Jay

SilverWook said:

Delicieuxz said:

The Nazi imagery scenes in TFA were beneath anything Star Wars, and the film jumped the shark at that point. Also, Hans supposed death was silly in so many ways: On a bridge over a chasm, mimicking the Luke and Vader scene at Cloud City in ESB… father facing his son, who is literally a Vader wannabe… the beam of light on them, which fades as the son makes his attack…

I have never associated the award ceremony with Nazism. Just because it’s visually similar to a Nazi rally doesn’t mean they evoke the same feelings.

The speech in TFA was definitely Third Reich-ish. There’s really no comparison to the award ceremony in ANH.

That’s not to say I have a problem with the First Order being comparable to Nazis. Kind of trite and easy in terms of making them appear evil, but it didn’t bother me as much as other problems TFA has.

I can’t remember if there’s a Github issue related to this or not, but yeah, it’s been in the back of my mind for some time. Long signatures are annoying, particularly on mobile devices. It would be nice to have the ability to hide them.

I’m also planning to collapse nested quote blocks as well. Those have gotten out of hand.

luckydube56 said:

Fans who did not like TFA did not like it for reasons they cannot quite put their finger on.

True in some cases, but I think some of us have been pretty specific about what we don’t like, and in my case, most of it has nothing to do with logical problems.

Some of the complaints have been way out there, though. I don’t love TFA, but I don’t think it’s awful either.

TV’s Frink said:

Don’t think I don’t see what you did there, and don’t think I agree with you…

I think I need Threepio to translate this.

luckydube56 said:

I knew the first Star Wars had charm when C3P0 and R2D2 scamper across a narrow corridor of the Tantive IV while Stormtroopers and Rebel fighters were shooting at each other. The scene is utterly ridiculous and simultaneously wonderful and engaging because of that fact. In the midst of this deadly situation, those two goof ball droids walked right across and managed to not get shot! Even my child mind could perceive the irony.

I always thought this scene foreshadowed their coming adventure, and the trilogy as a whole really. These two were blessed by fate and bound to come through unscathed — after being repaired a few times, of course 😃

It’s important to remember that the Force is a guiding agent that pushes characters in the Star Wars universe together and into “coincidental” circumstances, and their actions are an entertaining blend of destiny and self-motivation, but it can be difficult to discern the difference between the Force and just plain lazy writing.

TV’s Frink said:

darklordoftech said:

The lighting-pacing-music combination that gives Star Wars its identity isn’t there.

The lighting-pacing-music of “Star Wars” was over thirty years ago.

So was the plot of TFA, but that doesn’t seem to bother a lot of people.

TV’s Frink said:

So they went into battle with non-lethal riot control gear? And one of them used this non-lethal riot control gear in the middle of a chaotic battle to call out and fight a dude with a lightsaber?

I really disliked that scene. Now it makes even less sense.

imperialscum said:

There is plenty of thinking material besides lasers and lightsabers and trench runs.

I like Star Wars enough to have started a web site dedicated to it and kept it running for almost 13 years. They’re great movies and a lot of fun. That said, there are reasons why enjoying Star Wars — every episode, I through VII — requires one to turn off their brain a bit and “enjoy the ride”. There’s nothing wrong with that, but let’s not assign more depth than is actually there in order to build the films up. They’re not thinking films, and that’s fine.

imperialscum said:

There is a big difference between just holding an opinion and mocking people who don’t hold the same opinion.

I didn’t mock anyone. I implied that modern moviegoers are less discerning, which I think is largely true. General consensus on Citizen Kane is that it’s a cinema classic. For a long time now, most film fans have thought it’s something special; your opinion is clearly in the minority and doesn’t negate the general consensus.

Please note that I never said liking action/adventure movies doesn’t make one less discerning. I love action movies. I can watch Demolition Man and Total Recall (the original) over and over and love them every time, but that doesn’t make Citizen Kane boring in comparison.

imperialscum said:
The way I see it, Citizen Kane just doesn’t have enough depth, width and appeal to provide the grounds for “geeking out over” it. It is just a boring snobbish film.

I found it pretty riveting the first time I saw it. The lack of conversation about it by modern filmgoers says more about them than the movie. Or it could be that it’s been talked about to death already.

I like lasers and lightsabers and trench runs, but I also like thinking sometimes, too.

Possessed said:

I thought the blu rays of TNG movies looked pretty good.

They’re not the worst I’ve seen, but they don’t look like film at all. DNR’d almost to the point of looking like video.

Tobar said:

Zinda, his face black, his eyes red.

Kiteo, his eyes closed.

The Beast at Tanagra.

Paramount and CBS said:

Star Trek is a treasured franchise

Which is why we shit all over it with mediocre theatrical releases and refuse to remaster any of the TOS and TNG films besides WOK.

First use of JEDIT?

http://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/631198

Except that Billy Dee Williams was perfect for the role, and there’s nothing to suggest that he was chosen for any other reason.

I would prefer this type of speculation be left out of the discussion, please.

Alderaan said:

As for Finn, his character was all over the map. I don’t blame this on Boyega, because it appears to me to have been a writing problem. Some producer in a script meeting must have decided that it would be a good idea to have a black stormtrooper in the film, because that’s pretty much all he was. If the plot needed him to be scared, he was scared. If it needed him to be brave, he was brave. If the plot needed him to be reckless, he was reckless. If it needed him to get beat up by a random stormtrooper, he was overmatched and beaten up by a random stormtrooper. If it needed him to hold his own against and injure an experienced force user … well, he did that too.

That’s basically all he was, just a black stormtrooper good guy because well, that’s unique isn’t it?

Be careful with racial discussions, please. It’s really easy for that to veer off into a bad place. There’s no reason to assume Boyega was cast in the part other than they felt he was good for the role.

Alderaan said:

One of the worst parts of the film was when the CGI prequel monsters got loose on Han’s freighter. That whole part of the film was not Star Wars. The tone was wrong. Anyone else feel the same?

Yes.

Funny that you call them “prequel monsters” because that’s exactly what I was thinking during that scene. Just dumb.

TV’s Frink said:

Actually there are many of us here who rate TPM highest of the prequels.

I don’t doubt that. I mean that I don’t dislike it as much as most here do. Maybe I have the wrong impression, though.

captainsolo said:

This is how I rank them as films standalone.
ANH-4 stars out of 4. Masterpiece.
ESB- 4 stars out of four. Masterpiece.
ROTJ-4 stars out of 4. Simplistic at times serial adventure.
TPM-3.5 stars out of four. Despite numerous narrative flaws this is still a memorable exercise in scifi.
AOTC-2 stars out of four.
ROTS-1.5 stars out of four.
TFA-1.5 stars out of four.

But most people simply say I don’t like anything…

Can’t say I agree with your ratings for ROTJ and TPM, but I do have a more positive opinion of TPM than most other members here. It’s the only one of the prequels that feels like a Star Wars movie to me, and despite its many problems, it gave us an awesome lightsaber duel and one of the best soundtracks in the entire franchise.

Maybe I’d like TFA more if they slowed down the pacing a bit and added more exposition to flesh out the story. That wouldn’t solve all its issues, but I think it would help. It begs for an extended cut.

SilverWook said:

Because nobody ever got sucked into the sand without much explanation in any other movie? Lawrence of Arabia and Max Max Beyond Thunderdome spring to mind.

Pointing to other movies as an excuse (especially Thunderdome) doesn’t really cut it. And I love Mad Max.

I actually didn’t think much of it myself, and I didn’t even remember Rey’s line about quicksand. It’s just an example of lazy writing (“we need X to happen, so let’s introduce Y a bit earlier”), and the least egregious in TFA by far.

The Stormtrooper sword fight was just dumb. Finn swinging around a lightsaber against an experienced Force user was dumb. Darth Vader’s torched mask could’ve beaten Finn with less difficulty.

And now that we have inanimate objects serving as vessels for the Force, why not? Vader’s mask can go head to head with Luke’s severed hand in Ep. VIII. Yellow Yoda probably has that in a chest someplace, along with Luke’s X-Wing keys.

TV’s Frink said:

Rey mentions the quicksand to BB-8 earlier.

Writer #1: “Hey, we need to disappear Poe’s TIE fighter after they crash.”
Writer #2: “Have Rey say something about quicksand in an earlier scene. Done.”
Writer #1: “Awesome! Lunchtime.”

Same deal with Finn and his saber skills.

Writer #1: “How can Finn possibly fight Ren in a saber battle and not get sliced to pieces?”
Writer #2: “Show him fighting a bit earlier with a Stormtrooper who has a saber-like weapon.”
Writer #1: “What value would sword fighting be to a Stormtrooper?”
Writer #2: “It’s Star Wars, man. Just shut off your brain and enjoy the ride.”

Alderaan said:

TavorX said:

As someone whom really likes TFA, I think some of us are being too rude on those that didn’t like it.

Probably likewise.

We’re all passionate about this subject, so it’s flying in both directions right now.

We need to respect others’ opinions and not let it get too heated or personal.

Bingowings said:

I thought as a forum we were open to opinions and observations? I think he makes lots of perfectly valid points. On topic points too.

Exactly. TFA is sloppy, even for Star Wars.

Even though we initially wanted all spoilers within the official review thread, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea for those with less than glowing reviews to have a place to gather and vent their frustrations.

Bingowings said:

I was tempted to put it below ROTS because despite the obvious flaws in all the prequels I do remember leaving the cinema with that ‘cinema buzz’ of visiting a fictional realm and returning. When I left TFA I felt" hmmm that happened". The performances of the leads were great it looked great but it felt cynical albeit a more sophisticated cynical than Prometheus or The Phantom Menace. No buzz.

Same here. Felt like just another night at the movies.

Nice read. Thanks.

Bingowings said:

4.TFA 65 balls

Have you posted a review in the official review thread? If so, I didn’t see it. I’m curious to know your thoughts because we both rank TFA slightly below ROTJ, which seems to be the minority opinion.

moviefreakedmind said:

I agree with TV’s Frink in that this movie will not end up like TPM in a few years.

I’m not saying TFA will be as panned as TPM in 5 years. I was only trying to illustrate a point. I do think some of the glowing reviews will give way to more realistic appraisals, though.

This movie, while it had its faults, still certainly has a lot of great moments in it that are undeniably thrilling.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this 😃