Still don't get why the resistance is called that when their the faction in power.

Still don't get why the resistance is called that when their the faction in power.

they are resisting the fact that they are now in power. you're not a rebel if you're in charge

Why did I post. Now I feel the need to disagree with people and keep reading this thread.

/tries to back out.

I enjoyed it, but it didn't have the depth to really suck me in. I found the pace to be a bit jarring as well. I would give it 4/5 stars myself. Good, but not great. Hopeful for the next movies though, assuming they go somewhere interesti with it.

It's an enjoyable movie for sure, but near the bottom of my rankings of the 7 films.

It had the potential to be something great. Massive funding from disney, exciting new stars with the original cast as well, a new Williams score, another 10 years advance in sfx since Sith, and a 30 year gap since Jedi to allow for any story idea you want.

Unfortunately thanks to the vocal prequel haters online, disney and jj went as safe as possible and just reused plot points, vehicles, and locations from the OT. Not to mention making the scale of the movie feel kinda small for a modern blockbuster.

An object going through hyperspace would not be able to be seen by the victims it would arrive before the visible light those people would be dead before they even knew there was an attack.

It is nice knowing that we have an expert in our forum on how hyperspace weaponry capable of destroying planets actually works. I am in awe of your font of knowledge and your point impresses me...

Or not.

It's now an established fact that in the Star Wars physics department, there WAS time before the payload itself arrived for the people to react. So instead of roughly insisting "That's not possible!" (as it plainly IS possible, we see it on the screen), and declaring that part of the movie dumb BECAUSE you insist it's not possible, perhaps a more productive avenue would be to try and figure out WHY it's possible?

Still don't get why the resistance is called that when their the faction in power.

The reason for that being that they resist the Republic view that the Empire is all hunky-dory and there's no need to worry about this pesty First Order group violating treaties and building new warships. They're not really in power, otherwise they wouldn't use ancient X-Wings and would have more than a clapped-out converted B-Wing to transport their high muckamuck around.

Or at least so MY guess went from watching the movie and thinking, "How does this make sense?" instead of going, "WAAAH! I don' wan' it to make sense, because it's MY Star Wars, MINE!" as I haven't read any novelizations.

And Xbear, I honestly don't remember them saying that Starkiller was hyperspace capable either, I just put two and two together from dialogue stating that 1) Starkiller was in the Unknown Regions, 2) their target was in the Core Worlds, and 3) that the world Finn & Co. were on was on some route between the Core Worlds and Outer Rim. "This sucker's interstellar!"

IV > V > VII > III > VI > II > I

V > IV > VII > VI > III > I > II

And Xbear, I honestly don't remember them saying that Starkiller was hyperspace capable either, I just put two and two together from dialogue stating that 1) Starkiller was in the Unknown Regions, 2) their target was in the Core Worlds, and 3) that the world Finn & Co. were on was on some route between the Core Worlds and Outer Rim. "This sucker's interstellar!"

that makes zero sense you see. I'm not talking about contemporary physics and how Star Wars shows unrealistic science. I'm talking about making zero sense from the point of view of Star Wars physics, you know, inner consistency. That's why I did not understand at all what was going on.

see, the beam goes through hyperspace, OK. so why do Finn and others see it travelling? are hyperspace trails visible across the entire line from point A to point B? lets say the are. space is so vast, is it some kind of weird planet alignment that allows the beam to pass by the planet with Finn so that they can conveniently observe it? that is so hilarious that I didn't even make the connection and that's why I thought maybe all the planets are in the same system or what is going on? and I'm not the only one confused by this point.

V > VI > IV > III > VII >>>>>>> I > II

3382>232>122>78>63>22>9>3>1

I see a growing trend after the success of the Game of Thrones TV series, many shows are killing off characters of the main cast.

However we all knew Mr. Ford wanted out of the Star Wars business (he didn't want to be typcasted like Bill and Patrick). As for RWBY I would say well following the footsteps in FF7 but season 3 had more than 1 write off.

Still don't get why the resistance is called that when their the faction in power.

they are resisting the fact that they are now in power. you're not a rebel if you're in charge

The Resistance are not in power. The Republic is in power, throughout much (most?) of the known galaxy. After Endor (several years after?) the victorious Rebels re-founded the Republic and forced what was left of the Empire to sign a punitive peace treaty that allowed it to control a rump of known star systems and drastically limited its armaments - not hugely unlike the way the victorious Allies forced a defeated and truncated Germany to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Unfortunately, the First Order have been secretly re-arming and preparing for a grudge match, not hugely unlike the way Hitler's Germany was re-arming in the 1930s. The Republic has been naively looking the other way despite Leia's prescient protests, not massively unlike the way Britain and France's governments chose to look the other way in the 1930s despite the protests of the backbench MP Winston Churchill. While most senators write Leia off as yesterday's warmonger, much as Churchill was written off, some sympathetic senators have been secretly funding her Resistance movement (which presumably is operating within FO-controlled space?).

This is the contrivance by which the 'good guys' can continue to pose as the underdog in the new trilogy, mimicking the outgunned Rebels' struggle against the mighty Empire in the OT. Because a conflict of near equals, like the prequels' Clone Wars between the Republic and Separatists, is much less resonant and stirring.

Virtually none of this I got from viewing the film, although there were a few hints in Hux's Hitleresque rant about the Republic, which he made before he switched on the superlaser that toasted Hosnian Prime, the Republic's current seat of power.

A deleted scene supposedly explained some of this (it showed one of Leia's emissaries dealing with sympathetic senators, just before they all got toasted), but it ended up on the cutting room floor.

Qui Gon Jinn thought Anakin was going to bring balance to the force.

Obi Wan thought Luke was going to bring balance to the force.

I think it will be Rey. I get the impression that in the past 'balance' meant equal representation from Light and Dark factions. I think we'll find that 'balance' means the ability to possess both light and dark knowledge within an individual and control the force through a full spectrum of emotions. The Jedi Council and Sith are kind of extremists in their thinking - It's all or nothing.

Rey (through Kylo) will learn to balance the light and dark within herself .. bringing balance to the force.

Anakin did bring balance to the force, from a certain point of view. When he was done, the relative number of Jedi in the galaxy (according to the movie cannon only) was 2 for each side.

When you say balance meaning the ability to use dark & light powers, that's been called a Grey Jedi in various Star Wars related products. I think Luke was very close to a Grey Jedi. He used his rage at Vader threatening Leia to fuel him to victory, yet had enough self awareness to throw away his saber rather than be used by the Dark side & the Emperor.

If you look at it as both or these people bringing balance to the force from a certain point of view, I feel that Rey will bring balance by forcing Luke out of hiding to give us a counter to Snoke, thus balancing us back to 2 on each side.

I like the idea that "balance" is a mulit-interpretable word when it comes to prophecy. That leaves prophecies a little open ended, therefore more story options for writers, analysts, and fans alike.

I still can't give it better than a 6/10. It is the kind of movie that might be more enjoyable later after seeing the next two films though, to shut off the alarms in the back of your head screaming "WHAT ARE THE STAKES? HOW IS ANY OF THIS RELEVANT? WHY SHOULD I CARE? EXPOSITION PLS"

Cinematography is great, practical effects are some of the best I've ever seen, acting is mostly good. I hope to see improvements in the next film, especially character development now that Han isn't around to carry the movie again.

Cautiously optimistic for future films and looking forward to more new ship designs and maybe some actual space battles.

I have a lot of fun watching the movie and saw it multiple times in theaters, but the movie is a 3/5 right now for me. Much of this comes down to a few factors. First, is Rey. Mind you, I don't hate Rey. She's just boring compared to other characters in the story like Finn, Poe, and Han. There's also the problem of her being a bit too "powerful" or capable and that doesn't have much room to grow compared to the previous main protagonist of Luke.* Poe is also subject to this plateau problem.

The second problem is the reiteration of way too many elements of the previous films. I know Abrams wanted to play it safe, but using a third death star and all of these other little things weighted the film down. A few of these callbacks, like digging up Ford, worked out perfectly though.

The third problem is that they threw Phasma into the trash. Literally and figuratively. I expected so much from this character and she didn't deliver. I'd add that it was also that the First Order started off great and lost way too much steam throughout the film.

I'll also add that VII has the most instances of humor that succeeds. Less quotable scenes though.

*Caveat: much of my final Rey opinion will depend greatly on the next two movies.

I still can't give it better than a 6/10. It is the kind of movie that might be more enjoyable later after seeing the next two films though, to shut off the alarms in the back of your head screaming "WHAT ARE THE STAKES? HOW IS ANY OF THIS RELEVANT? WHY SHOULD I CARE? EXPOSITION PLS"

Cinematography is great, practical effects are some of the best I've ever seen, acting is mostly good. I hope to see improvements in the next film, especially character development now that Han isn't around to carry the movie again.

Cautiously optimistic for future films and looking forward to more new ship designs and maybe some actual space battles.

Brings up a good point, they brought in so many familiar scenes that are not the familiar scenes. Here is a Desert planet like tatooine but it is not tatooine. Also if it wasn't Coruscant that was destroyed by Starkiller base then what planet is was (and more importantly where in the movie was it mentioned.

As far as how good is it, well it landed were I expected it to be. Somewhere between the OT and the Prequels. So Some where between good and awful.

I enjoyed it. I could have done without the ANH plot but it wasn't that bad..stick with what works. But if Rey or Finn ends up frozen in carbonite at the end of th next one I may be out..Loved Rey and Finn. Would have liked Luke Han and Leia in one last scene together.

Still don't get why the resistance is called that when their the faction in power.

But they're not. They're a guerrilla army being supplied with weapons and funds to fight a proxy war against the FO on behalf of the Republic. Think of it as two superpowers butting up against each other, but with no open conflict. Instead, one of the superpowers funds a third faction (the Resistance) to fight the FO on its behalf, but gives it completely deniability that it is doing anything to destabilise the "peace" that exists between the two major powers.

It was as great as Batman vs Superman.

I think we need to look at TFA in its proper context - Lucas (unfortunately IMO) made the prequels (for himself, NOT the fans) which were then completely over-hyped and under-delivered. So much so that he eventually decided he was done and gave the rights away.

Bearing all of that in mind, Disney knew it had a megaton of skepticism and ill will they needed to overcome as they were buying essentially a poisoned chalice. No matter what they did a million voices cried out. Their plan to suddenly silence, at least some, was not to reinvent the wheel in this case, but to engage the nostalgia that drove such fervent devotion to the Original Trilogy.

They made the safe movie. The clone of A New Hope. Yes TFA has its faults but every **** one of them is a drop of rain in the ocean compared to Lucas' systematic destruction and ret-conning of everything the fans who supported the franchise -through the Expanded Universe (EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF NEW MOVIES) in the long intervening years.

So Disney, taking its cute from good old George, decided to wipe the entirety of the existing time line from existence. And it made people angry. Yes I'm talking about you, you Legends loremasters, you glorious animals who funneled your hard time and energy into a galaxy far far way in order to keep the stories coming because you loved the characters both new and old so so very much.

So, as a peace offering the House of Mouse returned us to a desert planet, a forest moon (could have been a planet) and a snow covered planet hoping it would soothe the savage beasts (read fanboys/girls) it knowingly had awakened.

TL;DR - TFA might be flawed, but consider Lucas's examples from the prequels to ret-conning the Expanded Universe for a cartoon.... Disney is well on trend for the franchise.

On a personal note, I enjoyed TFA as the peace offering it was meant to be and am interested to see where we go from here.

^{I am really looking forward to 'Rogue One'. That teaser that was shown at a convention but never released officially was awesome. I think we're going to be in for something really different - but yet still very Star Wars - when that comes out at the end of the year.}

I personally loved it. It has grown on me since the first viewing. Loved the characters. Unlike others I find most of what rey does explainable. She claims to be a pilot, which I'm guessing means she's had training. Her main form of personer protection is a metal stick, which explains her compatancy with lightsaber. My personal thought on why her and Finn beat kylo is that he's always been powerful with the force and has known it. Lending him to use it as a krutch. Most of the time when a Jedi is majorly injured they completely shut down. Anakin, mace and dooku all expemlify this. Due to his torso injury kylo is having issues using his force skills.

Another theory is that he beam from starkiller base is that the beam isn't light. Its actually projected sun. Think of it as a nightly focused nuclear explosion. Which makes more sense when you think how it operates.

I enjoyed it. I could have done without the ANH plot but it wasn't that bad..stick with what works. But if Rey or Finn ends up frozen in carbonite at the end of th next one I may be out..Loved Rey and Finn. Would have liked Luke Han and Leia in one last scene together.

Well as for it being a rehash of the first movie you have to give Disney credit that the fans wanted Star Wars and not anything else. So JJ did give them Star Wars and nothing more. Now I wished he would admit that it was episode 4 as that was what the fans wanted since they all hated 1-3. But again when you copy something does it become better than the original?

I enjoyed it. I could have done without the ANH plot but it wasn't that bad..stick with what works. But if Rey or Finn ends up frozen in carbonite at the end of th next one I may be out..Loved Rey and Finn. Would have liked Luke Han and Leia in one last scene together.

Well as for it being a rehash of the first movie you have to give Disney credit that the fans wanted Star Wars and not anything else. So JJ did give them Star Wars and nothing more. Now I wished he would admit that it was episode 4 as that was what the fans wanted since they all hated 1-3. But again when you copy something does it become better than the original?

Some would say that it is better than A New Hope and I could see way some would say that. It might be that there's a female protagonist, more cgi, more humor, or other such things. Even if VII copies most of IV, it is a little more fun overall.