I just hope that Anakin can return as a Force Ghost. He can encourage Luke not to deny training Rae and not quit creating a new Jedi order despite his mistakes and what happened between him and Padme.
Despite that, Luke can change some of the rules and let romance be allowed.
He should have returned when Ren started idolizing him as Darth Vader. Now, it’s a bit too late for that.
Well you all have hit on many of my likes and dislikes. Again I’ve never been deeply into Star Wars so I came in with relatively low expectations. First off I’ll say they did a great job with the visual effects, and there were some pretty cool action sequences, but that’s where my praise ends. As has been said the movie just felt too familiar like I’ve seen all of this stuff before. I feel they could’ve taken the plot in a much more interesting direction, but instead just went with the proven formula. I also didn’t like Ren whom they basically just made great at everything because I guess they really want to push the idea of a badass female character idk. I may have missed something but isn’t it a big deal for Jedis to train to use their power, so why is this character able to immediately use Jedi mind tricks and a lightsaber when being exposed to them for the first time. Again as has been said I feel the story needed much more exposition than what was given.
This Christmas was a very Star Wars focused one for my son, so we’ve been re-watching the prequel trilogy, as he’s not seen those yet. We’ve watched the first two so far. Wow, did I forget how bad these are. Pointless fights; bad direction; weak characters… It makes me realize just how much better Ep. VII is than all of the PT films. I mean miles and miles better.
I’m going to consider this first film the origin film, the one that has to do a lot of work to introduce us to characters and world and ideas yet (with a large cast) doesn’t have enough time to let us get into the head of any one of them. Lots of faith in where it’ll go from here.
Agreed! Even though i try to say the prequels are great… when you watch them (especially after Force awakens) its really shows how much they lack in good acting, good CG, ect… they had so much potential and have great moments…but some parts are just cringe worthy
I just went on a force awakens binge LOL.. here is what i bought yesterday:
Deluxe black series Kylo Ren Helmet
Force Awakens Novel
The Art of Force Awakens hardcover book
The Force Awakens visual encyclopedia
The Force Awakens Cross Section hardcover book
Yeah… I went a bit over board but man they were all on sale!!
You and your son are brave men, I skipped 1 because other than Anakin it’s relevance to the rest are pretty negligble but I made it like 1/4th through 2 before Hayden Christiansen had me calling it quits.
Watched it last night. Abrams basically remade star wars ep4 like he did with star trek. Except with half the story and twice the budget.
We all got different Star Wars gifts around the family. Action figures, t-shirts, sweatpants, even a calendar or 2. Once my sister is back in town we’re going to introduce her to the original 6 films because we somehow let The Force Awakens be her first Star Wars film.
Hi, finally saw the movie. Enjoyed it a lot.
It seems that we all agree on the good parts but surprisingly also on a lot of the not so good parts.
My only three not so minor gripes but not enough to dislike the movie:
Han Solo’s death was not epic. I didn’t know his son nor did I cared about the kid.
The pacing was too fast for me. The comment about dissolve cuts really is what felt missing. About thirty minutes more would have helped because I had no issues holding my attention.
I liked the new characters. Unfortunately, I know very little about them even after the movie ended.
Still, I had a good feeling when all was over. Looking forward to the next movie, and also reading those +35 unread posts in the KI CAM thread, lol.
I actually heard a rumor that Harrison Ford actually wanted Lucas to kill Han Solo in Return of the Jedi to get him a pass out of the franchise for good. Surprisingly he’s not super fond of it. Often refers to his character as “Ham YoYo” in interviews.
Makes you wonder if killing Han was for drama or because Harrison Ford just really didn’t want to play the role again. 
Actually, it was Empire Strikes Back that Harrison Ford wanted to die in. They compromised on the carbonite ending instead in case they could talk him into returning in Ep. VI. Obviously, he did! 
I hate to play this card, because it is overused and totally unfair, but I have to say that as a parent I find the relationship between Han and Kylo Ren compelling and I do think it’s an epic way to die.
One of the things that bothered me going in was how they could justify the end of the Han Leia romance. But having a kid go to the dark side would do it. Their scenes together are very short, but pretty emotional.
Han’s death is the parallel for Obi-wan Kenobi’s death in the first film. Obi-wan doesn’t go out Like a badass either, but It provides motivation for Luke/Rey/Finn to personalize their opposition to Vader/Ren. As far as the level of impact, if anything other than a Butch and Sundance style blaze of glory could be epic, I would think this counts. The moment where he touches the kids face before he dies nearly kills me. He’s knowingly sacrificing himself in an attempt to save his son, and he still loves him even after he’s been murdered… I care about Kylo Ren because I care about Han and Han cares about him. I think this brings up lots of interesting questions now too. We as the audience (most of the people I talk to at least) hate Kylo Ren and want to see him get killed. But what about Luke and Leia? What about Rey? If you hunt down someone you hate and kill them isn’t that a dark side thing to do, even if it’s justified? In Revenge of the Sith when Anakin kills Count Dooku (sorry to bring up the hated prequels) no one thinks he doesn’t deserve to die, but it’s clearly part of Anakin’s slide to the dark side. Luke became a Jedi by NOT killing his father. Can he now kill his nephew? My buddy is super upset with Luke for being AWOL. But I think this is another compelling story. Is taking vengeance for the destruction of his Jedi trainees an acceptable path?
I took my wife to see it, along with my son and nephew for the second time. She loved it and we both agree that we really want to learn more about the new cast and find out what happens next. I think they left us in the dark on a lot of things on purpose. The suspense for the plot of this film was so effective and I’m sure they want to keep it going for the next one.
On a sort of unrelated and lengthy ramble, I really like the parallels to the first film(s). People can criticize it if they want to, and of course their opinion is no less valid than mine. But I don’t think they just didn’t have any ideas and so rehashed old ones. Remember, there is almost nothing original in the first Star Wars movie if you pick it apart. Between Kirosawa and Flash Gordon the basic plot and character archetypes were well trod even before Star Wars. It’s the combination of elements, the special effects, and the fun way the characters interact on screen that makes the movie good. Things like opening the movie with a visual effects shot of a massive Star Destroyer filmed from underneath in a way that immediately tells you almost everything you need to know about the bad guys in the universe. I think Abrams and co. figured, instead of trying to outdo the original trilogy let’s take those elements that people love and reorganize them in a way that creates something new but familiar. If you think about just Han’s death scene, that actually has elements from all three original movies. They are blowing up the bunker (Jedi), confrontation between father and son on a catwalk (Empire), and the death of the hero/mentor in front of his young protege (Star Wars). Yeah, it’s derivative, but purposefully and thoughtfully derivative. I like that. And the movie is filled with those elements that are fun to think about as well as bits of fan service trivia (Finn’s storm trooper number is FN 2187 and Leia was held in cell block 2187 on the first Death Star - and yes I am such a nerd that I just know that off the top of my head).
One thing that I don’t see people really talking about is how, underneath the fun adventure the back stories are tragically, soul crushingly sad. How did this little girl get abandoned as essentially a slave on this planet? How did Luke’s new Jedi order fall apart and Han and Leia lose their son to the dark side? It’s all terrible and sad. My only real complaint is that I had hoped for happy endings for my childhood heroes.
Sorry for the ramble. TL;DR I saw it again and still love it.
Watched again last night ans no one has talked about the scene where Reye is left on Jakku and who is holding her hand. IM pretty sure its the Junk Dealer that gives out the food portions. You can see his arm and hear his voice as she is pulling away saying “come back”!
I think Whomever had the Falcon had her too and left her and the Falcon there at Jakku with the junk dealer…was it SOLO? We wont know for a while… but…I still think she is Rens sister.
Whats more compelling… 2 cousins battling or a brother and sister?
Definitely the fat ration salesman who’s holding her hand. My whole family is struggling to come up with a story that explains her force powers and justifies her being abandoned that doesn’t make the whole cast look like heartless jerks…
It has to be 1 of these 2 plots:
Whomever brought the Millennium Falcon to the Junk dealer had Raye as well. Could this have been Han Solo? Did he sale the Millennium falcon and Raye as a trade for a freighter ship in an effort to protect her identity from those that are searching for her and Luke as the 1st orders mission is to kill the last remaining Jedi? And Han got rid of the Falcon as he did not want to be “Han Solo” anymore?? He does say in the movie “Not any more!” …when asked if he was Han Solo the famous general/scoundrel.
Seems coincidental that the junk dealer on Jakku has Raye AND the Millennium Falcon doesn’t it?
Luke escapes the Temple massacre with Raye in the Millennium Falcon and leaves them both there with the junk dealer? Maybe Luke is the actual person that stole the Falcon?
If for some reason it is Lukes daughter…how do they bring in a new character as her mother and it not be of importance? Just seems like a very difficult plot to create with any substance being the character will have no importance to the story except she is Rayes mother. I just don’t see it going down this path.She has to be Leigh’s daughter..Leah has to contribute to the Skywalker bloodline somehow being Yoda and Obi Wan did say there was hope in another Skywalker. Plus the fact that Ren and Reye would be cousins just doesn’t sound as intriguing.
I have 4 Force Awakens books coming next week… I should be able to get more specific information that hints to her lineage ,…I hope.
Force Awakens Novel
Force Awakens Visual dictionary
Force Awakens Cross Section
The Art of the force Awakens
If i cant get any good info out of the novel and the dictionary…well…then that will be a bummer LOL
Remember, the falcon was twice-stolen from its original owner (thief?) on some other parts of the planet, so I doubt the falcon and Rey arrived together - I think like many things in the SW universe, it’s just incredible coincidence, or fate – however you’d like to color it.
I’m gambling that Luke is Rey’s father, and likely that long silent pause is because a) his daughter is standing in front of him and b) his daughter is holding his father’s old lightsaber. The only thing that works against that is the time gap that we have between films. Not paying off on the reunion scene and just mentioning it in the crawl would be anti-climatic, IMO.
I figure that after Kylo slaughtered all the jedi Luke was training, Luke and others knew that Rey would be a target for Kylo or his master if not hidden away. So, once again a skywalker is hidden away on a desert planet to avoid the dark side of the force. Honestly, I don’t think the mother needs to figure into anything here – Han doesn’t really have a connection to the force, but that didn’t stop his kid from being uber-powerful with it.
I’m really curious how far they’re going to skip into the future for the next film. Generally, there’s always some space between SW films, so while I’d love the film to just pick up where VII left off, odds are that it won’t. I assume Rey will be training as a Jedi, Kylo will have been “repaired” after his battle with Rey, the FO are now spreading to control stuff now that they vaporized the Republic’s fleet and their home system, while Leia and the rebels + Finn now assist Luke in finding the first jedi temple, which is the only thing I can really see both sides wanting to go after for whatever power it assumingly holds.
Is the next film ready yet? I think we’re talking what? 2017? 40th anniversary of the original would be a nice date to launch it.
Wow 40th anniversary. Hard to believe I saw Star Wars when I was 6!
That sounds logical…but, they all said it was stolen 3 times and changed hands doesn’t mean that’s the truth… i mean how much truth could ray actually know? She is the one that said it changed hands and those ppls names but… could it just be a part of the cover up?
I dont know… just seems like this part of the story is going to be very difficult to get right without it being too confusing. JJ wants it to be simplistic and easy to figure out…but this part is not… unless we are completely over looking something thats right there in front of us… when it is revealed we will all probably be like…“duh…omg that’s was so easy” LOL
In the official Force Awakens concept art Anakin was originally going to be in it, from what the artwork show’s it seems Anakin’s force ghost was still conflicted between the dark and light side of the force and seems to manifest between his Jedi and Darth Vader looks.
One thing I didn’t like was Kylo Ren slaying the new Jedi order I really hate having the idea of only 1 or 2 jedi left again I want them in the sequels to rebuild the Jedi order and not just by a few I mean I want to see dozens if not hundreds of Jedi kicking @ss on screen sort of what they should of done in the Prequels.
Question if I may, what do you mean by overused and unfair?
I didn’t get into the hype until I actually sat down in the theater, so I am sure I missed certain discussions 
