Star Wars Episode VII (allowing for spoilers)

[Sparky Prime]

Sure it is. Because when Han says the line, he still hasn't seen the Death Star yet and all he knows at that point is that Alderan had been destroyed. His comment is an assessment of what is publicly known to be the Empire's military capability. He was commenting on the strength and size of the Imperial Starfleet which would be common knowledge.

You were talking about using nukes though, the most powerful weapon we've developed of mass destruction. That's the Death Star in Star Wars. For the Imperial Fleet to destroy the destroy a planet, that'd be more like us trying to destroy a city by throwing sticks of dynamite out of some planes. Would it be possible to do? Maybe. But do you know how much it would take? A hell of a lot certainly, but I doubt anyone could come up with an accurate estimate in the spur of a moment. That's all Han was doing, commenting on the difficulty of it but yet not meaning to be taken as the literal numbers of the Imperial Fleets forces.

To put it another way, even though it's public knowledge how many ships are in the US Navy, would you know that number off the top of your head with out looking it up? Just because something is public knowledge, that doesn't mean it's common knowledge as well.

[Shockwave]

Yeah, none of this is meant to be exact, but I think any citizen be it of the Empire or here on Earth, could make a general comment on current military capabilities. I was really just objecting to your assertion that Han wouldn't know or care about commonly known military capabilities just because of his occupation. That idea really breaks down when you consider that a good portion of his job involves either running from, outsmarting/manuevering, or otherwise dealing with said military.

[Sparky Prime]

Even though Han has a habit of running from or outmaneuvering the Imperials, he might have had a closer look at some Star Destroyers than most, but for his job as a smuggler, I'd think Han would be more familiar with check points, patrol lanes the like, not the exact size and strength of the fleet. And as a smuggler, he wouldn't exactly be privy to all of the latest Imperial developments or be a big threat to warrant the full force of the fleet to need to know about that. Plus Han is a very 'fly by the seat of your pants' type character. For the most part, he doesn't care about the details.

[Sparky Prime]

Some interesting details here: 45 'The Force Awakens' plot details explained in the novel.

[JediTricks]

Watched the movie again on Tuesday, same theater and seats even. I noticed a reverse shot, that was weird, it went on for a few seconds too.

Also, when Kylo Ben finds Rey on Takodana he uses the Force to stop her, and she has this weird blurry movement to her limbs that comes and goes, it's an odd effect.

Fact: https://youtu.be/2gCbnwavkKc?t=3m23s #NotAllTIEfighters

Nice little video. Not seeing what it has to do with the TIE fighters.

The timecode link is to the TIE/FO Fighters on Takodana. I saw the movie again on Tuesday, every fighter in the sky over the shot of Rey looking up was a TIE/FO without the hyperdrives. And the scene before it ends with Kylo Ren aboard a Star Destroyer watching the Starkiller weapons beam fire, then we move to Takodana where the characters see the beam in the sky blowing up the New Republic and move on to Kylo Ren and his forces arriving, further cementing his having a Star Destroyer over Takodana when he went hunting for BB-8.

[Sparky Prime]

The timecode link is to the TIE/FO Fighters on Takodana. I saw the movie again on Tuesday, every fighter in the sky over the shot of Rey looking up was a TIE/FO without the hyperdrives.

How can you tell a difference? They're either too small in that scene or go by too fast in that scene to make out any distinguishing markings. Besides that, even looking at up close screen shots, the TIE/fo and TIE/sf look basically identical to one another.

And the scene before it ends with Kylo Ren aboard a Star Destroyer watching the Starkiller weapons beam fire, then we move to Takodana where the characters see the beam in the sky blowing up the New Republic and move on to Kylo Ren and his forces arriving, further cementing his having a Star Destroyer over Takodana when he went hunting for BB-8.

The Star Destroyer is a lot closer to the beam than what Takodana is, based on what Han sees when he's looking up seeing the planets being destroyed. I can see the case being made for the Star Destroyer being somewhat nearby, probably in the same system, but it certainly wasn't over Takodana.

[JediTricks]

BTW, I have to downgrade my theory that Rey is a student of Luke's, when she first hears his name she says she thought he was just a myth. It's possible she was very young and blocked it out, but that'd be pretty thin.

Oh, and I can retract my nitpick about the blasters all hitting the troopers super hard, there's a few edits that are clumsy to suggest that the first view, but it's only Chewie's bowcaster that sends the troopers flying, the other blasters don't carry as much punch.

The timecode link is to the TIE/FO Fighters on Takodana. I saw the movie again on Tuesday, every fighter in the sky over the shot of Rey looking up was a TIE/FO without the hyperdrives.

How can you tell a difference? They're either too small in that scene or go by too fast in that scene to make out any distinguishing markings. Besides that, even looking at up close screen shots, the TIE/fo and TIE/sf look basically identical to one another.

The regular TIE/fo don't have the (hypderdrive?) rings around the pylon where they meet the solar wings, that's a dead giveaway. They also don't have the underside turrets, don't have the antenna array on the starboard pylon, and although more subtle, the FO has a smaller pod in proportion to the solar wings than the SF to its wings with its 2-man cockpit.
FO: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/sta ... 0904074828
SF: http://img.lum.dolimg.com/v1/images/fir ... 1560%2C780

The Star Destroyer is a lot closer to the beam than what Takodana is, based on what Han sees when he's looking up seeing the planets being destroyed. I can see the case being made for the Star Destroyer being somewhat nearby, probably in the same system, but it certainly wasn't over Takodana.

I wasn't trying to suggest the previous shot with him seeing the beam was over Takodana, just that Kylo Ren is seen in the Star Destroyer in the previous shot (which is over Starkiller base in this scene), then the next scene starts a moment later and in it Kylo Ren shows up at Takodana with TIE/fo Fighters (the ones that don't have hyperdrives) and several First Order Transporters aka Atmospheric Assault Landers (which are small for a craft holding 20 troopers, the canon says via the Incredible Cross Sections book that they are powered by sublight engines), and Kylo Ren's command shuttle (which also the canon source says is a sublight craft for whatever reason, my theory is its small main body size even though it has those stupid giant wings), so they all had to get there via the Star Destroyer we just saw Kylo Ren on a few moments prior - the implication being that it left Starkiller base for Takodana.

[Dominic]

The question of where Ren was, and how he travelled between points A and B, likely hinges on Abrams' difficulties with scale and distance.

[JediTricks]

So, the movie got few Oscar nods (5) and was left out for artistic and even some technical awards, but I honestly don't think that's a problem here, the film didn't really earn its keep in any one area over other 2015 movies. The nods it received:

Editing
Original Score
Visual Effects
Sound Editing
Sound Mixing

That original score one is bullshit, Williams already won for this score in 1977 since the majority of this film is existing Star Wars music; but it did give John Williams his 44th nomination, putting him over Alfred Newman (although Newman has won 9 while Williams only 5).

The academy leaving them out of Best Production Design is ridiculous though, this movie is clearly a contender. And if the original Star Wars can win for costumes, an argument could be made that this movie deserves a look, although I can probably get why they didn't (they're more aesthetics based on existing costumes than they are original, despite being fancied up).

I wonder if Dan Mindel, the cinematographer, felt slighted by not getting a nod, or if he'll learn from this not to depend on so many telephoto lenses that flatten the subject against the background, and not to shoot so much stuff straight on. I suspect he uses those techniques because Abrams doesn't like to storyboard as much as other directors, he prefers to run-n-gun, figure it out as he goes.



Adam Driver was the host of SNL this weekend, and he was really good. His monologue was charming and self-effacing without being pathetic, he barely looked at cue cards in sketches, he had a lot of character work, he didn't step on anyone else's lines, and he even played smaller roles in some sketches without feeling wasted. The Kylo Ren Undercover Boss bit was cute although the last shot was a downer that I heard the audience gasp and groan at.

[JediTricks]

Episode 8 has been pushed back to Dec 15th, 2017 from the previously slated summer '17. That's fine, Disney needs to slow down a little and take stock, don't rush the stories.