Pshh, im going to change the name fairly soon to Rouge One, we can keep this thread going for like 6 years.
I reckon mists been covered in the 24 pages but I wAnted to give my 3d I really liked ep7 , there was a huff about it being too similar to ep4 but that's the point , Star Wars fans don't want radical skews in the original universe. Back in the 70s Lucas was heavily into his Japanese film culture and dynastic stories etc , this is partly what he wanted to achieve with SW and although he lost the plot with the prequels JJ Abrams got what Lucas was about and developed new characters into a familiar , comfy episode 7 . Personally I like all the new characters good or bad you can relate to them all you can see how they devolved in 135 mins , this was easiest done in a familiar story , Kylo ren is a believable bad egg , no horns no silliness either
Gawd , typing a coherent sentence on the iPad is harrrrrrrrd I'd edit my last post (parp) but it would be a complete rewrite
Saw it again the other night. I'm still not as amazed as most people seem to be. Without posting spoilers in case there's anyone who still hasn't seen it, I don't get why the Republic are mentioned but never seen or heard and while the first order seem to fear them they don't appear to have any power or influence despite being the ruling authority of the galaxy. There's also an implication that they have to be discrete in assisting the resistance. Why? In fact why is there even a resistance when the Republic are in charge? Why are they not just one single group? It seems like they were so desperate to force as many of the exact same scenes and ideas from the original film that they didn't bother with the background to the film at all. I don't not like it. I'm too much of a Star Wars fan for that. I like all the new stuff but there's not enough of that and too much pandering to people who wanted what is practically a remake of the original. I guess it's what the majority of people wanted and I'm in a minority. Also I really hope that Snoke isn't as massive as his hologram. That'd be so gay.
Spoiler The Republic are in it. The main hub of the New Republic is what gets destroyed by the Starkiller base. The reason for a Resistance was because after they won the civil war against the Empire, there was a massive disarmament and the New Republic army was cut massively. This idea was something Leia disagreed with, so she went and formed the Resistance. The New Republic also ignored the threat of the First Order too, thinking it was nothing but a storm in a teacup. This stuff isn't mentioned in the film but is in the books. As a lot of it is more political, it is understandable why they kept away from showing it considering how the politics in the prequels went down. Obviously, not everyone reads the books, so this knowledge is missed by most. Snoke won't be as massive as his hologram. Remember the Emperor's hologram in Empire Strikes Back? That was massive too. It was simply to make him more menacing and show his control over them.
Spoiler But that 'hub' isn't even seen apart from in that one brief scene. What planets are they and who/what is there? Maybe Coruscant is one? That'd be nice to know. It seems like such a big part of the story to be totally left out. You mention that the Republic disarmed, but when were they ever armed? I'd have thought the one thing a new authority would do after the separatist and empire situations would be to gear the **** up! Especially with hardly any jedi left. Anyway a Republic fleet is mentioned, but again never seen. I'd have liked to see the ships that make up that fleet. It's mentioned that Luke was training a new generation of jedi. So where the hell are they? There should be loads of them the same age as Kylo Ren looking after the galaxy. How could they see the first order as a storm in a teacup when they've built this massive supergiant planet weapon three times the size of the death star? Just the complete ease with which the entire Republic is destroyed seems ridiculous to me. Even Palpatine didn't make it that easy with the old Republic. If it was that easy why were the first order so scared of them?
Spoiler Corucant isn't one of them. The New Republic set up in a different system called the Hosnian system (it's a new one). They were armed, because the New Republic was the Rebellion, pretty much after the second Death Star was destroyed they changed the name, because they were no longer simply a rebellion. You did watch the film, right? They were killed by Kylo and his knights. Han says this in the movie! It's also what you see in the vision and is why Luke is in self imposed exile. The Resistance told the New Republic of these weapons but they ignored it or were not sure if it was true. Remember, like I said, the New Republic army was cut dramatically and spread all across the galaxy as well. Like I said, this sort of stuff is in the books and is explained in great detail there, way more than I am doing, this is just a brief summation. If it was in the film it probably would've destroyed the pace and tone. If you've any other questions, I'll answer them later, as I'm off to a couple of lectures (yawn).
Finally watched VII Really facking loved it. My only knowledge of Star Wars is the 7 main films. That's it. I'm keen to catch up with all the other star warsy history and story lines etc. Quill - is there a source which is essentially a one stop shop for all star wars lore?
If you want to just find stuff, probably the Star Wars wikipedia, Wookiepedia. Personally I would read the books and stuff, but obviously that is quite time consuming.
I've only seen the movies and tbh only recently ( I was busy being a kid when the originals were out n cinema was a massive luxury that meant I only saw ET as a kid)... For that reason I'd find the books n other waffle a distraction , life in the galaxy is complicated enough without adding tangents
There are currently 7 novels, but one of them is the first in a trilogy and another is coming out in May. Only a couple of them have proper links to the new trilogy and what happens after Return of the Jedi. Aftermath and Lost Stars are the current novels that have links and are set after Return, but Aftermath is the first in a trilogy (the second comes out in July). The one coming out in May, called New Republic: Bloodline, also links in after ROTJ, in fact it is the novel which takes place the closest to The Force Awakens. There is the novelization of The Force Awakens too, which has many extra scenes in it which aren't in the film. If you're looking for a quick fix, I recommend using the internet. If you want to spend the time, read the books.
