Star Wars: The Force Awakens

[Ian]

It's going to need it's own thread and I've got a freebie in the end to go and see it tomorrow night. I wouldn't have bothered but due to when I started with Vodafone I have a spare hour and a half holiday to use so I'll just go in late on Thursday.

I've not looked at early reviews or comments just in case but somebody told me they'd heard early impressions were good. I'd have gone to see it either way, so it probably doesn't matter.

[Henry]

I'll probably see it on Friday. I haven't been spoiler free though, and there are full spoilers of everything on various sites today.

[Ian]

I haven't seen anything that is an actual definite spoiler. I suspect the Kylo Ren stuff I've read in the build-up will be true, to some extent, but I've not looked at anything today. I take it we're agreed that everything's fair game after midnight tomorrow but keep actual spoilers..... well, spoilered, until then?

[Bernanke]

Seeing it Friday evening, and since it's so close now I'm really trying to steer away from reviews and stuff.

[phonics]

From videogames to R2D2 showerheads to Star Wars themed Oranges, I have had my total apathy for the series turned into a rage that I'm struggling to control. I think I'm going to go and shout at the screen the whole time.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I will be watching it sometime near the end of its run.

For the first few weeks screens will be packed, therefore more chance of dickheads talking and/or looking at phones.

[Ian]

From videogames to R2D2 showerheads to Star Wars themed Oranges, I have had my total apathy for the series turned into a rage that I'm struggling to control. I think I'm going to go and shout at the screen the whole time.

It was all about the merchandise from very nearly the start. Simmer down.

[Pepe]

I don't remember much of the original ones so I think I will give the new ones a miss.

[Byron]

I've got to basically avoid the internet for a week or two until I get the chance to see this. Fuck me I'm giddy to see what the reviews are like though.

[Giggles]

I'll see it in January once the crowds die down.

[Shindig]

Its not for me. They're kids' films.

[Byron]

You shut your whore mouth.

[Magic]

9.2 on IMDB. :D

Gotta love those fanboys.

[leedsrevolution]

I think it is a kids film to an extent. In the sense that you need to have been a kid when you first saw it to get you hooked. Hearing John Williams do his shit is then as soothing and nostalgic as sucking on your mums tit. Can't fucking wait.

For the film that is.

[Mazuuurk]

Can we just agree on whether we do spoiler tags or not in this thread?

I know it's a separate thread, so normally we wouldn't, but me for instance would be interested in knowing some general opinions from people who have watched it without getting it spoiled. Maybe we can do reviews in the film thread and discussion about the plot etc in this? Or what does everyone think?

[Henry]

Spoiler tags are absolutely required.

[Giggles]

Why would you put spoiler tags in a thread that has the film title on it? Stick spoiler in the title if needs be and learn a bit of fucking self control.

[Mazuuurk]

For the reasons I mentioned above, for one, Giggles.

[Giggles]

For the reasons I mentioned above, for one, Giggles.

You're going to watch it anyway so the only opinion that matters on it is your own. Are you going to think it's worse because the film brigade here find something wrong with it?

[Browning]

Seeing it Friday as that's my birthday and I'm off work. Can't wait.

[Mazuuurk]

You're going to watch it anyway so the only opinion that matters on it is your own. Are you going to think it's worse because the film brigade here find something wrong with it?

No it won't affect my opinion on it, I think, but I personally won't be able to watch it for a good week or a few, and I'm just curious as to what people think about it, is all. I'm not exactly dreading spoilers like the plague (I know some people who have uninstalled all social media apps from their phones :cab: ), but it would be nice to avoid if I can.

[John]

9.2 on IMDB. :D

Gotta love those fanboys.

It's always good fun when you lol at that sort of thing without having actually seen the media in question.

I'm generally a little over cautious when it comes to spoiler tags but I see absolutely no reason to have them in here. The whole point in having a separate thread is that people can avoid it until they've seen the film in question. If you want to post a spoiler free review in the film thread that's up to you, but spoiler tags will not be required in this thread.

Unless you're posting spoilery stuff today, before the film is out, of course. Then not only are spoiler tags required, but you'll be marked as a wanker.

[phonics]

https://scontent-frt3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/12342578_10156384729165381_8742594942880938917_n.j pg?oh=55305414665b94e73fde1afac2fbf5ae&oe=571891B3

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's a fucking shambles, the Facebook guy that I'm always complaining about has already done his.

[Boydy]

So, did they beam Scotty up?

[Yevrah]

I've always thought that spoiler tags in dedicated threads are absolute lunacy.

If you haven't seen it, discuss your excitement/apathy about doing so in the film thread and if you have seen it, post about that in here.

[Mazuuurk]

That's fine, just wanted to know whats up :thbup:

[Yevrah]

As for me, I've little interest in seeing it, but the thought of doing all the previous 6 (yes, even the 'first' two) over Christmas and they watching it in the New Year does have an appeal.

The plot (bar the big stuff) has always gone in one ear and out of the other with me, so if there's any sort of derivative quality to the new one most of it will be lost on me if I don't revisit the originals.

Oh and Shindig is right, they're kids films.

[Mazuuurk]

They are not :D

Disney films or Babe are kids films. There's no way a kid would be able to follow the general plot in Star Wars, besides there are quite a few (while implicit) relatively harsh moments throughout the series (like Anakin killing off a bunch of kids, Han solo getting tortured, the Emperor being a general violent bastard).

[Reg]

It's a fucking shambles, the Facebook guy that I'm always complaining about has already done his.
You're a bundle of joy aren't you, 'how. ;)

As for the 'kids films' claim, I'm with Maz - Star Wars has always been aimed at adults. It's just that cool flashy light sabers and good guys fighting bad guys attracts kids too. But they're not like Pixar films, which are always very deliberately aimed at both kids and adults.

[Yevrah]

They are not :D

Disney films or Babe are kids films. There's no way a kid would be able to follow the general plot in Star Wars

Seriously? Unless I'm mis-remembering I had no problem at 8.

And films aimed at kids can have adult themes in them, the best ones often do.

[Boydy]

The only adults it's aimed at are manchildren.

[Yevrah]

Surely the end game is that a ludicrously popular range of kids toys were released off the back of it and how would that have worked if it wasn't a kids film?

I know adults collect them now, but my generation-ish all played with them as kids, as toys.

[Mazuuurk]

Seriously? Unless I'm mis-remembering I had no problem at 8.

And films aimed at kids can have adult themes in them, the best ones often do.

Yeah of course they can, but generally it's kind of hidden beneath a flashy surface. Also I don't think I've ever seen a kids film where an adult kills a whole bunch of kids or someone blows up a whole planet.

Kids films should be for kids, I'd say an 8-year-old would generally not get much of Star Wars at all, and may get a little scared watching it, even if you didn't.

[Reg]

Hmm, I dunno, it's probably a big enough part of our culture to be thought of as an 'everyone' film. Hence the Facebook profile picture thing.

[John]

As for the 'kids films' claim, I'm with Maz - Star Wars has always been aimed at adults. It's just that cool flashy light sabers and good guys fighting bad guys attracts kids too. But they're not like Pixar films, which are always very deliberately aimed at both kids and adults.

Definitely not. A few of the costumes for the original film were redesigned during production to make them more suited to becoming children's toys.

They are films for children. That they're so big is just a function of them being very good children's films.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Children don't have money, films are never aimed at them. They're aimed at parents who pay for the tickets, which is why nostalgia crap like Star Wars, and two-level nonsense like Shrek are both surefire box office winners. You could make the best children's film ever but nobody will watch it unless you can convince adults to take their children to it.

[wullie]

If you click that 'Try it' thing for the Star Wars profile, there are a load of options for sport teams listed too. Have they always been there?

[phonics]

Children don't have money, films are never aimed at them. They're aimed at parents who pay for the tickets, which is why nostalgia crap like Star Wars, and two-level nonsense like Shrek are both surefire box office winners. You could make the best children's film ever but nobody will watch it unless you can convince adults to take their children to it.

Really? You think Gnomeo And Juliet is aimed at adults?

[Mazuuurk]

Shrek is a pure kids-film to me.

You are right of course, Jim, but what we (or at least I) mean with "kids" films here are films primarily aimed to entertain kids. Most parents will likely rather go to see Bond or something given the choice, but having kids that's not an option and a film like Shrek that's made for kids but kind of appeals to adults as well (see: any Pixar film), are easier to sit through for the parents (or even entertaining enough) so they will chose that.

Star Wars is, in the same manner, a film meant for adults that also suits some kids, although I'd really say you'd generally need to be around 10-12 to be able to watch Star Wars - to me that's not a kids film really (a kids film is for kids 3-10 or so in my mind). It really has some relatively violent parts though, specially Episode III.

[Mazuuurk]

If you click that 'Try it' thing for the Star Wars profile, there are a load of options for sport teams listed too. Have they always been there?

If they aren't selling this to companies already, they will be soon. Quality pitch:

"Guys, look at how many people we got to put the French flag on their profiles! You just make sure to pay, and we'll make sure that that will be the Coke logo instead!"

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

If you click that 'Try it' thing for the Star Wars profile, there are a load of options for sport teams listed too. Have they always been there?

Yep, it's mainly Arsenal supporters who use it.

[Mazuuurk]

In fairness, they are probably amongst the only supporters who are currently moderately proud of their team.

[Henry]

As for me, I've little interest in seeing it, but the thought of doing all the previous 6 (yes, even the 'first' two) over Christmas and they watching it in the New Year does have an appeal.

The plot (bar the big stuff) has always gone in one ear and out of the other with me, so if there's any sort of derivative quality to the new one most of it will be lost on me if I don't revisit the originals.

Oh and Shindig is right, they're kids films.

What order will you watch them in?

I don't think it's as simple as being "for kids" or "for adults".

[Dark Soldier]

Biggest film release in years and the majority of the discussion is if they're kids films or not. Classic TTH.

:alan:

[Boydy]

No one's seen it yet, what do you expect?

[Dark Soldier]

Righto Boyd.

[Boydy]

Righto Boyd.

Well you weren't exactly adding tot he discussion with moaning about everyone else, were you? Classic DS.

:alan:

[Dark Soldier]

Of course not, fuck Star Wars bro.

[Pleb]

What order will you watch them in?

I don't think it's as simple as being "for kids" or "for adults".
456123789

:baz:

[phonics]

What order will you watch them in?

4, 1, 3, 5, 2

[Josh]

I shall be going to see this on Sunday with my 8 year old Nephew. I wouldn't bother with the cinema for it if it wasn't for him.

Therefore I can confirm this is a kid's film which hopefully will be a lot of fun.

[wullie]

Somewhere on another board, he's now confirming that it's an adult's film for the same reason.

[Ian]

So we're settled on spoilers galore in here after midnight and general questions in the Film thread, right?

That makes sense to me.

[Yevrah]

What order will you watch them in?

I don't think it's as simple as being "for kids" or "for adults".

I was contemplating that.

What would you suggest?

Anything that stops me having to sit through the Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones back to back would be ideal.

[John]

Apparently watching the first two, then the three prequels, then the last of the original trilogy puts a few things in better context, but that still leaves you watching the three prequels back to back so it's probably not ideal.

[Disco]

Why wouldn't you watch them in their 'in universe' chronological order?

[Boydy]

http://theweek.com/speedreads/443582/there-correct-order-show-children-star-wars-movies

Apparently the best order is 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. And just leave out episode one.

I've only ever seen episode 4 and didn't think it was all that great but I might watch at least the other two from the original trilogy to see if I can understand a little what all the fuss is about.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I might do that order this week.

[Ian]

Watch the pod race if you can tolerate all the "Yaaaahoooooooooooooooooooo!"s and the Darth Maul fight on Youtube then pretend Phantom Menace never happened.

[Browning]

There's a guy somewhere on the net who condensed the prequels into 2 hours (total) by cutting out all the crap and just focusing on Anakin becoming Darth Vader. It'll still be crap, but i'd watch that instead if I was doing a marathon.

[Henry]

I suggest 4,5,6,1,2,3.

It will mange you appreciate how shitty the prequels are, if nothing else.

[Giggles]

I suggest 4,5,6,1,2,3.

It will mange you appreciate how shitty the prequels are, if nothing else.

Why would you want to watch a series of films in an order to deliberately make some of them seem shitter?

[Henry]

Why would you want to watch a series of films in an order to deliberately make some of them seem shitter?

Shitty in comparison, I mean. It would also somewhat ruin the old trilogy is you watched the prequels first.

[Pavel]

Amazing.

I wouldn't say that I had high expectations going into it, because I was confident that it would 'just be good' - so:


Whenever, during the opening battle, the Stormtrooper who Finn was friendly with pasted blood all over his helmet I was a little caught. That's surely the only time that blood has been shown on camera in Star Wars bar a squirt from thon' alien's arm that time Obi Wan lops it off during the Cantina scene. From that moment on it was above whatever expectation I had set.

It was effortlessly fun to watch, didn't appear to try too hard and perhaps most of all was patient. Despite it fitting in quite a lot of material, it never felt too fast, and in particular the cinematography was really neat and whilst kinetic almost all the time never felt like it was ripping your eyeballs out. Also, there were at least five or six proper freeze-frame long-shots that really showed what cinema is all about.

The jokes were good, the dialogue was full '2015' - pointing shit out in situations that the audience would take issue with, and then dealing with it - and for the most part all of the acting was well done. Adam Driver stole the show, not-Keira Knightly was a very good non-Keira Knightly and I'm glad that they're not done yet with John Boyega.

...and fuckin' Han Solo. Jesus, it was coming, but they hid it well. I can imagine a person who has seen less movies and isn't as worn into the movie watching experience being surprised by his death at the hands of his son, Ben 'Kylo Ren' Solo.

Bit miffed that I'm gonna' have to wait another year to see some interracial lovin', but fuck it. I'll wait.

All in all, probably the second best movie after Empire Strikes Back, if not just third behind the original depending on your outlook.

[Ian]

It could just as easily be called Star Wars: Original Trilogy Megamix which is a shame because it does a lot of things really well. The original characters who appear are used well, the new characters are well acted and given time to establish themselves rather than just there to tell Han Solo they think he's cool, the action is really good, it avoids much of the stuff that made 1-3 such a mess and much of the nostalgic stuff is there for an actual reason. And as Pavel said, it wasn't in a desperate hurry to blow it's load. It wasn't ten minutes of intro then OKAY NOW LIGHTSABERS.

On the flip side the story is unnecessarily convoluted in places (why does there need to be a Resistance? Why aren't they just forces of the Republic?), it basically lifts whole chunks of stuff from the originals when it comes to Starkiller Base (:face:) and the attack upon it and despite the stuff about it turning out that Kylo Ren is a Solo offspring he's a bit of a gimp. If Rey is some sort of Force prodigy savant and/or Ren was actively trying not to kill her because he wanted to turn her I'll buy it (even if it looked like she just outplayed him) but Fin just appeared to be chancing his arm. I know he's been raised for combat and all that but they ought to have had Ren dispose of him more handily. As it is Ren looks like he's got some impressive abilities with the Force but shits the bed as soon as somebody waves a lightsaber at him.

It is good though. Comfortably in the better half of Star Wars films. I'd probably put it a close third after the first film.

[Bernanke]

As a spectacle, it's freaking amazing. The last scene is a bit lol though, with him just meditating on a cliff.

Are they actually gonna make Rey and Finn into a romance? I think I'd prefer it if they didn't.

[Browning]

Echoing the above thoughts really, thought it was superb. Not as good as Empire but up there with the others. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the main girl was a lot like Keira Knightley.

I pretty much loved everything about it. I really didn't expect it to be as good as it was.

[Henry]

Agree with Ian, except that I thought that Kylo Ren (and Snoke) were pretty cool.

[Ian]

I probably sound more down on Ren than I am. I think there were some mis-steps in the two fight scenes as I've said but he has some swish powers and him not just being Vader-light in his anger was good too. And while it was a bit abrupt I thought his part in Han's death scene was sound and him being afraid of a turn to the light is a decent enough spin on what we've had in the previous films.

[Bernanke]

I liked the subversion of having Ren remove his mask really early. They set him up as this Vader 2.0, and then we quickly find out he's just a fanboy that can't control his emotions. I thought Driver did great.

Daisy Ridley was amazing. :wub:

[Browning]

Chewie really carried Han's death though. His pure anger when it just happened (and THAT shot) and then him sitting in the cockpit all alone later on. :(

[Ian]

I've got a (bad) feeling (about this) that Chewie's going to die trying to avenge Han in the films to come.

[Browning]

He better not.

I do think the fact he's still (seemingly) 2nd in command of the Falcon is a bit of a kick in the teeth for him though. He's paid his dues, damn it!

Also, R2D2 is a bit of a dick for sleeping through the whole film despite possessing 95% of the map they were looking for. C3P0 even said he wouldn't have it, so it's not like they were aware of it and were just waiting for the missing bit.

[Browning]

Did anyone else completely forget about the jacket, and just think BB8 was a massive racist for a while?

[ItalAussie]

I really enjoyed it. It's certainly better than the prequels. A touch predictable, mind:
"OK, so we've got girl Luke and black Han. There's ball R2-D2, Chewie is still Chewie, Young Darth Vader is Darth Vader, and I guess that's white Lando. I suppose that leaves Han Solo as Obi-w... aw crap."

It really did follow the original film almost beat-for-beat. But I'm pretty much happy for them to go with "tried-and-tested" rather than screwing the whole thing up. They made the Force feel properly mystical, which is so much better than anything to do with midichlorians.

EDIT: Rey is absolutely going to be Luke Jr., I reckon.

[ItalAussie]

http://theweek.com/speedreads/443582/there-correct-order-show-children-star-wars-movies

Apparently the best order is 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. And just leave out episode one.

I've only ever seen episode 4 and didn't think it was all that great but I might watch at least the other two from the original trilogy to see if I can understand a little what all the fuss is about.The best order is 4, 5, 6. Then 7.

Then never watching the prequels.

[Browning]

I've just realised that Luke Jr learnt the force in like 10 minutes whilst it took her dad 3 films. What will she be like by the end of episode 9...

But yea, pretty similar to a new hope but enough differences in the characters to make it interesting and worthwhile.

[Bernanke]

I've just realised that Luke Jr learnt the force in like 10 minutes whilst it took her dad 3 films. What will she be like by the end of episode 9...

But yea, pretty similar to a new hope but enough differences in the characters to make it interesting and worthwhile.

There are theories floating around that she might've been trained by Luke at a young age who then wiped her mind when he left, but that that left her close to her abilities.

Also read something that she might be the one Yoda talked about in the prequels who would "bring balance to the force". They might make both Rey and Ren into very "grey" force users from both perspectives, because she has some serious anger in her.

[ItalAussie]

I wonder if we'll see ghost versions of Yoda and Darth Vader at some stage.

Also, presumably Lando's flying around the galaxy doing stuff. It'll be interesting to see if Billy Dee Williams is going to get some screentime at some point.

[John Arne]

I'm bored.
Is this worth going to watch if you hadn't seen the first 6?

[Spoonsky]

I thought it was great. It lived up to expectations at the very least which, given the expectations, is no small thing. It was a bit of a circle jerk but it's hard to fault it too much because those moments (like the ending) were also brilliant. I did enjoy the fact that it was basically A New Hope all over again. You could basically read it as if A New Hope were actually good. I can definitely see this movie becoming iconic in the way the original ones did as well, which has got to be ultimately what they're aiming for.

It puts this into a new context as well:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSwO-k-RqNA

[Browning]

I would say it's still worth seeing if you haven't seen the others. It's better if you have because there's a lot of nice references to the old movies but it'll still be good.

[John Arne]

I would say it's still worth seeing if you haven't seen the others. It's better if you have because there's a lot of nice references to the old movies but it'll still be good.

Cheers.

[Ian]

I think you'd lose a lot by not having seen the others, personally. I don't know that I'd recommend somebody going to the cinema to see it as their first one.

Possibly does work though, I dunno.

[Byron]

To be fair, Miss Byron who hasn't seen any of the others just saw it with me and she loved it. Didn't feel like she missed much although I did have to explain a couple of references

[Spoonsky]

I saw it with one friend who hasn't seen any of them. When Han Solo and Chewie comes out he whispers to me, "Is that Luke Skywalker?" :face:

[Spammer]

Does anyone else think that Ray is Han and Leia's kid too?

Similar hair to Leie (subtle nod), has the force, comment by Kylo Ren that he was like a father to her that she never had, echoes themes from the previous films. Chucked on a planet as a kid for her own protection, I reckon.

[Browning]

I still think she's Luke's child, because I'm sure Leia and Han would have mentioned having another kid. But it's not impossible, I had considered that too.

[Spammer]

She's related to one of them, I reckon. Leia didn't just approach her like a randomer at the end. I suppose she isn't a randomer anyway, but I reckon there's something there.

I can see it now. The end of Episode VIII:

Kylo Ren: No Rey, I am your brother!

[Browning]

Well, either way, Leia is her mother or her Aunt. She's certainly not completely unrelated.

[Spoonsky]

She has to be Luke's kid, why else would she have inherited the force, or get those flashbacks from his lightsaber?


Children don't have money, films are never aimed at them. They're aimed at parents who pay for the tickets, which is why nostalgia crap like Star Wars, and two-level nonsense like Shrek are both surefire box office winners. You could make the best children's film ever but nobody will watch it unless you can convince adults to take their children to it.

This is ludicrous, by the way. Do you think adults really want to go see Minions? You could use the same argument to state that children's toys don't exist.

[Pepe]

I know plenty of manchilds who are also in love with that Minion shite.

[Bernanke]

Is it established that Force Sensitivity is inherited though?

I'd kinda like it if she wasn't related to any of the old gang.

[Browning]

Well it's established in as much as Vader seemingly passed it to both his children.

She simply has to he related to Luke, but I could just about buy it being via Leia. I still don't think that will be the case though.

[wullie]

Adults definitely like Minions, look at how 99% of inspirational/sassy quotes shared on Facebook are illustrated.

[Multi]

I assumed she was the daughter of Han and Leia, separated for her safety just like Luke.

Overall the Movie was great. The villain Snoke was a bit ?? who the fuck is he and why should I care? And the Death star 2.0. But not a big deal.

[Giggles]

I hadn't heard there was another Death Star. Seems a bit of a cop out on the face of it.

[Henry]

Snoke was menacing and enigmatic. Not sure why he's recieving this reaction.

[ItalAussie]

Snoke was menacing and enigmatic. Not sure why he's recieving this reaction.

I'm withholding any thoughts on him until the next movie is done. He could be excellent, or he could be terrible.

At this point though, I'm more than a little bit convinced that he's six inches tall.


EDIT: I've heard people suggest that he's Darth Plagueis, who was Palpatine's master that apparently "learned how to conquer death". He seems old enough that he should have been either doing something or hiding out during the original trilogy.

[Vim]

The only issue (and it's a minor one) I had was the New Republic, or whatever it was called. They should have even shortly explained their relationship with the Resistance and why we should care when they were all blown up.

[Henry]

There's some material in one of the spin-off novels that hints that he's an ancient being from unexplored regions of the galaxy, and was awoken by the remnants of the empire.

While I'd quite like if it was Plagueius, Abrams et al seem to be treating the prequels as being pretty toxic, so it may be unlikely that they'd source a major plot point from a relatively obscure detail in those.

EDIT: Agreed with Vim, and to emphasise the same point, there apparently was a scene shot involving the New Republic Senate but they cut it because they wanted to distance themselves from the political stuff in the prequels.

[Josh]

It was a decent sci-fi action film. No more, no less; a very acceptable 7.

I can only see you absolutely loving the film if you were a big Star Wars fanboy but I would struggle to see anyone dislike it in the same vein as the new trilogy.

[Browning]

I always assumed plagueious or whatever his name is was a made up story pulled out of Palpetines arse. It probably wasn't but he offered no evidence whatsoever and Anakin just goes with it.

It very well could be him which would be cool. I agree though that he's probably 6 inches tall.

[Vim]

I've only seen the Star Wars movies once but I honestly loved watching this one. The new three main characters (Rey, Finn and Poe) were all interesting and fun to watch. Good stuff. I'm hoping Rey doesn't turn out to be Luke's daughter because they've already pulled the SURPRISE BLOOD RELATION thingie with Han+Leia=Kylo.

Also I really liked Kylo Ren because for once, the villain isn't some supposedly great and almighty bad guy, but is learning about the Force at the same time as the heroes. Marvel could get a few pointers from this villain, as much as I love Marvel movies the bad guys are consistently shit.

[Bernanke]

Boyega is going to be a damn superstar:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6T08KnlX-c


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTaJakmGEwk

[Mike]

Saw this tonight and loved it from start to finish. Might try talk someone else to come see it!

[ItalAussie]

Also I really liked Kylo Ren because for once, the villain isn't some supposedly great and almighty bad guy, but is learning about the Force at the same time as the heroes.
That's a great point, and it was really well done in the film.

[Raoul Duke]

Saw this earlier and absolutely loved it. For me (loved SW as a kid) it hit all the right notes whilst being pretty laser-focussed in terms of plot and pacing. Fantastic.

[Raoul Duke]

Also: The Chav Awakens:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBUMGpBBdck

[Manc]

Plenty of totty out last night dressed as stormtroopers. Strangely arousing.

[Kikó]

I liked it. Hit the right notes generally and was nothing like the awful prequels. The first forty minutes or so was a little plodding but it picked up and the special effects weren't overdone. 7/10.

[Alex]

I saw this the other day and thought it was excellent. Better than the prequel trilogy in it's entirety. Just really well done I though.

I only have a couple of gripes with it. One being that Rey learnt to use the Force pretty comprehensively in the space of an afternoon. I bet she turns out to be Luke's daughter or something, but even so that's some pretty fast learning. Especially with nobody to teach you.

But then I suppose if they wanted some sort of Force action at some point they had to go that route. Because if Luke Skywalker is the last Jedi left and they really wanted to keep his reveal until the end (which I'm glad they did because it was cool as fuck) then there was nobody about the actually teach her.

And then secondly, why is Kylo Ren sat talking to Vader's hemet, asking for a sign to stay with the Dark Side? And claiming to want to "finish his work" and so on. Has no one told him his grandfather pretty comprehensively renounced all that before he died? Lobbing the Emperor into that pit to his death was about as sure a sign as you could get that he wasn't down with the whole "Dark Side" business anymore.

He even appears and waves at Luke all happy and non-evil again at the end of ROTJ, with Obi Wan and Yoda. Why isn't his ghost just turning up now and telling Kylo to stop being such a dick? Luke trained him too, so he presumably knows all this anyway.

Nitpicking though, I guess. I actually thought he was a really good villain. I liked the "human" side of him. That he was obviously very conflicted, and even though he looked a scary bastard with the helmet on he was still just a kid with a lot to learn, and still very susceptible to fucking up.

Also, more Poe Dameron in the next one. I loved that guy.

[Raoul Duke]

I saw this the other day and thought it was excellent. Better than the prequel trilogy in it's entirety. Just really well done I though.

I only have a couple of gripes with it. One being that Rey learnt to use the Force pretty comprehensively in the space of an afternoon. I bet she turns out to be Luke's daughter or something, but even so that's some pretty fast learning. Especially with nobody to teach you.

But then I suppose if they wanted some sort of Force action at some point they had to go that route. Because if Luke Skywalker is the last Jedi left and they really wanted to keep his reveal until the end (which I'm glad they did because it was cool as fuck) then there was nobody about the actually teach her.

Yeah - I wasn't sure why she (or Finn) could suddenly have a decent bash at a lightsabre fight with Kylo when he's been trained for ages in it and they've literally never held one until 10 minutes ago.

I was also a big fan of the amount of ex-Lost people turning up all over the shop. I counted two (the pilot (who's later on in Heroes) and the Asian guy).

[Ian]

That was my main gripe. More so with Finn. I can accept Rey being a scary-good Force prodigy who somehow got the hang of it mega-fast but what the fuck is he doing not dispatching a Stormtrooper waving a lightsaber around in five seconds?

[Raoul Duke]

I've got a feeling they'll all have some kind of Force abilities.

[Ian]

If Finn has and Ren didn't notice it wouldn't be quite up there with the entire Jedi council not noticing Palpatine despite meeting him twice a week for political small-talk but it'd rank relatively high in what's-the-point-of-the-Force stuff.

[Giggles]

Any downloads yet?

[Raoul Duke]

Well he didn't notice Not Keira Knightley initially.

I hope we'll get to see more of Phasma in the next film. She could be a cool character.

[Ian]

Of course Ren could have just been playing his cards close to his chest on that front. If he wanted both Finn and Rey alive that'd definitely explain why he didn't eviscerate them without breaking a sweat.

[Alex]

Yeah - I wasn't sure why she (or Finn) could suddenly have a decent bash at a lightsabre fight with Kylo when he's been trained for ages in it and they've literally never held one until 10 minutes ago.

I was also a big fan of the amount of ex-Lost people turning up all over the shop. I counted two (the pilot (who's later on in Heroes) and the Asian guy).

I think with Rey I could accept the light sabre skills a bit more because it established earlier she was ace at fighting with that stick on her home planet. Same principle I suppose. Although Kylo Ren should surely still be decking her very easily. There was a lot less of the ridiculousl back-flipping and shit that occurred in the prequels though, so he didn't have that in his arsenal. Which I'm glad about to be honest because it always looked shit. I liked that the fighting was definitely more like the original trilogy, rather than the "ninjas on zip-wires" style established later on.

It was more her mental strength with the Force that I found a bit of a reach. "Unfasten these restraints and leave the room", third times a charm and you've cracked the Jedi mind trick ability? Nah. Then not only resisting a guy who stopped a laser bolt in it's tracks with his mind earlier in the film, but then actually flipping it back on him and taking some shit out of his head. And I forget exactly but isn't it implied she does something to Kylo Ren with the Force in the final fight as well?

[Alex]

If Finn has and Ren didn't notice it wouldn't be quite up there with the entire Jedi council not noticing Palpatine despite meeting him twice a week for political small-talk but it'd rank relatively high in what's-the-point-of-the-Force stuff.


True. You would think he would be pretty tuned into her. Can't find her in that relatively small base at the end when she does a runner but a few moments later.......hang on a minute "Force powers! Han Solo has just arrived somewhere on this planet several miles away! I can sense it!". :D

[Ian]

There was a lot less of the ridiculousl back-flipping and shit that occurred in the prequels though, so he didn't have that in his arsenal.

I don't know if this is more than a fan theory but it makes some sense: this'd tie in with the "force in decline" thing. The first films are meant to be Jedi (and Sith by extension because they're ready to fight those Jedi) at the peak of their powers, sort-of, so they've got more razzle-dazzle fancy pants bullshit going on.

[five time]

That was my main gripe. More so with Finn. I can accept Rey being a scary-good Force prodigy who somehow got the hang of it mega-fast but what the fuck is he doing not dispatching a Stormtrooper waving a lightsaber around in five seconds?

He pretty much did. Plus before the fight he got hit in the stomach with the same weapon that we've seen flipping stormtroopers off their feet all movie.

As for Phasma, surely they've cut a scene or two with her in it because the character ended up feeling a bit pointless. She could have been the trooper with the vibro sword that Finn had a duel with, or at least acted a little more menacing when Finn was back on the ship.

Definitely a cut above the prequels, but Snoke and the Maz Kanata didn't do anything for me.

[Ian]

I was half asleep, to be fair. My memory is that Finn held his own briefly but I may be wrong.

Snoke didn't do a hell of a lot for me either. It's going to be shit when we see him in the flesh and he's just normal sized.

[ItalAussie]

Yeah - I wasn't sure why she (or Finn) could suddenly have a decent bash at a lightsabre fight with Kylo when he's been trained for ages in it and they've literally never held one until 10 minutes ago.

I thought they were all supposed to be a bit inexperienced with lightsabers. Ren included. Which is why the fights were energetic but not precise.

[leedsrevolution]

I was half asleep, to be fair. My memory is that Finn held his own briefly but I may be wrong.

Snoke didn't do a hell of a lot for me either. It's going to be shit when we see him in the flesh and he's just normal sized.

I think he will be Yoda sized with a height complexity.

[Ian]

I'm also not buying this Snoke = Darth Plagueis thing and would be a bit disappointed if that were true.

[five time]

Why would that necessarily have to be a bad thing?

I'm pretty sure Abrams said he was 7 feet tall in one of the interviews.

[Browning]

Darth Plagueis is surely dead, otherwise why did Palpatine become the master and start hiring apprentices? I doubt it's him.

[Ian]

The stuff I've read has waved that away with "Yeah, but the whole point was he'd learned how to beat death." I think it'd make Palpatine seem a bit shitter if he hadn't done him in after all.

[Alex]

Also, I was well happy when this guy turned up:

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/banthapedia/images/9/9b/625px-Nien_Nunb.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090912190014

Maybe even more than Admiral Ackber.

[TG09]

I really liked the film would like to see the film again Looking forward to see the next film.

[Kikó]

Admiral Akbar is actually 93 years old now.

[bruhnaldo]

"And then secondly, why is Kylo Ren sat talking to Vader's hemet, asking for a sign to stay with the Dark Side? And claiming to want to "finish his work" and so on. Has no one told him his grandfather pretty comprehensively renounced all that before he died? Lobbing the Emperor into that pit to his death was about as sure a sign as you could get that he wasn't down with the whole "Dark Side" business anymore. "

http://elitedaily.com/entertainment/dads-theory-about-star-wars/1328074/

^ it might be this tbh

[Pleb]

I hear that Prequal Anakin might appear in ghost form for 8. Might be a load of gobshite.

[phonics]

Alright that was actually quite good 'turn your brain off and watch things explode for slightly too long' stuff.

It's convinced me to watch the sequels to this but I'm still not on board for the character movies. I had no idea that Leia and Han Solo had had a child so was a bit confused as to his obsession with the guy. Do they feel the need to kill off the best actor every time as the only other Star Wars I've seen, Ep 1, killed off Ewan McGregor.

What did they mean when Han Solo said, 'There's too much Vader in him?'

edit: Oh, he was Lukes Dad and they were Brother and Sister, right.

edit2: The laughs were a lot better than I expected considering I care so little for the characters, and most of the jokes aren't even in English.

[Cord]

Well I quite liked this. It zoomed by pretty quickly in the cinema, and while I'm not actually that fussed about the Star Wars films, it did on a couple of occasions really gave me a nostalgia rush, so well done it. The new leads were pretty good, and I thought Oscar Isaac came across as a potential big star.

On the other hand, it did slightly edge towards a being a bit of a shiny bland JJ Abrams job, like what he did with the Star Trek film, just not quite as bad because presumably Star Wars has greater cultural cache and he can't run roughshod over it in the same way he can Star Trek. They basically just rehashed all the greatest hits bits but slightly different (and generally not done as well), and it didn't really feel like they landed a lot of the slower moments. Sooner or later they will need to have some new ideas.

The main problem I had was the villains were a bit poo. You had a triumvirate of a guy doing an even more exaggerated version of Eddie Izzard's bit on classical British actors on the Death Star, an incredibly generic fantasy villain with a shitty name #976, and some basement dwelling autismo nerd kid that mainly just seems to get his arsed kicked by people that have only just picked up a lightsaber. Those three really didn't work for me.

[Bernanke]

Oscar Isaac has all the attributes for becoming a Pitt/Clooney/DiCaprio level of star. His output so far has been excellent.

[Giggles]

Oscar Isaac has all the attributes for becoming a Pitt/Clooney/DiCaprio level of star. His output so far has been excellent.

Haven't seen him in much but I really liked him in Drive and Llewyn Davis.

[Bernanke]

Check out A Most Violent Year and Ex Machina.

[Giggles]

Check out A Most Violent Year and Ex Machina.

Just read the synopsis of both and A Most Violent Year sounds interesting. It's on Google Movies too so I might check it out tonight.

[Byron]

What I want to know is who played this guy.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/057/275/57c.gif

He, is the real star of the movie.

[Lewis]

This was alright, although I doubt Luke Skywalker spends his days at the highest point of that island. The awkward bastard.

[Ian]

I went to see it again because I got another freebie and had nowt better to do (I'm trying to remember whether I've been to see a film twice before at the cinema. I'm sure it must have happened but nothing leaps to mind.) I'm feeling a bit better disposed towards Kylo Ren than I was originally, even if he's definitely made to look a bit of a mug when it comes to lightsabers. I think I was harsh on him before.

[Reg]

I thought Ren was really good.

Coincidentally the only film I've seen twice at the cinema was Star Wars Episode 1. It was only the other day that I found out Liam Neeson was Qui-Gon Jinn, for some reason it had never clicked.

[Raoul Duke]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOSCASqLsE

[Giggles]

Is Kylo Ren a character or actor? The name sounds Star Wars but you're all talking about him like he's the actor.

[Ian]

Character, then the video above he's called that because it's a spoof.

Actor is Andrew Driver, who has a rubbish face but is good in the film.

[Giggles]

Character, then the video above he's called that because it's a spoof.

Actor is Andrew Driver, who has a rubbish face but is good in the film.

I wouldn't pick any of the new actors out of a lineup bar the black fella, and that's only because I seen him on Graham Norton's show one night and he seemed like a right cock.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Firstly, fuck the guy sat 2 rows ahead of me who decided to check Facebook for the entirety of the Kylo Ren and Han Solo scene. Seriously? What the fuck?

Secondly, I loved it. It's easily better than the prequels but I'll need to see it again to see how it compares to the originals. I really liked Kylo Ren and his struggles but was a little disappointed when it looked like he was going to turn back to the light. I cried when he planted his lightsaber into Han's chest :(

Also regarding Rey. I believed that she was Han and Leia's child until she touched the lightsaber, at that point I was firmly in the 'she's Luke's daughter' camp which helped me believe she could channel the force so quickly after realising she had some control over it.

[niko_cee]

I'm sure it's been said, but if you've seen this one you probably don't need to bother with the originals. It's a womp rat reference short of a greatest hits effort.

They need to get over Vader. He was great. They fucked him up forever. Stop trying to make new versions of him.

I wonder how big the next deathstar is going to be.

[leedsrevolution]

I saw this at the cinema but would like to watch it again, is there any good streams now?

[Gray Fox]

I wouldn't mind seeing this again. I was on the fence on whether I really liked it or was just blinded by some nostalgia.

[Lewis]

Please don't say you actually cried.

[Yevrah]

I still haven't seen it but the impression I get from those who have is that it's one of the most derivative things ever.

Fair comment?

[Raoul Duke]

It's hard to be objective. If you're like me and you love Star Wars then you'll go bananas for it. If you don't then it's alright.

I don't think you could say it's a bad film, even if you don't know/care about the SW "universe".

[Ian]

Star Wars is Star Wars.

[John]

Adults definitely like Minions, look at how 99% of inspirational/sassy quotes shared on Facebook are illustrated.

My favourite of those was in the immediate aftermath of the Paris attacks. Some quote about minions protecting eachother despite not all being the same, conveniently forgetting that if minions were real they'd be working for ISIS.


Snoke was menacing and enigmatic. Not sure why he's recieving this reaction.

I thought he was the worst part of the film.

The little rolly droid was the best thing about it. There were maybe ten chuckles in the film and at least half of them came from him.

[hfswjyr]

Another one coming this December. Looks like every December from here on out is going to be Star Wars month.

Looks good too.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji-BZ0oCwg

[Giggles]

Is this an out of the blue announcement or were Disney always planning .5 episodes?

[hfswjyr]

Well, you don't just accidentally make a multi-million dollar movie teaser... so they've obviously been planning this strategy for awhile.

Not sure if it was publicly known though. It would probably be the world's worst kept secret if they tried to keep it under wraps.

[Alex]

I think they always planned an "anthology" film between releases of the main episodes. I think the young Han Solo one is slated for 2018, between episodes 8 and 9.

[Browning]

It was very much known. This was published in December:

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/complete-star-wars-movie-schedule-2020-182152556.html

Showing this plus 2 more movies in addition to episodes 8 and 9. I could have sworn I'd seen more confirmed too... but I could be wrong.

Edit- Just found the original article I read, and guess it was just those. 7, 8 and 9 with Rogue One, Han Solo and Boba Fett after each one.

[Pleb]

I think they want to 10-12 as well which is lol.

[Alex]

They did pay $4 Billion for the rights to it. Might as well make the most of them.

[Giggles]

I'd watch all bar the Boba Fett one.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I think Boba Fett might be the best tbh.

Although maybe I'm biased because I fucking love Boba.

[Byron]

So this is basically 7.5?

[Gray Fox]

Rogue One fits in between the last of the prequels and A New Hope. So 3.5 technically.