Support NeoGAF

[truly101]

For a guy that was probably paid tons of money to reprise Han, Harrison didn't mail it in.

SW was never had Oscar caliber acting, but Ford came off very genuine.

I thought he carried the middle portion of the film and helped tie the chemistry of Rey and Finn together.

I really enjoyed the film, its got issues but it sets a solid foundation for the next two. However if I could change 2 things....

1. Han dies in the second film. I wanted him and Chewie to escape this scrape just like the old days...but there's still the regret of Kylo Ren that he knows how to deal with. Maybe not reveal Ren is his son until the second film as well. Is it a bit too close to empire? Maybe, but I felt it was a bit too rushed with everything else going on. So the first movie is really about him setting up the new characters, and the second would be him helping to build Kylo Ren as a worthy villain, not as incompetent and whiney as in the 1st (which I was fine with BTW).

2. Starkiller base should have been the main plot point for the 3rd film, its just too soon for a new death star right away. The 1st order as a whole needs a lot of work, easily the weakest part of the movie.

 

[Trojita]

Less than a decade?

Episode 4 takes place at least 20 years after the Episode 3 where the Jedi's were killed. Episode 7 takes place 30 years after Episode 6. Not to mention 4-6 is almost at least 10 years.

So a half a century has gone by and they forgot about something is not hard to believe. Especially if in the HUGE galaxy, they never saw a Jedi.

To put this in perspective, the last VHS tape was released in 2006. Probably early for most people but those things are considered ancient and it has only been 9 years. Millions of people don't know what a VHS or a floppy disc. So it isn't hard to believe that the Jedi are forgotten.

I meant century.

 

[Mr Cola]

I wonder how the marketing will work because Rogue One and Episode 8 aren't that far apart. The marketing will probably have to overlap, I'd assume.

Well we know with all certainty there has to be some form of ep8 trailer before rogue one, there is no reason not to.

 

[Anth0ny]

Interesting notion:

Chewie is Han's best friend.
Kylo is Han & Leia's kid.
No way Chewie wasn't there for Ben's birth.
It seems pretty plausible to me that Chewie probably held that kid shortly after he was born
Probably played with him when he was little.
Probably babysat him from time to time.

Chewie doesn't even fucking BLINK and puts a shot dead into what's more or less his nephew with one of the most OP guns in the film.

Chewie is hardcore.

Also it looks like there was a cut sequence with Unkar Plutt tracking the Falcon to Takodana and Chewie rips his fuckin arm off in the Cantina. It shows up in the novel.

Chewie don't give a fuuuuuuuuuuuck

fucker killed his BFF

 

[Ithil]

On Hux, it's been 30 years sense ROTJ, the generals and officers of that time are all either dead or very old now. It's not unreasonable to think most of the First Order were born after ROTJ or were children around it.

 

[Sephzilla]

The jokes about Chewie's crossbow worked, but only if you don't give it much thought. In 30 years Han Solo has never tried out the crossbow, or even noticed its power?

Maybe Chewie doesn't use it that often? The only time I think Chewie even uses the crossbow on screen in the OT is in Empire, and Solo doesn't see that because he's frozen in carbonite at the time.

 

[OmegaFax]

I wonder how the marketing will work because Rogue One and Episode 8 aren't that far apart. The marketing will probably have to overlap, I'd assume.

I just hope Disney stays on course and doesn't push Episode VIII out into December 2017 or do any major revisions to the their release schedule.

 

[LegendofLex]

exactly.. not sure how I feel about it.. but they are clearly setting Rey up to be more powerful than Anakin.

Of course she's going to be more powerful than Anakin.

She isn't going to be reaching for powers beyond her means and turning to the dark side to achieve even greater power. I think the implication is supposed to be that Anakin never really met his potential in the first place, and was using the dark side as a crutch because his ambitions put him out of step with the direction the Force was calling him. He was a greater prodigy as a child than as an adult, because he was letting the Force guide him; as an adult, he was trying to bend the Force to his will.

They're setting up Rey as someone who's just going to be listening to the Force, and the Force (which is truly all-powerful) is going to give her what she needs.

 

[Shanks D Zoro]

Yeah I got a chuckle out of that. But a lot of the one-liners seemed forced.

I agree, the worst for me was the Kessel run line.

 

[TheOctodad]

The jokes about Chewie's crossbow worked, but only if you don't give it much thought. In 30 years Han Solo has never tried out the crossbow, or even noticed its power?

I took it as he had been tinkering with it and recently modified it to it's current level.

Han was like, "Oh shit, these new upgrades are bad ass! What the hell did you do?"

 

[MarkMclovin]

Why do people think Vader was buried? Ren had his helmet and ashes, making me think that he stole them from Luke.

 

[borghe]

Yeah I got a chuckle out of that. But a lot of the one-liners seemed forced.

meh, people keep saying this, and I don't get it. maybe I'm just not cynical enough..

except for the trash compactor. that was pretty tacky... but I've waited 32 years for this and it was sort of funny, so wtfever.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

you don't have to be, because it never was canon.
that the EU is no longer canon is probably the biggest misinformation about star wars since the disney takeover.
the old EU was never canon, they crapped it so the new EU can finally be canon.
everything you read, play and watch from now on will be as legitimately canon as the big episodes. that is new, and it's awesome.

Everything you read or watch is canon anyway if you want it to be. It's fiction

 

[Future PhaZe]

exactly.. not sure how I feel about it.. but they are clearly setting Rey up to be more powerful than Anakin.

I don't think so--Anakin was using the force intelligently even as a youth.

I don't know if this was for sure the first time Rey has ever used the force. There was something very weird about her introduction to Lukes lightsaber--almost as if she's seen this kind of thing before.

I need to watch it again.

 

[Fliesen]

Did I miss the "I've seen your eyes! I know your eyes!" Line? I rememeber her saying 'I've seen your eyes' and then go on rambling about him being a man who wants to run.

Damn marketing. I thought that line was going to be some sort of significant reveal! When she started off I was like here it comes! oh well.

neither did we get "it's calling for you. just let it in" right?

i mean, we might have gotten the "calling" part, not the "letting in" part

So much stuff in the trailers that was either cut or recorded just for the trailers.

Which i think is great. Trailers shouldn't be simply cut together scenes from the movie, condensing its story. The episode 1 trailer vignettes were fantastic in that regard.

 

[Shanks D Zoro]

The jokes about Chewie's crossbow worked, but only if you don't give it much thought. In 30 years Han Solo has never tried out the crossbow, or even noticed its power?

I gave it way to much thought lol

 

[Ushojax]

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.

I genuinely think one of the reasons for Luke's reduced role was to give Hammill enough time to get in shape. The tiny cameo and close-up shots of him standing still won't stand out too much when the new slender Luke starts in the next movie.

 

[OmegaFax]

Why do people think Vader was buried? Ren had his helmet and ashes, making me think that he stole them from Luke.

Probably some offscreen slaughtering of Ewoks in order to get that helmet back.

 

[Sanjuro]

So, there is a cinema with reserved seating across the street from my new job with a showing 10 mins after work.

Should I see it again?

 

[Korosenai]

So after seeing the movie, the spoilers I saw were true.

Random YouTube comment told me Han died and a friend told me Kylo was his son... Dicks.

 

[Jack Remington]

I wish Carrie Fisher had smoked fewer cigarettes over the last 30 years. The fact that she sounded like Marge Simpsons's sisters kind of threw me off.

 

[OricWindstar]

Looking back, the marketing was weird. Affective, obviously, but did not serve the movie well in some regards. If Phasma hadn't been built up, I don't think she would have been disappointment, but with the way they've been hyping her up I was super bummed out. Haha, I'm sure you spoiler guys have been aware of this months, though.

Actually, how much of this movie was a surprise for those of you that read spoilers?

 

[Maybesew]

it doesn't have to, because it never was canon.
that the EU is no longer canon is probably the biggest misinformation about star wars since the disney takeover.
the old EU was never canon, they crapped it so the new EU can finally be canon.
everything you read, play and watch from now on will be as legitimately canon as the big episodes. that is new, and it's awesome.

I get your point, but what if 30 years from now Disney sells star wars, and the new buyer does the same thing?

I really enjoyed TFA, but this topic just made me wonder how great a JJ Abrams directed version of Heir to the Empire would have been

 

[Anton Sugar]

That whole sequence was probably the worst in the film. Why didn't Finn get eaten right away like everyone else? It could have been in the prequels easily.

Yeah, that was one of the most contrived sequences in the movie.

A lot of the callbacks felt that way to me after the 4th or 5th one and especially in the second half of the film.

Same. Han's blind shot, bowcaster surprise, and a few other moments felt (pardon the term) "tryhard".

 

[Dreams-Visions]

So, there is a cinema with reserved seating across the street from my new job with a showing 10 mins after work.

Should I see it again?

Did you enjoy it and feel you might enjoy it more the second time around?

Do you want to see it from different seats or with 3D (or without if you saw 3D first)?

If Yes, go see film again.

 

[Darryl M R]

The last scene reminds me of Pokemon G/S/C where you go to see Red on the top of the mountain.

 

[NimbusD]

This was probably the only thing that really bothered me about the movie. Generally, I don't really care about the small stuff. Big gun wipes out planets while eating a star? Cool. However, Starkiller Base really jacked with my sense of location. When it fired, Han and co. could see the beam and explosions from the planet he was on? Were they really close to Hosnian Prime or the Starkiller base at that point? In general, the Starkiller mega-weapon didn't make a lot of sense to me. I don't need everything explained, in fact, I prefer it that way, but I actually turned to my wife and said, "Wait, did they go to the Starkiller system? What planet are they on right now?"

Yeah thank you!

Like, I can deal w shit like the death star, because it doesn't really need explanation. It's just a big base and weapon in one. Got it. But they went a little too sci-fi and not enough fantasy w this one. Trying to somewhat explain how it works just leads to more questions. And the questions very quickly point out that it doesnt make sense at all. The sense of space just adds another layer of, wtf, this really doesn't make a lick of sense. In the moment I was ok with it cuz it makes for a neat shot, and I know that's why it was left in. There was a lot in the movie that was like... well no it doesnt' make sense, but it's fun to watch. But the seeing th ebeams in teh sky was a bit too much of a stretch for me. Took me out of the experience of what it was supposed to be.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Awww no force ghost for Han.

 

[bananafactory]

Did the film take anything from the old or new EU?

 

[Anton Sugar]

But its soul lives on as seen in this very movie .

JJ got that rhyming poetry on lockdown.

 

[ph1l0z0ph3r]

So, there is a cinema with reserved seating across the street from my new job with a showing 10 mins after work.

Should I see it again?

Yes thinking about seeing it a 2nd time just to digest it all a second time. Such a great comeback to the franchise.

So where do we go from here? What books have been released so far that are considered canon now?

 

[Moff]

Actually, how much of this movie was a surprise for those of you that read spoilers?

I felt like I'm watching the movie for the second time.
I still noticed a few new jokes, details, but basically I knew what happened.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

I loved the part when Rey and Finn were discussing whether Han Solo was a war hero or a smuggler or what and Chewie was like "I dunno, lol"

 

[ryan299]

Hollywood Reporter just picked up the EW report that Daniel Craig is that Stormtrooper Rey uses the mind trick on.

 

[NimbusD]

So you just find anything funny.

You mean that you find nothing funny. Everyone was laughing at those lines.

 

[OmegaFax]

So after seeing the movie, the spoilers I saw were true.

Random YouTube comment told me Han died and a friend told me Kylo was his son... Dicks.

Looking back, the marketing was weird. Affective, obviously, but did not serve the movie well in some regards. If Phasma hadn't been built up, I don't think she would have been disappointment, but with the way they've been hyping her up I was super bummed out. Haha, I'm sure you spoiler guys have been aware of this months, though.

Actually, how much of this movie was a surprise for those of you that read spoilers?

I knew Han was going to die and that Luke was going to appear at the end from spoilers. I didn't know Rey would have a flashback to the hallway on Bespin or really all the filler details outside of those main plot points.

Didn't know Phasma was going to be the way she ended up. They made her seem a bit badass and Fett-like from the trailers.

 

[Kagari]

This film is like a Legends story or inspired by? Wouldn't they have said that if it was actually the case?

They took some ideas from the books and twisted them to be different. Kylo Ren = Jacen Solo for the most part, right down to some of his abilities and the Starkiller base being a moving planet were two of the big ones.

 

[Fliesen]

So, there is a cinema with reserved seating across the street from my new job with a showing 10 mins after work.

Should I see it again?

yup.

tonight's gonna be my 3rd time.

How often will you be able to watch a STAR WARS movie, a good(!) Star Wars movie, i wanna add, in cinemas?
I have a decently sized TV, but it's still different on the big screen.

Might as well make the most of the limited time it still feels magical.

by the time Episode IX hits, we'll have had 4 new Star Wars franchise films. That's not gonna be the same magic anymore.

 

[Sanjuro]

Did you enjoy it and feel you might enjoy it more the second time around?

Do you want to see it from different seats or with 3D (or without if you saw 3D first)?

If Yes, go see film again.

I still have 4K IMAX passes for a later date too. I enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for going to the cinemas.

 

[Ithil]

Did the film take anything from the old or new EU?

Some broad ideas, like a son of Han and Leia turning to the dark side, and Luke founding a new Jedi Order, and someone recovering Luke's lightsaber from Bespin (but not his hand this time), but only in the broad strokes.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

I saw Kevin Smith in the credits... where was his cameo?

 

[Garuda1One]

Wow i never thought Harrison Ford hate Han Solo THAT much

RIP han solo,

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I still have 4K IMAX passes for a later date too. I enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for going to the cinemas.

Go and enjoy yourself. But the Force already told you this. Let it in.

 

[WadiumArcadium]

Hollywood Reporter just picked up the EW report that Daniel Craig is that Stormtrooper Rey uses the mind trick on.

I thought I recognised the voice but I completely forgot about that rumour when watching the film.

 

[Sectorseven]

That whole sequence was probably the worst in the film. Why didn't Finn get eaten right away like everyone else? It could have been in the prequels easily.

That scene felt more like Guardians of the Galaxy than Star Wars. Han Solo never needed anything so elaborate in the original to establish his character.

 

[CorrisD]

I had originally thought the big bad dark side of the force user would be a Vader apprentice, but he shows more confidence than Vader. I think it willl be revealed he was secret Palp apprentice.

Well we seemingly have these Knights of Ren, that will lead to somewhere eventually, they like the Sith take a new name when they join. Maybe they are either another or offshoot of the Sith or are a lineage of Sith that used a different title instead of Darth. The force powers Kylo had been trained with seemed different than those of the Sith, no shooting lightning around, his trick seemed to be being able to freeze something.

I think it was rumoured a good while ago that the Knights of Ren believed in the balance of the force, which is why he is trying to follow in Anakins footsteps, but all this talk of the darkness and not letting the light in makes me think otherwise. Kylo like Vader also seemed pretty disinterested in using super weapons to destroy planets and instead using the force to get what he wanted.

Either way I am hoping this is all leading somewhere, there's a lot of "history" they got rid of with the throwing out of the EU. I don't believe they've done anything that has taken place before Phantom Menace in the Star Wars timeline since either, and we haven't had much to fill in the 30 year gap between ROTJ and TFW. So there's a ton of room to tell new stories to lead us up to these new or old bad guys.

 

[borghe]

I don't think so--Anakin was using the force intelligently even as a youth.

I don't know if this was for sure the first time Rey has ever used the force. There was something very weird about her introduction to Lukes lightsaber--almost as if she's seen this kind of thing before.

I need to watch it again.

nah..... I 100% disagree. If anything, I think "anakin using the force intelligently" was fucking ham-handed and god awful. easily EASILY the worst thing about TPM.

Abrams did the EXACT same thing with Rey, and did it 100000 times better. When she has the guard release her. she doesn't know why she's doing it.. she just feels it and does it. she even says to Finn "I don't know how, and you wouldn't believe me." Originally I thought "oh she doesn't want to tell him she can use the force" but on my second viewing I was like "oh shit... she really DOESN'T know how she just did that!!!" it's safe to say that (outside of theatrical suspense hiding it from us), she's "used" the force plenty in her life without ever realizing it or being able to explain it.

 

[Einchy]

I saw Kevin Smith in the credits... where was his cameo?

They used his tears to fill up that pool Finn drank from.

 

[border]

I saw Kevin Smith in the credits... where was his cameo?

He was guy sitting with the New Order spy in the cantina, I guess?

 

[OmegaFax]

They took some ideas from the books and twisted them to be different. Kylo Ren = Jacen Solo for the most part, right down to some of his abilities and the Starkiller base being a moving planet were two of the big ones.

Luke's lightsaber and Darth Vader's remains were both points in old EU novels, right? Eh, would it be a stretch to say that Finn was a bit like Kyle Katarn?