Leia looked like an old women who had had a tough life - because she is an old woman who has had a tough life (played by an old woman who has had a tough life).
And SWTOR - that aint Star Wars, and never was. It's a glossy plastic knockoff of the inferior prequels.
Sure it repeats, or mirrors, many of the elements of ANH, as I predicted it would, because it had to. It's all about The Hero's Journey, THE story, which is continously being retold.
I'm surprised I have to point that out on Baldur's Gate forums, since that is also the same story!
For what it is worth, here is a review that I wrote shortly after seeing the movie:
I've been asked by several quarters to provide a review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As I sit here, I find this difficult because one of my main complaints is that all of the spoilers that I've seen online did taint the experience somewhat and I realize that some of the people reading this may not have seen the movie. So I will attempt to provide a spoiler free review and star off with:
"If you are a fan of the original trilogy SEE THIS MOVIE!"
JJ Abrams definitely delivers (again). This is the return to the Star Wars universe that we all have been waiting more than 30 years for. Although it doesn’t break new ground, it is absolutely the Star Wars that we have come to expect after ‘A New Hope” and “Empire Strikes Back”.
Harrison Ford delivers the Han Solo that we have come to love (he knows) and shepherds us back into the Galaxy from a long time ago and Far away. His portrayal is both comfortable and memorable, cementing his legacy (as if that was ever necessary) in the hearts and minds of Sci-fi and more specifically Star Wars fans everywhere. His one liners are delivered perfectly, reminding us of how he is the lovable scoundrel that Leia and all of the fans have come know and love for a generation or two.
Daisy Ridley and John Boyega create believable and endearing heroes for a new generation. They are at once familiar, yet original enough to make the audience care about them and want to see what happens next. I found myself rooting for them in their struggle and brimming with anticipation for episode VIII when it was all over.
The fan service so lovingly entered into this movie was done tastefully and with great respect. You do not feel like you are being pandered to by the generous helpings of cameos and the little touches that remind you of the originals. You feel comforted by seeing a universe peopled by the heroes of a long past era and it feels like coming home after a long day when you see a familiar face or a set scene that reminds you of the original trilogy. At no point did I feel like I was being pandered to while watching this movie.
I do feel the necessity to say that Kylo Ren is not Darth Vader. He is his own brand of villain and I hope that other viewers will appreciate him as I grew to, but truth be told there is only one Dark lord of the Sith. I think he was an appropriate villain for the movie and think that he more than adequately acquitted himself, but he only gets a 9 out of 10 in my book. Sorry, but the combination of David Prowse and James Earl Jones is just undefeatable.
There’s very little more that I can say at this stage without being spoilerish (or overly fanboyish). For me personally, the ranking goes as follows:
1. Empire Strikes Back 2. A New Hope 3. The Force Awakens 4. Return of the Jedi 5. … 6. … 7. … 8. The first three movies.
For me, my Christmas is almost complete. The only thing remaining is for “The Husbands of River Song” to air.
Happy Holidays everyone, and do yourself a favor and see “The Force Awakens”. Star Wars is BACK. I give it a personal 9.8 out of 10.
I respect that some folks like @googleness didn't like the movies as much as I did, but respectfully disagree with their assessment. I guess we can agree to disagree.
I find this difficult because one of my main complaints is that all of the spoilers that I've seen online did taint the experience somewhat
@the_spyderi feel that this is you're mistake. I haven't seen a single spoiler because I haven't went looking, that and I dont pay attention. Was I key in on specific words, I start to tune out on a conscious level.
DragonKing, easy when your not online or around people. Ive seen it Thursday, not many have seen it by then. The next day, spoilers were everywhere. Top youtube comments, facebook, workplace, etc. Some people are oblivous that it may spoil it for some. others are just trolling.
Great movie, JJ couldnt have done it better! The people that criticizethat the movie is to conservative would have also complained if the movie did to much in a new direction.
@DragonKing - most of the spoilers that I came across were not looked for, they merely showed up on forums like this one and others that I frequent. And all of them were prior to Thursday night's release. I specifically avoided the internet like the plague starting Wednesday with only a very few exceptions.
Plus, I am a fan of the whole extended universe that was and so my mind was racing to guestimate what overlaps there might be and what might actually make it into the new canon. So at least part of the issue was my own enthusiasm towards the universe at large.
but you are right in that I only have myself to blame mostly.
The people that criticizethat the movie is to conservative would have also complained if the movie did to much in a new direction.
I agree that haters are going to find something to hate on no matter how good a thing is. Which doesn't discount honest points of view, but yeah. There are going to be detractors merely so that they can detract.
My wife literally expelled me from home two days after our son was born so that at least one of us would get to watch it on launch day... We actually had bought the tickets three months ago 1
Let me just say that it was the first Star Wars Movie in a long time that actually felt like Star Wars I'll say no more even if it's a spoiler allowed thread
1. A New Hope 2. Empire Strikes Back 3. Return of the Jedi 4. The Force Awakens 5. … 6. … 7. … 8. The prequel movies.
But I agree with pretty much everything else.
IMO it's 1. Empires Strikes Back (THE plot twist movie of ALL times!) 2. A New Hope & Return of the Jedi (I still can't decide, LOL!) 3. Blade Runner (hey, it's not Star Wars!) 4. ... 5. ... 6. ... 7. ... 8. ... The prequel movies.
Actually, my feeling are the same as @killerrabbit, the movie doesn't explain much, and the characters fight better than Master Yoda when they had never seen a Lightsaber before (also, if Rey could because she's THAT strong with the force, I'd understand that, but Finn? That was weird), and then, it TERRIBLY lacked a Ben Kenobi figure. I had expected Luke to fulfil that role, but it did not happen. Han's yellow-smurf friend had some knowledge, but she couldn't even say where the F*** she got Anakin's/Luke's 1st Lightsaber, since it was dropped by Luke while he fought Vader in Bespin on Episode V.
DragonKing - most of the spoilers that I came across were not looked for, they merely showed up on forums like this one and others that I frequent. And all of them were prior to Thursday night's release. I specifically avoided the internet like the plague starting Wednesday with only a very few exceptions.
I watched the movie without having seen the trailer at all. I wanted no spoilers, but my best friend had the idea to send me a Skype message saying[spoiler=WARNING]( han only dies )[/spoiler]I actually didn't believe him until[spoiler=WARNING]both Mr. Ren and Han were holding the Lightsaber[/spoiler]and I already told him that what he did sucked (and that he sucks too, as well). I think it repeated A New Hope too much, IMO the[spoiler=WARNING]"the enemy's going to blow us all up, so we have to destroy their planet destroyer weapon before it shoots" and the "look, shoot here and it explodes" tropes were overused (I thought the same when I saw The Return of the Jedi (whenever that was xD), anyway), as well as the "must get into enemy base to save the lady and disable smth" trope.[/spoiler]Other than that, I think it was pretty nice. IMO, the best part was Chewie's Rage, it's like, who won't have done that? Also, when he blew up the charges, I thought he had died too, I almost shouted out "Nooooo, Chewie, not you two not both of you noooooooooooooooo" and thought that until I saw the MF appear before Rey.
Plus, I am a fan of the whole extended universe that was and so my mind was racing to guestimate what overlaps there might be and what might actually make it into the new canon. So at least part of the issue was my own enthusiasm towards the universe at large.
Being a EU fan just made the movie harder to understand IMO.[spoiler=WARNING]In a moment I was like "Where are Han and Leia's other children? Where's Mara? Oh right, EU is not canon anymore. Oh shit."[/spoiler]
Err, Finn is fairly rubbish with a lightsabre, he gets his ass kicked by another stormtrooper and has to be rescued by Han.
Kylo Ren isn't much good either. That's kind of the point: he is the golden boy with the illustrious grandpa who discovers he doesn't have what it takes, especially when his five year old cousin shows up and is already better than him. And he is already badly wounded by the time he fights Finn.
No one is TFA has much skill with the sabre. That's why the fights are fairly short and we don't see any of the fancy moves from the prequels.
Han's yellow-smurf friend had some knowledge, but she couldn't even say where the F*** she got Anakin's/Luke's 1st Lightsaber, since it was dropped by Luke while he fought Vader in Bespin on Episode V.
Someone on a cleaning/maintenance crew in Bespin found--ick--a dismembered hand holding some object he couldn't quite figure out what it was until he hit a button and "holy crap!" so he sold it for a bunch of credits. The person who bought it subsequently sold it for more credits, and eventually it wound up in Maz Kanata's possession, who knew exactly what it was and to whom it had belonged, both recently and originally. She put it in a box in the basement to wait for the day someone showed up for it.
I suspect weapons training is part of the Stormtrooper boot camp and this training would have included melee weapons; thus, Finn is not unfamiliar with using a bladed weapon. A lightsaber is just a sword, albeit a sword that is essentially indestructible and cuts through anything, so you could use it with the skill set for any other sword.
Doesn't Maz (who I'm pretty sure is orange) say that it was too long a story to explain how she came by the lightsabre, not that she didn't know? Found by cleaners on Bespin then being sold and bought several times seems very likely.
Being a EU fan just made the movie harder to understand IMO.[spoiler=WARNING]In a moment I was like "Where are Han and Leia's other children? Where's Mara? Oh right, EU is not canon anymore. Oh shit."[/spoiler]
I get that. For me personally I knew that the EU would no longer be canon, so I didn't expect anything to come of it. There was one point where I thought they could have given a nod to the EU but didn't. I felt that was a missed opportunity.
There are lots of nods to the EU (for example, this is the first time the Millennium Falcon has been explicitly described as a YT Corellian Freighter outside of books). They just changed the things that didn't suit the story.
Despite the fact that I, like @CrevsDaak , think the film needed a Ben Kenobi figure and despite the fact that I think the costume department needed to make Daisy Ridley look like someone who grew up in a desert I've seen the movie twice. I can't see how anyone who liked the first three could dislike this movie. I can't decide whether it was the 3rd best or 4th best.
If I were to phantom edit it I would splice in some parts of Luke's training as ethereal voices -- just like Luke heard when he was attacking the death star -- "let go, trust your feelings". Then we would know how Rey was able to handle a light sabre so well. Dream sequences would be better but I probably couldn't manage that with a video editing program.
It wouldn't surprise me if some of the EU makes it to cannon.
I honestly don't know how it can. The core of the expanded universe hinges on Han and Leia's children and Luke's relationship with Mara. That is just gone, no way around it. While it may be great to have new Star Wars movies, decades of material now have to be considered completely obsolete. And the Expanded Universe wasn't a small operation. From the time of the Timothy Zahn novels, to the Dark Empire comics, the video games, the New Jedi Order series, hell, even with all the prequel related books and projects, it was all meant to hold together. That's gone now, if you really care about Star Wars (which I don't nearly as much as I used to). But the fact is, a movie like "The Force Awakens" is probably worth more than all that material combined. But when you think of the countless artists who worked on those novels, comics, and games, it is kind of sad to see it thrown in the dumpster.
There are lots of nods to the EU (for example, this is the first time the Millennium Falcon has been explicitly described as a YT Corellian Freighter outside of books). They just changed the things that didn't suit the story.
which begs the question why they didn't use a different name for Kylo Ren.
It wouldn't surprise me if some of the EU makes it to cannon.
I think that Disney is more than likely wanting their own canon. Certainly they have been getting into the books in no small way. I would hope that some of the ideas at least have shadows of those stories.
I personally would like to see Timothy Zahn write something for the new canon. His stories were among my personal favorites of the EU.
I just got back from the theatre. I'd give it an 7.8/10. Its better than the prequels but worse than the originals (and I even watched Return of the Jedi yesterday as a lead up to this). Basically just comes across as a rehashed ep 4.
I know alot of people complained about what Blizzard did with Warcraft lore in the most recent expansion. But what now exists between official canon and the nearly infinite Expanded Universe in Star Wars is just a total mess that makes Warlords of Draenor look like a Steinbach novel in comparison. Granted, 90% of Star Wars fans don't give two shakes of a lamb's tale about the later, but as someone who grew up reading the earliest novels once they got a continuous story going (I think I actually started with a fairly terrible trilogy called the Black Fleet Crisis) it's a little sad to see it take this route.
I guess I would start by saying I pointedly avoided spoilers. I remember having Return of the Jedi partly spoiled for me (no internet! but the comic was released about a month before the movie) and it really damaged the experience. I was determined to avoid all but the most obvious of spoilers this time. And I think it made a huge difference. I loved this movie. Its hard to compare to anything else; I love movies in general and seem to have a new favorite every few months.
To rank this against previous Star Wars gets a bit tricky too. For many years I have said Empire Strikes Back is the best of the series. But after watching The Force Awakens I strongly feel that only the original Star Wars was any better. I think calculus and quantum science are required to accurately rank order these movies. Except of course the prequel trilogy ranks somewhere below "The Ewok Adventure" and a Carpenters Christmas special. Naw, I take that back, I sort of like The Carpenters...
But I did enjoy every part of this. Han Solo was written and played just like Han Solo! Well, except I have a hard time believing he'd never played around with Chewie's blaster before. Kylo Ren is utterly and despicably evil, and I will enjoy watching him get his butt kicked for the next few movies. I got/liked that he was young and inexperienced. He was already hurt going up against Finn and Rey, so no surprise two lower level but fresher characters outmatched him (Finn helped wear him down so Rey able to school him). I loved how my favorite character, the Millenium Falcon, looked more ratty and beat up than ever. Rey is so obviously Luke's daughter that I will be shocked if she actually is. I really appreciated the more natural and relaxed acting style we saw. This is mostly just "modern", but I think its number 14 of the 492 reasons to be glad Lucas sold out. I also appreciated the return to more natural environments after far too much green screen in the prequel movies.
Star Wars shaped and defined my childhood (I was 14 when the first one came out). So it is a mighty achievement to create something that so completely takes me back. But Episode VII did so perfectly. For 2+ hours I was 14 again.
There are lots of nods to the EU (for example, this is the first time the Millennium Falcon has been explicitly described as a YT Corellian Freighter outside of books). They just changed the things that didn't suit the story.
which begs the question why they didn't use a different name for Kylo Ren.
In order to avoid revealing spoilers months in advance.
Comments
Leia looked like an old women who had had a tough life - because she is an old woman who has had a tough life (played by an old woman who has had a tough life).
And SWTOR - that aint Star Wars, and never was. It's a glossy plastic knockoff of the inferior prequels.
Sure it repeats, or mirrors, many of the elements of ANH, as I predicted it would, because it had to. It's all about The Hero's Journey, THE story, which is continously being retold.
I'm surprised I have to point that out on Baldur's Gate forums, since that is also the same story!
(Apparently you can't embed Storify stories in here)
I've been asked by several quarters to provide a review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As I sit here, I find this difficult because one of my main complaints is that all of the spoilers that I've seen online did taint the experience somewhat and I realize that some of the people reading this may not have seen the movie. So I will attempt to provide a spoiler free review and star off with:
"If you are a fan of the original trilogy SEE THIS MOVIE!"
JJ Abrams definitely delivers (again). This is the return to the Star Wars universe that we all have been waiting more than 30 years for. Although it doesn’t break new ground, it is absolutely the Star Wars that we have come to expect after ‘A New Hope” and “Empire Strikes Back”.
Harrison Ford delivers the Han Solo that we have come to love (he knows) and shepherds us back into the Galaxy from a long time ago and Far away. His portrayal is both comfortable and memorable, cementing his legacy (as if that was ever necessary) in the hearts and minds of Sci-fi and more specifically Star Wars fans everywhere. His one liners are delivered perfectly, reminding us of how he is the lovable scoundrel that Leia and all of the fans have come know and love for a generation or two.
Daisy Ridley and John Boyega create believable and endearing heroes for a new generation. They are at once familiar, yet original enough to make the audience care about them and want to see what happens next. I found myself rooting for them in their struggle and brimming with anticipation for episode VIII when it was all over.
The fan service so lovingly entered into this movie was done tastefully and with great respect. You do not feel like you are being pandered to by the generous helpings of cameos and the little touches that remind you of the originals. You feel comforted by seeing a universe peopled by the heroes of a long past era and it feels like coming home after a long day when you see a familiar face or a set scene that reminds you of the original trilogy. At no point did I feel like I was being pandered to while watching this movie.
I do feel the necessity to say that Kylo Ren is not Darth Vader. He is his own brand of villain and I hope that other viewers will appreciate him as I grew to, but truth be told there is only one Dark lord of the Sith. I think he was an appropriate villain for the movie and think that he more than adequately acquitted himself, but he only gets a 9 out of 10 in my book. Sorry, but the combination of David Prowse and James Earl Jones is just undefeatable.
There’s very little more that I can say at this stage without being spoilerish (or overly fanboyish). For me personally, the ranking goes as follows:
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. The Force Awakens
4. Return of the Jedi
5. …
6. …
7. …
8. The first three movies.
For me, my Christmas is almost complete. The only thing remaining is for “The Husbands of River Song” to air.
Happy Holidays everyone, and do yourself a favor and see “The Force Awakens”. Star Wars is BACK. I give it a personal 9.8 out of 10.
I respect that some folks like @googleness didn't like the movies as much as I did, but respectfully disagree with their assessment. I guess we can agree to disagree.
1. A New Hope
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Force Awakens
5. …
6. …
7. …
8. The prequel movies.
But I agree with pretty much everything else.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/20/german-church-celebrates-star-wars-with-sci-fi-sunday-service
Dunno if this was posted already
Top youtube comments, facebook, workplace, etc.
Some people are oblivous that it may spoil it for some. others are just trolling.
Great movie, JJ couldnt have done it better!
The people that criticizethat the movie is to conservative would have also complained if the movie did to much in a new direction.
Plus, I am a fan of the whole extended universe that was and so my mind was racing to guestimate what overlaps there might be and what might actually make it into the new canon. So at least part of the issue was my own enthusiasm towards the universe at large.
but you are right in that I only have myself to blame mostly. I agree that haters are going to find something to hate on no matter how good a thing is. Which doesn't discount honest points of view, but yeah. There are going to be detractors merely so that they can detract.
When Rey comes back to see the general, Rey should have said "He's gone".
And Leia should have said "I know."
Seriously, how great would that have been? Would have worked on multiple levels. Missed opportunity.
Let me just say that it was the first Star Wars Movie in a long time that actually felt like Star Wars
1. Empires Strikes Back (THE plot twist movie of ALL times!)
2. A New Hope & Return of the Jedi (I still can't decide, LOL!)
3. Blade Runner (hey, it's not Star Wars!)
4. ...
5. ...
6. ...
7. ...
8. ... The prequel movies.
Actually, my feeling are the same as @killerrabbit, the movie doesn't explain much, and the characters fight better than Master Yoda when they had never seen a Lightsaber before (also, if Rey could because she's THAT strong with the force, I'd understand that, but Finn? That was weird), and then, it TERRIBLY lacked a Ben Kenobi figure. I had expected Luke to fulfil that role, but it did not happen. Han's yellow-smurf friend had some knowledge, but she couldn't even say where the F*** she got Anakin's/Luke's 1st Lightsaber, since it was dropped by Luke while he fought Vader in Bespin on Episode V. I watched the movie without having seen the trailer at all. I wanted no spoilers, but my best friend had the idea to send me a Skype message saying[spoiler=WARNING]( han only dies )[/spoiler]I actually didn't believe him until[spoiler=WARNING]both Mr. Ren and Han were holding the Lightsaber[/spoiler]and I already told him that what he did sucked (and that he sucks too, as well). I think it repeated A New Hope too much, IMO the[spoiler=WARNING]"the enemy's going to blow us all up, so we have to destroy their planet destroyer weapon before it shoots" and the "look, shoot here and it explodes" tropes were overused (I thought the same when I saw The Return of the Jedi (whenever that was xD), anyway), as well as the "must get into enemy base to save the lady and disable smth" trope.[/spoiler]Other than that, I think it was pretty nice. IMO, the best part was Chewie's Rage, it's like, who won't have done that? Also, when he blew up the charges, I thought he had died too, I almost shouted out "Nooooo, Chewie, not you two not both of you noooooooooooooooo" and thought that until I saw the MF appear before Rey. Being a EU fan just made the movie harder to understand IMO.[spoiler=WARNING]In a moment I was like "Where are Han and Leia's other children? Where's Mara? Oh right, EU is not canon anymore. Oh shit."[/spoiler] Actually, I felt completely the opposite. I think that it was done perfectly as-is. Anyway. ;p
Kylo Ren isn't much good either. That's kind of the point: he is the golden boy with the illustrious grandpa who discovers he doesn't have what it takes, especially when his five year old cousin shows up and is already better than him. And he is already badly wounded by the time he fights Finn.
No one is TFA has much skill with the sabre. That's why the fights are fairly short and we don't see any of the fancy moves from the prequels.
I suspect weapons training is part of the Stormtrooper boot camp and this training would have included melee weapons; thus, Finn is not unfamiliar with using a bladed weapon. A lightsaber is just a sword, albeit a sword that is essentially indestructible and cuts through anything, so you could use it with the skill set for any other sword.
If I were to phantom edit it I would splice in some parts of Luke's training as ethereal voices -- just like Luke heard when he was attacking the death star -- "let go, trust your feelings". Then we would know how Rey was able to handle a light sabre so well. Dream sequences would be better but I probably couldn't manage that with a video editing program.
I personally would like to see Timothy Zahn write something for the new canon. His stories were among my personal favorites of the EU.
And I think it made a huge difference. I loved this movie. Its hard to compare to anything else; I love movies in general and seem to have a new favorite every few months.
To rank this against previous Star Wars gets a bit tricky too. For many years I have said Empire Strikes Back is the best of the series. But after watching The Force Awakens I strongly feel that only the original Star Wars was any better. I think calculus and quantum science are required to accurately rank order these movies. Except of course the prequel trilogy ranks somewhere below "The Ewok Adventure" and a Carpenters Christmas special. Naw, I take that back, I sort of like The Carpenters...
But I did enjoy every part of this. Han Solo was written and played just like Han Solo! Well, except I have a hard time believing he'd never played around with Chewie's blaster before.
Kylo Ren is utterly and despicably evil, and I will enjoy watching him get his butt kicked for the next few movies. I got/liked that he was young and inexperienced. He was already hurt going up against Finn and Rey, so no surprise two lower level but fresher characters outmatched him (Finn helped wear him down so Rey able to school him).
I loved how my favorite character, the Millenium Falcon, looked more ratty and beat up than ever.
Rey is so obviously Luke's daughter that I will be shocked if she actually is.
I really appreciated the more natural and relaxed acting style we saw. This is mostly just "modern", but I think its number 14 of the 492 reasons to be glad Lucas sold out.
I also appreciated the return to more natural environments after far too much green screen in the prequel movies.
Star Wars shaped and defined my childhood (I was 14 when the first one came out). So it is a mighty achievement to create something that so completely takes me back. But Episode VII did so perfectly. For 2+ hours I was 14 again.