STAR WARS VII - "The Force Awakens" - Movie Discussion

[marcandre]

I saw it yesterday. It was ok, kinda boring. The new hero's were good but the baddies did not impress me. I agree with all the new hope comparisons. It really is the same movie. 

Glad to have SW back. The next one should be more interesting. 

[Val-E]

8 hours ago, Alpinemaps said:

Indiana Jones saga? They haven't made another Indiana Jones movie since 1989.

Like there were no Mixels made since series 1?

See the parallels in all that Lucas does, spin off animated series, long gap till the sequel came out....

[trekgate502]

7 hours ago, Bold-Arrow said:

The ET aspect ruined it for me . Ok moving on from IJ. 

I agree on the second part. I think I posted that either earlier here or the other thread . 

BA

I love Indy 4

I love Episode VII

Deal with it

LOL

[Ciglione]

10 hours ago, marcandre said:

I saw it yesterday. It was ok, kinda boring. The new hero's were good but the baddies did not impress me. I agree with all the new hope comparisons. It really is the same movie. 

Glad to have SW back. The next one should be more interesting. 

Not so sure about that. They have located Luke now. So Ep VIII might be like "Return of the Jedi". 

[jaisonline]

Now I loved the film because it was a good Star Wars movie and well, o love Star Wars (except the prequels). Anyway, here is an article that pretty much sums how I felt about some plot holes (e.g. Maz) especially after reading the novelization, that art of Star Wars book and the 2 pretty dead-on leaked stories 

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/12/28/star-wars-storytelling-and-fixing-it-in-post

 

[marcandre]

2 hours ago, Ciglione said:

Not so sure about that. They have located Luke now. So Ep VIII might be like "Return of the Jedi". 

I would guess more like ESB. Luke will train Rey, she will have a showdown with Ren, and there will be some big revelation. 

[Alpinemaps]

7 hours ago, jaisonline said:

Now I loved the film because it was a good Star Wars movie and well, o love Star Wars (except the prequels). Anyway, here is an article that pretty much sums how I felt about some plot holes (e.g. Maz) especially after reading the novelization, that art of Star Wars book and the 2 pretty dead-on leaked stories 

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/12/28/star-wars-storytelling-and-fixing-it-in-post

 

So I saw watched the movie last night for the third time, and enjoyed it.  And then I read this article.  Ouch.  Now I can't stop thinking about some of those things.  Still love the movie, but, he brings up some good points.

[Battrax]

Another interesting article from a warfare and defense blog - First Order versus the Empire

http://warisboring.com/articles/the-first-order-is-more-frightening-and-effective-than-the-empire/

[KShine]

21 hours ago, jaylay said:

Didn't read every post but if it hasn't been thought of yet... So does this mean Rey is now the new captain of the MF?

Yes, Chewy gets hosed again. No clothes, no medal, no Millennium Falcon.

[jaisonline]

52 minutes ago, Alpinemaps said:

So I saw watched the movie last night for the third time, and enjoyed it.  And then I read this article.  Ouch.  Now I can't stop thinking about some of those things.  Still love the movie, but, he brings up some good points.

I feel the same.  Hopefully some deleted scenes will be released with the Blu-Ray this April / May. 

[TheOrcKing]

This whole topic has turned into a Nostalgia Critic rant.

[Darth_Raichu]

23 minutes ago, TheOrcKing said:

This whole topic has turned into a Nostalgia Critic rant.

I think people are so used to watching quality TV shows like GoT, Breaking Bad, etc. So when a perfectly acceptable reboot (of some sort) of a beloved franchise comes along it gets nitpicked to death.   Even when the bar was set at "Attack of the Clones" (!!) level.

[Battrax]

27 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

I think people are so used to watching quality TV show like GoT, Breaking Bad, etc. So when a perfectly acceptable reboot (of some sort) of a beloved franchise comes along it gets nitpicked to death.   Even when the bar was set at "Attack of the Clones" (!!!) level.

You'd need to be Heinrich Schliemann to dig up a bar set that low!

[jeff_14]

I was actually thinking of Game of Thrones by the end of it, how they set up a cliffhanger and reason to come back with the way it ended. Which of course all started with Empire Strikes Back.

I can nitpick all of the Star Wars films (with love) for various reasons but the issue I and I think most people have with the new one is a more fundamental problem and that is that we were fed a recycled version (basically a remake) of a movie we'd already seen. No surprise I suppose given that it was JJ (MIssion impossible and Star Trek Into Darkness) Abrams doing it. I did not wait 30+ years from Return of the Jedi for the next chapter only to be fed a story I'd already seen but with various plot points jumbled around and passed off as new, as technically beautiful as this new film was. Empire was not the same story as New Hope, and neither was Return of the Jedi despite the otherwise common element of the second Death Star. They were all very different stories, as were the prequels, but united around certain age old themes. A Death Star is not a theme. It reminds me of the South Park episode where the military approaches Hollywood directors for ideas about how to defeat aliens and Michael Bay keeps saying "explosions" until the general dismisses him saying "Explosions aren't ideas, they're just special effects". 

I enjoyed the prequels quite a bit and find this latest movie too small in scale and too derivative. At least with the prequels Lucas attempted to enlarge the story and show us a different point of view of the Star Wars galaxy. I didn't get that here, and that's particularly disappointing since I was really enjoying the movie due to the charisma of the new characters and the more original plot points right up until a certain planet appeared. At that moment I knew exactly what was going to happen from then on and the goodwill of the first half of the movie evaporated. I now understand why the prequels are so widely disliked. It's not because of Jar Jar, or midichlorians, or Hayden Christenssen. It's because they weren't exactly copies of the originals judging by the overdone praise many people are heaping on this recycled story as "fresh" and "original". They had better have something new up their sleeve for Episode VIII, because even the most awestruck fan of this story can only have it retold so many times before losing interest. And if their "original" idea is for Luke to say "I am your father" then I will laugh out loud in the theatre. 

 

[boxofcorey]

Now I loved the film because it was a good Star Wars movie and well, o love Star Wars (except the prequels). Anyway, here is an article that pretty much sums how I felt about some plot holes (e.g. Maz) especially after reading the novelization, that art of Star Wars book and the 2 pretty dead-on leaked stories 

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/12/28/star-wars-storytelling-and-fixing-it-in-post

 

Was that written more as a critique of TFA or some glorified piggy back advertisement for the author's movie?

[jeff_14]

21 minutes ago, boxofcorey said:

Was that written more as a critique of TFA or some glorified piggy back advertisement for the author's movie?

Seems to be both, though the comments following the article are quite interesting. I also found the missed opportunity to explore the idea of a renegade stormtrooper disappointing. He goes from mourning a colleague to gleefully mowing down colleagues in the space of 5 minutes. Hardly what you would expect from a trained from birth trooper. And the other side trusting him so easily is a joke. 

[TheOrcKing]

[jaisonline]

14 hours ago, boxofcorey said:

Was that written more as a critique of TFA or some glorified piggy back advertisement for the author's movie?

No idea but the author did mention how hard it's to write a film and used his own project for comparisons.

 

[gregpj]

I just got caught up on all the discussions in this thread, and I must say I am both surprised and not surprised.

To those that enjoyed it, I did too. The best part was introducing it to my kids (8 & 5) who have never really been interested in SW 1-6 which I think is age related as much as anything. Sure they knew Darth Vader, Luke and the Millennium Falcon but they never really "got" my love of Star Wars and now they do. Hats off to Disney and JJ for that.

To those that didn't, I totally get that many were expecting more but I honestly think you're taking it too seriously. It's entertainment and nothing less.

If I were to compare it to LEGO reselling, we all rely somewhat on the "love of the brick" to drive prices up. Why wouldn't Disney and JJ rely on the "love of episodes 4-6" to bring new and old fans back? I think that is what they did - nothing more, nothing less.

[jaisonline]

Found 3 more interesting links for conversation.  Major spoilers in each article.

27 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' questions answered by the novel

http://mashable.com/2015/12/29/force-awakens-novel/

 

I'm not a big fan of the next article but interesting nevertheless.  The author's expectations must have been may too high  y desiring a 4 hour film.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/40-unforgivable-plot-holes-in-star-wars-the-force-awakens_b_8850324.html

 

The last article is really cool .  Star Wars: The Force Awakens Deleted Scenes: 20 Scenes Cut From The Final Film

http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-the-force-awkens-deleted-scenes/

 

 

 

[thoroakenfelder]

16 hours ago, boxofcorey said:

Was that written more as a critique of TFA or some glorified piggy back advertisement for the author's movie?

It's a form of argument that establishes expertise. You show personal knowledge from your own experiences to lend weight/credibility to your arguments. I personally am not sure that I would have hit Ghost Shark 2 as often. Maybe just refer to it as "my movie" so that we're not so completely discounting his expertise based upon the title of an unknown probably 4th or 5th rate film.

He does bring up some good points about the process. It doesn't change my enjoyment of the film. I don't know what anyone else was looking for, but I got the good time I hoped for. Expecting a new mythology and a new "First Star Wars" experience in this world that is almost 40 years post Star Wars is ridiculous. How can you set a new paradigm when you are deeply part of the previous paradigm? You know who got a "First Star Wars" experience? My wife and kids. My wife never saw any of the previous films in the theaters, and my kids are far too young. My girls left the theater pretending to be Rey, and my wife asked when we are going again. This film did its job. We're not promised great art and soul feeding storytelling, we're promised an outer space film where people fight with flashlights, guys in bucket armor stomp around and an dog/ape helps fly a hamburger ship. I know that the pastime of the internet is to gripe and groan about everything, and I don't deny anyone that right. I just don't understand why people are so angry at each other for their opinions. Why are those who disliked it so mad at those who do? Is it just a reaction to all of the disbelief and the get over yourself attitude that the fans have?

[gregpj]

On 12/29/2015 at 1:06 AM, California92563 said:

 

Would have been better with this scene...

 

[KShine]

1 hour ago, jaisonline said:

The last article is really cool .  Star Wars: The Force Awakens Deleted Scenes: 20 Scenes Cut From The Final Film

http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-the-force-awkens-deleted-scenes/

 

This just shows that the story itself wasn't that important - many of these scenes would have changed the movie.

The cuts have had a permanent impact on the remaining story line (not that that matters to them, since it meant that they were able to fit in an extra screening per day).

In all honesty, I would love to read Lucas's vision of the final trilogy (that he provided Disney, and they completely rejected) - that would be the real story, from the actual creator.

Yes, he wouldn't have done as polished a job on the movie, but he would have cared - I would have appreciated his sense of meaning and purpose.

The Disney story is no more than an expanded universe story line (and not a particularly good one) - only with the legal rights to say that it is more.

Edited December 30, 2015 by KShine

[thoroakenfelder]

maybe in 20 years we'll see that script played out in comic form like The Star Wars

Edited December 30, 2015 by thoroakenfelder

[jaisonline]

I hope J.W. Rinzler writes a TFA book like he did for each of the original 3 films.  So far the Art of SW : TFA provides glimpses into pretty each main draft including early ones that prob had Lucas' vision as meetings took place with him.