Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Post-release)

[G W Zipper]

John Williams requested that the score was recorded locally,.....his trip to London would have been too much for him

J

I heard that as well, but I'm not sure that was the only reason. Folks saying the score isn't as good because it's not the LSO, may be on to something, but I'm just saying the LSO that originally recorded Star Wars doesn't exist anymore.

 

[MasterEdi]

Re: Star Wars TFA. Warning spoilers and I hate it!!! Haters and Lovers Welcome

... One thing I noticed different from the Thursday night group (super-hard core fans) vs. Friday night (Fans, but not as hardcore) is that generally, on Fri., they enjoyed it so much more. Clapping extensively at the end! Which kinda surprised me, I start wondering did I see the same movie?... This is the conclusion I came to: Super-core fans (like us) will tend to find ALOT wrong with it. (I mean, come on, we live, breathe, and **** SW) Now the general fan going audience will tend to like it so much more. Non Star Wars fans will really really like it quite a bit. Kids will generally just LOVE it!...

... And now it's SW therapy time. This is great for us to gather ourselves together and vent... To spit that Prequelish taste from our mouths and move on. We had high hopes with JJ... In all his interviews he said the right things, but the movie we got did not live up to our expectations. Could any movie have though?... And now like some sick-a-fantic I find myself reworking the movie in my head. Tweaking some parts rewriting others.. Little things like, show the damn exterior shots of the Star destroyer from a better angles... When Kylos ship lands, use a cool variation of the imperial march theme. Damnit, the First Order IS essentially the Empire, your re-hashing everything else why not the coolest stuff? ... The music matters! If your want to instill the feels play the right background music for heavens sake... Also, when Kylos ship lands pull in and have a shot of the ramp slowly opening with him coming out in his badass glory... Change the ending, Kylo should taunt and belittle Rey as they Saber fight which he should decidedly win, even though she holds her own. She should be the one on the ground when the Chasm opens up to separate them.... Have Phasma in a Special Tie fighter giving Poe a run for his money in a epic Ariel dogfight, adding emotional weight and meaning to the Starkiller battle... DON'T have Starkiller base destroyed completely but have its super gun destroyed and half the planet in destroyed and in shambles,. Severely Crippling them but not entirely wiping them out....
My mind goes on and on...fixing, adjusting, eliminating, adding... But, (sigh) Alas, to no avail but my own... My wonder is if you and I can see these things so easily, why couldn't they???
Thanks, for the therapy session everyone, bill me later

 

[Jaitea]

I heard that as well, but I'm not sure that was the only reason. Folks saying the score isn't as good because it's not the LSO, may be on to something, but I'm just saying the LSO that originally recorded Star Wars doesn't exist anymore.

LSO is still here,....obviously there are different members/musicians

J

 

[CAPTAINCOX]

Re: Star Wars TFA. Warning spoilers and I hate it!!! Haters and Lovers Welcome

I guess most has been said in this thread but here are my 5 cents.

I was 11 when I saw A New Hope in Stockholm 1977 (yea go figure I will be FRACKING 50 on the 23 of Dec) and it was MAGIC! like for so many of my generation.
To be honest I really really thought I would be sobbing like a little girl when I walked in to the cinema yesterday evening (like I do when I see the IV V VI and when been seeing the Trailers for VII) the weird thing was...I did not even flinch once throughout the Movie...not even close! Starting with the Opening Crawling Text I thought...what the f... Search for Luke IS THAT IT???

What I want to say is that the Ol Star Wars Magic was simply not there...from the first moment of the film till the end...not even a little bit. Its like JJ wanted to much and somehow got lost in how it should be like the old films and forgot about something...yea that Magic.

Its a super film none the less and for sure well done and all that, but being a Hard Core Semi Religious Star Wars fan it just didn't have enough of the Force somehow.

Oh another thing, as I am really in to Star Wars Models and stuff I was really disappointed in the general Ship/Vehicle Design as they where to Generic and lacked the Character of those original designs. I think Doug Chiang is a really Talented Artist but the likes of Ralph Mcquarrie and Joe Johnston where simply in another league when coming up with truly characteristic and unique Designs.

But again...not a bad film, but without that Ol Magic.


Oh and forgot the Han Solo debacle...this is what Harrison Ford said in a recent Interview.
"George din't want to kill off Han Solo in V and VI cause dead Han Solo Toys don't sell well"
I guess with some sarcasm but Harrison Ford always found the character to be "Dumb and lacking depth.

 

[JKRIB]

Yay I finished reading this whole thread. I'm all caught up.
Really interesting reactions and review here. I'm currently gathering my thought.
A few notes to myself has turned into an essay.

 

[Bryancd]

Critical and audience reactions to this film are running incredibly high, it's an unmitigated success.

 

[joshvanrad]

Critical and audience reactions to this film are running incredibly high, it's an unmitigated success.

And every single person with a negative review is here on RPF!

 

[Bryancd]

And every single person with a negative review is here on RPF!

Well, this tiny sliver of fandom demographic is very specific. We are a community brought together by the desire to create props and models for genre films. People here have a kind of specificity in their expecrtations that no studio is going to cater to as it's an impossible task. TFA is giving Star Wars back to the world at large, not the RPF.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

A couple last thoughts of mine:

Is it fair to say that, in large part, this is a movie about a force sensitive youth who was abandoned on a desert planet who joins forces with a wookie and a smuggler to return an escaped droid that is carrying information vital to the resistance (who is fighting against an empire that has a henchman with familial connections to the heroes) while stopping by a cantina for help before the resistance goes on to destroy a giant planet destroying weapon?

If so, while there is more to it, I believe that if I told you the above blurb on December 17th, most if not all of you would have had grave concerns.

Life is cyclical, history repeats itself is too easy an out for me.

 

[joshvanrad]

Well, this tiny sliver of fandom demographic is very specific. We are a community brought together by the desire to create props and models for genre films. People here have a kind of specificity in their expecrtations that no studio is going to cater to as it's an impossible task. TFA is giving Star Wars back to the world at large, not the RPF.

Well I thought from a perspective of props and model making it couldn't possibly disappoint.

I think there are just a lot of people here that either set it on a pedestal so high nothing could have possibly met their expectations, OR (and this is probably most accurate) there are just a lot of people here who are so cynical they can't fully enjoy cinema anymore.

 

[glunark]

Remember that picture of the table read when they were first all sat together reading the script?

Do you reckon Hammill was just playing angry birds the whole time?

 

[joshvanrad]

Remember that picture of the table read when they were first all sat together reading the script?

Do you reckon Hammill was just playing angry birds the whole time?

"Hey J.J. I don't really say anything. Soooo.... can I go home?"

"Sure, but let's take this picture first."

 

[MooCriket]

Having now scene this film twice, I can easily say that it was what I had hoped to see after 1983. LOVED it. The humor was unexpected, and unlike the prequels, was actually funny. The characters were fun, and it was great to see Han and Chewie in action again. I'll admit to crying like a baby during the final Han/Kylo moment, and then again seeing Luke look like a broken man, with the weight of regret on him heavily. This film left me longing for more, and unlike the prequels...optimistic and encouraged by what is to come next.

 

[darth_myeek]

Re: Star Wars TFA. Warning spoilers and I hate it!!! Haters and Lovers Welcome

TFA is an origin story for the next phase. It's slow and choppy because it had a ton of introductory ground to cover. The original cast was there to validate their replacements. Han had to die for the kids to grow up. The only plausible way for Han to die is if he let his guard down and he would only do that in a family member situation. I was thrilled with Harrison's deliveries.

So origin stories get slack; because they are the set up for the next movie.

Overall I really liked the movie but there were a couple of things I didn't like.

BB-8 is overhyped. Yes a rolling ball makes sense in sand, but please Disney marketing machine stop the obvious conditioning.

The excuse R2 being bummed out in storage didn't fly. Nobody puts R2 in the corner. Especially for the cat who saved a lot of ass over six episodes. The real reason he was in lowpower mode was a no complete clause with BB-8.

Captain Phasma of what? Captain of the First Order's HR division? More shiney than scarey. I am assuming there is a ton of her on the cutting room floor.

Kylo Ren'a voice. Maybe my theater soeakers couldn't handle it but it sounded like he blew his speaker. I loved his Sith groupie thing and his Epic lightsaber tantrums.

So it has flaws, yes. I can find them in any of the seven but I liked it way more than enough to just like it. Better than Jedi.

 

[Darth Lars]

I find it a bit confusing that the Resistance theme sounds like a variation of the Droid army theme from The Phantom Menace ... or is it just me that find them similar?

 

[joshvanrad]

Re: Star Wars TFA. Warning spoilers and I hate it!!! Haters and Lovers Welcome

There are some people here that really need to lighten up.

I hope you guys can find happiness?

 

[Kylash]

So once they got the map all figured out, why was it agreed that Rey was the one to go find him? Did she come back and tell everyone "hey guys, I've got the force, I'm kind of a big deal, so let me go." And why didn't Leia go with?

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

In the end we may have seen the start of new series of movies about two late teens early twens who have issues. So did George Lucas influence this after all? There are rumours his plans to make the new movies about teen angst ridden kids, and what did we watch?

 

[Jaitea]

Re: Star Wars TFA. Warning spoilers and I hate it!!! Haters and Lovers Welcome

It's a success

I have a mate/workmate who is not a SW fan,....who has seen it & wants to go see it again

J

 

[dascoyne]

Re: Star Wars TFA. Warning spoilers and I hate it!!! Haters and Lovers Welcome

It's a success

I have a mate/workmate who is not a SW fan,....who has seen it & wants to go see it again

J

A new fan is born ... to offset the OP. LOL.

- - - Updated - - -

There are some people here that really need to lighten up.

I hope you guys can find happiness?

Even though I disagree with the OP I respect his right to have his opinion and I appreciate that he made a separate thread so as not to disrupt the other thread.

I love TFA but have a violent repulsion to ROTJ so I actually feel I know his position.