As well as learned from some of the mistakes of the Empire, while trying to impose their vision of Order.
Episode Eight Pre-Release Thread
- Thread starter JD
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Given that it's their headquarters and capable of building ships, I'd think of it more of a mobile deep space battlestation than a warship. Think a *much* smaller Death Star sans superlaser.
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The only thing that annoys me about it is that it should have been in TFA *instead* of SKB, and they don't blow it up in the end, just escape from it. As much as I loved TFA, SKB was just dumb and lazy and quite obviously the result of making the plot up on the fly and realising late on that they had no third act.
This is one downside to TFA. SKB annoyed me to no end. But, the lightsaber battle made it more interesting. I do like the idea of them barely escaping, because part of TFA was showcasing how much of a threat the First Order had become.
Don't trust Revell's boxes, they sometimes are not accurate.
Poe's X-Wing they made for Ep7 had an OT Star Destroyer on the box. Apparently it was also Fan Art.
The Death Star on that box is also a stock image you can find googling, and it also shows OT TIE Fighters, not First Order.
Besides
None of the leaks have given any hint that there is a third Death Star
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They keep this up--and we'll have all the bits of the Ken Adam/Planet of the Titans Starship from Star Wars models alone. The connons themselves look like the McQuarrieprise nacelles
The new LEGO 'Falcon parts look more useful for making the Mothership from CE3K
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Hope you're right !
Yeah, I'm not suggesting all those scenes and character beats that took place on SKB weren't necessary, just that the base itself was a bad idea. All of those scenes could have taken place on the Star Destroyer, or I suppose a planet side base sans the silly super-weapon--just for the sake of the visuals if nothing else. Yet another lightsaber fight in a metal corridor may have been one similarity to previous movies too many.
Anyway, as a concept it was ill conceived and that it was a late addition really showed. I mean they never even bothered to work it back into the script in an organic way. For the first two thirds of the movie it's all about the map to Skywalker. SKB literally comes out of nowhere just in time for the third act with no mention of it prior to it's appearance. Not even a hint!
It felt like a very artificial and shallow way to try and ratchet up the stakes when they really didn't need to. The stakes should have been kept personal. Finn, Han & Chewie had every motivation to go back for Rey and as for Leia and the Resistance: without Rey they would never have gotten that map, so they owed her that rescue attempt. Even if Leia didn't order it I could easily see Poe volunteering. The secondary motivation is Han confronting Ben and trying to bring him around. They really didn't need to blow up any planets to have an exciting and impactful climax.
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Well, I disagree that it felt shallow or artificial. I followed it as a ramp up of military hostilities.
I would be more inclined to say that the Rathtaar scene could be shortened or discarded to inform more about SKB. I think that scene was far more jarring than anything with SKB.
I would be more inclined to say that the Rathtaar scene could be shortened or discarded to inform more about SKB. I think that scene was far more jarring than anything with SKB.
It's poor story telling, plain and simple. No sooner had they show us this thing than they immediately have a plan to destroy it and they go and destroy it. A plan which hinges of Finn having previous served aboard...which is entirely new information.
There's no ratcheting up of tension and stakes, it just comes entirely out on nowhere. "We must find the map to Skywalker or we're all doomed...wait, nevermind FIRE THE DOOM LASER!"
The whole thing is one giant arse-pull. Add to that the way the destruction of the Republic (yes, I know it wasn't the whole Republic, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the way it's presented) fell entirely flat because we're given no time to get to know any of it (and let's not even get into it being visible in the sky.) At least with Alderaan you had Leia's investment to latch onto. Hell, it was so perfunctory, many people (myself included) thought they'd just blown up Coruscant in what felt like an extremely offhand way.
It's not mutually exclusive. Both were unnecessary; SKB is a storytelling problem that hobbles the entire third act.
The rathtaar sequence just screwed with the pacing in the second act so you have a frantic action sequence right after another frantic action sequence (the escape from Jakku) with barely a breath between them.
It's like the writers and/or director were afraid to have two characters speak to each other for more than two seconds without something blowing up in the background. That's a problem because it actually hurts the credibility of the relationship between Finn and Rey. Luckily the actors' chemistry saved it, but if you look at it structurally, there's no real reason those two should have become that attached to each other is such a short amount of time. They never really have much of a quiet moment to show they're connecting. It goes straight from Rey beating him up, to them both running for their lives, then the TIE chase, the coolant leak, the rathtaars and then straight to Takodana.
Unless the trip to Takodana takes a *long* time, in real terms they've know each other like 60 minutes topps before Finn splits.
I don't think I'm articulating myself well, because, I honestly latched on more to Obi-Wan's response to Alderaan than Leia's but that might be YMMV.
But, yeah, with the whole Republic subplot cut out, the "threat" of the SKB weapon loses a lot more of its punch.
Again, I don't think I'm articulating it well, but I think that the pacing of the rathtaar sequence was poor, and eliminated time that could have been spent with the Republic or better connecting the dots to the map to Luke. So, as much as I am inclined to agree that it is a storytelling problem, since they are pausing to basically tell another, smaller story (Han and the gang), I think its also a timing problem. Meh, those might be the same.
Actually, I find Finn and Rey's relationship far more credible because of that speed and Finn and Rey's background. It is extremely superficial but because they have been isolated in different ways the psychology makes sense. At least to me.
So is this just based of off box art from a toy? If so I wouldn't judge anything based it, they tend to mix things up quite a bit.
As for Starkiller Base and the destruction of the Republic capital, I wasn't to bothered by it, but I do admit it could have used a bit more build up.
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