Spoiler Dicussion of The Force Awakens

See the original three, then this one.

One major disappointment to me for the new one was how much of the material, themes, ideas were recycled and reused from the original movie.

I still thought it was a good movie, though.

Quote: Dalex64

One major disappointment to me for the new one was how much of the material, themes, ideas were recycled and reused from the original movie.

I felt I was watching a remake and sequel of Ep. IV. Then today I saw a meme calling it "A New New Hope," which summarizes things nicely.

There was a lot of running around Jakku as well. It felt like half the movie transpired there. ("Why does everyone want to go back to Jakku?")

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I still thought it was a good movie, though.

I may need to see it again.

Funny thing. I was on a family vacation to a beach resort in '83, but we were going to spend a couple of days in Guadalajara first. We were supposed to meet some relatives there as well. We arrived early, and we decided to see "Return of the Jedi." We left a message at the front desk saying where we'd gone.

After the movie we returned to the hotel, which was only two blocks away, and found a message that they'd gone to see the movie also. My dad and I returned to the multiplex. He got me a ticket and asked me to tell them where to meet us for supper. I did, but I stayed for another showing :)

I thought as this new movies is so similar to Ep. 4, we should try to contrast them.

So let's take the clichés first.

1) The reluctant hero.

In Ep. 4 Luke is asked by Kenobi to join him in delivering the droids to Alderaan. Luke is reluctant to go (of course), and accepts only after the Empire kills off his family.

In Ep. 7 things are more complicated. We have three reluctant heroes: Rey, Finn and Han. Rey is waiting for her family to return to Jakku, Finn is concerned only in getting away from the First Order he deserted, and Han just wants to go back to smuggling. All are more or less forced by the relentless pursuit of the First Order to take up the fight. Though Finn does make a positive decision when Rey is captured by young Vader, I mean Kylo Ren.

2) The hero at a dead-end existence.

In Ep. 4 Luke is trapped in a moisture farm (though I don't think they raise moisture <g>) due to his duties and obligations towards his family. He longs to escape, but finds his attempts frustrated by his duties and obligations towards his family.

In Ep. 7 Rey's situation isn't as clear. We know she expects her family to return, but we know nothing about them (only that they left the planet), and we know she counts the days she's been waiting. She's on her own, scavenging parts and/or materials from crashed ships in order to survive.

Both are offered an out, ultimately through a droid concealing important information and a ruthless enemy pursuing that droid.

I can't help but think, though, that Rey is far more in charge when circumstances force her to make a choice.

So the Hans Solo character dies in this movie?
Means nothing, Jack Sparrow died in one of
the pirate movies, look where he is now. Spock
died in a ST movie and came back.

Quote: Evenbob

So the Hans Solo character dies in this movie?Means nothing

Han Solo was frozen in carbonite at the end of "The Empire Strikes Back" it was because the film was released on May 17, 1980 and Harrison Ford was already under contract to play Indiana Jones which began filming on June 23, 1980.

The $1,000 /per week that he was paid for Star Wars had obviously increased by the first sequel, and they won't sure they could pay his asking price for the following sequel. By Return of the Jedi, Harrison Ford was paid $500K and convinced that the franchise was played out Harrison Ford begged for the writers to kill off Han Solo.

For this film, Harrison Ford seems to have made more money than the rest of the cast combined. For that reason alone, they may leave the character dead.

Sherlock Holmes went off a cliff in "The Final Problem" first published in Strand Magazine in December 1893. Sherlock was brought back to life in a book written in 1903 to meet public demand. Although Conan Doyle wrote a prequel during those ten years.

If the next film drops in revenue by a billion dollars, they may indeed rethink the decision to kill off Han Solo. In this case Harrison Ford should be able to write the most lucrative contract in film history.

The film is almost certainly going to pass the 79 million tickets sold by Jurassic World earlier this year, and may surpass the 103 million tickets sold for The Exorcist in 1973.

In 4 days it's at $610 mil. What was the
production cost.

Quote: Evenbob

In 4 days it's at $610 mil. What was the production cost.

Disney does not release production costs. Disney examiner estimates $201 million

TOTAL COSTS = $201,000,000
Film licenses (Abu Dhabi, Iceland, Scotland, London) = $17,000,000
Real sets (X-Wings, Millenium Falcon) = $26,000,000
Real costumes (Chewbacca, R2-D2, C3-P0) = $18,000,000
Casting (namely the legacy cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher) = $40,000,000
Direct-production (cameras including IMAX and 35 mm, lighting, post-prod, catering) = $25,000,000
Creatives (director Abrams, producer Kennedy, writer Kasdan) = $30,000,000
Music (composer Williams, soundstage rental, orchestra) = $22,000,000
Other (insurance, marketing and promotion) = $23,000,000

Avatar in 2009 made Domestic: $760.5m+ Foreign: $2,027m= Worldwide: $2,788m
Avatar made $200m in China January 2010, while Transformers sequel made $320m in China in July 2014. China builds a massive number of theaters every year.

There is some hope that this SW film could clear $3 billion worldwide. It's a better movie than Avatar, but it follows the first one so closely that it borders on parody.


My brother said the tagline should be "We blow up the third and biggest Deathstar".

Quote: Pacomartin

It's a better movie than Avatar, but it follows the first one so closely that it borders on parody.

All protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, it was quite obviously a reboot. IMO the closest analogue is Star Trek: The Next Generation.

But Abrahams for once did something I really like: Rey (I'm on the verge of having a major girl crush here). SW has always had strong female characters. Remember Leia grabs Solo's gun and says "Someone has to save our skins," right in the first movie, in 1977 no less. Padme takes until the second movie, but she gets into the action also.

Rey outdoes them both for one simple reason: she's the movie's lead.

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My brother said the tagline should be "We blow up the third and biggest Deathstar".

You'd think after losing two Death Stars, they'd stop building overly expensive weapons that are hideously vulnerable to attack by ridiculously cheap fighters.

IN all fairness, though, recall aircraft sank the big ships in WWII, like aircraft carriers and battleships. So, amazingly, that part of SW, the big bad weapon destroyed by the tiny, one-man craft, is perhaps the most realistic aspect.

Quote: Nareed

But Abrahams for once did something I really like: Rey (I'm on the verge of having a major girl crush here).

Daisy is a real find, and the character is very appealing. She is only 23 years old and has almost no credits (6 guest appearances on TV shows in UK, and 1 voice acting in low budget animated film).

Quote: Pacomartin

For this film, Harrison Ford seems to have made more money than the rest of the cast combined. For that reason alone, they may leave the character dead.

And that explains why Mark Hamill just appears in two scenes and doesn't speak at all.

Oh, no question Ford is by far the most popular actor in this movie. But if you're going to have Luke Skywalker, you have to have Hamill. And if you're going to have Leia, you have to have Fisher.

By the SW universe rules, Han cannot be brought back, not even as a Kenobi-like apparition. But he could appear in flash-backs, if Lucasfilm and Disney can afford it. I can easily come up with a dozen scenes involving Leia, Kylo Ren, Luke and even Chewbacca invoking Solo in memory to a point between Return of the Jedi and A New New Hope.

And the obligatory FB meme invocation: What if the Indiana Jones movies are the dreams of Han Solo when he's frozen in carbonite?