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[SPOILERS] Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Thread #2) - One Thumb Up

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Occam

Member
Yes, the new canon is the original 6 movies + The Clone Wars animated series and film (the 3D ones, not the 2D microseries), plus anything released since spring 2014 unless otherwise specified as "Legends" or non-canonical, like the Fantasy Flight Games RPG stuff.

As we have discussed before, it can't all be canon, because lots of stuff from the prequels directly contradicts the original trilogy (and makes no sense).

E.g. the midiclorians-brainfart was such a terrible case of retconning that not even Lukas ever mentioned it again.
 

Klyka

Banned
That scene where Poe flies around in his one X-Wing and takes out like....12? Tie Fighters in a row in one smooth flight motion, I just put my hands up and said "no way this guy ain't a Jedi, wtf?"
 
The movies are always going to make crazy money so they don't need to take it safe at all. Having potential negative fan reaction change how they would make the movie is such a coward move.
Eh, I rather a safe movie that gives me hope for the next one, than a horrible movie that sets me up for disappointment. That's me though, I liked it because it was like the OT with CGI(there's no such thing as specialized editions of the OT).
F is for Star Wars
hehe

My girlfriend said the exact same thing at the end and was specially annoyed at the third death star.
Lol, I kept saying that as a joke spoiler. I'm so glad others had the same idea though.
 

kaiju

Member
saw it for the 3rd time tonight

didn't notice it before, kylo leaves his mask on the bridge

so i hope he's gonna be a scarred mfucker now, i don't want another mask

If anything, that gives him more of a reason to wear a mask now.

In fact, I'm betting he will come back with a new, even more imposing look in Episode VIII.
 

Ishida

Banned
Not a single person I know thought it was a remake in any capacity. How is it that a ton of people on Gaf are getting this impression?

I don't think anyone thinks of the movie as a "remake", but it definitely retreads a lot from ANH. Unnecessarily so, in my opinion, which felt like too much fan/nostalgia pandering.

As we have discussed before, it can't all be canon, because lots of stuff from the prequels directly contradicts the original trilogy (and makes no sense).

Everything in the prequels is canon.
 
Jesus guys, you have no idea how long it took me to catch up to you. I left the spoiler thread 2 days before the movie released. I had like a 150 pages to catch up to, then there were like 50 more, then another 50. Glad I did leave the spoiler thread a little early. There were a couple of small spoilers such as Kylo's name being Ben, Luke not really smiling at the end and looking fucked up mentally, and Hux surviving. I thought Hux was dead for sure.

I loved it. Absolutely, loved it. Star Wars is back!

My rankings:

1. A New Hope
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. The Force Awakens
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. Attack of the Clones
7. The Phantom Menace.

I can't wait for Episode 8 and I've decided to take the hard path of doing the "unsullied approach" meaning not following spoilers and not watching trailers even. RIP Han.
 

Boke1879

Member
Not a single person I know thought it was a remake in any capacity. How is it that a ton of people on Gaf are getting this impression?

There are callbacks sure, but some people would have you believe this is a 1:1 retelling of ANH which isn't the case at all. There are certain plot devices that are borrowed from the OT but personally I never thought I was watching ANH.
 
That scene where Poe flies around in his one X-Wing and takes out like....12? Tie Fighters in a row in one smooth flight motion, I just put my hands up and said "no way this guy ain't a Jedi, wtf?"
Nah, he's the player character from the Rogue Squadron series, lol. Seriously, that's all I could think while watching that sequence.
 

Boke1879

Member
Jesus guys, you have no idea how long it took me to catch up to you. I left the spoiler thread 2 days before the movie released. I had like a 150 pages to catch up to, then there were like 50 more, then another 50. Glad I did leave the spoiler thread a little early. There were a couple of small spoilers such as Kylo's name being Ben, Luke not really smiling at the end and looking fucked up mentally, and Hux surviving. I thought Hux was dead for sure.

I loved it. Absolutely, loved it. Star Wars is back!

My rankings:

1. A New Hope
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. The Force Awakens
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. Attack of the Clones
7. The Phantom Menace.

I can't wait for Episode 8 and I've decided to take the hard path of doing the "unsullied approach" meaning not following spoilers and not watching trailers even. RIP Han.

Mine is

ESB
ANH=TFA
ROTJ
ROTS
TPM
AOTC
 

Real Hero

Member
I JUST got out of yhe theater after watching thr movie and I have to say I'm kinda buttburt that they killed off Han solo but I kinda understand it, Harrison Ford being the oldest there's no guarantee he will be in the best shape througout the rest of the trilogy

plus Ford really really really wanted to be killed
 

Brakke

Banned
2) The lack of emotional reaction to all those planets being destroyed. Like, mass devastation has no impact on anyone? It's like we're all supposed to see Leia and suddenly everything is fine. Didn't buy it.

This was so crazy. They didn't even name a single planet that gets rocked.
 
Just back from the third time seeing the movie, this definitely happened, I looked out for it and I'm sure it's his voice.

And it's been confirmed: http://time.com/4156306/ewan-mcgregor-obi-wan-force-awakens/

I wanna watch it again and pay close attention to it.
As we have discussed before, it can't all be canon, because lots of stuff from the prequels directly contradicts the original trilogy (and makes no sense).

Like how Leia remembers her mothers face despite being a newborn? And Luke's aunt and uncle aging super quickly? Those are the two I recall, what else was there?
 

Davey Cakes

Member
I have to say it again:

Everything about how they handled lightsabers in this movie was ace!

Super excited for Ep VIII. My minor quibbles aside, this new trilogy is in good hands!

This was so crazy. They didn't even name a single planet that gets rocked.
Right? It was the same as Alderaan but now it's a bunch of planets including a Coruscant-like planet.

I don't know, man. That shit just takes me out of movies.

I'll need to be convinced that it wasn't just a bad move to have that sequence in the movie.
 

Cheebo

Banned
As we have discussed before, it can't all be canon, because lots of stuff from the prequels directly contradicts the original trilogy (and makes no sense).

E.g. the midiclorians-brainfart was such a terrible case of retconning that not even Lukas ever mentioned it again.
Nope, the prequels are 100% canon. Just as much as the original trilogy. Lucasfilm has made this very very VERY clear.
 
I JUST got out of yhe theater after watching thr movie and I have to say I'm kinda buttburt that they killed off Han solo but I kinda understand it, Harrison Ford being the oldest there's no guarantee he will be in the best shape througout the rest of the trilogy

It makes sense from a story telling perspective. With the whole Obi Wan/Vader confrontation and whatnot.

It's like poetry, it rhymes.
 

16BitNova

Member
As we have discussed before, it can't all be canon, because lots of stuff from the prequels directly contradicts the original trilogy (and makes no sense).

E.g. the midiclorians-brainfart was such a terrible case of retconning that not even Lukas ever mentioned it again.

How does midicholorians contradict anything? The force flows through all. Midicholorians is the same thing. Some people are more force sensitive because of a higher midicholorian count. Its the same.

Like how Leia remembers her mothers face despite being a newborn? And Luke's aunt and uncle aging super quickly? Those are the two I recall, what else was there?

Leia only remembers her mother through force visions. Luke's aunt and uncle are like 20 somethings in the PT. Plus 20 something years after. They would be 40 something. They look appropriately aged.
 

sphagnum

Banned
Not a single person I know thought it was a remake in any capacity. How is it that a ton of people on Gaf are getting this impression?

Meanwhile everyone I talked to about it so far who has seen it - the two friends I went to see it with the first time, my girlfriend the second time, coworkers - have all said that it felt like a remake/reimagining/reboot of ANH.

It's a pretty widely held opinion.
 
From the book. JJ left out the most important line.

Jjc7EDV.jpg

Almost brings me to tears.
 

Ishida

Banned
That is impossible. Two conflicting bits of information can't both be true at the same time.

Any conflicting data (Whatever that may be) can be assumed to be misinformation.

Meanwhile everyone I talked to about it so far who has seen it - the two friends I went to see it with the first time, my girlfriend the second time, coworkers - have all said that it felt like a remake/reimagining/reboot of ANH.

It's a pretty widely held opinion.

This. I went to watch it with 4 friends, all hardcore Star Wars fans, and ALL of them commented on how this movie played too safe by trying to imitate ANH.
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Re: First Order didn't learn anything from the Empire....

Let's recall what we know so far.
They have two objectives, being over seen by both a Secular commander (Hux) and a Spiritual Commander (Kylo). First objective, destroy the Republic and second, destroy the forces of the Light Side.

Hux accomplishes his objective.

The entire star system that makes up the Republic is wiped out in this movie. Mission Accomplished George Bush. That's no small feat. It goes by quickly in the film because they get greedy and are trying to take out the small Rebellion forces as well, but the Rebellion are not a central government - they have effectively destabilized the Galaxy once again. Yes he lost their biggest toy, but unlike Tarkin he survived the battle and can now shift toward stomping out the Rebellion. Or he can take over more systems and re-instate an Empire... Their end goalie unclear here, but I don't see this as a "loss" for them at all.

The other objective, to eliminate the Light, is partially successful- the Jedi academy is wiped out. The only remaining member is Luke Skywalker, which Kylo and the Knights of Ren are currently hunting in our film. Did Kylo lose this objective? I'd argue not really... Snoke still gets what he wanted, which is to complete Kylo's decent into the Dark side. What Vader failed to do - what the Empire failed - was to fully fall to the Dark side and conquer his sentimentality. Which Kylo has managed to do, when he killed Han. It makes him that much stronger to take out Luke, which is what Snoke has sent his crew out to accomplish.

It's all pretty menacing... The one seeming wrench is "the awakening" that Snoke did not foresee, Rey coming to her own realization and power (another "Skywalker"), and just like Sidious, Snoke seems to want her presumably to currupt and train as well... So we shall see if he learned from that particulAr mistake, or will history actually show him fail in this regard
 
Forgot to mention a time I giggled by myself in the film

When the first order is having that speech with the troops and it's super black white and red.

I looked at my friend like "they better not be Space Nazis"

and then the salute was a fist raised up. We both chuckled.

LOL I had the same reaction. Just after we left the theatre we all stood in like a circle int he lobby. Then someone was just like"...So guys...about that First Order speech?" and another friend was like "I thought they were Nazis" and we all laughed in agreement.
 

PopeReal

Member
I don't think anyone thinks of the movie as a "remake", but it definitely retreads a lot from ANH. Unnecessarily so, in my opinion, which felt like too much fan/nostalgia pandering.



Everything in the prequels is canon.

Pretty much whatever course JJ took was going to he criticized. It looks like he took the right one and made a fun movie.

The good news is that this can only be nitpicked for less than 2 years because we got another one coming.
 

Real Hero

Member
My ranking after mulling it over

1.The Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope ( I can't separate these two)
2.The Force Awakens
3.Return of the Jedi
4.The Phantom Menace
5.Revenge of the Sith
6.Attack of the Clones
 

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
That scene where Poe flies around in his one X-Wing and takes out like....12? Tie Fighters in a row in one smooth flight motion, I just put my hands up and said "no way this guy ain't a Jedi, wtf?"

Am I the only one who doesn't remember ANYTHING about the spaceship battle at the end? I just remember what was happening with Finn/Han/Rey/Chewie on Starkiller itself. I remember some lasers being shot, but I absolutely have no idea at all what they did, it's just a blur. I seem to recall an xwing approaching a trench, that's all.
 
Driver might have been the best part. I was a fan of his from Girls, but I wasn't sure how he would be used in a Star Wars film. I thought he would be wasted, but he was used so appropriately. He is truly the grandson of Anakin Skywalker. We see how Anakin Skywalker could have worked with the right people like JJ, Lawrence, and Adam.
 

Klyka

Banned
Nah, he's the player character from the Rogue Squadron series, lol. Seriously, that's all I could think while watching that sequence.

If he was flying an A-Wing, he would have been any Rebel pilot from Star Wars Battlefront!

Am I the only one who doesn't remember ANYTHING about the spaceship battle at the end? I just remember what was happening with Finn/Han/Rey/Chewie on Starkiller itself. I remember some lasers being shot, but I absolutely have no idea at all what they did, it's just a blur. I seem to recall an xwing approaching a trench, that's all.

The scene I am talking about happened on the forest planet. Finn is watching Poe fly around and completely piss all over the First Order pilots and shouts "WHAT A PILOT! WOOOOOO!!" at him
 

sphagnum

Banned
That is impossible. Two conflicting bits of information can't both be true at the same time.

Retcons and justifications smooth things over.

Midichlorians are just as much canon as anything else. And Lucas absolutely did go back to them - Palpatine mentions them in RotS and they have a significant story element in the last few episodes of TCW.
 

jstripes

Banned
The movie was pretty good overall, but I have a few personal armchair nitpicks off the top of my head:

  • I really didn't like Han Solo and Chewie suddenly happening upon the Millenium Falcon out of nowhere; that whole encounter felt so contrived just for the sake of getting those characters back into the story. I don't recall any justification whatsoever behind how they tracked and found the Falcon so quickly? This could've been avoided by showing something like a simple scene of some kind of hidden tracking device within the Falcon suddenly remotely-activating after Finn and Rey's getaway from Jakku, perhaps triggered by the hyperdrive's activation. This would have signaled Han and Chewie to come looking, and they could have acknowledged this to Finn and Rey in a simple throwaway line or two. It would have been a neatly concise way to dispel that handwave of an entrance.

The Millennium Falcon had been powered down and mothballed for years, so it was undetectable, but it's safe to assume Han and Chewie were passively looking for it. After all, it was "stolen" from him, and he wanted it back.

I think it was mentioned by Han himself that they detected it pretty much right away. Remember, there was lots of chatter on the airwaves that the First Order was looking for a ship of that specific model.

So, when the ship that he loves so dearly all of a sudden come up on the sensors, it makes all kinds of sense that he's going to go after it. They didn't just stumble across each other by chance. They simply got lucky that they had Han's ship.



Anyway, the only thing I would change is the sequence where Rey travels from the Resistance base to find Luke. It looks like she got there in 30 seconds. They could have edited it a bit better to make it appear like much more time had passed.
 
Driver was great and played the part perfectly. I think the problem is some people simply don't like the character of Ben/Kylo and are confusing that with thinking he was miscast.

See for me, I feel like his looks didn't fit the role. His attitude and acting fit the role perfectly. Conversely I feel the actor that played Anakin had looks that fit the role, but his acting and attitude were abysmal and shit tier. I'd go with the former every single time though.
 

140.85

Cognitive Dissonance, Distilled
There are callbacks sure, but some people would have you believe this is a 1:1 retelling of ANH which isn't the case at all. There are certain plot devices that are borrowed from the OT but personally I never thought I was watching ANH.

It's a weak argument because it requires you to willfully ignore how TFA leverages these devices differently and in its own unique way.

I see Harmy is embarrassing himself by doing just that today with his response to Stuckmans review. I appreciate you work on the despecialized editions and your passion, man but you're wrong here.
 
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