Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[Campe]

We may have a runtime... 136 minutes. That would make it the third longest behind Clones and Sith.

The Phantom Menace - 133 minutes
Attack of the Clones - 142 minutes
Revenge of the Sith - 140 minutes
A New Hope - 121 minutes
The Empire Strikes Back - 124 minutes
Return of the Jedi - 131 minutes
The Force Awakens - 136 minutes

(Not really sure if this is news. It is trivia though.)

 

[cooleddie74]

AOTC was the longest film of the first six? Yeah, that makes sense. It could feel like it.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Which is it for TFA, 133 or 136? Campe98 says both.

 

[Campe]

136. My mistake. The source referenced TPM being 133 and I fixed it in one place and not the other. Fixed now.

 

[fireproof78]

It'd be like rooting for Michael Corleone in one of the Godfather films. He's not really a good guy, but compared to most of the other characters in the story he might as well be the hero.

You'd root for Boba Fett not because he's the hero in shining armor riding in to save the day, but because there'd be a pretty good chance that anybody he'd be locked in combat with would be a much worse character from a moral and ethical standpoint. He's the default "good guy."

Kind of like Chronicles of Riddick.

Ouch, baby. Very ouch.

(I believe the term we're looking for here when your protagonist is villainous or amoral is "anti-hero.")

Actually, wasn't really looking for the word, so much as a film that I enjoyed where the amoral protagonist is someone I enjoyed watching and wanted to see succeed. Riddick is probably one of the few that I can think of.

 

[cooleddie74]

One could also argue that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also qualifies since both lead characters as well as their real-life counterparts were bank and train robbers and criminals who'd be considered crooks breaking the law in any period of American history. They were just sweet and good-hearted compared to most of their opponents in the film.

 

[davejames]

We may have a runtime... 136 minutes. That would make it the third longest behind Clones and Sith.

The Phantom Menace - 133 minutes
Attack of the Clones - 142 minutes
Revenge of the Sith - 140 minutes
A New Hope - 121 minutes
The Empire Strikes Back - 124 minutes
Return of the Jedi - 131 minutes
The Force Awakens - 136 minutes

(Not really sure if this is news. It is trivia though.)

Huh, never realized ROTJ was the longest of the OT. I would have expected it to be ESB.

 

[Awesome Possum]

AOTC was the longest film of the first six? Yeah, that makes sense. It could feel like it.

A part of me feels like I'm still watching it and my entire life has been a fever dream caused by being bored by the movie.

 

[sojourner]

One could also argue that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also qualifies since both lead characters as well as their real-life counterparts were bank and train robbers and criminals who'd be considered crooks breaking the law in any period of American history. They were just sweet and good-hearted compared to most of their opponents in the film.

Mel Gibson's character in Payback. Definitely an anti-hero.

 

[JD]

Max Rockatansky and Snake Plisken would be two of my favorite anti-heroes.

 

[Nightowl1701]

AOTC was the longest film of the first six? Yeah, that makes sense. It could feel like it.

And yet it had the most scenes cut out of the whole Saga and arguably the least amount of story of all six films by the time editing was done. A total hot mess.

 

[Dream]

AOTC was the longest film of the first six? Yeah, that makes sense. It could feel like it.

I ALWAYS fast forward the "romance" scene in AOTC, so it becomes the shortest SW film.

Lamest romance EVER.

Funnily enough, the deleted scenes between Anakin and Padme in AOTC on the dvd were pretty good. We got some actual background on Padme's family. Those were actually more enjoyable than what we actually got in the movie! They shouldn't have been cut!

 

[DWF]

AOTC was the longest film of the first six? Yeah, that makes sense. It could feel like it.

And yet it had the most scenes cut out of the whole Saga and arguably the least amount of story of all six films by the time editing was done. A total hot mess.

I disagree, the movie sets up and starts the Clone War and Palpatine gets one step closer to becoming Emperor.The delelted scenes probably would've made it a better movie but then it would've been some ten minutes longer as well.

 

[fireproof78]

AOTC was the longest film of the first six? Yeah, that makes sense. It could feel like it.

And yet it had the most scenes cut out of the whole Saga and arguably the least amount of story of all six films by the time editing was done. A total hot mess.

I disagree, the movie sets up and starts the Clone War and Palpatine gets one step closer to becoming Emperor.The delelted scenes probably would've made it a better movie but then it would've been some ten minutes longer as well.

And I'm ok with that fact.

I used to be more pro Anakin/Padme romance, to a certain degree. On the one hand, I get what George was trying to in that it is a society, with certain expectations, rules and behaviors, much like nobles of Europe at a certain time. So, in that way, the idea of a forbidden romance has a certain feel to it that I like.

On the other hand, I don't find Anakin to very sympathetic, even as he stumbles through his dialog and tries to impress Padme as a good man. It isn't as impactful as I think it should be.

Beyond that, I think the deleted scenes in AOTC (some of them) were worth keeping. Even if it makes the film longer, I always prefer scenes that add to the character.

 

[JD]

I am a little shocked that AoTC is the longest movie in the series. I would have expected one of the OT movie to be longer, it seemed like movies overall tended to be longer back then. For some reason I always figured RotS was longer, maybe it's just that so much happens that it feels like it should be longer.

 

[cooleddie74]

And yet the deleted scenes where Anakin meets Padmé's family and goes to visit their home probably should have been left in, if only to make both characters more three-dimensional and expand upon Padmé's background before she was elected Queen of Naboo. Dialogue-heavy? No action? Probably a little too long? Sure.

But at least that sequence meant something and would have added character content and more depth to the film.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I didn't like the deleted scenes of Padme's family with the stupid picture frames.

Picture frames shouldn't be in a fun pulpy adventure like Star Wars. And neither should people sitting on couches (and there was too much of that in the prequels). Imagine if they cut from a scene where Han, Luke, and Leia are blasting storm-troopers on the Death Star to someone sitting on a couch.

Even the scene in Empire Strikes Back when things are calm (before the storm) when Leia is waiting, she didn't actually sit on the couches there.

 

[Dream]

They sat around and watched Threepio and Chewie play chess in ANH

Han and Leia got some down time while the Falcon was being fixed in the asteroid in ESB

They sat around and listened to Threepio tell stories in ROTJ

The heroes taking a rest isn't going to kill the movie. A rushed romance with zero development would do far more damage. I still don't know why the embarrassing sound of music scene in AOTC was there, the entire scene could have been replaced by a shorten version of the family dinner scene.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I suppose you're right about the examples you mentioned. But in all of the prequels, it seems a lot of important plot scenes happen over conversation on couches. It annoyed me almost as much as the Sound of Music scene you mentioned.

 

[Dream]

Don't get me wrong, I despised the senate scenes in TPM. The story came to a complete halt when they happened. It was basically Lucas shouting LOOK AT THIS SCENE THIS IS IMPORTANT HISTORY LESSON. They really could have been massively trimmed.

I would have rather spent time on Anakin exploring the city, or saw what it was like with the Jedi living in the temple. Coruscant just felt like a pretty painting in TPM. I'm glad we got to see more of it in AOTC and The Clone Wars cartoon.