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Spoilers Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Grading & Discussion

Grade the movie.


  • Total voters
    290
Why Anakin/Luke's lightsaber called out to Rey, when she has no familial connection to the Skywalkers? Despite Abrams saying in interviews that Leia and Rey have a familiarity to one another, and possibly know each other. Same with Han, hence him asking who she his.

Also, why Rey had a vision of the hall on Bespin/Cloud City), where Luke and Vader fought. That spot is significant to Luke and Anakin, but Rey is a nobody. Why does the Force care to give Rey visions of it?
She is strong in the Force.
 
^ Difference is, we're dealing with people's nostalgia child and young adulthoods now. Similar to how the PT was treated and has yet to be reappraised and integrated into the acceptable Star Wars movies. Even ROTS, the closest to the OT and the one that drops most of the Prequelisms people hated, hasn't been accepted by the hardcore fans.

Edit to add: Although, I do think there has been some movement with the backlash after TLJ. Maybe George Lucas didn't ruin people's childhoods and "kill his own kids" (as Simon Pegg said with regards to the PT).

I don't think the ST and the spin offs will benefit from time, like TESB has.
 
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The fall of Luke and why he went into hiding?

How did Kylo fall to the dark side and how did Snoke manage it?

Explained/resolved in The Last Jedi.

Who made the map to Luke Skywalker? Why did the First Order have most of it, but R2 had the missing piece? And if it's a map, that means it's charted space. But Leia and the Resistance said the map didn't correlate with any known galaxies/star charts.

Not relevant to the stories of TFA and TLJ.

Why Leia is still leading the rebels, when she should be in command of the Republic's forces?

Where the First Order came from and how they have the manpower, money and resources to build planet sized Death Stars?

Broadly explained in the novels Bloodline and the Aftermath Trilogy and the TFA and TLJ Visual Guides, but ultimately irrelevant to the films themselves.

Why Anakin/Luke's lightsaber called out to Rey, when she has no familial connection to the Skywalkers? Despite Abrams saying in interviews that Leia and Rey have a familiarity to one another, and possibly know each other. Same with Han, hence him asking who she his.

Also, why Rey had a vision of the hall on Bespin/Cloud City), where Luke and Vader fought. That spot is significant to Luke and Anakin, but Rey is a nobody. Why does the Force care to give Rey visions of it?

Broadly explained in TLJ via dialogue, despite specific details ultimately being directly irrelevant to the stories of the two films themselves.

Any "mystery" surrounding these things was manufactured by the fandom based largely on J.J. Abrams' pre-existing reputation.
 
Explained/resolved in The Last Jedi.

No, Luke's downfall was addressed, but nothing about Snoke's luring Ben to the Dark Side. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Luke says he's already too far gone. Snoke just says he recruited him because of raw power, but that had already been established in TFA.

Broadly explained in the novels Bloodline and the Aftermath Trilogy and the TFA and TLJ Visual Guides, but ultimately irrelevant to the films themselves.

The movies should be stand-alone and not depend on reading the novels to understand the details. Other than you, I'm not sure how many of the viewers in the past two weeks have read, or even heard of them.

Broadly explained in TLJ via dialogue, despite specific details ultimately being directly irrelevant to the stories of the two films themselves.

Any "mystery" surrounding these things was manufactured by the fandom based largely on J.J. Abrams' pre-existing reputation.

No, Abrams manufactured these rumors by purposefully writing the script in such a way that we understand that there's a mystery. The fact that Johnson came in and chucked all those ideas doesn't give you the right to self-righteously proclaim that you knew it all along, and everyone else is ignorant.
 
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No, Luke's downfall was addressed, but nothing about Snoke's luring Ben to the Dark Side. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Luke says he's already too far gone. Snoke just says he recruited him because of raw power. Nothing else.

We don't need any more details for TFA and TLJ to make sense.

The movies should be stand-alone and not depend on reading the novels to understand the details.

They are, and they don't.

No, Abrams manufactured these rumors by purposefully writing the script in such a way that we understand that there's a mystery.

Johnson came in and chucked all those ideas .

"Everything you just said is wrong".
 
I don't think the ST and the spin offs will benefit from time, like TESB has.

I think TLJ is going to be better accepted by fandom better than TPM or AotC in years to come, if its recently gained fans are going to outlive older fans, though the relatively underrated Rogue One is a recent SW movie most likely to hold up better in twenty to thirty years time.

Also I've got an idea to camouflage the plot contrivance of the plodding FO fleet and highlights micromanaging Snoke as a Palpatine tryhard:

*General Hux is slowly strutting up and down the bridge of the Supremacy in a exaggerated parade ground fashion as he holds a holoconference with all the Star Destroyer captains (while the horrid holographic head of Supreme Leader Snoke scowls down on all of them)*

General Hux: "Hold your formation beneath the Supremacy and leave the fate of the enemy scum to her long range weapons, we've got them dangling where we want them."

*With added sadistic ham*

General Hux: "We'll hang back as we slowly grind the pathetic vermin down!"

*One of the images of the captains (captain of the Piett; an attractive if severe woman in her late 30s/early 40s) pipes up*

Piett Captain:
"With all due respect, sir, but isn't this being far too slow in destroying the enemy?"

*She cockily looks up at Snoke (while Hux silently mouths 'No! No!' at the female officer)*

Piett Captain: "Your excellency, I shall break this deadlock!"

*The Piett deploys wings of TIE/sf fighters and boarding craft which dart ahead of the Resistance convoy through hyperspace*

Resistance Officer: "Enemy ships dead ahead, Admiral Holdo!"

*The FO squandron's jump out of hyperspace is botched and ill conceived, as the Raddas hurtles past them in real space, before the FO pilots get their bearings (some of the FO shuttles and TIEs even get smashed by the Raddas!)

Supereme Leader Snoke: "This is for foolishly not heeding my command!"

*The holo image of the Piett's captain rises several feet up into the air, flips over horizontally and she gives a high pitched shriek as Snoke hurls her out of the holo image (her shriek abruptly interrupted by a fatal collision with a bank of computers)*

Supereme Leader Snoke: "All of you: heed my commands!"

*Snoke's head vanishes, while Hux and his lieutenant give Picard facepalms in unison, sighing with embarrassment. A shaken Hux, regains some of his composure*

General Hux: "Um, eh, heed his commands!"
 
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Why Anakin/Luke's lightsaber called out to Rey, when she has no familial connection to the Skywalkers?
Yeah, it's not like lightsabers are connected to any particular bloodline, they're just machines. They do however contain a kyber crystal which is in some sense alive and resonates (or "sings") in the force. We saw in Rogue One that even a nonsensitive (at least not the the extent of a Jedi) can sense a kyber from across a crowded street. So when someone like Rey walks close to a bonded crystal that's been inactive for so long, it's no wonder it went off like a beacon in her mind.
 
The movies should be stand-alone and not depend on reading the novels to understand the details. Other than you, I'm not sure how many of the viewers in the past two weeks have read, or even heard of them.
I understand them just fine :shrug:I have not read any of the novels.
 
Sort of like the kyber crystal went "Oh finally someone to talk to. You wouldn't believe what happened to the last guy. Here let me tell you all about it. Oh and who are you, no never mind, I'll check it out myself, see?"
 
Sort of like the kyber crystal went "Oh finally someone to talk to. You wouldn't believe what happened to the last guy. Here let me tell you all about it. Oh and who are you, no never mind, I'll check it out myself, see?"
I tend to think of it more analogous to the reflective material you find on traffic cones, high-vis saftly vests and the like. In that the brighter the light that shines on it, the brighter it shines right back, but focused and magnified.

So it's basically resonating off of Rey's own presence in the force, which is possibly why her vision was as much a reflection of herself as it was a reflection of Luke. It's also probably no coincidence that this resonance first starts to manifest as a memory of herself as a child crying out as her parents abandon her, right after Finn basically does the same thing. It's echoing off her own inner turmoil and her most prominent emotions are being reflected back and amplified.
 
Yeah, it's not like lightsabers are connected to any particular bloodline, they're just machines. They do however contain a kyber crystal which is in some sense alive and resonates (or "sings") in the force. We saw in Rogue One that even a nonsensitive (at least not the the extent of a Jedi) can sense a kyber from across a crowded street. So when someone like Rey walks close to a bonded crystal that's been inactive for so long, it's no wonder it went off like a beacon in her mind.
Lightsabers aren't wands (Harry Potter) either. This idea that a saber weapon can choose it's wielder and that it can give a person visions of places it has been, it's previous owner (cloaked) and even the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi ("these are your first steps), is ludicrous. It's the twisting of facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

It's more plausible that Abrams and Kennedy changed their minds or didn't have their minds made up when they were crafting and shooting TFA. And were more concerned with shoving as many OT images and references into TFA as possible. Using TLJ to reverse engineer/expand upon references and allusions they made in TFA. Not every explanation landed though.
 
And were more concerned with shoving as many OT images and references into TFA as possible.

Most of the imagery wasn’t from the OT. Only the audio from Cloud City, and Obi-Wan’s line (technically, that wasn’t either. The line itself is new, and half was voiced by a reference to the PT.)

It was mostly just Rey’s own memories, and backstory her current situation (has Luke’s map, has Luke’s lightsaber, being chased by Ren.)

This idea that a saber weapon can choose it's wielder and that it can give a person visions of places it has been, it's previous owner (cloaked) and even the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi ("these are your first steps), is ludicrous. It's the twisting of facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

We’re never given any indication the vision was meant to be showing ‘who/where the lightsaber’ had been.
-It wasn’t present in the stuff pertaining to Rey herself,
-the Cloud City scene is after Luke had his hand severed and dropped it
-Kylo and the Knights of Ren had nothing to do with it
-it didn’t join Obi-Wan on his trip to the afterlife
-We don’t see it in the scene with Luke and R2.​

But do you know what can spit out some random relevant information in response to some vague prompting? The Force.

Need to know who your missing sister is? Force.

Need to know where to find hole in a space station? Force

Need to which member of the Rebel scum is a Jedi and blew up your space station? Force.

Been running for your life, are now mysteriously being drawn to a goddamn sword, and need to know what the fuck is going on?! Force
 
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Lightsabers aren't wands (Harry Potter) either. This idea that a saber weapon can choose it's wielder and that it can give a person visions of places it has been, it's previous owner (cloaked) and even the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi ("these are your first steps), is ludicrous. It's the twisting of facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
Why not? It simply resonated with Rey's presence in the Force. If the Force surrounds everything, and even the Kyber crystals have a certain "life" to them then why is this implausible?
 
Got to view it a second time today, and I felt like it flowed a bit better. I also picked up some things I missed the first viewing. :) While I still think some of my early nitpicks are valid, I think they also could have worked a bit better with minor adjustments to the script. The drawn out chase with the cruiser would have been better if the amount of time for fuel was maybe half of what's stated in the dialogue (IMO), so that it seems less like Snoke's ship is just pinging away while his Star Destroyers hang back. I also wish Holdo had been more open and honest with Poe, even if she has valid reasons to not feel comfortable with him, but overall that seemed better the second time around also. Yoda's ghost also seemed more on target with the physical design than it seemed to be the first time, for whatever reason.

I got a stronger impression that the bombers weren't ideally suited for attacks like the dreadnought, seeing as how they're rather slow and not very maneuverable. I can see them mainly being intended for ground strikes and such. Overall, it was fun to watch again. :D
 
Yeah I finally watched the movie again and enjoyed it a whole lot more as well. In fact it's gone from a 6 in my mind to more like an 8 or 9. But then my issue was always less with the story than with the general pacing and just how weird and "off" it felt at several points. I didn't feel that much at all this time though, and the story seemed to work and flow a whole lot better for whatever reason (it's only the Canto Bight section that still doesn't work very well). And of course the final big scene with Luke now seems even more amazingly epic than before, knowing what it represents for the character. And I was also able to appreciate Rey's arc a lot more this time and not feel like it was a wasted opportunity somehow.

Obviously for the people who absolutely detested the story and what they did with Luke, then they'll probably always hate it. But if you're one of those like me who just thought the movie dragged too much or felt overly clunky, then I think it's definitely worth giving another try.

And yeah, Yoda didn't seem to look nearly as bad or goofy the second time around. I also somehow missed before that the Falcon's dish once again got blown off in the final battle. Be curious to see what shape they replace it with this time. :D
 
Saw it again today... This time through eyes that were not clouded with the sense of childish giddiness that I have about everything Star Wars... This time, I went armed with the ability to analyze the movie having read the concerns and complaints that so many have expressed.. And you know what?......

I loved it even more.... THIS is the Star Wars we needed... This is the Star Wars that gave us character development instead of bad line delivery (ANH, And prequels I’m looking at you).... This gave us a look at a tortured Jedi who tried to ressurect a quasi-religeous order all on his own and was torn apart by his failure to save his own blood...

Without flaws? No. Of course not... Finn and Rose’s side adventure was completely unessesary but i feel was conceived as a way to give them more to do and to give their characters a sense of purpose. Their arc could have been accomplished in half the time with the same result.

The true sadness for me here is that of losing Carrie... Episode IX would have been hers. With Luke’s return to the force and confrontation of Ben, that set the stage for Leia to reform and lead a new rebellion... Poe grew up and will be a general in the new rebellion... Rey now finds herself as the new hope, with powers beyond those of Ben or even Luke....

I have no doubt that With Carrie’s passing, Mark will have a larger roll in IX as Rey’s guiding force...

For me, and I realize that this is just IMHO, this was the Star Wars I needed... More than a nostalgic feel good rehash of what came before. This is the Star Wars I have always wanted... we can nit pick the minute plot holes until the bantha come home but for me, this is a great movie.
 
Saw it again today... This time through eyes that were not clouded with the sense of childish giddiness that I have about everything Star Wars... This time, I went armed with the ability to analyze the movie having read the concerns and complaints that so many have expressed.. And you know what?......

I loved it even more.... THIS is the Star Wars we needed... This is the Star Wars that gave us character development instead of bad line delivery (ANH, And prequels I’m looking at you).... This gave us a look at a tortured Jedi who tried to ressurect a quasi-religeous order all on his own and was torn apart by his failure to save his own blood...

Without flaws? No. Of course not... Finn and Rose’s side adventure was completely unessesary but i feel was conceived as a way to give them more to do and to give their characters a sense of purpose. Their arc could have been accomplished in half the time with the same result.

The true sadness for me here is that of losing Carrie... Episode IX would have been hers. With Luke’s return to the force and confrontation of Ben, that set the stage for Leia to reform and lead a new rebellion... Poe grew up and will be a general in the new rebellion... Rey now finds herself as the new hope, with powers beyond those of Ben or even Luke....

I have no doubt that With Carrie’s passing, Mark will have a larger roll in IX as Rey’s guiding force...

For me, and I realize that this is just IMHO, this was the Star Wars I needed... More than a nostalgic feel good rehash of what came before. This is the Star Wars I have always wanted... we can nit pick the minute plot holes until the bantha come home but for me, this is a great movie.

See that was a glowing review.
 
Lightsabers aren't wands (Harry Potter) either. This idea that a saber weapon can choose it's wielder and that it can give a person visions of places it has been, it's previous owner (cloaked) and even the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi ("these are your first steps), is ludicrous. It's the twisting of facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

Somebody has clearly not seen The Clone Wars or Rebels or read the novel Ahsoka.
 
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