Star Wars: Episode IX - THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

[TaliBane]

I dunno - my kid self had a blast with the Sarlacc sequence. I love the design of the barges/skiffs, the idea of feeding them to a sand beast as jabba watches gleefully, the designs of probably more than half the creatures., the fun of Leia strangling Jabba, the energy of the Luke once he reaches the barge deck. I would say about 2/3 the action is really cool (great ideas and well executed) - yes the other 1/3 has non-sensical stuff, missed opportunites and even laughable bits (Han's facial reaction to Luke's flip on the plank is a little known gem.)

Yet I'd take every flaw over the CGI blur of crap like the Black Panther battle with phony armored rhinos and cartoon BP slipping around on top of the car. For ROTJ at least they went out into the middle of the actual desert and built the whole ****ing thing FULL SIZE and used dozens of real stunt performers.

And some of these flaws that always come up are a product of decades of freeze frames - nobody had any issues with that stunt kick at the time (because at speed and in context it works fine) and both those skiff guards I always assumed were diving away from Luke's swinging lightsaber and that sends them over the side - Luke doesn't hit that guard with a Louisville slugger saber.

 

[SilverStar17]

To paraphrase Marty McFly: Kick still looks fake.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Yet I'd take every flaw over the CGI blur of crap like the Black Panther battle with phony armored rhinos and cartoon BP slipping around on top of the car.

I doubt that, if both were presented to you today for the first time.

In 1983, I wanted to love that sequence soooooooooooooo much... alas, my younger self was not satisfied. I had to suffice on the scraps that did work and kind of swallow hard on the rest.

 

[YoNoSe]

I love ROTJ.
All of it.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I love ROTJ.
All of it.

Even sixteets?

 

[TaliBane]

To paraphrase Marty McFly: Kick still looks fake.

In a continuous loop... from a moment where the audience is actually 90% focused on Boba Fett flying across in the background... because this shot is part of a 20 second sequence dedicated to the demise of fett.

 

[SilverStar17]

In a continuous loop... from a moment where the audience is actually 90% focused on Boba Fett flying across in the background... because this shot is part of a 20 second sequence dedicated to the demise of fett.

Still looks fake though.

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

Yes, the lightsaber that no longer chops like it did in the two films prior was terrible. And of course Boba Fett's "demise". People complain about stormtroopers, but Jabba's bumbling guards can't seem to pick off a few people on an unmovable skiff either. The whole sequence is just awkward... and only remembered well by people who watched it a thousand times as kids.

Yep, but also...

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[YoNoSe]

Even sixteets?

Why not?

At least nobody milked her.

 

[TaliBane]

Still looks fake though.

It's just a blooper. Movies are filled with them - even the very best stunts and action movies. The ram pole sticking out the bottom of the flipped truck and the laughable timing of Indy and the vine/closing door in ROTLA.

But the point is, the kick wasn't where the audience was focused in that moment. In the case of Indy and the door/vine, that was the sole audience focus.

Why not?

At least nobody milked her.

Junkion is fast becoming king in here.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Let's break that shot down:

Luke misses by a mile
Fett screams like a baby in BG
Goon who is kicked also throws his gun away for some reason
Three back-up goons don't take a shot or hurl their blade, although all are armed
And no one on the barge is shooting at Luke

Yep, masterful.... when you're 6.

 

[SilverStar17]

It's just a blooper. Movies are filled with them - even in the very best, even the very best stunts and action movies. The ram pole sticking out the bottom of the flipped truck and the laughable timing of Indy and the vine/closing door in ROTLA.

But the point is, the kick wasn't where the audience was focused in that moment. In the case of Indy and the door/vine, that was the sole audience focus.

It still looks campy and overly embellished. It doesn’t take away from my liking of the overall film though, or even my enjoyment of this scene. I don’t have to defend every aspect of it.

Let's break that shot down:

Luke misses by a mile
Fett screams like a baby in BG
Goon who is kicked also throws his gun away for some reason
Three back-up goons don't take a shot or hurl their blade, although all are armed
And no one on the barge is shooting at Luke

Yep, masterful.... when you're 6.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Yep, but also...

The "I have spoken" at the bottom makes it classic.

 

[TaliBane]

Let's break that shot down:

Luke misses by a mile
Fett screams like a baby in BG
Goon who is kicked also throws his gun away for some reason
Three back-up goons don't take a shot or hurl their blade, although all are armed
And no one on the barge is shooting at Luke

Yep, masterful.... when you're 6.

And in ROTLA they send guy after guy to climb forward to battle Indy when they could have simply sent two guys out along the sides (to grab steering wheel once Indy was dead) then simply machine gunned Indy right through the back of the cab. It's this 15 minute sequence that could have ended in 30 seconds.

Indy movies are full of identical silliness - no one taking the shot at Indy, people giving up for no reason, people missing him over and over, people taking it in turns to battle him.

You can't call out silly movie conventions on one movie and call it fair critcism. The death of Fett is a well-established issue and I agree, but the rest is just nitpicking.

 

[Wor-Gar]

And in ROTLA they send guy after guy to climb forward to battle Indy when they could have simply sent two guys out along the sides (to grab steering wheel once Indy was dead) then simply machine gunned Indy right through the back of the cab. It's this 15 minute sequence that could have ended in 30 seconds.

Indy movies are full of identical silliness - no one taking the shot at Indy, people giving up for no reason, people missing him over and over, people taking it in turns to battle him.

You can't call out silly movie conventions on one movie and call it fair critcism. The death of Fett is a well-established issue and I agree, but the rest is just nitpicking.

Reaching....? What does Raiders have to do with that shot, and why do I have to call out every bad movie moment in history to justify my breakdown of that ROTJ shot?

For the record, my analysis also dealt with what was actually shown... not what might have happened, as you proposed in your Raiders jab.


That said, Raiders is a brilliant movie and I doubt you can find one shot in it that has so many things wrong with it. So there.

 

[TaliBane]

It still looks campy and overly embellished. It doesn’t take away from my liking of the overall film though, or even my enjoyment of this scene. I don’t have to defend every aspect of it.

This is what I was responding to:

I think the Sarlacc battle was pretty poorly staged.

I wasn't defending every aspect of it either - I said 2/3 of it is cool, the rest is not.

I'm just saying it's double standards to call out pretty standard bloopers you find in every movie of that type as if these are significant failings in one particular movie. Death of Fett is bad, as are a number of other issues in the Sarlacc sequence. I just don't think isolating stuff like the kick is really fair. On balance, it's a fun sequence, despite many issues.

 

[The Buffinator]

The introduction of the baseball bat lightsaber:

Yes, the lightsaber that no longer chops like it did in the two films prior was terrible.

In all fairness, GL cut the earlier scene where Captain Kirk ordered Luke to set his lightsaber to "stun"...

 

[Wor-Gar]

Hmmmmm... I wonder if you could set your lightsaber to "stun"...? That's actually an interesting and an "I don't see why not" idea.

 

[SilverStar17]

This is what I was responding to:



I wasn't defending every aspect of it either - I said 2/3 of it is cool, the rest is not.

I'm just saying it's double standards to call out pretty standard bloopers you find in every movie of that type as if these are significant failings in one particular movie. Death of Fett is bad, as are a number of other issues in the Sarlacc sequence. I just don't think isolating stuff like the kick is really fair. On balance, it's a fun sequence, despite many issues.

The egregious kick and the Louisville Slugger lightsaber were simply mere examples that adds to the overall comedy of the poorly staged scene overall. Sure all movies have bloopers, but the entire Sarlacc pit battle today just looks extremely campy, as does the Endor battle. Not as much as the Sarlacc pit battle though.

In all fairness, since that’s what you’re calling for, I think the scene in GB where the street in front of Dana’s apartment building rips up and the GB fall in, is extremely campy as well. That rocking piece of asphalt on the hydraulics makes me cringe every time. And when the GB overly embellish their fall.

In all fairness, GL cut the earlier scene where Captain Kirk ordered Luke to set his lightsaber to "stun"...

 

[Wor-Gar]

I think there's a difference between a blooper and a poorly staged moment.

I usually think of Bloopers as accidents that no one catches until its too late -- like the stormtrooper bumping his head on the door in ANH. Or maybe "movie magic" that fails in some way -- like the reflection of the snake on the glass in Raiders.

I think that's different than a bad shot like Luke's kick. Or poorly shot mechanics of the skiff shifting its weight from being hit by a laser bolt. Clearly they just didn't have time to do it again, Lucas watching his budget and all.

I mean, we don't say that lower budget movies suffer from more bloopers. Then again, maybe I'm being too strict on my blooperage.