Jason Moyer on 21/12/2015 at 19:00
Yeah the lightsabers not being usable by anyone thing is weird when it happened in the OT. Hell, the first time the audience and Luke see one he turns it on and starts waving it around like it's no big deal.
Jason Moyer on 21/12/2015 at 23:52
Just saw it for the first time. Lots of things I want to nitpick, mostly on a technical/cinematographic level, but I'm pretty convinced that this was about as good as a new SW movie was going to get. It exceeded my expectations as someone looking for a good fantasy adventure film rather than jerking off over Star Wars. I liked that it was basically 50% OT, 50% new stuff (I suspect that was intentional), that it only focused on one of the old characters, and that the new characters were actually pretty believable and easy to relate to. For the most part, the direction seemed pretty good too and the eye-roll level was basically on par with the 1977 film. I like that there are a lot of things that aren't explained, because nothing annoys me more than when a movie/book/game/whatever leaves nothing to discussion or imagination. I like that when the lightsabers come out, you know something is about to go down (as opposed to the prequel/fanfic/old EU nonsense where you can't go 5 minutes without one because LIGHTSABERS). I like that the duelists at the end are actually trying to fucking maim each other instead of flipping around like fucking cirque de soleil performers. I like how fucking visceral laser impacts are now; when Chewie flips out, the impacts of his shots are brutal. So yeah, it was good.
van HellSing on 22/12/2015 at 07:20
Just a quick comment: I'm seeing confusion about how the First Order seems to be in control - from what I gathered, most od tej film tarka place in systems outside the territory of either the Republic or the former Empire, which is why the Republic is reluctant to act there so only Leia's smallish force is around.
Jason Moyer on 22/12/2015 at 08:34
They're not in control, but I'm pretty sure the planet they destroyed was supposed to be Coruscant (hence the "today is the last day of the Republic" speech).
Edit: Ok, nevermind, it's not Coruscant, it's whatever new system the Republic was using as their capital now.
Edit 2: Ok, looking at the new EU stuff, apparently after RotJ the New Republic was formed, who defeated the Imperial Remnant at Jakku. Then the First Order was formed and Leia started the Resistance as a PMC to specifically keep an eye on TFO. How the hell you'd know any of this based on the film is beyond me.
Quote Posted by wookieepedia
One year after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic fought Imperial forces during the Battle of Jakku. The New Republic forces intended to capture the Imperial Star Destroyer, Inflictor, sending Thane Kyrell and a number of former Imperials on the mission. Ciena Ree, commander of the vessel, realized their plan and crashed the Star Destroyer into Jakku.[2] This left the landscape of the desert world of Jakku littered with starship remains, including those of a T-65B X-wing starfighter and the Inflictor itself.[13] In the aftermath of the New Republic's victory at Jakku, the Galactic Concordance was signed between the Republic and the Imperial remnants. The peace treaty imposed strict rules on the remaining Imperial-held territories, disarming them and imposing harsh reparations. Under these measures, the old Empire dissolved almost completely during a cold war until the remaining forces retreated into the Unknown Regions. There, they began rebuilding themselves into what they called the First Order.[4]
As one its first acts following the signing of the the Galactic Concordance, the Senate passed the Military Disarmament Act which drastically reduced the New Republic's military to a small peacekeeping force, an early goal of Mon Mothma's. The move lauded by most who believed that the remaining Imperial hardliners posed no threat. Leia Organa disagreed and was sidelined from the New Republic's political process. Organa then formed the Resistance, a private military force which kept watch over the First Order's movements. Although she petitioned for assistance from the New Republic, the Senate was too self-absorbed to take much notice and its slow political process frustrated the former princess.[4]
Some thirty years after the Emperor's defeat at Endor, the Republic formalized its support of the Resistance's efforts against the First Order. Determined to reveal its true power, the First Order under Supreme Leader Snoke attacked the New Republic using its superweapon, the Starkiller Base, commanded by General Hux. It harnessed the sun's power and then destroyed the planets of the Hosnian system, including Hosnian Prime which at that time was serving as the Republic capital and hosting the Senate and New Republic fleet. The Resistance in turn attacked Starkiller Base and was able to destroy it.[14]
Apparently that's the summary of what happened from the end of RotJ through FA politically.
Jason Moyer on 22/12/2015 at 10:30
Quote Posted by icemann
Two that immediately spring to mind: Snoke/Golem and the Alien on the desert planet that Rey went in to hand in scrap to for what looked like food payments.
Was the junk dealer guy CG? I'm pretty sure that was just Simon Pegg with prosthetics.
Inline Image:
http://www.starwarspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/simon-pegg-unkar-plutt-the-force-awakens-rev-2-news.jpgI suppose his expressions could have been CG enhanced or something, but he wasn't a full render like orange Yoda and Gollum. Actually, the only CG in the movie that I found really noticeable (other than the stuff like where they fused together a single take panning from a space battle to the interior of a station) were those monsters that Han was smuggling. They looked pretty bad in the theater, I thought.
rachel on 22/12/2015 at 10:35
Captain Phasma more like Captain Phantasma. Seriously, that character could be completely removed and the movie wouldn't notice...
Boy did the Falcon take a beating. I fucking love that ship.
Good movie. We're home Chewie.
henke on 22/12/2015 at 10:48
Yeah Phasma looked cool but ended up being a big nothing. I'm guessing they must've shot some great big actionscene she was involved in that then had to be cut for pacing, or something. I don't think they made such a distinctive and cool looking character just to stand around.
They should've at least had her be the one having the duel with Finn halfway through the movie, instead of some random stormtrooper.
icemann on 22/12/2015 at 11:48
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
Was the junk dealer guy CG? I'm pretty sure that was just Simon Pegg with prosthetics.
Inline Image:
http://www.starwarspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/simon-pegg-unkar-plutt-the-force-awakens-rev-2-news.jpgI suppose his expressions could have been CG enhanced or something, but he wasn't a full render like orange Yoda and Gollum. Actually, the only CG in the movie that I found really noticeable (other than the stuff like where they fused together a single take panning from a space battle to the interior of a station) were those monsters that Han was smuggling. They looked pretty bad in the theater, I thought.
Wow. If that was a costume. Must have been CG expressions/animations or somethin.
van HellSing on 22/12/2015 at 13:19
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
Edit 2: Ok, looking at the new EU stuff, apparently after RotJ the New Republic was formed, who defeated the Imperial Remnant at Jakku. Then the First Order was formed and Leia started the Resistance as a PMC to specifically keep an eye on TFO. How the hell you'd know any of this based on the film is beyond me.
Apparently that's the summary of what happened from the end of RotJ through FA politically.
Ha, so I was mostly right. It was kind of glossed over in the film, but it's there. I figured it out mostly thanks to Hux' speech where he's mocking the Republic's neutrality.
heywood on 22/12/2015 at 15:02
Nobody really knows how much of the EU fiction was carried forward. I think I read an interview with Abrams somewhere in which he said they didn't treat any of it as canon, but selectively took on bits that happened to fit with their vision.
