Star Wars: The Force Awakens - and the series re-awakens *(spoilers)

skizzerflake

skizzerflake

Audioholic Field Marshall
We’ve had the Star Wars universe around for 38 years now, longer than we’ve had a significant part of our population. More than any other film franchise, it’s spawned games, t-shirts, costumes, books, global brand recognition and sold an uncountable number of theater seats. And, yet, the creator of this wild west-samurai-roman empire-nazi-sci-fi epic came close to killing it himself by directing the flat, middle-whelming prequel series that was episodes I, II and III. It’s said sometimes that George Lucas can only direct robots, not humans. After all, anybody who turn Sam Jackson as Mace Windu, into a flat character, and leave us unimpressed with actors like Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson must be only adept at directing robots. I give great credit to Lucas for starting the series, creating the universe and introducing so much of the pre-digital FX that made the first trilogy work, but he really should stay away from direction. Thankfully, this time, direction was turned over to J J Abrams. If he hadn’t done anything else, keeping the whole story arc of Lost together indicates that Abrams respects the need to have story telling and human characters as the core of a series, even if it is a techie, epic monster such as Star Wars.

I don’t want to spoil anything for anybody who manages to isolate themselves from all of the hoo-raw that’s going around, but just to put things in context, in The Force Awakens, we see the plot of the original trilogy continuing, only 30 years later, as though the prequel trilogy had never happened. The Empire is gone, but the First Order has taken their place. The Death Star blew up a long time ago, but there’ s a newer, more powerful one now. The Emperor is gone, but now we have Supreme Leader Snoke, seemingly bigger and stranger. Darth Vader is gone, but he’s been replaced by Kylo Ren a younger and seemingly more merciless adept of Vader. It’s a generational turnover. Some of our old characters are still there and the rebellion, as usual, is hanging on by a thread, trying to strike and run against an empire that has overwhelming resources, technology and ruthlessness. Given that there are two more episodes in the epic and that the title tells us that The Force has only just awakened, you can probably guess that this episode will leave us with plenty more story to tell before it’s all really over.

I have to admit that I was unenthusiastic about seeing this on the opening day. I correctly expected long lines, a jammed theater, people in costumes, geeks carrying on fervent debates about the average springtime temperature of Hoth of the number of equivalent watts commanded by Darth Vader’s hands. People cheered when the movie started, cheered when familiar faces appeared and cheered when the rebellion did something good. Apparently, the magic has not been lost. I also felt disenchanted by the previous series and would have almost preferred to have no new series if they didn’t do it right. I’m happy to say that The Force Awakens has brought the franchise back from the brink (kinda like the rebellion). There’s a bunch of new characters (including a new cute robot). It’s full of links to the first trilogy, carries on the plot themes, AND…J J Abrams CAN direct human actors.

Unlike some recent films I have seen, the visuals in Force are not sketchy. Thankfully, it looked as though, as much as was possible, the movie was filmed on real sets, with props and costumed actors. Obviously it was also a great opportunity for the animators who added the space vehicle dogfights and giant explosions, but the animation that was done was done really well and integrated into the movie seamlessly. The acting and human drama was also done well. It was the focus of the movie. There’s not a whole lot of subtle drama here, mainly action acting, moralisms by the rebellion and evil from the Empire characters, but it was far better than the flat recitations in the prequel series. Focus on the characters is back and, thankfully there’s no new Jar Jar Binks to revile. There is a new cute robot, but that’s fine. We would have been disappointed if we didn’t have a new robot. The new characters you see in the trailer are fleshed out well, connected to the larger plot and have their own story lines. The old characters have predictably aged, but are well integrated into a story that had to contain a generational turn-over.

All things considered, I have to say that The Force Awakens is a roaring success. I was glad to have my diminished expectations exceeded. This film is an excellent continuation of the saga that’s been going on for nearly 4 decades now. The audience in the theater I attended was really happy, more people were lining up for the late showing. I can’t imagine that this will not be a huge success and hopefully the rest of the series (currently in production) will keep the momentum going. This is a really fun movie…don’t miss it.
 
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
I don't want to spoil this for people, but I would describe it as a B+ Movie, with a lot of potential going forward. It was very good, but not great. I had a few major issues with the film, being someone who has grown up with the original cast. Once more people have had the opportunity to view it, I would be more than happy to share.

Big Plus Marks:
1. They do a very good job with the new protagonist (though I do take issues towards the end)
2. Much less green screen, ships don't look like they are always traveling a straight line, visually it's one of the best in the series
3. Han and Chewy back on the falcon (not a spoiler as it's in the previews) OLD SCHOOL fun.
4. BB-8 is a Fun Droid

My Issues will be reported later, as I really want to save that for when more people have had the opportunity to view the movie. I was adamant that when one of my co-workers who is a part time manager at an AMC saw it a day early (2:30AM on Wed) he was not allowed to discuss it until I saw it. LOL

Bottom Line: Definitely a Must See in a Theater, and one I can't wait to own in 4k Blu-Ray

DAMN THOSE ARE SOME SOLID BOX OFFICE NUMBERS 120 million on FRIDAY

www.boxofficemojo.com
Dec. 19 - Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already put its stamp on the record books, kicking off its domestic release with an estimated $120.5 million Friday opening. That opening number includes a record-breaking $57 million from Thursday night "previews" and makes this the first film to gross more than $100 million in a "single" day, but the records don't stop there.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I don't even want to watch this movie until it comes out on BD b/c of all the negative reviews. :eek:

Man, is it really that atrocious?
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
I don't even want to watch this movie until it comes out on BD b/c of all the negative reviews. :eek:

Man, is it really that atrocious?
Huh?

Spectre was bad... This was not.

Go!

You will leave the theater asking questions and wondering some things, but in a good way.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Huh?

Spectre was bad... This was not.

Go!

You will leave the theater asking questions and wondering some things, but in a good way.
Hope so. The IMDB rating is high (8.7), but there are a lot of negative reviews by users.
 
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
I don't even want to watch this movie until it comes out on BD b/c of all the negative reviews. :eek:

Man, is it really that atrocious?
Wow, an 8.7 is not a bad rating and Rotten Tomatoes has it at 95%

You shouldn't be surprised that there are a large number of negative reviews, partly because you will never be able to please fanboys but also because you have the largest number of people who have gone to the theater...well ever...in this short a time.

The reserve seat theaters by me are still sold out through the weekend minus the front rows, so it is apparently getting a significant amount of repeat business. To see Han and Chewy back on the falcon alone was worth the price of admission ;)

It is by no means perfect, it has some big flaws IMO, which I stated earlier, but this is far far better than just a rental.
 
Last edited:
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I just saw it.

This is my opinion.

I give SW-7 a rating of 5.0 out of 10.

There are so many much better Sci-Fi movies than this.

Both of the 2 JJ Abram's Star Trek were so much better.

Serenity was 100% better than this.

Terminator Genysis was 100% better.

Interstellar was 150% better.

Edge of Tomorrow was 200% better.

I think a 9YR girl wrote SW7 because a 10YR girl would know better. :D

No way I am buying this movie on BD for even $3.99. :D
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
I just saw it.

This is my opinion.

I give SW-7 a rating of 5.0 out of 10.

There are so many much better Sci-Fi movies than this.

Both of the 2 JJ Abram's Star Trek were so much better.

Serenity was 100% better than this.

Terminator Genysis was 100% better.

Interstellar was 150% better.

Edge of Tomorrow was 200% better.

I think a 9YR girl wrote SW7 because a 10YR girl would know better. :D

No way I am buying this movie on BD for even $3.99. :D
It's not April.
 
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
I just saw it.

This is my opinion.

I give SW-7 a rating of 5.0 out of 10.

There are so many much better Sci-Fi movies than this.

Both of the 2 JJ Abram's Star Trek were so much better.

Serenity was 100% better than this.

Terminator Genysis was 100% better.

Interstellar was 150% better.

Edge of Tomorrow was 200% better.

I think a 9YR girl wrote SW7 because a 10YR girl would know better. :D

No way I am buying this movie on BD for even $3.99. :D

I am not sure I understand, so how do you feel about the movie? LOL :eek:

Well I am sorry your $10.00 is wasted. Though I have a feeling we didn't like some of the same things about the move, they were more of a deal breaker for you.

  • Terminator Genysis was 100% worse, almost as bad as the Christian Bale one it followed
  • Besides being in space, Interstellar was 100% not the same type of movie, its a drama set it space and is a poor example to compare against
  • JJ Abrams ruined Star Trek, killed a lot what made the original series great and J. Linn is turning it into the Fast and the Furious for the third, so its only going to get worse
  • I liked edge of Tomorrow, even if it had Tom Cruise, just not 200 more

You are definitely entitled to your opinion, but not a single one of the Star Wars movies would ever win an Oscar for Best Story or Acting, its as Sci-Fi Adventure movie that is designed for people of all ages with a very basic, if repetitive, story.
 
Last edited:
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
A big part of me believes ADTG must be joking.
Well, I'm probably never 100% serious because this is all just for fun. :)

But I was very disappointed in SW7.

You guys let me know when it's time to spill spoilers and start the biotching. :D

I was doing constant face-palms throughout the movie from beginning to end.

Can we start with the gripes and complaints?

People can speak robot (beeping sounds) now?

Stormtroopers and tomboys can have instant Jedi skills now?

I'm sure it only took Luke Skywalker 1 minute to become a Jedi Knight. :eek:

Oh, BTW let's have a very fair Jedi light-saber fight between a Jedi-trained villain vs a stormtrooper and a tomboy who have never held a light saber in his/her hands before. :eek:

"OMG" and "Are you kidding me?" were the 2 phrases I kept repeating throughout the entire movie. :eek:

The plot was essentially identical to Episode IV minus the character development. The acting was lame.
 
Last edited:
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
Unlike the Previous Post: SPOILER ALERT --- Please do not read if you haven't seen the movie

..
...
....
.....
.......



Again DO NOT READ if you do not want spoilers:

..
...
....
.....

You already said "When" Apparently :eek:

  • Same issue on Kylo - He went from being able to stop a laser beam for minutes in the beginning of the film to getting owned in a light saber duel towards the end. The only way to explain part of the reason was that he was shot by chewey with a blaster and was still able to fight. That and I believe he was not a fully trained Jedi and had some major anger issues and conflicting feelings about daddy stabbing
  • Rey, yes that annoyed me to that she was able to pull the Light Saber from the ground and use the force to command dim witted storm troopers so quickly. I am hoping they go a little deeper into her back story in the next film which might explain that.
  • The Storm Trooper was a fully trained one, and you do not need to be a Jedi to use a light saber, though I am sure it helps. That I could understand. It was also shown in the beginning that Rey was pretty competent with her staff thing in the begging, so that does got a very tiny way to explain how she was able to hold her own, though even I admit it was a week defense
  • People could always speak Bleep / Bleep sounds, while Luke is shown in the V, VI looking at the X-Wing he was also shown understanding him in both empire strikes back and in Return of the Jedi.
  • The plot is very similar to V, but it also had it's differences. One can definitely draw the similar aspects, but also the differences. I do wish they would come up with a better weapon then a Death Star on Steroids, but the way in which they take this down is quite different
  • My biggest issue is with Han's death. It is treated as almost a non event, you would think that the movie series, arguably most popular, character would be given more of a send off after his death. I was very unhappy with the way they handled that, with the exception of Chewy going "animal mode"

I think that it was a very difficult position to be in, to bring back viewers to what made Star Wars great. I also believe what there were a lot of things that were suspect, there were a lot of good things to like about the movie. Not all the acting was bad, I thought Rey did a decent job, and Han and Chewy had much more interaction that previous movies which I enjoyed.

It's hard to come back to the original characters after about a 30+ year layoff and get both old SW and gain a new audience of young moviegoers. I think that was part of the downfall of making the movie, but I still feel that is fun and had to do the job of setting up the story for future movies.
 
Last edited:
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I can forgive minor plot holes because every movie seems to have them. But having this many plot holes is risible.

My wife says SW7 seems to be targeted at Disney kids. :D
 
Last edited:
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
You can't please EVERYBODY, though. :D

SW7 has already made over $1 billion worldwide at a record pace. So they must be doing something really right.

I'm just so spoiled with a lot of great TV shows and I'm judging these movies with the same high standards, which is not fair. :D

But I can't help it. I only do 1 standard, not double. ;)
 
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
Definitely can't please everyone and I can appreciate your reasons for not liking this movie. As for 1 standard, is that the same standard that says Terminator is 200% better with it's poor acting (Jai Courtney is just terrible), story, characters etc :p

I set reasonable expectations for the type of movies or TV I see so I guess I am a little more forgiving. I don't hold a movie like Godfather to the same standard as I do a Sci-Fi adventure. I expect a little better acting and story, so my standards would be higher without being double...just saying ;)
 
Last edited:
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Definitely can't please everyone and I can appreciate your reasons for not liking this movie. As for 1 standard, is that the same standard that says Terminator is 200% better with it's poor acting (Jai Courtney is just terrible), story, characters etc :p

I set reasonable expectations for the type of movies or TV I see so I guess I am a little more forgiving. I don't hold a movie like Godfather to the same standard as I do a Sci-Fi adventure. I expect a little better acting and story, so my standards would be higher without being double...just saying ;)
Yeah, you're right. There's definitely more than 1 standard. :)

I like the heck out of Terminator Genysis. I thought it was fun and didn't mind one bit any plot holes. :)

Still think Terminator Genysis is 100% better. :D

To be fair I went back and watched Return of the Jedi. And there were plenty of plot holes too. So I guess SW7 isn't that far off as far as that goes.
 
darien87

darien87

Audioholic Spartan
I thought it was Meh.

There is no reason to worry about spoilers with this movie as you already saw it 30 years ago. Once again a droid holds the secret that could save the universe. Once again the rebels must destroy the "Death Star" before it powers up and destroys their base. Gimme a break. "What will we do this time? I know let's make the Death Star even bigger!" Lame.

It was mildly entertaining but that's about it. I won't got all nuts like ADTG because Terminator Genisys was a nut-filled turd. About all I can say is that it was better than the prequels. But that's not saying much.
 
jinjuku

jinjuku

Moderator
I saw it. It gets a 6, maybe 6.5 from me. Too many re-tread plot lines. Really another bigger death star that can whack 5 planets at once?

You have 20 something year old Capital Ship commanders and 20 something year old leaders of the First Order.

I would have liked to see a grittier (E.S.B esque) treatment: The Empire is on it's heels but still incredibly powerful. There is obviously more Sith Lords than Palpatine. Luke has transitioned from a green around the color newly minted Jedi Knight to some approximation of a DIY Jedi Master with some initiates in tow and the back story of how he got there a.k.a some archaeological ramifications of unearthing repositories of Jedi Lore from millennia ago.

It lacked for me Gravitas. But I also understand that Disney is in this to present to the widest audience.
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Too many re-tread plot lines. Really another bigger death star that can whack 5 planets at once?
No doubt. Doubly so in the Death Star rehash since the writers had several alternatives from the Extended Universe to draw upon (Galaxy Gun, Sun Crusher, etc).

There is obviously more Sith Lords than Palpatine.
Always two there are; no more, no less. A master and an apprentice. Heck, when Darth Maul tried to get back into the game in the Clone Wars cartoon, Palpatine himself went to deal with the situation. That said, it's established in Star Wars:Rebels that there are several Inquisitors roaming around that could take up the mantle of power following Palpatine & Vader's death.
 

Latest posts

newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top