Star Wars: The Force Awakens discussion

[VDB]

BTW, in a day or so we should either start a new thread or label this one  *spoilers* so we can openly discuss!
i'm dyin to talk to someone besides my parents about it, lol.

Agreed. Let's.

Just saw the film this afternoon. I thought it was highly enjoyable. I'm glad Harrison Ford figured prominently in the film and it wasn't just a cameo thrown in for nostalgia's sake. At a certain point I figured his fate was coming, but that was still hard to see. I felt very bad for Chewie. :cry: I wouldn't have minded more Leia. I would have liked some lines for Mark Hamill but I think this sets it up for him to be the star of the next film, which I find very exciting.

I will say the film lost a bit of focus, for me, with the Death Star/Planet segment. In addition to this now being the third time they've gone to the "defeat the bad guys' super weapon" well, I thought it threw us off the race-to-find-Luke storyline, which to me was already compelling enough. That said, all the action sequences there were top notch, and the interpersonal stuff was good from a character-development standpoint. Also, if we're being critical, I thought the film relied on humor a little more than it needed to. Things are always funnier in a theater full of people; we'll see how all those jokes and gags hold up over the years.

One thing I particularly appreciated was that, for as much as this film referenced the original trilogy, it basically treated the prequels as if they didn't exist, save maybe for a reference to clone troopers. J.J. knows what's up.

All in all, I didn't let my expectations get out of hand, and my wife told me I had nothing to worry about after she saw it Thursday, so I have to say I'm happy. It feels damn good to enjoy a new Star Wars film again, doesn't it?

[birdman]

God does it ever feel good.
What's interesting to me is how they almost mirrored the story line for a new hope. Droid with secret message. Orphan Jedi on a desert planet. Hops in with han on the falcon while dodging the empire,  heads to the rebel base and they destroy the Death Star. Father and son on a bridge over an abyss.
I think it was done purposefully to reconnect us with the original trilogy. I'm sure the story line will diverge for the next two.  That said I thought the movie was awesome.

[mattstick]

Biggest complaint was Snoke.

Terrible name/bad CGI just not a Star Wars villain.

[Igbo]

Biggest complaint was Snoke.

Terrible name/bad CGI just not a Star Wars villain.

Agreed on Snoke

Also I could give or take Leia. Carrie Fischers acting and her lines all sucked imo.

But all in all thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

[VA $l!m]

im confused. snoke was the 'supreme leader' right?
what was 'wrong' with him?
not like there was much besides a few  hologram scenes to even judge him by.
i was actually pretty intrigued by the supreme leader.
-where did he come from? how did he suceed the emperor?
i was even thinking he could BE the emperor. that somehow he survived the 'fall' in Return.

God does it ever feel good.
What's interesting to me is how they almost mirrored the story line for a new hope. Droid with secret message. Orphan Jedi on a desert planet. Hops in with han on the falcon while dodging the empire,  heads to the rebel base and they destroy the Death Star. Father and son on a bridge over an abyss.
I think it was done purposefully to reconnect us with the original trilogy. I'm sure the story line will diverge for the next two.  That said I thought the movie was awesome.

yeah, defintely was a mirror plot. not exactly sure what the intention was, but i thought it was a good way to setup the trilogy just like the originals allowing more divergent and  in depth plot lines through the second two films.

[mattstick]

Snoke doesn't really seem like a Star Wars name and he looked like something from Harry Potter.

[VDB]

Half a billion worldwide this weekend. This could have some staying power, as well. I just saw it yesterday and I can't wait to see it again. I can't remember the last time I watched a movie multiples times in a theater. Phantom Menace?

[VA $l!m]

k, here's my thoughts.
first of all, i think its important to note the multiple angles those of us that have so much history with the franchise can analyze/critique this movie.
you can go all fanboy, or hypercritical cynical, etc.
personally i was thinking one of the best ways to look at the film was how we would have felt like when we were little kids seeing the original films.
i mean, through the eyes of a ten year old this movie was pretty dern epic.

Bearing that in mind and  the universal bagage we all bring to a movie that is part of our consciousness i could see a range of viable reviews ranging from 8-9.5, or 7.5-10 on the extreme scale.
that comes out to about a 8.75 for me, with the roiginal movies firmly in the 9.25-9.75 range.

So, foregoing the obvious, the first thing that struck me was this was a Harrison Ford vehicle.
It almost seems like He might have agreed to do this one film on the basis of not having to do the other 2 and perhaps even soem other special considerations.
It really seemed like certain things were set up to avoid things he didnt want to do like maybe run around with old leah and luke like some sci fi senior citizens. --I thuoght he even might have kept any romantic action between him and LEah out of it on purpose. It really felt ike they shoulda kissed in their ast scene instead of the hug... i also thought Ford might not have even wanted to be in a scene with Hammil and so they worked it out to be part of the plot.
--Conspiracies aside it all worked out fine imo for FOrd. Besides maybe one too many toungue in cheek qwips for my taste he pretty much killed it. helps that his sidekick, my favorite SW character Chewy. didnt have to age a day, lol.

new character wise-
i really liked Solo's son- Ren? (sorry didnt quite catch all the names) as a villian. probably why i cant understand carring about Snoke who yes besides the bad name was really about 1% of the vilianry in the film. I definitely bought the whole storyline for Ren and appreciated his ties to Vader as welll as the parralels being trained by Luke and turning on him.
My only gripe here, and really the only minow thing that bothered me in the whole film, was how friggin clean and sexy he looked under the mask. I mean, please could we just put a smaudge of helmet grease  on his face so he didnt look all dreamy and GQ? lol.

i also really liked both FIn and Rae(?) , thuoght they did a great job and appreciated both their stories for the most part.
i like how the film started with FIn's story as a defective CLone trooper, though i sorta wished it could have been explored even a bit more.
Hands down my favorite scene of the entire film was during the final fight between those 2 and Ren when she force pulled the lightsaber into her hand.
i dunno if it was the music, my muslce spasms or what but i rally got choked up at that point and felt joy with force.

Overall i really liked the idea of the lead and  new jedi being female.
Which is also why i thought the dynamic with her and LEah worked so well for the film. girl power FTW.

anyway, i think the most important thing for me and i assume many folks was that this film delivered the look and feel of the series to a fucking tee.
details can always be nitpikced but JJ played it smart, nailed that down, and then knocked it out the park.

addendum- small random nerdy  gripes:
-Solo asking chewy to use the bowcaster, albeit funny, like it would have been the first time in 40 years he eer picked up the thing... :roll:
-the script really took some cheap leaps on the weapon planet with how to bring down the shield generator and the random intersection with Rae climbing. seems like time was on a budget for sure.
-the whole Luke's saber being in a box in the basement of that cantina didnt quite work for me.

can't wait to see it again for sure, and i honestly never thought they coulda done this great a job. mad props across the board. they all deserve it.

[VDB]

Great write up, slim. I'll have additional thoughts to share as well. I've been thinking and reading about this movie for the better part of 24 hours now. I take that as a good sign.

[rowjimmy]

Just saw it here in Ireland in 2d.
I definitely cried when they killed my space dad.

All in all, I loved it.

Going back for 3D tomorrow morning. (Then off to tour some distilleries.)

[mattstick]

I have a couple theories about plot direction...

Snoke is a hologram being projected by someone else, probably Luke.

Fin is the Lando/Leia love child.

[Hicks]

Saw it tonight, it was very enjoyable and "satisfying" in a way that the prequels were not, although I will say I don't think they were as terrible as everyone says.

Loved seeing Harrison Ford do his thing as he is undoubtedly the heart if the franchise, it will be interesting to see how they move forward without him. 

All the new characters were awesome; Rey, Finn and of course BB-8 stole the show.  Was really impressed with the nuanced performance from Adam Driver, looking forward to how his character develops.

Only complaint is that it played it fairly safe and as others have mentioned it's essentially a remake of A New Hope. 

Also thought it was random that two of the four actors from Ex Machina figured prominently.   

Dug the Snoke character but his name does remind me of Harry Pooper.   

[VA $l!m]

how about that Matt PArkman cameo?  :mrgreen:

[rowjimmy]

how about that Matt PArkman cameo?  :mrgreen:

JJ has his favorite friends pop up in everything.

[emay]

Saw it friday thought it was awesome.
Agreed on the Snoke character, I think when we finally see him not in hologram hes gonna be tiny like yoda-size.