Let's get a "Force Awakens" thread restarted

[culturejam]

I saw it just after Christmas. I really enjoyed it thought JJ did a good job of staying true to the original trilogy in all of the important ways.

I think it was Juan that pointed out in the last thread that the new movie takes all of the best plot elements of Episides IV, V, and VI and rolls them into one movie. There's really nothing new in terms of plot devices, but I think the way they handled Kylo Ren was something new (and good). The early unmasking, I thought, was as unexpected and unique as it was a great move. Totally humanizes the "bad guy" in a way you don't normally see in a fantasy genre.

[drolo]

Finally saw it yesterday and it definitely brought back more of the old vibe than the prequels. I found myself grinning in excitement when they picked up that old Millennium Falcon :-D

Visually it was sooo superior, having real sets instead of virtual 3D ones ....

I was just disappointed the Chewie's belt was no longer made of 1590A boxes ... :-(

[madbean]

Oh wow...this looks amazing!

[culturejam]

Holy fuck, what is that?!?!?!?

Looks awesome. I love that they are doing "side" movies.

[pryde]

Just caught that clip as well. Looks good

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[Muadzin]

There's too much stuff focusing on Rebel scum, it's time to give the Imps some movie love too. 

[raulduke]

That looks great.

I'm sold.

[Leevibe]

Oh wow...this looks amazing!

First of all, whoa momma! I'm so glad to see this is looking so legit. I was thinking this was going to be a tide-over until ep.8. Now I feel like I need something to tide me over until December!


As to the Blu-Ray, I really enjoyed watching the features. I remember watching the "making of" specials on TV when I was a kid. That was all we had before DVD's came out. I used to love watching those, sometimes more than the movies themselves. I particularly enjoyed listening to Harrison Ford's sentiments. He genuinely seemed to be excited to be a part of it, and he really felt that the new actor choices were good.

I'm also happy to report that the movie holds up really well on the small screen. I find that often times movies that look really good in the theater just fall apart at home. I find this to be especially true with CGI stuff. At least on my less-than-stellar home setup. This one looks amazing. For example, blacks are black. So often I feel like shadows aren't dark enough with digitally processed material. I think it's to reveal detail. I personally would rather miss the detail in favor of a natural looking shot. I don't know if it's because this was shot on film, or if it was just processed more carefully, but it just looks really good. The only place it fell down for me was in a couple of shots where there were gradients with a high contrast from light to dark. I could see pretty distinct color bands. This could very well be just limitations of my crappy gear showing through. All in all, I really enjoyed watching it.

Having seen this thing a bunch of times now, I feel that the parts that are really holding up for me are:

- all of the new core characters, especially Rey. I buy into these characters more and more.
- every second of footage that happens on Jakku. I love the look and the story.
- THE SCORE!! It sounds so much like Starwars but with it's own voice. I think the continuation of Starwars will die with John Williams
- I'm finding the cantina reboot less and less abrasive as I become used to it
- the all-around look of the movie, characters, ships, environments.
- the lightsaber duel


The stuff I'm getting really tired of:

- Everything to do with starkiller base.
- the Snoke scenes. I actually don't mind Snoke so much now. I just get bored and check out during those parts. I'm hoping he becomes a bigger factor in the next one.

[culturejam]

I was pretty critical of them going with "Deathstar 3" in the last film. How many times can they go to that well? But then I started thinking about how difficult it must have been to come up with a threat that is bigger than something that can destroy an entire planet at once.

[jubal81]

Looks cool. Surprised to see Forrest.


But really, isn't the "Rebellious teen breaks all the rules but comes out on top" thing getting really tired?

[alanp]

The TIE pilots in this look really, REALLY cool! Much more interesting than the rebel scum.

Plus I like the 80s anime stylings

[jposega]

It is absurd that they made a super mega Death Star for TFA, but I guess Abrams really got the bug up his butt about staying true to the series. I highly doubt eps. 8 and 9 are going to feature mega weapons.

Rogue One looks fantastic. All the previous released info on it pointed towards it being more of gritty, war movie than what we've seen in the series thus far, and the trailer definitely holds true to that promise,

Does anyone think that that was a tiny Vader cameo with the two royal (red) Imp guards? Let's just hope they didn't give Hayden Christianson the opportunity to don the Vader suit and then fuck everything up with his wimpy voice.

[matmosphere]

Rogue One looks fantastic. All the previous released info on it pointed towards it being more of gritty, war movie than what we've seen in the series thus far, and the trailer definitely holds true to that promise,

Does anyone think that that was a tiny Vader cameo with the two royal (red) Imp guards? Let's just hope they didn't give Hayden Christianson the opportunity to don the Vader suit and then fuck everything up with his wimpy voice.

I think it looks good to but I'm a little disappointed that from how this looks it ain't gonna be for the little ones. My only real gripe with VII was that I felt like it was a little to gritty for my 5 year old. I think it's gonna have to wait 4-5 years before I really want to explain genocide to him.

Episode VII was gritty, well done, hit the nostalgia nerve just right and was just cool as hell for somebody my age. I just wish they'd make something I could take my kid to. I remember going to see Jedi in the theater when I was four or five, and aside from being scared of the Rancor, it wasn't hugely inappropriate for somebody my age.

As far as the Vader thing, just remember it could be worse. They could have Jake Lloyd pull up in a pod racer.

[culturejam]

Episode VII was gritty, well done, hit the nostalgia nerve just right and was just cool as hell for somebody my age. I just wish they'd make something I could take my kid to. I remember going to see Jedi in the theater when I was four or five, and aside from being scared of the Rancor, it wasn't hugely inappropriate for somebody my age.

See, I think the main thing that was *wrong* with Episodes I-III (and also VI, to some extent) was that it was written to be appropriate for toddlers (to maximize box office and DVD sales). The first two movies (IV and V) were very heavy: genocide, abusive parents, torture, chopped off limbs, dog-eat-dog political maneuvering, smoldering skeletons, and other stuff. I agree that kids under 8 probably shouldn't be seeing that stuff. But those were the best films. I'd rather have good Star Wars and the kids can wait a bit. 

[Muadzin]

The TIE pilots in this look really, REALLY cool! Much more interesting than the rebel scum.

Plus I like the 80s anime stylings

Oh, my brother had that one. He thought it was the best of the SW flight sim games, also story wise.

See, I think the main thing that was *wrong* with Episodes I-III (and also VI, to some extent) was that it was written to be appropriate for toddlers (to maximize box office and DVD sales). The first two movies (IV and V) were very heavy: genocide, abusive parents, torture, chopped off limbs, dog-eat-dog political maneuvering, smoldering skeletons, and other stuff. I agree that kids under 8 probably shouldn't be seeing that stuff. But those were the best films. I'd rather have good Star Wars and the kids can wait a bit. 

As far as the Vader thing, just remember it could be worse. They could have Jake Lloyd pull up in a pod racer.

Beter Jake Lloyd pulling up then Hayden Christiansen though. [shudders]