I know people hated on the prequels for the politics, but I like politics in my fantasy - now, it sucks in movies so they shouldn't focus on it there (there is not enough time to use it properly, it needs time to build layers) but leave it for TV on the whole and the prequels did politics as all other things, which is to say terribly ... but this movie NEEDED some political stuff. Emperor died. Now we have the First Order. How? What do they own? Who leads them? What kind of power structure? What are they after? Why do people follow them? What was the transition like? What is the ultimate goal? Senate is back. How? Where? Why? Is it a full senate? Is it respected? Are they actually good? Are the two fighting? Are they in the same space? Who is winning? Who has the most power overall militarily or economically? Obviously not all of that can be addressed in the movie without killing the whole film - but ignoring it just makes me really annoyed waiting for an explanation as to what the crap is happening on screen. Also, they really did away with subtlety on the bad guys, they went full God damned Nazi. In the originals it was 'Democracy fell, now we are ruled by an emperor, good guys are fighting them.' Now it is more complex and they're just ignoring all of changes that have happened and you're as well off going into this blind as you are having seen the previous six movies, either way you come out going 'Why?'. The original series had the bad guys lose and the new series picks up with 'The bad guys are still going forty years later', ****ing explain! Other than that the movie had a bunch of little niggles, but overall was good, the similarities to the original were frankly nice after the prequels as a giant neon sign saying 'We know why the originals matter!'. Only other huge issue I took with it was (Fin and) Rey vs Ren at the end. I don't care whose kid she is, I don't give a crap about what a screw up Ren is and I'm uninterested in his being shot, someone who has never held a sword does not beat a trained swordsman. She has the force? So does he, his mother is a Skywalker, he is as powerful or more powerful than anyone else force-wise (not as skilled perhaps, but the amount of power he potentially can access - he is at the top). Have her receive a months training in swordsmanship and I will pretend it is okay that she did that well, but first time holding the thing? Suspension of disbelief =/= setting fire to disbelief, throwing the ashes out the window and denying any knowledge of what disbelief is. Ren wins. End of story. Ren should fight the pair of them at once and be making a joke of it, have Fin shooting at him and have Ren deflect blaster shots at Rey for fun whilst he tries to convince her to side with him in return for letting Fin go. Anything but having them stand up to him competently. The first movie in your Vader analogue has been set up as weak enough to be held off by someone with zero fighting experience and zero force training. She's now met Luke, by the end of the sequel she'll be capable of bouncing your new Vader off the walls whilst telling him what a very naughty boy he has been and still be playing holographic chess with Chewbacca on the side. That said, nice that it didn't go the prequel sword fight style and have that floaty stage fighting nonsense. At least it felt like they were fighting.
33:50 I just started welling up. That is exactly my favorite instance in the film for some magical, other worldly, beautiful, Star Wars reason. Grey, It's so nice to hear someone else loved that part as much as I did.
Kylo Ren was super well cast and written. You can just FEEL the crazy and anger bubbling up. Like when he's punching the shit out of his side, after he gets shot, to control the pain and all that.. great stuff
I actually didn't mind the stormtrooper electric sword all that much. It makes sense that, in the wake of the original trilogy, the New Order looked back and thought "Hmm, those Jedi are back and they're a pesky bunch." It does make sense that they would give some of their troopers equipment and training designed to counter lightsaber weapons. Especially since, at some point Luke was trying to establish a school full of new Jedi. If the New Order was on the verge of going up against a small army of Jedi, these kind of melee troopers would be even more important. That being said, I do still think the lightsaber fight with Finn was too contrived. If he had had saber training it should have been made more clear. We can contrive an explanation, but like Gray said, the movie needs to be able to stand on it's own without the help of the expanded universe to patch the plot holes. One thing you didn't mention about the millenium falcon that bothered me: She has been living on this planet for most of her life. And she knows the guy who ended up with the Falcon (I'm guessing it was kind of her boss/slavekeeper). When Han asks her how that guy ended up with his ship, she tells him the entire chronology of where the ship has been aside for when Han owned it. So she knew the ship's story really well. And it's been sitting on that planet for who knows how long. She knows all about Han and his famous ship, but at no point did she put two and two together and realize that this YT-1300 Light Freighter parked there is THE YT-1300 Light Freighter? It's like if I was a huge Dukes of Hazard fan, and then one day I realize: Oh damn, that 1969 Dodge Charger that's been parked in my neighbor's front drive way for the past 8 years, it turns out it's the General Lee! How did I not notice this before?
Regarding the island scene at the very end, I was happy it was there just for the questions it teased at. Earlier in the movie when Kylo was reading Rey's mind he talked about seeing the ocean and island. At the time it seemed like he was just describing the opposite of Jakku, but they ended up showing a place that matched the description.
Grey, I know this might be old, but as a US Marine, I was trained to use a bayonet. The way you use a bayonet is similar to a Pike. It involves a lot of slashing, stabbing and bashing with the stock. There is a comic that explains Finns past and the troopers who die in the beginning and TR-8R (the trooper with the baton).
Regarding the "macro" story as Brady put it: Apparently, Abrams did film a bunch of stuff regarding the politics. In fact, the girl that the camera focuses on on that planet was supposed to be a key player in helping (now) General Leia get resources and equipment for the Freedom Fighters. From external sources, the Senate and the Resistance are separate entities, and from my understanding the Senate doesn't see the First Order as a threat and thus choose not to support the Freedom Fighters whom are underfunded and lack new equipment. An example of the lack of financing is the shuttle that General Leia comes out of near the end. That's supposed to be a refurbished B-Wing. For whatever reason, Abrams decided to cut this rather crucial element out of the movie, and in my opinion, contrary to Grey saying how this is minor, I think it's a huge blunder. If Abrams was trying to create mystery by leaving this out, he created confusion instead. There's a stark difference between mystery and confusion. I hope it'll be explained in the next film.
+Joshua Guillemette I don't imagine he left it out to create mystery. I imagine he had to cut it to keep the film to a certain length, or maybe for general pacing.
I mean if they had this heap of footage and they realized it was just impossible to work with; I can understand how cutting it makes it better than otherwise... That doesn't stop it from making the movie bad on any level beyond superficial (I enjoyed watching it, but I have no desire to see more SWs movies now).
the kessel run is a circuitous route through a cluster of black holes. the faster/more agile your ship, and the more talented the pilot, the more direct the route can be taken. so, you traverse fewer parsecs the better you are at the run. the time gain is implied by wasting less not giving the black holes as wide a berth.
+lovableasshole I always love when they create new canon to explain an obvious mistake or oversight in a franchise rather than just being honest about the mistake....
+loveableasshole But why not? I know I would enjoy it so much more when things are explained, even if it is afterwards to cover up a mistake. It is an explanation so why make a point of finding fault in it? It is a very creative and unique explanation as well, so I prefer to not focus on the fact that they probably got it wrong and instead enjoy that they fixed it in a believable way.
About the baton thingy, There are precedence for weapons in the star wars universe being able to resist light sabers. Cortosis is apparently a mineral that can short out light sabers, it is weaved into weapons(or armor) to deflect a cut. Mostly used in the games sure, but it's not strange at all that thousands of years of society living in parallel with Jedis comes up with weapon against their main weapons.
my main problem with the films is 1, its star wars IV all over again 2, when C-3PO says that the rebels cant get support from the republic navy because the capital was destroyer it either means that no one in production noticed this plothole or that the republic admirals are massive morons that parked their intire navy in the same system
Basically, in the very confusing and odd period after Return of the Jedi, there was a treaty between the New Republic and the Empire, which basically gave most of the Galaxy to the New Republic, while the remnants of the Empire held onto parts of the Galaxy. The resistance is like the Rebels but within the First Order's territory. The treaty was a peace treaty so the First Order and the Republic were not officially at war, however the Republic naturally funds and supplies the resistance. Until obviously the Death Star 3.0 blows them up. I thought it should have just been the New Republic as like the good version of the Empire vs the First Order, the evil version of the rebellion, sort of an imperialist military rebel alliance attempted a coup.
+Darion Boyd and then at 1:02:10 he's talking about "having things just happen you dont have to focus too much attention to it." And the sound effect plays over him, which is JUST what he was describing. Editing on point.
No I wouldn't... I wouldn't remove the prequels. They weren't great films... but they were excellent world building tools. They expand the scope of the galaxy a whole lot...and make way for many many more adventures in the galaxy far far away. I always feel lik people from my generation who say we should've only ever had the first 3 films are only thinking about their own childhoods... But we still HAVE our childhoods. The new films don't taint those memories. But they do allow new generations of fans to make their own memories and have their own beloved characters.
I disagree, because I enjoy some ambiguity in my fantasy worlds. Not that my preference is to have something as straight forward as the original trilogy, but having the sense that the story is a part of - and not isolated from - a vast universe is (in my opinion) the best way to go. The prequels tried to encompass the entire universe, but that's too big a scope for one story: you have to focus on a limited story while alluding to the big picture. (Food for thought: I thought the original Dune was really good at this.) For instance, I loved that sequence where Han was apprehended when returning to the MF by those two unexplained groups of gov't officials. It alluded to a world going on off screen without detracting from the story.
In a deleted scene, they talk about the relation between the Senate, First Order, and Resistance. Leia knew from Han Solo that this weapon was being built, but since the First Order and Senate had a treaty, the called her a liar. So she made the Resistance as a separate entity, and she sent a second person to try to convince the senate to start a war, and you see that messenger get killed in the big laser thing.
+TheLoreSeeker The Emperors royal guard in the original had force pikes, and those were also said to be able to withstand lightsabers. It's not unheard of in the lore, but I'll forgive CGPGrey here.
Jasper H.B. Yes it did, they stated the movies are all still canon. Rogue One is going to flush out the plot that happened before A New Hope, the whole reason Leia got the Death Star plans.
cidshroom Just clarifying I was referring to Episodes 1-3, the Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. When you said the movies are still canon, I thought you might have confused them with the upcoming ones.
Without watching the movie (still, 3 years later) I agree with Grey's point about exposition. I much rather be left asking questions and wanting more information than feel like it's all spelled out for me or that the writer/director is shoving this information into my brain with both hands.
I feel the need to briefly piont out that I have a friend who knows lightsaber combat and sword styles. He says (about the snow battle scence), and I agree with him, that the coreography was intentionaly sloppy becouse none of the people involved were fully trained, not even Kylo Ren.
The Light Side is power through following logic and order. Going against nature as a living creature with natural lean towards disorder and emotion. While Dark Side is power through emotion and disorder. The world is your play thing and emotions feed your power which is much easier as emotions are natural. Neither the Light Side or Dark Side are good or evil but how you gain the power leans you towards a morality. The Jedi are not good people in prequel trilogy. While on the good side they are on capital world of the republic instead of out on a less populated world. They get enthralled by politics instead of going out into galaxy to help people and all because they had to put the grand temple over a ancient sith nexus of the dark side from old sith temple. The Sith are evil because of how they go about the dark side. You have dark siders that are not evil in star wars but they keep to own things. The Sith evilness comes from using negative emotions to fuel them instead of positive emotions. Negative emotions are easy, is just easy to be negative.
C-3PO and R2D2 are the only characters to appear in every Star Wars movie, that's why they're there. They're essentially the narrators. Sometimes you make me sad CGPGrey, sometimes you make me sad.
Though 3PO is the only one that possesses actual language. So if we assume the only way the story can be told is through English, that means anything coming from the point of R2 would either be dismissed or changed on various levels.
Regarding the pilot, I assume he is meant to be Wedge Antilles. They approached the actor of Wedge Antilles from the original movies to reprise his role, but he refused. I imagine the new guy is just what he was going to be or that Antilles had a kid. In the Expanded Universe Antilles got beefed up a lot and became a popular character, I'd be pretty surprised if the pilot is going to be another force sensitive rather than what the Antilles fan-service had to be re-purposed into when they couldn't get the actor back to play his part.
I don't get why the parsecs thing is so bad. If you have a race and for that race you have... two weeks exactly to complete it, and at the end they will see how far you've traveled, and the furthest traveller wins.. then parsecs is a correct unit, right? Just because we normally keep the distance the same and the time is affected by your speed, what if you flip it around?
If we want to be super technical and pedantic, parsec is the wrong term because it is a unit of length that no one in the Star Wars Universe would use. It is defined not by a number of lightyears (although the approximation of 3 lightyears is often used); rather it is defined by using the average distance between the Sun and the Earth and the angle between lines drawn between the sun and an object and the Earth and that object. Even if you chose the Parsec to be defined based on a planet in the Star Wars Universe, you'd need a new Parsec for every planet you might find yourself on.
daddyleon It's more like you draw a triangle where 1 leg of the triangle is an Astronomical Unit and the other leg is a parsec. The parsec is scaled such that the far angle of the triangle is 1 arcsecond (1/3600 of a degree).
daddyleon Only because astronomers view the universe from the Earth (a point at one of the corners of that triangle) and have calculations that make use of angles frequently.
Research shows that people rate movies higher if it's been spoiled. So, they are doing more good then bad. I wouldn't spoil movies as I think anyone that wan't a better view of the movie can look up spoilers on there own.
I believe the Senate is an independent entity. The First Order is the large nation ruling most of the galaxy (which, I mean, why are they evil again?). The Resistance is the movement attempting to defeat the First Order. The Senate also appears to back the Resistance.
+PhantomHunter01 I believe its actually that the Senate is the "new government" that rises after Return of the Jedi....the First Order is a remnant insurgent group of Empire hold outs in fringe space...and that the Resistance is a "anti-First Order" movement that is "technically not endorsed" by the government.
+rocketsocks XP yeah, it's not like it has any identifying marks, like its registration above its cock pit >< (www.synicon.info/SW/mf/hway1.jpg -> i.imgur.com/xUA4vUu.jpg)
You titled it "Star Wars Christmas Special" but never mentioned the Star Wars Christmas Special...? Also, it seems like a lot of people missed the fact that Rey recognized Leia the first time they met, suggesting that they knew each other. To me, that seems to indicate that Leia is indeed Rey's mother and they recognize each other.
The JJ Abrams Star Trek movies missed the main ideas, style, tone, intellectualism, themes, and progressiveness of the shows from Voyager back. I "kinda" 👋 include enterprise in that.🖖
I couldn't disagree more with this. I mean oh well who cares, but it's funny to me because I didn't like the movie in many ways for a lot of reasons but even points these two make about things they don't like I do actually like. Funny to me
I knew x person would die the moment the casting was announced. xP Not a hunch, I was certain. Good thing it turned out exactly like I 'knew', or I'd have felt silly.
This movie was so terrible that I ended up not watching the next two. And from what I've heard from multiple sources. I was spared quite a bit of cringe and confusion.
The thing is you need to make a coherent plot. Going from the Empire decapitated their super-weapon and flagship (the Super Star Destroyer) destroyed to the Rebels apparently are on the defense again after establishing some control is just WAY too big of a gap to not have some explanation. They also blow up a star system we have absolutely no connection with. There's a huge difference between the vague politics going on in A New Hope and the out of nowhere plot progression of TFAs. People don't like the politics in the prequels because it's done awfully not because it exists.
@@EliStettner I think Chad means that the 8th and 9th movies were generally not liked, and that Brady and Grey were wrong because the later movies tinged the reputation of The Force Awakens (Maybe?)
Zoykzmc you are not. The prequels were messy films with a lot of holes but they were legitimate attempts at art and originality. Force Awakens was a glossed up cover of A New Hope but with all the soul stripped away. Like Hillary Duff's recording of The Who's My Generation. You can't technically call it a bad song but you know it sucks. Force Awakens was a giant commercial for Star Wars. Not a A Star Wars film. And it just kept getting worse with the next films.
I agree to disagree. Ray and fin has the same issue as anakin. The actors aren't good enough to overcome the flaws of writing. Maybe it is a generational issue. Maybe a regional, but for me those two killed the movie.. as some other character that got a lot of flak.. i don't think Hamill is a good actor, just to be clear. Need to rewatch who was the best char. It's the dark robot but I can't remember if it was in this movie.
37:35 I didn’t have to imagine it, it was already made it in the first cut of Star Wars. Luke doesn’t say anything for almost a complete minute in his original introduction.
I don't actually like them, but I really enjoy them in an ironic way. I love watching it with friends and making fun of all the dumb things, but still enjoying the few things that are good.
It seems generational to me. I like them because I grew up with them. I watched them before I knew what good filmmaking was. If you grew up with the originals, it seems like you dislike the prequels a lot more
Ray is an awful character. She's way overpowered and has absolutely no character ark. I mean, how the hell is someone with absolutely no training in being a jedi somehow able to defeat the equivalent of a sith lord? She also has no personality, no humor, no irony, no tragedy, nothing that actually makes her an interesting character. She honestly felt like a filler character. At least that's my opinion anyway.
Personally, I don't see the big deal with spoilers. I get that it can disturb the experience of the movie, it still doesn't detract from the whole when the movie/book is engaging enough. I've had many things spoiled for me, but (most of the time) the enjoyment of the book/movie was no worse than otherwise.
TFA was pretty to look at, but script-wise this movie is absolutely awful. It's ALMOST as dumb as the Transformers movies. I would even say that it is worse than the prequels.
Wow take your tall privilege and walk, Being a short person, I'm glad there are some leading rolls with short characters. Not everyone is over 6' tall and you don't need to be tall to be a good pilot.
Hate to be the guy to respond to a message 7-8 months late but, My girlfriend hadn't seen a single star wars film prior to dating me, I promptly ran her through all 6 movies leading up to 7's release.
Sorry to be the guy to reply 10 months late but I've met one or 2 people who got mad at me for spoiling Star Wars. I don't understand how you couldn't know Vader is Luke's father, and they clearly didn't plan to watch it.
+domehammer He worked in sanitation at Starkiller Base. He still would have received combat training considering he's on a combat mission at the very beginning of the film.
William Higley he would have been trained to shoot a laser and hand to hand combat but swordfighting is a whole different thing. You put a sword in the hands of a navy seal or a UFC champion and ask them to go head to head with an elite fencer and you'll see fast how skills don't transfer over.
Just got to look at McGregor Vs Mayweather for reference lol. But I think in the visual dictionary for the Force Awakens or something, something no one would ever read anyway, Finn was trained to fight with the baton thing that the Stormtrooper that took him on with at Maz's castle. Definitely canonical, but I wish Finn didn't work in sanitation or whatever crap, but oh well.
One of those "watching in the far future" of, well... 1.5 months later? Anyways, I dont get where this confusion about First Order / New Republic / Resistance is coming from, especially coming from someone that knows so much about politics and geography as you Grey... To me, it doesnt seem necessary to do exposition on this : what did we know about why there's a senate AND an emperor when watching New Hope? How much was explained? Right, nothing. Here, given we know alot of stuff about this universe's past, we can make educated guesses. Also, looking at you, realy world, to help with it. What happens when a dictatorship's leadership is violently removed? Do all paramilitary organizations neatly go away, does the dictator's army disband and does the new democratic (?) regime have total control over all parts of the "country" ? No. Look at the mess in the arabic world recently for plenty of examples of things like this. The First Order seems to be made of the rests of the imperial forces, the resistance seems to be the core of the rebel alliance and the new Republic, well, we dont know much about that... but it blows up, so who cares? Sorry about the length of this :)
May I point out that this is longer than the movie itself
You may. It's allowed.
Watching this ages after it came out and thinking "boy do they have some answers you won't like with the next films"
I thought you'd actually be talking about the Star Wars Holiday Special Movie from 1978
I actually thought that too.
Jasper H.B. Nice flag.
I got really excited for it. :'(
Now that you've posted this, I can finally celebrate Christmas. Maybe now my family won't be so mad about it.
I know people hated on the prequels for the politics, but I like politics in my fantasy - now, it sucks in movies so they shouldn't focus on it there (there is not enough time to use it properly, it needs time to build layers) but leave it for TV on the whole and the prequels did politics as all other things, which is to say terribly ... but this movie NEEDED some political stuff.
Emperor died.
Now we have the First Order.
How? What do they own? Who leads them? What kind of power structure? What are they after? Why do people follow them? What was the transition like? What is the ultimate goal?
Senate is back.
How? Where? Why? Is it a full senate? Is it respected? Are they actually good?
Are the two fighting? Are they in the same space? Who is winning? Who has the most power overall militarily or economically?
Obviously not all of that can be addressed in the movie without killing the whole film - but ignoring it just makes me really annoyed waiting for an explanation as to what the crap is happening on screen. Also, they really did away with subtlety on the bad guys, they went full God damned Nazi.
In the originals it was 'Democracy fell, now we are ruled by an emperor, good guys are fighting them.'
Now it is more complex and they're just ignoring all of changes that have happened and you're as well off going into this blind as you are having seen the previous six movies, either way you come out going 'Why?'. The original series had the bad guys lose and the new series picks up with 'The bad guys are still going forty years later', ****ing explain!
Other than that the movie had a bunch of little niggles, but overall was good, the similarities to the original were frankly nice after the prequels as a giant neon sign saying 'We know why the originals matter!'.
Only other huge issue I took with it was (Fin and) Rey vs Ren at the end. I don't care whose kid she is, I don't give a crap about what a screw up Ren is and I'm uninterested in his being shot, someone who has never held a sword does not beat a trained swordsman. She has the force? So does he, his mother is a Skywalker, he is as powerful or more powerful than anyone else force-wise (not as skilled perhaps, but the amount of power he potentially can access - he is at the top). Have her receive a months training in swordsmanship and I will pretend it is okay that she did that well, but first time holding the thing? Suspension of disbelief =/= setting fire to disbelief, throwing the ashes out the window and denying any knowledge of what disbelief is.
Ren wins. End of story. Ren should fight the pair of them at once and be making a joke of it, have Fin shooting at him and have Ren deflect blaster shots at Rey for fun whilst he tries to convince her to side with him in return for letting Fin go. Anything but having them stand up to him competently. The first movie in your Vader analogue has been set up as weak enough to be held off by someone with zero fighting experience and zero force training. She's now met Luke, by the end of the sequel she'll be capable of bouncing your new Vader off the walls whilst telling him what a very naughty boy he has been and still be playing holographic chess with Chewbacca on the side.
That said, nice that it didn't go the prequel sword fight style and have that floaty stage fighting nonsense. At least it felt like they were fighting.
33:50 I just started welling up. That is exactly my favorite instance in the film for some magical, other worldly, beautiful, Star Wars reason. Grey, It's so nice to hear someone else loved that part as much as I did.
Kylo Ren was super well cast and written. You can just FEEL the crazy and anger bubbling up.
Like when he's punching the shit out of his side, after he gets shot, to control the pain and all that.. great stuff
To some people, he may be angry and crazy. To others, Kylo Ren is a snivelling angst ridden teen.
I actually didn't mind the stormtrooper electric sword all that much. It makes sense that, in the wake of the original trilogy, the New Order looked back and thought "Hmm, those Jedi are back and they're a pesky bunch." It does make sense that they would give some of their troopers equipment and training designed to counter lightsaber weapons. Especially since, at some point Luke was trying to establish a school full of new Jedi. If the New Order was on the verge of going up against a small army of Jedi, these kind of melee troopers would be even more important.
That being said, I do still think the lightsaber fight with Finn was too contrived. If he had had saber training it should have been made more clear. We can contrive an explanation, but like Gray said, the movie needs to be able to stand on it's own without the help of the expanded universe to patch the plot holes.
One thing you didn't mention about the millenium falcon that bothered me: She has been living on this planet for most of her life. And she knows the guy who ended up with the Falcon (I'm guessing it was kind of her boss/slavekeeper). When Han asks her how that guy ended up with his ship, she tells him the entire chronology of where the ship has been aside for when Han owned it. So she knew the ship's story really well. And it's been sitting on that planet for who knows how long. She knows all about Han and his famous ship, but at no point did she put two and two together and realize that this YT-1300 Light Freighter parked there is THE YT-1300 Light Freighter? It's like if I was a huge Dukes of Hazard fan, and then one day I realize: Oh damn, that 1969 Dodge Charger that's been parked in my neighbor's front drive way for the past 8 years, it turns out it's the General Lee! How did I not notice this before?
Regarding the island scene at the very end, I was happy it was there just for the questions it teased at. Earlier in the movie when Kylo was reading Rey's mind he talked about seeing the ocean and island. At the time it seemed like he was just describing the opposite of Jakku, but they ended up showing a place that matched the description.
+William Higley
Yes.
(The Skelligs) - The planet Ahch - To.
Grey, I know this might be old, but as a US Marine, I was trained to use a bayonet. The way you use a bayonet is similar to a Pike. It involves a lot of slashing, stabbing and bashing with the stock. There is a comic that explains Finns past and the troopers who die in the beginning and TR-8R (the trooper with the baton).
"I would be shocked if anyone brought the clones back"
Who's gonna tell him?
Regarding the "macro" story as Brady put it: Apparently, Abrams did film a bunch of stuff regarding the politics. In fact, the girl that the camera focuses on on that planet was supposed to be a key player in helping (now) General Leia get resources and equipment for the Freedom Fighters. From external sources, the Senate and the Resistance are separate entities, and from my understanding the Senate doesn't see the First Order as a threat and thus choose not to support the Freedom Fighters whom are underfunded and lack new equipment. An example of the lack of financing is the shuttle that General Leia comes out of near the end. That's supposed to be a refurbished B-Wing.
For whatever reason, Abrams decided to cut this rather crucial element out of the movie, and in my opinion, contrary to Grey saying how this is minor, I think it's a huge blunder. If Abrams was trying to create mystery by leaving this out, he created confusion instead. There's a stark difference between mystery and confusion. I hope it'll be explained in the next film.
+Joshua Guillemette I don't imagine he left it out to create mystery. I imagine he had to cut it to keep the film to a certain length, or maybe for general pacing.
Definitely wasn't tackled in the next film.
I mean if they had this heap of footage and they realized it was just impossible to work with; I can understand how cutting it makes it better than otherwise... That doesn't stop it from making the movie bad on any level beyond superficial (I enjoyed watching it, but I have no desire to see more SWs movies now).
the kessel run is a circuitous route through a cluster of black holes. the faster/more agile your ship, and the more talented the pilot, the more direct the route can be taken. so, you traverse fewer parsecs the better you are at the run. the time gain is implied by wasting less not giving the black holes as wide a berth.
+lovableasshole At least that's the explanation they made up after the movie came out.
+lovableasshole I always love when they create new canon to explain an obvious mistake or oversight in a franchise rather than just being honest about the mistake....
+loveableasshole But why not? I know I would enjoy it so much more when things are explained, even if it is afterwards to cover up a mistake. It is an explanation so why make a point of finding fault in it? It is a very creative and unique explanation as well, so I prefer to not focus on the fact that they probably got it wrong and instead enjoy that they fixed it in a believable way.
About the baton thingy, There are precedence for weapons in the star wars universe being able to resist light sabers.
Cortosis is apparently a mineral that can short out light sabers, it is weaved into weapons(or armor) to deflect a cut.
Mostly used in the games sure, but it's not strange at all that thousands of years of society living in parallel with Jedis comes up with weapon against their main weapons.
+Haiiry Cake Notably....the predecessors to that same weapon...the shock batons used by the elite magna guard droids in Episode 3.
my main problem with the films is
1, its star wars IV all over again
2, when C-3PO says that the rebels cant get support from the republic navy because the capital was destroyer
it either means that no one in production noticed this plothole
or that the republic admirals are massive morons that parked their intire navy in the same system
Basically, in the very confusing and odd period after Return of the Jedi, there was a treaty between the New Republic and the Empire, which basically gave most of the Galaxy to the New Republic, while the remnants of the Empire held onto parts of the Galaxy. The resistance is like the Rebels but within the First Order's territory. The treaty was a peace treaty so the First Order and the Republic were not officially at war, however the Republic naturally funds and supplies the resistance. Until obviously the Death Star 3.0 blows them up. I thought it should have just been the New Republic as like the good version of the Empire vs the First Order, the evil version of the rebellion, sort of an imperialist military rebel alliance attempted a coup.
I love how Rey's theme plays when he starts talking about it around 33:30 . Excellent editing
+Darion Boyd and then at 1:02:10 he's talking about "having things just happen you dont have to focus too much attention to it." And the sound effect plays over him, which is JUST what he was describing. Editing on point.
In Gun Buster, the enemy fleet is so vast, the good guys add sufficient mass to cause a black hole to form.
No I wouldn't... I wouldn't remove the prequels.
They weren't great films... but they were excellent world building tools. They expand the scope of the galaxy a whole lot...and make way for many many more adventures in the galaxy far far away.
I always feel lik people from my generation who say we should've only ever had the first 3 films are only thinking about their own childhoods...
But we still HAVE our childhoods. The new films don't taint those memories. But they do allow new generations of fans to make their own memories and have their own beloved characters.
I disagree, because I enjoy some ambiguity in my fantasy worlds. Not that my preference is to have something as straight forward as the original trilogy, but having the sense that the story is a part of - and not isolated from - a vast universe is (in my opinion) the best way to go. The prequels tried to encompass the entire universe, but that's too big a scope for one story: you have to focus on a limited story while alluding to the big picture.
(Food for thought: I thought the original Dune was really good at this.)
For instance, I loved that sequence where Han was apprehended when returning to the MF by those two unexplained groups of gov't officials. It alluded to a world going on off screen without detracting from the story.
"Vibroblades" have existed that can deflect lightsabers for a very long time in the EU. I don't know why a random Stormtrooper would have one though.
In a deleted scene, they talk about the relation between the Senate, First Order, and Resistance. Leia knew from Han Solo that this weapon was being built, but since the First Order and Senate had a treaty, the called her a liar. So she made the Resistance as a separate entity, and she sent a second person to try to convince the senate to start a war, and you see that messenger get killed in the big laser thing.
And that's how the term "flash spoil" was born... and died...
Drive-By spoilers sounds so much better.
Its a shock baton.... the same technology the Magna Guards use in Episode 3.
+TheLoreSeeker The Emperors royal guard in the original had force pikes, and those were also said to be able to withstand lightsabers.
It's not unheard of in the lore, but I'll forgive CGPGrey here.
Though the prequel 'trilogy' didn't happen in this new Star Wars universe.
Jasper H.B. Yes it did, they stated the movies are all still canon. Rogue One is going to flush out the plot that happened before A New Hope, the whole reason Leia got the Death Star plans.
cidshroom
Just clarifying I was referring to Episodes 1-3, the Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. When you said the movies are still canon, I thought you might have confused them with the upcoming ones.
Jasper H.B.
lol I'm pretty sure what cidshroom means is that the Prequels are still canon... which...they are.
Cheers! Always excited to hear what's next
Without watching the movie (still, 3 years later) I agree with Grey's point about exposition. I much rather be left asking questions and wanting more information than feel like it's all spelled out for me or that the writer/director is shoving this information into my brain with both hands.
Brady you had the power to remove that flash spoil comment
I love how Grey always says Kylie Ren
NO! Not every storm trooper in the Empire was a clone! They had human enlistment.
where is imperial march in the background on loop
Ahh I love the Virga books. This is the first time I have encountered someone who has read them, ... that I didnt brow beat into doing it.
I like the drive-by spoiling better! I'm stealing that one.
I feel the need to briefly piont out that I have a friend who knows lightsaber combat and sword styles. He says (about the snow battle scence), and I agree with him, that the coreography was intentionaly sloppy becouse none of the people involved were fully trained, not even Kylo Ren.
I got flash spoiled about his death.
The Light Side is power through following logic and order. Going against nature as a living creature with natural lean towards disorder and emotion. While Dark Side is power through emotion and disorder. The world is your play thing and emotions feed your power which is much easier as emotions are natural. Neither the Light Side or Dark Side are good or evil but how you gain the power leans you towards a morality.
The Jedi are not good people in prequel trilogy. While on the good side they are on capital world of the republic instead of out on a less populated world. They get enthralled by politics instead of going out into galaxy to help people and all because they had to put the grand temple over a ancient sith nexus of the dark side from old sith temple.
The Sith are evil because of how they go about the dark side. You have dark siders that are not evil in star wars but they keep to own things. The Sith evilness comes from using negative emotions to fuel them instead of positive emotions. Negative emotions are easy, is just easy to be negative.
I liked the prequels...granted Return Of The Jedi is my favorite but still...
millinium fulken
C-3PO and R2D2 are the only characters to appear in every Star Wars movie, that's why they're there.
They're essentially the narrators.
Sometimes you make me sad CGPGrey, sometimes you make me sad.
Though 3PO is the only one that possesses actual language. So if we assume the only way the story can be told is through English, that means anything coming from the point of R2 would either be dismissed or changed on various levels.
I think you mean that C-GPO makes you sad
just in time for me to start animating!
Regarding the pilot, I assume he is meant to be Wedge Antilles. They approached the actor of Wedge Antilles from the original movies to reprise his role, but he refused. I imagine the new guy is just what he was going to be or that Antilles had a kid. In the Expanded Universe Antilles got beefed up a lot and became a popular character, I'd be pretty surprised if the pilot is going to be another force sensitive rather than what the Antilles fan-service had to be re-purposed into when they couldn't get the actor back to play his part.
There is a parenthesis missing in the video description.
While listening to this podcast 12/27/2016 I also found out Carrie Fisher died... :(
finally at episode 28 on iTunes, one a night every night... I can't keep up!
Well... Her Grandfather did send for her. So she wasn't forgotten.
the best pilot in the resistance line is a taunt
I don't get why the parsecs thing is so bad.
If you have a race and for that race you have... two weeks exactly to complete it, and at the end they will see how far you've traveled, and the furthest traveller wins.. then parsecs is a correct unit, right? Just because we normally keep the distance the same and the time is affected by your speed, what if you flip it around?
If we want to be super technical and pedantic, parsec is the wrong term because it is a unit of length that no one in the Star Wars Universe would use.
It is defined not by a number of lightyears (although the approximation of 3 lightyears is often used); rather it is defined by using the average distance between the Sun and the Earth and the angle between lines drawn between the sun and an object and the Earth and that object.
Even if you chose the Parsec to be defined based on a planet in the Star Wars Universe, you'd need a new Parsec for every planet you might find yourself on.
Jensaw101
Ah... that's the bestest explanation I've ever seen on this topic. This one atually makes sense :)
So... a parsec = an Astronomical Unit?
daddyleon
It's more like you draw a triangle where 1 leg of the triangle is an Astronomical Unit and the other leg is a parsec. The parsec is scaled such that the far angle of the triangle is 1 arcsecond (1/3600 of a degree).
Jensaw101
Hmm... sounds... useful?
daddyleon
Only because astronomers view the universe from the Earth (a point at one of the corners of that triangle) and have calculations that make use of angles frequently.
Snoke has been confirmed to be 7 feet tall.
YES stormtroopers have sword training please read before the awaking it explains a lot
Research shows that people rate movies higher if it's been spoiled. So, they are doing more good then bad. I wouldn't spoil movies as I think anyone that wan't a better view of the movie can look up spoilers on there own.
1:25:18 thank you Brady!!
damn now when i watch voyager again i will see Tom Paris with a white sweater and pink polo shirt
6:17 coincidence COIN-cidence
Wow, amazing
Why do I hear a noise in the background when Grey is talking?
I believe the Senate is an independent entity. The First Order is the large nation ruling most of the galaxy (which, I mean, why are they evil again?). The Resistance is the movement attempting to defeat the First Order. The Senate also appears to back the Resistance.
+PhantomHunter01 I believe its actually that the Senate is the "new government" that rises after Return of the Jedi....the First Order is a remnant insurgent group of Empire hold outs in fringe space...and that the Resistance is a "anti-First Order" movement that is "technically not endorsed" by the government.
The First Order seemed very strong and almost ubiquitous. They had tons of resources; they had to in order to build the boom planet.
If you liked the same sounds, look at the hologram chess board it continues from the original. Fun fact
In this podcast they say that flash-spoils are bad.
read "Before the Awakening"
Wasn't the face grey in the mile of pi video first?
+Lucid Moses no...
+Lucid Moses no...
Sid Gupta You think the flag count was first.
idk I just didn't see him in the miles of pi vid
Sid Gupta oh well. he was
I liked even the »low parts« of Star Wars 7.
you all know that JJ Abrams will not be the Director on the next movie right...??
So Rey is supposedly this big uber nerd who knows all about Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon... except... you know... what it LOOKS like?
+Stray Vagabond that model of ship is very common in the galaxy.
+rocketsocks XP yeah, it's not like it has any identifying marks, like its registration above its cock pit >< (www.synicon.info/SW/mf/hway1.jpg -> i.imgur.com/xUA4vUu.jpg)
The opening is just constant arguing.
Crazy actually... that Ridley and Boyega both came from London, but John had to get rid of his accent for the film. XD
The clone wars might have been better if it involved cloning important people and replacing them.
Here's the real question, why is there no OSHA in Star Wars?
You titled it "Star Wars Christmas Special" but never mentioned the Star Wars Christmas Special...? Also, it seems like a lot of people missed the fact that Rey recognized Leia the first time they met, suggesting that they knew each other. To me, that seems to indicate that Leia is indeed Rey's mother and they recognize each other.
1:06:05 That wasn't a thumbs up... An american finger gesture. Usually inflammatory.
The JJ Abrams Star Trek movies missed the main ideas, style, tone, intellectualism, themes, and progressiveness of the shows from Voyager back. I "kinda" 👋 include enterprise in that.🖖
Glenn dies (twice) in the walking dead
I couldn't disagree more with this. I mean oh well who cares, but it's funny to me because I didn't like the movie in many ways for a lot of reasons but even points these two make about things they don't like I do actually like. Funny to me
Star Wars was also spoiled for me :(
Kylie Ren?
49:19 Minor!? Gawd you're not picky.
I knew x person would die the moment the casting was announced. xP Not a hunch, I was certain.
Good thing it turned out exactly like I 'knew', or I'd have felt silly.
This movie was so terrible that I ended up not watching the next two.
And from what I've heard from multiple sources. I was spared quite a bit of cringe and confusion.
ep 8 and 9 though. oof wish this prediction became true
people complained about having too much political talk in the prequels ... but dislike the lack of it here ... Oh the hypocrisy
Because as everyone knows, there's no happy medium, damn it!
The thing is you need to make a coherent plot. Going from the Empire decapitated their super-weapon and flagship (the Super Star Destroyer) destroyed to the Rebels apparently are on the defense again after establishing some control is just WAY too big of a gap to not have some explanation. They also blow up a star system we have absolutely no connection with. There's a huge difference between the vague politics going on in A New Hope and the out of nowhere plot progression of TFAs.
People don't like the politics in the prequels because it's done awfully not because it exists.
talking about, talking about winning 1 million pounds
When you brought up that massive spoiler, well, how do I say this....
I saw from three god-damn universes away!
It was not subtle.
For being a Star Wars fan, they sure do know very little about the Star Wars Universe.
Yoda Dies
Spoiler Alert -
Vader is Luke's Father
spoiler alert
This movie is about outer space
This video didn't age well...
??
@@EliStettner I think Chad means that the 8th and 9th movies were generally not liked, and that Brady and Grey were wrong because the later movies tinged the reputation of The Force Awakens (Maybe?)
If only they knew.
They keep mentioning how a lot of the things they weren't necessarily on board with rested on the next movies AAAAAND that didn't play out well
Why can either of them use a lightsabre?
+Lewis Carlin Yeah :-/
Am I the only one who prefers the prequels?
Zoykzmc you are not. The prequels were messy films with a lot of holes but they were legitimate attempts at art and originality.
Force Awakens was a glossed up cover of A New Hope but with all the soul stripped away. Like Hillary Duff's recording of The Who's My Generation. You can't technically call it a bad song but you know it sucks.
Force Awakens was a giant commercial for Star Wars. Not a A Star Wars film. And it just kept getting worse with the next films.
I agree to disagree. Ray and fin has the same issue as anakin. The actors aren't good enough to overcome the flaws of writing. Maybe it is a generational issue. Maybe a regional, but for me those two killed the movie.. as some other character that got a lot of flak.. i don't think Hamill is a good actor, just to be clear. Need to rewatch who was the best char. It's the dark robot but I can't remember if it was in this movie.
how the hell is poe so much bashed when he outshined the other two so much?!?
37:35
I didn’t have to imagine it, it was already made it in the first cut of Star Wars. Luke doesn’t say anything for almost a complete minute in his original introduction.
Why do I feel like I'm the only person who actually liked the prequels
I don't actually like them, but I really enjoy them in an ironic way. I love watching it with friends and making fun of all the dumb things, but still enjoying the few things that are good.
It seems generational to me. I like them because I grew up with them. I watched them before I knew what good filmmaking was. If you grew up with the originals, it seems like you dislike the prequels a lot more
Am I the only one who really doesn't like Rae?
No hate man, but out of curiosity... why not?
Ray is an awful character. She's way overpowered and has absolutely no character ark. I mean, how the hell is someone with absolutely no training in being a jedi somehow able to defeat the equivalent of a sith lord? She also has no personality, no humor, no irony, no tragedy, nothing that actually makes her an interesting character. She honestly felt like a filler character. At least that's my opinion anyway.
It's the general space Jesus thing that always happens in Star Wars, I thought they'd like to try something different but apparently not.
Personally, I don't see the big deal with spoilers. I get that it can disturb the experience of the movie, it still doesn't detract from the whole when the movie/book is engaging enough. I've had many things spoiled for me, but (most of the time) the enjoyment of the book/movie was no worse than otherwise.
TFA was pretty to look at, but script-wise this movie is absolutely awful. It's ALMOST as dumb as the Transformers movies. I would even say that it is worse than the prequels.
am I the only person who cringes every time they say that the prequels are abominations
MY FRIEND WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO TELL ME THE QUOTE "Han Solo gets killed by his son Kylo Ren"
The star trek movies were fun as a movie, but were not Star Trek at all. They were closer to Star Wars than Star Trek.
Han Solo dies! :(
Wow take your tall privilege and walk, Being a short person, I'm glad there are some leading rolls with short characters. Not everyone is over 6' tall and you don't need to be tall to be a good pilot.
Tall privilege? Really?
people always talk about "younger" people who haven't seen the Originals but who hasn't seen Star Wars? I have met no one who hasn't seen Star Wars
Hate to be the guy to respond to a message 7-8 months late but, My girlfriend hadn't seen a single star wars film prior to dating me, I promptly ran her through all 6 movies leading up to 7's release.
Sorry to be the guy to reply 10 months late but I've met one or 2 people who got mad at me for spoiling Star Wars. I don't understand how you couldn't know Vader is Luke's father, and they clearly didn't plan to watch it.
poke sorry to be the guy to respond one year late, but why did you make her watch the prequel's?
Sorry for the late answer... BUUUT...
I have NEVER seen ANY Star Wars movie despite being 20 and having hardcore Star Wars friends. I am a madman.
Finn wasn't trained in combat, he was a janitor.
+domehammer He worked in sanitation at Starkiller Base. He still would have received combat training considering he's on a combat mission at the very beginning of the film.
William Higley he would have been trained to shoot a laser and hand to hand combat but swordfighting is a whole different thing.
You put a sword in the hands of a navy seal or a UFC champion and ask them to go head to head with an elite fencer and you'll see fast how skills don't transfer over.
Just got to look at McGregor Vs Mayweather for reference lol.
But I think in the visual dictionary for the Force Awakens or something, something no one would ever read anyway, Finn was trained to fight with the baton thing that the Stormtrooper that took him on with at Maz's castle. Definitely canonical, but I wish Finn didn't work in sanitation or whatever crap, but oh well.
One of those "watching in the far future" of, well... 1.5 months later? Anyways, I dont get where this confusion about First Order / New Republic / Resistance is coming from, especially coming from someone that knows so much about politics and geography as you Grey... To me, it doesnt seem necessary to do exposition on this : what did we know about why there's a senate AND an emperor when watching New Hope? How much was explained? Right, nothing.
Here, given we know alot of stuff about this universe's past, we can make educated guesses. Also, looking at you, realy world, to help with it. What happens when a dictatorship's leadership is violently removed? Do all paramilitary organizations neatly go away, does the dictator's army disband and does the new democratic (?) regime have total control over all parts of the "country" ? No. Look at the mess in the arabic world recently for plenty of examples of things like this. The First Order seems to be made of the rests of the imperial forces, the resistance seems to be the core of the rebel alliance and the new Republic, well, we dont know much about that... but it blows up, so who cares?
Sorry about the length of this :)
Han Solo dies
Star wars = the redskins.
Whare is our the force awakens?
You wasted the first 8:30 of the show. The odds of you winning were so absurdly low.