A/V THE FORCE AWAKENS - The Official Movie Discussion Thread

Thanks for the replies. I will be back on Saturday once I see the movie!!!

 

Early reviews are up and they seem to be outstanding. Rotten Tomatoes has an average reviewer score of 94%.

 

Little high, imho 80ish seems more fitting.

 

You know the rule of statistical evidence. Never question statistics that agree with you.

 

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So he really is Ben Solo. I find that one a bit hard to look at seriously.

 

Definitely. The film had very little in the way of exposition and explaining what was going on, or background of the galaxy etc. which you'd expect to be explained in the novelization.

 

nm

 

Speaking of a lack of exposition...

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I really wish the movie explained the importance of the Hosnian system. I know that it's going to come up in future sources, maybe even the later movies, but I was pretty disappointed that TFA never mentioned what made it so important that Hosnian Prime was Starkiller Base's first target, especially when you consider General Hux's speech about using the weapon to destroy the New Republic.

 

Well Leia kind of mentions it in passing and Hux sort of explains it, but yeah that could have used more work.

 

which reminds me of one moment that kind of took me out of the movie

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is Takodana supposed to be part of the Hosnian system? Because when it was attacked by starkiller base they could see it in the sky as if it happened just outside the atmosphere of the planet. Which also seems strange as Takodana seemed as though it was supposed to be kind of a remote system and not as though it is literally almost about as close to the republic capital as the moon is to the Earth

 

According to the map that gave placements for TFA worlds...

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The Hosnian system is in the Core Worlds, while Takodana is in the Mid Rim. What's really weird about that is that Starkiller Base is in the Unknown Regions to the galactic north, Takodana is to the galactic south, and Hosnian Prime is situated in between them. Soooo.... the beams took a really bendy, circuitous route, I guess?

 

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Judging by the reviews, Star Wars Episode 7 was the most disappointing thing since my son. A full ANH rehash as predicted. I'll watch before giving it proper judgement, of course, but does the movie at least reveal anything about the state of the Galaxy?

 

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The most annoying thing (other than only having 2 or 3 bloody SHOTS of Luke) is JJ's mystery box bull****. The whole thing was kept so, so under wraps like there's was some massive new plot to reveal. Then it turns out it's a remake of ANH so what the ****ing point? Tell us. Not once did they mention that this was going to be somewhere between a remake and sequel. Not once. I just feel lied to. Obviously I laughed and the action was great, so did I like this movie? Tbh I don't even know.

 

Spoiler

The New Republic is still around and has a fleet, but, for some reason, doesn't intervene at all. The First Order wants to take the Republic down, and we're somewhat given the impression that they manage to destroy it by blowing up four planets(?) How much harm did they do to the Republic, that was very unclear to me.

 

Ok Iv just seen it. It's fun and enjoyable but it is basically redoing ANH. The films pacing even comes to a dead stop halfway through just to do an ANH scene. You'll know which one when you see it.

Overall 7/10 it's not bad but not original not by a long chalk. I won't see it again and I doubt I will bother to buy it on DVD when it comes out either. Why would I when I already have ANH on DVD

 

Spoiler

The Republic has properly not come to an agreement on what to do about the First Order, which is why only the Resistance is fighting them. Whilst with their attack they destroyed the Senate and the Fleet, we really don’t have a clue what the rest of the galaxy is doing at the time, since the Resistance attack takes places really shortly after the Imps blowing up Hosnian.

 

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Which planet was blown to pieces? It really looked like coruscant..I hope it wasn't. What was it though?

 

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I've seen the film twice and it still is not clear to me. Hux said they would attack "the Senate" but what exactly does that mean? It very well could be Coruscant, but I expect the FO's attack on that planet will be next episode.

 

NPR Review. Very minor spoilers, no plot points given.

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They say it's good!

 

Seen it.

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Mixed feelings. I'll go into more detail later, probably, but just to get some of my initial thoughts down in the immediate aftermath:

I absolutely loved the first third of the film; pretty much everything about it. While the entire movie was (as many feared) an A New Hope redux, this was where I felt they pulled it off successfully. Where it could have felt like uninspired dross, it instead felt both familiar and different.

Once Han showed up, however, everything went a bit off the rails. I'd go so far as to say that the film devolved into a garbled mess. There were still a few highlights, of course. Rey's Force vision was pretty cool, and I enjoyed the duelling in the snow . . . but for the most part (especially in the final third) it was too transparently ripping off ANH -- and not even ripping it off well -- for me to enjoy. That thing I said about uninspired dross? Showed up in full force by the end. Urgh.

Still, to swing back around to a more positive note: POE DAMERON.

So damn good.

A total badass and, in my eyes, an heir to Flash Gordon in the making. Can't wait to see and read more about him. Brilliant. Isaac knocked it out of the park.

Kylo, too, is surprisingly compelling (to start with) and even more surprisingly . . . funny. In fact I liked almost every scene in which he appeared until the horribly inauthentic rubbish between with him and Han. Didn't buy into any of that at all. And the less said about "Ben Solo" the better. Oh my God.

Still, it makes me laugh that this is the second time Han Solo's son going dark has ruined the New Jedi Order.

BA DUM DUM TSCH.

And, yeah, if Snoke doesn't wind up being Plagueis I'm going to be really surprised. Every moment he spent on screen made me think of the novel cover.

 

Spoiler

Just got back from seeing it. Gotta say it was better than I expected? It wasn't as alike ANH as I feared, and I say that having rewatched ANH last night. There were only a few scenes - mostly the Poe moments in Starkiller Base - that made me feel like it was an ANH ripoff, but even then it wasn't TOO similar (though maybe I only think that because I don't actually care enough about the OT to be protective of it). I also enjoyed most of the characters a lot, though Hux was a bit boring to me and Phasma was underused.

Not sure my feelings on stuff like Ben Solo yet, though Han's death was better executed than I expected, but all in all I REALLY enjoyed the movie.

Gosh, I'm so bad at finding things awful, because I really loved the movie. Wouldn't say it's my favorite SW movie - TPM will always have a special spot in my heart - but I never grinned as much over a SW movie like I did this one.

 

Spoiler

Overall so do I like TFA, the main characters feel new and different from the once we saw in PT & OT but I cannot say I love it.

Some points, will probably come up with some more later on.
* I like how unfocused Kylo Ren is when he fight with the dark side, unlike the sith we have seen is he just flaying around, unable to really fight with style or smarts. But that makes me wonder how the sith did he kill of Luke’s whole order?

* I liked Snoke but am disappointed that he was not a giant but just a giant hologram.

* I would have liked to see more animals on the different planets and I am actually a bit disappointed how non different the three green planets we saw felt. Abrams’ have all modern movie technology at his hands and he don't give us something that don't feel like Earth. Why?