STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)

[Jim H]

Just for further context, Episode VIII is set for 2017 and Episode IX for 2019. 

[messedup]

Really enjoyed it. Good continuation of the original trilogy and introduced alot new that makes you wanna watch Episode 8 right now. Also amazing visuals and good action sequences. And finally a good portion of humour...no Jar Jar Binks-like BS.
If I had to criticise something then that I wasn't always behind Kylo Ren as the villain. Sometimes he was a really kickass bad guy and sometimes he acted too much like a little kid. But I think that will change alot in Ep. 8.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I'm getting closer to seeing it, as I haven't seen one of the films for 35 years. Not since I saw Episode V in 1980. Never saw any of the others. I had no interest, and I still have no interest in seeing the others.

It's not a film. It's a phenomena. That's what interests me. Not the film so much, but . . .?! the phenomena of it.

London
If you wondered where all the star were, they were in London for opening night, and the total opening box office gross for the U.K. was $14.4 million. Small potatoes compared to the U.S., but . . .?! It still set a record for the U.K.

Harrison Ford
Well, he got what he wanted. Still . . .?! He's rumored to be in Episode VIII. So, who can say. I did finally realize how good he is in the role. He's always been good in the role. It's just he's gotten better as he has gotten older. One new actor who is in Episode VIII is Benicio del Toro, who is rumored to be playing a villain in the film.

Cast
Andy Serkis
Domhall Gleason as General Hux
Max Von Sydow
Simon Pegg
Warwick Davis
and Daniel Craig as Storm trooper jb007.

The last has to be one of the greatest in-jokes in the history of motion pictures.

British film industry
This has been very good for the British film industry. Not only are many of the cast members Brits, but . . .?! much of the film was shot in the U.K. using British film crews. And it'll continue to the end of this decade and maybe into the next decade. Lucas was originally know to want to quit at IX, but . . .?! Now the rumor has it that'll we'll be getting a X, an XI, and a XII.

Age - Characters
There have been some complaints that General Hux, played by Domhall Gleason, is a 30 something. Which goes to show that Americans are ignorant of their own history. One need go back only 150 years to the American Civil War, and while I don't have a list, many of the generals on both sides were under 30, when they were made a general.

Age - Cast
The complaints about the age of General Hux did make me go back and look at the cast, and what I noticed from the actors' photos, how young many of the villains were. I don't know whether this was deliberate to cast them young or happenstance, but . . .?! It does make a bit of sense. With the destruction of 2 Death Stars, who'd be left? Not the best and brightest, most of whom died on the Death Stars, and who'd be older and more experienced, but . . .?! The younger members of the Empire.

Age - Audience
While this film skews older, it is nice to see how many children are taking to this film. A film in a series whose 1st film was long before many of them were born. And not only Americans, which is less surprising, but . . . Europeans as well.

And we shall see what we shall see.

[zelmo73]

Since we are forbidden to talk spoilers, I don't have much to say other than that I managed to avoid all movie trailers aside from the main one until about a week ago. I avoided all the fan forums, stayed away from Facebook groups discussing anything StarvWars, and managed to make it to opening night not knowing much about the movie aside from the original cast being in it.

I walked out 100% satisfied and quoting lines of dialogue from the movie with my buddy; something that we never did with the prequels. Everything about The Force Awakens was instantly memorable, and while I felt that the story paralleled A New Hope perhaps a little too much in some spots, none of it detracted from the overall experience. Another thing that this movie did right, was that it recaptured the experience aspect of the original trilogy, unlike the prequels with their wooden dialogue, Titanic-quality ho-hum romance subplots and C-Span plot mechanics smattered with the occasional action sequence thrown in. No, The Force Awakens gives us action throughout with the longest downtime between action sequences being maybe 5 minutes or so. While this gives us a Marvel movie pacing, after dragging my way through the C-Span dialogue of the prequels, this was a welcome change of pace.

Overall, I give this movie 4 slimes! The entire franchise came back in a big way, and time will smooth out the rough edges. :)

[VenomX73]

If you think about it,  the whole movie is 1 big spoiler lol

It's a hard movie to talk about without giving stuff away...

I'm going to see it again next week! - YES - it was that good!

[BoyScoutKevin]

It's not a film. It's a phenomena.

quality of film + length of series = a bonding moment like few others.
People who were children yesterday are watching it with their children today, and if the series continues, the children of today will be watching it with their children tomorrow.

they're coming out of the woodwork.
C-3PO is getting his own comic book from Marvel Comics.

Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen : Star Wars and the Power of Costumes
A Smithsonian traveling exhibition

Yesterday: Seattle
Today: New York City
Tomorrow: Denver

Portugal
They went ape s@#$ o'er it in Portugal

cuts across boundaries
--age
--nationality
--race
--sex
--sexual orientation?
Like few other films

characters
I am surprised at how well audiences have embraced the characters. They'll probably ne'er embrace the characters as they did those in Episode IV, but . . .?! They have probably embraced 'em more than from most of the other Star Wars films, except for Episode IV,

when so much could have gone wrong, all came together.
--writer Lawrence Kasdan
--producer Kathleen Kennedy
--distributor Walt Disney
--director J.J. Abrams
--creator George Lucas
--casting Nina, April, and Alyssa

China
It'll be interesting to see how it does next month in China. China was a much different place in 1977, and, whereas, most of the rest of the world saw it in theaters, like here in the U.S. I can imagine it was available in China only in a bootleg copy and for some time thereafter.

r-e-s-p-e-c-t
What took me surprise, browsing some of the social media, is now much respect the fans of this film have for other fans and e'en the non-fans.

Singapore
They're comin' in costume in Singapore.

opening  box office records in . . .
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Denmark
Finland
Hungary
Iceland
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Sweden
Ukraine
it's an European thing.

And either today or tomorrow, I hope to get tickets to see it.

[Dr. Whom]

I liked it. JJ Abrams is a very good homage filmer: he manages to pack in a lot of the stuff that fans expect, yet he never makes it feel too contrived (at least for me, your mileage may vary). True, the story closely follows the pattern of the original in the series, but that is not necessarily an Bad Thing. After all, nobody complains when James Bond has to save the world again from another criminal mastermind.
Adam Driver is an inspired choice for the villain. He has some pretty big boots to fill, but he brings an intensity to the role that makes more than just another cool looking Sith.

Teensy spoiler


You may want to address your anger management issues before you take up lightsabre combat.

[VenomX73]

I liked it. JJ Abrams is a very good homage filmer: he manages to pack in a lot of the stuff that fans expect, yet he never makes it feel too contrived (at least for me, your mileage may vary). True, the story closely follows the pattern of the original in the series, but that is not necessarily an Bad Thing. After all, nobody complains when James Bond has to save the world again from another criminal mastermind.
Adam Driver is an inspired choice for the villain. He has some pretty big boots to fill, but he brings an intensity to the role that makes more than just another cool looking Sith.

Teensy spoiler


You may want to address your anger management issues before you take up lightsabre combat.

Funny to see someone mention James Bond...

He's in this movie, small cameo.



I can't say where though, you need to research it, trying to keep it spoiler free.

[WingedSerpent]

I was planning on seeing it, but according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, they've REALLY gone in a new direction in these new films.

[Raffine]

As a somewhat moderate fan of the original movies (saw 'em all and loved 'em  originally at the theater. Like I was RC was annoyed how they destroyed good old Famous Monsters) and saw and was bored by the prequels on TV in no particular order.

I thought Abram's film was a lot of fun and had the spirit of the originals. I really liked how instead of the sleek fake cgi look of the prequels the ships and props had the gritty, used look of the original films.

As a Bad Movie fan I did have a couple of laugh out loud moments, both involving a Certain Character removing a tight-fitting mask and helmet to reveal a perfectly intact fluffy hair-do. This happened a couple of times and both moments are cut in a good ol' bad movie way, like Dolph Lundgren revealing his perm in a He Man movie.

HUGE SPOILER!!!!!







What was up with CP30's red arm? He seemed to have his regular one back at the end. Did I miss something?

[Archivist]

Okay, saw this last night with some friends who are Star Wars fans of varying degrees, and our opinions were mixed.

Huge props to JJ Abrams for recreating the atmosphere and 'feel' of the original movie in so many ways.  The Imperial (sort of) troops and technology were so much of the 1977 Star Wars that I was almost weepy with nostalgia.  Huge cathedrals of space inside the Imperial (sort of) base, the corridors, the way blast doors opened and closed, the buttons, everything was a great continuation of the original Star Wars vision.

The actions scenes and dogfights were superb, as was cinematography and editing.

BB-8 is a bit schmaltzy but still my favourite character, as I have a soft spot for cute, anthropomorphic robots like Wall-E and Baymax.  BB-8 is the kid-pleaser.

My friends and I had considerable issues with the way some of the characters were handled.  No spoilers, but what I say here will make sense after you see the movie:

- one lead male is neither here nor there for the movie, and yet has a significant role.

- one lead male should have been Benedict Cumberbatch.  Seriously.

- one lead male is a bumbling Nice Guy(tm) who is going to offer up his help in the hopes of some intergalactic bedtime.

- one lead female is given wayyy too much skill and ability with no explanation, and without precedent in the Star Wars universe.

- there was a fair bit in the press about 'strong female leads' in this movie.  There's only one strong female lead, and they had to dumb down the male characters to make the strong female stand out more.

- the speed with which the Empire (sort of) was able to accomplish things in just one generation after the timeline of the original trilogy.  Seems like they were able to grow really, really fast.

I'll discuss these things further as more people watch the movie, so as not to reveal spoilers.

Overall, I enjoyed a lot of The Force Awakens.  I think JJ Abrams and the crew did a fantastic job of catering to the first generation that watched Star Wars in the cinema while still appealing to modern, young audiences.

[BoyScoutKevin]

As a somewhat moderate fan of the original movies (saw 'em all and loved 'em  originally at the theater. Like I was RC was annoyed how they destroyed good old Famous Monsters) and saw and was bored by the prequels on TV in no particular order.

I thought Abram's film was a lot of fun and had the spirit of the originals. I really liked how instead of the sleek fake cgi look of the prequels the ships and props had the gritty, used look of the original films.

As a Bad Movie fan I did have a couple of laugh out loud moments, both involving a Certain Character removing a tight-fitting mask and helmet to reveal a perfectly intact fluffy hair-do. This happened a couple of times and both moments are cut in a good ol' bad movie way, like Dolph Lundgren revealing his perm in a He Man movie.

HUGE SPOILER!!!!!







What was up with CP30's red arm? He seemed to have his regular one back at the end. Did I miss something?

Look for the C-3PO comic book from Marvel Comics. Supposedly, the red arm is explained in that, as for the film itself.

ANH=A New Hope

TFA=The Force Awakens

if ANH is a child of the '70s, then TFA is the adult version grown up 38 years later. I agree with everyone who says they are similar, but . . .?! I don't see much wrong with that, as they took much of what was good in ANH and made it better (IMHO.)

As for what was good in both films . . .

ANH
more and/or better

Cartoonlike

less Confusion

Newness

Uniqueness
Which is both bad and good. Jabba the Hutt is an unique character, but . . .?! I can't i.d. with Jabba. On the other hand, I could i.d. with the human equivalent in TFA, and after a little research, the character's name is Bala-Tik and is played by Scottish actor Brian Vernal, and while he has worked on TV, this is his only 3rd film appearance.

As for TFA . . .
While this is not to say that TFA is better than ANH, but . . .
more and/or better

Acting

Action
--from dog fights in the sky to light saber duels on the ground.

Clues
--as to what will happen later in the film.

Emotionally resounding

Empathy
--for the characters, especially the villains

Heroes
--less capable
--more fearful
--more human
--rey = princess leia
----less helpless
----more kickass

Humor
--from Finn's and Poe's (Stay calm. Stay calm.--I am calm!--I was talking to myself.) to Han and Chewbacca (Chewbacca seeing Han's discarded jacket on the floor, picking it up, and handing it to him.) ROTFL!

Lighting
--the blue light shining on the white snow. Both brilliant use of lighting and beautiful.

Relationships
ren and snoke
snoke and hux
hux and phasma
phasma and finn
finn and rey
rey and luke
luke and leia
leia and han
han and ren

Robots
--BB8 = R2D2
--a more emotional BB8

Reality

SFX

Suspense
--less capable heroes + more capable villains = more suspense

Villains, excluding Darth Vader
--capable
--conflicted
--conflicts between villains
--human
--less powerful. That's my problem with Darth Vader. He's too powerful, especially in the comic books, so there is less suspense.
--sane
--vicious
--violent
--younger in age
--and more desire to see 'em survive.

Writing

Next time: comments and questions

[bob]

I still haven't seen this

[BoyScoutKevin]

Continuing previous post.

Comments and questions.

Comments
01. Max von Sydow
It's good to see good old Max. He's been in films longer than most of the cast has been alive.

02. Mark Hamill
He's aged better than the other 2. Actually, he looks better now, then when he was younger.

03. A product of its time
--inter-racial romance
--women in the military: on both sides
--aliens, people of color, and women as Resistance pilots.

04. Phasma
I bet she's a mean b***h, when she doesn't have a gun pointed at her head.

05. Finn
The most unique character in the film, as he is the nearest character to being an Earthling. The guy who doesn't want to do right, but does right, as it's the right thing to do.

06. Villains
We are finally seeing women and people of color among the main villains, but . . .?! What we have yet to see is a totally alien race among the main villains.

07. Accents
It surprised me that Rey's accent is so much stronger than Finn's.

08. Kissing
I see that when Rey kisses Finn, she kisses him on the forehead rather than the more personal kiss on the lips.

09. Boys
It does one's heart good to see that some of 'em want a Rey action figure. I can't remember that many wanting a Princess Leia doll.

10. Foreigners
If you want a villain for an American film, then get a foreign actor. It's almost always been like that, and here's proof as to why.

11.  Storm troopers
I swear, if they keep going in the direction they seem to be going, we'll hear 'em say: "Goo! Goo! Gaa? Gaa?"

12. Relationships
I've always had the feeling that the student (Darth Vader) was almost always stronger than the master (the Emperor.) As to why Darth ne'er moved against him, it may be the old saw: "The  power on the throne is not the man on the throne, but the man behind the man on the throne."

Here we have a more typical student-master relationship. Ren knows this. Snoke knows this. And the audience knows this.

13. Sequels
TFA may or may not be better than ANH, but . . .?! The sequels will be better than the sequels and prequels to ANH.

14. One and the Same
While the Empire intermingled, to some degree, its political and military arms, in the 1st Order, there is no difference between the 2. Thus, it is more like a military dictatorship than the Empire.

15. Comparison
Someone should do a comparison study of ANH and TFA.

16. Locations
Formerly filmed in . . .
California
China
England
Guatemala
Spain
Thailand

Which can now be added . . .
Iceland
Ireland
New Mexico
Scotland
the United Arab Emirates

17. Novelizations
Read the novelizations which are now out. Both the junior and adult versions, as they . . .
1st Add more depth to the characters.
2nd Includes scenes not featured in the film.
3rd. Fills in a number of plot holes, such as Phasma's interest in Finn's blaster.

18.Magazines
Read the magazines, which are now out. Some specific to this film. Others of a more general nature about all the films in the series.
1st One may or may not agree with the explanation of why things were done, but . . .?! They do provide an explanation as to why thing were done that way.
2nd They are an useful source of info about the film and films, such as . . .

The owners of the Millennium Falcon (in order of ownership)

One or more original owners
Lando Calrissian
Han Solo
Ducain
the Irving Boys
Unkar Plutt
Rey, Finn and BB-8
Han Solo and Chewbacca
Chewbacca and Rey

19. And . . .
there's a visual dictionary "The Visual Dictionary for Star Wars : the Force Awakens," which might be useful.

Questions
1. Why did Rey look like a Ninja Turtle, when we 1st saw her?

2. Will we see the human equivalent of Jabba the Hutt again?

3. Is it happenstance or is it deliberate, that the villains seem to be getting younger?

4. And will we e'er see teenage Storm troopers in the film? Like those in the TV series "Star Wars : Rebels?"

5. How did Rey get back to Finn at the end, as the seemed to be on opposite sides of the deep divide?

6. If George was still in charge, would we still see an inter-racial romance?

7. Resistance to what? Their side won, or do the New Republic and the 1st Order still have their own spheres of influence?

8. Who'll cameo in the upcoming sequels?

9. And what comes next?

[BoyScoutKevin]

Okay, saw this last night with some friends who are Star Wars fans of varying degrees, and our opinions were mixed.

Huge props to JJ Abrams for recreating the atmosphere and 'feel' of the original movie in so many ways.  The Imperial (sort of) troops and technology were so much of the 1977 Star Wars that I was almost weepy with nostalgia.  Huge cathedrals of space inside the Imperial (sort of) base, the corridors, the way blast doors opened and closed, the buttons, everything was a great continuation of the original Star Wars vision.

The actions scenes and dogfights were superb, as was cinematography and editing.

BB-8 is a bit schmaltzy but still my favourite character, as I have a soft spot for cute, anthropomorphic robots like Wall-E and Baymax.  BB-8 is the kid-pleaser.

My friends and I had considerable issues with the way some of the characters were handled.  No spoilers, but what I say here will make sense after you see the movie:

- one lead male is neither here nor there for the movie, and yet has a significant role.

- one lead male should have been Benedict Cumberbatch.  Seriously.

- one lead male is a bumbling Nice Guy(tm) who is going to offer up his help in the hopes of some intergalactic bedtime.

- one lead female is given wayyy too much skill and ability with no explanation, and without precedent in the Star Wars universe.

- there was a fair bit in the press about 'strong female leads' in this movie.  There's only one strong female lead, and they had to dumb down the male characters to make the strong female stand out more.

- the speed with which the Empire (sort of) was able to accomplish things in just one generation after the timeline of the original trilogy.  Seems like they were able to grow really, really fast.

I'll discuss these things further as more people watch the movie, so as not to reveal spoilers.

Overall, I enjoyed a lot of The Force Awakens.  I think JJ Abrams and the crew did a fantastic job of catering to the first generation that watched Star Wars in the cinema while still appealing to modern, young audiences.

While most of these questions I can't answer, as they pertain to how a sequel is made or not made, but . . .?! The one question I can answer is the last one asked.

The 1st Order is the remnant of the old Empire, thus it is not that they grew really, really fast, it is that they shrunk.

Look at Earth. How many inhabitants thus it have? About 7 billion or so. Now multiply that number by the 100 or so inhabited worlds in the old Empire, and there is that many, and we come up with a figure of around 700 billion. And if only half of those inhabitants were adherents of the old Empire, you still have 350 billion who pledged their allegiance to the old Empire. And while it is no longer canon, if half of those surrendered to the New Republic, you still have 175 billion inhabitants who did not surrender and are still at war with the New Republic.

Even with that figure, the 1st Order is not what the old Empire use to be, as to make up their numbers, the 1st Order is bringing in . . .
more women
more people of color (Finn, from what he said at the beginning of the film is not the only one)
and what I think is most interesting, they are getting younger.
Then they were in 1977 at the height of the old Empire.