off topic Star Wars - now with SPOILERS! (Read at your own risk)

[WildCard]

Predictable, but good. 

 

Agreed with True, Hoss, and others about a lot of stuff. Spoiler alert, Carrie Fisher is a bad actress

 

I saw it last night with the family.  I can't say that I thought it was a great movie, and I did think it was a bit corny and predictable in parts, but it was pretty good and thoroughly enjoyable.  It moved along smartly, it was witty and well-acted and it looked amazing.

 

 

 

 

I did think it recycled a number of plot points from the first trilogy -- the x-wing fighters attacking a heavily armed and defended death star, the father-son conflict, etc.  Also, Leia just seemed like a grumpy old woman, and a lot of Han's dialogue was pretty cornball stuff (although it might've gotten a little dusty in there when he and Chewie made their reappearance in the Falcon). 

 

Also, I will go on record as predicting there is NFW that Han Solo is gone.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be really, really pissed if he comes back. I'll also be really pissed if the antagonist has the same arc Vadar had. True's right, he should be beyond salvation now. If anything I want to see him just get more and more evil

 

 

Edited December 24, 2015 by WildCard

[DarthEbriate]

Saw it last night. It's a good, fun, Star Wars flick. Upbeat and decent dialogue (barring a few "earth-slang" misses that could have been replaced with Star Wars nerf-like slang). The characters have motivations and conflicts. The prequel demons have been exorcised. That's the important thing.

 

Sure, I've got a bunch of things I'm a disappointed in, but most of them are ancillary to the plot and end product, which was solid. I'm itching to do a spoiler-tagged list, but nope. It's in the spirit of the force and the Holiday Special to let go.

[WildCard]

 

 

This movie was going to be great as long as they didn't seriously screw the pooch; people were so disappointed with 1-2-3 and were dying for another shot to bring it back to glory. Not surprising then that they recycled the same plot line. I'll be really upset if they do it with the next movie too thgou

 

 

[nfreeman]

So I'm in Massachusetts with the in-laws for Xmas and all the electronic alert signs on the highway say "Trust the Force...but buckle up."

[Taro T]

Saw it yesterday.

 

Would put it just behind 4&5.

 

 

Definitely agree w/ those that believe Rey is Luke's daughter.

 

Disappointed they had Rey reach Luke in this movie. Would have preferred the search for / race to Luke to be the main plot of the next movie. Would have provided a lot of opportunity for flashbacks & the like.

 

Had I not known Carrie Fisher was playing Leia, never would have guessed it was her. She did NOT age well. Please, no more gold bikinis for her.

 

Thought battles rolled from one to the next a bit too quickly, but seeing as it's basically a live action comic book; all's good.

 

The Storm Trooper wanting to rebel / quit wasn't that far fetched, as he isn't a clone like the rest. He was taken from his family at a young age. Lando's son perhaps?

 

Didn't like how quickly the force 'awaked' in Rey, but there was forshadowing of it when she was in the 1st battle before hijacking the MF.

 

 

 

[Hoss]

 

I haven't said this here but have thought it since I saw the movie: the title is a gigantic spoiler. "The Force Awakens" could have a very general meaning about the return of the series and the return of the force... But Rey has been around for a while and has been using the force, so the force never actually slept.

HOWEVER, everybody is annoyed with Rey's instant ability to use the force once she realized she had it. Maybe "The Force Awakens" is specifically about her. And for her force to "awaken" it would've had to have been asleep at some point. Which implies it was awake before, too.

She was a part of Luke's Jedi training that Kylo Ren attacked. I'm sure of it.

 

[shrader]

If you think the title is a spoiler, you should try watching the first three movies again.

[Hoss]

If you think the title is a spoiler, you should try watching the first three movies again.

As in 1-2-3 or 4-5-6? It's a "spoiler" in more of a figure of speech sorta way.

Some believe "The Dark Knight Rises" is actually a reference to Joseph Gordon Levitt's character because of the way he's on a rising platform at the very end. "Spoiler" in interpretation.

[Brawndo]

 

I haven't said this here but have thought it since I saw the movie: the title is a gigantic spoiler. "The Force Awakens" could have a very general meaning about the return of the series and the return of the force... But Rey has been around for a while and has been using the force, so the force never actually slept.

HOWEVER, everybody is annoyed with Rey's instant ability to use the force once she realized she had it. Maybe "The Force Awakens" is specifically about her. And for her force to "awaken" it would've had to have been asleep at some point. Which implies it was awake before, too.

She was a part of Luke's Jedi training that Kylo Ren attacked. I'm sure of it.

 

 

this is spot on, when Kylo said to her you need a teacher to help you with the force, she repeated "The Force" and her re awakening occurred at that moment

 

[Weave]

Saw it yesterday.

 

Would put it just behind 4&5.

 

 

Definitely agree w/ those that believe Rey is Luke's daughter.

 

Disappointed they had Rey reach Luke in this movie. Would have preferred the search for / race to Luke to be the main plot of the next movie. Would have provided a lot of opportunity for flashbacks & the like.

 

Had I not known Carrie Fisher was playing Leia, never would have guessed it was her. She did NOT age well. Please, no more gold bikinis for her.

 

Thought battles rolled from one to the next a bit too quickly, but seeing as it's basically a live action comic book; all's good.

 

The Storm Trooper wanting to rebel / quit wasn't that far fetched, as he isn't a clone like the rest. He was taken from his family at a young age. Lando's son perhaps?

 

Didn't like how quickly the force 'awaked' in Rey, but there was forshadowing of it when she was in the 1st battle before hijacking the MF.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think Rey is Luke's daughter.  That would mean at some point Luke strayed from the Jedi way and took a mate.  I don't see it unfolding that way.  I think she has to be a twin of Ren.  And that makes sense in that Luke and Leia were twins.  

 

[shrader]

 

I don't think Rey is Luke's daughter. That would mean at some point Luke strayed from the Jedi way and took a mate. I don't see it unfolding that way. I think she has to be a twin of Ren. And that makes sense in that Luke and Leia were twins.

 

But then Han and Leah would have had something to say this time around.

[...]

Just got back from seeing it. I give it a 9/10. The only thing missing were my 7 year old eyes and mind, but I did the best I could.

 

Easily on par with Episode 4 in terms of the flow and energy. I thought the drama was well balanced against the action and comedic moments.

 

I didn't have high expectations for, what is it, BB2 (I'm on my iPod and don't have the patience to verify), but that character was well done.

 

I, for one, appreciated the various nods to the old movies. If it works, use it, and I think all of the nods were tastefully executed. This included character and convention references, and any story and plot parallels there were.

 

Everyone agrees it looks fantastic, but I think it sounded great as well. Love the revving Tie Fighter FX. I didn't look to see if John Williams worked on score additions, but even those nods I liked. If I had any criticism it might be that the soundtrack was underplayed compared to episodes 4-6.

[Weave]

But then Han and Leah would have had something to say this time around.

 

 

Unless she is supposed to be in hiding.  She was waiting for "family", right?  and the embrace between her and Leia wasn't one between two people that had no real attachment.  

 

[shrader]

 

Unless she is supposed to be in hiding. She was waiting for "family", right? and the embrace between her and Leia wasn't one between two people that had no real attachment.

 

That was a bit odd. But then again, Rey is very familiar at that point with everyone's story. It should have been another taller and much more furry character instead though.

[...]

shrader, on 25 Dec 2015 - 10:31 PM, said:

That was a bit odd. But then again, Rey is very familiar at that point with everyone's story. It should have been another taller and much more furry character instead though.

 

 

Leia knows Rey "is strong with the Force" and is an important new person on the scene Force-wise, she knows how Rey felt towards Solo (revealed to us in the scene between Rey and Ben Solo), and she could feel Rey's emotions when she returned after Solo died.  I didn't think, knowing these things, the hug was out of place or all too revealing, other than to confirm that Leia sees Rey as someone pretty important to her life's present narrative.  Maybe Leia knows Rey's origins, but we don't and still the hug was appropriate.

 

This is not unlike film "fake time" where important characters develop deep relationships in a seemingly short amount of time.  It's done to accelerate the story.  No different than Luke's relationship with Obi-Wan.

 

[Taro T]

 

Unless she is supposed to be in hiding.  She was waiting for "family", right?  and the embrace between her and Leia wasn't one between two people that had no real attachment.  

 

 

Then why did she have no indication whatsoever that she knew Han when he found her on the MF? He didn't appear to know her then either. And Chewy wouldn't keep his emotions in check, so that just doesn't compute.

 

 

I don't think Rey is Luke's daughter.  That would mean at some point Luke strayed from the Jedi way and took a mate.  I don't see it unfolding that way.  I think she has to be a twin of Ren.  And that makes sense in that Luke and Leia were twins.  

 

 

But his having had an affair after his failed attempt to run the Jedi Charter School of Jobba might have been what drove him to self-exile.

 

And totally unrelated, Interesting that the guy w/ ~2 minutes of screen time got 2nd billing in the credits.

 

[Weave]

 

Then why did she have no indication whatsoever that she knew Han when he found her on the MF? He didn't appear to know her then either. And Chewy wouldn't keep his emotions in check, so that just doesn't compute.

 

 

 

But his having had an affair after his failed attempt to run the Jedi Charter School of Jobba might have been what drove him to self-exile.

 

And totally unrelated, Interesting that the guy w/ ~2 minutes of screen time got 2nd billing in the credits.

 

The marks she's been scribing on the metal where she was holing up suggest she's been there for many years. Maybe since she was a small child? And we already know what drove Luke into exile, Ren's fall to the dark side.

 

Edited December 26, 2015 by We've

[Eleven]

So back in the Seventies, there was a made-for-tv movie called the Star Wars Holiday Special.  It took place, at least partly, in Chewbacca's family treehouse.  

 

I remember watching it with my sister.  That's ALL I remember, though; the treehouse and watching it with my sister.

 

Josie recently live-tweeted her viewing of this thing and kind of implied that it sux.  I don't know; I don't remember.

 

But what I do know is this.  It is here, in full, for your viewing (dis?)pleasure:

 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Santa Claus

[Robviously]

I edited the thread to warn about spoilers. Spoil away.

 

I really liked it, although not as much as the originals. The first act was perfect. I thought the movie started to struggle when they started trying to smoosh all the old characters back into it. (The explanation for why Han is a smuggler again wasn't the greatest.) I also thought the newer, bigger Death Star that they introduced just to destroy it almost immediately felt really thrown together. I would have liked it better if they had done something simpler or something new there for that battle but, after the prequels, I understand why they wanted to follow the blueprint from the originals very closely. The part that sucks is that the movie was at its best when they tried new things (lightsaber fight in the forest, Rey's visions/voices from the Skywalker lightsaber, etc.).

[Hoss]

Isn't a lightsaber fight in a forest just as new as a bigger Death Star? It's something they've done before just in a different place... Which is the same as "something they've done before but bigger with a different purpose."

 

The biggest complaints are the plot holes in this movie, but I don't see any of them as "plot holes." It's the first movie of a trilogy with three other "spin off" movies set. They're more "open-ended" or "unanswered questions" than holes. I'll certainly look at them as holes if we don't get answers to some major points later in the movies.

 

I wonder if we'll get an origin story for Finn.

[GoPre]

Isn't a lightsaber fight in a forest just as new as a bigger Death Star? It's something they've done before just in a different place... Which is the same as "something they've done before but bigger with a different purpose."

 

The biggest complaints are the plot holes in this movie, but I don't see any of them as "plot holes." It's the first movie of a trilogy with three other "spin off" movies set. They're more "open-ended" or "unanswered questions" than holes. I'll certainly look at them as holes if we don't get answers to some major points later in the movies.

 

I wonder if we'll get an origin story for Finn.

 

Questions will be answered in Episodes 8 and 9. Quite sure no question will be left unanswered. The spin offs have nothing to do w/ this trilogy. Next year's release is about how the rebels got the plans to destroy the death star in episode 4. The other spin off is about Han in his early days. 

 

I'd love it if Finn actually has the force and is some how related to Mace Windu. Finn was very good w/ light saber. Yes, Ren was hurt, but Finn was able to hang w/ the guy for a bit. Any normal person would've been killed very fast. Maz also convinced Finn to take the light saber. She's an important character. 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Thanes16

[Robviously]

Isn't a lightsaber fight in a forest just as new as a bigger Death Star? It's something they've done before just in a different place... Which is the same as "something they've done before but bigger with a different purpose."

 

The biggest complaints are the plot holes in this movie, but I don't see any of them as "plot holes." It's the first movie of a trilogy with three other "spin off" movies set. They're more "open-ended" or "unanswered questions" than holes. I'll certainly look at them as holes if we don't get answers to some major points later in the movies.

 

I wonder if we'll get an origin story for Finn.

Not at all.  I don't think we've ever seen a lightsaber fight like that in this series.  In the original movies, Vader and Obi-Wan meet on the Death Star (and Obi-Wan sacrifices himself) and then Luke seeks out Vader to confront him in Empire and Jedi.  (Note: I really don't care about the prequels and neither does J.J. Abrams apparently.)  In this one, you have Kylo Ren (the most powerful person in the movie to this point) stalking the two protagonists through the forest which is vaguely horror movie-esque.  Then you have a fight between Ren and a guy who isn't particularly strong with the Force (as far as we know) but *is* a highly-trained soldier, Fin.  So that's something new.  Then Rey picks up the lightsaber and she's even worse with it, taking haphazard swings to keep Kylo away from her.  Eventually lets the Force take over (like Luke in Star Wars?) and is able to fight him off.  So the dynamics of it were completely different from the old movies.  Everyone is inexperienced and the good guys are just trying to get out of there.

 

Plus, even if you include the prequels, I think all the old movies have some sort of Jedi Master in the other duels (Vader/Kenobi, Vader, Vader, Qui-Gon, Dooku, Everyone).

 

The Starkiller base was a rehash of the first movie and it didn't even make sense the way they did it.  The entire plan for attacking it hinged on sending three guys (a 70-year old man, a middle-aged Wookie, and an inexperienced soldier), none of whom are actually part of the Resistance, to disable the shield generator.  In ROTJ, they at least sent a squad of commandos to Endor with the main characters. The bigger/badder Death Star is also just an afterthought.  In SW, the Death Star sets all the events of the film into motion and the heroes spend the entire middle of the movie exploring and escaping it before blowing it up.  In ROTJ, the second one is basically built by the Empire to lure the Rebels into a trap so that they can be destroyed (and so that the Emperor can turn Luke).  So it's not the focus but it's part of a different plan/story.  

 

In this one, the bad guys are really, really, really focused on finding Luke Skywalker.....and, oh by the way, they're built the most powerful weapon the galaxy has ever seen.  That's weird.  I think blowing up an entire system to destroy the New Republic is a big plot point but we never get the exposition on what that means or how big/small the First Order and Resistance are apart from the Republic.  They just glossed over everything to have a huge battle and a huge explosion at the end -- just like in SW and ROTJ, which I think is all they were going for.

 

They could have just made the last 30 minutes a rescue mission for Rey.  Maybe they figure out that she knows where Luke is and that's the "real" way to find him.  (Which was true anyway -- when Kylo reads her mind he sees "an island in the ocean" but doesn't know what that means.)  They didn't have to jam the giant Starkiller base in there and the huge "million to one" shot that blows it up. It would have worked just as well if they were just raiding a big First Order base.  But, again, I think they just wanted to stick to the blueprint as much as possible for this one. 

[Doohickie]

(The explanation for why Han is a smuggler again wasn't the greatest.).

 

I thought that was okay, what I thought was odd was they way he and Leia reunited so quickly with no hard feelings.  I would think there would be simmering arguments about how Ben was raised, each person blaming the other for his choosing the dark side.  Once they separated each would have built their own narrative about why they were right and the other was wrong and I would imagine them bickering upon reuniting.

Edited December 26, 2015 by The Big Johnson

[Robviously]

Questions will be answered in Episodes 8 and 9. Quite sure no question will be left unanswered. The spin offs have nothing to do w/ this trilogy. Next year's release is about how the rebels got the plans to destroy the death star in episode 4. The other spin off is about Han in his early days. 

 

I'd love it if Finn actually has the force and is some how related to Mace Windu. Finn was very good w/ light saber. Yes, Ren was hurt, but Finn was able to hang w/ the guy for a bit. Any normal person would've been killed very fast. Maz also convinced Finn to take the light saber. She's an important character. 

I hope no one else is related in the next two movies.  The Force is this energy that binds the entire universe together but, for whatever reason, it tends to stick to just a few families?  It's a better story if Rey is just "no one" (like her monologue in the last preview) and she just happens to be the best hope for her generation.  She obviously got at least some training (probably from Luke, since she knew where he was) and she was left on Jakku for a reason.  That's more than enough backstory.  She doesn't have to be Luke's daughter or whatever.  (At that point, they will just be getting lazy with these characters.)

[Hoss]

Questions will be answered in Episodes 8 and 9. Quite sure no question will be left unanswered. The spin offs have nothing to do w/ this trilogy. Next year's release is about how the rebels got the plans to destroy the death star in episode 4. The other spin off is about Han in his early days. 

 

I'd love it if Finn actually has the force and is some how related to Mace Windu. Finn was very good w/ light saber. Yes, Ren was hurt, but Finn was able to hang w/ the guy for a bit. Any normal person would've been killed very fast. Maz also convinced Finn to take the light saber. She's an important character. 

I understand that the spinoffs won't be connected, but they're still Star Wars movies being produced in the middle of another trilogy. My guess is there will be some connections made in them. By the way, Rogue One is between 3 and 4, right?

There's also a Bobba Fett spinoff Disney is still planning on making. Rumors are that Michael B. Jordan may play Bobba.

 

Finn could be related to Mace or Lando... But it might be even cooler if he's related to Bobba Fett. Not that we need a relation for everybody. I think the best route would be to make Rey not related to anybody major but have Finn have the family connection. It keeps with the family connection storyline Star Wars fans love but throws a slight curve ball.

I hope no one else is related in the next two movies.  The Force is this energy that binds the entire universe together but, for whatever reason, it tends to stick to just a few families?  It's a better story if Rey is just "no one" (like her monologue in the last preview) and she just happens to be the best hope for her generation.  She obviously got at least some training (probably from Luke, since she knew where he was) and she was left on Jakku for a reason.  That's more than enough backstory.  She doesn't have to be Luke's daughter or whatever.  (At that point, they will just be getting lazy with these characters.)

I think her training was definitely from Luke, but I don't get where this idea that she knew where he was comes from. Kylo got some limited info from her head, but he likely caught a glimpse of what she saw with the saber and the map.

I think it'd be best if Rey was just a nobody, as you said, who had relatively unimportant parents who had a small connections to Luke or Obi Wan. It could even be that she was rescued from her home planet by the Jedi as Vader was invading and killing them... Something like that.