Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, on home media Mar. 13, 2018

[Thom]

I do hope Kylo was lying to her about her parents, or just simply speculating. To have the question of her parentage end up as tossed out dialogue seems pretty limp. I want her to be a Skywalker! Or at least a Kenobi.

[Dynaman]

I'm 100% certain Darth Millenial was lying.  Then again I was sure Snoke would still be alive at this point.

[jenius]

It's a huge universe, the idea that she had to be related to the first trilogy characters seems so trite, but that doesn't mean they couldn't come up with something new and compelling.

[kalvasflam]

For me, the only way Rey is a compelling Skywalker is if she is Luke and Leia's secret daughter.

Seriously, like Benny boy says, it's time to let the past die.  Too bad he doesn't realize he is a part of that so called past.

[Dynaman]

Well, she could be another one of those Virgin birth Skywalkers.

[TangledThorns]

Rey's past was pretty much implied in this scene from The Force Awakens. It's about looking forward instead of the past.

 

https://youtu.be/PybOttsT4Fw?t=2m47s

[Dynaman]

Oh well.  Started watching the on-demand of the movie today and stopped, it really is a stinker.  It does have good moments but the lame bits overpower the good ones.  Took a second viewing to have it sink in.  

[Dangerous_D]

1 hour ago, Dynaman said:

Oh well.  Started watching the on-demand of the movie today and stopped, it really is a stinker.  It does have good moments but the lame bits overpower the good ones.  Took a second viewing to have it sink in.  

it wasn't as good as episode 7, hopefully episode 9 will be better

[sh9000]

 

[Mommar]

I thought he was going to toss Han over the ledge...  Kylo beat me to it.

Edited March 20, 2018 by Mommar

[sh9000]

 

[Roy Focker]

That death was so stupid and pointless.  I get they wanted to show Luke's mastery of the force.  By showing that he can display such power from so far away.  Kylo wanted him dead.   They could have easily had Luke appear for real, perform some miracle and then die.   That would have made sense.  Instead they wanted do one more surprise on the audience by showing that he wasn't really there.   But then he dies anyways.   What's the point of keeping him thousands of light years away in safe place if he still dies?

Imagine watching Indiana Jones and Last Crusade.  It's the scene where Indy friends think he went over the cliff inside that German tank.  Instead of finding out he jumped out at the last minute we discover that after he jumped out of the tank he stepped on a venomous snake and still dies.  If a character is suppose to die.  Fine kill them off but don't use their death for a pointless twist.

Audience: "Did Kylo just kill Luke!?!"

Disney : "Surprise Luke is still alive because he wasn't really there!"

Audience: "Wow!  You got me there!"

Disney: "Surprise Luke dies anyways of a force heart attack!"

  

[technoblue]

Watching the clips that @sh9000 shared, it makes me wish that Johnson had more time to balance out Luke's character in The Last Jedi. As it is, I don't mind a troubled Luke but having a troubled Luke who also forgets everything he learned with Kenobi, Yoda, and his original adventures—it seemed a bit odd. For me, it would have been more believable if the troubling bits were balanced with more humanizing scenes.

For instance, Yoda reaching out to Luke near the end was good. I wish we had more of that. I wish that the reaction to Han's death wasn't deleted, and that there were other scenes added to make Luke less of a caricature. If the final version of the movie had included bits showing Luke in real conflict over what happened with Ben and the other young students, over what happened to his friends and family...that would have been great (IMO). Instead, these points were glossed over or ignored, and I lost the connection to the character that I knew from the original trilogy. I think Johnson spent too much on divesting Luke of his hero's journey: where he conquered fear and doubt, and became a Jedi. And maybe that was a risk he wanted to take, but it didn't work for me as a member of the audience. Having a conflicted, creepy hermit Luke who has been consumed by fear and doubt is strange, especially when the only context we have is that one moment with Kylo/Ben.

I think Hamill was right to question that and make it part of the public discussion of the movie, regardless of whether someone is for it, against it, or somewhere in the middle.

[Dynaman]

Death is not necessarily a bad thing for a Jedi.  Luke said he went to (wherever he is) to die, they can (and should) make a good case for that having been a vision of the future he had but got wrong in his despair.  Wrong as in he thought it would be a bad thing but ended up being a good one.  Since Carrie Fisher is dead whatever role she was supposed to play in Episode 9 has a good chance of now being filled by Luke's force ghost.

[Thom]

I was expecting Luke to die on the in a face-off with Kylo, and though there was a bit of feeling cheated by him not truly being there, I was happy that he was alive at the end. Then he died. I want to love TLJ, but that and the long chase make it impossible. It was a good movie and I like it, but it wasn't near as great as it could have been. Instead, it's now the Justice League of Star Wars. The prequels are still the worst of course, nothing has yet out-Razzied them, but it seems like Johnston really tried. Our best hope for a great (and hopefully sensical) closure to this trilogy is in Abrams' hands.

It helps that I did really like TFA and maybe if he tries to do something original rather than retread an earlier movie it might be great.

[tekering]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

It helps that I did really like TFA and maybe if he tries to do something original rather than retread an earlier movie it might be great.

Something original?  Not much chance of that, I fear.  After The Last Jedi, it's unlikely Disney will let Abrams do "something original."

[kajnrig]

3 hours ago, Thom said:

Instead, it's now the Justice League of Star Wars.

That's giving waaaaay too much credit to Justice League.

3 hours ago, Thom said:

maybe if he tries to do something original rather than retread an earlier movie it might be great.

The thing is that JJ Abrams doesn't do anything other than retread earlier movies But Worse. His inability to look past nostalgia hampers each and every film he has ever directed. Star Trek was the closest he ever came to doing something original, and one movie later he turned it into Wrath of Khan But Worse. It took Simon Pegg taking over to right the ship.

TFA is... fine... overall, but he chains it to the OT just like he chained Super 8 to ET, like MI3 to MI, like Into Darkness to Wrath of Khan.

15 minutes ago, tekering said:

Something original?  Not much chance of that, I fear.  After The Last Jedi, it's unlikely Disney will let Abrams do "something original."

Their road map for the franchise once it got going was always to have the main trilogy be "safe" movies and the standalones be the "experimental" ones. With the first of those two respectively being the exact opposite of what was planned, who knows what they're going to do.

Solo still looks totally uninteresting, and IX being helmed by Abrams stokes zero fires in me, but if this is it for me and this particular franchise, I'm totally fine with having gotten this surprisingly beautiful and thoughtful movie out of it.

[Mommar]

15 hours ago, kajnrig said:

Star Trek was the closest he ever came to doing something original,

I wouldn’t say that, he made Star Wars with Star Trek toys for the first one.

[electric indigo]

I'm not sure if Star Wars is a franchise that needs something original in the first place. But JJ gave us Lost, so I'm confident he'll find a deeply satisfying end to the current trilogy...

[kajnrig]

38 minutes ago, Mommar said:

I wouldn’t say that, he made Star Wars with Star Trek toys for the first one.

Also true.

29 minutes ago, electric indigo said:

But JJ gave us Lost, so I'm confident he'll find a deeply satisfying end to the current trilogy...

Remember, the Mystery Box is all you need. Payoff need not apply.

[Kanedas Bike]

On 3/24/2018 at 1:38 PM, technoblue said:

Watching the clips that @sh9000 shared, it makes me wish that Johnson had more time to balance out Luke's character in The Last Jedi. As it is, I don't mind a troubled Luke but having a troubled Luke who also forgets everything he learned with Kenobi, Yoda, and his original adventures—it seemed a bit odd. For me, it would have been more believable if the troubling bits were balanced with more humanizing scenes.

For instance, Yoda reaching out to Luke near the end was good. I wish we had more of that. I wish that the reaction to Han's death wasn't deleted, and that there were other scenes added to make Luke less of a caricature. If the final version of the movie had included bits showing Luke in real conflict over what happened with Ben and the other young students, over what happened to his friends and family...that would have been great (IMO). Instead, these points were glossed over or ignored, and I lost the connection to the character that I knew from the original trilogy. I think Johnson spent too much on divesting Luke of his hero's journey: where he conquered fear and doubt, and became a Jedi. And maybe that was a risk he wanted to take, but it didn't work for me as a member of the audience. Having a conflicted, creepy hermit Luke who has been consumed by fear and doubt is strange, especially when the only context we have is that one moment with Kylo/Ben.

I think Hamill was right to question that and make it part of the public discussion of the movie, regardless of whether someone is for it, against it, or somewhere in the middle.

For the record I was the first "Upvote" on this yesterday afternoon.  I just didn't have time, or perhaps the energy, to post. I'm still in the camp that for the most part enjoyed the Last Jedi but I wholeheartedly agree with everything @technoblue wrote.

While I don't mind that Luke's character evolved, or perhaps, diverged so much from the OT Luke, the changes would have been served so much better if there'd been more context around why Luke was the way he was.

I am praying that JJ gives us a satisfying payoff to the trilogy but I'm not holding my breath. I generally like his work, but the mysteries without a payoff routine really is tiresome. 

Anyway, looking forward to getting this on 4K/Blu ray so that I can watch it again and take a look at all of the extra material.

-b.

 

*Off-topic - Star Trek was awesome, Into Darkness had like 30 good minutes and the rest was trash, IMHO

 

[Thom]

Like it or not, Abrams is the last best hope for this trilogy.

[Dynaman]

3 minutes ago, Thom said:

Like it or not, Abrams is the last best hope for this trilogy.

Plenty of time left for him to be replaced still.  I'm not thinking that a very likely event mind you.

[derex3592]

They could pick up the phone and call uncle George to direct!!! Maybe he could pull us out of this nosedive!!! 

[Thom]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

They could pick up the phone and call uncle George to direct!!! Maybe he could pull us out of this nosedive!!! 

When you're already inverted you don't pull the nose up...

[sh9000]

 

[derex3592]

Wally Mart has this for like $18 bucks on blu-ray...i can't believe I'm actually considering swinging by on the way home from work today to get it just so I can watch it at home and re-evaluate it...

[Kanedas Bike]

21 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Wally Mart has this for like $18 bucks on blu-ray...i can't believe I'm actually considering swinging by on the way home from work today to get it just so I can watch it at home and re-evaluate it...

If it helps make your decision any easier, just remember there's a topless scene with Kylo Ren.

-b.

[no3Ljm]

13 minutes ago, Kanedas Bike said:

If it helps make your decision any easier, just remember there's a topless scene with Kylo Ren.

-b.

He's not just topless, my friend.

 

[Chronocidal]

I want to say that owning it to watch at home might make the movie a lot more watchable, actually, because you'll be able to skip over the parts you don't like, and just watch the parts you want to.

Depending on how well you liked the movie, that could mean cutting the runtime down to anywhere from two hours to thirty minutes, but hey, you get to focus on the good parts.

I'm actually very curious to see if anyone will attempt a custom recut of the movie to address some of the more problematic sections.

[Kanedas Bike]

@no3Ljm 

-b.

[no3Ljm]

5 minutes ago, Kanedas Bike said:

@no3Ljm 

-b.

 

[Kanedas Bike]

1 minute ago, no3Ljm said:

 

Now find and post one of Daisy Ridley - then we can be friends again.

-b.

[derex3592]

Hahahaha! Well....as a lifelong fan, I caved and bought it, watching it now. I will say, it’s an absolutely beautiful looking movie, and the DTS HD Master sound mix for home is astounding...Not watching the whole thing tonight, will report back after i watch the  extra stuff and listen to the commentary track in a few days.  

Edited March 29, 2018 by derex3592

[kalvasflam]

On 3/28/2018 at 6:26 PM, derex3592 said:

Hahahaha! Well....as a lifelong fan, I caved and bought it, watching it now. I will say, it’s an absolutely beautiful looking movie, and the DTS HD Master sound mix for home is astounding...Not watching the whole thing tonight, will report back after i watch the  extra stuff and listen to the commentary track in a few days.  

Alright, Sideshow Bob and Disney thanks you.  Remember, there will be a special uncut edition coming out sometime down the road, we strongly encourage you to buy that one too.  There, we'll get extrapolated scene of what if Rey was Kylo's sister and he frenched her.

 

OMG, I just saw that picture up there, cut out my eyes, I can't unsee it.