STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII — THE LAST JEDI

STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII — THE LAST JEDI. Rian Johnson, director, script (“Based on characters created by George Lucas"). J.J. Abrams, executive producer (one of three credited). Ram Bergman and Kathleen Kennedy, producers. Rick Heinrichs, production design.[1] USA: Lucasfilm, Ram Bergman Productions, Walt Disney Pictures (production) / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (distribution for USA and major markets), 2017.

For anyone still keeping track of whether and to what degree(s) the galactic culture of STAR WARS uses wheels — the featured ‘droids have a spherical underbody with what looks like a magnetically affixed hemispherical cap (which are now expensive toys).[2] Most significant here is Luke Skywalker: (1) Taking off the glove and revealing just how robotic his artificial hand is: note theme of The Hand of Rotwang.[3] (2) LAST JEDI includes usual STAR WARS mixtures and antitheses of cool hardware, mostly military, different forms of the organic and fleshly, and the spiritual; but note well near-climactic image of Luke Skywalker in (we later learn) «astral projection» mediated by the Force, standing alone between the last bastion of the Resistance and a massed unit of what were Imperial Walkers and other war machines — firing upon him.

Trivia point: about 90 minutes in note sight gag/visual puzzle of a spacecraft that looks like a U.S. 1950's steam iron landing followed in a shock cut to a shot of an implausible automated steam iron ironing a uniform — or it was throughout an arty shot of a steam iron ironing.[4]

RDE, Initial Compiler, 31Dec17, 26Feb20