only niggles, was I wanted to see more Phasma.. and Ray got her powers soo **** quick and knew how to use everything off the bat, I dnno.. took Luke years of training.

One thing I noticed, she seemed to have better access to her powers when she was calm. Example, she had to calm down before she could make Daniel Craig turn her loose and drop his blaster. She also kind of "found her center" before the tide of battle turned against Ren. That's how I took it, anyway, based on the way Ridley played it. Luke "The Boy Who Had No Patience" may have had a harder time, whereas she has known patience, waiting in that junkyard, for years.

only niggles, was I wanted to see more Phasma.. and Ray got her powers soo **** quick and knew how to use everything off the bat, I dnno.. took Luke years of training.

One thing I noticed, she seemed to have better access to her powers when she was calm. Example, she had to calm down before she could make Daniel Craig turn her loose and drop his blaster. She also kind of "found her center" before the tide of battle turned against Ren. That's how I took it, anyway, based on the way Ridley played it. Luke "The Boy Who Had No Patience" may have had a harder time, whereas she has known patience, waiting in that junkyard, for years.

Rey also got her powers in the heat of the moment by trusting in herself which is why i gave that final lightsaber duel a 2 thumbs up.. she did it to save Finn and herself and trusted her feelings.. but the jedi mind trick on the guard trooper was dumb as ****

Weighing in a bit late to the discussion! I've seen the film 4 times since midnight on the 17th and in all honesty I have never ever done that with any other film in my life period!

I can understand some of the gripes people have with the film because it isn't perfect but since yesterday I've watched all three of the OT films in order to gauge TFA in terms of how it stands upto them.

And I firmly believe TFA is as good as ANH and ROTJ but not quite as good As Empire.The main complaints I'm hearing is that things weren't explained as in depth as some people would have wanted or that there were to many similarities to the OT films?

I think many of the Films critiscisms are being magnified by nostalgia/Rose tinted glasses for the OT which had many of the flaws which are being levied towards Episode VII like Ewoks, Giant laser firing moonbase, Luke being able to fly military craft with no training! No explanation as to why a giant space worm that lives in the vacuum of space has nostrils?

The Force Awakens has the spirit of Star Wars that's all I needed it to have and I can't wait for Episode VIII

Yeah i bet Phasma had a good section cut too.

Wait for the special extended edition with added CGI banthas

I've seen something like that posted a few times in other places - 'wait for the extended edition, it will fix the pacing issues'.

Why do people keep saying that? JJ Abrams has never released an 'extended edition' of any of his films. Heck, the only time a Star Wars movie has received an 'extended edition' was in the OT remasters, but that was at least 90% to check the interest in the market for 'Star Wars' to see if it made sense to do the prequel movies.

Odds of an 'extended edition' of this one is exactly '0' - what we saw is what we get.

2) In a New Hope, when Alderaan was destroyed, it was horrific mass murder at its core, and the casual way it was effected -- as a shock tactic to soften up Leia -- was chilling. In TFA, they destroyed multiple planets, and it was casually glossed over. At least in New Hope we had Kenobi there to witness the event, but this particular instance of super mass murder had no emotional resonance. It was cheap.

Yeah i bet Phasma had a good section cut too.

Wait for the special extended edition with added CGI banthas

I've seen something like that posted a few times in other places - 'wait for the extended edition, it will fix the pacing issues'.

Why do people keep saying that? JJ Abrams has never released an 'extended edition' of any of his films. Heck, the only time a Star Wars movie has received an 'extended edition' was in the OT remasters, but that was at least 90% to check the interest in the market for 'Star Wars' to see if it made sense to do the prequel movies.

Odds of an 'extended edition' of this one is exactly '0' - what we saw is what we get.

2) In a New Hope, when Alderaan was destroyed, it was horrific mass murder at its core, and the casual way it was effected -- as a shock tactic to soften up Leia -- was chilling. In TFA, they destroyed multiple planets, and it was casually glossed over. At least in New Hope we had Kenobi there to witness the event, but this particular instance of super mass murder had no emotional resonance. It was cheap.

I think that might have been the biggest single let-down in the movie.

Alderaan was a big deal in Episode IV. It was mentioned right from the beginning - Leia was trying to reach Kenobi to get him to Alderaan. Alderaan was the destination of the Tantive IV. Alderaan was used to threaten Leia. Alderaan, Alderaan, Alderaan. It was made clear it was important, and when it was destroyed...the entire scene was slow and building to sudden moment when it was all over. And then there was a lot of impact from that - Leia seen to be devastated by it, Kenobi staggering backwards...heck, you even end up with the Falcon flying through the asteroid field left by it moments later.

THAT is how you destroy a planet!

But in VII...I dunno, I couldn't even name the star system they destroyed. It was just, cut to a scene...oh, bad guys, getting ready to...okay, there is some kind of important planet for some reason I'm just hearing about now by the guy angry at it...firing now...it's gone....annnnnnd who cares?

But it's the same problem I have with the whole movie. The cadence of it is just...so very, very "off". Way too little time spent on areas where exposition is NEEDED, and way too much time spent on things that don't need a lot of on-screen material to convey them (hey, a starfighter battle is occuring...you know what that looks like, now back to dialog....except, no, let's stick with the explosions because dialog is boring as it advances the story and we just don't have much to advance, here)

they said the blast was intended to wipe out the republic.. perhaps it was Coruscant and the surrounding planets that were destroyed?

Yeah i bet Phasma had a good section cut too.

Wait for the special extended edition with added CGI banthas

I've seen something like that posted a few times in other places - 'wait for the extended edition, it will fix the pacing issues'.

Why do people keep saying that? JJ Abrams has never released an 'extended edition' of any of his films. Heck, the only time a Star Wars movie has received an 'extended edition' was in the OT remasters, but that was at least 90% to check the interest in the market for 'Star Wars' to see if it made sense to do the prequel movies.

Odds of an 'extended edition' of this one is exactly '0' - what we saw is what we get.

2) In a New Hope, when Alderaan was destroyed, it was horrific mass murder at its core, and the casual way it was effected -- as a shock tactic to soften up Leia -- was chilling. In TFA, they destroyed multiple planets, and it was casually glossed over. At least in New Hope we had Kenobi there to witness the event, but this particular instance of super mass murder had no emotional resonance. It was cheap.

I think that might have been the biggest single let-down in the movie.

Alderaan was a big deal in Episode IV. It was mentioned right from the beginning - Leia was trying to reach Kenobi to get him to Alderaan. Alderaan was the destination of the Tantive IV. Alderaan was used to threaten Leia. Alderaan, Alderaan, Alderaan. It was made clear it was important, and when it was destroyed...the entire scene was slow and building to sudden moment when it was all over. And then there was a lot of impact from that - Leia seen to be devastated by it, Kenobi staggering backwards...heck, you even end up with the Falcon flying through the asteroid field left by it moments later.

THAT is how you destroy a planet!

But in VII...I dunno, I couldn't even name the star system they destroyed. It was just, cut to a scene...oh, bad guys, getting ready to...okay, there is some kind of important planet for some reason I'm just hearing about now by the guy angry at it...firing now...it's gone....annnnnnd who cares?

But it's the same problem I have with the whole movie. The cadence of it is just...so very, very "off". Way too little time spent on areas where exposition is NEEDED, and way too much time spent on things that don't need a lot of on-screen material to convey them (hey, a starfighter battle is occuring...you know what that looks like, now back to dialog....except, no, let's stick with the explosions because dialog is boring as it advances the story and we just don't have much to advance, here)

they said the blast was intended to wipe out the republic.. perhaps it was Coruscant and the surrounding planets that were destroyed?

But they saw it in the sky on an unrelated world, kinda like when (SPOILERS for NuTrek 1) Spock watches Vulcan get destroyed form the surface of a far away world....... maybe JJ just doesn't realize how big space is.

Anyone else wonder why they chose the name Ben? Leia and Han didn't really have the connection to Old Ben the way Luke did. I mean, Leia knew of him through her father and he was Han's travelling companion for a bit but not like Luke seeing his Force ghost all the time.

Because Jacen would be too obvious.

Yeah, he basically is post NJO Jacen, but it's good that they didn't name him that. Anakin would've been a whole other problem. Just an odd name choice, especially when we get what is presumably Luke's daughter Rey (named after Del Rey books as I recall).

the vibe I got from Kylo Ren in the latter half of the movie was 'emo teenager').

Kylo Ren: Totally miscast as an angsty Darth Vader Fanboy. I want to be like hiiiiiiiiiim.

I thought Adam Driver absolutely nailed it - I've known one or two disturbed and dangerous individuals with the skills to harm themselves and others in my time, and Kylo REALLY reminded me of them.

He plays the role of someone who is barely in control of himself and his tremendous abilities very well.

the whole angsty emo schtick people are trying to pin on him is horse541t in my opinion.

the vibe I got from Kylo Ren in the latter half of the movie was 'emo teenager').

Kylo Ren: Totally miscast as an angsty Darth Vader Fanboy. I want to be like hiiiiiiiiiim.

I thought Adam Driver absolutely nailed it - I've known one or two disturbed and dangerous individuals with the skills to harm themselves and others in my time, and Kylo REALLY reminded me of them.

He plays the role of someone who is barely in control of himself and his tremendous abilities very well.

the whole angsty emo schtick people are trying to pin on him is horse541t in my opinion.

I think you're getting Drivers performance and peoples opinions of his character mixed up.

He was clearly *meant* to be a young emo darksider in training.

Like he was meant to be a Vader try-hard. Rey even called him on it. Canon.

the vibe I got from Kylo Ren in the latter half of the movie was 'emo teenager').

Kylo Ren: Totally miscast as an angsty Darth Vader Fanboy. I want to be like hiiiiiiiiiim.

I thought Adam Driver absolutely nailed it - I've known one or two disturbed and dangerous individuals with the skills to harm themselves and others in my time, and Kylo REALLY reminded me of them.

He plays the role of someone who is barely in control of himself and his tremendous abilities very well.

the whole angsty emo schtick people are trying to pin on him is horse541t in my opinion.

I think you're getting Drivers performance and peoples opinions of his character mixed up.

He was clearly *meant* to be a young emo darksider in training.

Like he was meant to be a Vader try-hard. Rey even called him on it. Canon.

well I'm assuming that the "emo" handle is a pejorative - it is where I'm from

Yeah i bet Phasma had a good section cut too.

Wait for the special extended edition with added CGI banthas

I've seen something like that posted a few times in other places - 'wait for the extended edition, it will fix the pacing issues'.

Why do people keep saying that? JJ Abrams has never released an 'extended edition' of any of his films. Heck, the only time a Star Wars movie has received an 'extended edition' was in the OT remasters, but that was at least 90% to check the interest in the market for 'Star Wars' to see if it made sense to do the prequel movies.

Odds of an 'extended edition' of this one is exactly '0' - what we saw is what we get.

2) In a New Hope, when Alderaan was destroyed, it was horrific mass murder at its core, and the casual way it was effected -- as a shock tactic to soften up Leia -- was chilling. In TFA, they destroyed multiple planets, and it was casually glossed over. At least in New Hope we had Kenobi there to witness the event, but this particular instance of super mass murder had no emotional resonance. It was cheap.

I think that might have been the biggest single let-down in the movie.

Alderaan was a big deal in Episode IV. It was mentioned right from the beginning - Leia was trying to reach Kenobi to get him to Alderaan. Alderaan was the destination of the Tantive IV. Alderaan was used to threaten Leia. Alderaan, Alderaan, Alderaan. It was made clear it was important, and when it was destroyed...the entire scene was slow and building to sudden moment when it was all over. And then there was a lot of impact from that - Leia seen to be devastated by it, Kenobi staggering backwards...heck, you even end up with the Falcon flying through the asteroid field left by it moments later.

THAT is how you destroy a planet!

But in VII...I dunno, I couldn't even name the star system they destroyed. It was just, cut to a scene...oh, bad guys, getting ready to...okay, there is some kind of important planet for some reason I'm just hearing about now by the guy angry at it...firing now...it's gone....annnnnnd who cares?

But it's the same problem I have with the whole movie. The cadence of it is just...so very, very "off". Way too little time spent on areas where exposition is NEEDED, and way too much time spent on things that don't need a lot of on-screen material to convey them (hey, a starfighter battle is occuring...you know what that looks like, now back to dialog....except, no, let's stick with the explosions because dialog is boring as it advances the story and we just don't have much to advance, here)

they said the blast was intended to wipe out the republic.. perhaps it was Coruscant and the surrounding planets that were destroyed?

But they saw it in the sky on an unrelated world, kinda like when (SPOILERS for NuTrek 1) Spock watches Vulcan get destroyed form the surface of a far away world....... maybe JJ just doesn't realize how big space is.

Yeah, I've got no idea what JJ's problem with space is. He appears to have, like, *no* concept of distances at all.

As to the planet - it wasn't Coruscant, or Chandrilla, it was something new for the movie that was the head of the Republic (when I couldn't remember, I looked it up on Wookiepedia...and I still can't recall it, it really has been mentioned only this one time, established as ZOMG WE HAVE TO DESTROY IT, SO IMPORTANT, THAT'S OUR WHOLE PURPOSE, then immediately destroyed and everyone forgets about it).

There are a lot of good points made so far for and against The Force Awakens. If you don't mind go vote on my other thread. (1 horrible, 5 perfect) I'm not sure why, but I really care about finding out how the members of the Xwing community rates the new Star Wars movie.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/196159-the-force-awakens-unofficial-poll-thread-maybe-spoliers/?p=1942256

General Hux just wiped out all the politicians in the senate. He's not a war criminal or terrorist, he's a hero!

What system was that again?

Hosnian system.

Favorite parts of the movie:

-BB-8 giving Finn the blowtorch thumbs up

-Stormtrooper Daniel Craig getting mind tricked by Rey

-All the Mark Hamill hype only for him to be in the movie for 30 seconds

-The mysticism of the new characters and settings

-Daisy Ridley's calves

Hosnian system.

I will say, looking at people discuss some of the side material that gives better details on the state of the galaxy, I am extra grateful for the tossing of the EU. It was a true victory at Endor, and the New Republic was succeeding. And I love the idea of a Cold War rather than continued open warfare. Though, now that the Senate and most of the NR fleet is gone (noticed some Mon Cal designs on my second watch), it will likely start off with the New Order on the attack.

The factions were TERRIBLY explained. The separation between the Republic and Resistance, the scope of either the Republic or the First Order, etc... They left all of that unexplained, and for really no reason. I felt absolutely nothing when the Republic was wiped out (wait, was it? Or just the home of their fleet? It's not really clear, but they were supposedly targeting the senate, so...? That's not me missing something, that's more an example of their poor explanations).

It's not killing me, It's just hurting me, really, really, bad. I still felt terrible when Starkiller base blew up the Republic, I don't care how much they developed the factions, that was downright tragic.

I don't think I've enjoyed myself watching a movie in the theatre for at least a few decades. I love Lord of the Rings and those movies were part of my imagination made flesh. But this?

It's not the best movie ever, sure, but it is the best movie experience I've had in a long time. A long time.

I did like the lifting out of the EU of certain things and mixing then together. The hyperplanetweaponthing out of the Correllia trilogy, a reworked Jacen and what I can only assume to be a Jaina/Anakin amalgamation.

Favourite part though? When my wife took my hand when Han walked onto the bridge.

And I love the idea of a Cold War rather than continued open warfare.

My thoughts exactly.

Favourite part though? When my wife took my hand when Han walked onto the bridge.

I don't remember that part.

Special edition.

New theory about how Ray powered up so quickly: she was already Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker (likely her father), but got mind wiped by him to protect her. Her awakening was more of a remembering, as it were.

the vibe I got from Kylo Ren in the latter half of the movie was 'emo teenager').

Kylo Ren: Totally miscast as an angsty Darth Vader Fanboy. I want to be like hiiiiiiiiiim.

I thought Adam Driver absolutely nailed it - I've known one or two disturbed and dangerous individuals with the skills to harm themselves and others in my time, and Kylo REALLY reminded me of them.

He plays the role of someone who is barely in control of himself and his tremendous abilities very well.

the whole angsty emo schtick people are trying to pin on him is horse541t in my opinion.

He was hands down my favorite new character.

I thought perhaps the same thing. Or maybe Luke was challenging himself into her mind to guide her actions. I hope one of those explains how she all of a sudden bested a trained Sith and knew what a mind trick was.