STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

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BobaMike
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#106 Post by BobaMike »

Another factor for the toy sales is that there aren't any new characters that are any good! (or they all get killed off). Its not like boys are clamoring for a "Rose" action figure to recreate the exciting casino scenes. Or a Leia they can float around in the air.

My son did ask for the big hasbro Kylo Ren TIE fighter for Christmas. It's pretty cool.

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AndyDursin
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#107 Post by AndyDursin »

BobaMike wrote: Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:01 pmIts not like boys are clamoring for a "Rose" action figure to recreate the exciting casino scenes. Or a Leia they can float around in the air.
Funny I thought kids were just going to go crazy for this! :lol:

Image

BobaMike
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#108 Post by BobaMike »

well, the action figures do have voice chips, so you could enjoy the cool stuttering he does!

mkaroly
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#109 Post by mkaroly »

Rather than interrupt MJ's Marvel Universe reviews in the recently seen movies thread, I will post my thoughts about SW here. I am very late to the party; I borrowed the DVD from someone. I don't remember what everyone else said, so I imagine I am going to echo a lot of what has already been written in this thread. To start, I did not think the move as a whole was as unwatchable as some have made it out to be. But ultimately I feel the film is very poorly written conceived, and executed. Inspired by MJ's way of handling the Marvel reviews, to wit...

1. Luke Skywalker is not a dark character. I don't know why post-modernism wants to make all these heroes of yesteryear so dark (Superman comes to mind), but it makes no sense to me with his character arc from Episodes 4-6. Poor decision making by the makers of this movie, and it is a shame.

2. Finn/Asian girl side story is horrendously bad and unnecessary. Talk about wasting two characters - so the Asian girl falls in love with Finn. For what...hero-worship? It's as if they had to do something with Finn and couldn't make a decision of how to work him into the main plot. Dumb.

3. Space Leia? Dumbest thing I have ever seen in an A-list science fiction movie. As one of my co-workers described it, Mary Poppins in space was brutally ridiculous (especially since Leia has never operated in the Force to such an extent in any previous film...so she too finally got in touch with her inner-self and just did it? See below...)

4. So explain to me how Snoke, supposedly an all-powerful master of the dark side of the Force, who was doing all sorts of mind control throughout the film, manages not to even notice a light saber, mere inches away from him, moving and rattling. Kylo Ren finally realizes his potential and blocks Snoke from hearing the light saber moving? Plants an image in his mind to distract him? I don't recognize this "Force" anymore.

5. Poe...lol...I forgot he was even in episode 7. Enough said.

There is more but what is the point? This leads to my two biggest complaints about the movie:

1. Episodes 7 and 8 are obviously nods and "reboots" of episodes 4-6. Fine...but I do find it offensive that rather than going off and just saying you are rebooting the franchise you try to sell me on episodes 7-8 (and I imagine 9, which will have plenty of ROTJ nods in it) as a continuation of the story. Bull****. This isn't a continuing story. It is a reboot (in my opinion)...and not even a good reboot at that.

2. The great thing for me about episodes 4-6 is that there was a process of learning, application, and growth in Luke's character. Luke goes from immature farm boy to mature, selfless Jedi. We see his journey, his mistakes/failures, his growth. He celebrate his heroism. Where is the growth and journey for Rey? Answer: she doesn't have one, for all she has to do is find the power within herself and believe, and she can do anything. She does get a few "lessons" from Luke, but compared to his journey in episodes 4-6, her "training" and then intuitive use of the Force is laughable, frustrating, and un-dramatic. Where is the drama in her character arc? Why should I care about her or anyone else in the movie? There is simply no character in the movie who has anything interesting about them for me to follow. This, to me, is the biggest mistake this reboot makes - it spouts Disney "believe in yourself" garbage that may appeal to a generation (in general) who has no direction and wants everything handed to it without having to do the work, but it says nothing to me as a 48 year old.

Terrible film - it is visually good, and John Williams' score is solid (very pleased with that). But those are the only two really positive things I can say about it. STAR WARS is dead to me at this point. People can have episodes 7-9 and all the side stories if they want - it's all good. I will pass and stick with Episode 6 as the end of the real STAR WARS story. For as much as I complained about the prequels and George Lucas, I will take those over any of this garbage we are being fed by Disney...though ATTACK OF THE CLONES is for me one of the worst SW films ever to be made.

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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#110 Post by AndyDursin »

Where is the drama in her character arc? Why should I care about her or anyone else in the movie? There is simply no character in the movie who has anything interesting about them for me to follow. This, to me, is the biggest mistake this reboot makes - it spouts Disney "believe in yourself" garbage that may appeal to a generation (in general) who has no direction and wants everything handed to it without having to do the work, but it says nothing to me as a 48 year old.
Brilliantly stated Michael! The supporters of this film will simply label you as some "old disgruntled fanboy" but the reality is that the storytelling is simply not there and Rey's dramatic arc isn't either. Believable character drama has been substituted with "everyone can be a Jedi!" and similar Disney messaging.

They clearly did not map out these installments in advance, plainly evident from this movie's glaring problems. In short, it sucks.

And I still can't understand why they did not kill Leia off when they had the perfect narrative spot to do so -- and the right replacement (Laura Dern) already established. Now they're painted into a corner with no easy way out. Just baffling.

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Paul MacLean
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#111 Post by Paul MacLean »

I'm usually not much for "fan critiques" but this guy really puts things in perspective. It's 17 minutes, but worth a look!


mkaroly
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#112 Post by mkaroly »

If people keep paying for it, Disney will keep putting product out. I wonder what the box office take would be if everyone who didn't like these installments did not go and see the next film in the theater and instead waited for it to come out on DVD (for rental), borrowed it form a fan who bought the DVD, or Disney streaming (when it comes out).

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Paul MacLean
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#113 Post by Paul MacLean »

mkaroly wrote: Sun Dec 02, 2018 4:43 pm If people keep paying for it, Disney will keep putting product out.
Based on Han Solo's box office -- it looks like people aren't going to keep paying! :lol:

mkaroly
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#114 Post by mkaroly »

Paul MacLean wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:06 pm
mkaroly wrote: Sun Dec 02, 2018 4:43 pm If people keep paying for it, Disney will keep putting product out.
Based on Han Solo's box office -- it looks like people aren't going to keep paying! :lol:
SOLO did make close to $400 million. However, since we don't have a STAR WARS movie coming out at the end of the month, maybe they did pick up what the general public was laying down. Lol...

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AndyDursin
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#115 Post by AndyDursin »

That number though is actually less than $400 million worldwide -- which in the grand scheme of things is positively disastrous given the material and Disney's expectations (and because of the massive budget SOLO carried, they must have lost money on the film).

The key here is looking at what these films did in comparison with their prior predecessor:

ROGUE ONE = $532 million (U.S.), $1.0 billion total worldwide
SOLO = $213 million (U.S.), $392 million total worldwide


I mean, that is a massive drop in the space of one film cycle for the "Star Wars Stories" which is undoubtedly why Disney is pumping the brakes on making more of those right now. They pulled the plug on whatever was coming next (Boba Fett, Obi-Wan, whatever) and are "re-evaluating" whether the fans want a Star Wars movie every year (they don't)

That's why THE LAST JEDI's performance has to be troubling also -- it wasn't a SOLO-styled swan dive, but the drop is telling there also:

THE FORCE AWAKENS = $936 million (U.S.), $2.0 billion worldwide
THE LAST JEDI = $620 million (U.S.), $1.3 billion worldwide


Sure, that's still a massive amount of money, but it's a sizable dropoff. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK didn't fall from STAR WARS the way THE LAST JEDI did. Is Disney ever going to see another STAR WARS movie sniff THE FORCE AWAKENS' numbers? I can't see it. Meanwhile, Disney can churn out AVENGERS-styled grosses for all kinds of Marvel characters like BLACK PANTHER -- but that doesn't seem to be the case with the Star Wars property. I mean, they were hoping (and probably expecting) that SOLO was going to start an entire franchise of its own...and it bombed big-time.

They have nobody to blame but themselves. They tried to turn a "once every 3 years" special event for audiences and fans into a yearly Marvel-like grind to expand Disney shareholders' pockets -- but the adult fans have spoken and basically rejected the menu Disney has given them. To say nothing of the quality of the films being less than special -- they're Disney Corporate products, like most of their pictures, and that carries both good and bad connotations.

Going forward, it'll be interesting to see what EPISODE IX does. No doubt it will open well and play better than SOLO -- and the 18 month hiatus between installments will be a help -- but have we already seen the ceiling for these pictures? You bet your asteroid, kid...

mkaroly
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#116 Post by mkaroly »

Good stuff! I personally have no desire to see SOLO and still have no desire to see ROGUE ONE. My good friends said SOLO was a decent movie, but that doesn't really make me want to see it. It is a film that I feel I can go for the rest of my life without seeing without worry that I am missing something.

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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#117 Post by esteban miranda »

mkaroly wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:51 pm ...My good friends said SOLO was a decent movie..., It is a film that I feel I can go for the rest of my life without seeing without worry that I am missing something.
That is absolutely true...of any movie.

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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#118 Post by AndyDursin »

mkaroly wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:51 pm Good stuff! I personally have no desire to see SOLO and still have no desire to see ROGUE ONE. My good friends said SOLO was a decent movie, but that doesn't really make me want to see it. It is a film that I feel I can go for the rest of my life without seeing without worry that I am missing something.
While there are "worse" movies, I honestly can't think of a more "disposable" movie I've ever seen than SOLO. It is completely pointless, needless and empty. Outside of the fact that it's downright ugly to look at, you get a group of bland young actors playing dress up in a story that fills in gaps nobody ever cared about filling in. Stylistically and otherwise, it doesn't "feel" like Star Wars, and the score is lousy, from a composer I've liked at times in the past.

Joanne made me turn it off after 45 minutes (and she loves Star Wars) once we got to the train sequence, which was like one of a thousand CGI "action scenes" that fill all of these films, Marvel movies, etc. You could put one in a different movie and it wouldn't make any difference. I ended up fast-forwarding through the rest of it later on.

It's a movie that simply never should have been made, and gives you no good reason why it had to be.

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Paul MacLean
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Re: STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

#119 Post by Paul MacLean »

I call baloney on this -- but it's a fun rumor!


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