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Can't bring myself to watch The Force Awakens more than a couple of times

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Hagi

Member
People here have really bad narcolepsy, apparently.

The OT is built on hot takes no matter how rote.

I've seen TFA probably 3 or 4 times since release and it's not without fault but I really enjoy it. Starkiller is dumb and the one thing I wish they scrapped.
 

Vice

Member
TFA is a safe movie and one of the worst SW movies with AotC.

Episode 1 and 3 are miles more fun and interesting than 7

No one sane is spending $200+ million on a risky film. The whole series is very safe, even the crazy stuff in the prequels is able to be made into merchandise.
 

night814

Member
Movie is a bad follow up to the OT in the same way the Prequels are a bad follow up to them as well. 4-6 are crazy amounts of lightning in a bottle that work so well even today, all other SW movies come from that same source material and fail to deliver.
 
4-6 are crazy amounts of lightning in a bottle that work so well even today, all other SW movies come from that same source material and fail to deliver.

Bullshit.

6 is just as safe and basic as the ones you don't like. There's no lightning in that film that isn't pouring out of Sheev's wrinkled fingers.
 

Meowster

Member
Bullshit.

6 is just as safe and basic as the ones you don't like. There's no lightning in that film that isn't pouring out of Sheev's wrinkled fingers.
I mean, at least Starkiller Base is an original design. They literally reused the exact same superweapon in Jedi as the first movie (even if it lowkey had a cooler look shh).
 
I've watched it a bunch with my daughter, and I could watch it over and over.

However, I never felt the need to go back and watch any part of Rogue One after I saw it once in the theater.
 

Kyoufu

Member
I liked the flashback scene a lot but other than that I found it to be pretty forgettable. If it wasn't part of a trilogy it would be quickly discarded.
 

cuate

Banned
It was a royal piece of shit. One of the blandest and most sterile movies i've seen. Vastly prefer the prequels, flawed as they are.
 

Kyoufu

Member
What are you basing that on?

This is literally the first time I've ever heard anyone attempt this narrative.

On the quality of the film itself. I find it to be so average that I'd never have to think about or watch the film ever again if it wasn't tied to Episode VIII and IX. But I understand that a lot of the film wouldn't be the way it is if it were a standalone.

I imagine others who didn't care for Rogue One wouldn't watch it again (and possibly the Han Solo spinoff) because, well, they don't need to. Those films aren't really important.
 
On the quality of the film itself.

That doesn't make any fuckin' sense though.

So you just pulled that out of your ass then?

This really is some CinemaSins shit, isn't it.

It was a royal piece of shit. One of the blandest and most sterile movies i've seen. Vastly prefer the prequels, flawed as they are.

Were these talking points issued on an earlier page that I missed?
 

Kyoufu

Member
That doesn't make any fuckin' sense though.

So you just pulled that out of your ass then?

This really is some CinemaSins shit, isn't it.

If my opinion of a movie is pulled out of my ass then yes. I don't like it enough to watch it again but I know I'll have to when the trilogy is complete (or probably before going to see TLJ) because it's the first part of the new trilogy.
 

Kyoufu

Member
That opinion was pulled out of your ass, yes. You said people only cared because it was part of a trilogy.

That opinion is colon born

Feel free to point out where I said "people only care...". I was speaking for myself, which I thought I was clear. Guess not.
 
Feel free to point out where I said "people only care...". I was speaking for myself, which I thought I was clear. Guess not.

No, it wasn't.

It doesn't make sense that it would be. You can discard it right now if you're only speaking for yourself. Nothing's stopping you.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I think you touch on exactly why it's a bit disposable: they aren't breaking any new ground. But there's more...

As bad as the prequels are, you could at least get into the new alien species, new locations, new Sith Lords, etc. Trying to understand everything's place in the greater lore was interesting because it was all being helmed by the original auteur. Looks at the new pod vehicles! Look at the new robots! What the hell kind of alien is that? Look at the new force abilities we're being shown!

There's really no new ground in TFW; as you pointed out, retreads are abound.

People don't realize how difficult it is to take a shot in the dark and just make people believe this new alien race exists because you say so. That takes creativity, vision, conviction, and imagination. I don't really think anyone at the head of the franchise is trying to keep the lore growing in any kind of interesting way -- certainly not Rick Berman or Kathleen Kennedy. It's nobody's job to care about Star Wars at that level anymore.

It's the trade we got when Lucas bowed out; we got a Star Wars themed modern movie with all the trappings that entails -- political discussions about "mary sues" and cast diversity, depressingly forced cameos, dumb plots that make no sense, and shit-tons of CG. We also got a more earthy and realistic feel, because they figured fan-service was marketable, and we got better pacing because there was accountability were there used to be an all-powerful turbo nerd at the helm. But most of all, we got an utterly forgettable and shallow experience, which is Hollywood's speciality, and always has been, save for the work of the type of auteur that, for all his faults, Lucas was.

Edit: This all said, TFW is better as a standalone movie than the prequels. Can't get with you there. I never want to watch the prequels again unless it's bad movie night and I'm with some stoned friends.

I mostly agree with this post and it illustrates what my biggest fear with the sequel trilogy has always been -- that Star Wars would just become another blockbuster franchise. The prequels at least had a sense of "newness" (despite how much they actually did repeat the plot structure of the OT, but the whole point if the PT was to create a dark mirror image of the OT). This is why I think SW was at its best when you had Lucas but also had other people to rein him in.

That said, I liked the new characters in TFA and am interested in seeing where they go. I liked Rogue One and some of the new-ish things they did with it.
 

night814

Member
Bullshit.

6 is just as safe and basic as the ones you don't like. There's no lightning in that film that isn't pouring out of Sheev's wrinkled fingers.

Return of the Jedi is actually my favorite. The opening rescue of Han is my highlight of the series and I think about the Sailbarg fight all the time.
 

MrOogieBoogie

BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
I can't bring myself to watch movies I already LOVE more than a couple times, so that's a weird metric to use for something you apparently don't like much. lol
 

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
For those defending this rehash who claim the franchise had to be rebooted, reintroduced, etc. Why exactly did one of the most well known movie franchises need it? I mean apart from money? So many things they could have done with a sequel and they chose rehash.
 
For those defending this rehash who claim the franchise had to be rebooted, reintroduced, etc. Why exactly did one of the most well known movie franchises need it? I mean apart from money? So many things they could have done with a sequel and they chose rehash.

It's one of the best reviewed of all the films, made an amazing amount of money, actually grew the already substantial fanbase, and is generally recognized as a well-made, enjoyable film.

Why is this not enough

Maybe some of those many things will be done with a sequel.

Maybe (as has been pointed out ad nauseum) the superficial talking point repetition regarding "rehash" is, itself, pretty thin and much more in need of explicative defending than the film it's attempting to criticize
 

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
It's one of the best reviewed of all the films, made an amazing amount of money, actually grew the already substantial fanbase, and is generally recognized as a well-made, enjoyable film.

Why is this not enough

Maybe some of those many things will be done with a sequel.

Maybe (as has been pointed out ad nauseum) the superficial talking point repetition regarding "rehash" is, itself, pretty thin and much more in need of explicative defending than the film it's attempting to criticize

I'm not going to write some bullet list that everyone's read many times but chooses to ignore just to give the film a pass. The franchise did not need a reboot.
 

DeathyBoy

Banned
I'm not going to write some bullet list that everyone's read many times but choose to ignore just to give the film a pass. The franchise did not need a reboot.

So you're not going to respond properly to Bobby pointing out why it was the right choice? Namely made lots of money, critically loved, and brought Star Wars back as THE cinematic franchise.

How difficult is this to understand? Really?

You can dislike the film. But you can't argue that it was the wrong choice with they've succeeded in every quantifiable regard, from box office to reviews. t
 

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
So you're not going to respond properly to Bobby pointing out why it was the right choice? Namely made lots of money, critically loved, and brought Star Wars back as THE cinematic franchise.

How difficult is this to understand? Really?

You can dislike the film. But you can't argue that it was the wrong choice with they've succeeded in every quantifiable regard, from box office to reviews. t

I'm not responding 'properly' because everyone has read the comparisons between the films many times. No one is telling me why one of the biggest film franchises in the world needed to be rebooted. Hell, people are even going so far as to deny it's a reboot/rehash. "But it made tons of money!" I guess is a good reason for the studio but for fans to be using that reasoning is weird to me.
 
Maybe (as has been pointed out ad nauseum) the superficial talking point repetition regarding "rehash" is, itself, pretty thin and much more in need of explicative defending than the film it's attempting to criticize

Yeah, it isn't though. C'mon, man, you can, right now, look up the many ways in which it was a rehash if you actually are interested in details. It's been done so many times I don't see why you expect anyone to enact that labor for you. And for however impressed you are by Rotten Tomatoes and box office numbers, you don't really have anything to say to people who don't want to do repeat viewings they way they have watched the previous ones. That's something not quantifiable by an RT score.

It could just be nostalgia; the media of our youth is psychological comfort food that we turn to for reasons other than its inherent quality. It could be the media landscape -- nowadays there are many ways to get fixes for your space and fantasy yearnings in a way that there wasn't before Nerds Took Over the World. But I don't see the point in shouting down those who feel this way with box office numbers and I'm not sure why you do.
 

DeathyBoy

Banned
No one is telling me why one if they biggest film franchises needed to be rebooted. He'll, people are even going so far as to deny it's a reboot/rehash. "But it made tons of money!" I guess is a good reason for the studio but for fans to be using that reasoning is weird to me.

Do you continually and wilfully ignore that critics loved it? And that it's loved mostly everywhere, except on Gaf?

Yeah, it isn't though. C'mon, man, you can, right now, look up the many ways in which it was a rehash if you actually are interested in details. It's been done so many times I don't see why you expect anyone to enact that labor for you. And for however impressed you are by Rotten Tomatoes and box office numbers, you don't really have anything to say to people who don't want to do repeat viewings they way they have watched the previous ones. That's something not quantifiable by an RT score.

It could just be nostalgia; the media of our youth is psychological comfort food. But I don't see the point in shouting down those who feel that way with box office numbers and I'm not sure why you do.

There's a difference between "I didn't like it" and "they shouldn't have done it that way."

First is opinion. Second is trying to play movie executive. And it's delusional - when a film kills at the box office and critically and with the general public.., I mean, that's as good as it gets. They literally could not have succeeded more than they did.

Like I think The Avengers is mediocre. But they absolutely made the right choices given how successful it was.
 
I agree that it's not worth watching more than 1 or 2 times, but I disagree that the prequels have anything over it. The ideal number of times to watch the prequels is zero. Rogue 1 was a snooze fest, too.
 
It's one of the best reviewed of all the films, made an amazing amount of money, actually grew the already substantial fanbase, and is generally recognized as a well-made, enjoyable film.

Why is this not enough

Maybe some of those many things will be done with a sequel.

Maybe (as has been pointed out ad nauseum) the superficial talking point repetition regarding "rehash" is, itself, pretty thin and much more in need of explicative defending than the film it's attempting to criticize

Seeing as people are suddenly championing the prequels over TFA it's not that being a good movie is not enough, it's straight up not required as long as it fits some nebulous criteria of originality or "newness".
 
Do you continually and wilfully ignore that critics loved it? And that it's loved mostly everywhere, except on Gaf?



There's a difference between "I didn't like it" and "they shouldn't have done it that way."

Not really. You're making an anti-feedback argument that doesn't make sense. "I would have liked it if X was different in Y way" is a thing people say, or else there wouldn't be reviews of anything.
First is opinion. Second is trying to play movie executive. And it's delusional - when a film kills at the box office and critically and with the general public.., I mean, that's as good as it gets. They literally could not have succeeded more than they did.

Like I think The Avengers is mediocre. But they absolutely made the right choices given how successful it was.
It's all opinion, first and second. It doesn't have to mean anything big, and there's nothing particularly self-aggrandizing or daring about stating what you'd have done differently. Ever fill out a comment card at a place of business? Write a Yelp or Amazon review?

Also again we're not really talking about the film's "objective quality," that's shaky ground altogether. I think it's more interesting to talk about what makes a film rewatchable, which is what the OP is talking about. For an oldschool fan, and for older people in general who have fed themselves a diet of fantasy and sci-fi since loving the original movies, it's easy to see why it wouldn't have much impact. To a kid whose first Star Wars movie was The Force Awakens I bet the story is quite different.
 

Ennosuke

Member
I am with the OP here. I don't say it is a bad movie, there is some good in it. But everything is so blant and basic, I don't know why I should watch it again. I am very excited for The Last Jedi, because I am optimistic, that this movie delivers a better world building and an original story. My main issue with TFA is, that it does not feel like Star Wars to me. JJ tried his best by throwing all those elements at us "Look here is Chewy, awesome", "Look here is the Death Star", so on and so on... but in the end this movie fails hard in star wars universe building. For otherd this might not be important, for me it is. As bad as the prequels were, I am really thankful for that.
Oh and the OST really was not good, thr prequels were miles ahead of it in this regard.
 

Magwik

Banned
It's one of the best reviewed of all the films, made an amazing amount of money, actually grew the already substantial fanbase, and is generally recognized as a well-made, enjoyable film.

Why is this not enough

Maybe some of those many things will be done with a sequel.

Maybe (as has been pointed out ad nauseum) the superficial talking point repetition regarding "rehash" is, itself, pretty thin and much more in need of explicative defending than the film it's attempting to criticize
Apparently a film made for the mass market needs to be a masterpiece we can all watch 50 times in the past two years since it's release.

TFA is a good, even great Star Wars movie. I have no idea how Jedi gets a pass, yet TFA is apparently the worst thing ever according to GAF.
 

Vice

Member
I'm not responding 'properly' because everyone has read the comparisons between the films many times. No one is telling me why one of the biggest film franchises in the world needed to be rebooted. Hell, people are even going so far as to deny it's a reboot/rehash. "But it made tons of money!" I guess is a good reason for the studio but for fans to be using that reasoning is weird to me.
Why did TFA play it safe?
1. Disney spent billions to get the franchise.
2. The prequel trilogy has become a joke that the fan base hated. The new concepts Lucas introduced we're disliked by fans and critics(JarJar, midichlorians, setup of the Jedi order, Anakin and Padme's relationship , the overall writing, etc)
3. Fans wanted more if the same. People want to see the old things they remember.
4. The story of IV is based on in if the simplest story telling templates possible, so "rehashing" it is pretty unavoidable.
5. The movie is liked because it's a good blockbuster and people have grown accustomed to waiting a year or two to finish the story. See, the MCU's long-term Avengers and Infinity Stone storylines.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
To be honest the longer you think about it and the more analysis you do the more you realise that Star Wars is actually such a mediocre film series. Out of 8 movies at least half are pretty poor and then of the remaining 4 only 2 are actually great. Two great movies out of Eight is a pretty poor success rate yet here we are still discussing the movies and still eagerly anticipating the sequels. I wonder when we will all wake up and realise that Star Wars is actually kind of garbage (I can't believe I'm saying that as I've been a huge Star Wars fan for close to 30 years now).
 
How many other film series are there that have as many films that you would say are better?

I could see an argument for LOTR but thats still 3 out of 6.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
To be honest the longer you think about it and the more analysis you do the more you realise that Star Wars is actually such a mediocre film series. Out of 8 movies at least half are pretty poor and then of the remaining 4 only 2 are actually great. Two great movies out of Eight is a pretty poor success rate yet here we are still discussing the movies and still eagerly anticipating the sequels. I wonder when we will all wake up and realise that Star Wars is actually kind of garbage (I can't believe I'm saying that as I've been a huge Star Wars fan for close to 30 years now).

Wake up, sheeple. Star Wars is bad.
 
Do you continually and wilfully ignore that critics loved it? And that it's loved mostly everywhere, except on Gaf?

There's a difference between "I didn't like it" and "they shouldn't have done it that way."

First is opinion. Second is trying to play movie executive. And it's delusional - when a film kills at the box office and critically and with the general public.., I mean, that's as good as it gets. They literally could not have succeeded more than they did..

Hmmm...this sounds like the description of the highest grossing worldwide movie of all time.
 

Vice

Member
How many other film series are there that have as many films that you would say are better?

I could see an argument for LOTR but thats still 3 out of 6.
I can see arguments for:
Rocky
Bond
Harry Potter
Star Trek
The Muppets
Batman

I'd say they all have lows that rival, or surpass, the worst Star Wars stuff though. Except for The Muppets who at worst, will have a middling movie.
 
I guess? I couldnt even get passed the first movie so I'll have to take other peoples word for it.

Ok.

I can see arguments for:
Rocky
Bond
Harry Potter
Star Trek
The Muppets
Batman

I'd say they all have lows that rival, or surpass, the worst Star Wars stuff though. Except for The Muppets who at worst, will have a middling movie.

I would add Fast and the Furious to that list, personally.
 

DeathyBoy

Banned
Hmmm...this sounds like the description of the highest grossing worldwide movie of all time.

As I've mentioned a lot, I don't care for The Avengers or Avatar. Neither works for me particularly in terms of quality. I would have made vastly different films.

And what I would've made would probably bottom out far below the end gross for either.

Opinions are fine. It's when people parlay them as fact. There's people here legit asking why TFA was a reboot (It wasn't) or a rehash.

We can debate the films merits for the rest of time, but there's no debating that they made the right choices in terms of the film being a success by their quantifiable standards.
 
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