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[SPOILERS] Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Thread #3) - That's Not How the Force Works

Watevaman

Member
I just watched this for a third time and it brought to light a question that's really been in the back of my head for all of the SW movies. That is, how the hell do people understand droids? They don't seem to have a universal language, some do beeps and boops, some talk, and throughout the movies it seems that they cherrypick who can understand them. What really made me ask myself this was the beginning of TFA. When BB-8 sees the incoming ships and then goes to the tent with Poe and Lor, he does his little beeps to tell Poe what's going on. Then, and this is why I believe not everyone can understand droids, Poe turns to Lor and says "we have company" which implies that he needed to translate for Lor, otherwise Lor would've probably already been moving.

It's a small thing but I don't get it.
 
I just watched this for a third time and it brought to light a question that's really been in the back of my head for all of the SW movies. That is, how the hell do people understand droids? They don't seem to have a universal language, some do beeps and boops, some talk, and throughout the movies it seems that they cherrypick who can understand them. What really made me ask myself this was the beginning of TFA. When BB-8 sees the incoming ships and then goes to the tent with Poe and Lor, he does his little beeps to tell Poe what's going on. Then, and this is why I believe not everyone can understand droids, Poe turns to Lor and says "we have company" which implies that he needed to translate for Lor, otherwise Lor would've probably already been moving.

It's a small thing but I don't get it.
I always thought those beeps and boops were a language... the same way Chewie speaks a Wookie language that people can learn/understand. The fact that their sentences are really beeps and boops and monosyllabic barks is just a gag for the audience.
 

Apt101

Member
I always thought those beeps and boops were a language... the same way Chewie speaks a Wookie language that people can learn/understand. The fact that their sentences are really beeps and boops and monosyllabic barks is just a gag for the audience.

It is a language. At one point Finn tells BB "I don't speak that!" when he's trying to get him to lie to Rey for him. And I am 90% sure it's mentioned in the prequels as well.
 
Is there a consensus yet on Snoke being Darth Plagueis? Dude's fucked up face is very telling that he survived some shit, as in, Palpatine's attempt on his life.
 
I see. Did some digging in the thread and found the Slash Film link that makes an interesting point as to why he's not.

I think it would have been really cool, especially making something mentioned in the prequels into a big deal in the long game, but I'm curious to see what the plan is for him.
 

Watevaman

Member
It is a language. At one point Finn tells BB "I don't speak that!" when he's trying to get him to lie to Rey for him. And I am 90% sure it's mentioned in the prequels as well.

Yeah, I ended up Googling a bit and found a deleted scene from RotS that had Anakin with a decoder of some sort for R2's beeps. Some people said they speak binary or something as well.
 

Kadin

Member
Sorry if this has already been answered but I'm curious if Force Awakens was fined like other Star Wars films for not having the opening credits in the beginning of the film. I'm pretty sure some of or all of the past films were fined for this, but couldn't find if TFA was also subjected to this.
 
Sorry if this has already been answered but I'm curious if Force Awakens was fined like other Star Wars films for not having the opening credits in the beginning of the film. I'm pretty sure some of or all of the past films were fined for this, but couldn't find if TFA was also subjected to this.

Fined by who?
 

FyreWulff

Member
Sorry if this has already been answered but I'm curious if Force Awakens was fined like other Star Wars films for not having the opening credits in the beginning of the film. I'm pretty sure some of or all of the past films were fined for this, but couldn't find if TFA was also subjected to this.

That rule has been gone for a while
 
I'm a little late to the party buuut.

I liked it, really enjoyed it, buuut.

It felt really rushed, it's like one of those action movies where everything takes place in one long day. It's been almost 2 decades since I last watched a new hope so I might be wrong but I remember everything felt like it took place across a decent timeframe, so there was thios decent ebb and flow that TFA didn't have.

So like rey's attachment to han and fin didn't really get anything out of me cause it only felt like she knew them for a couple hours.

Also, I really liked Rey, but she was waaaaay too good at everything, and waaaay to nice, she might as well have been the only character.
 

Apt101

Member
I'm a little late to the party buuut.

I liked it, really enjoyed it, buuut.

It felt really rushed, it's like one of those action movies where everything takes place in one long day. It's been almost 2 decades since I last watched a new hope so I might be wrong but I remember everything felt like it took place across a decent timeframe, so there was thios decent ebb and flow that TFA didn't have.

So like rey's attachment to han and fin didn't really get anything out of me cause it only felt like she knew them for a couple hours.

Also, I really liked Rey, but she was waaaaay too good at everything, and waaaay to nice, she might as well have been the only character.

Well there's several (at least two that I can recall) night-to-day transitions in the film.
 
I know I'm late, but I finally got around to seeing this movie tonight. Somehow I managed to avoid basically all spoilers. This thread is gigantic so I haven't read like any of it--sorry about that. I have a few thoughts about the movie:

Ray seems a bit too capable, but I guess Luke had that problem too. It makes sense that she knows her way around machines, spending her life digging apart the wreckage of imperial ships and what not, but she seems way too capable in a scrap. I didn't really find it very believable that she could best Kylo Wren in a duel, even if he was injured. I feel like they should've written a way for her to win that wasn't the result of raw combat and force prowess. I liked how instead of learning the force through a traditional teacher, Ray picks things up by having it used against her.

I liked seeing a non-jedi swing around a lightsaber. I also liked how the lightsaber duels weren't full of ninja flips and other acrobatics that feel superfluous and unbelievable.

Mrs. E.T. was my favorite smaller character. I hope she shows up in the sequels.

Kylo Wren is cool. I like how they pretty much acknowledge that he's not Darth Vader, and make that not-ness a part of his character, at one point praying to Vader's helmet for strength, and then throwing tantrums when he can't achieve it.
 
I mean, Finn who isn't directly shown to have Force powers holds his own against Kylo there for a while, and Rey is directly shown to have a pretty extreme connection to the Force, so I don't have a hard time buying her besting him at all. There's even this like Force connection moment she has on a spiritual level before kicking his ass which was meant to show this strong bond between her and the Force. As you outlined, he's good but he's no Vader. Skilled, but not "the shit." Even Snoke is like fuck he still needs training lol

Right now we simply don't have all the details surrounding Rey. Things may seem one way or the other, but we don't have much to go on for the time being.
 
But Finn has real combat training, so the idea that he can put up some fight for at least a moment didn't strike me as strange.

He did but even normal persons with decent combat training aren't really able to stack themselves against someone highly attuned in the Force, you see Kylo do some pretty wild shit with his powers and he's pretty skilled with the blade. I mean yeah Finn went down and Kylo was mostly toying with him, but the story made it pretty damn obvious that there's more to Rey than what we know.
 

AxeMan

Member
I just saw this the other week.

Overall it's an ok movie but not one that I need to see again. It was standard Star Wars fare. The action parts were pretty good but the rest of the movie was pretty flat and boring.
I really couldn't stand Rey. I was annoyed by her every time she was on screen. I'm not sure if it's just that the person couldn't act or it's how the character was meant to be portrayed but it was a big weak point for me.
Harrison Ford was excellent though. Best part of the movie for mine
 
Finn had comedic relief, but he also defied the First Order, his superiors, stood off against a riot trooper with a lightsaber and dueled the leader of said order. He was pretty strong character that fought for what he believed in. I don't see the argument really. I feel like people would have complained just short of him like totally saving the day or winning a war by himself. He still has room to develop over the next two films as well.

I also don't really recall him being "clumsy" or "inept."
 
Han Solo and Luke Skywalker ate a bunch of shit in both of the first two movies.

Motherfuckers want their heroes to have instant win buttons on their utility belts they can just slap with the heel of their hand and never have to sweat.

Fuck that.
 
It took 3/4s of the movie for his character to progress from incompetent comic relief to competent comic relief. I hope in episode 8, he starts off bold and confident. I can't take Hollywood's racism.

I mean, his choices put him way in over his head. The fact that he defied his leaders through his own personal beliefs does not paint him as a stupid chump of a character like what you're describing and it certainly isn't racist. If the actor were white and the character written the exact same way (which Finn wasn't black until Boyega was cast, mind you) what would be different?
 
EDIT: Also making the only black lead a total clumsy, inept, goofball. GG Lucasfilm.

I thought Finn was great. I liked his clumsy naivety, reflective of somebody who grew up in a cult but with a good heart--his first instinct was to help Rey, who appeared to be in danger. I didn't think he was inept, though. He was good with a blaster, rescued the rebel pilot, and ad hoc'd a plan to bring down the shields.
 

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
You know I was thinking about how much this movie wanted to be like ANH

and there are clear analogues to the original trilogy characters in each of the new characters.

Han is clearly the new Old Ben, the wise old man who knows a lot and has an old score to settle where he sacrifices himself.

Finn is a good candidate for the new han solo since he's pretty much just along for the ride and wants to bail until he eventually decides to go all in on the resistance.

Rey is Luke, they're both characters who have very little exposure to the outside world and have a great destiny ahead of them.

Poe is goddamn princess Leia. They're both captured, they are in possession of the secret data that they give to a droid for safe keeping and their rescue sets the plot into motion. Leia takes charge on the field and in the command room while Poe takes charge in the skies.

Then of course there are the really obvious ones like Kylo = Vader and Chewie = Chewie
 
If you don't think Finn is a badass after he charges Kylo Ren with no lightsaber training and is ready to die for his friend, I don't know what to say to you. Dude's got heart and was my favorite character in the movie.
 
But Finn has real combat training, so the idea that he can put up some fight for at least a moment didn't strike me as strange.

That makes me wonder if all Stormtroopers get physical weapons training or just those selected to become riot troopers and the like. Like, I could see a trooper like TR-8R give Ren a fight because we saw his skill with that electric baton. All we know is that Finn held both off for a bit with some good swings and blocks and I don't think he learned that by spinning his mop around when he was Sanitation.

I really want more info on life as a trooper.
 

sphagnum

Banned
That makes me wonder if all Stormtroopers get physical weapons training or just those selected to become riot troopers and the like. Like, I could see a trooper like TR-8R give Ren a fight because we saw his skill with that electric baton. All we know is that Finn held both off for a bit with some good swings and blocks and I don't think he learned that by spinning his mop around when he was Sanitation.

I really want more info on life as a trooper.

They all do. There's a training sequence in Before the Awakening. Might want to read that since Finn's chapter goes into his life as a Stormtrooper a bit.

Finn was actually at the top of his class and considered by Phasma to be a model Stormtrooper. "TR-8R" (actually FN-2199 aka "Nines") was part of Finn's squad so they had trained together, which is why he is so upset at Finn being a traitor.
 
Poe is goddamn princess Leia. They're both captured, they are in possession of the secret data that they give to a droid for safe keeping and their rescue sets the plot into motion. Leia takes charge on the field and in the command room while Poe takes charge in the skies.

Poe and Finn are also the droids when they escape the star destroyer at the beginning of the film.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
You know I was thinking about how much this movie wanted to be like ANH

and there are clear analogues to the original trilogy characters in each of the new characters.

Han is clearly the new Old Ben, the wise old man who knows a lot and has an old score to settle where he sacrifices himself.

Finn is a good candidate for the new han solo since he's pretty much just along for the ride and wants to bail until he eventually decides to go all in on the resistance.

Rey is Luke, they're both characters who have very little exposure to the outside world and have a great destiny ahead of them.

Poe is goddamn princess Leia. They're both captured, they are in possession of the secret data that they give to a droid for safe keeping and their rescue sets the plot into motion. Leia takes charge on the field and in the command room while Poe takes charge in the skies.

Then of course there are the really obvious ones like Kylo = Vader and Chewie = Chewie
It's a celebration of SW for not only a new generation but the old generation that loved the original trilogy. They go shot for shot to ANH in some scenes and it's definitely intentional.

They all do. There's a training sequence in Before the Awakening. Might want to read that since Finn's chapter goes into his life as a Stormtrooper a bit.

Finn was actually at the top of his class and considered by Phasma to be a model Stormtrooper. "TR-8R" (actually FN-2199 aka "Nines") was part of Finn's squad so they had trained together, which is why he is so upset at Finn being a traitor.
So this is canon?
finn-i-amp-039-m-sorry-but-the-resistance-are-my-friends-now-tr-8r-so-was-i-traitor_o_6317937.jpg


lmao.
 
They all do. There's a training sequence in Before the Awakening. Might want to read that since Finn's chapter goes into his life as a Stormtrooper a bit.

Finn was actually at the top of his class and considered by Phasma to be a model Stormtrooper. "TR-8R" (actually FN-2199 aka "Nines") was part of Finn's squad so they had trained together, which is why he is so upset at Finn being a traitor.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the extra info. I've only seen the movie once back in December so my memory may be foggy, but the attack on the Jakku village was Finn's first mission in the field, correct? I remember him hesitant to shoot and shaken at his fellow trooper's death, so if he was the model trooper, it must've been based strictly on his actions in the academy and training and not anything he actually did in the field, otherwise Phasma would've noticed beforehand.
 

sphagnum

Banned
Ah, I see. Thanks for the extra info. I've only seen the movie once back in December so my memory may be foggy, but the attack on the Jakku village was Finn's first mission in the field, correct? I remember him hesitant to shoot and shaken at his fellow trooper's death, so if he was the model trooper, it must've been based strictly on his actions in the academy and training and not anything he actually did in the field, otherwise Phasma would've noticed beforehand.

Yes, that's exactly right. It's actually his second mission but his first battlefield mission. His first mission was to put down a labor strike on an asteroid mining operation, where Phasma ordered his squad to murder all the union representatives. He didn't do it but she didn't notice because everyone else had fired.

But he had spent his life growing up on Starkiller Base where he and the others trained constantly in virtual/augmented reality battles and he got top scores. His only "flaw" was that he cared too much about stragglers in his squad like Slip (the guy who gets shot on Jakku and leaves the blood streak on his helmet). The sanitation thing was his "job" outside of training.
 

Sblargh

Banned
I know it's kind of a movie inside joke, but is there any reason why the Falcon Millenium is universally considered trash?
Like, is it less capable than other ships in any way?
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
I know it's kind of a movie inside joke, but is there any reason why the Falcon Millenium is universally considered trash?
Like, is it less capable than other ships in any way?

It looks like it's just cobbled together trash. Nothing about it makes its capabilities obvious. It's not sleek or anything. You glance at it, and just assume it's running on fumes. Until it actually starts moving.
 
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