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I wanted to ask him "how long did it take you to learn your lines in that last star wars movie?" Haha :)

He was actually pretty personable and friendly. The people in line in front of me had 2 kids and one had a darth vader costume on and Mark reacted like he was scared and the kid took his mask off and Mark goes "oh, whew, I thought you were a bad guy"
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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The Han Solo movie that very few of us were interested in here just lost both its directors:
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/star- ... 202473919/

Long story short, they were fired. Whilst I think this could be a good thing, personally, I do feel a little sad for them to be fair. Hopefully whoever they bring in will be able to save this movie, if not, I hope they just cancel it and focus their time elsewhere. There were also rumours circulating that Colin Trevorrow may be fired from directing episode 9 too after his latest movie was ripped apart by critics, though I think that's mostly internet speculation/dreaming.

On the plus side, I'm very excited about episode 8 and from what I know it doesnt seem like its going to be a rehash of ESB at all.
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

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What I read about the Han Solo movie suggested that principal photography is almost complete, so bringing in a new director may not change much without spending a lot of money on shooting more footage. In any event, Disney/Lucasfilm seems very controlling about these new Star Wars movies. These guys on the Han Solo movie have departed (or were fired), the Boba Fett (now there's a movie that didn't need made) director was fired, and they extensively retooled Rogue One. The only one they apparently haven't tried to micromanage was The Force Awakens.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

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Ron Howard to the rescue? Maybe.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/ron-howard- ... ontrunner/

My interest in a young Han Solo movie currently sits at a comfortable 0/10 and is unlikely to change. Give me stories about this rich universe, not a day-in-the-life of x-character movies. I don't care about young Han Solo. The only reason I will one day watch this movie is just so I can catch another glimpse or two of something about Star Wars that I haven't seen before, like Corellia, for example.
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Wasn't Ford's condition that he return for Force Awakens be that they do away with Han Solo once and for all? That makes it seem highly unlikely for him to cameo in a SW movie again, even one about a younger version of a character he's been done with for nearly 40 years. If it's that easy to get him to come back to the role, I think a lot of fans, myself included, would be more than a little put off that he would do that but not deign to star in Eps. 8 and 9.
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I can already tell you and I differ on this, but although I love both Harrison Ford as an actor and Han Solo as a character, if he's done with the role, he's done with the role. I don't think there was one Star Wars fan out there that enjoyed seeing, or wanted to see, their childhood hero cut down like that, but now that we've had to swallow that pill, we all, including Ford (especially it being his decision) should move on and not turn this into an exercise in cynicism.

It's the same way I feel about Shatner and Kirk. You walk away, you walk away. For years and years of my life I've wanted for them to erase the mistake that was Generations. Ironically, I think Shatner would have reprised the role, but whether for creative differences or money reasons, it never happened, and in retrospect now, I'm glad it never did. If we are stuck with Generations, then so be it. Same with Force Awakens. I think having Ford as old Solo bookending the new movie comes across more as a cheap attempt to lend legitimacy to a project the studio may not have full confidence in. It's a lame way to draw in fans, much like shoehorning Nimoy in Into Darkness was.
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They've scheduled a block of reshoots for the movie from what I read so I'm hoping they're gonna give the new director a chance to fix what's been done.

I don't like how some fans are being talking about Kathleen Kennedy though. Some have been downright rude about her following this news. I respect her decision on this, I think she knows what she is doing.

On the subject of creative freedom The Last Jedi seems to have gone very smoothly with no rumours of trouble behind the scenes from what I've heard.

I'm hoping going forward that Kathleen will give the next batch of Star Wars movies to more seasoned directors. Though Rogue One turned out great - minus my own quibbles about it - there were many rumours about extensive reshoots and retooling the film. Though the director played those rumours down and did state that reshoots like that do often take place on most movies. JJ and Rian are directors who have proved themselves at this point. Trevorrow still hasn't fully proven himself and after Jurassic World I'm very nervous about episode 9. Jurassic World had some major plot holes and dumb characters.

Switching the topic to The Last Jedi for a brief moment: I'm very excited for the film but also dreading it. I'm so emotionally mixed about it because it's the last time we're gonna see Leia in a Star Wars movie and I agree with Mark Hamill has said, that the movie is going to have a sense of sadness about it. What makes it worse for me is that Kathleen Kennedy revealed in Vanity Fair that episode 9 would have featured Leia in a prominent role, as in she'd be a central character - I imagine that it would have originally featured a conclusion for her and Kylo. They've had to go back and rewrite the script to accommodate her passing. If they do anything, I hope they recast her. I don't wan't CGI Leia, luckily they have stated that they're not even considering that, but at the same time I don't want her to die between movies or to suddenly just disappear.
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

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Actually, we don't really differ on that. When I mentioned wishful thinking, I was talking about in fandom. And all in all, I was never really that interested in an origin movie for Han Solo. I thought he was an OK character, but Luke Skywalker was always the main part of the story for me. But since we already had a Luke Skywalker and Princess Leah origin story, I guess they felt they had to give Han one also.

With regard to actors letting their characters be killed off, like Shatner in Generations, or Sigourney Weaver in Alien 3, or Harrison Ford in the force awakens, yeah, my take is pretty much, you make your bed, you have to lie in it. Except I still want Ripley back in someway that undoes Alien 3 and 4!
Valkrist wrote: Wed Jun 21, 2017 6:50 pm I can already tell you and I differ on this, but although I love both Harrison Ford as an actor and Han Solo as a character, if he's done with the role, he's done with the role. I don't think there was one Star Wars fan out there that enjoyed seeing, or wanted to see, their childhood hero cut down like that, but now that we've had to swallow that pill, we all, including Ford (especially it being his decision) should move on and not turn this into an exercise in cynicism.

It's the same way I feel about Shatner and Kirk. You walk away, you walk away. For years and years of my life I've wanted for them to erase the mistake that was Generations. Ironically, I think Shatner would have reprised the role, but whether for creative differences or money reasons, it never happened, and in retrospect now, I'm glad it never did. If we are stuck with Generations, then so be it. Same with Force Awakens. I think having Ford as old Solo bookending the new movie comes across more as a cheap attempt to lend legitimacy to a project the studio may not have full confidence in. It's a lame way to draw in fans, much like shoehorning Nimoy in Into Darkness was.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

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I don't blame directors for potholes unless they were also the screenwriter. If they're not, they're pretty much stuck with directing what's put in front of them.

And yeah, these next two main story Star Wars movies are going to be bittersweet for me because of Carrie Fisher's death. The movies won't be what they would've been, and I really don't know how we're going to address her absence. They said they won't recast the part or do it by CGI, which pretty much means writing her out of it. So I'm afraid we're going to be stuck with the character of just disappearing between movies.
Lindir wrote: Wed Jun 21, 2017 8:33 pm
Trevorrow still hasn't fully proven himself and after Jurassic World I'm very nervous about episode 9. Jurassic World had some major plot holes and dumb characters.

Switching the topic to The Last Jedi for a brief moment: I'm very excited for the film but also dreading it. I'm so emotionally mixed about it because it's the last time we're gonna see Leia in a Star Wars movie and I agree with Mark Hamill has said, that the movie is going to have a sense of sadness about it. What makes it worse for me is that Kathleen Kennedy revealed in Vanity Fair that episode 9 would have featured Leia in a prominent role, as in she'd be a central character - I imagine that it would have originally featured a conclusion for her and Kylo. They've had to go back and rewrite the script to accommodate her passing. If they do anything, I hope they recast her. I don't wan't CGI Leia, luckily they have stated that they're not even considering that, but at the same time I don't want her to die between movies or to suddenly just disappear.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

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Olorin, I did indeed misinterpret your comment about wishful thinking as relating to you, but you did say one of your only two interests in the movie was to see Ford bookending it.

As I mentioned, I can totally relate to a fan's wish to wanting to see a beloved character return somehow. However that is achieved is irrelevant because in the end, our love for that character supersedes common sense. That's how I felt about Kirk for many years.

At any rate, it is what it is, and if Disney finds a way to lure Ford back, they will try. I honestly doubt they will succeed though because besides being cantankerous, Ford strikes me as someone that has a decent amount of integrity.

Your comment about the Boba Fett movie was pretty funny. There's a massive amount of fascination out there for this character, and I can see the movie being popular if the story is decent. Despite going out like a punk in ROTJ, there was a certain mystique about Fett that practically begged that story to be told, except Lucas pretty much ruined that with the prequels and revealing that he's just a clone trooper with independent thought. After that, I pretty much lost interest in what was no longer a unique and mysterious character.

On the issue of directors, Hollywood is pretty much like the ancient Roman senate: watch your back. Looks like Ron Howard landed the job anyway and I wish him luck, he's a great director.
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Yep, Howard is indeed onboard to direct:
http://www.starwars.com/news/ron-howard ... -solo-film

Fingers crossed he can save this movie. Though I still am pretty uninterested I'm willing to see what it's like when it's finished. Howard being attached to it makes me inclined to see it now.

I'd take a Boba Fett movie over a Han movie, though I'd much rather see a movie set between ROTJ and TFA to set up some of the political aspects that lead to the First Order making their bid for power. Though I imagine some of that will be covered in episodes 8 & 9.
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

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Given the overall lack of imagination, innovation, and progress that Force Awakens displayed as a whole for the SW saga, I remain very skeptical that Eps. 8 & 9 will ever delve into that 30-year gap in history. The mere fact that the status quo of the galaxy seems essentially unchanged in TFA points to the fact that the writers couldn't be bothered to think things through logically and were more interested in delivering a rehashed story. Give them new names and leaders, but the Alliance and the Empire never really went away and are still at it, building super-weapons and having them be destroyed by ace x-wing pilots. Ultimately this story is and always has been about the characters, specifically the Skywalker family, but I think it is a mistake to ignore the backdrop against which their stories are set. Lucas tried exploring that a bit with the prequels, but the end result was so bland and poorly executed that I can see why Disney got cold feet and decided to not go back to that format of story-telling.

I think if you want history, you will have to read the novels. Sadly, I looked into getting them and the reviews were so abysmal that I said forget it.
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Valkrist wrote: Given the overall lack of imagination, innovation, and progress that Force Awakens displayed as a whole for the SW saga, I remain very skeptical that Eps. 8 & 9 will ever delve into that 30-year gap in history. The mere fact that the status quo of the galaxy seems essentially unchanged in TFA points to the fact that the writers couldn't be bothered to think things through logically and were more interested in delivering a rehashed story. Give them new names and leaders, but the Alliance and the Empire never really went away and are still at it, building super-weapons and having them be destroyed by ace x-wing pilots. Ultimately this story is and always has been about the characters, specifically the Skywalker family, but I think it is a mistake to ignore the backdrop against which their stories are set. Lucas tried exploring that a bit with the prequels, but the end result was so bland and poorly executed that I can see why Disney got cold feet and decided to not go back to that format of story-telling.

I think if you want history, you will have to read the novels. Sadly, I looked into getting them and the reviews were so abysmal that I said forget it.
I very briefly thought about the novels, but I swore off Star Wars and Star Trek novels years ago and wasn't about to get back in for the sake of shoring up a dud of a movie. And I agree that they've given us all the geopolitical (cosmopolitical?) backstory we're going to get.
Valkrist wrote: Olorin, I did indeed misinterpret your comment about wishful thinking as relating to you, but you did say one of your only two interests in the movie was to see Ford bookending it.

At any rate, it is what it is, and if Disney finds a way to lure Ford back, they will try. I honestly doubt they will succeed though because besides being cantankerous, Ford strikes me as someone that has a decent amount of integrity.

Your comment about the Boba Fett movie was pretty funny. There's a massive amount of fascination out there for this character, and I can see the movie being popular if the story is decent. Despite going out like a punk in ROTJ, there was a certain mystique about Fett that practically begged that story to be told, except Lucas pretty much ruined that with the prequels and revealing that he's just a clone trooper with independent thought. After that, I pretty much lost interest in what was no longer a unique and mysterious character.
I would still be lackadaisical about the Han movie, even with Ford in it. As for integrity, eh, who knows? Calculating is more the word I'd chose. Of course, I'm basing that on one Barbara Walters interview years ago. But he did come off as very calculating.

Yeah, I'm aware of the fanboy worship of Boba Fett but never understood it. He was mildly interesting in TESB until he spoke...and then he sounded like a truck driver or something. Of course, I was very dubious about the concept of Rogue One and was very happy to be proved wrong on that, so maybe a Boba Fett movie can be get. You can tell a prequel even knowing where things are going to end up...if you do it right.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

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If what this article says is true, letting go of the two directors for the Han Solo movie might be a blessing in disguise. As I noted previously, my interest for this movie is already at 0/10. If it had truly gone in the direction being described here, let's just say that would put me at a negative 10/10.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/more-han-so ... ard-talks/

This makes me all the more happy that someone like Ron Howard got the job, and not a director like Peter Jackson. I think I would have to walk out of theatre right after Chewbacca let rip his first of 27 farts in the movie. :rolleye:
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OK... for those a different political persuasion try to ignore the magazine this article appeared in, and just focus on the review of Solo. And FWIW I have zero interest in any of the SW movies.
(Val should feel vindicated in saying his interest in Solo was 0/10.)
https://www.weeklystandard.com/john-pod ... box-office

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

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Lengthy essays are hard to compose on the phone, so this will be brief. Soli, solo, solo: what to say about the flop of the solo movie? I don’t know why it flopped, and neither does the person who wrote that article. What I do know is that at least to me personally, it’s the second best Star Wars movie since the original trilogy, with the first best since the OT being rogue one.

Star Wars is no longer a life-changing event like it used to be for us older fans. It hasn’t been that since the OT. The force awakens and the last Jedi were barely more than fancy looking crap. Normally I say that to do a prequel shows a lack of imagination, since it’s relatively easy to fill in the gaps in a known story. But in this case, going off into the future and telling nee stories has fallen flat on its face. So to me, the two recent prequels, solo and rogue one, are actually much the better movies.

I have little expectation that episode nine will be very good, and even less expectation that the all new Rian Johnson trilogy will be very good. I have a guarded expectations for the trilogy that the Game of Thrones guys are supposed to do, simply because Game of Thrones was so fantastic. And I have really zero interest in the Boba Fett movie that Disney is going to make but I’ll probably see it out of morbid curiosity.

On a different note, I was absolutely sickened to read about the backlash of some fans against Kelly Marie Tran and Daisy Ridley for having the nerve to be in Star Wars movies and being a) female, and b) in Kelly’s case, not white. I fear that Jason Isaacs was right after his recent stint on Star Trek, when he said that in the real world, we are now living in the mirror universe.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

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I have been following the downfall of Solo with a detached yet preverse interest.

The Last Jedi soured me on Star Wars so badly that I found myself wanting Solo to fail just so Disney and Kennedy would get at least one punch in the nose for what they did. Yes, I now that comes across as petty and vindicates all those that keep yelling at the fanboy nerds to stop complaining that TLJ destroyed their childhoods. Again, to them I tell them to take their high horse and go stuff themselves. In-universe issues aside, TLJ was just a plainly bad movie, but that's not what we are here to discuss.

I actually don't think that the author of that article is that far off in guessing why Solo failed. Disney is in complete denial as to the real reasons and continues to blame it on a poor marketing campaign and bad press over the switch in directors midway through production. What everyone else is saying though is that they will blame everyone and everything else except their own short-sightedness in pushing through with an origin story movie that one really asked for or much cared about. What I've read on most movie sites points to a growing culture of arrogance where the decision makers feel that they can just slap the words 'Star Wars' on anything and people will turn out in droves, screaming in delight as if the Beatles are rolling through town.

As the plummeting box office figures indicate with the downward trend since Force Awakens, it's becoming increasingly clear that you have to craft the stories that people want to see, but not only that, you have to craft them well. With regards to franchise fatigue, I don't buy it either. I would happily go to the movie theatre every month if the Star Wars movie up on screen was guaranteed to blow me away. Marvel has proven that it can be done and that there is an audience out there that you can hold onto so long as you tell compelling stories with great characters. Though I think it was somewhat bone-headed for Disney to release Solo only five months after TLJ, it would have been no problem if had been a movie that people were interested in seeing, and more than once at that. It clearly isn't.

I can't criticize the movie on it's own specific merits having not seen it, but what from what I've read, it nearly all points to these factors: the movie is actually quite decent but... boring. It's a paint-by-numbers heist/action yarn that delivers nothing new and adds zero value to the SW universe. There is no growth or interesting revelations about the title character; merely a slew of occurrences that show us how he got all the things that we see in the earlier movies: the Falcon, his blaster pistol, Chewie, etc. Do I really care about that? Part of the appeal for me as Han Solo was the aura of mystery and mild mistrust that the character invoked. It's that life-changing decision that he makes at the end of ANH that finally moves the character forward into the unknown. It's that journey that I'm interested in seeing and guess what? We've been shown that journey within the OT. I'm not interested in seeing why Solo was cynical to begin with, and apparently this prequel completely ignores that and makes something out of Solo that he should not be at that stage of his life. Of course, there is the argument that things would change in a sequel, but that's just the problem with movies these days is that everything is always written with a sequel in mind, leaving out important developments and events because they want to hoard them for a second and third film. That to me is the height of arrogance because they are writing movies based on the presumption that it will be successful and that it will lead to more. However, this proves that the SW golden goose may be finally running out of eggs. There more than likely won't be a second Solo movie, for which I and many others are grateful, leaving the current movie to stand as incongruity that does not mesh well with the Solo we knew at all.

Then there's the inherent problems in recasting. I am adamantly against this practice of replacing actors in roles where the actor and the character they play have become indelibly connected, especially over the course of multiple movies. Harrison Ford has the unique distinction of holding that honour in my books for three separate movie universes: Star Wars, Blade Runner, and Indiana Jones.

There's a word on the internet these days that gets so misused and overused that it just makes me want to vomit when I see it: 'iconic'. I can guarantee that 99% of the people typing it don't know what it means and like to apply it willy-nilly to something they saw and liked: "Wow, that scene with Thranduil leaping off his elk with both swords whirling was so iconic!!!" *swoon* - :rolleye: :barf: - wrong, wrong, wrong. Ford's place in pop culture, performance, and unbreakable connection to Han Solo or Indy? That's iconic. When you can't see the man's face in an everyday situation and not be reminded of those roles that he helped shape, that's when you know you have something special.

Now, I recognize that there's no way that Ford, weird CGI aside, could ever play a younger version of himself. Not only that, he is done with the character. But when the connection between actor and character is that strong, it beggars the question: why bother, and who wants it? I think the box office numbers are telling the story on that one, because again, I keep hearing that no one really wanted this movie, that Alden Ehrenreich is just some dude cosplaying at being Han Solo, and that is a harsh indictment of the filmmakers that want us to believe and accept that this is the character that we know and love. Just leave it be and move on. For characters that were created, lived, and died all within the span of one movie, I think Rogue One succeeded admirably where Solo is failing. There were no preconceived notions about the characters in R1. There were plenty for Solo and Disney is only setting itself up for failure because it can never meet those expectations, especially by throwing some unknown face into a role that is, in fact, iconic.
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I was one of those people who was very nervous about a Solo movie but now I have seen Solo three times now and have enjoyed it more and more with each watch.

I’m not the greatest critic and I’m one of those weird people that went to art school and came out with the opinion that everything is subjective as opposed to us being able to say for definite what was good and bad about a work of art/entertainment.

You guys know my views on TLJ. It’s one of my favourite Star Wars movies and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Rogue One is one of my least favourite Star Wars movies (but not the worst). This is where it comes down to be highly subjective - Star Wars for me means fun and interesting and strange characters. Rogue One was not fun nor did it have interesting characters so for me Solo was a step in the right direction.

It does follow the traditional heroes journey template and some of the side characters are really interesting such as Enfys Nest and Beckett and even Dryden Vos.

I walked out of the cinema with a smile on my face after each view as I did with TLJ - but that’s not something I can say for Rogue One. I left feeling very meh about Rogue One and I have only watched it once or twice since it came out on blu-ray.

For me it boils down to Disney is trying to expand the story and they’re trying different things and it’s revealing big time that Star Wars means so much to everyone for very different reasons and we all have very different ideas about what a Star Wars movie should be. I think it’s different with the MCU as the fan base seems to be very in tune with each other in terms of its expectations whereas with Star Wars it’s a very divided fan base right now and unfortunately we do have a growing right-wing group of detractors that are going to be boycotting the new Star Wars films going forward because they feature women and people from different ethnic backgrounds.

We’ve discussed diversity and representation in areas on this forum and I stand by those who say that not everything needs to be inclusive of all types of people - for instance I don’t want gay elves in LOTR because LOTR isn’t a story that suits those sorts of ideals and it would add nothing at all to the story because the story is about the quest to destroy the ring. But I’ve always felt that Star Wars was fair game. Let there be black people, gay people and women in Star Wars as far as I’m concerned - it can only add to its appeal and help grow Star Wars and its fan base.

As for a sequel - I hope we do see more Solo movies. Marketing is most likely to blame for Solos failure. Most of the casual fans I’ve mentioned it to weren’t aware a new Star Wars movie was out. It was advertised very little and the marketing campaign didn’t start until February so it’s the most likely candidate for its failure at this point.

I agree with you Val that I don’t want to see a Boba Fett movie. I’m very very uninterested in the character. I’d give it a watch if it does get made but I have less excitement for that than I did for Solo. Although I’m happy to be pleasantly surprised again :P
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

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Absolutely agree with art, in all forms, being subjective.

Case in point: I was watching the news yesterday in disbelief as a three-year squeezed coloured paints onto a canvas, splattered and smeared it around with his hands and feet, and the mother was selling them for thousands of dollars a piece because some local abstract art 'connoisseur' saw something there. To my eye, they look exactly like what you would expect: random paint splotches and splatters. I'm willing to bet I could imitate that very closely, but I might well get a different result if I were to try and sell them. Explain that.

Going back to Star Wars, I will restate that it is generally agreed by critics and fans that Solo is not a bad movie. It's just not a great movie. Worse, it's a movie that most seem to be indifferent about, and apathy and lack of interest about something of the magnitude of a Star Wars movie is a death sentence. Again, I don't buy the marketing excuse because, again, this is Star Wars! These movies used to be life-altering events, but Disney is doing its darnedest to turn them into routine. You simply can't do that with this franchise. Everyone I knew that is a Star Wars fan was aware that Solo was coming out. Marketing, or lack thereof, didn't change their awareness one bit. Everyone was simply 'meh' about it, and the box office numbers tell the rest of the story. As for the rest of the general public that simply goes out to the movies and shops around for whatever is newest, they couldn't have missed noticing that Solo was out, yet still few are willing to check it out, and there's no hiding the fact that it is a Star Wars movie. Yet it's not enough.

As for TLJ, I'm tired of debating that one, but subjectivity aside, which you are spot on about, Lindir, I still feel that from a purely mechanical and writing perspective, the movie is horrible. All the cheering for Rian Johnson's daring and innovation shouldn't overlook the terribly misplaced humour, the glaring plot holes, the sheer pointlessness of some scenes and actions, which all point to some really atrocious decisions made by the writers and director. Johnson's vision and intent in moving this universe forward is one thing; the way in which it was depicted sometimes left me reaching for the barf bag.

Lastly, I will add my voice in condemning the actions of those sad internet trolls that really ought to get a life and stop spewing their vile words at hard-working, talented people like Tran and Ridley. The world really has no place for that kind of petty hate. I have a ton of problems with Rose and Rey as characters, but that has zero to do with the gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or skill of the actors portraying said characters. Keep it in perspective folks, or shut the hell up.

P.S. - Lindir, it is Olorin that is uncaring of a Boba Fett movie, I'm actually interested in one because, unlike Han Solo, I actually want to learn a bit more about this character and see how he got this notorious reputation that he has by the time he is introduced in ESB (minus all the prequel crap about his clone connection.) However, given the rather bland reviews Solo is receiving, I'm not holding out much faith that it will blow me away. Also, seems as if you've changed your mind in that you prefer Solo over Fett because almost a year ago (a few posts up) you said this: "I'd take a Boba Fett movie over a Han movie," :club:
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Sorry for my lack of activity, I've been jetsetting around Europe the last few weeks.

I did see Solo before I left and I won't get into a lengthy essay about it on my phone while in heathrow Airport... But I enjoyed it. I thought it was a fun movie. Was it a movie of jaw dropping epicness? Nope, but I liked it.

One thing I've learned about internet Star Wars fans (not anyone here) is they will never be satisfied. Actually I know people who complained that Lucas ruined star wars with the prequels are now saying he should be directing the new movies because only he can do it?!
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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Deimos wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 2:00 pm So he was, maybe, 30 or so when the movie was made.....
Assuming Star Wars began pre-production and casting around 1975 (the screenplay only made first draft in 1974), then yes... he was about 30.

Very sad... another one joins Sir Alec Guinness, Carrie Fisher, Kenny Baker, and Peter Cushing in the great beyond of that galaxy far, far away.

R.I.P. Pete, thank you for the memories. :'(
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Such a shame. Farewell Peter Mayhew. I’m glad Chewbacca will live on though, even though he’s being played by a different actor now, I think fans will always remember Peter as the man responsible for giving Chewbacca his personality.
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

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So, it has been confirmed that Ewan McGregor is going to star in an Obi-wan streaming series. Also, the trailer for The Mandalorian has been released and looks intriguing. I'm far more interested in these two developments than I am Episode 9, Palpatine notwithstanding.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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So, I have seen The Rise of Skywalker. Of course, I will withhold spoilers. I'll just say that generally I liked it, and that I'd also agree with Digital Bits blogger Bill Hunt that it was as good as could be reasonably expected as the conclusion to the two previous movies. I'd also very much agree with You Tuber Jeremy Jahns that the new trilogy was not as good as the prequel trilogy because the prequel trilogy, despite its flaws, had a clear vision from beginning to end. Lucas knew the story he wanted to tell. In contrast, the sequels do not at all feel like the trilogy was planned out in advance.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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Very much agree with everything you said. It did about the best it could in mopping up the mess left behind by the previous entries, even if a few small puddles were missed. I'll post more in depth thoughts once others have had a chance to see it, but I can say that of these last three movies, I liked it the most and that it felt the most 'Star Wars' to me.
This Space for Rent

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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I really enjoyed TROS. I’m fortunate I’ve enjoyed 4 of the 5 Disney era Star Wars movies.

It’s a valid criticism and it’s definitely apparent now at the end of the story. That being said, I’m glad we got this story. As we are in the position of knowing how the story went off screen, if they had waited we may have had a sequel trilogy without Carrie Fisher. I’m glad we got some closure for her.

I also feel Disney probably felt pressure to do this new trilogy from fans. With it over now, I’m very excited for where Star Wars goes, but I suspect we’ll not be going forward for some time. I think we’ll be heading backward.
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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Lindir wrote: Sun Dec 22, 2019 10:00 am I’m very excited for where Star Wars goes, but I suspect we’ll not be going forward for some time. I think we’ll be heading backward.
I'm sure they'll continue to mine the past for as long as they can. If they do it as well as they did with Rogue One and Solo, I'm ok with that.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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I think it will be a new part of the timeline previously untouched in the new Star Wars canon. Kathleen mentioned at Celebration that they were looking at developing an Old Republic movie.

I think their plans will be to finish up the media set in Skywalker era part of the timeline and then change and move everything including movies, games, TV, comics, etc to this new part or the history and focus on that to avoid confusion. It would be weird having one movie be about Vader and the Emperor for example and then the next movie be set thousands of years before in The Old Republic.
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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I don’t know if I’m going crazy but I’m really not enjoying the Mandalorian.

Now it’s not fair to judge it really yet as the whole season hasn’t been released in the U.K. I’ve only seen three episodes up to this point and of the three that are release episode three was the best.

My main issue is even at this point I still don’t have any idea what the story is. I understand what events have unfolded but I’m left with a feeling of “so what?”

I think it was a massive mistake to put a mainly silent protagonist with no constant companion and the companions he does get briefly also seem to have little to say.

Has anyone here seen it already? Does it get better? Lots of people say this is Star Wars at its best but yeeeesh this feels so empty to me.

I hope people haven’t been overly wowed by “OMG silver Boba Fett and cute green boy!” Too much. Also the episodes are so short they could have perhaps cut the episodes together and done a shorter series but one that felt better?

What’s also concerning for me is that lucasfilm won’t be releasing movies for a while but we’re gonna get more TV shows. If they’re like this I won’t be watching them, even the Obi Wan show. It feels so shallow and I’ve been left disappointed so far. I’m hoping I’ll change my tune by the end of the season though but I think they focused too much in cgi, practical effects and spent the rest of their budget on Werner Herzog (though he’s the only cast member I’ve really enjoyed so far and he should have been in a movie instead).
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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The episodes do get a little better. Slightly. I gave up on it about four or five episodes in. The look of the show was fantastic, and much like the Star wars I grew up with, but the writing was just too juvenile for me. My wife wanted to watch the rest anyway, so we finally finished it. Some of the later episodes are better, but there is still as much that I don't like as I like. I also came to the conclusion a few episodes in the the Mandalorian is the worst bounty hunter ever, and that never changed.

I wish they had done a long-form 8-10 episode show with one major story arc. The little short single story episodes don't work for me, but that's a tried and tested formula for Clone Wars and Disney. I also wish the writing had been geared more for a wider age range, like the first few SW movies, but it seems Disney thinks SW is just for little kids only. If I was a six year old, I would love it. If I was twelve, I would think that is a show for little kids.
KRDS

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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Thanks Kit and BC for your comments and I’m glad it’s not just me. That doesn’t bode well. I’ll still stick it out to the end of the season but I just find myself in complete disbelief that this is “the best thing to happen to Star Wars” and “the true Star Wars” :O
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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I just looked back over this thread to see if I had posted anything about The Mandalorian, and apparently I have not. I saw it a couple of months back. I generally enjoyed it, though I felt the episodes were short, the story pretty thin, and the main character rather uninteresting. I think they were trying to build a mystique around him and it unfortunately veered into uninteresting. The later episodes were better than the earlier ones, and I particularly enjoyed it more once the droid was introduced. But at the end of the day, was it Star Wars enough, and did it make a respectable contribution to the Star Wars universe? I think it looked like and basically felt like Star Wars, but to me it didn't add much to the fabric of the franchise. Perhaps it will do better and go somewhere in future seasons, but taking the first season as a whole (and I binged the entire thing in one evening), it didn't really seem to go anywhere. Except of course for introducing "Baby Yoda" as the face that launched a thousand memes.

I am currently enjoying the Star Wars über-box from Best Buy, which I got Tuesday. I watched The Rise of Skywalker right away, as it is the newest movie and the only one I didn't already have on disc. Then I went back to the beginning. The Phantom Menace remains a very shaky start to the prequel trilogy, with the good parts barely outweighing the bad ones. I think that had this been the very first Star Wars movie, and not a prequel to a cinema-changing trilogy, it probably wouldn't have garnered much success. And I just finished Attack of The Clones, which to me is and will probably always be the best of the prequels. If one could just excise some of the more groan-inducing scenes with Anakin and Padme, you have a decent Star Wars movie and a good middle chapter.

I'm still a little annoyed that Rogue One and Solo were not included in the box. Mostly, I wanted to get a pair of thick Target-exclusive blurays out of my main rack, and let the movies live in the same über-box as the other nine. But I totally understand why they were not included; they're really just side branches on the main story. And who knows if there will be any more "A Star Wars Story" releases? KK seemed to be very much backing away from them anyway, and now pretty much all new productions are on hold due to the pandemic, at least in terms of filming. The Obi-wan series did just hire a writer, though. If that series ever gets off the ground, I hope it's good. Obi-wan is one of my favorite Star Wars characters, so I want it to do him justice and be worthy of Ewan McGregor's participation.
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: Pure StarWars Discussion

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Congrats on picking up the box set Olorin!

I saw episode 4 on Friday and I enjoyed it better, it does feel like it’s improving. Though yes very short and very thin still in terms of characters and story. I hope it improves with season 2. It’s fair to say that everyone involved with its is very passionate about Star Wars because visually it’s amazing, best CGI and practical effects I’ve seen in a TV show though in benefits because of its limited scope.

I keep hearing rumblings about Lucasfilm and Disney and my current understanding is that Disney has been very hands on with Star Wars. We won’t be seeing any movies for at least a couple of year but I really hope Disney relaxes it’s control and I really really want to move into a new part of the timeline.

They’ve announced the High Republic publishing initiative and that seems like such a great place to go movie wise but apparently they’ve said they aren’t. I don’t want to go back to more stories about Vader and the Rebellion/Resistance as much as I’ve enjoyed them, although I would like a sequel to Solo to wrap up the story. It still upsets me that that movie did so poorly because it’s so fun and I enjoyed seeing the Star Wars version of the criminal underworld - even though I know it’s too kid friendly for some. But Dryden Vos was such an intriguing villain. Wish they hadn’t killed him off and kept him as a supporting villain alongside Maul in future instalments.

I don’t think Star Wars belongs on TV. Sure, TV shows have improved massively over the last decade but Star Wars is a cinematic experience. I hope we don’t end up with direct to Disney Plus movies.
"All those moments will be lost, in time... like tears, in the rain..."

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