# Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Seen It (Assume Spoilers Within) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645 "2015-12-16T23:16:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 73
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1441 "2016-02-16T22:28:30Z")
> [@](#): > > And whatever explanation Poe gave Finn for how he survived his own kaboom went by so fast that I didn’t catch it. > > But it was a fun movie, despite those flaws, and despite following the outline of the original Star Wars a little too religiously in places. The Firebug is bummed that he has to wait 2 years to see the next one, and another 2 years for the conclusion. Poe mentioned that his seat ejected, just like Finn, but he landed afar. Granted, it is also possible they left it vague to revisit later. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1442 "2016-02-17T00:11:19Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > This was my single biggest problem with it: I was giving them the benefit of the doubt and guessing maybe 50 years had passed between Eps 6 and 7 in the Lucasverse. But even that feels (at least to me) way too soon for the First Order to have gone from zero to the verge of galactic domination. How long did it take Hitler to rebuild Germany? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1443 "2016-02-17T00:26:21Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Poe mentioned that his seat ejected, just like Finn, but he landed afar. Granted, it is also possible they left it vague to revisit later. I’m still trying to figure out how Poe was thrown clear of the wreck, but his jacket wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1444 "2016-02-18T15:01:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out how Poe was thrown clear of the wreck, but his jacket wasn’t. He took his jacket off when he first got into the Tie fighter. You can see him doing this when they’re getting in, although it is a brief and easy to miss moment. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1445 "2016-02-18T18:18:02Z")
Apparently, there is some continuity between the new film and Knights of the Old Republic. > **[The link between Kylo Ren's Lightsaber and Star Wars: Knights of the Old...](https://www.eurogamer.net/link-between-star-wars-force-awakens-kylo-ren-lightsaber-knights-of-the-old-republic)** > > A possible link between Kylo Ren's Lightsaber in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the decade-old Knights of the Old Re… That is, the lore in the visual dictionary refers to events that are only in the cannon as part of the back story of the video games. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1446 "2016-02-18T18:22:53Z")
Disclaimer: I haven’t read the whole thread, since by the time I saw the movie, there was too much of it. I thought that they did a good job of balancing elements from the original, with re-arranging those elements into a new story. It definitely wasn’t as good as IV or V, but it was certainly decent. I’m withholding judgement on comparing it to III or VI until I see how the next ones go. I think they made the right decision with Kylo Ren. How do you follow up the greatest villain in movie history, without making the new guy just some wannabe? You make the new guy just some wannabe. My biggest beef with him is that when he takes off his mask, he’s got this perfect hair. You’d think he’d have some pretty bad helmet-head, there, and probably a more practical style. I think that the interracial romance was not just a neutral decision, but actually a good one. This being a Star Wars movie, when we’re presented with an obvious romantic pairing, fans are naturally going to be asking themselves “Wait, those two aren’t related, are they?”. Making them different races answers that question, and makes the movie considerably more comfortable and less squicky. A redeemed stormtrooper is definitely an interesting choice for a protagonist, and a major point in the movie that wasn’t in any way a callback to the original. Good job on whoever made that decision. I can just barely buy Rey’s duel with Kylo, for three reasons: One, the Force. Two, she’s at least experienced with a melee weapon of some sort, her staff. Three, Kylo isn’t actually trying to kill her; he’s trying to recruit her as an apprentice. Finn, though, is a lot harder to accept. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1447 "2016-02-18T18:40:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …I can just barely buy Rey’s duel with Kylo, for three reasons: One, the Force. Two, she’s at least experienced with a melee weapon of some sort, her staff. Three, Kylo isn’t actually trying to kill her; he’s trying to recruit her as an apprentice. Finn, though, is a lot harder to accept. And four, he’s wounded. Chewbacca shot him. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1448 "2016-02-18T18:46:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How do you follow up the greatest villain in movie history, without making the new guy just some wannabe? You make the new guy just some wannabe. I agree, and well put. As for Finn, I had assumed from the beginning that he was also an awakening force user. Even at that, Ren had to suck pretty hard to be held off by Finn. I guess suck doesn’t just leave the body right after killing your dad. Finn may have been a momentarily reluctant hero, but he definitely had The Force on his side. The Force is all around us. It binds all plot holes together. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1449 "2016-02-18T18:51:46Z")
Finn was, however, a professional soldier; they are careful to show us that storm troopers do, in fact, train with melee weapons, in his duel with his former buddy with the shock thingy. It isn’t that hard to buy that a professional soldier, trained with using melee weapons, could be a bit of a challenge to a wounded teen who has yet to complete his training. Assuming said kid chooses not to just levitate him away with his magic Force powers. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1450 "2016-02-18T21:01:51Z")
I thought that all the time watching _Clone Wars_. If I were a Jedi, I’d be bouncing bad guys off walls and bulkheads all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1451 "2016-02-18T21:17:17Z")
Is it even possible to Force-levitate a living creature? I don’t think we’ve ever seen that done, and it seems a reasonable in-universe limitation. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1452 "2016-02-18T21:31:25Z")
Yes. In both Clone Wars shows - and the new Rebels - force sensitives are seen to lift people and animals off the ground to make them helpless. Dooku even does it to himself at one point to make himself ‘levitate’ in a slow, controlled fall to provide a dramatic entrance. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1453 "2016-02-18T21:34:20Z")
Not to mention the scene in this movie where Kylo through a Rey into a tree. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1454 "2016-02-18T21:36:55Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Not to mention the scene in this movie where Kylo through a Rey into a tree. And mentally pulled that underling into a physical chokehold. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1455 "2016-02-18T21:47:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is it even possible to Force-levitate a living creature? I don’t think we’ve ever seen that done, and it seems a reasonable in-universe limitation. We saw it done in that very same _scene_, with Rey. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1456 "2016-02-18T23:20:20Z")
Ah, OK, then, I missed that. I suppose it might still be harder to use on a living creature than on an object, though, which would explain why it’s not done as much. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1457 "2016-02-19T15:15:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > The Force is all around us. It binds all plot holes together. That’s not how the Force works! :mad: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1458 "2016-02-19T15:22:10Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > That’s not how the Force works! :mad: > > 😛 Search your feelings. You know it to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1459 "2016-02-19T15:44:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Ah, OK, then, I missed that. I suppose it might still be harder to use on a living creature than on an object, though, which would explain why it’s not done as much. I could see it being more difficult to do to another prepared force sensitive. I pick you up! No, you don’t! I. Pick. You. Up! No. You. Don’t! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645/1460 "2016-02-19T16:01:34Z")
Heh. Now I’m reimagining the fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader, only (a) they don’t _parry_ each other’s lightsabers so much as _deactivate_ 'em; and (b) Kenobi keeps mentally flicking Vader’s life-support switch from ‘on’ to ‘off’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-force-awakens-seen-it-assume-spoilers-within/740645.md?page=74)