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.

 

[dd.stevenson]

Without recapping the whole movie, I'm not sure how else to proceed here.

In that case, perhaps the best way for us to proceed is to leave off discussing the matter, since we clearly don't share the right parlance to make this conversation work.

 

[Cor Azer]

I wonder how much of that went to pay Mark Hamill for all the time he spent on-screen. That has to be the highest "credit position" to screen time in decades.

I recall reading Ford's salary was something like 50x that of Hamill and Fisher.

And there very well have been a lot more filmed; editing does tend to trim things down.

 

[Umbran]

OK, let's try this a different way? What wasn't clear about her motivation? Without recapping the whole movie, I'm not sure how else to proceed here.
But her motivations were crystal clear at all points.

You guys have been using pronouns for so long, that perhaps I have lost the original referent. You guys talking about Rey, here?

I also don't have any confusion about her motivations. But, I understand it is difficult for someone to answer the question, "Where/how did they fail to get her motivations across?" Because all the person will know is that the motivations failed to get across - if they had figured out where the statements of her motivations were, they'd likely not have failed to get them.

It would be better for you to state the things that made her motivations clear to you, and see if he got them, and if not, discuss why they were ineffective at communicating to him.

I'll start with an example: What motivates her to help BB-8 when she first meets the droid? She has a fairly basic respect for others. This is made clear by contrast - she points out the guy with the net doesn't respect anyone.

 

[Morrus]

I'll start with an example: What motivates her to help BB-8 when she first meets the droid? She has a fairly basic respect for others. This is made clear by contrast - she points out the guy with the net doesn't respect anyone.

Interestingly, the novelisation changes that a little. She haggles with Simon Pegg a bit over the price of the droid, before changing her mind. She later says she did that to spite him.

 

[Morrus]

I recall reading Ford's salary was something like 50x that of Hamill and Fisher.

And there very well have been a lot more filmed; editing does tend to trim things down.

How awesome would an extended edition be?

I don't think Disney tends to do that though. There have been no extended Marvel movies.

 

[dd.stevenson]

I also don't have any confusion about her motivations. But, I understand it is difficult for someone to answer the question, "Where/how did they fail to get her motivations across?" Because all the person will know is that the motivations failed to get across - if they had figured out where the statements of her motivations were, they'd likely not have failed to get them.

It would be better for you to state the things that made her motivations clear to you, and see if he got them, and if not, discuss why they were ineffective at communicating to him.

I'll start with an example: What motivates her to help BB-8 when she first meets the droid? She has a fairly basic respect for others. This is made clear by contrast - she points out the guy with the net doesn't respect anyone.

It isn't so much a matter of declaring motivations (which even the prequels do), as establishing motivations. If the motivation is fairly expected and pedestrian, like Rey's desire to help the droid in that early establishing shot, then we don't need a great deal of setup--the simple contrast is enough. (I thought that scene was a fantastic take on the Be Nice To Animals trope, btw; and it did plot work as well!)

But if the character is acting against her own self interest, then more work is required to establish their motivation, else the narrative risks its characters acting stupid on demand (e.g., exhibiting contrived behavior for plot convenience.) One of the points that bugged me was the scene on the forest planet (I don't remember the place's name) when Rey insists that she's going to return to Jaku, despite being aware that she can do a lot better for herself. Who is she waiting for that she's willing to undergo so much hardship to wait for them at Jaku? Why is it so important that she personally be there, rather than just pay someone to deliver a message? Rey is the sympathetic protagonist, the character the audience is meant to follow and learn with, but in this scene her motivations are left to the imagination.

I understand that her reasons are probably being withheld for a reveal in a later installment. But personally I would rather wait and see THAT movie, instead of being strung along with a less-than-perfectly comprehensible protagonist, waiting for the punchline which never comes.

 

[Neonchameleon]

She's Captain Phasma. Not a minor officer. She's the equivalent of someone in command of a Star Destroyer, but for ground troops.

Really, really not. She's an army or marine Captain, not a navy one. By default a naval Captain is equivalent to an army Colonel (and an army Captain to a naval Lieutenant). And an army Captain is one rank up from first lieutenant.

 

[Umbran]

She's an army or marine Captain, not a navy one.

By what we see, I am not convinced the First Order has that rank distinction, and I don't think they'd allow such unique armor to someone that far down the ladder.

It it matters, we'll see it on screen. It hasn't so far.

 

[Morrus]

Really, really not. She's an army or marine Captain, not a navy one. By default a naval Captain is equivalent to an army Colonel (and an army Captain to a naval Lieutenant). And an army Captain is one rank up from first lieutenant.

Well, she's neither. She's a First Order captain. Could mean anything!

 

[Lord Twig]

I didn't have time to read the whole thread, but a couple things stuck out to me.

Why does everyone assume the star is completely consumed by the Starkiller base? They only say that the star, "goes dark", not that it is destroyed. I see it as one of two things happening. Either the star's total output is being drained while the main weapon is fired, then released back to the star, where it re-ignites, or all nuclear activity is stopped and the star collapses into a neutron star. The mass of the star would still be there.

Honestly if it only temporarily drained the star then they would never need to move the base at all, just pull some power from the star, fire and let the star re-ignite. Rinse and repeat.

Another thing I notice is everyone talking about the similarities between The Force Awakens and previous movies, but ignore the differences. Sure Rey is an orphan, but she grew up alone "on the streets" as it were. Luke had a loving family and a relatively normal childhood (for Star Wars at least). He hung out with his friends and worked on his speeder (a.k.a. car) and did pretty much what most teenage boys do. Rey clawed and scraped to survive and relied on no one but herself. Those seem like two very different stories to me.

The rescue from the enemy? Luke and Co infiltrate an Imperial base and bust out the princess in A New Hope. In TFA Finn the Stormtrooper defects from the First Order and grabs a pilot prisoner to help him escape. Again, quite a different story.

I loved the new villains. I didn't even know that Snoke was Andy Serkis till I checked out IMDB after I saw the movie. I never got a Gollum vibe, nor did anyone I talked to till I checked this thread. People have already talked about how Kylo Ren is half trained vs. Darth Vader's complete mastery, so I won't go into that.

I think Chewbacca really came into his own in this movie. Before he was just there and he fired his bowcaster a few times, but it was nothing special. This time he seemed like a really powerful fighter. His bowcaster was shown to be as powerful as the lore says it is supposed to be. When Han Solo was killed he howls and immediately fires on Kylo Ren, a person that he must have known since he was a baby. Then he blasts his way out like a badass and completes the mission by blowing the charges. He then gets the Falcon and rescues Rey and Finn. He finally felt like a real character and a hero in his own right.

Wow, so much to talk about with this movie. I guess that's enough for now. I loved it. Not perfect, but it was really good. It was not the movie we needed, but the movie we wanted. Which was the movie we needed.