Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

[ShadySands]

Jub Jub

[Guard Dog]

But if people had listened Yoda when he demanded stricter back ground checks for those who were given lightsabers, we would never seen rise of Anakin/Darth Vader and it would had prevented destruction of Republic also, as Anakin/Darth Vader played core part in events that lead its destruction.

I guess it all depends on your point of view,

[Majek]

So Ren was a **** and there's always some giants superweapon out there that has to be destroyed by a small group of fighters. Just liek apparently Enterprise in Star Trek is  supposed to be blown up every movie. ...

 

OTher than that i had fun.

[HoonDing]

Saw it today; it was... perfectly mediocre.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Saw it today; it was... perfectly mediocre.

 

Its a fanfiction rerun of Ep4, updated for 2015. audience. Luke character is now a chick, black guy for giggles - everything else remains the same - desert planet, death star with weak spot (could they change their contractor for these things?), vader, yadayadayada. Characters impossibly shallow considering the 2 hour running time. What is the best pilot in the galaxy character for, the other bad guy, the female stormtrooper? They all have 0 character development.

 

Amusingly enough, the prequels, while being dull - at least told a different Star Wars story.

 

Spoiler

 

If the new death star planet is sucking out the sun, what are they going to do once it sucks up the one in their system. From what I gather its no longer a ship, so they'll basically all die of intense cold the day they use the thing.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Drowsy Emperor

[majestic]

Its a fanfiction rerun of Ep4, updated for 2015. audience. Luke character is now a chick, black guy for giggles - everything else remains the same - desert planet, death star with weak spot (could they change their contractor for these things?), vader, yadayadayada. Characters impossibly shallow considering the 2 hour running time. What is the best pilot in the galaxy character for, the other bad guy, the female stormtrooper? They all have 0 character development.

 

Amusingly enough, the prequels, while being dull - at least told a different Star Wars story.

 

 

Spoiler

 

If the new death star planet is sucking out the sun, what are they going to do once it sucks up the one in their system. From what I gather its no longer a ship, so they'll basically all die of intense cold the day they use the thing.

 

 

 

JJ doesn't care about such things like making sense or scale. I mean Han watched the "New Republic" planets in the "whatever" system explode from just outside the Angkor Wat Cantina. Compared to that getting to Bespin on sublight is downright tame. And yeah, that part bothered me a little. Just like RED MATTER did in the Star Trek remake.

 

 

edit:

 

I hope Fin stops being the silly black guy comic relief character in any subsequent films. While I applaud JJ for not abusing the Droids for that or creating a new Jar Jar Binks using the token black guy for some stereotypical black guy antics in the first half of the film felt a bit off. 

Edited December 19, 2015 by majestic

[ktchong]

Did anyone else think Rey's past memory had been tampered with?  It's heavily implied in her flashback sequence.

Edited December 19, 2015 by ktchong

[Orogun01]

From a certain point of view?

 

snip

I kind of feel cheated since I made a similar joke once on this forums. Maybe I should start copyrighting my posts ©

[Hurlshort]

 

 

 

I hope Fin stops being the silly black guy comic relief character in any subsequent films. While I applaud JJ for not abusing the Droids for that or creating a new Jar Jar Binks using the token black guy for some stereotypical black guy antics in the first half of the film felt a bit off. 

 

 

Uh, I think you watched a different movie.  He is no more of a comic relief than Han Solo.  Stereotypical black guy stuff?  He was the star of the film, what are you talking about?    

 

I'd actually say this was Fin and Han's movie.  They got the bulk of the character development, they drove the narrative.  I would assume the next movie will be the story of Luke and Rey, although I imagine Luke will get less screen time.  

 

 

 

Hey, does anyone think the Poe story was odd?  He was conveniently thrown from the ship and shows up safe?  How did he get back to the resistance?  I guess it might just be my experience with Abrams and LOST, but I'm expecting a plot twist.  

 

 

[ktchong]

If you look at the entire story, it is actually Finn's moment of conscience and his betrayal of the First Order that set everything in motion.

 

Finn was clearly smitten with Rey, and he repeatedly risked his life to save Rey - even though he admitted that he was afraid of the First Order and just wanted to run away from them as far as possible and as soon as possible.   If Finn and Rey develop a romantic in the sequels - and it seems that the story is moving towards towards that direction - then Star Wars will be the very first big budget major franchise to feature a black man-white woman romantic relationship, which is still more or less a taboo in mainstream Hollywood movies.

 

Of course, ultimately it is Rey who has the Force and is the "Luke Skywalker" in this new trilogy, but Finn is clearly the main male lead (or one of the main leads) in this movie and the main romantic interest of Rey.  I would say Finn is the male lead because he has way more screen time than Han Solo, who did not even appear until after Finn and Rey had escaped from the desert planet Jakku.

 

Finn actually had more screen time than Rey because: (1) the story started with his Stormtrooper unit attacking the village on Jakku, so he was right there from the beginning until the end; and (2) when Rey was captured, Finn and Rey split screen time but Finn seems to have a bit more screen time than Rey, (i.e., because right after Rey was captured, Finn met and introduced us to the Resistance and General Leia, which took up quite a bit of screen time without Rey.  That scene of Finn in the Resistance HQ was  longer than the scene of Rey in the First Order's prison.)  So overall, Finn has the most screen time.

Edited December 19, 2015 by ktchong

[Raithe]

For the medley moment..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22mdHYEzKC0

[Drowsy Emperor]

What character development. Fin goes from a green stormtrooper to resistance fighter in about ten seconds (curious for someone so obviously unenthusiastic about combat and killing). No real motivation other than "its the right thing to do". 

 

All in all, its exactly what I expected of Abrams. Easy to watch, decently edited albeit utterly unoriginal.Those are the limits of his directorial skills. Although considering how similar this is to the original film, Disney probably held tight reins on it too.

 

The amusing thing is that because the film is so palatable everyone is going to consider it vastly superior to the prequels, whereas if you look at it objectively - the prequels were the better, or at least more sincere, effort. 

Edited December 19, 2015 by Drowsy Emperor

[Blarghagh]

Saw it last night and the Star Wars remake was perfectly servicable. It was good, I had a lot of fun, but I don't think it ever approached true blockbuster greatness. It's my third favourite remake pretending to be a sequel this year, preceded by Jurassic Park and Mad Max Road Warrior. Those listings are not a mark of quality mind you, but a mark of how much I enjoyed them. But anyone expecting a bad remake like Terminator was can rest easy, because this one was good.

 

What character development. Fin goes from a green stormtrooper to resistance fighter in about ten seconds (curious for someone so obviously unenthusiastic about combat and killing). No real motivation other than "its the right thing to do".

 

I think you missed a step there because Poe completely calls him out on that bull**** line. He needed a pilot because he wanted to run himself. And in fact he keeps getting scared and trying to run, and consistently seems to be cursing his conscience.

 

EDIT: So was anyone else bothered by the fact that we pretty much know as much about Max von Sydow's character and Supreme Leader Snoke as we did before the movie? I never bought into the First Order having someone truly powerful in the Force at their back because Snoke did nothing but react to stuff going bad for his side, he was not a driving factor. And Max von Sydow was barely a cameo and I don't even know his character's name.

Edited December 19, 2015 by TrueNeutral

[Sarex]

Saw the movie yesterday, it was ok. I mean I was never a diehard fan of the Star Wars franchise, but I did really like it. As far as the movie goes it was much more close to the original trilogy then the prequels, but that made the plot very predictable. All in all a good flick, I would say I got as much fun out of it as from any of the SW movies, including the prequels.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Saw it last night and the Star Wars remake was perfectly servicable. It was good, I had a lot of fun, but I don't think it ever approached true blockbuster greatness. It's my third favourite remake pretending to be a sequel this year, preceded by Jurassic Park and Mad Max Road Warrior. Those listings are not a mark of quality mind you, but a mark of how much I enjoyed them. But anyone expecting a bad remake like Terminator was can rest easy, because this one was good.

Don't you think that when something costs 200 million $ the end result should probably be better than "serviceable remake"?

Edited December 19, 2015 by Drowsy Emperor

[Blarghagh]

Not at all. I never consider the cost of a movie when I'm watching it, just how much I enjoyed it. Worrying about the cost-effectiveness of a subjective thing like film is for insipid armchair producers who just need to find any reason to whine about on the internet.

 

EDIT: That may sound a little harsh, but consider this - what other metrics do you have for "cost-effectiveness" that matter to you? So far Star Wars is holding at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and had the biggest "opening preview night" of all time. Jurassic World was a "barely servicable remake" and is the highest grossing movie of the year and holds a favourable Fresh rating as well, and two Transformers films made over a billion in the last couple of years. Avatar was a barely servicable space Pocahontas movie, but it's the highest grossing movie of all time and holds and 83% rating. What does a budget influence? How much gets pumped into special effects and marketing. It doesn't make a director or writer better and those don't cost that much.

 

So the only thing I can really judge money-wise is "did I enjoy the movie enough to justify buying the ticket" and the answer for Star Wars is a resounding yes. It was perfectly servicable remake of a good movie. That equates to a good movie, one I enjoyed at least. Am I little disappointed it took very few chances? Yes. But that only puts a damper on what was otherwise a very enjoyable experience for me.

Edited December 19, 2015 by TrueNeutral

[majestic]

Uh, I think you watched a different movie.  He is no more of a comic relief than Han Solo.  Stereotypical black guy stuff?  He was the star of the film, what are you talking about?    

 

The entire escape sequence for instance. I can already see the "Fin and Poe dicking around in space" comedy-spinoff. And yes, maybe I'm a bit too cynical and jaded and exaggerate that out of proportion, but there *were* comedy elements to Finn's character in the beginning of the film that annoyed me to no end.

[Hurlshort]

I feel like I should add that if you did not go see this in a theater, you are doing yourself a disservice.  Much like Mad Max, the experience warrants an impressive venue.  

[BruceVC]

I feel like I should add that if you did not go see this in a theater, you are doing yourself a disservice.  Much like Mad Max, the experience warrants an impressive venue.  

I still haven't seen it yet so I plan to see in the theater

[Maedhros]

 

Uh, I think you watched a different movie.  He is no more of a comic relief than Han Solo.  Stereotypical black guy stuff?  He was the star of the film, what are you talking about?    

 

The entire escape sequence for instance. I can already see the "Fin and Poe dicking around in space" comedy-spinoff. And yes, maybe I'm a bit too cynical and jaded and exaggerate that out of proportion, but there *were* comedy elements to Finn's character in the beginning of the film that annoyed me to no end.

 

I thought that was one of the best scenes in the film. Loved how happy they were for each other haha, it felt like "true Star Wars", the same energetic fun you got from the old films at times.

[majestic]

I thought that was one of the best scenes in the film. Loved how happy they were for each other haha, it felt like "true Star Wars", the same energetic fun you got from the old films at times.

 

Yeah, a throwback to Luke's and Han's antics on the Death Star while trying to save Leia. Maybe that's what annoyed me. I seem to have trouble dealing with the remakey nature of the film. =(

[Raithe]

On keeping the secrets..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO3aByH_4DY

[Leferd]

It's been a good year for sci-fi franchises. Both Mad Max and Star Wars matched and/or exceeded the hype and my expectations.

 

A new hope indeed.

[ktchong]

I have just had an interesting thought...

 

It was heavily implied in Rey's flashback that her memory had been altered and tampered with. I suspect she had prior training in the Force, but her memory of it had been lost and wiped.

 

Hm... maybe Luke trained Snoke, (i.e., the Supreme Leader of the First Order and the Master of Kylo Ren.)  Snoke was Luke's first apprentice, and he turned to the Dark Side.  

 

Then Luke trained another apprentice.  His second apprentice also turned to the Dark Side - and, atop of that, she seduced Luke and had his daughter, and ran away, trained and hid the daughter.  After awhile, Luke chased down his second apprentice, and killed her in a moment of passion.  Which would explain Luke's remorse and withdrawal.  Luke may or may not know where her daughter was hidden.

 

And that baby turned out to be... Rey.

 

Far-fetch, I know.

 

Of course, having two of his apprentices ended up turning to the Dark Side also convinced Luke that he had failed, that he needed to find the ancient Jedi temple and learn how to train Jedi properly before he take on any more apprentice.

Edited December 19, 2015 by ktchong

[Drowsy Emperor]

It's been a good year for sci-fi franchises. Both Mad Max and Star Wars matched and/or exceeded the hype and my expectations.

 

A new hope indeed.

 

Perhaps for sci-fi franchises, but not for sci-fi movies in general. There was only one notable film that wasn't part of a franchise, Martian, and it was thoroughly average (or poor, considering who was making it).  Remakes of decades old films and superhero drivel is what sci-fi has been reduced to in the last, how many (?) years.

 

Even more disturbing than that, the other highly regarded sci-fi film of 2015 is "Ex Machina" (7.7 IMDB rating??!) , a film that would have been considered passe twenty years ago. I say its more disturbing because you can expect a franchise film to get a high rating even when its mediocre because of all the fans, but a no-name effort getting so high up tells me that either the audience has lost its compass as to what makes a good sci fi film, or they artificially inflated the rating. 

 

I have yet to watch The Lobster, its supposedly good.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Drowsy Emperor