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

Just one more thing before I try to go to sleep.

I went into that movie as a dyed-in-the-wool Han Solo fanboy. About fifteen minutes in, I turned to my dad and whispered, "I think I have a new favorite character." Then I changed it to "I think I have two new favorite characters." By the end of the movie, I had three new favorite characters. All of the new leads were AMAZING.

 

Just saw it. It was amazing!

Amazing.

And there was a lot of clearly intentional homage and very Star Warsy cyclical revisits of events, just like the PT did with the OT.

Not the same as copying. When it is so overt, it is homage. There's a difference.

But it is also it's own unique story.

TFA was great in all ways the PT was not.

10/10. Easily.

 

Okay, I lied. I have one more thing to say.

My introduction to Star Wars was a Return of the Jedi storybook, so I kind of had all the main points of the OT spoiled for me before I'd ever seen a minute of film. The Prequels, well, we all knew how they would end, we just hoped that the journey would be entertaining (but that's a debate for another thread). Tonight was the first time in my life that I got to experience a Star Wars film and have no idea how it would end.

And boy, did it deliver.

EDIT: So I guess I should give credit for my love of Star Wars to Elizabeth Levy, the woman who adapted Return of the Jedi to make that storybook. Sorry Zahn, Stackpole, and Allston, she probably ranks at the top of my list of "most influential Star Wars authors," but for very personal reasons. Without her, I might not have stumbled across any of this, as reading the book made me convince my parents that we had to watch the movie right now!

 

The boards still work!

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No on-screen death = still alive? Please

Review-ish thoughts:

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The opening crawl was surreal to watch. I was half expecting it to read "Episode 1 The Phantom Menace" as a joke

Very safe. Too safe imo. I loved the characters and the designs and visuals, but overall it felt very....thin? Like they were just going through the motions of the OT plot, particularly after Rey/Finn meet Solo. Felt light on gravitas as well: blowing up starkiller base didn't elicit the same excitement as blowing the DSs in 4 & 6; blowing up the Republic wasn't very impactful either (not nearly as much as Alderaan or the Mon Cal ships at Endor) We didn't even know anything about the Republic except that they were "good." The visual dictionary apparently has more, but it would have been nice to get some here.

I like the movie, I really do. The Jakku parts were great- Rey flying the Falcon was awesome. Actually Rey was great the whole time really. Kylo was great (Ben!), as was the relationship between him and Hux. Snow-forest lightsaber battle was one of the best in the saga. Perfect ending with Rey giving a "I don't want to be a hero- you do it" look.

Unfortunately, I just don't think it does enough to be itself or be iconic in its own right. 5>4>6>3>7>1>2

 

excited, but not seeing till saturday. im encouraged by all i heard

 

In the second trailer, Mark Hamill says "everything's the same, but nothing's the same." I think that's a pretty good description of this movie. For the most part, it was everything I wanted it to be, and was hardly any of the things I didn't want it to be.

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I am blown away by how much I liked the new cast. This movie was full of cameos and big dramatic entrances, but it did much more than serve as a cameo delivery vehicle. I can't believe this is Ridley's first real job. She played the wide-eyed farm kid with tenderness and enthusiasm. There was none of the whineyness that marked Hamill's first turn as Luke. Boyega has so much damned heart that you instantly get him. And Poe Dameron is the biological son of Han Solo and Wes Janson.

I never cried, but I misted up quite a few times. The first, of all things, was when Rey put on that Rebel pilot's helmet on Jakku. She was just a kid playing Star Wars, like we all are.

Threepio's intro is one of the greatest moments in this franchise. They didn't use him much, but neither did most EU authors. This was well-done: give him a chance to do his thing, and then get him off the screen.

I can't believe how good it was to see Han again. Out of all the people who I never thought to see again, he topped the list. I'm sure him getting offed in short order was part of the deal: come back, carry the movie, do ALL the press, then we'll drop you down a hole and you can put this all behind you forever. Carrie Fisher, who has mocked her turn in the series more than anyone, did a pretty wonderful job. They both took their work seriously, and never looked bored or forced. I am impressed and so, so grateful.

The movie is not perfect. For the second straight film, Abrams seems not to understand how space works. Unless the galactic capital is in low orbit over Takodana, the scene of everyone looking up and seeing it get blown up makes no sense. Also, I absolutely believed that world was Coruscant, and was heartbroken. I've known Coruscant longer than anyone in my life who isn't family, and it was the one bit of the EU that made it to the screen pretty much exactly as advertised. I hope that it's still around, and that we get to see it again soon. The scene where they compared the Death Star to the Starkiller reminded me entirely too much of the "9/11 times a hundred" scene from Team America. And the Starkiller might be the most impractical superweapon in the history of this franchise, which is REALLY saying something. Unless it could move, or the system it was in (Illum?) was in the middle of stellar cluster, that was an awful lot of work to go through for a weapon that could only fire two shots. Also, if it could hit the Resistance base, and the First Order knew where the base was in the first place, why didn't they include it in their opening salvo?

The Falcon's escape from Jakku really made no sense. If the ship only escaped the planet but not the system, why didn't the Finalizer send the rest of its TIEs after it? How did Han just so happen to be there when the Falcon took flight once again? It might have been neater to just have them run into him and Chewie at Maz Kanata's place.

Rey is totally Luke's daughter, and the current (and best) incarnation of the spirit Jania Solo. I have no idea how she got separated from Luke, except for one theory I don't like very much. Luke raised Kylo, and Kylo fell. A harsh desert world raised Luke, and he turned out ok. More importantly, the Force carried him to Obi-Wan and Yoda when the time was right. Maybe he was counting on the same thing here?

This brings us to how this all relates to the EU. I hated turning Jacen into Caedus, because it was lazy and repetitive. I hated that the Rebellion established a government that, by the time of LOTF, was somewhere between the Old Republic and the Empire in terms of corruption, incompetence, and brutality. Here, we get Ben Solo (not a great name, but really, what choice did they have?), going down a darker path than even Jacen walked. But here, somehow, I don't hate it. Maybe I'm just happy to see a Star Wars movie with dialogue I can enjoy without qualification or justification. Most likely, it's because we did not grow up with a wise-cracking, animal-loving Kylo Ben (seriously, what were they thinking). We got to see Jacen confront and reject the legacy of Darth Vader. Ben, I assume, never did. Rey, on the other hand, is everything that was good about Jania, before she got needlessly angsty, love-triangled, and named IWOD. The Resistance is everything the Resistance from the NJO should have been. I LOVE that they made Leia and inveterate revolutionary, like a Che or Lafayette. I also LOVE that Admiral Kriffing Ackbar joined the Resistance, rather than stay with the Republic Navy. It tells us a bit more about his political inclinations; he's all for the cause, too. I can only hope that, for Episode VIII, someone can convince Dennis Lawson how huge a Wedge sighting would be for an entire generation of EU fans, and get him to show up as the guy in charge of whatever is left of the Republic's forces.

There's more I want to say, but that can all wait. For now, I'm just basking in the glow of being happier with Star Wars than I've been since Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, and comfortable in the knowledge that we got at least one more truly good Star Wars film.

 

I got the novel on Kindle before midnight!

 

HOW DID I FORGET THIS!?

As it happened it was one of my favourite things of all time ever.

 

Just got home, still processing so much from that movie! So many things to ponder, analyze, debate, hypothesize, and discuss!

Let's start with the big one. The status of the New Republic! I've got so many questions!

--Adm. Nick

 

(The boards are working?!?!)



THAT MOVIE WAS AWESOME!!! Great characters, suspense, humor, dialogue, drama, surprises, action.

Even if you're not a Star Wars fan, it's just a Great Movie by itself!

It was even better than I expected!!!

(and as a fan... I'll need to see it again, but I think it might even be the best Star Wars movie, period.)


There were just a few things off, like

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*I know it was a hologram, but Snoke looked fake

*Getting used to Leia's voice

*The beginning seemed a bit off, with no Fox sound effects, and the opening scroll seemed long


*There were also a lot of unanswered questions. And not the big ones that are clearly meant to be answered in later movies, but little things like why Artoo woke up then, how Chewbacca found Rey and presumably Hux found Kylo, did Maz survive, etc. Or how much of the Republic was destroyed. They said the Hosnian system, the Senate, the Fleet. It's not really clarified.



*Also, Rey is totally Luke's daughter. So many hints. I think Leia could sense it at the end too, which is why she let Rey go to Luke. I think Kylo spared young Rey, which he hints about himself having a weakness, and dropped her off on Jakku. Rey dreamed of her family being on an island in a huge ocean, which is where she finds Luke. The lightsaber calling to her etc. her being SUPER strong with the Force. At this point it will be a twist if she ISN'T his daughter.

*Luke's influence on Han and Leia is strong, with both of them believing in the good. I hope Kylo hasn't changed that, for Luke then or Leia now. Poor Han

*We explore the FIRST Jedi Temple, wasn't expecting that!!!

*Finn's ending felt similar to Han's carbonite freezing

*I really like Poe Dameron too

*Rey seems a firm believer in Droid Equality! At last!

*Those new monsters on Han's ship are cool. And the Food thing on Jakku. Makes it feel like we're still learning interesting new things about Star Wars.

*I loved all the showing, not telling. Showing that Rey is a great pilot, know machinery, etc. Showing why Finn is a hero. Showing why Poe is a hero. Etc.

*Kylo is really interesting, not quite sure what to think of him

*the new characters really carried the movie, I think, not the other way around, as some feared

*Loved BB-8! Really stole the show a couple times!

*Wonder what they'll replace the Starkiller with?

*Kylo/Ben called Snoke "The Wise." He looks like he came back from a lightsaber strike to the head. Is there anyone else in Star Wars known as being "Wise" and who can save people from death? (Still, I think I like Palpatine better as a character, at least so far)

*And there were SOME echoes with previous movies, but it felt very fresh too.

 

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First Order picked the red ending.

 

Ah, but even more importantly,

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The existence of the Imperial Remnant has been confirmed by mention of a "rump Empire" remaining. Plus, the new SDs are built by Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems...

And for the NR:

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We've seen mention of Commenor, Uyter and other worlds...

 

Where did those worlds get referenced? I get the vibe that the New Republic isn't finished, the upcoming books tomorrow will hopefully provide more details!

--Adm. Nick

 

Easily the fourth best Star Wars movie. Not much to add that hasn't been said, but:

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Phasma really is the new Boba Fett in that they both have huge fan bases created entirely by marketing as opposed to their completely minimal and ineffectual on-screen roles.

So the answer to "Who is Luke Skywalker?" is "a guy who utterly failed when his teenaged nephew destroyed his life's work and then went to go live in a cave and let the rest of the galaxy clean up his mess." That was really just such a joke.

When the people on Takodana are looking up into the sky and see the Starkiller, it's good to know the law of viewing celestrial destruction across galactic distances was imported from Star Trek 09... For that matter, it seemed really ridiculous that the Starkiller actually fired multiple beams to target each system's planets individually, rather than just cause the sun to supernova.

I actually thought at first that Finn was a clone and we were going to see a "Finn" at some point who was just another stormtrooper.

Hearing "New Republic", "YT-series freighter", and "Western Reaches" on screen was neat.

I agree with whoever above said that this seemed like the exact thing Abrams didn't want to do, the sense we were getting dropped into a random post-ROTJ EU story that required viewers to know a ton of context that would require reading tie-in materials to understand. Which seems to be the entire point of the Visual Dictionary. Never a good sign.

So... I really dislike the prequels. I think this was better than the prequels. But I was really surprised to realize halfway through that this movie lacked some innate type of "Star Warsiness" that the prequels were imbued with.

Finn and Rey's chemistry was absolutely the highlight of the movie/

 

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Another thing is to remember what we saw on screen was an attempt to make a decapitation strike on the New Republic. Yes the senate was destroyed, yes the fleet was likely badly damaged by the strike, but the New Republic is not dead. One system is destroyed, out of perhaps thousands... or hundreds of thousands. Surely the New Republic has a continuance of government plan in the event of what just happened. If not, then the Resistance will suddenly outright become the New Republic.

The First Order has pulled a September 11th or Pearl Harbor, and already lost their superweapon. Now the conventional war begins.

 

Keep spoilers tagged, please.

 

I think most of the flaws I read about and that I perceived in The Force Awakens are caused in part by just so much stuff happening in one movie.

Oh, and I felt so good while I was watching it. There were so many laughs at my showing.

 

I'm not even mad.

 

I think Driver really knocked it outta of the park as Kylo. He was the stand-out, in my opinion.

 

I'll have to see it a few more times, but right now it is probably my least favorite SW movie. Thankfully I love all the movies, and generally enjoyed this one too.

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I'll start with the bad.

- I really, really disliked the first scene in the movie. It felt like an awkward commercial for Star Wars.

- I knew this movie would be heavily inspired by ANH, but I was surprised at just how shameless a rip-off it was. By the end I was relieved when they were at least taking cues from the other OT films. If Lucas' approach to the PT was "It's like poetry, it rhymes", Abrams' approach to the ST is "copy and paste."

- Snoke was surprisingly terrible. Maybe the worst major character design in the whole saga.

- The first use of Starkiller base didn't make any sense on it's own. The was little build up to it's use.

- When I think about it there is a lot I don't like about this film. I might as well skip to what I did like.

- It was entertaining and it will very likely give a popular boost to the franchise. Even if the film wasn't for me it will allow a lot of other good SW products to be made.

- For the most part I really enjoyed the new characters. Finn is totally fascinating. We are essentially watching his rebirth into a new human being during the film. I love how much he is controlled by basic motivations. Rey works well as the new Luke of the saga. By the end of the movie I was pretty sold on Kylo Ren. Hopefully the next movie will be able to focus on the young cast more.

- While I thought the film got bogged down by too much comedy at times almost all the jokes landed.

- Oh, and one more thing, I absolutely loved the ending. Why have anybody speak when you can let John Williams do all the talking?!

So it was entertaining enough. Hopefully Rian Johnson is given some more freedom to take what was set up here and make a great film.

 

I loved this movie. I'd currently place it just below the OT (like most people), but I'll let it digest for a while before that crystallizes. The new characters that we really got a chance to know were great. Can't wait to start the novelization this evening!

 

I absolutely loved it.

 

4 out of 5. Too tired to post anything detailed, but if I had to sum it in one word it would be "insubstantial."

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As in, it was a pleasing romp, nostalgic in the right places without being obnoxiously fanservicey, and hit all the major beats but ... things just happen with too little motivation and are glossed over with too little follow-through.

Even the prequels, as much of a mess as they were in places, had a, let's say, scope and depth that this pastiche lacked. At the same time one of their failings was being cluttered with too much poorly-explained backstory and off-screen side-plots, yet I feel like if I pulled back the curtain on TFA, I'd just see an Ugnaught stage crew taking a coffee break.

 

I don't want to just gush. I really don't. My head is telling me that there are issues, that there's holes to poke and nits to pick.


But I can't. I just can't. I'm six years old again and watching it all for the first time again. I nearly cried at the end because I wanted it to keep going, I want to watch more, I want to have 8 and 9 right now so the story can go on.

The new cast killed it. Absolutely killed it. Daisy, John, Adam, Oscar, they all look and feel perfectly at home in the universe. It's like they've always been there. And the old cast were such a delight.

I have so many more thoughts. There's just so much. It's almost too much to process at once.