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The W - Movies & TV - Star Wars: The Force Awakens Spoilers!!!
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lotjx
Scrapple








Since: 5.9.08

#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.36
Alright, its here. Is it worth it? Yes and no. We are introduced to really five new characters while everyone else are people we know or window dressing. Luke is gone and everyone is looking for them. Apparently, there is a Supreme Chancellor Gollum that is training Kylo Ren who happens to be Han and Leia's child. Kylo was training with Luke went nuts, killed the trainees and Luke took it bad then left. Kylo captures Poe, who is the greatest pilot not named Han or Rey in this movie. For some reason, a stormtrooper gets a conscious and helps Poe escape. Poe names him Finn. Poe's droid, B-88 has a map to Luke.

B-88 runs into Rey who runs into Finn after he escapes and we think Poe dies (he doesn't). Rey, Finn and B-88 run into the Falcon which just happens to be there. Evidentially, they run into Han and Chewie. Han takes them to an alien who also happens to have Anakin's saber. She tries to give it to Rey, but she runs away. Finn takes the saber while Kylo captures Rey. The Resistance saves them and we get Han and Leia back. This is the only reunion in the film. Ok, C-3PO and non talkative R2 show up too.

The First Order has a new bigger Death Star that uses a sun as its power. Not a bad idea. They blow up some Republic places possibly Coruscant. The Resistance plans to lower the shields and blow up this one part of the superweapon. Sound familiar?

Rey resists Kylo's power while we see Kylo's normal face. He is trying to be Vader. Rey escapes using the force and runs into her rescue party. Han confronts Kylo and Kylo kills him in order to go full darkside. Yes, Han Solo, who steals every scene, dies a meaningless death. Chew blows up the shield generator and goes ape shit. Kylo faces off against Finn who uses the lightsaber, well. Yet, not well enough. Finn gets fucked up. Kylo tries force grabbing the saber, but Rey takes it and proceeds to fuck him up to the point he is going to need the mask. Poe blows up the thing, the planet is disintegrating around them. Chewie in the Falcon saves the kids who head back. R2 wakes up for some reason and gives the rest of the map to the others.

Finn is still fucked up as Rey with Chewie and R2 go look for Luke. What seems to be a minute, they go to this Island where Luke has been chilling. Rey shows the lightsaber to Luke and he stares her. She stares at him. He stares some more and then...credits.

As a friend of my said as we left the theater, did anything really happen? Answer is sorta. We get these new character and Harrison Ford gets his wish to get out of these films. Which sucks, because we will never have Han, Luke and Leia in a scene together unless something happens in a force dream or flashback. The new characters are kinda cool. Finn is a bit street, but whatever at this point. Rey is the real gem here. She holds her own with everyone in the film. Poe is even fun too. Kylo is a work in progress. A lot of this is set up for eight and nine. Which is fine if JJ didn't say this was going to be standalone. It is obviously not. My hope is they didn't feel that each new episode is a chance to kill off the old characters to make new characters that kinda don't make sense. Its not bad, I am going to see it again tomorrow, so we will see if it gets better.



http://comicbookspotlight.wordpress.com/



Now previewing the Fall TV lineup.@realjoecarfley
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lotjx
Scrapple








Since: 5.9.08

#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.36
(deleted by lotjx on 20.12.15 1400)
texasranger9
Frankfurter








Since: 9.1.11

#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.12
Someone seemed pretty excited to see this! Ill check it out sometime midweek after the crowds thin. I read spoilers so I don't mind them.

Early prediction Ren kills luke early in episode viii but turn light by end of movie.

(edited by texasranger9 on 17.12.15 2220)
Peter The Hegemon
Lap cheong








Since: 11.2.03
From: Hackettstown, NJ

#4 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.73
Was the multi-post some comment on how it was the same friggin' story as A New Hope? B>)

I mean, I definitely enjoyed it, but I was disappointed. Too close to being a remake rather than a sequel. And I thought Kylo was a very underwhelming villain.
Pizza Delivery Jones
Chourico








Since: 27.6.04

#5 Posted on
Thought it was pretty entertaining and felt much more like Star Wars than any of the prequels. Sure it's a remake of Star Wars, but I can live with that. Beats a movie about summer camp on Tatooine, where slaves have arts and crafts programs to build them some protocol droids and podracers.

I actually didn't mind most of the new characters, though Kylo Ren is such an emo clown. Guess he really takes after his stupid grandfather more than either parent.
Kevintripod
Knackwurst








Since: 11.5.03
From: Mount Pleasant, Pa.

#6 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.78
I was really looking forward to seeing this movie.

Now, not so much.
oudom
Boudin rouge








Since: 12.1.12

#7 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.03
C3PO has a red arm and they don't explain why.
Captain Phasma did nothing in the movie.
Max Von Sydow is... who the hell knows. He only had a bit part and no story.
Poe seems cool but we know nothing about him at all.

I honestly thought they were going to roll the credits and you don't see Luke at all. I feel badly for the super fan that saw the movie before he passed away because he will never find out the answers that will be in Episode VIII.
Wpob
Bierwurst








Since: 21.11.02
From: Williston Park, NY

#8 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.64
I heard someone on the radio today say it was the best film he has seen all year and easily the best Star Wars film.

That is a BOLD statement. I would have a hard rime believing this movie could touch Empire Strikes Back, let alone the original Star Wars.

Also, there is no way this could be the best movie of 2015.





Life is hilariously cruel.



It ain't the six minutes... it's what happens in that six minutes.



I....declare.....BANKRUPTCY!!!!



He's a habitual line stepper.
CRZ
Big Brother
Administrator








Since: 9.12.01
From: ミネアポリス

#9 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.18
I stayed up to catch the 1am IMAX showing. I really enjoyed it! It was about $6 difference between 2D and IMAX 3D (there was also a "Real3D" show inbetween) and I think it was worth it to go big...and then go home. I'm glad I managed to stay spoiler-free. I kinda want to see it again but pay $4.50 next time instead of $15.99+tax, because I'm cheap.

Luke's appearance was a lot like Spock in the TNG episode "Unification I" except Spock had, like, seven more words than Luke did.

I expect it'll sweep the technical Oscars.

Oh, look, it's Greg Grunberg again.



dMp
Knackwurst








Since: 4.1.02
From: The Hague, Netherlands (Europe)

#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.75
I have to say, the moment that totally made the movie for me was Luke's expression.
Sure he didn't say anything, but there was so much pain.
He knew that if someone showed up it'd mean that all the bad things that could happen did happen. And especially since it wasn't anyone he could (technically) know must mean shit really went wrong.

I really liked that they didn't drag out Kylo Ren's secret identity too long. It was dropped almost matter of factly early on.
Ren's force control with the blaster was awesome btw.
More random was the fact that he had trouble disposing Finn in their sword duel.

Rey being that strong in the force even without training is interesting. Lots of raw power. So I can see how she was his equal/sorta superior in their duel.

(I am sketchy on some details tho, we watched it at midnight on wednesday following NXT Takeover, I zoned out a few times. Definitely will go see it again)
El Nastio
Banger








Since: 14.1.02
From: Ottawa Ontario, by way of Walkerton

#11 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.04
Woooooooooah boy.

Lifelong Star Wars fan here, complete with requisite Expanded Universe novel/comic collection.

This film is a watershed. It's the magic recaptured. It's everything that I hoped and wanted as far as a new Star Wars movie. Did it parallel A New Hope in many ways? Yes and I don't care, because it was done *well*. Will Episode VIII mirror Empire Strikes Back? Yes and I DON"T CARE, SO LONG AS ITIS DONE WELL AND THIS WAS AND I TRUST JJ AND HIS TEAM.

I'm sold on Poe as New Wedge. Sold on Kylo Ren's identity, which was a homage tot he EU on two fronts. Sold on Finn fighting him because Finn would have had ample combat experience. Sold on Rey being strong in the Force, and gradually becoming more confident.

Sold on the fate of Han Solo, which I knew was going to happen as soon as he stepped on that bridge.

SOLD on the Wook, who I thought was going down only for him to show up again.

SOLD ON THE MONEY SCENE AT THE END. I waited the whole movie for Mark Hamill, and man did he look BADASS.

Million billion stars out of 10.



"You can't put a price on integrity"
EddieBurkett
Banger








Since: 3.1.02
From: GA in person, NJ in heart

#12 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.85
Put me in the El Nastio camp on this one, although I will admit it is disappointing we won't get a Luke/Leia/Han scene. Still, it was well worth it and easily lived up to my expectations.

I thought Abrams hit all the nostalgia notes perfectly. OF COURSE its going to basically be A New Hope again. Because the prequels tried to tell a different story and everyone shat all over them. We want our history to repeat itself (especially since, in the Star Wars universe, everyone seems to forget what happened 20 years ago and considers it all to be myth until some old guy shows up and tells them otherwise.)

I love that they took the concept of Anakin being a whiny brat teenager and let Kylo Ren be the extrapolation of that. He's emo and he sucks and he knows that he sucks and he's supposed to be DARTH VADER 2.0 and all his angst makes him more like his grandfather than he could possibly know. Loved that scene where he tore the shit out of the console wall. Loved that the Stormtroopers backed up, because you know they've seen this before and they have running jokes about Kylo being in "one of his moods."

Given how much backstory all these characters now have to cover, could we have gotten the story of Han and Leia giving their son over to Luke only for everything to get fucked up between them forever 15 years ago instead of angsty Anakin? I'm kinda going to want a prequel to the sequel trilogy now.

The only lame part of Han's death is that his body fell down one of those endless vents that seem to exist only in Star Wars. Not that it matters much now since he was incinerated, but a solemn funeral would have been nice. And what was up with Chewie walking RIGHT PAST LEIA upon returning? THIS WAS YOUR BRO'S EX. YOU SHOULD BE THE ONE TO TELL HER EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW SHE FORCE-KNOWS.

Is there any way that Rey is Kylo's sister? That Han or Luke or someone decided to split the kids at some point for a similar reason to Luke and Leia being split up? And that Han was watching Jakku because at some point he knew that his kid would find the Falcon and leave, because he now believes in the Force? Then again, wouldn't Han or Leia told her at some point? So she has to be Luke's kid then, right? Which means that we're totally setting up an "I am your father" moment in the next one.

I kinda can't wait for 30 years from now when another trilogy hits and its Finn and Poe and Rey super old and we get to see them dealing with their kids. I am fine with Star Wars functioning this way in perpetuity.



Mash Those Buttons -- by gamers, for gamers, about gamers gaming (mashthosebuttons.com)


WoW! Thoughts! (mashthosebuttons.com)

@WookieeBH
thecubsfan
Scrapple
Moderator








Since: 10.12.01
From: Aurora, IL

#13 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.43

    Is there any way that Rey is Kylo's sister? That Han or Luke or someone decided to split the kids at some point for a similar reason to Luke and Leia being split up?


This was my thought too, that it was at least possible it was happening. The Rey flashback sequence in particular was so vague and purposefully confusing as to not yet latch on a specific backstage but also seemingly specifically designed from people to get the blu ray and try to break down each microscene for meaning. She could be Kylo's sister. She could be a secret child of Darth Vader even though the ages don't work. (Maybe grandchild?) She could be a random villager in the wrong place at the wrong time. You'll have to wait for movie 2 to find out.

My big takeaway was they must have great hair care products in the long time ago, because Rey's very particular hair looked on point despite the terrible desert conditions until about the last scene of the movie.

I really liked the movie! I thought the reveal of Kylo's real name was smart, and then smarter still when I realized how much the scene was the allusion to the similar scene in IV. (In a slightly different rewatch way than Rey's flashback, Kylo's speech surely plays differently if you know what's about to happen. He knew what he had to do, but it was tough.)

All the head nods back to A New Hope were bordering on too much, but they made the movie more fun, and this was a movie intended to be fun instead of getting lost in it's own mythology.



thecubsfan.com - luchablog
StaggerLee
Scrapple








Since: 3.10.02
From: Right side of the tracks

#14 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.00
Rey is OBVIOUSLY Luke's daughter.

Movie was great, second to only Empire.
lotjx
Scrapple








Since: 5.9.08

#15 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.36
After seeing it again, I liked it more. The raw emotion of having Han's death spoiled for me went away, so I was able to enjoy it. There are still plot problems, but we can hope those are done to be resolved later. Particularly, how they got Anakin's Saber. It feels like JJ wrote a paper he wanted to get an A+, but its a solid B due to not showing his work plus some plagiarism.

A few things of note. Daniel Craig was the stormtrooper that let Rey out. There is some controversy if Rey cut off Ren's hand. A friend of mine pointed out that there seems to be a grave next to Luke. I didn't see it. R2 may wake up due to Rey being in the room. R2 is there with Rey and Chewie on the island. Finn is force sensitive. Kylo notices it and that is why Mags hands the saber to Finn. We were lead to believe Finn is the Jedi and we see it Rey. It could be a double bluff. Set Finn up in the marketing with the saber, make it Rey in the movie and then keep Finn away from Luke til it needs to be revealed in Episode 8 or 9.



http://comicbookspotlight.wordpress.com/



Now previewing the Fall TV lineup.@realjoecarfley
EddieBurkett
Banger








Since: 3.1.02
From: GA in person, NJ in heart

#16 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.85
    Originally posted by lotjx
    A friend of mine pointed out that there seems to be a grave next to Luke. I didn't see it.


One of the rocks Luke was standing near kinda looked like it could be a makeshift tombstone. I part expected him to greet Rey by saying that she found Luke Skywalker and this was his grave and he's just some old dude of no significance. I suppose just because he took the lightsaber doesn't mean it can't play out that way. (I was so excited to see him that I legit can't remember right now if he said anything to Rey at the end.)

I love that Abrams looked at the concept for Star Wars and said, "I need a Macguffin. What if Luke's the Macguffin?" because Abrams.



Mash Those Buttons -- by gamers, for gamers, about gamers gaming (mashthosebuttons.com)


WoW! Thoughts! (mashthosebuttons.com)

@WookieeBH
CEOIII
Bockwurst








Since: 25.7.02
From: Franklin, PA

#17 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.17
    Originally posted by EddieBurkett
    I suppose just because he took the lightsaber doesn't mean it can't play out that way. (I was so excited to see him that I legit can't remember right now if he said anything to Rey at the end.)


He didn't. He also didn't take the saber from her.



I'm Charlie Owens, good night, and good luck.

oudom
Boudin rouge








Since: 12.1.12

#18 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.03


LOL Max Landis says Rey is John Cena. Kinda True. Always wins. Never in danger.

(edited by oudom on 22.12.15 1321)
Alessandro
Lap cheong








Since: 2.1.02
From: Worcester MA

#19 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.21


I'm assuming this is a Photoshop ... and yet there's some small part of me that wants to believe that JJ would actually sneak something like this in the movie.



Rebooting ...


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Kevintripod
Knackwurst








Since: 11.5.03
From: Mount Pleasant, Pa.

#20 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.84
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/star-wars-the-force-awakens-ultimate-faq-164511371.html


'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Ultimate FAQ


Republic, Resistance, First Order… Help?!

That’s an easy one, thanks to the new The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary. After the fall of Emperor Palpatine and the destruction of the second Death Star, the Rebel Alliance (technically the Alliance to Restore the Republic) adopted the name the New Republic. The government secured a systems-wide peace treaty called the Galactic Concordance and focused on creating a democratic senate, overseen by Chancellor Mon Mothma. As the New Republic tried to carve out a viable political structure, the staunchest ex-Imperials regrouped in the most remote sectors of the Outer Rim to build a new, formidable war machine, which grew into the First Order. When Luke Skywalker’s new generation of Jedi was destroyed by the treachery of his own nephew, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, sending the last Jedi Master into parts unknown, the First Order made its move.

Princess Leia, who had eschewed the Jedi lifestyle and opted to focus on the political realm, recognized the threat and assembled her own private force: the Resistance. She handpicked trusted leaders and talented veterans from the Galactic Civil War, like Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nunb.


What’s different about the Star Destroyer, TIE fighters, and X-wings in the new movie?

In the 30 years since the end of the Galactic Civil War, the technology has improved (except on the various ships’ targeting displays). Kylo Ren and Hux’s flagship, the Finalizer, is double the length of the vintage Star Destroyers. According to the Visual Dictionary, it was the first Resurgent-class ship constructed in open violation of the Galactic Concordance. It is populated by a full legion of Stormtroopers, 100 assault craft, and two wings of next-gen TIE fighters.

The single-pilot TIE/fo is based on the design of the ships from the original trilogy, but with upgraded systems. The red-swathed model that Poe and Finn hijack, known as a TIE/sf, accommodates two, a pilot and a gunner. The Resistance meanwhile, flies T-70 X-wings, whose main visual difference from the Incom T-65 models of the original trilogy is that the newer vessels have interlocking wings that present a sleeker, more aerodynamic profile than the overlaying wings of the originals. Like many of the characters and vehicles in The Force Awakens, the T-70s are based on Star Wars designer Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art from the 1970s.


Who is Max Von Sydow’s character and how did he wind up with the missing map to Luke?

His name is Lor San Tekka, and he has been aiding the New Republic and Resistance for decades before retiring to the Jakku village of Kelvin Ravine. An adherent to the Church of the Force, an underground religion based on the tenets of the Jedi, he is a keeper of Jedi knowledge, and therefore knows about Luke and his attempts to revive the Order — and how it was defiled by Ben Solo/Kylo Ren.


What were all those new planets that we saw?

Jakku is the Tatooine-like desert planet that kicks the story in motion. It was the site of a huge confrontation between the Rebel Alliance and Empire about a year after the Battle of Endor, resulting in a huge debris field known as the “graveyard of giants.” Because it’s so remote and inhospitable, it is considered a good spot for folks to hide out — or abandon young kids on.

Takodana is the forested frontier planet Maz Kanata calls home, a spaceport frequented by pirates, bounty hunters, thugs, and ne’er-do-wells. Because the world has maintained neutrality in the various galactic skirmishes, it has been untouched by war… so far.

Another lush world, D’Qar was first mentioned in the novel Lost Stars, where it was scouted by the protagonist Thane Kyrell as a possible rebel base. Now it’s home to the Resistance.

Hosnian Prime eventually replaced Coruscant as the seat of power once the New Republic took over. In The Force Awakens, several of the Senate politicians, along with Leia’s envoy Korr Sella (the woman the camera lingers on), watch in horror as the incoming fatal blast from Starkiller Base approaches, eventually wiping out the entire Hosnian system. (The planets are turned into pocket novas, per the novel.)

We do not yet know the name of the planet where Luke is holed up, nor do we know the location of Snoke.


Who the heck is Snoke?

Supreme Leader Snoke runs the First Order like the Wizard ran Oz. We only see him in ginormous holographic form from his shadowy repose, and it isn’t pretty. He is an aged, battle-scarred practitioner of the Dark Side, who favors the cloaked look of the various Darths (his appearance draws on old McQuarrie designs for Darth Sidious, a.k.a. Palpatine). He’s definitely not, as fans of Timothy Zahn’s 1990s Star Wars books had hoped, an incarnation of Grand Admiral Thrawn, but Snoke did rise to power following the fall of the Emperor, as the radicalized First Order built its war machine on the Outer Rim.

In the novelization, it’s made clear that Snoke targeted Ben Solo because he embodies both light and dark sides of the Force, making him a potentially powerful weapon. Leia tells Han that Snoke was always watching Ben “from the shadows, in the beginning, even before I realized what was happening, he was manipulating everything, pulling our son toward the dark side.”


Who are Rey’s parents?

Perhaps the biggest riddle going into The Force Awakens was how the new heroine was related to the Skywalker clan, if at all. The question remains unanswered, but one major theory has been debunked: that Rey was the daughter of Han Solo and Leia Organa. While Rey eyes Han as a father figure, both he and Leia are utterly fixated on rehabilitating their son, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, from his Vader-wannabe ways. Some tantalizing clues suggest she still might have Skywalker DNA, however: She has uncanny mechanical and piloting skills, like Luke and Anakin; her poor-kid-on-desert-planet act is a familiar Star Wars trope; she is “called” by the Skywalker saber in Maz’s castle and her subsequent vision includes a greatest hits of Anakin and Luke’s lives; and parts of two musical motifs directly linked to Luke from A New Hope, “Binary Sunset” and “Burning Homestead,” play under Rey in the film, including during her final duel with Kylo Ren. In the novel, when Rey uses the Force to pull the saber to her, Ren has a moment of recognition, uttering, “It is you” — a suggestion that he encountered her before, perhaps while training with Luke.

And while Luke has no known love interest in the current canon, we all remember how Anakin was conceived. If the Force needed to restore balance, then it created one kick-ass vessel in Rey. (For what it’s worth, director J.J. Abrams says he left it up to Episode VIII helmer Rian Johnson to figure it all out.)


Who are Finn’s parents?

Another much debated pre-release topic was the parentage of FN-2187, otherwise known as Finn. Finn was abducted at a young age and pressed into service as a First Order grunt and doesn’t know his parents. Speculation centered on him somehow being related to the other two most identifiable black men in the Star Wars saga: Mace Windu and Lando Calrissian, but both seem a real stretch. Mace died more than five decades before Finn would have been born. While we can imagine Lando spreading little Calrissians around the galaxy, we doubt he’d knowingly let some Imperial pretenders get their grubby mitts on his progeny. No, we like think that in the vast, multicultural systems of this galaxy that Finn is his own man, finding his own way, and — unlike Rey — the question of his provenance can remain a mystery going forward without impacting the story.


How did the Millennium Falcon wind up on Jakku?

Once Han Solo fell back into his roguish ways — after his relationship with Leia fell apart post-Ben’s trip to the Dark Side — in the decade or so before The Force Awakens, he lost his ride to a criminal named Ducain, who also happened to put a bounty on Han’s head. Ducain lost it to the equally despicable Irving Boys, who also had no love of Solo. By the beginning of the film, Jakku slug Unkar Plutt has obtained the vehicle from the Irving Boys, through underhanded means. But Plutt understands the value of the ship; although locals regard it as garbage, Rey makes it clear in the novelization that he has made modifications to the craft and that she has snuck inside on numerous occasions. One side note via the Visual Dictionary: Despite losing his ship to a series of scoundrels, Han managed to hold on to the sabacc dice that hung from the Falcon’s dashboard and was visible throughout the original trilogy, the same dice he used to win the vessel from Lando Calrissian.


How did Anakin’s lightsaber wind up at Maz Kanata’s? How did Kylo Ren get Darth Vader’s helmet?

Last spotted tumbling down a trash chute in Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, the blade built by Anakin and passed to Luke resurfaced 30-plus years later in a curio chest in Maz Kanata’s castle, where it “called” to Rey. According to the supplemental materials, “someone salvaged it from the city’s industrial depths,” but how it got from that unnamed person to Maz’s place remains unexplained and will possibly be filled in by a future film or book. As for Vader’s charred helmet, which was engulfed by the flames of his funeral pyre following the Battle of Endor, there’s likewise no explicit path from the Ewok land to the Finalizer.

But in the novel Aftermath, set immediately following the events of Return of the Jedi, we’re introduced to the Acolytes of the Beyond, who fetishize Vader relics and may have recovered the helmet. Perhaps Ren came into contact with them (or may have even been a member)?


What did that Stormtrooper use to counter Finn’s lightsaber attack?

That telescoping weapon is called a riot baton or shock staff, a melee weapon used by Riot Troopers specially engineered to block lightsaber strikes. In the novel Before the Awakening, FN-2187 spars with one during his trooper training, foreshadowing his encounter in The Force Awakens.


Speaking of sabers, what’s the deal with Kylo Ren’s?

If the crudely constructed cross-guard saber seems as unstable as its owner, that’s because it is. The weapon is powered by a cracked kyber crystal, requiring the side vents on the hilt, and resulting in its unrefined operation, according to the Visual Dictionary.


How did C-3PO get that red arm?

Alas, we won’t get the exact details until February, when Marvel releases the one-shot comic C-3PO. The publication was supposed to arrive this month to coincide with the film’s release, but reportedly got held up in the approval process. What we do know from the Visual Dictionary is that Threepio doesn’t like to talk about the origins of his new appendage because it involved another droid’s unspecified “sacrifice.” Speaking of Goldenrod, the protocol droid has been boning up since we last saw him in Return of the Jedi; he’s now fluent in more than 7 million forms of communication, a million more than he knew during the original trilogy. In the novel, it’s also revealed that the droid has been implanted with a “humility circuit,” but that doesn’t really seem to work.


What happened to R2-D2?

In the film, it is implied that Artoo went into low-power mode because he was somehow saddened by the disappearance of Luke. There’s a little more to it, according to the novelization and the Visual Dictionary: The droid, whose memory has never been wiped, is doing what we all should do with overloaded hard drives — defragging. “As R2-D2 recuperates in his self-imposed low-power mode, his diagnostic systems are attempting to organize the vast trove of information in his databanks from over seven decades of uninterrupted operation. The defragmenting of millions of exanodes within his memory is causing R2-D2 to ‘dream’ many of his greatest adventures.”


Did Kylo Ren get his hand chopped off during his showdown with Rey?

Star Wars has a nasty habit of dismembering characters, from Darth Maul to Count Dooku, Luke to Darth Vader, Wampa to Walrus Man. But The Force Awakens breaks the amputation trend. Yes, Rey knocks away Kylo Ren’s saber, but, aside from a nasty facial scar, his body remains intact.


Will Finn live? Did Kylo Ren, Hux, and Captain Phasma escape Starkiller Base before it exploded?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. There is no way we’re going to go through an entire second film with Finn in a coma. In the book, Hux does retrieve the defeated Ren — and no doubt relishes seeing his rival humbled in battle. Phasma’s fate is less clear (having been resigned to a trash compactor), but there’s no way she was defeated so easily. (Christie, Gleeson, and Driver are all contracted for Episode VIII.) And we’d bet lots of credits on seeing more of the Knights of Ren in the next installment.


Will Han return as a Force ghost?

Don’t bet on it. Han Solo will never be confused for a Jedi Master, who are the only ones we’ve ever seen return in spectral form. Besides, Ford seems delighted to be free of Star Wars and as much as we fans would love to believe Han is immortal, his arc is over. Of course, we still have that Han Solo prequel movie coming to help make up for his tragic death.


We know about Daniel Craig’s cameo as a Stormtrooper — any other notable folks appear in the film?

Craig was on the wrong end of Rey’s Jedi mind trick during her escape from Kylo Ren’s torture chair on Starkiller Base. But the Bond star wasn’t the only famous person Abrams recruited.

—Ewan McGregor, in his best Obi-Wan Kenobi voice, recorded a single line — “Rey”— for Rey’s lightsaber-induced vision, which J.J. Abrams mashed up with a snippet of Alec Guinness’s Obi-Wan dialogue from A New Hope (“You’ve taken your first step into a larger world…”). Abrams also included a bit of Frank Oz’s Yoda from the Dagobah scenes in Empire Strikes Back (Oz had recording original material for Abrams that ended up unused), as well as the only Mark Hamill word we hear spoken in the film—“Noooooo!”—from Empire’s big reveal.

—Simon Pegg was under the latex suit of Unkar Plutt, the cheapskate trader on Jakku who dispatches his thugs to get BB-8 from Rey.

—BB-8’s vocalizations included contributions from SNL alum Bill Hader and Parks and Recreation’s Ben Schwartz.

—Michael Giacchino, the Oscar-winning composer of the Up and an Emmy winner for his Lost music, is under the helmet as FN-3181, one of the Stormtroopers who grabs the Force-frozen Poe Dameron during the opening sequence on Jakku.

—Ken Leung, best known as Miles in the Abrams-produced TV series Lost, was Admiral Satura, one of Leia’s advisers who helps plot the attack on Starkiller.

—Harry Potter alum Warwick Davis, who famously embodied the Ewok Wicket in Return of the Jedi, is Wollivan, a diminutive alien spotted at Maz’s castle.

—Judah Friedlander, the cap-sporting slacker writer on 30 Rock, is also among the patrons of Maz’s bar.

—Heroes star Greg Grunberg, a longtime pal of Abrams who has popped up in several of the filmmaker’s TV shows and films, appeared as ace pilot Snap Wexley, a character originally introduced as a teenager in the Star Wars novel Aftermath by Chuck Wendig,

—Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Maze Runner, Game of Thrones) played First Order Petty Officer Thanisson. Jessica Henwick, who plays Nymeria Sand in Game of Thrones, was X-wing pilot Jess Pava, one of the featured pilots riding in formation with Poe in the attack on Starkiller Base.

—Martial-arts maestros Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais, known for their work in the acclaimed Indonesian action films The Raid: Redempton and The Raid 2, served as Rathtar bait, playing Tasu Leech and Razoo Quin-Fee of the Han-hunting Kanjiclub Gang.

—Carrie Fisher’s daughter and Scream Queens actress Billie Lourd played a character identified on IMDb as Lieutenant Connix and by the Visual Dictionary as Kaydel Ko, a Resistance officer seen in the war room.

—Dr. Kalonia, the understanding medic who patched up Chewbacca at Resistance HQ, was played by Harriet Walter, better known to Downton Abbey aficionados as Lady Shackleton.

—Grammy-winning Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich also played a trooper, No. FN-9330, according to the credits.

—Hamilton mastermind Lin-Manual Miranda doesn’t appear on screen, but the Tony winner’s vocals are heard during the two songs performed in Maz Kanata’s castle, which he co-wrote with Abrams.


Where was that action figure I bought on Force Friday?

Hasbro leaned on some deep background characters for its first waves of toys, among them Sarco Plank, Ello Asty, and Constable Zuvio.

Sarco, a world-hopping scavenger whose backstory involves an ill-fated battle with Luke Skywalker (in the novel The Weapon of a Jedi), is seen on Jakku in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. Asty, an X-wing pilot with an awesome origin story, participates in the final battle on Starkiller, where, sadly, he bites it. Zuvio, considered by many collector’s to be the biggest peg-warmer of Hasbro’s toy figures, is described as “a vigilant law officer on a mostly lawless world” Based on an entry in the Visual Dictionary, he was supposed to appear at Jakku’s Niima Outpost, but apparently was cut out before the film hit screens — we have yet to spot him after multiple viewings, although if you want your Zuvio fix, he does star in the tie-in short story “High Noon at Jakku.”


Got anything else?

You bet. Did you know it was Steven Spielberg who came up with the idea for the “steelpecker,” the vulture-like avian creature we see rummaging through the scrap metal on Jakku? That tidbit comes from the Concept Art book. The novelization, which is based on the shooting script and includes extended segments approved by Lucasfilm, has several extra details. For instance, while there were tons of Easter eggs for both casual and hardcore Star Wars fans in the final film, we don’t get Abrams’s goof on his other space franchise, Star Trek. In an extended sequence where the Falcon gets caught in a tractor beam by a ship believed to be a First Order freighter, Rey and Finn go through their rapidly shrinking options. “What do we do?” asks Rey. “There must be something…” To which Finn replies sardonically, “Sure. We could run — if the engines could be powered up. We could try and fight — if the blasters would function. We could step into the matter transporter — if such a thing existed.”

We get a passage detailing Poe’s escape from the TIE crash, explaining how his jacket got snagged on equipment, requiring him to shed it. He suffers a concussion in the landing and takes a while to get his bearings. Then he hitches a ride, gets involve in a speeder chase, before he finds transit off Jakku and back to the Resistance.

There’s also more background on Leia’s frosty relationship with the New Republic, necessitating her sending her emissary Korr Sella to Hosnian Prime to seek action against the First Order. The scene underscores the fraught politics behind the film and also makes the destruction of the Hosnian system more impactful.

Finally, there’s much more to the sequence at Maz Kanata’s castle. Unkar Plutt has tracked the Falcon and has a confrontation with Rey. Chewie steps in and when Plutt pokes the Wookiee in his bandaged arm and taunts the furry fellow, Chewie responds by ripping off Plutt’s arm and throwing it across the bar (there’s your dismemberment!). During Rey’s saber-induced vision, it’s more clear that the image she sees of the Knights of Ren are tied to the destruction of Luke’s Jedi temple. And at the end of the battle, we have a more satisfying closure for Maz, who reappears and assesses the situation. “Looks like I’ve got some cleaning up to do, hmm?” she says to Finn, adding, “Oh wow… I see something else now. I see the eyes of a warrior.”





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The last time I saw Greg Giraldo, he was having a fairly off-night at the Hasselhoff roast (Gary Coleman joke...too soon), but I got a great laugh out of his Hogan jokes.
- It's False, RIP Greg Giraldo (2010)
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