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

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That is cool Snoop.

Saw this a fourth time last night. Man, usually by viewing 3 or 4 (whether in the theater or at home) a movie will start the parts where it's a little weak or starts to drag but as jye said this film just doesn't have any. The few times when the film does take a moment to catch its breath it's still compelling stuff and you want to know see what the characters are experiencing in those moments.

Any "problems" I might have for the film (Ford sounding silly when he says "moof milker," Poe's squadron somehow being able to time their exit from lightspeed with the exact moment the Starkiller shields go down, etc.) can all be measured in *seconds.* Just a few seconds here or there throughout the two hour film. That movie is *solid.*

I will say that as awesome as the Riot Trooper scene is it's pretty convenient that the one time a character fires up a lightsaber in combat with Stormtroopers there just *happens* to be the one Stormtrooper in the entire army with a weapon that can actually counter it. I made a point to scan all troopers in the background throughout the entire raid on Maz' castle because I was curious as to whether or not there were other Riot Troopers here or there but nope, just one conveniently placed for Finn to fight. Ah well, still, just a minor nitpick out of the entire fantastic film.

A thought that I now have on Rey (and maybe this has already been brought up) is that she was a pupil of Luke's but Luke used the Force to erase her memory of her training and then he personally dropped her off on Jakku, a planet so remote that not even Han thought to look for the Falcon there, and then planted a suggestion into her mind that it was actually her parents that left her. When Maz says "you know the people you're waiting for are never coming back," it's because Maz knows those people literally don't exist. And then when she says, "But there is one who can," "Luke..." we're getting the hint that it was him all along. And in her vision the young Rey is actually watching Luke's ship take off.

Oh and one last thing, the music. Can't say enough about how great it is. I seem to recall a few people on this site going off about how mediocre or forgettable it was but I've since seen many more people *raving* about it on other sites. They're right. It really is an amazing score. Definitely Williams' best since Empire.
 
Ok, this is where you lose me. :lol

The new music was very underwhelming for me.

Sure when Rey force grabbed the lightsaber the music worked but that wasn't new music.

The only new music part I liked was when Rey was climbing the mountain to go see Luke, but that was a very small part.

New music = Fail.
 
Yes Rey grabbing the saber was great but I'm talking about all the new music too. Very nuanced in the dramatic moments (Kylo watching the Starkiller blast pass his ship/Rey climbing the steps at the end) and rousing during the excitement (X-Wings saving the day in Takodana.) There are many other examples. The score is getting big kudos elsewhere and deservedly so. It's okay jye, I'm sure you'll once again see that I am right on your next viewing. ;)
 
I also don't even remember the planet names that Maz was on or the resistance.

Even the PT had memorable planet names, except for the one where Obi-Wan killed Grievous, I don't remember that one either.
 
I'll give you that, other than Jakku and Starkiller the planet names have been harder to remember. And for a kid "exhaust port" and "reactor" are MUCH easier to retain than "oscillator." :lol
 
Definitely Williams' best since Empire.

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As if you even know what movie we're talking about Clown. :lol

And I already knew that there were a vocal few here who found the film's score lacking. They are wrong.
 
I don't know what's more hyperbolic, saying the Force Awakens score is unmemorable and mediocre other than the reused bits (when Rey gets the lightsaber, that's Luke seeing Uncle Ben and Aunt Beru's bodies, which is much more powetful) or that the Force Awakens is William's best since Empire Strikes Back.

What a disservice and kind of an insult to the man that did the scores for Indiana Jones, Return of the Jedi, E.T., Shindler's list, Home Alone, The Phantom Menace, Revenge of the Sith, the Harry Potter themes and ****ing Jurassic Park. :lol


When will this blinding Force Awakens hype train derail I wonder.
 
In the interest of clarification I did mean "best SW score since Empire."


Hey i 100% agree with a lot of what you said. :) Ive seen it 4 times as well, loved it every single time, hope to see it a few more times before it leaves the theaters. And I also love the score. I have been listening to it for the past several weeks since i got it. I love Rey's theme. ANH and ESB are by far my favorite of his scores, but I really love the TFA score.

But Im not 100% sold on her having previous training though. After reading 'Before the Awakening', to me she was self taught. She taught herself combat training and she mastered a flight simulator she had on her AT-AT home that she could train on different ships. She is an amazing mechanic and scavenger because she is self taught and a lot of that reminds me of Anakin, thats why i feel she definitely is a Skywalker and also the grand daughter of Kenobi. I think that would be the most powerful emotional response they would get from the SW audience.

Another thing, Lor San Tekka, the Map, and Rey all being on this remote planet can't be a coincidence. So i think Tekka was the one looking out for her but he couldn't tell anyone, just like how Obi-Wan looked out for Luke.

Plus in her vision, to me the key is Obi-Wan saying "Rey, these are your first steps". If she had previous training, why would now be her first steps? To me I think because Rey is a Skywalker/Kenobi, the only true way she could become more powerful than anyone and not be corrupted by the Dark Side is if she went through training much like how Luke did. Growing up on a remote planet and learning to live life on her own and have compassion for others. The way she treats even a droid like BB-8 shows she cares for all things. Being trained in a Temple doesn't seem to work. Eventually corruption takes over and they turn against each other and history shows those temples get destroyed.

And if someday she does find Luke, then it was her destiny to become a Jedi. Luke being on an island surrounded by water is like Yoda's Dagobah. Now that she arrived and he's waited for her all these years, she can now be trained by Luke the proper way, just like he was. With not outside forces there to corrupt her.

thats just my take. I could be totally wrong, but just things ive thought about. :)
 
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In the interest of clarification I did mean "best SW score since Empire."

I agree with this. The score is much more energetic than any of the prequel stuff. And there's multitude of new themes. I'd say it's Williams' best score since Jurrasic Park. You can tell that he felt rejuvenated by the new film.
 
Watched it last week and thoroughly enjoyed it! I agree with most of what Khev has been eloquently saying. Yes, the movie hit some very familiar plot points, but in all honesty I didn’t know where the story was going from scene to scene (other than the general “the good guys will prevail”) because they mixed things up. So it wasn’t a direct remake of ANH like everyone was saying.

My minor quibbles were that I thought Poe was pretty one-dimensional (especially compared to everyone else in the movie), and that the whole beginning felt very rushed. We zipped through so much exposition and character introductions that it was a little hard to go along with it all (“okay so now he’s defecting, and now they’re friends and now he’s friends with her, and now here’s Han…”).

I thought Han was great—a true return to form (especially after how terrible his character became in ROTJ), and I thought Rey was great as the new center of the story. I thought Driver did a great job with Kylo and I thought the character was very well written with his inner conflict. And BB8 was also great, showing that you can do a little humor without being moronic like Jar Jar and Threepio were in the prequels.

I saw the original in 1977 when I was 4 or 5 and have been a fan ever since. I tried to avoid spoilers but I knew about the many rumors and theories going around, so there weren’t too many real surprises. Avoiding spoilers was just a way to not have any of the rumors confirmed. I didn’t have any expectations about how certain characters should behave or how much screen time they should have or what they should do or how much power or experience they should have. Honestly I’m willing to go along with most anything the filmmakers create, as long as it makes sense within that world and with the characters and their motivations. My problem with the character of Poe wasn’t because he didn’t act how I was expecting him to act, it was because I simply thought he was one-dimensional. I’m hoping he’s more fleshed out in the next one. Phasma was fine—just a platoon captain with a very cool armor, no different than what we had seen before the movie opened. If I had planned on getting her figure before, watching the movie would not have changed my mind at all.

I thought JJ did a great job and I’m really looking forward to the next one!

And I’m looking forward to the Blu Ray so I can watch it over and over!
 
I love Rey's theme. ANH and ESB are by far my favorite of his scores, but I really love the TFA score.

Yes, Rey's theme is excellent.

thats just my take. I could be totally wrong, but just things ive thought about. :)

I did pick up "Before the Awakening" and will definitely be giving it a read soon. :)

I agree with this. The score is much more energetic than any of the prequel stuff. And there's multitude of new themes. I'd say it's Williams' best score since Jurrasic Park. You can tell that he felt rejuvenated by the new film.

Absolutely. So many great layers to TFA, nice overlapping with old and new themes and I was actually pretty shocked at just how *good* those new themes are.

:lol

If there is a hype train this thread is mostly cows on the track.

A couple weeks ago I said that TFA was so solid, hitting all the right notes that there would never be a backlash against it. Well now with it obliterating everything at the box office, (including AVATAR's domestic multiple release earnings in just 18 or 19 days :horror) and possible Academy Award nominations there's pretty much no way there *won't* be a backlash. But whatever, that comes with success. TFA is the real deal and the naysayers can just be wrong. :lol
 
Watched it last week and thoroughly enjoyed it! I agree with most of what Khev has been eloquently saying. Yes, the movie hit some very familiar plot points, but in all honesty I didn’t know where the story was going from scene to scene (other than the general “the good guys will prevail”) because they mixed things up. So it wasn’t a direct remake of ANH like everyone was saying.

My minor quibbles were that I thought Poe was pretty one-dimensional (especially compared to everyone else in the movie), and that the whole beginning felt very rushed. We zipped through so much exposition and character introductions that it was a little hard to go along with it all (“okay so now he’s defecting, and now they’re friends and now he’s friends with her, and now here’s Han…”).

I thought Han was great—a true return to form (especially after how terrible his character became in ROTJ), and I thought Rey was great as the new center of the story. I thought Driver did a great job with Kylo and I thought the character was very well written with his inner conflict. And BB8 was also great, showing that you can do a little humor without being moronic like Jar Jar and Threepio were in the prequels.

I saw the original in 1977 when I was 4 or 5 and have been a fan ever since. I tried to avoid spoilers but I knew about the many rumors and theories going around, so there weren’t too many real surprises. Avoiding spoilers was just a way to not have any of the rumors confirmed. I didn’t have any expectations about how certain characters should behave or how much screen time they should have or what they should do or how much power or experience they should have. Honestly I’m willing to go along with most anything the filmmakers create, as long as it makes sense within that world and with the characters and their motivations. My problem with the character of Poe wasn’t because he didn’t act how I was expecting him to act, it was because I simply thought he was one-dimensional. I’m hoping he’s more fleshed out in the next one. Phasma was fine—just a platoon captain with a very cool armor, no different than what we had seen before the movie opened. If I had planned on getting her figure before, watching the movie would not have changed my mind at all.

I thought JJ did a great job and I’m really looking forward to the next one!

And I’m looking forward to the Blu Ray so I can watch it over and over!

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Mad Old Lu again.

the whole beginning felt very rushed. We zipped through so much exposition and character introductions that it was a little hard to go along with it all (“okay so now he’s defecting, and now they’re friends and now he’s friends with her, and now here’s Han…”).

A valid point but damn does that lightning fast pace make for easy rewatching. It's damn near impossible to get bored watching this movie. :) But even amidst the action we get these great little moments with Rey living her life on Jakku or her pausing to let the breeze off the lake hit her face on Takodana, Han's cool Indy speech about the Force being real, etc. And that flashback vision Rey gets, such an awesome sequence. I love that it starts off with her in the Cloud City corridor, gives me chills every time.

On a side note it really hit me just how long Rey and Leia hug after Rey returns from Starkiller. On opening day my son and I were both really emotional about Han's death. Seeing those two hugging on screen drove home how the pain of that loss affected multiple generations. Just another one of those moments that makes me appreciate the film even more.
 
A couple weeks ago I said that TFA was so solid, hitting all the right notes that there would never be a backlash against it. Well now with it obliterating everything at the box office, (including AVATAR's domestic multiple release earnings in just 18 or 19 days :horror) and possible Academy Award nominations there's pretty much no way there *won't* be a backlash. But whatever, that comes with success. TFA is the real deal and the naysayers can just be wrong. :lol

My prediction is coming true....all of it :lol I said hardcore fans and critics would think this is the greatest thing ever, despite just being an average popcorn film at best, and that in time...in retrospect people would see the film for what it truly is....and it will happen....eventually. But I see that some people are already sick of this film, not because it's a bad film, but because of how overrated it is. It has Avatarisis syndrome :lol

H7ZsDZe.gif
 
My prediction is coming true....all of it :lol I said hardcore fans and critics would think this is the greatest thing ever, despite just being an average popcorn film at best, and that in time...in retrospect people would see the film for what it truly is....and it will happen....eventually. But I see that some people are already sick of this film, not because it's a bad film, but because of how overrated it is. It has Avatarisis syndrome :lol

I guess people hated the PT that much. :lol
 
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