation about the AT-AT’s is kind of a silly one, I guess. I know they have a whole fleet coming with them. But those things a sha-yooge! They ship them fully constructed and supplied, ready to go? Then they land mammoth transport ships that give birth to whole battalions of these gigantic thingies? And if the deflector shields for the AT-AT were too strong for the Rebels puny crafts, then surely the transport ships were also strong enough to land closer to the Rebel base?
Anyway, these are the things I have questions about, not force pulling a light saber out of the snow or a trillion-trillion ton spacecraft jumps to light speed.
VincentN
I really liked the new movie but I can understand the criticisms some fans have. Honestly though, it seems like a lot of Star Wars fans (as well as comic books fans) derive their enjoyment from hating any new iteration of what they like when it comes out.
And it’s fine if Star Wars in general or The Last Jedi in particular isn’t for you. Everyone else can have their fun.
Schlemazel
I was actually hoping for spoilers here. I am undecided if I want to see this one after the madness dies down. I loved the very first one, hated the second and was just OK with the 3rd release. The second trio were OK but I felt they tried too hard to explain what we saw in the first set that they screwed up the storytelling. I saw the first of the new batch on an airplane so I don’t know how much that affect the experience but I thought it was a jumbled up mess that made no sense. I want to like these movies, I love space operas, but these seem to be more about the franchise than about storytelling.
JPL
@WaterGirl: After watching Pence offering up a prayer to his dear leader, I might search netflix for another one. I might have to wait until five, and open a bottle of wine.
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/943536847581597697
NotMax
@Corner Stone
Jogged the memory about this.
Leto
@Corner Stone: Here, we’ll take these one-by-one:
Yes… we don’t build tanks over in a war zone, nor do we ship them piecemeal. Load’em up on a freighter (or stick 1/2 in a C-5) and send’em on. Same concept.
Well… they have to be offloaded somehow/where… In Attack of the Clones you see one of the ships offload a previous gen walker. Similar to an armored cav combat drop. Now the new AT-MT vehicles (those were the bigger AT-AT style vehicles) might need like two ships to bring down? Idk, I stopped reading the technical data books a few years ago and I’m not really that interested anymore.
Yes, but this goes back to everything the Empire did with regards to weapons: they’re instruments of terror. Look at the faces of the soldiers on Hoth when they hear the AT-ATs clomping their way: they’re scared shitless. Same deal with the Death Star.
@VincentN:
I’m not hating it just to hate it; I want a coherent story, with at least semi-believable characters that, again, at least try to follow some of the already established norms/rules within the story structure. I want a new, good SW story. TFA I thought laid the groundwork for a good start/story. TLJ was not a good follow up, although they tried to shoehorn in as much ESB as they could. Nope, nope, nope!
Leto
@Schlemazel: This! I think the first three had a good story. Prequels… what prequels? And The Force Awakens… I think a big problem people had was like, who the heck were the First Order, I thought we defeated the Empire?, where did they come from/are they the Empire?, what the hell happened?!?!?! I followed it, but had like 30 million questions, none of which were answered by the second film.
MarySNJ
I loved it! It wasn’t perfect, but I can overlook a lot if I think the story is compelling and I’m entertained. I’m going to see it for the third time tonight – in 3D (which I usually don’t like) because I hear it’s quite spectacular.
I’ve been a Star Wars fan since the original movie in 1977. Loved the original trilogy. Was mostly ‘meh’ about the prequels. Loved The Force Awakens, and I think The Last Jedi adds a lot to the canon understanding of the Force. I love old, jaded, emotionally-scarred Luke. I loved General Leia, even with the Force Mary Poppins scene. I adored the dynamics between Rey and Kylo and that’s the storyline I’m most interested in IX. It’s kind of like Jane Eyre in space. I loved the new characters Rose and Holdo. The Canto Bight scenes were definitely the weakest in my opinion, but it did reenforce the message that a person doesn’t need to be from a famous bloodline to be a Force user…
(Edited to remove spoilers)
ByRookorByCrook
I thought that a lot of the storytelling beats fell flat. The whole Luke storyline was weak. I had a difficult time believing Luke, who never gave up on his mass murdering father, would suddenly decide to kill his sleeping nephew, before he did anything. I like having him running away and cutting himself off from the force to slow the rise of darkness, but it didn’t work.
Miss Bianca
@ByRookorByCrook: well, so much for “no spoilers” in this thread…sigh.
PaulWartenberg
I’m too sexy for my Porg.
ByRookorByCrook
Omg I am so incredibly sorry
Leto
How Star Wars Was Saved In the Edit (2017)
A lot of really good discussion about story/characters/movie elements in the comments.
Miss Bianca
@ByRookorByCrook: s’awright. As I told Betty upthread, I’ve had to learn to live with ’em! : )
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
A lot of Luke fans seem to feel that way. I keep trying to tell them that it sets up his Serious Badassery in the third act. To me, that made up for everything else.
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
Just so you’re prepared with something to fan yourself — he has a shirtless scene.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: Be still, my heart! Now *that*’s a spoiler I can get behind! : )
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
I didn’t get to really ogle him since G was sitting right there next to me, but my friends who are fans of “Girls” are happy they’re going to see him (half-) naked again when they see the movie this weekend.
Bobby Thomson
@LurkerNoLonger: it retcons the midichlorians bullshit.
TenguPhule
@PsiFighter37:
Seconded.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone:
No shields on them. Just really thick armor that’s relatively blasterproof.
woodrowfan
@Mike in NC: I was 18 that summer. Saw it five times. :P
I’d give “Last Jedi” a solid B+. The 3 prequels are an abomination. I think Disney has brought the series back from near death.
Ejoiner
Just saw it with a massive family group – pretty much “meh” on everyone’s part. Beautifully shot in many scenes but just not…engaging? Really liked KR/R/Snoke stuff but the characters from TFA just got nothing to do but run around in the same exact scenes (witih the same results) as the last 7 movies. Literally.
Most important subtext – anything with Holdo (the hacker/thief), especially his final exchange with Fin. Easily the Disney stand in for the series – an unending cycle as long as it makes a profit!
Gemina13
I saw the movie and loved it. From the age of seven, which was how old I was when the first movie came out, I wanted to be a Jedi pilot. Obviously, that wasn’t possible. But the little girl I was cheered her head off over Amilyn Holdo, who is every competent woman mansplained by some junior who’s barely learned to piss in a pot. My SO remarked how she could have avoided Poet’s mutiny by just telling him the plan. I reminded him that he knows damn well the military doesn’t work that way, and that ended that discussion.
As for Luke’s self-exile . . . well, I get it. I don’t approve, but I get it. It’s not so much that he failed, it’s that he almost killed his nephew out of fear, and ended up indirectly causing the deaths of his students. That’s a hell of an emotional burden to bear. The rest is typical Skywalker self-pity, but at least he got his act together in the end.
Anyone else think of Obama in the gun barrage scene? ::swiff, swiff:: The audience howled at that.
While we’re undecided on whether Chewie’s vegan now, I want two things. The first is a porg plushie. The second? Roast ptarmigan.
chopper
@Corner Stone:
that was always my question about ESB. if they could land at-ats on hoth, why couldn’t they just bring in some ships and blow everything to hell way faster?
chopper
@VincentN:
it’s like the way republicans worship reagan. it’s all about an image, a feeling of how they remember things being. true star wars nerds hate any SW film that doesn’t bring them back to that perfect childhood fantasy memory and let’s face it, nothing can pull that off. so everything fucking sucks.
Bostondreams
@Ejoiner:
Holdo was the admiral. DJ was the hacker. Just saying. I get your point :)
TenguPhule
@chopper:
Defensive energy shield combined with an anti-ship ion cannon. They landed the At-Ats at the edge of the shield and walk them in, because the shield isn’t designed to stop physical objects. They can’t send ships in because between the Ion cannon and the fact the Rebels have better fighters, any bombers or cap ships in range get blown out of the sky.
TenguPhule
@chopper:
Or we just hate when people don’t use a little common sense in their movies and make inexcusable crap instead.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone:
Ion-cannon + X-wings. Local Air Superiority, Rebels.
chopper
@TenguPhule:
if the shield doesn’t stop physical objects, then ships could fly right through it. and ships could stay low. i mean come on, you really pick the slow-ass walkers that are gonna give the rebels more than enough time to gather up an escape? you have a fleet but can’t send in some air support?
star wars is full of fucking plot holes.
chopper
@TenguPhule:
the rebels fielded a pathetically small number of ships against the empire’s assault, to the point where the empire won handily. the only reason the rebels made it out at all was that the empire sent in the slowest-ass attack vehicles in the universe. why? cause lucas needed a new toy line to market.
chopper
likewise, if the shield allows physical objects through then just launch a shit ton of missiles. boom, rebellion’s over.
TenguPhule
@chopper:
Because the Empire uses unarmed or lightly armed transports for Surface to Space operations. The Rebels have X-wings, which can blow them to shit easily.
They didn’t have assault transports because the Empire’s hat was that the average soldier is expendable and the cheapest design that can be produced in vast numbers is preferable for the lowest tier shit while bigger is better for their capital ships and orbital bombardment is the all purpose hammer.
That’s why they have TIE fighters, lots of expendable, heavily armed but unshielded and easily replaced. And prior to TFA, the Lucas version had Tie fighters be worthless in atmosphere because their design was for space operations. Meanwhile X-wings were all purpose fighters at home in either environment.
Escape right into a fleet of Star Destroyers. The Empire didn’t realize the Rebels had a means of disabling any of their ships until the Ion cannon opens fire. By all rights their simple plan SHOULD have worked, save that they underestimated the armament of the Rebels, which you might notice was a consistent theme of the original trilogy.
TenguPhule
@chopper:
Speeders != X-wings.
X-wings were being used as escorts for the escaping transports. The ground forces were fighting a delaying action to buy time.
The whole point was that the Rebels HAD NO CHANCE OF MILITARY VICTORY, escape was the goal, not staying to fight. Their shield prevented a direct attack, so the Imperial ships form up to block any escape while their ground armor units take out the shield. Its simple but effective.
TenguPhule
@chopper:
They don’t have missiles on the Imperial Destroyers, those are pure energy battery platforms.
Their bombers could do it, but again, Superior Rebel fighters.