Star Wars Episode 7

[MikeandRaph87]

A Star Wars fan created his own light saber. It is technically a glorified lighter, but is cool visually if anything.

http://holykaw.alltop.com/someone-in...ghtsaber-video

[sdp]

I liked the movie and enjoyed it a lot I just don't understand all the praise it's getting online when it's such a rehash to the original and no the comparison to Jurassic World makes no sense. While that one went back to basics it made more sense, it was still something we hadn't seen before a park that had worked without an incident for 10 years. JP is also not a franchise that lends itself to sequels or can be expanded upon a lot. Now Star Wars we're talking about a huge universe and millions of different scenarios they can explore, all they did here was go back to square one when the "saga" finished the Empire with Episode VI.

Many people can call the EU professional fan fiction but at least it did the things the movie did better. Even the opening crawl felt more like a SWs video game story than an actual "episode". Though I did geek out when I saw that "Episode VII" in the title . So yeah while I liked it I'll spend most of the time complaining about it because people are giving it a free pass. I think when the hype dies down people are going to start bashing it as well, same thing happened with Episode III and even II to a lesser extent. And I think someone else posted about how the prequels get too much deserved hate and I agree while flawed the original trilogy is also flawed and the new movie is also flawed yet people only nitpick the prequel trilogy and this new movie is getting a bunch of free passes "oh it's because we have to wait" or "it's ok that it's ANH2 because we needed to get back to basics" or a bunch of other BS. It's annoying to see.

Episode VII, decent movie.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Saw it today. It was amazing how, with all that talent and all that money, the best they could do was take notes on the first film and just changes names.

Kind of makes you appreciate the prequels a little more... at least they had original (but absurd) plots.

[Shark_Blade]

Love it. I reckon it's up there with the greatest in the series like Phantom Menace and A New Hope.

I hate Kylo Ren though, such a bitchy big baby. If I have a teen like that, a sharp slap across his face is necessary.

Adore Finn and Ren so much.

[ranger_scout]

Thank you, J.J. Abrams! Thank you so much for restoring the franchise to its former glory! This is how you make a sequel for a film that was made years ago unlike coughIdianaJonescough. From start to finish I was on the edge of my seat. They really do put plenty of effort into the script this time around. Harrison Ford is still the man! Mark Hamill really wasn't given a lot to do in this film, but

Spoiler:

the ending shows there will be some big things to come.

I could also really see layers from Carrie Fisher in this. Also, the newcomers are absolutely fantastic!

Spoiler:

I cannot believe that Han is gone! I was so glad when Chewy shot Ben/Kylo Ren and Rey calling him a monster.

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by Shark_Blade

Love it. I reckon it's up there with the greatest in the series like Phantom Menace and A New Hope.

I hate Kylo Ren though, such a bitchy big baby. If I have a teen like that, a sharp slap across his face is necessary.

Adore Finn and Ren so much.

I don't get the appeal of Kylo Ren either. I was ready for him to die in the snowy forest. If he kills Luke in addition to the damage he has already done...

Phantom Menace amongst the best? Well, if I can love Batman Forever then I will give you a pass.

[Peanut]

I think people really need to step back on the "rehash" nonsense and realize this is a situation where they were f*cked either way. They were either gonna get "it's too similar!" or "it's too different!" in either case. They went safe with it and considering it's the first real Star Wars movie in over 30 years I'm totally OK with that.

If the next movie is ALSO rehash, then we should be complaining.

[chrisdude]

I dunno. I guess I was hoping something that felt more like a distinctly new phase, or era. This feels more like part 4 of a quadrilogy than part 1 of a trilogy.

If the next movie is ALSO rehash, then we should be complaining.

*glances back at Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness*

...Okay...

[Bry]

I actually liked Kylo Ren quite a bit, and I'll explain why!

Spoiler:

He obviously wasn't a likeable character. And he's not supposed to be. But the idea of "what if the main antagonist was a spoiled, whiny, fanboy asshole?" for such a nerd-heavy major series like this is kind of brilliant?

Even just with his tantrums, I felt he best sold what the Dark Side is than Lucas managed with Anakin over three damn movies. The point was that negative emotions run amok can lead you down the Dark Side, especially as a young person prone to those kind of outbursts... but Anakin just felt like an emotionally-wooden baby. You felt no real anger or emotion from him, because the story and direction in the prequels were ice-cold. He was all talk! Even when he was murdering children, it felt like we were supposed to care because we were told to care, not feel it. Neither the acting nor the direction sold Anakin's turn. But Ren's outbursts felt emotionally-charged and genuine.

In some regard there's a similarity there, but while Anakin lessened a previously-great villain in Darth Vader, Kylo Ren serves a different purpose, IMO.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by chrisdude

I dunno. I guess I was hoping something that felt more like a distinctly new phase, or era. This feels more like part 4 of a quadrilogy than part 1 of a trilogy.

*glances back at Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness*

...Okay...

You seem to be thinking my exact same thoughts, Chrisdude. You're scaring me. Out of my head, demon!!!

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by chrisdude

*glances back at Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness*

...Okay...

Ok. I don't give a sh*t about Star Trek so whatever point you're trying to make here has gone entirely over my head.

[sdp]

Why do we need to step back that it's a rehash? And how are the prequels not "real" Star Wars stories? My main problem with it being a rehash is that the status quo after ROTJ seems to be pretty much the same. Now with that said since I don't want to Cybercube my opinion 50 times in the thread, I do think that all of this can be fixed in Episode VIII/IX and since we're getting different directors it can go many different ways and I'm sure they'll be listening to the feedback which most of the negativity is pretty much what I've been posting.

so, is anyone excited about next December's Star Wars spin off movie? I couldn't care less. But I do look forward to VIII but I think I'll take a SW break for a while, I will watch VII once more before it leaves the theaters. And bold prediction, I think Phasma will be taking center stage for VIII.

[chrisdude]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Ok. I don't give a sh*t about Star Trek so whatever point you're trying to make here has gone entirely over my head.

Abrams directed both Star Trek reboot movies. They both heavily rehashed the same classic Star Trek movie. Never thought he'd do it twice, but he sure did.

[Bry]

Originally Posted by sdp

My main problem with it being a rehash is that the status quo after ROTJ seems to be pretty much the same.

I mean, it's technically reversed. The Resistance is an offshoot of the Republic, the government in power, and the First Order is a terrorist group trying to overthrow them. IMO, the main flaw of the movie is that they didn't sell that distinction as well as they could have. It was explained, but it wasn't as clearly "felt" as the Empire/Rebellion struggle in the original Star Wars. And that's mostly due to them playing homage to the original movie as closely as they did, for better or worse...

[Peanut]

I'm saying step back and look at it from the perspective of people making something that is impossible to get right. I'm not saying it isn't a valid complaint, it just seems like its the only thing I've read online so far in terms of complaints. Fully get where people are coming from with it.

And yeah, prequel trilogy didn't feel like the same Star Wars. They have a very unique feel that I'm still fond of, but not in the same way. VII feels like the OT, with the exception of eyeball lady in the knock off Mos Eisley. She looked like she came straight out of the PT.

Originally Posted by chrisdude

Abrams directed both Star Trek reboot movies. They both heavily rehashed the same classic Star Trek movie. Never thought he'd do it twice, but he sure did.

I see. Again, I don't know sh*t about Star Trek, so I can't comment on it. Maybe his schtick is bringing things people care about back in a big fashion? I don't know. Super 8 felt like a rehash of a bunch of different Spielberg movies too.

[Bry]

Originally Posted by Peanut

And yeah, prequel trilogy didn't feel like the same Star Wars. They have a very unique feel that I'm still fond of, but not in the same way. VII feels like the OT, with the exception of eyeball lady in the knock off Mos Eisley. She looked like she came straight out of the PT.

See, for me, the new movie feels like it's a step forward from (though still firmly attached to) the OT while the prequels just feel... kind of wrong? The OT is of its time, and the new movie feels like a continuation made with that source in mind but with today's technology. As it was meant to.

But the prequels were in a weird middle-ground. They were supposed to fit into the same world, but their style and production values were at a disconnect with the later-set but previously-produced movies they were connected to and owed their existence to. Which I guess explains why Lucas tried to gloss up the OT as much as he did, but I think that was backwards thinking. If he made the prequels even more retro, trying to truly, directly emulate the Flash Gordon serials he was inspired by instead of chasing his modern CGI-effects toys, it might have worked a lot better.

Though they also would have been much harder to market. And sell toys of.

[Leo656]

I totally get the impatience to know more about Rey and Kylo Ren's respective backstories, and I can't wait to learn more as well, but I'm totally okay with what they gave us and what they didn't. For one thing, Star Wars is all about leaving a few HUGE story threads hanging to be picked up in the next movie, that's kind of the gimmick. And for another, much as I like them, one thing I hated about the Prequels was the absolutely ENDLESS mountains of exposition. They felt like they had to stop and explain everything that happened, sometimes as it was happening, and meanwhile, some of the best moments were off-camera, like Anakin slaughtering all those kids, but we were told allllll about it. That sucked. This new one has a lot more "Show" and a lot less "Tell", and I'm fine with that, especially figuring that it's more or less a given that all will be explained in the next one, or two.

I honestly can't complain about what I didn't get when I'm perfectly happy with what I did. Yes, I wanted a lot more, but I went home full just the same. I was satisfied. It could have been such an entirely different, entirely worse thing. Instead it leaves things in a pretty good place. The future looks bright.

I completely agree, no matter what they did, some people were going to hate it for not being one extreme or the other. I've heard people complain it wasn't even MORE heavy on nostalgia, basically bemoaning the fact that it wasn't just a two-hour "Class Reunion" of the original cast, with a little bit of the new guys sprinkled in. Lots of the criticisms, even the valid ones, still seem rather shallow and nitpicky.

One thing someone mentioned in passing, that I also greatly enjoyed, was that this movie had a real feeling of camaraderie and fellowship with the characters, something else I never really felt in the Prequels. Characters in those movies got together, spoke in expository dialog to move into the next scene, then went their separate ways, and you barely got the feeling they'd ever even spoken to each other before, except for the fact that they kept reminding you they knew each other. More Telling Not Showing. That's all those goddamn movies did was TELL you things while more interesting things happened off-screen that you didn't get to see, and so the whole thing felt so empty and forced. I mean the entire emotional arc between Anakin and Obi-Wan would have been so much better if you really believed they ever hung out outside of work. This movie has a lot more Team Spirit, I'll say that. That maybe more than anything felt like a throwback to A New Hope, in a good way.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Bry

See, for me, the new movie feels like it's a step forward from (though still firmly attached to) the OT while the prequels just feel... kind of wrong? The OT is of its time, and the new movie feels like a continuation made with that source in mind but with today's technology. As it was meant to.

But the prequels were in a weird middle-ground. They were supposed to fit into the same world, but their style and production values were at a disconnect with the later-set but previously-produced movies they were connected to and owed their existence to. Which I guess explains why Lucas tried to gloss up the OT as much as he did, but I think that was backwards thinking. If he made the prequels even more retro, trying to truly, directly emulate the Flash Gordon serials he was inspired by instead of chasing his modern CGI-effects toys, it might have worked a lot better.

Though they also would have been much harder to market. And sell toys of.

I totally agree. I have a nostalgia for the PT that feels entirely separate from my feelings for the OT, which is really weird to me. So, coming out of this with it scratching the OT itch is exactly what I wanted.

Originally Posted by Leo656

I honestly can't complain about what I didn't get when I'm perfectly happy with what I did. Yes, I wanted a lot more, but I went home full just the same. I was satisfied. It could have been such an entirely different, entirely worse thing. Instead it leaves things in a pretty good place. The future looks bright.

Agreed. I find it very hard to pick apart something for what it didn't do when what it did do was really satisfying. I think more than anything I'm just happy to have a Star Wars movie I didn't come out of feeling torn about.

[ToTheNines]

I loved it! So much fun.

I really liked all the new characters, just wished Poe featured more and that Phasma actually had some stake in the story.

The one thing that this one truly excelled at was the aerial battles, hopefully the next 2 can try to keep up with Abrams in that respect. Also, BB-8 was the coolest. They can give him an Anthology movie lol.

So excited for VIII, plenty of reveals we need. And Luke vs. Snoke would be cool to see (although I'm kind expecting a Wizard of Oz scenario with his actual size).

Oh, and you needn't watch all the credits. The rumor about the Rogue One stinger were false.

[MikeandRaph87]

Spoiler:

My fear is Luke will die just as Han did before Rey can slay Kylo. I can see parallels to Empire and Jedi coming up.