ST No Luke, Leia and Han reunion...for reals?

If Han Solo is truly dead (always a doubtful proposition in Star Wars) is anyone else seriously bummed we might never get that reunion of our classic trio? I mean sure, they could do it in a flashback of some sort through a force vision but it just wouldn't be quite the same as all three meeting in the present time of the movies. It was the first thing I was most looking forward to when Episode VII was officially announced, and we never got to see it and might never! Whilst part of me believes Han is dead and won't be coming back to the present story, his return in some way or another could serve as a great twist if done right of course, as hard as it would be to pull it off. I think I'm still in the denial stage of grief to be honest!

 

no.

 

this is why JJ was in a no win situation with fans. If he had done a full big 3 reunion that would be another thing the nostalgia haters would latch on to.

 

He'll be back, bruv.

 

"Nostalgia haters" are such a small, relatively insignificant portion of the audience as to not be paid attention to.

No Big 3 reunion for the sequel to ROTJ was a mistake. Mind you, it says a lot about how incredible this film is that it didn't ruin the affair.

But it's one of a small handful of dropped balls with this movie.

 

I am fine with it. As a kid I always wanted to see what they did after Return of the Jedi. However given the time that passed since Epsiode 6 I think transition to a new group is best and using Luke as the films mystery was a good move. We will always have the original trilogy, we grew up with those characters, we loved them. Nothing will ever replace that. So even if we had gotten a reunion it would have been nice but it wouldn't have reached that level.

 

Definitely something that disappointed me severely. Still feel Luke should've shown midway through at the Resistance base and re-united with Han and Leia. To say it was a missed opportunity is a severe understatement.

 

It is sad, but I do believe JJ made the right call or Ford made the right call. To me this makes the movie more powerful.

 

it would be a mistake if they had to sacrifice the integrity of the story to make it happen. From what I saw in TFA, that would have been the case.

 

I feel the same. I still thought TFA was great but with fine-tuning like this it could've been OT-caliber.

 

I mean they hit so many of those nostalgia notes (too many in my opinion actually, but that's another topic) but they missed the most important one! Considering the structure of the movie with Luke being the movie's MacGuffin (an element of the movie I like overall) I can see why it didn't fit in here, but then don't kill off Han Solo until Episode 8 and we get that opportunity for a reunion! Thats why he might still be alive in my hopes and dreams but probably in reality he's space dust. Also, in reality reality, it would be so typical of Harrison Ford to insist Han die in this one at long last as a condition of his return to the character that would end up being the thing to deny us the reunion. Pure speculation of course, I still love you Harrison!

 

The story is whatever they wanted to make of it.

Having the Big 3 in at least one reunion scene would have sacrificed the integrity of this specific story. But keep in mind that there are a plethora of other stories that could have been told, with this not objectively being the best of the lot.

A way absolutely could have been found to make an incredible Episode VII that featured an onscreen reunion for the biggest film trio in cinematic history.

 

Missing the most important nostalgia note was obviously deliberate.
When you consider that ROTJ already played up the "reunited friends" schtick at Jabba's sail barge, I think I'm quite pleased that we didn't have a story that was set up to give us that again. What we got, with Han and Leia's hug and parting, felt real, and Luke's absence felt real. I think the way they went was far, far more powerful than a "one last adventure for the gang" type story

 

Agree 100%. We are just nitpicking now..

The missing Luke storey line was too good to mess up with meeting they almost shoehorn into the plot. Then we'd be complaining about that being included..

I dunno. Maybe a flash back would have been nice. Some exposition. Would have helped explain a number of things actually..

 

I don't recall anybody suggesting a "one last adventure for the gang", Star Trek VI type romp.

Even though, if we're being honest here, there definitely was a huge element of that in this film. Though instead of the Big 3 adventure it was partially a buddy film featuring Han and Chewie. And don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, because I loved Han and Chewie in this possibly more than I ever have. But the powers that be behind TFA certainly weren't above including that element. It just wasn't expressed with Han/Leia/Luke.

 

It's a fair point. Apologies for the exaggerated version of what people are calling for - a fairer thing to say, I guess, would be that the fact that they included some elements of nostalgia but without giving us the nostalgic element a lot of people wanted (and writing the possibility of that off by killing Han) shows that there is confidence in the story that over-rides the need for doing things that one might assume have to happen; perhaps the nostalgia that there was, was to re-calibrate the feel of the films, but the withholding of what would have been the biggest fan pleasing moment shows that there's more to this than nostalgia. The ambiguity of Luke's appearance at the end is such a powerful moment that I am glad they did it this way.

 

I would be more inclined to agree with your point if TFA hadn't been skilfully crafted to be largely a nostalgia trip.

It does an excellent job of introducing our new leads, yes, but the newness is largely filtered through a nostalgic wash.

I don't believe for a second that George Lucas' original treatment for VII left out a Luke, Leia and Han moment, and I think it's well established that Lucas does not make SW films from a fan pleasing perspective.

I feel like when the eventual Harry Potter sequel arrives, if it features Ron, Hermoine and Harry, it's fanbase would burn the roof down if there wasn't at least one reunion scene between the 3 of them.

Expecting a Luke/Han/Leia moment, even a singular one, in the sequel to Return of the Jedi is natural.

But hey, perhaps by the close of IX we'll get one: Anakin/Obi/Yoda ROTJ style.

 

Were you unspoiled going into the film?
It's interesting hearing the expectations of people going in, and personally, as well as liking the chatting and speculation, I like getting some spoilers (but hints, rather than the whole thing) because it can give you a heads up as to what to expect.

Regarding your point about Harry/Ron/Hermione - you're quite right to say it's natural to expect it, but it's quite wrong to assume that it therefore follows that film makers should provide it, if it doesn't fit. I think it's fair to say that it was very important that Luke was off screen for this one, simply because if he was around, then it undermines him if he isn't much more powerful than anyone opposing him. A reunion scene was a casualty of that story, and it's sad - I would have liked to see a reunion - but that the nostalgia served the story (in a wider sense as well as for this film) is a very good sign

 

Lightly spoiled. I knew the big developments, but those two, Han's fate and Kylo's parternity, are things I assumed long before spoilers dropped.

I did not know that there wouldn't be a single moment between Han, Luke and Leia. I knew Luke showed up likely toward the close of the film, but I never imagined it would be just a few second cameo, or literally at the tail end. I actually kept expecting him to surface during the mayhem of the ending battle, ala Yoda in AOTC.

 

It was more powerful the way they did it with Luke appearing at the end. And if we are correct, then Han will come back so they still leave open a possibility of a reunion.

 

A lot of people who were fully spoiled expected the same, as they didn't believe Luke would have such a small role. Ultimately, I think it works. Frustrating as it may be, there's more drama in the dashed potential of a reunion, than the reunion itself. There'll be a lot of fallout from Han's death in later episodes, I'm sure. (I'm guessing 8 opens with a memorial for Han)

 

That's what I'm hoping for as part of the closing shot, followed by the traditional Tatooine sunsset. I'd like a plain & simple happy ending, and that'd be a big part of it.

 

"Sir, the odds of surviving a lightsaber ripping through your chest, a thousand foot drop, and the explosion of the planet you're on are approximately seventy billion, trillion to one!"

"Never tell me the odds"

 

" We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?"

 

Before I saw this movie I might have said so; but my answer is most definitely "no". I was honesty expecting to be let down by the new cast because Abrams and the original actors in the interviews had them built up so much, but they were right! Star Wars is moving on now, it's not about the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia anymore, it's the next generation (of which one is a solo and the other is most likely Skywalker anyway so it's still following the lineage which is great) and I absolutely adored these actors and their characters, just as much as I enjoyed the original big three in the OT.

EDIT: and also if we had the original big three there as well this movie would have been a complete cluster and the new guys would have no time to breath. Plus, the plot of the movie as "the search for Luke Skywalker" was handled so well and it made his reveal so great, so emotional. As he can tell I'm very happy with this movie, Star Wars is back!