SW Force Awakens ***SPOILER*** Thread

[Fishooked]

Here's another imgur dump on stuff about Light Sabers and other stuff 

http://imgur.com/gallery/FVazR

[PFSIKH]

Stumbled across this, thought some folks here would find it interesting:

The Force Awakens: Filling in the Blanks *Spoilers*

http://imgur.com/gallery/zpRxy

Good read.

IMHO it is wrong. 

I do not know if it was this thread or the other thread when discussing the trailer when Rey finds out about the Rebel Alliance from Han.  My interpretation of her reaction is that the Rebel Alliance is some myth buried by the remnants of the Empire.

In the Thrawn Trilogy by Zahn, Admiral Thrawn is bit of an outcast in the Empire due to non-pure bloodlines or something of that nature (If I remember correctly).  Anywho..he rises to power in the Empire as he is a Grand Admiral, but is assigned to real off world assignments.  Long story short, that vacuum left by the destruction of the Death Star, he fills the void and enlists some Dark Jedi to fight the Rebel Alliance.

I could see the New Order filling that void and rising rather quickly to align all the remaining forces under one umbrella to crush the rebels.

 

On an unrelated note, I think the casting of Rey was to cause ambiguity.  If the leading characters for her parents were standalone characters (Luke, Han or Leia), you could see Rey being a child of each.  Dam you Abrams.

 

[Fishooked]

Good read.

IMHO it is wrong. 

I do not know if it was this thread or the other thread when discussing the trailer when Rey finds out about the Rebel Alliance from Han.  My interpretation of her reaction is that the Rebel Alliance is some myth buried by the remnants of the Empire.

In the Thrawn Trilogy by Zahn, Admiral Thrawn is bit of an outcast in the Empire due to non-pure bloodlines or something of that nature (If I remember correctly).  Anywho..he rises to power in the Empire as he is a Grand Admiral, but is assigned to real off world assignments.  Long story short, that vacuum left by the destruction of the Death Star, he fills the void and enlists some Dark Jedi to fight the Rebel Alliance.

I could see the New Order filling that void and rising rather quickly to align all the remaining forces under one umbrella to crush the rebels.

 

On an unrelated note, I think the casting of Rey was to cause ambiguity.  If the leading characters for her parents were standalone characters (Luke, Han or Leia), you could see Rey being a child of each.  Dam you Abrams.

 

I'm really not up on much of the lore or canon, but might need to start. Figured some folks might find it interesting, reddit & imgur are a good source for a lot of this stuff. 

[PFSIKH]

I'm really not up on much of the lore or canon, but might need to start. Figured some folks might find it interesting, reddit & imgur are a good source for a lot of this stuff. 

I am not either.  It was just my two cents.

RJF and others who are far more invested in Star Wars will know more.

It was a very good read.  Again, it was my opinion and as we know they are like assholes.

[prime21]

I read a few books in the 90's before the prequels came out.  If I'm not mistaken, they were the first official books released and signed off by Lucas They were really good and gave me an idea of what happened after Return of the Jedi.  I used to go around and tell Star Wars fans what had happened to our favorite characters after ROTJ.    That of course was the springboard to all the other stories/books before and after the original 3 movies. Now with the new movies, I have to kind of erase my thoughts of what had happened to all of them.  Not a big deal since I really lke this movie.

 

[drdetroit]

I read a few books in the 90's before the prequels came out.  If I'm not mistaken, they were the first official books released and signed off by Lucas They were really good and gave me an idea of what happened after Return of the Jedi.  I used to go around and tell Star Wars fans what had happened to our favorite characters after ROTJ.    That of course was the springboard to all the other stories/books before and after the original 3 movies. Now with the new movies, I have to kind of erase my thoughts of what had happened to all of them.  Not a big deal since I really lke this movie.

 

I like the one where Luke turns to the dark side:

[prime21]

I like the one where Luke turns to the dark side:

Dark Horse comics were very good.

[Jet_Engine1]

I read a few books in the 90's before the prequels came out.  If I'm not mistaken, they were the first official books released and signed off by Lucas They were really good and gave me an idea of what happened after Return of the Jedi.  I used to go around and tell Star Wars fans what had happened to our favorite characters after ROTJ.    That of course was the springboard to all the other stories/books before and after the original 3 movies. Now with the new movies, I have to kind of erase my thoughts of what had happened to all of them.  Not a big deal since I really lke this movie.

 

Just avoid reading Aftermath... It was so bad it actually made me angry.

[Panzer Division Marduk]

I read a few books in the 90's before the prequels came out.  If I'm not mistaken, they were the first official books released and signed off by Lucas They were really good and gave me an idea of what happened after Return of the Jedi.  I used to go around and tell Star Wars fans what had happened to our favorite characters after ROTJ.    That of course was the springboard to all the other stories/books before and after the original 3 movies. Now with the new movies, I have to kind of erase my thoughts of what had happened to all of them.  Not a big deal since I really lke this movie.

 

There were some really good books released in the Expanded Universe (basically anything done by Stackpole or Allston), and some others that were utter s**t. (The Crystal Star, anyone?)

[Larz]

I'm going to see this again next weekend.  looking forward to not having to get to the theater 90 minutes early !!!

 

[Bombdirt]

I'm glad I can catch up with this thread now since I finally saw the movie this week. I know everyone has been dying to hear what the Resident Killjoy Dissenting Trekkie thinks. I'm just kind of spitballing here, but I'll throw a few of my impressions out there for the hell of it. 

Overall, it wasn't too bad. I think I liked it. 

Sure, they played it safe and kind of just tossed a bunch of proven ideas, plot points and characters (seriously, they trotted out EVERYBODY) from the original trilogy into a blender and peppered them into the script purely for nostalgia and familiarity's sake, but I really can't fault them for that. There was no way they were going to risk screwing it up right out of the gate. They stuck with what worked before and pandered the sh*t out of all the fans who have been waiting 30 years for a good Star Wars movie. Still, I was sitting there the whole time thinking, Okay, that's from Empire...and they did that in Jedi, etc. I'm sure there's a good drinking game in there somewhere. 

For the most part, I liked the new characters. Poe and Rey were cool; Finn was okay but I wondered about his motivations--I wish they'd expanded on that a little more. Kylo had his Hayden Christensen "whiny bitch" moments, but I guess it fit with the character. Also, Maz Kanata looks exactly like a little orange cartoon/video game character, and I can't put my finger on who it is (and no, it's not Skeeter or Estelle Getty). It's driving me nuts. 

I found the hardest thing for me personally was trying to forget that this was a J.J. Abrams-written/directed project. For most of the movie, I was able to immerse myself but I found my disdain for him coming out in a few eye-rolling spots, like with the sheer absurdity of the "Death Star 2.0" (but wait, it's like, waaay bigger and can multitask at destroying planets though so it's different) and how it "uses the power of the Sun"--that's not the Sun, asswipe, it's a random star. All of this so it can shoot "thermal whatevers" at planets light years away and obliterate everything on contact. ******* groan. Even in the belief-suspending world of Star Wars, that crap is a stretch. 

I just wish Abrams would have given Star Trek the same kid-gloves reverence he gave this movie. Trek fans are now left with that franchise in a state of steaming dog crap thanks to his sh*tty reboots, and now there's no going back. I mean, seriously, you guys all saw the trailer for 2 Trek 2 Furious...er, I mean Star Trek: Beyond before The Force Awakens. It looks as much like Star Trek as Ernest Saves Christmas looks like The Godfather. 

...okay, I kind of went off on a butthurt tangent there. Sorry about that. 

 

[RutgersJetFan]

So they've got the cast list down to about 12 for the Han Solo flick. Everyone's favorite, Anthony Ingruber, is not on it.

http://comicbook.com/2016/01/11/star-wars-young-han-solo-actor-short-list-down-to-about-a-dozen/

Ansel Elgort is an interesting one. I thought he was great in Men, Women, and Children. I like Emory Cohen a lot too.

I'll be honest, my personal opinion is that this is for the best. If they cast someone that looked like Ford or was doing a Ford imitation, it would just haunt the entire flick. Not that everyone isn't going to nitpick and bitch to death already, but at the very least it gives whomever they cast a fighting chance.

Look, end of the day, Lawrence Kasdan is pretty much doing this one. Anyone here really want to argue they know better than Lawrence Kasdan when it comes to Star Wars? Anyone? No? Great. Good. Glad we got that settled.

[RutgersJetFan]

I read a few books in the 90's before the prequels came out.  If I'm not mistaken, they were the first official books released and signed off by Lucas They were really good and gave me an idea of what happened after Return of the Jedi.  I used to go around and tell Star Wars fans what had happened to our favorite characters after ROTJ.    That of course was the springboard to all the other stories/books before and after the original 3 movies. Now with the new movies, I have to kind of erase my thoughts of what had happened to all of them.  Not a big deal since I really lke this movie.

 

These books were and are the main beef for the majority of us geeks; them rebooting the entire canon and relegating these books, The Thrawn Trilogy, to a sect they're now calling The Legends Universe after fans went ballistic on Disney for originally claiming that hey, we're just going to pretend like none of this stuff ever was done. The work and writing of so many authors and artists just pushed aside as if they never put in a second to this universe. It was so shamelessly disrespectful to Timothy Zahn, who as a writer is revered with Star Wars fans. His work deserved to be treated better. Zahn single-handily revived the franchise with these books, and I still think it's beyond ****ed up that Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy didn't foresee that it was going to piss a lot of fans off if they didn't at least show some respect towards that part of SW history.

[Jet_Engine1]

So they've got the cast list down to about 12 for the Han Solo flick. Everyone's favorite, Anthony Ingruber, is not on it.

http://comicbook.com/2016/01/11/star-wars-young-han-solo-actor-short-list-down-to-about-a-dozen/

Ansel Elgort is an interesting one. I thought he was great in Men, Women, and Children. I like Emory Cohen a lot too.

I'll be honest, my personal opinion is that this is for the best. If they cast someone that looked like Ford or was doing a Ford imitation, it would just haunt the entire flick. Not that everyone isn't going to nitpick and bitch to death already, but at the very least it gives whomever they cast a fighting chance.

Look, end of the day, Lawrence Kasdan is pretty much doing this one. Anyone here really want to argue they know better than Lawrence Kasdan when it comes to Star Wars? Anyone? No? Great. Good. Glad we got that settled.

Bad Casting can ruin that movie before a second of it hits film

 

[RutgersJetFan]

Bad Casting can ruin that movie before a second of it hits film

 

It's Disney. When do they ever screw up a major franchise casting?

Honestly, I'm cool with anyone but Dave Franco. That guy's voice drives me up the ******* wall.

[Jet_Engine1]

These books were and are the main beef for the majority of us geeks; them rebooting the entire canon and relegating these books, The Thrawn Trilogy, to a sect they're now calling The Legends Universe after fans went ballistic on Disney for originally claiming that hey, we're just going to pretend like none of this stuff ever was done. The work and writing of so many authors and artists just pushed aside as if they never put in a second to this universe. It was so shamelessly disrespectful to Timothy Zahn, who as a writer is revered with Star Wars fans. His work deserved to be treated better. Zahn single-handily revived the franchise with these books, and I still think it's beyond ****ed up that Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy didn't foresee that it was going to piss a lot of fans off if they didn't at least show some respect towards that part of SW history.

Im assuming you're around my age (44). They don't give a **** about us. They want the 16-30 demographic, including the girls, for this. It's why its "STAR WARS,  Episode 7, Episode 4 2.0"...but with a cool, badass girl hero! It's why Han Solo will be played by a "heartthrob" instead of a guy that can pull off not only Fords look, but the acerbic smart-assery of Solo. Whatever. 

I really hope Rogue One is as awesome as I think it will be....

[chirorob]

Im assuming you're around my age (44). They don't give a **** about us. They want the 16-30 demographic, including the girls, for this. It's why its "STAR WARS,  Episode 7, Episode 4 2.0"...but with a cool, badass girl hero! It's why Han Solo will be played by a "heartthrob" instead of a guy that can pull off not only Fords look, but the acerbic smart-assery of Solo. Whatever. 

I really hope Rogue One is as awesome as I think it will be....

That's me as well, 42.  

I really liked the Thrawn books.  But they want the younger crowd, our kids.  The ones who want all the lego Star Wars sets, and want to go to Disney to see the new Star Wars Disney Land thing. 

[RutgersJetFan]

That's me as well, 42.  

I really liked the Thrawn books.  But they want the younger crowd, our kids.  The ones who want all the lego Star Wars sets, and want to go to Disney to see the new Star Wars Disney Land thing. 

The cast was too old to make Thrawn by the time Disney acquired the rights. Or you want to do your own thing because you think your ideas are better. Alright, fine. Fair enough Disney. The problem is they didn't come out and say that. Abrams one random day just said all of the books and comics are no longer EU and didn't happen. Even if you're naive towards the fan backlash that's going to generate, or if you don't care, it's wrong to treat the work of so many people so whimsically. It was a sh*tty way to handle things. You just don't treat people like that, particularly Zahn who pretty much saved the franchise.

[Jet_Engine1]

That's me as well, 42.  

I really liked the Thrawn books.  But they want the younger crowd, our kids.  The ones who want all the lego Star Wars sets, and want to go to Disney to see the new Star Wars Disney Land thing. 

I plan on becoming a Stormtrooper when  I retire from the FD. Not joking.

[chirorob]

The cast was too old to make Thrawn by the time Disney acquired the rights. Or you want to do your own thing because you think your ideas are better. Alright, fine. Fair enough Disney. The problem is they didn't come out and say that. Abrams one random day just said all of the books and comics are no longer EU and didn't happen. Even if you're naive towards the fan backlash that's going to generate, or if you don't care, it's wrong to treat the work of so many people so whimsically. It was a sh*tty way to handle things. You just don't treat people like that, particularly Zahn who pretty much saved the franchise.

Oh, I agree, the cast couldn't have made them.  I remember reading Lucas basically told Zahn, "I'm not doing 7, 8, 9, so you can". 

It's just, there are soooo many books, that kept interest for so long, and like you said, they pissed it all away like it was nothing.

[Bombdirt]

The cast was too old to make Thrawn by the time Disney acquired the rights. Or you want to do your own thing because you think your ideas are better. Alright, fine. Fair enough Disney. The problem is they didn't come out and say that. Abrams one random day just said all of the books and comics are no longer EU and didn't happen. Even if you're naive towards the fan backlash that's going to generate, or if you don't care, it's wrong to treat the work of so many people so whimsically. It was a sh*tty way to handle things. You just don't treat people like that, particularly Zahn who pretty much saved the franchise.

Exactly my feelings about how Abrams disregarded all the Star Trek canon. There were a ton of expanded storylines to draw from there as well, but no. We got watered-down unidentifiable schlock. Screw that guy. 

[Jet_Engine1]

Exactly my feelings about how Abrams disregarded all the Star Trek canon. There were a ton of expanded storylines to draw from there as well, but no. We got watered-down unidentifiable schlock. Screw that guy. 

AND LENS FLARES. DONT FORGET THE LENS FLARES.

[RutgersJetFan]

Exactly my feelings about how Abrams disregarded all the Star Trek canon. There were a ton of expanded storylines to draw from there as well, but no. We got watered-down unidentifiable schlock. Screw that guy. 

Addendum: End of the day the guy just made an amazing Star Wars movie and completely brought the franchise back. I don't give enough of a sh*t about any of the other stuff to really hold that much of a grudge. Nor should anyone. Star Wars is was and will always be about the movies first.

[Bombdirt]

Addendum: End of the day the guy just made an amazing Star Wars movie and completely brought the franchise back. I don't give enough of a sh*t about any of the other stuff to really hold that much of a grudge. Nor should anyone. Star Wars is was and will always be about the movies first.

I really do think Star Wars is on the right track now, and there should be plenty more great things coming. Overall, I did enjoy the new movie, and it left me wanting more. When the credits rolled, I got that It's over? Noitcan'tbeoveryetGodammit feeling that relatively few movies leave me with. 

Granted, I'm just pissy these days about the state of the Trek franchise and where it's headed. Did you see Paramount is suing the Axanar dudes for copyright infringement? Probably because Axanar is getting positive fan buzz, the polar opposite of that Beyond sh*tstorm. And because Axanar has too much talky-talk and not enough pew-pew.

[RutgersJetFan]

I really do think Star Wars is on the right track now, and there should be plenty more great things coming. Overall, I did enjoy the new movie, and it left me wanting more. When the credits rolled, I got that It's over? Noitcan'tbeoveryetGodammit feeling that relatively few movies leave me with. 

Granted, I'm just pissy these days about the state of the Trek franchise and where it's headed. Did you see Paramount is suing the Axanar dudes for copyright infringement? Probably because Axanar is getting positive fan buzz, the polar opposite of that Beyond sh*tstorm. And because Axanar has too much talky-talk and not enough pew-pew.

I saw that. Just awful and honestly tragic. Shame too because I thought Prelude was brilliant. I was looking forward to seeing what those guys could do with some more time and money. Here's to hoping they lose.

[PFSIKH]

Exactly my feelings about how Abrams disregarded all the Star Trek canon. There were a ton of expanded storylines to draw from there as well, but no. We got watered-down unidentifiable schlock. Screw that guy. 

The Trek reboot was great.  J/K.

TBH most of the Trek movies have been crap.  As far as the reboot, I did not mind the first movie.  About the only thing I liked about the second movie was Cumberbatch.  The rest was meh.

When you think about, Abrams used the same thought process (which I agree) with in your review.  He played it safe by retelling/reimaging an old story line.  I just do not think he developed it enough. 

[Bombdirt]

The Trek reboot was great.  J/K.

TBH most of the Trek movies have been crap.  As far as the reboot, I did not mind the first movie.  About the only thing I liked about the second movie was Cumberbatch.  The rest was meh.

When you think about, Abrams used the same thought process (which I agree) with in your review.  He played it safe by retelling/reimaging an old story line.  I just do not think he developed it enough. 

Cumberbatch is awesome, but even he couldn't save that steaming pile of dog excrement. There are so many plot holes and inconsistencies in that movie it would be laughable if it wasn't so maddening. Even Abrams himself has admitted to dropping the ball with the script. 

I wouldn't mind Abrams using Khan as the villain in the reboots so much if the entire effort didn't come off so ham-handed and half-assed. To put it in perspective, it'd be like if Abrams decided to reboot the Star Wars franchise instead of continuing it, then proceeded to completely change Darth Vader's back story, motivations and history with Luke. There'd be some weird romantic relationship between Princess Leia and Wedge, and plenty of head-scratching and uncomfortable scenes about Han Solo learning to get in touch with his feelings and not be so impulsive. It's kind of insulting. 

All of that said (and I think this point was brought up before in the other thread), if you didn't really care about Star Trek before, the reboots were good movies. It wasn't one of those "for the fans" efforts, and it brought new eyeballs and money into the franchise so they succeeded in that regard. It's just not really Star Trek anymore, and it's getting further and further away from what made the whole thing great in the first place. 

/end butthurt rant

[drdetroit]

It's Disney. When do they ever screw up a major franchise casting?

Honestly, I'm cool with anyone but Dave Franco. That guy's voice drives me up the ******* wall.

tell me that guy isn't going to be in any Star Wars movie.  Obnoxious f

[HessStation]

Just wanted to say that I genuinely appreciate all the nerd talk in this thread. 

[SMC]

I really do think Star Wars is on the right track now, and there should be plenty more great things coming. Overall, I did enjoy the new movie, and it left me wanting more. When the credits rolled, I got that It's over? Noitcan'tbeoveryetGodammit feeling that relatively few movies leave me with. 

Granted, I'm just pissy these days about the state of the Trek franchise and where it's headed. Did you see Paramount is suing the Axanar dudes for copyright infringement? Probably because Axanar is getting positive fan buzz, the polar opposite of that Beyond sh*tstorm. And because Axanar has too much talky-talk and not enough pew-pew.

I saw that. Just awful and honestly tragic. Shame too because I thought Prelude was brilliant. I was looking forward to seeing what those guys could do with some more time and money. Here's to hoping they lose.

I didn't know that.  That sucks.  Axanar was great.  As we've all said, that was better Star Trek than the reboots.

[SMC]

So they've got the cast list down to about 12 for the Han Solo flick. Everyone's favorite, Anthony Ingruber, is not on it.

http://comicbook.com/2016/01/11/star-wars-young-han-solo-actor-short-list-down-to-about-a-dozen/

Ansel Elgort is an interesting one. I thought he was great in Men, Women, and Children. I like Emory Cohen a lot too.

I'll be honest, my personal opinion is that this is for the best. If they cast someone that looked like Ford or was doing a Ford imitation, it would just haunt the entire flick. Not that everyone isn't going to nitpick and bitch to death already, but at the very least it gives whomever they cast a fighting chance.

Look, end of the day, Lawrence Kasdan is pretty much doing this one. Anyone here really want to argue they know better than Lawrence Kasdan when it comes to Star Wars? Anyone? No? Great. Good. Glad we got that settled.

Get someone who looks like River Phoenix

Ansel Elgort is interesting, but Emory Cohen is too short.  Harrison Ford is 6'1"  He's one of the tallest humans in SW universe.  In fact, a lot of the actors listed are short (Ansel and Blake Jenner the exceptions).  If anyone, I'd pick Blake Jenner. 

[RutgersJetFan]

 

I didn't know that.  That sucks.  Axanar was great.  As we've all said, that was better Star Trek than the reboots.

If it counts as a movie I'd rank it third behind Kahn and Search for Spock. I thought it was that good.

[RutgersJetFan]

Get someone who looks like River Phoenix

Ansel Elgort is interesting, but Emory Cohen is too short.  Harrison Ford is 6'1"  He's one of the tallest humans in SW universe.  In fact, a lot of the actors listed are short (Ansel and Blake Jenner the exceptions).  If anyone, I'd pick Blake Jenner. 

Part of me was hoping that they would pick an Indian guy, just to piss everyone off. Because why not? Then whoever they hire goes out and just kills it.

[Jet_Engine1]

Part of me was hoping that they would pick an Indian guy, just to piss everyone off. Because why not? Then whoever they hire goes out and just kills it.

Because diversity for diversity sake is the bomb! **** continuity! LOL.

[Larz]