Considering that we are knee deep in new Star Wars cards, I am surprised no one has commented on the actual movie yet. I put Spoilers in the title because no true discussion can not include them eventually.

I won't start as I have not seen it and don't really intend to see it any time soon. However I did get the blow-by-blows from the local fanboys and various reviews. I think that OMG moment is out there enough for people to talk about it. I certainly have feelings about it as a fan of at least New Hope and Empire, if not so much the rest.

So here is the thread, for those so inclined, and those who don't yet want to know should probably stay away.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Considering that we are knee deep in new Star Wars cards, I am surprised no one has commented on the actual movie yet. I put Spoilers in the title because no true discussion can not include them eventually.

I won't start as I have not seen it and don't really intend to see it any time soon. However I did get the blow-by-blows from the local fanboys and various reviews. I think that OMG moment is out there enough for people to talk about it. I certainly have feelings about it as a fan of at least New Hope and Empire, if not so much the rest.

So here is the thread, for those so inclined, and those who don't yet want to know should probably stay away.

I have not seen it yet... I have heard all of the spoilers. Even the OMG moment you wrote about...

I believe I know what the majority of the movie is about... But I still want to see it.

I guess most of my so called "predictions" about the plot and characters were some what correct.

Hopefully I will get a chance to see it over the Holidays.

It does have a lot of parallels to A New Hope, but it's still a perfectly entertaining movie. I don't see why some reviewers are getting caught up on that rather than just objectively accepting it; it's not a bad movie to be compared to! Those invested in the franchise will love the nostalgia it comes with and the promise of more, while those new to the franchise (ie small children) will love it straight off. Everyone's a winner. I would say it does forego some originality to play it safe story wise but that's not necessarily a bad thing - if you're planning six(?) movies right off the mark then you want the first one to lay a solid foundation for the rest and not, you know, get the reception that Phantom Menace did.

I enjoyed the garbage line but I hope Captain Phasma reappears.

quote:

Originally posted by rwn410:
It does have a lot of parallels to A New Hope, but it's still a perfectly entertaining movie. I don't see why some reviewers are getting caught up on that rather than just objectively accepting it; it's not a bad movie to be compared to! Those invested in the franchise will love the nostalgia it comes with and the promise of more . . .

Well judging by the lack of comments so far, I would say that either a lot of people have not yet seen the movie or they are trying not to give anything away. So I will try to say what I find disappointing about it without going into the big reveal moment.

I liked New Hope, I loved Empire and I had to settle for Jedi. These were 4, 5 and 6. I did not really like 1, 2, and 3 partly because of the love story, the actors, the characters and the fact that we knew where we were going to meet up with New Hope. In other words I watched the whole 2nd trilogy more out of interest in the special effects than really caring for the plot.

Now we have the third and final trilogy and you mention nostalgia, but I got a different feeling about it. It's the same feeling I had after seeing the first ten minutes of Alien3. I really liked the old fashioned horror story that was Alien. I really loved the science fiction warfare story that was Aliens. And then along comes Alien3, which immediately killed off three of the four characters that heroically survived Aliens in its first few minutes. It continued the story, but at the cost of ruining the perfect ending to the previous film.

That's pretty much how I feel about the Force Awakens and why I'm not sure if I will even start this trilogy. Apparently pretty much everything we thought would happen after Jedi got screwed up. Thus you could make the argument FA is fairly close to a reboot with only the roles reversing or being assigned to someone else.

That is not so bad if as you say it's an entertaining film, but then we have the OMG moment and for me that is a big deal. This had been the internet rumor before the movie opened and I was hoping it was not true, but much like Alien3, it continues the story by blowing away the past. It just takes much longer in this movie to get there.

So I guess that's my issue and I'm not sure I want to get passed it. This stuff is only made up and it's alright to have an uplifting ending, I thought we had one already. I'm pretty sure the dark side of the force is not going to win after we finish the 9 movies, so why do we have to sacrifice our old heroes for new ones?

Say, when does it come out, anyway?



I liked it, and they've got people talking with the big finish to the point where I think Ep. 8 might be even more profitable than this one, as impossible as that seemed in the run-up to this one. The swirling camera shot at the finish borrowed a lot from LOTR, but hey, run with what works.

The dialogue was well written and all of the practical effects (as opposed to pure cgi) were most welcome. Two new stars in Ridley and Boyega were born instantly, and as for the "departing" hero, I wouldn't worry about that at all.
That guy has previously survived:
1. a terrorist takeover of his Air Force One plane while he was President
2. the attacking onslaught of several murderous replicants
3. a terrible crash in a drag race with John Milner
4. a nuclear blast while hunkered down in nothing more than an old refrigerator.

He'll get out of this one, too.


Oh, and good news on the Alien front, too. That widely derided "Alien 3" movie is being retrofitted out of continuity. Neil "District 9" Blomkamp is working on an Alien movie that takes up right after "Aliens" as if part 3 (and maybe part 4) never happened.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
. . . and as for the "departing" hero, I wouldn't worry about that at all . . .

He'll get out of this one, too.


Oh, and good news on the Alien front, too. That widely derided "Alien 3" movie is being retrofitted out of continuity. Neil "District 9" Blomkamp is working on an Alien movie that takes up right after "Aliens" as if part 3 (and maybe part 4) never happened.

I wou1dn't put any money on that CPF. If you want to know the plot follow the actors. While Kit Harrington has been reported as lurking around the GoT set, said hero in question seems to have gotten paid very well for a one picture deal.

As for the Alien series, I would love a new movie, but Ridley Scott has put the breaks on Blomkamp's project temporarily at least. Scott wants to do his own trilogy based on his awful Prometheus movie and thinks a reimagined Alien release will cut into his market and mess up his story. Apparently he has first rights, so Blomkamp has to tweedle his thumbs while his stars age out of their roles. At this point he can't film any time soon, if at all.

Well, there's always (highly paid) flashbacks, haha...

As for Aliens, the Prometheus cycle is a prequel, really, so hopefully, we'll get it all eventually (although Blomkamp didn't help his case with "Chappie". It might be better for him to follow up with another "District 9" instead and then see where the Alien franchise at that point).

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
That is not so bad if as you say it's an entertaining film, but then we have the OMG moment and for me that is a big deal. This had been the internet rumor before the movie opened and I was hoping it was not true, but much like Alien3, it continues the story by blowing away the past. It just takes much longer in this movie to get there.

So I guess that's my issue and I'm not sure I want to get passed it. This stuff is only made up and it's alright to have an uplifting ending, I thought we had one already. I'm pretty sure the dark side of the force is not going to win after we finish the 9 movies, so why do we have to sacrifice our old heroes for new ones?

I understand your point - I'm having this issue with Final Fantasy X at the moment - but I don't think that stops the movie from being an entertaining jaunt overall. We might not like a plot development, but when it's clearly the result of Hollywood logistics and old age then it's fairly easy to understand and accept - that's how I took it - had this been a few decades ago then we might have seen something different. There aren't many other routes to take beyond beginning the film with all the older cast - except perhaps the droids - having passed already. I'm more surprised the character even got to old age to be honest. As before I think the word 'foundation' was really the aim of this movie and older characters had to be tied up the best they could before moving on with the too-lucrative-to-ignore franchise.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Well, there's always (highly paid) flashbacks, haha...

(Highlight to read, since we're still being cautious with spoilers)
There's a Han Solo spin-off slated for 2018 - expect recasting but can't imagine Harrison Ford wouldn't feature to some degree.

Raven,

Your summary of the first six movies agrees with what most people have said over the years. I thought "Phantom Menace" was okay because of the basic story of the Sith beginning to manipulate its way into Republic leadership. You got more of a sense of Obi-Wan from his interactions with Qui Gon. He would end up training someone who was actually not fit to be trained but then Qui Gon was right after all and Anakin's children did bring an end to the Empire. If he had not trained Anakin, the Sith would have succeeded with Dooku and Palpatine and he might have not survived to old age. Darth Maul had a great look and fighting style too.

"Attack of the Clones" continued the story and "Revenge of the Sith" brought longtime fans a somewhat clumsy but interesting incarnation of we had imagined of Darth Vader's battle with Obi-Wan. I didn't mind the love story but it should have been better written. Didn't Lucas learn anything from "The Empire Strikes Back?"

I know exactly what you're saying about the "Alien" movies. "Alien" was great in its time and it holds up today as one of the great horror movies of all time. I liked the novel too. It explained the alien as being a parasitic species on the "space jockey" species (like mosquitoes are to us). "Aliens" was a fantastic war movie. As it turned out, my brothers saw "Alien3" before I could get out to see it and they warned me not to see it because it ruined the first two. To this day I have not seen it.

I think you should go see "The Force Awakens" though the title itself still does not make sense to me. A being's senses might awaken to the Force but the Force itself does not wake up from some level of sleep. As for the movie, it does have enjoyable references to past events and the characters interact believably in the developing storyline. I don't spend a lot of time online so I missed all the spoilers/guesses and was able to get into the theater without much knowledge of the new characters or the story.

As for the OMG moment, I think that was as much a decision of the performer being less interested in reprising a role as it was a dramatic event for the movie and the wider story. I understand that it's hip to have the "nobody's safe" feeling in a franchise because it's boring if everybody lives during dangerous times across the sequels but I doubt George Lucas would have done the same.

In any case I hope you go see it now that the lines are shorter.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by rwn410:
It does have a lot of parallels to A New Hope, but it's still a perfectly entertaining movie. I don't see why some reviewers are getting caught up on that rather than just objectively accepting it; it's not a bad movie to be compared to! Those invested in the franchise will love the nostalgia it comes with and the promise of more . . .

Well judging by the lack of comments so far, I would say that either a lot of people have not yet seen the movie or they are trying not to give anything away. So I will try to say what I find disappointing about it without going into the big reveal moment.

I liked New Hope, I loved Empire and I had to settle for Jedi. These were 4, 5 and 6. I did not really like 1, 2, and 3 partly because of the love story, the actors, the characters and the fact that we knew where we were going to meet up with New Hope. In other words I watched the whole 2nd trilogy more out of interest in the special effects than really caring for the plot.

Now we have the third and final trilogy and you mention nostalgia, but I got a different feeling about it. It's the same feeling I had after seeing the first ten minutes of Alien3. I really liked the old fashioned horror story that was Alien. I really loved the science fiction warfare story that was Aliens. And then along comes Alien3, which immediately killed off three of the four characters that heroically survived Aliens in its first few minutes. It continued the story, but at the cost of ruining the perfect ending to the previous film.

That's pretty much how I feel about the Force Awakens and why I'm not sure if I will even start this trilogy. Apparently pretty much everything we thought would happen after Jedi got screwed up. Thus you could make the argument FA is fairly close to a reboot with only the roles reversing or being assigned to someone else.

That is not so bad if as you say it's an entertaining film, but then we have the OMG moment and for me that is a big deal. This had been the internet rumor before the movie opened and I was hoping it was not true, but much like Alien3, it continues the story by blowing away the past. It just takes much longer in this movie to get there.

So I guess that's my issue and I'm not sure I want to get passed it. This stuff is only made up and it's alright to have an uplifting ending, I thought we had one already. I'm pretty sure the dark side of the force is not going to win after we finish the 9 movies, so why do we have to sacrifice our old heroes for new ones?