The Force Awakens discussion - POST RELEASE

[PitYak Studios]

Loved it! I loved the marketing behind Luke's storyline. Prior to the release he's missing in all the poster's and everyone is wondering where is Luke in all the trailers, etc. The movie explained this so well. They created enough mystery to get people trying to guess Is Kylo Ren Luke Skywalker, is he dead, is he missing, etc., and then told a story that the marketing itself was a part of! There are some really smart, probably very well paid marketers on their team.
I also was excited going into the movie because I had heard that they were trying to have a mix of using movie props like IV,V,VI and special effects from I,II,III. I think they nailed it. The homage to the original Cantina scene was epic!
Overall was a great movie and I can't wait for it to eventually come out on DVD. That will be one purchase that would be well worth it. Imagine the deleted scenes or maybe a Blooper reel? Choice!

i was talking to an extra from the cantina scene yesterday. He told me about some scenes they shot that didn't make it into the cut that would make you, let's say, have your arm torn off by a wookie

[Archon Revuge]

I am still not going to discuss it for a couple more weeks, but I did want to mention the little X-wing pilot doll that Rey has in her hut.... curious.

It's gotta be related to the pilot helmet she keeps with her.

Some details on the helmet and doll from Rey's Survival Guide (image courtesy of @BlueJaigEyes over on Twitter):

[Archon Revuge]

I've been wondering about the respective ages of Rey and Kylo - turns out that it's 19 and 29/30 according to Pablo.

[ZY-Fighter]

A couple of things from the trailer/s that I either missed or weren't in the end movie:
- Maz asking Rey who she was
- Maz handing Rey(Leia?) Anakin's saber
- the original teaser reveal of Kylo Ren igniting his saber on Starkiller Base
- Rey getting onto her speeder - in a panic? - and accelerating away

And a bit more from the Herald about the Force vision:

Actor Ewan McGregor, who played a young Obi-Wan in the franchise's controversial prequel films, features in Rey's (Daisy Ridley) vision in the basement. According to an interview with J.J. Abrams, Entertainment Weekly revealed that McGregor lends his voice for the scene saying "Rey ... these are your first steps."

What's more, Yoda cameos in that scene as well. Frank Oz, who voiced Yoda in the original Star Wars movies recorded new audio for the scene.

It has also been revealed by Nerdist.com that the original Obi-Wan, Alec Guinnes, who passed away in 2000, can also be heard. His voice was edited by Bad Robot collaborator, Bryan Burk, to say "Rey" - taken from old audio of Guinnes saying the word "Afraid".

[Eng76]

And a bit more from the Herald about the Force vision:

Actor Ewan McGregor, who played a young Obi-Wan in the franchise's controversial prequel films, features in Rey's (Daisy Ridley) vision in the basement. According to an interview with J.J. Abrams, Entertainment Weekly revealed that McGregor lends his voice for the scene saying "Rey ... these are your first steps."

What's more, Yoda cameos in that scene as well. Frank Oz, who voiced Yoda in the original Star Wars movies recorded new audio for the scene.

It has also been revealed by Nerdist.com that the original Obi-Wan, Alec Guinnes, who passed away in 2000, can also be heard. His voice was edited by Bad Robot collaborator, Bryan Burk, to say "Rey" - taken from old audio of Guinnes saying the word "Afraid".

A more detailed description of the voice inserts in this EW article http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/20/jj ... ce-awakens

[Archon Revuge]

Entertainment Weekly has provided some really interesting insight into R2's "awakening". My personal favourite detail:

The story group’s thinking went back to the 1977 original movie, when R2-D2 accessed the Empire’s mainframe as the heroes searched for the captured Princess Leia. “We had the idea about R2 plugging into the information base of the Death Star, and that’s how he was able to get the full map and find where the Jedi temples are,” Arndt said.

Abrams says he chose to spell this out indirectly in the movie because he didn’t want the story to get bogged down in “how s–t happened 30 years ago.”

“But the idea was that in that scene where R2 plugged in, he downloaded the archives of the Empire, which was referenced by Kylo Ren,” Abrams said. Thirty-eight years later, in both our own and galactic time, that data becomes useful in The Force Awakens when a new droid approaches the dormant R2.

[Reverend Strone]

Pablo Hidalgo confirmed via Twitter: the guy getting cut down by Ren in the vision sequence is just a dude in a big hat, human too. It is not Zuvio or one of his similarly dressed deputies, who were Jakku characters that were trimmed in the edit, along with Sarco Plank.

Hopefully their shots will make it into the home video release as extras next year.

[Eng76]

Hopefully their shots will make it into the home video release as extras next year.

As much as I would like hours & hours of special features, I'd prefer a Jacksonesque extended edition (3+ hours). Particularly if it could expand on some backstory.

[MattG]

...As much as I would like hours & hours of special features, I'd prefer a Jacksonesque extended edition (3+ hours). Particularly if it could expand on some backstory.

Wouldn't put money on it happening, but I'd certainly support a precedent being set for extended editions too

[CanuckInNZ]

Who is Rey and what did Han know about her...and what did he tell Maz about her? Who are the Knights of Ren and where are the rest of them? How can I get a TIE/sf? Who, or what, is Snoke? Where is Max Rebo? What's happening on Coruscant? Why is Luke's hand skinless? When/where was Luke's fireside moment with Artoo? Will we get to see Luke's academy? WHAT IS THE TITLE????

That was a great rant of so many questions that I did not think of, and now thanks to you I cannot get them out of my head! Seriously though, who are Knights of Ren? I thought I must have missed something all these years but I have never heard.