Random Thoughts

[thetruepandagod]

im not sure anyone called it a masterpiece, it was alright, could have been better and worse, i enjoyed most of it

this right here is why you can never be trusted, this and your acceptance of season 8 game of thrones.

[thetruepandagod]

you'd be gettin jumped lookin for a silver lining, 'eh this guys form is pretty nice'

[Anoat]

Day: “Ah, I see you know your judo well.”

[Day]

i try to remain positive in this hellscape world you wouldn't get it

[Demosthenes]

Day: “Ah, I see you know your judo well.”

LMAOOOO!

[Day]

a succulent chinese meal?

[Demosthenes]

I will always chuckle IRL whenever I think of it.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Phantom Menace is a cornball. It's got some fun elements, cool characters, and amazing design work... but the writing is A-Tier Lucas Cringe. It's also largely irrelevant.

Attack of the Clones has similar upsides, but the writing has jumped to S-Tier Lucas Cringe. It's more relevant to Anakin's arc, but Anakin is the worst part about the movie, so it's difficult to enjoy the fun elements that exist.

Revenge of the Sith again has phenomenal design work, cool characters, and can be fun, but the writing is still A-Tier Lucas Cringe, and Anakin morphs from an angsty teenager to a whiny bitch, making it difficult to enjoy scenes in which he talks. The Prequels form a cohesive story, even though the dialogue is cringe.

A New Hope set the standard. It's the classic Hero's Tale against which everything else is measured, and is rock solid. Unlike Alderaan.

Empire Strikes Back is a logical evolution of ANH. As the series ramps up the stakes, we go from the Hero's Tale to an all-out war, and the movie feels appropriately darker.

Return of the Jedi is a logical evolution of ESB. The war rages on, and the Heroes have their adventures. They return to the war and turn the tide. The Original Trilogy forms a cohesive story, with one movie setting up the next and flowing logically along a path of development.

The Force Awakens is a copy of ANH, but embiggened. Starkiller Base is The Death Star but Extra, etc. It's a Hero's Tale, but it also fundamentally changes the way hyperdrives work: they are now instant-transmission, because JJ Abrams doesn't think spaceships are an appropriate place to have a conversation, apparently.

The Last Jedi is a messy attempt to clone ESB. The entire casino sub-plot is irrelevant. The Rose romance is irrelevant, and badly written. Luke gets done dirty. We've ramped up the stakes and evolved into an all-out war again, same as ESB, except the Resistance isn't actually capable of fighting a war so it's really just a twisted clone of Disney's Prince of Egypt. In their flight from Egypt, the Hebrews get stuck in a cave and Luke/Moses halts the tide of nazis to secure their freedom. Spaceships are again approved for conversations, and hyperdrives revert to their normal functioning. The Holdo maneuver is this movie's sole stand-out element, but it introduces a new problem: why is it not weaponized?

Rise of Skywalker is hot garbage. Has some cool scenes, like Lando's arrival with the civilian fleet, or Palpatine force-lightning the entire fleet. But the writing is forgettable and the Heroes' adventures keep interrupting the war. Nothing makes sense, and no one is allowed to talk on spaceships again. The sequels do not flow one into the next, but instead go to war with each other, with each subsequent sequel taking something from the previous movie and telling us "no, this is wrong"

In summary: I have a soft spot for the prequels because my favorite part of star wars has always been the setting, and the prequels have the coolest spaceships and droids and such. My favorite movie is Return of the Jedi, though I get why people often like ESB more. Sequels are trash, and they honestly need to re-make them. Same cast, same characters, but totally re-write and unify the trilogy under one creative direction.

[Xno Kappa]

Maybe Star Wars in general just sucks? Has anyone ever thought of that instead of the mental gymnastics to defend it?

[Milkster]

Karma and repercussions are only things that exist for the poor, uneducated and those without connections.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Nah. Star Wars suffers from the cardinal sin of being sci fi. Sci fi can't go mainstream w/o being butchered.

[Demosthenes]

Nah. Star Wars suffers from the cardinal sin of being sci fi. Sci fi can't go mainstream w/o being butchered.

I don't think I'd call that shit sci-fi.

[BaneTheBrawler]

It's sci fi.

Sci Fi is a highly malleable label. It can cover a huge array of stories, since it's a setting genre, not a narrative genre. Since people are often unable to distinguish the difference, long-form Sci Fi invariably gets butchered because people inevitably try to force a series that began as one narrative genre to become another narrative genre, and often disrespect the setting (which is the unifying element that forms the foundation for the series) in the process. JJ Abrams is a good example of this: In both Wars and Trek, he disregards the setting as unimportant, instead focusing on the characters, and the series suffers as a result.

[BaneTheBrawler]

basically, when you disregard the setting in a sci fi series, you disregard the very thing that makes it sci fi. so there's a very, very real argument to be made that the Sequels aren't really Star Wars. Likewise with NuTrek.

[Rhyis.]

Maybe Star Wars in general just sucks? Has anyone ever thought of that instead of the mental gymnastics to defend it?

disney makes bad movies/tv shows that everyone seems to watch. marvel, new stars wars, new indiana jones, new aliens/predators, new die hards, etc

[Mertron]

i would reckon the whole existence of the force is what pushes it more towards fantasy than sci-fi, but who cares

[Demosthenes]

It's sci fi.

Sci Fi is a highly malleable label. It can cover a huge array of stories, since it's a setting genre, not a narrative genre. Since people are often unable to distinguish the difference, long-form Sci Fi invariably gets butchered because people inevitably try to force a series that began as one narrative genre to become another narrative genre, and often disrespect the setting (which is the unifying element that forms the foundation for the series) in the process. JJ Abrams is a good example of this: In both Wars and Trek, he disregards the setting as unimportant, instead focusing on the characters, and the series suffers as a result.

I don't think I'd call it sci-fi.

[Rhyis.]

if you fly around in space ships your shit is sci-fi

i dunno what you nerds are even arguing atm

[BaneTheBrawler]

yeah dude, spaceships and laser swords = sci fi. you can be wrong if you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you're wrong.

[Mertron]

yes but your spaceships and laser swords are just a backdrop for space magic which is really the prime mover of the series