Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Post-release)

[Jeyl]

OMG! They saved the Mag Pulse technology!

 

[JoMamma_Smurf]

I absolutely LOVED IT!! Could I nit pick the **** out of it?? Sure. But why?? No movie is perfect. This movie IS Star Wars. It is. I came out of the theater for every prequal feeling cheated.. awkward.. and convincing myself they were good. This leaves no doubt. It's great. Will be seeing it many more times.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Just got back and I have to say I really enjoyed it.

I agree that it seemed to borrow some plot points from ANH, but to me it really didn't just feel like a rehash. I felt like I was watching a different movie. It had flaws, but I have to say I loved it. I'd rank behind ANH and ESB to be honest.

Can't wait to start speculating about Episode VIII

 

[thorst]

I just got back from the movies.

I didn't read any spoilers, just watched the trailers before. I thought that JJ will give us a really good SW movie, but I am a bit disappointed. In fact, I spent a considerable amount of time during the movie "searching my feelings" why I don't like it as much as I hoped I would.

I feel Kylo Ren is symptomatic for my problem with the movie: Fearing that he won't be a villain as good as Vader, it seems to me that the persons responsible for the plot and design do not reach the old movies. I think, technically, the movie was really great. SFX were great, sound was great, actors were great. But it was not Star Wars to me. In Ep. I-VI, I do believe the plot, and mostly, I do believe the universe it shows. Some examples.

1) Lighting. This bugged me a lot during the film. It seems nitpicking, but I feel it really made the "old" movies (Ep. I-VI) believeable. The lighting matched the environment. I wondered why the red and blue lights in the First Order scenes bugged me, and I think it is because it misses the continuity of the well-ordered, monochromatic, black-and-white look the Republic and then the Empire had in each room. It just matched to the unsophisticated thinking of the system, where each stormtrooper is the same. Those red and blue lights break this, but it doesn't fit to the hierarchical behaviour of the institution. It's too individual. I think, the lighting shows that Star Wars was not really understood.

2) Spacecraft. Spaceships are hard to manouver, much like a WWII plane. The falcon hardly gets through the asteroid field, even with Han as a pilot. Now, the falcon makes manouvers I do not believe. It just doesn't look possible. The same with the X-Wings. This too tells me that Star Wars was not really understood.

3) Plot. To me, the plot felt like a fast-forward of Ep. IV-VI. Death Star, shield generator, no plan but a lot of luck for the rebellion. A big boom at the end. The only difference is that the villains are far less evil than the old ones, accompanied by too much references and citations to the OT. Yes, the responsibility is handed over to the new generation, but I would have expected something new.

I will watch it again, as it was not a bad movie, and it is Star Wars after all, but I hope that Ep. VIII will be more of a sequel to the OT than a remake.

Cheers,
Thorsten

 

[berger]

everyone is going on and on about Rey being lukes daughter, but i just dont see it. it seems to me like she and kylo are brother and sister, and she was taken and put on jakku to hide when she was young to hide her from her evil older brother.

 

[joshvanrad]

Just watched it once. Sitting in the theater waiting for the second viewing. I can definitively say it was better than anything in the prequels, but I'm still trying to figure out how it compares to the OT. It may edge out Jedi in my book, but I'll have to sleep on it to decide on that. I need to process the movie a bit. There was a lot there.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

The soundtrack is now available on ITunes.

 

[Bryancd]

You summed it up pretty well.

Lots of fun - I would add that it had that ADHD feeling (for lack of a better term) a lot of movies have now a days... there wasn't a whole of breathing room, it was a little too non-stop - we never got a chance to get a handle on any character other than the main two (as we already know Han and Chewie... which they did some developing of)... but, Poe? Maz? They could've built them up better.

Someone else mentioned that Ren's helmet removal was a bit anti-climatic, I'll agree with that and wish they would've made the Ren/Solo reveal be a little more dramatic,

I know people say that this is very reminiscent of ANH - and it definitely has way more than it's fair share of ANH in its blood, I'd also argue that it has a healthy bit of hte prequels in it, too.

A welcome addition to the franchise.

- - - Updated - - -

Um, one question - maybe I missed it - is there anything definitive about Kylo Ren's fate?

Just the Snoke told Hux to pick him up and bring Kylo to him to complete his training.

And I just got back from seeing it in IMAX (small screen) 3D. First feeling was I have never laughed so much in a SW film before. There were some genuinely funny moments especially with Rey, Finn, BB-8, and Han. That was a complete surprise to me even having read the spoilers. Charming as well. The new trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe were just terrific, they had wonderful presence on screen and chemistry. Another surprise was what a tour de force this is for Chewie, he was given some great moments. For me the strongest emotional reaction was when Han and Leia reunited and discussed their son, as a parent that really hit home. I had concerns about Adam Driver having watched Girls but he crafts a unique villian in Kylo Ren. Less menacing, more damaged and unhinged. That's what makes him scary.

Yes, thee are parts drivitive of ANH but I think that works to the films benefit to ground it squarely in the comfort wheel house of the audience. And I had the same reaction as JD that there is a very distinct PT vibe in this film, especially from a visual standpoint. I still say TPM is the best looking SW film, at least before TFA. This film is gorgeous, and a bit gritty, the perfect combo of OT and PT.

Star Wars has awakened, this film is really a triumph. Yes, some parts felt rushed, all the sequences at Maz's castle had to jam in a lot if exposition, and I think the entire freighter/monster sequence felt old and derivative. See, I know how to be critical. But overall the film had fun, great action, terrific new characters who have 2 more films to grow and develop, but most importantly, and most important to be a Star Wars film, this movie had a big heart.

 

[SmilingOtter]

Just watched it once. I can definitively say it was better than anything in the prequels, but I'm still trying to figure out how it compares to the OT. It may edge out Jedi in my book, but I'll have to sleep on it to decide on that. I need to process the movie a bit. There was a lot there.

Sums up my thoughts pretty well too. I'll need to see it again. First time was 3D, next time will be standard.

 

[JD]

everyone is going on and on about Rey being lukes daughter, but i just dont see it. it seems to me like she and kylo are brother and sister, and she was taken and put on jakku to hide when she was young to hide her from her evil older brother.

There's a healthy dose of Rey paralleling Luke in this movie. While a lot of it is a stretch and equally explained by her possibly being an Organa/Solo - or just coincidence.

Kathleen Kennedy said this trilogy continues the saga of the Skywalker clan... that can mean many different things.
Rey is stuck on a sand world, she looks longingly at a ship leaving.... she wants to go back at one point, Luke just wanted to leave - but, he does go back to save Han.
Rey and her speeder could be a throwback to Luke and his landspeeder.
Rey's scavenged X-Wing helmet.
She a pilot and she's mechanical prowess.
The force vision.
She knows Luke's whereabouts as revealed during Kylo Ren's interrogation.
Hey, she can even force pull an ESB-styled Graflex from the snow, just liker her old man.
Rey's final costume is very reminiscent of Luke in ESB.

 

[Bryancd]

everyone is going on and on about Rey being lukes daughter, but i just dont see it. it seems to me like she and kylo are brother and sister, and she was taken and put on jakku to hide when she was young to hide her from her evil older brother.

I don't think she is either. The interactions with Han and Rey would have been much different I think if that was their hidden daughter. I do think Kylo knows who she may be but possibly because she was part of Luke's failed academy. But no one, not even the spoiler comminty, knows for sure.

 

[Scott D]

I agree with a lot of what Thirst said above.

Better than the PT, no doubt about that , but they're throwing so much at the audience, you barely get a chance to breathe.

JW's score was forgettable.

 

[cayman shen]

This was the most REAL SW has ever felt. I really felt like Leia had been a princess, Han a smuggler, that Ren was a conflicted young man, Stormtroopers felt like real soldiers in a real dictatorship, that these people occupied real forests and castles and mountainsides. I have wanted more of a LOTR/fantasy feel to SW forever, and I got it, and it was great. Are there problems with the movie? Things I'd change? Yup. But you know what? 5 minutes into TPM I was thinking "this is a catastrophe" and 5 minutes into TFA I was riveted. Case closed as far as I'm concerned. Now when can I get to making all these amazing new props?

 

[rockbottom]

Anyone else recognize Daniel Craig immediately as the stormtrooper Rey mind tricks?

 

[JD]

Kinda sad that this is the first Star Wars release not to have Obi-Wan in it at all.

 

[oota goota]

Really enjoyed the screening. Some great Sw moments. At one point though I was thinking why the hell are they trying to cram so much into this thing. Slow down take a breath already! But I think they need to get through a lot of material in this film (reconnect audience, introduce new characters, reintroduce old characters, set up major plot points etc etc) in order to tell the story they want to tell in the next 2 films. It felt like a reboot at times but it was a great ride!

 

[Curmudgeon]

Quick question.. when Han confronts Kylo does he shout "Ren!"? It sounded to me like he said "Ben". It would make sense that he would change his name but I wasn't sure if I heard it correctly.

Do you think Kylo will have a Darth ... title in future installments? Maybe after he completes his training.

 

[dbalschi]

Definitely Ben.

 

[Paul Andrew]

I will be catching this movie art least one or two more times. It really feels like star wars again.

 

[azheat]

Was real pleased with this, a bit disappointed with Luke's presence but I know they're just setting him up for the next one. The humor was great, chemistry between Poe, Finn, and Rey was excellent, Han felt like Han, Chewie was excellent. I too felt like they tried to cram too much in, was hoping for a few more explanations. But with all that was revealed in ESB, I guess we'll get a few "whoa" moments in the next couple of movies.

I also was thinking Rey was Han and Leia's daughter and they hid her when they knew Kylo was turning, but then I though that would be messed up to let her live in those conditions considering Leia was raised as royalty. Then again Luke's life wasn't all that, so maybe.

I so badly wanted them to take the first 5 or 10 minutes of the movie and summarize the last 35ish years with CGI versions of the characters like Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy. But overall I felt satisfied, so much more than the prequels. I walked away happy, but as expected, with so many questions!