tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post4739380295922195561..comments2024-03-27T15:16:57.305-05:00Comments on F This Movie!: Confessional: THE LAST JEDI Made Me a STAR WARS FanPatrick Bromleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00771837625286775607noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-10126644105617979342017-12-26T01:07:58.095-06:002017-12-26T01:07:58.095-06:00Ms. Gonzalez, I totally dig this post. I'm cur...Ms. Gonzalez, I totally dig this post. I'm curious, however, as to whether you ever gave Timothy Zahn's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrawn_trilogy" rel="nofollow">Thrawn Trilogy</a> a try (see above). They're old-school <i>SW</i> Expanded Universe/Legends, but they were also the first books to continue the narrative from the OT movies, so they require zero additional franchise familiarity to dive right in. Zahn mostly keeps our OT heroes purely heroic, albeit fully human and imperfect, and he introduces several awesome new characters who are very much complex and not purely heroic/evil, including the excellent female antihero Mara Jade. And since Zahn's background was a sci-fi writer, he brings a lot of Tolkien-style seriousness to the <i>SW</i> galaxy - unlike in these new movies (Prequel Trilogy included), hyperspace voyages actually take days, and <i>The Last Jedi</i>'s story hook of being able to temporarily outrun a fleet at sub-hyperspeed, but doomed if you attempt an actual jump, feels very reminiscent of his approach to the universe. I'm not as big a <i>LotR</i> fan as you, but I have read Tolkien's trilogy, and, though Zahn's books go in different directions from the Abrams/Johnson sequel trilogy, I have a feeling you might enjoy them.<br /><br />/soapbox pitch!Gaithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07025861553487915665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-46215518685660660222017-12-26T00:56:18.695-06:002017-12-26T00:56:18.695-06:00Great story indeed!Great story indeed!Gaithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07025861553487915665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-37878702303996866972017-12-26T00:55:27.786-06:002017-12-26T00:55:27.786-06:00"JJ Abrams has said that Luke didn't work..."JJ Abrams has said that Luke didn't work in The Force Awakens because if you put him anywhere other than at the end he steals the movie away from the new characters that they were trying to establish."<br /><br />That's a totally rational and valid storytelling choice, and I completely get it, but it's not one I happen to agree with - like James T. Kirk, "I don't believe in the no-win scenario." It strikes me as one more cop-out from the guy who thought ripping off <i>The Wrath of Khan</i> was a great idea. But, hey, I get it.<br /><br />As a mild <i>Star Wars</i> since childhood, I never actually wanted this sequel trilogy, because I've had and loved Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy since just a few years after seeing <i>RotJ</i>. Since, to my mind, those books make up a perfect sequel trilogy of their own, any new cinematic sequel trilogy had an impossibly high bar to reach to win my love... and I've found <i>TFA</i> hopelessly mediocre, and <i>TLJ</i> only a modest improvement, so win my love, they have not.<br /><br />Obviously, however, these new Episodes are 100%, official <i>Star Wars</i> stories, and I have nothing but good thoughts for those who love them. It's legitimately great that many women fans particularly embrace them. They aren't my thing, but that's totally okay. (Unless Kathleen Kennedy breaks into my flat wearing a Minnie Mouse costume and burns my Thrawn Trilogy books, that is. If she does that, I'll reserve the right to be pissed.)<br /><br /><i>TLJ</i> SPOILER<br /><br />As for <i>TLJ</i>'s new aspects of the Force, I don't mind them. What I <i>do</i> kind of mind is [X]'s ghost still sticking around thirty-plus years after his death - my personal feeling is that, per Zahn's <i>Heir to the Empire</i>, he would have fully moved on to the next plane of spirit by then, even if the actual scene between him and Luke was an objectively terrific one. But hey, that's just my two cents, not any kind of dogmatic statement.)Gaithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07025861553487915665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-1809230130855633222017-12-22T15:26:33.233-06:002017-12-22T15:26:33.233-06:00Thanks for the nice article! As much as I'm g...Thanks for the nice article! As much as I'm glad you've found a Star Wars movie to champion, I'm mostly looking forward to you writing about Lord of the Rings...I love both franchises.Paul Calverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11748440093206090195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-30853781110785890782017-12-22T13:55:48.905-06:002017-12-22T13:55:48.905-06:00Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm so gla...Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm so glad your wife enjoyed the movie so much ❤️Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481545631420133423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-14284805006552467312017-12-22T09:09:37.459-06:002017-12-22T09:09:37.459-06:00So when I first started dating my wife, she was ne...So when I first started dating my wife, she was never a big Star Wars fan. She had seen the original trilogy once as a young child but not being exposed to much sci-fi, and an unfortunate incident with an Ewok, led her to not grow up loving it like I had. I re-watched the original trilogy with her early in our relationship and she got on the space bandwagon but was still not as in love with it as I was. We saw Episode 7 opening day and while we both really liked it I could tell the love affair with Star Wars that I had was still not there with her. Then came episode 8.<br /><br />From the beginning space battle I could tell that this movie was different. Not just different from my unconscious expectations but also in how it was connecting with my wife. After Rose's sister heroically sacrifices herself to bomb the dreadnought (which is one of my favorite scenes in the movie) my wife and I turned to each other to react. This was so cool, my wife normally doesn't dig space battles. The movie continued on like this, engaging my wife in ways I didn't think an action movie could. For example; she fell asleep during the airport fight scene in Captain America: Civil War but she was on the edge of her seat during Rey and Kylo's fight with Snoke's Praetorian guards.<br /><br />Once the movie was over, I knew I really enjoyed it but it was also pretty jarring to me and it took me a while to process it. I started to panic a little when I went online and saw the backlash. Yeah there were problems but I didn't see any reason to hate it. I worried that it was like Episode 1 all over again. Meanwhile, my wife was steadfast in her love of the movie. She confidently proclaimed it as her favorite and, in her opinion, best Star Wars movie. <br /><br />We spent literally hours the next day discussing the movie and it brought me out of my funk. It was a great movie and, while there are issues, the hate solely appears to be coming from rabid fanboys with their Snoke/Rey/Jar Jar/Rebels identity theories. I loved this movie and, more importantly, my wife loved this movie. That this movie is able to bring so many more people into the Star Wars family just makes it that much sweeter.Ryan Heintzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06639285554615067000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-5870152977456362302017-12-22T08:03:54.390-06:002017-12-22T08:03:54.390-06:00In my opinion the main issue that people seem to h...In my opinion the main issue that people seem to have with The Last Jedi is Luke and I felt like there was almost not other way to deal with him. JJ Abrams has said that Luke didn't work in The Force Awakens because if you put him anywhere other than at the end he steals the movie away from the new characters that they were trying to establish.<br /><br />So Luke is hiding on his island and he obviously is there for a reason. I got my hero moment that I didn't know that I wanted from Luke. Mark Hamill has said himself that it is no longer Luke's story. Basically whenever he got involved it had to mark the end for him because he is at least believed to be so powerful that he causes a distinct advantage for any side that he happens to be on.Villainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01353115716489078717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-4658136430396817432017-12-21T20:46:25.168-06:002017-12-21T20:46:25.168-06:00Great column! Glad you found a Wars you dig, Aleja...Great column! Glad you found a Wars you dig, Alejandra :-)Adam Riskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01165600746796326821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-743763207368568322017-12-21T17:37:06.000-06:002017-12-21T17:37:06.000-06:00Thank you for saying this. I've wanted to shak...Thank you for saying this. I've wanted to shake all the people saying "IT'S NOT STAR WARS" and tell them that yes, it is Star Wars. I know this because it said Star Wars at the beginning and was made by the people who make Star Wars and stars the actors from Star Wars playing their Star Wars characters. Someone not liking it does not change what it is.Patrick Bromleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00771837625286775607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-45165320110663103502017-12-21T17:02:50.867-06:002017-12-21T17:02:50.867-06:00To me, this is why fans (i.e. fanatics) aren't...To me, this is why fans (i.e. fanatics) aren't always the best people to ask about these matters (I distinguish the fanatic from the lover or the enthusiast). Many of these folks are actually disputing, against the people who legally own and/or make Star Wars, what is and isn't Star Wars. "That character would never do that!" The people who legally own and/or make Star Wars have decided that that character would do that. He/She did it. People can dislike it. They can say it doesn't make sense, argue the point, and be right or wrong about it. But they can't claim it's a betrayal of the property.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-64498543445744909032017-12-21T17:02:19.990-06:002017-12-21T17:02:19.990-06:00The next standalone film is actually a wacky sex c...The next standalone film is actually a wacky sex comedy about Luke's 2 years of Jedi U (it's only an Associates). They've got it covered.Brian Sagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15266020828208581370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-65207352400000360742017-12-21T12:51:21.333-06:002017-12-21T12:51:21.333-06:00i've read the same. and that's what is mak...i've read the same. and that's what is making The Last Jedi not feel like a Star Wars film? that Luke is flawed? that characters have doubts? i don't buy it.<br /><br />about Luke. he's a Master Jedi, but we can't forget he's basically self-proclaimed Master. maybe Yoda said something about it in Return Of The Jedi, but he still got barely more than basic training, then fought Darth Vader. because he got his nemesis he's a flawless Master now? <br /><br />so with all these questions i have, what happen in The Last Jedi makes a lot of sense to me. <br /><br />and maybe i'm just an idiot who's talking out of his ass, Ace Ventura style :)Kuniderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252068289735205071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-71685612467503658022017-12-21T12:41:33.378-06:002017-12-21T12:41:33.378-06:00the gray areas in the morality of its characters, ...the gray areas in the morality of its characters, Luke's cynicism and (spoiler alert) how he appears to Kylo at the end is what most of the criticisms I've seen from people who didn't like it have been Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481545631420133423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-46820918543712150662017-12-21T12:35:32.860-06:002017-12-21T12:35:32.860-06:00great article.
but i'm asking the question: w...great article.<br /><br />but i'm asking the question: what is a Star Wars film? what's missing in The Last Jedi that makes it not feel like a Star Wars film?Kuniderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252068289735205071noreply@blogger.com