Official Luke Skywalker Episode VIII Discussion Thread

I know a bit more about writing than you do. #PhD

Spoiler

EDIT: We saw with the release of the Visual Dictionary that everything I said about Luke is true. He's been sitting on his butt tuned out of the Force letting the GFFA meltdown. That's not just lazy writing, but stupid too. We're supposed to believe Kylo Ren killed his students and then Luke just let a powerful darksider out into the world while he went into retirement. No Way.

 

It isn't lazy or stupid. It's called creating drama and then you want him to come back. Not only that, but what was Luke suppose to do while climbing out of the destruction? Go on a revenge immediately? We don't know the full story anyway. The visual dictionary doesn't tell a 2hr and 33 minute story, nor is it suppose to.

 

Yes, it is lazy and stupid to create drama for the sake of drama when it contradicts character and basic logic. Luke is going to stop the darkside by letting it roam around freely?

 

No it isn't. Luke isn't all powerful, or all knowing, or even omnipresent. Luke invincible would be silly and boring.

 

LOL, that is cool and all doc, but here you are slumming it around with us unejukateds on a Star Wars forum totally not writing a Star Wars film. Your head canon is not the be-all-end-all of how Luke should have been presented.

 

That's right, the original trilogy is, and according to everything about Luke in those OT films, him running and hiding, abandoning his loved ones to danger, and not growing in the force is repulsively out of character.

 

This isn't the OT.

 

But it's in universe. It is similar to my arguement about Rey. Even one is quick to accept the ignorance of continuity. Star Wars is a money machine for Disney.

Personally, I would have loved Lucus to write very basic character arcs and the overall arc of episodes 7-9, and the directors can write the script as they please

 

As if GL never made money. He made billions and alot off of people's likeness', so that argument is moot. So is the point about Luke without even seeing the movie. No one knows the middle or 3rd act really, oh sure there is some spoilers out there but nothing with full context. So really until the movie has been seen then it's just projecting something that hasn't even been viewed.

 

No it isn't as I explained it already.

The world is very different now. Coorperate world. Star Wars is a Disney money making machine now. It is MUCH differently a money maker than when Lucus first concieved Star Wars.

Disney bought Star Wars and Star Wars films are being pumped out with similar style to Marvel Studios (another Disney product now). So yeah, the continuation of the Star Wars Saga is because Disney understood it's popularity amongst generation Xers and the millenial generation and it is being milked.

It is much more commercial than when Lucus is, just like the music industry, television, Holywood as a whole, etc, even the NFL, and the NBA have become blatant commercial entertainment money making products. We just have to hope the writers&personel are right for the job and respectful of the source, which Rian seems to be. We'll see what he does.

 

Luke had the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. I can imagine that rebuilding a Jedi Order from scratch is an incredibly taxing and daunting task. Tragedy can change folks.

This goes without saying, I believe that if anything would have been "lazy writing", it would have been to prop him up as an incredibly powerful and wise Grandmaster Skywalker since that is what folks were expecting. I don't think that it is lazy to do what they have done.

 

I think you will find that's exactly what Yoda and OB1 did. Or was that lazy writing as well?

Anyone who feels the need to back up their opinions with their qualifications has very little to say IMO. If you feel that people will bow to your (so called) superior POV just because you claim to have a PHD, your very wrong my friend.

You just look like an assbag.

 

You're right, it's Star Wars in name only.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 10, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 10, 2017 ---

Like in the OT, when Luke lost his family and friends, and it was up to him alone to defeat the Emperor and Vader. Looks like he passed that test with flying colors.

Doing something unexpected does not make it good, especially if it is out of character, and ripping off the previous movies in plot and arcs, but switching the names of the characters.

We get 70 year old Harrison Ford running around with a blaster.... Christopher Lee in his 80s with a lightsaber, Ian McDiramid the Emperor in his 70s with a lightsaber fighting, Alec Guinness with a lightsaber fighting, Yoda in his 800s fighting, yet when it comes to Luke Skywalker, the person who would make the most sense to have kick ass with a lightsaber, and Mark Hamill, who got in shape on an extensive training program, conditioning himself for action scenes moreso than any previous aging character in the series ever probably has, they won't allow it, because suddenly he needs to be the defeated Yoda in Empire Strikes Back type character so Rey can be Luke, and the greedy studio can remake the original movies because they think it is a "safe bet".

 

Doctor, it seems beneath your education to assume so much without all the facts.

 

Personally, I'm glad GL DIDN'T write ANY character arcs for anyone, and if he did, I'd assume LF tossed them along with the supposed treatments he'd worked up for 7-9.

Spoiler

Anyway, since this is the Luke thread, I thought MH did a great job playing the "crazy old wizard" and I can certainly see why Disney put him for consideration to get a nomination.

I think the problem the writers have with Luke, is that, in some ways, they don't know what to do with him. Let's face it, this is supposed to be the next generation, or at least the next generation emerging. This is their story. His purpose is, I would expect, to "pass on what he has learned." This is something that can be done without him needing to be there. By having him die off, if that is what really happened, you remove plot armor and make it feel like everyone is under threat.

 

So let down by the way MH had to do Luke in this one.

Milking nipples and winking..
Scolded by Yoda..

Gah.. not what I wanted to happen at all. But that's just me. I get some people liked it.

 

Well, as we can see from the film, I was right that Rian butchered Luke. It was easy to tell from the trailers -- the whole idea was that he was a failure and had quit. He wasn't looking for anything on Ahch-To. Even worse, they partially blame Luke for Ben Solo turning to the darkside. I think most SW fans know that Luke would never enter his nephew's room at night and contemplate murder. If anything, wouldn't he just imprison Ben?

Was there another option in how to portray Luke? Of course. There are countless better ways than the lazy treatment Rian gave us. Here's probably what I would have done: Kylo Ren -- not Luke -- sneaks in on Luke as he sleeps, like Palpatine did to Plagueis. He injures Luke gravely and thinks that Luke is dead. However, Luke barely holds on to life and goes to Ahch-To, a place strong in the Force where he can heal. By the time Rey and Luke meet, Luke is still not 100%, but ready to join the fight again. Still, because he's physically weak (a parallel with Snoke), he can't beat Kylo Ren at the end but sacrifices himself so everyone can escape. Hey look how much better this version is than the one we got. It took me just a few minutes to write because I understand the character Luke.

EDIT: You'll be surprised to know I still enjoyed the film. 9/10. If only they hadn't butchered Luke I'd give it a 10.

 

Now I understand MH... he was right... he was right...

 

I was never a fan of the broken Master Luke idea but after seeing the movie I was okay with it, for the most part, only because we got actual Master Luke by the end. Everything Yoda forward was just great Luke stuff and I assume Ep. IX will feature his ghost in a much more traditional wise Jedi Master role.

 

I trusted in RJ, LFL said they loved the film, MH was the only one on set voicing his dismay, then he changed his statements to go along with LFL. It could have definitely gone a different way. Luke you were right... you were right.. Gotta go see the film again for a third time...