Star Wars Episode VIII: A New Thread

[elevated_u2_fan]

This is a new low, Cobbler

 

[coolian2]

I got in trouble for saying what ought to be said about his opinion before so I don't even.....

 

[bono_212]

SPOILER ALERT....

Jar Jar Binks nephew will be in this film.

Hey, so, if you actually have spoilers to post, please use the spoiler tag, because it's not like I was able to not see what you wrote simply because you said it was a spoiler.

Thanks.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Top Gun, like most revered 80s action films, sucks. I'm assuming he made the comparison based on the whole aerial dog fight thing, but Top Gun used a lot of boring stock footage to the point where it often didn't even match up with the expected action.

Anyway, it was a dumb script with pedestrian directing. Just like 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, etc. Really have no idea why anybody liked that crap then or would even care for it now. Practically nothing from mainstream Hollywood in the 1980s holds up today other than the blockbusters that broke ground such as Ghostbusters or well scripted stuff like the films of James Brooks. Likewise, it's all garbage today as well with the six major studios basically creating (or buying) one great film a year in order to hope it turns into hundreds of millions of box office receipts thanks to Oscar nominations.

 

[cobl04]

All jokes aside, Top Gun fucking rules. It's an awesome movie, and the action scenes are good entertainment.

Watching Episode 5 tonight. Hearing this is widely considered the best of them all, so pumped.

 

[IWasBored]

Please just call it The Empire Strikes Back like normal people do.

 

[Hewson]

Top Gun, like most revered 80s action films, sucks. I'm assuming he made the comparison based on the whole aerial dog fight thing, but Top Gun used a lot of boring stock footage to the point where it often didn't even match up with the expected action.

Anyway, it was a dumb script with pedestrian directing. Just like 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, etc. Really have no idea why anybody liked that crap then or would even care for it now. Practically nothing from mainstream Hollywood in the 1980s holds up today other than the blockbusters that broke ground such as Ghostbusters or well scripted stuff like the films of James Brooks. Likewise, it's all garbage today as well with the six major studios basically creating (or buying) one great film a year in order to hope it turns into hundreds of millions of box office receipts thanks to Oscar nominations.

The first Lethal Weapon was a good movie, like most films it should never have had one let alone several sequels coughJawscough.

Same for 48 Hours, just watched it on cable not too long ago, I think it still holds up. (Again never should have done a sequel)

But I agree on Top Gun. On the big screen, it was visually impressive, but really not great cinema or well acted outside of Anthony Edwards.

 

[lazarus]

Top Gun, like most revered 80s action films, sucks. I'm assuming he made the comparison based on the whole aerial dog fight thing, but Top Gun used a lot of boring stock footage to the point where it often didn't even match up with the expected action.

Anyway, it was a dumb script with pedestrian directing. Just like 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, etc. Really have no idea why anybody liked that crap then or would even care for it now. Practically nothing from mainstream Hollywood in the 1980s holds up today other than the blockbusters that broke ground such as Ghostbusters or well scripted stuff like the films of James Brooks. Likewise, it's all garbage today as well with the six major studios basically creating (or buying) one great film a year in order to hope it turns into hundreds of millions of box office receipts thanks to Oscar nominations.

All of this. The 80s are nostalgia-overrated trash for the most part, at least with Hollywood films.

Watching Episode 5 tonight. Hearing this is widely considered the best of them all, so pumped.

Where's your review, punk?

Also where's my money?

 

[cobl04]

sent ya cunt

We didn't watch it. Em was studying. Ran out of time so we just watched Brooklyn 99 instead

 

[BigMacPhisto]

I mean, we shouldn't be setting his expectations too high. Just as many people including myself think A New Hope is the best one.

I just wonder what COBL's opinion will be of the other films which are all clearly on a much lower bar. Or just goddamn terrible as is the case of Episode I.

 

[cobl04]

Okay, after being a bit underwhelmed by A New Hope, I fucking loved Empire Strikes Back. From start to finish, tremendous. So much better than episode 4. So much energy, no flat scenes, suspense through the roof, better action, better script, AND, it leaves you hanging!!! How many movies leave you waiting on such a big cliffhanger..... and not only that, but it was three years til the next movie.

Donald Glover is going to be such a good Lando Calrissian.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

You're such an unrelenting attention whore.

"I'm an older guy who hasn't seen Star Wars! And I like it now!"

Fuck the fuck off. Seriously.

 

[cobl04]

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Good one. You fucking jackass.

 

[DaveC]

 

[Diemen]

You know, GAF, sometimes it's best to just not post if you're just going to be an asshole for no good reason.

 

[lazarus]

Okay, after being a bit underwhelmed by A New Hope, I fucking loved Empire Strikes Back. From start to finish, tremendous. So much better than episode 4. So much energy, no flat scenes, suspense through the roof, better action, better script, AND, it leaves you hanging!!! How many movies leave you waiting on such a big cliffhanger..... and not only that, but it was three years til the next movie.

Donald Glover is going to be such a good Lando Calrissian.

We're gonna need a little more than that. Hot takes on Yoda, Luke vs Vader, the carbon freezing, etc.

You're such an unrelenting attention whore.

"I'm an older guy who hasn't seen Star Wars! And I like it now!"

Fuck the fuck off. Seriously.

You know, GAF, sometimes it's best to just not post if you're just going to be an asshole for no good reason.

There's still good in him, Diemen. I can feel it.

Come back to the light side, GAF.

 

[lazarus]

How many movies leave you waiting on such a big cliffhanger..... and not only that, but it was three years til the next movie.

You won't have to wait nearly as long for the pandering bag of poop that is Return of the Jedi. Keep your expectations in check and try to make it to the end where most of its not-quite-redeeming qualities are.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Okay, after being a bit underwhelmed by A New Hope, I fucking loved Empire Strikes Back. From start to finish, tremendous. So much better than episode 4. So much energy, no flat scenes, suspense through the roof, better action, better script, AND, it leaves you hanging!!! How many movies leave you waiting on such a big cliffhanger..... and not only that, but it was three years til the next movie.



Donald Glover is going to be such a good Lando Calrissian.

I saw Empire when I was 6 at the Cinesphere in Toronto (the first Imax theatre in the world) and was completely transfixed. The Astroid chase is one of my favourite sequences in any movie.

 

[namkcuR]

You won't have to wait nearly as long for the pandering bag of poop that is Return of the Jedi. Keep your expectations in check and try to make it to the end where most of its not-quite-redeeming qualities are.

Don't listen to Laz, Cobbler. ROTJ isn't as good as Empire(Empire is the best, after all), but it isn't the garbage some people make it out to be. Don't let the whopping 15 total minutes of Ewoks ruin it for you. It's still arguably better than any of the prequels.

IMO of course.

 

[cobl04]

Well that's one of the questions I've been meaning to ask. Why is Star Wars the cultural phenomenon that it is, if only A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back are considered good?

Surely there has to be goodness to be found in Episodes 6, 1, 2, 3, 7..?

Good one. You fucking jackass.

I'm actually genuinely not trolling. I know I've been a huge dick about Star Wars in the past but it really is all a facade. I really, really liked Empire Strikes Back. I'd just never seen it because I'm not a movie buff

We're gonna need a little more than that. Hot takes on Yoda, Luke vs Vader, the carbon freezing, etc.

I was a bit shocked at Yoda's voice. I have to admit I found that really annoying, I was reaching for subtitles on more than one occasion. That said I wish (and was expecting) the scenes with Yoda to be longer and a little more awesome; but I suppose the movie is already two hours long so you couldn't pack in much more than that. I think Yoda is awesome but I wish they'd built him up a bit more, given him some more back story that adds to his legend. The stuff with Ben's ghost reminding Yoda he was a pain in the arse too was cool. I really did think Luke wouldn't leave though, or that he would come back to his training.

Luke vs Vader was great, my mouth dropped when Vader first walks into the room to start the fight. I ALWAYS thought the line was "Luke, I am your father" though, which it isn't. Also I thought there was no way that would be revealed til episode 6. I liked that the film leaves you hanging at the end, it doesn't tie things up in a nice bow.

Carbon freezing was also super cool. I love Han Solo. Harrison Ford was a fucking babe. Carrie Fisher is so fierce and their scenes together are so great.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Well that's one of the questions I've been meaning to ask. Why is Star Wars the cultural phenomenon that it is, if only A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back are considered good?



Surely there has to be goodness to be found in Episodes 6, 1, 2, 3, 7..?

Oh there is a lot of good still to be found.

Return of the Jedi has a lot of redeemable qualities. The prequels are a bit of a slog if you ask me, they look incredible and there are a some good monents but the dialogue veers from ok to truly dreadful and everyone in it other than Ewan McGregor take it far too seriously.

I was very impressed with Force Awakens as well for what its worth.

 

[LemonMelon]

Jedi and Revenge of the Sith are both good movies. They're not as good as New Hope or Empire, but certainly worthwhile action flicks. And Force Awakens is good as fuck, it's just incredibly derivative.

I'd say five of the eight movies are really good, if Rogue One counts. I wasn't into that one, outside of the last 40 minutes or so. And the first two prequels suck.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Don't listen to Laz, Cobbler. ROTJ isn't as good as Empire(Empire is the best, after all), but it isn't the garbage some people make it out to be. Don't let the whopping 15 total minutes of Ewoks ruin it for you. It's still arguably better than any of the prequels.

IMO of course.

Yeah I agree, I didn't realise anybody thought ANY of the prequels were better than ROTJ. Ewoks shit aside and Han Solo being really sidelined it's still a very good film IMO.

 

[lazarus]

There are a lot of people who do. People who appreciate things like superior visual storytelling, fresh ideas, deeper mythology.

"Jar Jar shit aside and Anakin being poorly directed it's still a very good film IMO." See how that works?

 

[DaveC]

this is the douchiest thread on interference.

 

[cobl04]

Ok, so Return of the Jedi!

What a strange film this was. Strange because it's so... tonally odd and all over the place. The plot made very, very little sense, which was a bit of a shame after the awesome cliffhanger that you're left on after Empire Strikes Back. It's a very up-and-down film, quite inconsistent. There are some truly awful parts (the bar hoedown scenes, the Ewoks capturing, then releasing, then partying with Luke and Han) and some absolutely atrocious dialogue (Luke's reveal to Leia) but then you've got these incredibly amazing highs that are probably better than anything from the first two films, like:
- Leia tricking Jabba the Hut disguised as a bounty hunter who's caught Chewbacca
- Luke being an absolute motherfucking badass
- Leia (think I had a new sexual awakening)
- the fight scene between the rebels and Jabba and all his cohorts
- Lando Calrissian (mannnn oh man is Donald Glover going to fucking own this character)
- the flying motorbike scenes are awesome
- I finally understand "ITS A TRAP!"

The last, like, 45 minutes of the film is absolutely sensational. Kept me on the edge of my seat story-wise, the suspense was thrilling, the battle for the Death Star was visually fantastic, and the scenes with Palpatine, Vader and Luke are really interesting. I was umming and ahhing about the whole Vader thing... he's painted as such a mesmerising bad guy for the first two films and most of this one, and I thought it was a bit of a copout that he's so easily swayed back to the light side of the force in the matter of minutes. But then having said that, it provides a really nice moment with the Emperor being killed and the unmasking of Vader and return of Anakin.

Another gripe I have is I wish you got to see more of Luke's training. He's obviously become way more powerful between the end of Empire and start of Jedi, but like in Empire there's not much exposition on it, and again barely any for Yoda, which is such a shame.

Also I was evidently watching one of Lucas' re-releases, because Hayden fucking Christensen appears on the screen at the end next to Yoda and Ben. That was a bit lame.

Also, the Ewoks are super cute.

So all in all, great films, there are flaws everywhere, but great films. The ending is so, so, so, so satisfying, and I found myself asking what is the need for prequels when the ending wraps things up so very well. I would rank them Empire Strikes Back > Return of the Jedi > A New Hope. A New Hope is overall more consistent but Return of the Jedi has way better highlights.

 

[lazarus]

How do you even know who Hayden Christensen is? Anyway, it was worse before Lucas fixed it, when you had some old dude who Anakin could never have possibly looked like because his face was burned when he was much younger.

Decent observations, yes the last 45 min are damn good, aside from the Leia/Han high school-level romantic spat. Ford basically phoned in this movie, and Fisher is still game but not quite the spark of the previous two.

And yes it's particularly lame that Luke's training is just taken for granted off screen. The Dagobah scene is particularly weak, with, let's remind everyone, OBI-WAN'S GHOST SITTING DOWN ON A LOG and giving a pretty awkward justification for his deception.

I don't believe Vader's transformation is too abrupt, and I guess that's part of what the prequels help flesh out; Sith Lords are always plotting against their masters and Vader wasn't lying when he tried to get Luke to help him overthrow the Emperor and rule together. When he is wounded and Luke refuses to put him away at the Emperor's request, and then subsequently seeing Luke being tortured as a result is enough for me to see him turn on his master.

Hope you get to dive into The Phantom Menace quickly, I'm sure you'll have a lot of issues with it as it's also a mixed bag, but there's a lot to like about it as well.

 

[coolian2]

The prequels can be a bit of a slog. Attack of the Clones is only interesting in discovering Stormtroopers are Maori and working out how long you can suspend your suspension of disbelief before you realise it's impossible to take seriously.

Then you get a comically (in a good way) wild start to Revenge of the Sith.

I always rank Return of the Jedi higher than Empire, but I suspect that's partially because it was the only Star Wars film I had on VHS when I was younger (why did I not buy the other ones? I can't reasonably explain it) and have a slight case of familiarity breeding contempt.

 

[lazarus]

Why do any require more suspension of disbelief than the others? And suddenly the introduction of more dialects besides American and British English and it's somehow funny? Sounds a little racist to me. Bravo to Lucas for casting outside the box and not getting too hung up on some tiny bit of continuity. The guy who plays Captain Typho is also Maori if I'm not mistaken. Also, I'm pretty sure there's a line in The Force Awakens about them not using clones anymore so I'm not sure if your comment about Stormtroopers even makes sense.

Clones has an interesting mystery subplot that's not found in any of the other films, and plays with several film noir tropes (as does Empire).

But I'll save further comment for when Cobbler watches these and reports back.