Does anyone have the politics down: who is the resistance? Isn't the republic back in power? If they are in power, then who are they resisting?

It appears that the resistance is an insurgency based in the Imperial Remnant. The New Republic doesn't officially support them like how the United States totally didn't have anything to do wihh the mujahedeen in Afghanistan.

Ok that makes sense.

Saw Episode 7 on Thursday, overall I enjoyed the movie and can't wait for episode 8 to see what direction they take it.

One thing I saw a few people complaining about is Finn using the lightsaber and how he stood up to Ren. In my opinion, Finn was able to stand up for one reason, he has a good amount of training, he was taken as a baby and raised to serve the empire. Stormtroopers are the best of the best and go through plenty of training. As far as Ren goes, you also have to remember that he has not completed his training (as Snoke says "it is time to finish his training" when talking to first order dude and telling him to bring Ren at the end of the movie). So my guess is he has a very basic understanding in lightsaber combat.

So both Ren and Finn were pretty even in terms of skill. Finn had more practical combat training, where Ren had more jedi/saber training. Also Ren seemed like he was kind of toying with Finn during the fight (I will need to pay closer attention when I see it again tonight to confirm this though).

Also, the scene where Finn uses the lightsaber to fight the stormtrooper with the weird tonfa thing. That was a force pike weapon, a la the staves used by Grievous' bodyguards, they were able to project a sort of magnetic force field type thing (cannot remember exact terminology) that was able to stand up to a saber. Lightsabers do not beat everything

Also I am fairly certain that Rey is part of the Skywalker lineage. They just setup so many things. First and foremost, she is strong in the force (which every Skywalker has the potential it seems). Anakin's lightsaber "calls to her", this is kind of the big one for me. Also Han and Leia both know something, you can see it with how the sometimes look at Rey (especially Han). Also there is the scene in Maz's Bar, just before it cuts to Rey finding Anakin's Lightsaber, Maz asks Han "what's with the girl" (or something along those lines), Han gets a look that pretty much says "well, this is a long one...", then scene cuts to Rey and we never find out.

Granted, this is speculation just with what happens in the movie as I have not read any of the books yet.

Does anyone have the politics down: who is the resistance? Isn't the republic back in power? If they are in power, then who are they resisting?

Republic was reestablished (seat of power was blown up in the movie though). The First Order is a faction of the Imperial Remnant. The New Republic and Imperial Remnant Signed a Peace treaty, so no more fighting. The Resistance is a group who wants to see the Empire completely gone, so they fight the Imperial Remnant, but without the support of the New Republic.

Was anyone else bothered by the harry potteresque light saber 'calling out' to Rey thing? It reminded me of the harry potter wand picks the wizard dealio. I thought the force was about living things, not inanimate objects (yes, the force could have been rattling the light saber but that seems like a stretch).

As regards the kylo/finn and the kylo/rey fight, I was disappointed. Kylo knows how to use the force (he can stop a laser bolt) but for some reason he can't throw either of these 2 around like rag dolls during a fight or do some force choke to help compensate for his lack of training?

Was anyone else bothered by the harry potteresque light saber 'calling out' to Rey thing? It reminded me of the harry potter wand picks the wizard dealio. I thought the force was about living things, not inanimate objects (yes, the force could have been rattling the light saber but that seems like a stretch).

As regards the kylo/finn and the kylo/rey fight, I was disappointed. Kylo knows how to use the force (he can stop a laser bolt) but for some reason he can't throw either of these 2 around like rag dolls during a fight or do some force choke to help compensate for his lack of training?

I didn't a Harry Potter impression at all. I thought the scene was just fine.

Ren was obviously the superior swordsman, he was toying with Finn (also, injured.) He didn't outright kill Finn because there was no need to. He was arrogant. Why didn't Tarkin flee the Death Star, you know, just in case?

Rey was skilled with a quarterstaff - so at least a little of that would've translated to a lightsaber fight. That being said, I wish her tapping the Force didn't turn her into a blademaster. If rather have seen her like explode outward with a Force Push kind of deal that knocked Ren away (and he hits a tree, and gets knocked out.) Then Force burst precipitates a chasm opening so Rey can't finish the job, and she leaves. I think that kind of primary, unintentional badassery would have been more satisfying.

Was anyone else bothered by the harry potteresque light saber 'calling out' to Rey thing? It reminded me of the harry potter wand picks the wizard dealio. I thought the force was about living things, not inanimate objects (yes, the force could have been rattling the light saber but that seems like a stretch).

As regards the kylo/finn and the kylo/rey fight, I was disappointed. Kylo knows how to use the force (he can stop a laser bolt) but for some reason he can't throw either of these 2 around like rag dolls during a fight or do some force choke to help compensate for his lack of training?

I didn't a Harry Potter impression at all. I thought the scene was just fine.

Ren was obviously the superior swordsman, he was toying with Finn (also, injured.) He didn't outright kill Finn because there was no need to. He was arrogant. Why didn't Tarkin flee the Death Star, you know, just in case?

Rey was skilled with a quarterstaff - so at least a little of that would've translated to a lightsaber fight. That being said, I wish her tapping the Force didn't turn her into a blademaster. If rather have seen her like explode outward with a Force Push kind of deal that knocked Ren away (and he hits a tree, and gets knocked out.) Then Force burst precipitates a chasm opening so Rey can't finish the job, and she leaves. I think that kind of primary, unintentional badassery would have been more satisfying.

Perhaps, though to be fair, Luke's first real test of his (half-trained) Jedi skillz was to pick a fight with Vader, and he held his own for a bit against one of the greatest swordsmen of the era. So I guess there's a bit of a precedent.

As regards the kylo/finn and the kylo/rey fight, I was disappointed. Kylo knows how to use the force (he can stop a laser bolt) but for some reason he can't throw either of these 2 around like rag dolls during a fight or do some force choke to help compensate for his lack of training?

As far as Ren vs Finn fight, I have nothing on that one, other than Ren being overconfident during the fight. Like I said, to me it looked like Ren was just toying/messing around with Finn, so why use the force when he thought he could easily finish him whenever he wanted?

For Ren vs Rey, that is a completely different matter. Ren knows that Rey can resist his force usage, as seen in the torture room. Kind of the same as why during all of the Jedi battles we have seen, they very rarely use the force against each other. Most of the time it is them using the force to control their surroundings to try and distract their opponents (ex. Vader using the machinery to throw at Luke during their duel in Cloud City).

Also it could be for another reason. Again Ren is not fully trained, my guess is that he has a very basic training (more than Luke had, but still not complete). So Ren may not actually be able to use the force and defend/attack with a lightsaber at the same time.

Is there any mention outside of the movie of which planets were destroyed by the Starkiller base?

None were mentioned on screen other than the "senate world" and "fleet" headquarters.

Was that supposed to be Coruscant?

Was the Republic in fact wiped out, or was it more like hyperbole on General Hux's part?

Is there any mention outside of the movie of which planets were destroyed by the Starkiller base?

None were mentioned on screen other than the "senate world" and "fleet" headquarters.

Was that supposed to be Coruscant?

Was the Republic in fact wiped out, or was it more like hyperbole on General Hux's part?

That was the current capital of the Republic. You can see a dozenish capital ships in low orbit that also go foom.

Is there any mention outside of the movie of which planets were destroyed by the Starkiller base?

None were mentioned on screen other than the "senate world" and "fleet" headquarters.

Was that supposed to be Coruscant?

Was the Republic in fact wiped out, or was it more like hyperbole on General Hux's part?

As I understand, they blew up the Hosnian system (which was the seat of the New Republic in this continuity).

{{Edited after a bit of research}}

Is there any mention outside of the movie of which planets were destroyed by the Starkiller base?

None were mentioned on screen other than the "senate world" and "fleet" headquarters.

Was that supposed to be Coruscant?

Was the Republic in fact wiped out, or was it more like hyperbole on General Hux's part?

That was the current capital of the Republic. You can see a dozenish capital ships in low orbit that also go foom.

I didn't catch the ships in orbit. I'm guessing they are too small to see clearly?

Is there any mention outside of the movie of which planets were destroyed by the Starkiller base?

None were mentioned on screen other than the "senate world" and "fleet" headquarters.

Was that supposed to be Coruscant?

Was the Republic in fact wiped out, or was it more like hyperbole on General Hux's part?

They stated right in the film that it was the Hosnian system. So not Coruscant.

Jim

Is there any mention outside of the movie of which planets were destroyed by the Starkiller base?

None were mentioned on screen other than the "senate world" and "fleet" headquarters.

Was that supposed to be Coruscant?

Was the Republic in fact wiped out, or was it more like hyperbole on General Hux's part?

They stated right in the film that it was the Hosnian system. So not Coruscant.

Jim

Must have missed that

Is there any mention outside of the movie of which planets were destroyed by the Starkiller base?

None were mentioned on screen other than the "senate world" and "fleet" headquarters.

Was that supposed to be Coruscant?

Was the Republic in fact wiped out, or was it more like hyperbole on General Hux's part?

That was the current capital of the Republic. You can see a dozenish capital ships in low orbit that also go foom.

I didn't catch the ships in orbit. I'm guessing they are too small to see clearly?

Yeah, I only caught them on my second viewing. Might be skyhooks, don't quite remember the scale.

I'm amused that Episode VII made sure to address the concerns of Randall from "Clerks" about independent contractors dying on the second Death Star: "Do you think the average stormtrooper knows how to install a toilet main?"

Well, apparently Finn does, since he worked on the installation of the sanitation systems on the Starkiller base!

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

As far as the political side of things, we dont get much, I will agree. But even in ANH, we didnt get much info either. The empire was evil and there were a group of people called the rebels fighting them...that was basically all we got in terms of political happenings. Same with episode 7 though, first order is evil and tehre is a group of people called the resistance fighting them.

As far as the super weapon is concerned, cant really say much about the sucking the power from a sun thing, that was a little weird. But as far as the how long the beam takes to reach the system that was targeted, we do not know. It is never specified (nor, to my knowledge, was the distance between that planet and starkiller base). Due to it being a movie, that blast could have been going for a few minutes, hours, or days, we just don't know. Just like when Luke went to train on Dagobah with Yoda, how long was he there? We just see a few minutes of dialogue and him floating rocks. Then next thing you know, hes off to cloud city to save his friends. So was Luke only on Dagobah a few minutes?

Just curious, what specifically do you not like about the villains?

The First Order is a brutal faction of the Imperial Remnant, they do whatever is necessary to complete their goals (such as killing an entire village).

Snoke, we can't really say much on as he hasn't been developed much.

Kylo Ren, he is the grandson of Darth Vader, he feels that he should inherit his title/legacy and bring order to the galaxy. Hence the look he adopts, it is because he is trying to take after his grandfather. As far as his saber is concerned, sabers are unique to each jedi, they make what matches their style. Kylo Ren makes a "broad saber", which would seem to favor power strikes. The cross guard (the 2 beams on the side) is actually kind of interesting, gives his hand a little more protection from other sabers as those blades can catch the opponents blade.

And yes, I know plenty of people who have seen episode 7 multiple times and still enjoyed it. I myself will be seeing it again tonight, and probably a few more times if I have friends that still want to go see it.

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

Am I the only one who read that as "It's absorbing as much light as the sun is producing" rather than "It ate a sun"?

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

Am I the only one who read that as "It's absorbing as much light as the sun is producing" rather than "It ate a sun"?

I can see that, I do agree though that whether it is absorbing or eating the sun, its still a little weird.

But for me not that big of a deal as this takes place in a universe that has:

Faster than light travel

Heated plasma that takes the form of a blade

A battle station the size of a moon with a laser that can blow up planets

Cloning of humans that grow in a 10 year time frame

People who can use a mystic energy to control other beings and things

And a lot of other things....

Its kind of one of those things you just go with ("Drain the sun? Ok, sure.)

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

Am I the only one who read that as "It's absorbing as much light as the sun is producing" rather than "It ate a sun"?

I'll admit my understanding of astronomy is fairly rudimentary, but how did they (the heroes) manage to see the Hosnian planets get blasted from a planet that almost certainly had to be several light years away from them?

By the time they saw the blast and the planets exploding, the victim worlds would have been long dead.

Never change Hollywood

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

Am I the only one who read that as "It's absorbing as much light as the sun is producing" rather than "It ate a sun"?

I'll admit my understanding of astronomy is fairly rudimentary, but how did they (the heroes) mange to see the Hosnian planets get blasted from a planet that almost certainly had to be several light years away from them?

Never change Hollywood

The same way that they can travel between planets hundreds of light years away in a matter of hours/days....movie magic (or space magic if you prefer)

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

Am I the only one who read that as "It's absorbing as much light as the sun is producing" rather than "It ate a sun"?

I'll admit my understanding of astronomy is fairly rudimentary, but how did they (the heroes) manage to see the Hosnian planets get blasted from a planet that almost certainly had to be several light years away from them?

By the time they saw the blast and the planets exploding, the victim worlds would have been long dead.

Never change Hollywood

It's a hyperlaser.

As far as the political side of things, we dont get much, I will agree. But even in ANH, we didnt get much info either.

(V) We got that there was an Imperial Senate, We got a "governor" class- we got a framework of an officer class for the Imperial Navy. We got that Palpatine "took over". With this movie it is up to our imagination.

The empire was evil and there were a group of people called the rebels fighting them...that was basically all we got in terms of political happenings. Same with episode 7 though, first order is evil and tehre is a group of people called the resistance fighting them.

As far as the super weapon is concerned, cant really say much about the sucking the power from a sun thing, that was a little weird. But as far as the how long the beam takes to reach the system that was targeted, we do not know. It is never specified (nor, to my knowledge, was the distance between that planet and starkiller base). Due to it being a movie, that blast could have been going for a few minutes, hours, or days, we just don't know. Just like when Luke went to train on Dagobah with Yoda, how long was he there? We just see a few minutes of dialogue and him floating rocks. Then next thing you know, hes off to cloud city to save his friends. So was Luke only on Dagobah a few minutes?

(V) Not enough to beat Vader- note it only took a few minutes for the female star of the new movie to a) learn to amazingly fly an antiquated freighter and 2) beat a trained lightsaber wielder

Just curious, what specifically do you not like about the villains?

(V) They are as hollow as a gourd and JJA sense of scale

The First Order is a brutal faction of the Imperial Remnant, they do whatever is necessary to complete their goals (such as killing an entire village).

(V) Wow- Destroying a village is certainly up there amongst their capabilities- they couldn't even find a droid...

Snoke, we can't really say much on as he hasn't been developed much.

(V) JJA; "Quick find a substitute for Emperor Palpatine except make him look like a giant!"

Kylo Ren, he is the grandson of Darth Vader, he feels that he should inherit his title/legacy and bring order to the galaxy. Hence the look he adopts, it is because he is trying to take after his grandfather.

(V) How does he know his grandfather's motives? Just winey teenager angst that he inherited from his grandfather Anakin

As far as his saber is concerned, sabers are unique to each jedi, they make what matches their style.

(V) Not really supported- they seem to throw them away like candy. Yes they know how to build them but you don't just hand a sword to the son/daughter of an expert swordsman and think that they will "know" in a flash- also how do you explain Finn's handling of a light saber unless he is also the son of a Leia-Lando tryst.

Kylo Ren makes a "broad saber", which would seem to favor power strikes. The cross guard (the 2 beams on the side) is actually kind of interesting, gives his hand a little more protection from other sabers as those blades can catch the opponents blade.

(V) Are you saying there are other proto-Jedi running around? Just seems like a way to impale yourself- didn't seem to stop every Jedi before from guarding against other lightsabers. Again- JJA: "Darth Maul had two- I have to have THREE!!"

And yes, I know plenty of people who have seen episode 7 multiple times and still enjoyed it. I myself will be seeing it again tonight, and probably a few more times if I have friends that still want to go see it.

(V) Again not a bad movie but how many times are you going to go see it in the movies?

<rant on>

While better than the prequals, it was not as good a storytelling/epic movie as 4-6. Most of the villains were there to push the toy line, I could never figure out what the political situation was was- if you were part of the "rebellion" that defeated the Imperials, then you are not part of the resistance anymore- it was just poorly thought out.

The death planet was just STUPID. We suck out our local sun to fire a weapon that is sub light and expect it to hit in a few minutes to hit planets millions of light years away (and also the resulting fallout of destroying their own sun!!!...

Just plain stupid.

I think that JJA is really jealous of young Lucas- "My Planet destroyer must be planet sized and is able to destroy three planets at a time, my Star destroyer is now a double decker, my villain has a three bladed light saber, I killed Han Solo- look at ME!!!"

IMHO JJA ruined Trek with special effects and he is trying his best to in the SW universe.

I went and saw SW4 ANH multiple times- are people going to do that with this?

<rant off>

Am I the only one who read that as "It's absorbing as much light as the sun is producing" rather than "It ate a sun"?

I'll admit my understanding of astronomy is fairly rudimentary, but how did they (the heroes) manage to see the Hosnian planets get blasted from a planet that almost certainly had to be several light years away from them?

By the time they saw the blast and the planets exploding, the victim worlds would have been long dead.

Never change Hollywood

It's a hyperlaser.

A hyper laser?- no it is a Hypo laser- it is slower since everyone watched it as it slowly went by for the obligatory JJA multi planet orgasmic destruction.