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Toyman01
Toyman01 MegaDork
4/9/16 7:41 a.m.
Huckleberry wrote: I just saw TFA last week. It was basically A New Hope remake and chock full of "meh". I didn't hate it but I didn't care about it either. I will probably see this one when it hits Amazon prime too but I'm not making a special trip for anymore Star Wars crap until someone makes one that a 12yr old thinks is half as good as the Clone Wars cartoon.

QFT. I saw it a couple of days ago. Meh, is a good way to describe it.

Beer Baron
Beer Baron UltimaDork
4/9/16 9:24 a.m.

I expected more Bothans to die to bring us this information.

paranoid_android74
paranoid_android74 SuperDork
4/9/16 9:47 a.m.
mad_machine wrote: looks like they played with the armor again.. maybe some sort of special forces?

Yeah, I don't know. The first time I watched it, it struck me as Capt. Phasma-like.

NickD
NickD HalfDork
4/9/16 10:30 a.m.
David S. Wallens wrote:
HappyAndy wrote: I'm cornfuzed. Where does this fit in the timeline?

I see no Bothans. I thought many Bothans died to bring us this information.

As for the prequels, Episode 1 aside, I really liked them. Honestly, and I'm used to getting flamed for this, Episode 3 was my all-time favorite.

codrus
codrus Dork
4/9/16 11:48 a.m.
NickD wrote:
David S. Wallens wrote:
HappyAndy wrote: I'm cornfuzed. Where does this fit in the timeline?
I see no Bothans. I thought many Bothans died to bring us this information. As for the prequels, Episode 1 aside, I really liked them. Honestly, and I'm used to getting flamed for this, Episode 3 was my all-time favorite.

You're thinking of the second Death Star in ROTJ. That wouldn't be as good of a movie because it was deliberate misinformation which the Emperor was using to try to trap the rebel fleet.

NickD
NickD HalfDork
4/9/16 12:46 p.m.
codrus wrote:
NickD wrote:
David S. Wallens wrote:
HappyAndy wrote: I'm cornfuzed. Where does this fit in the timeline?
I see no Bothans. I thought many Bothans died to bring us this information. As for the prequels, Episode 1 aside, I really liked them. Honestly, and I'm used to getting flamed for this, Episode 3 was my all-time favorite.
You're thinking of the second Death Star in ROTJ. That wouldn't be as good of a movie because it was deliberate misinformation which the Emperor was using to try to trap the rebel fleet.

Oh, whoops. It's been at least a decade since I watched 4-6. I will admit that TFA was a little bit lackluster. Very nice eye candy but the storytelling wasn't particularly creative. Maybe it will ramp up in VIII.

I also nominate Kylo Ren as one of the worst villains ever. A) He looks like a total tool with his helmet off. B) He throws stupid temper tantrums whenever things don't go his way. C) He keeps his helmet on a table that is covered with the ashes of people he killed, like some sort of edgy emo high-schooler D) Despite all his training and supposed power, he gets his ass royally handed to him by someone who has no training and had never held a lightsaber before then.

novaderrik
novaderrik UltimaDork
4/9/16 12:52 p.m.

to be fair, he was using the force to keep his guts inside his belly after Chewie shot him with his space laser crossbow thing while he was fighting in the forest..

NickD
NickD HalfDork
4/9/16 12:55 p.m.

I certainly hope they don't try to redeem him and make him a good guy later on down the road. He stabbed Harrison Ford, he deserves to die.

RossD
RossD UltimaDork
4/9/16 1:13 p.m.

Well Harrison did say he thought Han should have died in the original movies.

I too liked II and III, if you take out every Anikan scene without Obi Wan

Beer Baron
Beer Baron UltimaDork
4/9/16 1:19 p.m.
NickD wrote: Oh, whoops. It's been at least a decade since I watched 4-6. I will admit that TFA was a little bit lackluster. Very nice eye candy but the storytelling wasn't particularly creative. Maybe it will ramp up in VIII.

I am reserving judgment until Ep. VIII. So much of Star Wars mythology is about cyclical conflicts, and how different characters deal with similar challenges. By that standard, TFA should hearken back to Ep. 1 and Ep. IV, and present very similar scenarios that the characters find themselves in. What I expect to change is how the different characters respond differently to the same sort of scenarios. So, we'll see if Ep. VIII and IX give us a different climax and resolution to the same exposition as the earlier cycles.

I also nominate Kylo Ren as one of the worst villains ever. A) He looks like a total tool with his helmet off. B) He throws stupid temper tantrums whenever things don't go his way. C) He keeps his helmet on a table that is covered with the ashes of people he killed, like some sort of edgy emo high-schooler D) Despite all his training and supposed power, he gets his ass royally handed to him by someone who has no training and had never held a lightsaber before then.

I actually think Kylo Ren is a better antagonist than Vader. Bear with me.

Yeah, Ren acts like a petulant child, because he is a petulant child. He is the angsty teenager that Anakin/Vader should have been. Vader was scary, but he actually wasn't a compelling villain (at least in Ep. IV). He was just dark and sinister. And what does Vader go around doing? He goes around force choking people that irritate him, and whining about how much cooler The Force is than the technological military might of the Empire. He's not a top general type. He goes into direct battle and needs Grand Mof Tarkin to "hold his leash". All that, and the dude is in his 30's or 40's. You'd think by that time, he'd learn to control his temper and that murdering officers for tactical errors doesn't help anything. Kylo Ren does the same thing, just more melodramatically. And Kylo Ren has the excuse of apparently being a 20y.o. with a mix of daddy issues, grand daddy worship, and being told how cool and special he is by his Sith lord master.

And he lost the fight (narrowly) because this was a classic Star Wars fight where the physical battle was a manifestation of the emotional struggle. And he only lost after: getting blasted by a Wookie-sized light artillery weapon, having conflicted feelings about poor life choices, fighting and winning a battle against a guy bigger than him who had been trained from childhood to be a soldier, and then facing a scrappy protagonist who grew up learning how to take care of herself, knew how to fight with melee weapons (although not specifically light sabers), was equally strong in the force (if not as trained), and wasn't winded and injured.

vwcorvette
vwcorvette SuperDork
4/9/16 3:15 p.m.
Beer Baron wrote:
NickD wrote: Oh, whoops. It's been at least a decade since I watched 4-6. I will admit that TFA was a little bit lackluster. Very nice eye candy but the storytelling wasn't particularly creative. Maybe it will ramp up in VIII.
I am reserving judgment until Ep. VIII. So much of Star Wars mythology is about cyclical conflicts, and how different characters deal with similar challenges. By that standard, TFA should hearken back to Ep. 1 and Ep. IV, and present very similar scenarios that the characters find themselves in. What I expect to change is how the different characters respond differently to the same sort of scenarios. So, we'll see if Ep. VIII and IX give us a different climax and resolution to the same exposition as the earlier cycles.
I also nominate Kylo Ren as one of the worst villains ever. A) He looks like a total tool with his helmet off. B) He throws stupid temper tantrums whenever things don't go his way. C) He keeps his helmet on a table that is covered with the ashes of people he killed, like some sort of edgy emo high-schooler D) Despite all his training and supposed power, he gets his ass royally handed to him by someone who has no training and had never held a lightsaber before then.
I actually think Kylo Ren is a better antagonist than Vader. Bear with me. Yeah, Ren acts like a petulant child, because he *is* a petulant child. He is the angsty teenager that Anakin/Vader should have been. Vader was scary, but he actually wasn't a compelling villain (at least in Ep. IV). He was just dark and sinister. And what does Vader go around doing? He goes around force choking people that irritate him, and whining about how much cooler The Force is than the technological military might of the Empire. He's not a top general type. He goes into direct battle and needs Grand Mof Tarkin to "hold his leash". All that, and the dude is in his 30's. You'd think by that time, he'd learn to control his temper and that murdering officers for tactical errors doesn't help anything. Kylo Ren does the same thing, just more melodramatically. And Kylo Ren has the excuse of apparently being a 20y.o. with a mix of daddy issues, grand daddy worship, and being told how cool and special he is by his Sith lord master. And he lost the fight (narrowly) because this was a classic Star Wars fight where the physical battle was a manifestation of the emotional struggle. And he only lost after: getting blasted by a Wookie-sized light artillery weapon, having conflicted feelings about poor life choices, fighting and winning a battle against a guy bigger than him who had been trained from childhood to be a soldier, and then facing a scrappy protagonist who grew up learning how to take care of herself, knew how to fight with melee weapons (although not specifically light sabers), was equally strong in the force (if not as trained), and wasn't winded and injured.

This.

mad_machine
mad_machine MegaDork
4/9/16 4:57 p.m.

I also want to add.. how much battle training does Kylo Ren actually have? I am betting that, while he did undo everything Luke put together to bring the Jedi Order back, he has very little "real world" use of that saber of his except for slashing machinery.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UltimaDork
4/9/16 7:48 p.m.

I'm really digging it.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
4/9/16 10:09 p.m.
jere
jere HalfDork
4/10/16 12:08 a.m.

Unless they steal another Kurosawa movie story line ( one that doesn't inject that stupid jar jar character) I'm not interested. With the advent of cgi/green screen and neverending licensing profits there is just no way anything good is going to show up. Even without cgi look what greed and a cult fan base spawned the impetuous " Star Wars Holiday Special" .Even with original cast members a completely unforgivable money grab.

Trans_Maro
Trans_Maro PowerDork
4/10/16 12:41 a.m.

Did they run out of toys to make from the last movie already?

BrokenYugo
BrokenYugo UltimaDork
4/10/16 1:01 a.m.

In reply to Trans_Maro:

Moichandising! Where the real money from the movie is made!

Brian
Brian MegaDork
4/10/16 8:29 a.m.

Greed, maybe. It's a business, the goal is to make money. Look at how they churn out the MCU, it is still good product.

Get off my lawn while I watch it again.

chandlerGTi
chandlerGTi UberDork
4/10/16 10:56 a.m.

Mark Hamill looks like a zombie in the interview at the end of that video; does that story line play in lol.

Looks like a good spin off!

mblommel
mblommel HalfDork
4/10/16 5:09 p.m.
Beer Baron wrote: I expected more Bothans to die to bring us this information.

Wouldn't that be the location and shield generator info on Endor for Death Star II in Return of the Jedi? (pushes up taped glasses and snorts)

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
4/10/16 9:11 p.m.

Know what this trailer doesn't have? Lightsabers.

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
4/10/16 10:00 p.m.

After Attack of the Clones, that's a good thing.

vladha
vladha Reader
4/10/16 11:01 p.m.
Huckleberry wrote: I just saw TFA last week. It was basically A New Hope remake and chock full of "meh". I didn't hate it but I didn't care about it either. I will probably see this one when it hits Amazon prime too but I'm not making a special trip for anymore Star Wars crap until someone makes one that a 12yr old thinks is half as good as the Clone Wars cartoon. This is it, exactly. But, the "meh" force was strong. All I could think about during TFA was "haven't they already made this movie". Saw the original in the theaters way back in the '70's. Not impressed with this new one at all. Wow, another Death Star device has to be destroyed. Wow, another dark side villain has to complete his "training" after being severely injured. Wow, another young person growing up on a desert planet who has the force, can pilot, etc... And seriously? Having luke skywalker look like a mirror image of obi wan... gaak! Nothing even remotely original here folks, move along.
MadScientistMatt
MadScientistMatt PowerDork
4/11/16 8:03 a.m.
NickD wrote: I also nominate Kylo Ren as one of the worst villains ever. A) He looks like a total tool with his helmet off. B) He throws stupid temper tantrums whenever things don't go his way. C) He keeps his helmet on a table that is covered with the ashes of people he killed, like some sort of edgy emo high-schooler D) Despite all his training and supposed power, he gets his ass royally handed to him by someone who has no training and had never held a lightsaber before then.

I think they made a fairly good call with Kylo Ren. Darth Vader may not have had much going for him except sinister, but he set the bar for sinister pretty high. He's got big shoes to fill (both metaphorically and literally). Any villain they came up as his replacement would get called a Darth Vader wannabe.

So they gave us a literal Darth Vader wannabe. A kid who wishes he could be Darth Vader. He doesn't really know what he is doing, and is either not fully under control or is trying to get his Dark Side mojo on by smashing things. This guy already shows some talents Vader didn't have, like stopping a blaster shot in mid-air. No, he's not as capable a villain as Vader. But he's got the potential to be a lot more dangerous, and the fact that he wants to be the next Darth Vader is rather disturbing.

Adrian_Thompson
Adrian_Thompson UltimaDork
4/11/16 8:32 a.m.

Man, people are hard to please. I thought TFA was a great movie. YEs it's an almost exact remake of ANH, but that was the point. For younger viewers it was a great swashbuckling adventure, for those of us who were in single digits when ANH came out it was an awesome trip down memory lane. Forget canonical lore, it was a good fun movie with a reasonably paced plot line, an engaging heroin, lots of fun action and visuals that sets up nicely for a sequel. for older folks it’s a great trip down memory lane and good memory bleach for TPM. It also does a great job of continuing the epic saga, toying up some loose ends, continuing the story line and opening new horizons. All in all I think it works for many people on many levels, some people just over think E36 M3.

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