Star Wars Episode 7

[TigerClaw]

Its now at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, 169 fresh, 10 rotten. so 10 people hate Star Wars.

[Mayhem]

Back from the cinema... the manager even ran a small competition prior to the screening to win one of their spare cinema scale Force Awakens promo posters, and we got one of them

(eBay fodder? Will see if there's a market for it heh)

Okay, spoilers? To be honest, I'm not going to say much explicitly until more people have seen the film anyhow. The film is good imo. You can see quite a few harks to ANH in general, and it drags a little in a couple of places, but it's mostly a ride like ANH was. I think in the context of matters, it will take both another screening to formulate a more complete opinion, AND having the other two films exist first because this is being written deliberately as a trilogy (whereas ANH stood alone, and then ESB and RotJ came as a pairing).

Both myself and my brother noted there were a few bits from the trailers that were NOT in the film. So we wonder if they were changed/edited before final cut, or just deliberately filmed for the trailers. Something for the extras on the future Blu-Ray! :p

PROS

- The flying battles are utterly superb, especially the first Falcon chase.
- How Kylo Ren has been written and acted, THAT'S how Anakin Skywalker should have been in the prequel trilogy.
- You've never seen a wookie looking so angry before.
- Ackbar!
- Wasn't afraid to show teeth occasionally and go bit darker than any of the previous films did.


CONS

- The humour between Han and Chewie was almost there, but felt a little forced a couple of times.
- Not nearly enough Phasma, hopefully we'll see what she can do in EP8.
- Spies are everywhere, you'd think there'd be a safe place in the galaxy to run to!
- Perhaps touches on the plot of ANH a bit too much.


So now comes the spoiler bits... ish. Just voicing a few questions that will hopefully be answered with the other two films... and thus once you've seen the film, maybe you can weigh in with your thoughts on these. So don't read if you really DON'T want bits to be spoiled heh.

Spoiler:

- who was Max von Sydow's character in the context of the trilogy, why did he know what he knew, and why was he important that Poe went to him?
- what happened to the rest of Luke's students?
- how did Maz Kanata get Luke's lightsaber?
- why did that First Order trooper have a stun tonfa a la Grevious' bodyguards, and why did we not see more of them?
- where did Supreme Leader Snoke come from and why is he force sensitive?
- who are Rey's parents, are they Force sensitive? Is her father... well, you'll probably have that idea as well.
- who are the Knights of Ren, because we don't really see an awful lot about that.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

Its now at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, 169 fresh, 10 rotten. so 10 people hate Star Wars.

Or maybe 10 people genuinely thought it didn't deliver or live up to the hype. It's entirely possible that there are at least 10 people who would have preferred a "movie"-movie instead of a shuffle of Original Trilogy Remix.

Just a thought.

[sdp]

Non-Spoiler thoughts:

Lackluster. I was pretty hyped about this movie and while I enjoyed my time and didn't hate the movie it also didn't leave me all excited about the new trilogy or where it was heading. I was worried that the movie would rely too much on nostalgia but it really doesn't, at least not anymore than the prequels did, there's references here and there but it does try to tell it's own story for the most part. The three main heroes are all interesting and yet I don't care about them, it's hard to describe. All the villains are rather generic and forgettable however. The big reveals are really not that big or that interesting either. I can't quite put my finger on it but the movie is missing something, maybe heart? I don't know I was entertained but I didn't leave the movie theater all excited, it was missing the Star Wars magic whatever that may be.

Now for some spoilers:

Spoiler:

C3PO's voice sounded weird, Anthon Daniels spoke too fast maybe.
Kylo Ren being Han Solo's/Leia's son was not shocking at all, the EU did it better.
Han Solo's death made sense but was handled badly.
I was glad Chewie didn't bite the dust but at the same time I also think it would've made sense for both of them to go out at the same time as heroes.
The music was so forgettable.
Kylo Ren is a whiny kid and totally unlikable, the movie redeemed it by having Rey who is oblivious to the force being able to kick his ass.
Captain Phasma? What a waste, I guess they'll be saving her for a future movie?
New emperor guy? Boring/generic.
Han/Chewie were handled well but a little too self aware like the prequels were when handling references.
The effects of the new Death Star were awesome, however a Death Star again? disappointed in that.
Luke at the end was easily my favorite moment in the movie.

[THGhost]

Back up to 95% now. Off out in about 25 mins to go see it.

[Mayhem]

@SDP - actually I'll somewhat agree with you about the music. It will probably take another viewing or two to judge that. It's good Williams music as it usually is, but unlike the previous six films, I can't see myself humming or picking out tracks that were memorable. I can do that with parts even of the prequel soundtracks, but nothing here stood out significantly.

[TigerClaw]

The Force Awakens is back at 95% as more fresh reviews started pouring in.

[ProactiveMan]

I just saw it; It's good...

Spoiler:

I'm going to have to watch it again at some point, but I think it was a bit of a mess. Not a horrible mess, but it didn't quite come together. That may be because it was written as the first part of a series, and so it contains loads of threads that don't pay off. I would have been happier if they had made the first one more self contained.

As a result, I didn't really understand the motivation of some of the key characters. Maybe that will become clear later, but it's now right now, later is too far away.

[THGhost]

Just got back from seeing it. It's brilliant. JJ didn't disappoint. I'd rate it the 3rd best after the original and Empire.

Originally Posted by sdp

Non-Spoiler thoughts:

Lackluster. I was pretty hyped about this movie and while I enjoyed my time and didn't hate the movie it also didn't leave me all excited about the new trilogy or where it was heading. I was worried that the movie would rely too much on nostalgia but it really doesn't, at least not anymore than the prequels did, there's references here and there but it does try to tell it's own story for the most part. The three main heroes are all interesting and yet I don't care about them, it's hard to describe. All the villains are rather generic and forgettable however. The big reveals are really not that big or that interesting either. I can't quite put my finger on it but the movie is missing something, maybe heart? I don't know I was entertained but I didn't leave the movie theater all excited, it was missing the Star Wars magic whatever that may be.

Now for some spoilers:

Spoiler:

C3PO's voice sounded weird, Anthon Daniels spoke too fast maybe.
Kylo Ren being Han Solo's/Leia's son was not shocking at all, the EU did it better.
Han Solo's death made sense but was handled badly.
I was glad Chewie didn't bite the dust but at the same time I also think it would've made sense for both of them to go out at the same time as heroes.
The music was so forgettable.
Kylo Ren is a whiny kid and totally unlikable, the movie redeemed it by having Rey who is oblivious to the force being able to kick his ass.
Captain Phasma? What a waste, I guess they'll be saving her for a future movie?
New emperor guy? Boring/generic.
Han/Chewie were handled well but a little too self aware like the prequels were when handling references.
The effects of the new Death Star were awesome, however a Death Star again? disappointed in that.
Luke at the end was easily my favorite moment in the movie.

Spoiler:

I thought Han's death was handled very well.
I'm hoping they're saving Captain Phasma for future movies. Hopefully she's not dead.

[ZariusTwo]

Just got back from it.

Alright. Just alright. Not the ideal return to form I wanted, but a servicable launching platform that sticks to the basics.

Spoiler:

A lot of was New Hope 2.0 so I wasn't that invested in the Starkiller Base stuff and the final assault on it did not feel like it had any scope, it felt like a routine mission. Snoke looked ****ing terrible, and was a weak substitute for Palpatine. Kylo's facial reveal should have been saved for when Han confronted him on the bridge. Dameron is bigged up as a huge deal by people but outside of the Tie Fighter escape he really did'nt come alive as a character to me, and his escape from the crash and how he got off Jakuu was lazily glossed over.

Is it me or did Kylo remind anyone of the apprentice of Jafar from the Aladdin cartoon back in the 90s?

The worst bit with the skirmish with the raiders and the tentacle things on the freighter. Awful amount of padding that you could easily edit out

And there was some elements of the trailer that didn't make it into the movie.

How much more awesome would it have been to have Han reveal to the audience that Kylo is his son by calling him by name rather than have it revealed to us an hour into the film by Snoke, thus evaporating all tension? Or to then have him unmask then at his father's whim rather than that of Rey?

***1/2

Revenge of the Sith is better.

[THGhost]

Spoiler:

Did anyone else feel like The Knights of Ren and the guys from The Raid were also underused as well as Captain Phasma? I was hoping to see the Raid guys pull off some awesome martial arts.

[discordiatookie]

What does it take to please you lot? That was f**king magnificent.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by discordiatookie

What does it take to please you lot?

Movies that actually live up to the hype, aren't cynical nostalgia button rehash cash-grabs and have stories that can eclipse stuff the EU and even prequels did far better.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Movies that actually live up to the hype, aren't cynical nostalgia button rehash cash-grabs and have stories that can eclipse stuff the EU and even prequels did far better.

Shots fired! Or, shall we say, proton torpedoes!?

[sdp]

I think I understand why I didn't like the movie like I should have. I don't think my explanation has any spoilers but I'll tag it just in case:

Spoiler:

This movie basically undoes and makes us goes back to the same plot points we were in Episode IV. Sure it's not the "empire" or the "rebels" but the resistance and the first order are essentially the same things. It's almost as if the victories of the OT along with the destruction of Vader/Emperor were pointless. Another Death Star is just ridiculous, sure the Death Star was an awesome idea that we didn't mind it in Episode VI again but for it to be rehashed yet again is too much. Kylo Ren is basically recycling the Darth Vader storyline with a slightly different twist. The whole movie basically feels like what a modern reboot of A New Hope would be but is instead a sequel.

It just sucks that many of the things we see here the old Expanded Universe did it better. The Empire post-Palpatine, Han/Leia's son turning to the darkside, etc. The EU didn't only do the things we saw in the movie better but it did it after many years of telling other original stories which were great before rehashing some ideas. Say what you will about the prequels but at least the storylines were going new places not the same old. What we got was the same movie as before and we have people praising it that "yeah he played it safe but OMG JJ SAVED STAR WARS 5/5 BETTER THAN THE PREQUELS NO JAR JAR. It's retarded

The movie wasnt a huge disappointment but my reaction is not too different than the one I had for Episode III. Maybe upon a second watch my opinion will change.

Originally Posted by THGhost

Spoiler:

Did anyone else feel like The Knights of Ren and the guys from The Raid were also underused as well as Captain Phasma? I was hoping to see the Raid guys pull off some awesome martial arts.

I

Spoiler:

I think they were in the movie only so people would see them and they can expand on them later on. Still they kind of messed up Phasma by having her be bossed around.

Originally Posted by discordiatookie

What does it take to please you lot? That was f**king magnificent.

I remember reading those same comments online for Episodes II and III and we all know how they are thought of nowadays.

[THGhost]

I think it has lived up to the hype, just not some people's expectations. How could it though?

Originally Posted by sdp

Spoiler:

I think they were in the movie only so people would see them and they can expand on them later on. Still they kind of messed up Phasma by having her be bossed around.

Spoiler:

That makes sense. They could have at least given them something to do though instead of just show up.

Originally Posted by sdp

I remember reading those same comments online for Episodes II and III and we all know how they are thought of nowadays.

III is still considered pretty good though, which it is, but still has a few moments that feel like II.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I totally agree; JJ Abrams is revamping Star Wars and Star Trek for new audiences, but he's doing so by revisiting old story lines and not really doing very much NEW with the intellectual properties.

Spoiler:

The balls it took to kill off Solo not withstanding.

But seriously: Star Wars' best stories were in the Expanded Universe, and this new film series is just totally ripping it off for its major emotional beats and twists.

JUST LIKE INTO DARKNESS DID WITH WRATH OF KHAN.

[Klunk1234]

Tomorrow is the big day! I will watch it on the theaters but I will avoid the premier day. It will be a pandemonium.

[THGhost]

Originally Posted by Klunk1234

Tomorrow is the big day! I will watch it on the theaters but I will avoid the premier day. It will be a pandemonium.

It wasn't for me today. Early showing on launch day and only about 1/3 of the room was full. Go see it before the kids get out of school, you should be fine.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Or actually, if I may make a better comparison...

It's like Jurassic World was to Jurassic Park: a revamped updated story that follows far too closely to the original's same story beats, just on a bigger scope and with better visuals.

If you extreme Star Wars fans like it, I'm happy for you. I'm not a huge SW fan either way, so I don't really have a dog in the fight. It just seems to me that for relaunching a franchise, you should really try to do something more original than what we've seen.