Star Wars VII Has Begun Filming

[Larz]

I agree. I really liked the movie a lot. I think Rey is a great character and I have no issues with her being the lead.

the key to most movies is you have to care what happens to the characters or nothing works.  I cared about rey.  that was cool

[prime21]

During Fitzpatrick post game interview you can hear someone's phone with the R2D2 sounds.

[drdetroit]

I honestly wish I had enjoyed it more. The hype and bs set ridiculous expectations. There are parts, moments of the movie that make it worth watching again, and at least it looked and sounded like a Star Wars film.

 

Specific criticism will wait for obvious reasons, and I will be watching it again (This time with my brother, and not the wife and kids), but now I can just sit and relax and watch without overwhelming hype, hope, and expectations (and without the shock/anger reaction) that I had the first showing.

 

That being said, the financial success of this will guarantee more SW films in the future, with various direction and less franchise-carrying weight, so in that end, this movie is a worthwhile and successful endeavor.

I'm going to give it a second viewing but I thought it was good, not great.

In its defense the expectations were astronomical.

 

[drdetroit]

On another note, one movie that I think demands a remake is The Last Starfighter.

 

I think it could be a great flick.

agreed. It would also be great to see a Willow remake.  Was so much better than LOTR

[drdetroit]

There is sooooooo much hype about this movie, it's almost impossible to live up to expectations.

yeah but even still.  I felt like I was watching a reboot of episode IV.

 

 

Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot was far superior.  That movie had a lot of nostalgia too but was nothing like any previous Star Trek show or movie.

[Larz]

"The Force Awakens" garnered a solid "A" CinemaScore and a near perfect 95% score on RottenTomatoes.com.

critic score of 95%,

Average Rating: 8.3/10

Reviews Counted: 275

Fresh: 261

Rotten: 14

 

 

audience score of 93%

holy bantha sh*t batman

[RutgersJetFan]

[SMC]

Definitely better second time around for me. Liked it Thursday night with buddies, loved it Saturday morning with son and going to see it again this weekend.

Being essentially a remake of a new hope is not a bad thing. This is Star Wars. Nostalgia matters. With the hype, they were never selling this as some brilliant piece of film making. They were saying, "Oh sh*t, this is Star Wars you loved a long time ago and it's back!" They were and are selling Star Wars and JJ Abrams nailed it.

Lucas hates actors (he's said that) and lost sight of the fact that characters matter in prequel trilogy. Like he did with Star Trek JJ gave us people to care about.

[Snell41]

He couldn't possibly have done a better job blending the old characters with the new, and in a way that passes the torch to those new characters seamlessly.  That was a seriously tall task, because no doubt there was going to be resistance to the new characters if there was even a semblance of a flaw.  There are things I wished they developed a little deeper that I can't speak about, but this is Star Wars.  It's not Oscar worthy acting, it never was and never should be.  It has to be relatable and simplistic enough for a 7 year old to kind of follow along and understand, and it has to be complex enough for an adult to be entertained as well.   If you go too deep with the acting and characters you're going to lose the young audience because they won't be able to follow along.  It was a perfect blend, and it has laid the foundation for the story to take shape, and the meaning of the characters to really develop over the next movie/movies. 

[Integrity28]

The little boy in the theatre behind me, who was wearing a home-made Yoda robe like his big brother, was hyperventilating during some parts. 

I was hyperventilating during all of it.

Joking aside, it was everything I hoped it would be... I wanted to feel like a kid again, but I didn't want to be pandered to. I wanted to look across at my wife and parents, and see awe and pure enjoyment on their faces (because I'm the superfan in the family, but they wanted to experience this with me). I wanted familiar Star Wars aesthetics and canon, but also new textures, sounds, interest and intrigue. I wanted to see my old friends, but I wanted to make some new ones too.

Most of all, I didn't want to walk out feeling like the people behind the story no longer understood why I love the story. 

When the opening text popped up on the screen, I muttered "I have goosebumps all over my body." My wife and the guy next to me cracked up. There's more I'd love to talk about here... but I don't want to just yet. I want to do my part to keep it pure for those that have yet to see it.

[Snell41]

The little boy in the theatre behind me, who was wearing a home-made Yoda robe like his big brother, was hyperventilating during some parts. 

I was hyperventilating during all of it.

Joking aside, it was everything I hoped it would be... I wanted to feel like a kid again, but I didn't want to be pandered to. I wanted to look across at my wife and parents, and see awe and pure enjoyment on their faces (because I'm the superfan in the family, but they wanted to experience this with me). I wanted familiar Star Wars aesthetics and canon, but also new textures, sounds, interest and intrigue. I wanted to see my old friends, but I wanted to make some new ones too.

Most of all, I didn't want to walk out feeling like the people behind the story no longer understood why I love the story. 

When the opening text popped up on the screen, I muttered "I have goosebumps all over my body." My wife and the guy next to me cracked up. There's more I'd love to talk about here... but I don't want to just yet. I want to do my part to keep it pure for those that have yet to see it.

This sums it up perfectly.  It gave that feeling from start to finish.  None of the prequels did that.  When the opening text started you literally felt the magic happening.  You were in it, and it delivered that feeling from start to finish.

[SMC]

The little boy in the theatre behind me, who was wearing a home-made Yoda robe like his big brother, was hyperventilating during some parts. 

I was hyperventilating during all of it.

Joking aside, it was everything I hoped it would be... I wanted to feel like a kid again, but I didn't want to be pandered to. I wanted to look across at my wife and parents, and see awe and pure enjoyment on their faces (because I'm the superfan in the family, but they wanted to experience this with me). I wanted familiar Star Wars aesthetics and canon, but also new textures, sounds, interest and intrigue. I wanted to see my old friends, but I wanted to make some new ones too.

Most of all, I didn't want to walk out feeling like the people behind the story no longer understood why I love the story. 

When the opening text popped up on the screen, I muttered "I have goosebumps all over my body." My wife and the guy next to me cracked up. There's more I'd love to talk about here... but I don't want to just yet. I want to do my part to keep it pure for those that have yet to see it.

Great post.  It was Star Wars and it felt like it.  When I took my son to it on Saturday morning, there was a great crowd.  They cheered at the Lucasfilm opening and the Star Wars opening text.  There was audible laughs and gasps and then at the Rey part everyone went crazy.  It was communal.  

The Thursday night crowd was like a film critic study, everyone quite until the applause at the end.  It was as if everyone was afraid to feel because of the prequel scars.

 

[RutgersJetFan]

The Thursday night crowd was like a film critic study, everyone quite until the applause at the end.  It was as if everyone was afraid to feel because of the prequel scars.

Most definitely and I was one of them. Entire theater was like that. Cheered when the music queued in but a very nervous vibe, and I feel like the ending was just a giant exhale from everyone. Round 2 for me tomorrow in IMAX and to be honest I'm looking forward to this a little more. I feel like I can finally sit back and enjoy the movie now not only because I know it's great, but also because I'm not going to be heading into every scene thinking WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT??

 

[Integrity28]

Great post.  It was Star Wars and it felt like it.  When I took my son to it on Saturday morning, there was a great crowd.  They cheered at the Lucasfilm opening and the Star Wars opening text.  There was audible laughs and gasps and then at the Rey part everyone went crazy.  It was communal.  

The Thursday night crowd was like a film critic study, everyone quite until the applause at the end.  It was as if everyone was afraid to feel because of the prequel scars.

 

Might be the difference between going to a daytime showing and night. My showing was 11:30AM. The audience was filled with parents and their kids. Even in my case, I sold my original tickets for my wife and I, and managed to get 4 so I could bring my parents. What I saw was generations taking in an experience together. It was communal and it was special, if I dare say so dramatically.

The kids behind me were with their parents and grandparents, for example. I think the cheering, and some of the other respectful and non-disruptive, overt reactions were about giving their kids cues that they were feeling it. I dunno. All I know is that it was one of, if not THE, best in theatre experience I've ever had.

[Integrity28]

Oh, and when I got home, I built the Millenium Falcon out of Legos... because my wife is awesome.

[Snell41]

Oh, and when I got home, I built the Millenium Falcon out of Legos... because my wife is awesome.

Tell the truth, you ran around the house with it "flying" in your hand making whooshing and laser shooting noises, didn't you? 

[SMC]

 

Might be the difference between going to a daytime showing and night. My showing was 11:30AM. The audience was filled with parents and their kids. Even in my case, I sold my original tickets for my wife and I, and managed to get 4 so I could bring my parents. What I saw was generations taking in an experience together. It was communal and it was special, if I dare say so dramatically.

The kids behind me were with their parents and grandparents, for example. I think the cheering, and some of the other respectful and non-disruptive, overt reactions were about giving their kids cues that they were feeling it. I dunno. All I know is that it was one of, if not THE, best in theatre experience I've ever had.

Wow, Ape, I took my son to an 11:30 AM showing as well.  Like yours, there were a lot of kids with parents and teens.  It was a great vibe.

Awesome about the Lego Falcon.  The funny thing for us is that my wife is a casual fan and I dragged her to the prequel trilogy opening night of each while we were dating/newlyweds (somehow we remained married despite that) so she didn't want to see the Force Awakens.  But now she does because of the word of mouth and she knows how much the series means to me.

My 10 year old wasn't into Star Wars (Transformers, Marvel/DC was his thing), until his birthday in July when he got Disney Infinity: Star Wars for the PS4 (great marketing by Disney) and then he was drawn to the story.  So, as a good father, I sat down with him and we watched over a couple of weekends New Hope, Empire and Jedi.  I purposely avoided prequel trilogy, but he wanted to see the fight between Anakin and Obi Wan, so we watched Revenge of the Sith.  I didn't want to push the Force Awakens on him, so I originally didn't buy him tickets until he asked me to take him.  He loved it and is hooked.  That's the power of what JJ Abrams has done for the franchise.  It's a revival.  Now my 4 year old daughter wants to see it.

[SMC]

Most definitely and I was one of them. Entire theater was like that. Cheered when the music queued in but a very nervous vibe, and I feel like the ending was just a giant exhale from everyone. Round 2 for me tomorrow in IMAX and to be honest I'm looking forward to this a little more. I feel like I can finally sit back and enjoy the movie now not only because I know it's great, but also because I'm not going to be heading into every scene thinking WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT??

 

Spot on.  When leaving the theater at around 1 am, I asked one of the three buddies I went with what he thought and he said, "I don't know yet, I need to process this."  When he took his family to see the movie on Friday, he had the same reaction as I did.  Seeing it on IMAX will be crazy!  Enjoy!

[RutgersJetFan]

Spot on.  When leaving the theater at around 1 am, I asked one of the three buddies I went with what he thought and he said, "I don't know yet, I need to process this."  When he took his family to see the movie on Friday, he had the same reaction as I did.  Seeing it on IMAX will be crazy!  Enjoy!

Yeah, like when I left I was more nervous about the fact that I was sure I loved it more than actually loving it.

IMAX theater here is ridiculous. 70 foot screen over at Navy Pier, Interstellar was just unreal on it and I'm expecting some of the battle scenes that were shot in IMAX to be equally awesome. I was praying they'd show the Panavision version of Hateful Eight on it, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. With Chicago throwing all its weight behind getting the Star Wars museum done by 2019, I'm guessing they also lobbied for the Navy Pier theater to really promote all things SW for the next few years.

[Larz]

Most definitely and I was one of them. Entire theater was like that. Cheered when the music queued in but a very nervous vibe, and I feel like the ending was just a giant exhale from everyone. Round 2 for me tomorrow in IMAX and to be honest I'm looking forward to this a little more. I feel like I can finally sit back and enjoy the movie now not only because I know it's great, but also because I'm not going to be heading into every scene thinking WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT??

 

my crowd was pumped (Imax 3D) .  we cheered for the opening crawl, and for all the big characters first arrivals on scene.  what was cool was how everybody knew not to cheer at a certain key part.

 

[RutgersJetFan]

my crowd was pumped (Imax 3D) .  we cheered for the opening crawl, and for all the big characters first arrivals on scene.  what was cool was how everybody knew not to cheer at a certain key part.

 

Yeah that's how I thought my theater was going to be, but it was dead quiet, myself included. I think everyone was just so zeroed in on making sure we caught everything.

[Larz]

Yeah that's how I thought my theater was going to be, but it was dead quiet, myself included. I think everyone was just so zeroed in on making sure we caught everything.

maybe it was an IMAX thing.   get loud this time !  lety loose !  its effin star wars !!!!

[Integrity28]

Tell the truth, you ran around the house with it "flying" in your hand making whooshing and laser shooting noises, didn't you? 

ABSOLUTELY.

My daughter is 2 years 3 months right now. At 14 months old, she would toddle into my home office, see the 3' tall Vader "figurine", ask me to push his button by say "VAY DAH!" and making the ASL sign for "more", I'd push it, he'd breath, and then she'd say "teeeeee tahhhhhhhh teeeeee tahhhhh" to impersonate it. 

At 14 months old. 

Now, she has never seen more than the occasional 20 second clip of any of the movies, but we have the bedtime books (Vader's little princess), so she knows all the characters from that. Her and I talk about the characters (at her prompting) every day. I have the AT-AT and Snowspeeder set up as part of our Lego Christmas village, because "snow = Hoth = too good to pass up when you are giant man-boy". She loves it all, and I love that I'll be able to share this with her one day.

Also, she followed me around saying "ship, ship, ship" and "koo-bacca", and "dee-too", and "bb-ate". She's pretty much the coolest ******* kid ever.

[Integrity28]

Wow, Ape, I took my son to an 11:30 AM showing as well.  Like yours, there were a lot of kids with parents and teens.  It was a great vibe.

Awesome about the Lego Falcon.  The funny thing for us is that my wife is a casual fan and I dragged her to the prequel trilogy opening night of each while we were dating/newlyweds (somehow we remained married despite that) so she didn't want to see the Force Awakens.  But now she does because of the word of mouth and she knows how much the series means to me.

My 10 year old wasn't into Star Wars (Transformers, Marvel/DC was his thing), until his birthday in July when he got Disney Infinity: Star Wars for the PS4 (great marketing by Disney) and then he was drawn to the story.  So, as a good father, I sat down with him and we watched over a couple of weekends New Hope, Empire and Jedi.  I purposely avoided prequel trilogy, but he wanted to see the fight between Anakin and Obi Wan, so we watched Revenge of the Sith.  I didn't want to push the Force Awakens on him, so I originally didn't buy him tickets until he asked me to take him.  He loved it and is hooked.  That's the power of what JJ Abrams has done for the franchise.  It's a revival.  Now my 4 year old daughter wants to see it.

My wife was barely a casual fan when I met her. My daughter's fascination and my fanhood has brought her along though. On her own she watched the original trilogy last week, even rewatched Empire 2 extra times. She went all-in. 

When we met, she asked me one of those getting to know you questions. I told her that my entire personality had been shaped by my father, Han Solo, Indiana Jones, John McClane and John Candy and that I'd leave it to her to sort it all out.

That last bold part of your post is spot on. 

[Fishooked]

Prepping my daughters to see this, but they need to see Episodes IV through VI first (we'll skip the other ones for now).

Watched A New Hope this weekend, with mixed results from both of them. Oldest one was into it, the younger one I could tell was just sitting through it for the old man.

Hopefully the younger one will like the next two better 

[Snell41]

Prepping my daughters to see this, but they need to see Episodes IV through VI first (we'll skip the other ones for now).

Watched A New Hope this weekend, with mixed results from both of them. Oldest one was into it, the younger one I could tell was just sitting through it for the old man.

Hopefully the younger one will like the next two better 

You drop that one off at the orphanage at once!  Be thankful your daughter gave you the signs early on. 

[Fishooked]

You drop that one off at the orphanage at once!  Be thankful your daughter gave you the signs early on. 

LOL, she was a little squirmy through the whole thing. They usually trust my instincts when it comes to movies I think they'll like.

Once they were a little older, we marathoned all of the Harry Potter movies (since I hadn't seen them either) and they loved them all.

They have watched all of the LOTR movies and the Hobbit trilogy as well.

My oldest though has more of an appreciation, I watched all of the X-Men movies with her when my youngest wasnt really into them. 

 

[Integrity28]

Have you guys seen this Jar Jar theory? https://www.reddit.com/comments/3qvj6w

I don't usually spend time reading stuff like this, but it's a fun way to re-remember the prequels with a new context. Some of the examples and "evidence" supplied is great. I love Star Wars fans.

I'm sure most, if not all, of you guys have come across this. Consider me late to the party, and all ears to hear your thoughts on the theory... 

The guy that played him in November: 

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Ahmed BEst‏@ahmedbest

I will say this, it feels really good when the hidden meaning behind the work is seen. No matter how long it takes. #TPM

[Snell41]

Have you guys seen this Jar Jar theory? https://www.reddit.com/comments/3qvj6w

I don't usually spend time reading stuff like this, but it's a fun way to re-remember the prequels with a new context. Some of the examples and "evidence" supplied is great. I love Star Wars fans.

I'm sure most, if not all, of you guys have come across this. Consider me late to the party, and all ears to hear your thoughts on the theory... 

The guy that played him in November: 

User Actions

  Follow

Ahmed BEst‏@ahmedbest

I will say this, it feels really good when the hidden meaning behind the work is seen. No matter how long it takes. #TPM

That would be ballsy as hell at this point to revisit that "possibility".  BTW there may be some spoilers in there so just for total transparency I'm noting here so people are aware.  As for whether it's true.......  Let's just say it would validate the Annikan awful "Nooooooooooooooooooo" scene because I'm pretty sure every Star Wars fan on the face of the earth might do the same thing involuntarily lol.

[Larz]

Prepping my daughters to see this, but they need to see Episodes IV through VI first (we'll skip the other ones for now).

Watched A New Hope this weekend, with mixed results from both of them. Oldest one was into it, the younger one I could tell was just sitting through it for the old man.

Hopefully the younger one will like the next two better 

my 10 year old didn't like star wars too much, like empire, walked away from jedi, but I made him come back for the final 25 minutes. 

he loved TFA, even caught him applauding things

[RutgersJetFan]

I love IMAX. 

[Larz]

I love IMAX. 

better crowd ?   the sound is just as amazing as the picture

[RutgersJetFan]

better crowd ?   the sound is just as amazing as the picture

Ugh, not really. Holiday season at Navy Pier is kind of a nightmare. Actually all the seasons at Navy Pier are kind of a nightmare. I know it's one of the things that Chicago is known for, but truth be told nobody that lives here ever goes there. It's tourists and families and that's it, kind of like the wharf out in San Francisco. Getting in and out of there was awful, but very worth it. The saber battles and dogfights on that screen with that sound were just pure popcorn amazingness.

I picked up a bunch of things on the second viewing, but I'll save them for when our self-imposed spoiler ban is up in two days. I don't think there's any question that this is at worst the third best movie of the franchise and a strong case can be made for it being the second best.

[Larz]

Ugh, not really. Holiday season at Navy Pier is kind of a nightmare. Actually all the seasons at Navy Pier are kind of a nightmare. I know it's one of the things that Chicago is known for, but truth be told nobody that lives here ever goes there. It's tourists and families and that's it, kind of like the wharf out in San Francisco. Getting in and out of there was awful, but very worth it. The saber battles and dogfights on that screen with that sound were just pure popcorn amazingness.

I picked up a bunch of things on the second viewing, but I'll save them for when our self-imposed spoiler ban is up in two days. I don't think there's any question that this is at worst the third best movie of the franchise and a strong case can be made for it being the second best.

cool.  I can't wait to be able to tell people chewy is C3PO's dad !

I think it is the second best movie after Empire strikes back.  I will probably see it again 1/2/16

[Integrity28]

Ugh, not really. Holiday season at Navy Pier is kind of a nightmare. Actually all the seasons at Navy Pier are kind of a nightmare. I know it's one of the things that Chicago is known for, but truth be told nobody that lives here ever goes there. It's tourists and families and that's it, kind of like the wharf out in San Francisco. Getting in and out of there was awful, but very worth it. The saber battles and dogfights on that screen with that sound were just pure popcorn amazingness.

I picked up a bunch of things on the second viewing, but I'll save them for when our self-imposed spoiler ban is up in two days. I don't think there's any question that this is at worst the third best movie of the franchise and a strong case can be made for it being the second best.

The IMAX theater I saw it at is one of only 8 in the world with this combination of video/audio/seating technology. It was written up by Wired as one of the top 7 theaters to see Star Wars in. I saw Bond in it a couple weeks ago, just to see the Star Wars trailer and test-run a blockbuster in it. In-*******-credible.

Every city has their "Navy Pier" area, I feel your pain there. 

I cannot wait to see it a 2nd time.