Darth Lars

Snoke getting himself projected extra large would certainly be in character for a megalomaniac ruler, user of the Dark Side or not.

In review threads, I have also seen a complains about the spaceships being ugly: especially the boxy Stormtrooper landing crafts and the craft
that Leia arrives in at Maz’s castle. A space ship in Star Wars should have large engines. Opinions I have seen have been mixed about Kylo Ren’s shuttle.
I think, if possible, the landing crafts could be augmented/replaced with new CGI of a craft more reminiscent of the Sentinel-class landing craft first seen in Shadows of the Empire and then in ANH-SE. The Sentinel-class is somewhat similar to the Lambda shuttle but smaller: the middle part is a box like the boxy landing craft in the movie - rotated 90 degrees so that the ramp is on the side. Cockpit to the left of the ramp, engines and folding wings to the right and a large fin on top of the box.
Alternatively, use reminiscent craft that carry the trooper-boxes underneath, dropping them when they are not far from the ground.

darth_ender said:

I’d probably suggest little trims in the rathtar scene, particularly how nice the one is to Finn to not devour him instantly as he did the others

On the other hand, the scene where Rey explains away her timing with the blast doors as “lucky” has been mentioned by many as being some of their favourite dialogue in the movie. And, others were also carried away by Rathars - it was not just Finn.

What I don’t like about that scene, however (apart from Han and Chewie being smugglers again, and the mirroring of ANH with them being wanted by gangsters whom they owe money…) is the shot of the Rathar rolling after Han, like the big ball in Indiana Jones. That reference takes me out of the movie a bit.

I don’t care that Snoke was CGI

I don’t care that he was CGI, but that the CGI wasn’t good enough to not look like CGI.

When I watched the movie, it wasn’t until the hologram was switched off that I realised that it had been a hologram of Snoke - that Snoke wasn’t a giant.
If the hologram was changed to get coarser scanlines and be more blue and translucent - like the holograms in the original trilogy - then that would
not only make it more apparent that it is a hologram: it would also hide the badness of the CGI.

I collect autographs - only Star Wars unmodified Original Trilogy and including both cast and crew.
So far I have got 29 different signatures spread out on two posters, all acquired in person of course, all at conventions. Carrie Fisher’s the only “big” actor though, and Ben Burrt’s the only “big” crew so far.

I have lost count on how many times I have crossed paths with Dave Prowse, Kenny Baker and Jeremy Bulloch at conventions. You see them often: signing autographs for money seems to be their only livelihood. They are very nice guys.
I’ve also seen Anthony Daniels five times - signing table and backstage: He has a bit of a bad reputation but I have not had any bad experiences with him myself.

I have actually met Don Bies twice (not at cons) but never asked for his autograph as he is only posing in Fett’s armour in the SE and was crew in the PT.
I have also met Ray Park (Darth Maul) a couple of times. Back when I started going to cons, I did get Andy Serkis’s signature but he does not count for me, because I see the TFA as an abomination.

JeppeHunden said:

• The Republic should not be resisting anyone in the beginning but Princess Leia (not general as it is a time of peace) is trying to warn politicians of the republic that something is wrong.

That’s the official story for the movie - It was just told really bad. There was supposedly a scene that was cut, with Leia’s envoy to the Republic senate on Hosnian Prime warning them and asking for support.
That envoy is the girl we see in closeup when the planet blows up.

TV’s Frink said:

what about having the charges Han and Chewie set blow up the oscillator (and the planet) […] ?

That wouldn’t destroy the whole planet. It’d take a thousand charges with more explosive power than I’ve…

I feel a lack of explanation to why it was important to find Luke Skywalker. Sure Leia wants to, but Leia can’t waste their meager resources on a personal quest. What would motivate them better would be, however, if it was made clear that the main threat in the story is associated with the Dark Side and that they need someone trained in The Force to deal with it.

One thing I have seen proposed in review threads is that the Starkiller Base would be not a new construction - but an ancient lost Sith artifact.
That would not only provide motivation for finding Luke Skywalker but also explain how The First Order could have got something that massive operational in secret and why Kylo Ren (a dark-side Force user) needed to be on it.

I think that the idea of the Starkiller Base firing at Hosnian Prime after the Resistance has started attacking it is a great idea. Having the Rebels lose the main objective would break up the story being such a mirror of A New Hope.
Having the superweapon be a one-shot “doomsday weapon” that would destroy itself would also help explain why Han, Chewie and Finn don’t encounter that much resistance on it.
It being secret would make it more plausible why the New Republic has not mobilized against it.
If the Republic did not know about it / being operational, it would provide Finn with a stronger reason for defecting and reach the Resistance: To warn them.

Other things already on my personal list are:

• Lots of people have complained about the Falcon taking too much of a beating when Rey flies it on Jakku.
  When the Millenium Falcon is bouncing against the ground, add a shimmering effect to make it appear like there is a deflector shield protecting it against the worst hits.
• Cut the shots of Finn using a lightsaber against Stormtrooper with lightsaber-deflecting baton. It should not be that easy for him to use it.
• Cut or shorten the shot with the chasm appearing right between the beaten Kylo Ren and Rey. It is too convenient and it looks fake. (I heard that in the novelization, Rey chooses to spare Kylo Ren’s life because the dark side has tempted her to kill him. There may be an alternate take with that theme being stronger on the BR).
• The ignition sound of the Skywalker lightsaber has been reported to be wrong.
• Take the opening theme from another movie’s soundtrack. People think it sounds weak compared to The London Symphony Orchestra.
• Make Han shout “Jacen” instead of “Ben”. 😉
• Max Landis (accomplished script writer and vlogger) has proposed that Kylo Ren would be self-destructive after killing his father, and should taunt Finn and Rey in the duel by shouting: “Come on: Kill Me!”
  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdEIzRUos4g)
• Cut the whole bit with the Rathars… It seems to me like it was put there only to be able to make a reference to Indiana Jones.
• Make the Starkiller fire one beam that hits one planet. Having the beams split up, each beam homing in on a different planet is just too implausible, over-the-top … It looks fanboyish. (That is, if it is going to fire at all)
• Cut many of Domhmnal Gleason’s lines. He sounds like too much like a nazi, too much like a character in a fan-film.

I feel ... wrong.

A part of me is telling me that I should be excited about the movie, and want to see it.

Yet... all I can feel is antipathy towards it. The trailer does not feel like Star Wars.

towne32 said:

http://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/lucasfilm/starwarstheforceawakens/swepvii-tlr2_h1080p.mov

Just because a link is named ".mov" does not mean that it is a ".mov" file, unfortunately. Apple is up to some shenaningans ...

I really hope that poster is fake. If there is going to be a DS3 then I'm going to puke!

Having the red lightsaber blade parallel to Rey's staff is really confusing to the eye, and should be something that a professional artist would not do. That should indicate that it is a fake.

However... I thought that the shots of the Ep3 Emperor's awful makeup were fake, and that Hayden inserted into ROTJ was fake, so I might be wrong.

Edit: Awww.. Goddamnit!

Ian McDiarmid was great in the prequels, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that he is a great actor. He has acted and sounded pretty much the same in everything I have seen him in.

I originally joined this board because I wanted to fan-edit Episode III. Back then I collected movies and TV-series with Ian McDiarmid just for collecting lines of him - and yes, all his characters' lines sound as if Palpatine delivered them.

BTW, there is also a lot of Liam Neeson's lines from other movies that you could reuse as lines for Qui-Gon Jinn. (Just add lightsabers to Batman Begins. :-þ ... ) Up to the point that he started channelling Charles Bronson, that is...

However it will be, I expect to see people on this forum present their fan-edits of it.
As with some of the previous movies, if the original sucks then I'll watch only the edits and hail them as the true versions. I do think that we could come to a consensus as to would be the movie's biggest violations and not make fan-edits that would differ too much overall.

Although... If TFA would be awful then that would also make me tone down my involvement in the fan community. For instance, I would not allow myself to be involved in any 501st troop that would promote the sequel trilogy.

TV's Frink said:

I agree.  The green lightsaber contrasting with the black outfit looks great.

Have the copper parts corroded that much now?

Not this resolution debate again... 

And also, streaming can not compare to disc. There are much lower bitrates for streaming than on discs and they are often adaptive to cope with changing network conditions, lag etc. 

I find it more likely that Max von Sydow is playing old Anakin (that somehow survived) than him playing Boba Fett. Max von Sydow is taller than Jeremy Bulloch and has more physical resemblance to Hayden Christensen and Sebastian Shaw than to Temuera Morrison or Daniel Logan.

... And before you flame me: when I say "more likely", mean just more likely, not that it is actually likely. I don't find either of these ridiculous ideas to be entirely implausible though, knowing Lucasfilm and Disney... I would boo out loud in the movie theatre if either idea wound up in the movie, and many would do so with me.

Edit: Frak this forum software that messes with font sizes all the time!!! How goddamn difficult is it going to be to write REGULAR text!? ARGH!"

For me who spent over a year building a replica, obsessing over every tiny detail, it is glaringly obvious that it is a rendering... The biggest "tell" is that the safety lever is on the wrong side.

But you did get many things right, that not all replicas do. Good job!

In the close-up of Darth Vader igniting Luke's lightsaber, the belt boxes are on backwards. The green lights should be near the belt buckle.

Haarspalter said:

Kyle Katarn stole the Death Star plans!

That is just one of maybe three or four (or more) stories in the EU, uh, sorry. "Legends", about how the plans were stolen.

imperialscum said:

I love his accent, a mix of Swedish and Italian. :D

 It sounds to me like he is purposely trying to sound as Swedish as possible. It is so horrible, I can't stand it.

TV's Frink said:

Darth Lars said:

Sure it is going to be available in 2D, if you don't mind travelling half an hour outside the city centre a week after the premiere to sit in a small shoe-box paying a premium to get a theatre experience that is no better than what you could get with BluRay at home once the disc has been released.

 You need to move to a bigger city.

Sure, but I'm already living in the biggest city in Northern Europe already.

But, also, it wasn't supposed to be this way. The movie was going to be shot on film stock - the traditional way. Never has there been any talk about 3D until they stuck it in at the end of the second teaser trailer. This was underhanded. This is betrayal.

Sure it is going to be available in 2D, if you don't mind travelling half an hour outside the city centre a week after the premiere to sit in a small shoe-box paying a premium to get a theatre experience that is no better than what you could get with BluRay at home once the disc has been released.

Seeing the movie on opening night with fellow Star Wars fans is important. There is the line, and the pre-party, and the activities before the theatre doors opens at midnight. Only real Star Wars fans go to see it at that time ... And then: "Here, let's put these goggles on you so you can't see the movie properly. You will hear the movie but left eye's image is blended into the image for the the right eye and vice versa and things seem to be at different depths but you can't focus so you get eye-strain and a head-ache, and your friend who doesn't have 20-20 vision like you can only see the movie with his left eye.".

F*ck you Lucasfilm and Disney. F*ck you to hell!

I think I understand now. Perfectly.

timdiggerm said:

 He's telling you that this thread asks for a favorite line, not a collection of several lines

Duh. You are so smart!

TV's Frink said:

 You're all over the highway, pick a lane.

Yet again, it is hard to figure out if you are pretending to not understand for purpose of being funny or if things are going over your head.

BTW, I don't lane.

In no particular order (or not):

"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"
"Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?" 
"You mentioned growth acceleration..."

"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. "
"He went down there, the other way."
"Back door, huh? Good idea!"
"I'm coming around. I'm coming around on your tail."
"There's an awful lot of moisture in here."
"Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care what you smell!"

"Again you come before me, Your highness" 
"Hey, Luke, thanks for coming after me -- now I owe you one."
"She's gonna blow!"

"Just keep me steady . . . hold on ... not yet. . . "
"Sorry about the mess..."
"I never knew I had it in me."
"I'd hoped you would be pleased."

I have been thinking of Marilu Henner as Mara Jade, but Patricia Tallman seems like a better choice.

When Denis Lawson said that he had turned down being in Ep VII because it was only going to be briefly - to show his face and have no lines, the first thought that came to me was that it was going to be a funeral. I thought it was going to be Lando's funeral, but since Lando's is not in the movie, and this being largely Han's movie, it being Han's funeral makes more sense.