dex14

Michael Corvin

So if you don't think they've put out a decent Star Wars movie since 1980, why keep going back for more? There have been SEVEN movies since then. You would think you'd call it quits after, I dunno, one or two.

For more anecdotal evidence, I loved it and three friends that saw it said the same, and specifically used the word "love." We're all huge SW fans that grew up with the OT.

Similar thoughts, but due to the casino plot, Finn's character really took a step back compared to TFA. He had a much better part in the first film.

Well said on the new Trilogy.

I haven't revisited Rogue One since I saw it in the theater. I really liked it but it's hard to give a shit about a bunch of random poorly developed characters. I figure I'll revisit it when Disney gets around to giving it the 4k treatment.

Maxflier

You should throw up a poll. Or get Oldboy to do it.

fujishig

Yeah, the problem with the casino plot was not only was it boring, it was pointless and actually almost wiped out the rebellion. I mean I like that their grandiose plan to target the one weak link in the Empire's big bad weapon actually failed for once, but it made that whole cgi-fest of a side mission just worthless (ok, ok, we got force broom boy and his rebel sympathizers out of it). And, to me, that Rose/Finn thing was superfluous as well (though again, I understand the overarching theme of the rebellion not winning via sacrifice, even though, well, the crippled Snoke's ship through sacrifice).

JeremyM

My brother falls into that category--wasn't crazy about TFA, absolutely loved TLJ. (He also loved Rogue One.)

I rewatched TFA this weekend after seeing TLJ. I think they tonally fit very well together, but I'm not sure which one I prefer as of yet.

Dan

well-said. Today, that's how I'm feeling about it. I give TLJ a tiny edge over TFA in terms of personal enjoyment, but Rogue One is above both.

Big Boy Laroux

Heck, i think it should have been Leia. What a badass way to go out that would have been.

Even if Fisher hadn't died in real life, they should have planned to kill her in this one, and keep Luke for a bit in Episode IX. It's been said in this thread, and i agree - she is the weakest actor of the remaining trio. Why even plan to keep her for 3 movies? Instead we get an anticlimactic sendoff for Luke, and Leia is still alive and will likely die offscreen???

Supermallet

Anticlimactic??

Big Boy Laroux

Yep, i loved the force projection scene, very well done. But i'm talking about the actual "death". I get that he was at peace, understood. Hey there's the sun! see ya. Poof. Pretty much the very definition of anticlamctic - "causing disappointment at the end of an exciting or impressive series of events."

Ky-Fi

Pretty much concur, although I MIGHT end up putting TLJ ahead of Rogue One--not sure yet. I think TLJ was more uneven than Rogue One, but it might have hit a few higher points for me.

Kal-El

So are you saying that Yoda's death in Jedi (return) was also anticlimactic? I'm guessing Obi Wan's doesn't count since he got "cut down" in the midst of a lightsaber battle?

How else would you have ended it? Not being snarky/sarcastic. Genuine question. Because I thought it was perfect the way it happened.

The Cow

Well, pretty much any death you don't want to happen will fit that. Obi-wan, Yoda, Darth Maul, etc..

I consider that whole series of events his "death", and not anti-climactic at all.

Edit: oops, Kal-El kinda hit on that already.

Why So Blu?

I guess folks wanted Luke cut down or just walk off into the sunset as opposed to evaporating like he did.

stvn1974

Just got back from my fifth viewing and everything clicked this time for some reason. The things that seemed to bug me before made more sense and it feels shorter and more compact each time I see it. New rating is 5/5 and I love it just as much as The Force Awakens and Rogue One Now.

Also I thought the 3D was really well done.

fujishig

I think people probably wanted him around for another movie...

Big Boy Laroux

This is it for me. I didn't want him to die in this film. Look, i don't hate that he died. he was going to die sometime. But to me, it was anticlimactic. felt almost tacked on - fall off the rock, look up, sit again, everything's fine again, vanish. I'm fine with him becoming one with the force, it was just the execution.

Yoda isn't really a comparison to me - totally different set of circumstances. Yoda wasn't hiking up island mountains and pole vaulting over sea chasms days before his death.

Trevor

Supermallet

It was a last ditch effort to save his friends that used all of his strength. And he didn’t just disappear, there were clear shots of him looking towards the horizon with hope and light in his eyes. I found it incredibly moving and the most fitting end any character in the entire saga has gotten.

Joe Schmoe

When Luke was just a padawan on Dagobah, he sensed his friends were in pain, and when Han died in TFA, non-Jedi Leia sensed that something sad had occurred. Doesn't this mean Jedi Master Luke should have already had an inkling that Han was dead or something awful had happened to him before he asked Rey where Han was in TLJ?

mcnabb

This is a great video because a lot of justification by fans who like this movie is that RJ answered every mystery box differently then we theorized so it’s totally original and something we weren’t expecting.

This is what I just don’t get because a movie should not be built on fooling the audience at every turn. Why is Apollo 13 a great movie when we know EXACTLY what happens? Because Ron Howard builds a great narrative throughout and even though we know the ending, the movie still works because he built up the drama through the characters.

Again, I’m not taking a shot at fans who like the movie. I’m taking a shot at fans who are calling out fans like me who didn’t like it (including Rian Johnson) because we didn’t get the answers we wanted and the story didn’t fit our story.

I don’t know when movies shifted to trying to fake out the fans for 2 hours as it seems like RJ was so bent on giving us a different answer to every mystery box then expected, it sort of overshadows the narrative.

So let’s say Luke takes the Lightsaber and doesn’t flip it over his shoulder, that’s not the point. It’s more about how it is executed and how it effects the narrative then about faking people out.

Obi-Wanma

Luke had closed himself off to the force.

nmr1723

When Luke was teaching Rey about the force she didn't sense him at all. He had completely cut himself off form the force at this point, so it's not a surprise he didn't know about Han dying or that Chewie was with Rey at the time.

He was on that island to die and I think Rey got there just in time to stop him the first time. That's my take anyway. He had his white robes on and immediately took them off while Rey was there. He did not put the white robes back on until his final confrontation with Ben and his ascension into the force.

tanman

https://movieweb.com/rogue-one-last-jedi-easter-egg/

See THIS is really awesome and a great example of what the brain trust can do with simple threads that run through all the movies. Simple things like this add a lot to the overall Star Wars experience and I just don't understand why they can be consistent and plan for something like this but throw away major plot points and characters that they actually built up.

kefrank

I could only get through the first minute of that video. A thick layer of snark on the same shallow complaints isn't going to endear anyone to that point of view. There are nuanced and well-stated sources with which to make your case (I've read a couple of articles in that vein, though I can't find what I thought was the best of them now), but that video is definitely not one of them.

DJariya

Several colleagues of mine were talking about this movie today at work. We got into some heated debates. A few hated this movie.

One said....So who the hell is this Rian Johnson guy who directed this movie? I said he directed Looper and a few episodes of Breaking Bad. He was baffled about that. He said why the hell would Lucasfilm hire this guy with such a tiny resume to do such a massive scale movie?

I think it's funny how I read many people touting Rian Johnson as some up and coming filmmaker and now he's being regarded as some kind of hack to these Star Wars fans who hated The Last Jedi.