The following has spoiler discussion so you have been warned.


Lots of people crying in the theater, mostly adults. My dislike for JJ Abrams grows and grows.

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But was there sufficient lens flare?

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

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pRICE cUBE
The following has spoiler discussion so you have been warned.


Lots of people crying in the theater, mostly adults. My dislike for JJ Abrams grows and grows.

I don't know if you can blame JJ, Harrison has been saying he wanted this since Episode V.

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saintyohann

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pRICE cUBE
The following has spoiler discussion so you have been warned.


Lots of people crying in the theater, mostly adults. My dislike for JJ Abrams grows and grows.

I don't know if you can blame JJ, Harrison has been saying he wanted this since Episode V.

The plot was derivative and JJ threw in his classic "I won't answer that question even though I am standing right in front of you and you asked me a direct question." bit. That same theme was used in an episode of LOST. I thought the Solo scene could have been done much better. I don't know why he keeps getting these major gigs. Star Trek Into Darkness was derivative with twist, yippee. If you are going to alter the timeline, don't recycle plots.

Did I enjoy the movie? I did, but there are many things that bother me after the fact.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2015 02:53AM by pRICE cUBE.

Help me out- not much of a Star Wars fan here.
Sounds like... George Harrison dies?

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Black
Help me out- not much of a Star Wars fan here.
Sounds like... George Harrison dies?

I think that ship has sailed.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

It's a fun movie, and unlike the Star Trek abominations, I thought it generally overcame the Abrams-isms. But I'm very glad Abrams is only doing one of these. Rian Johnson is a much better writer, much more grounded director, so I have relatively-high hopes for Episode VIII. I'd rather have Brad Bird than either of them though (Bird was offered VII before Abrams, but turned it down to finish Tomorrowland; a shame on many levels).

The Sunsucker (c'mon, that's what it is) Base was the dumbest Abrams-ism to me. Even in a fictional universe with near-instantaneous FTL and solid laser swords and people with mumbo-jumbo mystical powers, it doesn't make any sense.

Unless that thing can move around the galaxy--something the movie doesn’t hint at one way or the other--you’re only going to get one shot out of it. And even if it can, it still doesn't make sense. After it sucks in the nearest star (which, by the way, is depicted as being so close to the base that at a minimum, all that snow on the planet’s surface would have been melted off, if not outright vaporized), it’s useless. Not only will the weapon not have any fuel for another shot and be a sitting duck for enemy ships, the planet’s atmosphere is going to freeze solid around all those First Order troops because, whoops—no sun.

Overall I enjoyed it. However, it was a mashup of episode IV and V. No real surprises. It was also very dark. There were really no satisfying moments in the movie to lighten the mood. Even the blowing up of the sunsucker was not satisfying. The main shot afterward was Lea and Ray crying in each other's arms. The ending is reminiscent of V, where nothing is resolved and everything is a mess. And! Even if Han's son is redeemed and comes back to the light, he killed his dad! There's no coming back from that. Overall, very dark.

The biggest questions I have coming out are: Who retrieved Luke's lightsaber from Cloud City, how did they do it, and why?

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It is what it is.

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N-OS X-tasy!
The biggest questions I have coming out are: Who retrieved Luke's lightsaber from Cloud City, how did they do it, and why?

In the just-released Visual Dictionary it's said that someone "retrieved it from the industrial depths of Cloud City". It doesn't say who.

I've just started reading the novelization (good ol' Alan Dean Foster) and will be on the lookout for that bit of info.

Haven't seen the film yet; next week at some point.

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Spiff
Overall I enjoyed it. However, it was a mashup of episode IV and V. No real surprises. It was also very dark. There were really no satisfying moments in the movie to lighten the mood. Even the blowing up of the sunsucker was not satisfying. The main shot afterward was Lea and Ray crying in each other's arms. The ending is reminiscent of V, where nothing is resolved and everything is a mess. And! Even if Han's son is redeemed and comes back to the light, he killed his dad! There's no coming back from that. Overall, very dark.

Nice attempt at "darkness" by someone who can't direct. Less emotion in that scene than in a 1920s French surrealism flick.

What gets me is that when you eliminate the Star Wars imagery, this could easily have been a remake of any of several modern American cartoons or teen-movies. ("From the teen bestselling novel that even the kids promptly forgot about after doing their book reports!")

It's the same old teen "chosen-one" who never has to work to accomplish things that others train at for years vs the same old angsty nerd bad-guy they've been tossing into every teen flick since before Batman Beyond popularized it. To grasp exactly the kind of insult, think Jackie Chan in "The Tuxedo" (with a little girl who looks and sounds just like Keira Knightley so, you know just which movies they're copying their action shots from).

It was a fun movie in the same manner that a Jerry Bruckheimer film is -- mindlessly. (Was surprised not to see his credit. They owe him big-time.)

Disappointing.

Blew some extra cash on the IMAX 3D show. Next movie, I may just wait for Netflix.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2015 06:40PM by Onamuji.

...But there was one thing that had me cheering.

Things blowing up in space don't have weird rings of glowing gas shooting out from them.

Yay!

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2015 06:42PM by Onamuji.

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Onamuji
...But there was one thing that had me cheering.

Things blowing up in space don't have weird rings of glowing gas shooting out from them.

Yay!

Lack of gas makes you happy, noted.

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N-OS X-tasy!
The biggest questions I have coming out are: Who retrieved Luke's lightsaber from Cloud City, how did they do it, and why?

That was the JJ Abrams special go to device, "I won't answer that question even though I am standing right in front of you and you asked me a direct question."

He used this over and over and over in LOST. I almost screamed out loud when I heard it in Star Wars.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2015 10:42PM by pRICE cUBE.

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pRICE cUBE
I almost creamed out loud when I heard it in Star Wars.

I think you're missing a strategic "s."

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I saw it Friday morning at 9am. Was expecting a big crowd so my buddy and I went an hour early. We were among about 20 others. Meh.

I wondered if Abrams would #$% this up like he did Trek. I didn't have to wonder. I laughed out loud a few times at the retreads on the screen. Another Death Star? Oh REALLY???!! HOW FSCKING CREATIVE AND IMAGINATIVE! Oh and yeah, never mind that if it sucks all the sun's energy then buh-bye to all life. The only thing missing was Ackbar yelling "It's a trap!"

Also seemed like they lost their cool electronic-addled voices over the radio comms among the x-wing pilots. I'll have to see it again to confirm.

Han and Leia's son bore no resemblance whatsoever to either of them, and with his Force command, clearly was not adopted nor was mention made of this. The actor did a fine job, but really...at least make bloodlines somewhat credible. Why the mask? His face wasn't melted. Stupid.

Chewie was pretty unphased about Han's death back at the rebel base. His lifelong partner, gone in an instant... and everything is fine. Latté, anyone?

I'll stop there. At least he didn't destroy the franchise. Lost a golden opportunity to truly make himself more than a copycat...frankly I would've demanded a sans Death Star script. Otherwise you're just doing another cover. But I guess he has that down pat by now.

And big yeah on who grabbed the light sabre from Bespin. Luke's hand should've been still attached to it.

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SteveO
And big yeah on who grabbed the light sabre from Bespin. Luke's hand should've been still attached to it.

Luke's hand will be featured in the next movie when they do a scene-for-scene tribute to Sam Raimi.

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Onamuji

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SteveO
Luke's hand should've been still attached to it.

Luke's hand will be featured in the next movie when they do a scene-for-scene tribute to Sam Raimi.

I thought the hand got stored in #10's Tardis.

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SteveO
And big yeah on who grabbed the light sabre from Bespin. Luke's hand should've been still attached to it.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2015 11:21PM by pRICE cUBE.

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SteveO
And big yeah on who grabbed the light sabre from Bespin. Luke's hand should've been still attached to it.

Here's a question: Could a non-Jedi perform a Force push or a Force choke using Luke's disembodied hand?

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It is what it is.

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N-OS X-tasy!

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SteveO
And big yeah on who grabbed the light sabre from Bespin. Luke's hand should've been still attached to it.

Here's a question: Could a non-Jedi perform a Force push or a Force choke using Luke's disembodied hand?

Just rub it in a wound to get infected by the meet-korians and you can be a Jedi, too!

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Onamuji
Just rub it in a wound to get infected by the meet-korians and you can be a Jedi, too!

I was thinking about this yesterday. If they were smart, they would explain away the midichlorian BS from the prequel trilogy as a once-posited faulty theory that had fallen out of favor.

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It is what it is.

Saw it yesterday. It was a LOT better than I thought. I too am NOT a fan of JJ Abrams and am still traumatized about what he did to Star Trek, but I think he did a relatively good job here. He was able to effectively do a "reboot" or at least a remake without completely murdering the traditional Star Wars Universe we all know and love. Vulcan was not destroyed this time... I saw it more of a passing the torch similar to the Original Star Trek cast transitioning to TNG... He had enough nostalgia to make everyone happy (perhaps too much and too evenly dispersed every few minutes into the move, he did this also in the first Star Trek which I didn't like so much) but it was not ALL nostalgia. By and large the movie was enjoyable and it was really nice to see the old actors back again so many years later. Granted if it did not bear the "Star Wars" name and cast it would be a mediocre to good movie, not EPIC like the original trilogy, but again it was nicely done. Especially for an Abrams work. I was cringing going in and left basically satisfied...

Yeah the "plot" was pretty much unforgivable. Seriously? Another Death Star? Could they really not come up with something somewhat original? Sun sucking weapon? How about NO....Then again after the 3 prequels, maybe it was better they stuck with what works. And better a remake than a reBOOT..

I agree the Han Solo death scene was really a whole lotta meh. They really dropped the ball on that one, even if they DID need to end his tenure in the franchise. It was almost disgraceful to get rid of him in such a dishonorable way. Total cheap shot (unless the next movie will be The Search for Han, or the Wrath of Han).. At least they could have developed that relationship or the CONVO. Not wham bam thank you mam...

One of my MAIN complaints was the fact that NON Jedis were using light sabers, and so effectively at that. I think it should be like Thor's hammer or sword in the stone and only those "worthy" can effectively wield that weapon. I would have had Finn trying to use it and either totally failing or at least being inept at it and then at the very end Rey coming through and embracing her newfound powers...

I also think Finn's character development was too fast, from lifelong storm trooper to "rebel" in the blink of an eye? What caused him to defect? WHY? Why has it never happened before? etc. He was also FAR too "with it" socially to be believable. The whole thing also heavily reminds me of Hugh becoming self aware and leaving the Borg, but at least that took TIME and an internal struggle...

Not enough Princess Leia!

There was really nothing NEW in the entire movie. Just New People, aliens and robots doing the same things...

It was funnier than I remember the original movies being. Then again I haven't watched them in years so maybe not.

But again, as a whole I give the movie thumbs up, was glad I saw it and am very much looking forward to where they go from here (The Empire Strikes back AGAIN and Return of the Return of the Jedi)...