Heres a question. How the heck did the New Repulbic/Resistance not know the First Order were making the Starkiller base and try to stop it being made?

Good question. I think the best answer, though certainly not completely satisfactory, is that the First Order is based within the Unknown Regions - so intelligence concerning their operations was limited.

Heres a question. How the heck did the New Repulbic/Resistance not know the First Order were making the Starkiller base and try to stop it being made?

Good question. I think the best answer, though certainly not completely satisfactory, is that the First Order is based within the Unknown Regions - so intelligence concerning their operations was limited.

But they knew like instantly about the thing the moment the First Order targeted the Resistance. They even knew that the base WAS targeting them the moment Hux gave the order. Implying that they must have had a spy or some informant. Or just lazy writing.

The first order is trying to find Luke because Snoke is the bad guy and Luke is the good guy. I mean they do kinda spell this out. Snoke wants to either intercept the plans, or destroy them. In other words, even more important than finding Luke, is to ensure that the Resistance DOES NOT find him. Snoke doesn't want Luke training new Jedi, and if there are young padawan-level Jedi that Luke HAS trained, he doesn't want them rallying behind their master should Luke surface. Snoke is happy being the only master-level force wielder on the scene right now and his goal is to keep it that way. The movie tells us all of this. And it tells us this fairly quickly, in few words, so those in the audience who simply don't care, aren't stuck in a bogged-down dialogue-ridden montage of explanations and politics.

I think TFA's opening crawl told us everything of importance as well. Luke is missing - and there is some mystery there. In his absence the First Order rose to power, and GENERAL Leia (She's a general now, so you can infer that she's been busy) has sent Poe to recover a secret map to find Luke.

The only thing that is almost missing, is the details of the New Republic, the resistance, and how exactly the balance of power feels in the galaxy right now, and why there is both a new republic and a resistance. They DO explain it, but they do it quickly and don't cover every possible question I might have had... but if they did it would have taken the pace of the film off track. That is a GOOD topic for books and external narrative to fill-in.

Nobody NEEDS to know what the Knights of Ren are anymore than we needed to know what a "Dark Lord of the Sith" meant in A New Hope - it's just a title and makes no difference either way, other than to show that Kylo Ren is in a position of power in multiple organizations. He's not just an enforcer for the First Order, yet he's also leading another group - so he's kind of a big deal.

It's also pretty clear that the first order wants to destroy anyone who oppose them, and at the moment that is the Resistance. The New Republic seems to NOT be at war with the First Order, yet they support the Resistance, which DOES attacks on the First Order, so naturally this would mean the First Order is unhappy with the New Republic. They only mention this briefly, but it's not terribly important to the plot, and a lengthy discussion of politics would slow down the pace of the movie. The general audience needs to simply understand that Resistance/New Republic = Good Guys, First Order = Bad Guys, and Bad Guys always fight against Good Guys. Pretty simple that way. Was the same with A New Hope. They didn't explain what the rebels' goals where, why they rebelled in the first place, Why Leia sympathized with their cause to such an extent to betray the Empire and the Senate.... There's a ton of things wrong with Episode 4 if I wanted to nitpick, (Chewie gets no medal, Obi-Wan calls Vader "Darth", Why the Death Star doesn't simply blow up Yavin if it's in the way of the 4th moon, or better yet shoot through it.... or just blow it up and let the explosion eviscerate the moon... because dude... if you are on the moon, and Earth explodes.... well you are going to die. )

Any of the plot holes that I saw can be easily explained by other things that were going on in the movie. Rey already had a limited knowledge of the force and Luke Skywalker, but thought it was myth, so between the force "awakening", her touching Anakin's Lightsaber, and her MindMeld with Kylo Ren, she picked up enough of the force to be able to use it. This isn't hard to figure out, since Luke was able to deflect blaster bolts with a lightsaber after spending 2 minutes with Obi-Wan. The force manifests itself in powerful people from time to time. Finn is obviously not a Skywalker, so you don't see him force-pushing anyone.... but Rey is special.

The more I think about these things the more I love it. Great great movie! Maybe almost perfect.

Okay, who the heck is Snoke? (I know which character he was, I mean WHO IS HE?) How can he use the force? DOES he use the force? I guess so, since he tells Ren that he'll finish his training. You see, ANH created everything, so some details could be a little lacking because we, who now have seen all the films, didn't know these details held any importance at the time, like what a sith was. The bad guy was a sith, so sith must be bad. However, is there some reason why Kylo Ren is NOT a sith? Now, 40 years later, we all know what a sith is, so it is more confusing to refer to him as a Ren. Does this mean he is not truly a darkside user? Or are the Knight of Ren a charity organization like the Knights of Columbus? We just don't know. We know how the force works, and we have bases of reference for how things are supposed to work in the Star Wars universe. It's much more confusing to come in now, give us no information, treat everything differently from the previous timeframe, and then act like none of it needs explaining. I didn't watch any trailers or read any 'leading up to' articles or books. I had no clue WHO the people were that got blown up, because the writers did a really poor job of informing us of what is going on. I have now seen the movie and still have no idea what the point of Luke's disappearance was. Was he pouting? Was he looking for something at this 'first jedi temple?' Were ALL of his students wiped out? At least in ANH there was a REASON for the McGuffin. In this, we are left with no answers and a pointless search which ultimately has nothing to do with the actual threat.

And we have seen a WHOLE LOT of people learn to use the force. They all required instruction for anything more than reflex or instinct, even the chosen one. So don't come in now and make out like just anyone can pick up a lightsaber or anyone can suddenly know how to do a mind trick. It JUST DOESN"T WORK LIKE THAT. "her touching Anakin's Lightsaber, and her MindMeld with Kylo Ren, she picked up enough of the force to be able to use it" The force isn't a fricking STD that you 'pick up'.

BTW, it's not really fair to say "well ANH didn't explain ____" considered ANH was the first ever Star Wars film made.

TFA is the 7th? If it is going to ride on the 'success' of previous Star Wars material, then **** straight we can demand better quality than ANH.

Heres a question. How the heck did the New Repulbic/Resistance not know the First Order were making the Starkiller base and try to stop it being made?

Good question. I think the best answer, though certainly not completely satisfactory, is that the First Order is based within the Unknown Regions - so intelligence concerning their operations was limited.

But they knew like instantly about the thing the moment the First Order targeted the Resistance. They even knew that the base WAS targeting them the moment Hux gave the order. Implying that they must have had a spy or some informant. Or just lazy writing.

Yeah, I hear ya.

"Or are the Knight of Ren a charity organization like the Knights of Columbus?"

ROFLMOA

The first order is trying to find Luke because Snoke is the bad guy and Luke is the good guy. I mean they do kinda spell this out. Snoke wants to either intercept the plans, or destroy them. In other words, even more important than finding Luke, is to ensure that the Resistance DOES NOT find him. Snoke doesn't want Luke training new Jedi, and if there are young padawan-level Jedi that Luke HAS trained, he doesn't want them rallying behind their master should Luke surface. Snoke is happy being the only master-level force wielder on the scene right now and his goal is to keep it that way. The movie tells us all of this. And it tells us this fairly quickly, in few words, so those in the audience who simply don't care, aren't stuck in a bogged-down dialogue-ridden montage of explanations and politics.

I think TFA's opening crawl told us everything of importance as well. Luke is missing - and there is some mystery there. In his absence the First Order rose to power, and GENERAL Leia (She's a general now, so you can infer that she's been busy) has sent Poe to recover a secret map to find Luke.

The only thing that is almost missing, is the details of the New Republic, the resistance, and how exactly the balance of power feels in the galaxy right now, and why there is both a new republic and a resistance. They DO explain it, but they do it quickly and don't cover every possible question I might have had... but if they did it would have taken the pace of the film off track. That is a GOOD topic for books and external narrative to fill-in.

Nobody NEEDS to know what the Knights of Ren are anymore than we needed to know what a "Dark Lord of the Sith" meant in A New Hope - it's just a title and makes no difference either way, other than to show that Kylo Ren is in a position of power in multiple organizations. He's not just an enforcer for the First Order, yet he's also leading another group - so he's kind of a big deal.

It's also pretty clear that the first order wants to destroy anyone who oppose them, and at the moment that is the Resistance. The New Republic seems to NOT be at war with the First Order, yet they support the Resistance, which DOES attacks on the First Order, so naturally this would mean the First Order is unhappy with the New Republic. They only mention this briefly, but it's not terribly important to the plot, and a lengthy discussion of politics would slow down the pace of the movie. The general audience needs to simply understand that Resistance/New Republic = Good Guys, First Order = Bad Guys, and Bad Guys always fight against Good Guys. Pretty simple that way. Was the same with A New Hope. They didn't explain what the rebels' goals where, why they rebelled in the first place, Why Leia sympathized with their cause to such an extent to betray the Empire and the Senate.... There's a ton of things wrong with Episode 4 if I wanted to nitpick, (Chewie gets no medal, Obi-Wan calls Vader "Darth", Why the Death Star doesn't simply blow up Yavin if it's in the way of the 4th moon, or better yet shoot through it.... or just blow it up and let the explosion eviscerate the moon... because dude... if you are on the moon, and Earth explodes.... well you are going to die. )

Any of the plot holes that I saw can be easily explained by other things that were going on in the movie. Rey already had a limited knowledge of the force and Luke Skywalker, but thought it was myth, so between the force "awakening", her touching Anakin's Lightsaber, and her MindMeld with Kylo Ren, she picked up enough of the force to be able to use it. This isn't hard to figure out, since Luke was able to deflect blaster bolts with a lightsaber after spending 2 minutes with Obi-Wan. The force manifests itself in powerful people from time to time. Finn is obviously not a Skywalker, so you don't see him force-pushing anyone.... but Rey is special.

The more I think about these things the more I love it. Great great movie! Maybe almost perfect.

Okay, who the heck is Snoke? (I know which character he was, I mean WHO IS HE?) How can he use the force? DOES he use the force? I guess so, since he tells Ren that he'll finish his training. You see, ANH created everything, so some details could be a little lacking because we, who now have seen all the films, didn't know these details held any importance at the time, like what a sith was. The bad guy was a sith, so sith must be bad. However, is there some reason why Kylo Ren is NOT a sith? Now, 40 years later, we all know what a sith is, so it is more confusing to refer to him as a Ren. Does this mean he is not truly a darkside user? Or are the Knight of Ren a charity organization like the Knights of Columbus? We just don't know. We know how the force works, and we have bases of reference for how things are supposed to work in the Star Wars universe. It's much more confusing to come in now, give us no information, treat everything differently from the previous timeframe, and then act like none of it needs explaining. I didn't watch any trailers or read any 'leading up to' articles or books. I had no clue WHO the people were that got blown up, because the writers did a really poor job of informing us of what is going on. I have now seen the movie and still have no idea what the point of Luke's disappearance was. Was he pouting? Was he looking for something at this 'first jedi temple?' Were ALL of his students wiped out? At least in ANH there was a REASON for the McGuffin. In this, we are left with no answers and a pointless search which ultimately has nothing to do with the actual threat.

And we have seen a WHOLE LOT of people learn to use the force. They all required instruction for anything more than reflex or instinct, even the chosen one. So don't come in now and make out like just anyone can pick up a lightsaber or anyone can suddenly know how to do a mind trick. It JUST DOESN"T WORK LIKE THAT. "her touching Anakin's Lightsaber, and her MindMeld with Kylo Ren, she picked up enough of the force to be able to use it" The force isn't a fricking STD that you 'pick up'.

I'll attempt to answer your questions based on the movie.

Okay, who the heck is Snoke? (I know which character he was, I mean WHO IS HE?) How can he use the force? DOES he use the force? Snoke is the bad guy. He's the big bad of this trilogy. He's more powerful than anyone we saw in the movie and is behind the scenes pulling the strings. Like you guessed, he CAN use the force and is responsible for Kylo Ren's Dark Side seduction. Much about him is still shrouded in mystery though. I'm anxious to learn more in Episode 8.

However, is there some reason why Kylo Ren is NOT a sith? This answer doesn't exactly come from the movie but is more about Star Wars as a whole. Not all Dark Side users follow the sith teachings. Think of the Dark Side as "Evil" and think how all "Evil" people aren't all the same category of evil - like you have criminally insane people, and you have bad parents, and you have those who abuse friendships and manipulate others, and then you have world leaders who gas their people.... all these things are evil (Or at least BAD), but not all are the same category. The Sith are a particular category. (According to The Old Republic the SITH were a race who did Dark Side stuff, and then a sort of Religion sprouted forth about them after their race went extinct). So In short, Kylo Ren uses the Dark Side, but since they didn't talk about SITH in the original Trilogy, SITH aren't really a focus in this new Trilogy.

Now, 40 years later, we all know what a sith is, so it is more confusing to refer to him as a Ren. Does this mean he is not truly a darkside user? Or are the Knight of Ren a charity organization like the Knights of Columbus? Nobody refers to him as "a ren". They called him Kylo Ren, but not a "Ren" like a "Doctor" or a "Governer". We know virtually nothing about the Knights of Ren so I can't elaborate other than to say that Kylo Ren is their leader. They are a group. Ren could simpy be his last name and maybe he founded this group and named the group after himself. The point of the Knights of Ren is to show that Kylo Ren isn't exactly a Green Youth when it comes to the force and/or the Dark Side. He's been at his evil shenanigans for a little while, and has ascended to lead an organization as well as hold a position of power within the first order. In Short, he's a significantly powerful bad guy.

I had no clue WHO the people were that got blown up, They were citizens on the worlds of the New Republic. Their back-story wasn't important.

I have now seen the movie and still have no idea what the point of Luke's disappearance was. Luke was training new Jedi, and one of them turned evil (Kylo Ren). He ended up causing a HUGE problem, likely killed many people, (Possibly all of the other students, or at least some), and basically ruined Luke's plans. Luke blamed himself, so went into isolation, likely to study the force and try to figure out what went wrong. Luke's probably trying to emulate Obi-Wan, as evidenced by his behavior and his isolation. He's afraid of repeating Obi-Wan's mistake though, fears he might have created another Vader. --- Anyhow, Everyone's trying to find him. In his absence the First Order has risen to power, and there is this huge Dark Side threat of Snoke and Kylo Ren - Maybe even the Knights of Ren? Kylo could be training a new brand of Dark Jedi. So Luke needs to "get back in the fight" so to speak. The good guys want his help.... while the bad guys want to kill him, or at LEAST keep him hidden and out of the fight.

In this, we are left with no answers and a pointless search which ultimately has nothing to do with the actual threat. The real threat is the Dark Side, not Starkiller Base.

The force isn't a fricking STD that you 'pick up'. No it isn't, but in this case, knowledge of the force was awakened within Rey. It started when she touched the saber and was refined a little during her mindmeld with Kylo Ren. She struggled with it, but is this really that much of a stretch? I mean Luke Skywalker, after having only one 5-minute force-session with Obi-Wan, was able to force-guide a Proton Torpedo all the way down a Death Star exhaust port! I mean that was incredible!

Also - It is shown that Rey has likely been in some kind of communication with Luke. She's seen an Island in the Water in her dreams. I suspect Luke has been reaching out to her with the force. Trying to be an absentee mentor, like Obi-Wan's force-ghost was in the original trilogy.

I did see the movie twice so far, so maybe the second viewing gave me the rest of the information? (outside of the SIth bit)

Luke didn't guide the torpedo. He used the force simply to know WHEN to fire the torpedoes. Big difference, as this is only about awareness, which the movie showed Obi-wan teaching him. Fast forward three years and Luke can still barely force-pull a light saber. The force doesn't just get 'awoken', it is taught. At least it was before they invented insta-force training via telepathic link from across the Galaxy, which they did because they couldn't figure out a way to have Rey get any instruction after their God-awful "Luke Skywalker has disappeared" choice.

Your statement that the identity of the Republic citizens who were killed doesn't matter, and that who the Knights of Ren are doesn't matter, AND that it is sufficient to know Snoke is the 'big bad guy' shows exactly what my problem is with this movie. It is completely generic and cheap. He's the bad guy? How is he bad? Why is he bad? What is his relationship to the rest of the Galaxy besides being 'bad'? They were people? Why should I care for a minute that random people just got blown up? What makes them any different than the residents or star killer base who got exploded? They simply made a generic plot that made little sense and populated it with throw away characters that even THEY didn't care about. How do you make an escalated version of the Death Star? Have each shot destroy MULTIPLE worlds! How do you make a more powerful Dark Side threat? Make a GROUP of dark side users! These are choices that a second grader would make, and they are generic and cheap.

And the only reason obi-wan and yoda went into exile is because they were on the losing side and being hunted. Luke is on the side of the legitimate government. There is no reason for him to flee! Luke already showed in ROTJ that his character is about moving past failure and correcting one's mistakes. So instead of trying to redeem his nephew or kill him, he just taps out and runs away? That is not Luke, and again was only done as a convenient way to dispose of his character temporarily.

So the crux of this is that you think it feels "generic and cheap". I simply disagree. I know what you mean, but to me these decisions are deliberately simple for the sake of keeping the story moving. Else we might have ended up extending the movie by another 20 minutes discussing politics, the legality of blockades, trade disputes, etc! To me, that kind of detail is better left to books, comics, and external media for those who wish to know more detail.

And as for Luke, you may have struggled to pull his lightsaber, but he had just woken up from being unconscious. Don't forget that Luke was deflecting blaster bolts with his eyes closed the very first day he ever touched a lightsaber. And luke TOTALLY made those torpedoes take a 90 degree turn straight down. See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FULGR4TlpBI

I choose to be happy with the fact that the force can manifest itself when it needs to, or "Awaken", (as evidenced by the TITLE of the FILM). I understand this can be different for those who've played games like SWG or roleplaying games that require the jedi players do a ton of work before being "trained", but the movies are not the games. And these are Skywalkers were talking about here.

And as for Luke, you may have struggled to pull his lightsaber, but he had just woken up from being unconscious. Don't forget that Luke was deflecting blaster bolts with his eyes closed the very first day he ever touched a lightsaber. And luke TOTALLY made those torpedoes take a 90 degree turn straight down. See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FULGR4TlpBI

Um.... No! Watch the war room simulation before the DS attack. Proton torpedos follow a straight trajectory, then drop down the shaft and follow a perpendicular trajectory. Otherwise the entire rebel attack is simply ridiculous. They would have to fly directly toward the shaft, rather than flying through the trench at all. Luke was relying on his targeting computer to tell him WHEN to fire, he shut it off and relied on the force. That was all. He did not guide or alter the flight path. He just used the force to choose WHEN to fire.

As far as deflecting blaster shots... You may notice that he fails completely until Obi-Wan instructs him on what to do. Again, the force is taught.

Oh! Wait! You're right! Yoda tells Luke to "pass on what [he has] learned"..... He didnt mean to teach people through a grueling training course like I used to think, he meant PASS AROUND HIS LIGHTSABER so people could touch it and 'awaken'! I never realized that before! What a great movie! (That was intended to be funny, not mean. Please don't take offense.)

Torpedoes don't simply stop and do sharp 90 degree turns. If the targeting computer could make them do it then The previous attack run would have blown the Death Star. However it didn't, because the torpedoes don't just "do" that. Instead they went in straight and impacted on the surface.

Now you do bring up a good point. Why they didn't simply have the rebels fly directly toward the death star exhaust port straight on.... well I simply don't know the answer to that. I suppose Obi-Wan or Qui-Gon's force ghost told General Dodanna to try it this way in order to get Luke's fuse to ignite or something.

And maybe Luke was communing with Rey?

It was a great movie man. Is it that hard to just suspend your disbelief and enjoy it at face value? I mean we really shouldn't even be debating how the force works. Maybe it's a living entity and changes it's own properties every generation.... like maybe when Anakin was a teenager, it allowed the Jedi Knights to become Jedi Ninjas and use the force by flipping wildly in all directions like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Sith. And now it's more Anglo-Saxon Broadsword combat. Maybe in 2 years it'll switch to fencing and Lightsaber Nunchucks!

Torpedoes don't simply stop and do sharp 90 degree turns. If the targeting computer could make them do it then The previous attack run would have blown the Death Star. However it didn't, because the torpedoes don't just "do" that. Instead they went in straight and impacted on the surface.

Apparently they do. Or can. No matter how it looked to you, the point is that this plan of attack was what the Rebellion think tank came up with as their best plan of attack. Would they do that knowing they were asking the impossible?

"Sir, the Russians have embedded themselves in strategic positions in the mountains. Our tanks can't get to them."

"Have the tanks start leaping up the mountainside 100 feet at a time."

"..........uhhhhh."

So obviously, the torpedoes were capable of doing what they were attempting. They weren't hoping that, just maybe, one of their pilots was a fledgling magical space wizard. I have never thought that Luke used the Force to make them turn into the port, he used the Force to know the exact right time to pull the trigger so they'd hit... and not just impact on the surface. Besides, simply because the targeting computer missed doesn't mean it's impossible, it's just very difficult.

"That's impossible, even for a targeting computer."

"It's not impossible."

Now you do bring up a good point. Why they didn't simply have the rebels fly directly toward the death star exhaust port straight on.... well I simply don't know the answer to that.

Well, because I always thought the exhaust port was on a wall at the end of the trench, since that's how it's always depicted in the plans. Though it certainly does look like it's on the floor when they go into the port.

However...

It was a great movie man. Is it that hard to just suspend your disbelief and enjoy it at face value?

Totally!

I full on agree with this point. My kids LOOOVED it. They were on the edge of their seat in that theater and you know what? So was I. Yeah it has some faults in it, yeah there were some things I would have done differently, but I was thoroughly entertained because I wasn't looking to poke holes in it. Not that I couldn't, but life's just better when you don't.

Obviously, Rey doesn't remember certain things, like her parents for example. I would assume, these things were hidden in her memory and she got access, when she touched the lightsword. Maybe she had some basic training, before she was dropped on Jakku?

The film opens up more new questions than it answers. Wait for the next movie ....

The force doesn't just get 'awoken', it is taught. At least it was before they invented insta-force training via telepathic link from across the Galaxy, which they did because they couldn't figure out a way to have Rey get any instruction after their God-awful "Luke Skywalker has disappeared" choice.

Your statement that the identity of the Republic citizens who were killed doesn't matter, and that who the Knights of Ren are doesn't matter, AND that it is sufficient to know Snoke is the 'big bad guy' shows exactly what my problem is with this movie. It is completely generic and cheap. He's the bad guy? How is he bad? Why is he bad? What is his relationship to the rest of the Galaxy besides being 'bad'? They were people? Why should I care for a minute that random people just got blown up? What makes them any different than the residents or star killer base who got exploded? They simply made a generic plot that made little sense and populated it with throw away characters that even THEY didn't care about. How do you make an escalated version of the Death Star? Have each shot destroy MULTIPLE worlds! How do you make a more powerful Dark Side threat? Make a GROUP of dark side users! These are choices that a second grader would make, and they are generic and cheap.

And the only reason obi-wan and yoda went into exile is because they were on the losing side and being hunted. Luke is on the side of the legitimate government. There is no reason for him to flee! Luke already showed in ROTJ that his character is about moving past failure and correcting one's mistakes. So instead of trying to redeem his nephew or kill him, he just taps out and runs away? That is not Luke, and again was only done as a convenient way to dispose of his character temporarily.

1) there is plenty of presidence to show that the Force doesn't need to be taught in order to use specific abilities:

- Episode 1, Anakin had precognitive powers to be able to pilot his podracer at blinding speeds. Qui-Gon confirms this.

- Episode 1, Anakin being tested by the Jedi Council with the tablet.

- Episode 5, Luke Force pulling the lightsaber out of the ice.

- Episode 5, Leia knowing where to find Luke after his fight with Vader

- The original Force users. Each one learned how to manipulate the Force in their own way before the Jedi Order existed.

As for your next string of questions about why Snoke is bad, who were the people that died to the SKB laser, etc:

Yes, the plot was very generic in terms of it being about a big star base killing millions/billions of people that in turn is destroyed. however, I believe they used the destruction of both the Republics capital/fleet and Starkiller Base to signal that the next movies will be about Lightside vs Darkside. this is just speculation, but there are other things said in the movie that support/suggest this.

As to who Snoke is, I believe Yoda said it best, "Patience!" there's 2 more main story movies (Ep. 8 and 9), a side story movie (Rogue One), along with books and other goodies that will fill in the gaps. They aren't going to reveal who everyone is in the first movie.

3) Luke is NOT on the side of the legitimate government. He IS on the side of the Republic. In the book "Aftermath", they made clear that the Empire and New Republic made a truce after a prolonged series of fights after Episode 6. Yes, the Empire lost a lot of influence and power, but they are still around to be reckoned with. As to Luke's disappearance, maybe the loss of his students and someone that was very, very close to him was too much. There did appear to be a grave marker next to him at the end of Episode 7; perhaps of his murdered wife? again, its speculation; but as I stated before, more will be revealed in time.

I guess I dont have a problem nitpicking so long as it doesn't get to the point where you forget that it's supposed to be a kids movie that adults can also enjoy. I mean hey we can pick apart "Inside Out" too on all sorts of technical details, but they really don't matter that much.

So as a disclaimer, I LOVED the movie an awful lot. But here are my nitpicks and supposed explanations.

Finn shouldn't have been able to defeat people with a lightsaber. I always thought you needed force ability and training to use one. He even held his own for a moment with Kylo Ren, even scoring a hit. - Explanation - as a stormtrooper he likely had plenty of martial training including various hand to hand classes etc. Also we DO see Han cut open a Tauntaun, so it's not a huge stretch to say Finn could swing it. And I guess Finn didn't do THAT good, as another stormtrooper kicked his butt, and Kylo Ren was weak and bleeding by the time they fought. So while this is a nitpick, it's kinda understandable, it just clashes with what many of us thought about lightsaber training.

Rey used the force too quickly - This is the most common nitpick. Both her mind trick, and the whole part at the end where she closes her eyes and uses the force to become a badass with a lightsaber.... was too rushed. Explanation - we have seen some examples of people who were a very quick study, like Luke in A New Hope, or Anakin in Episode 1 doing some things with no training at all. This could mean that she is a skywalker, or it could mean the force is acting different now and "Waking up" in the absence of a Jedi order. Even if this part is contrived it doesn't ruin the movie for me, it just leaves unanswered questions that someone will probably write a book about some day.

Starkiller Base is a Super Death Star? - I was disapointed by this, I'll admit. Felt so unoriginal. The other bad guys seemed fine. Borrow from the feel of the original trilogy all you want, but everything about Starkiller Base was TOO borrowed. Han on the ground disabling the shield, them needing a "Miracle" to blow it at the last second... It was just TOO borrowed. Explanation - I don't have much here - other than they wanted it to "feel" very Star Wars-ish and this felt safe. I get that. It's a way to introduce young kids to the series and have them get the FEEL of what Star Wars has been all about for years. As much as I wish they'd done something else, I can't say that this ruined the movie or anything. It's ok for the film to have some imperfections. Now I hope the next movie has some FLEET vs FLEET action - large ships etc. (or at least one of the films). I'm anxious to see some capital ships in this new universe!

All in all it wasn't perfect but between the awesome humor, the fantastic new characters, the amazing effects, the mystery, and Harrison Ford absolutely crushing his performance (Honestly he wins MVP for this), I rank this movie up there with Avengers in terms of how blown away I was. Avengers might be a little higher because I can't really think of many flaws.... and it also had the build up of MANY movies - Avengers didn't have to do a Backstory on ANYONE - It was all characters who we've seen already, so it was allowed to jump RIGHT into the awesome. Episode 8 is going to answer some questions and maybe introduce 1 - 2 more characters, but I'm betting EPisode 9 will be the real home run of this wave.

1) there is plenty of presidence to show that the Force doesn't need to be taught in order to use specific abilities:

- Episode 1, Anakin had precognitive powers to be able to pilot his podracer at blinding speeds. Qui-Gon confirms this.

- Episode 1, Anakin being tested by the Jedi Council with the tablet.

- Episode 5, Luke Force pulling the lightsaber out of the ice.

- Episode 5, Leia knowing where to find Luke after his fight with Vader

- The original Force users. Each one learned how to manipulate the Force in their own way before the Jedi Order existed.

As for your next string of questions about why Snoke is bad, who were the people that died to the SKB laser, etc:

Yes, the plot was very generic in terms of it being about a big star base killing millions/billions of people that in turn is destroyed. however, I believe they used the destruction of both the Republics capital/fleet and Starkiller Base to signal that the next movies will be about Lightside vs Darkside. this is just speculation, but there are other things said in the movie that support/suggest this.

As to who Snoke is, I believe Yoda said it best, "Patience!" there's 2 more main story movies (Ep. 8 and 9), a side story movie (Rogue One), along with books and other goodies that will fill in the gaps. They aren't going to reveal who everyone is in the first movie.

3) Luke is NOT on the side of the legitimate government. He IS on the side of the Republic. In the book "Aftermath", they made clear that the Empire and New Republic made a truce after a prolonged series of fights after Episode 6. Yes, the Empire lost a lot of influence and power, but they are still around to be reckoned with. As to Luke's disappearance, maybe the loss of his students and someone that was very, very close to him was too much. There did appear to be a grave marker next to him at the end of Episode 7; perhaps of his murdered wife? again, its speculation; but as I stated before, more will be revealed in time.

There is a HUGE difference between having enhanced reflexes and intuition, as demonstrated by Anakin and Luke pre training (Luke was supposed to be the best pilot in the outer rim after all), and doing mind-tricks and lightsaber battles. One can come naturally, without even realizing how it is done, the other NEEDS either instruction or a whole LOT of practice and experimentation. Even if Rey had rudimentary training, she would still be a youngling when she was abandoned, and we have seen how bad younglings are even WITH training. There is no satifactory explanation, and people need to admit that. Luke CANNOT instruct her without her knowledge from across the Galaxy (and then look completely perplexed when she shows up at the end), and there's no way a 3-4 y/o was taught mind tricks and dealing but forgot. The writers ignored the established 'rules' for the sake of convenience, which means they are poor writers.

Let's consider Count Dooku. In five seconds of AOTC we are told his origin... Leader of the Separatists, former Jedi, political idealist. Later on, we find out he voluntarily left the Jedi order, and are eased into his role as a sith.

Boba fett... Seen as a bounty hunter, full of mystery, but thought to be badass due to appearance and actions.

One is a primary villain, the other is a side character. The villain is a explained thoroughly, much more than Snoke or Kylo Ren IMO. But even Boba had more to him than Phasma did.

Imagine Avengers: Age of Ultron if they didn't have the scenes in which Stark and Banner create Ultron! "Tony, who is this evil robot who wants to kill us?" "Oh, he is this failed AI Bruce and I tried to incorporate into a planetary defense network, but I guess it backfired..." No one would accept that pitiful shortcut of a plot, but here you are saying that's just what we should do? I call shenanigans.

The writers ignored the established 'rules' for the sake of convenience, which means they are poor writers.

But even Boba had more to him than Phasma did.

No one would accept that pitiful shortcut of a plot, but here you are saying that's just what we should do? I call shenanigans.

I do agree that the plot was rushed. in my opinion, I thought the part where the rathnars where chasing everyone should have been instead a sequence where they started to fill the gaps between Episode 6 and 7. I can believe Rey being able to use the Force the way she did in the movie. there's a theory that she can copy any manipulation of the Force once she sees it. The lightsaber duel though was a bit of a stretch for me. She does have experience in using a staff, but that is much different than a lightsaber. Maybe they'll give some explanation in later movies and/or books.

in the original theatrical release of Episode 5, Boba most certainly did NOT have more to him than Phasma. All you knew was that he was a bounty hunter that was hired by the Empire and that he was also working for Jabba. That's it. Phasma, you know she's a senior officer in the First Order. She has conviction, is ruthless and completely loyal to the First Order.

I'm not saying you should accept what's been shown in Episode 7, nor am I saying you should denounce what has happened. if you noticed in my post, I was stressing to wait for the other movies to come out before completely judging a plot that is clearly meant to span across 3 movies. Sure TFA has weaknesses, but every movie does. I'm hoping Disney learns from any shortcomings in Episode 7 to make the other 2 installments better.

No, Star Wars was never a kids movie. There were Star Wars movies made for kids, but the trilogy and prequels were not children's movies. The toys were marketed to children because Lucas needed the money, but to compare Star Wars to Inside Out is false comparison.

For one, Inside Out was a *much better movie then The Force Awakeded.

Heres a question. How the heck did the New Repulbic/Resistance not know the First Order were making the Starkiller base and try to stop it being made?

Good question. I think the best answer, though certainly not completely satisfactory, is that the First Order is based within the Unknown Regions - so intelligence concerning their operations was limited.

But they knew like instantly about the thing the moment the First Order targeted the Resistance. They even knew that the base WAS targeting them the moment Hux gave the order. Implying that they must have had a spy or some informant. Or just lazy writing.

They targeted the Resistance by tracking the Resistance recon flight iirc

ps. I loved the film =D

The writers ignored the established 'rules' for the sake of convenience, which means they are poor writers.

But even Boba had more to him than Phasma did.

No one would accept that pitiful shortcut of a plot, but here you are saying that's just what we should do? I call shenanigans.

I do agree that the plot was rushed. in my opinion, I thought the part where the rathnars where chasing everyone should have been instead a sequence where they started to fill the gaps between Episode 6 and 7. I can believe Rey being able to use the Force the way she did in the movie. there's a theory that she can copy any manipulation of the Force once she sees it. The lightsaber duel though was a bit of a stretch for me. She does have experience in using a staff, but that is much different than a lightsaber. Maybe they'll give some explanation in later movies and/or books.

in the original theatrical release of Episode 5, Boba most certainly did NOT have more to him than Phasma. All you knew was that he was a bounty hunter that was hired by the Empire and that he was also working for Jabba. That's it. Phasma, you know she's a senior officer in the First Order. She has conviction, is ruthless and completely loyal to the First Order.

I'm not saying you should accept what's been shown in Episode 7, nor am I saying you should denounce what has happened. if you noticed in my post, I was stressing to wait for the other movies to come out before completely judging a plot that is clearly meant to span across 3 movies. Sure TFA has weaknesses, but every movie does. I'm hoping Disney learns from any shortcomings in Episode 7 to make the other 2 installments better.

Episode V boba had more context than Phasma. He captured Han Solo, he had his own ship, he interacted meaningfully with the main characters, Vader, and Jabba through name dropping, and dripped intrigue and awesomeness. Phasma spoke to Finn for 2 seconds, got captured randomly BY Solo, rolled quickly and was dropped down a garbage chute. She does nothing of importance and is completely disposable.

I'm sorry, what equitable comparison do you see?

The writers ignored the established 'rules' for the sake of convenience, which means they are poor writers.

But even Boba had more to him than Phasma did.

No one would accept that pitiful shortcut of a plot, but here you are saying that's just what we should do? I call shenanigans.

I do agree that the plot was rushed. in my opinion, I thought the part where the rathnars where chasing everyone should have been instead a sequence where they started to fill the gaps between Episode 6 and 7. I can believe Rey being able to use the Force the way she did in the movie. there's a theory that she can copy any manipulation of the Force once she sees it. The lightsaber duel though was a bit of a stretch for me. She does have experience in using a staff, but that is much different than a lightsaber. Maybe they'll give some explanation in later movies and/or books.

in the original theatrical release of Episode 5, Boba most certainly did NOT have more to him than Phasma. All you knew was that he was a bounty hunter that was hired by the Empire and that he was also working for Jabba. That's it. Phasma, you know she's a senior officer in the First Order. She has conviction, is ruthless and completely loyal to the First Order.

I'm not saying you should accept what's been shown in Episode 7, nor am I saying you should denounce what has happened. if you noticed in my post, I was stressing to wait for the other movies to come out before completely judging a plot that is clearly meant to span across 3 movies. Sure TFA has weaknesses, but every movie does. I'm hoping Disney learns from any shortcomings in Episode 7 to make the other 2 installments better.

Episode V boba had more context than Phasma. He captured Han Solo, he had his own ship, he interacted meaningfully with the main characters, Vader, and Jabba through name dropping, and dripped intrigue and awesomeness. Phasma spoke to Finn for 2 seconds, got captured randomly BY Solo, rolled quickly and was dropped down a garbage chute. She does nothing of importance and is completely disposable.

I'm sorry, what equitable comparison do you see?

Actually, it was Vader who captured Solo. so much for awesomeness; he couldn't even capture Han himself. you call name dropping interacting? Boba's name wasn't even mentioned in the movies until Episode 6. the "intrigue" he had was more curiosity. everyone wanted to know who was the man in the cool looking armor.

don't get me wrong, I think Boba is awesome; but only after ALOT of EU stuff came out to solidify who he was. I do agree that Phasma didn't really do much, but for her first movie appearance she had more impact in Episode 7 than Boba did in Episode 5.

No, Star Wars was never a kids movie.

And now you've lost me.

Of course it's a Kids movie. It's always BEEN a kids movie. And that's ok. Grown Ups who've never seen Star Wars.... who finally sit down and watch it... never like it. Sure, your girlfriend might SAY she likes it but deep down she just wants an engagement ring. And maybe the crazy fandom is cute in some way.

But the movies have always been kids movies. R2-D2, C-3PO, Jar Jar, Ewoks, it's a kid's movie that adults can also go see, just like all the Pixar flicks that adults flock to.

No, Star Wars was never a kids movie.

And now you've lost me.

Of course it's a Kids movie. It's always BEEN a kids movie. And that's ok. Grown Ups who've never seen Star Wars.... who finally sit down and watch it... never like it. Sure, your girlfriend might SAY she likes it but deep down she just wants an engagement ring. And maybe the crazy fandom is cute in some way.

But the movies have always been kids movies. R2-D2, C-3PO, Jar Jar, Ewoks, it's a kid's movie that adults can also go see, just like all the Pixar flicks that adults flock to.

A kids movie? Is that all you think it is? I dont know what kind of childhood you had, but I usually skip movies with dismemberment and torture for kids. Sure, its no Hostel or Saw, but these were never kids movies (except episode 1, an argument can be made that it was *intended to be a children's movie)

George Lucas is noted as being concerned that the original Star Wars film would be nothing more than a kids flick, but that was neither the intent nor the result.

How old were you the first time you saw a Star Wars film?

I dont know, 14?

Edit: I take that back, I saw Caravan of courage in grade school. That was my first Star Wars film.

Also, you guys are forgetting what made Boba Fett cool. When a dude shows up riding a friggin dinosaur and shoots *another dinosaur with a friggin double laser then goes on to ring up Darth friggin Vader and talk to him like an old college chum... that guy is cool.