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

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foxtrot3d said:
I accepted Finn not getting immediately dismembered since as a Stormtrooper he likely got some melee combat training, however, we know nothing about Rey and thus have to assume she's never fought with such a weapon. Thus, her tapping into the Force and the immediately being imbued with fencing lessons is kind of ridiculous to me.

That said, I still loved the choreography of the duels. Fuck all that flashy prequel nonsense and give me back my ESB type duels.
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I was more astonished that non-force user Finn held up as long as he did. We've seen Rey's work with a staff early in the film. We know she's been training--in mechanical engineering, in survivalism. We know she's the HERO OF LIGHT (etc). Finn is the mudblood (maybe?).

I was bothered most by the GIANT CHASM that opened between Ren and Rey, which REMOVED her agency. She needed to be tempted to kill Ren. Heck, she should have cut his hand off. Ren is right--she needs a teacher, so the flirtation with the dark side should be real, even this early in her force career.
 
v0yce said:
Enjoyable but the call backs are way too on the nose. Hopefully ep VIII and beyond can stand on their own.

Kylo stopping a blaster shot in thin air was awesome and something we've never seen a Jedi/Sith do, but then he ends up apparently an amateur force user? Strange.

Also the R2 thing seemed really silly. I don't know what the idea was there with him being in low power mode only to conveniently wake up at the proper time.

What was the point of C3PO's red arm? Just to set up a joke? It was "fixed" the next time we saw him. Why even make it a thing?

Still a lot of fun.
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Because I love nothing more than filling in online discussion board plot holes...

On the blaster: I think the idea was that Ren's powers are complicated by the battle between light and dark within him. At that point in the film, he is in no way conflicted or compromised—it is only when he feels the threat of the light that he starts to waver, and only with Rey (and to some degree in the moments after Han's death) that his powers are questioned. The force is inherently about balance, and so it makes since that their big anti-hero figure would have his powers modulate based on it.

As for R2, it's more or less just a lamp post for the Luke quest narrative—the map is introduced early, and it gives them an opportunity to sew another button onto it. "R2 is asleep? I bet he'll wake up when they go to get Luke." And so it's no shock he wakes up just in time for Rey to come back with Luke's lightsaber—it's just there as a way to push the denouement into the cliffhanger.

As for the red arm, I would say it functions to remind us that these robots are also aging (which is also tied to R2 being on low power mode, I think): in the "passing of the guard" film, it makes sense that C-3PO would appear, but they want to denote that he is still a relic of the previous era. The replacement arm helps remind us of that (while also, of course, to your point about callbacks, reminding us he has a history of missing appendages).

I don't think any of these are unreasonable thoughts, but I felt like the film ultimately articulated and used them fairly effectively.
 
That scene with General Hux giving his speech to the stormtroopers on starkiller base was ridiculous in how much it was modelled after a hitler rally, from the salute the stormtroopers gave at the end to the mannerisms of Hux, the flow of his speech, and the change in volume/intensity of his voice over the course of his speech.
 
MattyG said:
I do too, but I really doubt it. It's pretty clear that we were meant to think that was actually him, but since it ended up being a hologram he's probably around human-sized.
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I believe he's supposed to be bigger than humans (like Chewbacca size). But that remains to be seen if it's accurate.
 
Who was the guy that Kylo killed at the beginning? Also, not sure who Rey's parents are, but I'd be shocked if that isn't key in the upcoming movies.

I was surprised by the ending. I expected it to end with Rey leaving to find Luke, and then cut to a closing shot of Luke doing something on whatever planet he was, while Rey is on her way to find him. Them coming to face to face at the end was very unexpected.
 
I am pleased with how this turned out. It feels like Star Wars is actually back.

I think one of the most important things is that I wasn't bored. Those two hours went by like *snaps* that.

I want more. Any of the new EU stuff worth checking out?
 
CreativeWriter said:
I was more astonished that non-force user Finn held up as long as he did. We've seen Rey's work with a staff early in the film. We know she's been training--in mechanical engineering, in survivalism. We know she's the HERO OF LIGHT (etc). Finn is the mudblood (maybe?).

I was bothered most by the GIANT CHASM that opened between Ren and Rey, which REMOVED her agency. She needed to be tempted to kill Ren. Heck, she should have cut his hand off. Ren is right--she needs a teacher, so the flirtation with the dark side should be real, even this early in her force career.
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I totally agree. I still have no problem with Finn dueling since Ren was toying with and he he got his ass kicked. Plus, again, Ren was injured and quickly dispatched of Finn once he presumed to actually strike him.
 
GaimeGuy said:
That scene with General Hux giving his speech to the stormtroopers on starkiller base was ridiculous in how much it was modelled after a hitler rally, from the salute the stormtroopers gave at the end to the mannerisms of Hux, the flow of his speech, and the change in volume/intensity of his voice over the course of his speech.
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Yep. No subtlety there at all, felt out of place.
 
Just got back from seeing it. I'd say my only glaring disappointment was the soundtrack of the movie. There was no memorable first order theme or epic space battle track. The stuff that stands out is the music taken from episodes 4-6.

Other than that I would've loved to see more First Order stuff.
 
Just got out of my screening

Exactly as good as it needed to be, which was better than the prequels, but worse than the originals. Well, its a better made movie in a lot of areas than RotJ, but that one has higher highs that come with being the climax of the series and all the emotion we have built into it.

JJ Abrams ended up being just about the perfect choice for this thing. His visual storytelling is the best its ever been here, toning down the lens flare and randomly careening camera angles, to make something slick but coherent, with proper attention paid to composition, staging, and the proper rhythm of each scene. His DP Dan Mindel shoots a very beautiful movie, with consistently fantastic lighting and color choices to emphasize the tangible fantasy universe the production team has crafted. The Ralph McQuiare influence is everywhere, from the costumes to the environment designs, with the lived-in feel of the original trilogy fully intact.

The first 30 minutes or so are great. The character introductions are so confident, lots of good pulpy dialog and likable characters with good humor and coherent motivations. The best setpiece happens here, as glimpsed in the trailer, as Rey/Finn/BB8 escape the planet Jakku in the Falcon. You can tell they had that part down.

The rest of the plotting is sketchier. There's an actively terrible setpiece introducing Han Solo and Chewie, before shifting from a propulsive McGuffin quest into a Death Star plot that has no dramatic stakes. Like Star Trek '09, you forgive this because of it slick production values and its strong characters. John Boyega's Finn is the best of the new batch of heroes, a sweaty palmed everyman who wears his heart on his sleeve and knows he's in over his head. He's so goddamn likable I feel I need to go out and buy an action figure. The MVP on the bad guy side is Kylo Ren, played with believable vulnerability by Adam Driver. He's kinda like the Anakin Skywalker George tried to give us, but couldn't figure out how people talked or how to get a not-terrible performance from Hayden. Kylo is powerful and has a great bad guy look, but he's emotionally fragile and conflicted. He's the most three dimensional bad guy the series has ever had, and maybe the most interesting.

You can feel the weight of expectations on everyone to deliver. Its a movie that has to build on the past, set up a status quo for the future, but also be a satisfying pop space fantasy adventure in its own regard. A more critical mind could pick this apart, but something about Star Wars allows you to be more easily taken for the ride. It moves fast, looks beautiful, its often thrilling and hilarious. Most importantly, its got a strong cast of new characters you want to see in future episodes. I can't wait to follow the adventures of Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren, and that adorable fuckin' BB-8(who gets the movie's biggest laugh). You walk out of the theater excited for the future of Star Wars...which is good cuz they're gonna be a new movie every goddamn year until the end of time.

Now if you excuse me, I got a BB-8 toy to buy.
 
BatDan said:
I am pleased with how this turned out. It feels like Star Wars is actually back.

I think one of the most important things is that I wasn't bored. Those two hours went by like *snaps* that.

I want more. Any of the new EU stuff worth checking out?
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Games?

KOTOR I & II
Jedi Knight II: Outcast
Jedi Academy
 
foxtrot3d said:
I swear these two things damn near broke the movie for me. Like, how far into the damn OT trilogy barrel are you going to scrape JJ?
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The fat guy was Greg Grunberg, he's a longtime friend of JJ Abrahms and he puts him in a small role in all his films as a good luck charm. It has nothing to do with Porkins.
 
Neverwinter27 said:
So is Finn force sensitive or not
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It's implied with how he got the hang of new targetting/weapons systems so quickly, and how things ended up panning out on starkiller base even though he basically had no idea where he was taking Han and Chewie, just acting on impulse to go to the right places at the right times.
 
Sou Da said:
I hope he's actually a giant.

Anyone else notice that Rey lunges and pokes with the saber a lot?
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I noticed that -- she kept really ineffectually stabbing with it. I thought it might have been on purpose because she had no training, though you would think with the quarterstaff she would try to use it the same way. I seem to recall that she switched styles once she concentrated on the force, though.


For my own thoughts, I was a big fan of the movie. Maybe not the best movie ever, but solid and good and thoroughly entertaining. I cracked up at some things (the BB-8 thumbs up? My girlfriend thought it was a threat instead? Funny either way), and loved the smooth camerawork. The scene following Po when he comes back was awesome with the X-wing flying behind things but being smoothly tracked the whole time.

I loved the pretty scenery, and the contrast between planets. The normal ugly desert planet, contrasted with the super green of the temple area and the ice planet / starkiller base shots. Then the greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen on the final island area.

BB-8 was funny and not annoying. Very cute.

I could have used more Captain Phasma, though if so I'd prefer she turned good or used a sword. Still, in her brief time with the helmet, I thought she managed an appropriate aura of authority.

Daisy Ridley was BADASS. I managed to dodge spoilers and was so happy she turned out to be a lightsaber user after all. I hope she doesn't turn evil.
 
Who was this guy as well? Was it cut or was he turned into Kylo Ren?
darth-vader-s-revival-who-is-the-grave-robber-in-star-wars-7-alas-poor-vader-488353.jpg


Also, have they ever said who the Knights of Ren even are?
 
So so so good. Watched all 7 in the marathon showing.

My take on the Rey being OP is that the universe is basically full of shit tier force users after RoTJ. Which makes sense because Palpatine is dead, Vader is dead, Kenobi is dead, and Yoda is dead on top of all the Jedi being hunted down.

Basically the only Master tier folks left are Luke and maybe Snoke. The rest are all Padawan level.
 
graffix13 said:
Just got back and I really enjoyed it. Although I still say 6,5,3 > 7. Sorry not sorry.
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I agree episode 3 was better than this. Episode 3 was going to be hard to beat only because of the amount of stuff that goes down.

Episode 8, things should start to pick up, hopefully we get a full scale war going. We still dont even know who is in control, because it seems like the republic is now on equal footing as the first order, heck if anything, the first order came off as inferior to the republic.
 
Rey is your new Hero.
Finn is the new Han. (I like this story, I'll stick around....)
BB8 is more than 2 previous droids.
VIII will have Luke kicking ass.
 
Rey also showed the ability to handle herself using her staff. It makes sense that she could be OK with a lightsaber. She also beat a Kylo Ren who got blasted and was bleeding like a pig.

I didn't like that she was somehow able to block him when he was entering her mind and then flip it back to Ren and read his thoughts. She just discovered her power and she is not only going toe to toe with him but actually surpassing his ability.
 
v0yce said:
Kylo stopping a blaster shot in thin air was awesome and something we've never seen a Jedi/Sith do, but then he ends up apparently an amateur force user? Strange.
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Well he is Darth Vader's grandson so he's got one hell of a midichlorian count, and Solo said Snoke wanted him for his power.

So yeah, he is super powerful, but at the same time he's fighting internally and doubts himself (especially after meeting Rey), and has no control of his emotions with his constant outbursts.
 
Ithil said:
The fat guy was Greg Grunberg, he's a longtime friend of JJ Abrahms and he puts him in a small role in all his films as a good luck charm. It has nothing to do with Porkins.
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Right...

He just had to put him in as an X-Wing pilot attacking the Death Star though? C'mon man, it was a clear Porkins nod.
 
Greg Gruberg didn't blow up? That's a first.

Oh yeah, Kylo Ren is whiny baby but not Anakin, the gut shot was powerful and drove the point home, lightsaber duels were badass, wasn't dancing around, a legit swordfight.

Old Man Luke was kickass as well. I just want to know how the Snoak drove Ren to the dark side.

Rey and Finn are the bees knees and BB-8 2016.
 
serenewarfare said:
Then why not just show Rey's parents or explain that she was abandoned specifically by deadbeat nobodies, if for no other reason than to keep people from speculating something that is much greater and grander than the actual truth? Not talking about who they are is only going to fuel fan speculation and thus cause disappointment if they turn out to be nobodies, and the people making this movie aren't dumb so they know that. They wouldn't create a scenario where they bring backlash upon themselves. They were being intentionally cagey with it.
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JJ loves leaving things open to speculation, and he loves red herrings. Leaving it open to interpretation means it could go either way.

Personally, I'd rather she not be connected by anything other than the Force, which of course, connects all living things. We'll have to wait and see.
 
GaimeGuy said:
That scene with General Hux giving his speech to the stormtroopers on starkiller base was ridiculous in how much it was modelled after a hitler rally, from the salute the stormtroopers gave at the end to the mannerisms of Hux, the flow of his speech, and the change in volume/intensity of his voice over the course of his speech.
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I thought of Undercover Brother giving a solid when they saluted lol
 
I'd have to say in terms of rankings, I think 7 is better than 4 or 6 for sure. I'm still not sure if it is better than 5. I'm mulling that over in my mind. When I see this for a second time, I'll probably come to a more conclusive decision. Right now, they're very close in my mind.
 
GaimeGuy said:
That scene with General Hux giving his speech to the stormtroopers on starkiller base was ridiculous in how much it was modelled after a hitler rally, from the salute the stormtroopers gave at the end to the mannerisms of Hux, the flow of his speech, and the change in volume/intensity of his voice over the course of his speech.
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As opposed to the ridiculousness of the fact that they are called stormtroopers to begin with? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormtrooper
;)
Star wars has always been this way. It doesn't pretend to be subtle for the sake of it. It's a good way to teach children about bad/good. It's a story where there is a literal light side and a dark side.
 
foxtrot3d said:
Right...

He just had to put him in as an X-Wing pilot attacking the Death Star though? C'mon man, it was a clear Porkins nod.
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If I had to take a wild guess, I would wager that he asked him what small role he'd like to have and he picked X-Wing pilot as its an easy and unobtrusive role. But sure, he was totally a callback to a character with 14 seconds or so of screentime, if you must believe that.
 
You'd think the First Order coulda given Rey some new duds as prisoner, since soon afterwards she's wearing naught but a long jerkin outside in the snow on a sunless planet where even Chewie is cold.

A bit of a shame that Oscar Isaac was absent from the middle portion of the movie, since his business in the beginning was quite good. But perhaps it's for the best since the two kids' uncoordinated Falcon flight was by far the strongest arial action in the film.

The use of familiar vs. unfamiliar ships is a balancing act, if you have different kinds, one could call it toyetic, if you keep them similar, it might be called slavish. Most of what was done with them was pretty good though, but since Poe's side of affairs is less prominent, there's less investment in "black squadron" than Luke and his wingmates in IV.
 
So much hyperbole going on in the OT thread.
I get it that some people love SW but some are making it out like it's the best movie ever created.
No perspective. I liken it to parents who are watching their children perform and rave about how good they are when really they are just run of the mill
 
Ithil said:
If I had to take a wild guess, I would wager that he asked him what small role he'd like to have and he picked X-Wing pilot as its an easy and unobtrusive role. But sure, he was totally a callback to a character with 14 seconds or so of screentime, if you must believe that.
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Are you trying to imply that Porkins isn't infamous?
 
I just saw it and I absolutely loved it. Will need to see it again to really make a good judgement, but it's right up there with Empire as my favorite as of right now. After reading other's thought, I really don't get the complaint of the rehash of the old movies. I think JJ did a fantastic job of making it feel like how the old ones felt, while still having so much fresh stuff in it. Yeah another death star wasn't super creative, but I still think everything worked great.

The cast and characters are what really made the movie so good imo. The old crew was used well and the progression of their characters felt natural. The new cast was way better than I had even expected though, and I high hopes. Finn and Poe are both very likeable, Kylo is the right amount of raging brat. Rey was definitely the standout though. Daisy did an incredible job and I love then journey her character goes through during the movie. Plus she look super adorable when she wore Finn's jacket.

I will agree with wanting to see more of other characters, but I also know it's a trilogy, so I won't put it as a negative yet. But yeah, I just thought the movie was incredible and was everything I wanted it to be and more. So glad we are getting Rouge One next year, it will make then wait for episode 8 easier.
 
-Plasma Reus- said:
As opposed to the ridiculousness of the fact that they are called stormtroopers to begin with? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormtrooper
;)
Star wars has always been this way. It doesn't pretend to be subtle for the sake of it. It's a good way to teach children about bad/good. It's a story where there is a literal light side and a dark side.
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I know, but this was essentially shoving it in your face. Hux was speaking exactly like Hitler. The stormtroopers suddenly saluted like nazis. The Red/green/black color scheme. It couldn't be any more blunt unless they gave them all swastika armbands.
 
foxtrot3d said:
Right...

He just had to put him in as an X-Wing pilot attacking the Death Star though? C'mon man, it was a clear Porkins nod.
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That didn't even really register to me until this thread. Maybe if he had the same or line or something but for now it looks like you're trying to find something to get mad at it.
 
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