The Force Awakens - spoiler thread

[Arthur Wellesley]

A good addition to the Star Wars saga for sure, but a few changes I would have made:

-Improve the musical score!!! Nothing stood out in this movie music-wise. Sure, it had pleasant recaps of familiar tunes we've all heard before. But I was hoping for so much more in that aspect. How about a new catchy theme for the First Order, reminiscent of the awesome & time-tested feel of the Imperial March?
The scene where planets are being blasted one-by-one presented a grand opportunity for some memorable sad/dramatic music; something powerful such as when Order 66 was being carried out in Ep. 3. But no, we didn't get anything new or memorable with this film's score (imo). To me, a memorable score is crucial!

-Too soon for lightsaber-wielding Rey!! Sorry ladies, I know it's time for a female protagonist to step forward and go all Skywalker with a saber, kicking some serious dark side . And Rey is an ideal character to pick up this torch. However, the way it played out (once again, imo) just seemed so soon & rushed! It seemed like she barely knew she had the Force working through her, and *boom* she's out in the snow besting a nearly-trained Kylo Ren already. Sure he was wounded, but it still just seemed so rushed for her to even make it a close match against someone who has the training & implied history he does. Have her go through some training first, then I'll buy that. Regardless of how skilled she was with her metallic staff fending off ruffians back on Jakku, I found it very unbelievable she could master the art of lightsaber dueling so quickly. How ridiculous would it have looked if Luke was able to go head-to-head with Vader in ANH, and hold his own ground?

Here's the major change I would have made:
Have both Finn AND Rey get quickly bested by Kylo out in the snow. The moment the lightsaber is knocked into the snow, and Kylo is trying to retrieve it...a metallic hand reaches down & picks it up. There stands Luke Skywalker! He battles Kylo briefly, gets the upper hand...the ground splits...etc. Luke then takes Finn & Rey back to safety, then Rey to the planet where he's been hiding....leading up to the conclusion we reached with him & her there...
This would have pleased the fans wanting to see a little bit more Luke than the 30-seconds we did, and it also would have made Rey's evolution from scavenger to Jedi a lot more believable as she develops her skill in the films to come.

Just my two-cents.

 

[Disney Analyst]

A good addition to the Star Wars saga for sure, but a few changes I would have made:

-Improve the musical score!!! Nothing stood out in this movie music-wise. Sure, it had pleasant recaps of familiar tunes we've all heard before. But I was hoping for so much more in that aspect. How about a new catchy theme for the First Order, reminiscent of the awesome & time-tested feel of the Imperial March?
The scene where planets are being blasted one-by-one presented a grand opportunity for some memorable sad/dramatic music; something powerful such as when Order 66 was being carried out in Ep. 3. But no, we didn't get anything new or memorable with this film's score (imo). To me, a memorable score is crucial!

-Too soon for lightsaber-wielding Rey!! Sorry ladies, I know it's time for a female protagonist to step forward and go all Skywalker with a saber, kicking some serious dark side ***. And Rey is an ideal character to pick up this torch. However, the way it played out (once again, imo) just seemed so soon & rushed! It seemed like she barely knew she had the Force working through her, and *boom* she's out in the snow besting a nearly-trained Kylo Ren already. Sure he was wounded, but it still just seemed so rushed for her to even make it a close match against someone who has the training & implied history he does. Have her go through some training first, then I'll buy that. Regardless of how skilled she was with her metallic staff fending off ruffians back on Jakku, I found it very unbelievable she could master the art of lightsaber dueling so quickly. How ridiculous would it have looked if Luke was able to go head-to-head with Vader in ANH, and hold his own ground?

Here's the major change I would have made:
Have both Finn AND Rey get quickly bested by Kylo out in the snow. The moment the lightsaber is knocked into the snow, and Kylo is trying to retrieve it...a metallic hand reaches down & picks it up. There stands Luke Skywalker! He battles Kylo briefly, gets the upper hand...the ground splits...etc. Luke then takes Finn & Rey back to safety, then Rey to the planet where he's been hiding....leading up to the conclusion we reached with him & her there...
This would have pleased the fans wanting to see a little bit more Luke than the 30-seconds we did, and it also would have made Rey's evolution from scavenger to Jedi a lot more believable in the films to come as she develops her skill.

Just my two-cents.

Well, if Rey is possibly the daughter of a very powerful Jedi, or perhaps Jedi parents for all we know, I can see her being able to use a lightsaber and the force quite easily. She could be a lot more powerful then we or she knows. Perhaps this is the first Jedi of her kind, born with the skills just ready to burst force.

I still find her story very believable.

 

[TyTrap]

is there a rogue one thread?

 

[Arthur Wellesley]

Well, if Rey is possibly the daughter of a very powerful Jedi, or perhaps Jedi parents for all we know, I can see her being able to use a lightsaber and the force quite easily.

Luke is the son of one of the most powerful Jedi's to have ever lived. Yet even he had to develop his skill before being able to realistically stand a chance in hand-to-hand combat with a saber.

She could be a lot more powerful then we or she knows. Perhaps this is the first Jedi of her kind, born with the skills just ready to burst force.

This I could buy, especially seeing how quickly she was able to use the Force to successfully play mind games. If this is the case, I just hope it is explained a lot deeper in Ep. 8 to help patch-up the rushed feel of her development in TFA.

 

[fractal]

A good addition to the Star Wars saga for sure, but a few changes I would have made:

-Improve the musical score!!! Nothing stood out in this movie music-wise. Sure, it had pleasant recaps of familiar tunes we've all heard before. But I was hoping for so much more in that aspect. How about a new catchy theme for the First Order, reminiscent of the awesome & time-tested feel of the Imperial March?
The scene where planets are being blasted one-by-one presented a grand opportunity for some memorable sad/dramatic music; something powerful such as when Order 66 was being carried out in Ep. 3. But no, we didn't get anything new or memorable with this film's score (imo). To me, a memorable score is crucial!

-Too soon for lightsaber-wielding Rey!! Sorry ladies, I know it's time for a female protagonist to step forward and go all Skywalker with a saber, kicking some serious dark side ***. And Rey is an ideal character to pick up this torch. However, the way it played out (once again, imo) just seemed so soon & rushed! It seemed like she barely knew she had the Force working through her, and *boom* she's out in the snow besting a nearly-trained Kylo Ren already. Sure he was wounded, but it still just seemed so rushed for her to even make it a close match against someone who has the training & implied history he does. Have her go through some training first, then I'll buy that. Regardless of how skilled she was with her metallic staff fending off ruffians back on Jakku, I found it very unbelievable she could master the art of lightsaber dueling so quickly. How ridiculous would it have looked if Luke was able to go head-to-head with Vader in ANH, and hold his own ground?

Here's the major change I would have made:
Have both Finn AND Rey get quickly bested by Kylo out in the snow. The moment the lightsaber is knocked into the snow, and Kylo is trying to retrieve it...a metallic hand reaches down & picks it up. There stands Luke Skywalker! He battles Kylo briefly, gets the upper hand...the ground splits...etc. Luke then takes Finn & Rey back to safety, then Rey to the planet where he's been hiding....leading up to the conclusion we reached with him & her there...
This would have pleased the fans wanting to see a little bit more Luke than the 30-seconds we did, and it also would have made Rey's evolution from scavenger to Jedi a lot more believable as she develops her skill in the films to come.

Just my two-cents.

Great post - I agree with everything here. The musical score was underwhelming. I like your ending better - in fact I was sure Luke would appear during that battle.

 

[fractal]

and who was the guy in the beginning that gave Poe the map? Also felt Capt Phasma was a big letdown.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

slide down a dune on space garbage

Can that be a ride in Star Wars Land?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Also felt Capt Phasma was a big letdown.

I was disappointed she was only in the movie for what felt like 5 minutes in total.

 

[fractal]

again I agree with @Arthur Wellesley regarding Rey basically winning the battle with Kylo. I think the first scene of the movie tried to make a point how powerful Kylo was - I've never seen anybody freeze a blaster shot in mid-air and his back was to Poe as Poe shot. That one move made me feel "wow! this guy is Bad-". He also apparently slaughtered an entire class of other Jedi in training while under the eye of Luke. Way too fast for Rey to be able to battle him. The fight with Luke vs. Vader in Empire worked so well because you knew Luke wasn't ready (even with some training) and Vader was almost toying with him, testing him, even training him in a way; leading up to that great line "if only you knew the power of the dark side...". I thought you were going to get that type of moment when Kylo asked her to let him train her - but then she closed her eyes and magically became all powerful. Reminded me of pro wrestling when the good guy is getting wupped and all of sudden gains super strength from nowhere and comes back for the win.

 

[cjack300zx]

Same here who was the old man that gave Poe the map?

 

[TyTrap]

Lor san tekka he was the leader of that little village on jakku. Rumor has it he used to be the captain of that star destroyer that crash landed on jakku. So that would make him a former member of the empire.

Same here who was the old man that gave Poe the map?

 

[TyTrap]

again I agree with @Arthur Wellesley regarding Rey basically winning the battle with Kylo. I think the first scene of the movie tried to make a point how powerful Kylo was - I've never seen anybody freeze a blaster shot in mid-air and his back was to Poe as Poe shot. That one move made me feel "wow! this guy is Bad-****". He also apparently slaughtered an entire class of other Jedi in training while under the eye of Luke. Way to fast for Rey to be able to battle him. The fight with Luke vs. Vader in Empire worked so well because you knew Luke wasn't ready (even with some training) and Vader was almost toying with him, testing him, even training him in a way; leading up to that great line "if only you knew the power of the dark side...". I thought you were going to get that type of moment when Kylo asked her to let him train her - but then she closed her eyes and magically became all powerful. Reminded me of pro wrestling when the good guy is getting wupped and all of sudden gains super strength from nowhere and comes back for the win.

I thought of John cena when that happened. Kylo was like the heel and Rey just had that ultimate babyface come back that couldn't be stopped.

 

[fractal]

The more I think about this movie the more problems I have with it. Was JJ trying too hard to return the SW magic of the Original trilogy that he basically made a remake of A New Hope?

Too much "nicey-nice" among the characters. The Leah I remembered would have spit venom at Han when she first sees him after he left her for who knows how long. I wanted to see that interplay, even an argument blaming each other regarding Ben. The instant smile and nice talk made it boring to me and unrealistic. Even the scene with Han and his Son - so much opportunity for Ben blaming Han for being a lousy Dad - Han firing back "maybe I was a bad Dad but that doesn't mean you go slaughter people, etc". Get into a real thick meaningful Father and Son thing. Finally Ben thanking Han for helping him find his true "dark" self - his pretty face being the real helmet that hid what he was etc. so much potential lost! As a Father and Son myself, those type of scenes in movies always choke me up. This one really didn't.
I also wanted to see real grieving from Chewie which we never got.

All the talk about real sets ( which I loved!) but the bad CGI of Snoke stuck out to me, and how often he appeared.

Adam Driver was the best part of the movie for me - I wanted to know more about him.

I thought Han and Chewie deserved much better than to turn back into a life of smuggling. The entire trilogy you see Han slowly go from being a selfish, reckless pirate to a selfless, responsible leader and human. The last part of the final battle in ANH, when all is lost until Han comes back to knock Vader's ship out - that meant so much because we all thought he sold out and stayed a smuggler. JJ threw that all out the window and it kinda ed me off.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Rey already had years of experience with a weapon that can be utilized in a manner similar to a sword fighting off the thugs of Jakku.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

So the people on another forum deleted my post basically. I have a question for the knowledgeable Star Wars fans...

Was the guy who the female wanted to give the blue thing to Luke?

I'm not an avid Star Wars fan but I just wanted to know since I watched the movie! Trying to follow along.

 

[fractal]

So the people on another forum deleted my post basically. I have a question for the knowledgeable Star Wars fans...

Was the guy who the female wanted to give the blue thing to Luke?

I'm not an avid Star Wars fan but I just wanted to know since I watched the movie! Trying to follow along.

I'm not sure what part you are referring to. When did this occur?

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

I'm not sure what part you are referring to. When did this occur?

Very last scene where guy was standing with a hoodie on and turned around with a dramatic stare as Reya tried to hand the guy the thing.

 

[fractal]

Very last scene where guy was standing with a hoodie on and turned around with a dramatic stare as Reya tried to hand the guy the thing.

Yes - that's Luke Skywalker. Rey was handing him his Lightsaber.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Yes - that's Luke Skywalker. Rey was handing him his Lightsaber.

Thank you. I appreciate your help.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I didn't have a problem with Kylo Ren being beaten by Rey. Chewie shot Kylo Ren in the gut with his crossbow blaster only moments before. All other people on the receiving end were killed and blasted back with tremendous force. So by the time he faced Finn and Rey, it was remarkable that Ren was still alive, let alone conscious, moving and able to duel. There is no question that he is only functioning at a tiny fraction of his normal skill and power in the duel. He's bleeding severely and clearly in an immense amount of pain. He hits himself near the wound several times during the battle likely to maintain feeling and control. The pain also surely hampered his focus needed to use the force.

I do not mistake his defeat as weakness, or as exceptional skill from Rey. If anything his will to continue fighting in spite of his injuries was rather intimidating. He is lucky to be alive yet still manages to beat Finn. Even Rey didn't have an easy time beating Ren, and that was with Ren having another fresh lightsaber slash to is arm. While Rey is obviously a skilled combatant (and I suspect there's more to her than meets the eye, especially her clouded memories of early childhood), Ren's injury is really the only reason she managed to beat him at her current level. Uninjured, Kylo Ren would have crushed them easily.