Allo, allo, allo! After months of us covering every single Star Wars film we are finally there! Please leave all your feedback for the final instalment in the Skywalker Saga! Braden and I will be recording the show on Wednesday.
Ahoy!
Ahoy:
Finally we come to the end, but we need to briefly revisit Return of the Jedi . In that movie my favorite scene is where Luke finally takes his light saber and viciously attacks Vader, finally overwhelming his father and cutting off Vaderās hand, to reveal Vaderās own mechanical hand. This is the climax of not just that movie but the whole original trilogy.
That entire scene, starting with the Emperor in the chair tempting Luke, all the way through to when Vader turns face and saves his son, is the culmination of the (original) Star Wars story. On the whole, itās among the best done parts of the original trilogy.
This then comes back to The Rise of Skywalker. In the climax of this latest SW movie Rey confronts her grandfather. While grander in visual scale than Luke confronting Vader, this later confrontation lacks the emotional impact. This has nothing to do with Rey as a character or Daisy Ridley as an actor. Rather, the ending feels a bit too contrived, as if the writers felt their climax had to outdo the original (RotJ) climax scene.
And that is my feeling about the movie on the whole. ( I feel the movie has been overly-trashed by some - there are many good parts of this movie.) The Rise of Skywalker feels too crammed, too forced.
Kudos to Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. They are the best actors in the entire franchise (as far as main characters), far better than Mark Hamill and Carrie Fischer (though those two are my sentimental favorites.)
The final scene of Rey burying the sabers of Luke and Leia was touching, an acknowledgement of reality.
Keep up the good work at upNXT.
Ahoy!
picjapan
Imran from Huddersfield
A complete hot mess of a film that spends so long trying to disown The Last Jedi that it forgets to be an actual good film itself, and instead becomes a two hour long fetch quest. There are some nice moments - the Rey and Ben confrontation looks good, and all the ships flying in at the end is pretty cool - even if it is a scene straight out of Joss Whedonās āSerenityā, but ultimately this was just one huge letdown.
As a big fan of the Last Jedi it made me wish Johnson had directed this one too as I think weād have ended up with something coherent and stayed true to his idea that you donāt have to be āspecialā to have the force.
Question: If you can go back in time and pick one director who realistically could have done all 3 films (doesnāt have to be Abrams or Johnson) who do you pick?.. And are either of you fans of Firefly /Serenity?
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This new Star Wars trilogy is a tragedy, and the plot makes no sense in TROS, it just wasnāt built up at all from the previous movies and is completely disconnected. And this new trilogy (specially TLJ and TROS) totally nullify everything story wise before it. To put it short Space Balls had more respect for Star Wars than Disney, and JJ makes Michael Bay look like Steven Spielberg. So as a long time Star Wars fan i will just pretend the new trilogy never existed and stick with the first 1-6 movies and Rouge One.
In the end Palatine wins,he destroys the Skywalker and Solo family then his family steal the Skywalker name.
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Adam from Kitchener
Sorry, I know this is longā¦
Growing up, I never understood Star Wars fans who disowned and hated the prequel trilogy, vowing to never watch them. That was until the sequel trilogy. I understand why those fans feel that way. The sequel trilogy does nothing for me. Maybe it is because the prequels were the first Star Wars movies that I saw in theatres but I will always watch them over the sequels. I would not have gone to see this movie in theaters if my brother and sister didnāt drag me to it and paid for my ticket.
I went into the movie with an open mind prepared to give it another chance but within minutes it reminded me why I hated the story. I think my biggest problem with The Rise of Skywalker is the Palpatine character. In the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars, the B-storyline was Palpatineās incredibly patient plan where he brilliantly manipulating everyone from the Jedi, Republic, Separatists, and his apprentices to rise from Senator to Chancellor to Emperor. Palpatine is obsessed with absolute and unlimited power In the opening scene, Palpatine tells Kylo to kill Rey, then fast forward to the filmās climax and Palpatine wants to sacrifice himself for Rey. It just doesnāt make sense. I donāt buy that Palpatine would ever willingly give up his power. Also, the rule of two refers to their only being two sith at once, a master, and an apprentice. Why Palpatine says it when referring to Kylo and Rey really doesnāt make sense.
If there are some positives I can say about The Rise of Skywalker, it is visually striking, the score is strong and the sound work is great. The return of Billy Dee was done perfectly. It was also great to see Wedge and the Ghost in the final battle scene. Iām still surprised that they were able to keep the Han Solo cameo secret.
There are also some silly things with The Rise of Skywalker
What did Finn want to tell Rey?.
Finn is shocked to see a flying stormtrooper. Should the former stormtrooper be that surprised? In Star Wars mythology, they have had similar variations of this for around 30 years. Rocket Troopers were seen in Star Wars Rebels S03E13, which took place in the years leading up to a New Hope. That episode aired Jan. 7, 2017, almost two full years before the release of The Rise of Skywalker. If there is a major difference between what was seen in ROS, Iāll take the L. It might be small but I think it shows the lack of oversight at Disney between the TV and movies. For a bunch of fans born after Revenge of the Sith, those TV shows were a lot of fansā entry points into Star Wars. It would be nice if Star Wars rewarded its most dedicated fans the same way the Marvel does for its fanbase.
The whole sequel trilogy was poorly planned. It is amazing that Disney invested $4B to buy the IP and invested several hundreds of millions more into developing the sequel trilogy and had such little planning. Itās like their only plan was to distance themselves from George Lucas as much as possible. Did they really think that JJ Abramās was the answer? It always felt that JJās lone plan was to sell nostalgic memories and nothing else. They had the perfect Star Wars version of Kevin Fiege in-house with Dave Filoni but it feels like they didnāt want anything to do with a George Lucas protege.
I really donāt know what Disney does next with the movie wing of Star Wars. The sequel trilogy produced diminishing returns at the box office, with each movie earning less than the previous movie.
I think The Ringerās Chris Ryan said it best when he said that JJ has made good movies but never a great one. While his movies have made a lot of money, he hasnāt made anything great. Itās also worth noting, the box offices delined for each movie in the sequel trilogy. Iām really curious to see what JJ Abramsās next career move will be. The movies he has directed are mixed critically and among fans, from Star Wars to Star Trek and Mission Impossible. He seems happy to be a producer. He has a lot of projects where he is listed as a producer but nothing as a director. Iāll be interested to see if he directs again and what he ends up doing.
If you guys want to see Star Wars done right, watch the final four episodes of the Clone Wars. They are incredible. That whole series is great and helps add to the prequel trilogy and only makes the whole mythology better. It will also improve your watching of The Mandolorian when they introduce certain characters in the second season. If you ever do more Star Wars reviews, I highly recommend you do that series.
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You made it, brothers!
We finally get to the film that ended my Disney Star Wars Boycott, "The Rise Of Skywalker ". We finally got the return of Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, and his scenes were delightful. Everything else? Not so much. This film looks pretty, but it suffers from the same sense of schizophrenia thatās plagued most of the new trilogy.
Ridley & Driver do their best with what theyāve been given, but in retrospect I wouldāve preferred a space buddy film focused on Finn & Poe taking down the Empire 2.0 with the help of a cynical yet remorseful Luke.
I give TROS (and the new trilogy as a whole) 6 āThank You Hamill chantsā out of 10! Time to get started on ALL the Star Trek flicks, boys! 
#TheEmpireStrikesBlack 
Gary from Texas
I posted a lot in the original Rise of Skywalker thread when the movie came out in December and donāt want to redo all the pros/cons of the movie. In certain posts I both criticized the movie but also defended some of the plot that it isnāt as dismissive of Last Jedi as some people seem to think.
But it is the only Star Wars film Iāve only seen once and that should speak for itself as a review of the movie from a massive Star Wars fan. I still donāt think it was worse than the prequels though. But it was a disappointment after both Force Awakens and Last Jedi were so good (and for different reasons).
Fortunately Star Wars lives on. The Mandalorian was excellent. The Jedi Fallen Order video game was fantastic. The comic books have been good. Clone Wars finished strong. The expanded universe of Star Wars has always been where itās best content came from.
So Iām still interested in where Star Wars is going although I am glad there will be a break before another set of movies for them to figure out how to hopefully do something slightly different.
Hey Adam! Love the feedback. This will be a bit too long for read out on the show. If you want to post an abridged version hitting your main points we will absolutely read it out!!
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( the chosen one gimmick is at the end for this one )
Hello there !!
Just for old time sakes ā¦ Davie plz Insert some chewie impersonation here !! One last beat
Honestly Iām a shitty mark ā¦ like a real one
This movie was fantastic, the action move so fast , I never wanted the movie to end !
I had goosebumps when all the Jedi helped Rey , since Star Wars rebels is my favourite Star Wars product ever , hearing Freddy prince junior as kanan and Ashley Eckstein as ashsoka was just lit af !
Iām
Sorry upnexters but for me Star Wars is like takeover , every time I started a Star Wars movie in theather Iām always saying to my friend ā¦ they never gonna top the last movie , and they always do !! Episode 2 is my Cole dream parking lot Match bay bay !
Iām high on mando 2 knowing all the cast for it ā¦ no spoilers but they annonced Ashoka and some more clone wars character ā¦ Iām
High like shirai high af .
Like I said on the first Mando review
I still want yoda to Inpregnant my wife ( you will review Mando 2 right ? )
Everything was said up in the comments so Iāll end my feedback with one thing Iām the chosen one ā¦ itās wasnāt anakin
R1
9
3
8
7
1
Solo
6
5
4
2
Everything was said up in the comments so Iāll end my feedback with one thing Iām the chosen one ā¦ itās wasnāt anakin
Be safe and may the force be with you
Like I said on the first Mando review
I still want yoda to Inpregnant my wife
Ahoy
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Really enjoyed watching this in the cinema. A great experience.
It may be my least favourite of the new trilogy, but that doesnāt mean I enjoyed it any less.
What this film did do, is show us that they didnāt have a plan for all 3 films to flow and fit together. Why didnāt they do this, those fucking idiots. This is Star Wars, not some shitty Fast and Furious film, which you just churn out after taking a bunch of drugs and playing Grand Theft Auto to get ideas of how cars can fly.
Loved:
- Kylo Ren using a blaster like his daddy, running and shooting backwards is cool
- Babu Frik - best bit of the film, hey heyyyyyy
- Han and Kylo scene with the waves crashing
- Po and Zorii chemistry, even though she never takes her helmet off
- Lando appearing, popped me huge in the cinema
Didnāt Love:
- Rey is a Palpatine? Allude to it better you pricks
- Episode 9 kind of makes 7 and 8 irrelevant
- Palpatine gets killed whilst sitting downā¦bitch, Snoke got killed sitting down. Palpatine is the final mega boss. He should be flying round and shit shooting lightning out of his eyes and cackling
Was it amazing? No.
Did I have great fun watching it with Paps and Paris, at a big cinema, in comfy seats with a shit load of snacks? Fuck yes I did, so Iām not gong to be a prick online about it.
Adam from Kitchener,
Hi Guys, hopefully, this shorter version fits better into the show.
Until the sequel trilogy, I never understood why some Star Wars fans disliked the prequels. After the sequels I get it, some of these movies just arent for everyone and the version of Star Wars that they like.
I went in open-minded to ROS, but the Palpatine character just ruined it for me. Palpatine was a brilliant planner and master manipulator, who rose from Senator to Chancellor to Galatic Emperor. I donāt buy that he would ever give up power, ever. He was obsessed with absolute and unlimited power.
The film starts with Palpatine asking Kylo to kill Rey but fast forward to the end and Palpatine wants to sacrifice himself for Rey. How does this make any sense?
Just to point out some positives, visually itās stunning, the score and sound work is excellent. The return of Han and Lando were executed perfectly. Nice fan service with Wedge and the Ghost featured in the final battle.
What did Finn want to tell Rey? I donāt think he ever told her anything
This might be nitpicking but weāve seen rocket troopers, which are fairly similar to flying stormtroopers. Should the former stormtrooper Finn been so surprised to see them?
Where does Star Wars go from here with the movies? What is JJās next move?
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Iām not a Star Wars maniac, I just love sci fi popcorn movies and that was a good one. I really enjoyed it.
The three main characters however, I think my blue pen has more charisma. No background, nothing to make us love them.
Johnny Depp took a bland disney character and turned it into (whether you like him or not) an iconic version of Jack Sparrow. The actress playing Rey should have done something like that. I think she is completely transparent and she could have been badass.
Wow this is the most unique ranking Iāve ever seen. Itās interesting to see what different generations of fans seem to like.
Jesse from the 6
This movie was good for about eleven seconds. Then the crawl said, āTHE DEAD SPEAKā and I was done. TROS is the worst Star Wars movie ever. (Not including the Xmas special.)
The acting, fight scenes, and dialogue in Episode IX were better than the prequels. But as bad as some of the prequels were, they didnāt insult my intelligence. They were poorly executed, but they werenāt lazy. Episode IX was lazy storytelling. It offended me and told me that I basically wasted my time watching episodes VII & VIII, but also, in a way, the original trilogy. The whole point of the first trilogy was to kill the emperor. Well guess what, he can just resurrect himself whenever he wants lalalalalala fuck you, give us your money.
I want to see this film ret-conned out of existence. Except for Babu Frik of course. That dude is lit.
Take Care
Chris Thunder from Down Under, & hopefully Iām not too late for feedback this time.
I searched back on the Post Forum to find my initial thoughts on Episode IX opening nightā¦
To be honest I avoided all trailers, posters, & preview peices before I walked into the theater at 8:20pm last night (local time).
Iām still trying to process everything I seen, some good, some bad, some just plain WTF. I remember leaving the theater feeling not blow away like I did after āEpisode VII - The Force Awakensā or even feeling dejected like I did after āEpisode VIII - The Last Jediā.
Overall it felt like these were J.J. Abrams ideas for āVIII & IXā cramped into just Episode IX.
In closing nothing will ever live up to the Original trilogy and almost 20 years later the Prequel trilogy is viewed upon more favorably, who knows how the sequels will age only time will tell
Rating:
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise Of Skywalker
1/2 (out of 5)
Almost six months since and I still think the overall sequels trilogy is a jumbled mess. Itās like a long road trip where seven knows where itās going, eight tries takes a short cut, and nine is lost doubles back and picks up an old friend along the way.
Honestly if hintās of the emperor were planted in seven & eight I might have taken the return more serious then the cinema having a collective āW.T.Fā to the opening crawl.
The idea of Rey being a nobody and rising to greatness is a great start, however sheās the long lost granddaughter on the emperor, and her parents were killed by the emperor. And at the end of the movie she calls herself a Skywalker?
Is it a fun movie to watch and turn my mind off, yes. Is it the comprehensive conclusion to a trilogy and 9-part epic space opera that Disney marketed it to be, no.
The sequels ultimately will lack the one vision throughout the entire project.
Rankings:
- (V) The Empire Strikes Back
- (VI) Return Of The Jedi
- (IV) A New Hope
- (VII) The Force Awakens
- (III) Revenge Of The Sith
- (II) Attack Of The Clones
- (I) The Phantom Menace
- (IX) The Rise Of Skywalker
- (VIII) The Last Jedi
Well ā Iāve already listened to the podcast, but have to write something here in my complete solidarity with Adam and Jesse.
This is BY FAR the worst Star Wars movie ever (the only even close competition comes from Attack of the Clones).
As has been said above, this movie is a complete insult to anyoneās intelligence if they have care about logic and continuity, or have seen any other Star Wars film.
As Adam says, the plot makes absolutely NO sense when it comes to Palpatineās āmotivesā ā and I wonāt even get into the rest.
I went in hoping to love it ā and every 5 minutes I wanted to walk out in disgust.
In a 2+ hour movie, there were about 2 scenes with any emotional depth or nuance. I will never, ever watch this film again ā because it turns Star Wars from a good memory, to a negative one. Shame on them.