[SPOILERS] Star Wars: The Force Awakens - It's True. All of it.

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I didnt KNOW Han was going to die, but I had a feeling he would. It was pretty clear when he decided to step out on the long bridge walkway. I feel weird that I didnt really emotional about it. I liked how they had a moment together before he fell, though.
 
There's obviously some big secret with Rey. When it is first mentioned to Ren that Finn and BB were helped by "a girl" he replies "what girl?" in a tone and manner as if there was a specific girl on Jakku he knew about. Also the scene when Maz asks Han "So, who's the girl?" they immediately cut away from the conversation.

I'm thinking she will end up being Luke's daughter, but I'm not certain. She's the child of someone important though, that's certain.
That stuff could all just be a red herring, though
 
Han's death was so spot on. He was just trying to save his son. No bullshit. No scoundreling or conniving. A father trying to reason with his son. The obvious conflict that Kylo Ren(his name is Ben!, OMG) was showing during that scene really sold it too.

And then Chewbacca going ballistic. So good.
 
If Finn gets the force he'll just fall to the dark side cause his defining character trait was that he was afraid/running away. He bailed out poe because he got chicken shit after one battle and needed someone to fly him out. How shitty is the new orders indoctrine program for kids if Finn decided to bail out after one skirmish where he was ordered to kill people he didn't know anything about. Also why have silver trooper chick mention "he's had no signs of defiance" before if that was his first battle?

Also why the fuck does Finn know so much info about the super death star? Like he worked in sanitation correct and had only taken part in one battle before he defected why the fuck did he randomly know so much including the weakness of the whole base? Yet after that he doesn't know how to get the shields down? So basic troopers with no battle experience randomly have vital skematics and weapons info behind the super new star base they aren't even stationed on but not info on how to shut down the shields? Further why would silver storm trooper lady know how to shut down the shields? Wouldn't you want to capture an engineer or someone who works in the control room? Also why does one switch lower the shields when it took like 8 switches to lower the tractor beam on the old death star?
 
Now that I think of it... The cool shot from the trailer with Kylo Ren walking, stopping in a badass pose and igniting his lightsaber in the forest didn't make it to the final cut did it?

I remember two shots, one where he ignited it from the front and one where the lightsaber was ignited out of shot.
 
Oh, and the complaints about the movie being a retread of IV are so damn overblown. Yeah there are similar set-ups and visual echoes of it (orphan protagonist on desert world, droid with secret plans, X-Wings flying down the trenches of a planet-sized weapon, even the look of the Resistance base) but the movie really is mostly its own thing and feels structured differently enough.
 
I didnt KNOW Han was going to die, but I had a feeling he would. It was pretty clear when he decided to step out on the long bridge walkway. I feel weird that I didnt really emotional about it. I liked how they had a moment together before he fell, though.

Yep, I thought it was a great scene. Ford wanted Han killed off in ROTJ so he finally got his wish.
 
Just saw the movie. I absolutely loved it. Kylo Ren has definitely secured himself as my new favorite character. I can't wait to see where they take the series, I just hope they don't follow too predictable of a route.
 
Rey's dream of the ocean with an island (what Ren sees when he is reading her mind) seem to hint that she is connected to Luke in a special way, if not his daughter outright.

Goddamn I never connected that scene and the ending in my mind until you just said it. Mind blown.
 
Never have I ever been in a theater that has cheered or clapped so loud so many times when characters first appear on screen or when the movie actually starts. That's when you know you have something special.

Movie is definitely better than the prequels; on the level of around A New Hope and Return of the Jedi.

I never had issues with the parallels or callbacks to past movies. I'm not a big fan on the whole "It's like poetry. It rhymes." thing that Lucas established but it works. I've been lurking this thread for awhile so I knew about Han. My heart was still racing after it happened and I almost shed a tear. I see a lot of Anakin with Kylo Ren, whether or not it ends up being prequel Anakin or Original Vader is still left to be seen but what we got was a bit whiny and confused. What I got from Luke was just enough but not enough. It ended a conflict and now it just leaves me wanting more.

However, like any film it's not perfect. Phasma should have been used more and it seems like she will be in VIII and beyond. I would have rather her been the trooper to fight Finn the first time he wielded the lightsaber just to show how badass she could be. Some sort of explanation of how the First Order came to be would have been nice. I can only assume all they are at the moment is some rogue Imperial legion similar to something with Thrawn from the EU.

I spent a lot of the movie thinking how Rey fits in, if at all, with the Skywalker family. There were scenes early on with what looked like some sort of Rebel pilot doll and the helmet that made me think instantly of Luke, but when she mentions she thought Luke was a myth I scrapped that. One theory I thought was that she was the younger sister of Kylo Ren. After Kylo went crazy, Han and Leia left her on Jakku but that was before I saw how old Rey was when she was left. Unless she has horrible memory of what her parents looked like or who they are then that isn't it. I wouldn't mind if she was just someone new and not a Skywalker at all.

Altogether, it was a fun movie. I was interested the entire way through. I laughed. I became sad not only with Han but when the credits ended because I didn't want it to end. It was what I wanted in a Star Wars film.
 
There's no real explanation why Kylo Ren wears his mask with voice synthesizer, is there? He's just a big Vader wannabe, right?

He's a big whiny nerd that joined a cult. As much as his tantrums were fun, that scene with him and Han on the bridge was fantastic in showing what is going in both their minds, how Ren sees the universe and how Han sees his son.
 
Oh, and the complaints about the movie being a retread of IV are so damn overblown. Yeah there are similar set-ups and visual echoes of it (orphan protagonist on desert world, droid with secret plans, X-Wings flying down the trenches of a planet-sized weapon, even the look of the Resistance base) but the movie really is mostly its own thing and feels structured differently enough.

Clearly done on purpose, as well. JJ probably played it a little too safe, but a small gripe. JJ Abrams is legendary status after making this film.
 
Han's death was so spot on. He was just trying to save his son. No bullshit. No scoundreling or conniving. A father trying to reason with his son. The obvious conflict that Kylo Ren(his name is Ben!, OMG) was showing during that scene really sold it too.

And then Chewbacca going ballistic. So good.

Oh it was great until he made his death face. It was comical.
 
Haha...

This is how that sequence goes in RotJ versus the trailer (he says "you have that power too" earlier in the conversation, to Leia).

Luke: "The force is strong in my family. My father had it. I have it. My sister has it. Yes, it's you., Leia."

Leia: "I know. Somehow I've always known."

In the trailer it's cut as follows:

"The force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it. You have that power too."

To me this is a pretty obvious reuse of the same sentiment, revealing to the person being spoken to that they're related. To some other member of his family than Leia.

I'm betting it's Rey. I want to know about her mother but I'm willing to buy her as second stronger character in the universe already. But if you don't believe this to be the case then the script is still doing its job, if the reveal surprises some people that aren't as close to the source material then it's a job well done for a film. Especially kids growing up with it and so on.
 
Now that I think of it... The cool shot from the trailer with Kylo Ren walking, stopping in a badass pose and igniting his lightsaber in the forest didn't make it to the final cut did it?

I remember two shots, one where he ignited it from the front and one where the lightsaber was ignited out of shot.

Yeah, that was a fake-out. In the trailer, he has his hood up and the camera follows him up to the point that he ignites it. In the movie, he doesn't have his mask or hood, and the camera follows Rey and Finn; we're only given the sound of Kylo igniting his saber.
 
Adam Driver was a United States marine before picking up a lightsaber.

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I also think Kylo was taunting Han into allowing him to kill him. He wanted Han to try to take the lightsaber away, to remind him why he went to the dark side anyway. The son of Han Solo is just as much a hot head as Han is. I think its more of that than Vader. Im willing to bet Han tried to control Kylo as a kid with the sabers/force and the reason he turned was basically a big teenage rampage of rebellion.
 
i like that this movie showed more than it told, lots of great emotions from the cast

hamill was looking a little portly behind that robe and hair, glad he's trimmed even further

good movie, didn't even care that it was a retread
 
Movie is a solid 8.5-9/10.

The chemistry between the cast is A+. It really does feel like Finn and Rey, and Finn and Poe have become friends through out this War in the Stars. I also really really loved the visual nods to prior films and the diagetic ones as well. That shot with Rey on her speeder across the setting sun, perfection.gif. Speaking of Rey, she's totally Luke's kid who was the sole survivor of the massacre by Ben Solo and sent off to a sand planet as all Skywalker children are. (Seriously, Anakin, Luke, and now Rey have all grown-up on shitty sand planets before a wise father-ly figure meets them in the first act and ultimately dies later on in the same film.) Snoke seems like the final antagonist, with Benicio probably being a Darth in some way, while Ben levels up and ultimately turns against the evil in Ep. 9. I hope they don't introduce Finn as Lando's son because I like the fact he's just the audience insert and a person whose developing his own role in the universe. Poe is just swagger incarnate, and I hope he doesn't die in Ep. VIII to up the stakes.

Last point, the act breaks on this film are really noticeable. Act I = Jakku, Act 2 = Maz's Place, Act 3 = Hoth with trees. But, other than that, I liked the movie a lot and I pray Treverrow doesn't fuck this up. Rian Johnson's probably going to make this trilogy's "Empire Strikes Back" and my body is ready.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the Han death flags were just fucking everywhere. From the moment he had the sappy talk with Leia about their son, I could foretell it. I loved the inclusion of the dudes from "The Raid" even if they had nothing to do. Iko Uwais! And actual last point, Daniel Craig was the trooper Rey mind-tricked. I couldn't spot Simon Pegg though...

Final Edit: Actual real final point, Rey's force vision included Luke touching R2D2 and turning him off likely which'll be in Episode 8, and Kylo Ren and a squad killing someone and confronting Rey again, probably also in 8. Were there any more I missed, besides the child Rey one?
 
Fucking awesome. Everything I had hoped for. When I saw the bloody hand on the storm trooper helmet I knew I was about to see something different.

The pace wasn't too quick and I fell in love with Finn and Rey.
I wish they had brought up the hand holding more at the end.
 
If Finn gets the force he'll just fall to the dark side cause his defining character trait was that he was afraid/running away. He bailed out poe because he got chicken shit after one battle and needed someone to fly him out. How shitty is the new orders indoctrine program for kids if Finn decided to bail out after one skirmish where he was ordered to kill people he didn't know anything about. Also why have silver trooper chick mention "he's had no signs of defiance" before if that was his first battle?

Also why the fuck does Finn know so much info about the super death star? Like he worked in sanitation correct and had only taken part in one battle before he defected why the fuck did he randomly know so much including the weakness of the whole base? Yet after that he doesn't know how to get the shields down? So basic troopers with no battle experience randomly have vital skematics and weapons info behind the super new star base they aren't even stationed on but not info on how to shut down the shields? Further why would silver storm trooper lady know how to shut down the shields? Wouldn't you want to capture an engineer or someone who works in the control room? Also why does one switch lower the shields when it took like 8 switches to lower the tractor beam on the old death star?

Can't agree about Finn. I think it'll be Rey if anyone that falls prey to the dark side. I can totally see her being evil for the right reasons. Finn is too damn genuine.
 
Unless you mean the planet destroying idea, or the sly references to past Star Wars movies (like X-Wings flying in an environment that has walls like a trench or escaping from inside a building with a fireball behind them), not sure what you'd mean.

I felt like it was an attempt to replicate episode 4 to please the fans. (which is obvious). It did not feel large scale and did not overall important in regards to the Star Wars universe. They failed to show the span in which the first order has control.
 
Funniest part for me I think was when Kylo Ren was having a temper tantrum and those two stormtroopers nope'd the fuck out of that hallway

And the poor officer who had to deliver bad news to Ren and clearly knew in advance Ren was going to lose his shit and possibly decapitate him. Like this is obviously a regular occurrence amongst the First Order, Ren trashing rooms in a rage. The cleanup crew must know they're going to work overtime any time he is on their ship.
 
I don't have much to say but I will say this: Episode VII is the best Star Wars movie. JJ Abrams absolutely nailed the cinematography, the casting, and the acting wonderfully. I liked the way the character development was approached and the build-up of the villains for future movies. A solid 8.5/10 for me (the movie was the perfect length too).
 
There's no real explanation why Kylo Ren wears his mask with voice synthesizer, is there? He's just a big Vader wannabe, right?

He's awkward and a nerd, trying REALLY hard to be a badass like the stories he heard of Vader. You can tell the upper members of the First Order see him as a sniveling shit who hasn't been shot out of an airlock because of his powers. Remember when Luke got away at the end of ESB and every single person on the bridge is dead silent and frozen in place? Vader did nothing and he still has that effect. Kylo doesn't command that level of fear and respect.
 
This movie also had the most dynamic camera work of any Star Wars, but given the directorial pedigree of the franchise, I guess that'd be kind of a given anyway.
 
did anybody else find it weird that the first thing Leia does when everybody arrives back is to hug Rey? She walks right by Chewie to a person she's never met.
 
So does Finn have the Force? My take is that he obviously doesn't because for once, fuck the Force, a person can do a lot through sheer will and determination. I loved that he held his own for a while against a fairly trained Force user. We had heard a thread in the the days leading up to the movie that a non-Force user could never, ever use a Lightsaber effectivelyand that has definitely been proven wrong.

Potentially, but we don't have enough information either way until Ep VIII. It honestly feels like we're moving in the direction though.
 
And the poor officer who had to deliver bad news to Ren and clearly knew in advance Ren was going to lose his shit and possibly decapitate him. Like this is obviously a regular occurrence amongst the First Order, Ren trashing rooms in a rage. The cleanup crew must know they're going to work overtime any time he is on their ship.

That's especially funny since Finn worked sanitation before suiting up LOL!
 
Good god do I hope Finn doesn't become a force user. I would love to have focus on him and Poe Dameron.

Not every character needs to be a fucking Jedi.
 
Han's death was so spot on. He was just trying to save his son. No bullshit. No scoundreling or conniving. A father trying to reason with his son. The obvious conflict that Kylo Ren(his name is Ben!, OMG) was showing during that scene really sold it too.

And then Chewbacca going ballistic. So good.
I thought that whole bit was really well done.

Even though they clearly indicate that it's about to happen, Ren shows enough uncertainty that you start to hope for a sec. And as a viewer I of course internally rooted for Han. But we all knew. That bridge, the silence, viewers. Finally the lights. Good stuff.
 
< Look at my fucking avatar! I'm a Star Wars fanboy, Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie of all time so my review here is not coming from some jaded SW hating asshole. I just got back from seeing the film in headache inducing 3D and I felt I had to post my thoughts here without having it muddled by other people's opinions. At the moment my thoughts are not fully formed so this is more just going to be a stream of conscience thing.

But, before I get started I'll post a quick summary of my opinion, I personally didn't like the film. I don't think it's a bad film, but it wasn't the second coming I was expecting. Now, for my tirade:

Alright, where to begin? I think I have to say my biggest problem with the film is that it is too "self-aware," it's like everyone in the movie knows it's "Star Wars" and can't help but make sure you know it too. As a result, I never felt like the movie stood on it's own as every single god damn second it has to cram something from the original trilogy into your face.

"Hey LOOK, it's R2-D2! Do you remember R2-D2? I bet you didn't think we'd show R2-D2, well here he is R2-D2!"
"Hey look it's C3PO! Hey, their doing that thing from the original movie!"
"Who's Luke Skywalker? *wink, wink* Where is he? Oh, I bet you really want to know where Luke is, don't you? Hey, remember how cool Luke Skywalker was? Yeah, he's super important."
"Death Star!"

When Finn accidentally bangs his hand on the table and turns on that weird chess game they played in ANH I damn near rolled my eyes so hard I feared it might stay stuck in the back of my head. The movie is so reliant on "nostalgia" that it overshadows everything else in the movie, hell Han Solo basically becomes the lead of the movie once he is introduced and thus completely steps over the two other leads. Why? Listen, I'm not expecting a radically different story, it's Star Wars, I just need a simple Hero's Journey but did we really need to rip the ENTIRE plot of ANH. Did we really need Death Star 3.0? Were we not already sick of the Death Star by ROTJ?

But, let's talk about the two supposed leads for the story, Finn and Rey. I felt neither character was fully explored with Rey being short changed the most. Despite ripping the entire plot from ANH it seemed to ignore all the character moments in that film, mainly the arc of Luke Skywalker. Rey is basically our stand in for Luke and Finn is young Han Solo, but while Finn at least has some backstory and gets some arc Rey is just a quagmire. We don't really know anything about her? Who is she? Where did she come from? Who is she waiting for? We spend some time with her on Tattoine *cough, cough* I mean Jakku but it never really amounts to much since we know NOTHING about her even by the end of the movie.

Now, if you tell me that will be explained in the later movies then I will kindly tell you to get out of my face, this movie which is supposed to kick off a new trilogy has to stand on its own. You shouldn't have to watch any previous movies or wait for any future movies to get the major points about this film. Thus, Rey as out big lead must have her damn backstory and motivations explained now. In ANH we didn't have to guess what Luke wanted or was all about, his arc made sense and we felt a connection to his character; with Rey I felt none of that.

Finn, on the other hand, has more of an arc as basically a Han Solo stand in a movie in which the actual Han Solo is in. That said, his character too suffers from inconsistencies and a lack of backstory. We know he was raised as a Stormtrooper but we don't have enough information on what that is like. However, more importantly, it's kind of weird as we spend some time with his character to believe he was ever a Stormtrooper. Like, I get he was a sanitation worker but why is he so shitty? Why is he scared of everything? I felt like this story would have worked better if he had simply volunteered to become a part of the First Order to pay some debts as opposed to being raised from birth in this militant organization. That said, I still appreciated that his character had some backstory and an arc.

I just feel like the whole movie had too much crammed into it, so confident in the trilogy it is setting up that it didn't believe it needed to explain anything to you or present you with a contained, satisfying story. It felt like it was this thing that was needed to move all the characters into their places for the future movies and cared little at how forced it all looked. Rey and Ren battle only to have a casm open up beneath them to physically separate them as they eye each other, dun dun dunnnn "To Be Continued..."

Well, fuck you. I came to see a movie not "Pt. 1a The Force Presses the Snooze Button for 5 More Minutes of Sleep."

The whole film just lacked any sort of originality and instead just repackaged ANH but added in more characters and further split the roles of the original cast of three into about five. I just keep thinking back to Knights of the Old Republic when I finished the film, the best SW "movie" outside of these films to date. KOTOR is a true SW story that has all the feelings and heroic arc of the OT but at the same time manages to tell it's own original story, with its own surprising twists, with it's own original cast. It actually adds some cool characters with interesting personalities into its story as opposed to ripping off archetypes from the OT. With TFA we get BB-8 (R2-D2), Rey (Luke Skywalker), Finn (Han Solo), and Han Solo (Ben Kenobi). While KOTOR gave us HK-47, T3-M4, Bastilla Shan, and Carth Onasi. Why can't we get something as creative as that cast in this film? Why is Cpt. Phasma lame as all hell but Calo Nord this wonderful and hilarious badass? Why is Kylo Ren's "twist" laughably predictable and then Revan's revelation so wonderfully magical?

I don't know, I think I'm done ranting. I now that sounds really negative but I didn't hate the film, it was alright, but nothing special to me. As a huge fan I expected more, especially from JJ. I feel ST 09' is a better SW film than this movie.

Further randomn thoughts:
-Captain Phasma, lol what the fuck was that all about. Again, fuck you for not creating an actual contained movie I don't want to wait for two more movies for you to create a "cool" secondary villain.
-Random Stormtrooper electro-prod stick, why him?
-I liked the lightsaber duels, just enough flash and just enough "realism"
-WAY too much humor in the film, like can people speak in complete sentences without some forced joke in between?
-I laughed at Han's death because it dragged on so long setting it up when it was obvious when he stepped on the platform he would die. Do we need 5 minutes of obvious telegraphing?
-You really needed to put a Porkins stand in in the film? REALLY!? REALLY!? Fuck you, JJ!
-I didn't like the new musical score, it just didn't feel SW.
-I liked Ren, spoiled little brat who is barely in control.
-Why is Poe in the film? Useless character along with Phasma, should've died in the opening.
 
Kylo Ren is a fucking bastard.

I cried.

Loved the movie. So glad they held Luke back and really made this Rey and Finn's adventure. Amazing chemistry between them and the OT gang. BB-8 is goat droid. Poe was a damn boss. I can't wait to see this three more times tomorrow, already got my tickets.
 
Just got back. Was good, but having binged the entire OT today was probably not a great idea. I'm pretty sure seeing RotJ right before seeing a movie that takes literally half its plot from RotJ (and the other half from ANH) dampened my enthusiasm.

That said, I wasn't too shocked about Han. I know Ford wants to retire/is basically retired. Still hurts. Still hurts. He was easily, EASILY one of the best parts of the movie. Han being Han.

Boyega did a great job. He will definitely be back, and he seems like the "new Han" replacement. Not in skills, obviously, but in that he's the "somewhat regular dude getting by".

I'd say Ridley "stole the show", but she didn't really, because it's about her. She did a great job, and Rey is definitely Luke's daughter. The little old orange lady basically says as much when she says "that lightsaber belonged to luke's father, then luke, and now it's calling to you". I mean, it can't get more obvious, especially when the trailer lifted the "the Force is strong in my family" line straight from RotJ when Luke is telling Leia they're related. And dropping off his own daughter to keep her safe from Ren would be a totally Obi-Wan thing to do.

Ren. Honestly a bit of a disappointment. When he took off the helmet that massive poof of hair made him look absolutely ridiculous. Adam Driver is kind of a mediocre actor, imo, but strangely only when he has the helmet off. When he's being "badass dark dude" he's decent. When he's trying to be "tormented semi-dark, semi-light" he's toeing the 'awful' line. Not Hayden Christianson awful though. Nowhere that awful.

Poe. I wanted more Poe. Plain and simple he needed more screen time. He's an insanely charismatic character, and after going toe to toe with Ren the way he did I really figured he would fit into the story more. I do like the budding bromance between him and Finn though. Love it.


You can feel J.J. Abrams all over this movie, which is good and bad I guess. There are definitely some editing choices that are beyond questionable. Chewbacca getting treated at the Rebel base, for instance. This doctor lady is talking down to Chewbacca like he's 5, when he's been around before since the Clone Wars. It was a really bad scene, served no purpose whatsoever, and should have been cut to make more screen time for Poe or Phasma.

Phasma... the Boba Fett of Ep. VIII. Looks cool, does nothing, and ultimately gets thrown into a hole. That she somehow escapes an exploding planet/sunkiller superweapon after being thrown into a garbage chute is... well we'll see how they justify it I guess. I mean, if she lived Han could live...
no he won't

The movie definitely served as a good setup piece. It puts in place the pieces for the next couple movies. It's just a shame we have to wait so long to get them.
 
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