Just finished The Force Awakens. Sure it follows a New Hope formula but it's still a really good Star Wars movie. Can't wait to watch the New film.

It’s certainly better than the prequels! Of course, being better than the prequels isn’t saying much.

I seriously think Disney needs to pull the prequels and rework them, Even if you kept the films story with some rewrites I really think you can make the prequels better, I mean there is a video series of If the prequels where good on YouTube.

Well, since we are talking about it, Khajiit feels that the prequels served their purpose. That is that they told the story of how the galaxy got to where it was in A New Hope, and how Anakin became Vader. Were they great movies? Well that’s largely subjective (though Khajiit would say no). Did they do what they were supposed to? Without question. Given this, Khajiit would say that remaking those films is not necessary and Disney would be better off just leaving them be. That said, this one would be all for some of these “A Star Wars Story” movies set during the time of the Clone Wars. This could provide us with a different viewpoint removed from things like “I hate sand.”.

Also the prequels didn't really capture that whole Vader being seduced by the Dark Side but rather he was tricked instead. I mean in an era of advance technology I think death in childbirth should be a VERY rare thing to happen. Anakin should have been written to be more like Rei whose strong in the Force but doesn't know how to properly control it and even during his times as a Jedi Knight it should of shown that even though Obi-Wan is his teacher you can see he's still not getting that proper training and Anakin's struggling to be a powerful Jedi even through the Clone Wars. By Episode 3 we needed to see the weight of the Jedi training and his failure to grasp his full potential basically breaking him to the point he seeks out an alternative method of mastering the force which leads him to siding with the Emperor and thus his downfall from Jedi to Sith Lord.

I am glad the prequels were made. They filled in a huge amount of history, and created a great foundation for the events of the original trilogy. I agree that it would have been nice if they had been created with a better writer than George Lucas and a better lead than Hayden Christian-guy.

But I don't see a point to recreating them. Better just to move on. Or at most create another animated series that takes place during that time period, but not to tell the story of the Clone Wars and fall of the Jedi, just to have that as a backdrop for an original tale. As Khajiit said, a "Star Wars Story" set back then, like one with Cad Bane about the criminal underworld.

The Cone Wars animated series did do an outstanding job of portraying Anakin and the beginning of his fall. In it we see that he has a problem with becoming too emotionally attached to his friends, like Ahsoka. At times it is touching that he is so loyal. But as the story goes on, it starts looking darker, as we see his anger and frustration begin to overwhelm him when he cannot protect the ones he loves. Like he failed to protect his mother. Best of all they do it without him being a mealy-mouthed whiny brat. He is a man with control issues and a growing temper when he no longer has that control over others fates. By the end you can clearly see him walking into Vader's shoes.

Khajiit agrees and has said so many times before: The Clone Wars Anakin is way better than prequels Anakin. The Clone Wars in general is well done, despite it being aimed at a younger audience.

I started watching The Toys That Made Us on Netflix. The first episode was all about the Star Wars toys. It was really cool seeing the history of how the deal was made between Kenner and Lucas, and especially how Kenner scrambled to make the first toys. Lots of fun.

Just watched Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2

To be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with it. It felt like it was trying too hard, forcing too much, and couldn't really decide what type of story it even wanted to tell.

At the theatre to see Last Jedi. Will comment later tonight.

I just finished The Last Jedi and loved it.

I am getting into the holiday spirit by watching Die Hard. Yippie Ki Yay!

Best.
Christmas film.
Ever

WOOOOOOOOOT !!! On my "Favorite movies of all time" list! I was heartbroken about the death of Alan Rickman from it (one of my all time favorite actors).





*mALX wipes tear from eye...*





This post has been edited by mALX: Dec 26 2017, 11:42 PM

Also the best tree ornament ever!

I just watched Logan, and to be honest, I was pretty disappointed with it. I mean the plot in itself was pretty good, but it left too much of the setup only explained with one or two lines. And one scene in particular really bugged me, when suddenly the Professor apparently has some telekinetic ability

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Dec 27 2017, 08:08 PM

I just tried to watch Dunkirk. Christopher Nolan did something I thought was impossible. He made WWII boring. There are about 10 words spoken during the entire film. Time literally dilates as it switches between characters - unless it really does take two days to fly across the English Channel. Some of the protagonists are impossible to tell apart. There is absolutely no character development. No real characterization at all for that matter. Nolan never makes any attempt to explain what is happening or why. The Germans never even turn up. Turns out they were the smart ones. Terrible movie.

Wow, it really had to be bad for it to overcome your love of history! Doesn't sound well done; more like some college kid's project.

Khajiit seemed to remember when this came out and all the critics seemed to love it. After reading what you wrote, this one looked at the user reviews on IMDB, and sure enough, most everyone hated it. To be honest, it didn’t look very interesting to Khajiit when they were running the trailers on TV. Whenever Khajiit wants to watch a WWII movie, he usually puts on Saving Private Ryan or Enemy at the Gates. The later is ridiculous, but it’s pretty entertaining. And Rachel Weisz is in it, so there’s a bonus.

My love of history often makes it harder to like historical movies. For example, IRL there were nearly half a million men trapped in and around Dunkirk fighting off the Germans. In Nolan's movie, there were a few hundred guys on the beach doing nothing, and about 5 French guys manning a perfectly arranged sandbag barricade about a hundred feet away. Apparently those 5 French guys stopped the entire German army. Which in retrospect was not very hard, because there are literally no Germans in the movie! (there are a handful of German planes, 3 dive bombers, 1 medium bomber, and two fighters - but we literally never saw a single German human being). Imagine Lord of the Rings without us seeing a single Orc?

By the same token, in the movie the RAF only sent 3 Spitfires out to cover the beaches. Only 3, for the entire battle! And it took days for them to fly across the English Channel. IRL the Battle of Dunkirk had the most intense air combat of the entire Second World War. The RAF flew over 3,500 missions during the 9-day campaign. They put everything they had into defending the beachhead. Without them, no ships would have made it in or out, and no one would have escaped. TBH, I thought the movie was an was insult to the RAF. It made it look like they just could not be bothered to give a crap.

The Royal Navy is likewise tragically under-represented. IRL there was a fleet of 39 British destroyers that continually came in and out to take people off, along with a handful of Canadian ships. There were about 850 civilian ships on top of that. But the movie makes it look like just two Royal Navy ships came along, and about a dozen civilian boats. Again, it seems like the UK just had better things to do than rescue their men.

A lot of this is because Christoper Nolan apparently has vowed not to use CGI. Which is pretty stupid. This is exactly the situation that CGI is meant for - to make a hundred people look like a hundred thousand. His refusal makes the events look small and insignificant.




I don't know why the critics loved it. It really was badly done on the simplest levels. Like I said, the characters are entirely one-dimensional, often to the point of having no names. They almost never speak. There is no life to them. They never develop. The story itself is practically incomprehensible. To the point of there not really being a story at all. It is just a series what appear to be unrelated events. It all kind of comes together at the end. But far too little to late.

Plus it is literally bloodless. Bombs and bullets kill people, but they don't hurt them. Awfully civilized. It just does not look like war at all.