Official Star Wars Episode VII SPOILER Thread

[Kestrel]

Oh yeah, in agreement there with Finn and Phasma.

And Han too, which was mentioned earlier. His death was too.. abrupt. It just didn't feel right. He was a major character in the originals and I felt like he needed a much longer death, or at least a funeral scene.

[+Slowswift]

I loved it.

 

I mean, there were some parts that didn't work, Han's death being one of them (and it didn't help that I had been spoiled beforehand), but all in all, I thought it was great.

[Briar King]

I think this movies true test will be in a few yrs time. Most people say they love it but I can remember when TPM came out how great it was... Now try to watch it 14 yrs later. There's always a huge bowl of koolaid when a new SW comes out and everyone is drinking. Let's see 5 yrs from now how it stacks up. I'm trying to go back to watch tomorrow or Thursday. Hopefully a 2nd view will be better.

[RLennon]

First post.  Just stumbled onto this forum.  Will probably lose weeks of sleep reading all the Sanderson plot theories, LOL!!!  Anyway...

 

I enjoyed the movie.  I really enjoyed it.  The plot lines were similar, but I didn't mind.  Here are a few points I took away from Episode 7:

• Try not to compare Episode 7 to Episodes 4, 5, and 6.  Instead, just compare to Episode 4.  Back in 1977 when Star Wars first came out, it was an overnight success.  Why?  Excellent characters and special effects.  It wasn't until Episode 5 that you got the 'Luke, I am your father' plot twists that took Star Wars to legend status.  Episode 7 (according to this forum, and I agree) has excellent characters and, of course, great special effects (Although, I give MAJOR props to Abrams for going retro in some scenes and have live people in alien suits instead of everything CGI).  Feel free to make comparisons of Episodes 7, 8, and 9 to the original trilogy once they are completed.  
• At first, I thought Kai Lo Ren (sp?) was a total bad chull.  He was someone to be feared, like Vader....until he took his mask off.  He's just a kid!  Then I realized that he is a flawed villain.  He is still training, still has inner struggles between the light and the dark.  At first,  I wasn't a fan of seeing his face so soon.  But, I changed my tune by the end of the movie.  I expect big things from his character in the coming movies.  Vader was evil personified.  Ren showed that he is not there, yet.
• As the credits rolled, I said to my son 'Great, now I gotta wait two years for the next one.  I wanna watch it now!'  After three hours, I was ready for three more.  Also the sign of a good movie.
• Also, if Luke is Rey's father.....who's the mother??????

[Curious Anamaximder]

First post.  Just stumbled onto this forum.  Will probably lose weeks of sleep reading all the Sanderson plot theories, LOL!!!  Anyway...

 

I enjoyed the movie.  I really enjoyed it.  The plot lines were similar, but I didn't mind.  Here are a few points I took away from Episode 7:

• Try not to compare Episode 7 to Episodes 4, 5, and 6.  Instead, just compare to Episode 4.  Back in 1977 when Star Wars first came out, it was an overnight success.  Why?  Excellent characters and special effects.  It wasn't until Episode 5 that you got the 'Luke, I am your father' plot twists that took Star Wars to legend status.  Episode 7 (according to this forum, and I agree) has excellent characters and, of course, great special effects (Although, I give MAJOR props to Abrams for going retro in some scenes and have live people in alien suits instead of everything CGI).  Feel free to make comparisons of Episodes 7, 8, and 9 to the original trilogy once they are completed.  
• At first, I thought Kai Lo Ren (sp?) was a total bad chull.  He was someone to be feared, like Vader....until he took his mask off.  He's just a kid!  Then I realized that he is a flawed villain.  He is still training, still has inner struggles between the light and the dark.  At first,  I wasn't a fan of seeing his face so soon.  But, I changed my tune by the end of the movie.  I expect big things from his character in the coming movies.  Vader was evil personified.  Ren showed that he is not there, yet.
• As the credits rolled, I said to my son 'Great, now I gotta wait two years for the next one.  I wanna watch it now!'  After three hours, I was ready for three more.  Also the sign of a good movie.
• Also, if Luke is Rey's father.....who's the mother??????

The mother.....

*initate crazyness*

Maz.

[Mailliw73]

From what I've heard about the universe,

Luke marries Mara Jane, an assassin Vader sends after him. But this is all hearsay, so feel free to correct me.

[firstRainbowRose]

You are correct, but remember Disney threw out the exite EU.

Also, having watched it a second time a lot of the issues here are addressed. I'll post more once on computer.

[Orlion Blight]

The mother.....

*initate crazyness*

Maz.

I like it!

[Curious Anamaximder]

I like it!

Thanks.

That also explains why Maz had the lightsaber.

[RLennon]

I also am curious on how Finn's character will mature.  To those (in general, not in this forum) who have claimed that Finn was not well written (including scenes with Phasma), you need to remember....all Finn has ever known is Stormtropper.  He has absolutely 0% social skills, or how to react to other social situations.  That's why he fell into basic 'tropes'....Save the girl....hold her hand...Not have very good 'on the fly' threats to you former superior officer.  He was socially awkward, and it made him seem more real.  

 

Also, from the millions and millions of Stormtroppers across time, Finn is the only one to break from the collective and have independant thought?  I sense potential 'force' doings here.  

 

Maybe it's a Finn-Rey child (Not Luke), that is supposed to restore the light side of the force?

 

Rob

[Briar King]

Saw 2nd time today and it was better then the 1st time with my negative feelings for it. Finn only annoyed me with the Phasma convo vs every time he opened is mouth 1st time.

Notice that Carrie is very wooden acting Leia. I know she really hasn't acted for many yrs and it shows. Imo

[Delightful]

So here's an article about Rey that I'd post as a follow up to the conversation about sexism in General Discussion, except spoilers.

Tl;dr, Rey is awesome and is finally a female character who kicks butt on her own instead of being defined by the men around her.

[Curious Anamaximder]

So here's an article about Rey that I'd post as a follow up to the conversation about sexism in General Discussion, except spoilers.

Tl;dr, Rey is awesome and is finally a female character who kicks butt on her own instead of being defined by the men around her.

I love that article. Rey is an amazing role model, and a badchull character. She is independent, fierce, skilled, but also caring and supportive of her friends.

I also was angry about the lack of female characters in Star Wars.

[RippleGylf]

So, just watched it, and I thought it was pretty good. Maybe not best movie evar, but not disappointed. 

 

Rey is pretty awesome. I'm kind of hoping that she gets her own lightsaber eventually.

[Orlion Blight]

So here's an article about Rey that I'd post as a follow up to the conversation about sexism in General Discussion, except spoilers.

Tl;dr, Rey is awesome and is finally a female character who kicks butt on her own instead of being defined by the men around her.

 

I love that article. Rey is an amazing role model, and a badchull character. She is independent, fierce, skilled, but also caring and supportive of her friends.

I also was angry about the lack of female characters in Star Wars.

 

And I feel they did not overdo it either. So often, it seems "strong female character" is just "strong male character who we changed the gender to, and have we mentioned she's FEMALE? LOOK AT HOW FEMALE SHE IS!" 

[Delightful]

And I feel they did not overdo it either. So often, it seems "strong female character" is just "strong male character who we changed the gender to, and have we mentioned she's FEMALE? LOOK AT HOW FEMALE SHE IS!"

I once read a book where this literally happened.

She was a girl but look she's not like other girls she wanders off on her own and plays with slingshots and is coooool.

For *everything* except the gender pronoun she was one of the guys. And because the guys were attracted to her and there was a guy in town who decided they were engaged and wouldn't leave her alone.

I stopped reading the series after that.

Because the author didn't put any effort into a female character. It was like "eh. Equality. Let's add a girl" except she wasn't a girl. Wasn't feminine in any form or manner whatsoever. Was not treated female in any form except sexually.

Aaaaggghhhh.

Rey is a woman and *also* kicks butt, not "guys are awesome! Let's write a guy and change the pronouns!"

/rant.

[StormingTexan]

I've been avoiding the interwebs and walking around the office with my fingers in my ears to avoid spoilers because today was the first opportunity I've had to see it.

In short I liked it a lot.

Now I will say I probably have my fanboy blinders on a bit. Someone earlier made the great point of how we will feel about the movie in few years. I'll also say I didn't go in to the theater thinking this was going to be as good as the original trilogy. That magic is probably not going to get replicaged. I did however hope this movie would be better than the prequels. Which I actually liked most of except one major issue. The horrible acting/characters which amazingly for the most part were cast by otherwise great actors /rant.

Anyway this movie although not perfect did bring something back from the original trilogy great characters. I mean Rey was amazing. She lit up

The screen. Poe can't wait to see more of him. BB-8 when he gives the thumbs up. Ren the up and coming villain. Even Finn which I think we will see a lot more developement from was good. The characters actually acted like people.

My only major complaint was I felt like they played this a little too safe. At times it felt like an episode IV reboot. I mean for nostalgia reasons I liked a lot of the throw backs but I think they could have been a little more original with the overall plot. I mean seriously a bigger Death Star?

Other than that just a couple smh moments. Until I read this thread didn't know they ripped off that war hammer thing from Halo but what the heck was that? Why did a random storm trooper have that? Why didn't a light saber cut right through it?

Since when can you read someone's mind with the force? Influence sure but read their mind? What was the thought process on destroying the Republic planets? Talk about the most extreme anticlimactic destruction I think I've ever seen in a movie. We basically know nothing about it except I guess we are supposed to know they are the good guys and the bad guys destroyed it. Seemed like an excuse to show the audience what the new Death Star could do. Came across completely pointless. Speaking of pointless I also agree with others about Han's death. I knew it was coming but hoped something was going to happen there besides him dying.

Some of the other things like how Rey can master Jedi mind control and be proficient with a light saber after zero training in a few minutes I'm going to hold off on passing judgment. I think there's more to the story that will be revealed. I'm also hoping there's a really good explanation why Luke just leaves.

All in all I really liked it and am glad to see a return of good characters. I am crossing my fingers there will be a little more originality and that there are some reveals that make some of what we've seen make more sense.

Edited December 26, 2015 by StormingTexan

[Mistrunner]

It was fabulous.

Not the best movie ever, of course, and it was a wee but too similar to the original trilogy, but it wasn't too shabby either. I thought it was funny how Mark Hamill got to be the second name in the credits after showing up for about ten seconds. But he looked appropriately Jedi-y and stuff, so I suppose that means he's earned it. I liked Rey and Finn, and Han was awesome as always.

I actually hope Ben/Crazy Tantrum Dark Side Solo Guy/what are we supposed to call him? isn't redeemed. He's mentally unstable, sure, but he killed his own father amid many other crimes. He isn't a very nice guy, and I think it's hard to claim that he's just misguided and whatnot. That was a terrible explanation. Bleh. Hopefully my point got across anyway.

But is anyone going to talk about how the Supreme Leader is played by Gollum?

[Kipper]

And I feel they did not overdo it either. So often, it seems "strong female character" is just "strong male character who we changed the gender to, and have we mentioned she's FEMALE? LOOK AT HOW FEMALE SHE IS!" 

I disagree. It was blatantly in-your-face feminism.

"STOP holding my hand!"

"Yeah, I'm fine [after a battle, when Finn asks]."

Her being shown as the clearly more emotionally in-control.

It's not so much that these things were shown, as much as it is the way they were shown. I went into the movie expecting that they were going to do a good job with a female character for the first time ever. Instead, I got thinly veiled cultural references involving sexist guys and empowered women kicking their butts. That's really the only issue I have with the movie, besides R2 waking up. If Hollywood could make a good movie with a female lead character that wouldn't spawn 50,000 articles about it...it spoils the magic of the movie to make Star Wars a political statement. Everyone gets the point that females can be empowered, badchull, in-control, charismatic Chosen Ones. Those scenes that I mentioned above, especially "stop holding my hand," seemed ridiculous and out of place. Personally, I think it's a sign that filmmakers have failed when they have to make you notice things about a female character to like her.

 

 

Onto other things. I don't really understand the technical criticisms...

When Poe escaped, it was because a stormtrooper helped him. When Rey escaped, it was because she mind-tricked a Stormtrooper. I seriously doubt that either of those problems could have been prevented by "more guards," and even if they could, what's the point. Have a completely impregnable prison so the prisoners can't escape and be important to the plot?

 

I could go on and on, but the point is that Star Wars has never made sense, from a technically accurate standpoint. It's not made to make sense. The magic would be ruined otherwise. Why can Han breathe in the belly of a space slug? Why does shooting access points make doors open? How can a two person fighter destroy a Death Star? How can someone be frozen in carbonite and live? I fundamentally don't understand basing criticism of Star Wars as a movie based on technical issues like that. Ruins the enjoyment, imo, to be constantly looking for minor flaws and plot holes.

 

About the EU, I think that something a lot of people are forgetting is that the old EU is completely gone. Completely. The Empire didn't just die when the second Death Star was killed. In the new EU books, that celebration on Coruscant at the end of RotJ? The one that everyone thought was "YAH, THE EMPIRE IS GONE"? Well, it was squashed, and the celebrants were killed, according to the new EU. The Empire is still huge, and the Rebellion was likely never a galactic government. We'll see, though. Hard to make inferences about galactic affairs based on this movie.

[Trizee]

At first I was really annoyed by Ben's temper tantrums, I mean they were just plain pathetic. But when I realized that he's not really evil and is trying really hard to be evil like Vader against his own nature, I understood that the tantrums weren't actually genuine- he was just trying to act more like a dark lord.

 

One interesting tidbit is that I speak Hebrew, and "ben" in Hebrew means "son" (that's where the "ben" in Benjamin comes from...). That really threw me when Han called out "Ben!". For a moment I thought- since when does Han speak Hebrew?- before I realized that was his son's name. 

[Kairos]

Okay, so my thoughts.

Loved it. It was what Star Wars is supposed to be.

Okay, so I'm seeing a lot of people complaining about the 'starkiller'. I personally have no problem with it. Sure, it felt like a repeat, but seriously, a planet-sized weapon that shoots through hyperspace? That's seriously terrifying. Ironically, a friend of mine(who hasn't seen the movie yet), was just complaining to me about how Star Wars didn't have a weapon that shoots through hyperspace. The irony was killing me, but I didn't tell him.

Han's death was a surprise, but it makes sense. I don't know what will happen with Ren. On one hand, he may get redeemed, but that's sort of cliche by this point, on the other, it's sort of sad if he doesn't.

My big question though, is: if Anakin's light saber was found, where is Luke's hand?

[Briar King]

Depends on when it was found. Could be rotten if it was yrs afterwards, or who's to say the saber didn't fall out of hand on impact, or if they found together not long after who's to say we don't get a Luuke in 8-9. They could/couldn't do a lot with this arc. It ll be interesting

[Voidus]

And I feel they did not overdo it either. So often, it seems "strong female character" is just "strong male character who we changed the gender to, and have we mentioned she's FEMALE? LOOK AT HOW FEMALE SHE IS!" 

See I feel like that's exactly what she was, just a female version of a combined Han + Luke. I'm still glad that they finally put in a strong female lead but I would have liked a bit more originality, I preferred her when she had her staff and was just a badchull junk trader to suddenly becoming an expert mechanic and jedi in the span of a few days.

I also felt like everything was a bit... rushed. They tried to cram in too many references to the OT and then also shoved in a complete plot. The end scene clinched it for me, they wanted to include a scene with Luke too much but didn't have time for anything to actually happen in it so we're treated to nothing so much as a cameo followed by several nice panning or rotating shots of two people standing perfectly still in complete silence.

Overall I was disappointed, not because it was bad but because it wasn't really good, it was just kind of bland.

[Delightful]

Actually I loved the whole "don't hold my hand" scene. He was trying to be all chivalrous and she's just like "I've lived alone for years. I can handle myself. Dude what is your problem?"

Also, she hasn't exactly had much friendly contact with humans so she was more tough and bristly then.

Re a character without writing articles about her - I think that's a comment on society more than a comment on her actual character. A female lead in an action movie is uncommon so she's commented on. If the same movie was released in 50 years from now, I don't think anyone would be writing articles at all.

I'm not loving Ben Solo/not loving to hate him. He's just a bit pathetic and I'm wondering if I should feel sorry for him or not.

I also watched with Hebrew subtitles, when Han yells "Ben" it took me a second to work out if he yelled Ben or Son. And I didn't totally pick up that ren/ben whoever had chosen a different name.

[Left]

Actually I loved the whole "don't hold my hand" scene. He was trying to be all chivalrous and she's just like "I've lived alone for years. I can handle myself. Dude what is your problem?"

Also, she hasn't exactly had much friendly contact with humans so she was more tough and bristly then.

Re a character without writing articles about her - I think that's a comment on society more than a comment on her actual character. A female lead in an action movie is uncommon so she's commented on. If the same movie was released in 50 years from now, I don't think anyone would be writing articles at all.

I'm not loving Ben Solo/not loving to hate him. He's just a bit pathetic and I'm wondering if I should feel sorry for him or not.

I also watched with Hebrew subtitles, when Han yells "Ben" it took me a second to work out if he yelled Ben or Son. And I didn't totally pick up that ren/ben whoever had chosen a different name.

Ahh, but after the "rescue" scene on Star Killer base, when Finn and Rey are running from the base back to the Han and Ben scene, Finn gives Rey his coat. She wears it for a couple minutes, but gives it back pretty quickly. So she is willing to accept chivalry sometimes   That made me happy, because I like being the gentleman and "tough" girls drive me nuts when they fuss at me for holding a door or something.