Podcast - Adam Savage Project
The Last Jedi SPOILERCAST – Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project – 12/20/17
In our final Still Untitled episode of the year, we present an extended spoiler-filled review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi! Adam, Norm, and Will jump right into the discussion after watching the film that morning, with Adam having seen it once, Norm twice, and Will three times. There’s so much talk about! Also, please help support us by filling out this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/testedpodcast Thanks, and see you in 2018!
Comments (44)
Video not available 😮
Why were you guys OK with their treatment of Luke? There was no need for Luke to use a Force Projection. He should have shown up in the flesh and the same shots could have used with Luke using a Force Cocoon instead. Would have been much more powerful and impactful to have him use his x-wing and be there.
Video not working properly.
Enjoy the holidays TESTED community and crew!
Someone laughed in my screening when the ship went to hyper speed and destroyed the First Order ship. It ruined the moment a little bit. I’ve heard of all kinds of great reactions occurring at that moment though.
I feel like the “Star Wars is made for kids argument” is particularly disingenuous, because of the fact that Rogue One, a PG-13 Star Wars movie, exists. I think the key to looking at Star Wars critically is to understand that the movies and games can exist in two tonal modes: Rogue One and Battlefront II are gritty reinterpretations and interpolations of the stories that adults grew up with; the “Nuverse” is the Disney-esque introduction for a new generation of fans. I hated 8 at first (not because of the core story which you spend most of the time discussing, and I don’t really have a problem with, but because of the many little goofy things that would not exist in Rogue One), but when I install that tonal switch in my mind it’s much more palatable. I didn’t have that switch at the right place going in, because I didn’t look at any trailers or spoilers. This may be why the audience reaction is so bad, because we were not prepared.
First let me say that this movie made me realize that the flagship Star Wars Movies are really just kids movies. My 7 year old loved it, especially the Porgs.
Secondly, I was really disappointed with it. Rogue One is a fine, fine movie made for grown ups, and that raised my expectations that Last Jedi would be better than the also disappointing Force Awakens.
Other than Poe, none of these great characters see any development during the film. Rey is the same person at the end that she is at the beginning. So is Kylo. She receives no training whatsoever, yet she is one of the greatest lightsaber warriors we’ve ever seen. Finn and Rose go on a journey that is completely worthless to the plot at large, and a total waste of time. The “showdown” with Finn and Phasma was terrible and felt injected for affect only. It was very, very poorly written with more wooden dialog than any of the much-derided prequels. The whole Snoke thing was just really bad, comically bad, and the majority of the comedy in this film was bad.
I really hate the character that they turned Luke Skywalker into. It has nothing to do with subverting my expectations of him, they fundamentally changed his character, essentially into Mark Hamill himself. The original Luke would never, even for a second, consider killing a child for the dark side within him. This is the man who saw the good in Darth Vader, for goodness sake! Luke was never give up, never stop trying, do whatever it takes to help your friends. Whether he came around at the end or not, I hated that treatment.
I’m really at a crossroads as a lifelong Star Wars fan. Rogue One was amazing. Rebels so far has been incredibly good. Why can they not have that great writing in the flagship films? I’m really no interested in the third one in this series, and especially in anything Rian Johnson had his hands on.
I disagree on the character development. We didn’t get to it yesterday, but all three of the protagonists fail and each of their characters grows because of that failure.
Rey fails to bring Luke back and fails to turn Kylo. But she finds peace with her origins and gains understanding of the Force. Remember, Luke didn’t have symposia on lightsaber tactics on Dagobah or a history of the Force class.
Poe’s plan to save the ship and his both mutiny fail, but he learns to be a good leader, instead of the impulsive warrior he was before.
Finn and Rose have a long meandering journey that ends up with them failing to turn off the tracking macguffin. But that journey serves two purposes, the minor one is that it introduced two new characters (Rose and Benecio del Toro’s thief). The big thing it does is cement Finn’s relationship with the Rebellion/humanity. In the beginning of the film, he’s ready to run again (just as he was in TFA). Know anyone else who kept threatening to run away in the original trilogy?
After the mission with Rose, Finn realizes that the Resistance is a cause worth sacrificing everything for, which is why Norm said Rose’s line at the end is the key line for the film. It encapsulates everything that star wars and the Jedi are about. Fighting to save what we love vs fighting against what we hate.
My only complaints about the film are that Rose really only exists to give Finn a non-Rey human to fixate on and the film is essentially all character development and very little plot.
I disagree when Adam talked about Yoda. He didn’t look right at all and it totally threw me out of the movie. The eyes are wrong, the lips are wrong….just really disappointing. I remember thinking, “That puppet looks like shit!”
Did you all catch the reference to the spoof Hardware Wars? It was fantastic, and I knew what it was from that very first instant.
http://uproxx.com/movies/star-wars-the-last-jedi-hardware-wars-rian-johnson/
Also, from a parent’s perspective, there is no way the Force Awakens should be considered a kids film unless the kids are MUCH older. There are some seriously dark themes that young children aren’t mature enough to be able to process in a healthy way.
Two-thirds of the film was ruined for me because Finn and Rose left the plot and the tension for a prequel-esque adventure. The rest of the movie was not tense for me because I felt the Resistance on the ship could leave at any time. I disagree that it felt like Battlestar Galactica because BSG does have a slo-mo chase scene in “33” which was incredibly intense. Only Poe and Billie Lourd’s character seemed to feel any real danger.
I loved this movie. The podcast barely scratches the surface of it.
I think Luke did the force projection for a couple of reasons. First, outside of the movie, it was nice surprise for the audience. The movie was about subverting expectations over and over again. Within the movie, I think Luke did it to protect Kylo. If he was there in person, he almost assuredly would be killed by Kylo an action Luke says would haunt Kylo forever. Perhaps there is still good left in Kylo, so why give him the opportunity to take another action that he might be able to come back from.
I always find the made for kids argument kind of odd when you look at the films. There is limb severing, body severing, torture and a journey of a guy from a precocious scamp to a child murderer and then burning alive, I kind of put it in the same pot as “it is just a popcorn movie…you are supposed to turn your brain off”.
I’d go out on a limb and say that X-Wing has been under water since he disappeared. I’m not sure if they ever gave an exact number…but I’d guess maybe 5-10 years? Either way, I’d bet any plane (or “space ship”) probably doesn’t work any longer. So, since he missed his flight on the Falcon, he had no way to get there.
Plus we then wouldn’t have had the Rey stepping into her power with the moving of the rocks…because he’d have had to do that to get in…which he wouldn’t have known about.
I like that Rei has no ‘famous family’ connection (Skywalker etc) as someone smarter then me pointed out; one of the things about Star Wars New Hope was that Luke was just a kid from nowhere who got caught up and decided to do the right thing. And doing the right thing meant a great adventure and becoming a hero. Anyone could be a hero if you stand, and are open to the Force. I think that is a great message and when Luke become Vada’s son (still best spoiler ever) it made it about destiny and not desire to stand up for what you think is right who ever you are. Rei has kind of given us that back and in a way more so Poe, and Fin turning his back on his stormtrooper upbringing.
I like that anyone can be a hero again.
Also the kids at the end have to be part of the first generation to be born totally under the First Orders rule. Not conquered and trying to survive. They have nothing to lose but their lives in a world that gives their lives no value.
https://nerdist.com/how-the-last-jedi-fixes-star-wars-sagas-biggest-mistake/ the place I heard it first 🙂 and totally agreed.
I really agree with Will. I feel like much of the movie is about desperation and trying whatever means necessary to accomplish goals. The entire movie is almost just about a single chase that allows the First Order to whittle down the Rebels. In the end the last of the Rebels fit in a single ship–the Millennium Falcon. For the most part there are severe consequences for all the mistakes. Poe especially led to many people dying not just on one occasion but 2 with DJ’s betrayal. But they learn from their mistakes when the protagonists get a handle on the panic they feel and start living up to their roles. I particularly enjoyed the passing of the baton at the end when Leia acknowledges his leadership before the tunnels. Excited to see if Poe becomes the next leader for the new generation of Rebels.
They could have definitely made it look better with CG. But there is charm and character in using a puppet for Yoda that calls back to the comfort of the original trilogy.
Would’ve definitely made sense to do this. But at the same time, Luke is an old man now. I think using his projection to fool everyone (except Leia) is the single moment in the entire movie that speaks to his power and control of the force.
I am a big fan of the film. A lot of people are complaining about Finn and Rose’s journey being irrelevant but I disagree. Their journey let us see the rebel’s influence to the rest of the galaxy. The film’s have been so focused on the ever dwindling band of jedis and rebels with talk of being “the spark”, but we never see who is being sparked! The children retelling the stories and legends and then also demonstrating some force powers expands the force and the rebel influence throughout the galaxy. Even if you squash the rebels, you’ll never stop the rebellion.
I watched The Last Jedi today, just in time to watch the podcast. It often takes a while for things to “gel” but my first reaction was, I liked it but I didn’t feel as emotional as with the previous episode, not sure why. I also find it’s visually stunning, the creatures are very well done and the locations… I was already impressed by them in Rogue One glad to see it’s carried on here.
And I was also cheering inwardly when I saw Yoda was a puppet, maybe it’s a generation thing but to me this is the real Yoda, not the CGI one. I really enjoyed that little moment with Luke when they chat, for a little while I felt 40 years younger 🙂
I’m guessing I’m a bit jaded, but many characters lack depth for me, I don’t find Kylo scary at all. But I love Finn and Rose, they feel human and they are doing what they can even when it’s not a good idea. Great actors.
One thing that not many people remark on, but was hinted at in the podcast: I LOVE that you see older people be really badass because that’s how things go, we don’t just stop being alive after the age of 30. I felt it even more in the first part, maybe because there were two kids that looked about 12 in the cinema and I felt this big nostalgia (in a good way) I was 9 when the first film came out, there has been a whole new generation since and the next generation is also following, I can relate to the characters who are my age and feel like they still have something to pass on. Which is exactly why I loved the end scene with the kid.
“hello, I’m holding for General Hux, Hux with and H”.
I loved the whole movie, even with all the cringy-ness. The Cruiser light speed attack on the Dreadnought was great, and (for once) the explosion in silence was a perfect sequence, and simply beautiful. And I was the guy in the theater to say “oh shit”.
I am going to go see it again tomorrow afternoon.
I personally didn’t care for chunks of the movie. I made the mistake of listening to the TFA Spoilercast shortly before which had a discussion about humor within the context of the movie and just shoehorned in so I noticed it in regards to the prequels. Plus I could not not see Laura Dern with purple hair on the bridge instead of Admiral Temporary Character.
I am glad people enjoyed it but I could do without the starwarsplaining that pretty much says that for as long as I have watched the films I just didn’t get them and that is why I didn’t like it.
This is right. Luke didn’t have a ship. He’d disassembled his X-Wing.
The metal door to his stone igloo is made from one of the wings.
(I think this is in the cross section book)
For the first half hour or so of the film, I was thinking “man, this General Hux just ain’t much of a villain”. And the Resistance felt more youthful and carefree than Preschoolers having a balloon party. I was thinking back to the pace and emotional impact of the original film (Episode IV), and couldn’t help but think of the trifecta of Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Was The Last Jedi sorely missing the acting chops of Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness, and James Earl Jones? And was it missing the same essential editing of Episode IV? But hearing you guys, I certainly want to see the film again and give the whole picture another chance. Thanks!
SPOILERS!
Rey’s plot is that she’s looking for someone to tell her where her place is in the universe. She’s been told that she’s just a kid on Jakku, and that there’s nothing special about her, but she doesn’t believe that inside. So she looks for other people who she thinks have found meaning to their lives to give her meaning.
To break out of this for a minute, this is like how people seek out successful people and try to find out how they got to where they are because they’re looking for a way to get from where they (asker) stand to where they (answerer) stand.
Back to Rey
What she looks for in the mirror is an answer to who her parents were and for answers to who she is, because she thinks that is the key to giving her life meaning. Her parents aren’t around, she knows she’s not nobody, she doesn’t see anything else that gives her meaning, so it must be this missing piece (her parents) that hold the key to her life’s meaning. And the Dark Side of the force can’t tell her that. It can only promise her things and power, it can’t actually give her life meaning which is what she’s looking for. So when she demands to see her parents, she sees a shady figure, but she sees through the lie and the only thing in the mirror is her. She just isn’t fooled by promises anymore.
It’s also important because the one thing on the island that Luke is afraid of is a mirror, so, very thematically important.
I’m one of the many who didn’t like this movie…but to preface I should say by itself it was fine but in terms of being part of the star wars universe it was a total miss. My memory of the movie isn’t so clear as I watched it on 12/14 at 7pm but here goes…
From the beginning it was too comical and not in the original star wars way…this was way too gimmicky. Making Luke turn into a coward was totally wrong and having him toss the lightsaber was an insult to his character which he himself agrees with(he hated what they did to his character). I hated him milking a sea cow and just about every decision they made for him. In episode 5 he was adamant about saving his friends and now he abandons them? Every man in the movie had a huge flaw(Luke is a coward, Finn is a coward, Poe is ignorant, DJ is a conman, Huxx is lame, Snoke is weak, Ren is conflicted and has issues) and I felt that there was a strong push towards making the women much stronger which came across just wrong and forced. Leia in space(mary poppins style) should not have been included and is my single most hated moment in all of star wars. I did not like that the first order lost just about every battle except when the rebels ran out of gas. Poe was able to blow up a dreadnaught with the equivalent of a jet ski and a bb gun. The rebels accomplished every mission without much issue and even ran into the dj problem which should have been huge but came out of it unscathed as well. Phasma and Snoke were glossed over as characters and were treated as nothing. I can not believe that Rey was able to go into a room with Snoke and Kylo and the red guards and came out of it and every other situation unscathed and superior in most of the situations. Knowing star wars I hate that Rey and Ren are stronger than Luke and in turn Vader…my issue is that going back through out all of star wars history back to the old republic Vader was the chosen one and supposedly the strongest jedi ever…and now for no reason they just continue to get stronger? That seems dumb and not reasonable. The last scene was also stupid. Anakin and Luke never had force abilities before they were trained. No jedi had the ability before training. It was way too many negative changes to what star wars is and ultimately was a swing and a miss as part of the star wars history. By itself its fine but it failed to follow the story and further the storyline in a cohesive way.
Very very surprised by this reaction to the film. I found it really cringey – the Porgs looking at Chewy, getting smashed against the Falcon windows….the jokes in Star Wars worked because it was self aware of the silliness – this seemed to make a point of making people who enjoy the films feel foolish for liking the aspects of the franchise they do. I wasn’t really okay with that as someone who supported the franchise in the darkest parts of its popularity.
Frankly, I was a bit upset at how they treated Star Wars fans and the legacy of Carrie and Mark’s portrayals of their characters. Leia should have been either killed in the attack, or the one to lead the Kamikaze. The conflict in Luke was really barely addressed in any meaningful way. His moment with Chewbacca and R2 were ruined with insincerity.
I really enjoyed the central ideas of the film, but I felt the execution was really insulting, uninteresting, lazy (joke wise), and in general – insulting to the audience.
SPOILERS!
I enjoyed certain aspects of this movie, but was ultimately disappointed by it. I felt the plot was dragging along, lacking direction and energy. To me, it was not a very good second-act to this new trilogy. Even though I’m not the kind of fan who develops crazy fan-theories on the content of mystery boxes, I was quite puzzled how the movie decided to deal with certain characters.
I was hoping for a bit more Luke and didn’t enjoy the ending that much. I felt it was a bit too weird to have that force-projection element in the movie. After sitting on the island the whole time, I needed a good old lightsaber battle with Luke. I was expecting Skywalker to become one with the force at some point, but would have loved to see him go out with a bit more… jediness?
The scene in Snokes throne-room caught me by surprise. I actually don’t mind his abrupt demise, but would have preferred it at the end of the movie. Kylo Rens sudden rise to power as the new supreme leader felt unbelievable to me. Why not push that into the next movie and have a time gap of a few years in between? That should have been enough time for Kylo to convince the other officers of his qualities as a supreme leader. To have snoke die at the end of TLJ would also provide the movie with a cliffhanger and something to look forward to in the next instalment.
Where are the Knights of Ren? I was hoping to see them in action. Not to have them in this movie was disappointing. They sound badass and mysterious!
On that note, why did this movie connect so badly with Force Awakens? When you watch Force Awakens, you get the impression that Kylo Ren is the leader of the Knights of Ren when he destroys the jedi temple. Maybe I missed something, but The Last Jedi suggests that Ben Solo did it in a fit of rage when he wakes up in the middle of the night. I thought that was a bit unfortunate. So what’s up with that?
TFA made another thing pretty clear that left me confused in TLJ… Luke wants to be found! He actually places a map to the island in the hands of his old friend. If he just wants to die there, why go through all that trouble? Not only that, but Maz Kanata tells Rey that Luke “answered her call” or something along those lines. That, in combination with the sad look in Lukes eyes at the end of TFA, tells me that he clearly knows her in some fashion. The latest movie threw that storyline out of the window, and I don’t get why.
And what about Phasma, a character that was widely viewed as flat and underused in TFA? Instead of presumably killing her off in a duel with Finn, I would have loved something bolder. Why not turn her character around and make her hunted by the First Order? She did reveal the secret codes of Starkiller base to our heroes, after all, and that would make her a traitor herself. Why not force her to work together with Finn and make both of them realise that they have a lot in common (Both were enslaved as children or something… I don’t know.)?
It’s the small stuff that made me dislike this movie. I felt it was a giant missed opportunity, but I acknowledge that many people enjoyed it immensely. That is fine. I’m looking forward to the Solo movie instead. 🙂
Hey Adam at least you will have a lot more time on your hands now that the Brain Candy tour has been canceled. I know you are prob not happy about the whole situation either but the tour was Finally* coming to the Pacific North West and the night you guys were going to be in Portland would be my Birthday so I bought tickets as a present to myself. I’m through the moon bummed that the show is now not coming anymore.
As someone who has worked in moving theater production I know there is 1000 and 1 reasons why the tour could have been canceled beyond, “scheduling issues”, but I still feel let down. I hope you guys pick the tour back up someday and come to a city near me.
The last 4 movies (Ep. 3, 7, 3.5 & 8) have all been PG-13.
I’m really surprised you guys liked this. This was the most INSULTING movie to the characters and the franchise. He absolutely destroyed the characters of everyone and he completely crapped on J.J.’s story. Disney should have created an outline all the directors had to follow in crafting their stories. There should have been a full story for the trilogy NOT a “Make your own movie and throw in our character names”. You talk about setting up from Force Awakens but it’s absolutely crapping on it. Especially Adam, I would expect you to be absolutely disappointed at what they did.
*SPOILERS*
It’s the ultimate “denial of satisfaction” for Kylo. Luke warns Kylo that killing him won’t bring any resolution; and we’re philosophically meant to understand that; but having Luke not even there (and absolutely un-killable) gives absolute, tangible form to Kylo’s frustration.
Not only does Kylo remain tortured and vexed by Luke; he doesn’t even get the momentary fleeting satisfaction of cutting him down.
I’m surprised that none of them had problems with the film. I feel that many things that occurred in the movie really took me out of the immersion. I think the writing really did a dis-service to Luke as a character. I also honestly groaned everytime Poe and Finn came on screen (more Finn). I have no interest in them. Their development and impact in the movie seems forced.
What I really want to know it if Adam caught the Strandbeast cameo in the movie.
This is mainly for Adam: I don’t know if you noticed this little Easter egg but the vehicles that drag the cannon into place in the final battle scene on Crait walk on what seem like strandbeest legs. I thought you’d enjoy that little treat.
https://instagram.com/p/BdK0MxNHhO-/
Love. Love. Love.
I do demand a part 2 convo from you guys or with Danica added in.
The light speed kamikaze silent scene was by far the most amazing moment for me. My reason for this is that my wife (I’ll call her a tolerant Star Wars fan, I’ve built a lot of props, lots of Artoo units and now BB8, with no questions about said hobbies), let out a audible “gasp” during the scene. Talk about bringing a tear to my eye.
A little off topic but maybe of interest that on a recent special episode of BBC Antiques Roadshow here in the UK a prop-painter from Elstree studios from back in the 1970-80’s had some great items which he had literally saved from going to the skip out back. The items included a Darth Vader mask from A New Hope, a staff of Rah headpiece and the actual axe from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shinning; all 100% genuine and screen used props- quite something!
I saw the movie for the first time today and enjoyed the heck out of it. I had also listened to this spoilercast beforehand and it made absolutely no difference to my enjoyment.
I think these new movies are much better than the first three, I find the old ones unwatchable at this point cheesy special effects, not so good acting and a horrible muppet as a main character. I was too old to get sesame a street muppet in 80 (20)) and I never really got over muppet yoda even after they CGI’ed it.
I like Rey. Finn and Poe much better than the original characters.
Looking forward to watching it 20 times at home when it is available. Thought the humor was great.
I am not one to spend any time re writing a movie in my head to suit how I wanted it to go…Otherwise I would be a director.
Now I can listen to this spoilercast again and understand what they were talking about.
I completely disagree with you. The original 4-6 was by far the best trilogy of the Star Wars universe. The thing that made me the maddest about episode 8 was the humor. The only humor that is acceptable is the snide dialogue between Chewy and Han. The whole thing with Luke brushing his shoulder off was completely out of place. This is my biggest pet peeve with Disney buying out Star Wars. They disneyfied the crap out of it and added this immature humor that doesn’t belong in Star Wars. You wouldn’t expect Darth Vader to make a quick quip in the middle of empire or new hope, would you? Once Han died, Poe automatically took over the position of the rebellious pilot that saves the day. He is the only one where humor is actually appropriate and fits into the movie. I also have no clue as to how you think Rey, Finn, and Poe are better characters than Luke, Leia, and Han. There was little to no character development in episode 8. We still don’t know the identity of Rey’s parents, the death of Snoke was completely anticlimactic, Finn is a coward that ran from the empire, then later tries to run from the rebellion. Poe is inferior to Han Solo because nobody beats Han Solo.
Well it is my opinion (and shouldn’t matter to anyone), but I care about those characters more than I cared about Luke, Lea and especially Han, who I was glad they got rid of…Sorry LOL
It bothers me especially that they continued using Carrie Fisher even tho she could no longer show any expression from all the plastic surgery. Harrison Ford has played the same role in every movie he has ever been in. So just going by acting alone the first 3 lose…
They explained who Rey’s parents were…. scavengers who sold their daughter off…Finn was leaving to help Rey, Poe seems more Heroic than Han ever was.
I can agree that Poe may have been more directly heroic, but if Han never took Luke Skywalker to the Death Star, the Emperor would still be at large. One thing that I hate about these new movies, is the fact that they killed off every good guy, and made 90% of the movie about the resistance. These fights are boring, and they drug out the battles between the First Order and the Resistance far more than they needed to. I think the movie would have been way better if it was more about Rey and Kylo Ren, and their struggles to free themselves from smokes reign. The fact that there was almost, if not more length in the casino scene then there was of Snoke in the movie is completely backward. I feel that the casino scene was a waste of time, and the only good thing that came out of it was the ending scene where we saw that Luke wasn’t, in fact, the last Jedi, because the young kid, Temiri Blagg, used the force to pick up the broom in the ending scene. The comic relief in this movie was upsetting. The Porg was a stupid invention, even worse than the Ewoks. At least the Ewoks had an impact on the plot in Return of the Jedi. One thing I love about the movie was the Praetorian guard and the battle scene between them and “Ben” & Rey. If they spent more time on character development and not pointless casino scenes, comic relief, and First Order v. Resistance fights, they would have a way better movie.
I don’t have a clue how you see the strandbeest in it. The ships on Crait look NOTHING like a strandbeest.