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[Rockandrollclown]

Meh, I like it. I liked it even more on a second viewing. Its not ESB by any means, but its a great start to a new trilogy, even if parts of it are a little derivative. Also, Kylo Ren is awesome. Completely subverted my expectations and was a breath of fresh air with how one note most villains are in blockbusters these days.

 

[UnforgivenTwin]

lol, in what universe were the prequels original?

Politics in a Star Wars movie.

 

[Alucard]

lol, in what universe were the prequels original?

Underwater world!
Duel of the fates! (the song and the two-on-one lightsaber battle)

Uhh...Chinese stereotypes for aliens?

 

[Alucard]

I also think most people at least "liked" The Force Awakens. I'm in that camp. It's watchable and entertaining. The new characters are also pretty rad overall.

I actually think Episode VIII could make MORE money than VII if they focus on Luke in the advertising.

 

[UnforgivenTwin]

Underwater world!
Duel of the fates! (the song and the two-on-one lightsaber battle)

Uhh...Chinese stereotypes for aliens?

We mus do wa we con to diswupt arr communicashion Don there.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I also think most people at least "liked" The Force Awakens. I'm in that camp. It's watchable and entertaining. The new characters are also pretty rad overall.

I actually think Episode VIII could make MORE money than VII if they focus on Luke in the advertising.

Nah, no way 8 makes more than 7. Even if it's like, 2x the movie 7 was. The decade of anticipation and the marketing/press buildup just won't be comparable.

It will be helped by the fact 8 will come out in the 40th anniversary year of Star Wars, though.

It'll probably make more internationally, though.

 

[Alucard]

Nah, no way 8 makes more than 7. Even if it's like, 2x the movie 7 was. The decade of anticipation and the marketing/press buildup just won't be comparable.

It will be helped by the fact 8 will come out in the 40th anniversary year of Star Wars, though.

It'll probably make more internationally, though.

We'll see. I'm probably just being overly optimistic. I enjoyed VII a fair bit, but I want to love VIII as much as I love ANH and/or ESB.

Personal ranking:

1. A New Hope/Empire Strikes Back (equal in my mind for different reasons)
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Force Awakens
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. Phantom Menace
7. Attack of the Clones

Want something that tops Return of the Jedi in my mind at least...love all the Jabba stuff, the rancor stuff, and the final stuff with Luke/Vader/Palpatine so much...hard for Force Awakens to top that stuff in my books.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

But The Force Awakens is already better than Return of the Jedi!

Because Return of the Jedi isn't very good!

 

[Surfinn]

Jedi is a great movie and gets a lot more flak than it deserves, IMO.

 

[chaislip3]

Yeah, if there's one thing I realized when I rewatched all of the movies before TFA came out, it's that Jedi is kinda weak for a decent part of the film.

Mostly everything on Endor isn't good at all, especially when they get to the Ewok village. And that isn't an "Ewoks suck" critique, it's more of a "the writing takes a nosedive" critique. The scene with Luke and Leia in particular is hard to watch.

The climax of the film is fantastic, and it's one of the best 25 minute spans of the series. But the lows of ROTJ are worse than the lows of TFA.

 

[Playsage]

Jedi is a great movie and gets a lot more flak than it deserves, IMO.

I blame that on these guys

Obviously Chewbacca not included

 

[phanphare]

Jedi is a great movie and gets a lot more flak than it deserves, IMO.

the narrative surrounding Jedi and the evolution of that narrative are essentially the cliff notes for how internet culture has affected how we as a collective group of human beings perceive and critique things

 

[Surfinn]

Yeah, if there's one thing I realized when I rewatched all of the movies before TFA came out, it's that Jedi is kinda weak for a decent part of the film.

Mostly everything on Endor isn't good at all, especially when they get to the Ewok village. And that isn't an "Ewoks suck" critique, it's more of a "the writing takes a nosedive" critique. The scene with Luke and Leia in particular is hard to watch.

The climax of the film is fantastic, and it's one of the best 25 minute spans of the series. But the lows of ROTJ are worse than the lows of TFA.

See, this is the type of criticism I don't get. I like Endor. Lots of funny moments with the Ewoks (specially with Han) and the 3PO force maneuver was a great moment. Not to mention the classic bike racer scene which inspired BF3.

What is wrong with the Luke/Leia scene? Thought it was great and it gave us the fantastic line from the teaser trailer too. And the scene right after with Han is a nice touch too.

I don't really get it, honestly. Sure, you can make the hipsterish argument (not saying you in particular) that Ewoks are for kids and therefore it all sucks, but there's a lot more to it than that.

Honestly the only major thing that could have been different I think is how perfectly happy/warm everything wrapped up (I even still like it in the sense that the story is now over and the conflict resolved); would have been nice to have made a major sacrifice in order to succeed.

 

[Sephzilla]

But The Force Awakens is already better than Return of the Jedi!

Because Return of the Jedi isn't very good!

I'll defend Force Awakens until I'm blue in the face but I wont agree that it's better than Return of the Jedi. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are better than Force Awakens and A New Hope.

 

[Surfinn]

I'll defend Force Awakens until I'm blue in the face but I wont agree that it's better than Return of the Jedi. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are better than Force Awakens and A New Hope.

Wow, wow.. better than ANH?

You stopped me in my tracks, there. ANH is a fantastic film from start to finish (my favorite in the saga).

 

[WadiumArcadium]

I blame that on these guys

Obviously Chewbacca not included

It's not their fault the Empire decided to build the shield generator on their planet!

 

[phanphare]

if we're at the ranking portion of this thread

The Empire Strikes Back > The Force Awakens ≥ A New Hope > Return of the Jedi


......what other movies?

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

if we're at the ranking portion of this thread

The Empire Strikes Back > The Force Awakens ≥ A New Hope > Return of the Jedi


......what other movies?

This is about right.

As long as ESB is at the top TFA and ANH can be arranged either way.

There are other movies?

 

[Tookay]

Wait, how is the Luke and Leia scene on Endor not any good? That's one of the better moments of the whole trilogy as far as I'm concerned. Especially with Williams' godlike score.

 

[Surfinn]

Wait, how is the Luke and Leia scene on Endor not any good? That's one of the better moments of the whole trilogy as far as I'm concerned. Especially with Williams' godlike score.

Yup. This is the kind of criticism that baffles me. It's like Ewoks bring out the fedoras and give people a free pass at blasting anything and everything.

Though the Boba Fett death was silly and I wish he would have died differently or not at all.

 

[Sephzilla]

Wow, wow.. better than ANH?

You stopped me in my tracks, there. ANH is a fantastic film from start to finish (my favorite in the saga).

A New Hope is great but I think Jedi is just better. It's better acted. I personally like the plot better. Episode 4 Vader is the least interesting Vader. Episode 4 Luke is the least interesting Luke. Everything with Vader, Luke, and the Emperor is the best stuff in the entire franchise. Jedi has the best space battle in the franchise. I like that all of the characters have some actual role in the Endor battle whereas in A New Hope half of the cast stands around watching as Luke blows up the Death Star. For me, Vader turning good to save Luke is a bigger payoff than Luke blowing up the Death Star.

The only complaint I can really lodge at Jedi is that Han is kind of a background character in the second half of the movie. He should have been flying the Falcon in the final battle, not Lando. I also think the complaints about the Ewoks are a little stupid (and I think it being Wookies would have been dumber).

if we're at the ranking portion of this thread

The Empire Strikes Back > The Force Awakens ≥ A New Hope > Return of the Jedi


......what other movies?

For me it would be

1a - Empire
1b - Jedi
3 - Force Awakens
4 - A New Hope

Though the Boba Fett death was silly and I wish he would have died differently or not at all.

Boba Fett was the Darth Maul of the original trilogy. He's a guy who had a cool look but that was literally it.

 

[phanphare]

Yup. This is the kind of criticism that baffles me. It's like Ewoks bring out the fedoras and give people a free pass at blasting anything and everything.

Though the Boba Fett death was silly and I wish he would have died differently or not at all.

honestly I think that if the prequels hadn't been awful Jedi would have never gotten shit on like it does

it's like there was this unanimous agreement that the prequels were shit so there had to be a subset of people who wanted to one-up that notion and be like, "yeah, well I saw this coming because of Jedi. Jedi was the real first bad Star Wars movie guys."

 

[Rockandrollclown]

A New Hope is great but I think Jedi is just better. It's better acted. I personally like the plot better. Episode 4 Vader is the least interesting Vader. Episode 4 Luke is the least interesting Luke. Everything with Vader, Luke, and the Emperor is the best stuff in the entire franchise. Jedi has the best space battle in the franchise. For me, Vader turning good to save Luke is a bigger payoff than Luke blowing up the Death Star.

The only complaint I can really lodge at Jedi is that Han is kind of a background character in the second half of the movie. He should have been flying the Falcon in the final battle, not Lando. I also think the complaints about the Ewoks are a little stupid (and I think it being Wookies would have been dumber).

Indeed. Han, not the ewoks, are the biggest problem with Jedi for me. Its not just that he's a background character, but when he is around he doesn't feel like the same character. Jabba's Palace/Throne Room are amazing (sans Boba Fett's stupid death at the hands of bumbling Han).

 

[opoth]

Jedi was generally perceived as mediocre long before internet groupthink was a thing. It's a movie for children who like bright flashy things and neat conclusions wrapped up in a bow.

 

[GhaleonEB]

But The Force Awakens is already better than Return of the Jedi!

Because Return of the Jedi isn't very good!

Yup. The dialogue alone keeps it way the hell back.

 

[Tookay]

honestly I think that if the prequels hadn't been awful Jedi would have never gotten shit on like it does

it's like there was this unanimous agreement that the prequels were shit so there had to be a subset of people who wanted to one-up that notion and be like, "yeah, well I saw this coming because of Jedi. Jedi was the real first bad Star Wars movie guys."

Nah, even in the earliest earliest stages of fandom and forums, there were people saying that ROTJ was weak.

I respectfully disagree, but it wasn't born out of the prequels.

 

[Sephzilla]

I also think Return of the Jedi's tone was a bit of a response to the reception Empire Strikes Back initially received. People need to remember that the opinion that Empire was "the great one" didn't really take hold until after the original trilogy was over. The initial reception of Empire wasn't that great.

 

[Stallion Dan]

Yeah, if there's one thing I realized when I rewatched all of the movies before TFA came out, it's that Jedi is kinda weak for a decent part of the film.

Mostly everything on Endor isn't good at all, especially when they get to the Ewok village. And that isn't an "Ewoks suck" critique, it's more of a "the writing takes a nosedive" critique. The scene with Luke and Leia in particular is hard to watch.

The climax of the film is fantastic, and it's one of the best 25 minute spans of the series. But the lows of ROTJ are worse than the lows of TFA.

But pretty much none of the writing in TFA was good.

 

[Surfinn]

A New Hope is great but I think Jedi is just better. It's better acted. I personally like the plot better. Episode 4 Vader is the least interesting Vader. Episode 4 Luke is the least interesting Luke. Everything with Vader, Luke, and the Emperor is the best stuff in the entire franchise. Jedi has the best space battle in the franchise. For me, Vader turning good to save Luke is a bigger payoff than Luke blowing up the Death Star.

The only complaint I can really lodge at Jedi is that Han is kind of a background character in the second half of the movie. He should have been flying the Falcon in the final battle, not Lando. I also think the complaints about the Ewoks are a little stupid (and I think it being Wookies would have been dumber).

I swear, I've never understood the criticism of "bad acting" (not your words, but the general consensus) of ANH; I absolutely love all of the mains' acting and it leaves me scratching my head. They all feel so damn real.. Luke feels like a slightly annoying (in an endearing fashion) and passionately ignorant kid who wants to take on the world, someone who's got their heart in the right place but lacks experience. Han is the classic bad boy asshole who has a soft center and improvises lots of classic lines (charm out the ass). Leia is super charismatic and makes the audience feel like there is a lot of history involving the empire and the rebellion and really sells the Alderaan scene (along with Tarkin, who is absolutely brilliant). Vader makes us wonder who he is and where he came from (why the hell is he in a large mechanical suit?), and more importantly, why how the hell is he choking someone from across the room? The entire roundtable scene is incredible. Jesus, this is making me want to go watch it right now.

There's a particular mystery that surrounds Vader; he's not the typical villain who is just a bad guy; we want to know more about him and his path to evil (I did, at least). I disagree that it's the least interesting Vader and I'd argue that it's the most different Vader we see simply because we don't know enough about him. That, to me, makes him even more interesting, but in a different way. It's kind of like the entirety that is Yoda; we wonder who he is and where he came from, but we never get those answers. And that's who Vader is in ANH, but the difference is that we get a LOT of those answers in the next two films and in the previous three.

honestly I think that if the prequels hadn't been awful Jedi would have never gotten shit on like it does

it's like there was this unanimous agreement that the prequels were shit so there had to be a subset of people who wanted to one-up that notion and be like, "yeah, well I saw this coming because of Jedi. Jedi was the real first bad Star Wars movie guys."

Right. And this is partially how the Plinkett critics that came once his reviews released did so much damage -- everything became fair game, even if there weren't a whole lot of valid criticisms in those critiques or people end up parroting general one liners or catch phrases popularized online. Thus SW nitpicking was born.

But pretty much none of the writing in TFA was good.

..and no less than minutes later, we see a perfect example of this.

 

[opoth]

if we're at the ranking portion of this thread

The Empire Strikes Back > The Force Awakens ≥ A New Hope > > Revenge of the Sith > Return of the Jedi > Attack of the Clones > The Phantom Menace

fixed it

 

[brandonh83]

Jedi is good. I just think comparatively to what came before it that it was a little lacking creatively, like when it comes to the locales and the first two acts aren't the most compelling in the series.

I admittedly felt that way about Awakens when it came to the locales, but that subsided after a few more viewings. My thing with Jedi is that while the actual climax was great, I never thought it was quite good enough in general to close out the entire SW saga, especially after the prequels came out and just made everything bigger in scope. It left a slightly weird feeling when Sith ended up being a better paced, more interesting film and story when it was just the third episode.

Nah. I expect no one to agree, but I do like Sith more than Jedi, perhaps considerably so, and that made Jedi feel even more underwhelming. I was over the moon at even the announcement of the new trilogy because it sorta retroactively helps Jedi in that it's no longer the finale thus not carrying so much of that weight.

But yeah. Jedi is really good, and better for me now that it isn't the ending anymore. The climax is incredible and a great closure of those events but the movie in general definitely doesn't tickle me from a story and environmental standpoint and these things are tantamount in my personal overall enjoyment of a SW film. It's a big strength of the prequels as Lucas' creative mind is fucking bonkers, even if those have some writing and acting failings.

Awakens, while on the surface level had "normal" planets (desert, forest, snow) I felt in the end that each had unique attributes; Jakku, while a desert planet had the graveyard of war ships that made it unique to Tatooine. Takodana had the castle which was cool with all the banners and the neat atmosphere inside, and the snow planet or Starkiller base, well, had a huge superweapon carved into it so it wasn't anything like Hoth.

It took me a few viewings to really appreciate the diversity of details, which was my only real nitpick upon first seeing the film. But now I'm rambling and getting away from the point I started my post with. I guess it clashed with my problem of Jedi having boring locales comparatively, but to me Awakens had cooler and more interesting details to its planets despite the surface level setting.

 

[Sephzilla]

I swear, I've never understood the criticism of "bad acting" (not your words, but the general consensus) of ANH; I absolutely love all of the mains' acting and it leaves me scratching my head. They all feel so damn real.. Luke feels like a slightly annoying (in an endearing fashion) and passionately ignorant kid who wants to take on the world, someone who's got their heart in the right place but lacks experience. Han is the classic bad boy asshole who has a soft center and improvises lots of classic lines (charm out the ass). Leia is super charismatic and makes the audience feel like there is a lot of history involving the empire and the rebellion and really sells the Alderaan scene (along with Tarkin, who is absolutely brilliant). Vader makes us wonder who he is and where he came from (why the hell is he in a large mechanical suit?), and more importantly, why how the hell is he choking someone from across the room? The entire roundtable scene is incredible. Jesus, this is making me want to go watch it right now.

There's a particular mystery that surrounds vader; he's not the typical villain who is just a bad guy; we want to know more about him and his path to evil (I did, at least). I disagree that it's the least interesting Vader and I'd argue that it's the most different Vader we see simply because we don't know enough about him. That, to me, makes him even more interesting, but in a different way. It's kind of like the entirety that is Yoda; we wonder who he is and where he came from, but we never get those answers. And that's who Vader is in ANH, but the difference is that we get a LOT of those answers in the next two films and in the previous three.

Leia has an accent in the first movie that likes to magically show up and vanish depending on the scene. Alec Guinness comes across as not wanting to even be there in some scenes (his lines during the Vader fight feel really phoned in). Luke in the first movie is serviceable, but Hamill really got better in the sequels. Han's acting stands head and shoulders above all of them.

 

[Surfinn]

Leia has an accent in the first movie that likes to magically show up and vanish depending on the scene. Alec Guinness comes across as not wanting to even be there in some scenes (his lines during the Vader fight feel really phoned in). Luke in the first movie is serviceable. Han's acting stands head and shoulders above all of them.

Never noticed Leia's accent, honestly. I've never noticed Alec "not wanting to be" in scenes. He comes across as an old experienced guy who's passing wisdom onto a younger generation (someone who's been through a lot and is ready to be done with "adventures"; he even says as much in the film itself). Love so many of his deliveries ("the force will be with you.. always"). Not seeing that criticism either, and I've heard it LOTS on GAF. Not seeing Han being above and beyond either of the other mains.

 

[Stallion Dan]

..and no less than minutes later, we see a perfect example of this.

lol, it is. None of the ideas are original, not even just for Star Wars movies, and everything was predictable.

 

[Surfinn]

lol, it is. None of the ideas are original, not even just for Star Wars movies, and everything was predictable.

Right. Like Finn's story.. how many times have we seen the inner workings of Stormtroopers and one breaks from the ranks to join the other side? Wish they'd stop doing this in SW films.

 

[brandonh83]

Leia has an accent in the first movie that likes to magically show up and vanish depending on the scene. Alec Guinness comes across as not wanting to even be there in some scenes (his lines during the Vader fight feel really phoned in). Luke in the first movie is serviceable, but Hamill really got better in the sequels. Han's acting stands head and shoulders above all of them.

Never noticed that about Leia but thinking back, yeah. However I think the acting is just fine for Star Wars. For me Awakens easily had the best performances. With the prequels I have this sort of different approach; some would see it as denial or something but I want to put it out there up front that I think a lot of the acting was pretty bad especially from Portman. BUT, I guess in my mind where it focused on characters that were blinded, stoic Jedi and politicians that the stiff acting SORTA worked in ways.

That's not an excuse for stiff performances and there are plenty of instances where I'm like god just stop talking, but I didn't have a problem with the stiff Jedi or senators. My major problem is stuff like how Natalie just sort of whatevers through scenes that would otherwise be fine, like when Anakin is out on the balcony at dawn after his nightmare and Natalie walks out acting like a fucking robot and delivering her lines without any care whatsoever.

But honestly in scenes with Hayden and Ewan, I quite love those two, and Hayden's bad acting for me mostly came in Clones with the shit dialogue Lucas gave him. And when he's acting alongside McDiarmid, I think there's some winning chemistry there. So it's not all bad to me, there's some great moments mixed with a lot of bad, but I can get through most of it without wanting to throw my set out the window.

 

[Stallion Dan]

Right. Like Finn's story.. how many times have we seen the inner workings of Stormtroopers and one breaks from the ranks to join the other side? Wish they'd stop doing this in SW films.

Finn was just Han, out for himself, helping Luke (Rey) until he decides to help the resistance.

 

[brandonh83]

Finn was just Han, out for himself until he decides to help the resistance.

Finn is nothing like Han in characterization, tone, mindset... well basically nothing. That comparison you made is so amazingly throwaway. "He helped the Resistance" is not an argument in that favor. He helped because he wanted to save Rey and he was never "fuck this I care for no one!" like Han.

Finn is scared of the Order which is why he tries to go AWOL. Han wasn't scared, he just didn't give a shit initially.

 

[Surfinn]

Finn was just Han, out for himself until he decides to help the resistance.

Finn is absolutely nothing like Han; he was trying to escape from the FO whereas Han simply wanted to bail for money (before he decided to ultimately not do that; yeah, he had a bounty on his head, but his original motivation was to get rich). Their personalities are absolutely nothing alike.

This is the type of unfounded criticism I'm talking about. Everyone can be a critic but not everyone has something meaningful to say.

 

[Stallion Dan]

Finn is nothing like Han in characterization, tone, mindset... well basically nothing.

Moving goalposts, I commented on story.

 

[Sephzilla]

Never noticed that about Leia but thinking back, yeah. However I think the acting is just fine for Star Wars. For me Awakens easily had the best performances. With the prequels I have this sort of different approach; some would see it as denial or something but I want to put it out there up front that I think a lot of the acting was pretty bad especially from Portman. BUT, I guess in my mind where it focused on characters that were blinded, stoic Jedi and politicians that the stiff acting SORTA worked in ways.

That's not an excuse for stiff performances and there are plenty of instances where I'm like god just stop talking, but I didn't have a problem with the stiff Jedi or senators. My major problem is stuff like how Natalie just sort of whatevers through scenes that would otherwise be fine, like when Anakin is out on the balcony at dawn after his nightmare and Natalie walks out acting like a fucking robot and delivering her lines without any care whatsoever.

But honestly in scenes with Hayden and Ewan, I quite love those two, and Hayden's bad acting for me mostly came in Clones with the shit dialogue Lucas gave him. And when he's acting alongside McDiarmid, I think there's some winning chemistry there. So it's not all bad to me, there's some great moments mixed with a lot of bad, but I can get through most of it without wanting to throw my set out the window.

The acting in the prequels is hurt by the weaker scripts they're working with. Sam Jackson, Portman, Ewan, and McDiarmid are fine actors and have shown so outside of the prequels. Even Hayden has shown some signs of solid acting ability in other performances. Ewan is the only actor who I think manages to truly overcome the bad writing of the prequels and still turn in a respectable performance. McDiarmid hams it up a ton especially in Episode 3, and it's great, but I never felt like he was playing the same terrifying Emperor from Jedi.

Clones actually has the one Hayden scene that I actually like though. The scene were Anakin slaughters the sand people is pretty solid and it's the only time in the prequels where I actually believed this character could turn into Vader.

Finn was just Han, out for himself, helping Luke (Rey) until he decides to help the resistance.

What? Finn and Han have almost nothing in common. Finn defects from First Order because he feels it's the right thing to do, and then ultimately wants to run because he's scared of them. Han only joins up with Luke and Kenobi because he needs to pay off some debts, and doesn't want to initially help the Rebels because he thinks attack the Death Star is suicide.

 

[Surfinn]

Moving goalposts, I commented on story.

No. Not at all. Han wanted to get rich and pay off his bounty whereas Finn left because he couldn't bear to murder innocent people and live/die for the FO.

 

[brandonh83]

Moving goalposts, I commented on story.

...nope. Not really. I was commenting on both character and story as well. With this logic it's no wonder why people feel like it's too similar to ANH, it's literally like "Jurassic World is a retread of Jurassic Park because dinosaurs"

 

[Surfinn]

...nope. Not really. I was commenting on both character and story as well. With this logic it's no wonder why people feel like it's too similar to ANH, it's literally like "Jurassic World is a retread of Jurassic Park because dinosaurs"

Yup, this is the shallowest criticism possible.

"But the PT and OT were about Jedi, light/dark side and good vs evil. So the ST is just a retread"

See, anyone can do it.

 

[Trigonometrize.]

Finn was just Han, out for himself, helping Luke (Rey) until he decides to help the resistance.

What's driving their conflicts are completely different. Han's is feined apathy, Finn's is pure fear.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Moving goalposts, I commented on story.

It's easy to move em when they're just kinda laying down on the field.

Or it could be a simple misunderstanding. You realize that these aren't goalposts, right?

 

[JayTapp]

I hope to god, no one involved in any way in the making of EP 8 is reading the opinions in this thread.

The crazy stuff you read here is mind numbing. I just hope most people are trolling and just riding along the internet hate train.

 

[phanphare]

fixed it

how dare you make that garbage show up green for me

legit don't understand people who like RotS. it's not even a so-bad-it's-good movie, it's just bad. depressingly so.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

Lucas was right, at least the prequels were original and not a rehash.

Lucas flat-out said that The Phantom Menace was supposed to mirror A New Hope. Kid from Tatooine who can use the Force finds a higher calling and is guided by an older Jedi master. Said Jedi master gets killed fighting a Dark Side user and the kid flies through an enormous enemy base and destroys it (Lucas compares the droid command ship to the Death Star). The movie then ends with a grand celebration of the team's victory.

I think one of the major differences in this regard is that The Phantom Menace goes for a drastically different visual style from the Original Trilogy while The Force Awakens intentionally uses a similar visual style to the Original Trilogy.

Edit: Too tired to notice this was already brought up

 

[brandonh83]

I hope to god, no one involved in any way in the making of EP 8 is reading the opinions in this thread.

It'll be fine because it'll be the Prisoner of Azkaban of the series. I'll elaborate. Yes, Azkaban is one of the better Potter movies, but it wasn't until afterwards when Alfonso Cuaron really became a praised director after Children of Men that the bandwagoners came out of the woodwork; suddenly Azkaban is "by far" and "the only good" Potter movie.

I know this because I defended Azkaban for being a great film while most people were bitching about book omissions, and after Children came out, suddenly it's an amazing film. Surely not everyone did this, but it was absolutely a thing. Now every Potter movie sucks and it's the only good one, despite the Yates films being super well made, shot, acted, and reviewed.

How does this relate to Star Wars? I kinda relate it to Rian Johnson, whom less of the elite crowd dislike as much as Abrams. When Abrams was announced for VII, there were loads of kneejerk reactions and declaring how the movie will turn out. VII had the task of introducing new things while carrying established things over, so it naturally was going to have some relations to the original trilogy.

With VIII, Johnson has more free reign, and to a certain crowd he's more legit than Abrams and in addition is confirmed to be making a very different kind of SW movie. It's Rian, it's different, and like Prisoner of Azkaban, WILL be a great film. And like Azkaban, despite VII being great as well as the originals, it's VIII that will be "by far" the best. Hell, I think it's gonna be incredible, but that's exactly what's gonna happen and you can bookmark this post.