[Warning Possible Spoilers] Force Awakens discussion (Post viewing) (Warning Spoilers)

One of the major obstacles for me in enjoying this film is that it didn't have Lucas' signature cinematography feel to it. It was distinctly Abrams sans lens flare (thank the gods). Even the Millenium Falcon interior, which had been painstakingly reconstructed, didn't quite feel like the freighter Chewie and Han used to smuggle goods around under the noses of the Empire. It was hard to get over because it completely changed the feel of the film.

Another obstacle was the pacing of the film. Lucas wasn't one to shy away from slow, emotional development moments even if they were poorly written. Abrams doesn't really have that. The scene where Finn realizes he isn't a mindless killing machine happened so fast that I wasn't quite sure what made Finn different from the rest.

However, I did like it.

I've heard people complain that they didn't understand how Kylo Ren could possibly have been beaten by Rey, but if you pay attention you'll notice that Kylo Ren is an undisciplined child. Although Vader was prone to punishing failure with a Force hug around the throat, Kylo Ren throws a full-blown temper tantrum (slicing the control panel). It would appear to me that since falling to the Dark Side, Kylo Ren hasn't really been trained much at all. He's got a lot of raw potential and carries with him the emotional baggage to fuel his Dark Side tendencies, but he's also secretly tortured by his desire for reconciliation with his father.

Rey on the other hand is learning to stop running from her destiny. She spent most of the film running from it while simultaneously awaiting the return of her parents. By the time she faces off with Kylo Ren she has become less afraid of who she is and begins to embrace her connection to the Force. You'll notice her technique with the lightsaber is all thrusting, which made it much more believable to me than Finn's style which demonstrated way more finesse than I would expect from who has never used a lightsaber before nor is he Force-sensitive.

All told, this film was magnificent in comparison to the prequels, but is quite obviously not Lucas's Star Wars. It also had the impossible task of setting up the storyline for several movies without being so vague that there was hardly any content. I look forward to what comes next in the franchise.

I seen the movie on Thursday, opening night. I am going to see it again tomorrow. I think after seeing some of the posts here, it will allow me to look at things in a different perspective and perhaps focus on other things.

Remember it is difficult to fully understand a movie and its plot in just one viewing. It is once we talk about it that we can bounce ideas off each other and get a better grasp of the movie. I originally didn't like it as a stand-alone movie as much as some of the other ones, but remembering that it is just the first in a series of movies, it was pretty good. I look forward to seeing the next ones.

It is also important to recognize that Star Wars is not a cult movie anymore. They didn't write or make this movie just for the serious fans but for many people. That could be a good or bad thing depending on which side you fall on, but the reality is they geared it for the larger base. I am sure it would be different if it was made specifically for a cult following.

I think Proteus, Jamie, and TZB made some great points about some of the "hole" in the movie.

http://www.tor.com/2015/12/21/star-wars-the-force-awakens-spoiler-review/

I actually missed the first twenty minutes of the film because my best friend hit a deer and I needed to help get her home. We had bought tickets days ago and I was pretty excited. I have to say I was really impressed with the Internet as a whole that many people did not post spoilers. Usually when a movie comes out they are full of them.

My thoughts echo everyone here. Being a trained sword fighter I was pretty put off that two people with no saber training were able to use a saber proficiently against someone who clearly did have training (albeit not very good training) however seeing a Storm trooper use a type of energy staff I could almost stretch belief into Finn having some kind of exposure to that.

I did have a favorite moment though and one thing I liked about this movie versus the previous was a stronger female lead characters. It's the moment when Rey and the rest of the fleet come home after destroying the planet Death Star. Everyone else is celebrating as Rey looks on emotionally destroyed. Leia sees her and knows. She knows exactly what Rey is feeling and walks up to her and just hugs her. Does not say a word, just empathizes with her while everyone else is happy and cheering. Those two women there together. Leia is in essence passing her torch right there. To me that was the most Jedi moment in the movie. Not Luke standing there on a cliff looking all scraggly and having had abandoned the Galaxy to his screw ups.

That moment was very touching for me and also very relatable.

The score and visuals are beautiful. Everything looks real, everything feels like part of a galaxy far, far away. The music is just as powerful as that of the original trilogy, though it relies on cues from the scores of the previous films. I really did enjoy watching this one. With that being said, I have many complaints. The score is not the only derivative aspect of TFA; in terms of storyline, locations, and characters, I feel like I've been on this ride before. Starting on a desert planet like A New Hope and then moving to a snowy planet like in Empire, the scene between Han and Kylo Ren echoing Luke's encounter with Vader, Snoke being the "new sith emperor", a third death star (which actually killed stars; not the smartest plan), Kylo Ren having the same moody personality as Annie in the prequels, a charming pilot, a guy who "didn't sign up for this!" (Poe + Finn = Han), and a strong female lead (Rey = Luke + Leia), and so on. Luke's scene didn't feel quite satisfying as a way to end the film. The pacing was strange, like it couldn't decide between being A New Hope and the opening scene of Revenge of the Sith.
With that being said, as it stands on its own, TFA is an amazing film. Without comparison to the previous films, it is solid, with very few flaws or horrible ideas. When compared to the prequel films, this one blows them out of the water. On its own, 9/10. As part of the series, 7/10. And, of course, for EU fans, even less as I've heard many of the other parts of the film were borrowing a lot of ideas from the old EU/legends canon.

I love Rey is a 'scavenger', and its clear she had lots of experience in wielding a staff... so her skills with a saber are understandable IMO, plus of course Ren wanted her alive. Plus also of course, being stronger in the Force then him might bring its own advantages to her.

Finn was maintenance before getting put into a stormtrooper division for that his first mission - which was not really expecting much in the way of organized resistance, as they landed right at the objective. They didn't seemingly have sentry patrols around the ship either - else they would have intercepted the escaping Tie fighter, or at least followed it down to its crash site. So it makes sense Finn had some marksmenship skills, but I don't think they would have neglected training sufficient to water down any remaining elements of humanity so his reaction to murder seems out of place for a storm trooper - unless that was not normal for the 1st Order and an example of Kylo's over reach. Perhap's Finn had been in maintenance too long and forget that type of training and instead idolized the stormtroper role in a way which was heroic instead of evil - hence his confrontation with his morals when confronted with the truth of the 1st Order.

Importantly, that moral decision seemed to be identified by Kylo as 'light', seemingly referencing the Force. Makes me think the 1st Order deliberately tries to be dark, or at least not light... in those terms.

Poe was clearly introduced in the opening scrawl. Though it is a bit unrealistic to engage multiple air targets and conduct precision ground attack at the same time over and over - it could point to some sort of eye tracking targeting system.... which makes sense, as the brain is fast enough, but not the hands and manual machine interface beyond a trigger pull and a button press on the HOTAS controls.

Luke looked legit, sitting on a windswept rocky outcrop, clinging to the edge of ending it all and deep in regret as the best cover from being felt/found in the Force by the Sith. He seemed to come alive in spirit when he saw his lightsaber and realized the moment had come to stop hiding, and sadness at Rey's difficult journey ahead.

So KyloRen; clearly a child of opportunity, still viewing the world in the context of his upbringing seeing things as given not earned. He seems to want power but on the condition it is more then anyone else. He knows what is capable with the Force and wants it delivered to him. His weakness is his own creation. A lot of potential in this one to transform into an adult.

I loved the struggle Han had to face, being asked to turn Kylo... and his courage in facing Kylo. Leia looked seated in the Force, though why she was not seemingly trained is beyond me at the moment.

I liked how this movie focused on 'running away' from problems, not so much it being a bad thing, but that its not the only option. People need to be true to themselves before they can be truely themselves, and running away from something is often the same thing as running back to the past (or a variation of it). You've been down that road before Neo...

So was this movie running back to its past!? Clearly its heavily modeled around A New Hope, but I think there is more to it, and it cannot be a repeat because A New Hope didn't exist when A New Hope came out. But yea, again, if you can capture and store the power of a Sun inside a planet, why have critical system on the surface where its vulnerable - huh?