ST Early screenings / early buzz & reactions thread

Not for me. I grew up loving the ships. It is what got me into Star Wars. X-Wings, TIE fighters, Star Destroyers, etc. As a kid, I used to replay the space battle segments of the movies over and over.

 

Oh gods, relax. It was a JOKE. Hence the winky face. Dial it back a bit.

 

Nah dude, you don't get to tell me to "dial back a bit" and "relax". What in the world is wrong with you?

 

Exactly. I became a fan through the x-wing games on PC. Not every Star Wars fan likes the same things

 

This is literally the first time I've seen someone try and make an argument that Star Wars is only popular because of the Force, and not "boring" battles.

The Death Star trench run and the battle of Endor are widely considered some of the most exciting moments captured on film, SW or otherwise. Han Solo battles with Darth Vader as the most popular SW character, and all he's got going for him is snark and a good blaster by his side.

 

Wow, that's really great, thanks for post here!

 

OK. We good.

 

I guess it matches the popular thought amongst fans that SW is what "I" like, everything else is filler. Also, the battle of Scarif is the highlight of Rogue One for most people, and that's mostly ship stuff!

 

Purely anecdotal: In my area, the hype for TFA was in overdrive from the final US trailer (late October) until the premiere. People even talked about it on the train I took to my university. Nowhere near that level of hype this time around.

 

The highlight of RO for me was Darth Vader. And I have asked myself many times if Vader and Tarkin weren't in the movie, would I have liked it as much? Though that especially hinges on Vader as I'm not a Tarkin fan really but I do think Tarkin's a great character and they used him really well in RO by setting up the rivalry with Krennic.

 

I would put that squarely on the difference between the first sw film since ROTS, and the 3rd in three years.

 

There are elements of this that sound FAR too much like TESB for me to take it too seriously. Not that Rian isn't hitting any TESB notes in TLJ, but these are exacting to a degree that bothers me.

-"All pilots to your ships. First Order forces have entered the system" sounds suspiciously like the line of alarm dialogue in TESB about the transports off Hoth, and the Empire entering the system.
-"Next scene is BB8 in the chamber where Finn is on life support. He tries pressing buttons to wake him up but the machine blares back that his recovery is not complete." this bit sounds like Luke in batca tank after the Wampa attack and the droids looking in on him.
-The entire D'Qar sequence feels Hoth-like with the "rebels/resistance" on the defense, and the "Empire/First Order" finding them and they have to escape from a narrative structure POV.

It feels like This Tasu Leech poster is porting in elements of TESB to make this version up.

I could be wrong, as maybe it deliberately DOES mirror some TESB facets...

But yeah, not buying this currently as those stood out to me like a sore thumb.

 

I'm not buying it fully yet either, but very happy to be wrong.

 

Just like the hype for AOTC didn't touch TPM.

TLJ could be the best film ever crafted, and it still wouldn't drum up TFA level hype.

 

The hype was huge going into TFA once that final trailer came out, but was also pretty big before that as well.

However, think it is unreasonable to expect anywhere near the same level of hype for the sequels. TFA was the first saga film in 10 years, and decades since they have seen the likes of Luke, Han, and Leai. Not to mention that this was the first time it was being directed by someone other than Lucas, who many considered to have ruined the prequels. The hype for TFA was more than just about another Star Wars movie, it was a decade of feelings culminated into one single film/moment.

TFA also got more casual fans excited, because again, it was a monumental event that Star Wars was "back." Everyone thought it was over, or at least in a coma. Those casual fans very may well see TLJ, but they certainly aren't going to have anywhere near the same buzz as they did for the RETURN OF STAR WARS that was TFA.

 

The irony?

I remember a ton of posters around here claiming that Disney was flunking at promoting TFA and the hype wasn't all that high.

 

People were saying the same thing before the TLJ trailer.

 

I don't know if TLJ is being promoted enough or not, but... I've seen both Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League in theaters and the trailer was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, I've seen trailers for Murder in the Orient Express, Wonder, Black Panther and the effin' Pokemon movie. Twice each.

I don't know what's up with that.

 

That was around August-September, though. At that point, we really didn't get much. But once the final trailer hit, it was on. Now we're at the end of November and there still isn't much hype where I live. Despite several trailers and other stuff. That's what I was trying to explain.

 

I've seen Thor Ragnarok twice and the TLJ trailer was shown before it both times.

 

Seriously, who put the giant bandaid on his face? I need to know this.

 

Not sure where you live, but in North America the marketing for TLJ is currently a veritable juggernaut. The TV spots, the product tie ins, the toy ads, the posters....it's at LEAST as much as TFA in my neighbourhood. Under marketed is something I never would have thought would be levelled at TLJ.

 

That's logical, given the fact that US box office usually accounts for about 50% of worldwide profits. I've been to the movies 3 times in the last three weeks and the second trailer aired before each movie. The audience knows that the new SW movie is upon them. I mean, I'm from Serbia and I don't remember the last time I saw a trailer for an upcoming movie on TV.

 

Haha, yeah I'm with you. Boring "pew pew" army battles?!?! Are you kidding? Lol give me a large scale assault any day over a lightsaber duel. Also I'm not sure about Star Wars is popular for Jedi vs. Sith? Well... I mean, for who? I grew up watching the OT on VHS and the OT is full of terrible lightsaber duels. The IDEA of a lightsaber is better than the reality of anything we see on screen. The ANH "duel" is a joke, like it's completely horrible. Then ESB, pretty bad, certainly an emotionally charged, fantastic scene, full of great music, amazing set design, and awesome dialogue. The SCENE is stellar, a highlight of cinema frankly, but the BATTLE itself is below mediocre. It's an old Sith against an untrained Force user. It's not pretty, at all. Then you have ROTJ which is another epic moment, really the concluding scene of the entire 6-part opus from Lucas, and therefore one of my absolute favorite scenes. It's masterful. That being said, it's important to be objective where you can be about quality, and the actual "lightsaber duel" is again not impressive. It's solid enough, you could maybe call it a 5/10, but what makes a GREAT scene isn't necessarily great fighting. The music gives me the goosebumps there, the way it's shot, the moment is so big, it's an incredible scene. I just mean the actual quality of combat isn't anything to write home about. It's not like they should have been anything different, though, they're exactly what they should have been. An older Sith Lord against either a really old Jedi (ANH) or a young, barely trained Jedi or Jedi wannabe (ESB and ROTJ). They couldn't ever have been the epic duels we see in the prequels, of Jedi in their prime against Sith in their prime.

So that leaves you some incredible lightsaber duels in the prequels, for sure, but to say that Star Wars is "known" for that can't be true because Star Wars was huge before the prequels. I definitely think most fans are more into the "war" aspects, like Battle of Hoth, Battle of Yavin, Battle of Endor and its incredible space battle. Even the battle over Coruscant is amazing.

I like my battle sequences long. I don't want to be bored to death by constant talking. Especially not when information can be beautifully communicated in visual sequences, like Luke with Yoda on Dagobah. It's not just Yoda talking at Luke for 10 minutes, it's things actually happening while plot and character are being developed. That's why Star Wars is a masterpiece of cinema and why today's "adult dramas" are just for the most part garbage that pseudo-intellectuals can brag about watching at their downtown indie cinema to their wannabe nouveau riche friends all aspiring to a social status they don't actually have by talking about how much they liked Manchester in My Pee or whatever other idiotic talking monstrosity is thrown at us; where even watching it a single time is a herculean task let alone imagining watching it over and over like I do Star Wars. Sorry, if your movie isn't rewatchable, it has zero claim to being truly great. Greatness is not bubble gum -- it must be reusable. A great movie is one you can watch repeatedly, just like a great gadget, it is not a piece of gum that you chew and discard.