Star Wars- The Force Awakens - Merge - Here Be Spoilers

[keen23]

The husband took me to see Star Wars last night. Now, let me tell you, I am not a huge Star Wars devotee (honestly, I don't know that I've seen every minute of all 6 other movies). But the story was enjoyable and the movie had a fabulous feminist bent that elevated it even more, in my opinion.

So, wanna talk Star Wars? Who else saw it? Who's going to see it today or sometime this weekend?

[OddlyAmused]

I saw it and really enjoyed it. A lot of it was similar to Episode IV, but I don't think that was necessarily a bad thing. I loved the feminist bent. It basically took me through a rollercoaster of emotions.

There's a subset of the viewers who saw it and thought it was terrible, but to be honest I think many of them had the movie written in their heads before they saw it and were angry it didn't fit their version. 

[keen23]

The symbolism wasn't exactly subtle, and there were a few times where I felt JJ Abrams was too heavy handed in leading us to a plot point.

Spoiler

I totally cried when R2D2 came back from hibernation.

Spoiler

Why were there no Ewoks????

 

[Cleopatra7]

I haven't seen it yet, but plan to, and my big question is how many (human) females are in the movie? One of my main pet peeves with the original is that there were only three women in the whole trilogy: Princess Leia, Luke's aunt, and that female senator in The Empire Strikes Back. I suppose some of the Ewoks must have been female, but for all we know, Ewoks could all be males, like the Smurfs (Smurfette was an artificial creation of Gargamel meant to show discord in the Smurfs' all-male paradise). From what I can tell, this new movie is an improvement, but I guess is doesn't matter in the end, sine I and everyone else in the world will be seeing it, regardless of any shortcomings.

[PokaDot]

1 hour ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I haven't seen it yet, but plan to, and my big question is how many (human) females are in the movie? 

Hmmm, well if we go with human females that say more than one line, I'm going to go with ~5.

1) General Leia
2) Rey
3) Captain Phasma (although she never takes her helmet off)
4) Female x-wing pilot whose name I forget (if it was even mentioned)
5) Carrie Fisher's RL daughter has a bit part (says one or two lines)

There was also another who looked a bit like D from nuBSG who gasped (looked like she was a senator?).

I can't remember if there are human females in Max's canata or not. I think there's another there (The FO alerter was an alien female, don't remember the what Rebellion alerter was).

I can't remember if any females talk during of the Rebellion scenes. But, I wasn't really watching to note that.

I may be missing a few, but I think that's about it.

[Myrtille]

I saw it last night and loved it! It's not always very subtle, but I thought it was very enjoyable overall.

I really liked Rey, and I fell in love with BB-8. I want to adopt him - he'd make a great friend for Mr. Kitty .

[happy atheist]

There were human females all over the place. As mentioned above, they don't all have speaking rolls, but they exist. And an argument could be made that Rey is the main character, and she's very proactive.

[sparkles]

My daughter, who's not a Star Wars fan, saw it yesterday and loved it. She wanted to see it again, so we're going on Christmas Day. I haven't seen a Star Wars movie since the one with the stupid Ewoks, which I hated (the Ewoks AND the movie) but I really enjoyed the original original–before Lucas started messing with it—and I like what JJ Abrams did with Star Trek so I'm looking forward to this. Mr. Sparkles, not so much, but we have our reserved seats in the fancy-schmancy theatre with the super comfy reclining seats so if/when he falls asleep, he'll wake up a happy camper.

[AlysonRR]

Our local drive-in theater is opening just for this movie, showing it on all three screens (with a kid feature first so the little kids can fall asleep before the movie).

While the quality won't be as great, I think we'll go just for the novelty of seeing a drive-in movie earlier than 10 or 11pm, which is when they start in the summer.

Plus, it's cheaper, and we're pretty cheap!

I've heard it's more similar to "A New Hope" than to the so-called prequels, and if that's the case, I'll be completely happy with it. I hated the prequels, but loved the original trilogy INCLUDING the Ewoks.

[47of74]

I saw it this afternoon and I thought it was a really good film.

I'm ready for more Star Wars now.

[molecule]

I saw it tonight and loved it. I thought it was very well done, with a good story to move forward with and lots of nods to the previous movies.

[Childless]

I saw it today.  It was a good movie.  I felt the story didn't always flow well though.  They spent 3/4 of the movie developing a character who ends up not being the pivotal character in the story so when the plot turned toward the other character, I found it hard to be vested in the (up to that point in time) character of seeming less importance.  I think it was done as a way to surprise the audience, but I found it hard to do a 180.  There were also things characters did that made no sense (as in why did he/she do that or how did he/she know to do that).  Its hard to review a movie without letting any spoilers out, so I don't know if I'm making any sense right now.  All in all, it was decent movie.  Better cast and written than episodes 1, 2, and 3 with a good mix of humor and drama, but not as good as the original movies.

[happy atheist]

Go ahead and talk about it. Use the spoiler tag if you feel so motivated (it's the eyeball icon).

But I don't think spoiler tags are necessary since there's a warning in the thread title.

[azombieatemyshoelace]

I just got back from it and I loved it. I have a theory about Rey. 

[littlemommy]

I just went to see it with my 7 year old son, a Star Wars fan. It was a little intense for him sometimes, and he was horrified by Han getting killed. It wasn't so much the death ("People get killed in wars, Mommy,") but by the fact that it was his own son that killed him. Absolutely gutted the kiddo. He now refuses to call the character "Kylo Ren", but only will call him "Ben". Just to...get on Kylo Ren's nerves I guess.

I loved it!

[molecule]

2 hours ago, azombieatemyshoelace said:

I just got back from it and I loved it. I have a theory about Rey. 

What's your theory? 

[azombieatemyshoelace]

I think Rey is Luke's daughter or maybe Han and Leia's but probably Luke's. Apparently, a lot of people believe this. 

[happy atheist]

2 hours ago, littlemommy said:

Just to...get on Kylo Ren's nerves I guess.

That's awesome.

 

[DaffyDill]

Just came back from seeing it and loved it 

I was about 13 when the original came out, and we saw it with the school during end of year activities, which were just fun stuff. Incidentally, Husband was up in Sydney doing exactly the same thing at the same time. Freaky.

Anyway, all us kids stumbled out of Star Wars just blown away. Thinking "OMG. What did I just SEE?" There had been nothing like it up till then. I had a mad crush on Mark Hamill, and even now when I think of that day, it's still like "Wow..."

The next two weren't so bad, but then the Star Wars money machine really went into overdrive, and there were the three prequels. I love Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson, but damn those three movies were dire (IMHO). Especially Hayden Christiansen. Just no. Ugh.

And now...I think JJ Abrams has brought the franchise back full circle. Good one JJ.

I think Rey is Luke's daughter, too. That's why she was drawn to his lightsaber all the time, and why, even though Kylo Ren's powers were probably stronger than hers, it flew straight past him, to her.

[meep]

I don't think (at least I really really hope not) that Rey is Luke or Han's daughter. I think (and hope) she is just some random who is force sensitive.

My theory: Rey was a very young child being trained under Luke at the new Jedi temple and somehow survived Kylo Ren's massacre. So young that she can barely remember (the flashbacks when she touches the lightsaber at first supports this). She was then left at Jakku....by whom or for what reason, I'm not sure yet. But this would also explain why she is force sensitive. 

We also have to remember that she's not actually all THAT powerful. She fights Kylo Ren at full energy after he's already gone through a series of fights with different people and is already incredibly hurt. Also, he specifically has orders NOT to kill Rey and to bring her in alive. Not to mention Kylo Ren is not suppose to be that powerful either, as he is still a....dark side apprentice? (Not sure what the proper terminology is there, lol.) And also that she is just physically strong from surviving out in the desert all by herself for basically most of her life. 

So yeah. *phew*

[danvillebelle]

We saw it Sunday.  The kids and I are all still basically HIGH from how great we thought it was.  I loved, loved, loved it.  It made me feel like a kid again.  I cried.  I laughed out loud SO many times.  I think JJ just nailed it, all of it.  Love all the new characters, especially BB-8 - I NEED HIM.  

Since we're allowing spoilers....I knew the second Han stepped onto that bridge he was done for.  Because my mind immediately went to all the hours of special features I've watched on the old movies, and the fact that both Harrison Ford and Lawrence Kasdan wanted Han dead in Empire.  So I was like yep, he's a goner now for sure.  I gasped when he got the death blow, but I didn't cry.  The tears came when Chewie lost it.

[sparkles]

Saw it tonight and we all loved it. Loved seeing the old cast return. Loved the new characters. Loved Lupita Nyong'o's Maz. Loved Oscar Isaac as a good guy, especially after Llewyn Davis and Ex Machina. Loved the wisecracking. Loved BB-8. And Chewie! Yeah, this was a major win. I kind of thought something would happen with Han but didn't expect him to be killed. But then again, I was probably the only person in America who hadn't figured out the Darth was Luke's father in Return of the Jedi so I'm a bit slow on the uptake with this stuff. JJ Abrams is my reboot hero. Looking forward to more.

About halfway through the movie I realized we were in the same theater where I saw the original Star Wars on opening day in 1977. I still have my blue and white "May the Force Be With You" badge that they were handing out that day.

[doggie]

I watched it yesterday morning hoping it would not be so busy no luck.  Paid for the whole thing 3d and rumble seat. but some handicapped people were in my seat and I did not have the heart to ask them to move. 

 why is it the storm troopers wear armor but it does not protect them from anything? 

[47of74]

I think Rey is Luke's daughter or maybe Han and Leia's but probably Luke's. Apparently, a lot of people believe this. 

Yeah I was getting a vibe that Leia and Rey were at least related when Rey came back after Han's passing. I could see Rey either being her niece or her daughter. Hopefully we'll find out in Episode VIII.

[withaj]

Agreed that Rey is somehow connected to Luke, either by blood or childhood mentorship before the massacre at the Jedi temple. Being related by blood seems too easy, but it wouldn't bother me. There were definitely some dynamics being played up between Rey and Kylo Ren that would make it interesting for them to be cousins.