Star Wars: The Force Awakens

[Colonel Thunder]

Please use spoiler tags when appropriate.

Despite being a near shot-for-shot remake of A New Hope, I actually really liked it. I definitely need to see it again though and come off of the high of seeing it before making any final judgments though.

What'd you nerds think?

 

[Frilzer]

It was fun. I thought it was a little too close to a New Hope, but I did enjoy it.

 

[Firedemon]

I think this spoiler-free review very accurately sums up my feelings about the movie.

 

[Null Hypothesis]

I feel like with the media these days it is all to easy to get over hyped for a film or a game, or show, or whatever only to be disappointed with something that may be good, but never lived up to the impossible expectation in our minds. That being said I was a little worried going into The Force Awakens because the hype train for this movie was running overtime.

However, I can say I really enjoyed the movie. It's not the best Star Wars movie, I think they probably played it a bit too safe with the formula, but tried and true is tried and true for a reason. It was a lot of fun to watch and I'm looking forward to seeing it again to catch all the little details I missed the first time.

 

[Chickenspleen]

There's just nothing that can compare to seeing "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." and hearing that intro music start knowing that what you're about to see is brand new. I had to repress my elated reaction.

 

[Colonel Thunder]

There's just nothing that can compare to seeing "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." and hearing that intro music start knowing that what you're about to see is brand new. I had to repress my elated reaction.

The whole movie was good, but that opening part was definitely the high point for me. I was very giddy.

 

[Requiem]

I loved the whole thing. It was just great. I never really got onto the hype train. I followed all the news and was really excited for it, but I never really let the hype train get to me like some people apparently do. The trailers did everything they were supposed to do and that was really cool to see! This is clearly the start of a refreshing step in the franchise's history. Star Wars has never been the absolute pinnacle of movie history, but it did have a lot going for it that got wrecked with the prequel trilogy. The new trilogy should help fix that or at least not affect the series as much as it currently does.

 

[Tirin]

That movie felt like my fucking destiny.

 

[Colonel Thunder]

Could you expand on what you mean by that?

 

[Tirin]

Sitting in that theater and watching the opening crawl made me feel like I was revisiting a piece of my history, 'cause Star Wars has been a massive part of my life since I was pretty fucking young. I've watched every movie that's come out during my lifetime in theatres shortly after release, gotten Star Wars stuff for Christmas, and literally first made an account on a forum for the purpose of Star Wars RP shortly after seeing Revenge of the Sith (to say nothing of my knowledge of the Expanded Universe or any of the books and games and stuff that I've got in my house). I went in thinking I would see a pretty damn good movie and that would be it, but when the music started I realized that I'd been waiting a decade for the moment I could hear it again. It felt right.

 

[Colonel Thunder]

That uh, that is very well-put. I felt similar but on a probably smaller scale.

 

[Tirin]

I FUCKING LOVE STAR WARS

 

[Artistunknown]

I really liked it. It had a few problems, but overall it was enjoyable. I felt like they tried to put way too much into one movie and that it was a bit too long, but it still ended up pretty good. I also felt like it should've ended earlier,

Spoiler

specifically I felt like the shot where Rey is taking off in the Millennium Falcon to go find Luke would've made a better ending, it just felt like every other final shot of a Star Wars movie.

The actual ending was all right I guess, but it definitely could've been done better.

There's a bit more I can say, but I really don't want to be putting too many spoilers, lol.

Also, it was pretty cool to actually be able to see a NEW Star Wars movie in theaters. I never thought I would be able to do that.

 

[Requiem]

Well, you guys better be ready, because there's a lot more than the new trilogy coming out, that's for sure.

 

[Null Hypothesis]

I love Star Wars, but I don't want yearly installments like Call of Duty. I don't want to get burnt out on Star Wars like I'm starting to feel with all the superhero movies. Being burnt out on Star Wars sounds pretty depressing.

 

[Requiem]

It won't be trilogy after trilogy, they're gonna space those out and let them have a chance to really be well made. Instead, they're giving us a lot of movies from different points in the franchise's history. Rogue One is gonna be a war movie about the Rebels and their fight against the Empire, specifically how they attained the plans to the Death Star. Then there's been talk about doing origin movies, so far one for Yoda and one for Han. Those two aren't set in stone yet though. For sure we're getting Rogue One and the rest of the new trilogy.

 

[Tirin]

Pretty sure there's s'posed to be a Boba Fett movie, and if you don't think that's the tightest shit you can get the fuck out of my face.

 

[Tolvan]

Sweet.

 

[13thforsworn]

So I guess this will be the perspective of a newcomer to the Star Wars franchise, having watched all seven movies for the first time in the last seven days, and recording my thoughts in this thread. I never really boarded the hype train for this movie since until recently, I'd never seen any of the movies. Admittedly, its release is what finally pushed me to watch them all. I figured I wanted to be part of the monumental moment of when Star Wars came back, plus watching the first six had always been on my movie "to-do list".

Firstly, I have to say that I absolutely LOVED this movie. It was so much fun to watch. Action packed, full of exciting space battles, new interesting characters, and comedic relief previously unseen in Star Wars movies. It was such a refreshing feeling after having just wrapped up the lackluster prequels.

Below I will jought down some thoughts as they come to mind. It will contain spoilers.

Spoiler

The first thing that I question is how the First Order came to power after Luke destroyed the Empire. There seemed to be no period in between where good governance was established. Where did the First Order come from? How were they able to take control of the remnants of the Empire? How were they allowed to do this with Rebel Alliance just having achieved victory? Questions to be answered in the next movies, hopefully.

Kylo Ren is an intriguing character. I like that his powers are impressive in their own right, but he is not yet a master Sith Lord. His spasms of anger along with his apparent fear of the Great Leader and of succumbing to the Light Side of the Force give him some substance. Seeing him essentially praying to the mask of his grand father Darth Vader really showed him as young and insecure, and I like that. He's not just an all powerful, ruthless villain like the Emperor in the original trilogy, he's got some edges to him. I'm eager to see how he rebounds from his defeat to Rey and how his apparent rivalry with General Hawks(?) progresses. Last note, his image is totally badass.

Speaking of Rey, holy fuck is she hot. I really hate using the term "strong female character" because it doesn't really mean anything, but that's what she essentially is. She resourceful and brilliant, knows her way around a starship, and is a complete fangirl of Han Solo. I had no idea she would be the one to become the Jedi, I had assumed it would be Finn since the official poster for the movie shows him holding the lightsaber. She fucking shit all over Kylo Ren. Absolutely rekt. It must be emasculating to get weexed by a girl who has been using the Force for approximately 17 minutes when you're basically the Darth Vader to Lord Sidious. Moving forward, I'm interested to see the dynamic between her and Chewbacca, since it appears she has taken over as captain of the Millennium Falcon, with Chewbacca remaining the co-pilot.

BB-8 was adorable, basically the R2 D2 of the newest trilogy, filling in the role of "the little droid that could". He seems to look up to R2 D2. Can't wait to see their tag-team droid heroics.

If you told me Han Solo was going to die in this movie, I would have easily believed you, but the way the movie was going up until he confronted his son, had me thinking otherwise. It was kind of surprising up until the moment Kylo asked for his "help". Then it became clear what he had in mind.

The Supreme Leader looks like a fucked up E.T./baby Voldmort that Harry finds underneath that bench in the 8th Harry Potter. Why...

I was so surprised how quickly Poe and Finn became best buddies, especially in the scene when they both realize the other survived the TIE Fighter crash, but I guess it makes sense considering they have each other to thank for escaping the First Order's grasp.

The scale of this movie is insane. Some of the images are so awe-inspiring, like the shipwreck of the Imperial Star Destroyer on Jakku and the overhead panover of the Storm Trooper battalions during Hawks'(?) speech.

The fact that some of the movie closely resembled 'A New Hope' doesn't actually bother me at all. It was such a joy to watch the whole way through, so I ain't even mad. I think the whole scene with Poe flying through the mega evil Death Star trench was an homage to those similar scenes in Episode IV and VI, and I personally thought it was fitting. I think the villains of Star Wars need to stop investing in planetary annihilation, because the good guys seem to destroy their mega weapon every time. XD

Some of the attention to detail in 'The Force Awakens' is stunning. The thing that stuck out to me the most were the puddles of liquid under the Millennium Falcon after it lands from its mission to aid in the destruction of super mega evil Death Star III. Presumably its the melted snow from when it crash landed that eventually melted off and onto the pavement below it. A+ for effort.

Honestly, I think this is my favorite Star Wars yet. Pretty hyped for Rogue Squadron and Episode VIII.



EDIT: Here's a great Star Wars prank by the guys at Rooster Teeth. Truly ruthless.

 

[Tirin]

Spoiler

The first thing that I question is how the First Order came to power after Luke destroyed the Empire. There seemed to be no period in between where good governance was established. Where did the First Order come from? How were they able to take control of the remnants of the Empire? How were they allowed to do this with Rebel Alliance just having achieved victory? Questions to be answered in the next movies, hopefully.

Spoiler

The Rebel Alliance was a relatively tiny band of freedom fighters, as compared with a galaxy-spanning military and economic powerhouse with technically legitimate political control. The question isn't "how did the Rebels let the Empire re-organize?" (especially since they literally only killed a few guys at the top and blew up their superweapons), but rather "how would they expect to do anything else?". As for the origins of the First Order, well - I suspect Snoke was a Darkside Adept of some kind under Palpatine.

Spoiler

Kylo Ren is an intriguing character. I like that his powers are impressive in their own right, but he is not yet a master Sith Lord. His spasms of anger along with his apparent fear of the Great Leader and of succumbing to the Light Side of the Force give him some substance. Seeing him essentially praying to the mask of his grand father Darth Vader really showed him as young and insecure, and I like that. He's not just an all powerful, ruthless villain like the Emperor in the original trilogy, he's got some edges to him. I'm eager to see how he rebounds from his defeat to Rey and how his apparent rivalry with General Hawks(?) progresses. Last note, his image is totally badass.

Spoiler

Kylo Ren isn't a Sith Lord at all - he's Padawan-tier at best, and is in fact a massive puss when compared to the high-tier feats that we see Darth Vader and Palpatine accomplish (though they fare much better in the prequels and other new Star Wars media, owing in large part to the better choreography and budget for special effects). That said, I'm hype for him getting trained and hopefully becoming a more threatening villain, as while he's plenty threatening to random people, he's evidently not that big a deal against Force-sensitives.

Spoiler

She fucking shit all over Kylo Ren. Absolutely rekt. It must be emasculating to get weexed by a girl who has been using the Force for approximately 17 minutes when you're basically the Darth Vader to Lord Sidious.

>implying any of the things in that last sentence are true