Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens
- Thread starter cooleddie74
- Start date
Pffft.
Nerds. Typical.
Nerds. Typical.
I don't know, the sense of crushing disappointment from everyone felt really palpable in my theater, once it became clear early on what a dud the movie was.
And I can't defend going back 9 times, but I did see it twice more I believe. The second was just to verify whether it was really as awful as I initially thought... and the third was because, well, it was a new SW movie dammit, and I was determined to get as much out of it as I could.
And I can't defend going back 9 times, but I did see it twice more I believe. The second was just to verify whether it was really as awful as I initially thought... and the third was because, well, it was a new SW movie dammit, and I was determined to get as much out of it as I could.
I didn't like Phantom Menace but I saw it three times. I saw it once on opening night, again a second time with my mother. We saw Star Wars together and she wanted to experience Star Wars again in a movie theater. I saw it a third time because they were showing a special limited time engagement of it in Digital. My local theater had a special Digital showing, so it was worth seeing again, to see Digital for the first time. What was cool after the showing, they allowed you to go into the projection booth and back out the Digital projectors and the whole set up, that was even better then the movie.
It was better than Attack of the Clones, I'll give it that much. Episode I was a letdown in many respects but not the worst film in the Saga nor even the worst installment in the Prequel Trilogy. It's about as flawed as a major space blockbuster can be, but not quite to the extent of the film that followed.
The disappointment that TPM brought is really a testament to just how good the OT was and is, particularly the first two films. To quote Dr. McCoy, "Where do you go from up?"
Realistically, the most we can hope for from SWVII:TFA is that it's better than the worst of the PT. We can consider ourselves blessed if it's better than ROTJ. I'll fangasm right in the theater if it compares to EPIV or TESB.
Realistically, the most we can hope for from SWVII:TFA is that it's better than the worst of the PT. We can consider ourselves blessed if it's better than ROTJ. I'll fangasm right in the theater if it compares to EPIV or TESB.
I actually liked episode 2 better.
For over twenty minutes, everything about episode one is about betting on a podrace. it's dull.
By comparison, the clone thing is kind of interesting. The last battle, while looking all animated, had a bit of panache.. and i cared about the jedi/ clones thing more than Naboo.
Both films have unforgivable sins.
Oh I have no doubt they'll be much better than the PT. Despite having some not so great stories, JJ's first Star Trek was still wildly entertaining, and even STID, which I wasn't crazy about, was still lightyears more fun and exciting than the prequels. And it's hard to imagine his SW movie not at least matching that level-- especially with a much better screenwriter involved.
As I get older, I can definitely understand more the criticisms ROTJ gets for being too kid-friendly or for not following through on the edgier storytelling style of ESB. But it's still got a TON of great, iconic stuff in it, and still manages to blow most other summer blockbusters (not to mention the prequels) completely out of the water.
I only felt that kind of thing after my second viewing, when it had been out at least a week or so. A complete stranger even punched me in the arm on his way out of the theater.
Opening night, for whatever reason, was different. That crowd seemed much more pleased.
There are different ways of looking at this phenomenon. We could say that the opening night crowd was caught up in the hysteria ( "irrational exuberance" to steal a phrase from Alan Greenspan ) of the premiere of a brand new SW movie and the disappointment didn't sink in until later. Or we could say that by the second week the backlash had already begun, especially in the news media, and this informed the perception of the film by those viewers. Another thing to consider is that the opening night crowd I was in appeared to be largely comprised of nerdy college students ( it was a college town ) who probably came equipped with a lot of preexisting fannish investment in the subject matter, while the second-week crowd had more of an age range ( more older people, I mean ) and was more represented by the "Average Joe"/"Common Man"/"Town Square" wider community types.
The only problem I have with the "high expectations" argument is I've been to plenty of other movies (the first Raimi Spider-Man, LOTR, Avengers, etc) where audiences also had massively high expectations going in... and they still managed to be really fun and entertaining movies.
Sure the anticipation for the prequels may have been at a slightly higher level than that, but not to the ridiculous degree people make it out to be (especially given that most of us had already lowered our expectations a great deal beforehand anyway, after reading through tons of bad reviews).
Sure the anticipation for the prequels may have been at a slightly higher level than that, but not to the ridiculous degree people make it out to be (especially given that most of us had already lowered our expectations a great deal beforehand anyway, after reading through tons of bad reviews).
I am going to see Episode VII for the midnight opening showing, and if every thing goes as planned I will be going as Darth Stig.
Some say that he shot first and that if he had been on Mustafar, he would have made sure Anakin was dead before walking away.
All we know... is that he's called Darth Stig.
Some say that he shot first and that if he had been on Mustafar, he would have made sure Anakin was dead before walking away.
All we know... is that he's called Darth Stig.
The image of my avatar looks very real.. but obviously a bootleg, as it came way too early in the release.
here it is full size
Note that the "Luke" side he's using the saber from Return of the Jedi... and you can see that Kylo Ren's saber has that funny "hilt"
here it is full size
Note that the "Luke" side he's using the saber from Return of the Jedi... and you can see that Kylo Ren's saber has that funny "hilt"
I don't recall people really bagging on it until after the prequel trilogy...like they had to justify hating the prequels?
It's still my favorite Star Wars film.
Oh, at the time, I thought ROTJ was a noticeable step down from EPIV and TESB. But it's still great fun, and I like it a lot.
ROTJ only seems weak compared to the two films that preceded it in theaters. Juxtaposed with Episode I or II it's more than a match and superior in most of the respects that matter when it comes to delivering an exciting and entertaining story. After Jar Jar and the Gungans and farting eopies and other alien animals the Ewoks no longer seem so cheesy and annoying.
Doctorwhovian
Fleet Captain
Weird thing I discovered about Kylo Ren is that his name is almost identical to a Droids character: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837306/
Which is not without precedent, as the films have featured some references to Droids before: The Boonta Eve, Moons of Bogden etc.
Which is not without precedent, as the films have featured some references to Droids before: The Boonta Eve, Moons of Bogden etc.
The funny thing is, as a 9 year old kid at the time, ROTJ actually DID still feel just as serious and dramatic to me as ESB-- what with how creepy and dangerous Jabba's palace felt, and with the scary ass Emperor in charge, and with all the epic Luke/Vader stuff at the end.
It wasn't until much later that I noticed the radically different tones and styles each movie had, and how ROTJ was a whole heck of a lot lighter than the previous movie.
It wasn't until much later that I noticed the radically different tones and styles each movie had, and how ROTJ was a whole heck of a lot lighter than the previous movie.
Doctorwhovian
Fleet Captain
I think part of the reason is because Lucas had more creative control than with ESB; while Empire is of course considered by many to be the best film these days, it had many production and budget problems so Lucas probably wanted a tighter hold on things.
