"TFA is just just a copy of ANH!"

You forgot that part in ANH where our heroes are attacked by those bounty hunters and the Lovecraftian monsters are set loose in that spaceship. An often overlooked and cool segment of the seventies classic! And the attack on the castle, with the masked bad guy chasing and kidnapping our hero in that forest! Man ANH was a great film.
But to me the very best part is when Luke has to escape from the superweapon where they held him while at the same time he is flying down that trench while duelling the bad guy in that forest and ... no wait.

 

The end of TFA was more ROTJ than ANH. The movie had elements of the OT. It felt like the OT. That was the point. Nothing was beat for beat. It was Star Wars!

 

OMG....

Well maybe TFA, ANH and TPM is just one movie.
Where the heroes find a new hope on a desert planet, the new hope is a good pilot, the wise old man dies and a big Space stations is blown to pieces.
Or it's just the start of a new story line............
(I bet many of the TFA-hates is just mad that Finn is only a stormtrooper with normal human abilities and not force sensitive jedi to become)

 

Hey Yoda....What did you think about this thread?

 

Just stop)

 

Yes I know. I wasn't saying it was just saying one thing out of all of it was similar. Yes it was and felt like the OT and Star Wars. I loved it.

 

No my friend is NOT that.I'm trying to say that Yoda is sad watching this thread....

 

People are simply way to caught up in this. First off, it is most definitely not a remake of ANH. That argument is made, from what I have read, on mainly 2 plot points from TFA. One being Rey starting off on a desert planet, and two being Star Killer base, or "Death Star 3".

First off, ANH's entire plot centered around the Death Star. It was in the crawl. It was made evident in the opening scene. And it was stressed throughout the entire movie. TFA's plot is not even remotely centered around Star Killer base. It is not mention in the crawl. We don't even see the base until about a third of the way into the movie, and at that point we are only given a "clue" by Hux as to what this "weapon" even is.

When our hero's discover Star Killer base, they are caught completely off guard. Unlike ANH, the Rebels knew about it, captured the plans, and analyzed them to a point they had a concrete game plan, that was actually very simple. Unfortunately for the TFA's crew, they had no idea what to do. They throw together a plan in haste by way of a brainstorming session. Even after the shields are taken down, their plan "isn't working", as is mentioned by the female pilot. In fact it looks like they are actually getting ready to leave in failure, until a pilot notices the gaping hole in the side of the oscillator. In ANH, they had a plan and stuck to it. Even after the first wave of fighters were destroyed, they send a 2nd wave down the trench, and finally a 3rd until the job was done. Poe, and company got LUCKY, thanks to Han and Chewy. You could make the arguement that Luke got lucky, because Han saved the day by returning, but that is not for certain. What is for certain however, is that had Han & Chewie not planted those explosives inside the oscillator, the weapon would have fired as planned, without a doubt. And let's not forget why the First Order REALLY wants to destroy the Resistance base. It is because they now have the map to Skywalker, something Snoke fears greatly. And they see destroying the Resistance base and the map as a much better option then the possibility of the Resistance getting to Skywalker first. Which, I would like to add, is the central plot of the entire movie; THE MAP TO SKYWALKER, and who will get to him first. That is nothing like the plot to ANH.

And most people who make the case that TFA was a re-boot/rip-off of ANH, are mistaking it with "Parallels", which is a huge difference! If we are to say that TFA is a bad Star Wars movie, because it ripped off ANH and the other originals, then we MUST in all fairness, say the same about the prequels. TPM has our hero start off on a desert planet living a desolate life. He's a ridiculously good pilot for his age. He becomes the hero by destroying the Federation Droid ship. He falls for a girl(despite the ridiculous age difference). They have a celebration at the end of the movie with all our hero's lined up on a stage facing a cheering crowd. If there was ever a rip-off of ANH, it's TPM. Other than Rey starting off as a "no one" on a desert planet, she does not destroy Star Killer base, nor does she seem to "fall" for any of the main male leads. And unlike Luke, she discovers her force abilities, mainly on her own.

And the Prequel parallels to the originals do not stop there. Revenge of the Sith was full of them. But were are the complaints about those? In fact I seem to remember most people enjoying the references and similarities of scenes in the prequels that were call backs to the originals.

Throw in all the points that have been made about Ren's greater development vs Vader's from the first film of the original trilogy, the unmasking & humanizing of storm troopers, not to mention seeing one defect to the other side, and the killing off, of a MAJOR long time beloved character (that took some nerve on JJ's part), along with many other simple yet distinctive plot points, and you have a VERY different movie with "parallels", JUST like every other Star Wars movie that has ever been written.

Even Lucas admitted that TPM was intentionally mirroring ANH. If it was OK for Lucas to do it, why is it such a crime for JJ to do it?

 

I'm sorry but it is way too similar to ANH.
Of course there are differences but the similarities are problematic and I will tell you why.

Beginning the movie with the hunt for a droid that has vital information that is invaluable to the survival of the Resistance is just way too close to the ANH storyline as a start off point. The fact that this takes place on Tatooine 2.0 and culminates in an escape from said planet on the Millennium Falcon just adds to the problem - we've seen that exact story before, hence it is, to many people, a little dull.

The heroes then, after learning about the Force on board the Falcon, go to Maz's planet. Now this is a little different to ANH. It's a new planet (although not all that special) and there are some interesting scenes (flashback etc). Great - all up until Leia arrives because then we get back to ANH. The heores escape from the baddies, go to Yavin 2.0 where they plot how to destroy the Death Star 3.0. Again - it's just too similar. It wouldn't be a problem if they were on a different looking planet discussing how to destroy a different kind of threat. The formula being the same isn't the big problem. It's the fact that it's the same formula AND the same environment AND the same threat (baddies locate them, have to destroy it before it destroys them etc etc) AND everything looks the same (same ships, same people running around the same base. When I go to a new Star Wars film I want to see new things. I know I will probably get the usual formula. But I do not expect to see the same stuff recycled to the point that if you describe what you're seeing the person you are talking to wouldn't tell the difference between TFA and ANH.

Then we have the attack on the Star Killer base - again, far to similar to what we see in ANH, down to a bloody trench run. That was so obviously mimicked it was jarring. And the bigger problem with this scene was in that, ironically, it moved away from the formula of ANH! Instead of there being a sense of excitement at the destruction of the Star Killer base, it was a flat, dull ending. I felt more excitement when Anakin destroyed the TF control ship!

I find it funny how people are just so dismissive of the view that TFA is too much like ANH and that these people are "wrong".
I wanted to love TFA. I thought I would love it. But I didn't. I was bored soon after the scenes at Maz's castle.
My reasoning for that upon reflection was that I hadn't been given a new experience. I had just seen the same plot, the same planets, the same ships, the same character (as it motifs) death etc etc.
What was new was great. Great new characters. Loved the early scenes with LST and Kylo. Enjoyed the Rathtars sequence. Flashback was great. I'm beginning to enjoy the lightsaber battle more now I have just accepted Rey's sudden power surge. But there is just WAY TOO MUCH that is similar to ANH.

I went to TFA wanting originality - not the original trilogy....

 

the plot maybe is the least interesting thing about TFA and certainly deliberately parallels ANH. but to be honest a ANH was itself heavily recycled, borrowing from any number of other sources (Flash Gordon, Hiddess Fortress, etc.). there really is nothing new under the sun, after all. everything else is just window dressing. i think the Solo family dynamic is sufficiently new enough, the Finn defection is new enough, and the Rey/Ren connection is new enough.

Death Star 3.0 is silly, Snoke is silly, and all the callbacks (Cantina, Jakku, etc. are maybe all fan service) but i enjoyed this for the characters. which is the same reason i enjoyed ANH. i'm invested in them and i don't care if they follow a similar trajectory. i feel we are getting enough new things with them to make up for a basic good vs. evil / Resistance vs. FO plot.

i often make the joke that i could watch so-and-so actor read a phone book and find it totally enthralling. i could probably watch Rey, Finn, Poe, BB-8 and the Solo clan sit around playing parcheesi and be totally enthralled.

 

I could listen to Morgan Freeman read the entire AOTC script out loud for hours .

 

Yes, excellent observation. They are complaining about this movie being unoriginal while at the same time throwing a #%$@fest over everything in this movie that was original.

 

The movie had originality but JJ himself said that there was almost an inevitability of re treading certain ground for new and old fans alike without alienating everyone altogether .

 

For those complaining about it having to many parallels, and calling it a "remake"(which you can't, because it is not a line for line, scene for scene update of ANH), this is what they see as the plot.... "A young force sensitive hero escapes a desert planet with information in a droid that is vital for the good guys, meets a wide wise old sage, visits a cantina filled with strange aliens, learns the ways of the force, the wise old sage is killed and then thanks to an exploited weakness the bad guys big planet destroying weapon goes boom."

For the rest of us.... or in other words, those that can find delight in the many call-backs and parallels, while at the same time appreciating a new story.... this is what we saw... "A young girl named Rey, an abandoned orphan with no parents or caregivers who has survived on her own for 20 years, stumbles upon a highly coveted map that leads to a recluse who might save the galaxy from The First Order. After resolving to get the map to the good guys (The Resistance), and reluctantly teaming up with a First Order fugitive named Finn, she narrowly escapes the destruction of her village by stealing a ship. Fortunately, the ship once belonged to a smuggler (Han) who, after stealing his ship back (and some shenanigans with some gangsters and monsters), offers to help complete the mission. While Han tries to procure assistance from a Cantina owner, Rey is kidnapped by the big baddy (Kylo). Han and Finn go onto fulfill Rey’s mission then help save the resistance from destruction. Meanwhile, Rey frees herself from her kidnapper and defeats (but does not kill) Kylo by awakening the Force within her."

The plot...the actual story itself... is significantly different from ANH or any other Star Wars movie.

Remember, Mark Hamill said it best in the Comic Con Reel. "You've been here, but you don't know THIS story."

 

There like...stormtroopers in A New Hope....and there are also stromtroopers in The Force Awakens. And there is also this thing with the princess, which is in both movies. And there is like this sand planet. And this droid with information about some thing. And superweapon. And orphans. And this mysterious super power called the force. And a space battle. And oh yes I forget, people who capture other people and then need to escape. Mind tricks.... A lightsaber battle? Come on J.J could have thought of something else. Right?