Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[Packerfan75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

To me it felt like the editing moved so fast that it almost didn't have time for lots of transitions. IIRC the wipes are always of the same duration in Lucas' movies but perhaps they sped them up in TFA which is why we're missing them, at least at first glance?

I would love, love, love an EE bluray to inject some more dialog and flesh out the story and characters some more, slowing down the frenetic pace. Jakku was a nice start and then it was lightspeed from there on. I know it's probably more due to JJ's style but it almost felt rushed or that too much was cut for time like LOTR or The Hobbit.

[Outlaw1986]

Originally Posted by chad_1138

70mm IMAX screening in 48 hours

Just ordered my 70mm Imax tickets! Had to order them for January 9th since they where sold out next weekend. Can't wait!

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by Jasonic

I noticed some wipe downs and diagonals. I'll have to try to pay more attention to them next time.

The way you worded that reminds me of this:

[X400]

This has probably been posted in here already

but i think this is the best theatre swag made for TFA, these are from Cinemex in Mexico



All I got was a dinky cup with a tiny plastic toy on the lid

[Elbie]

Just saw it. I thought it was OK at best. I had quite a few problems with it from the acting (Which isn't such a big deal being that none of the previous movies had stellar acting for the most part), the editing, and the script, but I'll add it to the Blu-ray collection. Look forward to reading comments since the premiere since I stayed out of the thread.

[Packerfan75]

Originally Posted by AlwaysRelaxing24

1) I would love to see that too. 10 to 15 minutes to slow the pace down would be amazing.

2) Will we get fans complaining how it isn't the original they saw in the theater? Or do they just hold onto that irrational hate for Lucas?

No matter what happens, fans will be complaining. You can add that to the list of guarantees in life beside death and taxes. Lucas hate goes with the same people I just mentioned which is a shame because without him, we'd be talking and complaining about something else right now. I've had my share of complaints to be sure (the altered OT is the first thing that comes to mind) but it's the fact that we have Star Wars at all that keeps my criticisms in check.

[JamesKurtovich]

Originally Posted by AlwaysRelaxing24

1) I would love to see that too. 10 to 15 minutes to slow the pace down would be amazing.

2) Will we get fans complaining how it isn't the original they saw in the theater? Or do they just hold onto that irrational hate for Lucas?

I'd be surprised if they withheld the theatrical cut if an extended version was released.

I'd love an EE myself, especially in those parts where Abrams goes all Abrams on his action scenes and they get a little long-winded.

[CrazyBlu-RayFan]

I'm not a Star Wars fan, but even as a non-fan this film was disappointing. The real title of this film should of been Star Wars: Greatest Hit, because the plot was A New Hope with added sprinklings of Empire Strikes Back (they role reversed the twist) and Revenge of the Sith (Kylo Ren is just as annoyingly angsty as Anakin from the prequels, but his writing isn't as bad as Anakin's was). The unoriginal story already killed the film, but there are a few thing that bump my rating up. I give huge applause for having a great mix of practical effects and CGI effects. The actors do a good job. The movie is very well shot. John Williams score is as great as always. But that's all the praise I can give, I've said it countless time, you could have the best editing, directing, acting in your film, but if your writing is crap then you just have polished crap. The film does nothing new to try to bring in new fans who don't care for the series (about half way through I knew everything that would happen). The lack of subtlety in some scenes becomes laughable (The First Order rally scene). And the fact that this is the greatest nostalgia trick I've seen kind of disgusts me, everyone is so blind by nostalgia that they don't see the unoriginal story structure. I wanted a new story, not a re-hash, but I didn't get that. Even though I'm not a fan of the series there is no doubt that this is one of the biggest disappointments of 2015.

2.0/5.0

[mrr1]

Originally Posted by YoungCrazyBlu-RayFan

there is no doubt that this is one of the biggest disappointments of 2015.

LOOL

One of the biggest!

[CrazyBlu-RayFan]

Originally Posted by mrr1

LOOL

One of the biggest!

Yep, it will either be on my worst of the year list or one of the runner-ups. I'm obviously talking about the quality of the film, not box office, it's definitely going to be 2015's highest grossing film.

[Dr_Bedlo]

I have a question that I'd like anyone with experience seeing the film multiple times and venues to respond to. I've seen the film twice myself so far. First time on a standard digital IMAX 3D presentation, and the second time at a Cinemark XD Real 3D. I liked the IMAX presentation the best of the two.

I've recently discovered that a little further south east of my area is a theater that has it in Dolby Atmos. I am toying with the idea of making a drive to the theater to see it. However I wonder if the difference, sonically, will be all that remarkable to make the 2.5 hour trek? Any thoughts (other than I'm more than a bit touched)???

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I have this note also in the spoiler version of this thread.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by YoungCrazyBlu-RayFan

I'm not a Star Wars fan, but even as a non-fan this film was disappointing. The real title of this film should of been Star Wars: Greatest Hit, because the plot was A New Hope with added sprinklings of Empire Strikes Back (they role reversed the twist) and Revenge of the Sith (Kylo Ren is just as annoyingly angsty as Anakin from the prequels, but his writing isn't as bad as Anakin's was). The unoriginal story already killed the film, but there are a few thing that bump my rating up. I give huge applause for having a great mix of practical effects and CGI effects. The actors do a good job. The movie is very well shot. John Williams score is as great as always. But that's all the praise I can give, I've said it countless time, you could have the best editing, directing, acting in your film, but if your writing is crap then you just have polished crap.

You own five Final Destination films, don't you?

The lack of subtlety in some scenes becomes laughable (The First Order rally scene).

You own four Evil Dead films, don't you?

[Rodney-2187]

Originally Posted by Dr_Bedlo

I have a question that I'd like anyone with experience seeing the film multiple times and venues to respond to. I've seen the film twice myself so far. First time on a standard digital IMAX 3D presentation, and the second time at a Cinemark XD Real 3D. I liked the IMAX presentation the best of the two.

I've recently discovered that a little further south east of my area is a theater that has it in Dolby Atmos. I am toying with the idea of making a drive to the theater to see it. However I wonder if the difference, sonically, will be all that remarkable to make the 2.5 hour trek? Any thoughts (other than I'm more than a bit touched)???

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I have this note also in the spoiler version of this thread.

I wish there was some special seal of approval like that, but I haven't found any significance. I've read that IMAX has strict policies and quality control to make sure theatres meet their high standards, but I've seen some drastically different screen sizes and picture quality that all had an IMAX listing. Same with the others. I've seen really bright screens and some that looked like I was wearing a pair of sunglasses.
I think it's just best to try out all the theatres. I like ones with assigned seating so when I buy my ticket online I can pick out the seat I want. Some theatres may have great quality sound, but they do not have the volume up very high. I like it loud I want to feel the explosions.
I say go try that theatre out. You will never know until you do, because the marketing and the technology have less to do with quality than who is managing the place in my experience.

[CrazyBlu-RayFan]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

You own five Final Destination films, don't you?



You own four Evil Dead films, don't you?

Yes, but the death's are different for each film, plus I only like the fourth film because it's fun in 3D, the fifth one had a pretty good twist. Plus 2 & 5 added new rules to death's design. There were some new thing added to them.


Star Wars had some subtlety to it, you could definitely tell that the empire was based from Nazis, but the series didn't go as obvious as that rally scene did. Evil Dead was never subtle, so I never expect any Evil Dead film/show to have subtlety. But Star Wars still had some in it's previous entries.

Also, my choices for horror does not reflect how I feel about this Sci-Fi film. As you can see, the films I own that are consider Sci-Fi include Ex Machina, A Clockwork Orange, and The Thing [1982] (at least this horror film has Sci-Fi in it), it would of been better to use those as comparisons.

[L.J.]

Kids and me just got back from a 10 am showing. An easy 4.5/5 very enjoyable.

[chad_1138]

Viewing #4: IMAX 70mm tomorrow

[SkyAntoine]

Taking a vacation day on Thursday to go with the fam to finally see this. It's been torture to keep the anticipation in check and stay away from spoilers.

[rickah88]

I've seen IV
I've seen VII

Sure there are some subtle similarities. As a fan of both, I welcomed them.
What film series doesn't have similarities? Isn't the crux of a film series?

[JamesKurtovich]

I like the theory that Abrams went with a story structurally similar to the original Star Wars because it's Star Wars for a new generation. They likely wanted to play it safe with common elements everyone associates with the franchise. I can understand this and I believe that Episode VIII and IX will be a little less conspicuous with the callbacks to the OT.

I was fine with the similarities I noticed and I think this is one of the worst complaints as the two films aren't as similar as most would have you believe. The movie was very enjoyable. The characters were charismatic, funny, and interesting. Rey is not a Luke copycat and the same can be said for Kylo Ren and Vader.

[CrazyBlu-RayFan]

Originally Posted by rickah88

I've seen IV
I've seen VII

Sure there are some subtle similarities. As a fan of both, I welcomed them.
What film series doesn't have similarities? Isn't the crux of a film series?

There's similarities and then there's just rehashing.

[Show spoiler]Han Solo replaces Obi-Wan as the hero's (Rey) mentor figure who is killed by the villain while they watch. The new Death Star (that's what I'm calling it) makes the same mistake as the first one, weak point at the end of a trench. Also this whole plot started because Rey found a droid with important information to help the rebels, which is almost exactly how Luke got thrown in the plot in A New Hope. Plus the role reversal of Empire's twist, this time one of the heroes is the father of the villain.

The film doesn't have original bone in it's story structure.