The Last Jedi

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Saw the teaser... and it looks like crap. I was a bit afraid the change of director could reduce the quality. Abrams should have continued. And Kasdan should have continued as a screenwriter, the lines in the trailer were quite awful. I'm still hopeful though, the crappy teaser doesn't automatically mean the movie itself is gonna be crap.

Episode VII was naturally awesome, although the later half was not nearly as good as the first one. Rogue one was kind of a disappointment, apart from a decent line here and there. But they hired Cushing's ghost to return as Tarkin, so that's a plus I guess...   

[Mirror Image]

I LOVED Rogue One and this teaser trailer is hardly representative of The Last Jedi, don't count your chickens before they hatch.

[mc ukrneal]

Saw the teaser... and it looks like crap. I was a bit afraid the change of director could reduce the quality. Abrams should have continued. And Kasdan should have continued as a screenwriter, the lines in the trailer were quite awful. I'm still hopeful though, the crappy teaser doesn't automatically mean the movie itself is gonna be crap.

Episode VII was naturally awesome, although the later half was not nearly as good as the first one. Rogue one was kind of a disappointment, apart from a decent line here and there. But they hired Cushing's ghost to return as Tarkin, so that's a plus I guess...   

Only a sith deals in absolutes...  

I think the trailer has so few lines, it's still a question mark (and who knows if they mixed and matched the conversations). But if it's all like the trailer, then I agree with you.

[Rinaldo]

Saw the teaser... and it looks like crap. I was a bit afraid the change of director could reduce the quality. Abrams should have continued. And Kasdan should have continued as a screenwriter, the lines in the trailer were quite awful. I'm still hopeful though, the crappy teaser doesn't automatically mean the movie itself is gonna be crap.

You underestimate the power of the dark side Rian Johnson. He's a much more original director than Abrams and I'm hoping he'll take the good stuff that's been planted in VII and blast it into hyperspace, just like Kershner did with Empire.

I liked the teaser, although I'm not looking forward to my childhood hero going.. crazy? Dark? Should be fun, anyway. The heart's there.

[Mirror Image]

I think the general problem for a lot of Star Wars fans is they simply can't get past the whole original trilogy stigma. They'll accept a new Star Wars is going to be junk just because either Lucas doesn't have some kind of involvement in it or the stories themselves can't possibly measure up. Both of these ideas are completely false IMHO and don't hold water whatsoever. I'm still a harsh critic of the prequels and think these are some of the worse films in this franchise, although Revenge of the Sith was much better than either of its' predecessors IMHO. The Force Awakens was every bit as good as I thought it was going to be and surprised me actually. I don't think bringing J.J. Abrams back would have made much a difference, but, from my understanding, he didn't want to do another film, so anyone who is upset that he's not returning as director should get over it and the same is to be said of Kasdan. As long as there's a flowing narrative to The Last Jedi, then I don't think this new director Rian Johnson could mess it up and it certainly can't be any worse than the prequels.

[Brian]

You underestimate the power of the dark side Rian Johnson. He's a much more original director than Abrams and I'm hoping he'll take the good stuff that's been planted in VII and blast it into hyperspace, just like Kershner did with Empire.

Absolutely this. JJ Abrams is a bit of a hack/fanfiction expert who excels at copying other formulas; that's why "Force Awakens" was both pretty good and also not great - it was just a point-by-point copying of "A New Hope". The things Abrams did add tended to weaken the movie (e.g. a stupid super weapon that makes no sense). Rian Johnson is a genius with a much more original point of view - I am excited to see his vision in a Star Wars film. (By the way, he directed the single highest-rated thing ever on IMDB.)

And a pro tip for Alberich: trailers are never good. "Hail Caesar!" did have a really good trailer...which ended up being better than the movie.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

On the contrary, I hated the prequels too (except couple of actor performances and Williams's music). And as I said, I enjoyed Force Awakens.

[Mirror Image]

Absolutely this. JJ Abrams is a bit of a hack/fanfiction expert who excels at copying other formulas; that's why "Force Awakens" was both pretty good and also not great - it was just a point-by-point copying of "A New Hope". The things Abrams did add tended to weaken the movie (e.g. a stupid super weapon that makes no sense). Rian Johnson is a genius with a much more original point of view - I am excited to see his vision in a Star Wars film. (By the way, he directed the single highest-rated thing ever on IMDB.)

And a pro tip for Alberich: trailers are never good. "Hail Caesar!" did have a really good trailer...which ended up being better than the movie.

That is a very good point, Brian. I can't wait to see what Rian Johnson does in this new film and, you never know, it may be the best Star Wars ever produced.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

And I am actually of the (not extremely unpopular) opinion that the less Lucas is involved, the better.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Only a sith deals in absolutes...  

Don't forget that very much absolute-like sounding line was from the mouth of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a jedi master.  Bravo, Lucas.

[Brian]

And I am actually of the (not extremely unpopular) opinion that the less Lucas is involved, the better.

Oh, most definitely. The jump in quality between "A New Hope" and the other two original movies is too big to ignore.

[TheGSMoeller]

The visuals alone of The Last Jedi trailer have me excited. Only film I've seen from Rian Johnson is Looper, and it was incredibly original, and the idea of a Star Wars film with an independent-film style interests me.
I've never been a JJ Abrams fan, but think his style was the right bridge between the original trilogy and the newest trilogy. But the Star Wars universe can easily exist with different filmmakers and screenwriters, even the original trilogy had different directors and screenwriters for each film.

Personally I hope the next few trailers are even more vague than this teaser. The more mystery surrounding The Last Jedi the better.

[mc ukrneal]

And a pro tip for Alberich: trailers are never good.

But that's the point. They are rarely good. And at the same time, the trailer is often better than the film, because it takes many of the best parts of the film. The new hope I have (haha) is that since it is a teaser, and not a trailer, the above simply doesn't apply.

[Mirror Image]

And I am actually of the (not extremely unpopular) opinion that the less Lucas is involved, the better.

Lucas selling Star Wars for billions of dollars was the best decision he ever made for the fans because it means we don't have to deal with him anymore.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

The poster on wikipedia page looks pretty good.

[Mirror Image]

The poster in question:

[Click to enlarge]

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Just saw the film and I have mixed feelings. I'll try not to spoil too much. I liked best the scenes with Hamill, he does a fine performance as Luke, coupled with excellent humor which actually made me laugh out loud at times. On the other hand, the more dramatic scenes and many plot devices, in this case red herrings, annoyed me quite a bit because they seemed less ingenious plot handling than scriptwriters changing their mind suddenly because they didn't know how to handle their plot material. Consequently, many scenes were unnecessary (and the movie is drawn out, I mean really drawn out, I think in fact the longest Star Wars movie so far) and didn't lead anywhere.

Btw, I still can't take seriously the new Emperor (or should I say "The Supreme Leader"?)", Snoke. He tries too hard to copy Palpatine's mannerisms instead of being an original character in his own right. I'm not quite sure what makes Palpatine's card carrying villain tactics work while Snoke fails at that. Kylo Ren is still awesome though.

Apart from the familiar melodies from original trilogy, the music wasn't particularly memorable (same issue with Force Awakens).

They wasted a perfect opportunity to reintroduce one character from the original trilogy who didn't appear in The Force Awakens and thus I am baffled when I read that the reason for this was that they couldn't find a way to make him fit into the movie in a distinct role. For God's sake, there was a perfect opportunity due to a plot element which they themselves introduced but nooooo.

Okay, I focused on the negative but there was actually pretty much equal amount of good things in the movie that I liked. But I seem to write more inspired-like when talking about the negative. 

[Karl Henning]

Btw, I still can't take seriously the new Emperor (or should I say "The Supreme Leader"?)", Snoke.

Pronounced Snookey, right?

[Mirror Image]

Just saw the film and I have mixed feelings. I'll try not to spoil too much. I liked best the scenes with Hamill, he does a fine performance as Luke, coupled with excellent humor which actually made me laugh out loud at times. On the other hand, the more dramatic scenes and many plot devices, in this case red herrings, annoyed me quite a bit because they seemed less ingenious plot handling than scriptwriters changing their mind suddenly because they didn't know how to handle their plot material. Consequently, many scenes were unnecessary (and the movie is drawn out, I mean really drawn out, I think in fact the longest Star Wars movie so far) and didn't lead anywhere.

Btw, I still can't take seriously the new Emperor (or should I say "The Supreme Leader"?)", Snoke. He tries too hard to copy Palpatine's mannerisms instead of being an original character in his own right. I'm not quite sure what makes Palpatine's card carrying villain tactics work while Snoke fails at that. Kylo Ren is still awesome though.

Apart from the familiar melodies from original trilogy, the music wasn't particularly memorable (same issue with Force Awakens).

They wasted a perfect opportunity to reintroduce one character from the original trilogy who didn't appear in The Force Awakens and thus I am baffled when I read that the reason for this was that they couldn't find a way to make him fit into the movie in a distinct role. For God's sake, there was a perfect opportunity due to a plot element which they themselves introduced but nooooo.

Okay, I focused on the negative but there was actually pretty much equal amount of good things in the movie that I liked. But I seem to write more inspired-like when talking about the negative. 

I'll take this critique with a grain of salt, especially given your rather trepidation of The Last Jedi from your initial post. I'm a much more forgiving Star Wars than you appear to be with the exception of those awful prequels, which should have never seen the light of day. There are reasons for storylines and the whys aren't as important as establishing a flowing narrative, which I have no doubt The Last Jedi will have. According to several online sources, this new film is one of the best ones yet. So, again, the grain of salt applies until I've seen it for myself. I'm actually rather excited to see it. I'm thinking of going to see it a bit before New Year's as I'll be on a week-long vacation.

[Rinaldo]

Saw it for the 2nd time today. Really liked it the first time, LOVED it now. It could use a little trimming and the soundtrack is pretty dull but otherwise Johnson & co. knocked it out of the park. Definitely the funniest episode yet. Imperial ironing ftw!