With you on #1. I like Star Wars, I enjoyed the first trilogy and I grew up with it but I'm not emotionally attached to it like many people I know. But I thought this latest one was well done and I didn't want to track down JJ Abrams with a hatchet like I did after the Star Trek reboot (I am rather attached to Star Trek TOS). So that was good.
Anyway, that's to say, casual fan here! What would you like to discuss?
I think I’m mainly interested in seeing if there are other people having a response similar to mine. I mean, I watched the movie and enjoyed it, but I didn’t feel like it was amazing. I keep feeling like I’m missing something, but I guess what I’m missing is that innate connection I feel to that universe and those characters (old and new
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I agree that the acting wasn't terribly nuanced, but if the script doesn't support that style of acting, I can't really blame the actors. The movie did what it set out to do, I think. Rather like Crimson Peak--it was what it was and I enjoyed it for what it was. No more, no less.
I think comparing TFA to MMFR is apples to oranges. They might be the same media, but they're hardly the same thing. They each serve a different purpose and that purpose is going to appeal to different people differently.
I was thinking about my feelings for MMFR vs SWTFA. I agree, they can't really be compared to each other, it was more my reaction to "the most recent film in a world/franchise that is being rebooted after some time, where I have a bit more than a passing interest in the created world". I realized, while talking to J about it today, that I think I preferred MMFR because I felt there was something at stake. I cared what was going on.
I was probably way too emotionally attached to the original trilogy to be considered a casual fan, but I am not over-the-moon about the new film; I liked it a lot, but it was far from perfect.
I was 7 when I saw Star Wars, and that is the perfect age for wonder and magic.
Everything about Empire was awesome, Luke especially (I was all about Luke then, although I can't really remember why).
The cliffhanger was AMAZING. The three years I had to wait for Jedi were an eternity. No stretch of time will ever be longer than those three years.
I think what really got me going about Empire (and Jedi) was our Girl Scout summer camp counselor, Max (named after Blue Max). First geek I knew, and the geek to which all others will be measured. She introduced me to D&D, Buckaroo Banzai, and fanfic. She would have taken me to my first Con (Baltocon), if my mom would have let me go. I often wonder what happened to her. I'm surprised I haven't run into her as I'm sure if she still lived in the area we would be moving in many of the same circles.
That is a potent mix for falling in love with something.
I wonder to if things that kept me emotionally apart from Star Wars were: my parents weren't into it, I didn't have sibling who was into it, and we didn't have copies of it at home so I would rewatch the films to death.
Yes! I think she focus too much on the scale of destruction idea for this article, that would be a great thing to talk about on its own as it's a valid criticism but makes this commentary too broad. She does really get at some great points, such as:
“The Force Awakens” half-promises to deliver that useful context in future movies, but that’s neither an answer nor a solution to some of the problems the film poses. It’s lazy storytelling, but it’s also asking your audience to be moved by a placeholder. It’s painting a sad face on cardboard. It’s asking for a loan. While some scenes are terrific, dynamic and beautifully paced-I’m thinking of the lightsaber duel and Poe and Finn’s first flight-the climax of the film asks the audience to project emotional resonance on a situation that has (and I cannot emphasize this enough) none. The Han-Ben relationship is among the emptiest I’ve ever been asked to mourn.
Hello! It's your birthday! Here is a present, I saw it tonight and so leapt back to read & contribute! The kicker for me was Leia hugging Rey, and the camera pulling up seeing everyone buzzing around while that realization was let to happen at center screen for a while. Seeing patterns, seeing relationships and sacrifices repeated but differently. When we were younger we identified with the your hero, and we still do, except our young heroes and heroines are battle scarred much as ourselves. There are gifts from the original all over this film, the sand, the bar, the ship leaving in the flashback, the snark about the sanitation job/trash (compactor) talking, the catwalk I am your father reversal. (Still no rails? I question the Dark Side's safety officer.) but indeed very many characters to keep track of, the strategy on the bridge a little forced, the droid a little too cute, but charming. The thing is though, it's now meant to transcend generations, and it does.
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Anyway, that's to say, casual fan here! What would you like to discuss?
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I think comparing TFA to MMFR is apples to oranges. They might be the same media, but they're hardly the same thing. They each serve a different purpose and that purpose is going to appeal to different people differently.
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Do you know what it was that initially made you love the original trilogy, snd what keeps the love there?
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Everything about Empire was awesome, Luke especially (I was all about Luke then, although I can't really remember why).
The cliffhanger was AMAZING. The three years I had to wait for Jedi were an eternity. No stretch of time will ever be longer than those three years.
I think what really got me going about Empire (and Jedi) was our Girl Scout summer camp counselor, Max (named after Blue Max). First geek I knew, and the geek to which all others will be measured. She introduced me to D&D, Buckaroo Banzai, and fanfic. She would have taken me to my first Con (Baltocon), if my mom would have let me go. I often wonder what happened to her. I'm surprised I haven't run into her as I'm sure if she still lived in the area we would be moving in many of the same circles.
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I wonder to if things that kept me emotionally apart from Star Wars were: my parents weren't into it, I didn't have sibling who was into it, and we didn't have copies of it at home so I would rewatch the films to death.
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http://www.salon.com/2015/12/22/the_star_wars_fandom_menace_the_glaring_emotional_blind_spots_that_power_the_force_awakens/
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“The Force Awakens” half-promises to deliver that useful context in future movies, but that’s neither an answer nor a solution to some of the problems the film poses. It’s lazy storytelling, but it’s also asking your audience to be moved by a placeholder. It’s painting a sad face on cardboard. It’s asking for a loan. While some scenes are terrific, dynamic and beautifully paced-I’m thinking of the lightsaber duel and Poe and Finn’s first flight-the climax of the film asks the audience to project emotional resonance on a situation that has (and I cannot emphasize this enough) none. The Han-Ben relationship is among the emptiest I’ve ever been asked to mourn.
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