^I cite the Porkins Precedent.

EDIT: BAH! Guillaume beating me to it!

I thought Driver was a GREAT choice for a temper-tantrum-prone young villain, and did quite well with it. It helps, I guess, that though I am aware of his role on Girls, I dislike that show so never actively watched (scurrying out of the room whenever my wife (a fan, for reasons I cannot skry) had it on), so I don't over-identify him with that.

Stay on target, stay on TARGET.....ahhhhhhhhhheehhhhhhhhhh *boom* wait I'm remembering scenes wrong that's from another one. Still this is funny:



Considering 90% of the movie was scenes from the original trilogy just remixed I didn't even bat an eye when I saw that one. I'm just glad Admiral Ackbar was back. That was him right?

I thought that the fact that Driver doesn't emanate "100% evil" was the point of the casting. He's supposed to be conflicted, not fully lost to the Dark Side with utter confidence like Vader or Palpatine. In my experience of the film this was made even clearer by the notable contrast between how Ren's voice and manner were with mask on and mask off.

They did indeed build a full scale Falcon, but as I understand it was only 3/4 exterior-complete (as that was all that was necessary for the shots it was used in.) The one you see at the Resistance Base scenes was the physical model. The "flying" Falcon appeared to be a combination of scale model and CGI. Production people never actually said there would be no CGI, only heavy use of physical effects as opposed to the CGI-everything of the prequels.

Thanks for the clarification about not-Coruscant. Also saw that confirmed at another site. So many details, hard to assimilate in just one viewing. One I read about but don't remember clearly is that during Rey's lightsaber-induced "vision" scene, she sees an island surrounded by water ... another clue to support the "Luke is her father" speculation?

Yeah I did read that the falcon shown, along with the x-wings, outside at the old military base were full scale models. Even so, they just had a slight CGI look, like somebody couldn't help themselves with the digital weathering. I guess I was expecting Gerry Anderson/Thunderbirds style models, pulled along by wires

In any event, I will see it again in theaters a couple times.

How about that animatronic pecking bird on Jakku? I thought was the most "Disney" thing in the film, or rather, "Disneyland," like something out of one of the third-tier rides. (Which is why I liked it, haha.)

Finally got to see it tonight. Not much I can say that hasn't already been said. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to see it again. So many little nods towards "A New Hope", which made it extra fun for me. I also loved that there was some here - and - there comedy.

I have to say that Kylo Ren is takin' the cake for me, in terms of character. I love the fact that he wasn't afraid to show his face so easily. Kinda speaks to a degree of fearlessness he may want portrayed. I'm also very much into his inner conflict and turmoil between the light and dark. It's very human for a character that's attempting to reach for a devoid of emotion. The fan theory for him is great, as well!

Yes! I liked that. There was a group of puppety bugs in one of the bar scenes, that was cool too

Three associations that I couldn't get out of my head while having my first look at the movie last night:

Phasma:


Snoke:


C-3PO:

I have been stuck reading Harry Potter to my kid for the last several years. Only way she can get to sleep. So I could not help but see parallels. Snoke visually reminds me of Voldemort, which maybe is why he seems generic. On the other hand, Rey seems to combine the best attributes of Hermione and Harry. I enjoyed how she was a technology geek but also idealistic and brave. She also seems to respect BB-8 as a "person" right? Maybe kinda weird, but droids definitely have personalities in the SW universe, even though they are generally treated as slaves. Kinda like Harry Potter respecting elves and goblins as equals to wizards.

Also, don't her powers emerge so strongly specifically because Kylo Ren does the mind probe thing and she chooses not to submit. Her strength comes out in response to stress, and the whole thing about the Force is will and belief, no?

Ralph Angus McQuarrie did all the concept art for Battlestar Galactica
and many other Sci-Fi ventures prior to being used by Lucasfilm.

It seems Abrams paid a nice homage to Ralph who is now deceased.

I saw it this morning, and loved it. I've got pretty much nothing bad to say about it which has surprised me.
Simply put, they have made Star Wars FUN again.

The only off-putting thing for me was 'Adam' from 'Girls' getting the part as Kylo Ren. It took a while
to get used to it, because i'm so used to him as another character, but i thought he did a great job
and i'm glad he got the part.

I think i might go again after a week or two . . . .

It was great... I had a fun time watching. Had a nice amount of humor in it. No real gripes from me that are going to stick...

However I feel new fans if they watched 1-6 prior to 7, they will be like, why is 7, 4-5 remade? Thats the oddest part of it to me.

A droid carrying plans needs to get it to where it needs to be. A unmasked storm trooper rescue. Rey and Finn hide under the floor board in the falcon. Death Star X 100 has same powers yet multiple planets at once. A new "cantina" with at least one from the group looking for transportation... At this point I swear to you I was waiting to see who shot first...
Kyle Ren force choke on a first order officer. Confrontation between a father and son on a catwalk in the middle of a space station. Finn expressing emotion when Han does similar to Luke when obi wan was struck down...

Don't get me wrong because like I said I still loved it...

I agree, TFA seems like a complete re-hash of ANH. From what J.J. Abrams has revealed, it was purposeful. That being said, it sounds like the rest of the trilogy is going to be very, very different with Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow directing.

Absolutely... much overt homage to RAM in many of the key designs. KR's mask is beautifully McQuarriean.

I was thinking this while I was watching in the theatre last night, definitely some influence here.

I thought they did an amazing job with using the familiar faces to develop the new ones, Mark Hamill will help to carry the next film and with that we should have developed enough of a connection to the younger characters to have them lead the third. Loved it!

Totally. It made me think of Mononoke when Rey started running towards Finn after the
droid told her about the jacket he's wearing. The capableness and forthrightness. Its all there.

Its funny, i listen to TESD podcast and the guys, who are a similar age to myself, were depressed
to see the original cast looking so old. It just reminded them of their own mortality. One of them
in particular was totally crestfallen over Han's back-story and demise. Basically, he thought they
took the happy ending of Jedi and threw it in the shitter.

I'm glad i dont love the characters that much. I was just happy to see my old friends up
on the big screen again, wise-cracking and making me laugh.

THIS.



I read something similar to this, comparing Kylo Ren to Snape from Harry Potter. The ultimate undercover job.

Did anybody else think the planet that Luke Skywalker was on might be Earth?

The planet didnt look much like earth when Rey was landing.

I feel the movie plays it safe and very well with the franchise. Its not groundbreaking by any means, but it feels complete, entertaining and very well paced. I look forward to the next films.

That is a really interesting comparison, and I agree as well. Rey's theme also has sort of a similar sound to some of Joe Hisaishi's music from the Ghibli films, which may be part of it. It's a really beautiful theme, particularly the part that plays as she speeds across the desert in the beginning of the movie.

The only part that kind of bothered me was the dialogue between Leia and Solo. It was so dumbed down "we'll he has too much of darth vader in him..". Aside from that I enjoyed it. I agree with Dean about how Kylo was supposed to be unbalanced and nerdy.

Really wish they cast Shia La Beouf as Kylo Ren - would have made much more sense

^ Deeply incorrect, right down to the physicality. Another bad choice would have been the young Billy Zane.

I really like the theory presented here...

https://medium.com/@benostrower/rey-is-a-kenobi-362b5af09849#.8s5is0b74