Star Wars: The Last Jedi (SPOILERS)

[EdSolo]

Didn't the voice actor for Ackbar die not too long ago?  I wonder if that was part of the reason since I don't think he had any dialogue in this one.

[Matt_Fury]

I still don't know why they felt like they needed to kill Ackbar instead of him just not being there (e.g. already escaped and went someplace else).  His involvement in the ST was minor and his death wasn't really emotionally impactful.  I'm not sure if its part of the whole plan to refresh Star Wars and eliminate any OT characters still left.

Didn't the voice actor that played Ackbar pass away around the time TFA came out?  Might have had something to do with it.  Also, the rebellion truly starting over with just Leia and a handful of survivors was a major plot point of the movie.

[Nicklab]

I still don't know why they felt like they needed to kill Ackbar instead of him just not being there (e.g. already escaped and went someplace else).  His involvement in the ST was minor and his death wasn't really emotionally impactful.  I'm not sure if its part of the whole plan to refresh Star Wars and eliminate any OT characters still left.

I think losing Ackbar was a strategic decision.  And yes, the voice actor for Ackbar did pass away earlier this year.  However, I think voice actor Tom Kane stepped in to perform what dialogue there was.

But from a story standpoint, I think the loss of Ackbar factors into Poe ascending to a Resistance leadership post.  The attack on the bridge of the Raddus leads to the loss of Ackbar and Leia being incapacitated.  They appear to be two of the most senior Resistance leaders that are still with the convoy escaping D'Qar.  Other elements may have escaped (Statura?).  But they're the ones that Poe has personal history with, and before she's hospitalized Leia demotes Poe and brings Holdo into the fold.

Holdo has her own people.  She has concerns about Poe since his actions during the attack on the Fulminatrix helped contribute to the loss of their bomber forces.  So Holdo keeps her own counsel and gets the convey headed towards Crait, and eventually sacrifices herself and the Raddus to give the rest of the Resistance time to escape to Crait.

IMHO, almost ALL of how this plays out is building up to Poe becoming a leader within the Resistance, and not just some hot-headed fighter pilot.  The loss of Ackbar, Leia being incapacitated and Holdo's sacrifice are about creating a vacuum of leadership and showing an example of how a Resistance/Rebel commander needs to lead their forces.

[Scockery]

Poe's got a lot of troubles, because there's just about no one left to command. No fleet. No base.

The next movie will be like Ocean's 14 because that's the number of Resistance members left.

Their distress calls will be answered...by the Yuuzhan Vong.

[P-Siddy]

Their distress calls will be answered...by the Yuuzhan Vong.

They made it sound like there's still pockets of Resistance left on other bases (cells?).  But the opening crawl makes it sound like Leia's group is all that's left.

[Jesse James]

Putting out a call for friends didn’t get a lot of replies but I feel like Luke’s status as a legend and him coming back to save the remainder may bring out some of the people who let it go to voicemail.

I was kinda hoping some Wookiee or Mon Cala army would show up and help or something.

[GrandMoffNick]

As one of the apparent 12 people who loves the Yuuzhan Vong, please let that happen. The meltdown of the internet would be worth it.

[Jesse James]

I don’t think Disney has the rights to Star Trek yet, or it’d be possible I suppose.

(Sorry Nick, I couldn’t resist a Vong Troll. )

[GrandMoffNick]

Saw it for 2nd time finally today. Definitely a good movie. The few parts I don't like still stick out though.

Does anybody know what the street date on the Star Wars packaged poop is?

[P-Siddy]

Does anybody know what the street date on the Star Wars packaged poop is?

May 25, 2018?  I kid.

[Brian]

We've seen it three times so far and heading again this week, still really liking it. I keep thinking now during the Rey/Kylo vs. Praetorians fight, I sort of wish that when the one guard snaps his staff in two and starts swinging them moving towards Rey, that she would pull out her blaster and shoot him, Indiana Jones style. Great fight though. I still get chills when the Falcon shows up and draws off the TIEs, and the soundtrack brings back the A New Hope cues from the Escape from the Death Star/dog fight with TIEs track, so great.

[Darby]

I keep thinking now during the Rey/Kylo vs. Praetorians fight, I sort of wish that when the one guard snaps his staff in two and starts swinging them moving towards Rey, that she would pull out her blaster and shoot him, Indiana Jones style.

I would have bounced off the ceiling at this.

The Holdo sacrifice scene is one of the best moments in SW. I think we're picturing Ackbar or Lando or someone else in that spot because we wanted it to mean more, to us and because the story so far hasn't served those characters. I think Wedge also would have been a great choice in this role, but not sure where Denis Lawson is anymore on SW and that wasn't Rian Johnson's interest.

He wanted to tell a story that sidelined Leia in favor of giving Poe an arc about learning leadership skills. The movie wasn't big enough to explore all the possibilities in the arc - is Holdo good? Bad? Neutral? Poe's reckless behavior both with the bombers, participating in the Canto Bight diversion and the mutiny all contribute to getting A LOT of people killed. Sure, he learns something (listen to your leaders) but at what cost? And what weight does he carry, knowing that cost? We don't see it.

[McMetal]

I finally saw it for the second time yesterday with my kids, we all had a blast. That's sort of my bottom line ultimately, I enjoyed the movie a lot, despite its flaws which I'm not too fixated on at this point. Nothing stood out to me as much better, but some of the lamer stuff was less cringeworthy the second time around. Porgs, one liners etc. (Super Leia was still painful though)

Caught a few neat things I hadn't noticed before, one of the guards getting shredded by something Kylo throws him into, Lysa Arryn's cameo, the books on the Falcon, etc.

I still think one of the best things is coming out of this movie having no idea what they might end up doing in the last one. I'm legitimately curious to see.

[Nicklab]

I finally saw it for the second time yesterday with my kids, we all had a blast...

Lysa Arryn's cameo...

Did you notice the other Game of Thrones alumni, too?

Captain Canady, aka Shagga of the Storm Crows, and Dagmer Cleftjaw of the Ironborn as the First Order Security Bureau officer.

[McMetal]

I recognized the actor who played Canady but cannot place his face from GoT. Did not catch the second guy...cool!