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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

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

Discussion in 'Literature' started by AdmiralNick22 , Dec 15, 2015.

  1. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    "There's been an awakening. Have you felt it?" :kylo::kylosaber:

    Dellow Felegates! In response to the direct threat of spoilers and discussions, wesa Mods have decided to create a dedicated, consolidated thread to discuss The Force Awakens, it's upcoming novelization, and any discussions that revolve around the movie. We are releasing the thread today as a result of Wednesday's opening in Europe, prior to the American release Thursday evening.

    This thread will allow all of us to have a place to gather as a forum and discuss, debate, and share our thoughts about the new movie. We may ultimately lock our current discussion thread, as it has devolved into a catch all thread for anything remotely related to the new film.

    Please TAG all spoilers initially, following our normal rules & procedures in this matter. If you have any questions, contact any of us in your friendly neighborhood Mod Squad.

    TAGs are no longer required.

    So buckle up, man your ships, grab your lightsabers, and May the Force be with you! The Sequel Trilogy is upon us! :falcon::bb8: :greensaber:

    On behalf of my fellow Mods,

    --Adm. Nick
     
  2. fett 4

    fett 4 Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 2, 2000
  3. StarLorrd

    StarLorrd Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 18, 2014
    They really went out of their way
    to make this film pretty much exactly like the original Star Wars in every way lol
     
  4. Tohl_Andares

    Tohl_Andares Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    May 26, 2011
    Because I am an European, I was lucky enough to see the film this morning: here are my non-spoiler thoughts. (I say non-spoiler because I won't give away any plot-points at the moment).

    Overall the film left me feeling empty. As many fans will do, I did enjoy seeing Han again, and I appreciated the many throwbacks - of which there were just enough as to not be overbearing - and the performance of the new generation (with one exception) was great as well. The dialogue was especially snippy, when you compare it with the awkward dialogue that tended to be a thing in Star Wars.

    When it comes to storytelling, however, the film falls short on a lot of aspects. The main characters are very one-dimensional with the notable exception of Rey. In fact, one of the characters has a change of heart halfway through and that is the character development, I suppose. The events in the film are coherent, but things just happen because they happen. Same thing with the new factions, they just exist to return to the status quo of the OT and neither faction are fleshed out beyond the opening scroll. There is also a lack of contextual history, which should've been more evident in the film.

    There is a major event that doesn't have the gravitas it requires, nor are the consequences ever discussed beyond the whole: 'We must fight this evil'. The new villains are also the worst I've ever seen in Star Wars with the exception of Kylo Ren. General Hux seems like a person who stands before the mirror each morning, and practices which face suits his fascist ideas the most. (Gleeson performed horribly).

    I guess, as a viewer, and a fan of Star Wars, I missed something. Abrams managed to tick off some of the high notes of the original trilogy, but they merely existed as a sort of Greatest Hits tribute ostensibly performed by a cover band. It did not have the soul of the old trilogy, nor did it offer the world building of the PT or the OT. Perhaps I was wrong in hoping for more coming from J.J. Abrams.

    All in all, the film was entertaining, and it was similar to the latest Star Trek films (perhaps a tad worse). I just hope that we will learn more about the situation in the galaxy and the new factions in the films, rather than the EU.
     
  5. Grand Admiral Paxis

    Grand Admiral Paxis Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Wow, I can't believe the events of the previous six films were secretly being manipulated behind-the-scenes by the real Sith Lord, Darth Darth Binks! I did not see that coming. Although I felt that mentioning the Gungans and Ewoks wiped each other out in a war of genocide in the opening credits and then never touching on the subject again was just gratuitous fan service.

    But in all seriousness, it was good but not great. The plot was essentially a rehash of A New Hope, and all the big revelations/dramatic moments were predictable from a mile away. (And that's coming from someone who always gets taken off-guard by pretty much every twist). No one in the First Order really stood out for me, which is a shame since I'm a huge fan of the Empire. General Hux, the Tarkin fill-in, lacked Cushing's gravitas, Captain Phasma was woefully underwhelming, and Kylo Ren possessed a lot of the traits I hated about PT Anakin, even if they obviously possess different backgrounds and motivations. That said, it wasn't all bad. I loved Poe, Rey, and Finn immensely and really want to see more stories with them in the meantime. I may just have to defect to the Resistance...

    All in all, I'd say that the biggest letdown of the movie was a lack of ambition. It was perfectly passable, but I felt that they were so desperate to make it feel like Star Wars and recapture that feeling of watching A New Hope for the first time that it became a rehash, instead of evoking the themes while standing on its own merits and originality. Hopefully the next two will be a bit more bold, but at least there's the spinoffs to look forward to either way.
    [/spoler]
     
  6. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2013
    I find it amusing that everyone says "it's an ANH rehash" when all the reviews that actually describe the plot describe something different from ANH in all but a few places. There may be similarities, but that doesn't equal "rehash." Also, I'm hearing the exact opposite about character development in places.
     
  7. LelalMekha

    LelalMekha Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2012
    There, it is done. I've seen it. It's still quite surreal though. I was entertained, yes, but I'm still undecided as to whether I like it or not. There's a part of me that still sees it as a piece of big budget fanfiction. And thenh there's that other part that whispers: "Come on! It's SW! You know you love it." Weird feeling.
     
  8. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    So, this is the spoiler thread....

    [​IMG]
    Where the hell are they?
     
    Mat Skywalker likes this.
  9. LelalMekha

    LelalMekha Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2012
    Do you want me to spoil? I can do that if you ask.
     
  10. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Yup, it'd be appreciated.

    I'm highly ambivalent about it and really need accurate info to decide if it's worth a tenner and somehow getting to the flicks. It'll also decide potential future buys too.
     
    Robimus and SWpants like this.
  11. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2011
    As a student I understand your hesitancy to throw away such money. That being said, I'm off to see it for a second time already. It was fun, humorous, extraordinarily beautiful and established the trilogy very well.
     
  12. CT1138

    CT1138 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 4, 2013
    SPOlLER ALERT!
    Luke is Kylo!
     
    ObiWanKnowsMe and fungusmungus1 like this.
  13. JediKnight75

    JediKnight75 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2011
    So I have two questions, please only answer these. I accidently saw a spoiler online, and want to know if it's true, it touched on some things I didn't want spoiled. To avoid spoiling that I'm only going to ask about other aspects of the spoiler to assess it's credibility. Please don't spoil anything beyond these questions, I have been trying to avoid spoilers and am only slightly giving up because of what was possibly spoiled for me.

    Is Han's son named Ben? Does Leia fall to the Dark Side?

    [\spoiler]
     
  14. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2011
    First one is correct. Other one is at this stage not true.
     
  15. spicer

    spicer Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2012
    I just came back from the theater, and I absolutely loved every second of the movie! TESB was always my favorite SW movie and still is, but TFA dethroned ROTJ. Well done LFL, JJ, Disney! Well done =D=
     
  16. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2004

    It really actually is surprisingly good, there are some plot elements that seems a little iffy or are glazed over a little too quickly, but I certainly had a good time seeing it. :)
    Also it basically has no JJA-isms in it whatsoever, it really felt like they just so deeply curbed his unique “style” that it is actually watchable even if you have, like me, hated literally everything he has ever done.
     
    Kylun and Barriss_Coffee like this.
  17. Cheeky Potato

    Cheeky Potato Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2015
    I absolutely loved it, thought it was easily the best one since ESB

    I really hope we see a good series of novels concerning Ben's (Kylo Ren's) fall to the dark side and estrangement from Han and Leia, as well as him destroying Luke's academy.
     
  18. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2004
    So anyone else fell that Phasma was utterly pointless?
     
  19. JediKnight75

    JediKnight75 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2011
    Thanks for the reply.

    Is she in the process of turning? That's what the spoiler implied.

    Either way the part that worries me (it's not about Leia) is probably true. It isn't such a big deal because I had predicted it two years ago, but was trying to avoid spoilers to keep the emotonal impact. It was the only spoiler that I cared about. Well actually it's the only spoiler I've ever cared about in my life

     
  20. Cheeky Potato

    Cheeky Potato Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2015

    Yep, she was completely overhyped and underwhelming, she did literally nothing of importance other than lowering the shields on Starkiller, I hope she's more awesome in episodes 8 and 9. In saying that though, I honestly didn't mind that she had a tiny roll, I'm quite glad the focus was on Kylo Ren as he was very well developed and taking the focus away from him might have lessened the dramatic impact of Han's death.
     
    MagnaZero, JackG and Gorefiend like this.
  21. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2004

    Nep
    She suffers a pretty devastation loss, but as far as the movie goes there is only grief
     
    JediKnight75 likes this.
  22. spicer

    spicer Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2012
    Speaking about pointless, I still don't get what the point really was with Max von Sydow's character, BUT, as with his, so with Phasma's character - we know we're getting two more movies, so if they don't use her well in the next two, then I'll say she was there just to look cool ala Boba Fett. And maybe we'll get some backstory for Sydow's character as well in a future movie. Until then, I'll be patient and satisfied because TFA was amazing :D
     
  23. Cheeky Potato

    Cheeky Potato Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2015

    There is nothing to suggest that she is falling to the dark side, or even that she has been trained in the force at all. She seems a little disillusioned by constant fighting and whatnot, but certainly not to the point where she might fall to the dark side.
     
    JediKnight75 likes this.
  24. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2004
    Well he passed on the map, got be look awesome standing up to BENNNN!!!! and then well die ;)
     
  25. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2011
    I'm very much interested to read the novelisation now, which I did not expect to feel at all. Moreover, despite reading any and all spoilers, the film still surpassed my expectations wildly.
     
    cdgodin, Ghost, Rew and 2 others like this.