Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

[ChrisFL]

I'll be happy as long as the next movie doesn't have

Spoiler

Death Star 4.0

 

[Nick]

I don't think any of the characters were rehashes of the original. In fact, I think this is the one area where they drew a line in the sand and differentiated themselves.

Luke was a whiny, shielded farm boy who knew very little about the outside world and pretty much trusted everyone he met. His story is one of disillusionment with grand adventure.

Rey is a scavenger, rough edged and street smart. Someone who is as afraid of adventure as she is in need of it.

Finn and Leia are pretty much nothing alike. Other than the "love interest" scenario, which is itself a very high-level comparison. Leia was a strong-willed rebel unafraid to take a stand. Finn has been raised and "educated" to be a slave of the First Order. He's learning to be an individual and face his fears. I believe the next film will dive deeper into the "education centers" that Finn was subjected to as a child.

While Poe is a great pilot, he's not a curmudgeonly scoundrel like Han. He's someone who deeply believes in the cause that he's fighting for and willing to sacrifice himself for it. Other than being a good-looking pilot, he's nothing like Han. I do hope they dig into his character more next film, as his origins are very interesting.

Oh yeah there's some big differences, and I agree. I was mostly generalizing. Can't wait to dive into the stories more in the next movie.

I think the big question on everyone's mind though is WHAT HAPPENED TO C-3PO'S LEFT ARM?!?

 

[Nick]

I'll be happy as long as the next movie doesn't have

Spoiler

Death Star 4.0

Especially since

Spoiler

we're getting a movie about how they built the first Death Star next year (Rogue One). It would piss me off if they do another Death Star.

 

[*Q*]

Especially since

Spoiler

we're getting a movie about how they built the first Death Star next year (Rogue One). It would piss me off if they do another Death Star.

Spoiler

You know what would be nice? If the Rebels got a Death Star for once. That would be a nice change of pace.

 

[Nick]

Spoiler

You know what would be nice? If the Rebels got a Death Star for once. That would be a nice change of pace.

Spoiler

I don't want anyone to have a death star. I think Episode 8 will get very dark. Kylo Ren is fighting an internal battle of Light/Dark and he's combating the light by killing/fighting (To me, Killing Han was akin to killing one of the last remaining pieces of Ben Solo).

I'd love to see The First Order do all out attacks and Kylo be a badass in 8. Obviously Luke will train Rey. I sort of don't want Episode 8 to end well for the rebels. I want it left hanging in the balance for episode 9.

 

[Disneyhead]

Spoiler

I don't want anyone to have a death star. I think Episode 8 will get very dark. Kylo Ren is fighting an internal battle of Light/Dark and he's combating the light by killing/fighting (To me, Killing Han was akin to killing one of the last remaining pieces of Ben Solo).

I'd love to see The First Order do all out attacks and Kylo be a badass in 8. Obviously Luke will train Rey. I sort of don't want Episode 8 to end well for the rebels. I want it left hanging in the balance for episode 9.

First Order Strikes Back?

 

[Nick]

First Order Strikes Back?

Well, I don't want an Empire Strikes Back rehash, obviously. I'd love it to be a much darker film than Empire and I want to see some originality taken by the writers/directors as well.

 

[fryoj]

Spoiler

I don't want anyone to have a death star. I think Episode 8 will get very dark. Kylo Ren is fighting an internal battle of Light/Dark and he's combating the light by killing/fighting (To me, Killing Han was akin to killing one of the last remaining pieces of Ben Solo).

I'd love to see The First Order do all out attacks and Kylo be a badass in 8. Obviously Luke will train Rey. I sort of don't want Episode 8 to end well for the rebels. I want it left hanging in the balance for episode 9.

Spoiler

I fully expect Kylo to Kill Luke in 8. Maybe Leia. Maybe Both. It has to be Dark. Thats the Formula. First movie fun, 2nd one dark and all hope is lost, third one good guys win. Kylo, or another bad guy I guess, has to establish himself as a legit badass for the third movie so Rey can save the day. Best way to do that is for them to kill Luke.

Of course, there is the theory that Rey will go dark and Kylo will return to the light and be the hero. I mean Rey turning on Luke at the end of 8 and killing him would be a very "I am your father" moment that no one sees coming. It would fit the criteria of all hope being lost and would set up Kylo for the turn. But I just don't know if he can be sold as a hero.

 

[Nick]

Spoiler

I fully expect Kylo to Kill Luke in 8. Maybe Leia. Maybe Both. It has to be Dark. Thats the Formula. First movie fun, 2nd one dark and all hope is lost, third one good guys win. Kylo, or another bad guy I guess, has to establish himself as a legit badass for the third movie so Rey can save the day. Best way to do that is for them to kill Luke.

Of course, there is the theory that Rey will go dark and Kylo will return to the light and be the hero. I mean Rey turning on Luke at the end of 8 and killing him would be a very "I am your father" moment that no one sees coming. It would fit the criteria of all hope being lost and would set up Kylo for the turn. But I just don't know if he can be sold as a hero.

Spoiler

While I would love for that to happen (and i've heard those theories), I don't know if Disney has the balls to let that happen. I hope they allow for risks and just let Kathleen Kennedy oversee things.

Also, to answer your question, yes, I do think the roles can easily be sold as Rey as a villain and Kylo as a hero. Kylo came across as very weak in TFA as a villain, they could sell it like he wants to fight for the rebels... sort of like they did with Finn and how he went from Stormtrooper to the other side.

Of course, i'm still not 100% sold that Luke is her father. I think there's a lot that could point to Han/Leia. Yeah, Han nor Leia seemed to recognize her, but the only theory to get around that would be a Jedi mind wipe OR Leia knows and Han didn't. Remember, she only said "Go get our son" and Han ran away for years in between. It's possible she got impregnated right before he left and she never told him. Leia, of course knowing that she would have the force, went to Luke to train her, and she ended up on Jakku for safety after Kylo went wrong.

R2 turning on when she came in the room is what leads me to sway towards Luke, however.

 

[Jymmymack]

Personally,

Spoiler: Spoiler

I think Rey turning is silly. As is the Han/Leia parents theory. Jedi mind-wipe? Is that like the memory wipe kiss from Superman II? Silly, silly. Here's my theory on the First Order and the Knights of Ren:

In the novelization of TFA, Snoke says that he chose Kylo Ren as an apprentice because he had the "perfect balance of dark AND light." Everybody seems to be overlooking this comment, but to me it just blew the entire film wide open.

The First Order is obsessed with... well, order. The "enemy" is disorganization. JJ has been adamant that Snoke and Ren are NOT Sith. At first it just seemed like a flimsy way of not having the Sith as a villain again. But now I believe that he was hinting at their goals the entire way through the film and we just misconstrued them as the new Empire.

The Knights of Ren are seeking to bring balance to the Force, in a very unaware and misguided fashion, to be sure. Nonetheless, Kylo is trying to eliminate the binary of "light and dark." To him and Snoke, the Sith and Jedi represent disorder. The key to order is an emotionless base. The Sith dwell in anger and pain. The Jedi in the good of humanity. Thus we have things like Hux's "education centers," which I feel will play a big role in VIII (perhaps Finn and Poe on a journey to destroy one of them).

When Kylo says, "I want to be free of this pain," that's our first major clue. The Sith EMBRACE pain and anger. They thrive on it. When Kylo tells Vader that he wants to finish what he started, he means the prophecy. He means bringing balance to the Force. After all, Anakin destroyed both the Sith and the Jedi. He couldn't let Luke undo all that by establishing a new Jedi order. So he struck them down. And he was embolden by the discovery that Luke had broken the Jedi Order rule of attachment by fathering a secret child (Rey). The hypocrisy of Luke mixed with the call to the Dark side led to him joining the first order.

And this is why there are many "Knights of Ren." If the Sith were alive, they'd strike them down as well. There is no Rule of Two. There is no path of the Jedi. There is only power through conformity.

 

[rhino4evr]

now that Im sure most people have seen this. Can we name this a spoiler thread, so I don 't have to keep opening all these boxes?

 

[saint.piss]

 

[saint.piss]

 

[belloq87]

Still a great teaser (and a true teaser -- it gives you nothing!). Hearing new John Williams STAR WARS music* for the first time in nine years (at that point), plus the random assortment of images, got me really psyched for STAR WARS to come back.

*I saw John Williams in concert in early October of 2014, and he told the audience that he was going to be starting work on the new STAR WARS movie the following week, which I assume was the little piece for that teaser.

 

[Freak]

The good ‘ol days. Back when i was able to be excited for Star Wars. Sigh.

It was a great teaser though. Cannot BELIEVE it’s been TEN YEARS since this teaser released!

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

This was my first Star Wars film I saw in theatres. For that, I’m forever grateful for it.

 

[belloq87]

This was my first Star Wars film I saw in theatres. For that, I’m forever grateful for it.

I was lucky enough (read: old enough!) to see the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy when they were rereleased in theaters in 1997. The changes Lucas made are still mostly nonsense, but I'll always be glad I had the chance to see those movies on the big screen.

Then came the Prequels, and whatever anyone wants to say about the quality of those movies (... they're not very good!), it was really fun to be in the cycle of a new STAR WARS trilogy while still, basically, a "kid" (they came out when I was 12 through 18). The hype, the speculation, the promotion, the merchandising. Even though I don't think the movies are good, I have very fond memories of everything surrounding them.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I was lucky enough (read: old enough!) to see the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy when they were rereleased in theaters in 1997. The changes Lucas made are still mostly nonsense, but I'll always be glad I had the chance to see those movies on the big screen.

Then came the Prequels, and whatever anyone wants to say about the quality of those movies (... they're not very good!), it was really fun to be in the cycle of a new STAR WARS trilogy while still, basically, a "kid" (they came out when I was 12 through 18). The hype, the speculation, the promotion, the merchandising. Even though I don't think the movies are good, I have very fond memories of everything surrounding them.

My feelings exactly. Now, Last Jedi destroyed all this momentum, but Force Awakens is forever one of my favorite film experiences ever. It set up the trilogy so well, it’s a shame with what followed!

 

[GA-MBIT]

I feel like there is probably knowledge on the exact reasonings out there somewhere, but I'm surprised Disney hasn't capitalized on the whole "De-Specialized" thing for the Original Trilogy. I remember a lot of fans really hoping for that back during the buy-out spec period.

 

[belloq87]

I feel like there is probably knowledge on the exact reasonings out there somewhere, but I'm surprised Disney hasn't capitalized on the whole "De-Specialized" thing for the Original Trilogy. I remember a lot of fans really hoping for that back during the buy-out spec period.

It's never been confirmed, but I suspect Lucas made it part of the contract when he sold Lucasfilm that Disney could only ever release his "approved" versions of the OT.

There's no other explanation, because they're refusing to make money otherwise. Fully-restored editions of the theatrical* cuts on 4K and Blu-ray would become one of the best-selling home video releases ever.

*In an ideal world, Disney would look at what Warner Bros. did for BLADE RUNNER, and release a comprehensive box set with all of the cuts that have existed for the OT:

• Original Theatrical Cuts
• 1980s/1990s Home Video Cuts (which is where A NEW HOPE first got tagged with "Episode IV - A NEW HOPE," and all three films got slightly different audio mixes; these are what I'd say are the "definitive" versions of the movies)
• 1997 Special Editions
• 2004 DVD Cuts
• 2011 Blu-ray Cuts

All releases of the movies since 1997 have had changes made, and even though basically nobody likes any of those changes, I think they should be preserved as long as the true original versions are available, too.