Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I don't know about you guys, but this looks like the real Star Wars is back! Locations and physical sets? What madness! :D

Is John Williams scoring? I hope he keeps going with the series. His music is paramount to the experience, but even his excellent scores could save the prequels.
 
David Jimerson said:
Too many spoilers.
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I'm sorry you feel that way. I just re-watched it and didn't see anything particularly spoiling. Have you been following the movie news closely? I felt like I only saw the same kind of things in the last trailer. I guess having Mark Hamill talk was new.

The short was really well done IMO. Its focus was perfect, nostalgic but moving forward. Perfect tone for the new Episodes.
 
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98 Percent so far on Rotten Tomatoes, so it's looking good. I've read some disconcerting things while skimming these reviews though, too many fan service callbacks, and a reliance on coincidence, two things which typically grate on me, which makes me cautiously optimistic. But at least the prospect of it being another Phantom Menace are very dim now.
 
SPOILER ALERT!!!!

I saw the movie yesterday. The soundtrack and sounddesign is good. I really liked the first half of the movie, the second half not so much.
I really do not like the female hero jedi story, I really hoped Finn had the force and not Rey. Why, cause as a viewer I really like to pretend I am the main character. And face it Star Wars is a 90% male fanbase with a strong cosplay history. A lot of male nerds will be disapointed they can not roleplay Rey. Do not get me wrong, I like Rey. But I just wished she was male, I never buy these strong woman who kick everybody's ass movies. Especially in this case: Why? She had no force training, or lightsaber training however she uses Force Mind Tricks that she didnt even know that was possible? She defeats Kylo Ren, and she never even held a lightsaber in her life. Come on..

And then Kylo Ren, the Vader "want to be". He was trained by Luke Skywalker and Snoke. He defeated the other jedi that Luke has trained, but now he struggles with defeating a storm trooper, and then looses to a Jedi newb. He cannot control his own feelings, and seems to be a little cry baby. He must be the lamest sith in sith history. So at the end of the movie I was hoping that Rey and Kylo Ren got killed, so they could be replaced with some better characters in the next Star Wars film.. So I was really dissapointed with the film.
 
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!!!!!! MORE SPOILERS !!!!!

Liked
- I thought Rey was a strong actress, man she talks kinda like Keira Knightly. Finn was strong too.
- Some beautiful scenery/shots.
- Chewy and the new droid were good.

Disliked
- Plot hole; hide the f$%kin' droid people
- Main bad guy had no presence. Didn't really buy his character at all once unmasked. Also see plot hole pointed out by Polaroid above.
- Why the hell do we have to have the funny quips? I mean I'm fine with a touch but this didn't need it at all (almost always Finn), guess just felt really generic with the comedy. But really only was a handful of times at most.
- Death star 2. New plot would be nice.
- I too liked the start then it kind of felt a bit weak to me.
- The absolute last shot of the movie, not needed, didn't suit for me.
- Was there any point in the really cool chrome stormtrooper-game-of-thrones character at all? Severe waste and her character does something massively out of character. Big missed opportunity and the movie really could of done with another lead bad guy.

Somewhat neutral
- Funny very short scene with two stormtroopers, really great but does it fit the movie?


Definitely enjoyable but not all I'd hoped for (and I'm no Star Wars connoisseur)

3.5/5

 
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Well it may have taken him 32 years, but old Harry finally got the job done.

Well played sir. Well bloody played. :beer:
 
Opening night last night, made $57 million dollars. $600 million globally. Wow... Record breaking.. Cannot wait to see it. :)
 
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I saw it last night and really liked it a lot.

I like Rey and like the female lead here. We've had 6 other starwars movies all about Luke and Anakin. I'm happy to start off with a difference there and be lead along this journey with Rey.

It didn't bother me so much that she was good at force techniques. She's highly force sensitive and is a skywalker, She's got the ancestry of strong force power. Also, Luke didn't start feeling or using the force until he was right around the same age as she was, he also didn't light saber battle, but he did blow up the death star with no force training.

Rey being good with a light saber also makes more sense than Finn being good with a lightsaber. Finn also fights Kylo Ren and scores some damage, granted against a damaged Kylo Ren.

I really really like Kylo Ren as a villian. He's so whiny and emotional it's great! He's exactly like Anakin was at his age, and seems just as conflicted inside between the light and the dark.

I loved seeing him destroy all the rooms and have hissy fits the entire time. I think it fit perfectly with his character.

I personally Don't get who supreme leader Snoke is and where he fits in, but I'm excited to see it.

As for all the almost rim shot humor and gags, that's just J.J Abrams isn't it? He puts those in pretty much everything he does.

Game of thrones shiny storm trooper was a bit of a let down, hopefully she'll have a bigger role to play in the next movies.

Oscar Isaac's Poe was really really great too.

All the acting was great really.

I do feel like this was what I expected and wanted to see, a fun nostalgic ride to kick off a new journey.




I also didn't like that Last cut to the helicopter shot. Would've been cool if the cut worked, but it didn't for me.


OOOh and also I like how much stronger they made Chewie's Bowcaster in this film
 
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I felt it was a solid B. A lot of things I liked. Some i didn't. All the new cast members really shone in their roles. If anything I wanted to see more of them and less of the old cast, who felt shoehorned in. That said, Han probably had my favourite line "That's not how the force works!". I thought the humour hit just the right irreverant tone for the most part. Finn was my personal favourite, but I did like Rey, even if she was dangerously close to being a 'Mary Sue' (an impossibly capable, flawless character). This was about as good as I thought a JJ Abrams Star Wars movie would be but not an ounce more than that. I still feel JJ has a TV sensibility when it comes to visuals and just doesn't have the same cinematic eye the young Lucas had for epic imagery. He lacks that classical, aesthetic rigour that makes things feel grandiose. I was also a little disappointed in John Williams score. Nothing about it stood out, other than the recycled cues, and one nice piece of music over the final scene. I could get deeper into the details of what I didn't like but I want to see it again, in 2D this time. The 3D was unnecessary. I only got 3D tickets because none of the 2D theatres let you reserve a seat.
 
I liked it a lot. Finally a movie that felt like a Star Wars movie. Yea, there are some quibbles here/there as always, but overall I found it to be wonderful and exactly what I was hoping it would be. Some folks don't like it because it felt too nostalgic, or borrowed too heavily from the older films, so just from an approach standpoint the film can't work as well for them. None of those things bothered me at all and actually made the film more enjoyable to me. The time to really dabble and try bigger things will come later, especially in the Anthology movies. This movie was all about the fans, building trust, and laying a foundation that can serve the future. It delivered the goods. If you were hoping for something out there and different, you won't be too thrilled. I think EP8 will let us explore a lot more, in the way Empire did, and EP7 will sit firmly in place as the meat and potatoes of the new trilogy. It sets the stage well.

To me it was the perfect mix of old and new. I have to see it again but I'm pretty sure it sits like this in my fav SW line-up:

ANH > Empire > TFA > Jedi > Sith > Clones > Menace

UPDATE: I just saw it a second time. This one will have endless replay value for me. I think if I was totally ignorant to Star Wars, and watched all 7 movies in a binge today, TFA would probably be my favorite, with ANH and Empire close behind. This film is without a doubt the most entertaining of the franchise. Where ANH and Empire bring a classical and more patient approach with darkness, operatic atmosphere, and weight...TFA brings energy, humor, and a great mix of popcorn without losing that classic feel or weight completely. Perfect mixture for a 21st Century audience. ANH and Empire will always be like JAWS to me. Masterclass films that I've seen a million times, but you really need to sit down and let them soak in and be patient, in order to feel the full effect. JAWS is fantastic throughout, and if you sit in it without interruption...the shark exploding is still a huge thrill, similar to the death stars explosion or the cliffhanger of Empire. TFA has so much energy. It's so fast and thrilling and funny. The first 1/2 especially is worthy of study. Older fans will always put the classic films and nostalgia at the top of their list, but TFA is going to be that movie the new generation sees over and over again. It's going to be their ANH...no doubt. When they want to dabble in the classics, they'll know where to turn.
 
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David Jimerson said:
It was Abrams-y.

SPOILERS:

I was a little lost on the whole Republic/Resistance/First Order thing.
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I think the Resistance is the Republic. Now, why they aren't just called The Army I don't know. It's needlessly confusing. Usually a resistance is resisting an occupation of some kind.
 
Still processing. Was not blown away, wasn't exactly disappointed, but . . . I don't know what I think yet.

I did manage to go in almost entirely spoiler-free, though.
 
I can't believe they killed off Han Solo right after the halfway point in the film.

And what's with Chewbacca trying to speak English? That was lame.

Also, the whole "everyone is really a spy for the Empire" thing got tiresome fast.

Plus the re-incarnation of Obi Wan felt like a cheap lazy scripting crutch.

Sorry about the spoilers, but I just had to vent.
 
I hated it, and the more I reflect the more I hate it. It's not a Star Wars movie. I know I have to accept that it exists now but I wish it didn't....
 
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