Very Disappointing. Shows you need Lucas to make Star Wars

If you want to say modern movies are not as good as older movies, fine. I may even kind of agree with that statement. But his name is COUNT DOOKU. That was a modern movie, and a majority of film critics agreed that it "was not nearly as good as TFA" [note: I edited this part to not be as harsh]. I just think that's funny is all.

 

I will never understand the "unoriginal" argument. Star Wars is almost willfully unoriginal, and always has been. The very purpose is to tell the oldest of human narratives.

"In 1949 Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) made a big splash in the field of mythology with his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. This book built on the pioneering work of German anthropologist Adolph Bastian (1826-1905), who first proposed the idea that myths from all over the world seem to be built from the same 'elementary ideas.'"

...
"Lucas had already written two drafts of Star Wars when he rediscovered Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces in 1975 (having read it years before in college). This blueprint for "The Hero's Journey" gave Lucas the focus he needed to draw his sprawling imaginary universe into a single story."

Source.

The monomyth elements are one of the things that make me like Star Wars so much, and frankly I think I'd be disappointed if the ST didn't follow that formula.

 

I don't think all old films are better than modern movies. Simply that the vast majority of Hollywood blockbusters are garbage. Same old same old.
TFA felt like more of the same. Seen it all before - literally! The PT films didn't feel like that. They were and are very different to run of the mill blockbusters.
Now you may not like them and you'd be right to be critical about many elements of the films - however, they told an interesting story. They were aesthetically different.
These factors, coupled with the fact that they had great Star Wars moments, made them (well AOTC and ROTS), far more interesting than TFA.

 

What George Lucas wanted to bring to the table in Episode 7.

He was very vocal about making it a TEEN film. He wanted something like this and HE talked about this before you bash me.
This is the way he wanted to go with the sequel.

 

People are so desperate to defend this movie they have to resort to attacking my username.

 

Okay, I'll buy that. I agree that most modern blockbusters are entirely too much explosion and CG and not nearly enough character and depth for me. But I really didn't see TFA that way. As @DarthOfInformation states above, the plot is by design simplistic. Beyond action and explosions, I thought there was care taken on this movie. There were some beautiful shots, especially on Jakku. There was symbolism scattered through the movie. There was careful dialog that sometimes had multiple meanings. There was emotion, and most of all there were masterful performances by all of the actors. To me it added up to exactly what a modern blockbuster should be.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 21, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 21, 2015 ---

You're the one who bashed modern movies, not me. I feel bad for you man. You have made it your full time job to tell people why this movie that EVERYBODY loves is actually bad. You are very sad that there is new Star Wars and it's not at all what you wanted. What you loved about Star Wars is not here. Trust me, I experienced that with the prequels and it's not a nice feeling. But eventually you will come to terms with it and you'll move on.

I never thought I would get a new Star Wars movie that I loved. One that was fun, artistic, and emotional. There are many people like me who are just happy to have good Star Wars back. I wish you the best.

 

George Lucas version of TFA:

Unkar: "So, what have you brought to trade with me today, Rey?" *does a cheery wiggle dance and winks*
Rey: "This. And these. I've cleaned them all."
Unkar: "Good work, Rey. I don't like contaminated parts.",
Rey: "I don't like sand either, its so rough and coarse and gets everywhere."
Both: "Ha ha ha ha ha."

 

We also have to remember that this movie needed to serve as a touch point, or a re-jumping off point for multiple generations of fans and potential fans. On the surface there was a lot of similarities and redundancies to the OT, but this was required. This film needed to show current fans that the spirit of SW is back and to show new comers what the essence of Star Wars was and is again. Personally, I believe all of the nods to the OT, while obvious (hell the movie itself made fun of it with the Death Star 3.0 bit), served that essential function very well.

This film couldn't be written for only the fans who have devoured the entire EU and the TV shows, it needed a broader appeal.

I also loved all the unanswered questions (it's actually a love-hate relationship... Love the ideas, hate the 18 month wait).

I think this was a very well done movie and RJ has a huge canvas to work with and very complex characters to write with!

 

This is just not accurate, and you can see rotten tomatoes to prove it. That is what a review aggregater is for. tfa 94% positive on 285 review. tpm 56% positive on 212 reivews.

 

visually they nailed it but to echo some of the comments here, it seemed to get increasingly messier as the film went on. i liked the first segment when we were introduced to Rey but after that there were just too many characters and plot threads being juggled and as a result the pacing felt off and a lot of things weren't very fleshed out. ANH was far more simple and better off for it, i'm quite shocked to see people putting this above ANH or even the entire OT. i also didn't think Harrison Ford was very good as Han he seemed more like old man Harrison Ford, not believable as the character and Leia was just atrocious.

having said that I did enjoy it and was certainly better than the prequels.

 

It's not your username. It's that you've been hammering on this movie alot.

 

No, but it would be nice if you went to the Prequel Trilogy / Original Trilogy forums and stopped posting here every 30 seconds. I think you and everyone else would be happier that way.

 

Just let the dust settle and we will see my friend. Besides, I really don't base my expectations on rotten tomatoes as there have been lots of movies that were rated really poorly by them and yet my friends, family and I have greatly enjoyed them.

 

My comment was in no way intended to imply my opinion or to discredit your opinion regarding the quality of the movie. This is a pretty heated thread and I'd like to try and stay above the fray. Anyone and everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding it for any reason. It is art and that is the whole point.

However, when you say something factually baseless to back up your claim I take offense.

You said: "Just wait and see how people like TFA in time, because people universally liked The Phantom Menace at first, as well, and now they don't." Bringing Rotten Tomatoes into the argument wasn't somehow supposed to say, "oh, no! RT like this movie so I do or they don't like this other movie so me neither".

It was supposed to illustrate that "TPM was at one point Universally Liked" is factually without merit.

 

this epitomizes the worthlessness of allhailvaders opinion. he cant even tell the difference between good acting and bad acting!

 

My friend, TPM was a movie that had a larger hype than TFA. It was all over the place and there were even special Pizza Hut, Kentucky and Taco Bell special promos plus cross over comercials. They bought a life size X-Wing to the theatre I went and all over the place you could see everything SW. The movie was a huge secces at the box office and it still is on that list. Such an ''unliked'' movie was then rereleased as a 3D film and then it made millions and this was after the whole PT was released. If such a movie as TPM was hated like people say it is and the whole PT as well, where did the 3D movie get all those millions even after the PT was hated by many? I'm not fighting with you either my friend as you well said that there is some serious heat going on regarding TFA, yet I sometimes wonder if the hatred for the PT has blinded fans to the point that none want to remember all these things.

 

Agreed! Not to mention how insanely bad the acting, dialogue, and overall writing of Ep 1-3 actually was. Natalie Portman, Ewen McGregor, and Liam Neeson are not bad actors. Hell, Portman won a freaking Oscar shortly after. Daisy Ridley was really quite good in this. Oscar worthy? Far from it, but way better than anything that came from the previous three movies. Hell, if you ask me, I thought the scenes and dialogue with Han and Leia were forced and C3PO was just added to appease the masses. He was not even needed and really only had one line that was funny and that was the first one. Aside from those minor things, I really enjoyed the movie. I think that is also because I have not read every rumor or "spoiler" that has come across this site and I have not read all the extended universe fan-boy pieces that everyone that hates the movie is trying to compare it to.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 22, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 22, 2015 ---

And actually, I do not agree that his opinion is worthless. I just think that the acting was not nearly as bad as it has been.

 

I would argue that what you are speaking to is not praise, but hype. You even say hype now instead. The Hype Train can leave the station no matter how bad a movie is. All it takes is money. Fast Food Cross promotions? Logo stamped on everything? Cereal? Makeup? TV Ads? You can do all of this with a movie people don't like.
Praise, on the other hand, you can only receive from each person who sees the film, and only if they personally have seen something worth praising.