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The Force Awakens SPOILERS ALLOWED Discussion Thread


Jay

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I have no particular theories about that sequence - it's more or less in line with some of the stuff Luke experienced on Dagobah. But I just want to say that the Vader breathing and the appearance of the Cloud City corridor gives me chills.

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I was all over the place in my first viewing, but in my second viewing I planned to pay closer attention.  I saw it more as a chronological series of events.  Cloud City hallway->Luke kneeling with R2 (possibly in the flames of the ruined temple) - Knights of Ren looking on in the rain - Rey getting dropped off on Jakku -> future events.   I might not be remembering correctly, or at least in the correct order, but that helped me make sense of it.  Leads me to believe that Rey's abandonment somehow ties into the events of that night when Kylo and his knights wiped out the Jedi.

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Considering every single stylistic choice is thought of, designed, created and filmed, it's clear that nothing in the film is an accident, or a "oops, didn't notice how it can point to that." I think one of the Knights of Ren having a staff like Rey's must mean something. Of course they will do some sort of explaining in Ep.8 about the visions she had, and we will get back-story of what happened with Rey and the Knights of Ren etc. It would be cool if that staff carrying Knight was something to do with Rey. I also think it points to her power as she saw future events very clearly as if she was living them.

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17 hours ago, Jay said:

   Complete JJ interview here:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-chatter-podcast-jj-abrams-853171

 

This part I found particularly interesting:

 

" So I understand that this movie, I would argue much more than the ones that follow, needed to take a couple of steps backwards into very familiar terrain, and using a structure of nobodies becoming somebodies defeating the baddies — which is, again, I would argue, not a brand new concept, admittedly — but use that to do, I think, a far more important thing, which is introduce this young woman, who's a character we've not seen before and who has a story we have not seen before, meeting the first Storm Trooper we've ever seen who we get to know as a human being; to see the two of them have an adventure in a way that no one has had yet, with Han Solo; "

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Saw TFA in IMAX 3D today.

 

There is actually no reason to. Since the screen is not that much bigger then the one in Hoorn. (I doubt its a true IMAX) and the sound isn't any better then the Dolby Atmos that I have gotten used too.

 

Luckily the film remains excellent.

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12 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Saw TFA in IMAX 3D today.

 

There is actually no reason to. Since the screen is not that much bigger then the one in Hoorn. (I doubt its a true IMAX) and the sound isn't any better then the Dolby Atmos that I have gotten used too.

 

Luckily the film remains excellent.

I saw it in a "real" Imax (or what used to be) and the screen had more-or-less of the same size and picture quality of the digital Imax due to the digital projection.  It looked blurry and dim as hell.  Fuck 3D.     

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Some comments after my last viewing.

 

There is no way that Solo recognizes Rey or knows who she is. Before they mention Luke Han simply wants to drop her and Finn in a pod and shoot them off the the nearest inhabited planet.

 

Chewie is very well used in this, and he's often very funny.

 

When Finn takes on Ren with Lukes lighsaber, it cannot be said that he is in any way a match for him. He manages to fend off Kylo Ren's attack a few times, but doesnt come close to mounting any of his own. He gets one decent lucky strike, but is hacked in the back straight after.

 

Rey does a bit better in the first part of her fight, but she mainly wards off Ren's attacks. It isnt until she is aided by the Force that she actually mounts an assault on his, and wins.

 

Also with Rey, Kylo Ren did not have the intention of killing her. He was instructed to bring her before Snoke. He actually tells her that she needs to be trained.

 

Maz's short scene with Rey should have been redone. It carries no weight. The vision itself is fine though

 

The rebel briefing scene in this film is pretty bad too. Just a few minutes of characters telling us what needs to happen next. With very little in the way of style or character.

 

I seriously wonder if there used to be a scene at the end of the film which shows that Rey has some understanding of what the Force might mean to her, and why it's her who goes to find Luke. As it is the film doesnt offer any motivation for Rey to go, or for Leia to allow her to. Either there was material that dealt with this and it got cut out, or they decided to leave it and explore it in the next film.

 

JJ isnt a visually masterful director. I would love to have seen someone like Spielberg have a go at the shots of the X-Wings approach over the water. But he does manage to make the film feel like it takes place in real environments.

 

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38 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

 

Also with Rey, Kylo Ren did not have the intention of killing her. He was instructed to bring her before Snoke. He actually tells her that she needs to be trained.

 

 

 

It took you four viewings to realise this? 

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59 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Nope. But many complain about Rey beating Ren too easy

Chewie shot him so I was surprised Ren could fight as good as he did in the final duel when wounded. He does keep psyching himself during the combat several times by beating his wounded side with his fist as a sort of show of strength almost.

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I prefer Midi-Chlorians in your body allowing you to communicate with the Force to bizarre magic instantaneous Force powers that you suddenly achieve by being in a torture rack. Luke had to earn his skills in the OT. I guess women do everything better than men.

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7 hours ago, Stefancos said:

I seriously wonder if there used to be a scene at the end of the film which shows that Rey has some understanding of what the Force might mean to her, and why it's her who goes to find Luke. As it is the film doesnt offer any motivation for Rey to go, or for Leia to allow her to. Either there was material that dealt with this and it got cut out, or they decided to leave it and explore it in the next film.

 

JJ isnt a visually masterful director. I would love to have seen someone like Spielberg have a go at the shots of the X-Wings approach over the water. But he does manage to make the film feel like it takes place in real environments.

 

My thought to why Rey was allowed to go on her own to find Luke was the light saber "called" to her (based on what Maz said) and it belonged to Skywalker so she was the conduit between the missing Skywalker and his being found.  Since Luke is in exile, the power of the lightsaber via Rey as intermediary would be the best way of reaching him.  Though the map gets them close to Skywalker, the lightsaber is the compass.

 

I agree with you about JJ's lack of visual mastery...basically, he is competent but not a visionary.  Lucas was a visionary but not competent. 

 

 

 

 

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Quote

My thought to why Rey was allowed to go on her own to find Luke was the light saber "called" to her (based on what Maz said) and it belonged to Skywalker so she was the conduit between the missing Skywalker and his being found.  Since Luke is in exile, the power of the lightsaber via Rey as intermediary would be the best way of reaching him.  Though the map gets them close to Skywalker, the lightsaber is the compass.

 

OK

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There certainly was a scene with Leia and Rey at the end that was cut short. Her "May the Force be with you" was clearly the end of a longer scene.

 

I don't know the original contents, but I believe they kept it in the novelisation.

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14 hours ago, E.T. and Elliot said:

I prefer Midi-Chlorians in your body allowing you to communicate with the Force to bizarre magic instantaneous Force powers that you suddenly achieve by being in a torture rack. Luke had to earn his skills in the OT. I guess women do everything better than men.

Luke did some push ups on his own after Kenobi died and then trained for five minutes with Yoda. Not so much training could have happened between arrival at Dagobah and Han and Leia getting to the Cloud City and Luke getting bad feeling about it and going after them.

 

Plus Rey is special.She needs no training. She is the Natural! I bet she can teach the old decrepit Skywalker a thing or two about the Force!

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Pretty tired of hearing people complain about her lightsaber skills. Anyone with a stick playing Star Wars in their garden as a kid, knows it's not hard to make it look good. And it was completely and obviously established that she is very good with a staff. 

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12 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Why is Chewies blaster shaped like a crossbow?

 

Was any explanation ever given in the abandoned Lucas-EU?

Yes. 

 

Chewie's blaster is called a bowcaster. 

 

"Through the use of magnetic acceleration, bowcasters were more powerful and accurate than the average blaster. Designs differed through the materials used and the creator's artistic approach, although the end result was visually similar to a crossbow-like weapon.[2]

The weapon used metal quarrels enveloped with energy as ammunition. Two polarizing orbs, balanced on each end of the bow, created a magnetic field that boosted the quarrel's momentum. Once the cocking spring was pulled back, the trigger fired the quarrel, which was charged with plasma energy."

 

So it looks like a crossbow because of the orbs at either side, though there is no cord to pull back. Wookies used standard bolt and cord crossbows centuries earlier, so the design aesthetic was there. The idea is that it's stronger and more accurate than normal blasters, but too big and powerful for humans to properly aim and handle. A perfect Wookie weapon. 

 

It is included in several Star Wars video games from the 90s that make no mention of its aiming difficulty, and it is not presented as unusually powerful as in The Force Awakens. 

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I never saw any obvious "Force" use during that bit when Anakin flew the Naboo fighter and blew up the droid control ship. Just really good skill acquired from his engineering knowledge and pod racing experience and some happy accidents.

 

Rey on the other hand, demonstrated unprecedented skill for a newbie with that deceptively hard-to-use weapon.

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His ability to even pilot a pod racer is heavily implied through Qui-Gonn's praise of the boy seeing events before they happen. Apparently pod racing is too difficult for humans, thus why only aliens compete alongside him. A Force sensitive human has an advantage and can compete and now win, though he'd never before. 

 

It's also supposed to be implied when Ben remembers Anakin as already being a great pilot. 

 

The difference between Anakin's early Force use and Rey's Force use is basically that we don't see Anakin sit still long enough for the Force Theme to majestically play while he's doing his flying. The director's ADD wouldn't give him the time to form the moment. 

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