Star Wars E7: The Force Awakens- NOW WITH POLL

[toadwbg]

Added a Poll. I give TFA an 8 out of a possible 10.

[Bigasshammm]

Gave it a 6.

Would probably slot it in as the 5th best SW movie.

IV

V

III

VI

VII

II

I

I do really like 3 because of the darkness of it all. The only thing keeping 3 back from being truly great is Hayden Christensen. Otherwise it's the best prequel by far.

VI would be ahead of III if you're basing it on the original and not the special edition. But all the changes in the special edition and especially bluray drop it.

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

Okay, I've got to speak up on the Not-Developed-Enough bit. When the very first came out (E4 to you younglings under age 35 :) ) there was a LOT of development yet to come. That came with Empire Strikes Back. Heck, even The Force was barely shown at all, except during the brief training bit aboard the Falcon, and in the trench...but still one did not TRULY "get" much of it.

Then, in the beginning of Empire Strikes Back, when Luke is frozen to the roof of the predator's lair, when he reached out his hand and commanded the lightsaber to come to him, THAT was a big eye-opener to most of us. We all realized right away what it was, but before that we had no idea that was one of the possibilities, and it was a very powerful moment which is now too easily overlooked.

The first time we really sense just how huge the Dark Side is, how overwhelming and overpowering it is, is during the duel when all the machinery starts jumping off the wall and ends up blowing Luke out the window. THAT was a HUGE eye-opener, realizing just how strong and adversary "we" were up against, and not just a really good swordsman.

So, don't forget the original film could also be considered underdeveloped. I think to have tried to develop all that would have been to force it in, to change the pace and kill the storytelling.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy

[toadwbg]

Okay, I've got to speak up on the Not-Developed-Enough bit. When the very first came out (E4 to you younglings under age 35 :)/>/>/> ) there was a LOT of development yet to come. That came with Empire Strikes Back. Heck, even The Force was barely shown at all, except during the brief training bit aboard the Falcon, and in the trench...but still one did not TRULY "get" much of it.

Then, in the beginning of Empire Strikes Back, when Luke is frozen to the roof of the predator's lair, when he reached out his hand and commanded the lightsaber to come to him, THAT was a big eye-opener to most of us. We all realized right away what it was, but before that we had no idea that was one of the possibilities, and it was a very powerful moment which is now too easily overlooked.

The first time we really sense just how huge the Dark Side is, how overwhelming and overpowering it is, is during the duel when all the machinery starts jumping off the wall and ends up blowing Luke out the window. THAT was a HUGE eye-opener, realizing just how strong and adversary "we" were up against, and not just a really good swordsman.

So, don't forget the original film could also be considered underdeveloped. I think to have tried to develop all that would have been to force it in, to change the pace and kill the storytelling.

Great points, and I agree. Furthermore I didn't really understand the power of the Dark Side and the Sith rule of 2 until meeting the Emperor in ROTJ. When the hologram of the Emperor showed up in ESB, I remember thinking, "Whaaaaa?, Vader bows before this guy?"- totally confused. And seeing the back of Vader's head in his meditation chamber gave me the creeps, even nightmares back in 1980 when I was about 7 years old.

BTW, that Emperor Hologram was re-done for the Star Wars Blue Ray release(maybe earlier)to better tie into the prequel Trilogy. The original version can be found here:

EDIT: Looks like there were maybe 3 different versions, the original 1980 version (actually a woman with a partial :monkeydance:/> face), a 2004 DVD release, and the 2011 Blue-Ray release that was tweaked again with dialog change. George just couldn't resist tweaking things... :deadhorse1:/>

Edited December 20, 2015 by toadwbg

[Don]

I gave it a 9 . A solid movie IMHO. Hey, it kept the kids quiet which is more then most movies do ;) .

[Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy]

And seeing the back of Vader's head in his meditation chamber gave me the creeps, even nightmares back in 1980 when I was about 7 years old.

Oh, I remember what a huge commotion that caused!! I was 9 when Empire came out; before that, with only the original film to go by, we kids often had discussions and arguments over whether Vader was a robot or not (same with the stormtroopers, for that matter). Suddenly seeing the pink of his flesh made it clear he was not only human, but also something far more sinister.

So, I repeat, one should NOT necessarily develop right from the beginning. Not only does it kill the pacing and storytelling, but it's not realistic. Heck, anyone who's married knows it takes YEARS to figure out who in the heck this was we married...and sometimes we're still in for shocks. Okay, hopefully just surprises instead of shocks....

...okay, you younglings who did not grow up with the original films being released, pay close attention to your elders in these matters, you should!!! :)

Edited December 20, 2015 by Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy

[Bigasshammm]

The arm being cutoff in the cantina always grossed me out when I was a kid. Sub 10 years old.

[Steve N]

My comments on the lack of character development weren't intended as a criticism per se, just an expression of my personal preference. No movie is going to live up to anyone's expectations, and that's multiplied exponentially for a Star Wars film. I enjoyed it, and plan to see it again. Any criticisms I have are relatively minor, and come down mostly to my own preferences and opinions. I like that they left a fair number of unanswered questions..sets up the next film nicely. One of the biggest complaints I always heard about Empire was the lack of a proper ending, but people forget that the whole point of Star Wars was to be a throwback to the old movie serials, which always ended on a cliffhanger.

As Andrew mentions, there's plenty of time to give more depth to the story and characters in future films..in fact I like the fact that they deliberately built in some room for growth. In the original trilogy, what became Ep.IV was made as a stand-alone film, because before it was released there wasn't much confidence that there would be a sequel. Ep.V was probably the closest to what the franchise was intended to be. There were supposed to be several more films following Luke's growth as Jedi leading up to his final showdown with the Emperor and the destruction of the Empire, but after Ep.V everyone involved was so sick of the franchise they decided to just wrap everything up in one film with as little effort as possible. And of course the prequels were hamstrung by the fact that the basic story arc was already laid out: Anakin falls to the dark side and leads a Pogrom against the Jedi, and has a big fight with Obi Wan that leaves him disfigured, while the Republic falls and is replaced by the Empire. Now for the first time since Ep.V, the franchise has free reign to go in any direction, without having to inevitably lead to any pre-ordained conclusions.

SN

[Darren Roberts]

Moved to the spoiler zone!

Edited December 21, 2015 by Darren Roberts

[Crazy Snap Captain]

I watched it for a second time tonight and loved it even more. Apart from Ep. 1 and the Ewoks from Ep. 6 I've enjoyed all the SW films. I've largely stayed away from fan fiction and the whole Expanded Universe, so maybe that helps.

I reckon JJ has done a terrific job.

[caiotfjr]

I saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, there were some times that I thought they "borrowed" too much from the original (the trench run comes to mind), but overall it did what it was intended to do...bring Star Wars back on track. There is one point I'd like to discuss, but it's kind of a spoiler, so I will place WAY FAR DOWN FROM HERE. If you don't want to know my theory, DON'T LOOK!

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Everyone seems to think that Rey is Han and Leia's daughter (a twin to Ren), but in watching the movie, I was thinking she might be Luke's daughter. R2 has been dormant ever since Luke left. But then Rey really taps into the Force in her battle with Ren. When they all return to the Resistance base, R2 suddenly wakes up and provides the rest of the map to Luke, and Rey is able to find him. Also, there's no mention of twins in any of the discussion between Han and Leia. I could be completely wrong, but it just seems there's a dynamic happening between Rey and Luke, especially since Luke's lightsaber was calling out to her.

For obvious reasons, Rey isn't Leia's daughter. It isn't the same situation as Luke and Leia, as Padme died after giving birth to them. Leia is still alive, so she would have known if she had a daughter. Specially one so sensitive with the Force, like Leia

We all want to know if there's a relationship between Luke and Rey, but in the best scenario, that will only happen in 2017...

[jinmmydel]

I like how the thread is tagged "no spoilers" yet...spoilers...spoilers everywhere.

I am in the Rey is Luke's daughter camp, but it's possible she is Han and Leia's....they could have sent her away to protect her from Kylo...though the actors looks a little close in age for that possibility...at least for Kylo not to know he has a sister.

[Darren Roberts]

I like how the thread is tagged "no spoilers" yet...spoilers...spoilers everywhere.

I am in the Rey is Luke's daughter camp, but it's possible she is Han and Leia's....they could have sent her away to protect her from Kylo...though the actors looks a little close in age for that possibility...at least for Kylo not to know he has a sister.

I just figured that the "no spoilers" pertained to the orignial poster, not to others. :D

[toadwbg]

I just figured that the "no spoilers" pertained to the orignial poster, not to others. :D/>

Dang kids, can't keep a secret!

Was going to start a new thread with a movie review and let it be spoiler-a-rama. Can you guys delete your spoilers above and re-post when we have the new thread?

[GreyGhost]

There is the "spoiler" tool in the "other styles" drop down menu.

It's on the upper left of the posting page.

See, pretty neat huh?

-Gregg

[Darren Roberts]

Dang kids, can't keep a secret! :bandhead2:/>

Was going to start a new thread with a movie review and let it be spoiler-a-rama. Can you guys delete your spoilers above and re-post when we have the new thread?

:deadhorse1:/>

Will do!