OT: Official HFCaps STAR WARS Episode 7 Discussion (Warning: may contain E7 spoilers)

[Hivemind]

Udvar-Hazy shows previews? Franklin Institute doesn't. I've seen movies at Udvar before, but can't remember the previews.

 

[Ajax1995]

You didn't learn to talk before age 5?

And then she hung onto it for what 15+ years while being raised by wolves...?

 

[sycamore]

From the moment Kylo took his helmet off, everything the character did made him less intimidating and harder to take seriously as a villain

I'll agree with you there. Really annoyed me that Kylo didn't have his helmet ON when he was fighting Rey in the final lightsaber duel. He just looked kind of ridiculous with his flowing locks and disheveled appearance generally. If he is to be a major role in Epsiode 8, I hope it is with his helmet ON, for the duration of the movie.

 

[g00n]

I'll agree with you there. Really annoyed me that Kylo didn't have his helmet ON when he was fighting Rey in the final lightSabre duel. He just looked kind of ridiculous with his flowing locks and disheveled appearance generally. If he is to be a major role in Epsiode 8, I hope it is with his helmet ON, for the duration of the movie.

I suspect the helmet removal may have been to show his youth, for one, and give the actor some face time to up his value for the next few years.

 

[strungout]

Face time aside....which is likely the marketing reasoning and such...but...

He removed the helmet because Han told him to....then didn't pick it up when he saw Finn and Rey escaping (since he was already hurting/disoriented from the Chewy blast). Also I get the feeling he didn't think he needed it again those two (in his wackado mind)

Actually, the mask is pretty much a goner if he left it on that catwalk (which he did start walking away from it in the scene). Maybe he has another (although that one looks old and scarred...could have been a one of a kind relic deal)

 

[g00n]

Face time aside....which is likely the marketing reasoning and such...but...

He removed the helmet because Han told him to....then didn't pick it up when he saw Finn and Rey escaping (since he was already hurting/disoriented from the Chewy blast). Also I get the feeling he didn't think he needed it again those two (in his wackado mind)

Actually, the mask is pretty much a goner if he left it on that catwalk (which he did start walking away from it in the scene). Maybe he has another (although that one looks old and scarred...could have been a one of a kind relic deal)

Probably an intentional thing so he can jump into even more of a Darth Vader look next movie.

 

[strungout]

And then Rey wakes up from being knocked unconscious and beats him despite never having used a lightSabre before.

...it's called The Force. Kinda what this whole series is supposed to be about, right?

Finn only really got the one lucky shot in....otherwise Kylo pretty much wasn't even trying against him. The second viewing of that fight really showed how little he was trying until he got clipped.

The sabre flying to Rey was awesome in 3D.

Its obvious he wasn't really going for the kill on Rey up to the point where she closed her eyes to let the force in. Then she went all Jedi Knight on him (...he was still badly injured. The chewy blast...the Finn shoulder shot. So there's that for the next
encounter that he'll likely be full strength).

That whole last fight really did it for me. The closing the eyes thing was a little drawn out....but it really really worked in terms of The Force Awakens in her at that moment. Loved it.

 

[g00n]

I think I may go see it again at the very end of the run when I can find a semi-empty theater. I know there are some parts I missed because of the **** going on around me.

 

[Midnight Judges]

What I liked:

I liked the new main characters. Fin is cool and so is Rey. He is a defecting Storm trooper - really neat story line there. He grew up brainwashed by the empire but he just can't bring himself to kill innocent people. Rey is a scavenger who is scraping by on a **** planet dealing with **** people. She's had a hard life and is destined for something greater. Nice arc there. BB8 is a cool little droid. His master is a kickass pilot - that was pretty cool too. The mix of CGI and real costumes was nice. They didn't just film this thing entirely on a sterile unconvincing green screen. The acting was pretty good. Boyega was good. The dialogues were much better than the last 3. There were some incredible fight sequences - one in particular that was awesome - you are following the kickass pilot's plane through a gound view. It was an X-win tie fighter dog fight from ground level.

The new Sith lord seems like a truly evil dude. Not much info on him but look forward to that developing. The new Empire general is precisely the type of ******** you'd expect to be sucking up to a Sith Lord. Nice casting and character nuances there.

What I think was not great:

The bad guy is Han Solo and Leia's son, trained by Luke. That is a little odd. You'd think these dumb ****ing Jedi's would learn to stop training Siths by now. If they can't do that, maybe they should just let the whole jedi knowledge base die. What I also don't get is the Empire was defeated, except they weren't, and their technology still beats the crap out of the Senate or whatever they are called. So all that **** they fought for in the original star wars didn't really amount to much.

Also, Leia gets Han Solo killed. She's like "Oh yeah, just go talk to our Son and bring him back. That'd be great. K. Thanks." And then the son kills Han. I guess it's good because Harrison Ford - by the look of him - does not have 2 movies left in him. He is an old dude. Still, it felt like kind of a senseless death from a story line perspective. I suppose it establishes the bad guy as truly bad but they could do that in other ways.

The other odd thing is that the Son is a trained Jedi but somehow Rey kicks his ass in a sword dual the very first time she picks up a light Sabre. Yes, he's severely wounded (because Chewy shoots him with a ridiculous cross bow laser gun) but still, he had just Jedi mind slammed her 20 feet in the air against a tree. Not real sure why he didn't just do it again. Also, she learns advanced jedi mind tricks with no training. It kinda cheapens the whole "these are not the droids you're looking for" thing. -That's supposed to be fairly advanced stuff.

There were some tacky moments but I guess that's OK.

The Nazi undertones of the Sith gathering were over the top. At one point they basically heil Hitler, which was really ****ing weak.

Conclusion:

All in all I think they did well. Abrams played it safe. They set up a nice story line for episode VIII. The characters are very good, and that's often the most important thing. This movie will not blow your mind, but they have at least started on the right foot. I give it a solid B.

 

[Zoidberg Jesus]

Udvar-Hazy shows previews? Franklin Institute doesn't. I've seen movies at Udvar before, but can't remember the previews.

Yep. One for The Finest Hour, one for another movie I don't remember, and one for one of their IMAX shows that's already running.

...it's called The Force. Kinda what this whole series is supposed to be about, right?

Finn only really got the one lucky shot in....otherwise Kylo pretty much wasn't even trying against him. The second viewing of that fight really showed how little he was trying until he got clipped.

The sabre flying to Rey was awesome in 3D.

Its obvious he wasn't really going for the kill on Rey up to the point where she closed her eyes to let the force in. Then she went all Jedi Knight on him (...he was still badly injured. The chewy blast...the Finn shoulder shot. So there's that for the next
encounter that he'll likely be full strength).

That whole last fight really did it for me. The closing the eyes thing was a little drawn out....but it really really worked in terms of The Force Awakens in her at that moment. Loved it.

It boils down to Kylo Ren being a credible threat. With no training at all, Rey was able to A) not only stop Kylo's mind probe thing but turn it back on him, B) mind trick a stormtrooper, and C) beat Kylo in a duel. Now she's getting trained by Luke. How does Kylo have a chance against her anymore? I don't know how they can make him a match for her in the next movies.

 

[strungout]

It boils down to Kylo Ren being a credible threat. With no training at all, Rey was able to A) not only stop Kylo's mind probe thing but turn it back on him, B) mind trick a stormtrooper, and C) beat Kylo in a duel. Now she's getting trained by Luke. How does Kylo have a chance against her anymore? I don't know how they can make him a match for her in the next movies.

He's going back to Snoke to complete his training. He's still figuring this out too.

To me...the dark side in general is the true baddie...with Snoke being the one pulling the strings....Kylo being used as the puppet. If the Knights of Ren are still around....Im sure they will be used to support him (I kinda get the vibe they are gone though...but that'll need to be back filled somehow.)

I like what NobodyBeatsTheWiz brought up about the grey areas of the force that I hope they go into.

(where dark side stuff (passion, emotion, etc.) is good and light side stuff (detachment, apathy), can be bad.)

Maybe Luke is figuring that out in his sequestered state....especially since what has happened with Snoke/Ben/him and how to relates to Palpatine/Vader/Kenobi. Maybe its time to embrace some hate to finally get rid of the darkside.

And man...did he look just wore down in that last shot or what? Loved that too. Looking forward to what Hamill can bring in the next one from the acting perspective.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

...it's called The Force. Kinda what this whole series is supposed to be about, right?

Finn only really got the one lucky shot in....otherwise Kylo pretty much wasn't even trying against him. The second viewing of that fight really showed how little he was trying until he got clipped.

The sabre flying to Rey was awesome in 3D.

Its obvious he wasn't really going for the kill on Rey up to the point where she closed her eyes to let the force in. Then she went all Jedi Knight on him (...he was still badly injured. The chewy blast...the Finn shoulder shot. So there's that for the next
encounter that he'll likely be full strength).

That whole last fight really did it for me. The closing the eyes thing was a little drawn out....but it really really worked in terms of The Force Awakens in her at that moment. Loved it.

It was a little convenient AND corny that she magically knew how to compel a Storm Trooper and could fight on the level of a trained dark side jedi with zero training.
Anyway, sometimes you have to just ignore some things and enjoy a movie for what it is.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Yep. One for The Finest Hour, one for another movie I don't remember, and one for one of their IMAX shows that's already running.



It boils down to Kylo Ren being a credible threat. With no training at all, Rey was able to A) not only stop Kylo's mind probe thing but turn it back on him, B) mind trick a stormtrooper, and C) beat Kylo in a duel. Now she's getting trained by Luke. How does Kylo have a chance against her anymore? I don't know how they can make him a match for her in the next movies.

Bingo, the one true lame angle of the movie. What can you do...seems so simplistic and obvious a gaping hole. Disappointed in JJ on that one. Maybe they'll explain it with "Luke lightsaber was infused with a Jedi mind trick that carried with it some amount of jedi knowledge"....

Suuuuuucks that your seats blew so bad. Reserved seating is a must right now. I'll go catch it in unreserved Imax in a few weeks.

 

[Hivemind]

Kylo has a big face scar now. Betting there will be plenty of masked time in future movies.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

I thought the whole point of the Kylo Ren character was trying to live up to Darth Vader and failing in so many ways.

He doesn't have to be a credible threat yet. That's presumably wh at Snoke's (god, I HATE that name) training will turn him into.

His lightsaber was incredibly crude, hence the unstable blade and exhaust vents. Why would anyone expected him to be a master with it?

 

[sycamore]

He doesn't have to be a credible threat yet. That's presumably wh at Snoke's (god, I HATE that name) training will turn him into.

Snoke is in the same spirit as "Jar-Jar" and "Count Dooku". Looks like Lucas made a contribution after all.

 

[Hivemind]

I don't see how Snoke is any dumber of a name than Vader. The name Vader is only imposing because of the connotation the character gave it (and thus it's impact on the cultural psyche afterwards). Snoke seems like the type of name you can whisper in a dark alley, so if the character lives up to it, it can be equally imposing.

 

[g00n]

I don't see how Snoke is any dumber of a name than Vader. The name Vader is only imposing because of the connotation the character gave it (and thus it's impact on the cultural psyche afterwards). Snoke seems like the type of name you can whisper in a dark alley, so if the character lives up to it, it can be equally imposing.

Vader, raider, Villainous inVader.
Snoke, joke, snork, smoke.


Snoke has a muddled and wimpy sound to it from the start. From a phonetic standpoint it's not as powerful. Vader has a crisp two syllable delivery and the implication of action by virtue of the "er" ending. It sounds menacing, and with Darth in front of it the whole thing rolls off the tongue.

Snoke sounds like something Snarf would say. If someone whispered "snoke" to you in a dark alley you'd need them to repeat it because it would sound too much like "smoke" or even something else if the "K" sound is unclear.

It's a crap bad guy name on par with Dooku (doo doo).

 

[sycamore]

Snoke sounds like something from the Harry Potter series. Which is funny because Snoke actually looked like a bloated form of Lord Voldemort.

 

[Sam Spade]

Great movie.

I cried.

A piece of my childhood died.

 

[Acallabeth]

I think it was a good movie. Ben was too funny (not sure if intentionally) for an antagonist, and untrained jedi trumping a trained Sith with his stupid sword was really dumb, and why again did Finn desert? But overall I enjoyed it.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Yeah, I thought it was pretty good when I saw it today, although I agree that Kylo Ren having trouble against two people who had barely ever used a lightsaber was a little questionable.

 

[g00n]

I think it was a good movie. Ben was too funny (not sure if intentionally) for an antagonist, and untrained jedi trumping a trained Sith with his stupid sword was really dumb, and why again did Finn desert? But overall I enjoyed it.

Finn split because he had a crisis of conscience. He did not want to kill for the FO and he panicked during his first battle.

 

[Acallabeth]

Finn split because he had a crisis of conscience. He did not want to kill for the FO and he panicked during his first battle.

Yeah, I figured it out, but they made it look like he was just haemophopic.

 

[HunterSThompson]

Bingo, the one true lame angle of the movie. What can you do...seems so simplistic and obvious a gaping hole. Disappointed in JJ on that one. Maybe they'll explain it with "Luke lightSabre was infused with a Jedi mind trick that carried with it some amount of jedi knowledge"....

Suuuuuucks that your seats blew so bad. Reserved seating is a must right now. I'll go catch it in unreserved Imax in a few weeks.

It seemed like she knew what she was doing with the stormtrooper. Perhaps she never got formal training in jedi mind tricks, but that doesn't mean she wasn't practicing. She also fights hand to hand with the staff, which I guess wouldn't be that much different than a light saber, while the actual movements are different the same tactics apply.