Should I watch the rebuilds now or wait?

[ProsecutorJohn]

So I've finished Eva back in December and it's still something I think about till this day and right after I thought about watching the rebuilds but decided not to because of the final movie not coming out for at least a couple years. So the question is should I watch the first 3 movies and just wait till the fourth film comes out or should I just watch everything when it finally comes out? I mean if the rebuilds are really good I think it'll be better to watch them now so that when 3.0+1.0 comes out, the wait would make it seem even better.

[Reichu]

Depends entirely on your personality. How well do you handle waiting an indefinite number of years for the next installment of a series to come out?

[Ray]

Wait until final comes out. 3.33 will emotionally destroy you, and without emotional closure you'll just be miserable.

[Reichu]

3.33 emotionally destroyed me, and without emotional closure I'm actively making myself totally miserable. Since my Theory of Mind doesn't seem to be working, I can't conceive of the possibility that anyone else might have a different experience.

Fixed that for you.

[zlink64]

I'd wait if I was you. I tried waiting till they where all done but I cracked sometime around before the release of rebuild 3 and ended up watching the first 2... I kinda regret it but it's w/e now. It really doesn't matter though what you decide to do but it's gonna probably be a long while before the fourth one gets released so I guess you'd have to deal with that if you started now.

[Mr. Tines]

if the rebuilds are really good

That's the $64,000 question, and is your value judgement to make. They benefit from the extra 20 years of film technology and a vastly bigger budget, so are definitely full of shiny, if that's your thing. On the other hand, you can find people to tell you that each one is bad for various reasons.

Me? I'm the token dissenter here, having felt that things had gone badly off the rails by the end of the first one, and went "Nope!" at the 2.0 trailers almost as hard as I did when I heard Jar Jar Binks in the second trailer for The Phantom Menace. As and when the last instalment finally emerges, then I'll see whether the consensus is that the thing as a whole comes together and decide what to do.

[pwhodges]

It's entirely your decision. We don't know you at all, so we have no basis on which to advise you.

The Rebuild story is not complete, so if you can only properly appreciate complete stories, then wait. The first three films are now freely discussed, having been out for years, so if you hate spoilers you'd do best to watch them now before the spoilers get to you. As for our advice, I guess that (as a new member here) you know as little of us as we of you, so you're not in a very good position to judge whether any of our advice will match your feelings about things. Also, asking in the forum where the films are discussed pretty much guarantees that overwhelmingly only people who have seen them will be around to give you an answer (though in fact, as you see, there's one partial exception).

Each film has a conclusion, rounding off its plot, while also providing a cliff-hanger for its successor. My personal view is that they are worth watching as they stand, and there's plenty to appreciate, think about, and discuss in the remaining time that we'll be waiting for the completion.

[Ray]

Fixed that for you.

[Sachi]

Now is the best time to watch Rebuild, especially considering that only one final part remains. Q has certainly left enough questions to keep the audience busy while waiting for Final.

[Bagheera]

:explode:

The truth is often painful, but it is only by facing it that we can grow and move on.

OP: Do you want to watch them now? If you want to watch them now you should, but if you want to wait until they're all out that's fine as well. It's entirely up to you.

[Gendo'sPapa]

You should make up your own mind but I recommend watching the films and experiencing them as what they are, a filmmaker having a discussion with the project that has defined his life.

Just don't listen to Mr. Tines. He made the choice not to watch the films - a perfectly justifiable decision that one can't argue with - but who feels that his opinion on films he REFUSES to watch is so insightful that he throws his absolutely worthless 2 cents into every discussion he can because he read a plot summary on Wikipedia and can support his stance by cherry picking other people's opinions - a completely unjustified stance that is pretty shitty and embarrassing for a moderator - and is the exact kind of attitude towards art and discussion that in the real world would get someone kicked out of the room ASAP.
"Yeah, I though the book sounded dumb so I didn't read it and I don't intend to read but I'm still going to sit in for the discussion and whenever someone says something I can bounce off of I am going to do so with my uninformed opinion on the text."

I taught film history for two years and had a few students who didn't do the reading and/or watch the films but still felt their contribution to the in-class discussion was insightful. They never were and more often then not they failed.

[KingXanaduu]

:explode:

Hate to be THAT guy Ray, but I'm with Bags and Reichu here. We've tried to show you that there is hope for the next film, but if you choose not to see it despite our evidence, then there's really nothing we can do to convince you. That's up to you whether Rebuild or heck, Evangelion as a WHOLE, is a series for you.

[zlink64]

@gendo papa. I've written some valid reasons for not liking rebuild 3.3 and I've explained why I think some parts just don't work well for me and why the movie fall short of being amazing petty clearly and despite that some users gave me some pretty stupid excuses and explanations that tried to invalidate my reasoning. So they weren't saying they disagree subjectively. They actually tried to objectively explain away my reasoning which is okay but like most their responses were weak so it didn't make sense, though I'm sure in their heads it did. So the impression I got was more like they just where not happy with any criticism so they tried to magically explain it away be basically saying "he is unreasonable or he didn't understand what he was watching". So in defense of TIne, good reason or not there is a lot fan boy resistance if anyone says anything negative about rebuild. Basically there's a strong bias here...which is okay lol I mean it is a fan site...but I'm just saying. If he had an amazing reason for not liking rebuild someone'd still give him shit.

[Gendo'sPapa]

I welcome the discussion that comes out of people not liking 3.33. I love the movie and think it's the best thing Evangelion since EOE in 1997 BUT by design it is very clearly not a film made for everyone. In the end though, my personal opinion on the films isn't going to be changed by someone saying they hate it. I'll still watch the film again and love it. But my relationship to the film can alter and my next viewing of the film could be a whole new experience thanks to something someone says on here. There's a lot of good to come out of all discussions that flow from how differently people engage with a text and see the work from a different pair of eyes. That's art. That's entertainment. One person sees a work of magic that connects with them on an emotional level in a profound sense. The other person just sees flashy graphics that never gel together and ends up a mess. Both are perfect opinions.

And refusing to engage with a text is also a justifiable and perfectly fair position to take. It's a strong point you can make once and then move on. But, continually taking part in ongoing discussions about a text that you refuse to sit down and engage with just once is not a justifiable position. It's pure narcissism at that point. It's not about your personal relationship to the work, it's about you. The non-viewer hasn't seen the movie/read the book/listened to the song/etc but they still want to share their insight into something they haven't personally experienced. It's ignorance. The individual has zero personal experience with the text in question but because they clearly have a pre-set hypothesis set they can easily cherry pick from other people's personal experiences to support their hypothesis and routinely jump into ongoing discussions. As I said, it's the kind of attitude that in the real world would get someone kicked out of the room early in the discussion.

Except for politics. That's the one field where ignorance on a subject is apparently welcomed. :/

[TheFriskyIan]

Just don't listen to Mr. Tines. He made the choice not to watch the films - a perfectly justifiable decision that one can't argue with - but who feels that his opinion on films he REFUSES to watch is so insightful that he throws his absolutely worthless 2 cents into every discussion he can because he read a plot summary on Wikipedia and can support his stance by cherry picking other people's opinions - a completely unjustified stance that is pretty shitty and embarrassing for a moderator - and is the exact kind of attitude towards art and discussion that in the real world would get someone kicked out of the room ASAP.
"Yeah, I though the book sounded dumb so I didn't read it and I don't intend to read but I'm still going to sit in for the discussion and whenever someone says something I can bounce off of I am going to do so with my uninformed opinion on the text."

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this if the individual has done enough research without reading/watching the material that they can discuss it on the same playing field as people who have watched numerous times, which Tines is capable of doing.

[Arcadia's legacy]

Based on what i've seen Tines say about NTE, i find his research into the film series to be very lacking

[KingXanaduu]

I welcome the discussion that comes out of people not liking 3.33. I love the movie and think it's the best thing Evangelion since EOE in 1997 BUT by design it is very clearly not a film made for everyone. In the end though, my personal opinion on the films isn't going to be changed by someone saying they hate it. I'll still watch the film again and love it. But my relationship to the film can alter and my next viewing of the film could be a whole new experience thanks to something someone says on here. There's a lot of good to come out of all discussions that flow from how differently people engage with a text and see the work from a different pair of eyes. That's art. That's entertainment. One person sees a work of magic that connects with them on an emotional level in a profound sense. The other person just sees flashy graphics that never gel together and ends up a mess. Both are perfect opinions.

And refusing to engage with a text is also a justifiable and perfectly fair position to take. It's a strong point you can make once and then move on. But, continually taking part in ongoing discussions about a text that you refuse to sit down and engage with just once is not a justifiable position. It's pure narcissism at that point. It's not about your personal relationship to the work, it's about you. The non-viewer hasn't seen the movie/read the book/listened to the song/etc but they still want to share their insight into something they haven't personally experienced. It's ignorance. The individual has zero personal experience with the text in question but because they clearly have a pre-set hypothesis set they can easily cherry pick from other people's personal experiences to support their hypothesis and routinely jump into ongoing discussions. As I said, it's the kind of attitude that in the real world would get someone kicked out of the room early in the discussion.

Except for politics. That's the one field where ignorance on a subject is apparently welcomed. :/

The hard part in doing these discussions with others who don't view it in a positive light is that those who want to TRY to view it in a positive light either refuse to acknowledge it despite the evidence that are provided for them, or those who have such EXTREMIST views of negativity towards the movie that any argument with them is the equivalent of pissing in the wind.

[pwhodges]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this if the individual has done enough research without reading/watching the material that they can discuss it on the same playing field as people who have watched numerous times, which Tines is capable of doing.

Parroting other people's opinions is pointless unless either: (1) They are the result of statistical analysis of a sufficiently large properly randomised sample, or (2) They are used as a starting point for questions to help understand how the various views come about. Merely reiterating opinions which agree with your preconceptions achieves nothing other than distorting the discussion for those who haven't picked up on what's happening.

But remember that Mr. Tines has seen the first film, and can perfectly well prefer not to see any others as a (possibly shorted-sighted) result; but he seems to have said that his decision not to watch what follows is largely based on the preview at the end - and we know how misleading the previews are!

[TheFriskyIan]

The hard part in doing these discussions with others who don't view it in a positive light is that those who want to TRY to view it in a positive light either refuse to acknowledge it despite the evidence that are provided for them, or those who have such EXTREMIST views of negativity towards the movie that any argument with them is the equivalent of pissing in the wind.

The same could be said of the other side, when any legitimate criticism of the movie is shut down because there are people that honestly believe the movie is the second coming of Christ and God forbid an actual flaw is pointed out.

But remember that Mr. Tines has seen the first film, and can perfectly well prefer not to see any others as a (possibly shorted-sighted) result; but he seems to have said that his decision not to watch what follows is largely based on the preview at the end - and we know how misleading the previews are!

He made mention of the stand alone trailers as well, which aren't as misleading.

[KingXanaduu]

The same could be said of the other side, when any legitimate criticism of the movie is shut down because there are people that honestly believe the movie is the second coming of Christ and God forbid an actual flaw is pointed out.

He made mention of the stand alone trailers as well, which aren't as misleading.

True, that's why it needs to be a balance. The hard part again is which extremist side is the LOUDEST here, which kind of kills the whole argument for anyone else caught in the middle.