Star Wars (WARNING SPOILER ALERT)

UNTexas · December 18, 2015

I just watched one of the best movies in a few decades and excuse me while I start a street riot. (When you watch you'll get why I'd go crazy.)

I'd climb under a rock if you wait to watch it and don't want someone to ruin it for you.

Great movie.

mattmartin817 · December 19, 2015

I just watched one of the best movies in a few decades and excuse me while I start a street riot. (When you watch you'll get why I'd go crazy.)
I'd climb under a rock if you wait to watch it and don't want someone to ruin it for you.
Great movie.

Agreed, saw it this morning and thought it was great. Perfect mix of the old story in with the new. No one I know has seen it yet and it's driving me bananas not being able to talk to anybody about it.

oldguystudent · December 19, 2015

Looks like available tickets abound today after the entire country saw it last night. I'm hearing very good things about it from people who soundly trashed those prequel abominations. I might go check it out.

CMJ · December 19, 2015

I think I'd rate it 5th in the series. Might move it up to fourth at some point...I need to see it more than once to really be able to place it. A lot of fun.

UNTcrazy727 · December 21, 2015

I just watched one of the best movies in a few decades and excuse me while I start a street riot. (When you watch you'll get why I'd go crazy.)
I'd climb under a rock if you wait to watch it and don't want someone to ruin it for you.
Great movie.

Tap the breaks

UNTexas · December 21, 2015

Tap the breaks

I love Star Wars and the prequels were garbage.

UNT 90 Grad · December 21, 2015

I really liked it. I want to go back and see it in 3D. The plot is a little meh and reminds me of a particular Star Trek sequel (not one of the JJ Abrams versions).

UNTcrazy727 · December 21, 2015

I really liked it. I want to go back and see it in 3D. The plot is a little meh and reminds me of a particular Star Trek sequel (not one of the JJ Abrams versions).

I would give it a B+. My biggest complaint is too many of the plot points were pulled directly from the original trilogy.

HoustonEagle · December 21, 2015

I went in with expectations that no movie could ever meet and that killed it a bit for me. I still enjoyed the ride.

A few thoughts. Don't watch it in 3D. I say this after any 3D movie I watch but I did not buy these tickets so beggars can't be choosers. Still 3D is a distraction that ruins a movie IMHO. The movie regurgitated some plot points from the previous movies but hey whatever, it's Star War, you can't take it too seriously. The blasters went pew pew and the light sabers did that awesome crackle so on that metric alone you will leave happy. Rey did a great job and is my new nerd crush. She will be taking roles from Keira Knightly very soon. All in all the casting was done pretty well. I thought they did a great job of working in the previous characters. The movie gets pretty campy at times but again it's Star Wars. It has always been campy. You absolutely should go see it but honestly I think you will enjoy the movie more if you let the hype die down first.

forevereagle · December 21, 2015

I enjoyed it. I thought it served its' purpose as an apology to fans and an invitation to come back. It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot of fun and made me look forward to the next 2.

oldguystudent · December 21, 2015

A friend who saw it before me told me to go in with the mindset that at its heart, it's a kid's movie. Don't go in expecting Lawrence of Arabia. So with proper mindset in place, I went, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. It was just a fun movie. Now if I were one of the unique individuals that reads Wookieepedia every night before going to bed, I might be disappointed, but I'm not one of those unique individuals.

Edited December 21, 2015 by oldguystudent

Cerebus · December 21, 2015

I think I'd rate it 5th in the series. Might move it up to fourth at some point...I need to see it more than once to really be able to place it. A lot of fun.

Which of the awful prequels did you place above this one? Either way you're wrong and possibly a terrible person, I just want to know exactly how to taunt you.

Don't go in expecting Lawrence of Arabia.

I am a huge Star Wars fans but if we're honest with ourselves the only one that good cinema is Empire.

Now if I were one of the unique individuals that reads Wookieepedia every night before going to bed...

I think the most exciting thing to me is that after Disney bought LucasArts and declared all the extended universe (hundreds of extra books and dozens of comics) Non Canon, they immediately turned around used a lot of the EU to create this first movie. I don't want to say too much and spoil anything, but the main bad guy, the main enemy weapon, the main crew of hero pilots, etc are all EU.

It gives my Star Wars Nerd Heart joy that some incredibly good things from the EU, like a certain a blue admiral, might come to film later on.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Cerebus
Invision hates weird alien names in URLs

FirefightnRick · December 21, 2015

Saw it in 3D last night...after the fam and I watched the previous 6 in a weekend marathon. 3D didn't add to it so it's not worth the extra money.

Overall the life likeness of the CG is the best by far, the acting was great. I didn't like one part of it at all...but the interest draw at the end was awesome, tying in the previous story was excellent and the unanswered questions left has me looking forward to the next one.

Rick

Harry · December 21, 2015

Really enjoyed this movie and got to watch it in 3D with my son. It takes a lot from the earlier movies but in a sense it had to to bridge everyone.. I felt like they had to pay homage to the older cast but like someone else stated there are a lot of interesting new characters. Loved Rey -- she was terrific.

Ending shot was extremely awesome and just excited the hell out of me about the next two. Can't wait to watch it again.

TIgreen01 · December 21, 2015

Saw it in 3D last night...after the fam and I watched the previous 6 in a weekend marathon. 3D didn't add to it so it's not worth the extra money.
Overall the life likeness of the CG is the best by far, the acting was great. I didn't like one part of it at all...but the interest draw at the end was awesome, tying in the previous story was excellent and the unanswered questions left has me looking forward to the next one.

Rick

My family and I watched 4-6 this weekend before seeing it. Wish I hadn't done that because this one wasn't quite as good as any of those, but it was better than the prequels. I agree with the posters that didn't like that nearly every major plot point was recycled. It felt like more of a reboot, honestly, than #7 in a series....but whatever, it was good.

#8 stands a chance to be much better than this one as they'll be able to move directly into new story telling territory and the old cast (outside of Luke) can take more of a backseat than they did in this one. Never thought I'd be saying that before seeing it....

Oh, and I love 3D. I buy most of the big blockbusters on Blu-ray 3D. This one, however, should not be seen in 3D. The lighting was often too dark and with the added darkness that you get with 3D from a projector, it made it difficult to tell what was happening in a few scenes. That said, it might be better at home on a brighter screen...

CMJ · December 21, 2015

Which of the awful prequels did you place above this one? Either way you're wrong and possibly a terrible person, I just want to know exactly how to taunt you.

:lol: We can go back and forth all day. If you want to fight it out in PM that is fine, but I don't seek to turn this into the equivalent of the politics thread.

oldguystudent · December 21, 2015

: but I don't seek to turn this into the equivalent of the politics thread.

So, when does this devolve into everybody calling everybody a bunch of idiots? I'd kinda like to see that.

CMJ · December 21, 2015

LOL, movie discussions can too. Trust me, I post on film boards as well!

UNTcrazy727 · December 21, 2015

40 Unforgivable Plot Holes

This article touches on a lot of issues I had with the movie. About half of his points are actually explained in the film or very nit-picky, but the other half are very valid and deserve criticism. We can openly discuss if the MODs want to add a spoiler tag to the thread title.

Harry · December 21, 2015

40 Unforgivable Plot Holes
This article touches on a lot of issues I had with the movie. About half of his points are actually explained in the film or very nit-picky, but the other half are very valid and deserve criticism. We can openly discuss if the MODs want to add a spoiler tag to the thread title.

I have added "Spoiler Alert" to the title of the thread.

Cerebus · December 22, 2015

:lol: We can go back and forth all day. If you want to fight it out in PM that is fine, but I don't seek to turn this into the equivalent of the politics thread.

It was faux aggression. I am honestly wondering which of the prequels you liked better that VII.

I have added "Spoiler Alert" to the title of the thread.

Since we gave gone spoilers hot: I thought it was really weird that they retconned Chewbacca into being a Ewok with a growth hormone issue... just a really strange choice.

CMJ · December 22, 2015

Current ranking: (I go back and forth on 2 & 3 once every few months)

I believe TFA could climb to #4 eventually, but I also might become more annoyed at my problems with it as time passes. Note, I enjoy the prequels much more than most people do. I could copy and paste thoughts I've typed to friends elsewhere (though I am not sure anyone here wants to get into the weeds of the plot like we have), but basically here's my main my main point: The prequels had amazing ideas marred by inconsistent execution (though I obviously think they're very good except for TPM, which even has its moments). This film has inconsistent and mostly recycled ideas propped up by great execution.

1.Empire Strikes Back
2.Revenge of the Sith
3.A New Hope
4. Attack of the Clones
5. The Force Awakens
6. Return of the Jedi
7. The Phantom Menace

Quoner · December 22, 2015

Te prequels had amazing ideas marred by inconsistent execution (though I obviously think they're very good except for TPM, which even has its moments). This film has inconsistent and mostly recycled ideas propped up by great execution.

This was only the second Star Wars movie with dialogue that didn't make me want to kill myself, so that's a huge positive for my personal rankings. I also like that you left yourself room to hedge - because if this setup goes in the right direction and they are using the familiar ideas of the first trilogy as a launching point for something else entirely, then I will be very happy and feel even better about having this movie 2 on my ranking list.

CMJ · December 22, 2015

This was only the second Star Wars movie with dialogue that didn't make me want to kill myself, so that's a huge positive for my personal rankings. I also like that you left yourself room to hedge - because if this setup goes in the right direction and they are using the familiar ideas of the first trilogy as a launching point for something else entirely, then I will be very happy and feel even better about having this movie 2 on my ranking list.

Of course I left room to hedge. The Big Lebowski wasn't even on my best films of 1998 list (even though i enjoyed it) seventeen years ago...now it's #6. I revisit movies and how I feel about them all the time.

I am not saying the SW flicks don't have issues, they always do (except for ESB which I almost consider a perfect movie). I love them warts and all. To me though, people largely underrate the prequels and overrate the originals. The originals were more "fun", but I think the prequels were more interesting from a narrative perspective.

Edited December 22, 2015 by CMJ

TIgreen01 · December 22, 2015

The prequels had amazing ideas marred by inconsistent execution (though I obviously think they're very good except for TPM, which even has its moments). This film has inconsistent and mostly recycled ideas propped up by great execution.

Well said. Don't agree with your rankings (except that ESB is the best SW movie---and by a mile, in my estimation), but you pretty well nailed the high level summary.