*** STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Spoiler Discussion/Reactions ***

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Buck Compton
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In reply to YokelRidesAgain • 12:22p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
Initial reaction:

Pro: I think overall the best acted of any Star Wars film. Really liked the chemistry between Finn and Rey.

Con: Apparently not satisfied with retconning one of the greatest screen villains of all time into a wooden emo loser in the prequels, they start the sequels with a villain who is a wooden emo loser from the word go. Why?

The only thing that made the whole insufferable chapter of the prequels at least a coherent story was recasting the whole Epic as the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker...except now it seems he turned back to evil after he died and possessed his grandkid. I'm sure there will be some convoluted, dualistic interpretation of this, but really, I would think Han and Leia's kid could turn out evil without the direct personal involvement of Darth Vader.

Initially enjoyed the lighter tone after the heavy handed, taking itself way too seriously feel of the prequels (and ROTJ, honestly), but think Abrams took it too far. Putting in lines for the explicit purpose of drawing laughs is not Star Wars.

Overall: Meh. I'm neither for or against the retelling of New Hope as a new movie, but this one won't hold up well in comparison when the whiz-bang NEW feel wears off.


I'm very confused by your review... Kylo is not at all like anakin. Kylo is who anakin should have been all this time. Kylo feels he is dark, bring tempted by the light, and has convinced himself Vader was the same way.

You understand Darth Vader isn't possessing anyone and is still good in the end right? Kylo has taken the stories of his grandfather's evil, and trying to rebel and be like him. I thought it was good motivation. You're off your rocker on somehow thinking this mean Darth Vader turned evil again...

I won't list them out right now, but PLENTY of lines in the OT were purely for humor. Star Wars is supposed to have humor.

The rehashing of story lines was my biggest gripe by far. I think that was a bad overall premise to attack this movie with, but the execution on the premise was superb. Hopefully it sets them up well for the next two episodes and some more originality.
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Brian Earl Spilner
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12:26p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
I won't list them out right now, but PLENTY of lines in the OT were purely for humor. Star Wars is supposed to have humor.
This.
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jeffk
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 12:32p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
quote:
I won't list them out right now, but PLENTY of lines in the OT were purely for humor. Star Wars is supposed to have humor.
This.


Droid please.
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rhutton125
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12:32p, 12/26/15
AG
I hated Starkiller Base. That's definitely my biggest and least-likely-to-change gripe. The previous nods and references and things were very well done - SKB seemed to fall into the sequel trap of "let's do it again but go bigger and better!". What's the point of a base the size of Texas when you seemingly have just a handful of storm troopers to defend it? It may be 17x bigger but it's 17x easier to infiltrate too.

The other gripes and things I kind of wrestle with - I just hate the decision to introduce and quickly destroy another super weapon in the final act.
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AliasMan02
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In reply to Buck Compton • 12:40p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:

The rehashing of story lines was my biggest gripe by far. I think that was a bad overall premise to attack this movie with, but the execution on the premise was superb. Hopefully it sets them up well for the next two episodes and some more originality.


My second viewing reinforced to me why I think they revisited a lot of the same plot elements as the OT: it was a device to keep everything moving as fast as possible. This movie had to reestablish the faith of a fanbase and draw in the sizeable population that never cared about the PT. To have an all-new, complex plot with twists and turns would have alienated a lot of people. They stuck to basics, and while big fans like most of us would have liked to see a bit more, it has really paid off overall.

We'll undoubtedly see some parallels between Ep VIII and Empire, but it will be much more a "new" story.
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AliasMan02
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In reply to rhutton125 • 12:43p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
I hated Starkiller Base. That's definitely my biggest and least-likely-to-change gripe. The previous nods and references and things were very well done - SKB seemed to fall into the sequel trap of "let's do it again but go bigger and better!". What's the point of a base the size of Texas when you seemingly have just a handful of storm troopers to defend it? It may be 17x bigger but it's 17x easier to infiltrate too.

The other gripes and things I kind of wrestle with - I just hate the decision to introduce and quickly destroy another super weapon in the final act.


Let's not overlook that while it was destroyed, it DID eliminate an entire system of planets, the opposition government, and the entire enemy fleet. Didn't eliminate the Resistance entirely, but destroyed its entire base of support. Not bad.
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TelcoAg
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1:02p, 12/26/15
AG
Carrie Fisher has had some pretty jacked up relationships, she's bi-polar, and she went through multiple bouts of hardcore drug addiction. The fact that they even got her to take the role here is amazing.

I wonder how many people would ***** if they had replaced her altogether.
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Brian Earl Spilner
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1:16p, 12/26/15
AG
<3

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dave94
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In reply to TelcoAg • 1:16p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
Carrie Fisher has had some pretty jacked up relationships, she's bi-polar, and she went through multiple bouts of hardcore drug addiction. The fact that they even got her to take the role here is amazing.

I wonder how many people would ***** if they had replaced her altogether.


Or had a throwaway "well, since Leia died" line.
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Gangnam Style
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 1:35p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
<3

She's so freaking adorable
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AliasMan02
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 1:39p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
<3



What in the world is happening here?
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Ambres
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1:51p, 12/26/15
AG
I hate to say it but seeing how bad Fisher has gotten... recast it or state that she suffered some injury that explains her wierd facial expression.. a throw away line by Han when he see her.

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Brian Earl Spilner
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In reply to AliasMan02 • 1:54p, 12/26/15
AG
As in, what is she eating? Does it matter?
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Bruce Almighty
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2:05p, 12/26/15
AG
Looks like she's eating a burger while taking a dump.
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YokelRidesAgain
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In reply to Buck Compton • 2:38p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
I'm very confused by your review... Kylo is not at all like anakin. Kylo is who anakin should have been all this time. Kylo feels he is dark, bring tempted by the light, and has convinced himself Vader was the same way.

I'm not very interested in exploring the internal motivations of characters in a freakin' Star Wars movie...Darth Vader was an imposing, menacing villain. He was wicked cool. This dude is a whiny teenager. You didn't see Darth Vader start crying when he struck down Obi-Wan, did you?

I just think Kylo is kind of a lame villain who reminds me too much of Hayden Christensen.

quote:
You understand Darth Vader isn't possessing anyone and is still good in the end right? Kylo has taken the stories of his grandfather's evil, and trying to rebel and be like him. I thought it was good motivation.

In the scene with the helmet, Kylo is addressing himself to it as in prayer: "Show me, again, the power of the darkness." You're interpreting that as if he's using Vader's helmet as some kind of totem or symbol. I think it's literal...this guy doesn't go to the extreme difficulty of locating Vader's burned up helmet just because he thinks it makes a cool set of rosary beads for his devotions to the Dark Side.

I realize there's a lot of ways this could be explained...maybe he's being manipulated by some other agent, or maybe he's just cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, but regardless, it seemed unnecessary.
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YokelRidesAgain
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In reply to Bruce Almighty • 2:39p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
Looks like she's eating a burger while taking a dump.

She's a busy woman! Only so many hours in the day! Leave her alone.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
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AMW2010
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3:09p, 12/26/15
AG
Feels good to finally read this thread!

Saw the movie last night at the palladium in 3d.

The feels got me good there when Han got it... Loved the music, I've only managed to read about 20 pages and I saw someone else mentioned that this movie unlike the others didn't really have a stand out song

I thought it was weird that captain phasma seemed to be hyped up but had a limited part that could have been replaced by an average storm trooper

I thought the Supreme leader was a giant at first, but then realized he was a hologram

I hate not having closure, but I'm gonna assume Han is good and dead... Especially since star killer was destroyed... It just seemed like no one gave a **** that Han was killed and that upset me

I found it weird that Fin could use the light saber, and didn't do that bad, tho that storm trooper would have beat him, yet he didn't do a bad job against Ren.

I thought Rey did well with the saber and her force powers, I saw her the same as Luke in IV, his powers just seemed to click on one day too... And those who say she was too good with a saber, she had been pretty good skills with her staff, so it's not that much if a difference.

Lastly in the opening roll, did it say Leia sent someone to jakku to wait... I assume that would have been Rey... Maybe Leia hid likes child for his safety?

I would have liked the movie to end with Luke force grabbing the saber from Rey and it turns on, que the credits.

The pace of the movie moved well, but that led to some confusing stuff for me anyways
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Buck Compton
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In reply to AMW2010 • 4:04p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
The feels got me good there when Han got it... Loved the music, I've only managed to read about 20 pages and I saw someone else mentioned that this movie unlike the others didn't really have a stand out song

...

Lastly in the opening roll, did it say Leia sent someone to jakku to wait... I assume that would have been Rey... Maybe Leia hid likes child for his safety?


The score stands out much more on a second viewing, when you don't have tunnel vision on other things. It's really excellent.

You must have misread, Leia sent Poe to get the clue. That's all.
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AMW2010
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In reply to Buck Compton • 4:49p, 12/26/15
AG
Thanks for the clarification ... I slept since I saw the movie and wasn't sure
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St Hedwig Aggie
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5:56p, 12/26/15
AG
I suppose I'm in the minority...but this movie was "ehhhhh"

Cool effects...the rolling soccer ball was funny, the two main characters were ok...but all in all, it was pretty much a retread story line...big weapon that was somehow destroyed by a few x-wing fighters...

The ginger/twink general was hardly imposing...more laughable than anything...the emperor, hologram thing looked like something out of the hobbit...

This was all hype...a cool flick...and it was nice to find out what happened...but I have no desire to see it for a long time!

At least it was better than episodes 1, 2 and 3...

The empire strikes back still rules them all!!
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Mr. White
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6:21p, 12/26/15
Saw it. I want to wait a couple of weeks before seeing it again.

I had the same problem I have when seeing bands I love in concert. I'm wide-eyed and star-struck and can't believe it's right there in front of me. This causes me to miss some details.

It was definitely flawed but I loved it. I wish I could hear a 100% truthful Abrams explain the huge amount of similarities to ANH.

Likes: BB-8 / Helmeted Kylo Ren / The Falcon chase scene on Jakku - best part of the movie? Likely. / Screaming Hux in front of his men

Nitpicks: Dial it back juuuuuuuust a bit, Finn / The torture scene for whoever shot Chewy will be in the home video extras, right? RIGHT?! / I wish I had pause control on the Rey vision scene.

That was the fastest 2h 16m of my non-sleeping life.

I saw that there are a few complaints about Disney not including a 20th Century Fox-type fanfare before the LucasFilm logo. I agree with this. I also believe that the previous twenty minutes of ear-splitting, seizure-causing trailers didn't help with that either.

Almost ALL trailers have the same style now: Show a quick five second shot, fade to black, alarm sound; Show two quick shots in four seconds, fade to black, alarm sound; Show three quick shots in three seconds, fade to black, alarm sound.....up until they show half the movie in a two second span.

Your senses are a bit desensitized/bludgeoned(?!) by the time the theme and crawl start, rendering it far less effective.

edit: One of my favorite non-chase scenes: (heavy paraphrasing)

"Kylo, Finn and Rey escaped Jakku."

Lightsaber out, high amount of destruction

Kylo: "Anything else?"
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Tobias Funke
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6:27p, 12/26/15
AG
I can not, at all, understand why anyone would care that there wasn't a 20th century fox intro. Who the hell cares?
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Mr. White
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6:29p, 12/26/15
It's the national anthem of Star Wars
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jabberwalkie09
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In reply to Mr. White • 6:36p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
It's the national anthem of Star Wars

So what is the Main Theme then? Chop liver?
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dave94
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6:36p, 12/26/15
AG
I think there is something to be said for not having SOMETHING audio over the Lucasfilm logo to lead into the silence... "A long time ago..." and the crash of the score when STAR WARS blasts onto the screen.

The transition from the loud trailers and theater chain intro is missing something for sure.
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Mr. White
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In reply to jabberwalkie09 • 6:38p, 12/26/15
quote:
quote:
It's the national anthem of Star Wars

So what is the Main Theme then? Chop liver?
Okay, 20th Century = Texas, Our Texas
Theme = Spirit of Aggieland
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Zombie Jon Snow
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In reply to jabberwalkie09 • 6:39p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
quote:
It's the national anthem of Star Wars

So what is the Main Theme then? Chop liver?
I think he meant national anthem in that it is played BEFORE the main event you are there for....that well known 20th century FOX fanfare.....then into the SW theme and crawl.
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Buck Compton
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In reply to YokelRidesAgain • 6:41p, 12/26/15
AG
quote:
I'm not very interested in exploring the internal motivations of characters in a freakin' Star Wars movie...Darth Vader was an imposing, menacing villain. He was wicked cool. This dude is a whiny teenager. You didn't see Darth Vader start crying when he struck down Obi-Wan, did you?

So you don't want to think because it's Star Wars... Bet you complain about mindless humor in other movies. There was a ton of exploration in the originals about motivations, for good and evil characters (Han, Luke, Vader, etc.). You'd be complaining if there was less character development that they pandered to the masses. It isn't just all light sabers, blaster rifles, and SFX.

We can just agree to disagree about Vader appearing to Kylo. Give the filmmakers just a LITTLE credit. You're the first maybe second person I've heard say something like that. I can virtually guarantee that's not what they meant.

The rest of the complaints I completely understand and largely agree with. This one perplexes me.
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An Ag in CO
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7:18p, 12/26/15
AG
The deleted scenes and extended version of the movie will fill in a few of the blanks. A couple of the deleted scenes were odd choices to cut, but Disney did need their pound of flesh and Abrams isn't complaining (at least not yet). I heard they may release the theatrical cut first and then follow it with the extended version for the following Christmas or in connection with the release of the next movie. Interesting economics on how this franchise has been restructured and how Disney will market product to the consumers.
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DannyDuberstein
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8:28p, 12/26/15
AG
A+ in my book. I enjoyed all of the parallels to IV, and the acting and dialogue was very good. The main plot was fast moving, clear to follow, but there was still enough mysteries and character motivation questions to keep some mystery to it. I thought it was a great way to launch the new series and get fans reinvigorated about it. It was seriously everyting the prequels weren't.

I'm not that big a fan of CGI for Snoke, but it's not a big deal to me either way. Amd yeah, they'll need to find a way to minimize Carrie Fisher's participation in the next 2, but that shouldn't be very difficult.
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Brian Earl Spilner
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8:32p, 12/26/15
AG
Just sat down in the theater for viewing #4, probably the last one. Had to wait till the 9:50 cause it was sold out in 2D all afternoon.

Still 20 mins to go and probably at 90% capacity.
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DannyDuberstein
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8:39p, 12/26/15
AG
As far as Vader goes, I'm going with the theory that Vader stayed "redeemed" and this has nothing to do with his force ghost, etc. I think the dark side is using his past existence as an "in" to get to Ren, but it's a tool - a delusion. Not entirly unlike the Emporer deluded Anakin.

He may be saying "show me again", but it's the dark side using vader as a tool, not anyting truly connected actually vader. And on the other side, he reinforces it because he wants that connection.
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Brian Earl Spilner
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In reply to DannyDuberstein • 8:46p, 12/26/15
AG
Yup, agree.
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Wheatables02
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9:15p, 12/26/15
AG
Buy the soundtrack. There are definitely some "standout" songs. Rey's theme and march of the resistance are awesome.

I'm a music nazi and I barely noticed March of the resistance because it blends so well with the action.

That's the mark of a great score.
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MASAXET
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9:35p, 12/26/15
AG
Just now getting into this thread so sorry if this had been addressed already (will catch up over the next few days, so if it has been addressed just note so and I'll be finding it)

There were a lot of minor miracle / happenstance encounters in this one, same as Episode IV. However, the more you learn about Episode IV, it's not as amazing, meaning there is a reason the Stars' paths cross. R2 was sent to find Obi Wan, who was watching over Luke - so it's not all that surprising that Luke would run into R2.

For this one, I dont know if there are more satisfying explanations for the chance encounters than plain luck. Surely there are, right? Like Rey was put on Jakku and Max Von Sydows character was there for a similar reason? (Like Ben for Luke)? That would make it more understandable why the force sensitive Rey just happens to run into the droid with the map to Luke. I mean it's not just a coincidence that Rey and the plans to Luke happen to be on the same planet, right?

Or Han finding the millennium falcon at that moment. I'm having a harder time finding any reason for that connection other than plain happenstance.

I'm probably missing some obvious stuff and/or it's already been discussed, but figured I'd throw it out there
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