Star Wars: The Force Awakens Discussion (HERE THERE BE SPOILERS)

[Greylock Crescent]

$238M

 

[USS Triumphant]

Oh and I see Greg Grunberg as somehow related to the Porkins lineage despite supposedly being named Snap(!) Wexley.

Him being a Porkins might have been too "all in the family" - though that certainly hasn't stopped the series before, has it? I kind of wish they *had* made him a Porkins - if I had to have Grunberg's mug show up on screen and knock me out of the movie, the least they could have done was use it to pay tribute to an OT character.

So does anyone else think it highly unlikely that, in all their adventures and years spent together, that Han never had reason to pick up and use Chewie's bowcaster before? Or was never even curious to try it out?

It was a funny moment in the film, but at the same time did strike me as a bit odd.

Unless it was a recently aquired replacement. I don't remember Chewie's bowcaster having such an explosive impact in the old trilogy.

I wish there had been an indication that Chewie either had a new bowcaster or had acquired new ammo or something. Because yes, this made NO sense other than to beat us to make sure we understood this would be a reason that the weapon would hurt Kylo Ren.

 

[Corran Horn]

No - it was not Coruscant. That planet is closer to the core. The planet we saw destroyed was Chandrila - Mon Mothma's home world.

No.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Without the Fox fanfare that completely silent build to the big opening Star Wars "DIIINNH" works really well.

I think Disney made a little mistake there. I know they probably didn't want to overemphasize their involvement given what some segments of the fandom had said about what Star Wars becoming a Disney product might mean, but... we should have gotten the 3D castle at the beginning and the Disney anthem. And then for bonus points, they should have done what they do on some of their productions (Pirates of the Caribbean for example) and themed it contextually - pulled back a bit, showed a Death Star in the sky somewhere above the castle, had an X-Wing and Tie Fighter dogfight go flying past the castle, etc. Just a little something. THEN the Lucasfilm logo, and the "A Long Time Ago" screen.

General Hux came off as a lame Tarkin.

He reminded me of a commander in a recent Rebels episode. I liked that he was always trying to put himself over Kylo Ren, probably breaking him down that much more.

I didn't like him AT ALL, until someone pointed out a line that I missed about how General Hux had already left when the base was going up. No arrogant Tarkin nonsense for that guy, no sir.

 

[davejames]

Gotta say, the more I think back on the movie, the more amazing many of the really great moments start to seem-- the first Falcon sequence, the first scenes with Han and Chewie, the amazing lightsaber battles, the reveal of Luke at the end...

My only real issues were with the draggy pace at times and recycling of the Death Star, so I'm really curious to see it a second time to see if those are still as big a problem for me. I've seen a lot of people saying they had fewer issues with it the second time through, so I'm hoping that's the same case with me...

 

[Enterprise1701]

I sure wonder how Maz Kanata got ahold of Anakin/Luke's blue lightsaber after Luke lost it on Bespin in Episode V.

I can understand why there have been theories that Snoke and the Knights of Ren might be descended from the Inquisitors in Star Wars Rebels.

Unless/until Disney says otherwise, I'm calling the planet at the end of the movie Tython. Legends EU forever!

 

[Trek4Ever]

I wish there were more options in this poll because I fall somewhere in the middle with this movie. Not as good as the first two OT and I liked ROTS more for many reasons, but better than the first two PT.

I wonder how the trajectory of this film will be like over time. I recall people were going ga-ga over the PT films when they first came out, overlooked the obvious flaws but after awhile the griping began until a consensus settled in that they sucked.

I did enjoy TFA a lot but do see its glaring problems...mainly that it's a dressed up remake of Episode IV but it got so many things right, especially the new characters who were well cast and left me wanting to know more about them and their situation.

But getting back to my original point, I think that in the end the regard for TFA may fall somewhere in the middle once the dust settles.

 

[Cutter John]

I'm sure we'll see plenty of hate over the next week or so, as people decide they need to show how sophisticated they are, rather than being
"Just another drooling fanboy".

 

[USS Triumphant]

Actually, I'm going in the opposite direction - I'm liking it more and more as I go, and I've only seen it the once. I will say, though, that a large part of that is information that is coming to me from auxiliary sources like the Visual Dictionary and Incredible Cross-sections. And that shouldn't be. I think the film was possibly very badly cut - if footage that explained the additional information was filmed at all.

 

[JediKnightButler]

Just got back from the movie and trying to absorb everything. After being assured by GL that ROTS would be the last official Star Wars movie, I had resigned myself 10 years ago to the end of the movie franchise. I was slightly buoyed by the release of the Clone Wars "movie" in 2008 and the subsequent roll out of that series, even though I wanted more coverage of what happened AFTER ROTJ than I did of what happened between AOTC and ROTS but I decided that having some new Star Wars material was better than none and TCW ended up being a great series and brought some great new stuff into the canon. I was totally dumbstruck when in 2012 they announced that GL was selling the franchise to Disney AND making new movies. I was initially convinced it was an April Fools joke but it wasn't anytime near April, so this was real.

Flash-forward to the final release of the first "real" Star Wars movie a couple of days ago: Although there were many reused elements from ANH and a few elements of the old EU (i.e. Legacy of the Force), Abrams and Kasdan brought in enough original elements, characters, and situations that it didn't feel too much like a "remix" or "mishmash" of the OT/PT or any of the EU stories. And even if it felt like they tried to squeeze a lot into the movie and left some things up in the air, we do still have two more movies left in the new trilogy to tie up some of those loose ends and expand upon some of the events that occurred. RIP to our favorite "scoundrel" but I felt that his death was handled decently. I liked that, despite apparently being estranged from Leia (which was sad after the end of ROTJ), he died trying to fulfill his promise to Leia to try to bring his son back from the darkside. The John Williams score was also well-done, recycling some familiar themes and meshing them with new ones. Looking forward to the next installment, as well as the standalone "anthology" films!

 

[Michael]

Am I the only one who would love it if Finn isn't Force-sensitive and if he and Rey aren't somehow related to anyone from the Original Trilogy? Somehow I find it more powerful – not to say less contrived – if they are just completely original, new people.

... the Visual Dictionary and Incredible Cross-sections.

Are those books any good? I would love to have some good books about the movie.

 

[Samurai8472]

Just came back from seeing it. It's a really good idea to pre-order tickets! Even on Sunday at 1:30 pm it was packed


Some thoughts while they're still fresh



Wow that has to be the quickest paycheck for Hamill. Go to Ireland and stand on a cliff.

Chewie got over Han real quick

R2D2 came online at just the right moment

It certainly wasn't a straightforward "blow up the bad guys base" plot. There were alot of threads for the sequels

It's hard to tell who the main cast we're supposed to follow for these new movies. I wouldn't really mind if we don't see Poe or Finn again.

I instantly recognized Daniel Craig as the cell storm trooper. At first I thought he'd be the storm trooper Finn dueled with.

Also Greg Gunberg as an x-wing pilot.

No "Batman VS Superman" trailer or "Independence Day: Resurgence"

 

[Relayer1]

It's hard to tell who the main cast we're supposed to follow for these new movies. I wouldn't really mind if we don't see Poe or Finn again.

Wow ! Poe and Finn, along with Daisy Ridley's Rae were standouts. I loved them.

I'd get used to them if I were you - I think they're the main three heroes from here on in...

 

[USS Triumphant]

... the Visual Dictionary and Incredible Cross-sections.

Are those books any good? I would love to have some good books about the movie.

They are - pretty similar to their predecessors for the other movies. I actually bought them to give as a Christmas present to my best friend - but I was so annoyed with plot holes in the movie that I decided to very gingerly skim them a couple of hours ago in search of extra info. They don't fill *every* hole, but they do a nice enough job that I no longer want anyone to bring me the head of Abrams.

I still want to read the novelization. It's available for Kindle now, but dead tree form comes out on January 5th.

 

[Venardhi]

It's hard to tell who the main cast we're supposed to follow for these new movies. I wouldn't really mind if we don't see Poe or Finn again.

Wow ! Poe and Finn, along with Daisy Ridley's Rae were standouts. I loved them.

I'd get used to them if I were you - I think they're the main three heroes from here on in...

Well, them plus whoever the female character they were auditioning for a while back is.

 

[TRON JA307020]

Voted "it's a trap" somewhat in jest. It's an entertaining movie. It just didn't bring anything that new or exciting to the table. It was all fairly predictable. The humor was just a little too corny at points, some bits should have been played a bit more seriously. I don't remember much about the EU stuff, it had a lot of "hey look these guys are bringing the empire back and they got an EVEN BIGGER super weapon" which seems to be what this movie was doing but... I didn't quite follow. The rebels won right? There's a New Republic more or less? Or has Leia just been mostly sitting in bunkers fighting an endless war? On the one hand they keep calling them "The Resistance" on the other Death Star Planet Edition is zapping some government planet or something?

Did JJ wake up one day and say "You know what, the Empire in the originals just didn't look enough like nazis!"?

Just where they put the characters didn't really work for me. Oh great, Luke fucked up just like Ol' Ben with his apprentice, and then fucked off to hide in a hole while billions get slaughtered. Han's... a freighter captain... lost the Millenium Falcon again to some scoundrel or another and uhhh. he transports... space monsters. Or something.

Leia sat in her war bunker for 30 years while completely forgetting how to act.

It was a fun movie, but it's as disposable as your average Marvel movie. Star Wars deserved better but there was too much money on the line for this to not be the movie.

Agreed. Luke was a character that provided hope and strength. He fought to save his father from the Darkside. His running away after the Academy failed seems out of character for him. Would the Luke we knew from the OT really run out and let something like the New Order rise in power and slaughter people left and right. The Luke we all admired in the OT would have stayed and fought. Everything he fought for in the original movies basically meant nothing and he really wasn't a new hope at all.

 

[Push The Button]

Star Wars: The Next Generation

I loved it, and I'm looking forward to the next one. It was great to see Han, Leia, Luke, Chewie, R2, C3PO and the Millennium Falcon again, and the new characters were awesome, especially Rey.

Well done, JJ.

 

[EnsignRicky]

Note to Marvel: Now might be a good time to release the comic book adaptation.

And it's four hundred and nine variant covers.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Am I the only one who would love it if Finn isn't Force-sensitive and if he and Rey aren't somehow related to anyone from the Original Trilogy? Somehow I find it more powerful – not to say less contrived – if they are just completely original, new people.

You're not the only one. I've mentioned somewhere else that I wouldn't mind if there were no family relation whatsoever. We have enough of Small Galaxy syndrome in movies already.

I'm not going to complain if Rey ends up being Luke's daughter but I could do without it just fine.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Anyone who has read the novelization: Does it clear up ant operational details of Starkiller Base? Can it move under its own power from system to system? How does it aim if not? Etc.