I have avoided this thread for weeks, but now that most of the people that would make me mad have already seen the film, I went to see it today.

Way back in 1977, Star Wars was the first movie I every went to see, so I've been waiting for this movie to for most of my life. I though it was done very well. Much better then the prequel series (I treat those like the Godfather III and refuse to watch them), but it did have some problems.

Like others on here I agree, the story-line was too similar to the original film. I also think they left too many loose ends. They should have explained how Luke's lightsaber ended up in that dive. They should have explained why they didn't force R2-D2 to power-on after he went into hibernation mode. They should have come up with a better concept then just building another Death Star type weapon. The overall plot and story-line could and should have been more original.

There were many things that I did like. I like the concept of pitting Ren (Vader's grandchild through Leia) and Rey (Vader's grandchild through Skywalker) against each other in a battle of the light and dark side of the force. Though I wish Solo wouldn't have died, it certainly elevated everyone's dislike of Ren. If they try to bring Han back and say he didn't die, I think it will really diminish the story. I enjoyed the references to the first film, like Chewy getting excited when his old game board turned on. Also, they could have got a better actor to play Ren. Someone in the vein of the the Kurgan from the original Highlander movie, a dude with a slit throat and a gravelly voice. Also, Ren was crazy. Why couldn't he have had delusional conversations with Darth Vader? Plus, I'm not a big fan of Finn's character. Too whinny and too weak. Poe could have escaped the First Order without his help, and Rey could have taken the Millennium Falcon without him. If you cut him out of the film, there would be more interaction between the main characters. Chewbacca should have had more screen time.

It gives me great pride to know Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) lives in Texas.

If they give him the revenge plot vs. Kylo then he's bound to have more. Also interesting to see someone other than trooper extras soak up a shot from his bowcaster, but Ren's plot armor saved him there I guess. I just want to see Chewie finally rage and rip off someone/something's arms like Han said in the originals. The second Star Wars should be darker, right? We'll see.

(02-15-2016 11:10 PM)CameramanJ Wrote:  If they give him the revenge plot vs. Kylo then he's bound to have more. Also interesting to see someone other than trooper extras soak up a shot from his bowcaster, but Ren's plot armor saved him there I guess. I just want to see Chewie finally rage and rip off someone/something's arms like Han said in the originals. The second Star Wars should be darker, right? We'll see.

I agree. They need to let Chewie go "full Wookie".

episode VIII begins filming:

It would be cool to see a spiritual successor to the old Republic Commando squads emerge in this new canon. I think they might be going squad-y with the Knights of Ren, and I'm afraid that is the best I'm going to get unless they do something with the Mandalorians or unless they cook up a bunch of TR-8R clones.

Well, OT for this thread, but related, and pretty cool.

Blade Runner was always one of my favorite sci-fi films from back in the day.

Harrison Ford Will Again Battle Brutal Replicants In ‘Blade Runner’ Sequel
February 19, 2016
by: Edward V Kanty

Harrison Ford is riding a wave of success when it comes to reprising the roles he made iconic at the beginning of his career. Except for those living under a rock, everyone knows Ford recently returned to the Star Wars franchise as Han Solo. There are also rumors that Harrison will be picking up his trusty whip and dusty hat for yet another go-around as Indiana Jones; but, even before that, there’s still another character Harrison will be bringing back to theaters. Teaming up one more with Ridley Scott, Harrison Ford will be taking on bitter replicants in a Blade Runner sequel.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the original Blade Runner film.]

Harrison Ford And Ridley Scott To Bring Rick Deckard Back In A New Blade Runner Film

Blade Runner 2 has a release date but we'll have to be patient https://t.co/WLcmhJdbjC pic.twitter.com/5Tf2aHiIJm

— Total Film (@totalfilm) February 19, 2016

Though early in development, Blade Runner 2 has already been given a release date, giving fans the chance to see Harrison Ford as Deckard in theaters on January 12, 2018. That date puts viewers just shy of the year in which the first film takes place; but, once again, predictions of the future have failed us. There still are no flying cars, Replicants, or nary even a hoverboard. Come to think of it, though, we could do without those Replicants.

Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner film was an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? It presented a future filled with technological fancies, chief among them were the bioengineered androids that would eventually turn on their human overlords. In that first Blade Runner film, the year that the Replicants return from exile to wage war against mankind is 2019, so Blade Runner 2 will hit theaters just one year shy of the film’s proposed future.

Our own technological advances will allow Scott to create a sleeker and even more technology-driven world than the one seen in the original Blade Runner. Even the touch screens that we all take for granted are far beyond the clunky computers used by Harrison Ford’s 1982 character.



For those missing the point as they read this article on their mobile device of choice, the idea behind Mr. Dick’s novel is that technology will one day get out of hand, controlling every aspect of our lives until it eventually turns on us. Blade Runner 2 seems poised to really drive that lesson home with a plot that picks up decades after the events of the original Blade Runner.

Even as life imitates art with talk of robots and self-driving cars, Blade Runner 2 presents a world that has been at war with similar technologies for years and years. What will that world look like? How will it have affected Harrison Ford’s Deckard to have lived in a perpetual state of warfare for such an extended period?

This brings up the underlying mystery that was never answered in 1982’s Blade Runner. Is Rick Deckard a human being or is he a Replicant? Fans have debated this topic for decades and, more recently, the two men most directly involved with the Blade Runner films have offered their own opinions and it seems even they can’t agree.

Ridley Scott, who directed the first Blade Runner film and is producing Blade Runner 2, offered up his take on that mystery in 2007.

“Yes, he’s a replicant. He was always a replicant,” Ridley once told the New York Times.

Denis Villeneuve is directing the sequel and he has his own way of thinking in regard to the Harrison Ford character.

“The thing I must say is that I love mystery. I love shadows. I love doubts. I would just want to say to the fans that we will take care of that mystery. I will take care of it.”

Fans will have to wait for Blade Runner 2 to hit theaters in 2018 to find out once and for all if Rick Deckard is one of us.

Something thats been bothering me...

Didnt the "Rebels" basically win the war when they blew up the 2nd Death Star and killed the Emperor? So I'm wondering why Leia and the rest are basically still "resistance" fighters in this movie. Wouldnt they be the goverment now and the first order be the "rebels" in Episode VII?

Or is my Expanded Universe book knowledge ruining my understanding of the new universe?

(02-22-2016 03:12 PM)OwlFamily Wrote:  Something thats been bothering me...

Didnt the "Rebels" basically win the war when they blew up the 2nd Death Star and killed the Emperor? So I'm wondering why Leia and the rest are basically still "resistance" fighters in this movie. Wouldnt they be the goverment now and the first order be the "rebels" in Episode VII?

Or is my Expanded Universe book knowledge ruining my understanding of the new universe?

one partial answer:

(02-22-2016 03:12 PM)OwlFamily Wrote:  Something thats been bothering me...

Didnt the "Rebels" basically win the war when they blew up the 2nd Death Star and killed the Emperor? So I'm wondering why Leia and the rest are basically still "resistance" fighters in this movie. Wouldnt they be the goverment now and the first order be the "rebels" in Episode VII?

Or is my Expanded Universe book knowledge ruining my understanding of the new universe?

While I didn't think The Force Awakens was perfect - I enjoyed the hell out of it. While not a perfect film, it was the perfect movie that needed to be released - if that makes sense.

Your post leads to probably my only gripe about the movie.

The Rebellion from the original trilogy becomes the New Republic. The New Republic were on the planets destroyed by
Starkiller base. So the First Order wiped out the government.

The Resistance was a splinter group of heroes who didn't think the New Republic was taking the First Order seriously enough. Leia left the First Republic to head up the Resistance. Han left the First Order and returned to smuggling.

It is more or less explained in the opening crawl but I think it could have been fleshed out a little more.

The good guys have fallen for the "super-secret spherical death machine" trick a record three times.

(02-22-2016 02:40 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

Awesome! LEGO Star Wars was one of my favorite games as a kid. I may be a college grad now but that won't stop me from grabbing this one off the shelves haha

I may be alone here guys, but did anyone else watch TFA and not care when "TR-8R" (or FN-2199) came out to fight Finn? I remember seeing him whip out his electric spinny baton like thing during one of the teasers but it didn't have any sort of affect on me when I watched the movie unlike the Internet did... A friend of mine send me a TR-8R meme after he watched it and I didn't understand it at all until I went on Twitter and Facebook and it was everywhere. Maybe I just missed the boat? The Internet is an interesting place lol

(02-23-2016 07:58 AM)MonGNARch Wrote:  I may be alone here guys, but did anyone else watch TFA and not care when "TR-8R" (or FN-2199) came out to fight Finn? I remember seeing him whip out his electric spinny baton like thing during one of the teasers but it didn't have any sort of affect on me when I watched the movie unlike the Internet did... A friend of mine send me a TR-8R meme after he watched it and I didn't understand it at all until I went on Twitter and Facebook and it was everywhere. Maybe I just missed the boat? The Internet is an interesting place lol

I think a lot of people (myself included) were just really excited to see a stormtrooper finally stand up to a lightsaber user/force user. The simple dialog and trendy spin move were meme-ready from the start.

'Star Wars' voice actor Erik Bauersfeld dead at 93

Radio dramatist and voice actor Erik Bauersfeld, who voiced Admiral Ackbar on 'Star Wars' and voiced the popular line "It's a trap!", has died in California. He was 93 years old. (BNO News)

Picked up the BR tonight...that case is blacker than Lando LOL.

***************

I didn't mind all the "in" jokes but it did feel like Ep IV remixed. Ben Solo was a little too whiny. Also, if your moms and your pops, along with your uncle are like "The Dark Side" is bad...look at how it tore up our family.... how does one make the decision to go to the Dark Side? Looked to me the Storm Troopers were still being cloned, so how come ONE black guy gets an original thought that the First Order isn't right for him? I still straight up wonder if Finn is Leia and Lando's love child LOL. Nobody beats the Bull, not even in outer space.

(04-05-2016 08:36 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  Looked to me the Storm Troopers were still being cloned, so how come ONE black guy gets an original thought that the First Order isn't right for him?

1. Storm Troopers have NEVER been clones.

2. They make it clear in the movie that they aren't clones, but kids taken/recruited at a very young age (at least Finn's division was).

(02-22-2016 03:12 PM)OwlFamily Wrote:  Something thats been bothering me...

Didnt the "Rebels" basically win the war when they blew up the 2nd Death Star and killed the Emperor? So I'm wondering why Leia and the rest are basically still "resistance" fighters in this movie. Wouldnt they be the goverment now and the first order be the "rebels" in Episode VII?

Or is my Expanded Universe book knowledge ruining my understanding of the new universe?

Didn't we basically win the war when we took Baghdad and killed Hussein? So why are we now fighting these ISIS ********?

The vacuum left behind by the removal of a leadership isn't always pleasant and the amount of hardware the Empire had floating around the galaxy means anyone with a little power can become very powerful. And remember there are always two Sith. A sleeper always seems to be in the wings as well waiting for the dark force to awaken it and start the cycle all over again. Good can't exist without evil kind of thing.