Scenes that could have been left out

Agree with all of them.

 

I liked the Tie getting swallowed. I enjoy those moments that make worlds feel more alien, like the weird creature with the glowing red eyes that turns to watch BB-8 depart the burning village.

The freighter scene wasn't the most memorable, but it served to establish what Han and Chewy have been doing lately, built up the bond between Rey and Finn, further established how capable Rey is, and provided a reason for for the four heroes to leave together. And it was entertaining, giving us a moment unlike anything else we've seen in a a Star Wars movie.

As for Phasma, I couldn't care less if her character was diminished. She wasn't a remotely important character. She just had a cool outfit.

 

I just wish this scene was different. They throw in these CGI aliens while they had the dudes from the frikkin Raid movies! Take out aliens and Guavian Death Gang, use Kanjiklub to showcase Reys abilities with the staff more in a badass melee fight (Which could also help out with people seeing her as not being skilled enough to take Kylo) and maybe a cool corridor shoot out.

 

The whole starkiller plot needed to be removed! This movie could have worked completely without that tired, rehashed storyline! I'm sure they cudda come up with a much better and totally original idea to show the resistance taking on the First Order!

 

I think that was to remove the TIE wreckage, making it harder for the FO squad to locate Finn and Poe. Helps explain how the two were able to walk x amount of hours to settlements without the FO on their tails the entire time.

 

I agree!

 

Do you mean like having more senate meetings at the new Capitol ?

 

Yeah, like that would have been sooo exciting!

 

I think that was actually really important, especially considering that the original script had Poe die in that crash. The way I see it, the first act of TFA is a re-enactment of how Rey was left behind on Jakku in the first place (because now the same traumatising thing happens to BB-8), and the idea was to show that the person/people Rey was waiting for actually tried to come back for her as promised, but crashed in the sinking fields after getting shot down. This later explains Maz' "poor child, whoever you are waiting for on Jakku, they're never coming back" comment.

 

You can cut 6:38 minutes from the movie, its the Rathtars scene. I went back and timed it, i started the timer right when Han said Rathtars for the first time till the jump to hyperspace. You can cut that part of the movie out and it wouldn't feel like you were missing something. A total waste of screentime that could have been used for something else.

 

I'm going with the last two because I'm not into mexican standoffs when comes to star wars because we know a blaster fight is soon gonna happen, I remember on the 8th viewing a guy 2 rows down from me shouted, ''Shoot em Han, shoot em plzzz'' as for Phasma lowering the starkiller shields it broke her character, I expected a hardened trooper who would not have given up without fight but her she was taken out with the trash, thankfully she is in episode 8 in a suppose bigger role, used it Gwen, used it soon.

 

I agree only with the last one:
- The tie fighter being swallowed by the sand was a device used to make it appear if Poe was swallowed with it. Finn could not see if Poe was still in the fighter. Neither could we. It enhanced the surprise when Poe did return during the Battle of Takodana.
- The scene on the frighter was necessary: introduction Han and chewie, it reveals that Han reverted back to his old way of life, the monster trope (in every star wars film there is a monster sequence), and last but not least Han, Chewie, Finn and Rey face common danger - Han is thrown into events.

As for Phasma, they could have easily picked another trooper. My only gripe.

 

i think the rathtars could have been done better. i think we need the scene, but i didn't care for how it was executed and the design for the critters was just sorta eh.

i agree with @Ammianus Marcellinus that they could have grabbed any high-ranking FO to lower the shields and it would have been better than making Phasma look so punk. she was already wasted so there was no reason to humiliate her. the only reason i can think for them to do this is that all the villains get absolutely trashed in this movie. Hux has a momentary victory with Starkiller, but for the most part they fail repeatedly on a grand scale. specifically including Phasma in this spectacular lineup of ineptitude will hopefully add her to the roster of characters who come back more seasoned, more vicious, and more capable in viii.

i also didn't care for T8-TR guy. would have rather Finn just fought through a bunch of stormtroopers in a different way.

 

i don't think Finn's fight against Ren would have worked without giving him some earlier practice with the lightsaber.
it's possible that the whole scene was put in so that he wouldn't be igniting it for the first time against Ren.

i agree with this. the only issue is that if you take away that scene... the poor girl is practically cut from the whole movie.
hopefully she gets some decent screen time in ep 8 so we can see what she's capable of.

 

oh absolutely! i wanted him to fight the stormtroopers with the lightsaber. i guess that would have been hard (blasters vs. ligtsaber). but throwing down your blaster to go hand-to-hand with riot gear is kinda the stupidest thing ever. i keep excusing it by telling myself they were under specific orders to capture and not kill, but it's a weak argument.

"cut from the movie" still feels better than "rolls over like a dog" to me, but yes, i'm looking forward to her being something better in viii ~ hahaha

 

From reading "Before The Awakening", it makes sense to me that they might want Finn alive to find out why one of their own went AWOL. The First Order troops were supposedly the best ever trained, with Finn coming top of the class almost every time.

 

i can see that. like i said: that's how i've excused it. they capture Han and Chewie too rather than kill them ~ though there might be other motives for that given Kylo Ren seems to be in charge of this particular operation.

 

I actually like the Rathtars scene. Most of the SW films have a monster of some sort.
Episode I - always a bigger fish monster ...
Episode II - the MONSTERS in the arena scene.
Episode III -
Episode VI- trash compactor monster
Episode V- Wampa
Episode IV - SARLACC
TFA- Rathtars

 

lol Episode III: Anakin
I still think the Wampa and Rathars had the most narrative substance of all those you mentioned because they revealed something about the characters and their specific skills and backstory. All those others are just action set pieces.

If you want to understand why Lucas puts in monsters, I would seriously recommend listening to the audio commentary for Return of the Jedi. It features George Lucas' monologue about doing things digital. It's hilarious, especially in retrospect.