Re: Star Wars [2]

by Eldorion Fri Dec 18, 2015 7:02 pm

All very good points RE: movies, Dave. My mom sometimes tries to explain how things used to be in terms of seeing movies only once. I think she's still weirded out by how much I rewatch certain films.

@bungo, hope that you enjoyed it! He should be getting out right around now I think. scratch

by halfwise Fri Dec 18, 2015 7:16 pm

no, he posted at 12:30 (time zones) will be out around 3 by our time zone.

by Eldorion Fri Dec 18, 2015 7:20 pm

Derp. Time zones, yeah. :facepalm:

by halfwise Fri Dec 18, 2015 7:43 pm

If only we had his phone number so we can text him incessantly asking how it's going.

by Eldorion Fri Dec 18, 2015 7:55 pm

I'd be very disappointed if he responded during the movie though. Suspect

by halfwise Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:00 pm

the whole point is to drive him crazy. Of course he'd just switch off, but it would be worth a couple digs.

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:01 pm

I just got back. And it is just past 2pm. Very Happy

by halfwise Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:04 pm

So you're gonna be a bastard and not say anything, aren't you? Evil or Very Mad

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:16 pm

For my local theater on a Friday before noon I thought the turnout in the theater was great. I'd say at the least there were over 20 people in our showing. Wonder how many people were there last night. I walked in and the guy at the counter asked what movie I was going to see. "One for Star Wars." Felt so weird to say that. The last Star Wars movie I saw in theaters was Attack of the Clones in 2002. I only had to wait about five minutes before they began seating, but during that five minutes, standing with all those people in the lobby, I just got this weird giddy feeling and this big dumb grin on my face that I failed to suppress.

And then I saw the movie...oh...

Just kidding! Razz

It was pretty good. I'm trying to gather my thoughts in a non-spoilery fashion for those who haven't seen it. Overall I did like it. There were a lot of good moments and those mostly outweighed the stuff I didn't like. I think if they had gone in a different direction and didn't basically rehash ANH, then I would have enjoyed it more. I guess that's not a fair way to put it, because I did enjoy it, but when the plot retreads familiar ground it gets a bit tiresome and predictable.

The movie felt a lot longer than it is, but in a good way really. Not like how the Hobbit movies feel long. I only noticed one mention of something relating to the PT, and the further we can get away from that the better, but this was a good start.

I don't think what little spoilers I read took away from my enjoyment of the movie, but I wouldn't encourage seeking them out.

Probably the number one thing that was disappointing was the music. It's like JW put it all on auto-pilot. Shrugging

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:16 pm

halfwise wrote:So you're gonna be a bastard and not say anything, aren't you?

I was typing. Mad

by Mrs Figg Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:31 pm

hurrah Bungs has bunged the crabbit. I think it was the ghost of Star Wars past, and the ghost of Star Wars future wot nailed it. Nod

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:35 pm

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:53 pm

You know what's really amazing about this movie? The fact that what I saw in the theater is what will be released on blu-ray. Georgie literally can't touch this, can't change a thing. And I don't think JJ is one for doing that sort of thing, so we're probably safe from a "The Force Awakens Special Edition" and the case is probably the same with the upcoming SW releases.

by halfwise Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:08 pm

Too bad the music wasn't fresh. That was such a huge part of the Star Wars experience...hearing irresistible new themes. But then I think he dozed off during the prequels too - in fact I don't remember any new themes from Return of the Jedi. A little ewok music, that's about it. So yeah, he shot it all on the first two.

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:12 pm

~~One of~~ my favorite musical moments from the SW franchise is in ROTJ. When Luke lashes out at Vader after he taunts him about Leia.

dem strings

Not necessarily a new theme, but a stirring and powerful moment.

As far as the prequels are concerned he did have some good moments. Duel of the Fates for sure, and to a lesser extent Battle of the Heroes.

by halfwise Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:34 pm

hmm...I remember the music for duel of the fates, but can't place it in the movies.

Actually the love theme from attack of the clones was pretty good, but one tends to block it out due to the crappy dialogue. Crying or Very sad

by Eldorion Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:44 pm

Always good to hear your thoughts on things, bungo. Thumbs Up

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I definitely know what you mean about the anticipatory feeling. The numerous callbacks (er, copied elements?) from ANH didn't bother me as much as I thought they would. Like, I'm not thrilled that they went in that direction, but the film still works really well IMO.

Spoiler:

by Eldorion Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:46 pm

I will happily eat crow regarding my early pessimism for the sequel trilogy, although I'm still not sure how it's gonna be to have new SW movies (including the Anthology films) coming out every two years indefinitely, assuming that they don't want this money train to end after Episode IX.

http://www.hobbitmovieforum.com/t495-star-wars-episode-vii-will-be-made-now-that-disney-bought-lucasfilm

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:58 pm

Eldorion wrote:Always good to hear your thoughts on things, bungo. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I definitely know what you mean about the anticipatory feeling. The numerous callbacks (er, copied elements?) from ANH didn't bother me as much as I thought they would. Like, I'm not thrilled that they went in that direction, but the film still works really well IMO.

Spoiler:

Yeah the copied stuff probably bugged me a little more, but it didn't detract from me enjoying the movie. I see people online saying that TPM copied ANH as a justification for it this time around. While it's true there are some similarities, I would argue that TPM is MUCH different than ANH and its approach to the "poetry rhyming" was a little less obvious, especially in the ultimate aims of the plot.

TPM: Save the planet Naboo from control of the Trade Federation, which happens to involve blowing up the control ship.
ANH: Save the rebel base by blowing up the Death Star.
TFA: Save the rebel base by blowing up really big Death Star.

As far as spoilers go...

Spoiler:

by bungobaggins Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:01 pm

halfwise wrote:hmm...I remember the music for duel of the fates, but can't place it in the movies.

Actually the love theme from attack of the clones was pretty good, but one tends to block it out due to the crappy dialogue.

I don't like sand...

by Ringdrotten Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:19 pm

bungobaggins wrote:~~One of~~ my favorite musical moments from the SW franchise is in ROTJ. When Luke lashes out at Vader after he taunts him about Leia.

dem strings

Not necessarily a new theme, but a stirring and powerful moment.

This is by far my favourite Star Wars scene Very Happy

by halfwise Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:44 pm

I'm struggling to come up with my favorite scene. The original movies offered a fairly level playing field of good scenes with none sticking out in particular to me. In the prequels you have to start by eliminating the horrible scenes.

by Mrs Figg Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:30 pm

any scene with Han Solo is a good scene. Wink

by bungobaggins Sat Dec 19, 2015 1:30 am

Ringdrotten wrote:

This is by far my favourite Star Wars scene

Mine too. ESB may be my favorite SW movie, but this is my favorite scene.

by malickfan Sat Dec 19, 2015 2:24 am

My thoughts on Force Awakens-Big Spoilers obviously: