Star Wars: The Force Awakens

mcgsxr · « **Reply #40 on:** 29 Dec 2015, 07:08 pm »

Consistently sold out since Xmas day near me. I will keep looking for tickets, but might just wait 2 weeks or so.

Shocked that I cannot get tickets to even a mid day showing during the holidays. I know a lot of folks are off (I am until the 4th), and I know it is a HUGE draw, but still surprised at how busy that movie continues to be local to me.

I will see it eventually!

ernest787 · « **Reply #41 on:** 29 Dec 2015, 08:00 pm »

The wife and I went yesterday. Went to the 10 AM showing. Theater was nowhere near being sold out and it was the early matinee so it only cost $6 a ticket.

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I understand some of the gripes people have had with it, but I've never thought Star Wars was a terribly great story. It's always been fun and done a great job of capturing people's imaginations with interesting characters that I think a lot of people can relate to. I think the new characters fit that mold perfectly.

Can't wait to see what they do with the follow ups.

vinyl_guy · « **Reply #42 on:** 29 Dec 2015, 08:49 pm »

Saw it in 3D on Christmas Day and really enjoyed it. First movie I have seen in a theater since The Blind Side (I don't watch many movies and when I do, I would rather watch at home), and first movie in 3D. Outside of Harrison Ford, Carrie Fischer and Mark Hamill, I couldn't tell you who the actors/actresses are.

stlrman · « **Reply #43 on:** 29 Dec 2015, 08:51 pm »

Stunning in Omnimax !!! All three of us enjoyed it!

funkmonkey · « **Reply #44 on:** 30 Dec 2015, 05:00 am »

Loved it!
Finally went to "the Mall" to see it, got sick of looking for a decent set of three seats at the theater with the Lazyboys... they were sold out (except for the odd front row edge of screen seat) since opening day up through the new year! couldn't wait any longer.

I loved it, my wife loved it, my (almost) 6 year old daughter loved it... the little one got a little scared a couple of times, but not too bad.

I managed to avoid spoilers so I won't post any... but, I gotta say job well done! A somewhat flawed reflection of the original, that was somewhat flawed in itself... but who actually likes "perfection" anyway? It's the flaws that give it character. It does so much, so right... I can not wait for the next chapter!

jermmd · « **Reply #45 on:** 30 Dec 2015, 02:37 pm »

Saw it and loved it. It is a lot like the original. New cast is great but I wish Luke played a bigger part. Leia was a little scary looking. Way too much plastic surgery (I assume). She could barely move her lips and there was a scene where I thought Han was going to kiss her; I cringed. Thankfully it was only a hug.

Joe M.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #46 on:** 31 Dec 2015, 06:56 am »

Hey ajzepp, great idea white-fonting the spoilers!

Saw it today. Late afternoon showing and bad weather here so theatre mostly empty. Pretty good but as others have pointed out, maybe too many plot similarities to the original. But if you don't feel yourself wax nostalgic a bit when you first see Han Solo, Chewie, C3PO Leia, R2 and Luke, you're kind of a cold fish...

It's a solid two hours plus and I was starting to go "c'mon, c'mon already" towards the end. Perhaps this was due to the aforementioned retread aspects of the plot; there are not many slow moments in the entire thing, so it wasn't that. Today's action directors don't know how to build suspense with slow scenes; something's gotta be blowing up, crashing etc pretty much all the time to keep the internet generation's attention.

I felt the ending was a cop out- After Luke disappearing like NWAVGuy, showing up only at the end and then not even having a line- talk about sequel-baiting. But I guess that's to be expected. And the one thing that caught me by surprise (or would have if some A-hole hadn't spoilered it on Facebook) was Han Solo getting run through with a lightsaber. I was also caught a little off guard to find out Han and Leia spawned the new Darth Vader before splitting up.

As for Carrie Fisher's appearance, her struggles with substance abuse and health issues in general are well known- and let's face it, she's not nineteen anymore, like she was in the first film. I weigh about a hundred more than I did in '76 myself, so Im going to give her a mulligan on this. The hero-babe mantle was assumed (and quite well) by "Rei". Leia is now the matronly presence.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #47 on:** 31 Dec 2015, 02:28 pm »

I have tickets to see it at 1:15 today. Local 3D AVX theatre that allows online purchase of tickets in advance, so I was able to get 4 for the family together.

Send off 2015 with the Force!

mcgsxr · « **Reply #48 on:** 31 Dec 2015, 09:19 pm »

Good fun for the whole family. All enjoyed the great sound and beauty of that big, big screen.

As the actual fan in the family, I found it supremely entertaining, even if I feel it did not really advance the story much. That's OK, it was way more fun for me than any of the Episodes 1-3.

Good stuff, and well worth all the pain to arrange to see it.

wushuliu · « **Reply #49 on:** 31 Dec 2015, 09:46 pm »

Regarding the main complaints I and others expressed over plot retreads to the original, it's important to remember that the prequels were NOT retreads and had 'original' plots. But they still turned out to be piles of horse sh*t. I think that's the main reason why they chose to make TFA a familiar storyline. They looked at the prequels, took note of what mistakes they DIDN'T want to repeat and opted to essentially 'reboot'. In that context I don't blame Disney/JJ/Kathleen Kennedy. The prequels were so bad that I think they felt the need to massively course-correct the franchise.

Luckily Rian Johnson is doing the next film and he's quirky enough to give me new hope about where the story goes.

Hope they release an extended cut blu ray. Get the feeling a LOT of stuff ended up on the cutting room floor.

charmerci · « **Reply #50 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 06:43 pm »

Well, I finally saw it yesterday. I really liked it.

There wasn't really anything big that bothered me like some of the others - it was a few small inconsistencies that bothered me.

Folsom · « **Reply #51 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 08:28 pm »

I thought it was decent.

They tried a little too hard with jokes. Several weren't quiet right. For examples the joke about trash compactor was too drawn out. It could have gone several ways to be more effective. Also Han's "new" obsession with a Bowcaster firing an incorrectly colored bolt was annoying. I also felt like a bit too much of the style of talking sounded like little kids, particularly from Finn, like he didn't go through puberty. Kylo/Ben is hard to say, he's poutty, not very scary, doesn't kill henchmen, but this might be integral to the story. Also I felt like the speech to the troopers was some sorta shitty poke at Nazi's, thrown in to look cool among coffee shop feminists; it was fucking stupid. The creatures on the ship that Han and Chewie had were dumb as well, not in the vein of Star Wars at all, they were like straight out of a SyFy film/Hentai.

On the bright side, I was so happy that it wasn't an enormous CGI fest. Did anyone else notice how many creatures and such where not CGI, just like the originals? Excluding Ma, who looked bad. Also why didn't she have any defenses or something after operating a place for 1000 years? I'm sure she would have had a run in with authority at some point. But in general they left out all that hokeyness that got added to the originals and was especially in the first flop. There weren't creatures being stupid as shit just to show they could do it. If I had kids to show the movies, I'd be embarrassed to show them the digital redos.

I felt emotional several times with things like the Millennium Falcon. And while dropping into the planet under the shields from hyperspace was really badass, they played it up 100% wrong... it should have cut to him getting on the ship and Leia or anyone else telling him it's impossible and yelling at him, while he skuttles about telling Chewie what to do, and saying something witty right as he closes the ships door ramp, close to whomever he's talking to for a face to face shot. I know Han is old, but we still needed some annoyed-hardass. But I did love the lines, "is it even possible" "I usually just do it and ask that question later." I really liked Daisey in the film. She isn't Hollywood's typical, as in she doesn't have the body that you expect to see in Hollywood by any means. But she's great for the role (if only I could say that in more movies, since casting is ruining hordes of movies these days). I am a bit biased, she reminds me of some girls I know in real life that I've got a soft spot for, because their personality just works for me; of course right now I understand people will be obsessed because she was in the movie.

In all honesty I was hoping it was going to be a lot darker. It would have made for a better film, given the story line that seems to be emerging, and the position the main characters are in. I could have gone for a slightly slower pace that would have matched Empire and Jedi, instead of the rushed Hope's pace. It was a little fast/bouncy. That makes it harder to connect to characters. For example the Han & Gredo scene in Hope wasn't necessary for the movie at all - or fast -, but it really informed us about Han's personality.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #52 on:** 5 Jan 2016, 07:41 am »

I'm not sure that Star Wars really needs to succumb to Dark Gritty Reboot Syndrome. It was always a light-hearted, fun space opera romp. I'm fine to leave Dark to Batman and Marvel Comics.

Folsom · « **Reply #53 on:** 5 Jan 2016, 08:08 am »

I disagree. I felt like Darth Vader and old Palps were pretty dark. The prequels were not, despite Annie killing kids when you didn't see it; they felt bubbly.

The originals went back and forth between dark and action coupled with choosing a small portion of crazy in the face of insurmountable odds/chaos. They did a better job of you feeling the loss of loved ones.

This movie was considerably closer to that, than the prequels. But it wasn't quiet emotionally gripping at any point. I think the pace had a lot to do with it.

dflee · « **Reply #54 on:** 5 Jan 2016, 03:40 pm »

I thought it was decent. Will see it again when it makes the home screen.
There were a few been there done that scenarios but with new characters
(and old familiar) it held it's own. Looking forward to where we go next.
This movie shows another reason why some people just should not be parents.
Overheard a younger group knocking it and while I don't agree with what I said,
I couldn't stop myself with "maybe it should have been The Farce Awakens". They
laughed.

Mike Nomad · « **Reply #55 on:** 7 Jan 2016, 07:53 pm »

Quote from: wushuliu on 31 Dec 2015, 09:46 pm

Luckily Rian Johnson is doing the next film and he's quirky enough to give me new hope about where the story goes.

He is co-writing 8 & 9 with George Lucas. Given Lucas' track record with the franchise, I do not have much hope.

My hope is that Disney loves the money so much, and that Abrams is over his First Date Shakes, that they work something out to keep both Abrams and Kasdan on for the next two.

woodsyi · « **Reply #56 on:** 7 Jan 2016, 08:25 pm »

We saw it on the 2nd and the theater was packed. IMAX 3-D was pretty impressive. It was almost $20 a ticket but I liked it. My 13 year old daughter complained after the movie that she did not want to be invested in another pop culture franchise -- meaning she is hooked.

WGH · « **Reply #57 on:** 7 Jan 2016, 08:52 pm »

It definitely was Star Wars by the numbers, sort of like making out with an old flame on a roller coaster, you knew what to expect but there was still plenty of thrills along with a very fast and exciting ride. I liked it.

Being on the Dark Side has one advantage: When Kylo Ren removes his helmet he doesn't have helmet hair.

Do 13 year olds watch films that are 38 years old? Episode IV came out in 1977.
That would be like my parents taking me to a 1977 re-boot of the 1938 Academy Award winning film Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains all reprising their original rolls.

Times have changed.

woodsyi · « **Reply #58 on:** 7 Jan 2016, 09:12 pm »

Quote from: WGH on 7 Jan 2016, 08:52 pm

Do 13 year olds watch films that are 38 years old? Episode IV came out in 1977.

She says she will now. I have them all on DVD.

I don't remember the line on first one as I was with my p's but I remember standing in a line stretching several blocks for hours to catch the 5th (then 2) as a highschooler. It wasn't so bad since we were with a bunch of girls late night....

kingdeezie · « **Reply #59 on:** 7 Jan 2016, 09:25 pm »

Quote from: Mike Nomad on 7 Jan 2016, 07:53 pm

He is co-writing 8 & 9 with George Lucas. Given Lucas' track record with the franchise, I do not have much hope.

Where did you read this?

I don't think this is accurate. As far as I know Rian Johnson wrote the script solo. George Lucas has nothing left to do with Star Wars.