Great Visual Storytelling

I also like the build ups to each character introduction except for Rey .

 

I took this ones out because the little moments of two people with good chemistry interacting are often those for me that make the little difference between a good and a great movie.

 

I will said a few that i like:
1)Rey and Finn telling each other their names.
2)Rey looking the forest and the lake near Maz castle.
3)Kylo Ren killing LST at Jakku.
4)The shot of Starkiller base to the Hosnian system.
5)BB-8 near R2D2 when he wake up.

 

Your are correct.I see it that way too.Is like when a kid see the ocean for the first time....

 

My absolute favorite visual storytelling moment in TFA is when they show off Kylo Ren stoping Poe's blaster bolt. In 2 seconds they (JJ & crew) demonstrate the awesome power of Kylo Ren, his presence in the moment (i.e. he knows what's going on around him and reacts frightenly fast), and his overall badassness. In a heartbeat we understand why this guy is dangerous and why we should fear him, and they hammer this point home in such a simple and elegant way. I was sold on TFA from that very moment and I think the scene is one of the greatest bad guy introductions in movie history.

 

I have to say first and foremost that this movie is a master piece. I have seen a lot of movies and I mean A LOT, and the way this movie was shot is breathtaking.

To start off, I loved every single Kylo Ren scene.

Watching Rey slide down the sand hill while her theme plays. Rey living alone in a destroyed AT-AT. Every moment we spend with Rey on Jakku I loved every bit of it.

Kylo has captured Rey and he is carrying her to his ship. Finn sees this and starts running towards Kylo with the battle going on around him. You can see ships blowing up around him, blaster bolts flying in every direction. Even with all this going on Finn throws his blaster away and runs after Kylo screaming "NO NO REY NOOOOOOOO REEEEEEYYYYYY!!!" gives me chills every single time.

Another is when Kylo force push Rey in the tree and Finn goes to her side. Kylo shouts "TRAITOR!" and the look on FInn's face at that moment is priceless.

Some one said this one already but when the X-Wings fly over the water in Takodana. One of my favorite scenes. And then when Poe destroys like 10 Tie's in a row and the screen cuts to Finn "That's one hell of a pilot!"

I could go on for ages honestly... those are a few scenes off the top of my head that I really enjoyed.

Oh and one last scene... when Han and Leia meet for the first time on Takodana. What a beautiful shot that is.

 

I love that moment between them...I want a hug now.

I wanted to quote everyone but narrowed it down to this one. I love the whole movie I can't describe it. Daisy embodies Rey like ever before. She is amazing.

I cried when Han touched his sons face for one last time. ..it was so sad...and Finn doing his best to defend his friend by fighting kylo...damn I felt bad after the moment when his back got slashed.

 

-The hug between Finn and Rey. This is a girl who seemingly has never had a friend, and who hasn't really had anyone who gave a crap about her well-being at all (Finn as well for that matter). And when Chewie tells her that it was Finn's idea to come back to try and save her, the look on her face and the way she says it, was priceless. And the girl who seemed to find any kind of physical contact with other people, even hand-holding, to be awkward and uncomfortable, is now INITIATING a hug. Not just any hug, a long, quite intimate hug that would have gone on even longer if Han hadn't had his "escape no, hug later" line. Says a lot about their dynamic.

-Finn and Poe's bromance hug was great as well.

 

This gets me everytime:

Rey's facial expressions, the gritted teeth and the whispered voice during the interrogation.

The look on Poe's face when he talks to BB -8. He genuinely seems to care about him.

Kylo take off his helmet and being unapologetic about his feelings and owning his emotions, even when they’re not “pretty” or “nice"- also had a huge impact on me.

 

All of these are fantastic, and I'm pretty sure there are plenty more, like the opening tracking shot through Maz's cantina, and Rey and Maz's emotional conversation after the force vision. The shot of Poe and the other pilots heading for the SKB trench run and then following the falcon off SKB as it explodes. Plenty others too. It just goes to show that TFA has as many iconic, well-shot, layered, and magical moments as any of the OT movies, and that says a lot for J.J.'s directing.

One final shot that I love, in additional to all of the ones previously mentioned: the scene in the Resistance base after Han sees all the resistance fighters going down and knows the mission is failing and decides to go back in with Chewie and the explosives. It cuts to the resistance base as they acknowledge that half their ships are down, the starkiller is almost in position to target them, and just as C3PO basically says, "We need a miracle to save us now," the music kicks in and it cuts to Han and Chewie heroically storming the oscillator control room in a blaze of gunfire. Gets better every time. So many great ones mentioned, but I hadn't seen this one mentioned yet.

 

JJ Abrams did such a superb job capturing the actor's facial expressions. And something I noticed- I think JJ gave Kylo (for example ) a trademark facial expression- showing the lower canine teeth in the corners while speaking.




Aam Driver aka Kylo Ren hosting SNL

 

Something that stood out to me with each viewing is the scene where everyone was sitting around the table in Maz Kanata's castle. Han and Maz were going back and forth catching up like old acquaintances. And what's Rey doing that entire time? Eating the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table and looking back and forth like a wide-eyed child at the grown up table.

Not only was it a very cute detail but also quite poignant since having something tasty to eat is a creature comfort that Rey probably has not enjoyed for as long as she could remember. It goes to show the effort they went through to make sure that everyone stayed in character for the entire movie even in the small side moments.

 

Everyone has already mentioned the really good ones but I'd like to take this one and run with it a bit.

I love the shot of Lors San Tekka walking slowly and calmly through the chaos of the attack on the village. This telegraphs that he is above the fray, maybe even indifferent to whether he lives or dies. (Turns out, that's a good thing for him. )

His death is also a great piece of foreshadowing, because it won't be too long before another old man who confronts Kylo with the reality of his family connections will also be cut down...

 

Rey walking up "The Jedi steps" as a symbol for huge developments, behind her and in front of her.