Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

[maryanddavid]

Really enjoyed that.  A bit too long, and the odd bits like Del Toro seemed a bit pointless and the 'why didn't they drive the ship into the other in the first place before the escape pods were blown up' was annoying.
Nit picking aside great humour and action, and I suppose I don't have as much invested in the whole Star Wars franchise as others that I can be entertained by it and leave it at that. I had five with me from ages 9-15 and they all LOVED it, that's another couple of trilogies sorted so;)

[Link Prime]

Was it me, or was the whole thing a cartoon version of the Battlestar Galactica episode “33”?

Yes indeed! I had the same vibe.

The only difference being that '33' was a better scripted, well acted and superiorly executed slice of sci-fi action.

Hand on slightly broken heart, TLJ was the worst film I've seen in the cinema in years.

No melodramatic fanboy tantrum of course- I do realise, as with many other previously beloved entertainments, that I'm far (far) older and probably not the target audience anymore. C'est la vie.

Post script: I did learn the invaluable life lesson that the super rich are an evil nasty bunch.
Thanks for hammering that one home in the superfluous 45 minute sub plot, Hollywood.

[Spaceghost]

I loved this latest installment in the series of space adventure films for children. And so did my children.

Genuinely thought it was the best Star Wars since the original trilogy. Couldn't be happier about Rey's parentage, loved the interaction between Kylo Ren and Rey. Luke was fantastic. Exciting space battles and plot development.

The only bit I didn't like was Finn and Rose's pointless side mission, but otherwise, brilliant.

[JamesC]

I loved this latest installment in the series of space adventure films for children. And so did my children.

Genuinely thought it was the best Star Wars since the original trilogy. Couldn't be happier about Rey's parentage, loved the interaction between Kylo Ren and Rey. Luke was fantastic. Exciting space battles and plot development.

The only bit I didn't like was Finn and Rose's pointless side mission, but otherwise, brilliant.

This is like a post from a Dr Who thread - ‘it’s for children, so it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense’. That does a disservice to the younglings.
Yes it was an enjoyable slice of crash, bang, wallop but it could have (and should have) been so much more.

[SIP]

If it was just aimed at kids, I would argue we would not have had the original trilogy cast inclusion. These films are aged at the full range of Star Wars fans, not just kids.

[Spaceghost]

As I said though, I really enjoyed it and I'm 46.

I suppose it depends on what you expect from a new Star Wars film really. There were issues with the pacing here and there, and some of the humour felt forced. As I've said, one whole section could have basically been cut without it effecting the story, but it did more right than wrong in my eyes.

I don't really know what "It could have been so much more" means I suppose.

[JamesC]

As I said though, I really enjoyed it and I'm 46.

I suppose it depends on what you expect from a new Star Wars film really. There were issues with the pacing here and there, and some of the humour felt forced. As I've said, one whole section could have basically been cut without it effecting the story, but it did more right than wrong in my eyes.

I don't really know what "It could have been so much more" means I suppose.

I think small tweaks would have made a world of difference.
For example, the Star Destroyers just weren’t a threat at all. From the beginning scene it was made clear that you could fly almost across the bow of one with little danger.
Hux, likewise, was shown to be utterly undermined in every scene. The First Order fleet is supposed to be the main threat to the future of the reistance yet their ships are nerfed and their commander is a snotty nosed coward.
Now Snoke is dead and Kylo is in charge. A character we know to be unpredictable and dangerous in close quarters (though Rey can fight him to a standstill and he was almost bested by a handful of red guards) but who has been shown as a rather bad military commander.
I’d argue that in a basic goodies vs baddies story you need a credible threat.

[Bolt-01]

I'm prepared to be told I'm wrong here, but the Rose/Finn mission came about because Poe deliberately kept Laura Dern out of the loop, right?

Poe was demoted by Leia, and because he's a cocky fly-boy he put Derns nose out of joint so she told him to bugger off and leave the decisions to folks with more experience. So he (Poe) lets Rose & Finn pop off on on a maguffin hunt which if he'd been more mature and told Dern about she could have told him it was a waste of time, saving lives as then DJ wouldn't have ruined the cloaking of the escape...

So, a lot of this was on Poe, or did I miss something?

Oh, and I really enjoyed it. Thought the cast did a grand job.

[Muon]

It is true that the First Order seemed pretty incompetent in this film. The rebels were pretty shite at their jobs as well.

At the same time, it's easy to forget how ridiculous some of the stuff in the first movies was. I accepted it as a kid, but I remember my dad laughing his ass off at some of it or just getting bored and going out of the room to get a cup of tea.

Just off the top of my head, there's the cream of the Empire's troops failing to find a load of people hiding under some floorboards on the Millenium Falcon. Then there's the Falcon escaping with a load of space trash in the second movie. Then of course there's the Storm Troopers getting bested by some cute bears in ROTJ...

[JamesC]

It is true that the First Order seemed pretty incompetent in this film. The rebels were pretty shite at their jobs as well.

At the same time, it's easy to forget how ridiculous some of the stuff in the first movies was. I accepted it as a kid, but I remember my dad laughing his ass off at some of it or just getting bored and going out of the room to get a cup of tea.

Just off the top of my head, there's the cream of the Empire's troops failing to find a load of people hiding under some floorboards on the Millenium Falcon. Then there's the Falcon escaping with a load of space trash in the second movie. Then of course there's the Storm Troopers getting bested by some cute bears in ROTJ...

All true. The storm troopers were notoriously rubbish in the original films.
I think most people would agree that Vader and the Emperor were credible threats though.
As for the imperial navy it was made clear that the Star Destroyers could have wiped out the imperial fleet at the end of Jedi, but they were just trying to keep them from escaping while the emperor showed off his new weapon.
Also, the escape from Hoth was only possible because the transporter’s escape route was being covered by a planet based cannon. I think they did a good job of convincing the audience of the might of the Imperial forces while still having the rebels win.

[Theblazeuk]

I am a little confused by just how much everyone loves it, but it was just ok in my books with a lot of flaws (mainly in the superfluous plot that takes up 70% of the screen time, the continued retread of a past movie - Empire this team - and the 'twist' with Luke at the end that's completely undermined in the next minute). As much as I enjoyed stuff like the X-Wing taking on the capital ship, it set the tone for empty spectacle that continued throughout (e.g. the millenium falcon, one ship, is now able to distract an entire fleet's worth of air support)

[sheridan]

I enjoyed it, but can't fault alot of the issues here. One of my issues with both of the new ones (and to a lesser extent i think in Rogue One too?) is the way hyperspace is basically teleporting exactly wherever you need to be whenever you need to be, until the narrative says not. For some reason in the originals I had more of a sense of it taking time to get from A to B.

There was a slight sense of the in TLJ where we see

But you're right. In ANH Luke, Han, Chewie etc...have a good chat, play some games, do some training etc...

But how long does it take for a raven to get from North of the Eastwatch to Dragonstone?

[GrudgeJohnDeed]

I thought it was pretty bad. Tons of clunky dialogue, unsatisfying plot cul-de-sacs in an overly long film and my god, what did they do with Skywalker?? He was completely neutered and squandered. Still too many riffs on scenes from the old films for me too, and some bad acting.. Daisy Ridley and Domhnall Gleeson being the main offenders. It was also trying to introduce and juggle too many characters I'd say. It was just a sprawling mess.

[Dandontdare]

Saw this yesterday and have just caught up on the last few pages of this thread - boy, there are some nit-picky grumps around here! Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I see it as (heresy) just a movie, and I'm not quite invested in "how I think it should be" as others

It does have faults and seemed a bit repetitive, but I think a lot of the problem is that there are too many characters that had to have some plot, whether it was needed or not. This instalment was all about Luke and his relationship to Ren and Rei, and to a lesser extent Leia, but so much of the plot involved pointless side-stories for Finn, Rose and Poe - I thought Rose was entirely superfluous, and I'd forgotten Poe even existed (what is he even in these films for, apart from a replacement "mouthy fly-boy" character?). Even so, the casino-heist section was entertaining enough in itself.(sidenote on Poe - he doesn't seem to bat an eyelid about all his dead and dying comrades but gets very emotional about his droid - weird)

There were more than enough great things to outweigh the plot holes however - I thought Hamill was superb and I loved the 3-version flashback of the end of the temple - didn't have any problems with Ridley as some seem to - she doesn't say much but I liked her simmering suppressed anger. The visuals and effects were as good as we've come to expect - Skelig Michael was a great location and the creatures were amazing (my favourites were the fishy caretakers)  I particularly like the way ships seem to just pop out of warp with a bang, and the depiction of what happens when you go to warp while pointed at another ship was really well done. Liked the smart way Snoke was taken out.

I was surprised that Leia survived - I assumed they would re-edit to show her dying in the final battle - expect a CGI heroic death in the next one

[dweezil2]

I thought it was pretty bad. Tons of clunky dialogue, unsatisfying plot cul-de-sacs in an overly long film and my god, what did they do with Skywalker?? He was completely neutered and squandered. Still too many riffs on scenes from the old films for me too, and some bad acting.. Daisy Ridley and Domhnall Gleeson being the main offenders. It was also trying to introduce and juggle too many characters I'd say. It was just a sprawling mess.

I'm normally a fan of Gleeson, but he seemed to be auditioning for panto in this.