Star Wars

Its not just stupid the plot doesn't make sense at all from any angle, at any point. Not once. From start to finish the plot holes have plot holes.

I can't argue with there being plot holes in ST '09 -- there are obviously problems out the ass with that plot -- and that's part of the reason why I don't consider the film to have very much staying power or substance beyond what it is on the surface.  But what it is on the surface is a fun and exciting blockbuster movie and I've enjoyed watching it on the two or three occasions that I've seen it.  The characters, in particular, are so much more fun to watch than the dour, unmemorable ones you see in many blockbusters (including Into Darkness).  I'm sure some of the credit for that goes to the original show but even though I'd never seen an episode of the original at that point, the writing and actors were enough to make me care about the characters for the duration of the movie (though not much longer than that).

NB I feel kinda bad about it but that Jar Jar video always makes me laugh.

The characters, in particular, are so much more fun to watch than the dour, unmemorable ones you see in many blockbusters (including Into Darkness).  I'm sure some of the credit for that goes to the original show- Eldo

I would say you have hit on one of the sort of not quite completely bloody awful aspects of the film, the main leads with the exception of whoever that nonentity playing Kirk is. Urban is very good as Bones, especially with the material he has to work with, and Quinto does a passable version of a Spock infected with a virus that makes him emotional all the time.
But at the same time its awful because thy somehow miss the entire narrative purpose of the Kirk, Spock, McCoy triangle- which is Kirk is in command but his own predilections and excesses would inevitably lead him and hs crew to disaster, were it not that his actions and concious are balanced out by Spock representing reason and logic and McCoy, representing his passion and humanity.
By sticking Uhura in there as a fourth cog in some misguided gender rebalancing attempt, the whole thing falls down and makes the characters of Spock and McCoy irrelevant to the character narrative of Kirk save as obstacles or allies.

You can see that triangular relationship in some of these clips-



And even at its very worst (ST V) its the small characters moments that are the films best moments-



Wish I could find the whole of this scene, the stuff with McCoy and his father is the best scene in the film, but this is the second half of it, Spocks pain- this short scene does so much more, and conveys much more powerfully, what the reboot needed several cheesy scenes of young Spock and bullies to convey-

Pettytyrant101 wrote:And even at its very worst (ST V) its the small characters moments that are the films best moments

I still think ST 5 gets way more flak than it deserves. Those campfire scenes are really good.

https://instagram.com/p/65PhxOs_RH/

Mild spoilers.

Aw yiss.

Spoiler:

I felt for the first time watching the new teaser trailer that the costumes and sets for the new Star Wars looks amateurish. The first shot looking at the backs of 4 figures, 2 in black, 2 in white: the ones in white look like they are wearing karate training clothes with plastic buckets on their heads. Juxtiposed against the beachball droid it makes me wonder if the designers are really trying.

halfwise wrote: beachball droid

Cannot unsee.

The soldiers in the first shot look a lot like classic (TESB) snowtroopers to me.



@ "beachball droid" though.  Can't argue with that.

I don't remember seeing those anywhere. The back looks like a baby blanket. None of the rest looks much less than laughable. If onscreen in the Hoth scenes it must have been from far away.

halfwise wrote:I don't remember seeing those anywhere.  The back looks like a baby blanket.  None of the rest looks much less than laughable.  If onscreen in the Hoth scenes it must have been from far away.

They're not oncscreen much but you can judge for yourself here.  Skip to about 1:38 in (I don't think I can embed the video and also set it to begin playing at that point).



On an unrelated note, the beauty of that HD footage is making me really want to get the Star Wars Blu-rays, special edition changes be damned (I can't believe I'm saying this! ).

yeah, went by too fast to make an impression unless you were looking for it. I suppose that's why it was okay for them to look so cheesy.

I always loved paying attention to the ships, weapons, gear, and uniforms when watching SW even as a kid so the snowtroopers stood out to me.

I just forgave them for cheesy costumes. The armor discussed below looks fantastic.

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/s/star-wars-shuts-down-sexist-165900514.html

Why did they have to give away the identity of the chrome trooper?

Not clicking that link...

Ugh, typical brainless yahoo article. Whoop-de-doo some mod somewhere replied to some other person on Facebook oh my. Clearly another great step forward for humanity.

Eldorion wrote: Not clicking that link...

See why I've been railing against the unhinged spoiler culture? These people would be openly talking about the entire plot of the film before its release if they could.

I'm normally not too fussed about spoilers and I don't think Episode VII will be ruined for me if I find out key plot information, I'd just rather not. I think there's often way too much drama over spoilers. That said, the entertainment media is hilariously awful at dealing with spoilers. My personal favorite example is from GOT S5 where there was this Vanity Fair article with the title "Is [character] Really Dead on Game of Thrones?" as the headline and then, as the first paragraph, a warning about spoilers to follow.

I got the impression they were going deliberately for an unreconstructed retro vibe, hence the beachball droid.

Force Friday was insane at work today. Our store doesn't generally get as many people coming in for pop culture type events as other, more centrally located stores, but Star Wars brought people out. The new movie is gonna be HUGE. And the BB-8 toy from Sphero is adorable.

http://toyland.gizmodo.com/sphero-bb-8-review-this-is-the-coolest-star-wars-toy-e-1727067215

Thats adorable Eldo ! what a great little toy

Eldo - I have a feeling this film might break Avatars record. Seems like there is a huge amount of anticipation!

I'm trying not to let my expectations get out of hand -- generally franchise films have a limit -- but things are already getting insane. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets close to Avatar, and I feel that's a quite modest prediction at this point.

Yeah, I didn't suggest it will turn out to be a good film (although I think it will)... but it just seems like lots of people are waiting this.

Can understand that too with the return of original cast. People will want to see what happens next which is still a mystery rather than the prequels which you kinda knew what was gonna happen by the end.