If you saw The Last Jedi in the theater do you plan on seeing The Rise of Skywalker?

[Frazod]

Rogue One and Solo were both awesome. Both better than Force Awakens and exponentially better than Last Jedi.

IMO Solo captured the fun, swashbuckling feel of the original more than any of the other movies. Sucks that it paid the price at the box office for the steaming turd that was Last Jedi, sort of like the kid who gets sent to the principal's office for disrupting class by turning around after the true offender kicked the back of his seat for 10 minutes.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Frazod

Rogue One and Solo were both awesome. Both better than Force Awakens and exponentially better than Last Jedi.

IMO Solo captured the fun, swashbuckling feel of the original more than any of the other movies.

Solo most definitely captured that aspect of the original Star Wars movie (I still have difficulty calling it "A New Hope" because it was Star Wars for years before it was changed to Episode 4: A New Hope). It's a great film from top to bottom: Casting, acting, direction, VFX and good grief, the characters! I've watched it at least 20 times since its release in theaters and digital and I tend to enjoy even more with each subsequent viewing.

Rogue One captures the Rebellion unlike any other film, while showing Imperial machinations at their height. I don't want to spoil anything for our friend Detoxing but IMO, it's a Must-See Star Wars film.

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

It would be interesting to hear the perspective of someone who entered Star Wars in a world where Rogue One already exists.

For those who 'experienced it in real-time' the swashbuckling saga started smack dab in the middle, but we were too gobsmacked by the revolutionary storytelling to worry too much about how we got there. Then 40 years later we get a backstory that's not only plausible but moving.

Excellent suggestion and observation. It'll be fun to read Detoxing's "review" of Rogue One after he's seen it for the first time.

I was so blown away by Rogue One that I saw it more than a few times in IMAX, which was an incredible experience.

[notorious]

Rogue One was ****ing awesome. The critics that are saying there was too much fan service can get ****ed.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by notorious

Rogue One was ****ing awesome. The critics that are saying there was too much fan service can get ****ed.

Rogue One was great but the only problem I had with it was just how DARK it was. And maybe I'm not giving enough credit to how Dark ANH and ROTJ were, but man - I just can't see a 9 year old watching that movie and not being bummed as hell throughout.

I think Frazod is right - Solo struck the right balance. I can't make an impassioned argument as to why, it was just the feel I got from it.

Rogue One is probably the 'best' of the new Star Wars movies, but I think Solo was the 'most' Star Wars of the new Star Wars movies, if that makes any sense.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Rogue One was great but the only problem I had with it was just how DARK it was. And maybe I'm not giving enough credit to how Dark ANH and ROTJ were, but man - I just can't see a 9 year old watching that movie and not being bummed as hell throughout.

The film was quite different originally, with most of the team, including Cassian, K2 and Jyn, all surviving at the end of the film. It was far more "upbeat" and happy, with a different tone overall but once it was screened for Bob Iger, it was apparent that the film "Didn't work".

This was after the original script, written by Gary Whitta and based on a story by ILM's John Knoll, was re-written by Chris Weitz. Gareth had input on the re-writes as well but everyone, including Gareth and KK, came to the conclusion that it was just too "unrealistic", especially considering none of the characters were ever mentioned in the OT, TFA, Rebels, etc.

Iger told them to "make it dark and make it right", so KK hired Tony Gilroy, an Oscar nominated writer and director, to rewrite the 2nd and 3rd act. Gilroy had zero affliation with Lucasfilm and unlike Gareth, wasn't a Star Wars fan, so he had no problem with killing them all, which is exactly what the film needed to succeed.

I thought it was brilliant from top to bottom, from casting to directing to story to cinematography (Jedha was extremely interesting to me, that there would be a city and planet "dedicated" to the Jedi. I thought that was an extremely interesting concept that the Jedi would have "worshipers"). But what really blew me away was the realism: We'd only heard about the bad deeds of the Empire but to actually see them, behind the scenes, was incredible to me. And the ends that the rebellion would go to in order to defeat the Empire was something that heretofore, I'd never considered.

It added much needed "weight" to the Star Wars universe that IMO, was lacking from the prequels and TFA.

Unfortunately, most of Ben Mendelsohn's performace was left on the cutting room floor. I spoke with him at a Chanakuh Party in 2017 and he was really bummed out about it and was really hoping it would have been his "big break" into American cinema (he's Australian, FWIW). Fortunately for him, he's had quite a bit of success and work since with Ready Player One and Captain Marvel.

All of these changes also explain why all of the trailers were so very different from the final film, as they were shooting as late as October of 2016 and editing up until just a few weeks before the release (Where have we heard that one before?).

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

All of these changes also explain why all of the trailers were so very different from the final film, as they were shooting as late as October of 2016 and editing up until just a few weeks before the release (Where have we heard that one before?).

I'm still bummed that I didn't watch Rogue One in theaters because I was so turned off by the trailers.

Now my favorite Star Wars movie.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

I'm still bummed that I didn't watch Rogue One in theaters because I was so turned off by the trailers.

Now my favorite Star Wars movie.

Yeah, you missed out. See that ending scene with Vader in the theater was nearly as awesome as seeing the beginning of the original in the theater back in '77. The silence, the terror in the eyes of the doomed soldiers, the breathing, the lightsaber igniting in the darkness, ****. It was perfect.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The film was quite different originally, with most of the team, including Cassian, K2 and Jyn, all surviving at the end of the film. It was far more "upbeat" and happy, with a different tone overall but once it was screened for Bob Iger, it was apparent that the film "Didn't work".

... he had no problem with killing them all, which is exactly what the film needed to succeed.

I thought it was brilliant from top to bottom, from casting to directing to story to cinematography (Jedha was extremely interesting to me, that there would be a city and planet "dedicated" to the Jedi. I thought that was an extremely interesting concept that the Jedi would have "worshipers"). But what really blew me away was the realism: We'd only heard about the bad deeds of the Empire but to actually see them, behind the scenes, was incredible to me. And the ends that the rebellion would go to in order to defeat the Empire was something that heretofore, I'd never considered.

It added much needed "weight" to the Star Wars universe that IMO, was lacking from the prequels and TFA.

I don't disagree. I don't even necessarily have an issue with them dying at the end, especially Cassyian and Jen. I agree that it needed to happen and there was no sort of prolonged torture scene or anything.

But man, the movie STARTS with Cassian knifing his partner and it goes downhill from there.

It is absolutely an outstanding movie but at some point the joy of the franchise was pretty much completely sucked out of it. And I guess that was necessary to tell that story, but that still gives it a tone unlike anything else in the Star Wars universe (at least the movies).

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I don't disagree. I don't even necessarily have an issue with them dying at the end, especially Cassyian and Jen. I agree that it needed to happen and there was no sort of prolonged torture scene or anything.

But man, the movie STARTS with Casian knifing his partner and it goes downhill from there.

It is absolutely an outstanding movie but at some point the joy of the franchise was pretty much completely sucked out of it. And I guess that was necessary to tell that story, but that still gives it a tone unlike anything else in the Star Wars universe (at least the movies).

While I understand your point of view, I thought it was completely amazing to see just how far the Rebels went in getting the Death Star plans, in the hope of destroying the station before it was unleashed on the galaxy.

I'd imagine the Prequel Series will show even more of those types of confrontations. Spy missions across the Star Wars Galaxy, with the Empire's full might on display, sets the series up to be extremely compelling, if done correctly (and I have total faith in Gilroy to make it happen).

[Deberg_1990]

Solo and Rogue One were both great.

HOnestly, i think alot of fans are just kinda tired of the Skywalker saga.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

HOnestly, i think alot of fans are just kinda tired of the Skywalker saga.

I don't think that's the case, as its weekend opening will be in excess of $450 million worldwide.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I don't think that's the case, as its weekend opening will be in excess of $450 million worldwide.

Sure, everyone will go see it because its Star Wars. But its like this large vocal fan base that just likes to bitch and whine about everything.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Sure, everyone will go see it because its Star Wars. But its like this large vocal fan base that just likes to bitch and whine about everything.

I've just learned to ignore those people. And quite honestly, I don't have any respect for people that get paid a penny a word on websites like Uproxx, Vox, etc. and so on, who are just bitching just to bitch and claim things like "Abrams reversed everything from the fantastic The Last Jedi" and buzzwords like "Fan Service" film.

Uh, yeah, duh.

What's exciting to me is that all of these people that loved TLJ don't like RoS.

That's a big step in the right direction, IMO.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I've just learned to ignore those people. And quite honestly, I don't have any respect for people that get paid a penny a word on websites like Uproxx, Vox, etc. and so on, who are just bitching just to bitch and claim things like "Abrams reversed everything from the fantastic The Last Jedi" and buzzwords like "Fan Service" film.

Uh, yeah, duh.

What's exciting to me is that all of these people that loved TLJ don't like RoS.

That's a big step in the right direction, IMO.

I'm pretty sure I've seen you explain this before, but can I ask why the production of this trilogy feels so messy? There didn't seem to be an outline or plan for the 3 movies to be cohesive and RJ just kind of ignored where JJ was intending to go.