Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Post-release)

Phasma not used at all.
Snowtroopers not used at all.
R2 used for all of 2 minutes, if that.
The tie pilot footage you see in the trailer is all the footage there is in the movie.
The new stormtroopers look stumpy and more incompetent than the originals.
Tie Fighters have ejection seats now?
Droids make the best hiding places.
Stupid map to Luke Skywalker?!
Kylo's helmet is made of lead and weighs 2000 pounds.

The beholder or whatever it was doesn't eat Fin immediately like everyone else, just rolls off with him in tow.

Rey - I've never fired a gun before, but I'll bullseye everything in sight! I had no idea I was force sensitive but I'll one-up Ben Kenobi's best mind trick and wield a saber better than he ever could.

I was hoping Luke would force snatch the saber from Rey's hand at the end and behead her.

CutThumb

Wasn't Rey being held by the arm of some big orange alien in the brief flashback? I assumed that was the rations guy.

My takeaway was that Rey was fairly obviously a Skywalker, but not Luke's. I'm going to assume she's a Solo until anything more concrete comes along.

Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this question, but I can't find any info on what planets were destroyed by the Starkiller. Anyone got an idea?

I don't see how that argument that Rey is a solo can really hold up. If that was the case, then Leia and Han would have known who she was. They never mentioned having a daughter- only a son. It's HEAVILY implied she's directly related to Luke, hence..HIS daughter.

Why else would she be as powerful with the force as they showed, on top of the fact that Maz pretty much explained to her who she was

tubachris85x said:

I don't see how that argument that Rey is a solo can really hold up. If that was the case, then Leia and Han would have known who she was. They never mentioned having a daughter- only a son. It's HEAVILY implied she's directly related to Luke, hence..HIS daughter.

Why else would she be as powerful with the force as they showed, on top of the fact that Maz pretty much explained to her who she was

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Just the feeling from multiple parallels with Han, and few if any with Luke, the major being crazy force sensitivity and seeming to be fairly adept naturally. It's possible they just wanted her to fill the cast role that was vacated in this movie more easily, but without wanting to sound like a snipe, it's honestly hard to tell with this level of writing.

Edit: Don't get me wrong when I say parallels. I mean she seemed to be good at, and interested in the stuff we associate more readily with Han, along with some personality traits. Obviously there are huge Luke parallels with the whole orphan Annie from Sandland, sequence with daydreaming in a pilot's helmet, jumping into Force stuff both feet first, yadda yadda.

Additional edit: Mostly unrelated, but when Ren slammed his helmet down on a pile of ashes, are we to infer those are Vader's, since he has Vader's nuked helmet too? Or did I completely blank on something else?

CutThumb said:

The obvious connection is that he is the one that Luke left Rey with as a child in that flash back on Jakku. That would explain why he had the final part of the map and probably why Luke looks so emotional at the end and cannot speak when he sees her because she has found him. The question is, is she a Skywalker? Given her strong force powers and the way she looks I would think the answer is yes. I would guess her mother was probably killed in the raid by the Knights of Ren, and that's why we see so little of that flashback and that's why we know and saw so little about MVS character. It certainly explains why Luke couldn't be near her without the danger of drawing Ren and co towards them and why she wasn't active with the Force until her contact with Kylo activated it. Is the age gap between Rey and him big enough to allow all this to have happened ? It certainly would bring a hugely potent dynamic to the story, if she discovers the truth.

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Oh god you're right--it's SPACEBALLS!

I am relieved.

Star Wars in tone and spirit is back. The Force is no longer "a blood test", but a spiritual element in the story. Han's story went the way we all knew it would, given Ford's feelings on the character. I was a bit saddened to realize this badass smuggler eventually became almost a doddering grifter, but I guess that's what happens when a smuggler gets into his 70s. Felt plausible, as well as his damaged relationship with Leia after losing a son like that.

I liked Kylo Ren much more than I thought I would, and I appreciate him being unhinged and CLEARLY not ready for prime time, so to speak. He's weak, vulnerable, and seems bat **** crazy. It's not a Vader redo, unlike the whole Starkiller base plot which is pretty weak, story-wise. But that's okay... I understand why they played it safe, reintroducing us to Star Wars proper after 32 years. I will be much more critical of the next saga plot line. I want some originality now that we're back in the pool.

Daisy Ridley KILLED it. I adore her acting, character, and storyline. Is she a Skywalker? Probably. I like that Von Sydow was probably left on Jakku to watch over her, yeah. Boyega also was stellar as Finn - probably the best acting in the film, and I wanted to see him used more. I don't like that he wanted to run away, it felt off. I also wanted way more Poe. Ford played Solo as you'd expect, and Chewie was surprisingly on point and stole the show more than a few times. Very impressed with how they captured his ANH Trash Compactor "ninny" side without making him a baby. And seeing him in berserker mode after the lightsaber skewering was good - I half expected to see him tear the arms off of something, with all the call backs this film had.

BB-8, oh man. They topped Artoo. I can't believe it, but they did. That thumbs up scene had everyone laughing - a wonderful bit and communal experience. Also interesting how all the fighting took place in the atmosphere's of planets. No literal "star wars" this time around. And Snoke was like Voldermort - I'm not into that whole thing CGI look he has, but character-wise I am intrigued, and I guess they just expanded the universe somewhat? That being said, I completely loved Maz Katana, thought she looked wonderful, and believed she was in the scenes with the actors.

I dunno if Vos intentionally added the dent to Rey's speeder, but that was a glorious call back to Luke's Landspeeder.

Where were the TIE Bombers and Y-Wings!? There were no other fighters besides TIEs and Xs!

I'm still processing what I saw overall... but I'm glad Star Wars is back.

CutThumb said:

The obvious connection is that he is the one that Luke left Rey with as a child in that flash back on Jakku. That would explain why he had the final part of the map and probably why Luke looks so emotional at the end and cannot speak when he sees her because she has found him. The question is, is she a Skywalker? Given her strong force powers and the way she looks I would think the answer is yes. I would guess her mother was probably killed in the raid by the Knights of Ren, and that's why we see so little of that flashback and that's why we know and saw so little about MVS character. It certainly explains why Luke couldn't be near her without the danger of drawing Ren and co towards them and why she wasn't active with the Force until her contact with Kylo activated it. Is the age gap between Rey and him big enough to allow all this to have happened ? It certainly would bring a hugely potent dynamic to the story, if she discovers the truth.

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I don't think it can be assumed that she is a Skywalker. She was old enough to remember her family when she was left; so she'd remember that Luke was her father and not some myth.

She was not left with MVS. You can see the alien hand holding onto her in that shot. Looked and sounded like it was that alien who traded portions for parts. Leia also gives no indication of knowing who she is. Certainly she'd be known to Leia. While Leia might not come right out and say, "Look who it is!", there'd certainly be some recognition on her part, especially being force sensitive. There was none of that.

Unrelated, the Rathtar creature looked an awful lot like concept drawings for the Sarlacc. I thought that was cool, if intentional.

Overall, I loved it. But, it needs to slow down. Have time for scenes to breathe. I know that A.D.D. style of direction is all the rage these days for the "can't follow words" millennials, but it does great disservice to an otherwise good movie. Easily the third best in the series.

Anybody find the opening crawl text online yet?

DARTH SABER said:

Just got back from the screening.
Overall it definitely had that star wars feel and miles ahead of the prequels, and one of the best in the series.
The acting was top notch by everyone, and the humor was perfectly timed without going overboard.
It was a bit sad to see age catching up with ford but overall he was still Han Solo.
The chemestry between the new characters was spot on.
Abrams hit some oretty good emotional moments and "helk yeah!" moments.
The villain was also pretty unique and interesting.
An undisciplined, loose canon sith-lord wanna-be with no real training and major psychological issues.
This is what Anakakin probably should have been like in thr preauels, rather than an overgrown whiney brat.


Now the complaints.
This movie moves at a breakneck pace.
Which works well but it came very close to ruining the film.
The original trilogy had many exposition scenes that took its time and let the audience savor the performances and ket the words sink in....while this film did slow down a few times to let characters settle in it still seemed a bit rushed and just as youre letting the dialog sink in the scene cuts.
I will say that Abrams did a good job of developing his characters and moving the story foreard while maintaining this light-speed pace.

The next issue was that the storyline of the film was taken mostly from elements from the original trilogy and stiched together...however this only bothered me for about five minutes since it was done so well that i had a permagrin on my face the whole time and didnt care after a few minutes.

And finally, the music.
Ive always been a John Willliams fan, but it seems like his best days are behind him.
None of the new music was very memorable; just a bunch of musical notes strung together that didnt seem to have a formula, and for some odd reason it didnt sound like John Williams Music...the memorable Star Wars themes were also barely used in the film. Mainly in the opening crawl and the end credits and a few bars during the actual film that came and went before you could even enjoy it.
I dont know if this was Abrams decision or Williams.
One thing i do know is that an intense action scene or enotional moments demand to be complimented by one of the many clsssic star wars themes.

Overall I would say this ranks up a close second to ANH, with ESB being first and RoTJ close behind.

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I have been reading reviews all around since last night. Honestly I tend to gravitate towards the negative ones, why? I think its because as a fan I am curious why people dislike or flat out hate the movie. After leaving the theater I thought, "its the Star Wars movie most of us wanted." Not the most incredible or original storyline, but right in line with what a Star Wars movie should feel like.

But what you put down here is spot on for me personally. I loved the movie. I think partially I enjoyed it so much because it was so much better than the prequels that it almost removed that bad taste from my mouth after all these years. like we moved on from it and have a fresh new ground to look forward to.

But the point of my comment is, Thank you. This review is a great reflection, and from one fan to another, I appreciate it!

jcoffman99 said:

Anybody find the opening crawl text online yet?

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Luke Skywalker has vanished.
In his absence, the sinister
FIRST ORDER has risen from
the ashes of the Empire
and will not rest until
Skywalker, the last Jedi,
has been destroyed.

With the support of the
REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa
leads a brave RESISTANCE.
She is desperate to find her
brother Luke and gain his
help in restoring peace and
justice to the galaxy.

Leia has sent her most daring
pilot on a secret mission
to Jakku, where an old ally
has discovered a clue to
Luke's whereabouts....

dbalschi said:

Definitely Ben.

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Which I don't have a major problem with, but I do think it's a little weird that they named their kid after someone Leia never met and Han thought was a crackpot. It seems a more likely a name Luke would give to a child because of his genuine love and respect for his mentor.

tcsmit29 said:

Which I don't have a major problem with, but I do think it's a little weird that they named their kid after someone Leia never met and Han thought was a crackpot. It seems a more likely a name Luke would give to a child because of his genuine love and respect for his mentor.

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Oh lord, maybe Han and Leia were raising LUKE'S kid? Squeeee! I can't handle years of speculation!

A question: the Starkiller Base powered its weapon by draining the energy from its sun, and the shot it was preparing for at the end would completely drain the last of the sun's energy. Was the planet able to be moved to another system to use its sun, or was the weapon useless after that?

I have to say I was a little disappointed.
I was happy with the opening sprawl Luke being missing. I wish they had gone along the lines of Ren going off on one and killing the others meaning that Rae (should she be the sister and not yet with the force) was put under the protection of the old guy and Chewie who could have had the falcon, and been given it by a General Solo - none of this I lost it to him and he lost it too.. nonsense. Poe's arrival simply could have been him coming to tell them that the First order were on to them and to get out of dodge. It could have fit in with the capture and escape, and death of the old man? But then all including Poe getting away in the falcon. How did he get back to the rebels that was missed!
They go find Han and Leia, who give her a saber - Luke's Return of the Jedi one which awakens the force in her (liked that bit , hated how she knew to mind control the guard - how would she know she was capable?) the end would be her returning his saber not his fathers.
I wish it hadn't been a super death star like weapon but a fleet. Perhaps their mission could have been simply to go and get Ren back, and during that he goes on to kill Han then?
Couldn't stand the fact no one could land the falcon, hitting the deck every 5 minutes was annoying!
Poe wonderful pilot hitting everything in his path was lame where were the dog fights and actually someone else coming in and helping out - that was what made those scenes what they were they felt real.
I think JJ hit the mark with the Star Trek movies, I guess he gets those (think I read he was a fan) but with this I personally felt he was way off target. The marker for me was my 11 year old lad did not have that same buzz I had all those years ago, I think he found it run of the mill it was okay but it wasn't great!
I will go and watch the others but for me Star Wars will now only ever be the original trilogy.

Fuzzual said:

I have been reading reviews all around since last night. Honestly I tend to gravitate towards the negative ones, why? I think its because as a fan I am curious why people dislike or flat out hate the movie. After leaving the theater I thought, "its the Star Wars movie most of us wanted." Not the most incredible or original storyline, but right in line with what a Star Wars movie should feel like.

But what you put down here is spot on for me personally. I loved the movie. I think partially I enjoyed it so much because it was so much better than the prequels that it almost removed that bad taste from my mouth after all these years. like we moved on from it and have a fresh new ground to look forward to.

But the point of my comment is, Thank you. This review is a great reflection, and from one fan to another, I appreciate it!

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Hey, thanks man. Just being honest.

Loved the film. As has been said, it's essentially ANH, right down to the cantina scene and trench run. Standard Hero's Journey stuff, which is playing it safe by Disney. Loved Rey and Finn. Their dynamism on screen kept everyone perked up. Seeing Han go out with a bang was quite a sight to see, although I knew that Kylo couldn't be swayed back to the light that easily and that he'd pull something like that. I wish Chewie would have gone ape (Wookie?) and destroyed a few troopers as a result, though. Kind of disappointed to see that Luke doesn't have a single line of dialogue in the movie, but oh well. I too, was waiting for him to force-pull the saber from Rey and show it slamming into his hand and then ending the movie that way, instead of on that weird helicopter shot.

Overall I really, really enjoyed the film. Abrams and Kasdan have brought back the Star Wars we know and love.

SB

EDIT: And is there a consensus yet about who Max von Sydow's character is? He has ties to Princess Leia ("I still remember her as Princess"), but that's really all the exposition we're given on his character.

tcsmit29 said:

Which I don't have a major problem with, but I do think it's a little weird that they named their kid after someone Leia never met and Han thought was a crackpot. It seems a more likely a name Luke would give to a child because of his genuine love and respect for his mentor.

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Kylo's given name, Ben, comes from the fact that both Han and Leia were HUGE fans of podracing, especially the legendary Ben Quadinaros.

BlobVanDam said:

Luke Skywalker has vanished.
In his absence, the sinister
FIRST ORDER has risen from
the ashes of the Empire
and will not rest until
Skywalker, the last Jedi,
has been destroyed.

With the support of the
REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa
leads a brave RESISTANCE.
She is desperate to find her
brother Luke and gain his
help in restoring peace and
justice to the galaxy.

Leia has sent her most daring
pilot on a secret mission
to Jakku, where an old ally
has discovered a clue to
Luke's whereabouts....

Click to expand...

Thank you.

I'll bet Snoke ends up being only two feet tall

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And someone else asked, but what planets were destroyed? I didn't necessarily recognize any, but were any from the previous six movies?