Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (SPOILER-FREE THREAD)

[Ithekro]

The First Order, as we understand it, is at least a potion of the former Galactic Empire that has moved out to the Unknown Regions to rebuild as part of a backup plan should the Emperor be killed. They have gathered around Snoke for reasons we have yet to fully understand. They have managed to rebuild at least somewhat of a fleet of larger Star Destroyers and legions of Stormtroopers, as well as complete Starkiller Base in a bid to retake the Galaxy for the ideals of the New Order that Palatine installed with his Galactic Empire.

The Resistance is Leia Organa's private army. She started it after leaving politics once she found out about the potential threat of the First Order. When the New Republic would not only not do anything, but also had a faction that was threatening to openly succeed from the Republic to join a New Order style government, Leia gathered up some old time Rebel leaders and like minded individuals and got some quiet funding from some of her like minded Senator friends to form a tiny army to keep watch on the First Order. Their main goal was to find out what the First Order was doing, and the extent of its treaty violations against the New Republic (as it could be considered an part of the old Galactic Empire, which was subject to a disarmament treaty). They were never able to prove enough to the Republic Senate to act on anything until it was too late, and Starkiller Base fired on the Republic capital and primary Starfleet.

 

[Reverend]

Can you be a little more detailed than that? I could have sworn that the current "Resistance" were systems in rebellion against the First Order, who had been formed from a group of systems that were not a part of the New Republic. Or is it something different?

You're not even close. The Resistance is Leia, some old rebellion buddies & a bunch of idealistic kids with two squadrons of outdated X-Wings, a makeshift shuttle, a small army of droids spies, one base and that's it!
It's basically a private army being run by Leia because she sees the First Order as an immediate threat that needs to be countered and the Republic (officially) does not.

 

[fireproof78]

I would have enjoyed TFA at least a little bit better, if this information, which I frankly consider to be essential to the story, had found its way into the actual film. There was plenty of space for it to get in there.

I agree on this point. There was some room for more of the political backdrop to be expanded and make more sense of the landscape.

 

[Tuskin38]

I wouldn't be surprised if we got more info in Ep8.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Probably my biggest gripe with EP VII is the socio-political structure of the galaxy and characters. It's 30 years later, and the principal characters have not only NOT changed/evolved/advanced, they've regressed.

Leia was going to be one of the architects of the New Republic. Nope- she's just a rebel leader again.

Han had finally evolved into something of a team player, and found a family of sorts. His days as the quintessential loner were coming to an end, and he was finally part of something bigger than himself. Nope- he's just a scummy smuggler again.

Luke: He'd withstood the emperor, saved his father, and stood ready to rebuild a modern Jedi Order. Nope: 30 years later, he's still the last of the Jedi, there is no new Jedi Order, and he's gone hermit like Obi-wan Kenobi.

I understand Abram's and Disney's extreme caution with EP VII- after dropping 4 BILLION dollars on the franchise in the wake of the scathing hatred the prequels generated, they were seriously under the gun to win back the fan base and make SW great again. Don't get me wrong- I enjoyed EP VII immensely and thought it had more heart and soul than the prequel movies combined, but my God were they lazy about ripping off EP IV in every way, shape and form. Even if they didn't want to canonize the EU, they sure as hell could have mined it for the good stuff and said 'THIS is our springboard moving forward.' In the end, the First Order seems like a pale caricature of the Empire, and the Resistance a pale caricature of the Rebellion. Don't even get me started on Starkiller Base, even in a Space Fantasy.

In the end, though, my biggest gripe was what they did (or didn't do) with the Big 3. Luke, Han, and Leia. For thirty years it would appear that they went absolutely nowhere, or backwards. After all of their struggles in the OT, ultimately they accomplished NOTHING.

 

[Kor]

The cosmology of TFA seems on par with that of Flash Gordon, which is fitting as such Saturday afternoon space opera serials were a huge inspiration on Star Wars in the first place.

Kor

 

[Tuskin38]

Probably my biggest gripe with EP VII is the socio-political structure of the galaxy and characters. It's 30 years later, and the principal characters have not only NOT changed/evolved/advanced, they've regressed.

Leia was going to be one of the architects of the New Republic. Nope- she's just a rebel leader again.

Han had finally evolved into something of a team player, and found a family of sorts. His days as the quintessential loner were coming to an end, and he was finally part of something bigger than himself. Nope- he's just a scummy smuggler again.

Luke: He'd withstood the emperor, saved his father, and stood ready to rebuild a modern Jedi Order. Nope: 30 years later, he's still the last of the Jedi, there is no new Jedi Order, and he's gone hermit like Obi-wan Kenobi.

In the end, though, my biggest gripe was what they did (or didn't do) with the Big 3. Luke, Han, and Leia. For thirty years it would appear that they went absolutely nowhere, or backwards. After all of their struggles in the OT, ultimately they accomplished NOTHING.

Some of the things you mentioned did happen, but we're forced to read novels/comic to know that.

 

[JD]

Yeah, it's not that nothing happened. It's just that by the time we hit TFA things had gotten bad.

 

[Venardhi]

Leia did help build a new Republic, a new Republic that no longer needed or wanted her.

Han did become a team player, he started a family, he learned the value of something greater than himself. Then his son left (possibly after some other tragedies), his friend went AWOL and his wife went back to fighting a war that maybe he wasn't ready to be a part of and he went back to his comfort zone. That is perfectly in line with the Han Solo we know from the Trilogy, even the version at the end of it. He was ready to "get out of the way" remember?

Luke did everything he was supposed to do and he failed. His great purpose was undone by his own student and blood. He is trying to figure out his new purpose, trying to figure out what the Force wants from him. That makes perfect sense after a tragedy of his own unintended orchestration.

 

[Smellmet]

Probably my biggest gripe with EP VII is the socio-political structure of the galaxy and characters. It's 30 years later, and the principal characters have not only NOT changed/evolved/advanced, they've regressed.

Leia was going to be one of the architects of the New Republic. Nope- she's just a rebel leader again.

Han had finally evolved into something of a team player, and found a family of sorts. His days as the quintessential loner were coming to an end, and he was finally part of something bigger than himself. Nope- he's just a scummy smuggler again.

Luke: He'd withstood the emperor, saved his father, and stood ready to rebuild a modern Jedi Order. Nope: 30 years later, he's still the last of the Jedi, there is no new Jedi Order, and he's gone hermit like Obi-wan Kenobi.

I understand Abram's and Disney's extreme caution with EP VII- after dropping 4 BILLION dollars on the franchise in the wake of the scathing hatred the prequels generated, they were seriously under the gun to win back the fan base and make SW great again. Don't get me wrong- I enjoyed EP VII immensely and thought it had more heart and soul than the prequel movies combined, but my God were they lazy about ripping off EP IV in every way, shape and form. Even if they didn't want to canonize the EU, they sure as hell could have mined it for the good stuff and said 'THIS is our springboard moving forward.' In the end, the First Order seems like a pale caricature of the Empire, and the Resistance a pale caricature of the Rebellion. Don't even get me started on Starkiller Base, even in a Space Fantasy.

In the end, though, my biggest gripe was what they did (or didn't do) with the Big 3. Luke, Han, and Leia. For thirty years it would appear that they went absolutely nowhere, or backwards. After all of their struggles in the OT, ultimately they accomplished NOTHING.

This is my problem with it also, and even years before it was released when it was first announced they were making it I feared where they could take the story without simply resetting and repeating what had gone before, and sadly I was proven right. It's still a decent-ish film, but I'd only rank it above TPM, AOTC, maybe put it level with ROTJ at a push. At least the prequels told their own story.

 

[fireproof78]

Leia did help build a new Republic, a new Republic that no longer needed or wanted her.

Han did become a team player, he started a family, he learned the value of something greater than himself. Then his son left (possibly after some other tragedies), his friend went AWOL and his wife went back to fighting a war that maybe he wasn't ready to be a part of and he went back to his comfort zone. That is perfectly in line with the Han Solo we know from the Trilogy, even the version at the end of it. He was ready to "get out of the way" remember?

Luke did everything he was supposed to do and he failed. His great purpose was undone by his own student and blood. He is trying to figure out his new purpose, trying to figure out what the Force wants from him. That makes perfect sense after a tragedy of his own unintended orchestration.

Exactly so. Quite interesting take on the idea that their happy ending was rather short lived, which, is a very fairy tale ending when you look at influences on Star Wars.

My only personal frustration was that all three did not get to be together. But, you know what? That's ok. I have ROTJ,

 

[Skywalker]

Luke, Leia, and Han helped bring peace and liberty to the galaxy for an entire generation, after it had suffered through constant war and oppression for more than 20 years. That's nothing to sniff at.

 

[LJones41]

You're not even close. The Resistance is Leia, some old rebellion buddies & a bunch of idealistic kids with two squadrons of outdated X-Wings, a makeshift shuttle, a small army of droids spies, one base and that's it!
It's basically a private army being run by Leia because she sees the First Order as an immediate threat that needs to be countered and the Republic (officially) does not.

Somehow, I don't feel very impressed by Leia's action. Her action reminds of a scenario in which a politician/military leader who decides to take matters into his or her own hands when the legal government refuses to aggressively act against another group who had decided to form its own faction or sovereignty. It just doesn't feel right to me. I'm not talking about the quality of the writing (although I have problems with the movie's writing). I'm talking about Leia's action. In another story, Leia would bear the consequences of such an aggressive act, even if her intentions were good.

Don't get me wrong- I enjoyed EP VII immensely and thought it had more heart and soul than the prequel movies combined . . .

Not to me, it didn't. Aside from Finn, I found myself not really giving a damn about the other characters or the situation.

 

[Tuskin38]

Somehow, I don't feel very impressed by Leia's action. Her action reminds of a scenario in which a politician/military leader who decides to take matters into his or her own hands when the legal government refuses to aggressively act against another group who had decided to form its own faction or sovereignty. It just doesn't feel right to me. I'm not talking about the quality of the writing (although I have problems with the movie's writing). I'm talking about Leia's action. In another story, Leia would bear the consequences of such an aggressive act, even if her intentions were good.

Leia isn't a politician anymore, she resigned and they're operating outside of Republic space.

I'm not justifying her actions (legally) but she isn't a representative of the NR anymore.

The NR is supporting the Resistance, but on the down low, giving them outdated equipment and such.

 

[Kor]

I immensely enjoyed TFA. But I feel it should have taken more risks. I hope that TLJ takes thongs in more unexpected directions.

Kor

 

[Venardhi]

Somehow, I don't feel very impressed by Leia's action. Her action reminds of a scenario in which a politician/military leader who decides to take matters into his or her own hands when the legal government refuses to aggressively act against another group who had decided to form its own faction or sovereignty. It just doesn't feel right to me. I'm not talking about the quality of the writing (although I have problems with the movie's writing). I'm talking about Leia's action. In another story, Leia would bear the consequences of such an aggressive act, even if her intentions were good.

You're consistent with your hardon for authority, I'll give you that.

Leia sees an existential threat to the new Republic. She sees the new generation of politicians turning a blind eye to it. The First Order isn't waging war against the Republic yet, but it is going outside its borders to make attacks on worlds outside of Republic influence and is actively working against the Republic's interests. Do you think if a Nazi cabal set up in Argentina and started a new Reich in the 50s it would have been wrong to get in their way just because the United Nations said to ignore them?

 

[Set Harth]

I hope that TLJ takes thongs in more unexpected directions.

 

[Kor]

Argh, curse this phone keyboard.

Kor

 

[fireproof78]

Somehow, I don't feel very impressed by Leia's action. Her action reminds of a scenario in which a politician/military leader who decides to take matters into his or her own hands when the legal government refuses to aggressively act against another group who had decided to form its own faction or sovereignty. It just doesn't feel right to me. I'm not talking about the quality of the writing (although I have problems with the movie's writing). I'm talking about Leia's action. In another story, Leia would bear the consequences of such an aggressive act, even if her intentions were good.

Given that the story is not finished yet, we don't know what the consequences of her actions or the destruction of Hosnian Prime and Starkiller will mean in terms of the Resistance, the New Republic and the First Order.

Also, by the initial argument, the Rebel Alliance is wrong as well, since the Empire was founded by legal means, and voted in by the Senate.

 

[LJones41]

Leia isn't a politician anymore, she resigned and they're operating outside of Republic space.

I'm not justifying her actions (legally) but she isn't a representative of the NR anymore.

The NR is supporting the Resistance, but on the down low, giving them outdated equipment and such.

Yes, I'm well aware of this. I still find her action in creating the Resistance somewhat questionable. I don't know if Lucasfilm will go down this road, but I suspect that in another story, she and the NR would suffer the consequences of such aggressive action. I guess the NR has already suffered the consequences. Will Leia?

You're consistent with your hardon for authority, I'll give you that.

What in the HELL are you talking about? My "hardon for authority"? You honestly thought you could pass judgment on me, based upon a post and without even meeting me?