STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Official Thread v.6

[scrubido]

So many people who's opinions on films I have no respect for have been to see it and loved it.
And that's really putting me off.

I know what you mean. I base everything I do on other people's opinions too.

 

[Matt M]

I know what you mean. I base everything I do on other people's opinions too.

I never said that. But if so many people who normally have terrible taste in films think something is great, then the odds suggest you won't think it's great too.
It's rare a film is liked equally by a movie connoisseur like me and mongs.

 

[FierceRedBelt]

I haven't seen it but I don't think we can truly judge these movies until the entire trilogy is released.

Stand alone this one may be disappointing but if it's setting up a much greater arch it's necessary. I'm not so sure how I feel about a the repeating of same story over multiple generations. I guess it's realistic.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

There's reviews on pretty much every page of this thread that mention it was a New Hope re-hash so get out of here with your "a vast majority of critics liked it so you must be wrong". That's the ultimate bitch out "but the critics bro"..c'mon man!

It was supposed to be similar? Thanks for enlightening us Captain Obvious, no one in this thread but you could gleam from the dozen or so major story beats JJ re-used that his intention was to draw parallels between the the story. Congrats. Being intent doesn't mean they couldn't over-do it and rely too much on New Hopes script because they wanted to play it safe

I gave the flick 7 because it was well shot, the new content there I found mostly cool, and I liked all the new characters.

Spoiler

but when I heard Droid and hologram I knew pretty much how the 1st act would play out and besides some fun action scenes I anticipated a majority of it. Same goes for the entire third act big battle. Where it was supposed to be the most suspenseful part of the film, it was the most predictable. I didn't see every beat coming but I saw more then I hoped for and thise scenes I found myself a little bored and waiting for something new. I think they could have made some more creative choices.[\SPOILER]

I didn't say "A vast majority of critics liked it so you must be wrong" - I said the majority of critics and audiences enjoyed it and got exactly what the movie was going for, and it seems like you didn't - and that's on you, it has nothing to do with the movie itself; which is a perfectly fair point for me to make. Sure, intent doesn't mean they couldn't over do it - which is what I said. I pointed out why they made it similar to a New Hope - a good decision - and where the two of them differed (in very significant ways.) - You referencing the dissenting Sherdog opinions is you lumping yourself in with the bunch of Neanderthals in this thread who hated that there was a black lead character and couldn't accept a female hero.

 

[God_Emperor_Of_Mankind]

George Lucas $4 billion for Lucasfilm sure doesn't seem like much now does it. Pretty crazy.

 

[RockstarChris]

all people like the wars. it surrounds us. binds us. penetrates us.

 

[Winston Wolf]

My only gripe was how R2D2 just turns on out of nowhere, for no reason, just as that massive death star was destroyed. How convenient.

I watched Chris Stuckmann's spoiler discussion video, and he mentioned the shot of Luke touching R2 in Rey's vision. He thinks Luke manipulated R2 into only revealing his location when the right person came along.

 

[lordsai]

I watched Chris Stuckmann's spoiler discussion video, and he mentioned the shot of Luke touching R2 in Rey's vision. He thinks Luke manipulated R2 into only revealing his location when the right person came along.

Makes sense he only woke up as soon as she got there

 

[Stargazer Rex]

all people like the wars. it surrounds us. binds us. penetrates us.

I love being penetrated by a force, bro.

 

[Irenaeus]

Saw it, and had a very good time. It's basically a standard blockbuster of today with all the iconic Star Wars elements mashed into it, which isn't what I'd prefer, but I liked it anyway.

Pros: New gang, plus Solo and Chewie worked pretty well together. Really liked both Finn and Rey. Many stormtrooper scenes were cool. As were the old katana duel in a bamboo thicket only with lighsabers and pine threes. And I got to see a Star Destroyer in 3D-

Cons: Really bad at establishing a consistent world, with little sense that e.g. distances mattered or that there actually existed any sort of intergalactic society. Star Map plot was meh. The Starkiller base was poorly introduced as well as conceptually pretty weak. Not good at building suspense. Really random at times.

7/10 I guess. Fun, but a lightweight. Lucas, for all his stupid decisions, is far better at worldbuilding than Abrahms. Sure, he sometimes builds really, really stupid stuff, but it isn't just a way to advance the plot for him.

 

[John Stockton]

Saw it, and had a very good time. It's basically a standard blockbuster of today with all the iconic Star Wars elements mashed into it, which isn't what I'd prefer, but I liked it anyway.

Pros: New gang, plus Solo and Chewie worked pretty well together. Really liked both Finn and Rey. Many stormtrooper scenes were cool. As were the old katana duel in a bamboo thicket only with lighsabers and pine threes. And I got to see a Star Destroyer in 3D-

Cons: Really bad at establishing a consistent world, with little sense that e.g. distances mattered or that there actually existed any sort of intergalactic society. Star Map plot was meh. The Starkiller base was poorly introduced as well as conceptually pretty weak. Not good at building suspense. Really random at times.

7/10 I guess. Fun, but a lightweight. Lucas, for all his stupid decisions, is far better at worldbuilding than Abrahms. Sure, he sometimes builds really, really stupid stuff, but it isn't just a way to advance the plot for him.

I feel like Abrams recognized that everyone hated all the Senate shit from the prequels, but he overcompensated and didn't adequately set up the backstory and stakes. I had some trouble differentiating between the Republic and Resistance, understanding how the Republic factored in at all, and didn't really get how or why the New Order had become so powerful. By comparison, the audience knew exactly what was going on within the first 10 minutes of A New Hope. That being said, it was a good popcorn flick and didn't adversely affect my enjoyment.

 

[EvilDDS]

Now I'm not a fancy, big-city film 'cricket'

But I thoroughly enjoyed that film

If you love the Falcon, you're going to be very happy.

And yes, I was very happy. Seriously the Falcon was basically another character in the movie, it was part of all the good scenes

 

[JadeOwl]

See if you can catch all the Star Wars puns in this weather forecast.

 

[ironchefigor]

Spoiler

I liked it a lot, but I do have a beef with it. How is it that the First Order has built a Star Killer into a planet 20x the size of the Death Star, and NO ONE from the Republic or Resistance knew about it?

 

[Irenaeus]

I feel like Abrams recognized that everyone hated all the Senate shit from the prequels, but he overcompensated and didn't adequately set up the backstory and stakes. I had some trouble differentiating between the Republic and Resistance, understanding how the Republic factored in at all, and didn't really get how or why the New Order had become so powerful. By comparison, the audience knew exactly what was going on within the first 10 minutes of A New Hope. That being said, it was a good popcorn flick and didn't adversely affect my enjoyment.

Yeah. I tend to agree. It affected my enjoyment a little, but I was mostly successful in blocking it out. I don't think it will have much staying power for me, though. Fun, but forgettable.

 

[ironchefigor]

Also, I really hope the newbie actors signed some good contracts, because this movie was and is guaranteed to make a fucking killing. Hopefully, they get paid appropriately.

 

[Irenaeus]

Spoiler

I liked it a lot, but I do have a beef with it. How is it that the First Order has built a Star Killer into a planet 20x the size of the Death Star, and NO ONE from the Republic or Resistance knew about it?

I think Abrams handwaves too much with this sort of stuff. Makes his movies lack gravitas.

 

[streets ahead]

Also, I really hope the newbie actors signed some good contracts, because this movie was and is guaranteed to make a fucking killing. Hopefully, they get paid appropriately.

I can almost guarantee that they didn't.

 

[John Stockton]

I can almost guarantee that they didn't.

Their con hustle better be strong.

 

[kensei]

It is just me, or does Daisy Ridley remind you of a younger Keira Knightley?