eevBLAB #21 - Star Wars VII The Force Awakens Review

SPOILER FREE!
Dave reviews Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens

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[FranLab]

I laughed, I cried, I cheered, and I cried again. I haven't felt like that in a cinema since the summer of 1977. Must see it again! And Again! Just like in '77.... :-)

[toteu]

Spoiler alert --> Darth Vader is Luke's father

[murmaider]

JJ Abrams is better accustomed to doing this. Star Wars is mindless action and I'm sure he did a good job. But boy did he fuck up Star Trek...FOR THE THIRD TIME.

[RawbeardX]

BB-8's "thumbs up" was the best thing ever.

[RinoaL]

i can't wait to see it, but im going to wait till i get back home to illinois to see it at my favorite theatre. nothing can beat the Orpheum in hillsboro, the family that owns it really does a lot to make it have that wonderful theatre atmosphere.

when i got out to california i was horribly surprised how aweful the theatres are out here, and expensive too.

[CaptainKenway]

It's strange, I like Star Wars, but I have absolutely no interest in seeing this. I just went to 4chan last night and spoiled myself to get it out of the way. Not like it was particularly shocking anyway.

[lacombar]

so basically, it's an Episode 4 remake...

[paullynch]

Big gripe for me was Captain Phasma being total weak sauce :( Only bad arse thing about her was her armor. She was the but of a hazing by a sanitation storm trooper FFS...
Loved the film overall though. 3rd best in the chronicle imo. Can't beat the charm and originality of ANH and the bad arsness on Empire.

[CommanderZx]

From the trailers I could already tell that it's pretty much going to be a remake of A New Hope.

[electronicsNmore]

Can't understand all the hype/obsession with Star Wars movies.

[ernststavroblofeld]

Star Wars?!
I thought that project died with Ronald Reagan.

[aatheus]

Aw man, Dave. You've got me all excited to see it now! I've got to wait til Friday, when work is arranging an outing to go see it!

[flohi.]

I've seen the Movie, loved it, even though it doesn't fit in the created Univers by LukasArts.
Some plot holes, some minor physics mistakes, the rest of it is just fine.

[electronash]

Yes - I'll be "that" person - 5:08 "3CPO"? lol

Only kidding, Dave.

Great vid. :)

I saw the new movie at 00:01 (midnight) on the 17th, and it was superb.


***MILD SPOILER ALERT! - MILD SPOILER ALERT! - MILD SPOILER ALERT!***

I can't really pick too many faults in it tbh - yes, it re-hashed a lot of the ideas from the classic trilogy, but it was just riveting from start to finish. I can't remember a single boring part in it, and the few slower parts were well acted too.

There are one or two obvious plot holes (as you said), and quite a fair few clichéd scenes, but overall it was not only exactly what I was hoping for, but definitely exceeded expectations in every way. :D

Whenever I try to think of any mild criticisms over some of the dialogue or scenes, I immediately remember that the classic trilogy never purported to be "perfect" in every way either - in fact, it was the slightly "clunky" and "imperfect" nature of the original films which gave them their quirky character and feeling of realism.

Also - it was a great introduction to new characters, and obviously sets us up perfectly for the next movies. I can't wait that long. lol


We saw it in 3D too, and it was an excellent conversion. I know some of the action scenes (eg. "Escape from Jakku" - no real spoiler there, it's in the trailer.) were filmed using a 65mm IMAX camera, but everything else was shot on 35mm and converted to 3D.



JJ did a perfect job converting the last two Star Trek films to 3D, so I knew this would be good as well.

But, aside from that, the image quality and cinematography on Force Awakens was amazing.

The digital projectors these days are near enough perfect now, but I think there is some way to go before the digital cinema cameras catch up with the look and feel of 35mm celluloid film. It was just so natural looking on the live action scenes, and crystal clear (without looking "fake" or plastic-ky, like many scenes in ATOC.)

The 35mm film also seemed to make the effects look even more natural, like they used to on the classic trilogy in many ways (even though FA is still very CGI-heavy of course).

They did appear to have mixed a lot of live-action elements with the CGI battle scenes too though - I noticed many of the explosions looked like live-action ones that were perfectly composited in, for example. I may be wrong though, as CGI fire / smoke / plasma effects are amazing these days (especially with this film's $200 Million budget.)

(I'm not talking about the explosions on the ground battles of course, most of those are real - I meant the explosions during the CGI battle / chase scenes with the Tie Fighters / X-Wings / Falcon etc. Again, no great spoiler there - we all know they are in the movie. lol)

Anyway - yep - great movie, and I want to see it again very soon. :)

I will of course be watching it a few times in 2D as well, but we definitely made the right choice watching it in 3D for the first time - it didn't detract from the action nor drama in any way, and made the action scenes look even more amazing. The 3D wasn't over-done nor hurt your eyes either, it was spot-on.

[TheOneWhoMightBe]

"There's probably plot holes you could drive a truck through..."

There's plot holes you could drive a Super Star Destroyer through, but, despite not being a SW nerd, I'd have still paid my money to see 30-45 minutes of X-Wings low over the water and the Millennium Falcon doing aerobatics. :)

[ChipGuy]

Since I wanted to see the english original in Germany I had to watch the 3D version. And I have to say that this was the best 3D I have seen so far. It's not a 3D effects fest, it is just looks properly shot in 3D.

[TimSavage-drummer]

"it's absolutely brilliant!" I'll stop it there, that's all I want to know! =oD

[drbrunch]

Haven't had that much fun at a movie in SO long. Excellent installment in the franchise.

[lavejim]

Just saw the flick this weekend, and I have to agree...this is a true Star Wars adventure!!!  Can't wait for the next one!!

[timmgiles]

Dave, did you know there are a number of spin off movies being developed for the years inbetween the main Star Wars 7 8 and 9? Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, possibly a 'Young Han Solo' Movie and Boba Fett movie. Only the first one is confirmed I believe but the others could provide a similar feeling that Marvel have done with their range of films. Main movies every couple of years, character specific inbetween.