The Force Awakens: Official Review Thread - ** SPOILERS ** — Page 25

pittrek said:

Was the “who are you ? I am noone” bit from the trailer(s) in the movie?

No. It’s probably from the 20 min. they cut.

EDIT: According to the novelization they seem to have cut quite a lot from that part of the film.

Jay said:

It was kind of depressing to watch all the trailers again, because the trailers are excellent.

Agreed…

The Japanese trailer was the best. I also wished the score was something like that, new and soulful.

Jay said:
It was kind of depressing to watch all the trailers again, because the trailers are excellent.

I don’t share your disappointment in TFA, but you just reminded me of how amazing the Phantom Menace trailer was. Remember how cool it was? The Internet was still in its infancy so people were queuing up and paying to see a movie and leaving after the trailer…

…then the film came out.

ZkinandBonez said:

pittrek said:

Was the “who are you ? I am noone” bit from the trailer(s) in the movie?

No. It’s probably from the 20 min. they cut.

EDIT: According to the novelization they seem to have cut quite a lot from that part of the film.

Is the novelisation worth a read? I’m curious about these missing bits.

TV’s Frink said:

Yoda Is Your Father said:

Jay said:
It was kind of depressing to watch all the trailers again, because the trailers are excellent.

I don’t share your disappointment in TFA, but you just reminded me of how amazing the Phantom Menace trailer was. Remember how cool it was? The Internet was still in its infancy so people were queuing up and paying to see a movie and leaving after the trailer…

…then the film came out.

I’m one of those idiots who saw TPM multiple times in the theater because I enjoyed it. I don’t know what I was thinking, and I hope that doesn’t happen again…

I remember sitting in the the cinema trying to convince myself I was enjoying it. I couldn’t fully accept that it was terrible. It was only when I bought the VHS that I fully realised it sucked. I’ve only seen Episodes 2 and 3 once each and have no desire to ever watch them again.

But the TPM trailer was decent 😃 Now I’ve seen TFA I’m interested to go back and watch the trailers that I initially avoided for fear of spoilers.

Yoda Is Your Father said:

ZkinandBonez said:

pittrek said:

Was the “who are you ? I am noone” bit from the trailer(s) in the movie?

No. It’s probably from the 20 min. they cut.

EDIT: According to the novelization they seem to have cut quite a lot from that part of the film.

Is the novelisation worth a read? I’m curious about these missing bits.

I haven’t actually read the book. I’ve only read a lot of plot summaries/reviews and they all mention that there’s a lot more “lore” information. Plus there’s a whole sequence with Unkar Plutt in Kanata’s castle. Which judging by BTS footage they did shoot it.
However, as soon as it’s available where I live I’m getting a copy.

Jay said:

In the second teaser trailer, Luke says, “The Force is strong in my family. My father had it, I have it, my sister has it…you have that power, too.”

It didn’t appear in TFA, so maybe we’ll see it in VIII, and while it’s not definitive, it does imply a familial connection between Luke and Rey. (It’s clearly a new recording of Hamill’s voice, and my assumption is that it’s being spoken to Rey.)

It was kind of depressing to watch all the trailers again, because the trailers are excellent.

It also clearly implied that we would get to see Leia use the force.

I’ll probably get to see it again with my sisters this upcoming week, but to be honest I don’t think my opinion will change very much.

Though it will be nice to read the novelization by Alan Dean Foster…next month. (Grr.)

But to me, TFA gave me nothing much really–and particularly no spirit nor the feeling that anything new was happening. At least we got this in ROTJ and even the prequels to a much much lesser extent. And what they did do has been done time and time again in the EU over the years with varying degrees of success. Luke has lost countless apprentices and faced numerous dark threats as have everyone else and they gave them believable outcomes that usually reflected the aftermath of the OT very well.

Not for a minute did I buy what goes on in TFA. Han runs off for 20+ years? Leia gives up on the NR government and becomes a General? Luke pulls a SUPERMAN RETURNS but primarily because he’s hurt and ignores the raging galactic war? There’s a random Imperial presence? And a new Dark Lord figure out of nowhere?

Damn…and I thought the NJO was overdone. Time to go back to EU land. To me, TFA underlined my love of the Expanded Universe, and to me it is always canon–not “Legacy”. TFA is an alternate universe in my mind–not just because the fastest draw in the galaxy wouldn’t go down so poorly.

Hands up for all those who feel this new villain rightfully deserved a face full of DL-44?

All my nitpicks and problems aside…it just didn’t have the spirit of STAR WARS. The stuff that grabbed us in the original film and the best of the EU; the spark, the spirit of adventure, the TLC given by nerds in a garage sticking together model kits at breakneck speed, Gary Kurtz and others having to race to finish directing second and third unit insert shots, the intrinsic flaws, the ties to real-life shared experiences, the yearning for something more…in short the Damn Fool Idealistic Crusade.

Since spinoffs are now a bigger thing, that’s the picture I’d make if given the chance. Obi-wAn’s Damn Fool Idealistic Crusade.

I honestly found this movie really irritating. It’s more watchable than the prequels but so much of it just pissed me off. Kylo Ren is a brat with a tendency to throw temper tantrums, and his whole character is an uncompelling version of Darth Vader. He looks like a member of the Who and when he inevitably redeems himself in the third part of this trilogy, it’s going to be pretty impossible for me to buy it. Also, how many times are they going to build a damn Death Star? That being said I did enjoy it to a degree, I just really wanted it to be better, and overall I think I’d give it a 4.5 or a 5/10

This movie was lightyears ahead of the prequels, which let’s keep in mind is not impressive given the quality of the PT. After being really pretty angry after leaving the theatre I started to mellow out, but now I’m pissed off again; maybe it’s just because I’m bipolar. I actually think that Han Solo’s demise is what ruined the movie for me. I’m not bothered by the fact he was killed, I just hated that it was so pointless and ultimately lame (in my opinion of course). It wasn’t heroic and it wasn’t with a fight, it was just his dumbass son being a coward and liar. It really soured the movie for me because up until that point it had been pleasant enough (although pretty shallow), but that just made me so mad that I couldn’t help but rip apart the movie for all of the problems that I had noticed but was willing to forgive before then. This is a sad comparison but it really reminds me of Halloween Resurrection starring Busta Rhymes, where the beloved main character of the franchise was killed in a completely anticlimactic way. I also will agree that with the exception of the Empire’s design and the callbacks, it really didn’t feel like Star Wars. It just felt really off and almost completely lacked all of the religious element regarding the force specifically that the OT had, even going so far as to attach some sort of cosmic importance to Luke’s blue lightsaber, which neither Luke or Vader cared about losing in Empire so it couldn’t have been that important. I did enjoy some of the humor though.

I think the ultimate problem that keeps this movie from being enjoyable for me is that I don’t think Star Wars translates well into the 21st century. The visuals, other than recycled designs from the OT, just did not feel like Star Wars to me. Maybe it just all looked too polished or something. All of the aliens (again, other than the recycled designs and the old lady) just looked fat and ugly and lacked all charm of the original cantina scene. Star Wars and Empire just scream 1970s filmmaking, even though Empire came out in 1980 it was still filmed in 1979. That look of Star Wars and Empire just seems so real and quaint compared to this and I think that its budget and popularity have just made it too big for its own good. I’m not even sure if any of that makes sense as it’s 5:00 in the morning and I’m exhausted, so forgive if it sounds contrived.

I really hate that I’m being so hard on this film because I really did want to love it, and for a little bit I thought I would, but I just can’t get past all of the problems I had with it. Maybe it will grow on me

moviefreakedmind said:

I think the ultimate problem that keeps this movie from being enjoyable for me is that I don’t think Star Wars translates well into the 21st century. The visuals, other than recycled designs from the OT, just did not feel like Star Wars to me. Maybe it just all looked too polished or something. All of the aliens (again, other than the recycled designs and the old lady) just looked fat and ugly and lacked all charm of the original cantina scene. Star Wars and Empire just scream 1970s filmmaking, even though Empire came out in 1980 it was still filmed in 1979. That look of Star Wars and Empire just seems so real and quaint compared to this and I think that its budget and popularity have just made it too big for its own good. I’m not even sure if any of that makes sense as it’s 5:00 in the morning and I’m exhausted, so forgive if it sounds contrived.

I get what you’re saying, actually. But short of JJ shunning modern cameras and effects and only using outdated techniques from the 70s, what are you gonna do? I’d go see a 100% retro Star Wars VII with models and matte paintings but I don’t think modern audiences would accept that, which would mean the film would flop and episodes VIII and IX would never happen.

One thing I do think they could have done is stick to puppets instead of CG characters. That would have made it feel more like Star Wars, in my opinion.