Star Wars Episode IX - Rise of the Skywalker

I don't have a ton invested in SW, it's the same as Star Trek to me in that I'll watch the shows/movies but honestly don't care enough to get outraged or anything.

I liked Rogue One, the force awakens was a worse new hope, rey is a mary sue and I couldn't finish the last jedi. Lucas is a hack and the only real reason the first three movies were good is because there were people in place to reign his dumb ass in.


If the rumors are true that this movie will be worse than TLJ it's going to bomb hard.
 

Grizz said:

If the rumors are true that this movie will be worse than TLJ it's going to bomb hard.
 

TLJ made $1.3B worldwide, so even if ROS makes half of that, it'll still be hugely profitable.

Tom_Spangler said:

Grizz said:

If the rumors are true that this movie will be worse than TLJ it's going to bomb hard.
 

TLJ made $1.3B worldwide, so even if ROS makes half of that, it'll still be hugely profitable.

 

Doubtful. Disney lost money on TLJ after promotion expenses and their toy sales too such a dive that they really had to scramble to make investors unaware. There's a lot more to a movie then just the production costs.

Javelin said:

Doubtful. Disney lost money on TLJ after promotion expenses and their toy sales too such a dive that they really had to scramble to make investors unaware. There's a lot more to a movie then just the production costs.

Where did you get that information from? A movie that grossed $1.3B on a ~$300m budget is nowhere near a money loser, and there's got to be some pretty damning evidence to convince me otherwise. They even claim a $417 million profit which they would never do if there wasn't actually an $834 million profit as it would be too close to fair to any cast that has a stake in equity. Disney is pro at "Hollywood accounting," and that accounting claims a loss on massively profitable movies, not the other way around.

In reply to dculberson :

Their own shareholder reports. It was heavily covered in mainstream media. A movie that nets half will definitely not be profitable.

In reply to Javelin :

So did you get it from the shareholder report or from mainstream media? I'm not sure what you mean by "A movie that nets half will definitely not be profitable." (net is usually net, as in after expenses.. so net is usually by definition profit.)

I like reading people's opinions of TLJ because everyone came away from the movie with a different opinion. My best friend thinks its one of the best of the series, but obviously the holiday special is the best of the whole movie line.

But seriously- I loved what TLJ tried to do, and I think the ideas it had are great. I don't like how they did it, and I don't like how the whole movie feels like it's 3 stitched together. Pacing is all off, the ship segments feel like Fury Road for some reason, and that moral on rich people planet? The whole "this is who REALLY runs the Empire!" line? It's crowbar'd in, versus great bits about deconstructing Poe and Finn, Rey just being a *person*, and the idea that Luke was just a man waaaayyyy in over his head. Also, Luke's "end" was perfect and I can't imagine anything better for him.

Also, why is the rebellion so weak all the time? They're always pulling off some huge stunt in movies and the empire treats them as a massive threat, only to have them change tone suddenly and imply they're on a razor's edge and falling apart. It was so tone-deaf in TLJ it was one thing I'd remove entirely, or imply that reinforcements are so far away (and the empire force so huge) they can't expect any support because they couldn't afford the battle of attrition. Couple that with a "we're going radio-dark cause we're near, we'll find all in a bit" line and suddenly the dash for the planet makes more sense.

Also, hard take- I believe Rouge 1 is worse than the prequels. I have to sit and *think* about Rouge 1 to remember anything about it, and when I do I realize it continues this whole plotline of the republic hanging seemingly everything on threads from reasons to fight/invade/commit forces ect. to tactics. I like scrappy forces taking on the big guys- I don't like the 6th storyline of scrappy forces with a cooked-up on the fly plan taking on the bad guys. The prequels are also full of goofy memes and can be laughed at and enjoyed for some wild stuff- Rouge 1 is just kinda *there* to me and the only character I felt for was the Empire trucker who got roped into it all and had little choice.

That was my take on R1 as well. Couple in the fact that the big suspense at the end was all about getting the information out to the rebellion.... I mean, we knew they all died and we knew the rebellion got the death star plans. How do you build suspense when 90% of the auience knows the outcome 40 years ahead of the movie release? Amateurs.

I like what I'm hearing about Luke in TLJ, I didn't mind his part at all from the start. I know he was generally accepted in the old canon as the most powerful Jedi ever, but he was an orphan, thrown into a leading role in a galaxy changing rebellion, but he was still just a dude. Thinking on it now I think that was probably the best part of the sequel trilogy so far. Luke's story. Luke was Star Wars for me. The fact that he made a mistake and felt enough shame to run while he must have known the dark side/empire was still a threat. Then he pulls a stunt that completely fooled Kylo (who we can only asume is stronger), saved the good guys, and sacrificed himself in the process... That is legendary. That is Star Wars.

In reply to barefootskater :

Many Bothans died for the rebellion to get the second Death Star plans. There literally was no backstory on the original ones.

In reply to Javelin :

Thats not the way I remember it. They knew of the vent from plans they had recovered... Time for a re-watch.

barefootskater said:

In reply to Javelin :

Thats not the way I remember it. Time for a rewatch.

He's correct. I made the same mistake when R1 came out.

Two things- Rogue 1, not Rouge 1. please.

I would have had no problem at all, if Kirk and Spock got together as death approached and figured out that one of them could warp the Enterprise through the ship chasing them to their inevitable death.  The fact that the dimwit in the swanky dress waited until almost everyone else was dead, and didn't consult with someone who might have pointed out that they could jump one of the smaller ships through it earlier, perhaps figuring out how to set it on autopilot...

Plot holes you could fly an Imperial cruise through.

Tom_Spangler said:

barefootskater said:

In reply to Javelin :

Thats not the way I remember it. Time for a rewatch.

He's correct. I made the same mistake when R1 came out.

Yup.

Here is actually a well written article that explains a lot of the issues with Disney's acquisition of Star Wars and the reasons behind the failures. Note that it's not a rabble of biased fans. They make some great comparisons to Disney's handling of the MCU, and why it was so successful, and breakdown why the toy and theme park sales have declined surrounding the new characters.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/12/15/has-disneys-star-wars-acquisition-been-a-failure.aspx

I'm looking forward to ROS as a movie, not as a Star Wars movie. But I also don't really see any of the other new movies as Star Wars movies either. I do enjoy the new movies for their entertainment value though, even with the problems in TLJ. I just have so much history with the books and extended universe that is no longer canon according to Disney, that I can't fully get into the new ones. The story told in the books is just so much better than these movies are. Plus, Disney couldn't even come up with an original name for Han and Leia's son. Ben is supposed to be Luke's kid. How hard is it to name him something different and not just E36M3 all over the huge number of people that are invested in the books? 

Lets say I have been totally out of the loop on Star wars..   Seen the Original 3 movies years ago..

In what order should I watch the others?  Does it matter?

ronholm said:

Lets say I have been totally out of the loop on Star wars..   Seen the Original 3 movies years ago..

 

In what order should I watch the others?  Does it matter?

Do a search, noob. 

No, just kidding. We actually had a thread about that a while back. (And are we nerds or what? And if someone wants to bump that thread back to the top, go for it.)

And for the record, I also enjoyed Rogue One. It was sad. You knew, going in, that no one was going to survive. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Thank you for making me lol!

We have tickets to see ROS this Friday.  I'll say I'm curious to see where it goes.  We have several theories in our household ;-)

In reply to David S. Wallens :

   Thanks!    

Kinda hard to say it for someone who saw the world premier at the mann chinese when I was 8, but rogue 1 is the best of the lot. Will go see this new one and hope for the best.

Seems like Rogue One is either loved or hated. And, yes, I saw the original in the theater, too. 

(Don't make me dig out my Darth Vader head collector case.)

+1 on the love for Rogue One. 

ronholm said:

In reply to David S. Wallens :

   Thanks!    

 

Cool. So, when's the watch party?

Indy-Guy said:

+1 on the love for Rogue One. 

Honestly, I think I enjoyed this one more than all the others outside the original trilogy.

Paul_VR6 said:

Indy-Guy said:

+1 on the love for Rogue One. 

Honestly, I think I enjoyed this one more than all the others outside the original trilogy.

And I, frankly, liked Rogue One far better than Return of the Jedi, which I thought was fairly stupid.  I wish the Ewoks had never existed.  The only thing that prevents them from being as annoying and pointless as Jarjar is that they don't talk.