Star Wars VIII - The Last Jedi

[DigModiFicaTion]

Does anyone know if you do a pre-order of the 4k/Blu-Ray or Blu-Ray/DVD bundle if you get your digital code early?

That would make too much sense.

You'd think so..... Wal-Mart did that to me once since they are directly linked to vudu, but that was after the release date I believe.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

So the 4K version isn’t available as a digital download!?

 

[Neglify]

Somebody holla at me when the 420k version be ready yo.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Somebody holla at me when the 420k version be ready yo.

I think the TLJ version of Yoda has definitely got that one.

 

[ThrowgnCpr]

Somebody holla at me when the 420k version be ready yo.

I think the TLJ TPM version of Yoda has definitely got that one.

FTFY

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Looks like there will be a music only audio track of the movie.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/13/1...last-jedi-special-features-music-only-version

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is available digitally in the U.S. as of today, and writer/director Rian Johnson used the occasion as an opportunity to reveal a previously unannounced hidden feature: a music-only version of the movie.
To be specific, when Johnson refers to a “music only cut” of The Last Jedi, he’s not talking about John Williams’ original score by itself. He means the visuals plus the music — and nothing else.
“This is the full movie, but with no dialogue, [sound effects] or backgrounds... just John’s score,” Johnson said on Twitter. “I really wanted to put this out, it’s really something to see John’s music play with the movie, like a silent film.”
The Last Jedi comes with a long list of bonus features, including a feature-length behind-the-scenes documentary about Johnson called The Director and the Jedi. But this unique cut of the movie is “my favorite” of all the special features, he said.
The Last Jedi’s out today in the states for digital download, blu in two weeks. Of all the special features, my favorite one is kinda hidden, so wanted to call it out. If you buy the movie anywhere online (or the blu) you have access to a music only version of TLJ.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) March 13, 2018
The music-only version of The Last Jedi is available to anybody who owns a digital copy of the film. (Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray copies of the movie, which will be released March 27 in the U.S., come with a code that can be redeemed for a digital version.) Johnson noted that people will have to jump through one hoop to get it: the Movies Anywhere app.
Customers must link the app, which aggregates virtual movie collections from across four sellers — Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu — to their account for the service on which they purchased (or redeemed) their copy of The Last Jedi.
“Kinda a pain I know, but I think it’s worth it to get this version,” said Johnson.

 

[Masirimso17]

A FANEDIT GOLDMINE! WOOHOOO!

Plus Wondeful John Williams Music Only! EVEN MORE WOOHOO!

 

[Detective]

Johnson read the threads here and wanted to throw us a bone  

 

[ssj]

the subtitling possibilities are endless on a silent version.

[arf topic: it's still odd that the industry calls a downloadable movie a "digital version," as if the data on DVDs and blu-rays weren't digital.]

 

[TomH1138]

We’ll also explore that mysterious “Third Lesson” Luke never got to deliver to Rey.

Ooh, that one in particular is exciting to me!

Also, I don't think it's been mentioned here yet, but the novelization of TLJ just got released. There are apparently some extra scenes in that, and it sounds like Johnson worked with Jason Fry (the author of the novelization) in clarifying and expanding on some things.

This is actually a first for Star Wars. Famously, the ANH novelization was released in Dec. 1976, well before the movie came out. It seemed to help generate some advance buzz. And as far as I know, all the other novelizations have been released at the same time as the movie so as to avoid any spoilers. But in this case, the novelization is being released a few months after the movie, and it might help to make some people feel better about the film. That's a very smart piece of marketing; I've never heard of a novelization being used that way before, but it makes sense.

 

[gazza]

Johnson read the threads here and wanted to throw us a bone  

 

[theryaney]

My digital release finally downloaded, and now I can enjoy this movie how many times I like, and I can pause, rewind and get more of the details.

As I previously mentioned, the character development is through failure in my opinion.

While I was rewatching I realised Yoda said to Luke, "The greatest teacher, failure is."

Fun bit I thought I would share.

Now, back to business!

 

[Detective]

As I previously mentioned, the character development is through failure in my opinion.

While I was rewatching I realised Yoda said to Luke, "The greatest teacher, failure is."

Yep, this was done well in ESB.

 

[Neglify]

Cracked.com had a pretty kickass post addressing the fanboy criticisms. http://www.cracked.com/article_25472_all-your-nagging-last-jedi-questions-answered.html

Here are some of my favorite bits, for those of you who don't want to read the whole thing.

...this portrayal of Luke is totally in keeping with the rest of the franchise.

Why? Because Luke Skywalker is George Lucas.


Back during the Original Trilogy, Luke was Lucas' author surrogate, a restless teen longing to escape the space suburbs who rejects his father's empire. He even went ahead and basically used his own last name for the character's first name.

When Disney took the reigns of the franchise, the Luke-Lucas allegory continued. In The Force Awakens, Luke is in exile, atoning for his past failures. Similarly, Lucas withdrew from filmmaking after his calamitous prequels. We're lucky the movie didn't end with Rey finding Luke solemnly poking at cold spaghetti in a mall food court.

The Last Jedi similarly finds Luke emulating George. Luke can't return to help Rey fight the First Order, in the same way that George Lucas will never return to Star Wars. The film's climax finds Luke creating an astral projection (not unlike a film projection) which serves to inspire future generations. The movie literally ends with kids playing with Star Wars action figures, as if to say that all we need from Lucas is his inspiration, not him doing anything new.

Oh Yeah, We Never Learned Who Snoke Was.

That's true. While we all thought there was going to be some dramatic reveal that Snoke was Palpatine's clone, or a deformed Mace Windu, or the ghost of a school custodian who was burned to death by a gang of angry parents, we got nothing. Which was legitimately frustrating. But on the other hand, Snoke was positioned as a new version of Emperor Palpatine, whose origins remained a mystery in the Original Trilogy.

When we did find out the Emperor's backstory, it involved Senate votes and trade tariffs. In other words, boring as hell. That's because Star Wars' track record on providing backstory has always been abjectly terrible. We should probably be glad we didn't get a flashback in which we learn Snoke was once a disgruntled Arby's employee.

Yeah, it could have been way worse.

But Why Did They Kill Him Off?

Other than the fact that it was a surprising moment in a franchise that hasn't had a surprise since the 1980s, how about this: The Star Wars saga often repeats themes and images. George Lucas said his prequels "rhymed" with the originals. Well, this moment rhymes with another moment wherein a hyped-up villain died prematurely.

(Picture of Darth Maul.)

Yup, both Snoke and Darth Maul get abruptly cut in half by lightsabers. Both scenes even focus on their close-up facial reactions first before revealing the damage, reinforcing the narrative echo.

Really, Rey's Parents Were Neglectful Drunks?


After a multitude of theories that Rey's parents were Skywalkers or Kenobis or Lobots, it turned out that they simply kind of sucked. They were deadbeats who sold her for booze, as if she were a common futon.

This actually emulates the first Star Wars more than anything. Remember, Darth Vader wasn't Luke's dad until much later -- so much later that early drafts of Empire had Anakin showing up as a ghost. So the message of the original Star Wars was that anyone could engage with the Force, even some random kid from a house made of dirt.

What Star Wars taught kids before the prequels was that anyone could be a hero, even you. By making the franchise about dynasties and (unfortunately) genetic prowess, that original fairy-tale-like quality was lost until now.

 

[Neglify]

 

[bionicbob]

^ That was hilarious and too sadly true.

I picked up the blu-ray and re-watched Last Jedi for the first time since seeing it in theatres, and I must admit, I found myself cringing a lot more this time around and overall disliking the movie significantly more.  I do not have any strong objections to the general plot or character developments (though there are many questionable issues/choices made in my mind), it is rather the use of humour and modern vernacular I found completely out of place and exceptionally poorly done.   While SW films have always had humour, it never felt like it was trying to be a comedy.  And here it does.  A bad comedy.   The sitcom responses by our heroes to almost every situation deflates any tension or drama, and for me, shatters the "reality" of the Star Wars universe that we come to know for the past 40 years.   This felt more like Spaceballs than Star Wars for me.  Honestly, this movie actually made me appreciate the Prequels, which is an incredible achievement since I hold them in very low regard LOL!

But Disney must love this version/style of Star Wars if they have chosen Rian Johnson to craft the next trilogy????

Also watched the Director bonus feature.   A nice documentary.   I appreciated how they kept Mark Hamill's true feelings about the project and his character in the movie.   I thought it was odd how Johnson and the producer tried to sell Hamill that he is playing Obiwan now.  This made no sense to me, since Obiwan was not in hiding, he was secretly watching over Luke and jumped into service for the rebellion as soon as he was called.

Of all the deleted scenes, the only ones I really wish that had made it into the final cut was Luke's reaction to Han's death/connection to Leia and Phasma's confrontation with Finn.

So sadly, after this rewatch, for me, I think I would give Last Jedi 5 out of 10.   :s

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Posted this in another forum, but seems appropriate to share here as well. 

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]People[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] who disliked the way Skywalker was handled h[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]ave been quick to grab onto Hamill’s comments, but equally quick to dismiss the fact that he came to understand the choices and now thinks it’s brilliant.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]In one of the deleted scenes it is pretty clearly spelled out. Snoke even says that he knew that as Kylo Ren grew stronger in the dark side his equal in the light was rise. Skywalker understood th[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]at, as a powerful light side person, he was causing darkness to rise as the Force seeks equilibrium. He knew that despite wanting to save individuals, his connection to[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] the Force was ultimately more harmful to the masses. I also think it’s pretty clear that if[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] Skywalker hadn’t shut himself off to the Force, Rey wouldn’t have risen in the light side. What Skywalker did was heroic and ext[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]remely difficult for him. He didn’t simply q[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]u[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]it. But in the end he realized that though he couldn’t be a superhero the way many want him to be (both within the Star Wars[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]universe and in the fandom) and take on the First Order by himself, he [/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]could[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] be a symbol and ultimately sacrificed hims[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]elf for that. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]But ultimately many people don’t seem to understand any of that, so that’s a filmmaker issue.[/font]

 

[bionicbob]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]But ultimately many people don’t seem to understand any of that, so that’s a filmmaker issue.[/font]

I agree.  The concept was excellent and I can totally buy that, but the execution was very poorly done.

 

[Detective]

In one of the deleted scenes it is pretty clearly spelled out. Snoke even says that he knew that as Kylo Ren grew stronger in the dark side his equal in the light was rise. Skywalker understood that, as a powerful light side person, he was causing darkness to rise as the Force seeks equilibrium. He knew that despite wanting to save individuals, his connection to the Force was ultimately more harmful to the masses. I also think it’s pretty clear that if Skywalker hadn’t shut himself off to the Force, Rey wouldn’t have risen in the light side. What Skywalker did was heroic and extremely difficult for him. He didn’t simply quit. But in the end he realized that though he couldn’t be a superhero the way many want him to be (both within the Star Warsuniverse and in the fandom) and take on the First Order by himself, he could be a symbol and ultimately sacrificed himself for that. 

But ultimately many people don’t seem to understand any of that, so that’s a filmmaker issue.

The concept of "balance of the Force" is a shoehorned in prequel idea - it makes no sense from the perspective of the OT, and it also makes no sense in TLJ.  (Luke was vastly inferior in power to Snoke as portrayed: he died after doing astral projection once, Snoke was astral projecting Rey and Kylo together multiple times throughout the movie.)

In ESB:
Luke: Is the dark side stronger?
Yoda: No!  No... no...  Quicker, easier, more seductive.

It doesn't flow that Yoda would have then said "Well... equal are they"  I never once thought that he would have said that.  Was I alone?

 

[ThrowgnCpr]

Was I alone?

probably, but you should stay on topic