2018 Oscars Challenge: [31] “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” – 4 Nominations

Director & Writer: Rian Johnson
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy & Ram Bergman
Cinematography: Steve Yedlin
Composer: John Williams
Editor: Bob Ducsay
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release Date: December 15, 2017
Run-time: 152 minutes

FILM SYNOPSIS: Resistance heroes Poe and Finn take daring measures to save their tattered fleet from extermination by the First Order. Across the galaxy, Rae pleads with Luke Skywalker to return to the fray while seeking answers about her origins and a strange link to her nemesis, Kylo Ren.

John Williams, as a composer, is a monster. This is his fifty-first Academy Award nomination with no signs of stopping. For the man to have done the original score for “Star Wars” exactly 40 years ago to continuing not only doing the scores for the current installments, but to be nominated for an Academy Award for his work, it is truly a marvel. Despite his continued excellent work, this year belongs to Jonny Greenwood and Alexandre Desplat. Both of their scores have the heat going into the Oscars. “Phantom Thread” and “The Shape Of Water” both have scores that are unique to their film and create a certain type of world with their tones. Not that Williams doesn’t do the same, but something also has to be said for a composer creating a score from nothing whereas Williams has been building on the same score for the past four decades.

Visually, the things that make “The Last Jedi” worthy of an Academy Award nomination are also the elements that set the film apart from the other installments. The battle of the planet Crait, alone, is enough to make this Oscar worthy and you know that Disney knew this by even making the theme of the theatrical poster along the same lines. Although we’ve seen the AT AT Walkers before, the new style on them as well as the red salt of Crait, cause for some of the most visually stunning moments of the film. Also, the fact that they are still finding ways to make the lightsaber battles pop visually, this time placing them in Snoke’s Red Room with his Red Guards, also leaves an impression. Not to mention the utterly impressive Jump to Lightspeed Destruction caused by Laura Dern’s character, which left me absolutely speechless. Add to that the already impressive visuals of the Millennium Falcon and all the other space ships, and you’ve got yourself a visually impressive film. Even with all that, it still goes up against films like “War For The Planet Of The Apes” and “Blade Runner 2049,” which both bring something new to the table while developing on the back of previous installments.

Choices with sound (or sometimes lack thereof) are also impressive in “The Last Jedi.” The same sounds we know and love, coming from lightsabers and spaceships, are all here, but what likely sets it apart, again, are the new additions. Elements like the Porgs, whose bleats are wholly unique to this film. The force connection between Rey and Kylo offers some interesting sound design elements as well. And always impressive is the fact that within this entire cacophony of blasts and zooms and explosions, none of the sounds get lost within one another. You can still hear each and every blast when Kylo orders to unleash everything on Luke Skywalker when he arrives on Crait. Sound-wise, you’d be hard pressed to beat “Dunkirk,” however, which relies heavily on sound with its gunshots and wailing fighter planes. Without a win in the sound categories, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will go home empty handed.

JOHN WILLIAMS
Composer

PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS

MATTHEW WOOD AND REN KLYCE
Sound Editors

DAVID PARKER, MICHAEL SEMANICK, REN KLYCE, AND STUART WILSON
Sound Mixers

BEN MORRIS, MIKE MULHOLLAND, NEAL SCANLAN, AND CHRIS CORBOULD
Visual Effects Artists