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Post by The Mad Plumber on Jul 11, 2015 16:42:23 GMT -5
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Post by Mod City on Jul 11, 2015 21:31:37 GMT -5
Cool. Clever way to give fans a little more material while not giving too much away. Still excited
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Post by The Mad Plumber on Aug 23, 2015 23:16:16 GMT -5
I wanted to spend a few minutes here to opine a few of my unorganized thoughts here.
It is my full intention to watch this movie. I have already applied for a vacation day off from work to see its release. It was my hope that my sister would be able to join me, but unfortunately it appears that she is being kept too busy at work to do so.
I will admit that I am generally optimistic about this picture. However, that optimism is going against experience. My parents took me to see Phantom Menace in the few hours I had before an event at the high school. During the whole movie, I was pretty unsettled by the experience. When my folks asked me if I liked the movie, I replied, "I don't know. I need some time to think about it." Ultimately, I decided that I did not enjoy the movie at all ... and I was the only person in the country who thought so. On television news, they would interview somebody like Shaquille O'Neal or Michael Jordan who would comment that it was a great movie. Film critics seem to adore the film. Any misgivings I had about the new film could be easily dismissed by reasoning that I was looking at the original trilogy through rose-colored glasses.
Actually, I should note that prior to seeing the movie, I was sitting in a computer lab reading a newspaper review. I believe the review was actually unfavorable about the movie, and the author denoted that no matter what he said, people are still going to go see the movie. I'm not sure if I was dismissive of the newspaper review at the time.
This presents two questions: (1) is my dislike for the prequels irrational, and (2) what causes bad movies to be made and is it something that can be prevented?
I am of the contention that, since circa 1995, Western filmmaking has become a garbage art. There is something, though, that challenges this view. I perceive that as a film franchise (i.e. Rocky, Beverly Hills Cop, or X-Men) continues on, its sequels become progressively worse. It is my opinion that, of the Harry Potter series, Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secret are decent or mildly satisfactory films. However, from Prisoner of Azkaban and onward, the films have been consistently excellent and they challenge my belief that odious filmmaking techniques are universally applied. Unfortunately, I fear that the Harry Potter films are not as influential on modern filmmaking as are the Hunger Games films ... and that really chagrins me.
How is it, in an industry where sequels are doomed to decrease in quality, does a single franchise manage to maintain such a consistently high bar?
I am in doubt that Disney understands fully what my tastes are and what I like about the original trilogy. For a period, there would be these side banners on my Roku's GUI that would advertise digital downloads of the Star Wars Trilogy on channels such as Google Play. I downloaded the channel to see what they were offering. I surmised from the trailers that these digital downloads were once again the "special edition" versions that I did not want. Thus, I view it that Disney still does not recognize that they are hocking a version of the movie I do not want ... and maybe I must face that I am a pitiful minority and my opinion does not matter.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Aug 24, 2015 14:14:37 GMT -5
I honestly don't think The Phantom Menace was bad. I think it was a mediocre movie meant for elementary school-aged kids that was received primarily by adults who had high standards that they'd been developing in the back of their heads since the seventies. Take away the racist overtones of the Gungans (and the Trade Federation, I think? It's been a while since I've seen the movie), and it's a decent popcorn flick for kids, I think.
Episode 2... The Name That Escapes Me... was mostly a forgettable movie as far as I was concerned. It didn't really do anything that stuck in my mind. I assume it's the one that had the giant arena combat scene? That didn't happen in any other movie, so logically it had to be Episode 2. I guess that makes it qualify as bad since it left so little impression?
Meanwhile, Episode 3 wasn't really a movie so much as it was a "checklist of everything we've gotta get done between episodes 2 and 4." On that note, it's hard to say it was a bad "movie" since it wasn't one. Although, I do count it as a mark against it for that moment that Yoda got a ride from a Wookie, and said "Farewell" or "Thanks for the lift" or "Good luck after this", and then leaned forward as the ellipses formed in his voice just so that he could say "Chewbacca." And then it got really weird when Yoda turned to look at the camera and said "Eh? You hear that? This is Chewbacca!" And then the camera switched to Chewie, who was giving a freakin' thumbs up for some reason, accompanied by that trademark "Wookie noise" he always roars. Then Yoda just kept saying "Eh? Eh, you like that, fans? I knew Chewbacca! Pretty crazy, right?" And then he high-fived Chewbacca, and the two parted paths. That part was just WEIRD.
So... is your dislike for these movies irrational? I'd say no. There's no accounting for taste, after all, and any person can be totally rational and dislike things for any reason that they see fit. And honestly, each of these movies had things to dislike. Plus it's really popular to dislike them, so go ahead and not like them. I won't hold it against ya, and there's no sense in forcing yourself to review things you don't like just for the sake of trying to like them. Tastes do change with time, though, so if you ever do wind up liking them... well, that's fine to, for pretty much the same reasons.
As for your second question... money. Money causes bad movies to be made, and I don't think it's something that we can easily prevent. There's a change happening, I think, where the Internet and the ease of acquiring film-making stuff is slowly making Hollywood realize that it has to up its game or be regularly upstaged by amateurs, but there's no one solid thing that causes this to happen. Also, I'm not sure we *want* to stop bad movies from being made... one man's trash is another's treasure, after all, plus the bad-movie cash grabs of some lead to great film opportunities for others. Vin Diesel, for instance, has said that he knows the Fast & Furious movies he churns out are sort of for the lowest common denominator, but at the same time he knows that the money he makes from each movie gets him that much closer to finally being able to produce the historical fiction movie he's been dreaming about making for over a decade that no one will produce (again, because it probably won't make money even though it'll likely be a better film than most of the Fast & Furious movies.) (Also, apologies from removing each instance of the word 'The' from those titles for the sake of expediency up there.)
So... best option is that if a movie doesn't look good or interesting, then save yourself time and money and don't see it. I'd use the Marvel movies as a gauge; if you think that Disney ruined Marvel's film franchise, then they may do the same for Star Wars. If you think Disney improved Marvel's film franchise, then they may also do the same for Star Wars.
Ultimately, there are so many people who want so many different things here that I think that there will definitely be disappointed people when this movie comes out. I don't think they'll be bad though. They might just be mediocre (and there's certainly a lot of grumbling over the fate of the Expanded Universe decision), but I'm planning on giving Episode VII a shot.
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Post by crowschmo on Aug 24, 2015 20:08:21 GMT -5
Hmm. That Droid that's a rolling ball, and his head just stays there while he moves: How does that work exactly? And also: The prequels sucked. However, if one never saw them, and saw THIS ^, they might mistakenly think they had been GOOD. I suppose I'll give the new movie a try, though.
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Post by uruseiranma on Aug 25, 2015 13:10:17 GMT -5
In the end, I like to think that it's just a matter of the parents and kids not understanding each other...in this case, George Lucas, and the fans.
George is like that one parent who has a certain idea for things, and as such, does not see eye-to-eye with the kids. In his world, he foresaw a trilogy that was more in line with the 30's serials that he was emulating. As well, he didn't really see the need for super-cool characters ( explaining why he just excised the notion of Boba Fett in ROTJ, as little more than just a 'side-character.'). To him, the character goes in, does the job, and is out. That also explains the likes of Darth Maul. Maul was seen as super-cool, but he served as little more than a wake-up call to the Jedi that the Sith had returned.
As well, there was the disconnect between what Lucas saw regarding Vader, and fans. Given how Vader was presented to many of us as kids, he seemed the imposing face of evil, the guy in charge. Of course, in our youths, his ominous visage overshadowed the lackey-like quality to Tarkin in Ep 4, and the Emperor in the sequels.
I feel the problem is that the Star Wars film has sadly become like what Lester Bangs told William Miller in 'Almost Famous,' what Rock was becoming: "An industry of Cool."
If it wasn't super-cool, than it was stupid to many. As such, I'm sure that many will just keep looking at each and every upcoming Star Wars film with the majority of fans scrunching up their faces, crossing their arms and whining like a toddler, "This wasn't what I wanted!"
"Well, what did you want?" We'll ask them.
"I don't know, but NOT THIS!!" Will wail the whiny fan, before throwing their plastic Falcon at you.
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Post by Mod City on Aug 25, 2015 20:35:47 GMT -5
I feel the problem is that the Star Wars film has sadly become like what Lester Bangs told William Miller in 'Almost Famous,' what Rock was becoming: "An industry of Cool." If it wasn't super-cool, than it was stupid to many. As such, I'm sure that many will just keep looking at each and every upcoming Star Wars film with the majority of fans scrunching up their faces, crossing their arms and whining like a toddler, "This wasn't what I wanted!" "Well, what did you want?" We'll ask them. "I don't know, but NOT THIS!!" Will wail the whiny fan, before throwing their plastic Falcon at you. This is a good point. So many times this seems to be the kind of hate reaction one gets when it comes to beloved properties - Star Wars, Indiana Jones, the MCU etc. Some come off as if they already had an entire script in their head before they saw the movie and then rebel when a new installment doesn't match up to it. In a case like the Star Wars series, for me, I was just happy to be back in that world when Phantom Menace came out. It was fun to be in a full theater and watch a new Star Wars story for the first time since 1983. It was interesting to see the advances in film technology applied to that world. It was fun. Now, apart from that, I have no problem if critics want to cite things like the wooden dialog and overuse of CGI as reasons for hating the prequels. I can easily see that point, because I think those two points (and others) make the prequel movies vastly inferior (and a comparatively unsatisfying experience). So, I don't hate the prequels, but I don't think my life would be worth any less if they had never been made. The original trilogy is all you ever need, if nothing else for the fact that Hayden Christensen isn't in them. I mean, damn, nothing personal against the guy, but he may be the thing that turns me off the most about those movies.
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Post by crowschmo on Aug 27, 2015 15:12:36 GMT -5
I actually didn't even like the ORIGINAL sequels. The Empire Strikes Back wasn't too horrible, but once those damn Ewoks were thrown into the mix in the third. Sheesh. It made it seem all too cartoonish, and then they actually start SINGING that jub-jub song at the end or whatever the hell they were saying. Dear Lord. The rest of Return of the Jedi wasn't too bad, if that stupid teddy bears' picnic hadn't been inserted.
And as for cartoonish, the prequels really took THAT to another level: Jar-Jar, anyone? And I didn't think the special effects were all that good. A good episode of Farscape looks better. (And the PUPPETS on Farscape can out act Christensen and Portman).
But, I'm having "A New Hope" for the latest one. Then again, I could be HUGELY disappointed yet again. Only one way to find out.
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Post by Mod City on Oct 20, 2015 18:13:20 GMT -5
Pretty sure there aren't many who haven't seen this yet, but what the heck, let's throw it up here. The final trailer that debuted last night on MNF. They're doing a great job of not really saying anything about the plot while invoking all the nostalgia they can. This feels big.
I also have to say that Daisy Ridley has the look of a Star Wars character down. She's expressed a lot of emotion with almost no lines in the trailers. That look of wonder/awe when she's talking to Solo in this trailer is spot-on.
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Post by The Mad Plumber on Nov 5, 2015 2:11:26 GMT -5
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Post by crowschmo on Nov 22, 2015 19:45:56 GMT -5
Just thought I'd throw this in.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Nov 23, 2015 17:35:19 GMT -5
Thanks. I don't often watch Honest Trailers, but I always enjoy it when I do.
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Post by Triple_sSs on Dec 15, 2015 17:00:23 GMT -5
Well The Force Awakens is coming out this week, and reactions from the Hollywood premiere have been very positive so far. Could it be that we'll finally have a good new Star Wars movie?
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Dec 16, 2015 13:06:00 GMT -5
I hope not. The Internet's culture didn't evolve the way it did by not ripping the most recent Star Wars films to shreds.
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Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
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Post by Torgo on Dec 16, 2015 13:39:02 GMT -5
Good or bad, we'll always have that godawful Clone Wars movie to knock around.
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