I thought the movie was brilliant. Loved it. I don't mind all of the nods to Episode IV and I thought it was kind of brilliant. The one thing you didn't get in this movie though was an ending like "A New Hope". It wasn't quite "Empire Strikes Back" but it wasn't as celebratory as Episodes IV or VI.
I thought the characters were amazing. I know people have been talking about how cool Rey was as well as Finn. I thought Poe was very awesome. I loved how kept his sarcastic nature with Kylo at the beginning of the movie. "Who talks first? Do you talk first?" It was great. I also loved him in his element which was inside the cockpit of the X-Wing. Very good stuff.
I enjoyed the humor. I don't know why but when Han used Chewie's bowcaster and realized how good it was, I just found it hysterical. I laughed. The scene with BB-8 and Finn was outstanding and very funny. I kind of needed to see it again because I giggled so much at the one particular scene. I thought the humor was overall very good. I liked it and I wouldn't have changed anything about it.
I loved Kylo Ren. I loved his saber which I did a little researching and found out that the reason his lightsaber looks so unstable is because the Kaiburr crystal used in his lightsaber is actually cracked and that the side blades are exhausts so the saber doesn't overload and blow up. I listened to the latest episode of Rebel Force Radio and they had on Sam Witwer on the show. He mentioned how he and Adam Driver both when to Juilliard and there is actually an acting class where they wear masks in order to teach the students how to emote with various masks on. It was interesting to hear and I can imagine that Adam Driver did a good job in class because I thought he did amazing with the mask on.
I had been expecting someone to die in the movie but the scene still gets to me. I've seen the movie three times and it gets me every time. The way that Harrison Ford and Adam Driver played the scene was just heartbreaking and just sad. The first time I saw it, there were audible gasps in the theater I saw it in.
Overall, I loved the movie. I think it might be my favorite of the movies.
I think that is a forgiving way to look at it, and I respect that it wasn't an issue for everyone. I know I can get caught up in some of the justification for the world sorts of things.
For me, I think what strained it is the idea that there is a Republic Fleet (the one hanging out in the Hosnian system, and ends up being one big, soft target for the First Order), but that is a separate thing from the Resistance forces. I get that there would be some remnants of the Empire to still defeat, that is a well-trod idea going back to the Thrawn trilogy. But the First Order in the movie feels not like a small, secret faction. They feel like they are still the Empire. That, somewhere in the galaxy, there is still the Empire, strong enough to have snatched baby Finn and many others as babys 20 years ago to raise as Stormtroopers. They are building bigger, better star destroyers, armies and fleets, they are uniformed, they fly a flag, their name is known through the galaxy.
If the a Republic exists, and that is going on, how could they not possibly consider the First Order an existential threat? Why "support" (whatever that is supposed to mean) a group to Resists the First Order, but not actually commit the real Republic fleet to that effort? Was there some other war going on with someone else at the same time? Would it come as a surprise to anyone who lived through the Empire that a First Order, who attempt to build better versions of all the Imperial arms, would be building their own, better WMD?
Again, I trust that the story group has (and even, had) lots up their sleeves to better justify why the conflict is First Order vs. A Small Group Dedicated to Fight Them, instead of why it is not simply First Order vs. The Republic. But I think those justifications did not get screen time in the movie we got.
I'm not sure that it's so much a forgiving position as much as it is one that considers realpolitik. Admittedly, some of my thoughts are based on EU stuff that is no longer canonical, but regardless, there are any number of SF tropes that limit troop movements. Perhaps the First Order, which is clearly and Imperial offshoot that has some drift from Imperial standards, was a military bridgehead to the Outer Rim, or a system, series of systems accessible only by means of limited or difficult navigational points (gravity anomolies making hyperspace navigation incredibly difficult?
At the end of WWI, Allied forces invaded Northern Russia at Archangel and cut the TransSiberian railway as means of trying to prop up White forces against the Bolsheviks. Archangel was a port and the TransSiberian was accessible via Japanese and British holdings in Asia. Troops and material were both supplied to local White forces resisting the Red forces. It seems like a pretty strong parallel.
Why not Republic vs First Order directly? I presume because the world loves and underdog. Republic vs First Order establishment vs establishment (progressive vs conservative?). Resistance vs First Order is a battle against the proverbial "Man".
More important than any real world parallel, this gives them a whole era of untold stories to mine in comics, games, novels and other such ancillary materials.
nice analogy. I was also reminded of the "Free France" government in exile, which set up in London during WW2. There was still a "resistance" fighting in France. While there was some connection, circumstances often required autonomy between the two.
In preparation of Ep. 7, I watched 4-6 with my 8 year old daughter and 4 year old son.. My son would perk up at every space battle and lightsaber duel. And my daughter cried when Vader sacrificed himself in RoJ. They love the series..
After having seen TFA twice, I decided to take my family to it, and it was everything a geek dad wanted to pass on to his children. My family even saw it again without me while I was out of town.
Loved Rey, Finn and Poe
The nostalgia was duly served while introducing new characters. Well done..
In preparation of Ep. 7, I watched 4-6 with my 8 year old daughter and 4 year old son.. My son would perk up at every space battle and lightsaber duel. And my daughter cried when Vader sacrificed himself in RoJ. They love the series..
After having seen TFA twice, I decided to take my family to it, and it was everything a geek dad wanted to pass on to his children. My family even saw it again without me while I was out of town.
Loved Rey, Finn and Poe
The nostalgia was duly served while introducing new characters. Well done..
I like how you needed 2 screenings before you took your family.
In preparation of Ep. 7, I watched 4-6 with my 8 year old daughter and 4 year old son.. My son would perk up at every space battle and lightsaber duel. And my daughter cried when Vader sacrificed himself in RoJ. They love the series..
After having seen TFA twice, I decided to take my family to it, and it was everything a geek dad wanted to pass on to his children. My family even saw it again without me while I was out of town.
Loved Rey, Finn and Poe
The nostalgia was duly served while introducing new characters. Well done..
I like how you needed 2 screenings before you took your family.
M
Yup, one to make sure it was appropriate and another with my dad, thus allowing me to catch most of the Easter eggs.. Then we took the kids..
Comments
I thought the characters were amazing. I know people have been talking about how cool Rey was as well as Finn. I thought Poe was very awesome. I loved how kept his sarcastic nature with Kylo at the beginning of the movie. "Who talks first? Do you talk first?" It was great. I also loved him in his element which was inside the cockpit of the X-Wing. Very good stuff.
I enjoyed the humor. I don't know why but when Han used Chewie's bowcaster and realized how good it was, I just found it hysterical. I laughed. The scene with BB-8 and Finn was outstanding and very funny. I kind of needed to see it again because I giggled so much at the one particular scene. I thought the humor was overall very good. I liked it and I wouldn't have changed anything about it.
I loved Kylo Ren. I loved his saber which I did a little researching and found out that the reason his lightsaber looks so unstable is because the Kaiburr crystal used in his lightsaber is actually cracked and that the side blades are exhausts so the saber doesn't overload and blow up. I listened to the latest episode of Rebel Force Radio and they had on Sam Witwer on the show. He mentioned how he and Adam Driver both when to Juilliard and there is actually an acting class where they wear masks in order to teach the students how to emote with various masks on. It was interesting to hear and I can imagine that Adam Driver did a good job in class because I thought he did amazing with the mask on.
I had been expecting someone to die in the movie but the scene still gets to me. I've seen the movie three times and it gets me every time. The way that Harrison Ford and Adam Driver played the scene was just heartbreaking and just sad. The first time I saw it, there were audible gasps in the theater I saw it in.
Overall, I loved the movie. I think it might be my favorite of the movies.
After having seen TFA twice, I decided to take my family to it, and it was everything a geek dad wanted to pass on to his children. My family even saw it again without me while I was out of town.
Loved Rey, Finn and Poe
The nostalgia was duly served while introducing new characters. Well done..
M