The Force Awakens Movie thread - Have seen the movie; see post 1

TLOA72

Drove home last night with tears streaming down my face so much that I had to pull over. From the opening shimmer to the final credits I became 12 years old again. Loved it all. The little nods to the past, the new characters, the old ones, the music, fight scenes and even the humour. So much pressure on JJ to deliver and he smashed it.

Thanks from this 43 year old kid.

VisibleGorilla

BMMachine wrote: »

Bad guys need to be better though. I dont get a sense of a threat from the Ice Giant and Kylo was really good until he took off his mask and then had a light sabre duel, seemed quite weak and unthreatening after the mask thing.

Isn't that quite interesting though? He is still young, still learning, he is not this all powerful bad guy that we have seen so many of.

I thought he was the most interesting character of the lot, potential to rival Darth Vader in my view.

OpenYourEyes

I really enjoyed it. They might have overdone some of the BB-8 characterization too, but thats very forgivable.

It was perfectly cast, and Harrison Ford gave a really good performance (and he's now free from doing another one, which was probably a significant motivation!).

Like most people I thought Rey doing so well against Kylo Ren was a bit of a stretch. I found Kylo Ren really good in his struggle with the dark side, lack of confidence (if thats the right word?) and occasional outbursts of rage. I loved the tension between him and Domhnall Gleesons character too, who I thought was excellent.

I was hoping for a *bit* more Luke/Skellig, and for a few more hints as to Reys parents, but I really enjoyed it overall. Highly likely I'll go to see it again in the near future.

Edit: ALSO - you cant darken a sun without having catastrophic impacts on every planet in that solar system! Even if there is more than one sun!

BMMachine

VisibleGorilla wrote: »

Isn't that quite interesting though? He is still young, still learning, he is not this all powerful bad guy that we have seen so many of.

I thought he was the most interesting character of the lot, potential to rival Darth Vader in my view.

nahhh, dont see it. if they kept him a bit darker and a bit more mysterious and less of an Anakin Skywalker from episode 2 then yeah, maybe. But as it stands he seems to just be a petulant child and not very threatening. Darth was just straight up the man

Tigger

Rey is a natural fighter who has had to fight for everything she has for years
She has every right to pick up a saber and use it
Ren was being taught by Luke and then he got bored and looked for shortcuts so he probably never really trained with the saber I mean he can stop blaster bolts mid flight

Pete Moss

Tigger wrote: »

Rey is a natural fighter who has had to fight for everything she has for years
She has every right to pick up a saber and use it
Ren was being taught by Luke and then he got bored and looked for shortcuts so he probably never really trained with the saber I mean he can stop blaster bolts mid flight

That immediately caught my attention. It was such a great WTF moment as it hadn't been done in any of the movies to date.

hytrogen

I managed not to watch a single trailer, read any reviews or synopses or get bombarded with sneak peeks, right up until the curtains went up this morning! (Very proud I must say too!)

Agreeing with a lot of the comments here.

I thought the character background development was too shallow and presumptuous compared to the previous saga, (maybe because they wanted another Clone wars type series in between??) the pace was too fast compared to the saga especially compared to episodes I II & III as they were more recently composed.
Overall it felt like I was high on too many cups of coffee trying to race to the end of the story (even at a midnight viewing) and it was way too short, especially the end sequence where they were building on for the sequel.
But yes an excellent movie, circle of life twisting style
A solid 9.5 overall

Whyohwhy?

Bit of a stretch that rey, having only ever heard myths of the jedi, much less of the force, suddenly figures out the jedi mind trick so easily ... I have to admit though, they way the stormtrooper walks out is gas, just the body language was comical "fcuk it, I'm outta here" kinda walk out.

It's a very good entertaining addition to the star wars world, but some people really have bought into the hype way too much. It's not as truly a great film as some are saying imo(and I say this as a MASSIVE sw fan of many years)

I hope the dvd has an extended cut, it feels a little disjointed in places. I'm sure there's stuff that was left on the cutting room floor that was left out to keep the run time down, that it'll make more cohesive when included.

By no means a bad film at all, it's very enjoyable and looks fantastic, there's just something not quite right that I can't put my finger on right now...

Block (8

Went to the midnight show and although it was good like some members here was slightly underwhelmed. As a child going to the original I was gobsmacked and I know that's a once off but coming out of the fellowship of the rings was quite close.

robdonn

*DSA = Definitely Still Alive - Will be seen again in EpVIII

Really enjoyed it, but not sure if I love it or not. (Going again on Saturday for a second viewing).

Definitely entertaining and funnier than I was expecting (still not sure if BB-8 gave Finn a thumbs up or the middle finger). The plot seemed a little bit rushed at times and certain characters were definitely underused, but my overall feeling about this movie is that it was not supposed to be the best Star Wars movie ever. It's a set up for the future movies, a big announcement saying that it'll be ok, that they're doing it right this time.

The bad guys

The bad guys are definitely underused, General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) had his great Nazi-esque speech, you could see his evil nature almost spitting from his mouth, but then the rest of the movie was pretty much "fire the weapon", "charge the weapon", "prepare to fire the weapon". I was waiting for him to say "you may fire when ready". I would have liked a little more from him, hopefully the next movie will let us see more of him. *DSA

Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) - the Chrome Dome - was disappointing. She had the potential of being a bad ass evil female character, a first in Star Wars, but she literally did nothing the entire movie. She barked a few orders and sounded authoritative, but that's it. I needed to see her being scary, show that she is a warrior worth fearing. The fight with Finn and the stormtrooper with the big electric stick (not other way to describe it) should have been between Finn and Phasma and she should have won but stopped short of killing him because Ren told everyone to leave. It would have made it even more enjoyable when they capture her at the end and throw her in the trash compactor (which she definitely survived, no way they could kill her off that easily after putting her upfront in so much promo material). *DSA

Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) seemed a bit cartoonish but I still liked him. Andy Serkis was near-unrecognisable and even though it's motion capture, it was really good emotive acting. Unlike Phasma and Hux though I wish I had seen less of him. A single conversation with him would have nicely reflected the emperors short appearance in Empire, made Hux and Ren seem like they had more authority but also alluded to the bigger, badder person behind the scenes pulling the strings.

The Knights of Ren - Such a quick glimpse of them in a flashback! Where are they?? They look like a badass crew and I want to see more of them!

The good guys

Finn / FN-2187 (John Boyega) was fun and energetic. All the reviews I've seen so far talk about how Boyega obviously enjoys just being there and they are completely right, he has thrown himself into this role. You can see with Finn (and with Rey) that he is a mixture of the OT characters, the 'in it for himself' attitude of Solo and the naivety of young Luke. But he was funny when he needed to be, heroic when he needed to be and was a good main character.

Rey (Daisy Ridley) was annoying. Now hear me out, I don't mean that she was an annoying character or that Ridley annoyed me with how she played her. She was annoying because she obviously has this massive back story and I desperately want to know what it is! The entire movie teased us with little glimpses of her story but just never enough to know what's going on with her. Is she Leia and Han's kid? Is she just Leia's kid? Is she Luke's kid? My theory: I don't know who's kid she is (that's the annoying part) but I think that she was definitely supposed to be one of the potential new Jedis that Luke was training before Ren killed them all so Luke hid her on Jakku. (Like Obi-wan hid Luke on Tatooine). There were some things about her story that I didn't like too much, like her longing to wait on Jakku for her family. I'm sure that with the future movies going into more detail about her it will all be explained, but in it's absence it just comes across as a little whiney. But any whiney moments are completely overshadowed by her kick-ass moments, every time that a little more of her Force training is revealed she becomes stronger and stronger and now that she has hooked up with Luke, I can't wait to see how powerful she becomes. And damn she is a good pilot, I never knew the Falcon could bend that way!

BB-8 is the comic relief character that we should have had in place of Jar Jar. He(?) was funny without being silly, overly slapstick and, most importantly, he was actually relevant to the plot! And he had relationships with characters, you could see a friendship building with himself and Rey, you could feel the connection that was already there with him and Poe.

Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) definitely set the tone and has the best first laugh of the movie. They called him a great pilot, like Anakin, but actually showed how good he was. He was a genuinely good character, but still cocky and back-talking. I can see him becoming a role model for Finn and an entertaining way to progress the characters around him.

Han Solo (Harrison Ford) - Star Wars Episode VII: The Adventures of Han Solo. Han had a bigger role in this film that in any of the OT films, and at the end of the movie you can see why. You can see how his character has developed in the gap between movies and he has more responsibility in this, he doesn't need to be talked into helping like he did in the previous movies, he wants to help. His relationship with Chewwy is so sweet and you can really feel the pain in Chewwy's roar when Han dies. But about the death... you could see it coming a mile away. Maybe it was because of the clip in the trailer when you see Rey crying over an apparently dead body (which surprisingly had nothing to do with this) but I was expecting a death and the ambiguity of Ren's speech about Han helping him that there was going to be a twist. Ren is not Dath Maul, he is not a throw-away bad guy that will be defeated in the first film, Han's attempt to bring him back to the light was always doomed to fail.

One thing about his death, it finally makes Harrison Ford's promotion of the movie make so much more sense. He has always been a bit grumpy about Star Wars, to him it was one of many movies that he made a long time ago, but he was so involved in the promotion of this, so positive about everything. Now looking back, you can see he was willing to do it because he knew it would be the last time he'd have to.

General Leia (Carrie Fisher) wasn't in the film as much as I had hoped she would, but again, this movie is just a build-up to the other movies so I know we will see more of her. One thing that did stick out in my mind, and this is probably just me, but she has aged. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean this in a "Ewww, she's old" kind of way, and Carrie Fisher has obviously aged along with everyone else. But there is a difference in my mind between seeing older Carrie Fisher and older Princess Leia. Seeing Leia being old and talking with Fisher's rougher voice actually reflects the world that the movie takes place in. Time has passed but the battle still continues, evil has not been defeated and continues to take it's toll on those fighting for good. Leia, although still fighting, seems more tired and the hit of her son being one of the big bad guys seems to weight heavily on her. She wants to defeat her son but she also wants to save him.

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is... in the movie. This was probably the most disappointing part of the whole film for me, and being the final scene is probably why I came out of it with such mixed feelings. Rey's walk up the island hills (Skellig Michael! Woo!) took too long and the big, slow turn around and the big long stares across at each other just seemed too grandiose for what was essentially an inevitability. Seeing Luke was not a surprise, the entire plot of the movie was based around finding him. We found out 10 minutes ago that we know where he is. The lone figure on the hill in Jedi robes is not Jar Jar Binks, we know it is Luke. Han and Chewbacca's reveal on the Millenium Falcon was a nice surprise, Leia's reveal on the planet surface was touching and had an element of familiar humour with C-3PO's interruption of their intimate moments. Luke and Rey's staring match was just... I don't know, I get the significance of it but I just didn't feel it.

Overall feelings

I did enjoy the movie, it had great action moments, great jokes and light-hearted interactions as well as believable emotional bonds between characters, and it has definitely done it's job in making me want even more. And maybe that's simply where some of my disappointment lies, I wanted more than what they gave me and I'm just being a spoilt child!

But I definitely recommend the movie, it's a great addition to the saga and gives me 'a new hope' for the future of the series.

Whyohwhy?

Block (8 wrote: »

Went to the midnight show and although it was good like some members here was slightly underwhelmed. As a child going to the original I was gobsmacked and I know that's a once off but coming out of the fellowship of the rings was quite close.

Too young for the original trilogy('84) but was hooked when I did get into them. Was underwhelmed myself, and could sense plenty of others were too. In fairness, no film, I don't think could ever live up to the expectation and hype surrounding this particular one.

Sleepy

robdonn wrote: »

Han's attempt to bring him back to the light was always doomed to fail.

I got the sense that he knew it too. That he was doing it for Leia, hoping she was right and that he could talk some sense into his son but knowing that it was a lost cause and that his death would be the push Leia would need to properly go to war on her own son.

strandroad

Sleepy wrote: »

I got the sense that he knew it too. That he was doing it for Leia, hoping she was right and that he could talk some sense into his son but knowing that it was a lost cause and that his death would be the push Leia would need to properly go to war on her own son.

They were showing that he's tired... Even his business tricks do not work anymore, he wanted to hire Rey as some new blood on the ship, he doesn't even need to be talked into things as he used to. He was OK with laying his life there and I don't think he even believed Kylo would turn, he just wanted to get some time for the others to detonate their explosives.

spooky donkey

Loved the movie, even the questions it left me with. Feels like a long time to wait till movie 8 now. So here is a spoiler photo from the next movie well not really just our visit earlier this year to skellig when I brought my daughter the next generation of star wars fan to the skellig, still Rey should get her self a millennium falcon t-shirt as well

lukes retreat by Barry Kelly, on Flickr

Falthyron

With regards the matter relating to Rey's connection to the force being so strong this early without training; let's not forget Luke being able to deflect blaster shots with a visor in front of his eyes, or making the "one in a million" shot on the Death Star without computer assistance, or hearing Obi Wan's voice, and his ability to use the force to move his lightsaber while in the Wampa cave...

I am also not 100% certain Rey has not received any training, even basic stuff. If she is Kylo's younger sister and daughter to Han and Leia, she too could have been in the early stages of learning about the force before Kylo turned to the darkside. I reckon she was hidden for that very purpose - a survivor, albeit a very young one, and not told about her brother to protect her.

I need to see the scene where she has a dream again when she touched Luke's lightsaber and she saw images of past, present and future.

PTH2009

I think Luke should start saving for his funeral. If they can kill han solo than I think Luke should go as well.

I never saw the old movies in full and saw this and really enjoyed it.

Tigger

Falthyron wrote: »

With regards the matter relating to Rey's connection to the force being so strong this early without training; let's not forget Luke being able to deflect blaster shots with a visor in front of his eyes, or making the "one in a million" shot on the Death Star without computer assistance, or hearing Obi Wan's voice, and his ability to use the force to move his lightsaber while in the Wampa cave...

I am also not 100% certain Rey has not received any training, even basic stuff. If she is Kylo's younger sister and daughter to Han and Leia, she too could have been in the early stages of learning about the force before Kylo turned to the darkside. I reckon she was hidden for that very purpose - a survivor, albeit a very young one, and not told about her brother to protect her.

I need to see the scene where she has a dream again when she touched Luke's lightsaber and she saw images of past, present and future.

this is what i believe except i think that her parents think she is dead and that she was hidden by a third side
i also think the one grabbing her was Max von snydo and that he is

bobba fett

robdonn

Tigger wrote: »

this is what i believe except i think that her parents think she is dead and that she was hidden by a third side
i also think the one grabbing her was Max von snydo and that he is

bobba fett

That is a completely mental theory... I love it! His final revenge.

Falthyron

Tigger wrote: »

this is what i believe except i think that her parents think she is dead and that she was hidden by a third side
i also think the one grabbing her was Max von snydo and that he is

bobba fett

Yeah, I would agree with the idea that Von Sydow is her protector. Much like how Obi Wan was Luke's. Especially when Von Sydow speaks of Kylo's family, etc. He clearly knows what happened and is aware of what is going on.

Not sure if I agree with the

Boba Fett

theory though! My guess would be that he was a mentor or good friend to Luke when he re-established the Jedi temple. Someone Luke trusts and managed to escape Kylo's attack.

Tigger

Falthyron wrote: »

Yeah, I would agree with the idea that Von Sydow is her protector. Much like how Obi Wan was Luke's. Especially when Von Sydow speaks of Kylo's family, etc. He clearly knows what happened and is aware of what is going on.

Not sure if I agree with the

Boba Fett

theory though! My guess would be that he was a mentor or good friend to Luke when he re-established the Jedi temple. Someone Luke trusts and managed to escape Kylo's attack.

my logic is three fold and is as follows
he's the right age
his

flag is seen on the stronghold

i very want

also the person grabbing her seemed to being rough

Falthyron

Tigger wrote: »

my logic is three fold and is as follows
he's the right age
his

flag is seen on the stronghold

i very want

also the person grabbing her seemed to being rough

Ahhh... I didn't spot the flag. I agree on the age though. Yeah, the person who took her as a child did seem quite rough. But! Boba Fett is still digesting inside the Sarlacc! I would also ask, why would Boba Fett help the Republic/Resistance/Jedi? A simple job? Surely, more money would have been made by giving the map to the First Order.

Idbatterim

I didnt rate it, too many gags, the new death star was far too easy to blow up, the "bad guys" were as intimidating as kittens! This is typical of the be everything to everyone movie that the vast majority of films these days try to be!

Honestly I like star wars, wouldnt be at the level of some of the fans out there, but honestly, I think this is a joke compared to the previous 3 (I watched the previous two with my bro the other day) Attack of the clones and revenge of the sith...

Tigger

Falthyron wrote: »

Ahhh... I didn't spot the flag. I agree on the age though. Yeah, the person who took her as a child did seem quite rough. But! Boba Fett is still digesting inside the Sarlacc! I would also ask, why would Boba Fett help the Republic/Resistance/Jedi? A simple job? Surely, more money would have been made by giving the map to the First Order.

he took a valuable asset and put it aside, while he waits to see who ends up on top. are we sure he helped the resistance? the first order seemed to turn up very quickly

Into The Blue

whats with the spoiler tags lads?

Tigger

we're talking about my crazy ideas

i don't wanna be shouted at i was up late

Cunning Alias

Overall I was very happy with it. The first act was perfect. I can't think of a single fault in that period. It definitely had a few missteps after that. It is a solid 7/10 which is what I was hoping for.

I mentioned some gripes I had in another thread but most I can live with. The one that is really bothering me is that the new music was very poor. I was extremely disappointed with this as even the prequels had excellent pieces like Duel of the Fates, Anakin's Betrayal and Anakin vs Obiwan. During the battle when the A-wings first arrive flying over the lake, I expected something equally fitting and the score was so bad I found myself distracted by it.

I normally rush off and devour the score of movies like this but I honestly cant think of a single stand out bit that I want to listen to in more detail (possibly near the start when Rey is introduced).

The barber of chewbacca

Tigger wrote: »

this is what i believe except i think that her parents think she is dead and that she was hidden by a third side
i also think the one grabbing her was Max von snydo and that he is

bobba fett

Just back from it. It was excellent.

I like this theory but

Von Sydow's character says "she'll always be royalty to me" which suggests a relationship going back along time. I can't see Fett having such memories of her seeing what he did to her, HAn, Luke and the rst

Whyohwhy?

Is it just me or did I miss captain phasma being chucked into a "thrash" the compactor or was it just implied?!?

I was tired watching it but don't think I seen anything of the sort, just the suggestion?
I will be seeing it again, but... Did it happen?

Potentially one of the better characters underused and then discarded like that, I have to hope that the dvd shows a long cut that makes more sense and gives it the space it needs to tell the story properly. I'm actually feeling very deflated the more I think back on it.

I dunno, I'm very conflicted of my opinion of it atm, there's footage that must be there that was cut for the run time, I'd have happily sat through 3 hours + if if made proper sense in the end... I dunno 😕

Tigger

The barber of chewbacca wrote: »

Just back from it. It was excellent.

I like this theory but

Von Sydow's character says "she'll always be royalty to me" which suggests a relationship going back along time. I can't see Fett having such memories of her seeing what he did to her, HAn, Luke and the rst

we have another thread to discuss this but i don't think that changes anything, they do have a realationship going back a long time but he's also BF who everyone thinks is dead. its the big awesome reveal and you HEARD IT HERE FIRST

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057537819

ziedth

Right,

Finally back with a bit of time to type up:

The criticism above seems for the most part entirely fair. The duel at the end seemed far fetched and bothered me but an excellent point was made above that we don't know the level of training Ren received and I'm really glad they took a step back from the jumpy floating carry on from Revenge of the Sith.

Now, I have to say that I absolutely loved it. Sure it has its faults but for me anyway walking out I couldn't help but feel that this was the film that 15 year old me deserved when the prequels came out.

Anyway, first off the pros. Felt that although storyline essentially ripped off A new hope it was well acted and bar the ending (which I'll get too) perfectly paced. I thought Boydega, Ford and particularly Gleeson were all great in it. I liked that Ren wasn't just some faceless baddie ala Darth Maul and Driver had a chance to show a but of emotion be it anger,fear or whatever. All in all a bit better then I ever hoped it would be as I didn't love (but enjoyed) Abrahams Star Trek and felt that Super 8 was a complete train wreck. The comedy was fine and a few bits generally made me LOL With the BB-8 actually a highlight in some parts. Also really like the pilot (name escapes me) and think he'll be a good addition going forward. The high point by far for me was the dog fighting/flying scenes. I even felt the 3D added to it quite a bit.

Now the not so good, Captain Phasma was criminally underused. She looked bad ass and Christie is a very good actress using Game of thrones as the obvious example. Also for god sake why cast Yayan Ruhain in the film and not have him do anything apart from run from a monster, some of you might know him as "Mad Dog" in the raid where he was in two of the best fight scenes this year and is an incredible martial artist. My one hope is that he is going to be in the sequels somehow as well as the main star from the same film Iko Uwais who also had a small part in the same scene. The big one for me is the ending though, I can actually live with Luke not having any dialogue and just having finding him being the link into the next film but the ending itself was just odd. It just stretched out unnecessarily between the hike, slow turn and long stare. Just having a scene where she gets out of the Falcon to him standing there would have been fine. And finally I wasn't completely sold on Rey. A couple of lines were a little hammy and maybe could have been done better or is it just poor writing, I dunno. Maybe on a second viewing over Christmas I'll change my mind.

As for Han's Death I had heard the rumor before hand so was expecting but it was quite obvious anyway although to be fair I felt it was quite well done all in all. He was great in it but like has been mentioned above Ford was probably going all out seeing as it's his last crack at the character.

Going forward my main fear would be a Villain, Rey obviously has the better of Ren so no fear there. Brining in a new baddie didn't work in Episode II so I hope that isn't the case. I guess a option could be Snoke and to be fair his scenes were good too.

All in all I'm delighted, roll on Rouge one...