Star Wars: Episode IX - THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

[Prime Clone]

The Skywalkers might not have got their due, but at least the Solos did:

 

[DiFabio]

This would be vying for the ROTS spot if anything.

ROTS easily takes this, no question.

Palpatine is better. The story is better. The action is better. It has way more iconic scenes.

Oh and the ending is better.

Obi-Wan, Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, baby Luke > Rey, BB-8 and some random old chick

Both trilogies suck though.

 

[JAWS]

Man I couldn't agree more. Luke simply procreating wouldn't have been a great accomplishment but converting Palpatine's heir? That's badass. Plus I love that the first thing Palpatine did to Anakin when he converted him was stripping him of his family name. Luke and Leia inspired Rey to do the opposite. And based on ROTS when someone gets a name change they are then instructed to "Rise" so for me the title is perfect.

Well this deserves a

 

[Khev]

 

[Prime Clone]

IMO RJ left JJ with nothing..

I agree Snoke's premature demise was a problem, but why not just run with Kylo as the Supreme Leader? That would have made his inevitable redemption all the more impressive, and it would still be the "Skywalker Saga".

He could still have hatched some major scheme that was "the biggest threat to the galaxy yet". Maybe even his own "Death Star Destroyers" (thanks ajp!)

 

[ajp4mgs]

My theory is that Anakin brought balance to the force but it was just temporary. Palps says in Rise that he has died already, so he was in fact killed, so when Anakin threw him into the Death Star and killed him, it ultimately left Luke and Leia as the balanced, light side of the force (male/female twins). When Rey is meditating at the end of Rise and Anakin tells her to bring back the balance, ?as [he] did? - she does this by finally(?) destroying the Sith and ultimately leaving Ben and her as the balanced, light side of a force dyad, if only for a moment. My $.02.

But if Palpatine's essence (or spirit, or whatever the **** it is) just simply got transferred (somehow), then he didn't really die. Only *one* of his vessels did. And not only did Palpatine not die when Anakin had his redemptive moment in ROTJ, the Sith were never dealt with since all of those "Sith Eternal" continued to live and work on Exogol. There was no real balance since Palpatine was still scheming, and his Sith loyalists were still working. The balance was just an illusion. If you accept TROS, then the balance only came when Palpatine and the Sith Eternal were destroyed by Rey.

That's the part when he ignores his own newly redeemed grandson who's lying in a pit nearby. Even Anakin abandons the Skywalkers in favour of a Palpatine!

 

[Wor-Gar]

Definitely a fair criticism. I do remember my original teaser trailer reaction where I said that I'm a pretty easy sell for the finale since all they really have to do is give me likable characters for 90 minutes and then end with an awesome space battle and I'll be happy. Not that that would be *necessary* mind you, only that it would be grasping the lowest hanging fruit. The fact that I enjoyed TROS so much when the space battle was more wacky than exciting is just another credit to its success IMO.

Of course I have RO to thank for already providing the most epic modern space battle I could have asked for so that definitely took some of the pressure off of TROS.

I think TROS is most comparable to ROTS... both have lots of problems but also lots of good stuff. They are also both the best of their respective trilogies... and both have an ending finale without a rousing final space battle (at least ROTS opened with one sort of). Plus, both require a certain degree of "cutting them some slack" -- you have to turn your brain off for TROS and your 'cringe meter' off for ROTS.

But yes, topping ROs finale will be a real test for any future space movie, let alone a Star Wars movie. I mean RO gives you everything: a massive space battle, an aerial dogfight battle over Scariff, a land battle on the beaches, and an internal fight inside the Empire's base. Every level is covered. The only thing missing was a simultaneous lightsaber fight somewhere.... but they gave Vader his best attack ever instead.

 

[JAWS]

ROTS easily takes this, no question.

Palpatine is better. The story is better. The action is better. It has way more iconic scenes.

Oh and the ending is better.

Obi-Wan, Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, baby Luke > Rey, BB-8 and some random old chick

If ROTS had quality action and made Anakin's turn a bit more believable and more bad ass (He only kills little kids and unarmed aliens before getting beat in the only fair fight) then I would be willing to give ROTS a win over TROS..

Kylo vs Rey in the waves of Endor is much better than Obi vs Vader in the lava on Mustafar IMO

Actually I don't think any of the action in ROTS is all that good.. I mean Lizards chasing GG

If the opening 20 min could have had a real space battle and not focus on Vulture droids and had the acting been better when rescuing Palps then that could have been a stand out. As is the action in ROTS is on par with AOTC.

TPM rules the PT in terms of Action set pieces IMO.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

The Skywalkers might not have got their due, but at least the Solos did:

Nice of him to honor his father after he stabbed him with a lightsaber and threw him down a shaft.

 

[JAWS]

I agree Snoke's premature demise was a problem, but why not just run with Kylo as the Supreme Leader? That would have made his inevitable redemption all the more impressive, and it would still be the "Skywalker Saga".

He could still have hatched some major scheme that was "the biggest threat to the galaxy yet". Maybe even his own "Death Star Destroyers" (thanks ajp!)

But then who to fight to prove his redemption?? I mean you have the two greatest Jedi in the galaxy vs who?? General Hux

I am not a writer so maybe there could have been a way.. IDK.. Dramatically I don't see how it could work.

 

[surforia]

But if Palpatine's essence (or spirit, or whatever the **** it is) just simply got transferred (somehow), then he didn't really die. Only *one* of his vessels did. And not only did Palpatine not die when Anakin had his redemptive moment in ROTJ, the Sith were never dealt with since all of those "Sith Eternal" continued to live and work on Exogol. There was no real balance since Palpatine was still scheming, and his Sith loyalists were still working. The balance was just an illusion. If you accept TROS, then the balance only came when Palpatine and the Sith Eternal were destroyed by Rey.

We don?t know how Palps came back. He may have had nothing to do with it - he could have been brought back years later by Sith cultists.

 

[Khev]

But yes, topping ROs finale will be a real test for any future space movie, let alone a Star Wars movie. I mean RO gives you everything: a massive space battle, an aerial dogfight battle over Scariff, a land battle on the beaches, and an internal fight inside the Empire's base. Every level is covered. The only thing missing was a simultaneous lightsaber fight somewhere.... but they gave Vader his best attack ever instead.

If ROTS had quality action and made Anakin's turn a bit more believable and more bad ass (He only kills little kids and unarmed aliens before getting beat in the only fair fight) then I would be willing to give ROTS a win over TROS..

Kylo vs Rey in the waves of Endor is much better than Obi vs Vader in the lava on Mustafar IMO

Actually I don't think any of the action in ROTS is all that good.. I mean Lizards chasing GG

If the opening 20 min could have had a real space battle and not focus on Vulture droids and had the acting been better when rescuing Palps then that could have been a stand out. As is the action in ROTS is on par with AOTC.

TPM rules the PT in terms of Action set pieces IMO.

Obviously nothing can save the cringe dialogue and acting of the PT but I really do wish that George or someone could go back and redo all the CGI of those films. They need SE's much moreso than the OT ever did.

I was just watching some Battlefront 2 footage of ROTS Anakin running around Felucia and General Grievous slicing through clones on Geonosis and holy crap did those scenes look awesome. The low res visuals of AOTC/ROTS in particular are just *so* subpar now.

Maybe Obi-Wan's series can give us some properly epic CW flashbacks to Geonosis or something.

 

[Wor-Gar]

ROTS easily takes this, no question.

Palpatine is better. The story is better. The action is better. It has way more iconic scenes.

Oh and the ending is better.

Obi-Wan, Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, baby Luke > Rey, BB-8 and some random old chick

Both trilogies suck though.

See above.

But I can't say the impossible leaping, flipping, swinging and balancing on floating droids of the final lightsaber duel did anything for me. It just got preposterous. The cringe-worthy dialogue -- even generally good Palpatine -- is unbearable in many scenes on multiple viewings.

I will say that ROTS finally delivers the story we all wanted to see for the PT... while TROS delivered simply unnecessary story beats that add nothing new but did manage to mostly clean up a mess delivered by the middle installment.

So in a way, BOTH gave the majority of audiences what they wanted.

 

[DiFabio]

If ROTS had quality action and made Anakin's turn a bit more believable and more bad ass (He only kills little kids and unarmed aliens before getting beat in the only fair fight) then I would be willing to give ROTS a win over TROS..

Kylo vs Rey in the waves of Endor is much better than Obi vs Vader in the lava on Mustafar IMO

Actually I don't think any of the action in ROTS is all that good.. I mean Lizards chasing GG

If the opening 20 min could have had a real space battle and not focus on Vulture droids and had the acting been better when rescuing Palps then that could have been a stand out. As is the action in ROTS is on par with AOTC.

TPM rules the PT in terms of Action set pieces IMO.

TPM has the best action because most of it takes place in real locations that are a mix of practical of and special effects. By ROTS, everything from an office to a loving room was CGI.

But Rise of Skywalker is just nothing to me. It feels more like Harry Potter than Star Wars with all the magic and Force healing. That duel? It’s nothing special. Not one scene stood out to me as memorable. I HATE the Last Jedi, but I can name atleast three scenes that stood out to me, just for how ridiculous they were. The wave lightsaber battle did nothing new. I mean ****, atleast I got to see a human being get his limbs chopped off and get burned alive. All Rey and Kylo did was jump around while Finn was screaming. Then the CGI Leia distraction where she just kills herself so Rey can stab Kylo . . . only to heal him back up? It’s ****ing stupid and all feels like a waste of time. I’ll take all those flashy Prequel fights over the wave duel and Rey deflecting Palpatine’s electricity any day.


And I like Grievous. He had more character and presence as a secondary villain than Hux and whoever that officer dude was that took over. The Utapau sequence is better than the speeder/they fly now scene, even with the annoying lizard yelping. Again, atleast I got to see a Cyborg melt from the inside. I’ll take that over the dumb banter Rey, Poe and Finn have when they fall through the quicksand. They’re all annoying.

And while Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Jango Fett and General Grievous all could have been way more, they did a helluva lot more than the Knights of Ren.

 

[ajp4mgs]

But then who to fight to prove his redemption?? I mean you have the two greatest Jedi in the galaxy vs who?? General Hux

I am not a writer so maybe there could have been a way.. IDK.. Dramatically I don't see how it could work.

The majority of fighting could've still been between Rey and Kylo. She was the other side of the coin when Ben turned bad. If he had been on the brink of defeating/killing her (like what happened in TROS), his redemptive moment could've come the same way. Except that you could've brought Anakin and Luke into it in addition to Leia. Hayden still looks pretty much the same. Hamill was still a Force ghost. The Skywalker family could've ALL been the ones to spur Ben's redemption.

And since Hux had been set up as Kylo's rival, he could take control of the FO right from under Ben's grip. Then it's Ben (a Skywalker by blood) and Rey (an adopted Skywalker) and the Resistance taking out the FO in a giant space battle to bring peace to the galaxy.

It could've all been wrapped up without undoing the PT and ROTJ.

 

[Khev]

The majority of fighting could've still been between Rey and Kylo. She was the other side of the coin when Ben turned bad. If he had been on the brink of defeating/killing her (like what happened in TROS), his redemptive moment could've come the same way. Except that you could've brought Anakin and Luke into it in addition to Leia. Hayden still looks pretty much the same. Hamill was still a Force ghost. The Skywalker family could've ALL been the ones to spur Ben's redemption.

And since Hux had been set up as Kylo's rival, he could take control of the FO right from under Ben's grip. Then it's Ben (a Skywalker by blood) and Rey (an adopted Skywalker) and the Resistance taking out the FO in a giant space battle to bring peace to the galaxy.

It could've all been wrapped up without undoing the PT and ROTJ.

I'm very glad you shared this since it shows how there really was no chance of TROS satisfying everyone's head canon. *Hux* as the finale's big bad?? The finale of the entire Saga? Holy **** I would have absolutely hated that, lol.

But hey to each their own. I don't blame you for compartmentalizing away the ST if that's what you were hoping to see. God knows I've done my share of the same over the years, lol.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

I hope Disney redeems Luke Skywalker by casting Sabastian Stan in a film or show that takes place after ROTJ. A prime Luke using his abilities, dressed in black, being heroic and kicking ass. I never liked Luke in ANH and ESB, but I always saw potential in him to be a cool character in ROTJ.

 

[ajp4mgs]

I'm very glad you shared this since it shows how there really was no chance of TROS satisfying everyone's head canon. *Hux* as the finale's big bad?? The finale of the entire Saga? Holy **** I would have absolutely hated that, lol.

But hey to each their own. I don't blame you for compartmentalizing away the ST if that's what you were hoping to see. God knows I've done my share of the same over the years, lol.

It wouldn't be so much that Hux is the big bad at the end, it's that Kylo had turned the FO into something on the verge of being an Empire. The little ***** that Hux is wouldn't matter. It'd just be a way to get the power of the FO Kylo had built to be stronger facing off against the Resistance and new allies.

Kylo could still be the big bad for most of it. Then his redemption happens and Ben joins his family to clean up the mess he made.

Or, you could go with some random (meaning non-Skywalker) chick crossing two lightsabers to beat the most powerful bad guy ever. Either way works, I guess.

 

[Wor-Gar]

It seems like every time an ST trilogy sequel comes out there is an undue love fest for it.

If this had a 4th entry, I bet a clearer view would prevail in the rear-view mirror. Sometimes it feels like people are talking themselves into something being much greater than it is. Its been going on since ROTJ.

 

[DiFabio]

It seems like every time an ST trilogy sequel comes out there is an undue love fest for it.

If this had a 4th entry, I bet a clearer view would prevail in the rear-view mirror. Sometimes it feels like people are talking themselves into something being much greater than it is. Its been going on since ROTJ.

Of course.

Bright, shiny, new toy!