Star Wars: The Force Awakens (SPOILERS)

[GrandMoffNick]

I've been reading a lot of stuff I agree with. Did however want to whole heartedly disagree with Justin's thoughts on Driver. I thought he very much fit the part of "fighting off the light side" when he was helmetless. I didn't take it as whiny but as torn.

I thought casting across the board was brilliant

[Dave]

I've been reading a lot of stuff I agree with. Did however want to whole heartedly disagree with Justin's thoughts on Driver. I thought he very much fit the part of "fighting off the light side" when he was helmetless. I didn't take it as whiny but as torn.

I thought casting across the board was brilliant

Agreed.  And I liked the fact that as a villain he wasn't a super villain.  He was young, torn about his morals, and imperfect in skill and purpose.

When I first heard the casting of Driver I kind of questioned it, but I really like how they wrote the character and how he acted like a powerful, confused, moody teenager. 

I completely agree with the comments that this is the kind of casting / acting / writing that would have been perfect for a young Anakin.

[Nicklab]

I thought Adam Driver did an amazing job with the character.  I wasn't sure about things when he was cast, but I think he made some great choices in playing Kylo Ren.  Kylo is absolutely conflicted about what his path.  And it seems that much of what he does is driven by his own fear.  To me, that makes Kylo Ren a character that has a serious basis in reality.

[StBrianOfMinneapolis]

I'm pretty sure this might be a deleted scene. The snowspeeder is parked in the background as  they run in to place the explosives.

[Jeff]

#2 - Who is the Republic and why are they different from the Resistance?  Does the Republic publicly recognize the First Order's sovereignty due to some kind of truce and have to fight them more in secret? 

I saw this on Yakface's twitter feed...  good summary.  I also heard the novelization has a bit more about the New Republic and it's homeworld that was obliterated by the Starkiller blast.

[Diddly]

On second viewing, it didn't look like Kylo lost any limbs, and the closeup of his upper body confirmed he had both hands. Finn knicked his right shoulder, and then Rey singed his thigh and left shoulder before giving him that gash on his face. So pretty banged up, and now that I think about it I wonder if he'll need any mechanical parts ala grandpa...

[Nicklab]

...that and the bowcaster shot he took from Chewie had to take a pretty significant physical toll on Kylo Ren!  And that alone was something that made me wince amidst the whole scene on the catwalk.  Chewbacca and Han were about as close as you could imagine.  No doubt Chewie had known Ben Solo from the time he was born.  It was such a painful moment to watch as a fan.  But imagining the pain Chewbacca felt watching this child that he's known since birth do THAT?  It makes the shot he took at Kylo Ren that much more significant.

[JediJman]

#2 - Who is the Republic and why are they different from the Resistance?  Does the Republic publicly recognize the First Order's sovereignty due to some kind of truce and have to fight them more in secret? 

I saw this on Yakface's twitter feed...  good summary.  I also heard the novelization has a bit more about the New Republic and it's homeworld that was obliterated by the Starkiller blast.

That was a good read and much more clear for me now.  Thanks!

[Jayson]

...that and the bowcaster shot he took from Chewie had to take a pretty significant physical toll on Kylo Ren!  And that alone was something that made me wince amidst the whole scene on the catwalk.  Chewbacca and Han were about as close as you could imagine.  No doubt Chewie had known Ben Solo from the time he was born.  It was such a painful moment to watch as a fan.  But imagining the pain Chewbacca felt watching this child that he's known since birth do THAT?  It makes the shot he took at Kylo Ren that much more significant.

Now that I think about it, Chewie was a crack shot in most of the films, especially after the Kylo scene. I wonder if he shot Kylo to wound, not kill?

[JediJman]

That's a definite possibility.  On the flip side, how does Kylo survive that shot and go on to fight both Finn and Rey?  He took that shot right in the gut, correct?  Single shots knocked out troopers left and right, and they're wearing full body armor.  Chewie himself takes a shot to the arm and is mostly out of commission.  Is Kylo wearing some kind of body armor or could he have minimized the impact using the force?  That's a bit of a plot hole for me.

[Dave]

That's a definite possibility.  On the flip side, how does Kylo survive that shot and go on to fight both Finn and Rey?  He took that shot right in the gut, correct?  Single shots knocked out troopers left and right, and they're wearing full body armor.  Chewie himself takes a shot to the arm and is mostly out of commission.  Is Kylo wearing some kind of body armor or could he have minimized the impact using the force?  That's a bit of a plot hole for me.

Agreed.  Looked like a solid shot to the hip that would have left him unable to run or move well.  And it did look like Rey got a solid stab to the shoulder and a slice across the chest that resulted in minimal damage.  Lightsaber kevlar?

[EdSolo]

Where was R2-KT in the movie? I caught most of the astromechs from that Disneyworld 4 pack but not her.

I believe she is in their twice.  In the background when the first come to the resistance base.  Second time is also in the background when they return to the resistance base after taking out Starkiller Base.  I caught the last one on my second viewing and the first one on my third viewing.  By the third viewing, I was just focusing on the background whenever they were at the resistance base.

[Nicklab]

According to the new edition of the Visual Dictionary, Kylo Ren does wear body armor.

[Jesse James]

I've only seen the film once so I'm shocked how much I missed.

Great to read you guy's thoughts as well, as it gave me some interesting perspective.  That said, I'd still debate Finn's abilities with a sabre.   But I like, reflecting back on it, Rey/Ren's battle as it was REALLY clumsy on both accounts.  Neither one powerful.

Diane didn't like Kylo Ren, and I really can't get why...  I loved him.  I thought his acting was epic.  I thought he was a little more sadistic than past baddies... 

I LOVED Hux's speech.  Was I one of the only ones seeing that parallel to the Nazi's in Munich?  The blame, the hate, the vitriolic speech, the insanity brewing...  Hux, as bad as Kylo may be, is worse I think.  The FO are fanatics (having now read that somewhere) hardliners.  It's like WW2 ending, but no repercussions for the Nazi's and its devoted membership. 

The 30 year gap makes me wonder how epic those years were...  Jakku implies massive battles taking place.

It makes me think now, the Resistance and the First Order are much smaller organizations than the Rebellion and the Empire were, militarily speaking.  The FO is still large of course, and so is the Resistance, but neither are "massive" like I felt they were in the OT era and up till this treaty between the Remnant Majority and the New Republic.

And how much of the Remnant Majority would be welcomed open-arms back into the FO, should they decide to?  Destroying the central government of the NR as they did, it seems like there's an element of galactic chaos that has been unleashed.  Remember Tagge's remark on the Death Star; "How shall the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?".  Good question.  Seems like we may find out. 

I am hoping I can see it again.  My oldest went with his gf and her dad to see it.  My youngest has yet to see it so once school's let out we'll see if he wants to catch it some afternoon.  Not sure I can con Diane into a 2nd viewing, though she did say she liked it.

I'm really curious to see the Speep (Impy Snowspeeder) just to see if visually the toy is anything close to scale.  None of the toys jive, so I'm just curious on that one.

I swear I saw the sandspeeder in distant background on Jakku...  It sure looked like it was zipping by back there.

And I'm thoroughly glad the AT-RT was nowhere to be found.

I want the ICS book, but I've fallen into that trap before, and will wait for a compendium book or a steeeeeep discount on the current one.  I want one though, desperately.

Saw the FO Landing Craft...  Guess they don't care about their troops still, but man I was surprised how "small" it actually is...  Kinda doable I think.  A relatively simple design.  Wish I had a big ass 3 D printer.   

Anyway, really want to see it again.  I want to take in a little bit more.  First showing was a little rough, and I'd like to see it with a fresher perspective and less headache so I can pick things up better.

[Matt_Fury]

Finn being able to use a lightsaber was no big deal to me, he's probably had the same hand-to-hand training that other Stormtroopers receive, and I never bought into the idea that only a Jedi could wield a lightsaber.  I'm also wondering if Finn is somehow force sensitive...it would be a good explanation for how the First Order's conditioning never took hold of him.

I read online somewhere that the battle of Jakku broke the back of the Empire and hurt the New Republic as well.  After that, an armistice was signed and the two factions went into a sort of cold war era.  As stated in the opening crawl, the First Order arose from the remains of the Empire and the Resistance was formed to keep them in check without the entire Republic going to war.  The Republic financed the Resistance, but kept it low key...this was alluded to in General Hux's speech.

There's a lot of speculation that Rey is Luke's daughter.  I'm not convinced of this yet...you would think Leia or Han would have recognized her.  I'm hoping that she is not related at all, and she was possibly a survivor of the academy massacre...but it wouldn't surprise me if they go down the "she's a Skywalker" road.

It will be interesting to see just how broken Luke is after what happened to his students.  For him to walk away from everything speaks volumes already!  I half expect to see force ghosts of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda muttering in the background through a portion of Episode VIII.

Where do you think Snoke came from?  I'm guessing that he was one of the inquisitors, and he was able to rise after the Emperor and Vader died.  I really hope that he's not Plagueis.  That would ruin the story for me.