Just watched it again. It's less and less like a new hope every time I see it. Two completely different movies and TFA is the best SW movie yet. Realistic fight scenes, character motivations, hints of things previous and those yet to be.

Familiar settings but completely different plots (like the climate vs weather arguments).

Will watch again.

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.

Then again there are those that say one or more of the prequel episodes is better than Episode 7. The female protagonist wasn't that strong (my sister even got confused with her plot). Unlike Padme who rarely needed rescuing despite assassins trying to kill her. Better humor than Jar Jar Binks sure but even A new hope had humor. Hans running into a platoon of storm troopers and running away was way better than James Bond dropping his WPK Blaster rifle.

Nothing had more CGI than the prequels and cgi is probably the worst in videos unless it is properly directed. I would never call moar CGI good, proper CGI is what is needed and lets face it episode 7 wasn't full of awful cgi but the tentacle monsters were bad.

Good for a reboot. Daisy Ridley and the rest of the new cast knocked it out of the park. The Hux Hilteresque speech was a fine example of chewing the scenery made of ham. Emo Ren also kind of got on my nerves at times and never as a character inspired the dread nor carried the gravitas of Vader. I also kind of missed the more disciplined Xwing pilots of the OT; no "lock s-foils in attack position" or "cut the chatter."

I do, however appreciate the ironic inversion of the plots of both ANH and ESB, e.g. the bridge scene with Han and Ren, Rey NOT wanting to get off the desert planet, a stormtrooper NOT just cannon fodder, etc.

Third best movie after ANH and ESB.

I don't know, those storm troopers/peons still looked like cannon fodder to me. Poe Dameron kills, what?, 12 TIEs and some random ground troopers in one extended shot? Might be more than the entire cast in episode IV. I'll give credit to that pretty random storm trooper with the baton but even he just gets killed off like the rest.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=honest+trailer+the+force+awakens

Honest trailer for the Force Awakens. Seemed like the right place to leave this.

Really fun movie with a lot of great elements (Star Wars first on screen gay couple XD, a power trio entirely made up of minorities, the whole Flying Tigers thing with the resistance, emo Anakin done right, etc...) but it wasn't particularly good. Then again, good luck finding any "good" films these days. Deadpool's the first decent superhero film we've had in ages...

I don't know, those storm troopers/peons still looked like cannon fodder to me. Poe Dameron kills, what?, 12 TIEs and some random ground troopers in one extended shot? Might be more than the entire cast in episode IV. I'll give credit to that pretty random storm trooper with the baton but even he just gets killed off like the rest.

Well, at least the Troopers in TFA put up a good fight most of the time. Those poor guys in the OT just Wilhelm screamed and died.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=honest+trailer+the+force+awakens

Honest trailer for the Force Awakens. Seemed like the right place to leave this.

Remove the hyperlink and it automatically displays the video.

I came for a new story and was shown a re-telling of "not New already Hope"

With every good old character story making me facepalm hard, because to make a scenario they made each and every character a complete and utter loser.

Wader wannabe, Luke Wannabe, VADER WANNABE...

2\5 that is. I tried, but to no avail. Second cinema going didn't change my mind even a little bit.

Yeah, and if

This is something the film prides itself with, I have no more words.

I think the movie took it's time when it didn't need to. Felt like a reboot when it's really the beginning of the final act. Very little actually happened aside from "Rey exists. Empire 2 exists, Han Solo dies."

It wasn't a bad movie, but I definitely wasn't as interesting as it could have been. Here are my main criticisms:

-The smuggler base (Maz...whatever her name is..her place) was executed strangely. It was a super generic place and failed to instill any feelings that Mos Eisley, Jabba's Palace, or even Cloud City, instilled. I didn't care that it got destroyed (and everyone magically disappeared) and didn't feel like it advanced the plot at all. It could have very easily been someplace else, someplace meaningful. Missed opportunity.

-Poe needs improvement. He's too powerful and too good (morally). I might get some flak for this, but I dislike him the same reason I dislike Superman. He's boring...nothing is a threat to him and he's narratively uninteresting. If we get some inner struggle with him (like he's a badass but all his pilots are scrubs so he considers defecting out of self-preservation) then maybe I'll come around, but as of now, the only thing that could be interesting about him is dying (and everyone else having to step up).

-The resistance itself is so dull. At least the rebels had cool costumes or bases in exotic locations. The resistance had a comfortably-equipped base in a mild climate with a couple people running around the outside of it. It wasn't super awesome and high tech, didn't appear to be defended in any capacity, nor was it rugged or hidden. The resistance members had uninspiring uniforms that seemed to regress from previous movies. Generic green shirt, basic vest with nothing "Star Wars-y" on it. The pilots were cool, but everyone else was neither impractically fabulous (like Rebel Fleet Troopers or Crimson Guards) or decked out badasses (Scout Troopers, Endor Commandos, Rebel Hoth Troopers). Even their plan was generic...you have all these powerhouse characters (Ackbar, Han, Leia) and their plan is "meh, we'll just wing it and Poe will blow it up."

-The final starfighter battle was uninteresting and a HUGE missed opportunity. I'd have to watch it again (only saw it twice, though fairly recently), but I'm pretty sure they're inconsistent with the details of the battle. I realize it's more about Han, Rey, and friends, but still. People LOVE the trench run scene from A New Hope and scour that scene frame by frame for details. While most of the dialogue in both movies is just cockpit chatter, the original trilogy had enough detail to make it more interesting. We get a feel for how the pilots work together, tactics, droids, relationships, etc. In this movie, and this goes back to earlier criticism, it's all on Poe. He's the only one who does anything and all the other pilots just fly around him and chatter. We don't see their droids (I think), we don't get a good idea of what the plan is or squadron roles, and the combat is lame. It would be forgivable if it wasn't for the decades worth of research you have on people's reaction to this stuff. You have webpages dedicated to astromech/pilot parings, entire book series dedicated to these minor characters, and action figures of obscure pilots and droids that people just eat up. They knew people wanted it. Yet, in this movie, I really feel like the level of depth isn't there.

Ah...this is getting long. Anyway, yeah, long story short, it's decent. It's inbetween for me...better than prequels, but not as good as any of the OT.

It wasn't super awesome and high tech, didn't appear to be defended in any capacity, nor was it rugged or hidden.

It was actually hidden. The FO followed Wexley back to find the base after he scouted out the starkiller base.

Star Wars first on screen gay couple XD,

I really hope not. Not the gay part, I could careless if Poe has a husband somewhere and Finn hooked up with fellow stormtroopers after hours, but I really don't want them getting together. Star Wars isn't mature enough to handle romance, nor can it spare the screen time. In a movie like this, I find the "brothers in arms" type relationships far more meaningful than anything romantic.

If any of the characters hook up, I think it will be to the detriment of the overall story. If you remove anything romantic between Han and Leia (except for the very end of RoTJ, so they can bang and get Kylo/Ben), you lose very little in the story. I'd still believe that Leia would risk infiltrating Jabba's Palace to save Han and it doesn't make him getting frozen in carbonite any less meaningful.

Sure, you'd lose the "I love you" "I know" exchange, but then again, you prevent a "70%-of-Attack-of-the-Clones-esque" debacle from happening, so I think it's worth it.

Then again, maybe I'm just a heartless scrooge =P

Star Wars first on screen gay couple XD,

I really hope not. Not the gay part, I could careless if Poe has a husband somewhere and Finn hooked up with fellow stormtroopers after hours, but I really don't want them getting together. Star Wars isn't mature enough to handle romance, nor can it spare the screen time. In a movie like this, I find the "brothers in arms" type relationships far more meaningful than anything romantic.

If any of the characters hook up, I think it will be to the detriment of the overall story. If you remove anything romantic between Han and Leia (except for the very end of RoTJ, so they can bang and get Kylo/Ben), you lose very little in the story. I'd still believe that Leia would risk infiltrating Jabba's Palace to save Han and it doesn't make him getting frozen in carbonite any less meaningful.

Sure, you'd lose the "I love you" "I know" exchange, but then again, you prevent a "70%-of-Attack-of-the-Clones-esque" debacle from happening, so I think it's worth it.

Then again, maybe I'm just a heartless scrooge =P

As you already (kind of) pointed out, the romance aspects in the original trilogy didn't detract from it all and were in no way a detriment to the story. The problem in the prequel trilogy wasn't that it had a romance aspect and characters hooking up. It's just that they were terrible movies and there's about a thousand reasons besides just the romance stuff that contributes to that.

It wasn't super awesome and high tech, didn't appear to be defended in any capacity, nor was it rugged or hidden.

It was actually hidden. The FO followed Wexley back to find the base after he scouted out the starkiller base.

Well, I'd argue that there's a difference between hidden and not knowing where it is. For instance, the Hoth base was hidden. Even when seeing a picture of it, it was in such a remote and hostile place that the imperial officers weren't even convinced. It took Vader's stubbornness and intuition to figure it out.

You could accidentally fly over the resistance base, see a bunch of insignia marked X-Wings parked outside, and say "Oops, guess I found it!"

As you already (kind of) pointed out, the romance aspects in the original trilogy didn't detract from it all and were in no way a detriment to the story. The problem in the prequel trilogy wasn't that it had a romance aspect and characters hooking up. It's just that they were terrible movies and there's about a thousand reasons besides just the romance stuff that contributes to that.

I'm saying its frivolous...if you take it out and nothing really changes, it probably doesn't need to be there. In AoTC, they're setting up Anakin's love for Padme (and fear of her death) being a main reason he turns dark. You can't take that out of the plot and have the story make sense. It ends up costing the majority AoTC's screen time and part of RotS's and it was awful. I agree that the prequels had a lot of problems, though I don't think Star Wars movies are of the emotional caliber to integrate romance into the plot of the movie and make it interesting. It's time better spent showing something else.

Conversely, in TFA, I got concerned when Chewie took a blaster bolt in the arm and I cried after he made it back to the resistance base without Han. Breaking up that relationship was far more meaningful than anything Han and Leia had, but that's just my reaction to it.

Like I said earlier, maybe I'm just a grouch, so I'm not going to get too defensive about my personal position. If some people need romance in Star Wars, sure, have it.

Star Wars first on screen gay couple XD,

I really hope not. Not the gay part, I could careless if Poe has a husband somewhere and Finn hooked up with fellow stormtroopers after hours, but I really don't want them getting together. Star Wars isn't mature enough to handle romance, nor can it spare the screen time. In a movie like this, I find the "brothers in arms" type relationships far more meaningful than anything romantic.

If any of the characters hook up, I think it will be to the detriment of the overall story. If you remove anything romantic between Han and Leia (except for the very end of RoTJ, so they can bang and get Kylo/Ben), you lose very little in the story. I'd still believe that Leia would risk infiltrating Jabba's Palace to save Han and it doesn't make him getting frozen in carbonite any less meaningful.

Sure, you'd lose the "I love you" "I know" exchange, but then again, you prevent a "70%-of-Attack-of-the-Clones-esque" debacle from happening, so I think it's worth it.

Then again, maybe I'm just a heartless scrooge =P

As you already (kind of) pointed out, the romance aspects in the original trilogy didn't detract from it all and were in no way a detriment to the story. The problem in the prequel trilogy wasn't that it had a romance aspect and characters hooking up. It's just that they were terrible movies and there's about a thousand reasons besides just the romance stuff that contributes to that.

What made the OT romance not terrible was that Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford were in an (adulterous) relationship. They were fighting all through ESB.

That real world experience of the characters is what makes the SW OT great. The Marines in Aliens actually trained together in a boot camp, which resulted in awesomeness. (Weaver and the non-Marine characters couldn't make the training, which actually made it better). The power trio of minorities (how are Oscar Isaac and Daisy Ridley a minority, The Rest Of The World wonders) has amazing chemistry, and that is the film's real power - along with great performances from the other actors.

All three OT SW revolve around a fortress being breached. It's an old, old, old recipe which even LoTR follows (although not The Fellowship although there is the Rebel Pilots' Briefing). Rivendell is Yavin, and is threatened due to The McGuffin. TFA actually has two fortresses being breached simultaneously (Alderaan was just to show that Empire are teh bad guyz), and creates a state of chaos which either side could exploit. In other words, not setting up for a repeat of TESB.

There were mistakes made in the film, and I'm sure the next one will address those - especially the issues of Chewie's grief.

I still absolutely love it and am baffled by those that don't.

If something blew up Pluto we would not see it, and not to mention the time it actually would take for light from there to travel here

When we did see it (depending on actual distance) would not be instantaneous.

I did like it better than the prequels but that's not setting the bar very high at all.

Also it does bug me that it was a rehash of a new hope

When I watched it opening night right away I saw the similarities.

I felt as though it was very lazy writing.

I guess some are thrilled we are now getting new movies every year, but for me it is ruining star wars.

What I loved when I was a kid was the mystery, leaving things to our imagination.

Like what was the clone wars all about.

What was it like when there was thousands of jedi

I hate Disney with a passion and I feel they are going to ruin it for me

My favorite character boba fett is going to get his own movie

Which will ruin that.

What I liked about boba fett was he was cool looking, and all we know was he was a bad ass.

Imo Hollywood makes movies that believes it's audience is unintelligent. Let's make bigger explosions and effects

Some of the best movies I've ever watched were from other countries, like France, Britain and Japan.

They don't spoon feed the audience like Hollywood unfortunately.

For me the franchise will likely just run downhill

Death to mickey

I still absolutely love it and am baffled by those that don't.

I enjoyed it, but the whole blowing up planets and being able to see it as close ambit wad really bugged me.

If something blew up Pluto we would not see it, and not to mention the time it actually would take for light from there to travel here

When we did see it (depending on actual distance) would not be instantaneous.

I did like it better than the prequels but that's not setting the bar very high at all.

Also it does bug me that it was a rehash of a new hope

When I watched it opening night right away I saw the similarities.

I felt as though it was very lazy writing.

I guess some are thrilled we are now getting new movies every year, but for me it is ruining star wars.

What I loved when I was a kid was the mystery, leaving things to our imagination.

Like what was the clone wars all about.

What was it like when there was thousands of jedi

I hate Disney with a passion and I feel they are going to ruin it for me

My favorite character boba fett is going to get his own movie

Which will ruin that.

What I liked about boba fett was he was cool looking, and all we know was he was a bad ass.

Imo Hollywood makes movies that believes it's audience is unintelligent. Let's make bigger explosions and effects

Some of the best movies I've ever watched were from other countries, like France, Britain and Japan.

They don't spoon feed the audience like Hollywood unfortunately.

For me the franchise will likely just run downhill

Death to mickey

Faster Than Light travel is impossible. So is telekinesis.

EDIT: Holy causality violation, Batman!

Delete

I liked every Star Wars film. Relatively, TFA takes the 6th spot, so it is behind most others, but that is not saying much. My favorite three remain Empire, Sith and Clones, in that order. The backlash against the prequels is mostly an internet fabrication that some choose to follow.

meanwhile somewhere in the Mouse bunker of doom

-Mein Fuhrer, they are not amused! They say the plot is a rehash, the characters don't feel new, the old characters are spit upon by the scenario, it's too cramped.

-But what about explosions? We did more explosions, right? We even sucked out the sun, aren't they amused?
-Mein Fuhrer...

-...they say Michael Bae attitude is bad and explosions can't fix lame plotwriting and...

*mouse fuhrer silently takes off Mickey Ears off his head with trembling hand

-Everyone who has re-watched the previous films the week before the cinema get the hell out

*but a couple directors stay

-WHAT THE HELL!? WE GAVE THEM THEIR FAVOURITE STORY AGAIN, WE GAVE THEM A GIRL AND A BLACK COMEDY RELIEF GUY IN THE MAIN CAST, A RAMBO WEGE WITH CURLY HAIR ,WE EVEN MADE A TON OF VADER REFERENCES, GAY QUOTA IS MET, ALL THE CRITICS ARE BOUGHT ALREADY, AND THEY ARE NOT 146% AMUSED? WHAT THE HELL?

I still absolutely love it and am baffled by those that don't.

I enjoyed it, but the whole blowing up planets and being able to see it as close ambit wad really bugged me.

If something blew up Pluto we would not see it, and not to mention the time it actually would take for light from there to travel here

When we did see it (depending on actual distance) would not be instantaneous.

I did like it better than the prequels but that's not setting the bar very high at all.

Also it does bug me that it was a rehash of a new hope

When I watched it opening night right away I saw the similarities.

I felt as though it was very lazy writing.

I guess some are thrilled we are now getting new movies every year, but for me it is ruining star wars.

What I loved when I was a kid was the mystery, leaving things to our imagination.

Like what was the clone wars all about.

What was it like when there was thousands of jedi

I hate Disney with a passion and I feel they are going to ruin it for me

My favorite character boba fett is going to get his own movie

Which will ruin that.

What I liked about boba fett was he was cool looking, and all we know was he was a bad ass.

Imo Hollywood makes movies that believes it's audience is unintelligent. Let's make bigger explosions and effects

Some of the best movies I've ever watched were from other countries, like France, Britain and Japan.

They don't spoon feed the audience like Hollywood unfortunately.

For me the franchise will likely just run downhill

Death to mickey

Faster Than Light travel is impossible. So is telekinesis.

EDIT: Holy causality violation, Batman!

Nasa is working on warp drive tech.

Technically you won't be going faster than speed of light, but by bending space and time in front and behind (like a bubble) it maybe possible

Probably not in our lifetime but our great grandchildren.

(look it up if you don't believe me)

As for telekinesis, again that is something which maybe possible

Since humans only use about 4% of their brain, if we evolve and in the far future are able to use a higher % then maybe.

Some people believe that poltergeist activity is actually caused by humans. Not an evil spirit using... Telekinesis, but not actually knowing they are doing it. If you believe that sort of thing.

One Hollywood movie I did enjoy was interstellar because they actually had real scientists help with the movie, and a lot of it is based off fact.

Which is why some schools maybe using that movie since they actually portrayed what a black hole looks like (minus giving it different color as to not confuse the audience)

The more you know...

As for Disney

They rip off a lot of stuff, take credit for it themselves.

I never like mickey, and when I heard they bought star wars knew it was probably going to ruin it for me.

Having a new movie every 6 months is not a good thing

...in this movie, I really feel like the level of depth isn't there.

Yup, those are the exact same words I've been using to myself since I first saw TFA. It's shiny, slick, fast and entertaining - watching it is a fun experience. But on various levels I just don't find it as compelling as the OT. As one example, I can't hum any of the musical themes in the way I compulsively hum OT (and prequel) themes. Why not?

A better example is the way that, to me, the First Order and its personalities and military forces feel very 'flat' compared to the OT's Empire. Hux and Ren fall very short of Vader and Tarkin. A FO stormtrooper officer wearing shiny armour and a FO stormtrooper grunt wielding a lightsaber-proof baton simply does not resonate with me in the same way that the grimy squad of sandtroopers do in ANH, or the snowtroopers infiltrating Echo Base do in TESB.

Why?

Because I think that the OT films were crafted by people who aimed for 'realism' wherever possible. I think TESB is overall (still) the most popular SW film (and will, I predict, remain so) precisely because it is the least 'childish' of any so far. No farting aliens. No droid-on-droid slapstick. Understated humour. Really dark moments that still make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. By contrast, I sense the prequels and TFA (and, for that matter, the cartoon series Rebels) have been pitched to appeal to a less sophisticated audience. You don't need to worry about maintaining the 'willing suspension of disbelief' when your target demographic wants everything shiny, fast, brash, loud and easy. You don't need to obsess, Tolkien-like, over internal consistency and layering convincing detail when your target demographic will rock up, watch the film, say "Coooooooooooooool!" and then go away and forget about it.

Again, TFA is good fun, but it's not in the same stable as TESB.

...in this movie, I really feel like the level of depth isn't there.

Yup, those are the exact same words I've been using to myself since I first saw TFA. It's shiny, slick, fast and entertaining - watching it is a fun experience. But on various levels I just don't find it as compelling as the OT. As one example, I can't hum any of the musical themes in the way I compulsively hum OT (and prequel) themes. Why not?

A better example is the way that, to me, the First Order and its personalities and military forces feel very 'flat' compared to the OT's Empire. Hux and Ren fall very short of Vader and Tarkin. A FO stormtrooper officer wearing shiny armour and a FO stormtrooper grunt wielding a lightsaber-proof baton simply does not resonate with me in the same way that the grimy squad of sandtroopers do in ANH, or the snowtroopers infiltrating Echo Base do in TESB.

Why?

Because I think that the OT films were crafted by people who aimed for 'realism' wherever possible. I think TESB is overall (still) the most popular SW film (and will, I predict, remain so) precisely because it is the least 'childish' of any so far. No farting aliens. No droid-on-droid slapstick. Understated humour. Really dark moments that still make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. By contrast, I sense the prequels and TFA (and, for that matter, the cartoon series Rebels) have been pitched to appeal to a less sophisticated audience. You don't need to worry about maintaining the 'willing suspension of disbelief' when your target demographic wants everything shiny, fast, brash, loud and easy. You don't need to obsess, Tolkien-like, over internal consistency and layering convincing detail when your target demographic will rock up, watch the film, say "Coooooooooooooool!" and then go away and forget about it.

Again, TFA is good fun, but it's not in the same stable as TESB.

Not a terrible movie, but not that great

What I loved when I was a kid was the mystery, leaving things to our imagination.

Like what was the clone wars all about.

What was it like when there was thousands of Jedi

This guy gets it.

I know what the Clone Wars were about, and they were not what George Lucas gave us. Maybe the version in my head (which revolves around the slavery issue) isn't the same as yours. No problem! You got yours; I got mine. We don't need every single 'i' dotted and every single 't' crossed for us. Some areas are left for our own imaginations to fill in the gaps.