The Force Awakens

-LEK-

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Ok so out of all of that.... The desert planet, Droid, Helmet, and death star count

Sith wear black. Its a dark side thing, not a new hope thing.

Walking into a bar has happened in other movies, not just A new hope.. its a star wars thing not an individual movie

They communicate through holograms, its a star wars thing, not a new hope thing ... And i thought the emperor didnt even show up until empire anyways.

Rebels fighting the empire..... its a original trilogy thing... not just a new hope thing.

If you want to say this movie took a lot from the original trilogy and used it for familiarity , thats fair, but it wasn't just a remake of one movie.

Ye, you left out 10 things but..

Yea, uhm, there is the story arc, which is same. The exact same plot, same character archetypes, same movement. Same Oedipus story arc, etc.

Literally every review says same thing, not just using the same technology.

To be honest, pretty much everything you have posted in this thread has been entirely off base and doesn't make sense. You haven't shown the mental acumen to understand a general overwhelming overview of the story. Which is odd, because Star Wars is simple.
 

-LEK-

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Here's from just one review:


1. There’s a droid carrying valuable information who finds himself on a desolate desert planet.

2. There’s a Force-sensitive, masked, and darkly clothed antagonist who arrives on the scene shortly after the information is handed off, looking for the droid.

3. There’s a desert settlement that is wiped out by stormtroopers.

4. There’s a hero who’s tortured by the bad guys to retrieve the information.

5. There’s a lonely, Force-strong desert dweller who dreams of more.

6. There’s a worldly old warrior who has to explain the Force to the next generation.

7. There’s a cruel military officer who holds a comparable level of authority to his Force-sensitive, masked, and darkly clothed colleague.

8. There’s a mostly unseen supreme evil that’s pulling the strings from the shadows.

9. There’s a criminal element that’s owed a debt by Han Solo and attempts to kill him after he screws up their arrangement.

10. There’s a cantina filled with various alien creatures.

11. There’s a moment when one of the heroes abandons the fight as a self-preservation measure, but he eventually returns.

12. There’s a massive spherical weapon that’s used to destroy a planet.

13. There’s a base belonging to the rebel forces on a forest-covered world.

14. There’s a surrogate father figure who is cut down by someone previously close to him, who has turned to the dark side.

15. The hero watches helplessly from afar as the surrogate father figure is slayed.

16. There’s a coordinated aerial attack on the massive spherical weapon that’s monitored from a control room by Leia.

17. There’s a trench that X-wings flew through in order to fire on a vulnerability in the weapon and destroy it.

18. There’s a massive explosion that gives the rebels a major victory but likely allows the Force-sensitive, masked, and darkly clothed antagonist to survive to fight another day.
 

LadyCaytIL

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I took cinematography, I know the difference between thematic elements , plot points and homages. If you want to be vague, it has more in common with return of the jedi.
 
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krazykats

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so basically there is a ton to be explained! Between 3/4 and 6/7 there is 0% explanation about Luke just like there is none about Rey.

Also what or where did Hans hide to the point that Leia who led the resistance never came across him? No child support nothing?

And Luke trained Ren? Well when did that happen?
 

-LEK-

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I took cinematography, I know the difference between thematic elements , plot points and homages. If you want to be vague, it has more in common with return of the jedi.
The 18 points are not vague (there are more). And no, read over them, they resemble New Hope.

Thats the obtuseness that I am speaking of...18 points (there are more) and you ignore it. And then, make a comment that they resemble Jedi. No. Read them. They are New Hope.

You must have flunked out of film school.
 

thabigbluenation

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so abrams made a movie to make the star wars fans happy. to not be everything that everyone hated about the prequels. to lay a foundation for the next two, hell maybe next five movies. a good solid movie. so what would exactly would all the experts here (LEK) suggest he have done different. don't be vague. explain. please. he recreated the originals for a new generation, giving us the old generation some nostalgia in the process. it is a freaking nonfiction movie about mystical forces in space, following one family bloodline in particular. lucas went way out in left field making the movies he wanted for the prequels, over analyzing, over explaining everything. so much dialogue, so much over analysis of every major detail of star wars history that it was exhausting. simple is better. leave something to our imaginations. people complaining about how the force was used? seriously. this was exactly what the fans wanted after the disaster of the prequels. anyone who knew anything about this knew harrison ford was only signing on for one movie. so his character's fate was inevitable. he wanted it for ESB. and lucas wouldn't do it. so abrams literally had no choice if he was to get him on board. he gave us a Han movie first. leading us to the new arch of the new leads. and the new baddie is the same age as Rey. just took a different path in life. if Luke was a major player in this one, it would have taken the thunder away from Han, and he could have just easily ended Kylo's path. because he wasn't ready to face a real Jedi badass. but Luke needed a reason to be in exile. and it set up the rest of the trilogy to have a purpose. perfect of course not. not everything is going to be Breaking Bad good lol. but this was a damn good start.
 

UKwizard

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Just saw it and it is fantastic. Loved the look of everything. I'm fine with reused plot points and such. I wish the prequels had done so especially with the way Palpy turned Anakin.

Yay for non flippy over choreographed light Saber duels. Give me the raw emotion of the ones from the OT all day.

No one else thought Holy **** they just murdered eleventy billion people with that thing?
 

-LEK-

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so abrams made a movie to make the star wars fans happy. to not be everything that everyone hated about the prequels. to lay a foundation for the next two, hell maybe next five movies. a good solid movie. so what would exactly would all the experts here (LEK) suggest he have done different. don't be vague. explain. please. he recreated the originals for a new generation, giving us the old generation some nostalgia in the process. it is a freaking nonfiction movie about mystical forces in space, following one family bloodline in particular. lucas went way out in left field making the movies he wanted for the prequels, over analyzing, over explaining everything. so much dialogue, so much over analysis of every major detail of star wars history that it was exhausting. simple is better. leave something to our imaginations. people complaining about how the force was used? seriously. this was exactly what the fans wanted after the disaster of the prequels. anyone who knew anything about this knew harrison ford was only signing on for one movie. so his character's fate was inevitable. he wanted it for ESB. and lucas wouldn't do it. so abrams literally had no choice if he was to get him on board. he gave us a Han movie first. leading us to the new arch of the new leads. and the new baddie is the same age as Rey. just took a different path in life. if Luke was a major player in this one, it would have taken the thunder away from Han, and he could have just easily ended Kylo's path. because he wasn't ready to face a real Jedi badass. but Luke needed a reason to be in exile. and it set up the rest of the trilogy to have a purpose. perfect of course not. not everything is going to be Breaking Bad good lol. but this was a damn good start.
As I said in a previous post, it was the smart play by Abrahms. Just make the same movie. Its the logical choice. Its the only way he doesnt disappoint.
 

-LEK-

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Just saw it and it is fantastic. Loved the look of everything. I'm fine with reused plot points and such. I wish the prequels had done so especially with the way Palpy turned Anakin.

Yay for non flippy over choreographed light Saber duels. Give me the raw emotion of the ones from the OT all day.

No one else thought Holy **** they just murdered eleventy billion people with that thing?
Im fine with reused plots too, but to miss that its not the same film is dense.

It was decent film. Everyday that I think about it, the rating I give it goes up.
 

thabigbluenation

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gotcha. hell Lucas tried to remake A New Hope when he made A Phantom Menace. just everything got lost with the horrible over cgi, cartoonish characters that i won't name. return of the jedi, revenge of the sith. come on. the whole thing is retelling stories in a different way for new generations. to get lost in that is to just not enjoy it for what it is. critiquing for a reason to criticize. the prequels deserved it. this one probably deserves some here and there. but to be disappointed because it is a rehash of A New Hope? that is exactly what 98% of the fans really wanted. and it worked.
 

ky8335

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It wasn't a rehash of new hope. It was an homage to the original trilogy while setting the stage for the new era. Besides, it was totally more empire strikes back.
In Empire the father confronts the son and asks the son to join the father. Son refuses and lets go.
In Force Awakens the father confronts the son and asks the son to join the father. Son refuses and lets father go.
 

LadyCaytIL

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LEK. what is the overarching plot line of a new hope? And then the force awakens?
 

LadyCaytIL

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The Death Star stuff was a lot like a return of the Jedi. Having to shut down a shield, a supporting character flies into the Death Star to shoot the fuel machines , a father and son confront each other,
 
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UK_Is_Good

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Weekend estimates are 120.5, 68.7, 48.8 for a total of $238M, which would set the weekend record by about $30M. I expect there will be more fluctuation than usual just because the statistical models for something like this is so small, so there could be some change when the actuals are released tomorrow.
 

LadyCaytIL

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I don't remember hearing yoda in that one scene but I remember the other stuff.
 

LadyCaytIL

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Im going for my 3rd time today LOL. I'm going to listen extra careful for yoda

By the way, If you see this movie in Imax... try to sit near the center of the theater. My eyes hurt for about 30 minutes after I left just because I had to put my head a certain way or it got fuzzy.
 

UKwizard

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Imax is horrible for movies imo. I saw Interstellar at one and it really took away from the movie.
 

Ghost_of_Rupp

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UK_Dallas

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I was fine with everything but the General Hux over the top speech. They should have just had him foaming from the mouth it was so ridiculous.
 

WildcatFan1982

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Other than the over the top CGI the main problem with the prequals was you already knew how it ended. The 3 movies were just filling in details.

Yep. I remember back when Revenge of the Sith came out my roommate had rented the PS2 game a few days before the movie came out. I walked in and he was playing it and I was like "Why are you playing it first?! It'll spoil everything!" and he just went "I'm pretty sure I already know how it ends..."
 
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Holy. Touching. ****. Going back to see it by myself during the day one day this week since I'm off work.

A- for me as a Star Wars nerd. I would assume the general public would give it a B.

General Observations: That vastly exceeded my expectations. I agree with everyone who said it felt a bit rushed (but I think it was rushed in a more organic way than the prequels, which were just full of names/places/random crap that was being shot out like machine gunfire at the audience). This film was so ****ing good for me as a moderate/severe Star Wars nerd that I was very emotional throughout the scenes on Jakku and I started crying when Rey first fired up the lightsaber in the forest and the theme music started playing. Holy....yeah.

-Kylo Ren is a superb character. Totally unhinged psycho and Driver was superb, particularly when his helmet was on. Seemed far more evil than Vader ever did. Reminded me of Heath Ledger's rendition of the Joker.

-The first third of the movie was INCREDIBLY strong. All of the hat-tips to the original trilogy, the acting from Boyega and Driver, and the subtleties of the plot. Had the whole 2hrs been as strong as those first several scenes, it might've been the best sci fi movie I had ever seen.

-Kudos to JJ on fooling almost all of us with the Solo death. Tons of people assumed Fin would die, but I don't remember seeing anybody predict Solo would get the axe.

-Another great plot twist was when Kylo Ren said "forget the map. She will do" or whatever. Great twist, JJ.

-I wish it had been Carrie Fisher, though. She's horribly weak and I hope she plays almost no role in further films. Leia's spunk is what made the character in the original triology and there was ZERO such spunk from Fisher in this film.

-I don't think I had ever seen Chewie's fingers/toes before. That was weird [laughing]

-Initially I [sick] at Snoke, but once it was revealed he was a hologram, it got *slightly* better. Still a weak character.

- Captain Phasma? Wtf am I supposed to think about that character?

- And wtf is up with the Knights of Ren? Unanswerable question until the next film, presumably

- The entire smuggling sequence was superb

-LOVE LOVE LOVE Ren's transport ship

- A couple of weak scenes with bad dialogue (the discussion with Akbar, etc), but no different than the originals. Again, this takes it from an A down to an A-. Nothing unforgivable.
 

krazykats

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Ok so a fun guessing game, who is snoke? Even though the emperor existed in 4/5 it was tough at first seeing the chancellor filling that role.....but once he started a subtle recruitment of Anakin it grew easier to see.

But based on 5/6 Snoke is impossible to figure.
 
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New York Times:
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Shatters Box Office Records

In an astounding display of cultural and commercial domination on a global scale — one with little precedent in the history of Hollywood — the Walt Disney Company’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” earned roughly $517 million in worldwide ticket sales, smashing multiple box office records, even after accounting for inflation.

It was the largest opening weekend in North America, with $238 million in ticket sales. To put that figure into perspective, consider that “Avatar” (2009), which analysts consider to be the highest-grossing film in history, with $3.1 billion in global ticket sales, took in $85 million over its first three days in domestic release; the previous record-holder for a December opening was “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (2012) with $87.5 million.
 
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Washington Post:
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ fulfills destiny as biggest box-office opener ever with $238 million

“The Force Awakens” falls just behind the international record for an opening weekend. “Jurassic World” made $316.1 million in its global debut, amassing a worldwide opening take of $524.9 million; “Force” has earned at least $517 million globally. (However, it’s worth noting that the latest Star Wars film has not yet opened in China, a massive movie market. It’s due for release there in January.)
 

Glenn's Take

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Ok so a fun guessing game, who is snoke? Even though the emperor existed in 4/5 it was tough at first seeing the chancellor filling that role.....but once he started a subtle recruitment of Anakin it grew easier to see.

But based on 5/6 Snoke is impossible to figure.
I'm hoping it's Luke but it looks like they are going in a different direction rather than turning him to the dark side. I think Rey almost has to be his daughter.
 

LadyCaytIL

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Snoke is either going to be Plagueis or an older Sith, maybe ancient. I'm not sure if its still cannon but Sith was a race originally that discovered the dark side of the force. If he was the last of his race , the Sith... that would be awesome.

One reason why I'm betting Plagueis is because they used a variation of the same theme used in the Episode 3 scene where Palpatine is telling anakin about Plagueis the wise.
 
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UK_Dallas

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I'm hoping it's Luke but it looks like they are going in a different direction rather than turning him to the dark side. I think Rey almost has to be his daughter.
My guess on the Rey/Luke angle - he is her father. I think they are going to go in the direction that Luke fell in love, had a child and lost his focus. This allowed the sith/dark side to infiltrate his Jedi training academy. He then had to hide his young daughter and do a memory wipe in order to keep her safe. The Max Von Sydow character was like Obi-Wan in keeping an eye on her from a distance. Maybe even her grandfather. But is he now dead?