CJS4715 said:

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americathegreat1492 said:

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I'm anxiously awaiting Brian's non-spoilery thoughts. Im about one hour out from seeing the movie myself.

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Here is my guess. Brian loved it; TCTTS hated it. The truth will be somewhere in the middle.

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Seems like this is a strong bet

Maybe Maz will have a new pair of goggles... just for TCTTS

My lengthy reaction is on page four of the spoiler thread whenever you guys are ready to find out.

In short... not great, but not bad either. Some amazing moments sprinkled through what was ultimately a frustrating story overall. Didn't feel any animosity toward in the end, but it wasnt really all that engaging either. Was just kind of numb to it leaving the theater. Anxious to see more reactions pour in over the weekend, though...

Oh damn. Tell me that I have pages and pages of bickering to look forward to, please.

Ha, sorry. Sadly, it's just not a movie worth fighting over. Haven't even spoken directly to Brian. And unfortunately my sentiments are shared more often than not in the spoiler thread it seems.

TCTTS said:

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Ha, sorry. Sadly, it's just not a movie worth fighting over. Haven't even spoken directly to Brian. And unfortunately my sentiments are shared more often than not in the spoiler thread it seems.

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Damn. One of my close friends texted me just a few minutes ago, and said, "Hey, I know you haven't seen the film yet, but if I were expressing this in terms of another film that we saw together - this is Star Trek V". Star Trek V is kind of our doomsday, oh **** this sucks reference.

CJS4715 said:

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TCTTS said:

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Ha, sorry. Sadly, it's just not a movie worth fighting over. Haven't even spoken directly to Brian. And unfortunately my sentiments are shared more often than not in the spoiler thread it seems.

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Damn. One of my close friends texted me just a few minutes ago, and said, "Hey, I know you haven't seen the film yet, but if I were expressing this in terms of another film that we saw together - this is Star Trek V". Star Trek V is kind of our doomsday, oh **** this sucks reference.

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I'm not sure if that person has seen the PT then.

Same. People cheered at times, no doubt, but I was surprised by just how bored I and everyone around me seemed to be for the most part. I'm finding this divergence far more fascinating that the movie itself.

Also worth mentioning that the review on Star Wars News Net called this a "generationally unifying masterpiece". Wonder how that viewpoint will age; it's not looking like a correct opinion right now.

Anyway, I'm just using this to distract me from going and looking at all any real details. Now, I am going into this movie with tempered expectations, so I wonder what impact that might have on me.

Buck Compton said:

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I'm seeing it tomorrow morning, but maybe I'll understand more then... the opinions being so diverging is just confusing. Did people just want a retread of ESB? Do people just have some ore-defined expectation of Star Wars movies? We're they expecting a Marvel-like popcorn flick where you don't have to think at all? Or did certain people's 40 year attachment to certain characters set their expectations?

I'll see tomorrow I guess, but surprising to see the reaction be so severe.

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It just comes across flat to me. They've definitely "Marvelized" the humor in parts of the movie. It's a Star Wars movie, but IMHO it's just not a very good one. I enjoyed TFA more than I did this, and R1 sits head and shoulders above both.

There's a lot of stuff that could have worked really well if they had simply cut one useless portion of the film out and expanded those storylines.

Straight up, it's just overly long, boring at times, and kind of flat. With a few amazing moments sprinkled in, along with a few holy-crap-that-was-dumb moments as well. My opinion has nothing to do with any preconceived notions or set expectations. There's some brilliant story telling in it, and some decidedly not so brilliant storytelling in it. And I think certain people are simply latching onto either of those threads more than the other.

Discussion for another day, but it will be an interesting discussion around mid-January:

What are everyone's thoughts on Rian Johnson being handed the keys to the kingdom for the next saga? Disney liked what they saw. Most critics liked what they saw. Fans are lukewarm at best.

Another discussion point. Rian mentioned in an interview that working on Star Wars was great, because there was never a budget constraint. Is that actually hurting Star Wars films at this point.

He's done enough movies that I've liked, and there's enough good things in TLJ, that I'm fine with him helming a brand new story in the universe.

Maybe dropping him mid-stream with all of the balls floating in the air wasn't the best call though.

tremble said:

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He's done enough movies that I've liked, and there's enough good things in TLJ, that I'm fine with him helming a brand new story in the universe.

Maybe dropping him mid-stream with all of the balls floating in the air wasn't the best call though.

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huh?

CJS4715 said:

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TCTTS said:

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I'm finding this divergence far more fascinating that the movie itself.

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The divergence in this direction for blockbusters has to be pretty short, right? This is like Indie film level stuff where you see an audience loathe something that critics enjoy.

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Thats my point. If all that's true, then what are the critics seeing?

Buck Compton said:

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CJS4715 said:

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TCTTS said:

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I'm finding this divergence far more fascinating that the movie itself.

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The divergence in this direction for blockbusters has to be pretty short, right? This is like Indie film level stuff where you see an audience loathe something that critics enjoy.

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Thats my point. If all that's true, then what are the critics seeing?

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Yeah, it's a huge disparity. Guess I'll find out Saturday evening.

I can't help but feel like there were some really high expectations. I also can't help but feel like releasing this on the heals of Thor didn't help - that and the release of the Infinity War trailer right after Thanksgiving.

I also am not sure if this being the 3rd Star Wars in 3 years is part of that affect as well.

Mid-stream, in media res, right in the middle of a trilogy which he didn't start and which he isn't going to finish.

He took a scalpel to the first movie and excised a good chunk of the OT, which is fine. But he didn't have a lot of well-executed ideas to replace them with.

He had some input with JJ. Was given plenty of time and obviously plenty of freedom. I think he was set up to succeed.

I guess I owe this thread more than the 1 or 2 phrases I posted last night while getting dinner after the movie. I'd say I agree with the overall sentiment. I'm not sure I would go as far TCTTS in saying that it wasn't engaging. Parts of it were very engaging.

I feel I saw 2 different movies that didn't mesh well together. One movie, which centers around a small number of characters, was really well done. Character arcs, cool visuals, surprising moments, etc. The other movie the other characters were in was a wild, inconsistent, sloppy mess that wastes a lot of time.

KYLO KILLS HAN SOLO!!!!

CJS4715 said:

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Oh damn. Tell me that I have pages and pages of bickering to look forward to, please.

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You have no idea how much bickering there is. But it isn't between BES and TC. They both presented level headed reviews.

Ok nerds.... I need to get myself up to speed on the saga (and also my wife, who I don't think has seen more than 1 or 2 movies, but she wants to go watch VIII). What order should we watch all of the previous films to get the best affect?

Note: I have seen IV, V, and VI a few times each and used to own the VHS trilogy. I have also seen I and Rogue One.

Go!

I keep getting this ad on my Texags on Chrome. Either they think I'm gay or they know I want to create my own Star Wars clothing.

[img][/img]

AgEng06 said:

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Ok nerds.... I need to get myself up to speed on the saga (and also my wife, who I don't think has seen more than 1 or 2 movies, but she wants to go watch VIII). What order should we watch all of the previous films to get the best affect?

Note: I have seen IV, V, and VI a few times each and used to own the VHS trilogy. I have also seen I and Rogue One.

Go!

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I would maybe watch 7.

VanZandt92 said:

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I keep getting this ad on my Texags on Chrome. Either they think I'm gay or they know I want to create my own Star Wars clothing.

[img][/img]

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That is ultra gay.

AgEng06 said:

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Ok nerds.... I need to get myself up to speed on the saga (and also my wife, who I don't think has seen more than 1 or 2 movies, but she wants to go watch VIII). What order should we watch all of the previous films to get the best affect?

Note: I have seen IV, V, and VI a few times each and used to own the VHS trilogy. I have also seen I and Rogue One.

Go!

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IV,V,I,II,III,VI,VII

If you want to throw RO put it after III

But you must admit it sort of works for Star Wars.

Oops - can't edit now. There are no buttons in Star Wars, so that sweater is a no go.

VanZandt92 said:

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But you must admit it sort of works for Star Wars.

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