Official Star Wars: TFA Review Thread (SPOILERS!!!)

I don't think concepts like lightspeed exist in an Abrams universe. Everything is in viewing distance of everything else.

It's worth noting that was true in the Lucas era, too. How close must the Hoth system and Bespin been for the hyper drive challenged to make that trip in a time frame that wasn't years long?

Its beam fires across hyperspace.

Yeah, but each time it fires, it has to kill a star, so how does it get to the next star?

"She'll make .12 past light." Solo describing the Falcon. Does that describe her in hyperspace, or does that describe her top speed in normal space? In either case, how far away was Alderaan from Tatooine?

About 2-3 pages of screenplay, I'd guess.
Afterall, Lucas was seemingly using parsec as a measurement of time instead of distance while having Han describe the Kessel Run.

I don't think Lucas had a clear idea whether the two concepts were related. My view is that there was both FTL and hyper space. FTL would operate within normal space time, so any scene where the Falcon is chased by Star Destroyers might involve going there. Hyperspace, on the other hand, is similar to warp speed, essentially taking a short cut by leaving the normal plane of our existence.

Nah, I think it's all one thing.
Going into hyperspace allows you to go little bits above lightspeed, but going little bits above lightspeed in hyperspace makes you go distances equivalent to high warp factors.
For some reason, the SW universe measures the speed you go in hyperspace, whereas the Trek universe measures how far you go in realspace.

I think y'all are thinking about this too much.

Didn't the Falcon go 'to lightspeed' from some hangar in TFA? And the onlookers were actually able to see it leaving while the hangar wasn't blown into Higgs Bosons?

SW isn't SciFi. Never was. Stop thinking about it. In this Fantasy universe, physics as we know it doesn't exist. End of story. It's why I also just let go of JJ using his Trek Trick of people seeing just about everything in the galaxy being blown up from the surface of their respective planets. It was unforgiveable in ST 2009. It doesn't matter in TFA.

We come from a Trek nerd board, of course we do.

If only there was a comic to pick apart?

Okay, so I rented the movie, not having seen it when it was in the theaters, and I'm at the point where Han and Leia are having their "talk" before Han goes off and gets himself killed. Okay, you know how it is when you're sitting there, eating something, say some cookies, and you reach down to grab another one, only to discover that you've already eaten the last one? Yeah, that's how I'm feeling at this point. I don't hate it, but it feels like there's this unnecessary emptiness as a result of my not having paid attention. Problem is, I have paid attention to the film. Mind you, this puts the movie above every other JJ Abrams film I've seen, but so far its not what I'd hoped. Best way to describe it is I feel like someone who loved Empire, but had never seen ANH must have felt if the next film they saw was RotJ. You're not ruined on the franchise, but you're still let down.

Maybe a second pass will do it for you. I loved it the first time (I didn't get to see it in theaters either), but the second time really clicked for me, and it's currently my favorite Star Wars film. Yes, I like it more than ESB. Yes, that surprises me as well. Yes, I am answering assumed questions. Yes, we have no bananas.

I like it better than RoTJ, but it's tied with ESB at best for me.

Chup will be along soon to ask both of you whether it's the best Star Wars movie.

TFA is certainly the best film outside the OT. It's a better film than RotJ, really, but RotJ cashes in on a lot from ANH and ESB.

There is no question in my mind that ANH and ESB are better films than TFA. I don't expect to ever like it more than either of them, either. Where TFA stands relative to RotJ probably will depend on what the next two movies do with what it's started.

Well, I finished it. I'd say it was easily the best movie Abrams has done, but that's sort of like saying Britney Spears just released her best album to date. Unlike most of Abrams movies, this felt like a second draft, where as the others all seemed to be first drafts. Still could have used another draft or two, IMHO.

And I'm sorry, but Ford phoned in most of his performance. There were times when he was Han, but a lot of times he was just Ford, hanging out on the set. When he and Vader Jr. meet up on the bridge, it didn't take long before I started saying, "Oh, for fuck's sake! Just kill him already and get it over with." Carrie Fisher looked like she was just happy to have a paying gig again. She also seemed to be moving rather painfully at times, I wonder if she's arthritic or if that was something she adopted for the character.

One thing about the new stormtrooper suits that bothered me was how they were made. The design looked fine, but they didn't seem to be as substantial as the original suits. Not sure if they used a different process or if they used thinner materials, but they looked like they'd crack like an egg if the guy wearing them fell over.

Overall, I'd put it slightly above Jedi, since there weren't any teddy bears in the film, but there were moments in the film where you'd have this fantastic shot, like when Kylo was watching the beam fire, but the scenes around that shot were so weak that it was jarring. It doesn't look like they created a foundation so weak that the next films can't be better. Certainly the new cast is strong enough to pull it off, and hopefully, with Abrams stepping away from the director's chair, they'll be equals to ANH, if not ESB.

I guess my post looks a little harsh up there. I did enjoy TFA quite a bit, I'd call it quite a good movie despite being obviously derivative, IV and V are just on another level.

So Now We Know How C-3PO Got His Red Arm In The Force Awakens

So it's something in a comic book and therefore doesn't really matter.

Yeah, it was really pointless. At the end when the falcon is flying away...

Until the comic book was released, canon was that it was his masturbating arm. He didn't want to ruin the finish on his shiny gold arm.

It served some comic relief, and it sort of gave us the lost arm bit, which has been a running element through each episode so far.

More importantly, it allowed the toy companies to sell a fuck tonne more actions figure versions of Threepio....

That is my hope as well. If it goes down the path of "Star Trek: Into Darkness" and rips lines as well as scenes from the sequal I will be pissed.