SPOILER THREAD: SW: The Force Awakens

[GoktimusPrime]

I love the fact that the film elicited this amount of thought and discussion. It's terrific.

Don't you wish that we could have a similar level discussion about the Transformers films?!? I really, really wish that we could. Transformers honestly deserves a better film franchise than what we've currently gotten from Bay. I don't accept the excuse that, "It's only Transformers." Marvel, Beast Wars and IDW (and possibly the upcoming IDW-inspired TV series) have demonstrated that Transformers can be better.

The Resistance is still a little bit racists to aliens, sure they let Akbar and Nien Numn and co who helped the Rebellion join, but they never seem to let members of Greedo, Nute Gunray or the other "bad guy" alien races join, surely not all those green guys are jerks with slow trigger fingers.

That's a good point and ties in with what educators refer to as the Hidden Curriculum in fiction where certain races are portrayed as good and others as evil. Going by the films, one might deduce that all Mon Calamari are good and all Rodians are evil. However, the Expanded Universe does mix things up more and shows us good and evil characters across different races. This includes the still canonical Clone Wars TV series, which gave us heroic Rodians such as Onaconda Farr and Bolla Ropal, as well as innocents such as Rotta the Hutt and Mama the Hutt, Borkus (a Sullustan) etc.). The Original Trilogy showed us both an evil Twi'lek (Bib Fortuna) and innocent Twi'leks (Oola, Lyn Me), and the Sequels* gave us the Jedi Twi'lek general, Aayla Secura) etc. It would be nice if sequels could show us more aliens among the Republic/Resistance ranks belonging to races that have previously only been represented by evil characters (e.g. Aqualish, Trandoshans etc.). The xenophobic recruitment policy of the First Order prevents the films from explicitly showing evil non-humans, although it is possible to see more self-centred and otherwise morally dubious aliens outside of the First Order (as we saw on Jakku), and yeah, they could include species that have previously only been seen as good guys in the films; e.g. Nautolans etc.)

I don't think that we're going to see a Hutt piloting an X-Wing anytime ever.

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*Yes, I am aware that Aayla originated from the comics

[Gofigure]

Love the conversation and discourse these movies create. So many fan theories and hypotheses are created which is what makes this universe so much fun 😀

Going to see the flick again tomorrow. To really focus on the lightsaber battle scene amoungst others

[Gofigure]

100% agree Goktimus. If we had an IDW quality of movie universe it would be amazing. Would allow us to have conversations like this on a regular basis...

[i_amtrunks]

Agree that the human cast was much more varied this time, I figured the Empire recruited their entire navy from on planet where everyone speaks in a haughty English accent last time.

I really liked that they made mention that the first order troopers are taken/stolen/bought and brainwashed and trained from a very young age.

After the clone troopers were professionals (but aged quickly) and the empire seemed to enlist regular humans (not that we'd see if they weren't due to the crappy armour), it's nice to have an in movie explanation as to why the First Order soldiers seemed to be far more competent than hone empire troopers.

I do continue to wonder why they bother with the armour when a single pithy blaster shot can still take them out through the chest plate which should be one of the thicker parts.

Also I did keep wondering how all the troopers knew Finn was a traitor since it seems like they can't take off their helmets very much and Starkiller base was so enormous that surely most had never seen one another, especially without their helmets on. I presume there was some kind of broadcast, but still...

[GoktimusPrime]

Behind the scenes <---a brief glimpse at the use of miniature models and practical effects used in Episode VII.

After the clone troopers were professionals (but aged quickly) and the empire seemed to enlist regular humans (not that we'd see if they weren't due to the crappy armour), it's nice to have an in movie explanation as to why the First Order soldiers seemed to be far more competent than hone empire troopers.

That, and the Stormtrooper who was left to guard Rey was 007. I think that when she finally got through to him with the Jedi Mind Trick that she must've projected an image in his mind of a martini served shaken not stirred.

I do continue to wonder why they bother with the armour when a single pithy blaster shot can still take them out through the chest plate which should be one of the thicker parts.

My understanding was that the armour simply serves to protect them from lower impact damage, such as melee attacks, falls, bumps etc., but not direct hits. The same could be said about the protective gear worn by modern soldiers in real life; they don't render them invulnerable, but do increase odds of survival by offering superior protection against lesser injuries.

Also I did keep wondering how all the troopers knew Finn was a traitor since it seems like they can't take off their helmets very much and Starkiller base was so enormous that surely most had never seen one another, especially without their helmets on. I presume there was some kind of broadcast, but still...

Stormtroopers only look alike to you if you're racist, you damn racist! </jokes>
I assume that it was, as you said, a broadcast. A warrant for Finn and Rey's arrest was evidently broadcast across the galaxy along with their details, which probably included that Finn was an ex-Stormtrooper.

When they infiltrated Starkiller base and took out some Stormtroopers, I was kinda expecting Finn and Han to wear their armour and pretend to be Stormtroopers in order to move about the base more easily. It's worked before, and both Finn and Han have experience wearing the armour (even if Han wore an older version). Sure, some fans would continue to complain that it would be yet another rip-off of A New Hope, but contextually it'd make sense.

[UltimateGalvatron]

Stormtrooper armor is (as quoted from a Pros and Cons of Phase I Clone Troopers and Imperial Stormtroopers) is that Stormtrooper armour is supposed to take direct hits from blaster wounds causing serious injury, spread the damage across the body, knocking the Stormtrooper out rather then killing him, letting him fight another battle (although some could argue that a knocked out Trooper is equally useful as a dead one ).

[CBratron]

Best moment was during Ren's first tantrum and the pair of stormtroopers deciding they won't walk down that corridor.

[UltimateGalvatron]

Best moment was during Ren's first tantrum and the pair of stormtroopers deciding they won't walk down that corridor.

Yeah, that was pretty funny.

"Anything else?"

[GoktimusPrime]

Best moment was during Ren's first tantrum and the pair of stormtroopers deciding they won't walk down that corridor.

Yes! And you can bet that it probably happened a lot during the Original Trilogy too, we just didn't see it.
"Oh look, Lord Vader's choking Fred to death in that room. Let's walk away before we're next."

Then there's Robot Chicken's explanation... that Vader's Force Choke doesn't actually work, but everyone just pretends that it does, and the 'victim' assumes a new identity after each 'death.'

[Meister]

The last battle rey and ren IMO is the weakest point in the movie.
As much as I know ren was injured by chewie his force was rather weak in not able to retrieve a light saber. I mean did you saw how he stopped a laser beam in the start of the movie? Hence this is the weakest part.

Fair point, I guess I found myself interpreting that scene that the reason why Kylo was struggling to call the light sabre to him was because Rey (although off screen) was also calling for it at the same time hence stopping it from going to him, so they were locked in a force battle for the light sabre at the same time which eventually Rey won indicating that her connection to the force (even at a beginner level) is phenomenal, further denigrating kylo as just not being good enough to be "the one"...

Alternatively, since the light sabre has the ability to call out to Rey, perhaps it also has the ability to reject Kylo, who knows maybe it contains Midichlorians lol