The Ending of SW: The Force Awakens.

This is my greatest hope. It's perfectly possible. I remember months and months ago folks talking about it being a certainty we would be fed a constant stream of red herrings. I'm just trying to keep it as a whisper of a wish for now. Wouldn't that be something? I'm guarding my expectations.

 

Ok I deserve that troll rating, let me try this again apart from Ashoka & Yoda I have not seen a species excel long once they have reached the rank of master.

 

Luke "should" be a bigger presence in TFA but it's important to realize the context he might play in the ST story arc.
Look at it from Luke's side. Your father is Darth "Freaking" Vader . And you're going to be some huge Rebel hero?
You also cultivate incredible Force powers over time. Wouldn't you too feel conflicted over who's interests or influence may be in your life or inter personal relationships.
Also, what if Luke renounces the whole "war" or belief that Jedi Knights must be "guardians" or peace keepers.

 

I really,really hope all these "leaks" are wrong and we have no idea what the ending will be.

 

Well....It just seems like an ESB type ending which just doesn't seem right to me for the first installment in 30 years.Ooops....10 years.
It doesn't have to be as "corny" as ANH,but it would be nice to have the audience(esp kids) leaving the theater happy/inspired saying "heck yeah that was freakin awesome!" and pumped up. Does that make sense????

 

I know your question wasn't directed at me, but since I happen to agree with @Poeman I figured I'd throw in my two cents.

I've stated this before, but the problem for me with this ending is that it doesn't jive with what seems to be the plot of the film. We've been told officially that Luke is critical to the story (regardless of what his amount of screen time turns out to be), which jives with the MSW outline, which itself seems to imply that "find Luke" is the goal of the protagonists (and maybe also the antagonists) in the film. Ok, so far so good. No problems here. We've got a "find missing person" style of movie.

Except we do have a problem, because in a "find missing person" movie the climax of the film involves the finding of that person. This is critical because the climax of a movie, the point with the highest tension, is the point where the goal of the protagonists is either achieved or fails. In the climax of a "find Luke" movie we should be on the edge of our seats asking "oh no, are they going to find him????" But according to the ending you describe, and the MSW outline, the climax of the movie has nothing at all to do with finding Luke, because the finding of Luke doesn't happen until after the climax, and I would argue it's even after the resolution. So that means the goal was something other than finding Luke. But that contradicts the assumption that started this discussion in the first place (proof by contradiction).

So what are we left with? One of the following must be true:

1. I'm wrong about the foundational structure of "find missing person" movies
2. This movie isn't about finding Luke, and in turn Luke is of little consequence to the story
3. This movie is about finding Luke and he is found at the climax of the film

I challenge anyone who wants to choose #1 to try to identify a single "find missing person" movie where the missing person is found after the climax, and I'll save you some time by knocking these out right off the bat:

• Flight Plan
• Taken
• The Hangover
• Ransom
• Shutter Island
• The Wicker Man
• Breakdown
• Gone Girl

Personally I think the answer is #3 and we're all going to be in for a pleasant surprise come December 18th.

EDIT: Edited for clarity

 

i can't but help MOST of the audience will feel slighted if luke is in the last scene as as been said. i could be wrong, but even if the rest of the film is perfect, it just feels like an enormous disrespect to the audience. i'm not saying that the OT cast has to be in a scene, but to tease an audience most of the film and then only reveal it in the LAST scene feels like a misread of where people are at. i clearly don't know better than JJ and KK so if this is indeed the case i hope it works.

 

#3 is common sense answer, as long as I can sub Luke shows up at climax, rather than found.

When MSW came out with their ending, it was during a critical mass period where potential leaks were coming from every possible angle. Since then there has been very little if any updating. Leads me to believe the ending was chosen around that time, and either MSW got it EXACTLY correct - or they got one of the possible endings (more probable).

IMO if its #1 or 2, Kathleen Kennedy gets canned. @JustDroppingIn yea/nah? B/c you had the intel about rival exec's getting giddy over how sh*tty this movie is...

 

It does make a lot of sense.
I want a light hearted space/action adventure like you and the other members. (I want to leave the cinema satisfied)
STAR WARS 1977 "ANH" is a good example for a standalone movie who does not need any successors.
The movie/story is conclusive and stands on his own legs, if Star Wars would have been flopped back in the day, it would have not hurt the movie itself.
I know it's a trilogy but ANH feels like a standalone movie, it works.

 

As long as I'm not sitting during the closing credits saying "I just spent $200 for this?" $200 because of the whole family going and getting food and drinks...

 

Wait wait wait

Thought of this only now. Kylo's doll thing or whatever says the line about crushing the resistance and the last jedi.

Doesn't make any sense for this to be his last line of the movie SO doesn't that make it impossible for Luke to be living under a rock for 30 yrs? Kylo can't be saying this to Rey b/c the audience couldn't care less how she feels about the resistance. Him saying this to anyone else in the movie is a response to Luke showing up in some way. Crush the last jedi who hasnt been seen in 30 yrs?

MSW's humpty dumpty ending just fell off its wall...

 

Are you guys sure that the ending of TFA will not end with a celebration? heheheh

OT first episode:



PT first episode:

 

I have this feeling a lot of you guys are gonna be really upset on Dec. 18... There is literally nothing from any credible source that indicates Hamill has anything but a tiny role in this film. Luke Skywalker is very much a major character and is present throughout, just not as portrayed by Mark Hamill.

 

which is why i feel like a good portion of the audience will feel slighted. doesn't matter how good the storytelling/new characters are. you don't promise OT cast and then do it as a tease at the end like that. it's rude. "we know you just saw the movie thinking you may be getting luke and we built him up the whole film....but now you have to wait till the next film". i'm open minded for the most part on the luke issue...but people have such strong feelings about the character and OT that JJ is setting himself up (maybe admirably) to frustrate a large portion of the audience. even if they LIKE the movie.

 

This story is Rey's as much as ANH is Luke's story. The ending of the film should be a critical moment for Rey - a decision - an accepting of Fate - or even a cliffhanger of contemplating what to do next.

The producers have stated that this film is about Family which seem safe to assume is the Skywalker clan. So what is the family conflict that is being setup? In the OT it was Luke redeeming his Father. In the prequels it was Anakin's downfall and loss of his children. So what comes last? Is it the parents trying not to lose their children? Is it the children trying to make their own future and decide to follow in their parent's footsteps? What is the entire story ultimately about?

Lucas says the entire series is about compassion - or love. Will this next trilogy follow suit with that?

Where is the compassion in the next trilogy? Is it Luke/Leia's compassion for their kids? Is it trying to re-unite and solidify their purpose? Is it passing on the hard lessons they've learned to the next generation?

If so - then in order to set that up - Luke and Leia must equally have a vested interest in fulfilling the plot. It would be odd for Luke to care about the outcome and not Leia (or vice-versa).

We all tend to believe that Rey is a solo or skywalker - and Kennedy has pretty much stated that Rey is part of the family.

So while the plot is rumored to be "find Luke" - the real plot may in fact be "Rey decide if you are part of the family troubles or not."

If we accept that the end of the movie is Rey going to Luke then the big question in my mind is - what is she there for?
- To accept her fate and become a Jedi?
- To reject the family and create a rift for Luke/Leia to resolve?

Or slightly different -
- To reconcile with Luke and forgive him?
- To question Luke and determine if she agrees with him?

The happy ending would be:
- Rey accepts her fate - and decides to become a Jedi like her family. This mirror's Luke's "There's nothing for me now - I want to learn the ways of the Force...". This makes Rey clearly the hero of the trilogy, but lessens the roles of Finn/Poe.

The darker ending would be:
- Rey rejects the family's expectations and decides to go her own route. This creates a dilemma for Luke and Leia and creates further tension between Kylo/Rey, but may also setup Finn as a possible external hero to help set the proper moral compass.

For personal reasons - I'm hoping that with JJ and Kasdan on the script - they opted for the darker ending...

 

I'll only feel bad about this movie if it's a bad movie. And that's all there is to it.
I love the OT movies because they are great movies, and that is the framework within which I "like" Luke, Han, Leia and co. I don't really feel the need to "like" Luke outside of that context, because he is just a fictional character within a story, and he is only ever as important, likable or rewarding as the story he is featured in and functions in.

What I mean is, just putting Mark Hamill up on screen all the time for the sake of it isn't necessarily honouring the character of Luke or the answer to any of the problems these sequels may need to overcome.
I'm much more interested in them developing the character and doing something interesting with him, than just seeing him. If they felt the best story to tell was all about Luke's legacy, and what impact he has had on the galaxy, then I dig that.
It still my turn out to be a lousy movie - but, for me, that just isn't going to hinge upon how long Hamill happens to be on screen.

As far as I can tell, no-one's "teased" anything. They told us the OT cast were onboard, which was obviously big news at the time. It seems like Ford is in this film pretty much from the end of the first act onwards. Leia is involved from the second act onwards. And Luke is at the very centre of the whole movie, via his absence.
I see a certain circular logic going on - the people who keep saying: Where is Luke? Why is all the publicity so far centred on Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren? It must be because they are holding Luke back and it will all be a big surprise that he is in this film loads - I reject the ending suggested by the leaked shooting schedule.... seem to be the same people arguing: They teased us by making us think Luke was going to be in this film a lot. If Luke isn't in this movie a lot I'm going to be hacked off...

 

No, but you do get to know them from exposition of other characters.

I absolutely love this idea. How about a reversal of the story of Mara Jade? Instead of starting off as the Emperor's Hand, she started off good and had an Anakin like fall to the dark side during or after her relationship with Luke? It would be great stuff, but I'm not sure about that much off-screen character and story development.

How about The Vanishing (1993) starring Kiefer Sutherland, Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges?

Spoiler

Although the discovery of Sandra Bullock is really what happened to her, but that is arguably after the climax.

I like the idea of Luke being found at the climax of the movie, and there were suggestions long ago that he was either held captive at Starkiller base or infiltrated it and was there all along. I might prefer that kind of scenario, but it adds questions about why Kylo Ren is searching for him and doesn't know about that twist...