The Last Jedi is tearing the internet apart! Which side are the LT boys on? Listen to the new episode to find out!
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force awakens was bad too, ppl are just now noticing because the hype and thrill/newness of star wars being back has finally died dow n
thought it was just okay….they played up the comedy a little too much…like the whole holding/phone bit in the beginning. Finn bumbling when he woke..the various 1 liners of luke…..force skyping…the infamous leia scene is cringeworthy. I see what you guys are trying to say about the OG trilogy being funny too, but I’d argue that the prequels/the new movies are intentially being funny but falling flat.
To be fair, once you watch it a second time, the comedy doesn’t seem as…obvious/over the top. On the first viewing, everything is kind of hitting you in the face because you don’t know what to expect.
At least on my second viewing, the weight of story really hit me.
Only 20 minutes in and I can already tell it’s one of those Henry episodes where you could make a drinking game out of how many times he says “SJW”.
If I had a Delorian I would go back and punch in the face whoever was making that SJW List in gaming before he made the list, because it really really deeply affected Henry’s psyche.
I would have never thought someone who was fighting against slavery would ever be called an SJW. lol Any good person is against slavery. I doubt the majority of people who are against slavery would not call themselves an “SJW”.
You guys always say your Conservative listeners get annoyed by your political talk, well I’m a life long proud liberal and progressive Democrat, and I am way past the point of wanting to hear SJW every five seconds when Henry or Bob are on the show. That’s all I ask, just ease up on saying every decent human action falls under the category of an SJW. I’m not asking for Henry to stop being Henry. I love Henry. I just don’t want to hear SJW screamed at me all the time.
Saved me a click, man. Love LT, but I just can’t suffer Henry, anymore.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
I gotta say I respectfully disagree. I don’t see how people are rating this as 8 or 9/10. It frustrated me because there is an amazing movie there, but its underneath a few really dumb parts. Like BB-8 knocking people out with coins, and “Oh, we couldn’t find the master hacker we were looking for, but OH HEY we found one in our jail cell how convenient”. How about the dog-dinosaur chase scene, or Holdo not telling anyone about her plan, which causes a pointless mutiny. Or that the first bomber scene was overly indulgent and needlessly dramatic, and that Rey’s mirror acid trip was weird and unexplained. This movie was at least 30 minutes too long, it climaxes and then just keeps going for another half hour.
Despite all this there were some of the best scenes I’ve seen all year. When Holdo sacrificed herself I was amazed; the sound cuts to silence, it’s such awesome imagery. The whole scene between Ren, Rey and Snoke was outstanding. All the scenes between Luke and Rey built the world so nicely and showed Luke in a way which we haven’t seen him before. Ren and Rey’s psychic interactions were also pretty fantastic. Poh’s piloting in the first few minutes are also great to watch,
So yeah I have mixed feelings. But that’s just my opinion. I’m looking forward to ep.9, so that must be a good sign
This may sound odd, but I really appreciated reading this, even though I don’t share the opinions. It’s just refreshing as hell to see some actual discussion about the film from someone with more of an “eh” opinion of the film, rather than insane hyperbole and nonsensical ranting. I wish internet fandoms could always be this sensible.
So the Star Wars Galaxy is suffering from a _serious_ crisis of legitimacy. The original Republic lasted 1,000 generations, call it 30,000 years. The Empire lasted around 20, and then New Republic lasted another 30, and now the New Order is in charge of most of the Galaxy but it suffers from a huge lack of legitimacy itself. When the Rebel Alliance won whatever government they managed to install on most of the Galaxy (not all – in VII there are significant chunks they don’t control) was obviously unpopular with large and powerful forces in the Galaxy as their rule crumbles to nothingness the moment the New Republic suffered a single defeat. The Star Wars Galaxy appears to be in a situation roughly similar to post-Independence 19th century South America or post-independence 20th Century Central Africa: regardless of who comes out on top large forces in the political sphere will not regard the ruling government as a legitimate source of political power and will hence take actions to undermine said rule which will make it harder for the ruling government to pursue policies that could help increase their legitimacy and that will be true for whoever replaces them. It’s a coup loop.
Interesting point. It’s refreshing to see posts like these.
And well, eventually, despite all the turmoil, things have stabilize one way or another… Reach a balance, you might say…
well, I didn’t HATE it, but that story was problematic (and not in the SJW sense)
The A-plot was good, almost a Star Wars version of Dunkirk, and one of the better or the many “Twists” that RJ pulled in the movie, I mean the only real issue are Star Wars logic issues, (You mean the first order cant just park a couple of ships IN FRONT of the fleet to cut of their retreat?) but the Empire/First order is not really known for spacial thinking.
The B-Plot with Luke-Rey was interesting, and in my mind fits with Luke’s character. His whole arc is about answering the call for adventure, but when it is acted on and answered and completed, what then? It was a really interesting look at what would a rudderless Luke due, and the answer is what a lot of people who drive not to become their father run into, they become their father unconsciously (in creating Kylo Ren by his moment of weakness). This whole Force projection thing is a little too convenient, but whatever its Star Wars logic again, leading to one of the better, but highly telegraphed twists at the end.
The C- Plot with Kylo/Rey and Snoke was kind of a turd, but it led to a great fight scene, Again with the subverison of tropes.
Then there is the D Plot with Finn/Rose god this was the albatross on this whole movie, comes out of nowhere, completely diffuses the tension of the A plot, adds a romance story out of nowhere, relies completely on luck, and then in yet another twist, accomplishes nothing but getting people killed.
in the end its not a bad story, but it seems to rely on shock value, forced humor and subverting tropes to make up for a paper thin plot. If the criticism of TFA was it was a beat for beat rehash of A New Hope, TLJ, was like someone put Empire through a woodchipper and then tried to piece a good movie together out of the pulp. Yes you got the twists, spirituality and budding love, but it lost all the earnest, genuine connective tissue that make it click and endure as a work of art.
I am THRILLED that this episode is about ME! “Aett is great” over and over. I’m honored, really, and might I say… it was long overdue.
Then there was some talk about Star Wars. I liked the new movie.
Overall, I rate this episode of Laser Time… aett out of ten.
I absolutely loved the movie and this was a great discussion about it. Going to see it a second time because I enjoyed it that much; it’s my second favourite Star Wars movie I think. I’m glad this podcast had some sense and didn’t devolve into nonsensical ranting like the Star Wars “fandom” has been consumed by recently.
I just don’t understand how we’ve arrived at this point where we’ve lost the ability to let other people have their opinion about a piece of media without having to tear them down.
I fall in the category of people who were slightly disappointed by The Last Jedi. But I don’t begrudge the people who loved it. The movie had alot going for it. It just didn’t do it for me. Is that the end of the world?
I’ve seen people say that people who didn’t like TLJ aren’t real Star Wars fans. Does that mean that people who disliked Batman v Superman colon Dawn of Justice aren’t real DC fans? Or that people who had a problem with M. Night’s The Last Airbender movie aren’t real Avatar fans?
Just please, for the love of sanity, folks. Tone it down a little? For me? Your pal?
I liked the movie, but after the part with Poe and Hux playing on the phone, and Finn falling off the table, I turned to my girlfriend and said, “Wait, are we watching Spaceballs?” Most of the humor felt out of place. And Laura Dern felt like she was acting in Wild at Heart, not Star Wars. She felt like she was Imelda Staunton in the Harry Potter movies, coming in and being placed in a position of authority so she can ruin everything. It didn’t turn out that way, but the way she wouldn’t let her people know what was going on, when there was no chance of them giving the information to the baddies, so no reason not to tell them, felt like she was trying to sabotage them. And Maz Canata’s bit, with the camera flying all around her while she was having some sort of adventure while she was on the phone, was pointless, and why the Hell wouldn’t she give them a name for the guy they’re looking for? Was Justin Theroux even the guy they were supposed to find?
Liked TLJ didn’t love it. Do not understand how a Star Wars fan could love it.
Those that do love it seem to like the idea the film hates being a Star Wars movie and literally wants to burn down nostaglia.
The movie is a long drawn out nonsensical car chase with the First Order and rebels constantly making dumb decisions
The Holdo (purple hair admiral) not being clear with Poe for no reason adds about 35 minutes of padding to the movie, within the movie gets people killed and limited rebel resources wasted. I can forgive this some because I liked Rose and Finn’s side quest in the moment but upon rewatching I will want to fast forward parts that dont matter. Though the DJ character was pretty awesome. Holdo later stays to pilot the ship alone…never does any piloting until realizing after many casualities that she could use the ship to attack. Why not do that sooner…sigh
Luke is gonna die like obi-wan no wait he is ok, no he is dead cause……reasons. Again drawing out the movie.
All that said I like the movie despite its massive flaws, characters old and new are mostly great, dialouge works, its really pretty and well-shot, most of the comedy works.
A few minor tweaks and keeping Luke alive would have gone a long way. Like have the rebels escape to the salt planet and hide from first order earlier in the movie. Then finn and rose sneak off to casino planet to try and get a hacker guy to try and help take down the first order ships but fail because DJ sells out the location of the salt base….you can basically do similar moments but they could make more sense and help the flow of the movie
I’m not a big Star Wars fan. I didn’t watch the original trilogy until after the new trilogy came out. My friends hyped it up too much when I was a kid.
That being said, 3 has always been my favorite movie. I’ve enjoyed the original series but I don’t get as hyped as other 30 something’s my age.
This movie was a decent movie. It was way too long and could have been two separate movies. There was a long character building movie and then a war movie. It had multiple times it could have ended and had me waiting for the real ending.
I enjoyed the comedy and took the movie for what it was. It’s not the best star wars movie but it isn’t the worst. I don’t plan to see it again, but I don’t watch any of them a second time.
I think Disney needs to take a step back. They need to realize why people get so crazy for Star Wars. They get crazy because it’s a big deal for 3 movies to come out and then it disappears for 10-15 years. I think making a new movie every year (even with the side stories) are going to lose people. Give me what I want then go away for a while so I can get excited about it again.
Finally saw the movie and loved it. I think a big problem people are having with the tone and events are projecting the decades of Expanded Universe stuff they’ve been reading, which has all been set aside. In the EU the Empire was defeated and a New Republic was established, and Luke starts a school to train a new generation of Jedi. None of this is what happens in what is now the conical plot of Star Wars.
Instead, now the last time we saw Luke was at the end of Return of the Jedi, where he was tempted by Vader and the Emperor, and let his anger take him. We have no idea what he did for the next 30 years and what kind of person he was until this film, where clearly he is vastly different than how he was portrayed in the EU.
I am a life long Star Wars fan and I didn’t love this movie. It’s not that I am expecting Disney to hold to the EU stories of what Luke did. It’s that I feel the film betrayed the character that we saw in the original trilogy. I think the interview of Mark Hamill, where he explains why he disagreed with Rion Johnson on the direction he took Luke, says it best. Here is a link on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2OqVea_EXw. And yes, the man who has been Luke Skywalker from the beginning does have the right to express what that character’s true feelings would be. What I also think is important is that people who enjoyed the movie be allowed to share their feelings without being insulted or attacked. Just as I want to be able to express my displeasure with the film without being called “entitled or selfish”. fourfour44 didn’t do any of those things so this is not a criticism.
Have you heard the story of Mark Hamill the Wise?
No, I thought not. It’s not a story Rian Johnson would tell you.
Objectively, I’d say TLJ was very good but not great. I had my own expectations for it, but I always try my best to judge movies based on what they are rather than what they’re not. In my view, its main problems were structural ones. For instance, as pretty much everyone else on the Internet has said so far, I though the Canto Bight subplot was fun but flawed; I thought it was filler (but amusing filler nonetheless) which I think was included to set up the very final scene of the movie even more than to give Finn something to do (and in complete fairness, I absolutely loved that final scene). The pacing was a bit strange in the first act as it cut between Rey and Luke on the island and Finn, Poe and the Resistance flying through space; a similar thing as with Empire Strikes Back and its cuts between Luke training with Yoda and the crew of the Millennium Falcon being chased by Vader’s star destroyers. I think this is a consequence of having to pick up directly after the end of TFA, which I think worked to this movie’s detriment.
Subjectively, I really, really enjoyed the movie. I had great fun watching it, enough so that I none of the issues I had which I mentioned above turned out to be dealbreakers for me. I can’t really say more than that. It worked for me, it won’t work for everyone, and that’s fair enough. It’s only movies at the end of the day.
Of course, I liked and continue to like (two of) the prequels, so maybe you can’t trust anything I say. :p :p :p
Re-reading my post and saying it’s “very good but not great” looks a bit foolish. I’m sure folks know what I was trying to say, though. “Very good but not perfect” probably would’ve been closer to what I meant.