wvu80 Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Some people are not crazy about BB-8. Since the entire movie starts and ends with him that's a fairly important detail. I thought it was tough for a CGI droid with no face and just droid noises a' la C3PO to display emotion, but I thought he came off very well. BB-8 had some humorous moments as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapsnb01 Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 Actually BB-8 wasn't CGI...he was a practical effect. They built 8 of them for the movie and it actually rolls and moves the way it's filmed. Pretty impressive robotics there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 I did not know that! I though BB-8 was 100% CGI like the Ep1-2-3 Yodas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 Good morning, Klipsch Nation. Aside from a love of all things audio, I think we all love music. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) In 1977, no one had ever seen a Spacecraft take up the entire screen before, light sabers, etc. There was a mind blowing effect that wasn't repeated until I saw The Matrix in an IMAX theater many years later. So, The Force Awakens lacks that element. I have a lot to say, but it would involve spoilers, so I'll hold back. It's good, but largely predictable. I was a little disappointed by that. But I guess JJ wanted to play it safe. It's good, but not as good as I'd hoped. Information of vital importance was delivered in such a way that felt hurried and left me feeling a little flat, while a critical scene was shot in such a way that treated the audience as if it was stupid and didn't understand the significance of what had just happened. Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader. JJ, your job is to scare the shit out of the little people - big fail here in my opinion. They should have dubbed over his voice with someone who knows how to sound ominous. Vader also managed to creep people out when he wasn't saying anything at all. Yes, Daisy Ridley carried the whole thing. The woman is a very good actress. I left the theater very much wanting to see her in a more serious role - I could watch her do her thing all day. Intelligent, physical and beautiful. It's a great ride, and I'll probably catch it again before it leaves the theaters. With that said, this movie will probably do as well on a 55" screen as it does in the theater - it just isn't as Grand as the first two films -- which are simply awesome on the big screen. Edited December 27, 2015 by Deang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) In 1977, no one had ever seen a Spacecraft take up the entire screen before, light sabers, etc. There was a mind blowing effect that wasn't repeated until I saw The Matrix in an IMAX theater many years later. So, The Force Awakens lacks that element. I have a lot to say, but it would involve spoilers, so I'll hold back. It's good, but largely predictable. ++++++ SPOILER BELOW: Skip the rest of this post to avoid a spoiler. +++++ I did a LOT of "predicting" before the movie came out, and frankly I was off by a lot. I have read several of the books so I guessed what the plot was and who the new characters would be related to but so far TFA has been able to surprise me. That's good. I love John Williams scores for this movie. Like EVERYTHING else in the movie it is very familiar, but it is also totally different because it puts its own spin on the music. I recognize some of the rhythms but I can't identify them just yet, especially the syncopation starting around 5:00 in the Star Wars video below. I am thinking it might be borrowed from Disney from the Epcot Millennium music. I'll figure it out. Edit: I found my syncopation. Dave Brubeck's Blue Rondo A La Turk. If you're singing along at home the time signature is 9/8 with a 4/4 swing. Here's the basic rhythm. Vader Vader Vader Skywalker Vader Vader Vader Skywalker Vader Vader Vader Skywalker Skywalker Skywalker Skywalker SPOILER: One of the big questions left unanswered by the movie is, who is Luke Skywalker? Did he turn to the dark side? Will he be one of the villains? At the very end of the movie Rey finds Luke and offers him his old light saber. There are no words spoken, and we don't know if he accepted the light saber or not. It is only through the movie score and specifically the musical finale's title that we find out. I love this piece, it's very calming and peaceful, introspective. I've been listening to it all day. Edited December 27, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) In 1977, no one had ever seen a Spacecraft take up the entire screen before, light sabers, etc. There was a mind blowing effect Yes, and at the Coronet in San Francisco in 1977, when the big ship went over and left the screen, the sound passed over the audience as well. When the Coronet was rebuilt for 70mm and 6 channel sound (1955) the one surround channel was switchable, and, perhaps panable. Star Wars came out just about the time that Dolby took sound for 70mm over, and used fewer channels behind the screen, and added a second surround, and a sub. I was surprised to find that there were ceiling speakers, although, looking back, I got a hint of them with previous 70mm films (for howling wind effects, for instance). Later, I checked the ceiling speakers out. They were not the puny surrounds we so often see. They had thick walled frames, and were almost completely embedded in the ceiling, nearly flush mounted. They looked something like JBL C40s, and I know that back in 1955 the Todd-AO people hired Ampex to do the sound, using JBL custom speakers. Edited December 31, 2015 by garyrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader. JJ, your job is to scare the shit out of the little people - big fail here in my opinion. They should have dubbed over his voice with someone who knows how to sound ominous. Vader also managed to creep people out when he wasn't saying anything at all. Agreed...Kylo Ren sounded and acted like a spoiled brat. They also shouldn't have taken his mask off until the Han Solo scene to give the moment more gravity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader. JJ, your job is to scare the shit out of the little people - big fail here in my opinion. They should have dubbed over his voice with someone who knows how to sound ominous. Vader also managed to creep people out when he wasn't saying anything at all. Agreed...Kylo Ren sounded and acted like a spoiled brat. They also shouldn't have taken his mask off until the Han Solo scene to give the moment more gravity. You guys are both right about the whiny almost comical tantrums of Kylo Ren, but I think you both may be missing what I think will be the point of the next movie, developmentally speaking. In the original 1977 Star Wars Luke was the immature whiny kid who was clumsy in his initial use of the light side of the force. It was Darth Vader who was fully trained and at the height of his powers and was easily able to defeat Luke. Now fast forward to The Force Awakens. It is the dark side Kylo Ren who has great power but is immature and not able to control the force, as evidenced by his being easily defeated by an untrained complete novice light side force user, Rey. His training is not complete. In Star Wars 8 we are meant to see Kylo Ren's character develop and grow in power as he completes his dark side training with Darth Plagueis the Wise (I have musical proof this is who the big goofy looking holocron really is). Edited December 31, 2015 by wvu80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 ROTFLMBO!!! ^^^ That was pretty funny. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapsnb01 Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Thought this was interesting...fills in some of the blanks that we've been speculating about. http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/31/star-wars-the-force-awakens-released-script-and-novelization-offer-new-details-on-the-ending-and-more?utm_source=IGN%20hub%20page&utm_medium=IGN%20%28front%20page%29&utm_content=20&utm_campaign=Blogroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 (edited) GOOD: I thought BB8 was awesome. Daisy Ridley was awesome, but, the English accent is pretty predictable. Any time a strong independent smart female lead is desired, she's a Brit. The good guys finally learned how to shoot, they actually aimed and hit what they aimed at, especially Chewie. Although, Rey apparently figures it out within two shots. Right. Special effects have obviously come a long way. BAD: C3PO and his red arm? What? Why? And with no explanation? Harrison Ford seemed to be out of place and acting, he didn't seem natural like he used to. Not sure why Luke / Mark Hamil didn't have hardly any screen time while Carrie Fisher had so much while being so bad. The family ties thing seemed kind of forced. Kylo Ren wasn't very believable IMO and was disappointing. At least find somebody who could pass off as the kid of his parents, he looked like he was from south America. The back story didn't seem very strong either. He seemed pretty young as well given the situation, like he was a spoiled punk and not a total badass like I had hoped. And how did the bad guys end up with Darth Vader's helmet? At the end of episode 6 they cremated him and left his helmet on. So it half burnt up, fell off, Luke saved it, lost it, and the bad guys got it? Right. Edited January 6, 2016 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 Thought this was interesting...fills in some of the blanks that we've been speculating about. http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/31/star-wars-the-force-awakens-released-script-and-novelization-offer-new-details-on-the-ending-and-more?utm_source=IGN%20hub%20page&utm_medium=IGN%20%28front%20page%29&utm_content=20&utm_campaign=Blogroll Excellent. I love guessing and discussing, even knowing that I am going to be wrong most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapsnb01 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Since it notes that Luke "knows" Rey...I'm a little afraid they're going down the Luke-is-your-father road with her. I hope that's not the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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