The Force Awakens (Spoilers)

[JediJohnnie]

I know everyone is just dying to hear my review of TFA.  It was kind of a mixed bag for me. My man, Luke was barely in it! It was also a bit too derivative of the original three films (Tie Fighters, Stormtroopers, Another Death Star!!!) But I enjoyed seeing Han & Chewie in action again. And I thought the new cast was very good. So I'd say, maybe 4 out of 5 stars.

[lvstephanie]

That was one of my complaints too; too repetitive of the other films (mostly eps 4-6). But then I saw this fan discussion about the movie, and one of the things they pointed out was how cyclical the entire saga is. Thus the repetition, according to the fan's theory, was deliberate instead of laziness on the writer's / director's part. Same with the "plot holes" that some fans have noted. For example, many fans complained that Maz was holding Luke's lightsaber in an easily accessed room in an unlocked chest; the complaint is that if the lightsaber is so important and valuable, why was it so unprotected like in the unlocked chest. However, if you remember in A New Hope, when "Ben" Obi Wan Kenobi gives Luke his father's lightsaber (the same lightsaber BTW), he also retrieves it from an unlocked, wooden chest (at about the 3:45 mark in this clip). What is really interesting is when you start questioning who Rey's parents are; some (if not all) of the allusions to earlier movies may have been used as clues to her parentage (Here is a video about the fan's theory about who her parents are and how this theory ties in with the other films.)

[snuggleycutejc]

Have not seen any parts the the movie. YET

[lvstephanie]

Since the topic has "Spoiler" in the title, I thought it'd be OK to talk about actual parts of the movie, so hopefully Snuggleycutejc doesn't object too much about the discussion...

Actually, I wanted to put up this link too about Rey's parentage; this was the original article that I read, and it links to the video that I had put up in my previous response. What I liked about this article was less about specific scenes that bolster this theory, and more looking at the entire saga including some of the storyline patterns (the cyclical pattern of the story, the dichotomy of various extremes, etc.). I agree with the author that these additional reasons lends itself to a very satisfying ending to the entire saga, and not just a nostalgic throwback to the early movies.

[oldbuddy]

Personally I enjoyed the movie and how it brought back memories, without even thinking about analyzing it. The popcorn was great too.

[kapeh12]

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  I still get chills when I hear that opening fanfare and see the narrative scroll across the starscape.  Yeah, there were parallels, however, Star Wars: ANH is really just your basic hero story.  If you think about it, the plot really isn't that deep.

In fact during college, when I was in a ballroom club, several of us were also sci fi fans - the movie of the day was "Strictly Ballroom" and we were convinced that movie's storyline paralleled Star Wars: ANH too - the two movies couldn't be more different.  To prove their points, we watched Strictly Ballroom while people were quoting Star Wars along the way.  And they were right!  Even down to during the Death Star battle when Obi-Wan told Luke to use the force, let go, and Luke destroyed the Death Star matching up to the lead dancer hearing the grandmother saying "listen to the music, don't be scared" and he goes on to win the competition.  Was freaky.

Although, I must admit, the new "Death Star" was freaking awesome!  I have no idea how on Earth they are going to top that one...

[luvh8tragedy87]

I FINALLY got to see it today. It wasn't what I was expecting but I enjoyed it. I thought it was a little long but I enjoyed seeing the older characters and some of the jokes. And BB-8 is so cute.

[elvisdo]

It was fine, nothing too spectacular.

[luvh8tragedy87]

It was fine, nothing too spectacular.

It had a different feel to it which I wasn't expecting. I think that's why I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. It may just be something I have to watch a few times.