Thank you to everyone who has followed this series or voted for it's creation. I'm glad you've enjoyed it and I'm always happy to spread the important history of the amusement industry, especially pertaining to the place that inspired me to go into the industry. For parts 1-4 scroll back in this sub or click my profile.
In 1989, Welland Securities, who owned the entire south-west side of the Hill, would develop the final portion of unused land on Clifton Hill. They would become HOCO (Harry Oakes Company) and gain ownership of almost all the attractions on land they leased out. This included Movieland, The Space Spiral Tower and the Cliffside Motel. The only attractions that would continue being leased were Ripley's and Circus World, meaning HOCO not only owned all the land on the South-West side of the hill, they now ran everything between Circus World and Ripley's, as well as the Fudge Factory (in its original spot) and an ice cream stand immediately down the hill from Circus World. They planned to keep everything that was on the hill but build on it.
Movieland was remodeled and the outside was given a more noticeable Egyptian theme to match the lobby. This meant large lion statues and Costello's talking pharaoh. The lobby was remodeled as well. Rather than a cameraman and a director filming Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, they would now be filming Costello's Indiana Jones figure, who lowered up and down on a rope above a fogging pit with a cobra rising out of it. Many of the early talkie-era stars in the hall immediately after the entrance (along with Elizabeth Taylor) were moved to 2 large display cases in the middle of the attraction with multiple figures, instead of each one having their own scene. In their original spot just inside the entrance an intentionally scary scene was created to match the popular Indiana Jones series. Many of the figures Costello had added since he became the museum's artist were slightly frightening, like a lunging alligator or a startling Joker scene with a machine gun sound effect. The museum had been expanded at the end, and a large horror section had been added, with many figures like the mummy being from the same mold as the House of Frankenstein/Castle Dracula mummys. Unlike when it would move to it's current location in 2005, the old location's chicken exit was placed before the horror section rather than the haunted house portion. In fact, there was no haunted house section, many of the figures that would end up in the haunted house section of the new location were simply scattered throughout the museum. Many of the figures in the horror section of the original museum were actually less scary and less animated than the Jurassic park scene or the alligator encountered earlier in the museum. To prevent unsuspecting parents who had no clue what kind of attraction this was dragging their children in and expecting static figures of washed-up movie stars, getting the living daylights scared out of them, then end ending up filing complaints with HOCO's customer service department, an intentionally scary scene was put at the beginning. This let people know what they were walking in to, an experience rather than a museum. Costello designed figures behind plexiglass such as a man upside down in a cocoon thrashing around, a skull that popped up from the floorboards in a scene full of snakes, a man on a bed of spikes that fell towards you, and a scene with spiders on fishing line "jumping" all over a rotting corpse.
The Cliffside Motel was amalgamated into a wing of the Quality Inn, and the driveway into it off the hill was removed as it was no longer necessary because it could be accessed from the Quality Inn parking lot. In the driveway's place was now a large empty space between Circus World and Movieland, with the Space Spiral Tower (with a relatively small footprint) stuck in the middle. HOCO called upon attraction design and layout firm White Hutchison Leisure Learning Group (WHLLG) to design an attraction around the Space Spiral that would use the final undeveloped land on Clifton Hill. And so WHLLG designed Dazzleland Family Fun Centre. Dazzleland was a courtyard of buildings arranged in roughly the same layout as the Great Canadian Midway (for reasons we'll get to later) that sits on the land now. The buildings around the outside of the courtyard were long and narrow, picture a courtyard of carnival game trailers but permanent, appealing buildings. These buildings included a Skee-ball building, a sports game building (basketball games, football toss etc.), a racing game building, a pinball building, a funnel cake shop, and the prize counter. In the back corner, roughly where the XD Theatre now is in the midway, was a larger building: an arcade housing video games and more pinball machines. In the middle of the courtyard was a small carousel, and a small building housing games that dispensed their own prizes (claw machines, prize egg games, etc.) and coin-op kiddie rides.
The Space Spiral was incorporated into Dazzleland, still being accessible directly off the hill. As mentioned in part 3, the tower was exactly where the Fudge Factory now is, as the circular store was once the loading area for the tower. At this time the snack bars beside the tower right on the hill were constructed: a pretzel/hotdog stand and an ice cream stand, both of which are still there. The Wendy's was built on top of Circus World, replacing the mini golf that had formerly been on the attraction's roof. Across the entrance to Dazzleland's courtyard from Wendy's was a Domino's Pizza, roughly where the photo booth just to your right is when entering the Great Canadian Midway now. Between the Space Spiral and the Dominos was a fortune teller machine built right into the wall: "Ask the Brain". The brain still lives on inside Movieland, except now he wants a loonie instead of a quarter. Just up the hill from the Space Spiral, on top of the hot dog and ice cream stand, a small sports bar was built. Very little is known about this sports bar, but obvious remnants of it still exists. The area of Boston Pizza closest to the hill (the back corner near the kitchen, the bar area, and the raised dining area) was the originally the sports bar. It featured a small coin-op bowling lane, arcade games, and food. The stairs in the Midway up to Boston Pizza beside Ghostblasters is the original stairs up from Dazzleland to the sports bar. Additionally, the Boston Pizza entrance closer to the hill (not the one with the big bowling pin, other one) was the main entrance to the sports bar. Little is known about the bar, including it's name. It may not have had one, simply being part of the Dazzleland complex. Many of the areas in Dazzleland didn't have a name, simply having signs heralding "Arcade", "Sports Games", "Skeeball" rather than naming the areas like the "Game Factory", "Sports Zone" or "Strike! Rock 'n Bowl" like in the Midway. For this reason, the bar may have been nameless, simply being part of the Dazzleland complex, but it's unlikely a dining establishment geared at adult nightlife wouldn't have a name.
Because the mini golf on Circus World's roof had been operated by the Cliffside Motel operators, HOCO acquired all the assets from it when they stopped leasing the land out. When the aforementioned Wendy's was built, the mini golf was moved just up the hill from the sports bar. It's entrance was right on the hill, but the course wrapped around the sports bar and ran back behind Dazzleland, between the back of Dazzleland and the parking lot of the Quality Inn. It would now be dinosaur themed and heavily landscaped. WHLLG designed the course and HOCO contracted Costello to build all the fiberglass dinosaurs. It's unknown what it's original name was, but in the early 90s, with the smash hit of Jurassic Park, it was renamed Dinosaur Park and given a similar logo. Up until the 2018 remodel, Boston Pizza had a patio. This patio was the exact location of the entrance to the mini golf, and the reason the restaurant's building curved in such a bizarre way surrounding the patio was originally to accommodate the course. Underneath the sports bar and mini golf and was an underground building accessible from a back corner of Dazzleland's courtyard. This area housed all of Dazzleland's miscellaneous ticket redemption games and 2 shooting galleries. The low-ceiling area of the Midway called the "Game Factory" is this original building. The Bonanaza Company shooting gallery is still there albeit heavily remodeled, but Blasteroids, an early project by arcade game company Lazer-Tron, was removed in 2016. Interestingly, the chase lights along the back wall of the Game Factory are Dazzleland holdovers. Between the shooting gallery and where what's left of the racing games now are is a bank of maintenance doors. If you get lucky and see them open, you'll see a stairs that was originally an entrance to Dazzleland from further up the street, beside Dinosaur Park. This now lets out somewhere in Boston Pizza's arcade (although I haven't been able to figure out where) and is used by staff to get from "a" to "b" faster.
Dazzleland has been the hardest to dig up information on in my research on Clifton Hill. Although I now know what was in each of the buildings around the outside of this "courtyard", I haven't been able to find which one was where. The only things I've confirmed is where the video game building was, what was in the building in the middle, and confirmed that the Game Factory was originally part of Dazzleland. The rest is beyond me and my memories of it have long faded. If anyone worked here or visited it frequently and has any answers, they would be greatly appreciated. Additionally there was a small pool near the front with a Costello dragon figure in it that spit water out it's mouth. I've heard conflicting reports that this was just a fountain, and others saying it was a small bumper boat or RC boat attraction, but my guess is it was just a fountain as it seems like a pretty small pool. The same year, fiberglass dragon waterslides were added to the Quality Inn pool. Although bearing striking resemblance to Costello's dinosaurs and Dazzleland dragon, at least one more of each of the dragon slides exist, all the way down in Texas. It was originally thought this Texas waterpark bought them off HOCO when Quality Inn closed, but one of the Quality Inn dragons appeared on an episode of shipping wars going to Kansas and the other was recently found abandoned on a private residential property in Niagara, proving they are in fact not the ones at the Texas waterpark. This is evidence they may have been mass produced.
By the time Dazzleland opened in 1989, it was the 8th arcade on the hill (after Circus World, Q-Balls Billiards Pub in Quality Inn, the arcade in Ripley's, the arcade in the Foxhead, the arcade in Castle Dracula, Funland in the basement of the House of Frankenstein, and an arcade that had recently opened in the Pilgrim Motel in their gift shop.) These were just the large-scale, dedicated arcades right on the hill. Many others could be found nearby in Maple Leaf Village, the Skylon, the Seagram, Pyramid Place and the Imperial Hotel as well as many mini golf courses and family fun centres along Lundy's Ln. and the QEW. Also, virtually every gift shop on Clifton Hill and Victoria Ave. had a game or 2.
The mix of arcades, haunted houses, fast food, nightlife and stores selling t-shirts and posters had started a well-known rock culture in Niagara Falls among Southern Ontario youth. The epicenter of this was "Rock World", a rock-themed gift shop that had opened in 1983 on Centre St. (the street Clifton Hill becomes just above Victoria Ave.) They would later add a second story and build Rock Legends Wax Museum above it, with all the figures sculpted by the store's owner Pasquale Rammuno. In 1996, Maple Leaf Village was replaced by Casino Niagara, and many of the attractions found new homes on Victoria Ave., including Screamers and Nightmares. The Elvis Museum, Antique Auto Museum, 50s diner nightclub, and arcade all moved to Pyramid Place adjacent to the IMAX pyramid. Screamers prospered on Victoria Ave., and 2 "sequel attractions" were built in the early 2000s: Creatures of the Night on Victoria Ave. and Horror Manothe Zombie Zoo Nightclub on Centre St. Another attraction, Alien Encounter, would open at the corner of Victoria Ave. and Clifton Hill beside the Criminals Hall of Fame. This slightly thematically darker "north of the hill" area with the Screamers chain, the Criminals Hall of Fame, Rock Legends, Nightmares and Alien Encounter became a "main strip" all in it's own.
As mentioned before, since the cabin courts were all town down in the early 50s, nothing had been torn down on Clifton Hill. The only exception was the Houdini Hall of Fame that burnt to ash in 1996. Some of Houdini's Last Words were claiming that anything revealing his secrets would perish in flame, and even though the fire completely leveled the museum, the plywood and fiberglass paneled House of Frankenstein only separated from it by a 2-foot wide alley was completely untouched, leading a lot of Houdini's fans to believe he was conducting some kind of post-mortem practical joke. The metal objects like handcuffs and the water tank could be saved, and were bought by David Copperfield. Ripley's Moving Theatre was built in it's place. Over the 30 years from Tussaud's opening in 1959 to Dazzleland in 1989, Clifton Hill had expanded and filled up the land. However that didn't mean it was time to tear things down. Things were simply moved around or remodeled to keep them fresh, not out of an unwillingness to change, but because these things had become ingrained in the landscape. Examples of this were Tussaud's moving to its current home in the old building of a restaurant that had since moved on Victoria Ave., rather than the attraction shutting down, or the Adventure Dome Theatre oepneing in part of the Honeymoon City's gift shop. In Tussaud's old place was built the MGM walkthrough/store, Pink Panther ride and 4D Ride in 2002. The beer garden beside it was replaced with the WWE building and the Piledriver ride, but the beer area was moved to between the 2 attractions. In 2004 the Foxhead's arcade was expanded and re-themed into the Marvel Superheros Adventure City.
Another great example of re-freshing an existing attraction was Dazzleland. A simple realization was made, more games = more money and higher guest enjoyment. The outdoor courtyard style with it's room for walkways between the buildings was re-designed, and HOCO again called upon WHLLG. WHLLG designed not only a remodel of Dazzleland, but an incredible 5-step plan that would have made Clifton Hill financially on par with a major theme park. Steps 1-3 came to fruition. Step 1 was remodeling Dazzleland into the Great Canadian Midway in 2002. The level, concrete foundation Dazzleland was built on was kept as the foundation of the Midway, hence why it has the same layout. The former video game building at the back became the FX Ride Theatre (now XD Theatre/Wild West Coaster) in the Midway. The funnel cake shop was kept where it was in Dazzleland except now it was in the Midway, between the FX Ride and the Prize Counter. The area housing Dazzleland's ticket redemption games became the Game Factory. The middle building housing the claw games and kiddie rides was demolished, as it was no longer needed because the Midway was fully indoors and there was now a massive space to put games. The sports bar was expanded and became Boston Pizza, so Dinosaur Park was moved to in front of the Comfort Inn. Under the expanded Boston Pizza, Sally Corp. was hired to build the interactive Ghostblasters dark ride. All of Dazzleland's old games made the transition into the Midway, however very few are still around.
With the Midway making serious buck, HOCO went ahead with phase 2 of WHLLG's plan. Movieland was moved to Circus World's former location in 2005, and Circus World's owners moved the attraction to what was then the popular Victoria Ave. area. In Movieland's old home, Cosmic Golf, a blacklight golf was temporarily set up. 2 years later in 2007, the golf moved to it's permanent home in the basement becoming Galaxy Golf and the gift shop that had been formerly in the basement was moved upstairs. Movieland retained all the figures and sets they had at the time of the move, moving them all into the new space. All the scary elements were put in the new "House of Horrors", a small optional haunted house at the end of the attraction.
Phase 3 involved beginning to demolish the only thing that WHLLG's 5 phase plan would have torn down: Quality Inn. In it's place an amusement park would have been built, anchored by Canada's largest ferris wheel. The wheel would be phase 3 and the amusement park phase 4. Though both WHLLG and HOCO recognized the historical value of the hotel, it had reasons to go. The hotel may have been full of your usual hazardous mid-century building materials (however Comfort Inn built by the same firm the same year was found to have no hazardous materials when it was torn down in 2015, so who knows) but the main issue was elevators and the amount of space it took up. Comfort Inn only had 2 wings, one on each side of the lobby, and only 2 elevators would have needed to be installed. This wasn't legally necessary, as no law states that buildings of age absolutely have to be 100% accessible, it was more something HOCO wanted to do. Quality Inn had multiple wings that weren't accessible from one another, so an elevator would need to be installed in each wing. In addition to the elevator issue, Comfort Inn was chosen as the hotel to keep because the building was integrated with Kelsey's, Rumors Nightclub, Ripley's, and Dinosaur Park, all of which wouldn't have been touched in WHLLG's 5 phase plan. Finally, Comfort Inn's land wasn't big enough for an amusement park whereas Quality Inn's was. 2 things would justify the demolition of Quality Inn. One, it's sister hotel, Comfort Inn, would have been kept. The other reason justifying the demolition would be phase 5: a skyscraper hotel and indoooutdoor waterpark in the field between Clifton Hill and the Skylon Tower. The dragon figures from Quality Inn's pool were kept in HOCO's storage for a time for this waterpark. The final vision can be seen here.
Phase 3 would go ahead in 2006, with the lobby, Golden Griddle and Q-Balls Billiard pub of Quality Inn being torn down and the Skywheel built in it's place. For the last year Quality Inn was open, you would need to register at Comfort Inn's lobby. The same year, the Space Spiral was torn down, as 2 observation attractions wouldn't be needed on the hill. However, a new spiral tower would have been constructed during phase 4 in the theme park. The reason the tower would be demolished rather than moved was because a tower manufactured by the same company in Wildwood, NJ, had begun to sway a few years earlier, resulting in it needing to be removed entirely for safety reasons. Phase 4 was set to go ahead in 2010, so in 2009 the remainder of Quality Inn was demolished. It seemed as though everything would fall into place, and with the exception of Quality Inn making it's sacrifice, everything on Clifton Hill that had been there for 20-60 years would be there forever, just greatly expanded on.
Unfortunately, this came at a turning point for Clifton Hill, when the recession was in full swing and tourism had declined since 9/11. Changing technology and interests, but no real nostalgia trend yet, created a perfect storm, and the idea was scrapped. Especially now that there would be no amusement park, a lot of area attractions closed. HOCO now needed to find a new design company to completely re-design the project. The problem was, Quality Inn was already torn down to make way for the amusement park. HOCO reluctantly found a new design company who had no projects under their belt yet, IDS. HOCO was hopeful the Canadian company could help give them a similar vision to their previous 5 stage plan, that would help them re-use many of the already implemented stages and despite scrapping the amusement park, would simply scale down and redesign the hotel. This was done in hopes that the city would be much more likely to approve just another high rise hotel than an amusement park as well. IDS' new plan was much different than what HOCO was looking for. It featured tearing down Ripley's, Comfort Inn, Kelsey's, and Rumours Nightclub and building a Titanic Museum shaped like the boat. It also featured building a large mall within the hotel rather than a waterpark and relocating and expanding Dinosaur Park into Dinosaur Adventure Golf on Quality Inn's old land. While HOCO thankfully chose not to go ahead with the mall and Titanic Museum, they would build Dinosaur Adventure Golf and work with IDS to make a more feasible plan that better suited Clifton Hill.
The new plan featured Dinosaur Adventure Golf and Strike! Rock 'n Bowl as phase 1. It also included removing a lot of the thematic brand identity elements WHLLG had implemented to coincide with their final amusement park vision and replacing Galaxy Golf with Wizard's Golf as phase 2. Phase 3 would feature tearing down Comfort Inn (that never got it's elevators due to it no longer being planned to be kept), building Niagara Speedway in it's place, and removing Rumors Nightclub to accommodate the new Kelsey's bathrooms and Zombie Attack. Phase 4 would feature remodelling Wendy's, Boston Pizza and Kelsey's. Phase 5 would feature a mall (no hotel) in the field between Dinosaur Adventure Golf and the Skylon, but this final phase will likely never come to fruition.
Multiple attractions have closed since the late 2000's, such as the entire Screamers chain, Circus World, The Criminals Hall of Fame, Funland Arcade and Alien Encounter. The Hilltop Motel became the current home of the Upside Down House, and the Pilgrim Motel became Captain Jack's. Ironically, the only part of the building that's not part of the entertainment centre is a Mini Mart at the back that was the original arcade in the Pilgrim. Virtually everything in the Falls. Ave. complex other than Rainforest Cafe and the 4D theatre is gone. Marvel Superheroes Adventure City lost its license after Disney bought Marvel, and it simply became Adventure City. The Hulk Mini Golf became jungle themed, Spider-Man references were (poorly) removed from the dark ride, and X-men referenced were (also poorly) removed from the bumper cars. References to Marvel can still be found in the arcade, such as Spider-Man's face on a tree that was only covered up a few years ago. The WWE Store, after being abandoned since 2012, was turned into the Niagara Brewery Beer Store in 2016, fitting considering the land's history as a beer garden. Planet Hollywood on Falls Ave. closed around 2014, and is still abandoned. The MGM walkthrough was abandoned for over 10 years before becoming a barbecue restaurant in 2019.
The changes in the Falls Ave. complex are an example of good change, replacing abandoned attractions with ones that if anything are closer to what used to be there, such as Adventure City becoming an unthemed arcade again or the Beer Store being where the Beer Garden once was. Another example of this good change would be the long abandoned (and burnt) Adventure Dome that had briefly held a Lego attraction being turned into the Amazing Big Top Mirror and Lazer Maze in 2017. However a perfect example of negative change is the Rock Legends Wax Museum being forced out of business because a YouTube video of the museum was flagged for copyrighted music by YouTube's algorithms. This lead Sony Music to investigate the museum and shut it down last year if it wouldn't pay ridiculous licensing fees, which it couldn't afford.
Another example is IDS' redevelopment plan. HOCO is now locked in a contract with them, even though they obviously have very different ideas on the direction of Clifton Hill. Phase 1 was implemented in 2011, with Boston Pizza expanding their arcade to include Strike! Rock 'n Bowl and Dinosaur Park moving to where Quality Inn was and being renamed Dinosaur Adventure Golf. All of Costello's original dinosaurs (with the exception of the original Pterodactyl) would "migrate" to the new location where they would be joined by dozens of new mass-produced dinosaurs. Interestingly, foundations were built back in 2011 for the original 2 Brontosaurs to appear as if they were coming out of the ponds, but they wouldn't show up until 2019 when they were brought back out of storage to be installed, only to lay on the ground for a few months before going back into storage. Although it didn't use new hand-made figures, this attraction was a change that fits the spirit of Clifton Hill and was a good replacement for the empty plot of land that had once housed Quality Inn, even if an amusement park would have been better. The same cannot be said about the rest of IDS' plan. Many thematic elements installed throughout the hill by WHLLG (especially in Movieland and the Midway) were removed in phase 2 in 2013 simply to fit with IDS's image better, costing HOCO a lot of money. Phase 3 went ahead in 2015, and the 60 year old Comfort Inn was demolished, along with the old HOCO offices in it that if you remember from part 1, was the original nearly 200 year old stable building for the Zimmerman estate. Niagara Speedway was built in it's place, and if you look at the prices to drive it, then watch how many people do, you realize just how much they're making off it. Rumors Nightclub, originally the Queen's Door Nightclub in 1956, was gutted and turned into Zombie Attack and the new Kelsey's bathrooms, as the old ones had been in the Comfort Inn building. Phase 4 in 2018 extensively remodeled Wendy's as well as Boston Pizza, removing the patio.
Ghostblasters is now the final untouched WHLLG era attraction on the land. This is made even more troubling by the fact the signs for it were just removed and replaced with temporary ones, as I said in the post that started the entire discussion on whether or not I should do this series. If the attraction does go, we can only hope that a new interactive dark ride utilizing artistry, dimensional scenes and props much like Ghostblasters does is built, however that likely won't be the case. Triotech is the lead designer of ride through shooting games, that feature a dark ride car that travels through a hallway with screens on each side of it rather than real props. Triotech has dealt with HOCO before, building both the Wild West Coaster and Zombie Attack, so all signs point to one of these attractions replacing Ghostblasters if it closes.
There is still hope that Clifton Hill can retain it's spirit, but it stands at a crossroads. The House of Frankenstein for example, while retaining many original scenes, has had many removed and replaced with nothing, and many areas of the museum taken out entirely. Castle Dracula on the other hand hasn't updated a thing, but hasn't cared for the original scenes either, leaving them to fall into disrepair and only having 7 or 8 of the original 70 still lit, and none of them still functional. There are 2 directions Clifton Hill can go. With many attractions like the ones on HOCO's side being demolished to make way for whatever is trendy and lucrative, and many hanging on by a thread like Castle Dracula or Ghostblasters, the Hill is in real danger of becoming an endlessly overturning and developing area. However, with money recently being poured back into attractions like the Haunted House, Ripley's, and Guinness and attractions being redeveloped like the Falls Ave. complex or the Big Top Mirror maze, there is hope. If people, including the companies that own them, can recognise the historical value of attractions like Castle Dracula, The House of Frankenstien, Movieland, Tussaud's, etc., this can be promoted and the recent nostalgia boom can create large profits if this is played up. Additionally, future developments can still be more in the vein of what WHLLG envisioned for Clifton Hill, or what the Burlands recently did with the well done Big Top Mirror Maze. This is both profitable and economically sensible, as repeat customers that make memories and come to the area for generations with occasional new updates/re-themings (like what Clifton Hill did from the 50s-2010s), is far more profitable than a constantly turning over wave of new developments that cost millions to build that changes with each generation.
Thank you to everyone who has followed this series. Sorry for the length of this, but I promised this would be the last installment, so it has to be longer. If you have any information pertaining to Dazzleland or anything you know that I didn't cover in this series, let me know. Additionally, if you would like me to dig up photos on anything that I mentioned in the series, let me know, as unless it's the Dazzleland dragon, I probably have a photo of it. I will likely post many of them here anyway in time. Thanks again.

US Poker Trip - Need tips on cities and rooms!

Top of the Day for 10/07/2020

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Most Upvoted Posts of the Day

First Place

\"Don't mind me guys, keep going\"
posted by George2110 on /memes
Click here to view the post. ● 133,800 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 14:20:08 UTC

Second Place

At night you can see the moon, during the day you get to see moon moon.
posted by Fresh_Front on /aww
Click here to view the post. ● 122,162 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 13:07:14 UTC

Third Place

Kansas City Beatdown
posted by Germanic_Youth on /PublicFreakout
Click here to view the post. ● 107,256 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 00:39:49 UTC

Fourth Place

What 90's gaming actually looked like
posted by seenthezoo on /gaming
Click here to view the post. ● 104,607 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 02:54:48 UTC

Fifth Place

Beautiful grey wolf becomes a good boy when visited by woman who helped raise his pack
posted by asdfpartyy on /aww
Click here to view the post. ● 104,159 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 09:47:01 UTC

Most Downvoted Posts of the Day

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Most Upvoted Comments of the Day

IMPORTANT NOTE: This section may be not be accurate as it is under development. Currently this only gets the most upvoted top-level comments from the most upvoted posts today.
First Place

Love the tap on the shoulder before the blow to face.
posted by Turd-Stink on /PublicFreakout
Click here to view the post. ● 12,978 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 01:20:16 UTC

Second Place

Dude was recognized from the past, my boss says he got caught trying to boost stuff in the past. My boss was bird-dogging him and noticed some stuff he was carrying he was suddenly not carrying. We ask him where he put it and he tells us he left it in another part of the store. Boss says alright get out of here I remember you, dude freaks out saying fuck us. Then he pulls out a box cutter knife and starts waving it around so our clerk called the law. Dude storms out, walks back in and says I didn't steal shit and pulls his pants down and shows us his wiener and balloon knot. A guy outside said he noticed the guy flash everyone and saw the knife so he laid him out. Hit him one time and the dude took off. Police got moderately involved but I hope that guy learns from this and doesn't pull his pants down in front of a bunch of people again.
posted by Germanic_Youth on /PublicFreakout
Click here to view the post. ● 12,092 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 01:02:01 UTC

Third Place

I love how he turns over and lets her run his belly like a puppy dog. That wolf must have mad respect for this woman. I'd love to know the story of how she helped raise his pack..
posted by thefaith1029 on /aww
Click here to view the post. ● 9,446 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 10:35:47 UTC

Fourth Place

\"Moon Moon, where are you?\" ` \"Roof!\"`
posted by TooShiftyForYou on /aww
Click here to view the post. ● 8,644 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 14:31:40 UTC

Fifth Place

Reminds me of this other video of the dude coming home from work and freaking out cause he saw his husky chilling on the roof
posted by temporarycows on /aww
Click here to view the post. ● 6,368 Upvotes ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 14:21:43 UTC

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First Place

It’s the little things
posted by bella3774 on /MadeMeSmile
Click here to view the post. ● 129,481 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 15:06:34 UTC

Second Place

Karen calls police on man sitting in his car outside his own house
posted by tefunka on /PublicFreakout
Click here to view the post. ● 66,508 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 13:19:10 UTC

Third Place

🐱 kittens!
posted by Fishbowl007 on /AnimalsOnReddit
Click here to view the post. ● 1,261 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 21:43:40 UTC

Fourth Place

We don't need Harvest going core, we need improvements and consolidation of existing crafting options.
posted by Enartloc on /pathofexile
Click here to view the post. ● 3,185 Upvotes ● 2 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 0 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 13:00:56 UTC

Fifth Place

5 day old foster kittens!
posted by sazzajelly on /AnimalsOnReddit
Click here to view the post. ● 1,344 Upvotes ● 2 reward(s). ● 0 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 09/07/2020 at 22:07:44 UTC

Most Gilded Comments of the Day

IMPORTANT NOTE: This section may be not be accurate as it is under development.
First Place

During this lockdown I have been tasked with raising my nephews in the absence of my bil and sister as they are both doctors and we are following strict guidelines to remain separate. `My eldest nephew had been bullying his younger brother and some kids over the internet. He was generally being a dick. I immediately realised that he was a bully but also hurting but I didn’t give him any excuses for his bad behaviour. I made sure to be vocal and reprimand him every time he was crossing the line or being even vaguely inappropriate towards his brother. We started to have regular conversations on where his sour attitude was coming from and at first it just seemed like he was born to be an asshole but I persisted. ` After awhile he opened up to me and he started to feel like he was being heard and was then able to explain to me that he felt like he was a disappointment to our family as we are all fairly academic and successful in our professional lives and he was worried since he isn’t so academically inclined. He was also insecure about his sexuality (because his voice was still child like and not like his friends/little brother, so he thought that made him gay) and was therefore being overly aggressive and macho. He felt like he was the ugly, dumb older brother who could never do right compared to his younger brother, he also felt insecure about his lack of hair growth both facially and down below. I can honestly say that in the past few months he has been with me he has drastically changed because I took the time to listen and give him all the love I had for him. I apologised for not making him feel more loved/not showing him how much I loved him and how important he was to me and his parents. `We had a family zoom chat with his parents and discussed all his frustrations and upsets with his parents,siblings and even me. We all agreed to praise him more and to view his achievements with enthusiasm and pride it deserved. We assured him that he will never ever be compared to anyone else again. ` Honestly in a few months he went from being this annoying always bad ass kid to the kid I always knew he was deep down. He now is helpful, kind and very fun to be around. He has stopped bullying his brother, they not only get along but have started to be like friends and we issued letters of apologies to the kids he was bullying(initially he wanted to text them but I persuaded him to reconsider),all the kids were gracious enough to accept his apologies. ` Sometimes kids need to be reminded loudly and often how loved and wanted they are.`
posted by dat_woman_over_there on /AskReddit
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Second Place

Did she ever ask you while you were doing it: ` Remember when I could fit all of you inside me?`
posted by CraptainAmerica on /IAmA
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Third Place

Trump was over a billion in debt and the Russians [bailed him out.](https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/) `► Trump was first compromised by the Russians in the 80s. In 1984, the Russian Mafia began to use[ Trump real estate to launder money.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/is-there-a-case-for-trump-putin-collaboration-years-before-the-campaign/2018/08/16/00578f1e-9440-11e8-80e1-00e80e1fdf43_story.html) In 1987, the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations, Yuri Dubinin, arranged for Trump and his then-wife, Ivana, to enjoy an all-expense-paid trip to Moscow to consider possible business prospects. Only seven weeks after his trip, Trump ran full-page ads in the Boston Globe, the NYT and WaPO calling for, in effect, the dismantling of the postwar Western foreign policy alliance. The whole Trump/Russian connection started out as laundering money for the Russian mob through Trump's real estate, but evolved into something far bigger.` ► In 1984, David Bogatin — a convicted Russian mobster and close ally of Semion Mogilevich, a major Russian mob boss — met with Trump in Trump Tower right after it opened. Bogatin bought five condos from Trump at that meeting. Those condos were later seized by the government, which claimed they were used to launder money for the Russian mob. ([NY Times](https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/30/nyregion/entrepreneur-who-left-us-is-back-awaiting-sentence.html), Apr 30, 1992) `► Felix Sater is a Russian-born former mobster, and former managing director of NY real estate conglomerate Bayrock Group LLC located on the 24th floor of Trump Tower. He is a convict who became a govt cooperator for the FBI and other agencies. He grew up with Michael Cohen--Trump's former \"fixer\" attorney. Cohen's family owned El Caribe, which was a mob hangout for the Russian Mafia in Brooklyn. Cohen had ties to Ukrainian oligarchs through his in-laws and his brother's in-laws. Felix Sater's father had ties to the Russian mob. This goes back more than 30 years.` ► Trump was $4 billion in debt after his Atlantic City casinos went bankrupt. No U.S. bank would touch him. Then foreign money began flowing in through Bayrock (mentioned above). Bayrock was run by two investors: Tevfik Arif, a Kazakhstan-born former Soviet official who drew on bottomless sources of money from the former Soviet republic; and Felix Sater, a Russian-born businessman who had pleaded guilty in the 1990s to a huge stock-fraud scheme involving the Russian mafia. Bayrock partnered with Trump in 2005 and poured money into the Trump organization under the legal guise of licensing his name and property management. `► In July 2008, the height of the housing bust, Trump sold a mansion in Palm Beach for $95 million to Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch. Trump had purchased it four years earlier for $41.35 million. The sale price was nearly $54 million more than Trump had paid for the property. Again, this was the height of the recession when all other property had plummeted in value.` ► Semion Mogilevich was the brains behind the Russian Mafia. Mogilevich operatives have been using Trump real estate for decades to launder money. That means Russian Mafia operatives have been part of his fortune for years. Many of them owned condos in Trump Towers and other properties. They were running operations out of Trump's crown jewel. `► From Craig Unger's AMA: \"Early on, a source told me that all this was tied to Semion Mogilevich, the powerful Russian mobster. I had never even heard of him, but I immediately went to a database that listed the owners of all properties in NY state and looked up all the Trump properties. Every time I found a Russian sounding name, I would Google, and add Mogilevich. When you do investigative reporting, you anticipate drilling a number of dry holes, but almost everyone I googled turned out to be a Russian mobster. Again and again. If you know New York you don't expect Trump Tower to be a high crime neighborhood, but there were far too many Russian mobsters in Trump properties for it to be a coincidence.\"` ► So many Russians bought Trump apartments at his developments in Florida that the area became known as Little Moscow. The developers of two of his hotels were Russians with significant links to the Russian mob. The late leader of that mob in the United States, Vyacheslav Kirillovich Ivankov, was [living at Trump Tower](https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicate) `► According to a Bloomberg investigation (3/16/2017) into Trump World Tower, “a third of units sold on floors 76 through 83 by 2004 involved people or limited liability companies connected to Russia and neighboring states.”` ► In 2013, Federal agents busted an “ultraexclusive, high-stakes, illegal poker ring” run by Russian gangsters out of Trump Tower. They operated card games, illegal gambling websites, and a global sports book and laundered more than $100 million. A condo directly below one owned by Trump reportedly served as HQ for a “sophisticated money-laundering scheme” connected to Semion Mogilevich. `► The Russia Mafia is part and parcel of Russian intelligence. Russia is a mafia state. that is not a metaphor. Putin is head of the Mafia. So the fact that they have been operating out of the home of the president of the United States is deeply disturbing.` ► Rudy Giuliani famously prosecuted the Italian mob while he was a federal prosecutor, yet the Russian mob was allowed to thrive. Now he's deeply entwined in the business of Trump and Russian oligarchs. Giuiani appointed Semyon Kislin to the NYC Economic Development Council in 1990, and the FBI described Kislin as having ties tot he Russian mob. Of course, it made good political sense for Giuliani to get headlines for smashing the Italian mob. `► A lot of Republicans in Washington are implicated. Boatloads of Russian money went to the GOP--often in legal ways. The NRA got as much as $70M from Russia, then funneled it to the GOP. The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee lead by McConnel got millions from Leonard Blavatnik. In the 90s, the Russians began sending money to top GOP leaders, like Speaker of the House Tom Delay. Unger's book alleges that most of the GOP leadership has been compromised by RU money.` ► At the Cityscape USA’s Bridging US and the Emerging Real Estate Markets Conference held in Manhattan, on September 9, 10, and 11, 2008, Trump Jr. was frank about the tide of Russian money supporting the family business, saying \"...And in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.\" `► Eric Trump told golf reporter James Dodson in 2014 that the Trump Organization was able to expand during the financial crisis because “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”` ► Russian oligarchs [co-signed Trump’s Deutsche bank loans.](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/lawrence-odonnell-source-says-russian-oligarchs-co-signed-trumps-deutsche-bank-loans) `Trump now gleefully takes cues from Putin:` ► At the end of 2018, Putin and his allies started making a strong push for a resolution that would justify their country’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan and reverse an 1989 vote backed by Mikhail Gorbachev that condemned it. The Putinists’ goal was to pass the resolution by Feb. There is no one on this side of the Atlantic who thinks the USSR was justified in invading Afghanistan. And out of nowhere, on January 2nd, Trump came out strongly supporting Russia's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. `► Trump went against American intelligence on North Korean missiles. He told the FBI he didn't believe their intelligence because Putin told him otherwise. \"I don't care, I believe Putin\"` ► Trump met in secret with Putin the G20 summit in November 2018, without note takers. 19 days later, he announced a withdrawal from Syria. As a note, Trump conducted FIVE completely private meetings and conferences with Putin, and has gone to great lengths to prevent literally anyone, even people in his administration, from learning what was discussed. `► Trump refused to enforce sanctions legally codified into law - and in some cases reversed standing sanctions on Russian companies.` ► He has denounced his own intelligence agencies in a press conference with Putin on election meddling - and publicly endorsed Putin's version of events. `► Trump pulled out of the INF treaty with no explanation, which allows Putin to create long-range hypersonic missiles that threaten Europe with impunity. The US already has all the weaponry that the INF would ban the development of, so this offers us literally nothing, while allowing Russia to develop powerful new weapons to challenge our allies.` ► Demanded Russia get invited back into G7 `► Pushed the CIA to [give American intelligence to the Kremlin.](https://www.justsecurity.org/71279/trump-pushed-cia-to-give-intelligence-to-kremlin-while-taking-no-action-against-russia-arming-taliban/)` ► Withdrew from the Open Skies treaty `► Received intelligence in 2019 that Russia was paying bounties for dead American soldiers, and hasn't done anything about it by the time of this writing.` ► Announced troop withdrawal from Germany (America's missile defense from Russia and forward operating base against Russian aggression) ` ► And of course, Trump continues to threaten to pull out of NATO, a move so catastrophically stupid, so inconceivably cosmically myopic, I truly can't express the profundity of the idiocy. Suffice to say, pulling out of NATO would be like the only guy in a prison yard with a shotgun just throwing it over the fence for absolutely no reason, suddenly giving the people with crude homemade shivs complete power.`
posted by Tobert420 on /Impeach_Trump
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Fourth Place

The girl accusing Waffle of this shit had already admitted to cheating on her boyfriend during the convention 6 years ago, 100s of eye witnesses saw her kissing multiple guys and even giving hand jobs to every speed runner in the scene. `Her husband ditched her at the convention and she wanted pay back. Now she wants to stream again, her husband advises against it so she jumps on the MeToo train to save her Mormon life and keep her marriage intact.` Just because you do something you regret doesnt give you the right to call it rape. `She claims she was blackout drunk but somehow recalls ever detail of what happened crystal clear. **Red Flag.**` She claims she has been silenced but the real truth came out 6 years ago and was buried because multiple people refuted her claims. **Red Flag.** `She is a Mormon and married when she was just 18 years old, her husband has talked to the person she cheated with multiple times and he claimed they were in love and he shouldnt have engaged in the CONSENSUAL ACT at the time. **Red Flag.**` She expresses her desire to stream again but knows she wouldnt be accepted in the community because of her actions and what she said 6 years ago. **Red Flag.** `A girl approached her about her behavior during the event calling her a slut/whore which made her cry, the girl then left the group of super speed run nerds and was in full control of her own judgement yet our accuser was somehow voodoo tricked into hanging out with a pack of Mario Nerds. **Red Flag.**` Im sorry, all the other cases that have been made about content creators have REAL stories behind them, they have real victims and have been dealt with accordingly. **Red Flag.** `I have no horse in this race, I dont like or dislike Waffle, but I wont see someone falsely accused for something that was already buried years ago, this person obviously has mental problems and is seeking to further herself by jumping on the bandwagon.` If you dislike Waffle thats fine, but dont jump to conclusions about something that is so obviously contrived. `Edit: looks like the battle is already partly lost. These allegations have lead loaded.gg to cover their ass, Waffle has been removed from their roster.` Edit2: Thanks for silver, at least someone can sees through the bias.
posted by Plasticious on /LivestreamFail
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Fifth Place

So. `I game. My husband games. We are both avid gamers - him moreso than I - and he lives and breathes his computer. When I read this post out loud and he heard the amount that your (hopefully ex) fiancé blew on his computer, he asked “Does the computer suck his dick while he games? Does he shit into the chair and it power the computer for him? Even as a hardcore computer gaming enthusiast, I would be hard pressed and have to make a considerable effort to spend even HALF of what he did. I don’t know how that’s physically possible even with top-of-the-line hardware. He either grossly overpaid, or he’s telling her that’s what was spent on the computer, but he’s lying and blew it elsewhere because of the amount of unnecessary shit that he had to buy in order to get to that number in the first place. That’s fucking insanity.”` It’s been 15 minutes and he’s still ranting about how unbelievable that amount is to spend on a computer. `If I were you, and my fiancé pulled that stunt, I would tell him to marry the computer since he’s so dedicated to it that it requires all his time and our joint wedding fund.` I’m just going to leave it at that.
posted by Lharka on /relationship_advice
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Dumb Question [Spoiler]

Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Jun. 21, 1999

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE: 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998


1-4-1999	1-11-1999	1-18-1999	1-25-1999
2-1-1999	2-8-1999	2-15-1999	2-22-1999
3-1-1999	3-8-1999	3-15-1999	3-22-1999
3-29-1999	4-5-1999	4-12-1999	4-19-1999
4-26-1999	5-3-1999	5-10-1999	5-17-1999
5-24-1999	5-31-1999	6-7-1999	6-14-1999

Stemming from the death of Owen Hart, as expected, the Hart family filed a lawsuit this week against the WWF, Vince and Linda McMahon, the stunt coordinators, the manufacturers of the harness and cables used, the city of Kansas City, and the owners of the Kemper Arena alleging negligence in the stunt that killed him. Martha Hart, her children, and Owen's parents Stu and Helen are listed as plaintiffs. They all, along with Bret Hart, appeared at a press conference when the lawsuit was announced. "My children have lost their father, and I have lost the love of my life, because of the greed of the WWF and its insistence that its wrestlers take ever-greater chances to attract entertainment dollars in this era of extreme sports," said Martha Hart. Dave doesn't have all the details of the lawsuit at press time since it was just filed right before this issue came out, but he will have a lot more detail next week.
A separate criminal investigation is still ongoing, with police looking into the rigging and if proper safety precautions were followed. The most likely charge, if any, would be involuntary manslaughter and Dave says there would need to be a lot of evidence to actually be able to file a charge for that. He thinks it'll be difficult to prove anything to that extent. The Kemper Arena people are pleading ignorance, basically saying, "Hey we just rented them the building, we had nothing to do with any of that." The police have also ruled out foul play, saying no one pushed Hart off and his harness wasn't tampered with. No one was standing near Owen when he fell.
Sable made an appearance on WCW Nitro this week, being shown multiple times sitting in the front row, which raises a lot of legal issues. The showed several close-ups and also had her wave at the camera, though they never identified her. Bischoff only barely acknowledged it on commentary, saying that he's seen that woman in Playboy. Last week on Nitro, they did an angle where someone drove a Humvee into Kevin Nash's limo and on WCW's website, Bischoff strongly hinted that Sable was the driver. Anyway, in this case, WCW is denying any knowledge that Sable would be there, simply claiming that she bought a ticket to the show. WWF and WCW still have pending lawsuits against each other that have been dragging on for years. Sable has her lawsuit against WWF and of course, now they're dealing with the Owen Hart lawsuit. In fact, WWF was also sued this week by the Kuwaiti TV announcer that Vader beat up a couple of years ago for $1.5 million. WCW may be hoping that since WWF has so many legal problems right now that they may not challenge Sable's contract status. Dave thinks that's a dangerous gamble on WCW's part because WWF has to protect their contracts and can't risk setting a precedent of allowing people to jump ship while still under contract and letting it go unpunished. Plus, it could backfire. Goldberg is in the midst of a contract dispute with WCW right now. What happens if he shows up on Raw next week the same way Sable did? If that were to happen, WCW wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on in court now that they've done it first. No word yet on how WWF plans to respond to Sable's Nitro appearance.

WATCH: Sable appears on Nitro

Anyway, last week WWF sent Sable a cease and desist, ordering her to stop using the name Sable from this point forward. The main reason is because WWF is attempting to get a cut of the profits from the upcoming Playboy issue featuring her and they're trying to work out a deal to allow Playboy to market her as "Sable" when they release it. WWF was upset that Sable struck her own deal with Playboy for this 2nd issue, going behind their backs to do so. Her contract calls for WWF to act as her agent on such deals and since the first Playboy was such a monster hit, there's obviously a lot of money to be made with a 2nd one.
Sable was also interviewed in TV Guide this week and had a lot to say about the company. She basically said everyone backstage is on drugs (even suggesting that many of the ring crew and stagehands are on drugs) and criticized WWF for continuing the show after Owen Hart died. When asked why she was willing to pose for Playboy but didn't want to go along with "accidentally" exposing her breasts on TV, she said, "There is a time and place for that. I do not feel like--in the middle of a wrestling arena where they're serving alcohol and there are screaming fans, including children, in the front row--I don't feel like that is the proper place to be exposed." When asked what happened after she refused, she said she was de-pushed and they scripted her to lose the women's title. When asked about the claim in her lawsuit that male wrestlers would poke holes through walls to watch the women's dressing room, Sable said that her and the other women complained to management about it repeatedly. She said she felt unsafe being backstage. She also noted that her WWF contract was for $150,000 guarantee, which was less than what men in the company make. There was also a claim in Sable's lawsuit that a fellow wrestler threatened to bite and disfigure her face to ruin her career and nothing was done. Dave says that word is Luna Vachon was the one who said that. And to say nothing was done isn't quite true, since she was fired soon after for multiple instances of misconduct, including that.
WCW Great American Bash is in the books and to say it was bad would be an understatement and an insult to bad shows. The company reeks of desperation right now. The event saw the return of Sid Vicious, "who has walked out on every contract and every company he's been with for his entire career." Plus, he was fired from WCW a few years ago for trying to murder Arn Anderson. Speaking of, rumors that Anderson okayed this deal are false. He was never told about it in advance and found out Sid had signed with WCW when he showed up to the arena. Bringing back Sid and putting him in the world title picture is a desperate move by a desperate company. Of course, this also means the end of Sid in ECW. Dave also takes this moment to rant on WCW bringing in Master P, talking about a press conference they held where Master P seemed clueless about WCW and didn't even know Curt Hennig's name (they're supposed to be feuding) and how Bischoff was kissing his ass the whole time and says it's become a game where WWF and WCW compete over which of them can sign the biggest celebrities and suck up to them. And these celebs are often here just to collect a check, which hurts the product. He also talks about how WCW just immediately kills the appeal of anyone they bring in. Master P is already seeming like a failure. Dennis Rodman proved last year that he's not worth the money they spent to bring him in. They signed Tank Abbott to a 3-year deal, hyped him for one episode of Nitro, and then already seem to have given up on him. So what's next? Dave half-jokingly wonders if WCW has Jake Roberts' phone number.

WATCH: Master P's WCW press conference

Oh yeah, the PPV. The show wasn't sold out, only drawing 11,600 to an arena that holds 13,000. And even of those that were there, the crowd was heavily papered so paid attendance was significantly less. Dave notes that last month, WWF sold out the same arena for a house show that didn't even have Austin or Undertaker on it. The 2 opening matches were Hak vs. Brian Knobbs and Van Hammer vs. Mikey Whipwreck, leading Dave to wonder why WCW would use those guys but somehow couldn't figure out a way to get Billy Kidman or Juventud Guerrera on the show. Scott Norton was supposed to face Ernest Miller (and lose) but didn't work the show due to high blood pressure. Dave seems to suspect Norton just didn't want to do the job. Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper was "the single worst PPV match Flair has ever been in." Sting vs. Rick Steiner gets negative stars, as did Kevin Nash vs. Randy Savage. Dave goes into a whole rant about the tag title match, saying there's backstory from earlier in the week. It's a long confusing mess, but basically, Ric Flair was supposed to be involved in an angle with Benoit on Thunder last week, but nobody at WCW sent word that he was booked for the show or sent him a plane ticket. So on the afternoon of Thunder, WCW realized their mistake and told Flair to get to Syracuse for the show ASAP. They spent thousands of dollars chartering a jet to fly him there and spent most of the show booking it on the fly and stalling, hoping he would make it before they went off the air. He finally arrived at the arena with 10 minutes left in the live show but by then, they had already re-booked things, and told Flair he was no longer needed. Anyway, the booking change on Thunder is what led to DDP and Kanyon winning the tag titles on this PPV.
UFC approved a new rule book that addresses a lot of issues. Dave breaks down everything, from drug testing protocol, changes in judging rules and the scoring system, and the new rounds system among other things. Lots of interesting stuff that is pretty much the genesis of modern-day UFC rules. I know I've mentioned this before but I don't usually cover the MMA news that is in every issue of the Observer. But I know there's a lot of crossover between wrestling and MMA fans so I'm sure a lot of MMA fans are reading these. From the very beginnings of the sport, Dave has covered it in detail just like he does wrestling. Not just UFC, but all the Japanese promotions too. Pancrase, RINGS, Pride, etc. So if you're an MMA fan with an interest in the behind-the-scenes news going on in the 90s, you really should go read this stuff, it's interesting even for me and I'm not an MMA fan.
Diablo Velasco passed away this week at 75. You probably haven't heard the name but he's the guy who trained some of the greatest legends in Lucha Libre, including El Santo, Blue Demon, Perro Aguayo, and dozens of others.
The ECW/TNN deal still hasn't officially been announced but it's pretty much a done deal. ECW will still run their syndicated shows, but none of the footage that airs on the TNN show can be used on the syndicated shows, which is going to really hurt those shows. ECW has to keep their syndication deals in place though, because if the TNN show doesn't work out or got cancelled, they'd be left without any television and that would kill the company. But don't expect a lot of storylines or angles to take place on the syndicated shows anymore, it'll almost all be done on the TNN show. Right now, ECW is just staying the course and not really doing any major storylines. The plan is to wait until the TNN show before doing any big angles and they may re-do some old successful angles with new wrestlers, since they figure the vast majority of the audience won't be that familiar with ECW's past.
Rob Van Dam has a small role in an upcoming episode of NBC teen series City Guys. The New York Post criticized NBC for it, pointing out that RVD is a known pot-head who advocates for marijuana in ECW and wears "420" merch and stuff like that and says he shouldn't be on a kids show. NBC execs are said to be upset about it, but the episode has already been filmed so hey, what can ya do? (Can't find any footage from the episode, but here's a pic from the set).

PHOTO: RVD on the set of City Guys

The guy last week who bid $11,999 for Tammy Sytch's old breast implants ended up not paying, so they're back up for auction. Check your local eBay.
Eric Bischoff hasn't attended a Thunder taping in weeks. Head booker Kevin Nash wasn't there for Thunder this week either. Just in case you were wondering how much the people in charge of WCW care about that show.
Insane Clown Posse claimed on their website that they're heading to WCW soon (yup).
A lot of people in the locker room were praising Ric Flair for putting over Buff Bagwell clean without complaint a couple of weeks ago. Basically, the locker room sees Flair as the only old guy there who is willing to put them over and try to help make them stars, while guys like Hogan, Savage, Piper, and Nash hold everybody else down and won't work with them.
Speaking of Nash, although he's technically the head booker of the company, he really only books his own programs and a couple of his friends. Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Sullivan are basically booking the rest of the company.
Shane Douglas is said to be close to starting with WCW. In a recent interview, Flair said he would never work an angle with Douglas (but of course he does). He also didn't seem thrilled about Sid Vicious being brought back, for obvious reasons.
Bischoff has tried to defend his decision to fire Davey Boy Smith, saying the paperwork was drawn up before they knew how bad Smith's medical condition was. Dave says that may be true, but it wasn't mailed until several days later and by then, everybody in the industry knew that Smith was fighting a life-threatening spinal infection, so Bischoff's "we didn't know" excuse doesn't really hold up.
Lou Thesz was interviewed about Owen Hart's death and basically criticized the state of the wrestling industry, saying, "I don't think I've ever felt as old or as out of touch as I do today." Thesz said that he stopped watching wrestling years ago but he has tried not to publicly criticize the business because he knows the wrestlers are just trying to make a living and give the crowds what they want. He then added, "I don't mean to be unkind, but I don't have to tell you about the audience. They're not too bright."
Harley Race was in the Kemper Arena the night Owen Hart died and says he was one of the last people to talk to Owen before he went up on the catwalk and had even joked with him beforehand, telling him to make sure the rope didn't break and that Owen laughed about it.
The plan to reveal Vince McMahon as the "Higher Power" was a last minute decision. They had hoped to have a major babyface turn heel for the role and had asked Mick Foley to do it, but he turned it down.
Due to Owen's death, the Over The Edge PPV seems to have pretty much been buried. When showing clips of Undertaker winning the title, they just say "On PPV Last month." Dave says he's willing to bet that next year's May PPV will be given a new name and there probably won't be anymore PPVs entitled "Over The Edge" (correct. And even though it was never released on home video, it was eventually made available on the Network).
WWF is looking to sell the hotel and casino that they bought in Las Vegas. They hope to use the money to buy a different piece of property in Vegas that would be more accommodating for what they want (a hotel/arena that they could run live wrestling shows out of).
All the letters are about Owen Hart, and this time some people are defending WWF's decision not to stop the show. He also disagrees with Dave saying that Steve Austin's beer tribute to Owen was contrived, saying there would have been a huge outcry if Austin had done nothing. Dave disagrees, saying that neither Vince or Undertaker spoke on the tribute show and there was no outcry. He also says Austin didn't go to Owen's funeral, even though he was heavily pressured to, but there was no outcry for that either. Dave says Austin's tribute to Owen was held until the very end of Raw as a ratings ploy, to keep fans tuned in throughout the entire show.

MONDAY: More on Sable's lawsuit and Nitro appearance, more on the Owen Hart lawsuit, Goldberg & Chris Jericho WCW contract news, and more...

What's happening around town (Wed, Feb 12th - Tue, Feb 18th)

Tulsa's event list.

Ongoing

🎓 Play With Me: Parent/Child Workshop Series (Owasso Library - Owasso) Thru Tue, Feb 18th Start Time: 10:00am Playing is learning! Join us for a three-week play workshop series for parents and children ages 1-3. Class size is limited. Registration is required and is for all three weeks of the series. Register at the library or by calling 918-549-7323. Each program offers opportunities for children to play with developmentally appropriate toys in a play…
🎨 ReMember: Living Arts Member Showcase (Hardesty Arts Center (AHHA) - Tulsa) Thru Tue, Feb 18th Start Time: 6:00pm This exhibition is intended to highlight the unique talents found within the Tulsa Arts community. We encourage our member artists to activate the gallery space at Living Arts and continue creating art that makes you talk. Participating Artists: Andrea Martin, Ann Shannon, Ariana Jakub, Brice Duncan, Callan Dullea, Carla Treadway, Claire…

Wednesday, Feb 12th

Be My Valentine (Jenks, OK - Jenks) Start Time: 12:00am Stop by and make a valentine to keep or give away. Supplies are provided.Â For all ages.
🎭 Brother Moses (The Vanguard - Tulsa) Start Time: 8:00pm
Build a Reader Storytime: Preschool (Owasso Library - Owasso) Start Time: 10:00am The best in children's literature, songs, games, finger plays, rhymes and other reading-related activities are shared with your preschooler. For ages 3-5.
🎓 Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Live! Neighbor Day (Brady Theater - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:00pm Tickets are $20, $30, $40, $50 & $75* | $5 increase day of show VIP tickets include the best seats in the house and a post-show meet and greet with the characters. *Ages 1 & up require a ticket Tickets are available by calling 800-514-3849 or in person at the Brady Box Office To RSVP to the official Facebook event and for special pre-sale…
In Search of Solace (Blackbird On Pearl - Tulsa) Start Time: 8:00pm
😂 Jersey (Loony Bin - Tulsa) Thru Sat, Feb 15th
Mardi Gras Masks (Nathan Hale Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 3:30pm Get ready for Mardi Gras by decorating your own mask. Supplies are limited and are on a first-come-first-serve basis, so get here early! For ages 9-17.
🎓 ONE TICKET LEFT-Valentine's Pie Making Class for Two! (Mother Road Market - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:00pm Join our hands-on lesson in making a classic buttery pie crust with a delicious apple filling. In this two-hour class we will cover the how-to’s as well as what pitfalls to avoid and the tricks to making a flaky, perfect crust. Along with eating some delicious pie, provided by us! You and your companion, will make your own dough,…
Paws for Reading (Owasso Library - Owasso) Start Time: 4:00pm Registered therapy dogs are excellent listeners. Kids ages 5-12 are invited to read their favorite books to a furry, four-pawed friend. Registration is required. Each reader will receive a free book provided by the Raymond and Bessie Kravis Foundation through the Tulsa Library Trust. Register online at…
Travels With Tulsans: Surprising Pakistan (Tulsa Central Library - Zink Study Room - Tulsa) Start Time: 12:10pm Take a trip with us and enjoy travelogues from fascinating locales both near and far.

Thursday, Feb 13th

♪ Ben Miller Band (The Shrine - Tulsa) Start Time: 8:00pm
Dorothy and the Prince of Oz (Tulsa Performing Art Center - Tulsa) Thru Sun, Feb 16th Follow the yellow brick road to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center to experience the Tulsa Ballet's "Dorothy and the…
🍴 In the Middle Book Club (Owasso Library - Owasso) Start Time: 6:00pm Join us as we discuss "A Snicker of Magic" by Natalie Lloyd and enjoy snacks and an activity. For ages 9-12.
♪ Iration | Heatseekers Winter Tour (Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:30pm IRATION’s Heatseekers Winter Tour 2020 February 13th, 2020 Cain’s Ballroom - Tulsa, OK With special guests Iya Terra, Ballyhoo!, and The Ries Brothers All Ages ~~~ Heatseekers Winter Tour 2020 VIP Packages ~~~ Each package includes:
- One general admission standing ticket
- Early entry to the GA floor prior to doors
- VIP soundcheck session…
😂 Jersey (Loony Bin - Tulsa) Thru Sat, Feb 15th
🏃 LOVE the RUN you're with! (RunnersWorld Tulsa - Tulsa) Spend an evening at RunnersWorld Tulsa to celebrate Valentines and all things running on Thursday, February 13! We are excited for the month of hearts and chocolate! Enjoy a Valentines date with RunnersWorld Tulsa! Join us Thursday, February 13th starting at 5:30PM and ending at 7:30PM at RunnersWorld Tulsa. We will have sales and giveaways to…
🎨 William Shatner - Screening of Wrath of Khan (Brady Theater - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:30pm DCF Concerts PresentsWILLIAM SHATNER LIVE with a screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan All tickets are Reserved Seats. This is an all-ages event
🎨 William Shatner - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Brady Theater - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:30pm Set your phasers to fun! Prepare to be beamed up for an unforgettable night with the original ‘Captain James T. Kirk’, award-winning actor William Shatner. Following a screening of the classic film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, William Shatner takes to the stage to share fascinating and humorous behind-the-scenes stories from his storied…

Friday, Feb 14th

♪ Broncho (The Vanguard - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:45pm
♪ Cold War Kids with special guest Overcoats (Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:30pm Cain's Ballroom welcomes Cold War Kids back to Tulsa, OK on February 14, 2020 Advance - $26 + fees Day of Show - $28 + fees Door - $28 Mezzanine (21+) - $41 + fees No re-entry! No smoking! No refunds! Support acts are subject to change without notice! COLD WAR KIDS BIO For nearly 15 years, Nathan Willett and Cold War Kids have fielded the shifts…
♪ DJ Demko (Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa - Catoosa) Day 1 of 2 Start Time: 6:00pm
♪ DJ Mib (Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa - Catoosa) Start Time: 7:00pm
Dorothy and the Prince of Oz (Tulsa Performing Art Center - Tulsa) Thru Sun, Feb 16th Follow the yellow brick road to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center to experience the Tulsa Ballet's "Dorothy and the…
😂 Jersey (Loony Bin - Tulsa) 1 day left
🎓 Tulsa Regional Science Fair (University of Tulsa - Tulsa) Start Time: 9:00am The Tulsa Regional Science Fair (TRSF) is open to public, private and homeschool students from seventh through twelfth grades who reside in Tulsa and Creek Counties. There are two divisions: Junior Division (Grades 7-9) and Senior Division (Grades 10-12). Registration is "open", meaning that students wishing to enter do not have to participate…
Wavy 80s Valentine’s Dance (Oklahoma Aquarium - Jenks) Start Time: 7:00pm FEBRUARY 14, 2020 | 7 P.M. - 11 P.M. Break out the leg warmers and hairspray—the 80s are back at the Oklahoma Aquarium’s Wavy 80s Valentine’s Day Dance! Dress up in your most neon spandex for a radical night under the sea. This magical evening will include a live DJ playing the best hits from Generation X, a photo booth to capture the…

Saturday, Feb 15th

🎭 August: Osage County (Theatre Tulsa - Tulsa) Thru Wed, Feb 19th Start Time: 8:00pm Presented By: Theatre Tulsa Tulsa playwright Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning triumph. Following their patriarch’s suicide, the Weston family comes together in Osage County, Oklahoma. Buried secrets are revealed and the bonds of family are tested in this frighteningly poignant show that proves the deepest scars come from the ones you love…
Bernesto Birthday Bash (The Shrine - Tulsa) Start Time: 8:00pm
♪ Clark Beckham: Light Year Tour (The Vanguard - Tulsa) Start Time: 8:00pm
♪ DJ Demko (Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa - Catoosa) Day 2 of 2 Start Time: 6:00pm
Dorothy and the Prince of Oz (Tulsa Performing Art Center - Tulsa) 1 day left Follow the yellow brick road to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center to experience the Tulsa Ballet's "Dorothy and the…
Double Slice of Tulsa Flea Market (Expo Square - Tulsa) Day 1 of 2 Start Time: 8:00am Enjoy a double slice of Tulsa Flea Market the weekend of February 15 & 16! Shop an eclectic array of antiques, collectibles, vintage items, memorabilia, records, books, jewelry, crafts, and more. Located on Expo a square since 1972. We're open Saturday 8 to 4 and Sunday 11 to 4. Admission is FREE!
🎨 Drawing Rally 2020 (Philbrook Downtown - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:00pm 75 artists work side-by-side to create original pieces of art. Finished work will be available for purchase on the spot on a first come, first served basis for a ridiculously affordable price. Proceeds support Philbrook arts and education programming. Free Entrance Drop-In
🎭 The Drunkard and the Olio (Tulsa Spotlight Theatre - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:30pm
😂 Jersey (Loony Bin - Tulsa) Last Day
🎨 Kelli O'Hara in Concert (Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center - Broken Arrow) Start Time: 7:30pm KELLI O'HARA: FEBRUARY 15, 2020 And Oklahoma native with world-class resume, Kelli O’Hara is making her Broken Arrow PAC debut! On Broadway, Kelli’s portrayal of Anna Leonowens in the revival of “The King and I” garnered her the 2015 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Other stage credits include “The Pajama Game,”…
♪ Lil Tjay - True 2 Myself Tour (Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:00pm Cain's Ballroom welcomes Lil Tjay to Tulsa, OK on February 15, 2020 Advance - $27 + fees Day of Show - $29 + fees Door - $33 Mezzanine (21+) - $42 + fees VIP Meet & Greet - $125 + fees (ONLINE ONLY) No re-entry! No smoking! No refunds! Support acts are subject to change without notice! Lil Tjay Bio Before Lil TJay became the Internet heartthrob…
🎭 Luchatines (624 Catering - Tulsa) Start Time: 9:00pm Join us for our monthly Luchador match! Masked wrestlers duke it out in the ring in a battle of good vs evil. Plus we serve up tacos, margaritas and beers!
🏆 Tulsa Oilers vs. Wichita Thunder (BOK Center - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:05pm CALL or Text: 918-632-7825 Download 2019-20 Season Schedule https://tulsaoilers.com/schedule
🏃 Sweetheart Run (Blue Dome District - Tulsa) Grab your sweetheart (or meet one at the race) and bring them to Fleet Feet Blue Dome (2nd and Frankfort) in Downtown Tulsa on Saturday, February 15, 2020 for the Sweetheart Run! Three distance options (5km, 10km, and Fun Run) plus the Double (5K+10K) make this a great race for everyone!
When registering you have the opportunity to register as…
🎓 The Total Health & Fitness Expo (Expo Square - Tulsa) Day 1 of 2 The global fitness & health club industry generates more than $80 billion in revenue per year. Americans spend north of $60 billion annually to try to lose pounds, on everything from paying for gym memberships and joining weight-loss programs to drinking diet soda. This event will serve t

Sunday, Feb 16th

🎭 August: Osage County (Theatre Tulsa - Tulsa) Thru Wed, Feb 19th Start Time: 8:00pm Presented By: Theatre Tulsa Tulsa playwright Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning triumph. Following their patriarch’s suicide, the Weston family comes together in Osage County, Oklahoma. Buried secrets are revealed and the bonds of family are tested in this frighteningly poignant show that proves the deepest scars come from the ones you love…
BJB ( Grateful Dead Tribute ) (The Shrine - Tulsa) Start Time: 4:00pm
Dorothy and the Prince of Oz (Tulsa Performing Art Center - Tulsa) Last Day Follow the yellow brick road to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center to experience the Tulsa Ballet's "Dorothy and the…
Double Slice of Tulsa Flea Market (Expo Square - Tulsa) Day 2 of 2 Start Time: 8:00am Enjoy a double slice of Tulsa Flea Market the weekend of February 15 & 16! Shop an eclectic array of antiques, collectibles, vintage items, memorabilia, records, books, jewelry, crafts, and more. Located on Expo a square since 1972. We're open Saturday 8 to 4 and Sunday 11 to 4. Admission is FREE!
🏆 Tulsa Oilers vs. Kansas City Mavericks (BOK Center - Tulsa) Start Time: 4:05pm
🎭 Silversun Pickups / Tulsa, OK / Cain's Ballroom (Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:00pm Silversun Pickups will be performing at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, OK on February 16. Special guests: Eliza & The Delusionals Pre-sale tickets available Tuesday, December 10 at 10 a.m. local time. Presale password = DONTKNOWYET Tickets on sale Friday, December 13 at 10 a.m. local time. New album Widow’s Weeds out now! Grab your copy on vinyl…
😂 Spitball Standup (Loony Bin - Tulsa)
🎓 The Total Health & Fitness Expo (Expo Square - Tulsa) Day 2 of 2 The global fitness & health club industry generates more than $80 billion in revenue per year. Americans spend north of $60 billion annually to try to lose pounds, on everything from paying for gym memberships and joining weight-loss programs to drinking diet soda. This event will serve t

Monday, Feb 17th

🎭 August: Osage County (Theatre Tulsa - Tulsa) Thru Wed, Feb 19th Start Time: 8:00pm Presented By: Theatre Tulsa Tulsa playwright Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning triumph. Following their patriarch’s suicide, the Weston family comes together in Osage County, Oklahoma. Buried secrets are revealed and the bonds of family are tested in this frighteningly poignant show that proves the deepest scars come from the ones you love…
♪ Open Mic W/ Zac Wenzel (Blackbird On Pearl - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:30pm

Tuesday, Feb 18th

🎭 August: Osage County (Theatre Tulsa - Tulsa) 1 day left Start Time: 8:00pm Presented By: Theatre Tulsa Tulsa playwright Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning triumph. Following their patriarch’s suicide, the Weston family comes together in Osage County, Oklahoma. Buried secrets are revealed and the bonds of family are tested in this frighteningly poignant show that proves the deepest scars come from the ones you love…
Build A Reader: Stay and Play (Broken Arrow - Broken Arrow) Start Time: 11:00am For preschoolers, playing is learning! Join us for games, toys and activities that foster critical early literacy skills.
Build A Reader: Stay and Play (Helmerich Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 11:00am For babies, toddlers and preschoolers, playing is learning! Join us for games, toys and activities that foster critical early literacy skills.
Build A Reader Storytime: Family (Helmerich Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 10:30am Bring the whole family for this 0-to-5 storytime! Thereâs something for everyone â simple songs and books for the little ones, more interactive stories and activities for your older children.
Build A Reader Storytime: Family - Second Saturday Edition! (Tulsa City County Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 3:00pm Bring the whole family for this 0-to-5 storytime! Thereâs something for everyone â simple songs and books for the little ones, more interactive stories and activities for your older children.
Build A Reader Storytime: Preschool (Rudisill Reginal Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 5:00pm The best in children's literature, songs, games, finger plays, rhymes and other reading-related activities are shared with your preschooler.
♪ Eric Johnson Classics: Present & Past (Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:30pm Cain's Ballroom welcomes Eric Johnson back to Tulsa, OK on February 18, 2020 This event has reserved seating! Advance - $30 + fees Day of Show - $33 + fees Door - $33 No re-entry! No smoking! No refunds!
🎓 Kiowa Language Class (Zarrow Regional Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 6:30pm This class is presented by the Kiowa Nation's Tulsa Kiowa Language and Cultural Revitalization Program and sponsored by the American Indian Resource Center. For adults and teens.
Michael Angelo Batio ( speed kills tour ) (The Shrine - Tulsa) Start Time: 7:30pm
STEM Games and Activities (Hardesty Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 4:30pm Drop in and try out a new game, craft or puzzle. Come and meet other curious kids and strengthen your STEM-associated skills. For ages 7-12.
Tween Game Night (Nathan Hale Library - Tulsa) Start Time: 3:30pm Join us for friendly Xbox One and PS4 competitions for ages 9-14.

No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.
-Roger Ebert
The length of TLJ was the most common criticism by far, with 50% of RT Top Critic's citing it as a problem. Thus, this is the longest entry of this series, and possibly the last, unless I do a smaller part on niche issues. Previous parts cover Humor and Canto Bight.

The movie is overstuffed with plot, and by the time the visually intoxicating and eye-popping last showdown happens, it feels like a set piece that should have been saved for the next film. At a whopping two hours and 32 minutes, “The Last Jedi” overstays its welcome just a tad.

Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service - Fresh

Writer-director Rian Johnson steps into the franchise fray and does a creditable, if uninspired, job. At about 2-1/2 hours, it’s a long sit.

Peter Rainer,Christian Science Monitor - Fresh

Rian Johnson delivers a film that’s a bit too long at 2½ hours

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Fresh

Does the movie, like its predecessor, rely on familiar tropes a bit more than it should? Yes, I think it does. Is it, at a solid two-and-a-half hours, considerably longer than it needed to be? Yes, that too.

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic - Fresh

It’s simply too long at two hours and 36 minutes – and sometimes too damn much. The screen is so crowded with character and incident that you might need a scorecard to keep up.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone - Fresh

The problem is that the narrative threads connecting them are lazily knitted and sometimes tangled or broken. The overall plot is underwhelming and there’s far too much padding, especially during the first hour. There’s a sense that Johnson is giving busy-work to certain characters while others are catching up. The Last Jedi is a great 105-minute movie stretched too thin.

James Berardinelli, ReelViews - Fresh

The midsection sags and, other than the heroes’ desperate attempts to survive, there’s no central story line to pull the various satellites of action in its wake. Some of the characters, like Captain Phasma, get frustratingly little screen time.You feel the 2½-hour length at points.

Ty Burr, Boston Globe - Fresh

The movie, though - at 152 minutes, easily the lengthiest in the series - drags in the middle, particularly when Rose and Finn go off on a complicated mission to disable an enemy tracking device. The subplot not only goes nowhere, it takes forever to do so, and makes me wonder if this new trilogy is going to have the same problem as the prequels - material for two terrific films stretched out over three.

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger - Fresh

The film’s paunchy middle section includes a trip to a casino that might better have ended up on the cutting-room floor. The unnecessary padding accounts for the 152-minute running time, a franchise record, which will test the patience (and bladders) of even the most devoted followers.

Peter Howell, Toronto Star - Fresh

Nor is its frankly excessive 152-minute running time. There is no excuse for a long, inessential stampede of runaway space horses that has zero value beyond the sheer "Ben-Hur" spectacle of the thing.

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune - Fresh

Johnson's many additions become too much of a good thing and The Last Jedi grows crowded, busy and long. Johnson's dialogue is flat and sounds stilted in the mouths of his younger actors, while their comic delivery can be so offhand that it dismisses the jokes.

Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail - Rotten

The film simply drags too much in the middle. Somewhere in the film’s 152-minute running time is an amazing 90-minute movie.

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly - Fresh

Johnson at times overreaches trying to balance these separate storylines and myriad of characters into one cohesive unit. Lupita Nyong’o has nothing to do in her glorified cameo appearance, while the Del Toro section fails to reach its potential. The result is a bloated running time of about 2 ½ hours — that includes about seven different points in which I was sure the movie was going to end only to see it continue to plow ahead. You always want your Star Wars films to move at light speed, not drag in the middle.

Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly - Fresh

At other points in the 152-minute film, time should have been compressed, and wasn’t. The storytelling bogs down in a middle section having to do with finding a code-cracker who can gain access to an enemy destroyer. (A dubious character played by Benicio Del Toro isn’t sufficiently amusing.) Kylo’s inner conflicts, while central to the plot, leave him looking awfully mopey for long periods of time as he struggles to resolve them.

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal - Fresh

With a running time of two and a half hours, “The Last Jedi” drags a bit in the second act. Ridley and Hamill are great together, but the Reluctant Jedi act plays on for at least one scene too many.

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times - Fresh

Johnson’s effort is ultimately a disappointment. If anything, it demonstrates just how effective supervising producer Kathleen Kennedy and the forces that oversee this now Disney-owned property are at molding their individual directors’ visions into supporting a unified corporate aesthetic — a process that chewed up and spat out helmers such as Colin Trevorrow, Gareth Edwards, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. But Johnson was either strong enough or weak enough to adapt to such pressures, and the result is the longest and least essential chapter in the series.

Peter Debruge, Variety - Fresh

Unfortunately, The Last Jedi has almost as much Attack of the Clones as it does The Empire Strikes Back in that it’s overlong, under-edited and has at least one particularly long-winded CGI flurry of a sequence that harkens back to the darkest days of the franchise. There’s no whining about sand getting everywhere and the acting is really strong across the board (Hamill is particularly great back in Jedi robes, ham and all) but The Last Jedi could definitely have used a second editorial pass.

Matt Oakes, Silver Screen Riot - Fresh

At 2 1/2 hours, Star Wars: The Last Jedi could have been tightened-up in the editing room, cutting out that bloated middle section and removing things like Maz Kanata’s cameo and the cute slave kids which feel like they dropped in from a totally different movie. When it works, it really works but when it doesn’t, it feels like bad fan-fiction with a million dollar budget.

Niall Browne, Movies in Focus - Fresh

I can only wonder what The Last Jedi might have been with Finn and Poe taking a backseat (like how the latter was absent for three-quarters of The Force Awakens) so thirty minutes could be cut and the “important” stuff made tighter. Because there is a great film within what’s ultimately a good one.

Jared Mobarak, BuffaloVibe - Fresh

Whereas the first half is a sort of a convoluted mess just for the sake to pad out the runtime especially with an inconsistent tone, "The Last Jedi" becomes a dark and exciting sequel that becomes the film you've been looking for by the 75-minute mark.

Rendy Jones, Rendy Reviews, Fresh

the film is probably 10-15 minutes too long. Yes, Snoke (Andy Serkis) was not given near enough explanation and Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) was wasted.

Robert Daniels, 812filmreviews - Fresh

It's a two-and-a-half hour movie. It needs to be good in its own right, not just setting up for the next episode.

Tony Baker, Tony Baker Comedy - Rotten

Johnson ends up biting off more than he can chew. He's juggling too many storylines, and takes too long to move the narrative forward. Fatigue sets in about three-quarters of the way in. He doesn't heed the lesson of the chapter “Jedi” often resembles, “The Empire Strikes Back.” That film, still the best “Star Wars.,” ended with a whopper of a cliffhanger. Johnson resists the urge to leave most of his strands unresolved, and as a result his film begins to feel unwieldy when it should be picking up momentum. At two and a half hours, it could have used a trim of at least 15 minutes.

Ruben Rosario, MiamiArtZine - Fresh

but there are problems with the first half of "The Last Jedi." After an exciting initial space battle, to say that the mid-section of the movie drags would be an understatement. First, both prominent new characters Rose and DJ seemed shoe-horned in, and Rose especially doesn't seem to have a real place in this film nor does she add anything to be hopeful about in the future. And while both Rey and Poe fans will probably be pleased with where their characters go, Finn sort of takes a step back, as he is sent off on a side adventure that seems like second-tier Star Wars. It's a diversion that takes up a good portion of the film and really serves no purpose to the overall story...worse yet, it seems to contain some heavy-handed political messages not commonly found, at least not this blatantly, in the Star Wars universe. These are more than just quibbles too: Most fans will not be used to the slow, lumbering pace or the general unevenness of this film...especially coming on the heels of the action-packed pacing that JJ Abrams brought in Episode VII.

Tom Santilli, AXS.com - Fresh

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is also, at two hours and thirty-two minutes, the longest of the nine movies thus far, and deep into the second hour it can feel a little draining. There’s some stuff that feels extraneous (the whole Canto Bight sequence, which seems to exist to set up a new Lando-like character played by Benicio del Toro), and the cycle of attack and retreat — mostly retreat — gets a bit monotonous.

Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com - Fresh

At times it burns a tad too slow: two-thirds through its jam-packed 152 minutes, I felt the need for a 7th-inning stretch.

Michael Sragow, Film Comment Magazine - Fresh

Aunque este clímax habría funcionado bien como final, “The Last Jedi” no termina (desafortunadamente) después de esto. Es seguido por otros 40 minutos, con baches, en los que los héroes se reúnen y tienen que pelear una batalla final. Sin embargo, la película pierde un poco de su trazabilidad aquí, cuando los personajes, las fuerzas y las explosiones siempre aparecen exactamente donde se necesitan para la trama.

Ruben Peralta Rigaud, Cocalecas - Fresh

The movie’s main failing is that it tries to stuff too much plot into its over-long 2 hour and 30 minute run time. The result is an ending that feels endless and anti-climactic while several elements that could have been gob-smacking feel rushed and underdeveloped. It particularly does a disservice to Kylo Ren, as we’re never quite sure what his motivation is.

Megan Basham, WORLD - Fresh

I both loved it and strongly disliked it at the same time. I feel like there's a really great movie in there, all the pieces are there, everything is brilliant, but then there's a lot of extra fat that needed to be trimmed off or rearranged or omitted completely.

Steph Cozza, Aggressive Comix - Fresh

At two-and-a-half hours, with about nine separate cliffhanger endings, it’s a bit long

Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper - Fresh

If you can accept the excess, the weird humour, the entirely inessential subplot, and the fact that it could stand to end a scene earlier, then the series will continue to thrive in a galaxy far, far away.

Alex Doenau, Trespass - Fresh

The script is flabby; every scene has purpose, but certain aspects feel overlong and jarring. Just like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, it also suffers several endings too many.

Owen Richards, The Arts Desk - Fresh

At two and a half hours, this is the longest Star Wars picture to date, and I wondered if they’d tried to pack too much in.

Molly Laich, Missoula Independent - Fresh

I’m saying some of this movie seems a little half baked, and also overstuffed. If there’s any kind of movie I want to be over two and a half hours long, it’s a Star Wars movie. But, at that length, it needs to be a really good Star Wars movie, not a so-so one. The Last Jedi is so-so.

Bob Grimm, Reno News and Review - Fresh

The Last Jedi has a few good ideas but these are utterly lost amidst an over-long and utterly unsatisfying overall plot. Replete with poor dialogue, irritating tonal shifts and superfluous scenes, The Last Jedi adds very little to the saga except an overwhelming sense of disappointment not felt since the release of The Phantom Menace.

Richard Dove, International Business Times - Rotten

It is more than 150 minutes long. It has too many plot twists and too much fighting and too many characters.

Mark R. Leeper, Mark Leeper's Reviews - Fresh

Many have complained or commented on the length of The Last Jedi. It did start to feel long towards the end, yet I don’t think it was due to the actual time stamp of the film. Instead, I believe it is because of the drawn out plots within the film itself. Many parts of the story are over showcased destroying the strength and believably in the plot.

Stephanie Archer, Film Inquiry - Fresh

This film did not need to be 152 minutes and should have been closer to the 120 minute standard established by the earlier films. I hope one day we’ll see a fan cut that is actually closer to two hours.

Chris Gore, Film Threat - Fresh

The Last Jedi is still overstuffed, slightly too long, reliant on some vaguely-defined powers, and mostly consists of an endless chase towards a shifting MacGuffin.

Vincent Mancini, FilmDrunk - Fresh

The Last Jedi is 50 fucking minutes too long, and the most excruciatingly boring movie that has ever been released in this franchise. And this is a franchise that once opened up a movie by talking about controversial tax legislation.

Tim Brayton, Alternate Ending - Rotten

The Last Jedi has some issues. Pacing is the biggest one. This is the longest Star Wars film so far, and it feels like it. Johnson does his best to hustle from one location to the next, but the narrative has a tendency from time to time to drag.

Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm - Fresh

While Luke leads the Force thread, the battle between good and evil, the rest feels a bit standard issue action film lurching through one, or two, too many cycles of near peril. This is in part down to writer-director Rian Johnson and also down to patchy leads.

Aine O'Connor, Sunday Independent (Ireland) - Fresh

Writedirector Rian Johnson’s movie is underwhelming. Where it falters is a story that borrows heavily from others in the franchise like The Empire Strikes Back. That I can live with, but I can’t live with unnecessary length. This is an overdone 2 1/2 hour movie that would have been a terrific 90-minute extravaganza.
The first hour drags. The predictable second hour is just as tedious in more spots than not before Johnson finally moves you to the even more predictable slam bang action of the last half-hour.

Gary Wolcott, Tri-City Herald - Fresh

At 152 minutes, The Last Jedi is the longest of the nine Star Wars films to date — it’s also the only one where the length is felt. While all the scenes involving younglings should have been deep-sixed, the rest of the fatty tissue can be forgiven, since it simply meant Johnson wanted to make sure fans were saturated and satisfied. Yet there aren’t many vignettes that couldn’t have benefited from a judicious trim here or there.

Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing(Charlotte) - Fresh

At 2 hours and 32 minutes, the longest ever in the series, there are lots of highlights and probably a few too many endings

Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily - Fresh

Despite the Rey-Luke drama, the first half of The Last Jedi is its most lumbering and uneven, never really clicking as it rambles through its multiple plotlines in a manner that feels simultaneously rushed and overlong.

James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk - Fresh

However, there are moments towards the end of the film that feel as though they are just a tad unnecessary, that the race to the finale is going on just a little too long.

Irene Falvey, Film Ireland Magazine - Fresh

So what's necessary to know about the 40th anniversary "Star Wars" is that, at two and a half hours, it's at least a half-hour too long (maybe 45 minutes) and it's overfull of the usual digital battle sequences which so many of us have come to consider a wee bit old hat in the decades since "Star Wars" introduced us to a new thing back in 1977.

Jeff Simon, Buffalo News - Fresh

Johnson has sorted all of this material into an elaborate roundelay that feels endless (the movie is way too long at two and a half hours). Surely sections of the film could have been trimmed—maybe the Laura Dern scenes, which cry out for compression, or the training sequences with Luke and Rey (in which he says things like "Reach out with your feelings").

Kurt Loder, Reason Online - Fresh

The film is long, however, and begins to feel more than a little labored by the time the various epic showdowns finally take place.

Piers Marchant, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Rotten

A lot of “The Last Jedi” is engrossing and emotional—but there’s also the long runtime, uneven pacing, and slightly underdeveloped characters to deal with. “The Last Jedi” is often exceptional, but its desire to do too many things, tell too many stories, and continue expanding its own cast and narrative makes the film fundamentally imbalanced.

Roxana Hadadi, Chesapeake Family Magazine - Fresh

There is a great deal going on in The Last Jedi and the way it splits off the main characters into separate but intertwined stories makes for a long, over-plotted film that even starts to drag a little in the middle.

Allan Hunter, Daily Express (UK) - Fresh

A few of the goofier comic moments fail to land and true to the legacy of Lucas there’s a fair amount of eye-wincing dialogue. More importantly, the second act bows under the weight of too many narrative strands; Finn’s away mission comes off as a bit superfluous, as does Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Holdo, and both Rose and the beloved Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) are sadly underwritten. In a trade-off that brings scope and complexity, Johnson has sacrificed narrative efficiency.

Christopher Machell, CineVue - Fresh

If “The Last Jedi” has a main flaw it’s that it’s too long at just over two-and-a-half hours. When the film is cross-cutting between the escape of the Resistance and the showdown with Snoke, one might assume this was the climax of the film. In fact, there’s much more to come.

Daniel M. Kimmel, New England Movies Weekly - Fresh

At 152 minutes, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is too long, and could have been trimmed by at least 10-15 minutes.

David Kaplan, Kaplan vs. Kaplan - Fresh

Despite being overlong and drenched in déjà vu (replete with conversations about one’s parents, whether or not one will ‘turn’, whether one is the last hope or the new hope, etcetera etcetera) I appreciated a lot of The Last Jedi, in the same way I appreciate re-reading a decent book – respecting the structure and craft of it, and feeling no sense of surprise.

Luke Buckmaster, The Daily Review/Crikey - Rotten

At 152 minutes, “The Last Jedi” is probably 20 minutes too long yet never fails to entertain.

Maria Sciullo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Fresh

If some of these detours drag on a bit, hampering momentum and bulking up The Last Jedi’s not-entirely-necessary two-hour-and 32-minute runtime, well, at least the various locales are fun to look at.

Rebecca Pahle, Film Journal International - Fresh

a running time of 152 or so minutes that easily could have been tightened down quite a bit

Jim Judy, Screen It! - Fresh

While many complained – justifiably – that the previous entry, The Force Awakens, was nothing but a remake of 1977’s A New Hope, the same sort of narrative déjà vu is at play here, to a certain degree. Equally troublesome is Jedi’s bloated running time. Clocking in at 2 ½ hours, the movie seems longer than it actually is due to the fact we’re going over well-covered narrative territory.

Charles Koplinski, Illinois Times - Rotten

It’s too long by a good 30 minutes, feels like two films mashed together, has about five endings and it seems to be taking cues from the George R. R. Martin school of right-angled plot twists.

Patrick Kolan, Shotgun Cinema - Fresh

Overly long and consistently clunky, The Last Jedi ultimately proves a bit of a mixed bag. Too often the dialogue is exposition heavy and played for easy laughs.

Tom Glasson, Concrete Playground - Fresh

The Last Jedi is overlong, heavy-handed and fun if mostly uninspired.

James Verniere, Boston Herald - Fresh

At 151 minutes, the film is overlong and repetition sets in, not just for this film but for the series in general

Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews - Fresh

The Last Jedi is the party that never wants to end. It keeps going and going – and going – until there is no corner of the house left to decorate. It pushes all the buttons. It is constantly in competition with itself (it comes with two huge ending sequences). It is also baggy in places, and that’s not something I’d expected.

Chris Wasser, The Herald (Ireland) - Fresh

At the same time, it does take a while for “Last Jedi” to get up to speed. Some of the humor feels a little distracting and the lengthy final product suggests a tighter execution might have felt more resonant.

Josh Terry, Deseret News (Salt Lake City) - Fresh

Or maybe it's just a case of "The Last Jedi" itself overstaying its welcome with a running time topping two and a half hours.

Greg Maki, Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) - Fresh

This is the longest Star Wars movie yet, clocking in at 150 minutes, and it has at least one ending too many, and a middle that sags a bit.

Rain Jokinen, MullingMovies.com - Fresh

We’ve seen this story before. Sure, “stuff” happens over the film’s 157-minutes but our main characters remain pretty much in the same place. You’d swear time stands still.

Dana Barbuto, The Patriot Ledger - Fresh

“The Last Jedi” is the longest of the “Star Wars” efforts (152 minutes) and feels it

Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com - Fresh

At 152 minutes, it’s also way too damn long. And Rian Johnson should not have been allowed to write and direct. The script is a problem — it has only two really great “moments” which isn’t enough for 152 minutes. But it also doesn’t feel quite right — the language, the iconography, the weirdly campy humor at the beginning — it doesn’t feel a part of the Star Wars universe.

Ray Greene, CineGods.com - Rotten

But the character moments and the explorations of moral ambiguity aren’t quite compelling enough to compensate for the slow pacing in the middle (one thing a Star Wars movie should never be is dull), and it takes too long to get to the most rousing action sequences.

Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly - Fresh

I don’t want to be too generous. I would cut 15 minutes out. There are editing choices that leave the film feeling choppy when it should feel smooth.

David Poland, Movie City News - Fresh

In truth, it takes a very long time to get from the film’s exhilarating start to that moving sign-off. Stars Wars: The Last Jedi lasts fully two-and-a-half hours, and there were moments towards the end when I felt like one of those poor Cubans listening to Fidel Castro at the height of his oratorical vigour: just as you’re planning your route to the exit, it lurches into yet another new lease of life.

Brian Viner, Daily Mail (UK) - Fresh

Editor Bob Ducsay moves the individual sequences along with dispatch; it isn’t his fault that at two-and-a-half hours the movie overstays its welcome. That’s the fault of Johnson’s decision to pile climax upon climax as if they were on sale at Screenplays-R-Us, apparently unwilling to jettison any of the ideas he’s had for propelling the story forward.

Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion - Fresh

Which leads into another problem I mentioned briefly earlier -- the pacing. Watching the first hour, I had the uncomfortable sense that maybe it needed trimming by about ten minutes or so, and that Rey's and Luke's story kept stalling and going in circles for a while. Then, the pacing in the last hour is so spot-on, it confirms all of those earlier feelings. Adding to the problem is the choice of starting point for the film. I realize kicking off with a more action-driven sequence has benefits, but it felt disorienting since we remember how the last film ended and probably want to pick up that thread first. It was an easy call, I feel, and the film's choice merely confirms my own sense that there was a better option.

Mark Hughes, Forbes - Fresh

The 2 hr and 30-minute runtime really hurt the film. I feel like there are just certain spots throughout the film where it just drags. It hard to pinpoint exactly when and where they occur on just one viewing but I was definitely bored at times.

Scott Menzel, We Live Entertainment - Fresh

“The Last Jedi” suffers from “The Lord of the Rings” syndrome — it seems like it might never end. It also poaches scenes, ideas and moments from “Harry Potter,” “The Hunger Games” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

David Frese, Kansas City Star - Fresh

At 152 minutes, “The Last Jedi” runs long, with a bit too much time spent on Ahch-To. And Hamill — who shares the weathered, lion-like look of modern-day Robert Plant — turns in a true love-it-or-hate-it portrayal of an aged Skywalker.

Ross Raihala, St. Paul Pioneer Press - Fresh

At over two-and-a-half hours, the film had me reconsidering if I really needed a Finn v. Phasma fight, or a five-act structure. So consider the urgency. A wordsmith in his own right, Johnson seems to be dumbing himself down here for the sake of the brand. He manages to pose some of the most complex ideas on morality and war this franchise has ever attempted, but is forced to breeze through and cap them off with trite buzzwords.

Conor O'Donnell, The Film Stage - Fresh

The film is overlong at two and a half hours, and you may well catch yourself thinking “this could probably have been cut.”

Jonathan Hatfull, SciFiNow - Fresh

Yes, it’s probably half an hour too long. There is a whole section that feels out of kilter and harks back to the CGI naffness of the prequels — and is also virtually pointless to the plot.

Jamie East, The Sun (UK) - Fresh

The middle section loses its shape and is subject to longueurs.

Ian Freer, Empire Magazine - Fresh

The Last Jedi is the longest Star wars movie, and it does feel like it. The third act is a beating drum of moments that each seem like they could be a satisfying climax.

Susana Polo, Polygon - Fresh

Where the film falters is in its pacing. Even jumping between three storylines, there’s a lack of momentum at times as no one is really going anywhere. The Resistance fleet is crawling away from the First Order; Rey is in a stalemate with Luke on Ahch-To; and obviously things aren’t a breeze on Canto Bight. And yet the dramatic tension of the first two storylines hold up intact. The fleet storyline plays like the excellent Battlestar Galactica episode “33” and everything is Ahch-To is great because Johnson is doing some fascinating things with the character dynamics between Rey, Luke, and Kylo Ren. But the Canto Bight stuff is a bit of a drag, and then you feel it in final act of the film where, despite some amazing moments, you can’t shake the feeling that The Last Jedi is probably a bit too long even if it’s difficult to know what to cut.

Matt Goldberg, Collider - Fresh

There's a lot going on - too much. The film could have used a hard edit to lose about 20 minutes or more. Resistance ships explode and the fleet's fuel running low, but it doesn't keep us on the edges of our seats. Poe, Rey and Finn- the new heroes we're supposed to fall in love with - are uncharismatic and bland.

Julie Washington, Cleveland Plain Dealer - Fresh

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a long work of art that doesn't know when to quit

Scott Mendelson, Forbes - Fresh

If there's a problem, it's only that it's a little too long at two and a half hours (a first for the franchise), which might prove challenging for younger viewers. It turns out you can have too much of a good thing after all.

Matthew Turner, Hero Collector - Fresh

Tran is a rock-solid addition, but here, and elsewhere, one is reminded of the deftness of editing on both (yes, both) previous trilogies. Intercut sequences that moved swiftly in earlier films feel clumsy. Where once the passing of time was cannily implied yet compact on screen in, say, “Empire,” in “Last Jedi,” well ... you can fit a lot of movie into 152 minutes.

Joe Gross, Austin American-Statesman - Fresh

But The Last Jedi’s two-and-half-hour sprawl still includes an awful lot of clunky, derivative, and largely unnecessary incidents to wade through in order to get to its maverick last act. This is especially true when it comes to the plausibility-straining mission of stormtrooper turned Rebel Alliance fighter Finn and puckish series newcomer Rose Tico.

Sam C. Mac, Slant Magazine - Rotten

Some tighter editing would have relieved most of my mid-movie tension — as well as my bladder concerns as “The Last Jedi” stretches to an unnecessarily long 151 minutes. If not for that spectacular final act, it would be tempting to refer to it as “The Lasts and Lasts and Lasts Jedi.”

Christopher Lawrence, Las Vegas Review-Journal - Fresh

The Last Jedi is a whopping two-and-a-half hours, and it would have been much improved if an editor had taken a lightsaber to its less crucial sections.
To cut a long story short (and I wish Johnson had cut his own long story short): if you’re getting bored halfway through The Last Jedi, hang on in there. Just when you think it’s about to end, it really gets going.

Nicholas Barber, BBC.com - Fresh

For the first half of a punishingly long film, we repeatedly cut back to Star Wars Island where Rey is begging Luke to train her as a Jedi.

Donald Clarke Irish Times Rotten

There are times, however, when the wow factor and compelling character beats give way to the feeling that Johnson lost the run of himself with the film's duration, and that the longest adventure in Star Wars history really didn't need that distinction.

Harry Guerin, RTÉ (Ireland) - Fresh

Several characters remain underdeveloped, and appear as well dressed plot devices which contribute to an unevenness hard to justify in the 151 minutes running time.

Jon Lyus, HeyUGuys - Fresh

Even Johnson’s sense of fun and mischief can’t sustain the film for two-and-a-half hours; the warring gets boring. One scene is replayed three times with different interpretations but it’s hardly Rashomon and a movie this long can’t afford to dawdle. No one could mistake The Last Jedi for an outstanding contribution to cinema, or even to escapism, but it has its attractions.

Ryan Gilbey, New Statesman - Fresh
Indeed it does, Ryan. And that concludes part III. TL;DR:TLJ is TL.

My take on fixing the Dark Universe

Much like Frankenstein's famous monster, the Dark Universe is probably doomed to be remembered as a failed experiment cobbled together from spare parts, and a cautionary tale about the perils of playing God. As Universal Pictures found out the hard way: creating a universe is really hard, even if that universe happens to be fictional.
At best, Dracula Untold and The Mummy were just a pair of bland, forgettable fantasy films with a few neat ideas thrown in. At worst, they embody the most deplorable excesses of Hollywood's love affair with franchises and reboots, and they serve as a reminder that a "cinematic universe" isn't a magic bullet that guarantees massive success.
In case you forgot: Dracula Untold bombed so hard that the studio retroactively exiled it from the franchise (and they don't even like to admit that it was ever part of a franchise), and The Mummy put the name of the franchise in its opening credits before the franchise was even established.
But was this series always doomed to failure, or was it just flawed in its execution? Call me crazy, but I think there was the kernel of a great series in both of those movies, even as disappointing as they were.
A Dracula movie set in the Middle Ages, with historical details about the real Vlad Dracula thrown in? Awesome! A Mummy movie that's also a spy thriller, where Tom Cruise plays an undead superhero? Okay, that was stupid... But that room full of classic monster Easter Eggs was pretty cool, right?
So what happened? In short: a lot of things. Dracula Untold had a promising story, but I really think its premise ran into a big problem:
Origin stories are extremely hard to do well.
They're definitely not impossible (the rules of storytelling are more like guidelines, after all), but not every character can be improved with a definitive origin story.
It's one thing to make a feature-length origin story about an iconic hero like James Bond or Batman, since they're sympathetic characters whom we're meant to identify with. For anybody who's ever daydreamed about being a superhero or a secret agent, those fantasies instantly become a lot more vivid when we see a hero's human side, and we learn how they came to be; once we see that our heroes aren't so different from us, it's easier to imagine that we could be like them.
Monsters, though? Monsters are a different story. While most great villains have a human side, they usually become iconic because they embody something primal and archetypal that we find scary, and they derive their power from their mystery.
Moviegoers of the 1960s loved Ernst Stavro Blofeld because he embodied everything that they found scary about dictators on the far side of the Iron Curtain. Comic book fans love the Joker because he's the personification of chaos, and he embodies everything that we find scary about crime. And supernatural villains like Maleficent, the Wicked Witch of the West, and—yes—Dracula embody everything that we find scary about the occult.
That's probably why most James Bond fans loved it when Casino Royale explored Bond's origins, but hated it when Spectre tried to do the same for Blofeld. It's also probably why Batman fans loved it when Batman Begins explained how Bruce Wayne became Batman, but didn't mind that The Dark Knight explained almost nothing about the Joker. And it's probably why Maleficent and Oz the Great and Powerful got such lukewarm receptions when they tried to explain how Maleficent and the Wicked Witch became evil. When you explain too much about an iconic villain, you run the risk of robbing them of their mystique.
(That's also why I'm not so optimistic about the upcoming Joker origin movie, though I'll wait until it comes out before I criticize it)
The thing is, though...a prequel doesn't necessarily have to be an origin story. It's possible to shed some light on a character's past without devoting a whole story to explaining how they became the way they are. Case in point: compare the movie Hannibal Rising to the TV series Hannibal. They're both prequels to the Hannibal Lecter saga, but one was a critically panned box-office bomb, and the other was a critically praised cult classic with a devoted fandom. Why? There are a lot of reasons why—but for starters, one was devoted to "explaining" how Lecter became Lecter, and the other actually gives Lecter a chance to be Lecter.
Instead of just answering every single question about Lecter's past, Hannibal devotes its creative energy to being a genuinely solid crime drama with a strong dose of gothic horror, and it actually manages to stand on its own alongside The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon without being entirely defined by either of them. In a perfect world, that's the sort of prequel that Dracula Untold should have been: a solid supernatural horror story set in the Middle Ages, which could paved the way for the original Dracula without being entirely defined by it.
But what if we actually had gotten a Dracula prequel like that? And what if we had gotten a Mummy movie that logically built on its plot points, and set up the framework of a franchise without shoving it down our throats? And what if we had gotten, say, a Frankenstein movie and a Wolf Man movie that built on both of them, and set up an epic "monster mash" in the vein of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man or House of Dracula? What might those movies have looked like?
Well...
Dracula: Untold (2014)
Setting: Transylvania, 1473
As our movie opens, we're introduced to our protagonist: a handsome, dark-haired Prince who rules over a vast swath of territories in Eastern Europe, including Transylvania. A lifelong soldier, he's led his people to victory in dozens of battles, he always wears a suit of armor, and he can wield a sword as well as any of his loyal knights. If it helps, you can imagine imagine Luke Evans playing him.
But protagonist isn't Vlad Tepes (the man better known as "Dracula", or "Vlad the Impaler"). Instead, he's a different historical monarch: Matthias Corvinus, the King of Hungary. As any Dracula fan will tell you, Matthias Corvinus was arguably the single most important figure in the historical Dracula's life; a revered monarch who became legendary for his prowess in battle and his patronage of the arts, he was alternately an ally and rival of Prince Vlad of Wallachia, who fought alongside him against the Ottoman Empire. Here, Matthias is our hero, and Dracula is the villain of the story—as he should be.
Over the course of his three decades on the throne, Matthias has seen the world change, not always for the better. It's been twenty years since the great city of Constantinople fell to the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, spelling the end of the last vestiges of the Roman Empire. As the sultan's power grows, the lords and princes of Christian Europe fear that the religion of Islam will soon dominate the West. While all of this plays out, rumors spread of strange creatures hiding in the shadowy lands east of the Carpathian Mountains, where the brutal prince Vlad—called "Dracula", or "Son of the Beast"—holds sway over the kingdom of Wallachia.
While Mehmed's armies grow ever closer to the borders of Matthias' kingdom, Matthias answers a call for help from the province of Transylvania, where strange and terrible things are afoot. The corpses of peasants are turning up in the woods, completely drained of their blood; entire villages are vanishing without explanation; massive swarms of bats can be seen flying over the countryside in the dead of night; hunters regularly encounter enormous wolf-like creatures, which walk on two legs like men. Matthias realizes that his kingdom is falling under the sway of evil forces, and he must confront them.
Against the advice of his men, Matthias decides to lead a party of knights across the Carpathian Mountains to investigate the rash of mysterious deaths, knowing that his journey will lead him into the heart of Wallachia. As he and his men travel farther and farther from home, they find themselves fighting for their lives against ferocious werewolves and hostile villagers, and they soon realize why so many villagers are vanishing: someone is turning them into mindless vampires, and they're leaving their homes to seek fresh blood. After one deadly confrontation with a swarm of vampires, Matthias is forced to behead one of his own knights to prevent him from becoming one of them, and a local apothecary offers him some advice on how to kill a vampire.
After explaining how to ward off vampires with stakes and crucifixes, the apothecary tells Matthias the disturbing tale of Prince Vlad, who hasn't been seen outside of his castle in months. She explains that she was once a servant in the castle, but fled for her life after she witnessed Vlad drinking blood from a chalice in a disturbing occult ritual. She believes that the Prince has become a vampire, and that he has sworn allegiance to Lucifer in exchange for eternal life. Though Matthias doubts her story about Vlad being in league with Lucifer, he knows that the vampires must have a master, and believes that it might be Vlad.
But the apothecary's warning comes too late: Matthias and his party are ambushed and captured by vampires, who take them to Prince Vlad's castle. When Matthias awakes, he finds himself in chains in Vlad's throne room, and Vlad—played by Charles Dance—formally introduces himself. He informs Matthias that he no longer answers to his old name, and is now only "Dracula". With that, Matthias is forced to watch helplessly as Dracula fatally impales his comrades on wooden stakes, and Dracula's vampire servants eagerly gather their blood in a chalice and present it to their master. As Dracula sips from his chalice, he informs Matthias that the apothecary's story was true: he really is a servant of Lucifer. And now that he has a noble-born prince as a captive, he plans to sacrifice him to Lucifer, which will grant him enough power to make him unstoppable.
While Dracula prepares the sacrifice ritual, he throws Matthias into his dungeon to await his fate. But with quick thinking and a little bit of luck, Matthias manages to escape after one of Dracula's brides disobeys her master's orders and sneaks into the dungeons to take some of Matthias' blood for herself. Heeding the apothecary's advice, he manages to fight his way through legions of vampires, and rushes back to Dracula's throne room to confront him. Just as he does, Dracula speaks the incantation to summon his master Lucifer, and Matthias finds himself staring through a fiery portal into Hell—where he sees Lucifer staring right back at him.
Just at that moment, salvation arrives: the sultan's army is on the march, and they've reached Dracula's castle. As Matthias picks up his sword and engages Dracula in battle, a barrage of cannon-fire rings out, and the Ottoman army lays siege to the castle. Little by little, the castle begins to crumble, and Dracula falls into the dungeons, where he's buried under a pile of stone rubble. As the castle's walls fall, Matthias makes his escape and sets off for home.
Days later, as Matthias lays down to sleep beside his wife, he has a disturbing dream about Dracula—who is trapped in the dungeons of his ruined castle, but very much alive. In his dream, Dracula assures him that he will rise again, and he reminds Matthias that he's immortal; the next time he threatens the people of Transylvania, Matthias may not be alive to stop him...
The Mummy: Unconquered (2016)
Setting: Egypt, 1798
Our story picks up more than 300 years after the sultan's troops destroyed Castle Dracula. The year is 1798, and the Ottoman Empire still rules over much of Eastern Europe and the Middle East—including Egypt, where the Mamluk rulers Mourad and Ibrahim swear fealty to the sultan. After decades of war and revolutionary upheaval in Europe, rumors spread of an ambitious Corsican military officer, who has risen through the ranks of the French Army to become one of the most feared men on the Continent. Now, with an unparalleled fighting force at his command, he plans to set his sights on Egypt. His name? Napoleon Bonaparte.
Our protagonist is a young Egyptian man named Salim, who reluctantly answers the call to enlist in the Egyptian Army as Napoleon's forces march from Alexandria and make their move on Cairo. He is forced to leave his fiancee, Yasmin, whose father Mustafa is a renowned scholar who manages a library in Cairo. As he fights with the Egyptian Army in the Battle of the Pyramids, he narrowly escapes with his life as the French Army massacres his friends and comrades, and takes hundreds of Egyptian prisoners. Unbeknownst to him, though, Napoleon has more than conquest on his mind; he's looking for the long-lost Temple of Set, which supposedly houses a fabled ceremonial dagger that can make its bearer unstoppable in battle. With the Egyptian forces scattered, he and his army strike out into the desert to seek out the temple. One of his commanders is a certain German baron, whose name will become important later.
Eventually, Napoleon finds his way to the temple, which is half-buried in the desert sands, and nearly inaccessible. But against all odds, he fights his way to the heart of the temple and takes the dagger, though he begins to have his doubts about whether it will really bring him the power that he seeks. As he leaves the temple, he doesn't notice that something is stirring in a stone sarcophagus...
Exhausted from battle, Salim manages to make his way back to Yasmin and her father in Cairo, just as Napoleon's forces swarm the streets. Together, they plan to flee the city before more soldiers arrive, but Mustafa refuses to go with them, insisting that he can't leave his library. Before they can make their escape, the German baron forces his way into Mustafa's library and threatens him at knife-point. He tells him that Napoleon has found the dagger in the Temple of Set, but he suspects that there is a secret to claiming its power—and he believes that he'll find that secret in one of the books in Mustafa's library. Visibly terrified, Mustafa insists that there is no such secret, but he tells the baron that he must return the dagger to the temple.
"The Dagger of Set is no key to power—it's a safeguard against a great evil. There are shadowy forces lurking in the Temple of Set, and the dagger is the only thing keeping them back! Once it's removed..."
But his warning comes too late: a monstrous horde of giant scarabs swarms the city of Cairo, attacking and devouring everyone in their path. Salim and co. manage to escape from the baron, and they take shelter in the cellar of Mustafa's library. As they hide from the rampaging insects, Mustafa explains the full story of the Temple of Set.
In his younger days, Mustafa was a scholar in the court of the sultan, and he had the opportunity to learn many secrets in his palace library. While there, he learned the story of Imhotep, an infamous high priest from the New Kingdom of Egypt who made a pact with the evil god Set in exchange for eternal life and everlasting power. It's said that the Pharaoh had Imhotep mummified alive and sealed in his own temple when he grew too powerful, and he placed the enchanted dagger in the temple to prevent him from leaving. For centuries, the Temple of Set has remained abandoned, and Imhotep has remained dormant—but he's as alive as ever, and only needs an opportunity to free himself. To seal him back in his prison, the dagger must be returned to its rightful place in the temple
"Over 300 years ago, the sultan's army laid siege to a castle in the Carpathian Mountains. Something evil dwelt in its foundations, and they dared not set it free. There are places in the world where evil gathers like a deadly plague, awaiting the chance to spread. That castle was one such place. The Temple of Set is another."
Back in the Temple of Set, Imhotep—a grotesque, withered figure wrapped in bandages—rises from his sarcophagus and summons a massive army of reanimated corpses. As Imhotep and his army march on Cairo together, the scarabs continue to swarm the city, and Salim and Yasmin fight to survive as they look for the missing dagger. When Napoleon's forces spot the army of corpses marching through the desert, they gather in formation to fight them off, and Salim takes the opportunity to steal the dagger from Napoleon's camp. In a massive battle, Napoleon and the baron lead a cavalry charge against Imhotep's forces, distracting them just long enough for Salim and Yasmin to make their way to the temple to return the dagger.
In the climax, Yasmin and Salim infiltrate the Temple of Set and fight their way to the center of the massive structure while Imhotep attempts to chase them down. Moments before they return the dagger to its resting place, they have a blood-curdling encounter with Set himself, whom Imhotep has summoned as a witness to his return. As Set taunts our heroes, his face changes shape for one brief moment, and becomes the face of Lucifer; though the moment is fleeting, it instantly becomes clear that Set and Lucifer are the same being—meaning that Imhotep and Dracula are in thrall to the same master.
Against all odds, they manage to return the dagger just before Imhotep closes in on them. Imhotep cries out to his master Set to save him, but the god turns his back on him, coldly telling him that he's not worthy of his power if he can be foiled by a pair of lowly mortals. Meanwhile, Imhotep's undead soldiers crumble into dust as Napoleon's army holds them off. When the dust settles, the baron has been grievously injured in the fighting, and has lost his right leg.
With that, Salim and Yasmin settle down in Cairo to start a family together. Though Imhotep has been defeated, Napoleon's forces remain in Egypt, and Salim and Yasmin must face the harsh reality of living under foreign occupation. In the final scene, Napoleon sends the injured baron back to Germany for medical treatment, and thanks him for his fine service as he bids him farewell.
"You've fought well. Travel safely, Baron Von Frankenstein..."
Frankenstein: Unchained (2018)
Setting: Germany, 1820
A little over twenty years after Imhotep and his undead army were defeated in Egypt, the German nobleman Alphonse Von Frankenstein—a battle-hardened veteran of the Napoleonic Wars—has settled down and started a family. Haunted by his experiences in Egypt (which he refuses to speak about), he is known for his cold demeanor, and his children Victor and Elizabeth often have a strained relationship with him. Their relationship becomes even more difficult when Alphonse's wife Caroline suddenly dies of scarlet fever when Victor is just a child, causing Alphonse to become a chronically depressed recluse. A bookish child, Victor seeks solace in scientific texts, and soon becomes obsessed with esoteric disciplines like alchemy and mysticism; haunted by the loss of his mother, he is determined to find a way to conquer death through science, and believes that it might be possible to create life in a laboratory.
Though Elizabeth becomes concerned about her brother's mental state, Victor soon proves himself as a science prodigy, and he eventually receives an exclusive invitation to study medicine at Ingolstadt University, a prestigious German university with a rather ghoulish reputation. Though no one has ever been able to prove it, it's rumored that the students and faculty at Ingolstadt often perform grotesque experiments on live human test subjects. Supposedly, some of the students have even done research on how to resurrect the dead.
While studying at Ingolstadt, Victor soon becomes intrigued by the sprawling university and its many hidden places. As he soon learns, the school is also home to a highly exclusive secret society known as "Prodigium", whose members have access to the most jealously guarded texts and research in the school's inner sanctum. Victor exhaustively pursues his studies in science and medicine, and he finally gets his chance to join the ranks of Prodigium when his wealthy roommate Igor Waldman reveals that he is a member, and he tells Victor that he has been nominated for membership. Ecstatic, Victor accompanies Igor to attend Prodigium's initiation ritual on the night of a full moon, and he's finally given access to the secret library at the heart of Ingolstadt.
As the assembled members of Prodigium don hooded cloaks and gather around a circle of candles surrounding a mirror, Victor suddenly realizes—to his utter horror—that the group is actually an occult sect, and they regularly gather in the library for pagan rites and rituals. When the initiation ritual commences, the group begins chanting a prayer to a being known as "The Dark One", and they call Victor forward to join in. When he does, a mysterious black-eyed figure appears in the mirror and beckons to him; as he looks on, the figure's face changes, first becoming the face of Lucifer, then the face of Set. As Victor looks around at his surroundings, he realizes that the room is filled with antique art, including a set of Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting Imhotep, and an oil portrait of Dracula. Though Victor is terrified by all that he sees, Igor convinces him to stay, telling him that Prodigium has the resources to make his dreams a reality.
"I know that you have potential, Victor. You want to create life. Some might call you mad, but we understand. The power to create life shouldn't belong to God alone. You can lead the way into a new age. We'll be right behind you!"
Victor accepts his membership in Prodigium, giving him access to the laboratory in Ingolstadt's inner sanctum—where he has a fully stocked vault of chemicals and scientific equipment at his disposal, along with all of the cadavers and preserved organs that he could ever need. As he begins to experiment on human bodies, Igor moves into the lab to assist him, and he subtly encourages Victor when he begins to have doubts about the ethics of his work. Finally, many months later, Victor manages to piece together a complete human specimen from preserved body parts, and he and Igor prepare to use a lightning storm to bring the specimen to life. As the Creature comes to life on the laboratory slab, Victor—overcome with emotion—names it "Adam", reminded of the story of the Garden of Eden. But Igor rebukes Victor for invoking the Bible, and tells him that he shouldn't get too attached to the Creature. With that, the other members of Prodigium appear and drag the Creature into the crypts beneath the laboratory.
It turns out that Victor was always just a pawn in Prodigium's ultimate plan: creating a living vessel for their master, "The Dark One", that will allow him to cross into the mortal world and rule over humanity. Since the Creature is an artificially created being, he has no soul, making his body the perfect empty vessel for the Dark One's soul. Now that Victor's experiment has succeeded, they have only to wait until the next full moon to perform the summoning ritual.
Against all odds, the Creature successfully manages to escape from the crypts, and he flees into the Bavarian countryside. As Igor and his friends leave the university to hunt him down, Victor sets out to find the Creature before Prodigium does, determined to save him. Fortunately, he finds the Creature taking refuge in a local farmhouse, and he comforts him and brings him food. As the Creature takes shelter, Victor tells him that his true name is "Adam", and he promises that he won't let Prodigium take him. To his surprise, the Creature—Adam—speaks to him, revealing that he's intelligent and capable of understanding human speech. As they take the time to get to know each other, Victor resolves to smuggle him out of the country and take him where Prodigium can't hurt him.
Their moment of peace turns out to be fleeting; some of the local villagers are in league with Prodigium, and they tip Igor off about Victor's location. As Prodigium closes in, Adam fights back, revealing his superhuman strength as he kills six of Igor's goons with his bare hands. Finally, Victor and Adam manage to board a stagecoach, and a frantic chase ensues as they race through the countryside. After several days on the run, they manage to make it to the port of Hamburg, where Victor hopes to find Adam safe passage on a steamship. Unfortunately, Prodigium manages to head them off.
In a climactic final standoff with Igor, Victor sacrifices his life to save Adam as he boards his ship. As the ship pulls away from the port, Adam watches helplessly as his creator dies, and he promises that he'll make his sacrifice a worthy one.
In the final scene, back at the Frankenstein family estate, Elizabeth receives a letter written in handwriting that she doesn't recognize. As she reads it, she breaks down in tears as she learns that her beloved brother Victor has died, but the anonymous sender assures her that he died a noble man.
To her surprise, the letter doesn't come with a return address. As the sender cryptically remarks: "It's best that nobody find me..."
The Wolf Man: Untamed (2020)
Setting: America, 1862
A little over 40 years after the death of Victor Frankenstein, the United States has been split in two by the American Civil War, dividing many American families in the heartland. One such family is the Talbots, a family of poor farmers in rural Kansas, who find themselves caught in the middle of a clash between rival pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions.
One fateful day in 1856, 15 year-old Lawrence Talbot is forced to watch helplessly as his father John Talbot is brutally executed by marauders after he's discovered sheltering slaves. Though he never learns the name of his father's killer, he remembers just one detail about the man: he was carrying a distinctive black walking stick with a silver wolf's head on the handle. Six years later, with the war in full-swing, he reluctantly joins the Union Army, and finds himself deployed to Tennessee to fight the Confederates at Shiloh.
During a frenzied exchange of gunfire, Lawrence suddenly recognizes one of the soldiers in the Confederate Army, and realizes—much to his horror—that it's the marauder who killed his father. Six years after killing John Talbot, the man has risen up the ranks of the Confederate Army, and he is now a decorated lieutenant in the service of Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest. Though he initially doubts his eyes, Lawrence's suspicions are confirmed when his comrades are called to pursue the retreating Confederates, and he discovers the black walking stick abandoned in the mud, complete with the distinctive wolf's head.
As Talbot and his comrades march through the war-torn countryside, they're eventually caught in a Confederate ambush, forcing Talbot and some of his friends to escape into a nearby forest. Fleeing deeper and deeper into the shadowed woods, they find themselves hopelessly lost when night falls. Before long, they hear a strange growling and snarling in the darkness—the telltale sounds of a wolf on the prowl. One by one, Talbot's companions are dragged off into the woods as the wolf hunts them down, and Talbot desperately tries to flee as he hears them being torn to shreds. He runs as fast as his legs will take him, but he can't outrun the wolf, and he passes out as it pounces on him from behind.
To his surprise, Talbot wakes up in a medical tent in a Confederate prison camp, and finds a surgeon tending to his wounds. The surgeon tells him that the Confederates found in the forest, the sole survivor of an apparent wolf attack. While all of his friends were mangled beyond recognition, Talbot got off with just a bite in the leg, and the wolf apparently left him before it could inflict further injuries.
Though the surgeon mends Talbot's leg wound, he tells Talbot that he has been taken as a prisoner of war, and he'll be held in the camp until further notice. Later, when a Confederate officer comes to interrogate him, Talbot learns that the black walking stick was confiscated during his capture; it turns out that its owner is Lieutenant Paul Montford, a well-known officer in the Tennessee Cavalry.
For days, Talbot languishes in the prison camp, growing progressively more angry at his captors as he endures repeated physical abuse and subsists on meager prison rations. Still, he vows to keep going, knowing that his father's killer is still out there.
Then a full moon rises...
As he watches the full moon rise over the countryside, Talbot suddenly feels thick hair growing all over his body, he feels his teeth growing longer and sharper, and he feels his hands and feet becoming razor-clawed paws. Overcome by feral rage, he lets out a mighty howl as he rips off the door of his holding pen. Roaring and snarling, he charges at the Confederate guards as they surround him and open fire, and he effortlessly tears through their ranks, biting and slashing at every soldier that dares cross him.
As the Rebels and the Union prisoners flee in terror, Talbot finally manages to fight his way to the officer who interrogated him. Pinning the helpless man to the ground, he snatches the black walking stick out of his hand. As he holds it in front of him, he snarls a single word:
"WHERE?!"
Terrified, the officer replies "Corinth Road!", and Talbot leaves him alive as he bounds off into the distance toward Corinth Road.
Sure enough, Montford and his men are making camp upcountry, near Corinth Road. As Talbot makes his way to the camp, the sun eventually rises, restoring his human form. Still, he charges forward, determined to kill Montford at all costs.
With his clothes shredded by his transformation, Talbot creeps into the camp when night falls again, and he manages to steal a spare Confederate uniform from a sleeping soldier's pack. In disguise, he sneaks into Montford's tent with a pistol in hand, prepared to shoot him on the spot.
To his surprise, Montford stays completely calm when he sees him, and gives him a knowing smile.
"I had a feeling you'd find me, one of these days. You never stop. Neither would I, if somebody had done to me what I did to you. Don't worry, Talbot. I don't blame you for turning that gun on me. An animal can't tame his instincts. I suppose only one of us is leaving this tent alive."
Confused, Talbot demands to know why Montford is accepting his fate so calmly.
"You've got the rage of a wild beast in you, son," Montford says. "So do I. That's why I let you live. Even a wolf can sense a kindred spirit."
Horrified, Talbot flashes back to the night in the forest when the wolf bit him, and he realizes that Montford was the wolf all along. Montford is a werewolf, and he carries the wolf-head cane because he came to terms with his beastly nature long ago, and now accepts it as a part of who he is. That night, he recognized Talbot as the son of the man he killed, and he chose to pass on his lycanthropy to him rather than killing him, believing that he deserved a chance to take his revenge.
As Talbot realizes the truth, Montford changes into his lupine form and prepares to fight him—since he has years of experience in using his abilities, and he no longer needs the power of the full moon to become a werewolf. Talbot futilely tries fight him off with his pistol, but Montford goads him on, telling him to surrender to the wolf's instincts and embrace his true self.
Flashing back to the night that his father was killed, Talbot finally loses control of his anger and feels his animalistic side overtaking his mind. As he becomes a werewolf again, he squares off with Montford in an epic one-on-one battle. He sustains multiple serious injuries in the fight, but ultimately manages to slash his throat with his claws, killing him.
Just at that moment, Talbot's Union comrades finally arrive at the camp after days of chasing the Confederates. When they find Talbot—now a werewolf—standing over Montford's bloodied corpse, they surround him and open fire. Now fully lost to his werewolf instincts, Talbot charges at his old friends, attacking them as ferociously as he attacked the Confederates.
After taking multiple bullet wounds, Talbot is finally forced to flee, but the Union soldiers pursue him through the forests. As word spreads of a wild beast on the loose, Talbot finds himself chased by more soldiers every day, and he's forced to flee into the Appalachian highlands to escape them. After weeks on the run, moving further north with every day, he eventually finds himself in the thick evergreen forests near the Canadian border, where the weather grows bitterly cold. Finally, after going days without food, Talbot reverts to his human form as he collapses in the forest from exhaustion, accepting that he can run no longer.
But as he waits to die, Talbot is approached by a tall figure in a battered leather overcoat, whose face is hidden by a thick hood. The mysterious figure gathers him in his arms and carries him off to a nearby cabin, where he wraps him in animal skins and brings him food.
As soon as Talbot wakes up, we get a good look at his rescuer, and we see that it's none other than Frankenstein's Creature! Forty decades after escaping Prodigium, the Creature is still alive and well, and living a life of seclusion in the Canadian wilderness.
As he regains his strength, Talbot breaks down in tears as he realizes what he did. He's gotten his revenge, but he fears that he's lost his humanity in the process.
"I'm a monster..." he sadly laments.
The Creature puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"They called me a monster once, too. But it doesn't matter. Even a monster has a soul, and even the most troubled soul can find redemption. You'll find yours too, even if the journey is longer than you'd like. There are darker things in this world than the empty space in your heart, friend."
Reflecting on all that he's seen and done, Talbot ventures outside the cabin and takes in the unspoiled beauty of the forest, realizing that the woods are now his only home. But as long as he has at least one friend, perhaps they're not such a bad home...
But after the credits roll, we see a mysterious dark-haired man creep through the shadowed pathways of the Carpathian Mountains, making his way towards the rubble of Castle Dracula. As he approaches the ruined castle, a familiar voice speaks to him from the depths of the castle's crypt. It's the voice of Dracula—who's still alive after all these years, and hungry for revenge.
"It's time, Renfield, he says. "The Dark One hungers for sacrifice. But he has other servants than me. Go to Egypt. In the Temple of Set, you'll find the one who will join us. With him on our side, the armies of the dead will be unstoppable!"
At the Mediterranean coast, Renfield boards a steamship headed for Egypt, and the screen goes dark...
TL;DR: The films are all set in different historical periods, building up to a four-way battle between Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy and Frankenstein's Monster. The overarching villain is a figure known as "The Dark One" (also known as "Lucifer" and "Set"), who lurks in the background.
Dracula Untold: In 15th century Transylvania, the warrior prince Matthias Corvinus embarks on a quest to confront his rival Vlad (aka "Dracula") after witnessing a series of vampire attacks, and he discovers that Vlad has pledged his soul to Lucifer in exchange for eternal life. In the finale, Vlad's castle is destroyed by the armies of the Ottoman sultan, temporarily defeating him.
The Mummy Unconquered: During Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt in 1798, French soldiers attempt to steal a powerful Egyptian artifact, but accidentally unleash the undead priest Imhotep and his army of mummies, who answer to the god Set. In the finale, Napoleon's army battles Imhotep's undead legions in a massive battle sequence, and one of Napoleon's German commanders is revealed to be Baron von Frankenstein.
Frankenstein Unchained: Baron von Frankenstein's son Victor leaves home to study medicine at the shady Ingolstadt University, where his roommate Igor Waldman invites him to join the clandestine mystic cult "Prodigium". When Victor creates his Creature (aka "Adam"), he discovers that Prodigium actually wants to use him as a living vessel for "The Dark One", who they worship. In the finale, Victor sacrifices himself to save Adam from Igor, and Adam flees Europe in a steamship.
The Wolf Man Untamed: During the American Civil War, Kansan farmboy Lawrence Talbot joins the Union Army in hopes of finding the Confederate soldier who killed his father, but he finds himself bitten by a werewolf while stranded in the woods during a battle. He ultimately gets the revenge that he seeks, but nearly loses his mind to his new animal instincts, forcing him to flee into the wilds of Canada to escape his old comrades. In the finale, he is taken in by a mysterious forest-dwelling hermit, who turns out to be Frankenstein's Creature.

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