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Star Wars help needed.

Scarlett

By Scarlett,
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Scarlett

Scarlett

Posted
Posted

So let's say you are a person who saw the original Star Wars but has little recollection of it...and you don't really know if you have seen any of the others....is there a way to read a cliff notes review so that when I go see it next week with friends I dont feel like an idiot and/ or fall asleep?

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Garga

Garga

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This is tricky. I've looked at a couple of articles that recap the plot lines of the movies, but they don't quite get it right. Sure that's the plot, but do you need to know the plots of the others to understand this next movie? Not quite...you need to know more about the relationships between the people and what "the force" is all about.

 

I'll keep searching for something for you that brings you up to speed in a meaningful way and doesn't just give dry plot points.

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Garga

Garga

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This one seems pretty good: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/12/10-things-you-should-know-before-watching-star-wars-the-force-awakens-this-weekend

 

There were a lot of indulgent scenes of new characters meeting characters from the older movies. I say indulgent because they seemed to be in there just so that we, as fans, could get all mushy and teary-eyed at seeing old favorites. (And it worked. I was mushy and teary-eyed and thankful that they indulged us.)

 

If anyone in the theater claps or gives a happy sigh when a character (especially if they're played by an old wrinkly actor) appears on screen just look at them give a nostalgic smile and nod in solidarity.

 

My own notes of things that are good to know from past movies:

 

The force is a power that some people can tap into. Those people can move things telekinetically and have superior reflexes. They can sense other people's feelings or thoughts, sometimes from great distances. They can also use mind control on other people and force them to do what they want them to do by the power of suggestion.

 

"Jedi" is the name of the people who use the force.

 

You can use a lightsaber if you're not a Jedi, but not as effectively as a Jedi. Really, only Jedi use them. Other people use blasters (guns). So, if you see someone with a lightsaber, they're probably a Jedi and can use the force.

 

There are always a few Jedi who go to the dark side. They use the power of the force for evil. Darth Vader was one of those bad people.

 

Darth Vader was the strongest of the Jedi

 

Darth Vader was Luke and Leia's father

 

The force is often strong in family bloodlines.

 

Luke and Leia are brother and sister--twins, and born of the strongest Jedi Vader, so they're both strong in the force. They didn't know they were siblings because at birth they were separated and hidden from Vader to protect them.

 

Luke and Leia were not part of the Dark Side. They fought against Vader, both before and after they found out he was their father.

 

There used to be an Evil Empire that Vader was part of and it was defeated, ultimately by Luke

 

Luke is a really big deal because he and Leia are some of the very few Jedi left alive after the empire killed them all off years ago.

 

Leia was a senator and a diplomat and an important leader of the resistance who fought against the empire

 

Leia and Han Solo were lovers, she as the good girl and he as the bad boy

 

Han Solo is a reluctant fighter against the bad guys. He is smuggler at heart and got pulled into resisting the bad guys against his will, and really just for the money he was promised. He deals with seedy characters.

 

Chewbacca is a big furry guy who is not stupid (but people sometimes think he is.) He is Han Solo's sidekick.

 

Non-people characters:

The Milennium Falcom: Han Solo's ship. It's a heap of junk but he loves it. He's the only one who can fly it with Chewbacca (Chewy) as the copilot. It's tempermental and apt to not work when you want it to. He's always having to fix something that has broken on it.

 

C3PO: Golden man-shaped robot thing. He was made by Darth Vader before Vader turned bad. He is usually there as comic relief.

 

R2D2: A trash can sized robot, mostly white with blue, who featured a lot in previous movies because he's helpful. People put secret messages into his memory banks for him to carry around and he can hack computer systems.

 

Cantinas: Han Solo likes to visit seedy bars called Cantinas where there are always an assortment of crazy looking aliens hanging around listening to live music. Cantinas are a Star Wars staple.

 

Storm Troopers: These are guys that were white armor and fight for the bad guys. They're nameless soldiers and even though they wear armor, they're really easy to kill with a blaster or light saber. :) They're like the red shirts in Star Trek. They get killed off all the time and are just sort of there to keep the action going.

 

 

Ok! After seeing the movie last night, I think I've told you everything you need to know without giving anything away.

Edited by Garga
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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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this is hysterical. (and no, it's not perfect.  it only touches on the most superficial things.)    as has been stated, it doens't really show the interpersonal realtionships.  especially between luke, leia, and han.  

 

OP - if you have any familiarity with the original three movies (re: 1977 - 1983), you'll have more enjoyment of the latest movie.  (I hated the prequels - and haven't even seen "#3".) 

Edited by gardenmom5
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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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This one seems pretty good: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/12/10-things-you-should-know-before-watching-star-wars-the-force-awakens-this-weekend

 

There were a lot of indulgent scenes of new characters meeting characters from the older movies. I say indulgent because they seemed to be in there just so that we, as fans, could get all mushy and teary-eyed at seeing old favorites. (And it worked. I was mushy and teary-eyed and thankful that they indulged us.)  

 

If anyone in the theater claps or gives a happy sigh when a character (especially if they're played by an old wrinkly actor) appears on screen just look at them give a nostalgic smile and nod in solidarity.

 

My own notes of things that are good to know from past movies:

 

The force is a power that some people can tap into. Those people can move things telekinetically and have superior reflexes. They can sense other people's feelings or thoughts, sometimes from great distances. They can also use mind control on other people and force them to do what they want them to do by the power of suggestion.

 

"Jedi" is the name of the people who use the force.

 

You can use a lightsaber if you're not a Jedi, but not as effectively as a Jedi. Really, only Jedi use them. Other people use blasters (guns). So, if you see someone with a lightsaber, they're probably a Jedi and can use the force.

 

There are always a few Jedi who go to the dark side. They use the power of the force for evil. Darth Vader was one of those bad people.

 

Darth Vader was the strongest of the Jedi

 

Darth Vader was Luke and Leia's father

 

The force is often strong in family bloodlines.

 

Luke and Leia are brother and sister--twins, and born of the strongest Jedi Vader, so they're both strong in the force. They didn't know they were siblings because at birth they were separated and hidden from Vader to protect them.

 

Luke and Leia were not part of the Dark Side. They fought against Vader, both before and after they found out he was their father.

 

There used to be an Evil Empire that Vader was part of and it was defeated, ultimately by Luke  Luke confronted vader in the return of the jedi. he dared him to give up the dark side, that he knew there was still good in him.   the emperor was determined to turn luke to the dark side, have him kill vader, and join him.  instead, luke refused, and the emperor tried to kill Luke.  Vader then killed the emperor in order to save luke - but sustained a mortal injury.  one of the closing scens of rotj is luke burning vader's body on a pyre (it's how vader's mask is melted.).  no one else is there.

 

Luke is a really big deal because he and Leia are some of the very few Jedi left alive after the empire killed them all off years ago.

 

Leia was a senator and a diplomat and an important leader of the resistance who fought against the empire

 

Leia and Han Solo were lovers, she as the good girl and he as the bad boy.  Han did join the resistance, and they were supposedly married.  the new movie explains what happened to their relationship.

 

Han Solo is a reluctant fighter against the bad guys. He is smuggler at heart and got pulled into resisting the bad guys against his will, and really just for the money he was promised. He deals with seedy characters. 

 

Chewbacca is a big furry guy who is not stupid (but people sometimes think he is.) He is Han Solo's sidekick.

 

Non-people characters:

The Milennium Falcom: Han Solo's ship. It's a heap of junk but he loves it. He's the only one who can fly it with Chewbacca (Chewy) as the copilot. It's tempermental and apt to not work when you want it to. He's always having to fix something that has broken on it. - it's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. ;p  made the kessel run in less than 12 parsecs (and boy did george lucas get flak for that one . . . ) a parsec is a measurement of distance, not time.

 

C3PO: Golden man-shaped robot thing. He was made by Darth Vader before Vader turned bad. He is usually there as comic relief. 3po is a protocol droid, and very stuffy and proper. also used for communicating between the various languages. he also has a penchant of interrupting people (han and leia) at inopportune times. he doesn't get han's sarcasm.

 

R2D2: A trash can sized robot, mostly white with blue, who featured a lot in previous movies because he's helpful. People put secret messages into his memory banks for him to carry around and he can hack computer systems.

 

Cantinas: Han Solo likes to visit seedy bars called Cantinas where there are always an assortment of crazy looking aliens hanging around listening to live music. Cantinas are a Star Wars staple.

 

Storm Troopers: These are guys that were white armor and fight for the bad guys. They're nameless soldiers and even though they wear armor, they're really easy to kill with a blaster or light saber. :) They're like the red shirts in Star Trek. They get killed off all the time and are just sort of there to keep the action going.

 

 

Ok! After seeing the movie last night, I think I've told you everything you need to know without giving anything away.

 

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