Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Movie Review

[Bartmanhomer]

In this video, I'm going to review all nine Star Wars episode from the prequel to the original and the sequel.

[Mastikator]

Is the video/editing production still in progress?

[PopeLinus1]

Will you be analyzing how much each movie works to support a classless, stateless society?

[Rakaydos]

Will you be analyzing how much each movie works to support a classless, stateless society?

It's the product of the mouse, practically the definition of corporate overlord.

[FaerieGodfather]

It's the product of the mouse, practically the definition of corporate overlord.

Tell that to Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

[PopeLinus1]

It's the product of the mouse, practically the definition of corporate overlord.

Well personally I think TLJ's anti-eugenics, anti-war-profiteering elements would put it up there despite being a Disney product, but that does get twisted in the next movie.

[FaerieGodfather]

Well personally I think TLJ's anti-eugenics, anti-war-profiteering elements would put it up there despite being a Disney product, but that does get twisted in the next movie.

We can all have our own opinions on Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi, but I don't think there's much room for doubt about who screwed the franchise most. I'm just wondering which beloved sci-fi franchise a major corporation is going to pay Abrams to ruin next.

[Bavarian itP]

In this video, I'm going to review all nine Star Wars episode from the prequel to the original and the sequel.

Well there's the original trilogy, which made the prequels look bad, and the sequel trilogy, which made the prequels look good.

The End.

[Willie the Duck]

Already all the gnashing of the teeth! Goodness!
No one ruined SW. It, as a grand overarching property, was never good in the first place (it merely had good moments and pieces within it). We were having embarrassingly bad Star Wars moments on Holiday specials and Donnie and Marie episodes before ESB even hit theaters. There were 2.5 good movies to begin with (I'm looking at you, teddy-bear cannibals!), some good moments scattered across the rest of the movies (including a mostly-good Rogue One), and some fairly decent tie-in products like books and computer games and finally a good cartoon series now (I'm talking, of course, about Droids ).

[Anonymouswizard]

We can all have our own opinions on Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi, but I don't think there's much room for doubt about who screwed the franchise most.

I mean, I know that people love to complain about the Prequel Trilogy...

I'm just wondering which beloved sci-fi franchise a major corporation is going to pay Abrams to ruin next.

Oh.

Honestly, I don't have that much hate towards Abrams over his ST films (now Star Trek...). The Force Awakens, while note a masterpiece, is exactly what Abrams was supposed to make and what he needed to make: a nostalgia-fest just different enough from A New Hope The Rise of Skywalker was nowhere near great, but I suspect it's essentially the two films we'd have got if Abrams had made the entire trilogy compressed into one just with Palpatine replacing Snoke and a new twist thrown in.

I actually do feel like JJ Abrams had a vague plan for the trilogy, but knew he wasn't going to be making it all so decided to leave it as open-ended as possible, and then had to jury-rig two films worth of plot into one to get to his originally envisioned ending. E9 would have worked a lot better if the search and confrontation plots each had their own films (and would have felt less like a remake at the same time).

Well there's the original trilogy, which made the prequels look bad, and the sequel trilogy, which made the prequels look good.

The End.

I've come to believe that the major problem with the prequel trilogy is that The Phantom Menace is important to the trilogy but rather disconnected from the saga, Attack of the Clones is a bad film that mainly exists to set up the war and forbidden love subplots in the next film, and that Revenge of the Sith is a good film which doesn't actually need AotC to set it up (it clearly gets across the idea of forbidden love in Anakin and Padme's first scene, and honestly 'the republic is at war with a separatist movement' isn't hard to grasp).

I think if The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith had been a duology instead of a trilogy the prequels would have been lumped in 'okay, but not great' instead of being labelled as the worst thing to happen to a franchise. Sure, they still wouldn't have been as good as the original trilogy, and you'd probably have to rewrite Phantom Menace somewhat for better flow between the films (make it more clear that the Trade Federation are on the verge of declaring independence), but even as a kid AotC was the one I didn't like, and I honestly preferred Revenge of the Sith to the Original Trilogy at that age (it's still my favourite, but I appreciate the better flow of the OT).

[Rakaydos]

Already all the gnashing of the teeth! Goodness!
No one ruined SW. It, as a grand overarching property, was never good in the first place (it merely had good moments and pieces within it). We were having embarrassingly bad Star Wars moments on Holiday specials and Donnie and Marie episodes before ESB even hit theaters. There were 2.5 good movies to begin with (I'm looking at you, teddy-bear cannibals!), some good moments scattered across the rest of the movies (including a mostly-good Rogue One), and some fairly decent tie-in products like books and computer games and finally a good cartoon series now (I'm talking, of course, about Droids ).

The prequels happened when George Lucas had noone to tell him which ideas were geinus and which were stupid. The Sequels happened when the Mouse had no ideas at all, just nostalga.
The Last Jedi's director HAD ideas- poorly implemented, unsupported by the rest of the trilogy- but that alone is enough to set it above the other two for a good number of people.

[Fyraltari]

Well, except for a lack of Peelee, this thread is already what I expected from the title.

(I'm looking at you, teddy-bear cannibals!),

Anthropophagous teddy-bears, please. They do not eat other teddy-bears.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard
The Rise of Skywalker was nowhere near great….

Rise of Skywalker just dropped on Disney+, so I’ve been able to watch it without feeling guilty about paying anything.

I’ve watched up to the point where Rey and Ren had their tug-of-war over the troop transport, and now Rey is staring despondently at her hand. I had to quit there.

I saw the movie twice in the theater, and the best I could say was that it was a pile of ridiculous. But after watching the first half-hour on Disney+, I have to revise that from “ridiculous” to “idiotic.”

Many individual scenes are quite good; I love the opening argument between Rey and Poe. But the scenes are strung together into a long, twisty dribble of pitiful. It’s two or three movies crammed into a lunchbox with plot elements hanging out everywhere.

And without going into detail, all the gratuitous pokes and jabs at the previous movie were both jarring and petty. The director’s personality came through all too clearly in those moments, and not to his credit.

Originally Posted by Rakaydos
The Last Jedi's director HAD ideas- poorly implemented, unsupported by the rest of the trilogy- but that alone is enough to set it above the other two for a good number of people.

This indeed.

[Peelee]

Well, except for a lack of Peelee, this thread is already what I expected from the title.

I feel so loved.

Anyway, I loved the Saph Star Wars Review, and I don't know how well a sequel will hold up. Obviously I'm going to see it, because Star Wars, and if Saph ever does a Special Edition I'll totally catch that as well.

[Dienekes]

Oh.

Honestly, I don't have that much hate towards Abrams over his ST films (now Star Trek...). The Force Awakens, while note a masterpiece, is exactly what Abrams was supposed to make and what he needed to make: a nostalgia-fest just different enough from A New Hope The Rise of Skywalker was nowhere near great, but I suspect it's essentially the two films we'd have got if Abrams had made the entire trilogy compressed into one just with Palpatine replacing Snoke and a new twist thrown in.

I actually do feel like JJ Abrams had a vague plan for the trilogy, but knew he wasn't going to be making it all so decided to leave it as open-ended as possible, and then had to jury-rig two films worth of plot into one to get to his originally envisioned ending. E9 would have worked a lot better if the search and confrontation plots each had their own films (and would have felt less like a remake at the same time).

See and I really don't think TFA was what Star Wars needed to have. There's a reason the most popular bits of the franchise right now are Mandalorian and Clone Wars. Things that take some of the style and a bit of the feel of the OT but takes them into new and interesting directions that follow interesting characters.

The idea that "we need to remake A New Hope with the serial numbers filed off" is just the cynical corporate version of one possible way to advance the story.

Now biases up front here. I hate TFA. I left the theater actually angry with it. TLJ may be sloppy. And TRoS is just a disjointed mess of a film. But TFA made me want my money back.

The notion that the only way to advance the story was to show that every main character of the OT had either failed or regressed back to where they were in the first movie just sucked the enjoyment out of it. And the thing is, even if Abrams got his three movies and it did make one continuous arc skipping TLJ. I still would have hated it.

The prequels happened when George Lucas had noone to tell him which ideas were geinus and which were stupid. The Sequels happened when the Mouse had no ideas at all, just nostalga.

Oh I disagree with this. They had plenty of ideas. Of course all of them were financial and none of them had anything to do with developing interesting characters, worlds, and emotional themes.

[Anonymouswizard]

Rise of Skywalker just dropped on Disney+, so I’ve been able to watch it without feeling guilty about paying anything.

I’ve watched up to the point where Rey and Ren had their tug-of-war over the troop transport, and now Rey is staring despondently at her hand. I had to quit there.

I saw the movie twice in the theater, and the best I could say was that it was a pile of ridiculous. But after watching the first half-hour on Disney+, I have to revise that from “ridiculous” to “idiotic.”

Many individual scenes are quite good; I love the opening argument between Rey and Poe. But the scenes are strung together into a long, twisty dribble of pitiful. It’s two or three movies crammed into a lunchbox with plot elements hanging out everywhere.

And without going into detail, all the gratuitous pokes and jabs at the previous movie were both jarring and petty. The director’s personality came through all too clearly in those moments, and not to his credit.

I'm not going to defend Rise of Skywalker, because my reaction to seeing it in the cinema was 'some good scenes, mostly mediocre, disappointing ending'. But then again, I literally read it as JJ Abrams having to take his Episode 8 and Episode 9 and cram them into one movie while retconning the bits of Last Jedi that didn't fit with the plan, and do it fast (whereas comparatively Duel of the Fates sounds like it was designed to mostly lead on from The Last Jedi). I've got no desire to rewatch it, and it's reduced my interest in rewatching TFA or TLJ.

It's a fitting end to the ST, no real plan at the beginning and rushed to cinemas, so when they got to the final film there was no plan and they had to rush to an ending.

Also, well done on the quote mining, let me just supply the rest of the sentence:

The Rise of Skywalker was nowhere near great, but I suspect it's essentially the two films we'd have got if Abrams had made the entire trilogy compressed into one just with Palpatine replacing Snoke and a new twist thrown in.

So yeah, I agree with you, it's just that I think if 'the search for the wayfinder' and 'the confrontation' had each been their own film without The Last Jedi then we'd have had a solid, somewhere around PT trilogy that wouldn't feel as much like a retread, but when thrust into the directorial seat Abrams had to take his vision for the trilogy and rush towards an ending because he had no time to plan something better.


EDIT: with regards to TFA, but 'it was what Star Wars needed' I mean that many people I know who hadn't interacted with the franchise since RotS went out and saw it, enjoyed it, and brought the Franchise up to Marvel Film levels of hype, which was essentially what Disney needed to justify the rest of the trilogy. Like it or not I'm not sure we'd be getting The Mandalorian or more Clone Wars if TFA hadn't made new Star Wars projects to being a more mainstream thing, I think the last time I'd paid for a new Star Wars thing before it personally was the Clone Wars film, which had personally turned me off.

[The Glyphstone]

I'm still baffled as to why Disney thought 'three movies by three different directors' was ever a good idea in the first place.

[Fyraltari]

I'm still baffled as to why Disney thought 'three movies by three different directors' was ever a good idea in the first place.

Because it worked for the MCU. The real issue is that there should have been a plan in place for all three movies so that they would tell a cohesive story.

[Peelee]

I'm still baffled as to why Disney thought 'three movies by three different directors' was ever a good idea in the first place.

Imean... it worked for the OT.

Lucas, Kershner, Marquand.

[Bartmanhomer]

Wow, this thread is booming and I haven't post Episode 1 yet. Anyway, I'm going to up the ante: There won't a five-star rating, there will be a 1-10 rating. I'm going to post Episode 1 today.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard
But then again, I literally read it as JJ Abrams having to take his Episode 8 and Episode 9 and cram them into one movie while retconning the bits of Last Jedi that didn't fit with the plan….

I think that’s a pretty accurate read.

No idea what “quote mining” is, so not sure how to take the rest of your post.

Originally Posted by Peelee
Imean... it worked for the OT.

Lucas, Kershner, Marquand.

Well, Marquand had the director’s credit, but Lucas was always looking over his shoulder and it was Lucas’ vision that was represented on-screen.

Marquand had extremely limited directing experience before he was selected for RotJ, and that was one reason why Lucas approved him—so there wouldn’t be the same conflicts that Lucas had previously dealt with from the much more established Kershner. Marquand had no real creative freedom of his own.

[Anonymouswizard]

Wow, this thread is booming and I haven't post Episode 1 yet. Anyway, I'm going to up the ante: There won't a five-star rating, there will be a 1-10 rating. I'm going to post Episode 1 today.

Eh, doesn't really up the ante, all it does is inflate the values. You could concieveably give a film a rating of 3.76034892650891726578013-86598123760589147360795798042657839126598401625987 61287950868794546298756123987564392874562897345687 92657492085647029875674109825674098137243657409218 37456789106570489124657408196457409813256740896754 09817426574980172657414587046587947643089612 out of 5.


As for quote mining, it's the process of taking a quotation and editing it to make it say something different by removing words and prhases (e.g. 'this book is... a must read...' from 'this book is absolute rubbish and is in no way a must read due to sloppy writing and the fact that every other chapter was written by a computer.'). In this case removing the second half of my sentence changed 'the film isn't great, and had problems due to trying to tell too much story' to sounding more like 'the film isn't great, but isn't that bad'.

[Dire_Flumph]

Marquand had extremely limited directing experience before he was selected for RotJ, and that was one reason why Lucas approved him—so there wouldn’t be the same conflicts that Lucas had previously dealt with from the much more established Kershner. Marquand had no real creative freedom of his own.

That's an...interesting...interpretation. The bigger reason for taking Marquand on as a director was that Lucas had burned his bridges with the Director's Guild of America over a fine that was given him for the director credit on "Empire". They stated Lucas was in violation of guild rules the director must be credited at the front of the film if the producer is. They took the "Lucasfilm Ltd" tag as breaking that rule and fined him. Lucas had a blowup over that and cut ties with the DGA, meaning that he essentially couldn't hire any guild member to direct Return of the Jedi, which was pretty much every established American film director. He had looked at British directors (Including Terry Gilliam it's reported), and up and coming directors like David Lynch. Lynch stepped away after deciding he wanted to make something that he could apply a more personal stamp to rather than the finale of someone else's trilogy (and made Dune, so it's up in the air whether that was a better move). He settled on Marquand whose background was in TV. As in Empire, Lucas needed someone to direct the set work, he had already done most of the post and technical work on Empire as Kershner had no experience there and knew it. Marquand was unfortunately over his head with the scale that Jedi required, that and his failing health (he died in '87) required Lucas to take a more active hand in filming, which he didn't want to do. The end result was reportedly more Lucas than Marquand, but he left the full director's credit to Marquand.

The idea that Lucas can't work with collaborators because he's a control freak is an opinion I've seen a few times that doesn't seem to match what behind the scenes materials exist. His successful collaborations with other directors like Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard should also put to rest that idea. That doesn't mean to say he worked well with everyone as his falling out with Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz shows. The bigger problem was his feud with the directors guild was stiff-necked even if he was the wronged party and deeply limited his options with directors to collaborate with.

[Bartmanhomer]

Ok, now I'm going to introduced Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.

Spoiler: My Thoughts On Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menance

Show

The first episode of the Star Wars happen to be the first three prequels of the original Star Wars trilogy. This movie is about a young Obi-Wan Kenobi who happen to be Quinton Jinn apprentice. Little Anakin Skywalker join the Jedi Forces. When the Trade Federation cuts route It was up to Obi-Wan and Qui-ton to stop the Then. They fought Darth Maul and Jinn got killed. Obi-Wan cuts Maul legs killing him in the process. Anakin saves the universe and they celebrated. Well what can I save. The special effects was good It got a good storyline. The acting was good. It was a good movie for the first Star Wars prequel. The only problem that I have with this movie it just not award-worthy but overall it's a good movie. I'll give The Phanton Menance a 7 out of 10.

[Peelee]

Ok, now I'm going to introduced Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.

Spoiler: My Thoughts On Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menance

Show

The first episode of the Star Wars happen to be the first three prequels of the original Star Wars trilogy. This movie is about a young Obi-Wan Kenobi who happen to be Quinton Jinn apprentice. Little Anakin Skywalker join the Jedi Forces. When the Trade Federation cuts route It was up to Obi-Wan and Qui-ton to stop the Then. They fought Darth Maul and Jinn got killed. Obi-Wan cuts Maul legs killing him in the process. Anakin saves the universe and they celebrated. Well what can I save. The special effects was good It got a good storyline. The acting was good. It was a good movie for the first Star Wars prequel. The only problem that I have with this movie it just not award-worthy but overall it's a good movie. I'll give The Phanton Menance a 7 out of 10.

Have you thought about skipping the synopsis? Or making commentary on certain events, shots, sets, or performances?

[Bartmanhomer]

Have you thought about skipping the synopsis? Or making commentary on certain events, shots, sets, or performances?

Well, it's been a long time and I'm trying to make it short and detail as possible. I'm going to update the first episode a bit longer

[The Glyphstone]

Rating reviews on a 1-10 scale instead of your 1-5? That's something new, at least.

I do agree with Peelee though - you can assume that everyone reading this thread has seen the Star Wars movies, so we know the plot and what happens.

[Peelee]

Well, it's been a long time and I'm trying to make it short and detail as possible. I'm going to update the first episode a bit longer

A good review isn't necessarily short or long. A good review informs people of how the movie affected you, what chords it struck or failed to strike, and how well it achieved its goals. A summary of events is just that - a summary of events. If I never saw the movie and read your review, I would know exactly what happened, but I wouldn't know if it would be worth watching; you say something is "award worthy" or not, but that doesn't really tell me anything. You give the film a rating out of 5 or 10, but without knowing why you're pegging it there, that doesn't tell me anything either.

Have you thought about trying to say what you liked or disliked, and why you liked or disliked those things? As it stands, several of your reviews are more or less interchangeable. Without the summaries, we are left with "this movie had action, romance, and comedy. It was award worthy. 5 stars," which tells the reader very little. A recap of the movie alienates people who haven't seen it and conveys no new information to people who have seen it. I think you could have much more engaging reviews if you talked about them instead of simply described them.

[Bartmanhomer]

Rating reviews on a 1-10 scale instead of your 1-5? That's something new, at least.

I do agree with Peelee though - you can assume that everyone reading this thread has seen the Star Wars movies, so we know the plot and what happens.

Yes. I feel that 1-5 is just too basic so I'm going to start 1-10 now and also the other future movie reviews.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Anonymouswizard
As for quote mining, it's the process of taking a quotation and editing it to make it say something different….

Absolutely not my intention.

Originally Posted by Dire_Flumph
That's an...interesting...interpretation.

Based on a biography of Lucas I read a year or so ago. My impression was that while Lucas might not have wanted to shoulder the full responsibilities of a director, he couldn’t help involving himself, and ended up having a much stronger influence on Marquand than he would have had on a more experienced director.

Originally Posted by Dire_Flumph
The idea that Lucas can't work with collaborators because he's a control freak is an opinion I've seen a few times that doesn't seem to match what behind the scenes materials exist. His successful collaborations with other directors like Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard should also put to rest that idea.

Well, maybe. As I recall, he and Spielberg came up with Indiana Jones together, but Star Wars was very much his baby. It makes sense that he’d want to exert stronger control over his signature property.

Originally Posted by Dire_Flumph
The bigger problem was his feud with the directors guild was stiff-necked even if he was the wronged party and deeply limited his options with directors to collaborate with.

I think Lucas had a chip on his shoulder going into the industry, which certainly caused a lot of issues.

As for people he’s fallen out with, I think John Dykstra should make the short list. My impression was that Lucas the wronged party in that case too, but a certain stiffness of neck was probably involved as well.

.