Star Wars Spoilers Thread [Spoilers]

So here's my review: 100% a Star Wars film which belongs with the original trilogy.

It's a transitional film, but it does it well. The new generation is really good.

I think the major death was kinda signposted a bit. You knew it was coming long before it happened. I felt worse for Chewie, but he, Rey, and BB8 make a great team.

Is this the first Star Wars film where nobody gets their hand cut off?

Luke lives in Ireland, eh?

Question: WHY was there a map to Luke, and why was it split into two? I feel like I missed something. For that matter, why a map and not just some coordinates? Seems like a random puzzle set up for the sake of it.

 

[Maxperson]

Yes. It was dealt with. Again, efficiency of the medium. In movies like this, you deal with those things efficiently and then move on. Like the other poster I agree that having Luke go back to risk his life to intervene demonstrates his care (the fact that he fully embraces becoming a Jedi after also shows the impact) and the music clearly is meant to indicate the profound impact this has on him (and in star wars half the story is told through the music). After that though, yes we are focused on the adventure, which is fine. That isn't a lack of consistency. That is efficiency. The kiss is inconsistent because it is never addressed at all.

The same with Leia. She definitely shows how she feels about Alderaan when it happens. So it is dealt with. Plus we get plenty of weight from Obi-Wan's reaction when he senses it. Then the full weight of it is shown to the viewer when all that is left are bits and pieces of it. For a movie like star wars any further dwelling on the issue would have taken away from the impact of Obi-Wan's sensing the deaths of the inhabitants of Alderaan. So these were both addressed and the movie does move on (though arguably these things both strengthen Luke and Leia's resolve).

We're going to have to agree to disagree on that. There's no way they dealt with it. They glossed over and virtually ignored it, which is fine for an action movie. However, it is equally fine to do what they did with the kiss. There is no meaningful difference between the three incidents.

 

[Hussar]

Just because it's topical:

 

[Herschel]

I saw it during the opening showing and I have to say, I don't think I've ever been more disappointed with a movie. They assembled a great cast, the practical effects were nice, John Williams and the cinematography were on-point and then deliver a story that's nothing but rehashed drivel and devoid of surprises.

While I have always had issues with the "Kumbaya" ending to Return of the Jedi (Oh, take out the Emperor and the entirety of this massive, galactic empire just falls apart?), this one turns around and says 'not only did we whitewash that, but the emperor was actually a pretty good guy because he kept things from actually being that bad.'

I'm not sure whether I applaud or shake my head at Abrams cutting the scene where Chewbacca rips Simon Pegg's arm off.

How the heck does Han Solo not know where/ leave the Millennium Falcon sit for so long? Instead it's deus ex falcona.

Han's been with Chewbacca for how many decades and is just now figuring out the power of the bowcaster?

The Starkiller Base is Nigel Tuffnel's amp.

You can't say it's just a remake of a New Hope, I mean they threw in Hoth and Endor too.

The elegant lightsaber is once again the equivalent of a 7-pound hunk of claymore rather than the finesse of the katana.

There was no real gravitas behinds Finn's switch. "Oh, look, here's a stormtrooper who is having doubts" without any background or context making it actually mean something.

Everything in the story that made any sense was utterly predictable, as in Michael Bay predictable.

We left the theater feeling just plain let down. The elements were all there to deliver a knockout but instead we got a kludgy, fanboi nostalgia trip.

 

[Water Bob]

Just walked in from seeing it a second time. This viewing was in IMAX 3D, and I loved it more than I did the first time. Yeah, if pressed, I'd still put Empire and A New Hope in front of this one as better films, but Force Awakens is waaaaayyyyy better than any of the prequels or Jedi.

Some things that I was on the edge about I found that I liked better this time. Han Solo's death had more emotion for me (weird, since I knew it was coming). And, I like Kylo Ren much more--he's not a master, like we're used to seeing. He's no Vader or Darth Maul or Emperor Palpatine. He's like a Journeyman Force User. Yeah, he can do things that boggle the minds of normal people, but he's definitely not up to snuff with the baddies that we're used to. I find that kinda neat. I bet he'll grow, over the next two films, into a bad-ass. Right now, he's just a conflicted kid not completely in control of his emotions.

Yeah, I really like this new Star Wars. I can't wait for the next installment.

 

[Water Bob]

I saw it during the opening showing and I have to say, I don't think I've ever been more disappointed with a movie. They assembled a great cast, the practical effects were nice, John Williams and the cinematography were on-point and then deliver a story that's nothing but rehashed drivel and devoid of surprises.

While I have always had issues with the "Kumbaya" ending to Return of the Jedi (Oh, take out the Emperor and the entirety of this massive, galactic empire just falls apart?), this one turns around and says 'not only did we whitewash that, but the emperor was actually a pretty good guy because he kept things from actually being that bad.'

I'm not sure whether I applaud or shake my head at Abrams cutting the scene where Chewbacca rips Simon Pegg's arm off.

How the heck does Han Solo not know where/ leave the Millennium Falcon sit for so long? Instead it's deus ex falcona.

Han's been with Chewbacca for how many decades and is just now figuring out the power of the bowcaster?

The Starkiller Base is Nigel Tuffnel's amp.

You can't say it's just a remake of a New Hope, I mean they threw in Hoth and Endor too.

The elegant lightsaber is once again the equivalent of a 7-pound hunk of claymore rather than the finesse of the katana.

There was no real gravitas behinds Finn's switch. "Oh, look, here's a stormtrooper who is having doubts" without any background or context making it actually mean something.

Everything in the story that made any sense was utterly predictable, as in Michael Bay predictable.

We left the theater feeling just plain let down. The elements were all there to deliver a knockout but instead we got a kludgy, fanboi nostalgia trip.

Obviously, I disagree with just about everything you've said (though I do sympathize with some of your statements), but I wanted to comment about the lightsaber duels. I really disagree with you here. This movie gives the lightsaber duels in the original trilogy more weight--legitimacy.

Plus, the ones in the prequel, while more flashy, didn't not sell me on how deadly they were. When Kylo Ren fights Rey and Finn, I felt those dangerous weapons. Never once did I feel that in any of the prequel films.

In this film, the weapon is treated more realistically, imo. The Jedi wielding them in the prequels seems too comic-booky to mee.

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

Dealt with?!?!? Luke mourns for a few seconds and is completely over the murder of his entire family by the time he gets to Mos Eisley for the droid scene. Leia shows a similar lack when Alderaan is destroyed. The briefness of their mourning is comparable to the brief discomfort of parties that accompanies the kissing scenes. Again, you don't get to have it both ways.

This movie doesn't work like that. It is more like a fairytale. You can give it that kind of in-depth analysis, demanding answers to why no one showed grief or moral outrage. But it is like dissecting a soap bubble.

 

[Maxperson]

This movie doesn't work like that. It is more like a fairytale. You can give it that kind of in-depth analysis, demanding answers to why no one showed grief or moral outrage. But it is like dissecting a soap bubble.

That wasn't the point.

 

[Water Bob]

This is interesting. The Finalizer, the star destroyer shown in the film, looks like a beast, doesn't it? I've been thinking that it is just the latest in the bigger and badder super star destroyers.

Looking around on the net at pages from the new books coming out, Finalizer doesn't qualify as a super star destroyer. Vader's Executor from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi measures 19,000 meters. The Finalizer is just a spec compared to it, measuring almost 3,000 meters.

In fact, Finalizer is about double the size of Devastator, Vader's Imperial class star destroyer seen in the opening moments of A New Hope.





FINALIZER launching Storm Trooper landing craft above Jakku.

EXECUTOR with Imperial class star destroyer escorts near Hoth.

DEVASTATOR in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon near Hoth.

 

[dd.stevenson]

This movie doesn't work like that. It is more like a fairytale. You can give it that kind of in-depth analysis, demanding answers to why no one showed grief or moral outrage. But it is like dissecting a soap bubble.

You completely missed the point, which was that an inconsistent standard was being applied.

 

[Water Bob]

Here's something else interesting--the design of the new T-70 X-Wings.

Notice the old T-65 had a full wing, upper and lower, and a full engine, dorsal and ventral.

The new T-70 has a single wing that splits into two pieces when the S-foils are deployed, and the single thruster engine also splits into two pieces.