"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Thread.

[RI]

I honestly felt suffocated by all the fan service, Marvel-esque flippant one-liners, and rehashed plot points. So many groan-worthy scenes and lines. I still liked it-- it's cut from a similar cloth as Jurassic World but is far less oppressing-ly stupid-- but it really feels more like Disney-ified fan fic than a real film. Its strengths only serve to make me wish they didn't miss so many opportunities.

Also, how on earth did it take three people to write that screenplay? How hard is it to use copy/paste?

[7,052,770]

I definitely got the vibe that Rey is Luke's daughter.

Could Finn be a child/descendant of Lando? I remember Lando calling Han "Solo" like Finn was doing. OR perhaps he's in the Windu family -- he had some lightsaber skill.

[Mr. Morden]

Also, how on earth did it take three people to write that screenplay? How hard is it to use copy/paste?

Michael Arndt wrote a first draft of the screenplay, but then Abrams and Kasdan wrote their own version, that ditched virtually everything written by Arndt.  But they still had to include Arndt in the credits for legal reasons.

Arndt talks about his version of the script here:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michael-arndt-reveals-rejected-plots-from-star-wars-the-force-awakens-a-much-larger-role-for-redacted-20151220

[Joe Republic]

Now I have a second, I just thought I'd share my favorite aspects of the film...

1. The opening, in which a representative from the good army loads some important data into a small droid, moments before the bad guy in the shiny black suit shows up and captures the good character for interrogation and torture for the whereabouts of the droid and its data.

2. The droid's escape into the wilds of a desert planet, before encountering a young human who has been eking out a tiring existence on this desert planet throughout their entire childhood.

3. The daring rescue of the captured good character from the evil army's space ship.

4. The giant moon-sized battle station of the evil army, which demonstrates an ability to destroy a planet full of innocent people. The battle station is eventually destroyed by a small squad of X-wings, seconds before it was about to destroy Princess Leia's army's own planet.

5. The heroic older male character, who had been something of a mentor to the young desert-dweller aboard the Millennium Falcon, is brutally slain by the guy in the shiny black suit who at one point considered him a father figure.

So all in all, episode VII is definitely unlike any prior episodes we've seen before. The writers really deserve some awards.

[Edu]

Now I have a second, I just thought I'd share my favorite aspects of the film...

1. The opening, in which a representative from the good army loads some important data into a small droid, moments before the bad guy in the shiny black suit shows up and captures the good character for interrogation and torture for the whereabouts of the droid and its data.

2. The droid's escape into the wilds of a desert planet, before encountering a young human who has been eking out a tiring existence on this desert planet throughout their entire childhood.

3. The daring rescue of the captured good character from the evil army's space ship.

4. The giant moon-sized battle station of the evil army, which demonstrates an ability to destroy a planet full of innocent people. The battle station is eventually destroyed by a small squad of X-wings, seconds before it was about to destroy Princess Leia's army's own planet.

5. The heroic older male character, who had been something of a mentor to the young desert-dweller aboard the Millennium Falcon, is brutally slain by the guy in the shiny black suit who at one point considered him a father figure.

So all in all, episode VII is definitely unlike any prior episodes we've seen before. The writers really deserve some awards.

You don't get it Joe Republic, it was a "homage". Plus it's totally different, I mean...the droid is a ball.

[exopolitician]

I thought it was great, its a great build up to the other episodes to come. I'm kinda glad I was wrong about who dies (even though his death was really ugly and upsetting).

My only problem is lack of Capt. Phasma. I wanted more!

[Antonio the Sixth]

Just saw it this morning. Lots of things I loved, but also a few things that seriously bothered me.

[Supersonic]

Loved it! Could have used some more exposition with regards to the state of the universe.  Was that Coruscant they blew up?  If the Republic exists, why is there a resistance?  I kind of get the idea that the Republic was unofficially supporting them but I was very confused about the existence of the First Order and the Resistance.  The complaint from the prequels about too much politics was valid, but I feel like they went too far in the other direction and were afraid to explain anything.

Aside from that (minor) complaint, what a great movie.  Looking forward to Episode 8 in summer 2017.

From what I have gathered via Wookiepedia, after Endor, the Rebel Alliance refounded itself as the New Republic. Thereafter the Galactic Civil War continued between the remains of the Empire and the New Republic, this eventually boiled down into a stalemate with the Empire stuck to a few outer-rim planet strongholds. At some unspecified point the New Republic entered into negotiations with the Imperial Remnant for peace, and one of the conditions is the mutual disarmament of both sides. Some old Rebel Alliance commanders see the now new, First Order, for what it is and wage a 'Resistance' to it (while the New Republic is neutral, it favours the Resistance).

I thought the planet destroyed was Coruscant at first, however apparently it is Hosnian Prime and its surrounding moons. The New Republic sought to decentralise the government and the Senate sits at various planets with are voted for on a rotational basis. It just so happens the Senate was sitting in Hosnian Prime at the time Starkiller Base was activated.

Not sure how much of this is spot on mind, but yes, I thought it was great.

[Green Line]

Oh, another thing I wasn't too crazy about was the score.  There weren't any memorable pieces from this one, it was pretty meh.  Maybe upon repeat viewings I will appreciate it more.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So yeah, basically it is a (in some respects very improved, in others not so much) remake of A New Hope. I liked it, and I guess that's what the hardcore fans wanted to see, but I really hope the next two films are going to explore some new territory.

[Mr. Smith]

It's the best opening movie of the series, but it's still not quite as good as Return of the Jedi and possibly not as good as Empire Strikes Back, but definitely ahead of the other ones Kasdan didn't write.

The only problems I had with it were that it felt like an overreaction to the prequels over-exposition by giving the audience almost nothing much of the time and chunked in a lot of A New Hope plot points when something more original could've gone in.

But it was definitely the funniest Star Wars, I appreciated that we got to Rey quickly (no 20-45 min waits), I appreciated the filmmakers showing being a victim of the Death Star III rather than just "no you can't do that there are millions of lives there" fron ANH, and I appreciated how Han Solo was handled.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Guess I agree with the forum consensus about a Star Wars movie. Now that's new.

[ingemann]

Those who've seen it: did it seem similar to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies to you?

Because I didn't care for either one of those. I'd actually rate the SW prequels above them - at least they were memorable.

There was some similarity, but it was more in the fact that the movie lacked breaks, sometimes it was like everybody had off screen teleportation, which enable them to be the place Abrams wanted them to be even through there was no way they could be there. Also the timeline for the movie felt like it was 2-3 days, but thing developed like the movie had month of off screen personality development.

The worst part was the movie was good, but it felt like it could have been great, if Abrams had decided to make less fan service. A major ark was completely unnecessary, but it was included for the fans.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

https://twitter.com/kylor3n

This is brilliant.

[exopolitician]

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So much yes.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

So utterly underwhelmed- lazy writing and too much reliance on nostalgic gasps from the audience.

[Tender Branson]

I have yet to see it this weekend, but it looks like it will beat Avatar this weekend for the highest-earning movie of all time (~750 to 780 Mio. $)

[Ban my account ffs!]

I understand making this one basically for the fans.  Get back to the basics.  But now make the next one new based on what you've built with this one.  DOno't make it episode V rehashed.. history repeats itself.. but never identically.

[RI]

I have yet to see it this weekend, but it looks like it will beat Avatar this weekend for the highest-earning movie of all time (~750 to 780 Mio. $)

US Domestic only. Unlikely to break the world record unless it kills in China.

[dead0man]

Release schedule for the next several SW films.  From herer

Here's what we can look forward to...

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Director: Gareth Edwards
Written by: Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz
Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, and Alan Tudyk
Logline: Following the foundation of the Galactic Empire, a wayward band of Rebel fighters comes together to carry out a desperate mission: to steal the plans for the Death Star before it can be used to enforce the Emperor’s rule.
Release: Dec. 16, 2016

Star Wars: Episode VIII

Written and directed by Rian Johnson
Starring: Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac (reportedly)
Release: May 26, 2017
Logline: Unknown

Star Wars Anthology: Han Solo (working title)

Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Written by: Lawrence and Jon Kasdan
Starring: Not yet announced
Logline: How young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley.
Release: May 25th, 2018

Star Wars: Episode IX

Director: Colin Trevorrow
Writer: Rian Johnson
Starring: Not yet announced
Logline: Unknown
Release: 2019

Star Wars Anthology: Boba Fett 

Director: Not yet announced
Writer: Not yet announced
Starring: Not yet announced
Logline: Unknown
Release: 2020 (reportedly)