Star Wars: The Force Awakens (12/18/15)

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jedibear said:
That didn't bother me....in fact, that was one of the things that worked in the movie's favor...the idea that we as viewers are showing up in the middle of it...it's the same thing George did way back when and it works here too. We know Han has history with his son...in their brief encounter here (as with Leia), we can get the feeling that it's a history rife with tragedy and disappointment. If anything, Kasdan and Abrams have really written Kylo into quite the corner here. And Driver's performance is quite good at showing all of that conflict. Again, we're in "re-run" territory with the story elements here, but it's where the saga goes with it from here that has a potential of being really interesting....c'mon Johnsom...don't let us down!:)

And another thing about the movie to me that seems to go unsaid in a lot of the back-n-forth. Looking at the story and characters here, this is one dark movie. It's the one main thing Kasdan and Abrams have done here that makes me sad...that "happy" ending we all saw in ROTJ all those years ago turned out to be very short-lived. They've ripped out the "Once Upon a Time" where redemption through unconditional love vanquished evil and the idea of "happily ever after" is wiped away to reveal a galaxy of tragedy, disappointment and despair. Intellectually, I get it...Disney needs the story to go on, and to do that, conflict is needed. I'm just sad as a fan that the price for that is to make all of the heroes who's tales we've had for forty years as an illustration of the triumph of good over evil turn out to be tragic figures awaiting yet another chance at redemption though another set of characters for the sake of doing it all again.

Again, that's drama....I get it. But it's still sad to me that the only way this new creative regime could see to make the story go on was to obliterate the accomplishments of the earlier movies and "rinse, lather, repeat" their way through these new stories.

I want to be wrong here...but Disney is a company to make money first and foremost...they are not here to foster art and myth. As this movie proves, they don't have to...the money is poring in. They may continue on the path of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and why not? It's certainly proving to be popular.

But will it stand the test of time like the original movies? We won't have an answer to that for a long time.

Ray, Finn and Kylo are good strong characters being brought ot life with great performances. I'm gonna go on the light side here and hope that the story becomes as strong and different as the characters in it.

I'm glad Abrams is only doing one of these....I'm looking forward to what Johnson brings next....still a little nervous about Treverrow (Jurassic World has to be one of the most bald-faced, cookie-cutter- by-the-numbers success things we've seen in a long time...the very definition of a studio wet dream)...but we'll see.
Click to expand...

Your take on all of this has to be one of my favorite reads, you are firing on all cylinders.

Disney knew they had to give us the same after all the complaints that the PT were not the same as the OT. :lol

I'm sure GL warned Disney that SW fans are all a bunch of *******s! :lol
 
Does anyone have a screen shot of the Stormies in orange pauldrons that actually have a classic Sandtrooper type shoulder pouch? A board members says they are in the movie and trailer, but I sure never saw it!?!?! Really bugging my OCD!!! TY
 
Saw TFA for the first time today. Review below

Spoiler Spoiler:
 
neat.jpg
 
Saw this for a second time yesterday, loved it even more. Everything about this movie is great, the acting, writing, action, music, pacing, I really don't have a single complaint. I will be seeing this again in the next few days, IMAX 3d this time.
 
Not a good movie? I don't think so. Here's where I think the problem lies...

Many of the arguments I've heard against this particular installment can readily be applied to any of the original trilogy films. If these arguments are the basis for not being happy with these movies I suggest you go back to the OT and see for yourself. With regards to the prequel trilogy, not only did they suffer from CGI overload, but also horrible acting, terrible pacing, were devoid of raw emotion... yet there are a lot of people out there who still enjoyed them. And if you really think about who those people are, they are among the younger generation of Star Wars fans.

Many of us first saw Star Wars when we were young kids. Back then we were mesmerized with what we saw on screen. It was nothing like anything we've experienced up to that point in our lives. Star Wars A New Hope was in essence, a really campy film with cheesy dialogue, but because it was so fresh in terms of what we were seeing on screen, we really didn't pay much attention that aspect of the film. Our life experience was limited to what we saw in our households and what we experienced with our friends and families within our communities. We didn't care that some of what we saw defied our understanding of the physical universe, or that some of it was just outright not physically possible. Yet our imaginations soared, and we were able to relive those moments and create new adventures with our action figures, toy blasters and lightsabers. Star Wars told us that anything was possible, which fueled our collective imagination and inspired millions, if not billions of people worldwide.

Most of us have grown up in a world that has made huge leaps forward in art, culture, science, exploration and technology. And many of those who have led those efforts are Star Wars fans. We've become a generation jaded with what we've witnessed since our childhood years back in the late 70s and early 80s. It's been sensory overload ever since the mainstream use of the internet, and we've become a society even more cynical and critical of what we're presented with. Nothing is new under the sun. For many of us, our life experiences has taken us not to battlefields in a galaxy far far away, but to battlefields abroad on our home planet. We've fought a different type of tyranny, and we've seen that warfare isn't the sanitized affair we've seen in our beloved Star Wars movies, but something that is very bloody and brutal, and has enduring consequences. We've seen this brutality replicated in the films and video games that have bombarded our collective consciousness in the years since ROTJ. The stories, both fictional and real, that have influenced and defined our lives since made us both immune to old formulas and resistant to concepts that may stray to far from what's familiar.

The problem isn't with the Force Awakens or JJ Abrams. The problem lies within us. We're not looking at this movie through the eyes of an inexperienced 10 year old, full of wonder and imagination, but through the eyes of our jaded adult selves who are going into this movie with a lot more to reflect on in our personal lives and experiences. We expect more. More of what? I'm not really sure. I don't think we even really know. Stray too far from the familiar and it ceases to be Star Wars. Stick too close to the familiar and it's just a rehash of old material. Why blame the film for delivering something that fans have been asking for?

Do you have a problem with the who was cast in their respective roles?

In my opinion the cast was perfect. Other than the familiar faces, most characters were nothing like we've seen in previous Star Wars films. The actors all did a phenomenal job playing their roles. I don't really see any argument there.

Do you have a problem with the cinematics?

Again, we weren't being bombarded with unrealistic looking CGI and the few CGI characters and scenes was done sparingly and handled very well. While the use of practical effects alone won't make a good Star Wars movie, it certainly took nothing away from it.

Do you have a problem with the story?

We are only one episode into the new trilogy. How this story plays out and how the characters develop remain to be seen. The purpose of this film was to introduce the new cast and the familiar territory was the catalyst. Yes, this movie borrowed familiar plot points, but it also did it in a way that was familiar yet very different and with more depth.

I saw this movie for a second time with my parents who are visiting for the holidays, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it even more the second viewing. Instead of viewing the film through the lens of my 40 something self, I looked at it through the eyes of my inner 10 year old, experiencing it as I once did when my parents took me to see it way back then. And this time with my own 10 year old son and his younger sister. I understand that there will be people who just don't like the movie and were expecting more (or less) of something. Some of you walked away unsatisfied. I get it. But if you're honest with yourself, perhaps the problem here is you and not the movie that delivered what many fans expected it to deliver.
 
$544 million domestic in 12 days. After its first 12 days Jurassic World went on to make an additional $250 million. So if The Force Awakens *only* does what JW did from here on out (instead of constantly obliterating each equivalent day) then $544 + $250 = $794.

Looks like TFA is on track to clear $800 million domestically. :horror

Avatar made $760....
 
Blu Falcon said:
Not a good movie? I don't think so. Here's where I think the problem lies...

Many of the arguments I've heard against this particular installment can readily be applied to any of the original trilogy films. If these arguments are the basis for not being happy with these movies I suggest you go back to the OT and see for yourself. With regards to the prequel trilogy, not only did they suffer from CGI overload, but also horrible acting, terrible pacing, were devoid of raw emotion... yet there are a lot of people out there who still enjoyed them. And if you really think about who those people are, they are among the younger generation of Star Wars fans.

Many of us first saw Star Wars when we were young kids. Back then we were mesmerized with what we saw on screen. It was nothing like anything we've experienced up to that point in our lives. Star Wars A New Hope was in essence, a really campy film with cheesy dialogue, but because it was so fresh in terms of what we were seeing on screen, we really didn't pay much attention that aspect of the film. Our life experience was limited to what we saw in our households and what we experienced with our friends and families within our communities. We didn't care that some of what we saw defied our understanding of the physical universe, or that some of it was just outright not physically possible. Yet our imaginations soared, and we were able to relive those moments and create new adventures with our action figures, toy blasters and lightsabers. Star Wars told us that anything was possible, which fueled our collective imagination and inspired millions, if not billions of people worldwide.

Most of us have grown up in a world that has made huge leaps forward in art, culture, science, exploration and technology. And many of those who have led those efforts are Star Wars fans. We've become a generation jaded with what we've witnessed since our childhood years back in the late 70s and early 80s. It's been sensory overload ever since the mainstream use of the internet, and we've become a society even more cynical and critical of what we're presented with. Nothing is new under the sun. For many of us, our life experiences has taken us not to battlefields in a galaxy far far away, but to battlefields abroad on our home planet. We've fought a different type of tyranny, and we've seen that warfare isn't the sanitized affair we've seen in our beloved Star Wars movies, but something that is very bloody and brutal, and has enduring consequences. We've seen this brutality replicated in the films and video games that have bombarded our collective consciousness in the years since ROTJ. The stories, both fictional and real, that have influenced and defined our lives since made us both immune to old formulas and resistant to concepts that may stray to far from what's familiar.

The problem isn't with the Force Awakens or JJ Abrams. The problem lies within us. We're not looking at this movie through the eyes of an inexperienced 10 year old, full of wonder and imagination, but through the eyes of our jaded adult selves who are going into this movie with a lot more to reflect on in our personal lives and experiences. We expect more. More of what? I'm not really sure. I don't think we even really know. Stray too far from the familiar and it ceases to be Star Wars. Stick too close to the familiar and it's just a rehash of old material. Why blame the film for delivering something that fans have been asking for?

Do you have a problem with the who was cast in their respective roles?

In my opinion the cast was perfect. Other than the familiar faces, most characters were nothing like we've seen in previous Star Wars films. The actors all did a phenomenal job playing their roles. I don't really see any argument there.

Do you have a problem with the cinematics?

Again, we weren't being bombarded with unrealistic looking CGI and the few CGI characters and scenes was done sparingly and handled very well. While the use of practical effects alone won't make a good Star Wars movie, it certainly took nothing away from it.

Do you have a problem with the story?

We are only one episode into the new trilogy. How this story plays out and how the characters develop remain to be seen. The purpose of this film was to introduce the new cast and the familiar territory was the catalyst. Yes, this movie borrowed familiar plot points, but it also did it in a way that was familiar yet very different and with more depth.

I saw this movie for a second time with my parents who are visiting for the holidays, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it even more the second viewing. Instead of viewing the film through the lens of my 40 something self, I looked at it through the eyes of my inner 10 year old, experiencing it as I once did when my parents took me to see it way back then. And this time with my own 10 year old son and his younger sister. I understand that there will be people who just don't like the movie and were expecting more (or less) of something. Some of you walked away unsatisfied. I get it. But if you're honest with yourself, perhaps the problem here is you and not the movie that delivered what many fans expected it to deliver.
Click to expand...

I used to like the 80's/90's TMNT cartoon when I was 10, but then I got older, saw better shows, and it put things in perspective. Same thing happened with SW, I saw it when I was a kid, and I thought it was ok, then I grew up and saw better films, but that doesn't take away from SW uniqueness in a time when there was nothing like it. It's only natural to expect something better once you've seen better things, and the TFA is superior than ANH in some areas, like the acting and the special effects, but everything else the original film did it better...or first, imo.
 
Great movie. It felt like a true continuation of the original trilogy. There were some things though that did bother. I really thought Luke was going to play a bigger role in this and not just 3 seconds at the end. I also was expecting a lot more from Phasma and not the 2 mins of screen time she got. The promotions made it seemed like she was this badass elite and she did nothing. Having learned that Kylo was Han's son, I knew then he'd end up killing him. That wasn't really a big surprise. I did not like also how Rey was able to use the force so precisely without having any real knowledge of it. Luke at least had some minor training and teaching from Obi Wan, Rey had no one really. Overall though it was really excellent. I saw this in a 4k IMAX and it was just stunning. Hopefully I get to see it again before it leaves the theater.
 
Blu Falcon said:
Do you have a problem with the story?

We are only one episode into the new trilogy. How this story plays out and how the characters develop remain to be seen. The purpose of this film was to introduce the new cast and the familiar territory was the catalyst. Yes, this movie borrowed familiar plot points, but it also did it in a way that was familiar yet very different and with more depth.
Click to expand...

Even though the movie is well made and enjoyable, I do have an issue with the story. For serving as an introduction to a new trilogy, they did a lazy half-assed lousy job of explaining who the First Order is and why there is a Resistance while there is a Galactic Republic doing nothing about either group. Where they took our heroes and the galaxy also undoes the happy ending of RotJ. Stories surely need conflict but to rehash an Empire 2.0, Vader 2.0, Emperor 2.0, Tarkin 2.0, Death Star 3.0, Rebellion 2.0, etc etc etc deserves criticism. A new, original conflict could have been made but they played it safe and by doing so makes this movie ok at best. Not bad but not great. My biggest beef is Luke disappearance and allowing the galaxy to be engulfed in such turmoil!

You're right. Episodes VIII and IX might shed some light on Luke's disappearance and why the Republic allowed the First Order to get so powerful.

Again the movie was enjoyable. It's not really anything to hate but the love for it baffles me.
 
K07 said:
... lousy job of explaining who the First Order is and why there is a Resistance while there is a Galactic Republic doing nothing about either group. ..
Click to expand...

This is a very good point. The world was not clearly explained. The Knights of Ren remain unexplained too. This might be backlash to the PT which explained way too much of the political backstory.

But it really does seem like nothing's changed 'since we last saw our heroes'... even the Stardestroyers remain consistent.
 
K07 said:
Even though the movie is well made and enjoyable, I do have an issue with the story. For serving as an introduction to a new trilogy, they did a lazy half-assed lousy job of explaining who the First Order is and why there is a Resistance while there is a Galactic Republic doing nothing about either group. Where they took our heroes and the galaxy also undoes the happy ending of RotJ. Stories surely need conflict but to rehash an Empire 2.0, Vader 2.0, Emperor 2.0, Tarkin 2.0, Death Star 3.0, Rebellion 2.0, etc etc etc deserves criticism. A new, original conflict could have been made but they played it safe and by doing so makes this movie ok at best. Not bad but not great. My biggest beef is Luke disappearance and allowing the galaxy to be engulfed in such turmoil!

You're right. Episodes VIII and IX might shed some light on Luke's disappearance and why the Republic allowed the First Order to get so powerful.

Again the movie was enjoyable. It's not really anything to hate but the love for it baffles me.
Click to expand...

Agreed that they didn't explain these groups sufficiently. It's like a lot has happened between this and ROTJ and we know next to nothing. It's like going from Chapter 3 to Chapter 7 in a book with little understanding of what happened in between.

First Order seems to have been around enough for the Republic to have been ignoring them for a good while. Knights of Ren was nothing more than a mention as was the Republic. We only really are exposed to The Resistance and the Order with no info on how they formed after ROTJ.

That's annoying. ANH didn't need to explain how the empire came to be as that was the status quo. But with this the status quo at the end of ROTJ was a new republic being formed and empire vanquished. We went from that straight to a new evil regime essentially in charge without knowing how.
 
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I considered the victory of ROTJ to be the death of Palpatine, defeat of Vader, and the destruction of the Death Star 2. I never though the ruling government of the galaxy was obliterated in one battle.

Maybe the factions were not explained deliberately enough but I took away from the movie that the New Republic was the government in power, the First Order were the remains of the Empire + new recruits, and the Resistance was the military force devoted to keeping the First Order in line. It obviously became clear that the FO were more of a threat than anticipated, which will surely be a major story point in the sequels.

I don't really feel like that's a problem. Other than leaning on the ANH structure (which is a common flaw in the SW universe), I don't find the writing lazy at all. Quite the opposite - the screenplay gets a LOT of character exposition across within entertaining scenes and manages to create a sympathetic and enjoyable new cast of characters while paying homage to the old guard.

Well done, I say. :clap
 
The Clown Prince of Crime said:
They could have explained all that in a 5 minute montage intro, Watchmen style, but then again, that wouldn't feel very Star Warsy.
Click to expand...

Or better yet in a two-second sentence in real time. You know, off the cuff like: Ever since the Tardarians formed an alliance with the 12 systems, the First Order has been allowed to fortify itself unchecked.
 

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