In June of 1977 I saw the original Star Wars movie with no expectations. I was a sci-fi fan who had been sorely disappointed with Hollywood’s productions within my favored genre. Even my beloved Star Trek had been shabbily treated by the suits who figured sci-fi fans would be satisfied with monster operas, even when the zipper up the back of the rubber suit was visible, so why spend any extra money for decent sets and special effects?
So in ’77, Star Wars opening scroll accompanied by triumphant fanfare grabbed me, and when the Imperial cruiser rolled endlessly overhead, I was thoroughly hooked.
I’ve spent the better part of the last 32 years sorely disappointed in Lucas’ sequels…er “prequels”. So much so that I damped down any glimmer of hope I might have for this one.
I’m very happy to report, it didn’t suck.
Indeed, many of the reasons that made for the magic of the first have returned. It is exciting, it is funny, it has some very solid acting, directing, writing (which makes me ache for what could have been if someone had kicked Lucas in the ‘nads and taken the episodes 1-3 away from him) … and has moments that brought me to tears.
Obviously, too, J.J. Abrams disliked the “prequels” as much as many of us do … and one specific moment in the film really brings that home.
Well worth the price of admission.
I think the phrase “It didn’t suck” for a sequel is high praise indeed.
I’ll have to pre-order it on Blu-Ray ASAP.
Too many people at work are going to see it and will want to talk about it for me to put off seeing it like I do every other movie that comes out. So, I’ll be seeing it the week after Christmas.
It will be on Blu-Ray or Netflix soon enough. I can wait.
I think the phrase “It didn’t suck” for a sequel is high praise indeed.
With Episodes I, II, and III as the bar to clear, it is to praise with faint damnation.
IMO, Abrams did a little too much echoing of Episodes IV, V, and VI to reassure The Fans that he meant to operate in the universe of the Original Three (look and feel, story type), but even with that, the movie was engaging.
I liked the new characters. Their actors could act. The dialog didn’t suck. The scene in the snowy wood was exceptionally beautiful, visually.
I have a hard time believing that Adam Driver is not related to Minnie Driver. And finally we get a good female costume that isn’t Slave Leia or Tablecloth Leia. (It also appears that in the intervening three decades, Princess Leia smoked like a coal-fired chimney.)
Aw, go see it in the theater, eCur. If you enjoyed seeing IV, V, and VI in the theater, you’ll enjoy seeing this one there, too. Nice big cinematography and stuff.
“Echoing”? Based on what I’ve heard so far from people who saw the movie, it’s pretty much the 1977 movie with the serial numbers filed off.
And then there’s that entire “Episode IV” thing – Remember, Star Wars was originally intended to be in the spirit of 1930s movie serials, hence an arbitrary episode number. It wasn’t after 20th Century Fox – and Kenner Toys – realized they had a full-blown money machine on their ads that they told George to go back and flesh it out…
Yes, Abrams trods a lot of familiar ground with TFA … but I believe it needed to be done to erase the bad taste of Lucas’ execrable prequels from our brains …
I’ll admit I did look up Adam Driver on IMDB to see if he played the role of “Young Severus Snape” in any of the Harry Potter films. (He didn’t.)
I was also relieved to find out the masked not-Sith guy was not Jar Jar Binks, as a parody image I saw on the ‘net wanted to claim.
Overall I enjoyed the film, though I will repeat a comment I saw elsewhere: Abrams needs to read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s comments on space.
nonono the disneysluts you no can has my monies
go play in the street
Everything in my Netflix DVD queue is yet to be released, only two with known release dates. SW:TFA is one without a known DVD release date.
My wife and I are very particular about movies we go to see in theaters, and I’m a little baffled by people who decry spoilers — and then go see the same movie multiple times within a few weeks.
My own personal opinion, based on one (1) viewing:
1) There was a decided dearth of suck. Episodes IV, V and VI weren’t suck-free; this one was.
2) The new characters were very good. The dialogue didn’t suck. There were genuine laugh-out-loud moments that Ep I-VI lacked. The acting was competent as a minimum. I’d go so far as to say: very, very good performance from some relative unknowns.
3) The sound effects were MUCH more compelling. If you’re going to wield a sword that can vaporize metal, there had damned well be some sound from all that metal, wood, organic matter, etc being flashed into gas.
4) The cast from Ep IV-VI didn’t overly dominate the landscape. They were used to the extent that they must be.
5) Special effects also didn’t dominate.
Overall: very enjoyable; very balanced. I loved it in a way that I haven’t loved a Star Wars movie since the original. I think it’s the best of the bunch by a fair piece.
Which is not to say there aren’t any unanswered questions; some of those will be answered in subsequent films. One question that won’t be answered is: when will the bad guys learn not to design fatal vulnerabilities into their super-weapons?
Hopefully I have said all of the above without spoilerizing it for you.
What I want to know is why Astromech Droids (who, by definition, will likely operate in vacuum) insist on communicating by audio. Is wireless networking somehow not possible?
And if they do communicate via audio, how hard would it be to have them speak English, or Galactic, or whatever?
I wonder the same about human engineers.
It does seem as if they should communicate with organics in something other than modemspeak.
I’ve always believed robots’ primary mode of communication would be electronic, and that ultimately it would also be ours via implants and nanotech.
We’ll be spending out meat time having sex while also bossing robotic and virtual avatars doing the things we don’t need biological functions to do.
Possibly. But then the midichlorians couldn’t engage so well.
;)
Electronic communications via implant also doesn’t screenplay all that well, is my thinking.
Taking my 11 yr old and my 8 yr old to it over Xmas break.
I heard something on one of the infotainment “news” shows last night that has me concerned.
Something about “female empowerment” and “diversity.”
I’m hoping that’s idiot talking heads looking for something to talk about.
Ain’t nobody seeing the whale movie?
I want to see the whale movie.
And the bear movie.
But I’m not looking forward to the bear rape.
(Although, if anybody deserves to be raped by a grizzly bear….)
everyone is incorrect except for me
People going on about diversity and hippie-dippie are overreacting. You could argue that they deliberately picked an (insert characteristic here) as a political move, but I don’t read minds and that wasn’t obvious in the way the film was represented.
The “Black Stormtrooper Controversy of Trailer Release One” was, IMHO, entirely manufactured. I never saw any fan freakout over that, just a freakout over an imagined freakout. Fans would know, anyway, that even by the time of A New Hope, the troopers were no longer clones.
I think most of the character problems in TFA were directorial or editorial, AFAICT the actors are all competent.
There was an implausibility regarding a major character’s background and psychology that could have been easily resolved. For a 2 hr 16 min movie, some development things were skipped, shockingly.
They did hint and not show a lot of things, which was a good move, and implies they’re thinking ahead.
I would not rate the movie as great, by any means, I could list dozens of flaws, but it feels like they’re setting up something better for the next couple of movies (and I hope they hurry their asses up).
One of the many flaws: Abrams has a retarded sense of scale when it comes to planets, solar systems, etc. He showed this in ST:2009 as well.
Also probably 5 min excess time spent with a character staring at something and emoting. Seriously, yes, I could stare at Daisy Ridley all day, but you don’t have all day to tell me a story.
Fans would know, anyway, that even by the time of A New Hope, the troopers were no longer clones.
and there is an explicit, albeit throw away line, about this in regards to the discovery of Finn deserting.
Well, no wonder they can’t shoot straight.
And here I thought Order 66 in some way inadvertantly compromised hand eye coordination.
Something about “female empowerment” and “diversity.”
The female character has some nice fighting chops. And she’s a strong person. But she’s not In Ya Face lookit me I’m GRRL POWAH.
She got tough because of a tough situation, not because of some ideology. She cries like a girl when it’s called for.
The black guy is highly likeable and not any flavor of token. Nobody notices that he’s black. As if the skin color of a humanoid would matter in that universe.
I also noticed the corrective with the Asian gangstas who Were Not Cheap Stereotypes.
And the other guy’s Scottish burr was kinda fun.
There was an implausibility regarding a major character’s background and psychology that could have been easily resolved.
Hint? I’m not sure what you mean.
Also, how did Rey know where to go for that last scene?
I’m waiting until it comes out on Betamax.
Also, how did Rey know where to go for that last scene? –
The map was completed…
Leia knows more than she lets on as she sends Rey on her own
Dicentra: The character in question did not seem to have anywhere near the skill you would expect for their position – and was a lot whiny.
That should give it away to anyone who saw it, and not give anything away (until it’s too late).
Darleen had the map answer – though the map thing was one of the flaws.
Pretty much the only good thing I can say about Episodes I-III are that Ewan McGregor did a bang-up job channeling Alec Guinness. Other than that, they were pure stink, just like the second and third Matrix movies.
This one was maybe a hair too derivative of IV-VI (probably, as Darleen mentioned, to get the taste of I-III out of people’s mouths) but quite good nonetheless.
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Here’s a movie worth seeing..
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-23/big-short-every-american-should-see-movie-be-fking-pissed
No spacecraft moving in defiance of Newton, but it’s filled with cantina characters that make even Greedo seem saintly.
Speaking of Greedo, was there a “Han shot first” moment in episode VII? You know, JJ Abrams saying where he comes down on that controversy?
Well, when we meet Han, he’s doing something highly illegal, unethical, and considerably callous and disregarding of life. So there’s that.
So, I was dragged (or drugged) into watching this newest SW Disney movie…
Lemme save you fitty bucks..
..go to your closet, drag out your old VHS player, pop in Episode IV, watch that.
There. You’re done! Save your theatre cash for the bear rape thinger. It can’t be a re-run, because Fess Parker wouldn’t have put up with that for a minute.
I liked it. I liked it mostly because it utterly failed to live down to even the low points of Episodes IV-VI.
I did spend some time arguing with some folks about how come they thought Finn was such a huge disappointment, given that he was inept as hell. He was, apparently, no better than an escaped slave.
Other than the fact that he was in the process of becoming a self-actuated person, making his own moral choices, and actually doing a decent job of not getting killed and even kicking some occasional ass.
But not compared to Rey, so he’s just another nigger.
So it went. I actually saw somebody used the word “coonish”. I still don’t know what that means.
“So it went. I actually saw somebody used the word “coonish”. I still don’t know what that means. ”
It means the negro character was not magical enough to suit the expectations of that viewer.
Finn was a competent but rattled young man, from a very suspect “kidnapped by a cult” background, who showed human foibles and had errors in judgement. And he didn’t win every fight or say something inspiring every time he had a chance to. He used stealth and deception to overcome force (which is not an uncommon approach in fascist systems). He was too human and not magical enough. Sometimes he was helpless.
If you portray a black person in a sci-fi or adventure movie who is less than an idealized mythological hero with experience and wisdom it is received as a cartoonish unfair slander against all blacks.
The theory is that this kind of hypersensitivity and overwrought outrage at things that are merely normal will create an environment of correct enlightened thought somehow instead of making everyone pissed off, alienated, or afraid to speak honestly.
You left out Option 3: causing everyone to roll their eyes and make fun of the outrage-mongers.
Just point and laugh, boys. Just point and laugh.
“Well, when we meet Han, he’s doing something highly illegal, unethical, and considerably callous and disregarding of life. So there’s that.”
Cthulhu smuggling.
We said no spoilers!!!
I don’t think it’s spoiling when you’re revealing something in the movie that shouldn’t have been there on account of it being so weird and stupid.
What is Han doing a “no questions” job for Space Michael Vick or something?
Okay, I don’t have a dog in that fight…
“Kids don’t want space-dope no more Han. You wanna make credits you gotta smuggle space monsters. Trash-compactor eye things, horned ice-bear apes…weird wide jawed two tailed tiger things… the roach people who make all the robots love those….maybe a red melted cancer-rhinocerus…you know.”