View Poll Results: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017)
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
#3751
#3752
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
From the novelization for Star Wars (that came out before the movie):
Wikipedia mentions some of the background of the character established for ROTJ:
Now, the actual films don't depict most of this, but Palpatine's backstory was established during the creation of the OT, and released to the public via novelizations and other ancillary materials. Palpatine's backstory had already existed for over a decade when GL sat down to write the PT.
Wikipedia mentions some of the background of the character established for ROTJ:
Now, the actual films don't depict most of this, but Palpatine's backstory was established during the creation of the OT, and released to the public via novelizations and other ancillary materials. Palpatine's backstory had already existed for over a decade when GL sat down to write the PT.
So your argument is basically "it probably would've been crap, but at least it was planned in advance." Personally, I'm fine with the story Disney/Lucasfilm have made up on the fly, and I don't think it's as haphazard as you do. Maybe my tune will change after Ep IX, but I liked where they went with TLJ, and whether that film's story was assembled on the fly or planned in advance make no difference for me. Even if I'm ultimately disappointed by Ep IX, I'm very doubtful, based on the evidence of the PT and what he's so far revealed for his plans for the ST, that Lucas could've done any better.
Last edited by Mike86; 01-06-19 at 08:23 PM.
#3753
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
Mice Windu exists only so Obi-Wan can be guilted into training Anakin against the council's wishes. He's otherwise fairly bland with no characteristics to distinguish him from "generic Jedi." LIkewise, Darth Maul is a nice makeup design with a cool sword that is otherwise "generic villain." Count Dooku is most notable by who played him, and his fight with Yoda, not anything about the character itself. General Greivous at least had some characteristics like his odd cough and penchant for collecting lightsabers, but wasn't that fleshed out a character. I will grant that they're "memorable," but Jar Jar Binks is memorable. Being memorable doesn't make it a good character.
#3754
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
Thing is while some of the basis for Palpatine may have been there we didn't see it, and with Lucas' record of changing his mind on things who knows how much the Palpatine storyline changed throughout the years. Regardless I do feel like the prequels told that story fairly well.
Now, I do have a curiosity towards the treatment he made for the ST, but I'm under no delusions that it's actually good. Even if I hated the ST, I'd still think GL's version would be as bad, if not worse. HIs messing up the original films with his "Special Editions" proved to me that he had lost all concept of what made Star Wars good in the first place, and the PT sealed the deal. I never want another GL penned/directed Star Wars film. Give me a dozen Solos before that ever happens.
#3755
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
I do think Lucas thought he might have had a bit more influence while also cashing in and not having to worry about the day to day operations of Lucasfilm or of having to make the films. Of course Disney was under no obligation to keep him on board or use his ideas, but I get the sense that he somewhat regrets giving up creative control or at the least was a bit taken aback that they used none of his ideas.
I guess we qualify what makes good characters differently. I think at the least the ones I mentioned were interesting enough that I consider them good characters. They’re at least as memorable as some of the side characters in the Sequel Trilogy or more so. I’d take any of the ones I mentioned over characters like Maz, Hux, or Phasma. Also The Clone Wars was spawned from the prequels so regardless of where the characters became more interesting they still ultimately originated in the films.
They weren't fleshed out well enough to be considered good. You were asserting that they were good characters, and they weren't: they were flat, one-dimensional caricatures. And if the Clone Wars TV show was able to flesh them out into actual, good, characters, that's a credit to that show, not to the PT films.
Last edited by Mike86; 01-06-19 at 09:55 PM.
#3756
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
I do think Lucas thought he might have had a bit more influence while also cashing in and not having to worry about the day to day operations of Lucasfilm or of having to make the films. Of course Disney was under no obligation to keep him on board or use his ideas, but I get the sense that he somewhat regrets giving up creative control or at the least was a bit taken aback that they used none of his ideas.
Whatever degree of input Lucas thought he'd still have after selling to Disney, he definitely wasn't planning on writing/directing the films himself. And however "taken aback" he was that his story treatment wasn't used, he knew that was a possibility when he sold the company. Which is why if Lucas had any desire to do the trilogy himself, he never would've sold. I think what really caught him off guard was how hard it was to really let go of a series he thought he had no desire to continue himself.
I guess we qualify what makes good characters differently. I think at the least the ones I mentioned were interesting enough that I consider them good characters. They’re at least as memorable as some of the side characters in the Sequel Trilogy or more so. I’d take any of the ones I mentioned over characters like Maz, Hux, or Phasma. Also The Clone Wars was spawned from the prequels so regardless of where the characters became more interesting they still ultimately originated in the films.
As for Maz, Hux, or Phasma, it's pretty damning the PT with faint praise that you have to compare your examples of "good" PT characters with the weakest ST characters. What about Rey, Finn, Poe, or Rose? Are there any PT characters as well developed and 3 dimensional as them? And while I'll concede that Phasma is pretty much just a shiny uniform so far, I'd take Maz and Hux over the PT characters you mentioned. At least Maz has personality, and Hux shows some traits apart from just generic officer, The scene where he almost kills Kylo shows a depth not apparent in "cool action figure" Darth Maul.
#3757
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
The OT had interesting characters and an interesting story.
The PT had an interesting story to tell (though it failed miserably in the telling) but the characters were uninteresting and bland.
The ST has somewhat interesting characters but no interesting story to tell.
There’s actually a kind of balance there...
The PT had an interesting story to tell (though it failed miserably in the telling) but the characters were uninteresting and bland.
The ST has somewhat interesting characters but no interesting story to tell.
There’s actually a kind of balance there...
#3758
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
Whatever degree of input Lucas thought he'd still have after selling to Disney, he definitely wasn't planning on writing/directing the films himself. And however "taken aback" he was that his story treatment wasn't used, he knew that was a possibility when he sold the company. Which is why if Lucas had any desire to do the trilogy himself, he never would've sold. I think what really caught him off guard was how hard it was to really let go of a series he thought he had no desire to continue himself.
Again, memorable != good. And where a character "originated" has no bearing on whether the PT wrote them well. If you have to point to The Clone Wars to show the development of certain characters, a show written by people other than GL, that's a point against GL's writing, which is the crux of your argument (that you think a ST written by GL could be good). You're basically illustrating that anyone other than GL is much better at writing Star Wars than GL now is.
As for Maz, Hux, or Phasma, it's pretty damning the PT with faint praise that you have to compare your examples of "good" PT characters with the weakest ST characters. What about Rey, Finn, Poe, or Rose? Are there any PT characters as well developed and 3 dimensional as them? And while I'll concede that Phasma is pretty much just a shiny uniform so far, I'd take Maz and Hux over the PT characters you mentioned. At least Maz has personality, and Hux shows some traits apart from just generic officer, The scene where he almost kills Kylo shows a depth not apparent in "cool action figure" Darth Maul.
Again, memorable != good. And where a character "originated" has no bearing on whether the PT wrote them well. If you have to point to The Clone Wars to show the development of certain characters, a show written by people other than GL, that's a point against GL's writing, which is the crux of your argument (that you think a ST written by GL could be good). You're basically illustrating that anyone other than GL is much better at writing Star Wars than GL now is.
As for Maz, Hux, or Phasma, it's pretty damning the PT with faint praise that you have to compare your examples of "good" PT characters with the weakest ST characters. What about Rey, Finn, Poe, or Rose? Are there any PT characters as well developed and 3 dimensional as them? And while I'll concede that Phasma is pretty much just a shiny uniform so far, I'd take Maz and Hux over the PT characters you mentioned. At least Maz has personality, and Hux shows some traits apart from just generic officer, The scene where he almost kills Kylo shows a depth not apparent in "cool action figure" Darth Maul.
I think the ideas he had for some of the characters in the prequels fall into the category of interesting ideas for characters that were poorly executed. They were carried out better on The Clone Wars, which is why I was saying if he had someone to bounce ideas off of but to keep him in line the end result may have been good. That’s what I was trying to get at with if he was kept on more with Disney and the sequels. That’s also probably why the Original Trilogy is as good as it is because he had more people around him and wasn’t in a room filled with yes men and women like he was while filming the Prequel Trilogy.
As far as the Sequel Trilogy characters. I’ll grant you that Rey and Kylo are interesting. Finn was interesting in The Force Awakens, but completely wasted in The Last Jedi. Rose I could care less about. I don’t hate her like a lot of people but she’s not a very interesting character. You also kinda crippled my defense of the prequels by saying to come up with well written ideas/characters that didn’t originate in the Original Trilogy, but Obi-Wan and Palpatine were well written in those films and Anakin was in the third film at least.
Last edited by Mike86; 01-07-19 at 08:42 AM.
#3759
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
I've been disagreeing with those claims. The PT story was established while they were figuring out the backstory for ESB and ROTJ, so while we can credit young Lucas for it, PT-era Lucas has no claim to coming up with the major story arcs for that trilogy. And the characters in the PT were flat and uninspired, excepting for their character design.
So since PT-era Lucas did nothing of note but squander a decade-old storyline, I fail to see how his ST would've been anything but a disaster.
I think the ideas he had for some of the characters in the prequels fall into the category of interesting ideas for characters that were poorly executed. They were carried out better on The Clone Wars, which is why I was saying if he had someone to bounce ideas off of but to keep him in line the end result may have been good...
I understand your desire to see what "George Lucas with someone else exerting editorial control" would be like, but realistically that was never going to happen. Lucas owned the company, owned Star Wars, and had all the money he needed. The only way Lucas was going to be told "no," was if he let someone say no to him, and actually listened to the objection and took it to heart. There's no indication that a post PT Lucas would've done any of that. Likewise, he never would've sold to Disney if he had any desire to do the ST himself, so the idea of Disney being able to check Lucas's control is just something that realistically never would've happened.
And also, think of this: in the current situation, Disney/Lucasfilm could've at least used Lucas's story treatment for the trilogy and tweaked it during screenwriting and development if they thought it held at least the framework of a good story. But they apparently didn't think it was even worth salvaging, and that making the story up on the fly was better than using Lucas's pre-planned arc.
Edit: Missed this bit:
Palpatine's arc was... fine, but as I pointed out it was established while writing the OT, well before the PT was written. It was largely saved by Ian McDiarmid, who had been cast in the role way back in ROTJ.
Obi-Wan in the PT, I feel, coasts a lot on the natural charm and charisma of Ewan McGregor, and the leftover goodwill for the character from the OT. As written, he's merely ok, but PT-era Lucas had the advantage of writing for a character that had his defining characteristics created nearly two decades earlier, and McGregor had the advantage of working off an earlier portrayal to work in more than what was merely on the page.
Last edited by Jay G.; 01-07-19 at 09:14 AM.
#3760
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
If I could choose one thread in DVDTalk’s history to delete forever, this would be it.
#3762
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
I take some of the blame for reviving this thread, but not in the manner that's being debated. My initial post was how I feel that TFA f'd up the ST and should take more of the blame for the failure of the ST even though I'm still not a fan of TLJ. But the thread ended up being argued about the same points it has since Dec 2017.
#3763
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
It’s tamed down a bit in here I feel. It’s not as hostile as it was for a while, but this is always going to be a divisive film and that’s going to spark conversations/debates.
#3764
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
Its a rough time to have opinions about Star Wars on here since you'll just be told you're wrong
It seems like a lot of your conclusions skew towards "TFA set up something, so TLJ HAD to do it that way" which I don't really agree with, especially concluding that everything left open were necessarily dead ends. I definitely think TLJ could have gone a number of different directions, some of which probably wouldn't have caused so much anger. Still, I think with Episode IX left to go it'll be interesting how things wrap up and if it also changes people's feelings on what came before it.
I take some of the blame for reviving this thread, but not in the manner that's being debated. My initial post was how I feel that TFA f'd up the ST and should take more of the blame for the failure of the ST even though I'm still not a fan of TLJ. But the thread ended up being argued about the same points it has since Dec 2017.
Last edited by fumanstan; 01-07-19 at 12:25 PM.
#3765
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
If you don't like the way a thread is going, don't read it. Easy. Let other people discuss.
Anyway, I will of course see Episode IX in theaters but honestly, I find myself having very little interest in seeing how this "saga" resolves. There's nothing too compelling on the table right now. If, say, Ray and Kylo left both sides to form some new order that balances Jedi and Sith/light and dark to really bring true "balance" to the forth, with both sides vying to "reclaim" them, or whatever, I'd be a lot more interested in resolution.
As it stands, it looks like more good guys vs. bad guys because good guys vs. bad guys. The Prequel Trilogy was mostly garbage, but the "Fall of Anakin" was a lot stronger hook than anything that TFA and TLJ set up.
All IMO, of course.
Anyway, I will of course see Episode IX in theaters but honestly, I find myself having very little interest in seeing how this "saga" resolves. There's nothing too compelling on the table right now. If, say, Ray and Kylo left both sides to form some new order that balances Jedi and Sith/light and dark to really bring true "balance" to the forth, with both sides vying to "reclaim" them, or whatever, I'd be a lot more interested in resolution.
As it stands, it looks like more good guys vs. bad guys because good guys vs. bad guys. The Prequel Trilogy was mostly garbage, but the "Fall of Anakin" was a lot stronger hook than anything that TFA and TLJ set up.
All IMO, of course.
#3766
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
It seems like a lot of your conclusions skew towards "TFA set up something, so TLJ HAD to do it that way" which I don't really agree with, especially concluding that everything left open were necessarily dead ends. I definitely think TLJ could have gone a number of different directions, some of which probably wouldn't have caused so much anger. Still, I think with Episode IX left to go it'll be interesting how things wrap up and if it also changes people's feelings on what came before it.
Now I'm talking in a narrative/storytelling sense, as I think each movie is entertaining. They are the opposite of the PT in a strange way. TFA and TLJ are entertaining movies that have no narrative in a Trilogy sense, and have taken too many plotlines from the OT that it really isn't that original. The PT are terrible movies, but they have a very interesting story that really does tie into the OT (I honestly don't care about Episode 9 because its another movie of Resistance vs First Order or the Redemption of Kylo Ren) . Lucas needed a director and good writers to execute his story for the PT, and Disney needed Lucas to give them a good/original story for the ST, as both Trilogies suffer in each way.
#3767
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
I do agree with you that TLJ could have taken some plot points in different ways, but I also feel it got locked in by many TFA mystery boxes. There was no way Rey could be a Skywalker/Solo in TLJ, other then Han/Leia or Luke being deadbeats and leaving her off (via the TFA flashback), so she had to be a nobody. There was nothing that could undo that Luke quit on Han/Leia after the First Order took over because JJ stuck him on that island (he turned himself off from the Force so he could not sense Han in trouble). Now I would say that Rian Johnson's execution of Luke (flipping the saber, drinking titty milk) was a turnoff for me, so I am not defending TLJ in that respect. JJ left TFA on a cliffhanger ending, so the movie had to start right after the events of TFA so there could be no time jump like every previous SW movie. They had to have Rey meet Luke, and had to have the First Order pursue the Resistance because that's how TFA ended. I could go on and on but you catch my drift. I always thought it was TLJ that ruined the ST, but TFA gets just as much or even more of the blame..
#3768
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
By JJ not declaring who Rey's lineage is in TFA, he screwed the pooch... He tried to leave us on some cliff-hanger hell but in reality, the internet buzzed with EVERY SINGLE possible solution for who she could be -- so much so that no answer is good (even being a nobody; which I don't buy). Being a nobody is still worse than just making her Obi-Wan's grand daughter, IMO.
#3769
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
And the posters involved are people I normally enjoy reading. But if the forum software allowed blocking individual posters of just a specific thread, it’d be glorious here.
#3770
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
Regarding Rey’s parents. I think you could have done it where she didn’t have to fit into a direct lineage. Why couldn’t have her parents been someone of relevance to the Force that wasn’t tied to the Skywalker bloodline or to Obi-Wan? I get that we don’t really see any other Jedi, but some of the Jedi survived Order 66 and were in hiding. That would have been somewhat more satisfying of an answer at least to why she has some Force powers and wouldn’t necessarily link her to one of the existing characters.
#3771
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
^^ as long as she's not a derivative of midichlorians, that'd be a fine solution.
#3772
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
Regarding Rey’s parents. I think you could have done it where she didn’t have to fit into a direct lineage. Why couldn’t have her parents been someone of relevance to the Force that wasn’t tied to the Skywalker bloodline or to Obi-Wan? I get that we don’t really see any other Jedi, but some of the Jedi survived Order 66 and were in hiding. That would have been somewhat more satisfying of an answer at least to why she has some Force powers and wouldn’t necessarily link her to one of the existing characters.
More than a year after, I still love the movie. 2nd after Empire.
You may now resume your dead horse arguments. Happy New Year!
#3774
DVD Talk Legend
#3775
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (R. Johnson, 2017) — The Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
Also, the timing is all off. TFA happens approximately 30 years after ROTJ, and Rey is in her late teens/early twenties*. She was born after the Empire was defeated and sent scampering the edges of the Galaxy. So if there were any prequel Jedi left, they would've come out of hiding and joined Luke, not abandon their child on a remote desert planet.
*Just from the information in the movies. The reference material is more specific about date and ages, and makes it even more unlikely.