Star Wars Episode VII The force awakens

[Dirk Gently]

I may have let out a little bit at this.

[Rob McCow]

[Alex]

I'm just back from seeing it this, and I thought it was pretty great, far far better than the prequels, it felt like a proper Star Wars movie (and is easily better than Return of the Jedi) with all of the new characters working for me, and it was pleasing to see old ones too. Several moments made me do an inner fanboy squeal thing, and there were some superb action sequences too.

Now the bad stuff -Big Spoilers within: The mysterious villain, Snoke is a big ball of rubbishness, the cgi looked terrible and I can only hope this is deliberate and they'll be a big reveal as to who he really is; Han Solo's death needed more gravitas. More dialogue between father and son to build up to the inevitable tragedy, perhaps, but something was definitely missing; Another far too easily defeated Death Star ending. In fact this was the easiest one yet to destroy, the bloody Empire really needs to up their game on this front.

Still, minor complaints overall, for the most part I really enjoyed it, and can't wait for the next entry in the series.

[Philipnet]

I know I've got to see this *before* I see my sister at Christmas.
She and her Boyfriend will no doubt have seen it by then.

I'm just debating what day/time to see it.

[Philipnet]

I've seen The Force Awakens

[Rob McCow]

Against all the odds (our immense cynicsm) we thought SWE7TFA was fab. In fact, I think it might be my favourite of the 9 films*.

It had story, character, a sense of wonder, action, laughs and really really sad bits. We all cried when certain familiar characters put in an appearance. It was really sweet and well-judged.

I really loved the new lead characters, especially Finn. I loved the use of real locations. I loved all the goofy aliens.

Though what it needed was a wise-cracking 4 armed cyborg general carrying eight light-sabres, complaining about how sand felt course and rough while falling in love with a Princess and murdering his great-uncle in a fit of adolescent angst. Said George Lucas.

So - can we start doing the spoilers for this yet?

*Edging out Ewoks: Caravan of Courage.

[Wayne]

I enjoyed it, but it was basically a repackaged kind of Star Wars Greatest Hits type thing, with an inferior version of Darth Vader, and an emperor type figure that was reduced to a sort of William Hartnell in The Three Doctors type status.

[Rob McCow]

I agree there were a lot of things we'd seen before. However, they were really good things that I'm happy to see again. I also think that they were also done slightly better than the first time around. For me, this make The Force Awakens possibly the best Star Wars film. Shock!

[Alex]

I enjoyed it, but it was basically a repackaged kind of Star Wars Greatest Hits type thing, with an inferior version of Darth Vader, and an emperor type figure that was reduced to a sort of William Hartnell in The Three Doctors type status.

SPOILERS BELOW

Some people reckon it might be old Darth-y himself:

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/sta...e-darth-vader/

Not buying it myself though.

[Wayne]

For me, this make The Force Awakens possibly the best Star Wars film. Shock!

Be interesting to see if you still feel that way after the newness thrill has worn off. Definitely enjoyable, f'sure. Not sure about 'Best' though.

[Wayne]

Not buying it myself though.

Nor me.
Have to confess I would like it if they found a good way to bring back... But I'd worry about anyone else but James Earl Jones voicing him.

[Dirk Gently]

We can do spoilers now...as I've seen it!

We went yesterday and saw it in 4DX & it was brilliant! The whole experience was really great fun & I may have to go & see it again in just 3D to see if it's as much fun without the extra dimension.

I just loved all the nods to the original 3 movies, there were loads of them. Yes it did feel like a 'best of' movie but if that's the worst criticism it gets then it was a success.

The only thing I got slightly annoyed about was that it was billed as having 'the original cast back together again' but that never happened & for obvious reasons never will now. :/

[Rob McCow]

Who was it that said two outta three ain't bad?

I was reading on some thing or other that the Star Wars movies were like the "Wagnerian Ring Cycle" so they can be excused for having the same themes and ideas cropping up over and over again. I almost buy this, partially because spotting all of the allusions and ripped off ideas from the previous films is actually quite good fun. For example, there's a death in here that I thought was quite similar to the death of Qui-Gon Jin in the Phantom Menace. Well, maybe a bit.

[Wayne]

Who was it that said two outta three ain't bad?

I was reading on some thing or other that the Star Wars movies were like the "Wagnerian Ring Cycle" so they can be excused for having the same themes and ideas cropping up over and over again.

Whoever said that probably doesn't really know The Ring Cycle. There are running themes throughout, but it's like saying that Dr Who is like Star Trek or Time Tunnel because it has a few common themes, The only viable comparison with The Ring Cycle, is... you guessed it... Lord of the Rings, as it was partly inspired by Wagner's operas. Although most people, including Tolkien himself, complained that people overstate the level of influence Wagner's work had on his writing of Lord of the Rings.

[gabbie]

I thought I would see The Force Awakens in a different way from when I first went to Star Wars in 1977! Boy was I wrong. I was so excited and even the first glimpse of the Millenium Falcon made me whoop out loud. What a joy it was to be a kid again watching Star Wars!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MacNimon]

I saw this last week as well, and loved it too. I was actually very skeptical before I went, and it was a last-minute decision (a friend was taking his 80-year old mum to see it and I tagged along) and was very pleasantly surprised how much I (well, all three of us) really enjoyed it.

Like Gabbie says, it reminded me exactly what it felt like as a kid watching the original for the first time I really loved the first two films and all the spin-off material (Marvel comics, novels such as Splinter Of The Minds Eye, Han Solo At Stars End, etc...all great stuff) but by the tme Jedi hit the big screen, it felt that the series had outstayed it's welcome...it just didn't do it for me. I don't know if I just felt as if I'd seen it all before or if it was the Ewok effect, but suddenly the magic had disappeared. Sadly, apart from the theme, the later prequels did nothing to remind me why I loved those first two films so much at the time, and repeated viewings of those two on VHS and later DVD were reasonably enjoyable but that that magic spark remained absent. I could remember how much I once enjoyed these films, and I've always remained fond of them, but exactly what it was that made them special...as the years went past I just couldn't figure that out. Until now.

I don't know how they managed it, but lightning just struck twice. I'm not alone in that feeling....it's my belief that JJ Abrams and Disney, considering how much they invested in the franchise and what they want to do with it in the future, deliberately put the option of a new, original and (hopefully) exciting story on the back-burner and concentrated on reminding people exactly just what it was that they loved about Star Wars in the first place. Hook the audience with what they know works. Fair enough, that maybe meant ticking a lot of boxes and shoe-horning in familiar old faces at the expense of a bit of originality...but I think this was a deliberate decision which was made early on. And it certainly has paid off...I've since rewatched the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back and enjoyed them more than I have for 30-odd years...they've managed to rekindle the old magic and if it means that they had to (obviously) rework old ideas...is it really such a big crime? Personally I think it'll be worth it and hopefully the next installment in the series will go off in a new direction.

Abrams has been much more successful here in reworking old ideas than he was in the Star Trek movies (particularly Into Darkness) At least here, even in scenes with only the new cast you always felt as if you were watching Star Wars, a feat you couldn't say he succeeded in achieving in Trek where, at times, if it wasn't for the characters names you may not have known what you were actually watching.

As for spoilers, I think most of us have seen it by now. Why wait till Tim's deadline of 17th January? A couple of days notice should suffice for any latecomers to give us warning against discussing them...I'd say give any naysayers the benefit of the weekend to speak up...

[Dirk Gently]

As for spoilers, I think most of us have seen it by now. Why wait till Tim's deadline of 17th January?

That was just a Facebook thing. Just me giving people a heads up that I plan to open my mouth online on 17th Jan.
As I posted above we can chat openly here if everyone is OK with it.

[Dirk Gently]

Spoiler alert.........



















THEY KILLED HAN SOLO!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rob McCow]

Yes!