Star Wars episode 7: The Force Awakens

[Dave]

I think they keep skipping over the best stories - they skipped the whole Obi-Wan Kenobi kicking ass in the Clone Wars - now the have skipped Luke training new Jedi, including Kylo Ren, and whatever hasn't been told to us yet. They also missed out the prequels to the prequels - in which a young Qui-Gon Jinn has first his daughter, and then his ex-wife kidnapped, and hunts down every last Sith who took them.

 

[ZombieWife]

1. I enjoyed the prequels. I didn't LOVE them, but I had a good time watching them. I thought it was a different "era" in a sense in the universe. Things were a bit more shiny, technologically advanced, etc. For example, it was awesome to watch the Gungan battle, to see how another alien race uses technology in creative ways. (Despite JarJar and the racial weird voice-overs.) Seeing the galaxy "as it was" before the Empire squashed hope and access and information was fun for me.

2. We saw it in 2D first. Glad we did. I didn't feel like the 3D added anything to it, except for one scene when it felt like a destroyer was coming out of the screen. That was cool. The rest was wasted. Curious for anyone who has seen it in IMAX or other formats?

3. The original story was based on the monomyth, the "same story told over and over again." It doesn't bother me in the least that there were familiar elements. I'd rather latch onto solid characters with good acting and fun action than have a film try to be "too unique" to the detriment of everything else.

I think they keep skipping over the best stories - they skipped the whole Obi-Wan Kenobi kicking ass in the Clone Wars - now the have skipped Luke training new Jedi, including Kylo Ren, and whatever hasn't been told to us yet. They also missed out the prequels to the prequels - in which a young Qui-Gon Jinn has first his daughter, and then his ex-wife kidnapped, and hunts down every last Sith who took them.

But there's a very good chance we'll get to see Luke train Rey.

Besides, we didn't see Obi Wan train Anakin in IV or in I and II for that matter. They took a large leap from when Anakin was a boy to when he was older. It was part of the history and world-building in both cases.

That doesn't mean that we'll never get to see it or experience it, either through novels or animation/spin-offs.

 

[Parson]

The time in transit also grated on me a bit. Even at light speed things are YEARS apart unless the Star Wars Galaxy is VERY compact! Do they have some sort of faster than light travel that I'm unaware of?

Most definitely FTL, although they don't explain it. Nothing else would explain the timeline continuity of characters and ages. In "The New Hope" it was called "Hyper Drive" and seemed to be something like Light Speed times (whatever it took for days to weeks travel.) The Force Awakens seems to point to worm hole travel in something which seems near instantaneous. At the end it seems that Rey and Chewy haven't moved from their take off positions when they arrive.

I didn't feel like the 3D added anything to it, except for one scene when it felt like a destroyer was coming out of the screen. That was cool.

I wouldn't say "didn't add anything" but it is questionable whether it was worth it. The destoryer scene was WAY COOL!!!

 

[Judderman]

They also missed out the prequels to the prequels - in which a young Qui-Gon Jinn has first his daughter, and then his ex-wife kidnapped, and hunts down every last Sith who took them.

You never know, something like that could happen. If the next two films are also runaway commercial successes they could come back several years later and do some more. There will be a market.

Starwars: Origins.
Maybe we can plan the plot in a 300 or 75 word sffchronicles challenge thread.

 

[Culhwch]

I think they keep skipping over the best stories - they skipped the whole Obi-Wan Kenobi kicking ass in the Clone Wars - now the have skipped Luke training new Jedi, including Kylo Ren, and whatever hasn't been told to us yet. They also missed out the prequels to the prequels - in which a young Qui-Gon Jinn has first his daughter, and then his ex-wife kidnapped, and hunts down every last Sith who took them.

I always thought the purging of the Jedi should have gotten more screen time in the prequels, instead of the quick montage of them getting shot in the back like punks that we got.

 

[ZombieWife]

I always thought the purging of the Jedi should have gotten more screen time in the prequels, instead of the quick montage of them getting shot in the back like punks that we got.

I agree. It was kind of anticlimactic.

 

[Rodders]

I watched this last week and i will see it again. I felt a little cheated as this was a lazy movie. Don't get me wrong, i enjoyed it but it was a remake of the OT and i didn't appreciate that. I don't see where they can go for Episode VIII outside of an ESB remake. You can knock the Lucas and the PT as much as you like, but at least it was original.

I am pleased that it was a success and that another generation of fans is

I liked Poe Dameron's character, but thought he was really underused. I would've liked to have seen it cut to him making his escape from Jakku.
Both Finn and Rey were great characters buy i didn't think that Daisy Ridley was a particulaly good actress. Great smile, though.
Kylo Ren was nonsense. I appreciate that he's still being trained, but to be beaten so thoroughly by someone without training was nonsense.
Maz Kanata was great, i thought. Superb animation.

Harrison Ford was atrocious. Like many fans i was pleased to see him play Han Solo, but he clearly just turned up read his lines and went home again.

I thought that the Millennium Falcon should've taken some damage as the movie went on. Perhaps a bent mandible or something. She was treated a little roughly in this movie.

Like i said, i will see it again and i'll definitely get it on Blu Ray in April but i don't think that TFA will hold up to repeat veiwings as well at the Originals.

Roll on Rogue One.

 

[REBerg]

Stephen Colbert's "crisis of faith" over SWTFA

 

[Bodhi]

What I was hearing from my viewmates was that Maz Kanata (the goggle alien in the bar) was like Yoda. And there was a comment that Snoke (the evil master on the throne) was like Charlie Sheen.

Anyone agree?

 

[REBerg]

What I was hearing from my viewmates was that Maz Kanata (the goggle alien in the bar) was like Yoda. And there was a comment that Snoke (the evil master on the throne) was like Charlie Sheen.

Anyone agree?

I guess anyone evil can produce comparisons to Charlie Sheen. I've read fan theories that Master Yoda and Maz Kanata had been romantically involved, and that Snoke is their love child. This, understandably, led to a ban on Jedi Knight dating.

They do appear to be of the same or related species, like Vulcans and Romulans. As the male, Yoda has the decorative ears the females find so attractive.

 

[Bugg]

Went to see the movie for the second time today, this time in 2D. I enjoyed it so much more this way (and I enjoyed it a hell of a lot first time around, even in 3D). I really don't like seeing films in 3D, it's just a gimmick. Get rid of that third dimension, I say!

 

[REBerg]

Went to see the movie for the second time today, this time in 2D. I enjoyed it so much more this way (and I enjoyed it a hell of a lot first time around, even in 3D). I really don't like seeing films in 3D, it's just a gimmick. Get rid of that third dimension, I say!

That suggestion might fall flat!

 

[Bugg]

That suggestion might fall flat!

 

[Culhwch]

They do appear to be of the same or related species, like Vulcans and Romulans. As the male, Yoda has the decorative ears the females find so attractive.

Pretty sure we saw a female jedi of Yoda's species in the prequels, though, didn't we? And she had the decorative ears going on...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I thought Harrison was tremendous and inhabited the character again.

Alas, I can't watch 3D films - I'm one of the people who gets travel sick when I do. Very bizarre since I rarely do otherwise, unless in boats

 

[JunkMonkey]

What I was hearing from my viewmates was that Maz Kanata (the goggle alien in the bar) was like Yoda.

She reminded me more of the costume designer from The Incredibles

 

[Culhwch]

Alas, I can't watch 3D films - I'm one of the people who gets travel sick when I do. Very bizarre since I rarely do otherwise, unless in boats

That's interesting. 3D never works for me - my eyes are all screwy, and the effect I get doesn't seem to be the effect everyone else gets, so we never go...

 

[Dave]

She reminded me more of the costume designer from The Incredibles

I actually thought it was the same voice actress and that I had heard her in other animations. It isn't. She is Lupita Nyong'o, a young Kenyan actress, with only eight credits at IMDb. There is a very young cast in this (apart from the ancient characters from the original series.)

The other interesting thing looking at the cast is all the cameos. I'd heard about Daniel Craig as the Stormtrooper (despite lying about it for months.) I hadn't realised that Simon Pegg was Unkar Plutt, or that Snoke was Andy Serkis. JJ Abrams even has his own dad in the bar scene!

 

[REBerg]

Went to see the movie for the second time today, this time in 2D. I enjoyed it so much more this way (and I enjoyed it a hell of a lot first time around, even in 3D). I really don't like seeing films in 3D, it's just a gimmick. Get rid of that third dimension, I say!

Most of the 3-D films I've seen do seem to be more gimmicky than enhanced.

Looks like many film makers toss in a few scenes optimized for 3-D just to get the label (and a boost in box office revenues). Other than animated features, the only movie I've seen in which 3-D wowed me was Avatar. Even TFA could have taken more advantage of its 3-D opportunities.

 

[Bugg]

Other than animated features, the only movie I've seen in which 3-D wowed me was Avatar.

Yes, that's exactly the same for me - I remember being completely immersed in the 3D in Avatar, but in other films I've seen in 3D it has always felt like it was bolted on as an afterthought (although I didn't see Gravity, which I hear was very good in that regard).