Spoilers Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
Did people really expect these films to do $2 billion worldwide every time? That's insane. Before Disney came along the highest grossing film was TPM which finished at just below $1 billion. AOTC and ROTS trailed off too in box office just like TESB and ROTJ did compared to ANH. If TROS finishes just below TLJ it will be around $1 billion to $1.2 billion, which is the same pattern of regression that the other trilogies had. Star Wars always starts off with a bang and then settles back down with each sequal.
Fans with unrealistic expectations did.
It is clear that if a sequel sells one less ticket, then it is worthless and a total failure.
1.05 - 1.1. There are gonna be steep drop-offs after New Year's Day, as is the case with every holiday release. TROS just had the misfortune of opening a little late into December. A full week later than TLJ.
No it isn't, the middle chapter used to be the lowest grossing one.
Maybe I'm just not a hardcore Star Wars fan, but my love for these films has always been grounded in a few fundamental elements as opposed to the endless minutia that many seem bogged down in:
1. Fun / Old-Fashioned Movie Magic: SW for me represents the ultimate expression what a fun, engaging experience should be at the movies. Were you thrilled by being whisked away to another world on a great adventure of "good" vs. "evil?" Were there twists and turns that kept you on your toes?
2. Character Chemistry: The best SW films had brilliant casts and brilliantly written interplay between the characters. The relationships were fun, dynamic, humorous, and made you care about the people and the universe that much more.
3. Great Visual Set Pieces: Let's face it, ANH would not have been successful if it featured the visual effects from "Flash Gordon." Great special effects and action set pieces are a big part of what Star Wars is and what the appeal is.
If I were to rate the films on these 3 foundational elements, I'd say:
ANH:
1: A
2: A+
3: B+
ESB:
1: A+
2: A+
3: A-
ROTJ:
1: A-
2: B
3: A
TPM:
1. B
2. C+
3. A
AOTC:
1. C
2. D
3. B
ROTS:
1. B-
2. D
3. A
TFA: Completely brought back the chemistry and magic of the original trilogy...something that the prequel films were sorely lacking. Relied heavily on nostalgia and formula, but still great fun, and the best time I've had at the movies in YEARS.
1. A
2. A
3. A
R1: Visually striking, but completely devoid of any of the elements that make Star Wars the unique and magical franchise that it is. Dour, forgettable, cookie-cutter fan fiction at best with zero character chemistry and not a single ounce of fun.
1. D-
2. F
3. A+
TLJ: Such a unique departure from expectations, I find it hard to dislike it. It was bold, fun, and completely surprising in a time when I thought feeling that about a SW film would be impossible. I gather this is why a lot of fans disliked it, but from my point of view, it's a tremendous strength.
1. B+
2. A-
3. A
Solo: This film was a light touch that basically means nothing (much like The Mandalorian series), but ultimately a lot of fun at the movies. Good heart, good performances, and a fun, simple storyline.
1. B+
2. B+
3. B
TROS: Again, great magic and chemistry between characters / cast, brilliant set pieces, and a lot of movie-going fun. I think it was a little too over-stuffed for it to be considered perfect or even "great," but ultimately it was in the same position that ROTJ and ROTS were in with regard to wrapping up a lot of story in one film.
1. B+
2. A-
3. B+
1. Fun / Old-Fashioned Movie Magic: SW for me represents the ultimate expression what a fun, engaging experience should be at the movies. Were you thrilled by being whisked away to another world on a great adventure of "good" vs. "evil?" Were there twists and turns that kept you on your toes?
2. Character Chemistry: The best SW films had brilliant casts and brilliantly written interplay between the characters. The relationships were fun, dynamic, humorous, and made you care about the people and the universe that much more.
3. Great Visual Set Pieces: Let's face it, ANH would not have been successful if it featured the visual effects from "Flash Gordon." Great special effects and action set pieces are a big part of what Star Wars is and what the appeal is.
If I were to rate the films on these 3 foundational elements, I'd say:
ANH:
1: A
2: A+
3: B+
ESB:
1: A+
2: A+
3: A-
ROTJ:
1: A-
2: B
3: A
TPM:
1. B
2. C+
3. A
AOTC:
1. C
2. D
3. B
ROTS:
1. B-
2. D
3. A
TFA: Completely brought back the chemistry and magic of the original trilogy...something that the prequel films were sorely lacking. Relied heavily on nostalgia and formula, but still great fun, and the best time I've had at the movies in YEARS.
1. A
2. A
3. A
R1: Visually striking, but completely devoid of any of the elements that make Star Wars the unique and magical franchise that it is. Dour, forgettable, cookie-cutter fan fiction at best with zero character chemistry and not a single ounce of fun.
1. D-
2. F
3. A+
TLJ: Such a unique departure from expectations, I find it hard to dislike it. It was bold, fun, and completely surprising in a time when I thought feeling that about a SW film would be impossible. I gather this is why a lot of fans disliked it, but from my point of view, it's a tremendous strength.
1. B+
2. A-
3. A
Solo: This film was a light touch that basically means nothing (much like The Mandalorian series), but ultimately a lot of fun at the movies. Good heart, good performances, and a fun, simple storyline.
1. B+
2. B+
3. B
TROS: Again, great magic and chemistry between characters / cast, brilliant set pieces, and a lot of movie-going fun. I think it was a little too over-stuffed for it to be considered perfect or even "great," but ultimately it was in the same position that ROTJ and ROTS were in with regard to wrapping up a lot of story in one film.
1. B+
2. A-
3. B+
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I think Rogue One had the most fun and the best characters of the new films
To me Rogue One's final act is still the best piece of entertainment Lucasfilm produced under the Disney banner. The Mandalorian (in its entirety) comes second, and the rest does not even come close.
I did love the throne room scene in TLJ too, nonsensical choreography notwithstanding. The character drama more than makes up for it.
I did love the throne room scene in TLJ too, nonsensical choreography notwithstanding. The character drama more than makes up for it.
K2 is the closest for fun for me. But, yeah R1 is not enjoyable for me and you summed it up well.
I didn't foresee that it would be Rey vying to sit on the Iron Throne!...
Fantastic.
K2 is fun. Cassian had one line about doing things he regretted which I think is an interesting setup for his series. Baze and Chirrut weren’t all that interesting. Krennic was a stooge. Bodhi was unbelievably boring. Jyn would have been far more interesting had they kept the version we saw hints of in the earliest trailers. The story was dour. The ending doesn’t quite match up to ANH which bothers me. The fan service is over the top. The less said about Vader the better.
Having said that, it is the most war-ry of all of the Star Wars films. And they did a good job with Tarkin and the Rebel pilots at Scarif. The movie, particularly on Scarif, is gorgeous.
I loved Rogue One, but it was IMO the least fun of any of the Disney. It was IMO the darkest and most serious.
It turns out there is a reason Rose is in so little of TRoS, apparently most of her scenes were with Leia, but once they were done, they decided merging of the old and new footage just didn't work as well in those scenes and they ended up cutting them.
Small point of order, that was $4.05 billion. Not sure there'd ever be a way to make back money in the trillions even if Disney could raise it. As it was half was liquid funds and the other half stocks in the company which raises an interesting point. Whilst Lucas no longer has a direct creative input he is a massive shareholder in the company which now owns the franchise, which is itself a reinforcement of your point.
Did you notice the all too unsubtle digs thrown into the dialogue?
"How did you learn to hotwire a ship? Yes I know Rey wasn't even there!"
"How did you learn to light speed skip?"
"I'm not sharing whilst you don't tell me how you....."
Funny typo. Yeah, as a trillion is 1000 billion, and the entire US economy is just shy of 21 trillion, no way did Disney cough up a 5th of the US economy lol
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Wow, don’t know how I screwed that up so majorly. You are correct!
Thanks!
(I blame it on a teething baby, in-laws in town, too much to drink last night and probably the biggest culprit... not proofreading.)
George Lucas channeling Dr. Evil during the opening negotiations with Disney.
A
Amaris
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It's a Star Wars film, it will do fine. Star Wars is one of those franchises where millions of people could hate it with a flaming passion, and it would still shatter box office numbers.
