*SPOILER DISCUSSION* Star Wars The Force Awakens *POST HERE AFTER SEEING THE MOVIE*

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Matata

That movie was not the fruition of anyones artistic vision, it was Disney executives prodding a bunch of artists into making a star wars movie that they could pump money out of. I believe a good movie can come out of anywhere, and I've enjoyed the avenger series which was made for pretty much the same reasons as Star Wars. Reviews were good, i was hoping for good times with Star Wars, instead I got nice looking nonsense.

My Chewbacca doesn't have fingers. #nerdcred #edgy #memeposts

Maybe if you could share some specific comments about the movie with a tad less hyperbole it would come off less, uh, troll-like.

The ANH similarities have been discussed. It might calm your nerves to read through the thread, maybe you won't feel like you wasted your money.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Matata

I believe a good movie can come out of anywhere, and I've enjoyed the avenger series which was made for pretty much the same reasons as Star Wars.

Yeah, I figured. You went in not wanting to like it and that's what happened.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Maybe if you could share some specific comments about the movie with a tad less hyperbole it would come off less, uh, troll-like.

The ANH similarities have been discussed. It might calm your nerves to read through the thread, maybe you won't feel like you wasted your money.

I'm re-reading my first post, and none of that was hyperbole, I don't see many movies and I can't remember the last time that a movie was bad enough that it made me little mad afterwards. I didn't really want to go in depth on my issues (who wants to read a paragraph about how Harrison Ford seemed completely disinterested and charmless? Or how that lightsaber fight was as offensive to the concept of the force as midi-chlorians).

I like when people post their unvarnished opinions and felt motivated to do so myself because of my deep, festering nerd rage. I'm happy to stick around and justify myself, but I don't think I'll read more than a few pages of the thread.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Matata

I'm re-reading my first post, and none of that was hyperbole, I don't see many movies and I can't remember the last time that a movie was bad enough that it made me little mad afterwards. I didn't really want to go in depth on my issues (who wants to read a paragraph about how Harrison Ford seemed completely disinterested and charmless? Or how that lightsaber fight was as offensive to the concept of the force as midi-chlorians).



I like when people post their unvarnished opinions and felt motivated to do so myself because of my deep, festering nerd rage. I'm happy to stick around and justify myself, but I don't think I'll read more than a few pages of the thread.

Yeah, but the problem with an unvarnished opinion without any substance is that it isn't helpful. It's like when I try to buy something online and product reviews are something like, "this product sucks, doesn't work, don't buy!". You are free to have an opinion, your first pass though seemed like it was trying to be antagonistic.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Yeah, but the problem with an unvarnished opinion without any substance is that it isn't helpful.

Quite a bit of substance if you ask me, and I think it is valid although I personally didn't think the movie was total trash.

Originally Posted by Matata

Terrible dialogue and acting, paper thin characters with inexplicable motivations, same plot and beats as A New Hope, terribly stupid use of lightsabers (they cut through everything except leather jackets and skin, a Sith Lord with a boo-boo was no match for two complete beginners).

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Yeah, but the problem with an unvarnished opinion without any substance is that it isn't helpful. It's like when I try to buy something online and product reviews are something like, "this product sucks, doesn't work, don't buy!". You are free to have an opinion, your first pass though seemed like it was trying to be antagonistic.

My attempt at substnace: The movie never took the time to get me interested in and rooting for the main characters, the ending felt completely anticlimatic because I wasn't rooting for anybody or understood what was motivating them. What made Star Wars great was that all the big moments were highly character driven and it felt like so much was at stake, this movie felt like they came up with the big moments first, then came up with a plot to connect them all together. There was way too many new characters and it all got stretched so thin that I couldn't get invested in any of it.

There was number of things in the movie that annoyed me and prevented me from wanting to go along for the ride: The acting was bad enough that I was constantly distracted and thinking to myself "was that really the best take they got of that?" It's embarrassing to have Han dress and act the same way he did 30 years ago. Harrison Ford seems to hate Star Wars and that really came through in his effort level. C3P0 was fat and looked terrible. Wookie lips. Further #######ization of the force. "Oh hey, look, the Millenium Falcon". "I like this gun!" "It's like the Death Star, but biggerer and more scarier." (these may not be actual quotes). It was a great looking movie with some fun moments, but that's not enough to balance the scales for me.

[AcGold]

Rey is probably Lukes daughter or linked to him closely. That's the motivation for the character, the protagonist.

Yes it mirrored ANH in ways, that was to hand off the series to a new generation. I'd bet money the next one is a lot different with Rey being the focus of the majority of the movie.

The noobs best Kylo because he got shot with a bow caster, the weapon that made stormtroopers fly through the air.

The movie wasn't that bad, they put a lot of effort into connecting the themes together while introducing new characters. I only found there to be one real fan service moment, the rest was passable.

[Max Cow Disease]

Originally Posted by Matata

Worst movie I've seen in years (I don't watch a ton of movies), there's no way I'd have sat through it if I wasn't with friends. Terrible dialogue and acting, paper thin characters with inexplicable motivations, same plot and beats as A New Hope, terribly stupid use of lightsabers (they cut through everything except leather jackets and skin, a Sith Lord with a boo-boo was no match for two complete beginners).

I was expecting this movie to be a soulless, cynical cash grab for Disney, but am honestly shocked it was as bad as it was. Fits right in with the prequels.

Kylo Ren isn't a Sith Lord. It isn't even known if he's a Sith, or far beyond the equivalent to "Padawan" level in his training. The movie attempted to make it clear that all of the characters were "heroes of the future" and still works in progress in terms of their training and skill.

A wounded Kylo basically owns Finn, and is then closely matched by an extremely force-sensitive Rey. No sin against Star Wars canon or need for "nerd rage" in my view.

[CroFlames]

@ Matata

You are obviously entitled to your opinion, but calling it the worst movie you've seen in years? Give me a break.

The only gripe I have the movie is the rehashed death star theme. The thing is though, it's not a bad plot, it's just been done before. So it's not even a real gripe.

This is one of the BEST movies, not one of the worst. I am legit sorry you feel that way and couldn't enjoy it like the rest of us.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

This is one of the BEST movies, not one of the worst. I am legit sorry you feel that way and couldn't enjoy it like the rest of us.

You don't speak for everyone I found the movie very derivative and underwhelming.

[V]

I think that people would be pretty disappointed with this movie if the prequels didn't happen. Part of what made this film so good was the feeling that the old Star Wars is back. If the prequels didn't screw up so badly that wouldn't have been necessary. But to claim that this movie was anything but a reboot and remake of ANH is a little silly. It was pretty much exactly the same movie.

[Hockey Fan #751]

Originally Posted by V

I think that people would be pretty disappointed with this movie if the prequels didn't happen. Part of what made this film so good was the feeling that the old Star Wars is back. If the prequels didn't screw up so badly that wouldn't have been necessary. But to claim that this movie was anything but a reboot and remake of ANH is a little silly. It was pretty much exactly the same movie.

Not so sure about that. It was still quite a bit better than Return of the Jedi.

[Regulator75]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is absolutely bursting with cool set pieces. But you didn’t see half the insane stuff the movie’s production team came up with. Early versions of the story were full of Darth Vader’s ghost, an underwater Death Star, and more. Here are 13 things they left out of Episode VII.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/13-story-idea...-fo-1749962882

[Coach]

Better the second time. Watched it in Ultra AVX (sound was aamazing, shaking the seats), and was able to sit at the back which really changed the experience from being able to follow the action scenes better and the 3D not being such a distraction.

Seeing it a second time allowed me to focus more on the plot and characters than the nostalgia factor and it just flushed it out much better for me.

For me, all of the connections made for Rey to be a Skywalker by Luke, fit just the same for her to be a Skywalker by Leia. I still think they are going to turn out to be siblings. her natural affinity for the Falcon, Chewy likes her, Solo's a father figure, just seems like there are just as many signs pointing to Solo as Skywalker. There are a few things I noticed:

Rey has a small hand-made doll on her shelf of a rebel pilot orange jumpsuit, presumably Luke.

She when she talks about who she's waiting for, she uses "they", not him or her. Could be just a writing device to keep it hidden, because it could still mean one person, but just something I clued into.

I didn't like the scene with the space pirates for some reason. Firstly, it was unrealistic how the things devoured the pirates almost instantly and they weren't able to out run them, yet old ass Han Solo could. Plus why did that thing decide to drag Fin through the ship instead of eating him right away like everyone else? It was an OK introduction to Solo, but I kind of wish they had just immediately left in the Falcon when the pirates arrived. It would have made more sense. And why keep BB-8 out in the open when it could have hid with Rey and Fin. Short scene so whatever.

I think Snoke might be tiny, and the hologram is just made huge to have him tower over everyone. And his face made me think that he might be a character from the past who has been heavily scarred either by some perceived death, or by being warped by the dark side, but I can't think of anyone it could be so it's just a musing. Plaegius does make the most sense.

I think R2D2's revival was more tied to the lightsabre than it was to Rey herself. I think Luke gave Maz the lightsabre to give to the right person at the right time. Maybe Rey herself, or just "the right one" so to speak, but more likely the former.

How did Rey and Leia know who each other were at the end? They had never interacted at that point, maybe she heard something from Han, but that's about it. She must have some knowledge of who Rey is. But Rey seemed to know her too. I dunno.

My friend liked the idea of her being a Kenobi and so do I. I think that would be cool.

She also mentioned to me before seeing it that the Fin and Poe dynamic has a homoerotic undertone, or "Poemance", as she referred to it. It made me laugh during the movie because there are a few "Top Gun" type moments. On a more serious note, I thought their friendship (and particularly Poe's willingness to divulge classified information to a stranger) was rushed on first viewing. Not so much the second time around for the friendship, Poe was obviously very thankful for the help from Fin. As for the blabber mouth, yeah not sure about that.

Fin was better the second time around, I think he nailed the kind of naivity that would come from being sheltered and pigeonholed into a soldier's life, while also being a human and growing up around what is presumably all men (something I thought of, doesn't seem liek the fFirst Order is as as gender diverse as the Resistance, outside of Phasma. Although it's hard to tell as none of them speak). Will Fin try to go train as a Jedi? It would be easy enough to get to Luke and Rey now that they have the map. Or will he want to join Poe as a soldier for the Resistance?

Good stuff. Can't wait for Part 8.

[AcGold]

I get that people are saying it's derivative or repetitive but I think that's kind of the idea, it's not like they were just devoid of ideas. The Star Wars universe revolves around Rey now, that's the point. The writers were focused on establishing this new character above all else, to do so they obviously felt she needed the support of the older characters to do so.

Yes the movie is imperfect, but as a setup movie for a story that revolves around a mysterious character named Rey it's great. If you don't really buy into Rey then you will likely dislike the movie as the cheesy cgi,silly dialogue and bad pacing at certain parts will be way more glaring.

[surferguy]

Is it possible that Rey is the daughter of Han and Leia but Han doesn't know? Perhaps Leia was pregnant with Rey and never told Han before he left?

Also, and more importantly, what happened to C3POs arm? Post 635 and nobody cares about 3POs arm??

[KelVarnsen]

Because C3PO sucks, and nobody cares about him.

[AcGold]

C-3P0's arm is a tie in to the injury the Skywalkers manage to incur. The starkiller is an interesting name seeing as Luke was originally going to be called Starkiller instead of Skywalker.

Rey could be anyone imo, the story wants us to think that she is both the daughter of Han with how quickly she took to the crew of the Falcon but at the same time her story so closely mimics Lukes. It seems purposeful in that the writers want us to be wondering to create tension for the future.

I'm shocked that some of you guys disliked it so much, it was far from perfect but there were so many good parts. They managed to create some truly iconic shots and moments among the hamfisted fan service; when Rey was in the star destroyer at the beginning, when they zoomed out in the thermal oscillator, Rey and Kylo fighting. Those scenes were incredible, truly state of the art film making. Kylo Ren was such a good villain.

I think the point people make about repetition actually strengthens the movie in my opinion. The way that Kylo shares characteristic traits so close to Anakin is very very interesting, it's as if the movie is trying to send a message that people that behave like that tend to follow certain sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies or that they are more prone to following orders that are counter productive. There was more than meets the eye and I really liked it despite the few parts I hated.

[sureLoss]

Apparently there will be a stand alone comicbook that will explain C3P0's red arm

[Looch City]

I enjoyed the movie overall but I was disappointed by the portrayal of the First Order. They were too weak and easy to defeat.

Captain Phasma...what did she contribute other than the shiny armor?
Kylo Ren...bad ass in the mask, a sissy without the mask.
Stormtroopers...can't hit an old Han Solo if he was standing still 10ft away. But that's expected.

I guess I was more looking for a "stronger" dark side but I understand how they wanted to tie it back to the old movies and episode IV. Still a fun movie!