The Force Awakens: How fans felt then... and how they feel now about it

[@kalzium8857]

I think the initial positive reception of TFA is basicly a message from the fanbase to Disney: "we trust you in delivering a good star wars triology ". The fans have given Disney a lot of goodwill and they won't giving it again.

[@thebendu33]

Agree

[@MMead85]

I agree

[@jamesneese7663]

Half true. A lot of fans are willing to eat whatever garbage Kennedy pushes in front of them, a lot of fans are more interested in ANY sw, and it doesn't even need to be "good". Too many fans are still desperate and thirsty and keep crawling back to Darth Kennedy alter no matter the false hopes and empty promises.

[@SRMoore1178]

Why the hell did RJ end up directing the second movie? That's when it all went to crap. I actually enjoyed TFA and the future of Star Wars looked promising.

[@GOREilla.]

Exactly! It was kinda "not perfect, but let's give it a shot", mysterious girl, ex-stormtrooper, Vader's grandson... It could be good, but then TLJ came...

[@John_Locke_108]

I felt optimistic because there were two more movies. I wrongly assumed that the other two movies would improve upon it. I thought that it would end up being better on rewatches when viewed as part of a trilogy. Oh boy was I wrong. Now it feels like a standalone film with no satisfying conclusion

[@TheAnimationConnoisseur]

Exactly!

[@teleportedbreadfor3days]

Nobody could have predicted an entirely different director taking over

[@jamesneese7663]

​@teleportedbreadfor3days475 half true. Lucasfilm didn't make things clear either. They intentionally made it look like JJ Abrams was in charge of the entire trilogy and wasn't until about SW celebration 6 months before TLJ came out that they rolled out Rian Johnson, gassing him up as the ESB of the new trilogy..... Notice only years after TRoSW that Lucasfilm publicly admitted they had no plan for trilogy. They INTENTIONALLY lief to Fandom the ENTIRE time.

[@teleportedbreadfor3days]

@@jamesneese7663 They brought JJ back to fix what was very likely an impossible mess and gave him a year. Any director would have done their best with what they have at hand if they had so little to work with. I'd also never heard of such an instance of *another* director takes over midway through a trilogy like that, let alone somebody with such a different and anti-Hollywood approach to film making as Rian Johnson, who's one of those directors who acts almost like he's obsessed with the idea of a film that's only half good to an audience when he talks about it. Dude is seen patting Mark Hamil on the back comfortingly as he's visibly breaking down crying during TLJ's filming, which, in hindsight, is very haunting, not just it shows how low Star Wars had been pulled down by people who don't like it, but also cause I can't help but be reminded of the Devil placing a comforting hand on a grieving man he had deceived. And that whole Devil thing isn't even entirely a comparison, as if I'm calling Johnson the Devil, but also a scenario, cause that false sense of comforting is what the Devil does. We see something similar in Zack Snyder's Justice League during Cyborg's visions, where Superman is visibly hurt cradling the scorched skeleton of Lois Lane before Darkseid put a comforting hand on his should to use the Anti-Life Equation and overwrite his will to serve his while dissolving his grief or redirecting it at Batman.

[@jamesneese7663]

@@teleportedbreadfor3days first....wall of text. Breaking it up into paragraphs would be a ton helpful. second, part of why Abrams came back is by that point NO ONE wanted to work with Lucasfilm on short notice. The original ep IX director left and the incident with Ron Howard stepping in because original Solo directors got unceremoniously fired didn't help. Rather than postpone or cancel plans for Ep IX, Lucasfilm called back in Abrams to finish what he NEVER planned to finish and clearly had NO idea how to finish it. Rather than either push back, admit the trilogy was in dire straits or anything, Abrams continued to publicly praise and applaud Rian's work on TLJ, meanwhile clearly dismantling it in his own movie. and through it all, Lucasfllm kept acting like nothing was wrong and telling the fandom to stop being "toxic" about the situation. Now only after collecting all the money from fans, sycophants, and suckers, Lucasfilm is like "oh...we didn't make any plans. Our bad. Guess all you toxic fans were right all along about the trilogy....but you're all incels anyway so we don't care!" now as even the hardcore fandom is abandoning them (ie Indy bombed,) who are suddenly like "we love our fans. We want you guys back. We even promoted that Feloni guy. You like that Feloni guy, right? So all's forgiven right? RIGHT!?!"

[@bchristian85]

I liked it until the night I saw 'The Last Jedi.' My main criticism of TFA is that the state of things in the galaxy had reverted back to where it was at the beginning of 'A New Hope', completely throwing the achievements of the original characters out the window. I could have accepted that had there been a good reason for it, but Rian Johnson decided to devote an entire movie to trolling the long-time fans. After that, I was done with it and can no longer enjoy TFA.

[@LembeckIsStaying]

Pretty much.

[@kolaranze]

Exactly. I just didn't like the tfa when I first wached it.

[@goldfishprime]

I liked the aesthetics, but it didn't complete fit within the universe. The Empire was back with no real explanation... and it was only made worse in TLJ after their defeat, they were stronger than before Star Killer Base.

[@jamesneese7663]

The problem was that Lucasfilm and Abrams thought the best was to make the new characters and new rebellion look cool was to tear down the old heroes and make them seem like total failures in every level. That was the limit of their thinking. The just assumed that new characters and new adventures would just be accepted as awesome just because and when that didn't work, Lucasfilm resorted to name calling and smearing Fandom instead ..

[@urzmontst.george6314]

Dont worry , Rian Johnsons trilogy will fix it all up. Well, after D& D make their trilogy. Which is after the Rey trilogy.

[@dereklopez9060]

I wasn't a fan of the movie because it felt way too similar to ANH and I absolutely despised how they regressed Han Solo's character, but I still had high hopes for the future of Star Wars. But then... you know the rest.

[@joshdawg_21]

I completely agree. Despite some of the hate they garnered, the Prequels actually expanded on the story and added so much interesting world building. Especially for expanding upon some of the characters and ideas from the OT. TFA feels so disappointing because it just retreads at best and regresses at worst.

[@jamesneese7663]

@@joshdawg_21 the real irony is that after TLJ, suddenly tons of ppl who previously mocked and derided the prequels suddenly saw them in a new light after being shamelessly mocked and trolled by Johnson. All the goodwill built by TFA was thrown out the window harder than Luke tossing a lightsaber over his shoulder.

[@aliastheabnormal]

Harrison Ford only wanted money and to finally kill Han Solo so he could play Indiana Jones again.

[@MaxRamos8]

​@@jamesneese7663to me I always loved the prequels as I grew up. I'm 26

[@RogueWJL]

I felt 'nothing' as the credits rolled It was an extraordinary feeling

[@godssss42]

Yeah people clapped in my theater and I was genuinely surprised at that

[@powerofanime1]

That's just about what I felt. I am grateful it exists though - I haven't been invested in the franchise since.

[@qui-gonrick7002]

@@godssss42Same. I didn't get it. It seemed like everyone else loved it. I went to it again hoping I'd change my mind. After that, I knew I'd never watch it again after that.

[@trashaimgamer7822]

​@@godssss42Who the fuck claps in a movie theater? It's a fucking screen, there is no one to clap to.

[@rector0455]

I had mixed feelings on TFA after I first saw it in the theaters. Some of the window dressing, storm trooper redesign, Kylo's cross guard saber etc. I liked, but the more I thought about the movie, the less I liked it. The biggest question I had stemmed from the total lack of world building, who TF is the Resistance, what are they resisting, why do they even exist, what happened to the New Republic? That trilogy is finished and still we do not have satisfactory answers. The Hosnian Prime scene in particular was like nails on a chalkboard to me.

[@bluemoondm8629]

It was a roller coaster. I was so happy to see Han and Chewie, then the weird monster happened. That movie had so many bizarre, bad things in it that I think a lot of people overlooked out of nostalgic hope for the future (myself included to an extent, but I was more aware of the bad IMO.) The treatment of Han/Chewie, the ending basically discarding Finn, Rey jumping power level drastically for no good reason, the freaking splitting hyperspace beams destroying the entire New Republic fleet and Gov't at once from lightyears away, Luke's lightsaber appearing with no explanation, Rey being better and repairing and flying?!?! the Falcon than Han even though she's never flown anything before, etc. Was it better than the follow ups? Sure. But not by much. We were all just happy to have Star Wars on the big screen again.

[@cahe6161]

The sequel trilogy isn't the prequels. Both the OT and the prequels can be seen independetly of the other, one doesn't take away anything from the other, both were filled with originality and ideas and themes, with a clear path and story it wanted to tell, the OT introduced us to this universe and the prequels made it feel like 3 times bigger with a lot of new factions, conflicts, characters, more complexity, and whatever you may think about them, it doesn't affect the OT, the only thing it does is making them, Episode 6 specially, feel more meaningful. Now the sequels on the other hand depend entirely on the OT to be fully understood, they undermine everything the OG characters did and fought for, it takes away their legacy and their growth, only to make a hollow shell of a trilogy that only succeeds in being a very bad copy of the OT

[@theanonymouscritic1710]

That’s exactly how I feel about the first two trilogies. Couldn’t have said it better myself. 👍

[@EntertainmentMan132]

TFA's story was dependent on 8 and 9 being good. A New Hope always stood on its own and would have been a great movie even if its sequels sucked.

[@cybertramon0012]

At most, the prequels explained how things got the way they were. They showed us how things were like before the dark times, and how the Galactic Empire managed to take over. It showed us what Anakin was like before he became Vader. And that’s what I enjoyed with The Clone Wars series.

[@s.henrlllpoklookout5069]

I saw it in theaters and had mixed feelings, mainly due to Han's death and "A good question, for a other time."

[@zaros1781]

Perhaps we get the answer in the Rey movie, if it is ever going to be released.

[@urzmontst.george6314]

That line is where i checked out. "Mystery box" writing and super lazy plot finished it off.

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

Yes, I realized it was still old blowhard Rian Johnson. Setting things up with little to no explanation and not wasting a second thought on the consequence of his idea following up on it. It soured me on his Star Trek reboots as well. He basically pulled a super transporter that can transport people anyway from light years away and on a space ship in warp because he needed it as a plot device. Not for a second he considered that such a device would make space ships obsolete.

[@travismiller4320]

Knowing Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo killed off in The Empire Strikes Back and his dislike of the character in general, I had a feeling he would only agree to do film if Han was killed off so I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised he agreed to what left me annoyed was Han’s portrayal of losing The Millennium Falcon and giving up on Leia and running away to hide…his two greatest loves from original trilogy, at least he didn’t abandon Chewbacca.

[@priscillabrown210]

Considering how hard 💩 hit the fan when they offed Chewie and some other popular characters in the EU, I thought Disney was going to have a riot on their hands for killing Han…

[@badbadgr5498]

The fact that JJ very intentionally made one of the first lines in the trilogy “this will begin to make things right” never gets old to me

[@jonmurphy4889]

I don't care who you are that second trailer with Luke speaking over it was awesome still gives me chills and we were led to believe that he was talking about one of his offspring I still think if they stuck with what they were going with in The Force Awakens the sequel trilogy would have been so much better

[@jeremyfields9009]

The whole obsession to make everything a mystery hurt this trilogy. Rey should’ve been Leia or Luke daughter from the get go.

[@Hanoua2]

"... You have that power too" *star wars music starts playing* Sigh... If only

[@andrewj1754]

I didn’t like it back then. It didn’t explain anything, and the galaxy felt too small. And I was disappointed Luke and Han didn’t get another moment together before he died.

[@patriciaa65]

My feelings exactly. Why another planet destroying thing? You know they’re going to somehow defeat it in the end, so there was no tension during the last battle.

[@EramisGoodspiel]

@@patriciaa65 Spot on!

[@ComeOnIsSuchAJoy]

Indeed, many of the problems with the ST - and, indeed, with Di$ney Star Wars in general - were established in TFA from the get-go... and I can''t believe more people didn't see through it (that's the power of nostalgia, I guess). You had the utter lack of exposition between Eps. VI & VII, numerous crucial plot points having happened off-screen between VI & VII (thus having to introduce flashbacks, even though none of the first 6 movies had any -- thus creating an internal storytelling inconsistency within the saga), the virtually non-existent world-building, returning OT characters all doing things that run contrary to their established character arcs and where we last left them, the often more modern/MCU-esque dialogue (as opposed to the stylized '30s/'40s movie speak of Eps. I-VI) and humor, taking the laws of both the Force and hyperspace into highly questionable directions, the general feeling of there not being any real stakes, the lack of any new and distinct/unique sounds, incredibly clunky combat and (especially) lightsaber duel choreography, no new spacecraft/weaponry/militia/etc. (all just slightly modified stuff from the OT), totally non-descript planets (again, more repeated OT stuff), boring costume and art designs, uninspired alien and creature designs that mostly don't really look all that Star Wars-y, alien characters being almost completely relegated to the background, bland/vaguely-written new characters, the reappearance/overinflated importance of items from the OT that we really never should've seen again (Anakin's/Luke's old lightsaber, Vader's remains, etc.), painfully self-aware/virtually fourth wall-breaking winks to Eps. I-VI (IV-VI especially), the list goes on... I won't even touch Han's totally undignified, largely shrugged-off death.

[@RaikenXion]

It's so sad that Luke & Han NEVER met again and there was never anykind of resolution between them. Sure, Rian could have got somekind of flashback scene in his movie somewhere, but the fact JJ NEVER went there, or had any idea of any of that written now in notes; also that he killed Han off, effectively destroying any chance of a proper reunion between those legacy characters it's, well it's just criminal. How you can screw up the return of such beloved characters just baffles me, i mean they had George's treatments!! Right there to use, as well as ALL the EU lore to delve into. Disney/Lucasfilm, JJ, Rian, Iger and Kennedy's sheer arrogance is astounding.

[@patriciaa65]

@@RaikenXion My biggest problem too Even if the ST was retconned, we will never see Han,Luke and Leia again.

[@superdoonz1]

I binged watched the show 'Lost' after it finished. I was completely engrossed by the first half, and then I remember being very angry at myself for not seeing that they were just making it up as they went along. I loved ep. 7 mostly because I was excited by where it might be going. Got me again....

[@violinmerchant]

It was just frustrating. I was very much looking forward to it as I had been a fan since they re-released the OT in theaters in 1997, but I knew when TFA was over that they had wasted too much story time chasing the McGuffin that it was too late for the rest of the films to be about anything. That was the real gut punch since it meant the rest of the trilogy was going to suck and there was no point even keeping up with it anymore. Add to that TFA was mostly well received by people and the next 2 years were pretty depressing really.

[@jamesgoss1860]

It can't be understated what a slap in the face the opening line from The Force Awakens and of Disney Star Wars itself was to George. "This will begin to make things right" Did it, JJ? Did it? I heard that in the theater and I was shocked. I couldn't believe they'd make such an overt dig at the prequels like that. (Oh and don't pretend it wasn't!)

[@TheRidersChoice]

Absolutely unreal. Especially because I really don’t know anybody who thought the prequels were bad or shouldn’t have existed. There was just bad decision making along the way that we didn’t like but at its core it was always good. The new sequels were rotten from the core

[@jamesgoss1860]

​@@TheRidersChoiceGeorge was at the premiere too, he heard that right from the start along with everyone else.

[@theanonymouscritic1710]

So Uncivilised: And that is where things started to go wrong.

[@EntertainmentMan132]

A lot of the marketing an even some of the actors were taking jabs at the prequels, mostly when talking about the return to practical effects. I was in the camp of people dumping all over the prequels and overjoyed that Disney was going to make Star Wars right again. Amazing how time changes people.

[@EntertainmentMan132]

@@theanonymouscritic1710 I was thinking the same thing lol

[@johnathanmann1120]

When I first watched The Farce Awoke I said nope and didn’t go back

[@MartinFGayford]

I saw it 5 times when it came out. I was 45 then and I loved it. I liked it more with each rewatch. I was so excited that, after the abrupt change of tone in the previous three, there was a new Star Wars film in the spirit of the OT, all of which I saw on release as a kid. Unlike many others, I still love it now and haven’t once felt disappointed by any aspect of it. It set up so much, that sadly wasn’t followed up so well. I love the literal cliff hanger; it’s probably my second favourite ending to a Star Wars film.

[@muigokublack6487]

Congrats on being Disney's targeted market I guess? I'll stick with 1-6 and the EU.

[@terrified057t4]

In 2015, The Rebels vs Clone Wars discourse had really annoyed me but then Rogue One was announced and a bit later The Force Awakens' trailer dropped and really excited me. It was pretty awesome despite the severe OT Syndrome with a Desert planet somehow being important to saving the galaxy, but then the Falcon chase, Han's back!?! Then the fucking Knights of Ren like omg who are these clad-in-black guys in some night-time rainstorm?? The X-Wings at the water, Luke kneeling next to R2, FUCKING PHASMA WALKING LIKE A BADASS, the old-school tri-blade hilt of Kylo, then a very obvious trench run scene...BUT THEN the D-Day style landing ship for the First Order, Leia!!!! AND OH MY GOD A FORMER STORMTROOPER TURNED JEDI!?!?! GIVE ME THAT KYLE KATARN TYPE OF CHARACTER NOW!!! Then reading "Before the Awakening" furthering my hype and waiting for the theatres to die down to go watch the movie. Then watching the movie... Eh? It was enjoyable, but it was literally a "copy my homework but don't make it too similar" with Desert planet protagonist running into to droid with MacGuffin then escaping on a smuggler's ship, being pursued by the bad guys and all climaxes with a trench run fight. Though yeah, it definitely did things a bit different with quite a bit of dueling and fluff in between. Replacing Alderaan with THE ENTIRE CORUSCANT SYSTEM was mind-blowing but also made me wonder wtf the next movie was gonna be like, Empire but the loss is turned up to 21? Having Finn be baited as a Jedi was sad. Rey never interested me in the trailers, nor the prequel book, nor the movie. It felt cheap. Also the old cast, never forget that betrayal by Disney. Leia remains a fighter but in a galaxy that saw her more like the Rebellion saw Saw Gerrera. Han was a huge has-been & Luke just fucking disappears!?! Nowadays, yeah that's about it? It was good at the time but I would rather watch A New Hope than The Force Awakens. The First Order is still pretty cool, Starkiller base is a bit much to be honest.

[@jerryziegner]

Upon my first viewing of the force awakens, I was instantly captured by any and all nostalgic moments like seeing Han and chewy together again, and also the millennium falcon as it parked in the desert, but I agree the movie, missed so many opportune to have made true cinematic history And although it was a pass, the torch type of story, they could have at least reunited, Luke, Hahn, and Leah one last time together on the big screen. I think the moment Luke should have made his arrival would’ve been in the snow forest scene after Kylo, Ren, injures Finn, and the lightsaber suddenly flies into Luke’s hand! The audience would’ve lost their mind as I know I would have. Seeing that blue blade ignite in Luke’s hand for the first time since 1980 would have been amazing

[@jeremyfields9009]

Yes!! Totally agree! TFA should’ve been about the OG characters and then the new characters slowly take over as the trilogy goes on.

[@marajade9879]

I totally agree with you about the young generation. I teach kids from the age of 10 to 18 and they know I love Star Wars.When TFA was out, the hype was in the classroom. I remember students asking me to punish classmates for spoiling the movie! 😂 For TLJ there was less of a hype, but students were still taking to me excitedly about the upcoming sequel. When TROS came around, basically nobody was talking about it. There was some talk about season 1 of the Mandalorian and the Kenobi series had students shouting "Hello there" in my direction, but apart from that the younger generation has pretty much lost interest in Star Wars although TFA was such a good start!

[@markdavidson558]

I'm unashamed to say that i had such a blast with the force awakens and was so intrigued by the mystery boxes set up that i saw it at least 7 times in theaters. It awakened that feeling in me that i had when i first saw the OT as a kid. ANH is my personal fave movie of all time and I thought it was appropriate to retread that ground for a younger generation. I was so excited for what it set up that i would half-joke with my sister that my biggest fear was that i would die before episode 8 came out. After i saw 8, i was so confused. How could i all of a sudden wish i had died BEFORE it came out.

[@GarrettTheViking]

I was 13 when this movie came out, and I remember how excited I was for it. I had never seen a Star Wars movie in theaters before, so having that experience was really cool. I really liked the movie when i first saw it. I hardly ever see movies twice in the theater, but I saw this one twice. I was annoyed that all we got of Luke Skywalker was him showing up at the end and taking off his hood, but I was still excited for where the next movie would go. I don't hate this movie now, but it's definitely not as enjoyable as it once was because of where the story went. Its flaws are more noticeable now as well. I think this movie could have been a good kickstart for a trilogy had there been a cohesive story planned from the start.

[@raquetsofglory]

I saw the movie as creatively bankrupt the second I saw it. I left the theatre feeling like a childhood friend had just died.

[@EramisGoodspiel]

Yes you get it! Me too!

[@LembeckIsStaying]

As a Luke stan, I was very worried. After Hans character/death and the Luke "cameo", I knew I was in trouble. Thirty years later, the man who took down the empire doesn't get a line? Of course I had no idea how bad it would get.

[@EntertainmentMan132]

If nothing else the sequel trilogy's mistakes have made me appreciate OT Luke and what he represents a lot more over time.

[@jaredlocke4300]

I think I saw it 5 times in theaters. I was so excited to see what happened next.

[@justhangin2389]

It wasn't just TFA. It was Rogue One being the immediate follow up to TFA. Everybody saw Rogue One and was blown away by it. Everybody thought it was the future of Star Wars. And whatever faults that were in TFA would surely be made up for in the next installments. Since Disney had delivered two quality Star Wars films at that point, it was seen as enough proof that they will continue to deliver good Star Wars content. Which resulted in everybody backing off of Disney and allowing them to run away with Star Wars the way they did.

[@mpar8107]

Yeah, I remember being pretty excited for TLJ after Rogue One, which, for all of its flaws, a great movie.

[@gameragodzilla]

I thought Rogue One was dull, honestly, mostly because the characters were very flat and wooden. The droid was the least robotic member of the cast. The fact that Rogue One also replaced Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors, who each had more personality and charisma than the entire Rogue One crew put together, was what made me dislike the decanonization of Legends as well. You can’t replace something with something worse and expect me to accept it. So Rogue One was the point where I realized I disliked Disney Star Wars. The Last Jedi merely made everyone else catch up with me.

[@LoneWolf-rc4go]

I went in really positive, I came out feeling a bit let down and the feeling only got worse as time passed. I still had hope though because there was another couple of movies to go and that TFA was going to be looked back on as that safe, 'paint by the numbers' opener to the Disney era. Looking back at it it was just a disappointment. I have never bothered rewatching it which is pretty damning IMHO.

[@EramisGoodspiel]

I saw it once and will never watch it again. If I could unwatch it I would.

[@JasonJJS]

​@@EramisGoodspielSame here, my friend!👍👍

[@1johpo]

I loved it with every fiber! Saw it three times in theaters! Even got a screen accurate Finn jacket for my birthday from my gf (which I still have today) It’s truly a tragedy sadder than Darth Plagueis The Wise to see what Disney, KK and Roundhead Ryan did to it 😢

[@AJStarhiker]

I was born during the Original Trilogy, but I remember waiting in line in freezing temperatures to see the Special Edition when it released to theaters. Then going to Phantom Menace multiple times. The third time, the film melted and they gave vouchers to see another movies. Attack of the Clones, I had just moved and went alone once I figured out the bus routes. Revenge of the Sith, I went on opening night and stayed up to dawn talking to a random person I met at the theater. I don't think Force Awakens would ever become a favorite (too many recycled elements), but I enjoyed it and hoped to see it develop into its own. Then the Last Jedi came out and just about every element I had liked about FA got tossed in the trash. From the opening sequence (seriously, who thought a gravity release system would work in space?) to the closing scene (send out a distress beacon, and then show a bunch of kids with a Secret Decoder Ring? Why?), the whole thing just made no sense. The last one, I only watched because my extended family likes to go to a movie over Christmas. Just about the only thing I really remember was the headache I started getting about half-way through from the volume in the theater (while wearing earbuds to cut it down at least some) that was aggrevated by all the lightning at the end.

[@RaikenXion]

In the year long run upto tfa i was ecstatic, George Lucas had made it clear he was never making anymore starwars movies and none of us ever expected he would sell Lucasfilm off; so when it was announced that he had sold to Disney, i know i personally just expected and naturally thought Lucas knew what he was doing. He had a history collaborating with Disney in the past regards "Star tours", and so i the last thing in my mind was that Disney would mistreat and basically screw up the sequel trilogy. I remember just combing over tons of leaked concept art all through 2015, sometimes staying up late and just staring at some of the stuff of Luke in his light brown/cream Jedi attire, the early leaked concept of the Knights of Ren, and "Jedi Killer" concept art, and just so much more. Wondering what exactly the story was going to be about, i was hooked, fascinated, Starwars was back! And it was just awesome. Once tfa had came out i remember walking out that cinema with my brother, and he asked me what i thought if it and i had to honestly tell him, i liked it, but i was expecting somekind of exploration of what had happened to the Legacy Characters - Han/Leia/Luke and that i was abit miffed that the movie never got into them much at all. Also that it was pretty much close to being a beat-for-beat remake/rehash of ANH. But i understood why Disney decided to play it so safe. Now looking back "the force awakens" means utter JACK sh*t to me, really. I swapped my bluray of the movie, thanks to the last jedi and how everything has gone, how we were treated overall by Disney; their dismissal of our valid criticisms of Rian's movie, the whole great division, and just massive, huge, HUGE disappointment at the way it all has ended up. Force Awakens is simply a joke to me now. I'll be fair, the visuals especially the shots where Poe and his Resistance Squadron are flying in their X-Wings during the end battle (if you can even call it that), those close up shots at the side of the X-wing cockpits looks amazing, it looks realistic. I also remember the shot where Han/Rey/Finn are walking upto the entrance of Maz's Castle, and you see this big, lumbering red droid walking off, and i thought that was pure CGI, only after learned that was actually a practical effect. I do appreciate all the practical, puppetry effects in force awakens, and ALL what those practical teams did for that movie, all the costumes, new alien characters. But overall the movie is just like wasted and rendered pointless by last jedi. And theres really no lore, no "World Building". Sure, tfa gives us a number of planets, but i still find D'Qar and takodana to be boring GREEN forestry planets, nothing truly NEW and Original. And when we go there all we really see is Maz's castle, it's like a quick tour really. the force awakens is just lame imo, all that fuss and hype, so much goddamn expectation and in the end it all amounted to nothing. I don't feel nothing for tfa at all now, it's just all a waste, i don't hate force awakens, i do appreciate JJ trying to capture that fun sense of adventure that ANH has in spades, and i love the whole thing where Finn is trying to get BB-8 to cover for him and he puts his thumb up, and BB-8 uses his like lighter gadget to thumb up back, that was some nice humor. But yeh it's just annoying where it all ended up.

[@WonkoTheSane71]

Effective but empty Nostalgia Bait. They had one new idea - the rogue stormtrooper - but refused to commit to it.

[@mikeymunson9504]

What made The Force Awakens so great at the time was it set up a bunch of cool stuff for the future. Unfortunately we know how that all turned out.

[@Binny2014]

After seeing TFA was wondering how the connection of the Falcon, Luke's Map, Rey, and Finn and Poe's crash site all being in the same neighborhood on Jakku would be revealed in the sequels. Couldn't just be a coincidence...

[@raiderlove5923]

When I saw The Force Awakens in theaters I was excited to see it. Now after the fact, it did feel a lot like A New Hope. By the end of the movie I had hope that episodes 8 and 9 would be good. Boy were we all disappointed.

[@calvinmatthews1527]

Watching it back in theaters for the first time was so magical to me. I was so pumped when I got out of the theater, got me so excited for the future. A was a massive shame for Disney to squander all this good will so severely. In the end, it was their overconfidence that screwed everything.

[@internet2055]

I saw the Force Awakens 3 times, 3 x times! in Theaters! ..it was not perfect, but there were many mysteries! all I wanted was Luke Skywalker, the movie Didn't have much Luke Skywalker in it, but, it was all about Luke Skywalker! ...the Ending, the Jedi steps music, the expectation of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker finally returning on Episode 8 .......and Star Wars broke for me as soon as I saw Episode 8. Can't beleive what they did to Luke KNOWING thousands of fans had been waiting 30 years to see Luke Skywalker back.

[@vetarlittorf1807]

This movie was like a car with no engine. It looks like Star Wars, but it offers no substance.

[@Intrepid_Explorer]

It was all surface; a souped-up car without an engine to move it. So of course, the rest of the trilogy went absolutely nowhere.

[@Milothemighty10]

Yeah, then Ryan Johnson just decided to run wild with it anyways, and we all know what he wanted to do…

[@bluemoondm8629]

Yep, the only thing JJ knew how to do was make it LOOK like Star Wars. But then he taught his underlings that everything needs to look like Star Wars and that's how we got the awful Nu Trek Bad Robot teamup.

[@imperfectionist2575]

Similar sentiments from me. Hit the end and went "that's it?" Fun moments, but no real substance, it better pay off later... Movie equivalent of cotton candy.

[@jamesneese7663]

I agree but I remember telling others that after seeing tfa, and I was uniformly told "stfu. That was awesome! Sw is back, baby! No more prequel %%%$!" Sw died to thunderous applause by thirsty fans desperate to have sw and eager to slam fanboys as "incels" and "racists" and "afraid if strong women" and all kinda %%%%. Never got an apology from any of those $$%$$$ as the trilogy crashed and burned.

[@CloneScavengerVulpin8389]

Finn is a good friend to have, hoping his potential will be expanded on in the future. I will try to remain cautiously optimistic.

[@matthewwynne939]

To be honest when that overture came up for the first time of that first viewing I actually found myself tearing up a little bit to be able to witness a movie that's I never thought was going to ever get made, also thinking about all the Star Wars fans that were never able to live long enough to see it. I remember being excited to see what things they were going to use from the Zahn books, and how that those feelings faded maybe 2/3 of the way into the movie when it became apparent there wasn't going to be any connection to those novels.

[@ericsimmons401]

I was shocked by how small in scope the film was... At the time, I thought Disney were master storytellers, and everyone had the benefit of being post some amazing franchises that were done right (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter)... We also had the benefit of learning some valuable lessons from the prequel trilogy. I truly thought I was walking into a perfect, epic, best-case-scenario film directed by a hot, young filmmaker who could mimic Speilberg. I thought it was going to feature my favorite characters, primarily Luke Skywalker. I thought it was going to catch us up on 30 years of history and worldbuilding. When it ended, I wound up having some fun and liking the new characters just fine, but I was shocked at how little was accomplished. Not where I thought we'd be after waiting 30 years for a sequel to ROTJ...The next 2 films broke my heart, and now I don't care anymore.

[@istari0]

I was excited after watching it the first time. Subsequent re-watchings steadily diminished my excitement although I held out hope the future movies would improve. TLJ dashed all hope of that.

[@liljenborg2517]

How do you summarize the complexity. The trailers excited me. The first act had me pumped up. Who was this Snoke guy? Is he really thirty feet tall? How did he ensnare Kylo? What are the knights of Ren? What was Luke looking for that he disappeared? I want more with this Finn guy who broke his stormtrooper programming. BB-8 was adorable. Then they killed of Han in the most pointless death ever on screen. And Luke got, like, 8 seconds on screen. The New Republic was erased without ever being felt. As cool as Poe was, I left the theater partly satisfied and partly excited to see all my questions answered in the sequels and partly angry with the whole Han Solo thing, and Rey’s short-cut sudden expertise with the Force. These were all things that could have worked if the sequels had been good. I found this channel looking for other people’s ideas on how all my questions might be answered. But the sequels were awful. JJ’s “mystery boxes” proved to be empty cereal-box cardboard that RJ stomped flat. They turned Luke Skywalker into Willie Freakin’ Lowman. So now, looking back, or when I try to rewatch Force Awakens, all I see are loose strings that would never be tied in episode 8, and then tied in all the wrong ways when they brought JJ back in to try and salvage RJ’s demolition of the franchise.

[@rogerpalsgrove9678]

I think I had started feeling uneasy about TFA when the hype machine started in 2015. I didn't know what to think about Daisy Ridley when she was doing interviews. I thought it was odd seeing BB-8 on oranges. I knew there was going to be a passing of the guard, but my force I didn't think it was going to happen in such a slipshod of a way. I'm sure the voice comms conversations didn't help. It didn't fill me with hope, but I thought there was at least a direction to head in.

[@SequentiallyCompact]

I can't overstate how many times criticisms of the movie were greeted with the preface 'After the prequels...' before a tepid defense was given of the film. As if being different from the prequels was somehow enough to make it good.

[@vestarakhai5303]

My initial reaction was that it was pretty good, had potential but was far too similar to ANH and I was excited to see where we go from there sadly TLJ is what followed and it left an indelible mark on my SW viewing from then on to the point where I have to deliberate whether I want to watch a show or not... never did see TROS in theaters or D+

[@Alan_Skywalker]

Am I the only one who think that “nostalgia” is only a plus, a dessert, and CANNOT be the main dish? BTW the art designs and filming techniques of EP7 never gave me a nostalgic vibe.

[@TheAnimationConnoisseur]

When I first watched the Force Awakens, I absolutely loved it. I connected to Rey's struggle to find her place in the world and discover where she belonged, loved the prospect of Finn (a Stormtrooper) defecting to the Resistance, was heartbroken by Han Solo's death at the hands of his own son, and was intrigued by the mystery of Snoke's origins. For a time, The Force Awakens was actually my favorite Star Wars film. Nowadays though, while I do still enjoy TFA, it's dropped in the rankings a bit for me. (With Revenge of the Sith having taken the title of best Star Wars movie for me) While I do believe that the film could have afforded to be more original in certain areas, for what it is it's still a fairly good film, and I can wholeheartedly say that I enjoyed all the characters introduced in that movie. Because I was never able to see the Originals or Prequels in theaters, (being that I wasn't born during the time of the former and was too young to see the latter films) I couldn't experience the hype around those films coming out, which is why I have a lot of nostalgia for the pre/post-Force Awakens era of Star Wars. (Since it was the only one I could participate in.) I can still remember how excited people were in the years leading up to that film, and the years before The Last Jedi came out. It was an amazing time to be alive for a Star Wars fan. Everyone was coming up with their own personal theories and ideas about how the trilogy would play out: Like who Rey's parents would be, where Snoke came from/what his true identity was, what role Luke would play in the story, the possibility of certain Legends characters being reintroduced into Canon; the sky really seemed to be the limit at that point. It's sad that the other two films in the series absolutely destroyed any potential that the Sequel Trilogy had, and left many fans jaded overall, despite the solid start Force Awakens had.

[@Hunterb9412]

I was a prequels kid. I remember seeing Episode 1 in a 3D theater that projected the opening crawl and ship scene across the ceiling. A moving going experience I'll never forget. I enjoyed The Force Awakens. The set up for all these new characters opened up such potential for a darker side of star wars we hadn't seen before. After having watched the entire trilogy multiple times over and watching many discussion videos about it, my final verdict would be that the trilogy overall is okay and still somewhat enjoyable but Kylo Ren should've been the main character. Rey still should've been a character but maybe a strong supporting character that helped Kylo on his journey or was mirror opposite in sense of tone and morals. Seeing Kylo's fall to the dark side, struggle, and redemption from his perspective would've made the sequel trilogy so much better.

[@blacksabre5343]

Yeah, I went into it seeing the problem that it already was a reboot of Ep4. I almost drank the First Order Kool Aid like I did with Imperial Kool Aid. After TLJ came out I soured on it immensely. I can't watch anything ST now.

[@lukejochem]

They missed the minute Ben was announced as the son of Han&Leia. In legends he was Luke's. Adam and Daisy are still the right choice to portray the Solo twins for the sequels... And now in 2024 we're seeing JainaSolo/Rey continuing past the OT, the PT and it's legacy in the force.. I'm in no rush for open weekend, but am curious what comes next.

[@johantolli372]

I absolutely wanted the Sequel trilogy to succeed. I was really hyped for years about Disney buying Star Wars, when Lucas made it clear that he wasnt planning on doing anymore movies. Disney at the time was the perfect studio to take over the IP. From 2012 and the sale of LF i followed pre production, castings, behind the scenes materials when production started, leaks, rumors and anything i could find about anything related to Disney taking over and their long term story plans for Star Wars. I quickly fell in love with Rebels when it released in 2014 and thought it was a greats start for Disney and i was eagerly awaiting TFA in 2015. I wanted these movies to be great, to do well at the boxoffice and "re ignite" a passion Star Wars. However as we all know Disney failed at the fundamentals with this trilogy. People where hyped because we were expecting similarities to the highly successfull and profitable MCU. Not a straight up copy of the MCU, but interwoven stories, rising threats, universe building and smaller stories a cross every media that would be connected, relevant and canon. Somehow Disney made all these promises but then failed to grasp that to build a large scale and interconnected universe and story like that you actually needs to plan and write a story first. Disney paid billions to tell a story, but instead of telling a worthwhile and planned out story, they winged it. They tried to "wing" an entire cinematic universe and its insulting that they assumed us fans would just happily accept that and hand over our money.

[@TANK1677]

I never saw the sequel films, for me, my last film was Revenge of the Sith. Don't get me wrong, when I first heard about Force Awakens coming out, I thought it was exciting, I was around my mid-20's and wanted to know more. After hearing the name and seeing the trailers, I changed my outlook and thought "This doesn't seem like it'd be that good". I was sceptical about it and figured I'd wait and see what people were saying. I wanted nothing more than to be wrong about it and at first, I got the sense I was wrong and figured I was being too judgemental but something bothered me about it still and couldn't put my finger on it (just to clarify, this was before the whole "Just like ANH" came into play. I still had a feeling something was off and the title was a big part of that) I wanted the film to prove me wrong on all accounts, but in hindsight, while TFA might not have been bad compared to later titles, it was a film that made me begin losing interest in Star Wars

[@CharlieHepp]

I think the initial positive reception of TFA is basically a message from the fanbase to Disney: "We trust you to deliver a good Star Wars trilogy ". The fans have given Disney a lot of goodwill and they won't give it again. I liked it until the night I saw 'The Last Jedi.' My main criticism of TFA is that the state of things in the galaxy had reverted back to where it was at the beginning of 'A New Hope', completely throwing the achievements of the original characters out the window. I could have accepted that had there been a good reason for it, but Rian Johnson decided to devote an entire movie to trolling the long-time fans. After that, I was done with it and can no longer enjoy TFA. I felt 'nothing' as the credits rolled It was an extraordinary feeling I felt optimistic because there were two more movies. I wrongly assumed that the other two movies would improve upon it. I thought that it would end up being better on rewatches when viewed as part of a trilogy. Oh boy was I wrong? Now it feels like a standalone film with no satisfying conclusion I wasn't a fan of the movie because it felt way too similar to ANH and I absolutely despised how they regressed Han Solo's character, but I still had high hopes for the future of Star Wars. But then... you know the rest. It can't be understated what a slap in the face the opening line from The Force Awakens and of Disney Star Wars itself was to George."This will begin to make things right" Did it, JJ? Did it? I heard that in the theater and I was shocked. I couldn't believe they'd make such an overt dig at the prequels like that. (Oh and don't pretend it wasn't!) I didn’t like it back then. It didn’t explain anything, and the galaxy felt too small. And I was disappointed Luke and Han didn’t get another moment together before he died. The sequel trilogy isn't the prequels. Both the OT and the prequels can be seen independently of the other, one doesn't take away anything from the other, both were filled with originality and ideas and themes, with a clear path and story it wanted to tell, the OT introduced us to this universe and the prequels made it feel like 3 times bigger with a lot of new factions, conflicts, characters, more complexity, and whatever you may think about them, it doesn't affect the OT, the only thing it does is making them, Episode 6 specially, feel more meaningful. Now the sequels, on the other hand, depend entirely on the OT to be fully understood, they undermine everything the OG characters did and fought for, it takes away their legacy and their growth, only to make a hollow shell of a trilogy that only succeeds in being a very bad copy of the OT I saw it in theaters and had mixed feelings, mainly due to Han's death and "A good question, for another time." As a Luke stan, I was very worried. After Hans's character/death and the Luke "cameo", I knew I was in trouble. Thirty years later, the man who took down the empire doesn't get a line? Of course, I had no idea how bad it would get. It was a roller coaster. I was so happy to see Han and Chewie, and then the weird monster happened. That movie had so many bizarre, bad things in it that I think a lot of people overlooked out of nostalgic hope for the future (myself included to an extent, but I was more aware of the bad IMO.) The treatment of Han/Chewie, the ending basically discarding Finn, Rey jumping power level drastically for no good reason, the freaking splitting hyperspace beams destroying the entire New Republic fleet and Gov't at once from lightyears away, Luke's lightsaber appearing with no explanation, Rey being better and repairing and flying?!?! the Falcon than Han even though she's never flown anything before, etc. Was it better than the follow-ups? Sure. But not by much. We were all just happy to have Star Wars on the big screen again. Yes, I was so excited to see Luke Skywalker as a Jedi master. Nearly 10 years later I am still waiting to see that and realizing I likely never will. The first line of the opening crawl was a giant red flag "Luke Skywalker has vanished". "that's not how the force works" was so prophetic.

[@ilyafoskin]

I didn't mind Han Solo dying before a reunion of the original cast could happen in TFA. It gave the passage of time in the Star Wars universe a bittersweet element like real life. The last time we get to see our loved ones isn't always perfect and I like that there was a point years ago off screen when these characters were all together for the last time but didn't know it would be. We can't allow fan service to ruin stories. People want their favourite characters to always get closure and survive in the end but it doesn't make for compelling stories. Also, Han Solo being killed by his dark side son was a great scene and I think Kylo should have killed Leia too but successfully unlike the horrendous floating through space scene we got. Han and Kylo on the bridge was my favourite scene from TFA and maybe any Star Wars film but such a scene required an appropriate explanation later when Kylo's backstory was finally shown. I don't think Rian Johnson's explanation was adequate and it shows he probably didn't care to do a better job revealing why Kylo turned to the dark side. Properly connecting his film to the first and last in the trilogy just wasn't his priority.

[@pauldonvito6169]

I was hyped and loved it. Think i was love-drunk that Star Wars was back. I knew the first movie was about world building and story setting so gave it a pass regarding lack of development. I loved the idea Luke was missing, being viewed as some sort of WMD the First Order needed to find and kill. Now i look back on the movie and it just makes me sad on what could have been..

[@Alec11_43]

I was pretty frustrated by how much things were undone and regressed like the new republic, new Jedi order, and Han Solo, but overall I had a nice time and was willing to give the future a shot. Then came the Last Jedi which only doubled down on the regressions, with Rise of Skywalker’s “Somehow Palpatine returned” being the final nail in the coffin.

[@AnonimanPiotr]

I was so hyped for this film. I loved it with each rewatch... Until Last jedi came out.

[@braverzero3709]

When tfa came out I was loving it. There’s a vid of me giddily swinging around my childhood qui-gonn lightsaber just enjoying the vibes. It was an epic time. I thought Rey was a tad bit skilled, but considering at the time we had movies like edge of tomorrow, hunger games, etc. I was all-in on the tough Scifi heroine concept. I did just accept her skills as super force powers. I remember the conversations about her potentially being obiwan’s secret daughter, LoL. Finn was awesome.… I was tired of Angry Dad Mace Windu. It was cool to see fresh blood on the sci-fi POC scene. I was so excited to see him and Rey train and defeat Knights of Ren. I do remember thinking it was so weird that they did a 1:1 of New Hope, but I was still in the “it’s more Star Wars” camp. Now, I’m a lot more critical.

[@fatbuckrto8371]

ZT-Unseen's comment made me realize something. They missed a golden opportunity to find an excuse to put Finn in old Republic clone trooper armor. Like, the heroes get pinned in some place that was an old battlefield from the Clone Wars, and Finn finds that armor and wears it as they fight their way out. Or something similar. If they had done it right that could have been a badass scene, and an awesome call back to the prequel trilogy.

[@richardsylvester4518]

It wasn't amazing but wasn't bad either. It laid the groundwork well for what came next. I can still watch it, unlike the other two.

[@toastpoppin]

I for one never liked it to begin with and people called ME crazy. Im surprised alot of people liked it tho. I still feel the same today however. And kinda of a hot take here but i (personally) think its the most boring out of the sequels. Atleast the other two are stupid or weird.

[@geckomoriadaimyoofwano7157]

Same, I never liked it. Glad to see im not the only one. Thought it was garbage as soon as i saw it

[@theanonymouscritic1710]

Don’t worry, you’re not crazy or alone. I was board by it. I saw through the lies of the Disney Corporation.

[@jonreylen3166]

Mate, I'm exactly on the same track as you are. Me and some of my fellow Star Wars friends were really surprised by how the majority of people liked this film. In the first 30 minutes I realized I was watching a copy of ANH and the rest of the movie felt so uninspired and predictable that really bored me a lot. At least Episodes VIII and IX make angry because of its stupidity and bad, very bad ideas.

[@TheRidersChoice]

The opening scene alone made me angry and uncomfortable. Why is this trying to be a comedy out of the gate? The villian wasn’t scary at all right off the bat.

[@theanonymouscritic1710]

Dudes, the opening words of the Opening Crawl “Luke Skywalker has vanished” made me realise this was going to bad, for a lack of a better term. Basically, the OG Star Wars character essentially vanished offscreen. It didn’t feel right and it was all downhill from there.

[@6runger]

I still believe that TFA had the potential to be as remarkable or lackluster as its subsequent episodes. And looking back, TLJ greatly diminished the overall quality of TFA. While TFA had its many imperfections, it undeniably laid a strong set of possibilities for the trilogy. As you rightly pointed out, your channel and numerous others flourished because of the engaging theories and speculations generated by TFA. These would not have arisen without the movie's introduction of interesting questions. Had TLJ been anything other than a horrifying disaster, I believe TFA would be held in higher regard than it currently is. Now it is just a source of memes, like that rest of the trilogy.

[@millernumber1]

I have to say, the third Death Star, the fact that I liked the three main characters but did not care if they lived or died, and the fact that they hyperspaced into the atmosphere of a planet made me hate the movie when it came out. And that third one is more important to me than you might think - I continue to be very, very angry about the use of hyperspace as lazy plotting.

[@jeremyfields9009]

What 3 main characters? Rey and Finn are the only leads

[@millernumber1]

@@jeremyfields9009 I'm a pilot guy, so Poe is the third for me. :)

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

Yes, that upset me as well. Because it did undo plot points from the OT. It was established that you can't hyperspace out of an atmosphere or into an atmosphere. So the rebellion had to fight past the blockade at Hoth and use a shuttle with stolen identification codes to insert an infiltration team on Endor. But Abrams being Abrams was just too lazy and didn't care.

[@millernumber1]

@@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102 Yeah. It ruins the tension if hyperspace is now just a magical plot solving button.

[@Stefan-n4o7c]

If anyone had told me back then, that i would Not be botherd about watching episode 9, i would not have believed that person. Now i guess i Never will be.

[@badcool-aidvaporsofficialc6806]

I sort of enjoyed it as it introduced the return of Han Solo and Chewbacca and it just felt like it was going to get better with the anticipation of the return of our Luke and Leia and the whole crew building up. But then they killed off Han and that excitement sort of melted because I knew we weren't going to see a reunion. At first it made sense to kill off Han since GL wasn't at the helm anymore and Kasdan and Ford always wanted to kill him off. But JJ could have respected what came before and stood by George's stance that it should always end with a happy ending and hope. But they all caved and disrespected the story and lore of Star Wars and the result was a dampened mood instead of hope for a bright future for the rest of the movies and that's how we got TLJ. It wasn't very highly anticipated even with Luke coming back to the big screen. I waited almost 40 years to see that movie. TFA set the tone that this was not going to end very well already, even if it had explosive special effects, practical effects, and the original characters. They flopped with the original story line and killed off that hope by delivering a sci Fi flick that was composed of a movie title that can attract anyone to watch it, space ships, and made with a big budget to wow us but with a lack of respect.

[@EntertainmentMan132]

So many people tell me they don't like TFA anymore because the sequels were bad. If a movie is completely dependent on the success of sequels, that means it never truly stood on its own. A New Hope still would have been a great movie even if the sequels sucked. We never would have gotten a larger franchise, but the story stands on its own merits.

[@jimmyboy131]

I was cautiously optimistic going into The Force Awakens. I even flew from the west coast to the east coast to go see it opening day with one of my best and oldest friends, who is also a hard-core life long Star Wars fan. I was especially excited to see the further adventures of Luke Skywalker, and to see who this new Stormtrooper looking characters is (Finn), and who's the girl who seemed to be a Luke-type character? But my mood continued to drop and then sour as the movie went along. It was utterly disrespectful to the story that had come before, and to Han Solo. Plus I found Rey to be obnoxious and off-putting. And to make things worse, Luke was all but absent in the story, AND they turned him into a cowardly unstable character! I walked out of the theater actually angry at what I had just witnessed, and said to my friend that I will watch the next only because we will see be seeing Luke Skywalker in action again. In between these two movies I again flew out to visit my friend to see Rogue One on opening day. We both really liked that one, so I was again cautiously optimistic about Last Jedi. But we know how that turned out. I once again flew to out to visit my friend and we saw Last Jedi on opening day. But this time walking out of the theater I had to calm myself and collect my thoughts, and told my friend that I'm sorry but I'm done. I will not be seeing the next movie. And that as far as I'm concerned these are not Star Wars movies, but just big-budget, really bad fan fiction. And that's where my position is and will forever remain. I gave new trilogy genuine chances and invested a lot of money and time to see them with my friend. So it's not like I never gave them a fair chance to prove themselves. As for The Phantom Menace, I walked out of there on opening day with mixed feelings. But on repeat viewings I was able to focus more on the good and just tolerate the bad. And I don't know if anyone has a better record than me in this case because I saw Phantom Menace 19 (nineteen) times in the theaters during it's original run. Yeah I'm a hardcore fan but this new trilogy doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned.

[@GrimbolTheDruid]

3:47 You can write your way out of a plot hole or sloppy detail and end up with something brilliant (see Exhaust Port/Rogue One). Maybe you can even come back from giving the middle movie of a trilogy to someone who doesn’t want it. But what I’ll never forgive them for was their inability to put their own egos and pride aside, to bring the original cast back together on screen in a meaningful way before it was too late. RIP. Add to that the purposeful mistreatment of their characters in the bit they did allow them to be on screen is deeply sad to me.

[@FTChomp9980]

Force Awake was the first Star Wars Film I saw in the theaters on my Birthday when I turned 15. It was good being on the hype at first then The Last Jedi happened!🤦‍♂️ I still would love to see the Prequels and OT in theaters hoping they will show them.

[@YURangers]

One thing that really struck me, and continued for the rest of the sequel trilogy, was the lack of familiar alien species from the OT and PT. Adding new species is totally fine, and even appropriate - BUT when we ONLY see new designs, and not mixed in with familiar species like Rodians, Twi’leks, Aqualish, or Dugs, Anx, and Zabraks, the movie didn’t feel as much like Star Wars to me. There were too many close, but no cigar aliens, like the ridiculous bearded not-Ithorian Ortega in Maz Kanata’s Palace. At first, I though it was weird that a hairless species had a beard - though Disney later did introduce facial hair for Dok Ondar - but then turned out it wasn’t an Ithorian after all! It really felt like the key players like Han, Chewie, Leia and C-3PO were starring in some other Sci-Fi franchise. Having Admiral Ackbar be the token Mon Calamari of the resistance was especially odd. The rest of the trilogy did not do much to improve on this NEW alien ascetic, though Rogue One and Solo were slightly better. The Mandalorian season 1 was the first Disney Star Wars that really went back and fixed this glaring issue for me.

[@samm1926]

I was very hyped for it, and a little let down when it was all 'homage' to A New Hope. Like you said in the video, if it had lead to anything great, I'd be singing a different tune.

[@lakersfan2425]

Like others, this was my first stars wars movie in theaters and I really enjoyed the movie. I remember Chris Stuckmann made a video that highlighted the similarities between TFA and ANH but in a positive light. I agreed then and defended the choices to make it so similar to ANH…I feel much differently now

[@theanonymouscritic1710]

Yeah, well Chris Stuckmann’s stupid! His video highlighting the similarities between TFA & ANH in a positive light is very misleading BTW.

[@insane_troll]

4:03 - "every time Luke Skywalker came into the picture every time he was on screen he kind of stole the spotlight" This attitude from the filmmakers just beggars belief. They realise that this is the character that people really want to see, so they take him away! It is as if they don't want people to enjoy the film.

[@ThanksHermione]

As others have said, lots of it felt creatively bankrupt with repeating so much of A New Hope. The triumph of defeating The Empire in Return of the Jedi now felt hallow. I didn't hate it, but wanted more to happen in future installments. At least I understood what was going on, unlike when I saw The Phantom Menace. (I'm not a fan of the prequels, but enjoy The Clone Wars tv series.)

[@michaellane5381]

Honestly this was much harder to follow(watching the movie*) than TPH... "Shit happens" in TFA in ways beyond anything in the prequels... An entire war started off-screen but unlike the OT there is no coherent indication of why or what the first order is besides mustache-twirling evil, opposing Supreme incompetence resulting from our past hero's actions. *(you could tell where the movie wanted to go, but it was obtuse and unclear how it got there)

[@kolaranze]

Nah, just don't consider sequels as canon and problem is solved

[@derworfnet]

Watching fans enthusiastically react to the TFA Trailer is like watching your wedding video after filing for divorce.

[@augustlion5105]

Hey, remember how the Empire was defeated in Return of the Jedi in 1983? Well they're back. Don't question it, just deal with it. 🤔🤔🤔

[@isaacsibrian2503]

I saw it like 3 times in theaters (cause nephews) but I enjoyed it way more than the prequels and still do. Even Han's story made sense because of how Harrison Ford seemed very reluctant to even come back, so Han dying made sense. Plus the whole mystery box stuff works in the beginning of a trilogy or series as there is ample time to answer those questions. Maybe 6 months after it came out I heard they did not have a plan and that is when I started to really worry that it would be a lot of buildup and no payoff. TLJ proved me right and I still haven't watched ROS.

[@ajb625]

My theater experience...started off pretty well. Then they arrived at Maz's Place and it felt like the whole thing hit a brick wall. By the time the "epic" battle scenes arrived, I was flat-out bored. And it only went downhill from there.

[@aliastheabnormal]

I always expected that the Disney trilogy would fail. I already saw what Disney would do to franchises like Star Wars because i saw Disney Power Rangers.

[@seanmurphy7011]

I was furious when I left the theater. I had no opinion of JJ Abrams, or KK, or anyone in the movie. But a friend had warned me off of going to see it and he was right. I should have given it the "Highlander" treatment and pretended it just did not exist. It is and always will be a low-rent Star Wars (1977) knock off and nothing more.

[@TheNameisPlissken1981]

My biggest problem with The Force Awakens is the thought of having to wait until the next chapter for fundamental questions to be answered! Like Rey and her ability to use the Force without any teaching or practice. Star Wars was a whole movie! There were no leaps in logic that we had to wait until Empire to be filled in on. It all made sense. I left The Force Awakens asking myself numerous times, "but what about...?" Those questions were only more apparent upon my second viewing of the film. A second viewing that made me enjoy the film even less. In fact, the more I saw the film, the more questions I had and the less I enjoyed myself. The Force Awakens, I'm afraid, is all sizzle no steak.

[@Soup-man]

All they had to do was the Heir to the Empire novels as a film trilogy and they would've been heroes.

[@nichlaschristensson1055]

I liked it when it came out, there was some "mystery boxes" that gave some excitement for more. But after TLJ, when nothing lead to anything, I felt it became worse. We didn't get an explanation to Rey's force powers and Luke didn't bring us any hope. And as a sigle movie it is still okey in a way but I don't see it as a continuation of George's saga

[@regishel]

I was completely blinded from it's Meny meny mistakes, I knew it wasn't what I thought it was going to be when I watched the trailers, but I still felt really really hyped after watching it. However I remember people close to me already saying that it was a bad movie, but I didn't want to listen. I wanted to believe my own hype and all the theories was amazing, I could not late myself see anything bad, because it was Star Wars and Star Wars has already been amazing... Before.

[@moffjendob6796]

I try to hang onto that initial feeling when I rewatch it... but... yeah.

[@MoreAwsomeMetal]

I was devastated when I got out of the theater in 2015: they had no plot hole for the "new" trilogy, they broke down the entire achievement of the OT saga and nullify the rebels victory without any explanations, they made the dumbest Death Star ever seen (who had the RETARDED idea to bring a 3rd Death Star in the first place?), and it was plain obvious they had no plan to what was going to be the 2nd and 3rd movie of the trilogy: everything was so random in this movie, and it has no story on its own: it's just about finding Luke for the first hour of the film, and then screwing around on side quests (such as destroying a Death Star, yes they made the Death Stra of this movie a side quest), and to show how the bad guys of this new trilogy are lame, who the new heroin was broken and over-cheated, how Han Solo had regressed into being a deadbeat dad and husband having no respect from anyone, not to mention the galaxy hadn't move a bit in it's aspects and design of spaceships and costumes: the OT environment had been frozen in 30 years of timeline when the Prequels had shown us two different timelines with so much difference in their looks and fashion. This trilogy was DOA, and I still can't believe it took the Last Jedi for most of you to figure it out when it was so obvious they had nothing to tell us from the first movie...

[@jackfroste]

My main question that keeps me up at night is why is Kathleen not fired yet?

[@FREEDOM_OR_DEATH_]

My first reaction. IT LOOKS AMAZING. My viewing reaction: THIS LOOKS AMAZING!!! My current reaction: Meh at least it looks amazing.

[@lordcarnorjax8599]

I think you should have held two polls for this video. The one you ran and "What do you think about TFA now?". It would be interesting to see the results as I suspect there would be a rather large swing to the negative now. I saw TFA in theatre and it was enjoyable but on subsequent re-watches it got worse every time. I think I've seen it 5 times now, I've watched Solo, TLJ & TROS twice each and I doubt I will ever watch the ST & Solo movies again. I honesty think alot of my enjoyment was purely because we had Star Wars back on the big screen.

[@geek8555]

Hey Thor, earlier today I was thinking about how JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson had their own ideas regarding Star Wars lore that went against George Lucas's ideas. JJ portrayed the Force as a power anyone can achieve without training (which is why he ignored midichlorions) and Rian Johnson said balance meant equal Jedi and equal Sith. I am pretty sure midichlorions do in fact measure Force sensitivity and I am aware of the 'Karate' quote George Lucas said about the Force, but it is worth noting that was from 1981 and my argument is that it's likely George Lucas may have changed his mind overtime. Correct me if i'm wrong but I don't think George Lucas has said anything lately to support that 'Karete' quote he said decades ago and if it didn't make it into the final product, then it's not relevant. Anyway, I feel that JJ and Rian should have reached out to George Lucas and asked him for input regarding their ideas. I have this sneaking suspicion that they both chose not to because they knew he'd say no. Sure, it is a possibility that didn't cross their minds, but to me either way it only proves they should not have been involved with Star Wars. If you're going to add new things to the lore then not only does it have to fit with the creator's intentions, but it should also be met with said creator's approval. They had no right to just do whatever they wanted.

[@WhoWouldWantThisName]

At the time I mostly loved it. It certainly was emotionally powerful for me and I had to have a good cry in my car before I could drive home. That's mostly due to Han's death of course. I was very optimistic for the rest of the trilogy. I defended the ST a LOT based on the premise that there was still time and opportunity to make good on expectations fans had and that we shouldn't expect each film to answer every question it raised, that sort of thing. After TROS there was no more opportunity to make good on anything or tidy up loose ends. I had no means or intent to defend any of it after that. So I was still supportive of LF right up until the end of TROS. At that point my position on all of it changed. I went from a defender of Star Wars to an apathetic fan that hasn't had any desire to watch any of THAT again. I haven't entirely checked out of Star Wars by any means but I am not interested in anything saga related from them. I love Andor and I still watch Ahsoka, but am disappointed with it. TFA appeared so full of hope and potential but it turned out to be just be that, a bunch of interesting ideas leading to nothing more behind the curtain.

[@atomic.procrastinator]

I was so pumped. I grew up with the prequels, and then i got introduced to the Originals. When TFA came out I truly felt like Star Wars was gonna come back to it's 100%. Now, i feel like Disney has taken it beyond the 200%, but in the bad way

[@Hanoua2]

What convinced me to trust Disney with Star Wars back then was because of the MCU. Things were going great, the MCU was a cultural phenomenom and all of their Pixar animated movie were all amazing. But then it went all downhill from there, and today my trust for Disney as a brand as been completly shattered. This company lost its magic

[@greatazuredragon]

When it released I considered it a little too similar to A New Hope, but was fairly optmistic about things. Now I have no intentio of ever watching it again, and I own and used to rewatch all six SW movies fairly regularly.

[@grantstratton2239]

I remember leaving the first viewing thinking it was just "A New Hope" all over again. I didn't care as much that the old characters weren't really involved in the story. I liked the narrative hooks offered by a lot of the new characters and thought that they would be given interesting arcs. Instead, everyone, the old cast, the new cast, the villains, basically EVERYONE all had their interesting narratives gutted in favor making Rey the Girl Boss Messiah.

[@blackfang64]

It was okay-good. The problem was like with all the other sequel trilogy movies is that the more you stopped and thought about them, the more you began to dislike them. I was willing to give Disney a chance after Force awakens as it was an okay movie. Had potential for greatness but in the end we were all left disappointed

[@MegaDarkness5000]

I thought it was meh when I came out the theater but I thought the next movie will answer the questions that was in Force Awakens......

[@KenBen0bi]

It’s fascinating to see how commenters who were the same age I was when TPM came out have the opposite effect. Nailed it, Thor, LFL/Disney mismanaged the brand instead of creating the newest generation of theater-going SW fans.

[@ChemistryTalkwithDan]

I went into TFA not very optimistic because I already despised JJ Abrams for what he did to Star Trek. When Kylo Ren first froze the blaster shot in midair I allowed myself to hope that the movie was going to be good. But then it degenerated into standard JJ affairs, and by the time Starkiller Base blew up the Hosnian system I had checked out. I left the theater not sure what I felt about the film. It wasn't until later that I realized it was because TFA is not a complete story. I kept comparing it to Batman Begins which also set up a new Batman universe but was also its own complete story that could stand on its own. TFA was more akin to a 20 chapter book that was missing chapters 3, 12, and 17. That's when I knew that everyone's opinion of TFA would either be validated or changed after TLJ came out. TFA needed TLJ to fill in the missing pieces, and that was TFA's greatest sin.