RicOlie_2

A Happy New Year to all of you!

Padme said:

I have met carrie fisher, Mark hamill, Billy dee williams, Ray park, anthony daniels, Peter mayhew, jj abrams, Jake Lloyd and Ahmed best. I think that’s it. Will post some pix next time. 😃

Lier. 😉

SilverWook said:

And Vader never held a blaster bolt in mid air like that. Ren’s potential is actually frightening.

Unlike many who dislike the film, I had no problem with that. I don’t think of Ren as being more powerful because of it, though. Perhaps different Force users tap into the Force in different ways. We never saw Vader zapping people with lightning, or Palpatine/the Emperor choking people. What cheapened him for me was his lack of proficiency with a lightsaber–against people who had never held one before.

You can be great at swinging a baton around, or shooting a gun, but be totally out of your depth with a sword. Finn and Rey had very little to no training with a sabre, while Ren almost certainly had some, yet he and Rey were equally matched, and even Finn held his own for a little while.

You’re not serious, are you?

I’m going to say that this is probably half of why I didn’t enjoy TFA:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/31/theres-a-scientific-reason-new-years-eve-is-generally-terrible/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na

I didn’t find the movie really absorbing. I spent too much time thinking about it while in the theatre. Whether this is TFA’s fault, or my own, or the fact that the movie wasn’t focused properly on the screen, or some combination thereof, I’m not sure. I think I would have enjoyed the film more had I not been analyzing it while watching it, simply because I wouldn’t have noticed the flaws so much.

I’ve missed the last few pages of discussion. Has this been brought up yet?

http://mashable.com/2015/12/31/star-wars-music-theory/#_bZtq8hIhmqM

The speculation about Snoke is particularly interesting, but hopefully not accurate. Unlike some people who have complained that there’s nothing memorable about the score of TFA, I think it was great.

Maybe have that laser bolt that Ren stops in middair fly off without hitting a target? It could reappear in a number of scenes on Jakku–especially if we see that planet again in the next movie.

I feel like that planet’s importance should have been emphasized far more. It’s destruction was virtually meaningless the way it was done in the movie.

That’s an interesting thought, and it makes a lot of sense if it turns out to be accurate.

Perhaps, but regardless, the fact that Rey was at least his equal in terms of both Force abilities and sabre skills makes him look pretty inept. It’s hard to see him as a threat when he’s so weak.

LuckyGungan2001 said:

I’m not sure if this is already a thread or not, but if it is, just link that thread in your reply. Anyway, some movies considered “bad” that I thought were pretty good were Star Trek Into Darkness, Man of Steel, Alien 3 and Prometheus. What about you guys?

Into Darkness has 4/5 stars on IMDB, so “generally considered bad” is a bit subjective there. I liked it as well, though, and I also liked the Hobbit trilogy, which a lot of Tolkien fans whined about.

TV’s Frink said:

For all the complaints about JJ recycling ANH, I think he does some really new stuff in this movie, and his depiction of Ren is one of those things. He’s a flawed villain, instead of a perfect villain. He clearly is strong in the Force but he can’t control it. His “temper tantrums” made perfect sense to me.

They made sense to me also. I really liked that scene where you expect him to force choke or otherwise kill that officer, but instead he throws a tantrum. That scene helped show that he isn’t just a clone of Darth Vader.

What made him look pathetic was the fact that Rey and even Finn were able to hold their own against him. Considering he is supposed to have killed a number of trained Jedi, and he has had actual training whereas Rey hasn’t, that cheapened his character for me.

I forgot about that. Maybe they can get water from underground on Jakku? Although if so, why would they bother with vaporators (unless those things are effective enough at collecting water that they’d rival a well)?

hydrospanner said:

RicOlie_2 said:

There were also little details in the movie that didn’t make sense, like that huge pig-thing that drank and wasted enormous amounts of water, which was no doubt precious, and had little conceivable purpose.

If you think about it I guess that makes sense, but wouldn’t the same apply for the dewbacks on Tatooine? And why do the Stormtroopers magically have one after landing to search for the escape pod? Were they really keeping them in captivity on the Star Destroyer to take with them on planetary missions?

Fair enough. I guess I never thought much about it because we didn’t see dewbacks drinking enormous quantities of water, so it could be assumed they don’t need much. Some lizards can drink the dew/rainwater that collects on their backs and is channeled to their mouths. I would imagine that that’s the origin of the dewback’s name–and perhaps its sole source of water (the fact that their are moisture vaporators on Tatooine hints at their being enough water in the atmosphere to keep humans and other animals going).

TV’s Frink said:

RicOlie_2 said:

TV’s Frink said:

What are the specific complaints regarding the pacing? Too fast? Too slow? I didn’t have an issue with it either time I saw it, nor did any of the top Hollywood editors I’m friends with. And I’m friends with most of them, although obviously I can’t name any of them.

I felt that it was way too fast-paced with no time to breathe during much of it, especially the beginning. Certain parts were OK (the section of the movie set at Maz’ castle wasn’t too bad), but overall, it felt like a rollercoaster ride with no time to enjoy the scenery.

What about all the time with Rey before she meets up with Finn? Plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and her performance.

That wasn’t too bad. It got worse around the time Finn started making his way through the desert, though. There was no sense of the passage of time. You don’t find your way to a settlement in a few hours when stranded in the middle of the desert, but that’s the impression I got–and maybe that’s what was intended.

There were also little details in the movie that didn’t make sense, like that huge pig-thing that drank and wasted enormous amounts of water, which was no doubt precious, and had little conceivable purpose.

TV’s Frink said:

What are the specific complaints regarding the pacing? Too fast? Too slow? I didn’t have an issue with it either time I saw it, nor did any of the top Hollywood editors I’m friends with. And I’m friends with most of them, although obviously I can’t name any of them.

I felt that it was way too fast-paced with no time to breathe during much of it, especially the beginning. Certain parts were OK (the section of the movie set at Maz’ castle wasn’t too bad), but overall, it felt like a rollercoaster ride with no time to enjoy the scenery.

But maybe I’m just old. ;P

Also, the destruction of Starkiller base seemed anticlimactic thanks to the way the third act was edited–though I didn’t immediately realize that the planet was crumbling due to the destruction of the oscillator (like we saw near the end of the lightsaber fight), or whatever happened, so the buildup is probably better than my impression of it was.

Alderaan said:

The editing in TFA was terrible. I had a conversation with a top Hollywood editor and he seemed offended I would think so and said I was wrong.

But I stand by my point. It’s downright terrible in TFA.

Agreed. The pacing and overall editing was honestly the worst part of the movie.

A number of things about this movie bothered me, and Leia/Carrie Fisher wasn’t one of them.

SilverWook said:

I honestly don’t recall how big the text version was. Just erring on the side of caution. If you find it, post it somewhere, (like off topic) and I’ll have a look. 😃

Oops, I missed that part.

Spare me, Silverwook, I beseech you! 😉

JEDIT: Scratch that…a temporary ban might do me some good. Don’t let me back for a couple weeks, at least. 😉

It was (copied from a post at the bottom of the page here):

antenna
window
window
window
balcony
window
window
window
balcony
window
window
window
retail shops
retail shops
parking
plaza
BUNNY

Why is it that Cumberbatch is just about the only actor that I almost always see as himself rather than whatever character he’s supposed to be playing?

I’ve seen it once outside of this forum, but IIRC, it was accompanied by an explanation (maybe it was one of us! 😉), so it isn’t widely understood…

And Chewie told him in ROTJ that Luke was a Jedi. I’m sure he accepted that by the end of the events in the movie. Not to mention numerous other things that TFA more or less explicitly revealed about his past.

Non-nerd!

…That doesn’t have quite the same effect as the non-less version of that.

(Oh, and Trandoshan = Bossk’s species)

I feel like it could be a trilogy, but not with that as the main plot. The second movie could culminate in the battle between Vader and Obi-Wan (perhaps Obi-Wan could be thought dead, so that his existence is a reveal in itself in ANH), with the third having something to do with Vader hunting down the Jedi. There’s no need to worry about his suit being spoiled for the OT, as it would be different, and only vaguely reminiscent of the one in the OT.