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turtlecrunch posted:Why was the beginning on Jakku and not on Tatooine, when Jakku is just Tatooine with a funnier name (and no double-sun that I could see, which means it is automatically the worse planet)? Prequels ruined Tatooine. Tatooine has prequel stink on it now, can't ever go back.
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Dec 19, 2015 16:00
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Saw it last night in a busy theater with a lot of people. Kids abounded and there were some costumes, but not many, but I swear I got a bum audience: they didn't clap! Not at the end, and not for the title crawl! It's the friggin' Star Wars, people! But yeah, it was lots of fun. Well directed with a great cast and a script which, while not great, didn't have any really awful clunkers. I do admit that for the beginning of a trilogy, it does feel very "safe," and that's to both its advantage and detriment: the former because it takes fans of the series to a safe place they remember (seriously, tons of callbacks and homages here) and gives them a taste of some new directions, and the latter because... well, that's pretty much all it does. I don't hate JJ Abrams as a writer or director, despite his penchant for certain things :coughdestructionpornlensflarecough:, but he's just sorta kinda clever as a writer and an aggressively... "OK" director. His last projects, to me, are, you know, OK. All right. Whatever.* He does the same here, not stretching in any kinda creative way, but he does what he's supposed to do i.e. wow us for two hours and get us pumped for the rest of the trilogy, and after the history of this series, maybe that's the best that could have been expected. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. Daisy Ridley was a revelation, and BB-8 pretty much stole every scene he was in (I was astonished how much personality he was able to portray with the standard beeps and boops); but I think my favorite of the newbies is John Boyega, because he's awesome in a way the series hasn't covered before. Although he acquits himself well in the shooting railgun parts, he doesn't actually do much action stuff in the movie; he can shoot down planes, but every time he tries to fight somebody hand to hand he can't stick the landing (he actively runs from Rey, the more accomplished fighter of the two; he gets bested by the stun baton trooper, and Kylo Ren beat him into a coma). He's very much a non-action guy, and yet for all that he still feels really important to the story, because he's being set up as the new trilogy's conscience. The plot gets kicked off because he's horrified at what he's called upon to do, he helps BB get to the Resistance because he feels he owes it to Poe, and straight up lies so he has a chance to rescue Rey from the horrors of the first order. It's a total subversion of the way male and female roles are handled in action movies, to make the woman the capable hardass who saves herself and the man be the one with emotions. That's awesome and makes me wonder how the future movie's will incorporate him. Perhaps he's going to be the one to prevent Ren's fall to the dark side. Hell, if they're going the redemption rout for Kylo, what if the one who actually does it isn't Rey, but Finn? I've got more thoughts, but I think I'll wait on sharing them until I've collected them. *OK, I'm kidding with this one, I've never actually seen it. vvv Yes! This guy's second complaint is spot on. resurgam40 fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Dec 19, 2015 |
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Dec 19, 2015 16:28
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Honestly with the amount of pressure that was on the new team to create something fresh but felt like the originals (while still allowing room for it to be marketed to hell and back), I'd say mission accomplished. You could tell each scene was agonized over and handled with care. Sure they played it safe, and it was fan service as all get out, but that's what I'd say was needed. Disney needed to show the audience that they can be trusted with this universe of beloved characters. I feel their task was almost impossible, and they did well for what they had to do. There were only 2 things I disliked: 1) not-Death Star blowing up. I'd rather it have simply been disabled. Would have shown that while the first order was weakened, they were still powerful enough to rebuild 2) actually finding Luke. The scene when Rey leaves felt like a Star Wars ending. The panning scene felt like a JJ film. gently caress I was getting Shenmue 2 ending vibes and it actually pissed me off. Other than that, if you didn't like this film, it was predestined for you to hate it no matter what.
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Dec 19, 2015 16:32
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turtlecrunch posted:That's because Luke is a richer and Rey is not. Buying luxuries like droids and power converters and living in a multi-story pueblo like it's nothing.
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Dec 19, 2015 16:37
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Jewel Repetition posted:The loss registers a gently caress of a lot more than Alderaan did in ANH. Alderand's instantly vaporized while we watch from high orbit, and we get Obi-Wan's concerned poetry. In TFA you see the surface of the planet and everyone's fear, and we're told why the planet's important, because it's the capital of the Republic or something. At least with Alderaan we know the name of one person there, that person is related to someone we've met, and the name of the planet is mentioned more than once over the runtime of the film. Also the planet's destruction is central to the story; it fucks up the main characters' plans and forces them to adapt. The destruction of the Republic capital seems like it should have pretty big ramifications, especially for an outnumbered group of irregular military who have their backing, but all we really get is a couple of generally unconcerned, one off lines about "well we won't get support from the fleet"
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Dec 19, 2015 16:38
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Frackie Robinson posted:The destruction of the Republic capital seems like it should have pretty big ramifications, especially for an outnumbered group of irregular military who have their backing, but all we really get is a couple of generally unconcerned, one off lines about "well we won't get support from the fleet" Keep in mind that the First Order were in the process of powering up the Starkiller weapon and turning it on D'Qar where all those characters were currently located so they didn't have a heck of a lot of time to mourn the Hosnian system, they had to get poo poo done or die a fiery death.
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Dec 19, 2015 16:44
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Frackie Robinson posted:At least with Alderaan we know the name of one person there, that person is related to someone we've met, and the name of the planet is mentioned more than once over the runtime of the film. Also the planet's destruction is central to the story; it fucks up the main characters' plans and forces them to adapt.
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Dec 19, 2015 16:48
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This movie is the same whether Starkiller Base has a planet-destroying superweapon or not. It's totally divorced from what the main characters are doing.
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Dec 19, 2015 16:52
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Snowglobe of Doom posted:Keep in mind that the First Order were in the process of powering up the Starkiller weapon and turning it on D'Qar where all those characters were currently located so they didn't have a heck of a lot of time to mourn the Hosnian system, they had to get poo poo done or die a fiery death. That makes sense, but I just think somewhere the movie needs to put in a just a little more legwork to tell us why what happened with It's also just strange in general how much the movie buries the lead about Starkiller Base. There's a superweapon that can destroy solar systems and singlehandedly end the war, and Snoke, Kylo Ren, and the opening crawl are all like, "well that's just great, but what I really want to know is where the gently caress is Luke Skywalker?" Guys (and movie) you have planet that can destroy suns, who gives a poo poo where Luke Skywalker is? edit: Zoran posted:This movie is the same whether Starkiller Base has a planet-destroying superweapon or not. It's totally divorced from what the main characters are doing. That's kind of what I'm trying to say. When the only purpose it serves is as a plot device to get everybody from point A to point B, there's no need to make it something so huge and world-altering. It's overkill. If it was just a shipyard or something you could tell pretty much exactly the same story, without making the search for Luke seem so trivial in comparison. I guess the one counterpoint you could make to all of that is that this time the New Order has truly been created in Vader's image: "Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." General Dog fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Dec 19, 2015 |
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Dec 19, 2015 16:54
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Zoran posted:This movie is the same whether Starkiller Base has a planet-destroying superweapon or not. It's totally divorced from what the main characters are doing. When something has no connection to the plot, that means it is purely thematic.
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Dec 19, 2015 16:58
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Zoran posted:This movie is the same whether Starkiller Base has a planet-destroying superweapon or not. It's totally divorced from what the main characters are doing. Well, presumably they wouldn't be mounting a 2-and-a-half pronged attack on it if it wasn't a planetbuster. I do wish it was a trilogy-long thing though.
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Dec 19, 2015 17:06
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Also to the guys wondering why RD-D2 suddenly wakes up at the end, I put it down to him being around Luke's lightsaber, or it could just be being around Rey as some people guess.
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Dec 19, 2015 17:20
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Regarding R2-D2, I think I picked something up on second viewing. So Rey's force vision features quite a few different visions. I THINK they are all situations she already was in, lost memories basically, or will be in. If we assume that is true, at one point Luke lays his mechanical hand on R2-D2. I believe he's telling R2 something there, something about the Force and Rey. Something along the lines of "Go to Leia and shut down into low power mode until Rey comes to you." I feel like Rey had to have been there, otherwise she wouldn't have seen it in the vision. Could be wrong. I doubt it has anything to do with his lightsaber since I don't think Luke had any reason to believe that would ever be seen again. Someone gets killed in that vision and it appears to be that one alien looking guy with a large helmet that we saw in some of the marketing images awhile ago.
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Dec 19, 2015 17:40
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If anyone else is wondering Disney took 5 months to put Age of Ultron onto DVD 5 months from opening date is Tuesday May 17 2016 I'm putting money on that day considering it's right around all of the prequel release dates Also, Episode 8 will be released a year from then May 26 2017 And Rogue One comes out next year December 16 2016 So what I'm saying is all we can do is go watch Force Awakens in theaters a bunch more 
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Dec 19, 2015 17:48
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Mahoning posted:Regarding R2-D2, I think I picked something up on second viewing.Someone gets killed in that vision and it appears to be that one alien looking guy with a large helmet that we saw in some of the marketing images awhile ago. I'm pretty sure it was http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zuvio this guy
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Dec 19, 2015 17:48
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hhhat posted:So what I'm saying is all we can do is go watch Force Awakens in theaters a bunch more My third trip is at 1:35 today!
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Dec 19, 2015 17:50
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Mahoning posted:Someone gets killed in that vision and it appears to be that one alien looking guy with a large helmet that we saw in some of the marketing images awhile ago. i really want to see that force vision segment again because it seems like one of the more important scenes in the movie. hope it gets out on the internet somewhere
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Dec 19, 2015 18:01
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ImpAtom posted:That is pretty intentional I think. That scene is shot very specifically to make him look ridiculous and kind of sad. The lighting and shot choice basically make him look like a pimply teenager. This is exactly what i thought when the mask came off and is why i had to hold back laughter. Noone else found it funny 
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Dec 19, 2015 18:14
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ThePutty posted:i really want to see that force vision segment again because it seems like one of the more important scenes in the movie. hope it gets out on the internet somewhere Images of it have indeed leaked out; don't know if it's kosher to post them here (as they're basically screengrabs of a cam rip) but regarding that dude, it's definitely not Zuvio; his face is uncovered and has far-more-human characteristics than the Constable does. I'm guessing he's a pupil of Luke's trying to protect little Rey before getting stabbed in the back by Kylo.
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Dec 19, 2015 18:17
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...While I'm thinking about it, on the subject of force users changing the tide of the war - has anyone important ever clarified whether Luke using the force at the end of ANH was what made the torpedoes turn 90 degrees into the exhaust shaft like they did, or was that just what they were supposed to do and Luke just lined them up horizontally just right?
Spiritus Nox fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Dec 19, 2015 |
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Dec 19, 2015 18:22
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jivjov posted:My third trip is at 1:35 today! Woo yeah Hateful 8 is doing the 70mm special show here on Xmas eve so I'm gonna catch that. But that means I have four days to sneak in my third viewing Edit: ^^^ never heard anything on that. In star wars video games proton torpedoes either flu completely straight or they curve toward the target. Maybe that exhaust port is on 'suck' hhhat fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Dec 19, 2015 |
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Dec 19, 2015 18:25
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Spiritus Nox posted:...While I'm thinking about it, on the subject of force users changing the tide of the war - has anyone important ever clarified whether Luke using the force at the end of ANH was what made the torpedoes turn 90 degrees into the exhaust shaft like they did, or was that just what they were supposed to do and Luke just lined them up horizontally just right? I have to imagine they were designed to do that, otherwise what would be the point of anyone not force-sensitive making the trench run?
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Dec 19, 2015 18:31
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jivjov posted:I have to imagine they were designed to do that, otherwise what would be the point of anyone not force-sensitive making the trench run? The briefing says that a hit on the thermal exhaust port will cause a chain reaction, whatever that means.
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Dec 19, 2015 18:33
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R2-D2 theory Could be he was told to turn on when a force sensitive shows up so he can send them to be trained by Luke. Also what's the deal with Finn, is he a clone or do storm troopers work differently now? He doesn't look like Jango obviously and there was that line about going back to using clones, but then he only got a number for a name and being a soldier's all he's ever been etc.
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Dec 19, 2015 18:34
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General Battuta posted:The briefing says that a hit on the thermal exhaust port will cause a chain reaction, whatever that means. Exactly. Nowhere in the briefing is it said that "oh, you have to use telekinesis to do it"
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Dec 19, 2015 18:37
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Avalerion posted:Also what's the deal with Finn, is he a clone or do storm troopers work differently now? He doesn't look like Jango obviously and there was that line about going back to using clones, but then he only got a number for a name and being a soldier's all he's ever been etc. Stormtroopers in the OT weren't clones.
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Dec 19, 2015 18:38
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jivjov posted:Stormtroopers in the OT weren't clones. Oh, what then? Like how come he didn't even have a name?
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Dec 19, 2015 18:44
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Lord Hydronium posted:I thought it was pretty different from Tatooine, other than both being desert worlds. Tatooine, despite being rustic and out of the way, is still a functional world, with farmers, cities, bars, and sporting events. Jakku is basically a Mad Max post apocalypse. It makes Rey's situation feel much more desperate; Luke at least had a family, friends, and leisure time to bullseye womprats and pick up power convertors. This topic is interesting in that we assume a whole planet is the same as the small part of it we see. If that same part happened to be set on Tatooine, I wouldn't have found it odd. Maybe some parts of that planet are rougher than others, and plus being 30 years later maybe it got poorer or had a food shortage, etc. I don't mind the Jakku/Tatooine thing, I think it's fair to say they're quite similar though. More importantly, Admiral goddamn Ackbar is in this movie, hot drat. I hope he has some sweet lines in the next one, try to beat his classic. Avalerion posted:Oh, what then? Like how come he didn't even have a name? Taken from his family as a child, and put into a harsh brain-washy kind of bootcamp Stormtrooper training program thingy. Like the Academy of Law from Judge Dredd. Heavy Metal fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Dec 19, 2015 |
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Dec 19, 2015 18:44
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jivjov posted:Exactly. Nowhere in the briefing is it said that "oh, you have to use telekinesis to do it" ...Yeah, I suppose there wouldn't be much point in the trench run, as opposed to just dive bombing the thing, if the torpedoes weren't designed to change direction over the shaft. Also, I've seen some people complain about the music not being memorable, but I will say one moment I thought was really well scored (albeit with an old track) was when Rey pulled Luke's lightsaber away from Ren. The way the music is so quiet and kind of mournful while Ren's standing there looking at her with Luke's saber, undoubtably feeling like she's snatched his birthright away from him, and then swells as she turns it on was really, really well done IMO.
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Dec 19, 2015 18:47
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I think the music was fantastic, there was a great blend of homages to the classic iconic music and new stuff. I think the effects in general, sound, visual, all that jazz, were A+ all around, as it should be for Star Wars.
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Dec 19, 2015 18:59
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Avalerion posted:Also what's the deal with Finn, is he a clone or do storm troopers work differently now? He doesn't look like Jango obviously and there was that line about going back to using clones, but then he only got a number for a name and being a soldier's all he's ever been etc. Prequel stormtroopers are clones, main trilogy stormtroopers are soldiers (or conscripts, if you want to make a distinction, we don't know how the Empire treated it), these stormtroopers are child soldiers. Finn is Raiden.
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Dec 19, 2015 19:10
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Avalerion posted:Oh, what then? Like how come he didn't even have a name? This is addressed in the film: First Order stormtroopers are recruited as infants or children, and raised with ID numbers instead of names
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Dec 19, 2015 19:21
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How old are Rey and Kylo Ren supposed to be? If they're supposed to be the same age plus or minus a year or two, wouldn't that contradict the theory that Luke hid child Rey on Jakku when Kylo Ren fell and killed
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Dec 19, 2015 19:24
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OldSenileGuy posted:How old are Rey and Kylo Ren supposed to be? If they're supposed to be the same age plus or minus a year or two, wouldn't that contradict the theory that Luke hid child Rey on Jakku when Kylo Ren fell and killed Rey is confirmed to be 19. I'm not sure we know how old Ben is yet, but Adam Driver is ~9 years older than Daisy Ridley. If child Rey was left at age 5 after the attack, Ben could have been about 15 at the time.
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Dec 19, 2015 19:27
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Yea they're close in age but there could be enough of a gap for it. In her flashback she wasn't a baby she was like, kindergarten aged, there's room for maybe Luke to see the darkness growing in Ben and be the first parent to say 'hm maybe I WON'T put my only kid in danger....' in a Star Wars movie
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Dec 19, 2015 19:30
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Took a few days to digest this after a Thursday night screening. I really had to get over the initial surreal quality of seeing a sequel to Return of the Jedi. My sister rand I kind of looked at each other and shrugged when it was over. It's starting to grow on me, and I think I'll see it again, but: My knee-jerk reaction was that Kylo's petulant act was tonally out of place in a Star Wars movie. Having a villain infantilized is an interesting idea, but in a series that always played its antagonists as completely straight, seeing Poe immediately make a joke about his mask and having him constantly tantrum/spaz out was needlessly castrating. I don't think the movie would have suffered if he had been less juvenile. The idea that someone on the Dark Side was being tempted by the Light was an interesting mirror on Luke's struggle in the OT, and it makes sense. That's enough internal conflict. I didn't really want or need to see a man-child. Dude stopped a blaster shot in mid-air. You've successfully sold us on the fact he's a bad-rear end in one shot. You're borrowing so heavily from ANH that giving us a faux-Vader is no mortal sin. I did like Han's swan song, but I felt it would've been far more impactful if we had seen any interaction between these two prior. It's more or less their first face-to-face the audience is privy to, and I didn't get any sense of their relationship. Ford and Driver were terrific in the scene, though. Poe had to be the most thinly-sketched "lead" of anyone in the entire series. He disappears for most of the movie; we know nothing about his motivation to become a pilot; nothing about his private life; nothing about what brought him to this point. I'm sure he'll be explored in the sequels, but not even getting a hint of his internal mechanics feels like some major edits were made. Finn was kind of overly enthusiastic, and a little dumb. It gave Ford a great line--"That's not how the Force works!"--but it can be hard to get behind a guy who doesn't seem overly bright. He feels like a sidekick character, not a proper protagonist. It felt pretty sadistic to have the weight of a 32-year interval between this movie and Jedi and then give Luke exactly 20 seconds of screen time with no lines. That made me genuinely pissed, and probably contributed to my negative attitude walking out of the theater. But... I loved Rey's whole portrait. Exploring fallen Imperial equipment, her fuzzy background, even her wardrobe--all of it worked perfectly. Falcon reveal: on point. R2 in sleep mode: poignant, wonderful. Ford: unbelievable he's spent 15 years sleepwalking through his career and manages to nail Solo at loving 73 years old. gently caress's sake, he's like a decade older than Alec Guinness was. This whole movie would have collapsed if Ford was unable to deliver, and he aced it. Sketchy CGI aside, I loved the scene in the freighter with the monsters. It felt wonderfully pulpy, like something you'd read about in a dime-store Star Wars spin-off novel in 1982. The more I think about the final scene, the more I like it. Still pissed we have to wait for Luke, but Rey holding out the saber and pleading for him to help stop the carnage is a perfect bit of visual storytelling. I think this movie was as good as it was ever going to be considering what was riding on it. If it trips, Disney's massive investment and annuity is endangered. It colored within the lines and that's fine, but I hope Rian Johnson can push things.
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Dec 19, 2015 19:38
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jivjov posted:This is addressed in the film: First Order stormtroopers are recruited as infants or children, and raised with ID numbers instead of names There was also a line where someone complained to the general that they would have gotten the droid back if he used clone troopers instead of his preferred child soldiers.
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Dec 19, 2015 19:41
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Never mind
Mr Ice Cream Glove fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Dec 19, 2015 |
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Dec 19, 2015 19:43
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You might get probated if you don't hide that pic behind spoiler tags. SALR allows displaying linked images inline, but not if they're inside tags.
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Dec 19, 2015 19:47
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jivjov posted:Exactly. Nowhere in the briefing is it said that "oh, you have to use telekinesis to do it" Maybe this is me making this up from head canon but the reason why Gold Leader and Red Leader make trench runs on the Death Star is because the Rebels don't anticipate any extraneous reasons why their most experienced pilots shouldn't be able to nail a 2 meter wide thermal exhaust port sized target. Especially after the comment some moisture farmer kid makes about smoking rodents that size on his outer-rim dustball planet and especially with the help of their targeting computers. The harsh reality of the situation is that Red Leaders torpedoes impact on the surface and don't go into the exhaust port because the shot isn't easy, in fact it's loving impossible BECAUSE the torpedoes need to make that 90 degree turn into the port to go in and travel to the core. If Luke had used his targeting computer, same poo poo would have happened. Luke only succeeded because he used the force. The shot wasn't just one in a million, like Han said, it was only possible when made by somebody like Luke.
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Dec 19, 2015 20:01
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