STAR WARS : The Force Awakens SPOILER Discussion

[miraclemet]

Ok so since some people wont be able to see the movie for weeks, I figure (as someone else pointed out) lets make a separate thread for discussing the movie after seeing it.

 

If you do not want to have plot points spoiled DO NOT READ THIS THREAD!!!!!

 

 

 

Seriously stop reading, there be SPOLIERS ahead.

[miraclemet]

Are you still reading?

 

Ok then you've been warned....

[miraclemet]

1. The movie did a great job with the FX and with the physical sets/effects. Felt far more REAL and solid than any of the prequels. I know some of that's due to the improvement of the CGI, but some is also due to the decision to build more sets and shoot on locations. Excellent decision.

 

2. Finn, Rey and Poe are all excellently rendered new characters. They are all unique. Especially Finn and Poe. Rey's got a bit of Leia in her, but she is a great character and I'm glad my daughter is going to grow up with a character like Rey in her movies.

 

3. Kylo Ren is everything Lucas WISHED he had done with Anakin. Petulant child for sure. Didnt like his look at the start of the movie, loved it by the end.

 

more thoughts once others join in...

[valiantman]

I have only seen what has been spoiled online... but the scene with Kylo and Han looks like there could be some debate about whether Kylo was acting conflicted or if he was truly conflicted before the "darkness fell". Rey and Finn turn to see it getting dark outside.

 

So... if the darkness falling caused Kylo's change of thoughts (if he wasn't faking them), then was that darkness falling the dark side taking over, or was it the external influence of Snoke?

[Anfield Fox]

I really liked it. I need to watch it again for it to sink in.

 

There were things i loved. A few things i didn't like. Things i need to think some more about. I agree the new characters are great, the best thing about the movie.

 

It's no Empire Strikes Back but it's good. On first viewing i place it 5th ahead of AOTC and TPM but that could easily change.

 

Sadly Han's death was spoiled for me 6 hours before i saw it by some ahole troll

[Comicshrine]

Very Good! 8/10. Loved Finn and Ray thought their chemistry was good. Pacing dropped off slightly in the middle and wasn't really a rousing ending. Loved seeing Han, Harrison Ford, what a great actor, the heart and soul of the Star Wars movies?

 

My only real disappointment was there was no stand out scene visually, no breathtaking action sequence. All well done but nothing exceptional.

 

Will watch again on Sunday though

[miraclemet]

I have only seen what has been spoiled online... but the scene with Kylo and Han looks like there could be some debate about whether Kylo was acting conflicted or if he was truly conflicted before the "darkness fell". Rey and Finn turn to see it getting dark outside.

 

So... if the darkness falling caused Kylo's change of thoughts (if he wasn't faking them), then was that darkness falling the dark side taking over, or was it the external influence of Snoke?

 

I think there was some internal struggle (Kylo tells Snoke earlier in the movie that he continues to fight the light side in himself), but once Kylo and Han are face to face on the platform and Kylo tells Han that "there's something I have to do but I need your help to do it" (or something close to that) I think it's a feint meant to sound like he's asking for help, but he isnt. The thing he needs to do is sever his ties with the light and to do that he needs to kill his father.

 

And the darkness was the sun being extinguished. A nice symbolic parallel but I dont think it actually was the dark side settling it, but part of the Star Killer power up.

[miraclemet]

... wasn't really a rousing ending.

 

Agree, but then I think of the endings of Star Wars (an awards ceremony) and ROTJ (Ewok party) and those werent great either. Maybe more of a postlude....

 

 

My only real disappointment was there was no stand out scene visually, no breathtaking action sequence. All well done but nothing exceptional.

 

i think the final light sabre battle between Rey and Kylo was meant to be that action sequence but I think the way it was filmed (in the forest, in the snow) made it look muddy and hard to follow (and this hard to be effected by it). I did like how natural the fight was. While I thought the light saber battles in the prequels were one of the few bright spots, they always looked TOO good, TOO choreographed. At least the Rey one seemed very organic.

[Garf]

Overall loved it, it was fun and pacey and the score (often the highlight for me) was great as usual, really kicking in during the first Resistance attack. It's been a decade since the last time I got to see Star Wars at the cinema and experience that classic intro. I couldn't help but get drawn in from the first few seconds, more so when the old characters began to appear.

 

However, it borrowed a bit too much from 4, 5 & 6 for my liking. At times it was more of an homage/swipe of those films than it was one in its own right. As soon as the whole droid with a map thing started to play out it just continued to reference the originals more and more... and more. I get why they did it and when it comes to "fan service" it really did that job well... but I can't help feeling it could have been better if it had jumped into a more original plot/story. There are already quite a few really good original stories that have been told in the SW universe in books, video games, comics, etc... so clearly it's possible. There will be more to come so I am going to let that one slide. I don't think anyone believed Disney was going to take any risks like that considering how much they have sunk into the franchise.

 

Looking forward to more and hoping they will have the confidendce to push the boundaries more after no doubt breaking all records.

 

[herc2000]

I really liked it!

 

The destroyed AT-AT seemed way to small in the desert, she was sitting next to the foot, and I though the size was comparable to a scout walker, not an AT-AT that crushes snowspeeders.

 

Was sad to see Han die ;-( other than that, great job!

[999ghosts]

Great movie.

 

I loved the Han Kylo, father and sun story.

Kylo s a superb new villain. Hapy they didn't make the Darth Maul mistake by killing in the first movie.

Rey is the perfect new Jedi to be. She will be loved.

I loved how Luke was used. Just at the end of the movie. But we now know he will have a bigger part in the next one.

 

I am surprised nobody here knew so far that Han was going to die. I thought it was no secret he only signed for one movie and was not gong to do 8.

 

I loved the movie and will see it at least one more time in the theater.

 

So much better then 1, 2 and 3.

[Doc McCoy]

I am surprised nobody here knew so far that Han was going to die. I thought it was no secret he only signed for one movie and was not gong to do 8.

 

This really shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. Harrison Ford begged Lucas to kill Han off in the original trilogy and has often said that the only way he would return to the franchise was if Han was going to die.

[BettrFastrStrongr]

These posts are like the movie: a retread.

[mystrymachine]

So is this true? Its basically a remake of IV?

 

 

[zuckuss2003]

So is this true? Its basically a remake of IV?

 

 

 

This is pretty accurate. I liked the new characters but it just felt like a remake instead of the next part of the story.

[mr_highgrade]

So is this true? Its basically a remake of IV?

 

 

 

This is pretty accurate. I liked the new characters but it just felt like a remake instead of the next part of the story.

 

Same here, was a little disappointed.

[makeminemego]

I thought the movie was good, but derivative.

 

The GOOD:

-Rey was awesome. Really liked her. Daisy Ridley would seem to be a fine actress and the obvious anchor of any sequels.

 

-Han Solo being back was really cool, Harrison Ford didn't seem to be sleepwalking.

 

-Poe seemed like a fun (albeit underwritten) character. Hopefully he'll get more screentime next movie.

 

-Kylo Ren was a fine villain. I really liked the performance of the actor playing him, Adam Driver.

 

-BB-8 was awesome.

 

The :

-John Williams' score didn't have the "punch" of previous efforts. Left me underwhelmed, surprisingly.

 

-Finn seemed like an interesting character, and I'm certain John Boyega is a capable actor, but I feel like he over acted in some scenes, especially early in the picture.

 

-The pacing is fun, but I think the movie could've stopped and caught its breath on a couple of occasions. Seemed out of control in spots.....just really moving fast....

 

The NOT-Good:

 

-Carrie Fisher. She was as wooden as the guy who used to do commercials for "The Club". At least he admitted he wasn't a paid actor. No chemistry with Ford.

 

-The movie is way too self referential. Enough with the touchstones from the original trilogy. You've got Han Solo, that's touchstone enough. Not as bad as STiD, but close.

 

 

Still, I overall really had fun with the movie. 3-3.5 stars/4.

 

 

 

[KingOfRulers]

I liked Star Wars VII, but there were some things I would have changed.

 

Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Harrison Ford did a good job. Daisy in particular. Daisy is a delicate ray of beauty. I'm not sold on the villains quite yet. One of the few saving graces of Episode I-III was Christopher Lee and Ian McDiarmid. At the moment, they are far superior actors/villains than the current ones.

 

The story seemed a bit thin to me, with many elements similar to A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. I'll just list out some of the issues that I had with the movie:

 

The score, while not bad, did not blow me away. John Williams is a revolutionary figure in cinematic music, but I didn't get the revolutionary feeling with this score.

 

The sound, while very good, I thought could have been a bit more. I was hoping for a richer X-Wing and blaster sounds, but generally they sounded the same as they always have. That's not a bad thing necessarily, but I was just hoping for an evolution in the sounds.

 

One of the moments that really bugs me is when Leia realizes that Han died. She can feel it in the force that he's gone, just like Yoda could when Jedis were being slaughtered. I expected a silent, scoreless 10 seconds of seeing Leia on the floor, inconsolable and in tears. As it were, it seemed more like she found out she got laid off or somebody stole her purse. Not like somebody she loved was killed.

 

There were a bunch of Hollywood moments such as starting the Millenium Falcon after it hasn't flown for many years. Or being able to pilot what appears to be a complex to operate ship, without ever having flown it or even been in the cockpit before.

 

The Stormtroopers still look like incompetent Benny Hills running around. I've never seen anyone shoot a rifle in real life, like Stormtroopers shoot rifles. They shoot while completely facing towards their target rather than aiming by twisting 90 degrees sideways like real life marksmen do. They just look so unorganized and goofy in their movements still.

 

These annoying faults aside, I did like the movie! I'm simply not listing most of the positive things because that would be boring. I believe it was what a Star Wars sequel should be. It was a proper tale in keeping with the spirit of the original trilogy. I'm so glad that this movie was able to get Star Wars back on track. Overall, I give it a 4/5.

[Hulksdaddy1]

Thought it was good, but also felt like I was watching Superman Returns. Everything was familiar. Too familiar. Like I saw this movie before.

 

Rey's transition from no Force to Force-user was way, way to quick. Felt rushed.

 

At no time during the movie was I surprised.

[Jtwpantera]

Thought it was good, but also felt like I was watching Superman Returns. Everything was familiar. Too familiar. Like I saw this movie before.

 

Rey's transition from no Force to Force-user was way, way to quick. Felt rushed.

 

At no time during the movie was I surprised.

 

 

I hated how Rey and Finn just picked up a lightsaber and were able to stand against Kylo. He might not be a master, but he spent enough time training with Luke to be able to successfully destroy everything Luke built, which I assume means killing the other students. However two people that have never had any force training can put up a fight instead of just being struck down. They spent 6 movies and almost 40 years explaining that you need to be trained in how to use the force, but now we have two people picking up a lightsaber and holding there own against someone who received training from possibly the greatest Jedi of all time.