STAR WARS The Last Jedi *SPOILERS!*

[Buried Alien]

I don't recall reading any critics back then, but I read a lot of fanzines: Starlog, Cinefantastique, a bunch of others I don't remember the titles of, and I don't remember any negative or mixed reaction among fans. I certainly don't remember any negative reactions from the kids I knew who saw it. (Well, EVERYONE saw it.)

Kids, especially in an era when movies such as STAR WARS were still extremely uncommon, aren't the pickiest critics. Give them a few spaceships, laser guns, and lightsabers and they're happy.

I *loved* THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK when it was first released in 1980; my dad, who had liked A NEW HOPE, found EMPIRE boring overall (he liked the Hoth battle sequence, but Yoda training Luke bored him to sleep).

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Tazirai]

I don't recall reading any critics back then, but I read a lot of fanzines: Starlog, Cinefantastique, a bunch of others I don't remember the titles of, and I don't remember any negative or mixed reaction among fans. I certainly don't remember any negative reactions from the kids I knew who saw it. (Well, EVERYONE saw it.)

A lot of time we remember the positives rather than the negatives. As a writer and artist, I live in a world of positive and negative, negative is not always a bad thing. But it's not something I willingly block out due to my fanboyism.
I love Psylocke, but she's problematic. She's not the best nor most powerful character ever, but I love her, warts and all.

[Da Boat]

I saw the film twice opening weekend. Like most people, I was mixed on how Luke was portrayed and I had mixed feelings the first time I saw the film, but I didn't HATE it like other people. I saw it a second time and really enjoyed it. It's not a perfect movie nor is it the best Star Wars movie, but it is still pretty freaking good. Yes, I would have liked to have seen Luke be more heroic and showcase how strong in the force he was by having an epic lightsaber duel with Kylo and the Canto Bight stuff did slow the pacing of the movie down, but other than that, the movie was fine. I know some people didn't like Rey's parent reveal but honestly, I like the idea that anyone in the Star Wars universe can be special and strong with with the Force not just people who are related to a Skywalker you know? As for the Snoke issue, I am still mixed on it. One one hand, I would have like to have gotten SOME backstory on him, but on the other hand, it really wasn't needed. Kylo rising up and being the new supreme leader is way more interesting than Snoke being another Emperor. I still give the Last Jedi an 8/10.

My only other gripe about the new films so far is that there was a missed opportunity to have Luke, Leia, and Han to reunite. I was expecting Han to have a cameo as a Force ghost since it was announced that Harrison would be back for Episode 8 or 9 back when Force Awakens came out.

Yea the missed reunion was really the thing that has been a problem so far. JJ Abrams missed it too. But at least here we had Luke meeting Leia in spirit form of sort.

[Da Boat]

Yesterday I saw the film for a second time. And surprisingly I was able to view it as a piece of art. It was almost like watching an opera as opposed to just live action video game.

I liked the fact that Po went from swashbuckling ‘flyboy’ (or meat head) to someone who at the end of the film thought before he acted. I never realized it, but Finn’s charging of the cannon at the end of the film, had as much to do with saving the rebels than it was of his own hatred for what they had done to him. Hence Rose's line to him that we should fight for what we love more than what we hate. Bitterness and resentment has a way of destroying you more than the person you are bitter towards.

And of course there was Rey’s struggle, which was not so much with the so-called ‘dark side’. Than her struggle with who she is and her past. She thinks that by finding her parents she will wash off the inner shame she carries of being rejected and a need to find that she is ‘special’ or not just human trash.
But the fact is that you don’t need to come from ideal circumstances (or a Leave it to Beaver up-bringing) or have the approval of others to move forward and do something with your life.

To hold on to that notion is to be mentally crippled and waste your life and potential. Anyway great movie, I'll probably see it again. I hope that Johnson holds the line and continues on the same trajectory in the next film. And they don't water/dumb down the film for the general audiences.

Still as a "swashbuckling "flyboy" he did get victory at the beginning. It was his courage and defying authority that gave them a win. And he almost succeeded later but he was punished for disobeying orders. But regardless I liked that Po was more "take-charge" here compared than on TFA.

So I watched TLJ a second time and it's really, really growing on me. So much so that I think it's arguably the best Star Wars film ever.

They really went deep in the concept of the force with Luke and Ray, it was pretty interesting. And this is an example of doing things like movies of another generation could not do. When someone produces TFA for example, it wants to be so much like a follow up of the old movies and it's an impossible task cause you cannot outdo the originals in what they did best. It's better to take a concept and add weight to them and this is what TLJ did somewhat.

[RikWriter]

A lot of time we remember the positives rather than the negatives. As a writer and artist, I live in a world of positive and negative, negative is not always a bad thing. But it's not something I willingly block out due to my fanboyism.
I love Psylocke, but she's problematic. She's not the best nor most powerful character ever, but I love her, warts and all.

What about condescension, is that just a happy side-benefit?

[ChrisIII]

I'm not sure Han as a force ghost would've sit well with fans-The prequels and Clone Wars have seemed to imply that it was some sort of Jedi discipline, and even one that most Jedi didn't know anyway (Hence a lot of the Jedi dying in the films didn't vanish like Obi-Wan and Yoda, although in a weird bit, Yoda says Qui-Gon's ghost discovered it, when he was pretty much the whole reason there was a discontinuity in the first place!). As for Anakin/Vader, that's a bit up in the air, although deleted material from III says that totally selfless acts can get you the force ghost "immortality", or maybe Obi-Wan sort of acted as a spiritual intermediary).

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

My issue was the fact the story never progressed to anywhere. It's like they don't have a destination other than to recycle the status quo of Rebels vs Empire. That bothered me more so than how Luke was portrayed, or the no reveal of Rey's parentage (which i'm fine with tbh). But above all else i frankly found the film boring. It LOOKED good, but i was just bored to tears. There's no sense of adventure, no real thrilling action, nothing. It's the same feeling i had with TFA. Outside of Rogue One, the Disney films are boring as ****.

[Tazirai]

What about condescension, is that just a happy side-benefit?

Not sure what you mean.

[Soubhagya]

Found something interesting. Wanted to share it.



I must admit i did not think it this way. I happen to love the film and this is something more to like. Won't change anyone's mind. Nor do i intend to.

[titanfan]

I'm going to make a prediction based on past Star Wars history.

TLJ will be vindicated in the years to come. Just like The Empire Strikes Back was.

Empire Strikes back was never this reviled by a large portion of the fan base. It just wasn't as liked as much as the first.

That said, TLJ is saveable--it really depends on how the 3rd one builds off the second one. If it does to the 2nd what the 2nd did to the 1st then I still think the 2nd will be the one people point to when looking at where the trilogy went wrong. If the 3rd builds on it in a meaningful way (while fixing up a few things that fans didn't like), then I think that people will look back better at the 2nd knowing where the 3rd ended up.

[BeastieRunner]

Empire Strikes back was never this reviled by a large portion of the fan base. It just wasn't as liked as much as the first.

Man, you were obviously not alive when Empire came out. The fan outrage was HUGE. Starlog has an archive ONLINE, for free if you don't believe me.

How Did Fans React To The Empire Strikes Back In 1980?

Here's How Fans Reacted to The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.

SPOILER: They pretty much reacted the same way everyone is now.

Not much has changed other than social media allowing for a lack of temperament and now it's okay and cool for fans to be a-holes (BTW, you are not being one) about it.

[RikWriter]

Man, you were obviously not alive when Empire came out. The fan outrage was HUGE. Starlog has an archive ONLINE, for free if you don't believe me.

How Did Fans React To The Empire Strikes Back In 1980?

Here's How Fans Reacted to The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.

SPOILER: They pretty much reacted the same way everyone is now.

Not much has changed other than social media allowing for a lack of temperament and now it's okay and cool for fans to be a-holes (BTW, you are not being one) about it.

Yeah, sorry, but a few letters to Starlog really don't prove a "fan backlash." This is a counterfactual idea being advanced by fans of TLJ, but it has very little basis in reality.

[BeastieRunner]

Yeah, sorry, but a few letters to Starlog really don't prove a "fan backlash." This is a counterfactual idea being advanced by fans of TLJ, but it has very little basis in reality.

It's more than a few. Read StarLog's archives. Prove me wrong. There's THOUSANDS. Of letters. Not social media comments that people orange face or LULZ on. Actually letters written by angry fans.

Read the Hollywood mag from 1981. Variety up to 83. It's there! Lots of backlash.

People in the 80s didn't proclaim their childhood was dead like we do in the 2010s. And the TLJ backlash is a small, vocal minority.

So again, prove me wrong.

[regnak]

It's more than a few. Read StarLog's archives. Prove me wrong. There's THOUSANDS. Of letters. Not social media comments that people orange face or LULZ on. Actually letters written by angry fans.

Read the Hollywood mag from 1981. Variety up to 83. It's there! Lots of backlash.

People in the 80s didn't proclaim their childhood was dead like we do in the 2010s. And the TLJ backlash is a small, vocal minority.

So again, prove me wrong.

Not how it works. You made the claim that the fan backlash is the same so it is up to you to prove it.

[RikWriter]

It's more than a few. Read StarLog's archives. Prove me wrong. There's THOUSANDS. Of letters. Not social media comments that people orange face or LULZ on. Actually letters written by angry fans.

Read the Hollywood mag from 1981. Variety up to 83. It's there! Lots of backlash.

People in the 80s didn't proclaim their childhood was dead like we do in the 2010s. And the TLJ backlash is a small, vocal minority.

So again, prove me wrong.

I don't have to prove you wrong. I was there, I remember the love for that movie. I remember the comics selling out of the stands and the toys selling out of the store. Some people didn't like certain parts of it? Sure. But a widespread fan backlash such that a good percentage of fans thought it was a bad movie? Horseshit.