The Force Awakens (Contains open spoilers!)

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Rather than tiptoe around spoilers in discussion about the new Star Movie in the other thread, I thought it would be better to just start a new thread clearly designated for open discussion about the movie without ruining the fun for others. Lots of people saw it last night. Lots of people will see it today. Many people won’t be able to see it until the weekend.

Beware! There be spoilers ahead!

From the other thread.
turtle18 said:
Yes, saw it already. It was good but lacked heart. It is much better than the three prequels-not having the computer generated special effects helped a lot.

Also, Kylo Ren is not a very convincing villain IMO-neither is his commander Snokes.

I was very skeptical about the new characters because they all seemed so PC-driven but they pulled it off and did quite well.

As for the Empire or First Order or whatever they are called now, they never learn their lesson about the shields.
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As a standalone film I think it’s rather weak. That was a lot of stuff crammed in there. Though the lens of the original trilogy it was a LOT of fun. The only time I got really angry with the movie was when Phasma actually turned the shield off instead of activating an alert. And the New Order would have found out and killed her anyway! If she survived I wonder if she’ll defect… Maybe her heart isn’t all that into it.

As for Kylo Ren, in a weird way I’m actually very interested in him. Darth Vader was such a cold villain. Usually very calm externally but full of cold fury. Many Sith in these movies, in spite of all this anger and hate, are very cold and calm. Kylo really shakes up the status quo and I wonder if his emotional outbursts will get stamped out of him in the future movies as he completes his training and becomes more dangerous. I find that fascinating but I know I’m probably in the minority.

Am I crazy though or did it feel like a redo of Part 4 even though it chronologically wasn’t?
 
Yes, it was a redo of Four. They need to come up with a better plot point that there is a weakness they can exploit in the major weapon-they have done that in three movies now.

I think Captain Phasm is a double agent for the Republic. She lies to Kylo Ren saying she never saw anything in Finn about his disobedience when clearly she did. I agree, a true soldier wouldn’t have lowered the shields and she did it so easily-it was either a very weak plot point or there was more to it than what we saw in this movie.

I thought Cameron Poe was great and needed more screen time.
 
MAJOR MAJOR SPOILER

Also, it is just really hard to believe that Kylo Ren would just kill Han Solo like that. Yeah, I know he is on the dark side and can’t control it but I didn’t think this plot point was fleshed out very well–his hatred towards his father.
 
turtle18 said:
Yes, it was a redo of Four. They need to come up with a better plot point that there is a weakness they can exploit in the major weapon-they have done that in three movies now.
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That was my other real disappointment. I don’t mind that the superweapon exists. The Empire’s obsession with them is a very common plot device of the EU/Legends novels too. I wish the superweapon could have been dealt with in one of the following movies. It’s just so massive and so rediculously destructive. It has to destroy a system in order to destroy another system. I can’t believe it was dispatched so easily.

Speaking of EU…Given Rey’s natural gift with technology I wonder if Kylo has, or had, a knack for understanding animals… 😛 😉
 
turtle18 said:
MAJOR MAJOR SPOILER

Also, it is just really hard to believe that Kylo Ren would just kill Han Solo like that. Yeah, I know he is on the dark side and can’t control it but I didn’t think this plot point was fleshed out very well–his hatred towards his father.
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I was fine with it from a certain point of view. It was a crossroads point. I don’t know if it was out of hate for his father in particular but rather a clash of ideologies…actually I think love for his father is what kept him hesitating for so long. But the desire for power and his devotion to Vader, who is also his family, was too much. I’m sure we’ll get more in the next movie. After all Vader himself wasn’t particularly fleshed out at first.

Poor Leia…
 
Stop doing this! freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sw025.gif We might come across spoilers by accident! “Poor Leia”…what happens to her: I know something happens to her now!

Apart from “poor Leia”, I almost read something on this thread about something else that I didn’t understand in the slightest; couldn’t you just wait a couple of months and give us all fighting chance to watch these great new films while not be any the wiser afterwards?!

This thread has made me so, about a fifth-percent angry, with no long lasting effects; how could you?!
 
Why are you reading the thread? It says CONTAINS OPEN SPOILERS

So, at the end when Kylo Ren is fighting Rey, I definitely got the feeling that Rey could turn to the dark side very quickly, and was channeling some of the dark side in the fight albeit her apparent “heroine” status.
 
turtle18 said:
Why are you reading the thread? It says CONTAINS OPEN SPOILERS

So, at the end when Kylo Ren is fighting Rey, I definitely got the feeling that Rey could turn to the dark side very quickly, and was channeling some of the dark side in the fight albeit her apparent “heroine” status.
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I thought this meant spoilers on a car! Not everyone is techno-babble literal. :dts: How did I know - just a poor unsuspecting, untechy forum wanderer - that you were literally threatening to openly spoil the movie for everyone…:bighanky: If only I’d known.
 
Peeps, I don’t want to be a killjoy. I hope the movie was great and that you thoroughly enjoyed it. By the time I go to see it I would have forgotten any detail mentioned, if I ever get to (the “car spoiler” comment was a joke although I wasn’t thinking when I came into the thread). I was half-joking, divided by a fifth, doesn’t equate to anger and more to…accidently putting an extra slosh of milk in the coffee. So, what I would like to know, if you’ve seen it, is:
  1. Was it worth the money?
  2. How does it rate compared to the old and newer films?
  3. Is all of it CGI or is there some nice real scenery footage?
  4. Is the film actually from a book or a completely new story?
  5. Is it good enough to take other people to see it?
  6. How long should I wait if I don’t want massive queues?
With respect to the OP, replies would be much appreciated, as I would expect I’m not the only one who’d want to know!

👍🙂
 
  1. Was it worth the money?
For me, yes. But I’m a fan as well as a completionist and I wanted to see it with a crowd of people. All the same…I did leave the movie happy with what I saw.
  1. How does it rate compared to the old and newer films?
It feels like an older trilogy movie. It’s very similar to Episode 4 though you might not realize just how much until it’s over. It’s actually got a lot of humor in it too…plenty of one liners.
  1. Is all of it CGI or is there some nice real scenery footage?
It’s a mix of both! Some aliens are CGI but many are physically present as puppets like the first trilogy. Obviously a “city planet” needs to be greenscreen but there are forests and deserts and water and places that feel “real” yet otherworldly. The final location of the movie is absolutely *gorgeous *and will take your breath away. No civilization…just pure nature.
  1. Is the film actually from a book or a completely new story?
Completely new. This movie overrides all previous “extended universe” books absolutely but I’m sure Abrams got some inspiration from them when shaping the next generation. I’ll eat my hat if Rey was not inspired by Jaina (Han and Leia’s daughter from the books).
  1. Is it good enough to take other people to see it?
If they enjoyed the original trilogy at all, then yes, certainly. I am seeing it again tomorrow with my husband and another couple.
  1. How long should I wait if I don’t want massive queues?
Next weekend should be considerably freer between most of the fans seeing it opening weekend and Christmas. But if you care about spoilers (probably not since you went through some whoppers to post here), there are some big ones on the level of “I am your father.” in this movie. As for my group this tomorrow, the couple we are going with would rather see it when the crowds die down…but waiting until after New Years would have been too long.
 
As far as I’m concerned there’s the original trilogy and nothing else. I’ll never see the new ones and I detest that I saw the prequels.
 
I wasn’t expecting to see the new one right away, but my son surprised me and we saw the matinee today. He and his mom are much bigger fans of Star Wars than I am. They’ve read most of the books from the Star Wars universe too, whereas I’ve just seen the films. I enjoyed this one. It almost seems like they took a template from the first Star Wars movie from 1977 and did an overlay with the script for this new one: Death Star, Death Planet; Shoot the thingy that blows up the Death Star, Shoot the thingy that blows up the Death Planet; etc., etc. I know my son’s mom won’t be happy about Han’s fate, as she’s always been a big Harrison Ford fan since the first movie. It was good seeing the old characters, and the new ones did well and look promising for the future films. I’m not the harshest critic, but two thumbs up from me 👍.👍
 
Kit15 said:
I was fine with it from a certain point of view. It was a crossroads point. I don’t know if it was out of hate for his father in particular but rather a clash of ideologies**…actually I think love for his father is what kept him hesitating for so long. But the desire for power and his devotion to Vader, who is also his family, was too much**. I’m sure we’ll get more in the next movie. After all Vader himself wasn’t particularly fleshed out at first.

Poor Leia…
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I agree, in the literature and in SW:III, to truly become a Sith, you had to kill that which is close to you.

Anakin did so with the younglings, Ren did so with his Father.

It is a binding act to the Dark Side, it shows the desire for power is greater than any inhibitions.

And that act is probably why Snoke can begin to complete his training.
 
Better than the prequels. Still not that great. Kilo Ren is basically the emo crybaby character inhabited by Anakin in the prequels, but it’s not as insufferable because he gets less screen time and mostly keeps his helmet on. This along with having no gungins or ewoks kept it watchable.
 
I thought it was fantastic. There are some bumps in the road during the first 3/4 of the movie, but the last 20-30 minutes really pulls it all together and elevates it into something great (for the record, the first 3/4 of the movie work a lot better upon second viewing). To a large degree it was a rehash of A New Hope, but in a way it had to be. For all intents and purposes, they’re launching a new franchise. What better way to both appeal to old fans and bring in new ones than recycling what they know works? The best aspect of the movie and, really, the best praise one can give it is that it is truly and honestly a Star Wars movie–the first real Star Wars movie released in 32 years.
 
Mystrx said:
As far as I’m concerned there’s the original trilogy and nothing else. I’ll never see the new ones and I detest that I saw the prequels.
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I felt that way…was objecting to this new trilogy…Really liked the expanded universe stories. They were my sequels… and then I saw it. (Still like a few characters from the now relabeled legends)

This is the OT for my nephew Kolbe’s generation. Can’t wait to take him.

Btw, I think Abrams might have gotten an idea from one of the eu books.
 
Kit15 said:
  1. Was it worth the money?
For me, yes. But I’m a fan as well as a completionist and I wanted to see it with a crowd of people. All the same…I did leave the movie happy with what I saw.
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Hi Kit15; wow, thanks for the great response! 🙂 You’ve inspired me to see it at a cinema before DVD. I know what you mean about completionist, as I tend to be the same with the Fast&Furious films.
2. How does it rate compared to the old and newer films?
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It feels like an older trilogy movie. It’s very similar to Episode 4 though you might not realize just how much until it’s over. It’s actually got a lot of humor in it too…plenty of one liners.
Click to expand...
Very good news. There was more humour in the old films - Han Solo and R2 etc…- so this seems true to the old style. The new ones almost took themselves too seriously. Though were good in parts.
3.* Is all of it CGI or is there some nice real scenery footage?*
Click to expand...
It’s a mix of both! Some aliens are CGI but many are physically present as puppets like the first trilogy. Obviously a “city planet” needs to be greenscreen but there are forests and deserts and water and places that feel “real” yet otherworldly. The final location of the movie is absolutely *gorgeous *and will take your breath away. No civilization…just pure nature.
Click to expand...
It’s good to know that it is not all CGI. It is to be expected that there would some. It’s good to have some puppets in there as CGI on its own gets a bit tiring so will be interesting to see how they mix it up. Looking forward to the final location from your description.
4. Is the film actually from a book or a completely new story?
Click to expand...
Completely new. This movie overrides all previous “extended universe” books absolutely but I’m sure Abrams got some inspiration from them when shaping the next generation. I’ll eat my hat if Rey was not inspired by Jaina (Han and Leia’s daughter from the books).
Click to expand...
Risky business making something completely new. Better be impressive to stave off criticism from full-on Star Wars fans (such as myself)!
5. Is it good enough to take other people to see it?
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If they enjoyed the original trilogy at all, then yes, certainly. I am seeing it again tomorrow with my husband and another couple.
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Will keep that in mind.
6. How long should I wait if I don’t want massive queues?
Click to expand...
Next weekend should be considerably freer between most of the fans seeing it opening weekend and Christmas. But if you care about spoilers (probably not since you went through some whoppers to post here), there are some big ones on the level of “I am your father.” in this movie. As for my group this tomorrow, the couple we are going with would rather see it when the crowds die down…but waiting until after New Years would have been too long.
Click to expand...
Hmm…have to think on this one then. Will wait until after Christmas, at least.

Thank you! 👍
 
I think I’d rather live on Luke’s planet of solitude than on Yoda’s.
 
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