From: mr@sandman.net   
      
   In article <63b588d9-044b-4bbd-b8cf-9cd64b1eef04@googlegroups.com>, C'Pi   
   wrote:   
      
   > It's not the heroes journey premise that bugs me. That, at least is   
   > expected. It's all the little things copied what we had already seen   
   > in the movies.  you listed many of them. There were just so many it   
   > took me out of the movie. When they showed the giant death star   
   > planet, I could help but think to myself, 'really, are you shitting   
   > me?' There was just so much of that.   
      
   Fair enough, no argument there. I will agree that the introduction of the new   
   "death star planet", can't remember its name, would have been more ok if it   
   wasn't also destroyed moments later.   
      
   It worked in ANH because it was so awesome in itself, but it's been done now.   
   Rather, use the weapon, build up its importance and looming danger over the   
   trilogy and culminate with its destruction.   
      
   In ANH, seeing how they didn't know whether they would make a sequel or not,   
   the destruction of the death star spelled the end of the enemy, since as far   
   as the viewer knew, the vast majority of the enemy personell would have been   
   on that death star.   
      
   In TFA, there is no such need for closure, so if they really needed to keep   
   the DSIII or whatever you'd call it, keep for a while longer.   
      
   Or even better, since the plot of the movie deals with finding Luke, create   
   the sense of urgency out of the resistance finding him before the first order   
   blows up the planet he is on? Perhaps Kylo was successful in getting the   
   location form Rey etc etc.   
      
   > These are the things that keep me from calling it a great movie.   
   > It's why I feel it's just ok. That and the pace of the movies.   
   > Everything was always frantic and rushed. The original movies   
   > weren't like that. That's just J.J.'s style and I could have done   
   > without it and I think it was the major reason I did not feel like I   
   > was watching a Star Wars movie.   
      
   I agree with this, with a slower pace the classic Star Wars feeling would   
   have been even stronger. Throw in a couple of wipe transitions and you'd been   
   there completely.   
      
   That said, this is less of a thing about Abrams, and more a thing about how   
   movies are made in 2015 vs how movies were made in 1977. slow-paced dialogues   
   and scenes are rare, especially in sci-fi/fantasy movies.   
      
   > No matter what the flaws of the PT, I still felt like I was in the   
   > Star Wars universe.   
      
   I didn't. Since the acting as so bad, due to the script being so atrocious,   
   there were no dialogue.   
      
   And since 75% of all scenes are filmed on a 10 meter catwalk in a green   
   screen room, no scene can contain any urgency. We can't have Han run after   
   some five storm troopers because there is no place to run.   
      
   When Anakin tells Windu that Palaptine is the sith lord, the rest of the   
   dialogue can only be carried out while slowly pacing down the 10 meter   
   catwalk (in a scene that is a huge hangar). No sense of "Shit, we need to do   
   something now!"   
      
   Contrast that with scenes in the OT, where the millenium falcon breaking down   
   results in Han scurrying around all over the ship while the empire is   
   shooting at them.   
      
   Or when they finally see an opening to run to the MF in the DS docking bay,   
   everyone is sprinting to the ship and Luke sees Kenobi and Vader.   
      
   Only places in the PT where the characters could actually move at some form   
   of urgency was on Tatooine (which was rarely used) and in specialized action   
   scenes like the droid factor or Kenobi/Anaking duel. Otherwise, all motion   
   was in scenes that were 99%-100% CGI   
      
   I could go on forever, of course.   
      
   > A huge diverse universe.  Not one were everything   
   > seems to be happening in the same place.   
      
   That was one of my biggest gripes with the PT, that in spite of there   
   supposedly being this huge galaxy available, we still ended up on Tatooine.   
   Granted, in TFA, we have another very similar desert planet, but still - no   
   locales in TFA have been seen before, even if they may appear similar-   
   looking. It's sort of a bummer they didn't use this to show something more   
   alien-looking, of course, but still.   
      
   > Destroy a cluster of planets and now the entire Republic is   
   > destroyed? And it can all be seen from whatever place the first   
   > order and resistance is located?   
      
   More or less - they destroyed some 5-7 planets, all with one shot, all in   
   plain sight from each other, apparently. That was a bit odd.   
      
   > Seeing nothing really new shrank the Star Wars universe.   
      
   Only, everything you saw were new places, though. Even though rhey looked   
   similar to some of the old places.   
      
   > Not that I blame J.J. for that.  That's Disney and their rush to get   
   > these movies out. One more year of planning and developing would   
   > have help I think. Maybe then they would have realized that the   
   > stormtrooper with whatever that was battling Fin with a lightsaber   
   > was just dumb. And Han has never fired Chewie's gun?  Ever? And Han   
   > is surprised by it? After decades together? Dumb.   
      
   Agreed on both accounts.   
      
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   Sandman   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)