I for one don't much care about spoilers, but most people do. Therefore, as the movie is now out in the wild, I'd like to create this thread so those who can see the movie can discuss it. I'll be seeing the movie Friday evening, but for those of you overseas who have been lucky enough to catch it already, feel free to post in this thread instead of splashing them on thread titles. Thanks guys.

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My prediction.

Luke dies.

Some important Maguffin causing the force constipation they were whining about in the prequels is destroyed.

The "Force Awakens" so they can sell more Jedi toys, cause Lucas knows we need more stupid Jedi toys.

The "Force Awakens" so they can sell more Jedi toys, cause Lucas Disney knows we need more stupid Jedi toys.

Let me correct that for you.

I saw it last night. if you want to ask any questions you can.

I liked it.

My favorite hero of all times died in this movie.

My favorite hero of all times died in this movie.

I'm still reeling over that. For me Star Wars was always about him. The Jedi and the force were a good background to the story of Han Solo. Harrison Ford was fantastic in the film though and I don't begrudge him wanting a way out for his character.

And it was a good way, the story around that was great ...

And it was a good way, the story around that was great ...

passes the story onto the new heroes. and also makes Ben solo's arc stronger. if he does turn back from the dark, he is going to be upset at what he has done.

Mixed feelings.

As many others posted on the web, it’s basically a remake of New Hope.

I was deflated as soon as Starkiller base was presented as Death star 3.0.

Way too much reliance on older films (cantina scene, trench run scene, porkins character, plans in the droid, emperor 2.0…)

That being said, the movie had great energy and some noteworthy goosebumps scenes. Rey’s vision and Rey force grabbing the lightsaber were particular standouts.

Here’s hoping the next movies go in new directions, because right now it feels very predictable.

Mixed feelings.

As many others posted on the web, it’s basically a remake of New Hope.

I was deflated as soon as Starkiller base was presented as Death star 3.0.

Way too much reliance on older films (cantina scene, trench run scene, porkins character, plans in the droid, emperor 2.0…)

That being said, the movie had great energy and some noteworthy goosebumps scenes. Rey’s vision and Rey force grabbing the lightsaber were particular standouts.

Here’s hoping the next movies go in new directions, because right now it feels very predictable.

I agree, starkiller base, didn't need to be a death star. it could have just been a base, that the resistance launched an attack or rescue mission

A lot of 'remember old movies, on the nose stuff.'

I liked the new characters and the planet Jakku was really interesting.

Here's the kicker. The new movies dont have to be OK, they have to be "out of the park" amazing. If Disney had just made the movie, that would have been one thing, but to *take away a good thing, they thing they give in return has to be better than what they taken away. And so far its been a bad deal.

Just came back from seeing it. Rey learned to manipulate the force a little too fast for me, hopefully that will be explained in a little more detail. Overall I enjoyed the movie tho.

I liked the movie a lot, but 2 things are just bad imo:

a.) the cgi-emperor that looks like an ogre from LOTR (looks like doomsday from the upcoming superman vs batman... they are prolly related )

b.) why ANOTHER "death star" with the same action sequence to destroy it - it gets old. It could have been anything (first order hq or techlab) else and it would have been ok.

I feel they revealed too much too quickly in this first of three. don't get me wrong, I freaking loved it!! just wish they held off revealing who Kylo Ren was until the bridge scene or the next movie.

also, I have a very strong suspicion that Rey is Luke's daughter. the part where Ren interrogated Rey and he saw her memories of islands? now fast forward to where Rey first meets Luke and you'll see where she got those memories. Luke also had a look of recognition on his face when he saw Rey. my theory is that Luke had a wife (who is dead: notice the grave marker next to him in the final scene) and they had a daughter. After Ren's betrayal, Luke knew that Ren would seek any way to find him. So he sent his daughter away to a place (Jakku) to distance her from himself thus protecting her identity.

I feel they revealed too much too quickly in this first of three. don't get me wrong, I freaking loved it!! just wish they held off revealing who Kylo Ren was until the bridge scene or the next movie.

also, I have a very strong suspicion that Rey is Luke's daughter. the part where Ren interrogated Rey and he saw her memories of islands? now fast forward to where Rey first meets Luke and you'll see where she got those memories. Luke also had a look of recognition on his face when he saw Rey. my theory is that Luke had a wife (who is dead: notice the grave marker next to him in the final scene) and they had a daughter. After Ren's betrayal, Luke knew that Ren would seek any way to find him. So he sent his daughter away to a place (Jakku) to distance her from himself thus protecting her identity.

i agree with much of what you said.

I was left a little underwhelmed by it all but i think that was just down to the script. I knew there would be a lot of 'everything old is new' going on but star killer base was just a bit much for my liking....if the resistance has the backing of the government in power (i.e. the new republic) then they would have dealt with this sector destroying threat before it became one, death star 2 style, not gone, "hang on......theres these stormtroopers who are all plumbers and builders on this one planet making some sort of big basey type thing with a big hole in it, kinda looks like a death star, should we go check it out......nah, we'll ignore that, I'm sure its nothing important or threatening"

Ren was originally an interesting character but then he became boring as soon as the mystery of 'who are you' was taken away (too soon). It felt like he hadn't been fleshed out properly or the whole fall from grace was too quick......it took darth vader 3 films to show weaknesses where as Ren was bad, goodish, bad, angry, destructive, good, deceiving, bad, weak, defeated, worried, bad, rubbish

also. at the end, it should have been chewie consoling leia about hans demise not rey, a character who leia has never met! i can't believe that someone over looked that fact.....or am i missing something (which i don't think i am)

also. at the end, it should have been chewie consoling leia about hans demise not rey, a character who leia has never met! i can't believe that someone over looked that fact.....or am i missing something (which i don't think i am)

was thinking the same

also. at the end, it should have been chewie consoling leia about hans demise not rey, a character who leia has never met! i can't believe that someone over looked that fact.....or am i missing something (which i don't think i am)

was thinking the same

i can see JJ thinking that at that point the old cast officially hand over to the new cast though.....still doesn't make sense on a character level though.

So he sent his daughter away to a place (Jakku) to distance her from himself thus protecting her identity.

I really, really hope this isn’t this case.

We’ve had six movies revolving around the Skywalker family. We’ve already seen the “send children away to outer rim planet” plot point.

Can we please just do something different?

Star Wars episode 8: The New Order strikes back

at the end, it should have been chewie consoling leia about hans demise not rey, a character who leia has never met! i can't believe that someone over looked that fact.....or am i missing something (which i don't think i am)

My friends had the same issue but I thought it was okay.

Leia sensed Han’s death, Rey witnessed the event/understood Leia’s connection to Han via force when she walked off the ship.

As lovable as Chewie is, he was super depressed. And it’s never wise to upset a wookie. I’m pretty sure wookie’s aren’t very good at consoling!

Problems:

1.) I felt the acting in this movie, and the cinematography for that fact, was on par with a budget Sci- Fy TV show rather than a FILM. I can't really put my finger on it, and it might have to do more with helicopter shots and handicam nonsense, but Lucas's Star Wars films felt more 'professional' in framing and drawing focus IMO. The dialogue (which people always criticized Lucas for) was terrible and too 'modernized' for my taste, especially Finn's. Vulgarity (light, but unnecessary) doesn't belong in Star Wars, and Poe was such an unconvincing putz.

2.) You build a superweapon into a planet... said superweapon uses suns as ammo... how many suns does a planet have, i.e. how many shots can you possibly fire? Brilliant tactic!

3.) Kylo Ren is looking for Luke Skywalker. He knows that the Resistance has a map leading to Luke. His father works for the Resistance. His father asks him to come home with him. Does he a.) kill his badass father so that we all know how badass he is, or b.) fake returning to the light side to win his father's confidence, allowing him to join the Resistance and have access to the location of Luke Skywalker who he wants to find?

4.) What is the ruling government? They mention a republic, a resistance, and then the New Order. How do these groups interact and play into the Galaxy at large?

5.) So it appears that Rae was a padawan/youngling that survived Kylo Ren's destruction of Luke's (apparently pitiful) new Jedi Order, so I can accept that she may have some minimal, repressed force abilities/learning that she may remember. But she is instantly able to do mind tricks and overpower Kylo Ren's forcepull of a lightsaber? They completely failed to make Kylo Ren a frightening, powerful, intimidating, sympathetic, or complex villain. He was worthless. And somehow Finn can handle a lightsaber decently just by touching it. And somehow lightsabers to the back can knock you out, but lightsabers to the face just stun you...

6.) The warranty on synthetic skin for hand prosthetics appears to be less than 30 years.....

7.) Blaster bolts and lightsaber blades look different in a bad way. Crackling with energy and such... just not Star Wars.

8.) The first volley of shots from the Starkiller Base destroyed five planets... all in the same system as the Starkiller base and the resistance base? The spacial relationships just don't make much sense, especially since Han leaves the Resistance base in the Falcon through hyperspace to the Starkiller base which is apparently in the same system. Also, hyperspace is f-ed up now: you can engage lightspeed while in a ship's hanger and you can ignore planetary gravity wells in order to drop out of lightspeed in the atmosphere.

9.) R2 is in low power mode? Luke ran away to brood? Ridiculous. These two characters were defined by their persistence and heroism. People complained when Padme died of a broken heart after her husband betrayed her friends, brought down the government in which she served, killed children and tried to kill HER! But Luke frickin Skywalker abandons the entire future of the Jedi because one of his apprentices turns to the dark side? This ruins his character. This would not inspire despair, it would inspire CORRECTION of the problem.

10.) The map that BB-8 has is only a fragment, and the information on it doesn't match up to anything on the resistance's charts... yet it is perfectly shaped like a puzzle piece to fit into a huge HOLE in the Resistance's map once R2 wakes up. Too bad no one else thought to put those pieces together...

11.) Kylo Ren talks to Vader's helmet as if he has communed with Vader. "show me again" I think he says. Are they seriously implying that Vader's spirit has aided in Kylo's turn to the dark side... meaning he wasn't redeemed?

In short, I feel that this movie lacks the pacing, story-depth, character dimension, and SOUL of Star Wars. I had incredibly low expectations, and it still was a big disappointment. I was okay with BB-8 and a couple other design elements here and there, but so much lost potential. They threw away the Zahn stories in favor of THIS???? Even the perfectly done Mon Calamari couldn't salvage my opinion.(the Sullustian was poorly done, and I didn't see ANY other Star Wars aliens... no ithorians, rodians, ishi tibs, biths, or even TWILEKS??? Really?)

I loved it but wow...it seems like I'm in the minority here. I could offer answers or replies to a number of the questions raised here, but I'm not sure they would make a difference, so I'll just mention my initial thoughts, some of which have arisen because of what I've read in this thread.

• I thought the acting was excellent. I thought that Han and Chewie were fantastic: funny, classic, and natural. I was sad to see Han die, but if he was going to die in the first film (because the actor didn't want to be in this again), then this was a good way to do it.
• I love Rey and Finn, and Poe is great. BB-8 is completely lovable...he's the best soccer-ball-with-a-head that I've ever met.
• I was a little underwhelmed by Kylo Ren/Ben, but maybe his character arc is one of growing from waffle-head into badass, rather than starting as badass and eventually being redeemed (ala Vader).
• The humor was great. Several laugh-out-loud parts, especially from Chewie and Han.
• I was surprised by the size of the emperor at first, but then it all made sense when it turned out the image was a hologram.
• I half-expected Rey to levitate the lightsaber over to Luke at the end--or would it be Luke levitating it? But I'm pretty sure that's how the next film will start.
• There were several of the exotic SW species in the movie. I'm not good with all the names, but one of them was a Barabel (the big red guy in the cantina), and the little orange lady (with the zoom-in glasses) is clearly the same species as Kazdan Paratus from the Force Unleashed game. When I watch it again (on Monday!) I'm sure I'll recognize more of the species. It would've been nice to see some Twileks though.
• The only lightsaber that crackled with energy was Kylo Ren's...the blue one (Luke's) was still normal. Could it be that Kylo's lightsaber was supposed to be that way because he's different, and that not all lightsabers are now like that?
• I would've loved to see Zahn's stories made into film, but I've read the Zahn novels a few times, and I'm glad we've got a brand new story here, where we don't know what will happen. There are some elements of the EU in the movie, though: Han & Leia's son (Ben in the movie, Jacen in the books) turns to the dark side and becomes a badass enemy. Han (not Chewie) dies. Luke starts training the next generation of jedi, and later at some point retreats to a place of solitude. I'm bummed that we won't see a Mara Jade, though...that would've been sweet.
• I want to know more of the background and story, about what happened between the fall of the empire and the current state of the galaxy. It seems as though the Rebellion somehow failed to restore order to the galaxy, or at least failed to maintain order. I'm not sure where this First Order came from, though it's pretty clear that the Resistance is a reaction to it.

Overall, I think this movie obviously blows the prequels out of the water (I doubt that anybody would disagree there). But beyond that, I think it comes close to the originals too. I can't wait to see Episode VIII!!!

wookieepedia has an excellent explanation for Kylo Ren's lightsaber. in essence, he made it using a damaged kyber crystal and so it is naturally unstable and the hilt is a deliberate design to vent off the uncontrolled plasma. making the whole thing fiery and the use of a cracked/damaged crystal is excellent as it matches kylo's personality. dangerous, fiery and angry with a tendency to blow up

I disagree. If Episode 1 and Into Darkness had a star spawned abomination of a love child, it still wouldn't have been as bad as this half baked Disney knockoff.

Is this another case like the old Fantastic 4 movies where they have to put out a movie (regardless of quality) or lose the IP?

Overall, I think this movie obviously blows the prequels out of the water (I doubt that anybody would disagree there). But beyond that, I think it comes close to the originals too. I can't wait to see Episode VIII!!!

I have to disagree (and I know I'm in the minority here ) The prequels had their problems, but they still felt much more 'Star Wars' to me than this movie did. While the blue lightsaber didn't have the crackling effect, it still looked different from every other lightsaber blade we have ever seen, and all of the blaster bolts looked different too. Each set piece felt like a closet and had no geographic continuance from the previous sets. There was simply no 'grand' expansive feel to any of it.

And I'm surprised by your statement that "we've got a brand new story here, where we don't know what will happen" as I felt this story was predictable and simplistic to a point of parody. 1.) Good guy has information vital to the good guys, 2.) Bad guys show up to get the information, 3.) Good guy puts info in droid which then wanders the desert, is captured by a scrap dealer, and then joins up with a force-sensitive young person, 4.) Additional generic hero-types help return the droid to the good guys, 5.) Good guy is captured and needs to be broken out of a bad guy facility, 6.) there's a new superweapon that threatens to blow up the good guys planet, 7.) the good guys destroy the superweapon by targeting a small, seemingly insignificant section, 8.) Heroes win the day. Oh, and various people are actually related and have to deal with how the failings of their family members has caused them grief. I feel like I've seen that before................. only better!