Pictures and comments by Brad Chowen from the parks.
Cartoon Reviews, Attraction and Restaurant Reviews from Disneyland, Disneyworld and just generally everything Disney
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By the time of this blog has posted The Force Awakens has
passed Avatar as the new US Box Office Champion of All-Time.Avatar made 760 Million in Domestic Box Office
(I still can’t understand how that movie did so well)As I wrote this blog on Tuesday 5th The Force Awakens had already grossed about
750 Million in the U.S. and was still averaging about 8 Million a day on
Monday.
We just recorded our Podcastabout the film.Take a listen
And I’ve listened to at least a half a dozen podcasts on
the subject myself. I find it
interesting listening to some people that have seen the film 5 times and yet
say it is a 8 out of 10….(Then why did you see it 5 times).Any movie that I’m willing to see at least 3
times in the theater is a 10 out of 10 for me.It can have flaws and things that you pick at –but if it compelled you
to see it multiple times –how can it be anything less than a 10
The Cast:The
Cast was excellent:Especially Harrison
Ford returning as Han Solo.He stepped
right back into the role and I didn’t doubt for a second that Han would be any
different. I absolutely loved every scene he was in……(okay
except for one scene –that really hurt).John Boyega was excellent,Oscar
Issacs –needs a bigger role in the next episode….and Daisy Ridley was out of
this world good as Rey.
The visuals and John Williams soundtrack draw you back
into the look and feel of the original
trilogy –which has obviously struck a cord with all of the fans.The movie wisely makes use of familiar Star
Wars Themes and gives them a new twist and setting.
Anyone that was
questioning Disney’s purchase of Star Wars and looking on it with concern
should now feel great about the future of the franchise.Star Wars is no longer just a franchise –it is
basically its own genre now.I can’t
wait until the film comes on DVD.I can’t
wait until the themed land goes in at Disneyland (watch out Potter).And Rogue One is less than a year away. To listen to our All our previous Podcasts go here http://www.superfantasticterrific.com/
"Who are you?" Asks the trailer......Well we really don't ever find out the answer to that question. We find out who the villain is and it is devastating.
I put off writing my thoughts on the Force Awakens until I saw it a second time. I guess I needed it to sink in a little bit. I'm sure there are already a million reviews about the movie so maybe I'll take a slightly different approach and maybe just ask questions. The movie brought up as many questions as it answered. So below are 6 questions I was asking myself and didn't post about before the movie came out and whether the movie answered them or not.
What I thought about the movie: I loved the movie.....I'm a huge Star Wars fan and I've read a ton of Star Wars books and I listen to Star Wars Podcasts and have even discussed it on my own Movie Podcast . The movie captured the spirit of the originals and brought a new generation of Star Wars characters to the forefront. Harrison Ford was awesome!!! The new cast was great.....I can't wait for the next film.
I'll discuss the film itself in more detail when we do our next Podcast.
1. Where is Luke? and has he turned to the Darkside?
What I thought before the film came out:
I really don’t think they will go the direction of Dark Empire comics and have Luke go to the darkside.Luke will probably show up towards the end of the film which means it will probably be a couple of years before we really get to see Luke in action again. Answers we got from the Movie:
Well I was definitely right about Luke. Now we know why he wasn't in the trailer and the posters... After all he was only in the film for the last minute and didn't even speak a line. I think it was a great ending and only makes us want to know more about what Luke has been up to and what we will see from him in Episode 8.
2. What are Rey and Finn’s last names?
What I thought before the film came out: Skywalker or Solo –the jury is still out.I’m sure Rey is related to one of our former heroes. The trailer where she talks about waiting for her family and the narration about the same eyes in different people makes you wonder. Answers we got from the Movie: Okay ---so we didn't find out the answer to either question. Finn may not be related to anyone and Rey doesn't seem to be a Solo. The movie makes you think that she may be Luke's child. Again the movie created more questions than it answered. My guess is that she is Luke's daughter and that maybe the mom dropped her off on Jakku to hide her when Kylo Ren had turned on Luke and the Jedi. I think the mom planned on coming back for her, but never made it back. Rey's visions when she touched Luke's Lightsaber show a memory of her being left on Jakku--but she also had visions of Kylo killing Jedi. Hopefully we will find out in a year and a half from now.
3. Is Snoke actually Plagueis?
What I thought before the film came out: This is highly unlikely –but Abrams did bring back Khan in Star Trek reboot….and the fact that they haven’t shown us what the character looks like makes the rumors persist.
Is the expanded universe really dead or is that just a setup like Khan? Before the movie went into production on the movie Disney and Lucasfilm announced that the expanded universe was pretty much dead.But aside from new post Return of the Jedi comics Rebels has basically just re -enforced older stories from the EU.When the EU was reset I thought that it made since for them to reset things post Return of the Jedi –but there really was no reason to retell things prior to that.They continue to bring elements of the Pre Jedi era into canon—which can be confusing for die hard fans.This makes me wonder if the movie is actually going to be giving us something more from the EU then we have been lead to believe.I hope that someday they bring Thrawn back into the new canon.
Answers we got from the Movie: Again we really didn't get an answer to this.... The book adaptation of the movie does say that Snoke has been around for a long time which only fuels the Plagueis fires....Of course they seem to be borrowing elements from the EU and changing them so he could be a Plagueis like character, but not Plagueis himself.
4. Rey and Kylo could actually be a version of Jacen and Jaina?
What I thought before the film came out: This goes back into dragging ideas back in from the EU.Rey and Kylo could just be new versions of the the Solo Twins from the EU. Answers we got from the Movie: They basically used the spirit of the EU without having the same characters. Rey is very much like Jaina Solo (Although she may be a Skywalker) and Kylo is like Jacen (except his name is Ben Solo). So we basically got very similar characters to Jacen and Jaina Solo in new characters.
5.Let the Wookie Live?Was the death of Chewie in the expanded universe one of the biggest reasons it was abandoned?
What I thought before the film came out: One of the main reasons I think they rebooted the beside being able to tell stories without being tied to details the general public don't know about was to reverse the loss of Chewie.They killed Chewie off in the books during the 19 book series about the Vong.Once they decided to do new movies and bring Han Solo back –not having Chewie would have been a crime. Answers we got from the Movie: So they let the Wookie Live!!! and they Killed Han Solo. I recall the reason that they killed Chewie in the books. I agreed that after so many books --when all the main characters always survived it took away the danger in the books. I hated that they had killed Chewie, but I understood it. The same goes for Han's death in the movie. It had an impact that will totally effect many of the characters and makes things interesting --because no one is safe. Like on the Walking Dead --the fact that they are willing to kill off main characters makes the show more interesting. Han will be missed. At least I still have all of Han's EU stories --still in my head...
6. When will the first Rogue One Trailer hit?
What I thought before the film came out: The first trailer for The Force Awakens broke on Thanksgiving over a year before the movie.In my opinion we won’t see a Rouge One Trailer until sometime after the Force Awakens comes out…Maybe not until Captain America hits theaters……Just to not create confusion for non diehard fans.
Answers we got from the Movie: I think I was right on this one.....We probably won't see a Rogue One Trailer until the Star Wars movie has run it's Trench Run assault on Box Office Records. The movie has already passed a billion dollars Worldwide in slightly over a week at the Box Office. It's daily numbers are insane and I'm sure we will not see a trailer for Rogue One until it's theater run is over.
I’ve been waiting for Tomorrowland to come out for awhile.It is one of those films that I was looking
forward to seeing in the theaters –but never got around to for some reason.
My wife and I had seen the great 4-D sneak peek for the movie
at Disneyland and its ties to the 1964 World’s fair and mysterious nature intrigued
me.
Here is a link to my thoughts on the sneak peek with pictures of the movies props.
The film turned out a little different than I had imagined
it would.It was part action adventure
and part comedy which didn’t come across in the trailers. The film didn’t perform as well as Disney
hoped it would at the box office which was a disappointment since it was original film as opposed to a reboot, remake or sequel. I hate when films I like don’t do as well at
the box office as they should. I can
see how it was a hard movie to market….to get across what the movie was about
without ruining the story.I absolutely
loved the marketing personally.The
mystery of Tommorrowland left me looking forward to the film.
Disney Connection
Being a huge Disney fan I loved the links to the Small World
and the 1964 World’s Fair –being a gateway to this magical place.Between this movie and Escape From
Tomorrow(add link to blog and podcast
here)a ride on the Small World will never be the
same again.What kid hasn’t fantasized
about a secret path on the Small World. Aside from the Small World ride of course the name of the film itself is named after the land in the parks. The theme of the film reminds me of Walt's vision for Epcot.
The movie iteself:
The concept and story of the film are magical.I love the concept of the film and this secret
place where all of the world’s imaginative people have created something
special.The best part of the film was
near the start when you get to actually visit Tomorrowland in all it’s glory
through the eyes of the main character (played by Brit Robertson) as she first
experiences it via the magical Tomorrowland pin.Tomorrowland looks amazing. I will
revisit this part of the film many times just to take it all in.One of the biggest complaints about the film
was that we didn’t spend enough time there…..(but that would have made the
movie cost even more and slowed down a good story).Of course no Utopia ever ends up prefect
and Tomorrowland is no different.The
main character becomes the only hope to save humanity and its future.With the help of a good Animatronic girl and a grumpy old George Clooney (that was once an optimistic young boy at the beginning of the film) she must give the world
hope and save the day.The message of
the movie is great….Imagination and Optimism
need to thrive….. The story that delivered that message was fun and
entertaining.I would totally
recommend this film.It made for a
great family movie night.
I can’t wait to dive into the bonus features ---which I will
discuss in a future post.
Check out Part 2 of our Disney Discussion on our Podcast.
We Briefly discuss the Star Wars Trailer, Tomorrowland movie and all things Disneyland
