Star Wars 9 - The Rise of Skywalker

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Could not disagree more. Driver was a great pick. Now Hayden Christensen on the other hand....

Yep.

[Edward64]

No Darth/Sith would have a perm ... obviously a Ren did.

[JediKooter]

When I think of a perm, I'm thinking more Bob Ross than Farrah Fawcett.

[NobodyHere]

Bob Ross would be the ultimate Jedi

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Bob Ross would be the ultimate Jedi

"There are no mistakes, just dead Sith."
"I'm going to slap the devil out of it."
"There, now isn't that a happy little lightsaber."

I'm in! Let's get that movie made!!

[PilotMan]

Just watched all 3 back to back and I can't be more excited for anything else. It was always a dream that we'd have 9 movies, and we do. It's a great thing.

[tarcone]

I remember when the 1st one came out and there was talk of 9. I thought that was a pipe dream and yet here we are.

I cannt wait for this to get here.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by tarcone

I remember when the 1st one came out and there was talk of 9. I thought that was a pipe dream and yet here we are.

I cannt wait for this to get here.

Same here! I will be sad (because the Skywalker saga is complete), but, happy that we will get more Star Wars in the future. At least 2 live action TV series, The Mandalorian and the Obi Wan Kenobi series, 2 animated series and at least one new trilogy in the future.

[Edward64]

And don't leave out Disney's Galaxy Edge.

Has anyone been to that yet?

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Edward64

And don't leave out Disney's Galaxy Edge.

Has anyone been to that yet?

Since I'm in Orange County, I have had the opportunity but haven't gone yet. The price to get in to D-land is crazy IMO.

That said, I have numerous friends and family whom have gone, and they have all come back with a solid thimbs up so far.

[molson]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Just watched all 3 back to back and I can't be more excited for anything else. It was always a dream that we'd have 9 movies, and we do. It's a great thing.

I'll watch the other 10 movies again over the next two months, maybe the family guy and robot chicken stuff, whatever I can squeeze in. I also caught the Empire Strikes Back live orchestra-accompanying-the-show thing that local orchestras across the country are doing, and that was awesome. Then Disneyland probably in March or so.

It's fun just being a fan of something like this again.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Edward64

And don't leave out Disney's Galaxy Edge.

Has anyone been to that yet?

I have and loved it. Standing next to the life sized replica of the Falcon and the atmosphere of everything there, was fantastic! Going again this saturday.

Also, it currently only has one ride but a new one is supposed to open in January I believe.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

I have and loved it. Standing next to the life sized replica of the Falcon and the atmosphere of everything there, was fantastic! Going again this saturday.

Also, it currently only has one ride but a new one is supposed to open in January I believe.

Crowded as heck I assume?

I will go sometime but don't think the Harry Potter crowds calmed down until year 3 or so.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Crowded as heck I assume?

I will go sometime but don't think the Harry Potter crowds calmed down until year 3 or so.

Haven't been yet, but I've read it's much less crowded than expected. As always with Disney theme parks, if you can get there mid-week on a non-school holiday week (not sure if you have kids), it's very pleasant. I have the Disneyland app on my phone and sometimes check wait times when I'm bored and it seems very manageable. (Right at this second, Wednesday morning, it's a 15 minute wait for the Millennium Falcon ride and 10 minutes for Star-Wars themed Space Mountain). Plus the Falcon ride is programmed to churn people through quickly - they have many identical ride modules. And Disney makes it easy to manage your wait times through that app and fast passes.

I think the fear of the crowds and the insane cost is finally impacting attendance at the Disney parks. And, let's face it, while I'm a superfan, Star Wars just isn't as cool as Marvel in 2019, or as cool as Harry Potter a few years ago.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Crowded as heck I assume?

I will go sometime but don't think the Harry Potter crowds calmed down until year 3 or so.

It actually wasn't that bad. The Millennium Falcon ride took maybe 40 minutes to get into and actually on the ride. It's also currently the only ride, so the line could have been worse in my opinion. Shorter wait time than the Haunted Mansion. The one thing that WAS crowded was the line to get into the Cantina. That was crazy and did not try to get in. I'll have a second opinion after Saturday haha!

Oh! Not a big fan of Harry Potter but I definitely want to hit that up sometime soon. I know they are going to do a Marvel Land at Disneyland and that will be ridiculous I bet.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Edward64

And don't leave out Disney's Galaxy Edge.

Has anyone been to that yet?

I've been to the Disneyland one a couple of times already. The first time was just to experience the Millenium Falcon ride.

The second time, we spent a good part of the day there, just to experience and explore the land. They do a really good job of immersing you in the Star Wars universe: All the guests are called "Travelers", everything costs "Credits". Ships, vehicles, are strewn around the land. The shops have that bazaar marketplace feel to it.

Chewbacca is often found wandering around the land and interacting with the Travelers. He even caught an eye on my cap which had a First Order logo on the back. He pulled it off my head, pointed to the logo, and shook his head with his familiar growl.

About 15 minutes later, a group of Storm Troopers saw me with my cap and Darth Vader shirt, and commented "Welcome citizen. Thank you for your support."

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Chewbacca is often found wandering around the land and interacting with the Travelers. He even caught an eye on my cap which had a First Order logo on the back. He pulled it off my head, pointed to the logo, and shook his head with his familiar growl.

About 15 minutes later, a group of Storm Troopers saw me with my cap and Darth Vader shirt, and commented "Welcome citizen. Thank you for your support."

That is very cool.

[Kodos]

I've got my tickets for Friday night. Crossing my fingers that J.J. delivers a good finale. Trying to avoid any spoilers before the big day!

[molson]

You need to tread carefully now, LA premiere was last night and I heard there were images floating around already. People will throw them into random social media posts and comments to articles not having to do with Star Wars. So I'm mostly laying low until Thursday night, for my first ever opening-night Star Wars premiere.

[Kodos]

Luckily, I'm not on social media very often, so that helps.

[NobodyHere]

I'll probably see it Sunday morning when tickets are cheap. I'm not too excited about the movie but I'm too invested in Star Wars at this point not to see it.

[spleen1015]

Watched Rogue One the other day. It is a good Star Wars movie. I forgot how good it was.

After see that and the marketing for, I've changed my mind and will see it on Friday morning. I think it looks pretty good, but...

[PilotMan]

Rogue One is terribly underrated. It's one of the very best of the series, imo.

[NobodyHere]

Episode 9 isn't getting the best of reviews thus far.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Episode 9 isn't getting the best of reviews thus far.

Yeah, I saw that. Still going to have to watch it once in the big screen and buy the 4K to complete my collection.

[General Mike]

Saw it tonight. Enjoyed it. The people at the booth next to me at the diner, not so much

[Bobble]

Haven't seen it yet but Mrs. Bobble surprisingly expressed interest so we'll make an effort to go see it.

Tangent: No thread on The Mandalorian? Anyone with quick thoughts on that? I liked the show despite the overmerchandising of baby Yoda.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I have problems with the ending, but overall this was an incredibly enjoyable movie.

I think each movie on its own (force awakens, last jedi, this one) worked well, but as a complete saga, it fell far short because there wasn't one unique vision unifying it.

[Chief Rum]

I was underwhelmed. But I actually was good with the ending.

There was just far too much going on in this one. Every scene felt like a quick hitter. Characters were launched into action. Things moved so fast, from one conclusion to the next, that there was no gravitas to almost any moment before the end.

I understand that these are characters we're already familiar with, but they tried to pack way too much movie into the running time. And too much fan service too. They either needed to make the movie longer or remove some of the goodies or remove a plot line.

[spleen1015]

This is a good Star Wars movie.

What it is not is the work of someone who thinks a Star Wars movie is supposed to be a work of art and not cater to the fans.

The sad thing here is you can almost watch 7, skip 8, watch 9 and not really miss anything.

I feel like the main story of this one should have been the overall story of the whole trilogy. Disney wasted lots of potential with the characters and some bits of the story.

Watching this movie made me even more disappointed that 8 was such a complete piece of shit. The trilogy will forever have such a massive stain on it.

[Kodos]

I think this movie was nearly perfect. Loved it. A few minor quibbles, but in general, loved it from start to finish.

[PilotMan]

This was a movie done by someone who really didn't like Last Jedi. I liked it, however there was some really disjointed pacing early on, as they crammed a half movie into the beginning of it and raced around putting everything together. I thought the main story line was perfect, and I enjoyed every part of it. The secondary story line was just ok. It got a bit over the top, comic booky as it progressed in parts, but...overall there were some fantastic parts too. I continue to love Adam Driver in this role and loved his character throughout. There were some definitive gaps between 8 and 9 and there appeared to be some character adjustments as well. I think Abrams should have had all 3. He would have put together a fantastic series. He did good with what he had here, it's just disappointing that 8 was such a departure from the series as a whole.

[Kodos]

Yep. I rewatched 7 And 8 this week in preparation for 9. 7 was very enjoyable, 8 had a lot of issues. 9 was really enjoyable. Agree it would have been better if they had planned out all 3 in advance, rather than letting Johnson do his own thing.

[ISiddiqui]

I just saw it. I'll give it a solid meh. It seemed like 2 movies jammed in one - so the pacing was completely off. I also wondered when Force powers got ultra jacked up. However, I did like the basic outline of the story and the ending was well done. But IMO it hit all the notes it felt it has to and just made it over the line.

I also agree it was a movie that wanted to pretend The Last Jedi didn't happen.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[cthomer5000]

Texted a few friends after with my immediate reaction:

1. "Meh"
2. They threw away all the stuff I found most interesting about the last movie.
3. I think i'm good on Star Wars. I'd be fine if they never made another movie.

[cthomer5000]

I guess on a relative scale, I'm the episode 8 defender in this thread. I enjoyed it the most of the 3 despite really hating a few specific things.

[Jon]

I want to call it Star Wars: Deus Ex Machina

or

Star Wars: JJ Abrams Ruins Another Sci-Fi Franchise.

He tried to hard, in only the way JJ does, to look clever by being convoluted.

I also hated the twist.

[cartman]

Saw it last night. Thought it was really good. Especially considering this wasn't the movie that was supposed to be made. Ep. 9 was supposed to be about Leia, but Carrie Fisher passing away caused them to have to throw away the script and start over.

[ISiddiqui]

Someone in an another message board said the follow:

The problem with the prequels was Lucas had too much control.

The problem with the sequels was that Lucas had no input.

The original trilogy had just the right balance.

And I think that is correct. Or at the very least, they didn't have someone with an overarching vision of the Sequels. It seemed like TLJ's problem is that it was trying to erase things from TFA that Rian Johnson didn't like and then ROS was trying to erase things from TLJ that JJ Abrams didn't like and it make it completely muddled.

JJ seemingly wanted a trilogy of fun action blockbusters calling back to the original trilogy, while Rian wanted a trilogy focused on 'grey Jedi'. Either of those trilogies would have been better than the directors going back and forth and cutting each other off at the knees.

[spleen1015]

Disney/Kathleen Kennedy never should have let it go down like his.

They should have gone into the trilogy with a plan. They should have plans for all of the major characters for the entire trilogy.

It was pretty stupid for them to setup Rey's parentage as a mystery in 7 and not know who her parents are.

It was pretty stupid for them to have Luke in exile and not have a plan for why he is in exile. If Johnson's take on that exile doesn't fit the plan, then don't let him do it.

They botched the whole thing. They had some interesting things in there that were wasted.

The Knights of Ren get introduced in 7 and get 100% ignored in 8. They could have been something much cooler than what they were.

That's on Kennedy for letting it happen. I'm surprised she fucked this up so bad. She's put out a lot of pretty successful work over the years.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

And I think that is correct. Or at the very least, they didn't have someone with an overarching vision of the Sequels. It seemed like TLJ's problem is that it was trying to erase things from TFA that Rian Johnson didn't like and then ROS was trying to erase things from TLJ that JJ Abrams didn't like and it make it completely muddled.

JJ seemingly wanted a trilogy of fun action blockbusters calling back to the original trilogy, while Rian wanted a trilogy focused on 'grey Jedi'. Either of those trilogies would have been better than the directors going back and forth and cutting each other off at the knees.

That is where the producer or the creative team has to step in and assert control.

[molson]

The whole history of the development might never be known, but there was a lot more to it then just handing off each movie to a director and letting them do do their thing.

George Lucas was actually involved in the creative process for months before and after he sold the rights, but he wanted everything to be about midichlorians and microscopic force beings, so they brought in Michael Arndt to write a treatment for all three movies, and tie things all together as they brought in directors for each. But, he worked too slow, and Disney was set on a '15, 17, 19 release schedule, so they got rid of him and brought in JJ Abrams, who was told to start from scratch and focus on Episode 7.

A few months later, and right when Force Awakens started filming, they brought in Rian Johnson to write 8 and map out 9, and to be on the set of 7 and collaborate with JJ. So 8 was written and 9 was planned out before 7 even came out. They offered Rian Johnson the chance to direct both 8 and 9, but he didn't want to 9, so they brought in Colin Trevorrow to finish writing and then direct 9. This was still before 7 came out. But they didn't like Trevorrow's work and fired him a few months before 8 came out. Johnson still didn't want to do 9. So they brought in Abrams to direct, and another guy to finish building off Johnson's vision for 9. But then Carrie Fisher died, and Abrams ended up (probably) writing most of the 9 we ended up getting. But the idea (after Lucas and Arndt were kicked out) was for Abrams to kick things off in a safe way establishing everything, and then have Johnson, or at least his vision, taking it the rest of the way. Johnson wrote 8 and planned out 9 all at the same time.

I think the biggest creative decision Abrams ended up making was starting things after the New Republic had mostly already fucked everything up. We start 7 when they're already doomed. For better or for worse, that really influenced everything that came after it - as opposed to starting things with an established New Republic, seeing the aging familiar faces in their New Republic roles and THEN having everything go to hell. But once we already had Luke exiled, Han back to smuggling, Han and Lea's kid turning to the dark side, that was really going to set the path forward.

So Disney has been kind of mixing up giving directors creative freedom v. being quick to change courses if they didn't like what that freedom produced (See Solo). I think there's pros and cons to that. I think in a vacuum, there's a lot to like about letting talented people be creative. The Marvel common thread theme has its advantages, but, for me, that can get a little stale too. I personally think the Disney movies will age well, and I have certainly enjoyed all of them. I'm pretty sure if that if they just had one guy in charge of everything the complaints would be that Star Wars needed more voices, like the OT had. That is the way of the force.

Edit: The OT has similar chaotic development. The original Leigh Brackett screenplay draft is for Empire Strikes Bike...interesting and very different from what we got. Lucas hated it and ended up getting more involved before handing a lot of the writing off again. Empire and Jedi also ended up abandoning/changing a lot of things that were setup - of course nobody knew for sure that it would end up being a trilogy.

[JAG]

I’m not a movie critic, barely watch any movies (roughly 1 a year or fewer in theatres). I basically shared Kodos’ thoughts, a couple minor quibbles but very enjoyable overall, much better than 8 and better than 7 (which I enjoyed).

[tarcone]

Im sad its over. Been apart of my entire life it seems.

I felt the movie was very choppy. Thats the best way to put it. It felt like they tried to shoehorn stuff in and it didnt flow.

The ending was fantastic.

I enjoyed it. It was entertaining. But like I said, choppy.

[Mota]

We really enjoyed the movie. Other than the guy in front of us who kept ramming his seat into my wife's knees, and patient zero to the right of us who was coughing up a storm and drinking beer that he snuck in. But none of that is the actual movie.

I thought the interplay between the characters was equal to The Force Awakens, really gets you to like the characters. THey really packed a lot into the movie, but there were a ton of powerful scenes. The ending also was great. Huge surprise that I liked it that much, as I was preparing for the worst based on the reviews.

[CrimsonFox]

Loved all of charlie's photobombs!

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Im sad its over. Been apart of my entire life it seems.

I felt the movie was very choppy. Thats the best way to put it. It felt like they tried to shoehorn stuff in and it didnt flow.

The ending was fantastic.

I enjoyed it. It was entertaining. But like I said, choppy.

Yes, I agree with "choppy". There were some stuff they could have removed and reallocate those minutes to other things.

More to come later to avoid spoilers for folks that have not seen it.

[QuikSand]

I guess I am fortunate to watch and enjoy all three of the latest movies without really getting caught up in continuity or adherence or the other things that seem to piss some off. I liked them all fine.

I haven't seen this objection before... but if 7 was critiqued as being "a star trek movie" then isn'9 open to being called "a harry potter movie." The parallels are overwhelming (yes, I know Joseph Campbell already taught us this) but the fast and loose play with the rules of the game seem spot on, to me.

But mark me as a "yes" for all three as likable, enjoyable, and films I'm happy to take my 10yo daughter to (in her pink "rebel" t-shirt).

[sabotai]

Bleh. Just....disappointing. The two most interesting things they did in this movie were reversed immediately after they happened. That's more unforgivable than if it had just been bad. It's like, they did a thing that made me sit up...and then undo it right away....and then again, something happens I'm like "hell yeah, that's aweso...." immediately undone.

*sigh*

At least we have The Mandalorian.

[CrimsonFox]

i have questions