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Can't bring myself to watch The Force Awakens more than a couple of times
- Thread starter Gunslinger
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Monocle
Member
We must have watched different films, because all the things I described made a powerful impression on my first viewing. I think it was right when Poe was receiving the artifact from the old man, and the attack that followed, that I thought "holy shit, this is the Star Wars I've been missing."
BB-8 sealed the deal almost immediately. His bubbly beeps and boops, and the timing of his actions, are just right. The direction and editing is full of the grammar of classic Star Wars. In fact, I can't think of many aspects of the film that aren't suffused with the aesthetic of the Original Trilogy.
TFA is a love letter to Star Wars and was created to be Star Wars as people remembered it from the OT and not the prequels. I actually find it crazy that some are arguing that TFA doesn't feel like Star Wars.
I wonder do people double-down because of the dislike and ambivalence?
Monocle
Member
Exactly how I feel.
Pretty sure we watched the same films. I don't even remember Poe such a forgettable character - he was a pilot right? I did like BB-8. I generally liked the start of the film. Once the film finished the first act it went to hyper-shit fast. By the end of the second act I was bored and not focused on what was happening. It had completely lost me. And I was starting to be angry they had fucked up Star Wars.
I don't understand how people can't see past how shallow TFA is, all the Star Wars shit is just hanging there, it doesn't feel like a real place.
Yes, I doubledowned on thinking TFA feels like Star Wars because, like, 1% of people dislike TFA. As long as this tiny minority keeps disliking TFA, I will have the crazy opinion that TFA is very Star Warsy.
IrishNinja
Member
after the abysmal prequels i legit don't know why some of y'all decided TFA was shit. it saved the goddamn franchise from being a perpetual mess of "well...the games/side shit is interesting"
lots of crotchety fokls who lacked joy in TFA found it in Rogue One, so i'd say give it a go. as a war film fan, it was enjoyable
i mean....sure, if you wanna watch the same flick 10x or more, do so
just recall that your existence is finite & there's a lot of art/consumable media to indulge
lots of crotchety fokls who lacked joy in TFA found it in Rogue One, so i'd say give it a go. as a war film fan, it was enjoyable
i mean....sure, if you wanna watch the same flick 10x or more, do so
just recall that your existence is finite & there's a lot of art/consumable media to indulge
Glass Rebel
Member
Seriously, as if thinking TFA is good is some outlandish concept.
Lol I'm turning into a crotchety Star Wars fan alright. Sounds like it could be for me.
MHWilliams
Member
I'll always take solid, average craft over bad, bad film(s) that "tries something new".
TFA had one job. To right the ship. It did its job. The ship capsized because of the prequels.
TFA had one job. To right the ship. It did its job. The ship capsized because of the prequels.
finowns
Member
I would question what other movies you consider 'love letters' and go from there but that seems like a lot of work with no reward.
ryutaro's mama
Member
No, you said TFA was the best SW movie.
I find R1 hard to watch, the ending is spectacular with some of the best dog fighting in StarWars, but it's there with AoTC (slightly better) as the least watchable because the rest is pretty boring with forgettable main. I like PM, RoTS, ESB and RoTJ. Sorry but ANH is quite boring too and it's aged poorly. It's the one new comers hate the most based on my experience.
I think I have too, watched it last month with my nephew (7) and niece (6) for the first time, they have become Starwars super fans now, can't stop talkimg about it. They made me buy them Lego Starwars, and all our conversations are based on Obi Wan, Yoda, Anakin, the Jedi order and Darth Maul who they call "Shaitan" which is Arabic for Satan lol. They're not allowed to watch the rest until they're a little older, but i'm dreading our ANH viewing, I hope it doesn't put them off the OT.
I think I have too, watched it last month with my nephew (7) and niece (6) for the first time, they have become Starwars super fans now, can't stop talkimg about it. They made me buy them Lego Starwars, and all our conversations are based on Obi Wan, Yoda, Anakin, the Jedi order and Darth Maul who they call "Shaitan" which is Arabic for Satan lol. They're not allowed to watch the rest until they're a little older, but i'm dreading our ANH viewing, I hope it doesn't put them off the OT.
On the contrary, it was one of the main reasons it was such a big hit. It was Flash Gordon in the era of hard sci-fi.
finowns
Member
You make it sound as if Lucas turned the prequels into a musical.
And now this makes me think if Abrams decided to do TFA:The Musical it would be a better Star Wars film.
And why did the ship capsize because of the prequels?
NumberThree
Member
I've already seen it more times than 2 and 3. Probably not 1, but I was pretty young when that came out and it was one of the few movies I had on VHS (along with the original trilogy).
ryutaro's mama
Member
Fast Five had one job. To right the ship. It did its job WITHOUT being overly derivative of the original film.
finowns
Member
Sorry, what's the problem?
Are you saying Star Wars was light-hearted? It was pretty serious from the first Act when his family is killed.
Sad Affleck
Member
I didn't feel bored watching the original trilogy and the prequels, they just didn't turn me into a Star Wars fan. TFA was a real slog that I didn't manage to finish watching.
MHWilliams
Member
Yeah, it went in the opposite direction and had almost nothing to do with it. I love the entire Fast series, but I also consider Fast Five and beyond a completely different series that just happens to start the same characters.
The reception to the prequels was not good. I don't think that I have to explain this, but apparently this is the case. For the decade between Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens, the prequel trilogy was summarily pilloried by most of Star Wars fandom, culminating in that semi-final cringeworthy Vader "Noooooooo". There is a younger generation that loves them, but for Star Wars fans at the time, the talk was mostly poor.
Here, before TFA: "Why Are the Star Wars Prequels Hated So Much?"
Because they're not as good as the first trilogy, and the expectations were high.
That's just a random smattering of comments and that was the general take on the prequels.
Wafflecakes
Member
Not gonna lie, watching online nerd communities turn on TFA after it blew up into a cultural phenomenon has been one of the more perplexing experiences I have had on GAF.
ryutaro's mama
Member
You can consider it that all you like and yet, the characters and motivations are consistent and it managed to re-invigorate the franchise without blatant re-treading. The original films skirted the line of ubsurdity just enough that Fast Five (and to a lesser degree F4) became a nice bridge into expanding world building and themes.
TFA is exactly the film you make when you minimize risk and maximize rewards. JJ Abrams delivered a $2 billion dollar film. He did exactly what he was hired to do.
The flip side is, it doesn't have long term resonance with everyone.
Every issue I have today with the film, I expressed after seeing it in 2015.
So besides relaunching Star Wars, JJ also had to make a movie where every single person watching it liked, something that has never been done before.
Which was not a big deal at all in children's media at the time.
I mean we're talking about a movie where the villain is wearing a robotic samurai costume.
Go read some of the contemporary reviews. It was very much considered a movie for children, as well as children-at-heart nostalgic for the serials and pulp novels they grew up with.
Glad the honeymoon period is over for TFA, when the movie released, we couldn't have any discussion with people that could literally killed you for saying things like reboot or average or anything negative about it... fans are cray.
TFA is ok/good the first time, ok the second time, mediocre the third time, couldn't see it more than this...
TFA is ok/good the first time, ok the second time, mediocre the third time, couldn't see it more than this...
ryutaro's mama
Member
What are you talking about? JJ did his job. Most people like TFA. However, when you make something as derivative (and safe) as that, it's gonna have critiques.
That you're trying to fault their approach on the reason why this movie has some who dislike it when no matter what they did, there will always be some who dislike it.
MHWilliams
Member
The reception to the prequels was not good. For the decade between Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens, the prequel trilogy was summarily pilloried by most of Star Wars fandom, culminating in that semi-final cringeworthy Vader "Noooooooo". There is a younger generation that loves them, but for Star Wars fans at the time, the talk was mostly poor.
Here, before TFA: "Why Are the Star Wars Prequels Hated So Much?"
That's just a random smattering of comments and that was the general take on the prequels at the time.
I'd argue they're not. The Fast and The Furious is a remarkably grounded film for its time, a far cry from the near-superhero adventures of the Fast film beyond that. Even going on just characterization, Roman Pearce alone has been flanderized and turned into almost pure comic relief in most of the recent ensemble films. Tej went from a street mechanic to a genius level engineer and more.
Again, Fast Five and beyond do not really pay any homage or lip service to what came before. Creed would probably be a better example of what you're attempting to get at, but again, bringing something old to a new audience doesn't have to be done in one way.
I certainly don't think it needs to, as "everyone" is a very, very broad space. In the same way that some folks enjoy the prequels, you likewise have many who enjoy The Force Awakens or Rogue One.
ryutaro's mama
Member
Uh, I gave an example on this very page of how you can reboot/restart a franchise WITHOUT the approach that LFL took to get a result more original.
But LFL clearly knew what they were doing as the film made $2 billion. It just didn't make everyone happy.
Also, when did I ever say everyone needed to like TFA?!?!
Always-honest
Banned
I think watching any movie more than three times (as an adult) is pretty weird actually. You have a memory, right? But whatever you like of course.
Anyway, it's a bad movie. Saw it for the second time last week.
Anyway, it's a bad movie. Saw it for the second time last week.
Check my post history. I posted my thoughts straight after viewing the film. I was hyped and on media blackout before it.
I'm also on record that I've liked the prequels well before before there was any talk of a new trilogy.
I'm not s super Star Wars nerd, but I'm up there I have the some merch and I ran a Star Wars Saga RPG table top game for two years - that was pretty cool/super hamy, we even had an ewok jedi. I do like the universe, even the Trade Agreements.
People wanted a Star Wars movie that felt like Star Wars since they hadn't gotten one since the 80s and your idea is to do what Fast Five did and just completely tonally reboot the franchise? Yeah, I wonder why they didn't do that...
Then I'm not sure why you thought it was relevant to say that not everyone would like the movie based on their approach, implying that there's an approach where the same wouldn't happen.
ryutaro's mama
Member
No homage? No lip service? The films still have racing, car stunts and high risk driving. Something that was found in the first 4 films. Do you remember the climax of 1 or 2? or 4?
The beginning of 7 when Dom takes Letty to Race Wars (the thing from FF1)?!?
The films all connect through the shared history. Regardless of how ubsurd (and if you watch 1-4, there is a whole hell of a lot of that) the films are now, the base connection of characters is what binds it all together. Yes, they made certain ones a bit more ridiculous but that doesn't actually divert too far from the established norm of the series.
And the notion that they don't pay homage to what came before, the ENTIRE set up to 7 and 8 is based on events in 3.
The events of 4 is why Brian goes into prison in 6. The events of 4,5,6 are what is recotconned into Han's motivations in 3.
I could go on. So the notion that the films don't reference/pay homage what came before is either you not paying attention of being very disingenuous.
finowns
Member
I understand that the prequels were not well received but they didn't capsize the franchise. And this idea the prequels were universally panned isn't accurate.
ryutaro's mama
Member
Because they wanted to make $2 billion bucks.
I mean, tonally, is Rogue One = TFA? The point I was making isn't even tone because tonally, Fast Five isn't that far off from F4. The point is, when the studio decided to try and reinvigorate the franchise, they didn't ask for a love letter to the franchise.
They took a risk that had it failed, would have likely been the end of the franchise. The result was something that felt fresh and new to the franchise.
And how long did people wait between 4 and 5? People hadn't gotten a Star Wars film that felt like the OT in 32 years. They didn't try being "risky" because it's not what people wanted, it's like ordering a Big Mac and getting a pizza instead, people didn't go to TFA for something completely different. It would've been the dumbest thing done in movie history to do something completely different.
ryutaro's mama
Member
You seem to be caught in the weeds and saying that F5 was "completely different" from its predecessors. As the logical next film after F4, it was hardly "completely different".
Also, how are you not getting what I am saying?!?
Did TFA have to be the film we got (exactly as it was executed) in order to get a film that, as you say 'felt like the SW people had waited 32 years for?"
A script as safe and as derivative as that was the only way to get there?
theofficefan99
Junior Member
Wow I laughed at that for a good 10 minutes
How many times in the last three years have you watched episode 1 or 3?
All of the other movies you mention have been out for longer so youve had longer to watch them more often. Dont think Ive watched this 10 times, think more I watch this once a year (or whatever). Otherwise the comparison isnt that helpful
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