Star Wars: The Force Awakens (12/18/15)

[Sweet Rabbit]

Broke Monday box office record

 

[jye4ever]

Next weekend will tell if it will take down Avatar.

China not excited.

 

[YoNoSe]

China not excited.

This guy is.

 

[TURINS~BANE]

Han is dead then...????

 

[Darkseed]

This guy is.

The only excited Asian I care about

 

[jye4ever]

This guy is.

Han is dead then...????

Yup, he never recovered after ESB.

 

[quadcent]

hmmmm, while I liked the movie and it had some nice light comic relief throughout the film. At the end it sure seemed like it was a remake of the original star wars, big ball of fire blows up planet, they in turn blowup big ball.....rinse recycle repeat with a few new twists, still a great remake but there's no way this has the staying power of Avatar (which I wasn't a great fan of) but it was totally original, this is not.

 

[YoNoSe]

hmmmm, while I liked the movie and it had some nice light comic relief throughout the film. At the end it sure seemed like it was a remake of the original star wars, big ball of fire blows up planet, they in turn blowup big ball.....rinse recycle repeat with a few new twists, still a great remake but there's no way this has the staying power of Avatar (which I wasn't a great fan of) but it was totally original, this is not.

 

[quadcent]

 

[rushmore223]

That is one of the best GIF's I've ever seen.

As for quadcent, give Dances With Wolves and Fern Gully a watch, then report back.

 

[Khev]

Saw it a second time today, this time in good old fashioned 2D. I love this movie. There is no "OT" and "TFA." There is only the "saga" as told by SW/ESB/ROTJ/TFA. They are all one to me, therefore there is no special "magic" of the OT that doesn't carry into TFA.

The acting, the stakes, the cinematography, the action and possibly above all the emotion put TFA above ANH for me. And I'm not the least bit ashamed to say it. ANH will always be the most iconic, the most "important," and the most classic but that doesn't make it superior to TFA. The Empire Strikes Back already proved that a Star Wars sequel can surpass A New Hope and unbelievably it has happened again.

 

[DiFabio]

What did people think about the ending shot of Force Awakens? For me, the helicopter shot of the camera spinning around Luke and Rey was the worst "ending curtain close" in a Star Wars movie yet. Might have been better if Chewbacca and R2 were up there, or Luke actually took the lightsaber or something. Kind of a jarring way to end it, didn't feel "Star Warsy" if that makes sense. It almost seemed like a 90s music video or Rocky or Karate Kid montage because of the distance between the characters and the camera.

 

[Khev]

Last shot was great. Sure a bit Braveheart inspired but I don't even rate those prequel endings (HATE the green screen sunset of ROTS) and the last shot of Jedi always seemed a bit odd to me the way the heroes are off center with a strange negative space between them and some random ewoks. The music transition to Williams' end credits score was smoother in Jedi though (at least in the original theatrical.)

I feel the moving camera (a first for a final shot) conveyed a sense of "unsure footing" with this ending, appropriate since we don't know what the hell is up with Luke or where we're going from here.

 

[YoNoSe]

I loved the shot.

I think the idea of things feeling not "Star Warsy" really means we just haven't lived with them long enough. I've been surprised to see a lot of people saying "at least the Prequels felt like Star Wars" when I can clearly remember people complaining they didn't feel like Star Wars at all.

 

[Darkseed]

ANH, ESB, RoTS and TFA had the best endings IMO. The rest were pretty meh...

 

[a-dev]

I thought the final shot was a little odd with Rey holding out the lightsaber to Luke for an extended time and him just looking at her - wouldn't be surprised if that bit features in the HISHE vid for its awkwardness.

I loved the shot.

I think the idea of things feeling not "Star Warsy" really means we just haven't lived with them long enough. I've been surprised to see a lot of people saying "at least the Prequels felt like Star Wars" when I can clearly remember people complaining they didn't feel like Star Wars at all.

I think only people who have always liked the prequels are saying that, but I could be wrong?

 

[Khev]

I loved the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" moment where Kylo carried Rey to his ship. I'm almost surprised we haven't seen such a moment before now what with all the queens and princesses that have needed to be rescued.

I liked the new uses of the Force: Freezing people, freezing laser beams in midair, causing people to go to sleep, pulling thoughts out of their head (much more invasively than when Vader read Luke's mind.) These were the types of things I was expecting to see full fledged Jedi and Sith doing in the PT as opposed to one split second "Force run" and then absolutely nothing that we hadn't already seen in the OT.

I noticed even more "1986" influences. The rolly-pollies seemed part "Critters" the halls of Han and Chewie's freighter seemed a bit "ALIENS" inspired, the random little aliens on Jakku and at Maz' castle with little wood stove helmets reminded me of the goblins from Labyrinth, etc. Cool stuff.

Loved that when the sun went out above Starkiller base it instantly converted the Resistance attack from a "Hoth bombing run" into a space battle motif.

 

[YoNoSe]

I think only people who have always liked the prequels are saying that, but I could be wrong?

I will call their references!

 

[Khev]

I loved the quiet moments of Rey scavenging and hanging out in her vintage X-Wing helmet. Beautiful establishing sequences that took me back to The Black Stallion.

Interesting how Kylo seemed to unlock (or awaken if you will) her Force sensitivity with his mental probe. I actually did like how quickly she caught on, it made me think of two things:

1. The old "girls mature faster than boys."

2. That maybe since Luke went into exile because he just decided that any new Jedi Order will always be doomed on account of the first jerk apprentice who wants to "weaponize" the Force that maybe, just maybe, the Force said "oh no you don't Luke," and "awoke" in Rey to a much quicker and greater degree because the Force decided that it was going to balance itself with or without Luke. Could be way off but I find it fun to ponder.

 

[DiFabio]

I loved the quiet moments of Rey scavenging and hanging out with her vintage X-Wing helmet.

Her eating that bread puff thing, playing with the helmet, sliding down the sand hill and getting a look at that old, withered scavenging lady (I got the idea like, "this could be my future some day") were some of the best shots and sequences in the movie. Good character moments without uttering a single word of dialogue.