Am I REALLY the only one disappointed with TFA?

I liked it. And it made Kylo do something that solidifies him as evil for us... Han is such a favorite that it'll be hard to forgive as an audience.
 
That is sad to hear

J

It is, isn't it.

Btw, Jaitea, you and I obviously see things quite differently on the film in question. But let me just say "thanks", for keeping it respectful, for arguing the points, rather than personally insulting the member with whom you disagree. It'd be nice if others would follow your example.

The Wook
 
It is, isn't it.

Btw, Jaitea, you and I obviously see things quite differently on the film in question. But let me just say "thanks", for keeping it respectful, for arguing the points, rather than personally insulting the member with whom you disagree. It'd be nice if others would follow your example.

The Wook

Jaitea's magnanimous attitude is even more surprising after you replied so condescendingly to his comment. Maybe try practicing what you preach?
 
I understand what you're saying, but to me, it's more important that ship die with Han. The two characters--the ship, and Solo--are so closely intertwined, they need to suffer the same fate.

Besides, it's not like we wouldn't get to see the Falcon on the big screen ever again. We've got a Han & Chewie origins film in '18, and IF the filmmakers do it right...by casting Anthony Ingruber...then perhaps it could lead to another Han & Chewie prequel film. Or sequel film to ROTJ. (But that would require casting a 3rd actor for the part.) Still, at the very least, killing off the Falcon with Han in TFA would leave us with one more film in a few years to enjoy watching the ship.

The Wook

Bah, it wasn't even his- he cheated Lando out of it. Or won it fair and square- depends on who you ask.

I would just have hated to see it gone- and who knows, maybe it will still happen here in the next few years. They are intertwined like you say, sure, but it's just such an iconic part of the series, I hope it keeps surviving.
 
Jaitea's magnanimous attitude is even more surprising after you replied so condescendingly to his comment. Maybe try practicing what you preach?

I doubt he found it condescending. J appears to have much thicker skin than that--thicker than many here.

The Wook
 
Honestly even though I enjoyed the movie Han's death did not elicit much emotion from me either. Maybe it's because the character was so poorly written in ROTJ and hearing Harrison Ford bitch about how much he hated Star Wars over the past 30 years dimmed my enthusiasm for the character. I would have been more upset if they killed Chewie or destroyed the Falcon.
 
Bah, it wasn't even his- he cheated Lando out of it. Or won it fair and square- depends on who you ask.

I would just have hated to see it gone- and who knows, maybe it will still happen here in the next few years. They are intertwined like you say, sure, but it's just such an iconic part of the series, I hope it keeps surviving.

Now that Han is gone, yes, I can join you in hoping the ship survives. And given that Rey the wunderkind has somehow inherited it, we know it will.

The Wook
 
I think the main problem is that from what I've seen, none of the TFA cheerleaders will admit there's anything wrong with it; the fact that it copies heavily from ANH most of all. I liked the Prequels, but I will readily admit that there are problems with them. That fact made me lose a lot of hope for the SW fans because it looks like if you throw them something familiar, not even new, they will eat it up. That's why we got SW branded apples and oranges people.
 
I think the main problem is that from what I've seen, none of the TFA cheerleaders will admit there's anything wrong with it; the fact that it copies heavily from ANH most of all. I liked the Prequels, but I will readily admit that there are problems with them. That fact made me lose a lot of hope for the SW fans because it looks like if you throw them something familiar, not even new, they will eat it up. That's why we got SW branded apples and oranges people.

Jason, Dan and I have tried to explain the Herculian task this film had to achieve in regards to current fans of the franchise, fans that haven't liked any SW film since the OT, fans that haven't liked a SW film since 1980, and find new fans to bring into the fold. As such, TFA is a smashing success of and incredible tight wire walk. That's what's so amazing. Sure the film has things that can be criticized but considering what it had to try and accomplish, it's a borderline miracle. Star Wars is relevant again in pop culture.
 
Jason, Dan and I have tried to explain the Herculian task this film had to achieve in regards to current fans of the franchise, fans that haven't liked any SW film since the OT, fans that haven't liked a SW film since 1980, and find new fans to bring into the fold. As such, TFA is a smashing success of and incredible tight wire walk. That's what's so amazing. Sure the film has things that can be criticized but considering what it had to try and accomplish, it's a borderline miracle. Star Wars is relevant again in pop culture.


Exactly! And the same EXACT thing could be said about the rebooted Star Trek and all its elitist detractors!
 
I hadn't seen any of the Solo spoilers.....neither had many others at the time, judging by audience reaction. I actually gasped, so did my wife, so did half the audience.....
...It was an absolutely beautiful moment. Every single theater I was in (I saw it three times) the crowd fell deathly silent during the scene, and uttered a completely shocked gasp when Han was killed...
Seriously? When I saw it, the moment Ford stepped onto the bridge I could hear at least half of the audience mutter, "Uh oh," or "Oh no," or something to that effect, and by the time they actually showed him getting skewered the only response was a collective muffled groan. It should have been a complete surprise, heart-wrenching, and emotional, but because of the way they telegraphed it many of us were robbed of that moment.

I felt nothing when Han died. Most people I know, who are bonafide Star Wars fans (just as you are, I'm sure), felt nothing...
I'm somewhat sad to say this was my reaction (or non-reaction) as well. I've been a Star Wars fan since May of 1977, so Han's death should have had much more of an impact, and probably would have if they'd presented it properly. As it is, my reaction was pretty much, "Bummer. So much for Solo." :unsure
 
I think the main problem is that from what I've seen, none of the TFA cheerleaders will admit there's anything wrong with it; the fact that it copies heavily from ANH most of all. I liked the Prequels, but I will readily admit that there are problems with them. That fact made me lose a lot of hope for the SW fans because it looks like if you throw them something familiar, not even new, they will eat it up. That's why we got SW branded apples and oranges people.

Look harder because I've seen plenty of people here that liked the movie but acknowledge it isn't perfect. In fact, I'm not sure I've seen anyone say it is. For me, the fact of the matter is most of the criticisms just aren't as fatal as the few naysayers seem to think it is. In other words, the good far outweighs the bad. Yeah, I would've rather it not been so heavy handed in borrowing from ANH (introducing a new superweapon, specifically) but there are much worse things they could've done. The likable characters and superb acting (in my book) went a long way toward overshadowing any nitpicks I had.
 
TFA is a smashing success.

What you fail to understand, Bryan, is that TFA, had the filmmakers had the cajones and creativity to come up with something new, would've been an even bigger success at the box office--easily eclipsing Avatar's world record. But the film's performance is stalling out in the theater, and has zero chance to catch Avatar's record. It's stalling for two reasons. One, because of all the bad word of mouth, that the film is a blatant ripoff of the original--it's discouraging people who haven't seen the film from seeing it. Why bother, when you can pop in your DVD of ANH for free, and watch a far superior film. And two, because nowhere near enough people are seeing the film multiple times--again, because even if they sorta enjoyed the ride the first time, there's nothing new in the film to keep them coming back for more. The film feels old after one viewing. I had to force myself to the theater to see it a second time. And I'm a huge Star Wars fan! But for most people, after one viewing, it was "Meh, seen it".

The film made a lot of money out of the gate, because it's Star Wars, and because the original cast was returning. But by week 3 of its run, it became obvious the film would not have the legs to make worldwide box office history.

The Wook
 
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I don't disagree with The Wook on one thing: TFA wasn't really all that new at all. I was disappointed that they went with too much repeating of the old films. I do think they played it safe and part of me, despite how much I loved and enjoyed TFA, wishes we could've seen something more original. But, that didn't stop my enjoyment of the movie - and my multiple trips to my local theater (also - my nieces and nephew - 11 and under - saw this multiple times in the theaters, a first for them)... I'll add everyone that I've talked to about it, enjoyed TFA even more on their repeated viewings, I know I did.

That said, we all know that there is no "new story" and that history tends to repeat itself. Now, that doesn't mean we need to repeat as much as TFA did - and I'm not just talking about the plotlines that have been discussed ad infinitum - it's just that a lot of what we got was just updating the old stuff:

New Empire, new Stormtroopers, new TIE Fighters, new X-Wings, new Emperor (Snoke), new Vader (Kylo Ren), new R2 (BB-8), new Star Destroyers, new Yoda, new Tatooine, new Yavin IV... etc. Had they been a little creative with these types of things - rather than most of them just being minor updates to designs that are 30 years old - it would've worked better for me.

What I will disagree with, is that any form of Star Wars would've knocked Avatar off that top spot. There's little more they could've done to do that - coming up with something completely original and mind blowing wasn't going to do that. Part of what made this movie sell was the revisiting the old designs and all that.

This movie was tremendously successful. The records it broke were amazing - in the US is is now the #1 movie of all time and it sold more tickets than any other Star Wars film outside of the original (ANH). It didn't "not have the legs," this is a totally different era for movies - people have home theaters, iPads and the turn around from theater to home is much shorter now.

...and bad word of mouth? You must not talk to many people, anyone I've talked to - friends, family, guys from work and the gym, just the general reaction from wearing a Star Wars shirt - raved about TFA. I can't recall one person that's said something remotely negative about it (outside of the internet).
 
Of course but overall positive reaction to the film would indicate my position is the more accurate read of how the story was presented. So there's that. Sonetimes opinions can be wrong.

“No one should part with their individuality and become that of another”.
- William Channing

"Personal taste is one of the few areas where there is room to be an individual in our modern world."
- SFFDebris​

There's nothing wrong with having an opinion that fits in with what the majority thinks just as there is nothing wrong with having an opinion that doesn't. My personal view of one of this movie's problems is simple. If murder is a bad thing, I'm not going to care for the well being of those who willingly inflict murder on others. Their inner struggle and relationships to our heroes that Kylo Ren has does nothing to mitigate how I feel towards him, especially since it does nothing to reinforce that there's any good in him anyways. If you want to sell us that there's still good in him, give us something! Don't pretend that he can turn good when know darn well Han is a dead man the moment he calls out his name.

To conclude, the only opinions that are wrong are the ones that say Jaws was a lackluster movie because they thought Antartica was a boring setting for the film. THAT is an opinion I'll agree with is wrong.
 
I don't disagree with The Wook on one thing: TFA wasn't really all that new at all. I was disappointed that they went with too much repeating of the old films. I do think they played it safe and part of me, despite how much I loved and enjoyed TFA, wishes we could've seen something more original. But, that didn't stop my enjoyment of the movie - and my multiple trips to my local theater (also - my nieces and nephew - 11 and under - saw this multiple times in the theaters, a first for them)... I'll add everyone that I've talked to about it, enjoyed TFA even more on their repeated viewings, I know I did.

That said, we all know that there is no "new story" and that history tends to repeat itself. Now, that doesn't mean we need to repeat as much as TFA did - and I'm not just talking about the plotlines that have been discussed ad infinitum - it's just that a lot of what we got was just updating the old stuff:

New Empire, new Stormtroopers, new TIE Fighters, new X-Wings, new Emperor (Snoke), new Vader (Kylo Ren), new R2 (BB-8), new Star Destroyers, new Yoda, new Tatooine, new Yavin IV... etc. Had they been a little creative with these types of things - rather than most of them just being minor updates to designs that are 30 years old - it would've worked better for me.

What I will disagree with, is that any form of Star Wars would've knocked Avatar off that top spot. There's little more they could've done to do that - coming up with something completely original and mind blowing wasn't going to do that. Part of what made this movie sell was the revisiting the old designs and all that.

This movie was tremendously successful. The records it broke were amazing - in the US is is now the #1 movie of all time and it sold more tickets than any other Star Wars film outside of the original (ANH). It didn't "not have the legs," this is a totally different era for movies - people have home theaters, iPads and the turn around from theater to home is much shorter now.

...and bad word of mouth? You must not talk to many people, anyone I've talked to - friends, family, guys from work and the gym, just the general reaction from wearing a Star Wars shirt - raved about TFA. I can't recall one person that's said something remotely negative about it (outside of the internet).

Well, we all have different social and business circles we traffic in, but that's surprising no one's uttered a discouraging word to you about the film. Not saying I don't believe you, JD...obviously, I do. But do you think perhaps people aren't being honest with you? For example, most everyone in my network knows all about my love of Star Wars, and what I've done with it professionally. So, I've had several people tell me they liked the film, but then when I told them I didn't like it, they fessed up that they didn't like it either, but thought for sure I would, given my love of the franchise and its characters. Once I told them how disappointed I was, they admitted they agreed it was weak. But that they just didn't want to rain on what they assumed would be my enjoyment of the film.

The Wook
 
You just know that when someone opens a post with, "What you fail to understand..." you should know to prepare yourself to be schooled. :D

:lol Hey man, it's no different than Bryan writing to @Sluis Van Shipyards, "Jason, Dan and I have tried to explain...".

Isn't the translation of that: "Sluis, why are you so dense that you can't grasp what Dan and I are trying so very hard to explain to you for the umpteenth time?".

lmfao
 
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