ST Impact of TFA on your life

I would say 99.5% of all SW fans do not know that the canon extends beyond the screen, and that all on-screen characters, don't matter how many seconds they are on screen, have a name and a back story.

 

I didn't want to see this one, either, but my sister begged me to go and see it with her. I knew what it would be like but I haven't totally given up on the idea of seeing another good Star Wars movie but I doubt it will be one from the current trilogy or even one of the surrounding standalone films. I think the next good one might come around with the next change of culture. Films are a product of their times and people simply don't have the same mindset as they did when they made the first two-three films.

 

Ricardo Funes,

I figured. Really the point I was trying to make there was that there's a lot of these newer, fair-weather type fans that have emerged cos SW is the popular thing now, but there's still those of us hardcore fans out there that have been with the GFFA from the beginning...Not the least of which includes any of us here on the JC Forums.

Not saying they're not "real fans" or anything, I just think it's kind of funny...

 

And even if they know, I'd say a good proportion don't care either.

 

Star Wars is going strong even without Lucas. As a lifelong fan with a deep personal connection to these movies, that's a major relief, to know that there are a lot more great Star Wars movies to look forward to. And to think, in 2005 I thought I'd never see another.

 

I'm still here (from time to time) because I haven't renounced my general fandom of the GFFA, so I still have some interest in what folks are discussing pertaining to the GFFA. At the same time, though, I don't care when the next film comes out, or when I'll eventually watch it. Hence, my apathy for future theatrical releases.

Granted, that could change when the hype train leaves the station, and I hope that it does. But over the last many months... nope.

I'm not trying to compare it to anything. My point was that I've been routinely going to that GFFA in some form or fashion... be it moves, books, games, whatever, for 39 years. After all that time, to no longer have enthusiasm for my favorite SW medium (movies)... TFA had quite an impact.

No disputing that, it was the #1 grossing film of all time in the US (actually, it's #11 adjusting for inflation, but still very impressive). All that means is that lots of people paid to see it, including me. I won't argue how many people actually liked it, I'll even stipulate that 100% of everyone in the world loved it... including myself. It simply proves my point. Entertainment is a copycat industry. Whatever is making boat loads of money, someone else will try to duplicate the formula to also make boat loads of money. MMORPGS, WWII-era FPS games, Reality television, superhero movies, etc. TFA, in my opinion, is very formulaic like other big grossing action films are, 'cus that's where the $$$$ is.

I never said it was a Cannes art film. I simply opine that it lost some of itself while terraforming into a, IMO, "popcorn movie."

 

Of course SW is going strong without GL.

It's Disney after all.

 

Mod edit: Removed for bashing, trolling, and being off-topic. Plus disallowed language.

 

Jesus. The entire TFA forum is slowly turning into the Cave.

 

How? Mods are constantly doing their jobs right, keeping a good eye on the forms especially this thread. I mean, all the cave posters are pretty much gone, and they don't like getting involved the complaint thread much. Maybe only this topic and the complaint thread is where you can see cave remnants but the rest of the TFA forums don't have anything for the Ex-Cavers to rant about.

 

If you haven't realised, the rebooting of classic movies with the Hollywood money formula in mind doesn't rub of well with many.

 

Yeah, if you haven't realised, your post doesn't even address the thread topic. It's the equivalent of a crazy person ranting on a street corner.

 

My comments describe quite clearly the impact TFA has had on many like-minded cinefiles. If you care to pretend that episode 7 has anything close to the spirit and soul of the OT, then have fun deluding yourself.

 

Wow. I didn't realize trolls could be so pretentious.

 

I dunno. It's a fun movie with adventure, some action, relatable characters, light moments, dark moments, or it is to me at least; all of these were in the original films, and to me, it felt close and personal compared like the original film, but unlike a certain three other films. I felt that it had emotionally the same spirit as Star Wars, but obviously you've defined them to (arbitrarily) exclude T.F.A.
Obviously, you are just asserting your opinion as I am, but you are making yourself sound as if you have discovered the keys to an inner secret truth that the rest of us are too stupid to understand. It sounds just like a conspiracy theorist, so in all probability it is you who are deluded, only that you pretentiously regard it (implicitly) as enlightenment rather than being a trolling, arrogant nut.

 

No, you're the one who's deluded. Most people don't have a problem with TFA, as it felt like Star Wars, was fun to watch and has set up the ST very well. And it was faithful to the OT concepts, unlike a certain other trilogy.

 

???

 

I've been a die-hard fan now for almost 20 years. I'll celebrate my 20th anniversary -- funny enough -- the same year Star Wars celebrates its 40th anniversary. I'm a Special Edition fan. That's when I became a huge Star Wars fan. I watched the movies just like everyone else growing up, so if I was trying to win a political campaign for fandom or something I would say I'm a "life-long Star Wars fan," but I don't really believe 7-year-olds can be a "fan" of anything except in the loosest sense. That takes some more self-examination and awareness versus just "this is cool, I like it," because there were dozens of those fads when I was younger (Marvel, Spawn, baseball cards, pogs, MTG, you name it). TFA didn't really change my fandom that much, but it definitely re-ignited it in some ways. Clone Wars and Rebels have been fantastic, and kept the flame alive, but there's always that special magic of seeing Star Wars in theaters that isn't duplicated by anything else.

As for the first post, there are TONS of people whose careers have been influenced by Star Wars. I published several books on the saga and became a professional writer just because of my love for Star Wars. I ended up using those skills to write various articles, mainly during the dot-com boom back in the day, on everything from Hong Kong action films to e-commerce, and I use those skills today writing blog entries for my company's marketing efforts. But the main thing is I decided to become a filmmaker because of Star Wars and am now a member of the DGA having directed my own feature film. TFA just gave me a new chance to embrace my favorite saga.

I would say the primary takeaway for me, though some may think it's funny, it's very much a big deal to me and many other fans, is that TFA retook the crown that is rightfully the property of the Star Wars franchise as highest grossing movie of all time (in North America). Having watched just one year after ANH took its throne back, seeing that stupid lame chick flick Titanic ruin the reign, I have wanted the franchise to get revenge ever since. It was almost 20 years coming and worth the wait! There was some satisfaction to see Avatar sink Titanic, but not much since it's still no Star Wars. The incredible 20-day sprint (!) to #1 was one of the most amazing times as a fan of Star Wars. The box office grosses were just enormous, like nothing I ever expected to see. It was like I had a crazy dream and then everything came true, but more. In my wildest dreams I didn't think a movie could make $40M on a freakin' Monday in December, I mean what is that?! That's a solid opening weekend for many films. What it did was truly incredible and showed the power of the franchise.

Sinking Titanic was a nice victory but then watching it sail past Avatar like yesterday's news was pretty spectacular. Each day I would wait for industry updates or insider updates and it felt like being part of something enormous. A once-in-a-generation event. Plus, I never thought I'd see another Star Wars movie in theaters at all, let alone that one would come out that I'd want to see a million times just like when I was younger. I had a good deal more free time when TPM, AOTC, and ROTS came out, but I made time to see TFA 41 times anyway and it was worth every viewing.

 

MODified: Removed post offering nothing but mockery of other members of the community.

 

Almost ruined Star Wars for me. If Ep8 is another TFA I'll be done with future movies.

 

I wouldn't go that far, but yeah none of the movies they announced so far sounds particularly ambitious for them to have more impact than any other forgettable movies out there.

 

TFA was an amazing experience. I remember hearing about Lucas selling Star Wars to Disney and thinking, Hell Yeah! We are getting more Star Wars films! After ROTS I thought the chances of seeing a new Star Wars film was real slim but I never fully believed Lucas. A big clue that he intended to make more movies was the changes to the OT( adding Hayden to the end of ROTJ was a big clue). I was pumped and sad at the same time, seeing Lucas step away from Star Wars was not a happy moment for me but I applauded him for doing it. I will circle back to Lucas at the end of my post. Then Disney announced JJ will be directing, Then the cast, then that bombshell of a teaser dropped. I was onboard but very skeptical of where is the story was going to go. The build up to the film was awesome and I thought Disney did a great job of marketing TFA. I felt like I knew these characters before I seen the film. They felt right, and very much Star Wars. Fast forward to opening night, I remember the awkward silence where the 20th century fanfare used to be and then the crawl started (the crowd roared with excitement). From the first shot I knew we were in for a really good film the shot of the storm troopers heading to Jakku was great because right away the storm troopers felt like a real threat. I was hooked back into Star Wars again as each new character got their great intro's we finally meet Rey. Her intro might be the best of the saga. We got so much info about Rey without any exposition. The shots were beautiful and you really got the sense of how alone she is and here holding on to hope that she could find a better life. I can go on and on about the movie. The experience of Star Wars is so unique in the world of cinema, no other movie has this effect on people. It is true cinematic magic, and the best part of Star Wars is sharing it with family. I took my nieces and nephews to see the film and they loved it. They want to know what happens next, we share the experience and what is greater than that? At my last viewing a kid said to his mother " This is the greatest movie ever." What he really was saying is that his Mom is the greatest Mom ever for bringing him to his favorite movie ever. Star Wars is about family and TFA really set the table for potentially great trilogy. TFA allows us to hope and dream in this dark times we live in now. While you sit and watch TFA you don't think about mass shootings, terrorist, racism, sexism, bills, and stress. No, we just have fun for 2 hours and share it with our families and friends. THE FAN BASE....... after the movie I realized that there is never going to be this utopia type fan base because it never existed in the first place...NEVER! Back in the days if there was the internet when ESB came out people would have ripped it to shreds. The internet you will find that the fan base is harder on the movie than anywhere else. After ROTS you would believe that most people where fed up with Star Wars. TFA box office says Nay! Back to George Lucas, now people are acting like if GL made TFA it would have been some ground breaking, transcendent film? During the PT era people thought Lucas needed to let somebody else direct those movies? The truth is WE CHASED GL AWAY!!! THAT IS RIGHT US FANS! It has been really saddening to see the treatment of GL by fans and critics. I just wish the fans will stop saying if GL was involved in TFA it would have somehow be better or more original. GL is not coming back and if I was him I would not either (LET IT GO) I had a disappointing movie experience with BvS but guess what? I will still give Justice League a chance and I don't hang out in BvS forums telling people how much it sucked or that Snyder raped my, whatever. TFA hate does not stop TFA from getting better with each viewing for me. I am watching the saga again this week, I am about to watch ROTS, and I can't wait to get to TFA.

 

To be honest, if that weren't the case, I doubt TFA would have as much acclaim as it does. I believe that the only way this film ended up where it was critically was due to the fact that many view Star Wars from the mindset that there hasn't been anything good from the Star Wars license since 1983.

 

The acclaim is due to the well-written characters and strong performances, as well as a pervasive sense of fun. Hardcore fans tend to be more interested in lore and minutiae, and so TFA maybe doesn't offer much for those people, but anyone who appreciates well-made space adventure films, TFA is a fine example.

You can try to find ways to explain away the fact that critics liked it, but the truth is that it's a good movie. It's just not a lore infodump.