Saga TFA mirrors thread

For someone who doesn't care for the film, Ingram_I, those were really good!


These are my last two posts for now, some character stuff mostly regarding Kylo Ren, there are a lot of images so I have to split it up.




"Apology accepted Captain Needa." (for losing the Millenium Falcon).

TFA - Kylo throwing a tantrum when BB8 is lost (taken by Rey and Finn on the Millenium Falcon)






We have yet to see where Kylo's story leads, but there is some character development regarding this theme for Vader.
On losing the Falcon yet again (and losing his chance to turn Luke) Vader is silent.


Everyone expects him to punish them, but he simply storms off .

Vader's reaction, being this upset, says more than any retaliation can. This is the beginning of the conflict in Vader, and Vader's slide back towards redemption; that if Luke dared resist his offer, and would rather die then join Vader, then maybe there is something to Luke's chosen path that Vader doesn't see.







Kylo wants to follow in Vader's footsteps, he is essentially a Vader fan-boy playing pretend.

KYLO: "You still want to kill me." REY:"That's what happens when you are being hunted by a creature in a mask."
Kylo takes off his mask and fittingly places it in ash. Perhaps representing that his soul is gone.

He attempts to read the mind of his bound prisoner Rey, but Rey is the one who looks strong, Kylo frightened.


"You're afraid... that you'll never be as strong as Vader!"


There is perhaps an irony tying this to Vader - in that Anakin's fear that he wasn't strong enough to protect his wife and the galaxy is the main reason he turns to the dark side for power. ANAKIN: “I will be the most powerful Jedi ever!” / VADER: “You don’t know the power of the dark side.” Both Rey and Kylo seem a little ignorant to the fact that Vader was once a vulnerable, fearful, good man. I wonder if the fact Vader died after being redeemed will come into play later in this trilogy.




Later in the film Rey and Kylo duel. Kylo seems to have the upper-hand at first.

KYLO: "You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the force." REY: "The force..."
Rey reflects on Maz's earlier advice "Look inside for the light, it was always there."


On reflection, Rey finds the power within herself and becomes too much for Kylo.
Kylo, who thought he wanted Vader's scars, is defeated by Rey and given one.


Can parallel Luke surpassing Vader in the OT;
ESB

ROTJ

 

Well, I didn't much care for it as a Star Wars film. Glaze over all of the most direct names & content references to the previous saga and title it with something more general to the basic idea of space-adventure movies -- or even late 70s/early 80s Star Wars derivatives -- like Space Blasters or Galaxy Heroes or Battle for the Galaxy or Starfighters to the Rescue what-have-you ...and it's a pretty okay watchable affair. Slick, enthused, palpable, by no means terrible. Kinda like The Mummy compared to Raiders of the Lost Ark. And, yes, it even has some robust visuals to offer, in a 'cut loose' modern filmmaking fast and fun style.

Here are a few that I think pop with something handsome or vivid, or at least pleasantly photographed ...or, hell, just plain shiny:










Yet even with such niceties, I really have to stop and meditate considerably over the movie, and scan through a larger percentage of some otherwise forgettable stuff. Ah dunno. Tryin' to be positive here.

 

You are obviously much more schooled on film than me Ingram_I. For me the film was quite enjoyable, although I would have liked better treatment of the PT during marketing.


Before I continue with the second post, one unrelated mirror I missed earlier...

ANH
Obi-Wan is referred to as “dead” in the OT, by Uncle Owen. He essentially gave up his true identity and went into hiding after Order 66.
TFA
Rey states "Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth!" Luke is in hiding after his attempted new Jedi Order is wiped out, and is waiting for Rey.




In TPM, Qui-Gon plays the role of a wise sage who helps the hero start his/her journey, and gets killed by the end of the film. In ANH, it is Obi-Wan. In TFA, it turns out to be Han Solo, someone once skeptical about the existence of the force.

ANH
OBI-WAN: "Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan Kenobi... now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. A long time.”
TFA
REY: "You're Han Solo?" HAN: "I used to be."

Han goes from from defiantly skeptic of Obi-Wan in ANH, to true-believing mentor partly in Obi-Wan’s shoes with next generation.
REY: "The Jedi were real?"
HAN: "I used to wonder that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo - magical power holding together good, evil, the dark side and the light. (beat) 'Crazy thing is, it's true. The Force, the Jedi, all of it. It's all true."




ANH
VADER: "I sense something, a presence I’ve not felt since...”
...
VADER: “I’ve been waiting for you Obi-Wan, we meet again at last.”
(Before killing his old mentor and a past father-figure, who failed to successfully train Anakin.)
TFA
KYLO: “Han Solo. I've been waiting for this day a long time."
(Before killing his father, who Kylo Ren claims to have failed to successfully raise him.)





POE: “As long as there is light we still have a chance.”(referencing that the SK weapon is at full-power when the sun is fully drained. Day-time battle symbolically turns to night. )

A ray of hope for the possibility Han's offer of salvation to his son will be accepted.

In ROTS, day turns to evening, turns to night, as Anakin falls.



Eventually an eclipse signifies the light of Anakin's soul is being smothered.





"Ben! ... Take off that mask. You don't need it."

"What do you think you will see if I do?"

"The face of my son."
"Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father. So I destroyed him." (Reassuring himself he is on the right path, and blaming Han. Earlier: “And Han Solo. You feel like he is the father you never had... he would have disappointed you.”)

Kylo's conflict in TFA is essentially the opposite of Anakin's in the PT. A struggle "against the light" to Anakin's struggle "against the dark", and a bit similar to the conflict driving Vader back again in ROTJ.
Kylo's removal of his mask reveals his true weakness - that he is just a scared kid, much like Vader removing his mask after being redeemed shows his true face is that of a broken, scarred man.

Earlier relevant dialogue;
SNOKE: “Even you, Master of the Knights of Ren, have not faced so great a test.” KYLO: "By the grace of your training I will not be seduced.”
...
KYLO (speaking to Vader's mask): "Forgive me. I feel it again. The call to the light. Supreme leader senses it. Show me again the power of the darkness.”
Anakin's dialogue in ROTS is ironic (through comparison) - “How Can you be on the Council and not be a master?” “Take a seat young Skywalker.” “Forgive me Master.”
Anakin is ashamed he is craving power and sliding to the dark. Kylo is ashamed he is being tempted by the light.


Also, Kylo kills his father to descend (and complete his immersion in the dark side) which inverts Luke's sparing his father's life to ascend (and reject the dark side once and for all).

Earlier dialogue...
LOR SAN TEKKA: "The First Order rose from the dark side... you did not."
KYLO REN: " I'll show you the dark side."
LOR SAN TEKKA: "You may try, but you cannot deny the truth that is your family."

ROTJ
LUKE: “I can’t kill my own father!"
TFA
KYLO: “He means nothing to me.”

ROTJ
LUKE: “There’s good in him, I've felt it.”
TFA
LEIA: “Luke’s a Jedi, you’re his father. There is still light in him, I know it.”


Back to the captioned scene above.
HAN: “That’s what Snoke wants you to believe. But it’s not true. My son is alive.” (VADER: “That name no longer has any meaning for me.” Padme's death seals Anakin'a turn, Kylo wants to kill Han for the same reason.)
...
HAN: “Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants he will crush you. You know it's true.” ("Search your feelings, you know it to be true.")


(- QUI-GON: “It’s too late.”
- LEIA: “Luke, it’s too late!”
- VADER: “It is too late for me son.”)

KYLO: “It’s too late.”

Luke refuses to kill his father, and Vader saves him by killing his own father-figure Palpatine. Kylo is offered salvation by his father and at first considers taking it.

HAN: "Come home. We miss you."
KYLO: “I am being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it Will you help me? HAN: "Yes. Anything." (Double-meaning: He is referring to "knowing" he has to kill Han, but Han and the audience think he is going to be redeemed.)



(Follow onto next post)

 

There is a glimmer of hope for redemption, he is about to hand Han his saber, then the sun symbolically goes black, darkening the room. (An inversion of the Binary sunset perhaps.)





TPM

ANH

TFA





Kylo “frees himself of his pain" by killing Han - Han is just a way of severing the tie to his past.
KYLO REN: “Thankyou.”

TPM

ANH





















Anger frenzies because of mentor's deaths...
TPM

ANH

TFA












THE EMPEROR: “I look forward to completing your training.” (Luke refuses to kill Vader)
SNOKE: “It is time to complete his training.” (because Ren killed Han)







That was quite enlightening, The movies tie together pretty well.

 

oh but it's not a real sw movie. lol.

 

In this one scene at least.

 

For all the many Anakin (and Padme) cues to Rey in character, story and music these smaller moments struck me as quite funny but telling:

One of the most famous and infamous line in the saga:

"I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything’s soft... and smooth..."

From scenes cut from the refugee transport:

"I look forward to seeing Naboo again. I've thought about it every day since I left. It's by far the most beautiful place I've ever seen..."

"I can't wait to breathe the sweet breeze that comes off the rolling hills. Whenever I try to visualise the Force, those hills are what I see."






Jakku has sand and it still gets everywhere including Rey's helmet.





"I didn't know there was this much green in all the galaxy,"

 

I know this is not exactly what the thread is talking about, but there is one shot in particular that is literally mirrored. It is right after Kylo Ren says, "She's just beginning to test her powers"

The next shot shows Rey sneaking around, and I just noticed tonight that she is holding the blaster in her left hand. I didn't think she was a lefty, and later shots confirmed she is a righty, so I rewinded, and in fact, the pouch on her right side, is also on the left side in that shot. So, for whatever reason, they mirrored the whole shot!

 

Oh damn. Nice finds, QRB! Wonder the significance of so closely following the Anakin/Dooku duel. Seems there are just a couple too many nearly identical shots for that to be coincidence

 

i can't find the pics but in the tpm duel maul blocks without looking.

in rots anakin blocks the droid's blast without looking.

and in tfa han shoots without looking.

 

Just a quick one but I found these two interesting as more Anakin and Rey links:

 

Good direct comparison shots assembly for ANH+OT/TFA by this fan:

 

great thread as always HevyDevy

 

Love it. Hell, there's no doubt that Abrams is a fan of ROTS. He even mirrors the Anakin/Obi-Wan lock up.

 

I have to say it: amazing job here HevyDevy! As well as the other contributors!

Well done!

 

Clouds and an eclipse like event block out the "light" as Kylo turns a Sith like red.

Yes I know it's Rey there. I'm really bad at posting pics and stuff. This is the nearest scene.

 

it's astonishing to see how many shots seem to link rey with anakin. not in a blood relative way but in a visual and emotional way.

but anyway, you guys are doing great work!

 

NUTE: And the Jedi?

SIDIOUS: The Chancellor should never have brought them into this. Kill them immediately!

-------------------------------------------------

PHASMA: Sir, the villagers...?

KYLO: Kill them all.

 

The Droids Awaken!

 

Scavengers find the droids:

Jawas find R2-D2.


Rey finds BB-8:


While Jawas capture R2-D2, Rey releases BB-8.
R2-D2 is sent to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, and BB-8 is told to wait (to be found) by Poe.

 

Anakin reincarnated as BB-8 confirmed.

 

That got me to think of the parallels to ROTS where this time the droid (R2 in this case) frees himself:













Also one that struck me even before seeing the movie from set photos.

Could be co-incidence but with the level of "homage" that TFA is anything is possible. As well as the yellow and blue colors notice the 3 V's on Rey's helmet and the 3 V's made by Anakin's podracer engines.





This also got my notice at the start of TFA. Cutting down a captured unarmed older bearded man while tapping into the Dark Side (as well as someone you already know who has somehow humiliated you in the past since Kylo seems to know and dislike Tekka)








As well as Dooku doesn't speak and Tekka doesn't stop talking until Kylo Ren silences him.

 

Of course we know of the following mirror.














But as before the execution is more connected to ROTS than ANH but the TFA setting itself and the immediate connotations it has to Anakin's story also struck me. A dark moon night, descending bat-like on a desert village and wiping them all out: