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#Post#: 37389--------------------------------------------------
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Chiprocks1 Date: April 10, 2016, 12:40 am
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[center]Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
[IMG]
HTML http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Star%20Ratings/HTL_05star.gif[/img]
HTML http://i.imgur.com/HQa0hAh.jpg
Trailer
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE
[/center]
God, this has been a fun week for me. I got to start my Star
Wars Marathon watching the final two episodes of Star Wars
Rebels
HTML http://pennycan.createaforum.com/tv/star-wars-rebels-(season-2-2015)/msg37342/#msg37342,<br
/>following that up with the Original Trilogy and culminating wi
th
[b]Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens[/b], THE movie I
have literally been waiting to see come to fruition since
1983!!! No, I never got around to seeing this in the theater due
to obstacles being put in my way and because of that, I had the
painful task of avoiding spoilers. Everywhere I turned, there
was something being written about, be it in print of on camera
reviews. It was very much a torturous endeavor to navigate
through all this. It's not like it once was. With everyone
seeming to have a[b] YouTube Channel[/b] or their own Forum,
information gets out there pretty damn fast. The other thing I
had to contend with and probably the biggest hurdle was building
The Force Awakens up too much in expectations. I did that once
before and got burned with The Phantom Menace. Never again.
Kinda. Well, yeah, I failed in that department because I did
build it up. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay up.
So, did The Force Awakens live up to my expectations? Hell
f*ckin' yeah it did and then some. This is the movie that the
Prequels should have been. Not story wise, but aesthetically
this is what I wanted to see on the screen. I'm so grateful that
J.J. Abrams decided to use as much practical effects as
possible. It would have been easy to fall victim to just doing
it "in the computer". And that's why the prequels failed. That
and the fact the story sucked and the acting was horrible. But
in The Force Awakens, none of that transpired. I knew I was in
for a ride right from the get-go. I felt connected to both Rey
and [b]Finn [/b]immediately. They have fantastic chemistry
together. Their roles were perfectly cast by Daisy Ridley and
John Boyega. I actually liked a lot of the new characters. I
found Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson)
to be very interesting. Poe (Oscar Isaac) was pretty cool too. I
really dig BB-8 and Maz.
Now for the story itself. I did see that a lot of it kind of
rides the back of both A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. The
similarities are unmistakable. But you know what, I actually
expected this before I even hit play. But there was a enough
tangents along the way to keep me thoroughly entertained. I'm
sure there are a lot of people probably bashing TFA because of
this. I'm okay with it, but I do hope and expect to get
something different, i.e. more original in Episode 8 and onward.
I liked how they introduced both Rey and Finn in the manner they
did. I wasn't expecting Finn to be a Stormtrooper that defects
his post. In the trailer, I always assumed him being in the
[b]Stormtrooper [/b]outfit in the same manner as Luke and Han in
[b]A New Hope[/b].
Now for Kylo Ren. As soon as it was revealed that he was the son
of [b]Han [/b]and [b]Leia[/b], I knew that Han's days were
numbered. It was the only way to further the story if it
continued down the trajectory I had envisioned it going. But I
have to admit, as soon as TFA was announced and Harrison Ford
signed on, I knew they were going to kill him off. An die-hard
fan of all things [b]Star Wars[/b] already knows the story of
how Ford kept badgering [b]George Lucas[/b] to kill off Han. Why
he was so adamant to have him killed off is still a mystery to
me. But with Lucas out of the way, Ford was going to get exactly
what he wanted. Sigh. As for General Hux, I'm a bit conflicted.
In the [b]International Trailer[/b], there was a scene showing
him standing in front of thousands of Stormtroopers which gave
off the vibe of Nazi. But in the movie, [b]Hux [/b]literally is
commanding his Troopers as Hitler. But it was very jarring to
see the Troopers saluting him in the same manner. I'm sure this
has been discussed throughout the Internet Universe.
I'm trying to remember everything as I'm writing this down.
Still processing it all. So I will no doubt come back and post
more as things settle down in my brain. I will say that I was
very shocked that Luke doesn't show up in the movie until the
final scene. I was expecting to see him show up somewhere half
way through the flick. Now it makes perfect sense why he wasn't
featured in any of the Trailers leading up to the release of the
movie. Other than his hand reaching out to touch [b]A2-D2.[/b]
Speaking of that scene, I thought it was badass in the way Rey
was having her Vision of things to come. Really looking forward
to seeing her story unfold. Getting back to her and Finn, I'm on
board with following their arc from here on out. They carried
this flick and did a great job. So, should you [b]Buy [/b]this?
Hell f*cking yeah you should! FYI, the DVD version I bought was
the [b]Steelbook [/b]version from Best Buy. I looked online to
find it to post here but all they had were the other versions.
Now, I'm off to watch the bonus stuff!!! As for this post, I'm
sure there are a lot of typos but I'm too lazy to go back and
correct all of it. I got more important stuff to do....like
watch the movie again. ;D
One last thing, if there was anything that I was disappointed
in, it was the lack of [b]Captain Phasma (Gwendoline
Christie)[/b] and Lor San Tekka (Max von Sydow), both of who I
was expecting to be major players in [b]TFA[/b]. I'm confident
that Phasma will have a much bigger role in Episode 8. That is
if she can escape the Trash Compactor. Haha.
#Post#: 37390--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Chiprocks1 Date: April 10, 2016, 12:41 am
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[center]The Force Awakens Screencaps
Coming soon....
#Post#: 37393--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Neumatic Date: April 10, 2016, 1:34 am
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I can't believe you hadn't seen this yet! Glad you did. And
Steelbook on this side, too! Sucha nice presentation, it's
worth... 50 portions!
And by the way, for those of us who like our physical releases,
the build-up to this has been a nightmare. First, two weeks ago
the blu-ray rip dropped on all the pirate sites, so we started
to get barraged with new GIFs and edited review videos and so on
using all that footage. Then the digital version came out and
we had to wait ANOTHER week... LOADED with ads for the movie...
for the physical release. Gah!
I love Finn and Rey, they're just so adorable together. That
bit in the Falcon where they're going on and on about how cool
the other one was, how did you do that? etc, that's so great.
This movie just feels more human and relatable than I remember
the original trilogy being, there aren't as much airs about it
like before. And Poe.. really glad he didn't die like they had
originally planned. I want him and Finn to go on some derring
do adventure in Episode 8, get their bro-mance on while Rey
tries to get Luke to teach her the ways of the force (I will
say, Luke showing up at the very end is EXACTLY what I predicted
would happen).
Isn't it weird that BB-8's voice was provided by Bill Hader and
Ben "Jean Ralphio" Swartz? Meaning there's three actors from
Star Trek in this movie, Simon Pegg, Bill Hader and Greg
Grunberg. On top of the connective tissue that Poe and Kylo
were both in "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Hux and Poe were both in
Ex Machina.
Oh, little thing that bugged me: we only saw ONE shot of Han
Solo's ship... it's never named (I've been referring to it as
the "Sword Swallower"), I just wanted to see more of it.
Now, aesthetically, how did the movie mesh into the old flicks?
I know they used a lot of the same designs and concept art from
the original series, but side-by-side... did it stick out too
much?
Man, I would have liked to see your reaction to the movie as it
happened.
#Post#: 37395--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Chiprocks1 Date: April 10, 2016, 1:48 am
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The Force Awakens did something that I didn't think they would
do. First, it propels itself forward to follow both Rey and Finn
and see where their adventure takes them, but they also laid the
groundwork of everything that clearly transpires between the
ending of Jedi and the start of Force Awakens, namely Luke
training Kylo and having it all come undone. I really want to
see this story told in complete detail and not in passing as it
was mentioned by Han in this movie. They have to devote an
entire movie to it and I don't think it needs to be part of the
Numbered Episodes either. It can be dealt with in these stand
alone films like[b] Rogue One [/b]is being handled. This would
also be a great way to bring back [b]Han (Harrison Ford)[/b] and
see how his relationship broke with Leia (Carrie Fisher). Not
sure how they would be able to deal with the obvious aging of
the primary actors though if the story were to cover the last 25
years or so or however long it has been. Not sure how old
Ben/Kylo is suppose to be in TFA.
#Post#: 37396--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Neumatic Date: April 10, 2016, 1:51 am
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A CGI facelift wouldn't be out of the question... heck, I bet
they did some touchups on the original actors in this movie as
it stands. I heard they at least did something to Carrie
Fisher's hair (speaking of Carrie Fisher hair, did you notice
her daughter Billie Lourd in the control room rockin' the
classic buns?). But you're thinking of more like Michael
Douglas in the start of Ant Man. They probably could do it.
But they'd need to do it soon.
But I wonder about the other Knights Of Ren, who are they? And
WHERE are they? I figure Snoke has them placed in strategic
areas all over the galaxy.
#Post#: 37397--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Chiprocks1 Date: April 10, 2016, 1:53 am
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[quote author=Neumatic link=topic=3229.msg37393#msg37393
date=1460270067]
Now, aesthetically, how did the movie mesh into the old flicks?
I know they used a lot of the same designs and concept art from
the original series, but side-by-side... did it stick out too
much?
Man, I would have liked to see your reaction to the movie as it
happened.
[/quote]
I thought it was perfect. Visually it fit right into the
Original Trilogy and that in itself went a long way to bringing
me into the Universe in a good way. No matter how many Special
FX Lucas through our way in the Prequels, it just felt cold and
alienating. I could never warm up to any of it. It just looked
like some kid got a new PC and just added a bunch of
pre-processed sh*t on the screen. In TFA, you could see a lot of
care went into making this a believable world inhabited by real
people.....and creatures. And having watch[b] Episodes 4-7[/b]
back to back, it all looked seamless from one to the other.
I wish I did video tape my reaction to watching [b]TFA
[/b]because there were a couple of spots I got teary-eyed and
would liked to have bottled that up for posterity given how long
I have waited for this movie.
#Post#: 37398--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Chiprocks1 Date: April 10, 2016, 1:57 am
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[quote author=Neumatic link=topic=3229.msg37396#msg37396
date=1460271102]
A CGI facelift wouldn't be out of the question... heck, I bet
they did some touchups on the original actors in this movie as
it stands. I heard they at least did something to Carrie
Fisher's hair (speaking of Carrie Fisher hair, did you notice
her daughter Billie Lourd in the control room rockin' the
classic buns?). But you're thinking of more like Michael
Douglas in the start of Ant Man. They probably could do it.
But they'd need to do it soon.
But I wonder about the other Knights Of Ren, who are they? And
WHERE are they? I figure Snoke has them placed in strategic
areas all over the galaxy.
[/quote]
That's the great thing about TFA, it has opened up endless
potential stories for the future. I too want to know more about
the Knights of Ren. I want more Snoke. I want everything!! I
knew that Carrie's daughter was in this and would be dressed the
same as her mother, but I never saw her. She got lost in my
brain as I was taking it all in and just escaped me in the
moment. Of course I will be going back endless times to pick
this movie a part.
#Post#: 37401--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Neumatic Date: April 10, 2016, 2:03 am
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It was a small thing, but I really like how they did the control
panels in this movie. You know how I am about computers in
movies, I like 'em but they all look more or less the same
nowadays, and that design aesthetic doesn't really work for Star
Wars. Somehow they managed to do it, integrate HD monitors and
CGI displays with the lights and switches and had them all look
like they existed back in the 70s.
I also really like the Starkiller Base interiors, with the rock
walls in places. It sort of felt like a Star Wars take on Ken
Adams' Doctor No designs.
I noticed Billie Lourde right away, but I didn't know who she
was. I DID notice Ackbar, of course! But I also noticed just
how many women are in the movie! There's a huge range of
diversity in the humanoid faces, and I didn't even notice that
some of the Stormtroopers were women as well, not just Phasma!
That's real cool! Though I could have gone for more diversity
in the First Order officers, but at the same time their
ubiquitous whiteness might be on purpose, you know?
#Post#: 37403--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Chiprocks1 Date: April 10, 2016, 2:14 am
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The Starkiller Base interiors were some of the best set designs
for the movie. I absolutely loved what they came up with. As for
the diversity, or lack there of when it comes to the First
Order, definitely intentional given how they are modeling it
after a certain period of time that we all want to forget. I'm
kind of shocked that Disney would be okay with this as there is
potential for some kind of backlash, although I haven't heard of
any since the movie has come out.
#Post#: 37404--------------------------------------------------
Re: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
By: Chiprocks1 Date: April 10, 2016, 2:20 am
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I know that Rey story starts on Jakku, but there was a moment
where even I wasn't sure where it was taking place. especially
when I saw Rey eating at the foot of the fallen AT-AT Walker.
For a split second I thought it was Planet Hoth, but without the
snow as if Global Warming had taken effect and changed the
climate in a most drastic way. Even though it clearly was not, I
like that for that brief moment, I thought it was which would
have been cool in my book if it turned out to be Hoth.
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