Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Nine: The Battle of Crait (Or: The Rebirth of the Rebellion)

02:00:01 – End This is it, the final chapter of The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force. Incidentally, it’ll be the last edition of the 15-Minute Force for a long while. Our in-depth dissection and discussion about Star Wars will be going on hiatus for a bit, at least until after the final installment […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Eight: What’s Black & White & Red All Over? (Or: Do You Think Leia Shops at “Crait & Barrel”?)

01:45:01 – 02:00:00 Welcome to the penultimate chapter of The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force. I can hear what you’re saying. “Penultimate?!? I thought this movie was about over!” I hear, and I understand. Sure, all the best laid plans of Act Two have gone awry. Luke Skywalker hasn’t returned with Rey to […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Seven: Act Two May Have Been a Colossal Waste of Time (Or: Things Fall Apart, The Center Cannot Holdo)

01:30:01 – 01:45:00 Here we are with a whole lot of Act Three stuff zipping around us like Matrix bullets. We’re done with training montages and Ahch-To (mostly), and Canto Bight is now a distant memory from a James Bond flick. We are back in the meat of the story as we begin the seventh […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Six: From Ahch-To to Act Three (Or: Luke and Rey Duke It Out When Luke Takes Away Her Phone Privileges)

01:15:01 – 01:30:00 Welcome back to the next chapter of The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force. In our previous chapter, Finn and Rose managed to escape from Canto Bight with the assistance of the slicer DJ (Benicio del Toro in another dialogue mangling role). We can safely assume that they are returning to […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Five: The Stuttering Codebreaker (Or: The Night Ben Solo Flipped Out, Told Rashomon-Style)

01:00:01 – 01:15:00 We begin Chapter Five of The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force wishing we could wash the taste of the previous chapter out of our mouths. I don’t hate this movie. I feel it’s important to say that again. I didn’t love it the way I did The Force Awakens, but […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Four: Training Montages Belong in ’80s Movies (Or: A Side Trip to Canto Bight)

00:45:01 – 01:00:00 This chapter of The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force starts with Rey and Kylo Ren making a long-distance connection via the Force. These two are connected now, somehow, maybe because they each probed the other’s mind. Kylo says, “You’ll bring Luke Skywalker to me.” Then he goes on to say […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Three: A Rose is a Rose is a Rose (Or: New Plans, an Unexpected Conspiracy, and Roasted Porg)

00:30:01 – 00:45:00 As this chapter of The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force begins, we are treated to a tender Mother and Son moment. Kylo Ren, still stinging from Supreme Leader Snoke’s virulent rebuke, is lining up for a bombing run on the bridge of the Raddus, the flagship of the Resistance. Suddenly, […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Two: Kylo Ren Unmasked (OR: Luke Skywalker, Curmudgeon)

00:15:01 – 00:30:00 It may be too late in the game to explain the premise of this blog series, but just in case there is any confusion while reading this installment of The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force, and I’m imagining that someone has just dropped in to read this particular article without […]

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter One: Another Abandoned Base (Or: Now Calling It The RESISTANCE Makes More Sense)

00:00:00 – 00:15:00 Welcome to The Last Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force. Those of us here in the bullpen at the studios are excited to begin the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy in anticipation of the next movie that releases in December 2019 (since that’s more than a year from when […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Eight: A Father and Son Reunion Rivaling Oedipus’s (Or: Kylo Ren Gets Beaten Up By a Girl . . .Oh, Spoilers)

01:45:01 – THE END As the final chapter of the Awakens Edition of the 15-Minute Force begins Han sees Kylo Ren enter the thermal oscillator. He follows him down a long walkway and shouts, “Ben!” Because, you see, that was Kylo Ren’s birth name: Ben Solo. Kylo responds to his father’s voice: “Han Solo. I’ve […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Seven: The Battle of the Thermal Oscillator Begins! (Or: The Dramatic Chronometer Counts Down)

01:30:01 – 01:45:00 As we ended our last chapter of the Awakens Edition of the 15-Minute Force, Rey and Kylo Ren had both just learned that Rey is, indeed, strong in the Force. Kylo, who apparently inherited all of his whiny-ass emo genes from Annakin Skywalker (the Hayden Christensen version, not David Prowse or James […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Six: Reunited and It Feels So Good (Or: D’Qar and Driver)

01:15:01 – 01:30:00 “You, OK, Big Deal?” That’s the question Han Solo asks former First Order Stormtrooper Finn Wilson as this chapter begins. Han just saved Finn from being killed by the melee-weapon bearing opponent that the Interwebs calls TR-8R. This chapter of the Awakens Edition of the 15-Minute Force begins with things already in […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Five: Finn Comes Clean (Or: When a Lightsaber Calls, Don’t Answer)

01:00:01 – 01:15:00 This chapter of the Awakens Edition of the 15-Minute Force begins where Chapter Four left us last time: In Maz Kanata’s Cantina. Han Solo has just asked for Maz’s help in getting BB-8, the astromech droid carrying a map to locate the last Jedi, Luke Skywalker, to the Resistance. To our surprise, […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Four: Whoa! How Many Hit Points on Those D&D Demons? (Or: Can’t We Slow Things Down with a Cantina Scene?)

00:45:01 – 01:00:00 By the way, Han Solo’s new freighter is named the Eravana. I didn’t mention that before because I don’t recall hearing that during the movie. It was on Wookieepedia, though. Everything is. Those of us who toil in the windowless sweatshop that is the 15-Minute Force studio count on the ‘pedia for […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Three: I’ve Got Friends in Old Places (Or: The Millennium Falcon IS a Piece of Garbage)

00:30:01 – 00:45:00 The general consensus at the 15-Minute Force studio bullpen (my desk is only a stone’s throw away from those of Stan “The Man” Solo and Jack “King” Skywalker) is that rewatching The Force Awakens is getting us excited again for the third installment of this Modern Age Star Wars trilogy, which will […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Two: Everything That Crashes Must Converge (Or: Apologies to Flannery O’Connor)

00:15:01 – 00:30:00 It’s not often that those of us who work here at 15-Minute Force studios (chained to our desks and fed a steady diet of protein bars and Red Bull) get to make Flannery O’Connor references. If the title of this chapter was too opaque, it is an homage to Everything That Rises […]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter One: Introducing Luke Skywalker as This Movie’s Maguffin (Or: Let’s Meet Some New Players in an Old Galaxy)

00:00:00 – 00:15:00 I am thrilled to be moving on, finally, to the current Star Wars era of movies. I guess I did that already, sort of, with Rogue One: a Star Wars story, but that was a standalone, without an opening crawl or traditional Star Wars screen wipes. I liked the movie, but now, […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Eight: The Redemption of Anakin Skywalker (Or: Look for the Hayden Christensen Cameo and Wonder Why Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson Aren’t with Him)

01:45:01 – THE END Welcome to the final chapter of the Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force. This will conclude our annotated synopses of the prequel trilogy, the standalone Rogue One, and the original trilogy. From here, we’re moving on to The Force Awakens, which I’ve seen only twice so far, and then The […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Seven: Luke’s Kamikaze Mission (Or: Soon I’ll Be Dead . . . And You With Me)

01:30:01 – 01:45:00 The Jedi Edition of the 15-Minute Force hasn’t exactly been action-packed for the last couple of chapters. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl as we came to the Teddy Bear Village. Plus, Luke Skywalker had to share some information about genealogy with his sister, Leia Organa, just prior to turning himself […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Six: Soap Opera in the Trees (Or: Han Solo Wants to be Your Back Door Man)

01:15:01 – 01:30:00 Since the high dive acrobatics sequence on Tatooine, at the Sarlaac Pit, the only bit of real action we’ve really had was the speederbike sequence that ended right as the last chapter began. Don’t expect things to get any more exciting in this chapter. There’s a lot of talking and soap-opera caliber […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Five: Introducing Wicket W. Warrik, Esquire (Or: An Invitation to an Ewok Barbeque)

01:00:01 – 01:15:00 We’re still in the speederbike sequence as this chapter begins. Leia is is trading shots with one of the speederbike scouts until she falls off her bike and lands in the undergrowth. Her opponent’s victory is short-lived since he is immolated in a head-on crash with what looks like a downed tree. […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Four: Exposition is Exciting (From a Certain Point of View)

00:45:01 – 01:00:00 We are now past the 45-minute mark of the Jedi Edition of 15-Minute Force. As we rejoin our hero, Luke Skywalker, we are still on Dagobah. Luke’s Jedi mentor Yoda is now dead, and as this chapter begins, his body fades away to nothingness. There’s nothing keeping Luke in the swamp any […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Three: The Rescue of Han Solo

00:30:01 – 00:45:00 It’s common knowledge here in the bullpen of 15-Minute Force that this is my least favorite movie in the original “trilogy.” I have my reasons, and I intend to share them with you as we continue this project. But . . . none of these reasons have anything to do with […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter Two: Slave Leia Makes Her Debut (Or: I Know Why the Rancor Keeper Cries)

00:15:01 – 00:30:00 We here at the 15-Minute Force studios take this all seriously. As we left our stalwart Star Wars heroes, we were in Jabba’s palace. Artoo and Threepio just delivered themselves as gifts from the self-proclaimed Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker, who is the offspring of Darth Vader, even though he doesn’t say that. […]

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (a 15-Minute Force production): Chapter One: Getting the Band Back Together (Or: Jedi Plans Are Always Complicated)

00:00:00 – 00:15:00 Lots of things were happening when Return of the Jedi premiered in the theaters on May 25, 1983. Ronald Reagan was still our president in the US, and would not be elevated to god-status until years later. That song from Flashdance was being hummed in America, while Spandau Ballet was belting out […]

firewatersite

Read. Play. Watch. Listen .

15-Minute Force