The Film Thread

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

I REALLY enjoyed The Force Awakens last night - haven't watched it in a while but it's a cracking film, so much better than the prequels and good enough to be grouped in with the originals IMO. Amazing what a bit of decent onscreen chemistry can do, and there's loads of it in TFA.

I'm now ready for tonight - I'm not going on Twitter today just in case some dickhead tries to post spoilers. Very excited!

I loved TFA when I saw it at the cinema but I think I must have got carried away with my excitement at watching a new Star Wars film as when I watched it back at home a few months ago I was quite disappointed with it. I agree that it is so much better than the prequels and it has a proper 'Star Wars' feel to it but it niggles me how similar the story line is to Episode IV.

I've tried to tone down my expectations for The Last Jedi because of this, but Rogue One was so good that I can't help but be excited. I think it will be a lot better than TFA (or at least I am hoping so!)

 

[Templeton Peck]

Last Jedi.
Interesting film that attempts to do a lot in a short space of time. Not sure it worked to be honest. This is going to divide people.

 

[Langers]

Just back from seeing it. Ultimately its tried to take the saga in a new direction with admittedly a lot packed in.

Did it work? Yes, I think it did. But yes, it will divide people. Can't disagree with you there, TP.

Did I like it? Fuck yes. I bloody loved it.

 

[Alan]

I wasn't even offended by midichlorians so it would take some doing to get me on the wrong side of the "bold" decisions Rian Johnson has apparently made here.

Just got tickets to see it in a few hours. Absolutely buzzing.

 

[Templeton Peck]

Just back from seeing it. Ultimately its tried to take the saga in a new direction with admittedly a lot packed in.

Did it work? Yes, I think it did. But yes, it will divide people. Can't disagree with you there, TP.

Did I like it? $#@! yes. I bloody loved it.

Without getting into spoilers-there were a couple of big moments that I felt were resolved quite cheaply. It also seemed to render Episode 7 obsolete.

There was lots I liked about it but still unsure overall.

 

[Langers]

Without getting into spoilers-there were a couple of big moments that I felt were resolved quite cheaply. It also seemed to render Episode 7 obsolete.

There was lots I liked about it but still unsure overall.

Even though I won't talk about specific things, I'm going to spoiler this anyway, because before I saw it I didn't want to know ANYTHING about it:

 

I think I know which moments you mean - for me, they threw me a bit because they were so unexpected, and it means the saga is being taken in a completely different direction to the one I was expecting. Is this such a bad thing? I wouldn't say it renders VII obsolete at all - IMO VII eases you in, introduces the new characters and VIII is now showing that the writers have a new vision and a new direction.

Many people didn't like the similarities between IV and VII and whilst I understand that issue, it never really bothered me as I found VII really entertaining. However, one thing you can't accuse VIII of is treading the same old ground! And I think that'll take some getting used to.

The ingredients for any awesome Star Wars film are there. The space battles are amazing and have never looked better, I was pleased with the character development in the main cast, there's some great plot twists.

I think my main issues with it were how criminally underused Phasma is (AGAIN!!!) and the middle section on Cantina Bight which wasn't as successful as the rest of the film.

My gut reaction was that it was a success and a brave attempt to change the direction of the saga. Some will like this, some won't. Some will think it worked, others won't. But I'll be seeing it again for sure.

 

[Templeton Peck]

Even though I won't talk about specific things, I'm going to spoiler this anyway, because before I saw it I didn't want to know ANYTHING about it:

I agree with everything you say. Just literally 2 moments I had an issue with. I'm softening though. I need to watch it again too.

 

[Alan]

I think with anything like Star Wars that we inevitably bring so much emotional baggage to you have to watch it at least twice.

Just look at the initial reactions people had to Phantom Menace.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Initial reactions to the Phantom Menace were "it's fucking shite". Secondary reactions were "it's really fucking shite"

Anyway, can't wait for tomorrow to see The Last Jedi.

 

[BillyDee]

My initial reaction to Phantom Menace was it's not too bad. My current opinion of eps I-III are yes, they're really fucking shite.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Think Phantom Menace might be the only Star Wars film I've watched at all, other than Family Guy spoofs but I'd guess they don't really count.

Is that the one where the main character was a proper youth a you had the bad guy with the crazy red and black face? They did some weird as racing thing that looked like a rip off of the old 'Wipeout' game from the original Playstation and the bad guy had some big-balling double ended light sabre, that's pretty much all I can remember from the whole thing. Come to think of it I think my uncle took me to see it but I've never known him have any interest in Star Wars and he's usually a right tight arse who wouldn't dream of paying the going rates of modern(ish) cinemas, so fuck knows how it all came about.

 

[Alan]

Think Phantom Menace might be the only Star Wars film I've watched at all, other than Family Guy spoofs but I'd guess they don't really count.

Is that the one where the main character was a proper youth a you had the bad guy with the crazy red and black face? They did some weird as racing thing that looked like a rip off of the old 'Wipeout' game from the original Playstation and the bad guy had some big-balling double ended light sabre, that's pretty much all I can remember from the whole thing. Come to think of it I think my uncle took me to see it but I've never known him have any interest in Star Wars and he's usually a right tight arse who wouldn't dream of paying the going rates of modern(ish) cinemas, so $#@! knows how it all came about.

That's the one.

Damn prequels. I absolutely adore them but there are things in them that are just so, so bad.

 

[Carrotdude]

You adore the prequels? Obviously your strange opinions don’t just stop at football!

 

[Templeton Peck]

You adore the prequels? Obviously your strange opinions don’t just stop at football!

The prequels are just really lazily made films. Poorly scripted and poorly acted. Anakin's turn to the dark side is one of the worst things in movie history too.

 

[Carrotdude]

The prequels are just really lazily made films. Poorly scripted and poorly acted. Anakin's turn to the dark side is one of the worst things in movie history too.

I watched them a couple of years ago for the first time I think since I saw them at the cinema. Phantom menace is particularly bad although Darth Maul was a good character and I still think the pod racing was fun if you ignore anakin’s narration.

The bit in the episode 2 with c3p0 and r2d2 in the factory is laughably bad as well

 

[Boozad]

The prequels are cringeworthy, unbelievably bad pieces of shit and I found it really easy to forget they’re even part of the franchise. Painfully awful stuff.

Rogue One however is absolutely immense, the way it ties in with A New Hope is brilliant and it actually looks like a Star Wars film. I didn’t really like TFA that much, I’ll have to watch it again but I remember it being like a remake of ANH.

 

[Langers]

There have only been 3 bad Star Wars films IMO and they're the prequels. They're terrible with only a handful of positives. Attack of the Clones in particular is diabolical.

Since Disney took over the franchise they've released 3 great movies which I've really enjoyed. Personally I think they've got precisely the right feel to them.

 

[Alan]

The prequels are not good movies (RotS is okay, objectively, I'd say), but I love them for the ways they expand the universe. The originals, for the size of the battles, still felt relatively narrow in scope. It was a story very much about Luke, Leia, and Han (not that that's a bad thing). IMO the prequels, for all their faults, at least made the whole universe feel vibrant and lived in.

I'm not going to disagree with anyone though that the writing was bad (particularly any dialogue between Anakin and Padme) and that the special effects of TPM and AotC haven't aged well.

I will, though, point out that the scene in which Obi-Wan meets Jango on Kamino (just before they fight) is sorely underrated and actually a passable interaction between characters, which is exceedingly rare in the prequels.

 

[Langers]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree there, Al.

The only positives to come from the prequels:

Darth Maul
Duel of the Fates by John Williams
The podrace (just about)
The seismic charges Jango uses on Obi Wan on the way to Geonosis
The senate debating chamber
The opening space battle in RotS

Other than that I really struggle to think of anything decent. No mean feat when you look at how good the cast is. Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L Jackson, Christopher Lee and there's not a single good performance amongst them.

 

[Alan]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree there, Al.

The only positives to come from the prequels:

Darth Maul
Duel of the Fates by John Williams
The podrace (just about)
The seismic charges Jango uses on Obi Wan on the way to Geonosis
The senate debating chamber
The opening space battle in RotS

Other than that I really struggle to think of anything decent. No mean feat when you look at how good the cast is. Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L Jackson, Christopher Lee and there's not a single good performance amongst them.

You should read the novelizations of the prequels if you haven't already. They really make it hit home just how much of a missed opportunity those films were/are.