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Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
2017 | Action, Sci-Fi
Not the Star Wars film I was looking for.
While I am a pretty big Star Wars fan (hell I have a lightsaber tattoo) I also don't mind them playing around with the universe and changing this as long as it makes for a good movie with a good story, so no I'm not some purist that was going to hate this no matter what I was hype and ready for this just like I was for The Force Awakens and man is it killing me to write that I just didn't enjoy this installment to the series.

The main reason I didn't enjoy it that much was that the entire film just felt like a transition to the next saga while The Force Awaken built up so much The Last Jedi just didn't keep up with the momentum and just fell really short for me, halfway through the movie I kind of just wanted it to be over already.


The real downfall in the end though was the characters this time around I really feel like they just wasted Finn and Poe so much throughout the movie with a half thought out side plot that didn't really do or go anywhere for me.
  
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mmb02191 (81 KP) rated Solo: A Star Wars Story - Soundtrack by John Powell in Music

Aug 16, 2018 (Updated Aug 16, 2018)  
Solo: A Star Wars Story - Soundtrack by John Powell
Solo: A Star Wars Story - Soundtrack by John Powell
2018 | Soundtrack
Like (0 more)
But not quite (0 more)
Sounded LIKE John Williams
I received a gift copy for this review.

I listened through this CD a few times, and I don't DISLIKE it. But.. it just isn't John Williams.

I will break it down to a few songs that stuck out to me. The first selection, the main theme, was full of energy and power. You are transported as soon as you begin listening to this and it takes you on a ride into the star wars universe. It definitely is not as memorable as most Star Wars' themes though. It doesn't stick with you longer than just simply listening to it.

Reminiscence Therapy just seemed like a letdown for me. Wasn't too interesting.


I really liked what he did with Marauders Arrive though. It was a very interesting choice to have the voices in there, and I really enjoyed the different style.

Adventures of Han was almost reminiscent of Indiana Jones, and I really liked that. It wasn't a carbon copy, but it still had that happiness even in the face of danger feeling.

Finally, my favorite had to be Chicken in the Pot because of the beautiful vocals in it. That woman can sing!
  
Star Wars: Vader Down
Star Wars: Vader Down
Kieron Gillen, Mike Deodato, Jason Aaron, Salvador Larroca, Mark Brooks (art) | 2016 | Comics & Graphic Novels, Film & TV, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first cross-over event since Marvel took over the Star Wars franchise, this ties together both the 'core' Star Wars comics, alongside the seperate Vader side-issues, and sees Vader being froced to crash land on a nearby planet when he comes out of hyperspace into the middle of a rebel fleet while searchign for Luke Skywalker (who, remember, does not yet know his relation to Vader as this is set between 'A New Hope' and 'The Empire Strike Back').

A fleet that he proceeds to decimate single-handedly, until Skywalker deliberately crashes his X-Wing into Vader's own TIE.

After crash-landing, the rebels on that planet - led by Princess Leia - then throw everything they have at the Dark Lord of the Sith: once again, and in some dramatic art, Vader is again easily able to defeat everything they send against him.

Meanwhile, Han Solo and Chewie are also on the search for the crashed Luke, in a race both against time and against Dr Aphra, who wants to capture Luke herself for Vader so she can prove she didn't lead him into a trap.

I found this a quick and rather-enjoyable read which (finally) goes to show just why Vader was feared so much by the Rebel Alliance!
  
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
James Luceno | 2005 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Belonging to the 'old' no-longer-considered-Canon selection of Star Wars stories (now contained under the banner of Star Wars Legends), this novel is mainly set roughly a month or so after the events of 'Revenge of the Sith' when Vader is new to the suit, and to his new life as Vader (as opposed to whiny emo Anakin Skywalker).

The start of the novel, in fact, actually takes place during the events of Revenge of the Sith, through the period in which Order 66 is exacted, with the Jedi who are the main characters of this novel surviving that purge. Like any good master/learner relationship, the newly-minted Emperor gives Vader a task -to hunt down those Jedi - to further pull him into the Dark Side of the Force, and to cement his place in the New Order.

The result is a pretty fast-paced novel that also takes in key characters from the original trilogy (and some from the inferior prequels), laying the foundations for the Rebellion that is to come and explainuing just how the Wookie came to be an enslaved species (although that part of the novel reminded me a fair bit of the The Force Unleashed video games!).
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Darth Plagueis in Books

Oct 22, 2019 (Updated Oct 23, 2019)  
Darth Plagueis
Darth Plagueis
James Luceno | 2012 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Decent Star Wars tie-in is likely to satisfy devotees even if the book you get is possibly not the one you're expecting. Are you expecting the facts of the life of Darth Plagueis the Wise, legendary Sith Lord? Well, brace yourselves, for Luceno cheerfully disregards almost everything suggested about Plagueis in Episode III (where he is briefly mentioned) in favour of telling what is basically the story of Palpatine and his master (the future Emperor shows up about a third of the way through).

Relatively little action for what is, after all, a Star Wars novel, but lots and lots of political scheming and back-story, much of it (I gather) painstakingly honed to fit in with other books in the same continuity. Quite well-written and readable, though the tendency of Sith Lords to have vaguely absurd names continues. Concludes with the events of Episode I: doesn't fix every problem with that movie, but if you're wondering just why there was all that fuss about debates over taxation the book does a good job of filling in the detail. Is that a backhanded compliment? Well, if you're genuinely interested in that stuff, you'll probably enjoy this book; if not, I would look elsewhere.
  
Star Wars: Gadgets and Gear
Star Wars: Gadgets and Gear
2019 | Fantasy, Roleplaying
There was a time when pretty much the only place where new information about the Star Wars galaxy was appearing was in sourcebooks for the original WEG d6 role-playing game. Things have obviously changed since then and this is a much more focused, game-oriented product; basically a collection of statlines for weapons, armour, and other personal equipment for the FFG RPG lines.

The downside of this is that the book is probably of rather less interest to the non-gaming Star Wars fan, but it is a boon for those of us who don't want to risk a hernia carrying around the 20 or so books where this information originally appeared. Some interesting new stuff, too, especially the 'iconic equipment' entries, although these are oddly phrased - many references to 'the wearer of Darth Vader's armour' rather than just 'Darth Vader', as if anyone's going to steal that suit. Most bonkers new addition is 'Lando Calrissian's Cape Armoire', a post-Solo invention which allows you to randomly generate what cape he's wearing and its special properties. Disappointingly, this isn't completely comprehensive, and the lack of summary tables for easy comparison and reference is also a shame. But still pretty much an essential purchase for anyone who actually plays this game.
  
Star Wars: Queen's Peril
Star Wars: Queen's Peril
E.K. Johnston | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
EK Johnson is so hit or miss for me as an author. I've only read her Star Wars related books so far, because of this. @Star Wars: Queen's Shadow was NOT a good book. However, this book is an improvement, it begins with the election of Padme Amidala, and ends after Phantom Menace. It mostly covers how the handmaidens came to be, and the relationship between them.
I liked how this book revealed a little more about Shmi, that she was also good with gadgets and fixed a screen so they could watch Anakin during the podrace.I want a book about Shmi now.
What I don't understand about these new SW writers is the need to slap in love interests and who is interested in who... I legitimately don't care, and it never adds anything to the story. Unless romantic interests/feelings drive a story, leave that crap out, I'm reading it for the Star Wars content.
Parts of this book I really liked and I would read it again. However, I still think Padme's character should have been given to Claudia Gray, rather than this author. I think Padme should be given at least one adult book, written by someone else.
  
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1980 | Fantasy, Sci-Fi

"I think #3 would be The Empire Strikes Back. To me, clearly the best of the six, like way, way ahead of the field — the six Star Wars movies, not my list — and here we go, Harrison Ford again. Harrison Ford was like my generation’s greatest leading man. He’s going to be our Clark Gable or whatever. He was so good. That movie just had plenty of story and action, and my problem with a lot of sci-fi is that it’s all action and not enough story, not enough character development, and not enough relationships between the characters. It’s all shoot-em-up, which is good; I think guys like that. But I like my shoot-em-ups with relationships and character development and lots of story. And, you know, lots of snappy lines done really well by the actors. Another thing is, it’s the last Star Wars movie before the cute came in. And once they brought the cute, it was like “Ugh! It’s too cute!” They should have made six movies for adults and six movies for kids, and then everybody could have been happy. I’m going to get death threats now, for criticizing… I kid because I love! [laughs]"

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Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
1977 | Fantasy, Sci-Fi

"Probably everybody has that on their list. [Star Wars] came out and I just finished my sophomore year at CalArts. The May of ’77, saw it opening weekend at the Chinese Theatre. It worked in so many ways, but one of the things personally [that] was so inspiring [was] how it entertained an audience to a new level. I was there with a packed audience. I waited six hours. Towards the climax, when Luke is in the X-Wing and he’s going down the trench, I was just shaking I was so excited. And I’d never seen an audience so excited. First of all, it was everybody, from kids to adults, teenagers. Everybody was going crazy for this film. The quality of the storytelling, where it’s one foot in sort of the past and one foot in the future, I was so impressed by that. I came out and said, “That’s what I want to do with animation.” Many of my friends left animation [because of Star Wars] and went to actual special effects. At that time, animation was thought of just for kids. I saw this and said, “No, no, I want to entertain audiences.” That’s all I think about when I make my movies."

Source