ST Prequel References in TFA

With all the talk of Disney and JJ wanting to distance themselves from the prequels I was pleasantly surprised to notice at least two nods. Max Von Sydow's character talks about the balance of the Force and Kylo suggests using a clone army at one point. Snoke could be a PT nod too, though of course we won't find out until the sequels. Did anyone catch any other direct references to the PT?

 

Sith were mentioned. That word never appeared in the OT. The soundtrack had some verrrry reminicsent little quotes of PT themes that I caught.

 

Yeah, I only remember those 2 examples as well. I was a little disappointed in that. I really don't want them to treat the PT as if it didn't exist. Maybe there will be more in future movies.

 

To be fair it's the ST which takes place after the OT which takes place after the PT. I'm surprised they mentioned them at all. If anything it's really cool that they did because it certainly wasn't needed this far into the timeline. I dug both references especially the clone one, kinda cool to see the post OT universe using a ideas from the PT.

 

Sith is in the ANH novel though, from back in the 70's so I don't count that one. Only real reference was the clone army, which was quickly dismissed. And Max Von S's character was clearly early OT or prequel era but they never really connected it.

The biggest prequel connection for me was Anakin's lightsaber, which was the one and only thing that connected all trilogies. That, and Yoda's voice during the dream sequence.

 

TFA wasn't made the way that it was because of some corporate edict to 'distance SW from the Prequels'; it was made the way that it was because of Abrams and Kasdan's personal viewpoints on the franchise.

Answering the question, Maz name-drops the Sith, which I count as a Prequel reference since, in spite of two Sith Lords being present in the OT, the term itself wasn't mentioned until Episode I.

 

Some people are speculating that during Rey's Force vision a bunch of crying children can be heard, & they might be the younglings Anakin killed with that lightsaber. Not sure if that's true.

 

The republic capital was pretty similar to coruscant.
Several sound effects were recycled from the prequels, and not necessarily for the same use.
There were blasters that shot blue lasers like the prequels, and not only that, but it seemed to be republic blasters as well using them just like the PT.
Kylo did some saber twirling like in the PT
The shot of the xwings firing multiple proton torpedoes and flying through the explosions was very similar to the scene in TPM where the naboo fighters did the same thing.
Saying Luke went to the very first jedi temple, jedi temples are a PT invention.

 

Ben Solo's appearance.

I thought it was Rey as a child?

 

Rian Johnson loves the prequels and Hayden is rumored to be in VIII.

 

The PT wasn't acknowledged much but it wasn't discounted either. Rian will correct that with VIII, I think.

 

Off topic, but I've seen it twice now and didn't notice Yoda, what did he say?

 

Leia's transport was evocative of ships we saw on Coruscant.

 

Why do people always act like the Sith are a PT invention? That doesn't come from the PT at all. The Sith as an idea and name have been around since before Episode 5 even came out. It was in the very first book based on Episode 4, and dates to the 70s as a term. It isn't a PT reference at all. JJ Abrams would've heard of the Sith before half of us were even born.

 

Interesting. Do you remember where he said this? Not doubting you at all I am just curious what he had to say about them.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

At the time Lucas was making Episode I, the only things that definitively mattered were the movies, and the term Sith had never been uttered on-screen in a film prior to its usage in The Phantom Menace. That's why I consider it a Prequel reference because, prior to TPM, only people who were aware of the 'supplementary' materials would have had any idea that it even existed.

 

Finn steps in **** on Jakku.

 

One thing my whole family and I noticed was a very Anakin/Vader on Mustafar moment with Kylo. I can't remember the exact scene or exactly what he yelled, but he's having a melt down moment, and it looked and sounded exactly like Anakin in an angry moment on Mustafar. It was an awesome family connection moment. Lol, that was super vague and un-helpful! I'll have to pay attention when I go see it again tomorrow, so I can be more specific than "there was a moment"

 

kylo mentioned maybe they should use a clone army.
maz mentioned the sith.
kylo/ben is very like anakin in fighting style, looks, etc.
flags at maz's.

 

Yes, I do love the droids - especially 3PO's introduction!!

 

You could argue the first line of the movie and the Coruscant like planet going kaboom were less than kind references to the PT.

 

TRAITOR! (?)

 

Yes, that was it! You rock