JJ Abrams Discusses Harrison Ford’s Reaction to His Big Scene in The Force Awakens

12 - Han Solo TFA

Warning: Contains Spoilers for the three remaining human beings who have not seen The Force Awakens. Read at your own risk.

 

Harrison Ford has made it no secret over the years that he wanted Han Solo dead. Not out of spite, or distaste for the character as many have spun it since the release of Return of the Jedi. Simply because as an artist, Ford believed that Solo’s death was his best possible dramatic use after completing his initial character arc by sacrificing himself for something greater than himself at the end of Empire Strikes Back. When Han told Chewie to stand down so that he and Leia would make it out alive he ceased to be the loner. He cared about someone else more than himself. And when his friends united to save him from Jabba’s palace, that completed the story of that sacrifice. The karmic victory earned by Han at the end of ESB was paid off by his salvation. To Ford there was nowhere else to go on that thread so he thought it was best to use Han to illustrate the stakes of the galactic civil war by sacrificing one of its chief heroes. But George Lucas disagreed, Han lived, and the rebels got their happy ending.

 

So, it comes as no surprise that when Ford returned for TFA, that he wouldn’t have been too upset reading his script and finding Han’s fate.  And now, in an interview with Fandango, JJ Abrams shares with us exactly how Ford reacted to Han’s death at the hands of his son.

 

He was very thoughtful about it, and he got it. He understood why it was so powerful. And I think part of it was because Harrison himself — Han, the character — has so much ahead of him. Has so much life and fight and adventure — that this was the time to do that thing. If we felt like the character was sort of at the end of his days, it wouldn’t have been as powerful. The thing that made it potentially meaningful wasn’t just who does it and how it happened, but that it’s a character that is so vital that is meeting his demise. I’ll also say that Harrison’s always said that he knew that Han needed to have clear utility, and that’s what he wanted to do. And that’s why he argued back in the day that Han should die and George [Lucas] didn’t want to do it. And I don’t know what his utility in that regard would’ve been, though I’m sure Harrison would’ve come up with a clever pitch for it. But in this case there was such a clear utility — it’s about bringing this new villain to the fore, and there’s nothing I could think of that is more hideous than patricide, especially when it comes to Han Solo.

 

han-solo-force-awakens-spot

 

Utility is exactly what Solo brought to this movie. Kylo Ren is a great villain, in part, because of Han Solo. The love that Han still feels for his son, the acceptance with which Han walks out onto that bridge even though he knows it means his likely death, humanizes Kylo Ren in a way that could not be achievable without the relation to an existing and loved character. And Han’s death solidifies our simultaneous hatred for Kylo Ren and pity for Ben Solo. In a matter of only a few scenes we not only have a frightening new villain, but a compelling tragic figure. A tragedy we wouldn’t be able to fully embrace if we didn’t feel the sting of the betrayal in Han’s death. If we didn’t feel that loss, Kylo Ren would not have the same impact.

 

So, Kudos to Harrison Ford. He fought for Han’s utility and eventually won that battle 30 years later. And in doing so he helped create a new iconic villain that will take us through the sequel trilogy.

 

 

 

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79 thoughts on “JJ Abrams Discusses Harrison Ford’s Reaction to His Big Scene in The Force Awakens

  • February 28, 2016 at 7:10 pm
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    Regardless of how telegraphed Han’s death was in TFA, it was still gut-wrenching to see. That said, from an artistic point of view I was glad that it was done, and that the filmmakers took a risk with a beloved character.

    • February 28, 2016 at 8:20 pm
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      It was telegraphed on purpose. Just because you saw it coming doesn’t mean it was any less effective.

      They were preparing you for the moment.

      • February 28, 2016 at 8:21 pm
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        Agreed. The telegraphing, if anything, made me feel it more. I knew Han was going to die, so it made me cherish those last few moments.

        • February 28, 2016 at 8:55 pm
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          I actually felt the opposite (I’m sure you’re stunned 😀 ) – the moment didn’t feel earned to me. I mean, I felt sick to my stomach watching it play out the first time, but that wasn’t because of anything TFA did to earn that moment, it was because of how much affection I already had for the character, and not wanting to see a childhood hero die. Again, it DID work for kids, at least mine, who honestly thought from when drops his helmet, that Ben was going to be redeemed.

        • February 28, 2016 at 9:44 pm
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          lol you people are silly. People were expecting Han to die well before we had any real reason to think it’d turn out this way, and what we got isn’t a great send off for Han so much as a very anti-climatic victory for Kylo Ren. It worked for me, but for all the wrong reasons. Would have worked far better if the reveal that Han was Kylo’s father came from Han himself early in the film, and that he was actively trying to atone for it and that’s why he agrees to help Rey and Finn.

          But instead we see no evidence he had any investment in his son and was running away from all this problems not even thinking about them. So this was terrible basically because we learned about Kylo’s parentage from a bad guy we had just been introduced to. Honestly, the film took no time to earn the moment. If Han’s death had any emotional impact for me, it was because he just got killed by a villain I didn’t even care about in completely non-heroic fashion doing characteristically un-Han like things.

          Can you imagine if it were Luke instead of Han? Ya I think fans accepted this because it was a step up from Han basically being totally useless in ROTJ.

          • February 28, 2016 at 10:26 pm
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            They’re not silly. They just see things differently than you. That doesn’t make them silly or wrong. We saw no evidence of any investment in his son, but there’s no reason at all to think there was none. We have absolutely no idea what happened which led to Ben’s turn to the dark side. We also have no idea what Han and Leia went through in order to get him back. You’re saying there was no investment in his son. It’s more accurate to say that we simply don’t know that part of the story. Because…well…we don’t.

          • February 29, 2016 at 5:07 am
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            TL;DR

        • February 29, 2016 at 4:01 am
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          I didn’t expect it, I was legitimately surprised they killed Han, and when it happened I was like;
          “:O THEY ACTUALLY DID IT. I thought those commenters were just kidding around!”

        • March 1, 2016 at 12:13 am
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          Exactly. Emotionally steel yourself.

    • February 29, 2016 at 9:33 pm
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      the nerd tears were real

  • February 28, 2016 at 7:32 pm
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    One down, two to go of the original trio. Hamill next, but Fisher should make it out by the skin of her teeth.

    • February 28, 2016 at 7:51 pm
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      I doubt that they’ll kill Hamill in VIII, more likely I see him dieing in ep IX

      • February 28, 2016 at 8:47 pm
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        Ya, Luke isn’t going to die in some blaze of glory or anything like that, it’d be tonally wrong his character. I bet he’ll die old and prepared to make a peaceful exit, much like Yoda. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Leia doesn’t even get an on screen death. Really I don’t understand people’s fascination with main character’s being killed off. This isn’t Game of Thrones and honestly that show has turned tragic death of a main character into a stupid gimmick that a lot of people really hate.

        • February 29, 2016 at 12:46 am
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          well, possible. But I really would like to see him in a duel one more time

      • February 28, 2016 at 10:03 pm
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        Totally agree. He’ll be toast in Episode IX.

    • February 28, 2016 at 10:12 pm
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      If the Kill Luke in Ep. 8 I’m done. After cutting him out of Ep. 7 they better make him last until at least mostly through Ep.8.

      • February 29, 2016 at 1:50 am
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        He’ll get significant screen time in Episode VIII, will make it through to Episode IX before taking his rightful place as a force ghost.

  • February 28, 2016 at 8:06 pm
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    funny thing is, that a friend of mine who’s a mild star wars fan didn’t even see the movie. And where I live they stopped doing in theaters

  • February 28, 2016 at 8:13 pm
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    Good article swnn.

  • February 28, 2016 at 8:37 pm
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    Han still didn’t need to die in this episode though.

  • February 28, 2016 at 9:15 pm
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    I’ll never forgive Abrams for killing off Han Solo. Was such a stupid idea and totally ruined the movie for me! Who the hell wants to watch Han Solo die???

    • February 28, 2016 at 9:56 pm
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      its just a movie, mate. 🙂

      • February 28, 2016 at 10:11 pm
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        Really, if it’s just a movie, why do you spend time commenting about it. Why does your commenting represent something different than Gunner’s.

        • February 28, 2016 at 10:31 pm
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          not what i meant, tim. sometimes we(myself included) get a little too emotional when it comes to this franchise(JJ ruined sw for me or lucas ruined my childhood!). at the end of the day we should try to remember its all in good fun. 🙂

    • February 29, 2016 at 12:04 am
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      We’re going to watch him die either way. I’d rather it be with a bang than growing old and decrepit, or worse yet, just hearing about his death in another movie. The character deserves a good send-off. I admit I didn’t like watching him die, and still don’t but it did make Ren’s character, and even Solo’s character, more powerful to me.

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:06 am
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      Everyone.

  • February 28, 2016 at 9:52 pm
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    “as an artist”? come on, ford just didn’t want to play the role anymore.

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:46 pm
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      if he didn’t want to play the role all he had to do was say he didn’t want to be in the film. he has plenty of money and a rich career history to do it and he would still be respected because people would have referenced “oh he’s wanted han to die since RotJ” like they are now. I have a hard time believing that a human being with the personality that Ford has would willingly put in months to years in a movie at an old age for a character he wants dead and for money he doesn’t need. This role quip is old and people need to stop jumping on the bandwagon and throwing out the line just because its the first thing they hear other naysayers utter. It’s ridiculous.

      • March 1, 2016 at 1:08 am
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        calm yourself, bro, its a joke. and considering how often ford has said he doesn’t care for the character, its not that far from the truth.

  • February 28, 2016 at 10:09 pm
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    I thought it made sense for Han to die, but I’m not into how it happened.

    • February 29, 2016 at 5:06 am
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      I thought it was pretty beautiful. What do you think would be a better send-off?

  • February 28, 2016 at 10:25 pm
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    It was harder to make you like the new villain because he’s never been seen in Star Wars before. Props to JJ for giving us a good start for potentially a great villain.

  • February 29, 2016 at 12:50 am
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    I think Hans death was a terrible thing to watch but that kinda made it awesome for me. It showed that sometimes heroes don’t get the death or end they deserve and for me it showed that the people in charge of making these movies got guts. Its not that Leia or Luke or really any of the new heroes have to die its just knowing that they can die in these new films that makes this new trilogy exciting.

  • February 29, 2016 at 2:22 am
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    What about “he lived happily ever after”? I always loved the end of Jedi and I´m inmensly happy that he didn´t die. It was the perfect ending for a 9 year kid. Thank you George.

    • February 29, 2016 at 12:49 pm
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      Thank you George

  • February 29, 2016 at 2:53 am
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    Michael Arndt said in an EW interview: “J.J. rightly asked, ‘What is Han doing in this movie?’ If we’re not going to have something important and irreversible happen to him, then he kind of feels like luggage. He feels like this great, sexy piece of luggage you have in your movie. But he’s not really evolving. He’s not
    really pushing the story forward.”

    The same could be said about Leia, though.

    • February 29, 2016 at 4:09 am
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      Leia’s in charge of the Resistance. That seems like something that will be important over the course of these films.

      • February 29, 2016 at 11:23 pm
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        i agree. leia is important also cause her son is the main villain in this trilogy. her father was the main villain in the last trilogy. she’s a skywalker, we can’t forget that. i think there needs to be a confrontation or scene where she confronts her son.

    • February 29, 2016 at 9:46 am
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      I’d be happy to see her go if only because she was the only actor who gave a terrible performance in the film.

      • February 29, 2016 at 10:21 am
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        Yes – in hindsight, I think perhaps if it was anything but Star Wars they might have recast her. (Can you imagine the uproar though?!).

        I hope in Episode 8 and/or 9 that they give a good reason for Kylo to be so angry at Han and yet have nothing bad to say about his mother.

        • February 29, 2016 at 10:29 am
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          I like that she’s been the coolest with her role in the OT over the years but she’s been away from acting far too long that it makes her drugged out performance in Jedi look award winning by comparison.

          That’s something I never even considerd till now which is another reason her character bothered me a lot. I also hope they give some EU explanation about her getting hooked on stimsticks since stress can explain why she’s aged so much but not why she sounds transgenderd. I mean my 94 year old Grandma still sounds pretty much the same over the phone since I can remember talking to her.

          • February 29, 2016 at 10:40 am
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            I agree that she and Mark Hamill have been really cool about their OT roles over the years, and I really wanted to like her performance in TFA, but I cringe each time she comes on screen.

            I would love to know George Lucas’s original plans for Leia – did he intend for her to use the force more, become a jedi, etc? I can’t help thinking that Carrie Fisher’s physical state left the writers unable to make her a realistic jedi, so they basically left her at her ESB level. Seriously – she is the daughter of Anakin Skywalker – surely she should be somewhere close to Luke in abilities (or even better, given how much Kathleen Kennedy went on about “strong female characters)

          • February 29, 2016 at 10:48 am
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            I hope Mark does better who also hasn’t done much in front of the camera lately but I’m a bit more hopeful since at the very least he still has it vocally. I don’t think Ford did a stellar job but it was his best performance as Han since Empire.

            I think you are right, It would be fan service but they should at least show her do something with the force her other than sensing things considering how Jedi setup that she was the galaxy’s best hope after Luke.

          • March 1, 2016 at 1:10 am
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            hamill has been pretty good in his two appearances on the flash so i’m hopeful. 🙂

          • March 1, 2016 at 10:14 am
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            He hasn’t been the lead in anything in awhile though or at least not in a theatrically released film.

          • March 1, 2016 at 11:24 am
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            well, lead no, but he’s definitely not going to be rusty like carrie was.

          • March 2, 2016 at 4:15 am
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            Like hers, His voice is very different now but it’s a plus as Alec sounds way older than Ewan and he’s the new Obi-Wan. More jarring with Carrie since she’s royalty and should sound more dignified than old.

          • February 29, 2016 at 5:41 pm
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            What’s wrong with her performance in Jedi.

          • March 1, 2016 at 10:07 am
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            She said she was on cocaine most of the time then though she’s never looked better than she has in that film.

      • March 2, 2016 at 8:35 am
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        a huge part of this was the “it was Snoke”-caring mother terrible dialogue they gave her.

        • March 3, 2016 at 3:27 am
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          That and “Droid, Please!” Are as bad as anything in the PT but she’s still hadn’t had a substanial role in decades before this.

  • February 29, 2016 at 5:17 am
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    Somehow, I’ve always known that Han was going to die if a sequel trilogy were to come out. Did I want it to happen in the first act? No. I think over the next two films we might see Luke and Leia die as well. If the decision is made to make another trilogy after this one, Mark and Carrie might be to old to play their parts. It is fun to speculate but not as much fun sitting in the theaters watching all unfold on the big screen.

    • March 2, 2016 at 8:34 am
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      I’d argue it’s not fun to see three biggest reasons why this is even an iconic movie in the first place die just because actors are too old to come back. Down with the blaze of glory deaths. Give them happy retirement and just write them the hell out, why is this so hard.

      • March 2, 2016 at 9:40 am
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        I didn’t say it would be fun to watch them die I said it is fun to speculate

  • February 29, 2016 at 7:58 am
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    “Grumble grumble” -Harrison Ford

    • February 29, 2016 at 8:51 am
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      Chewie weighs in.

  • February 29, 2016 at 9:48 am
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    I wanted to see him die with Chewie on board the Falcon but I guess he’ll have to die with Leia now.

  • February 29, 2016 at 11:13 am
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    Am I the only one not enraged by Kylo’s choice? I mean if anything I almost felt sorry for him. It’s the Dark Side… this is what it does. If Vader can be redeemed… so can Ben.

    • March 2, 2016 at 8:31 am
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      Im enraged that people want redemption for that “I wanna be bad” dumbass. His ‘plight’ is incredibly first world problem

      • March 2, 2016 at 8:51 am
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        No he wants power. For what? How broken was his home? We all know the dark side is tempting no matter what. Obviously some pretty messed up stuff must have happened to shape him thus. Enough to ignore Luke’s training. At least that’s my take.

        • March 3, 2016 at 9:57 am
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          They’re going to have to pile some pretty negative stuff onto Leia and/or Han to make us feel sorry for a patricide committing dumbass. And I really don’t see that happening, or at least hope not, because people will always be more invested in Han and Leia than the new baddy. Except maybe the kiddies that started with episode 7.

  • February 29, 2016 at 11:51 am
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    Harrison’s acting in this movie is arguably the best one since the Fugitive in 90s in my opinion.

  • February 29, 2016 at 3:47 pm
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    I thought his death scene fell flat, it should have carries some emotional weight but was soo obviously coming. Maybe he survived along with Phasma for a better ending soon.

    • March 2, 2016 at 8:30 am
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      I dont get this argument at all. If his death was flat, it’s cause we don’t have much investment in his bratty kid being his kid, and have no history or scene with them until the death. Seeing something coming doesn’t mean a bad thing. Seeing something coming is usually a great way to drum up some dread, where you are forced to watch what you fear will happen. These two things just arent related.

      • March 2, 2016 at 6:00 pm
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        Sorry you don’t understand the argument, that I wasn’t trying to make. I felt no emotional bottom in the scene. His death had no meaning to me and no sense of dread, even though I knew it was coming.

  • February 29, 2016 at 6:17 pm
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    be JJ-> have fan beloved character -> you want the character to evolve, not to be stagnant, want to add depth to character –> kill him off after 30 mins on screen

    its like breaking up with a girl in order to make your relationship more meaningful

  • February 29, 2016 at 9:19 pm
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    “Utility is exactly what Solo brought to this movie. Kylo Ren is a great villain, in part, because of Han Solo.”

    That’s nice. I just wish TFA didn’t ruin that by making him lose to Rey on her first try. Kylo Ren should’ve had her on her heels the entire fight, where the only reasons why she got away were sufficient defensive skill and sheer luck (earthquake).

    This would’ve kept Kylo a force to be reckoned with while still motivating both to train in VIII.

    • March 1, 2016 at 1:27 am
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      Did you see that part when he got shot in the gut with an explosive bowcatser?

      • March 14, 2016 at 9:51 pm
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        Yes. I also saw how it knocked stormtroopers up in the air but failed to knock Kylo off the bridge or even push him back. How convenient. Also, Kylo didn’t show any signs of weakness in his fighting ability until after Rey had opened her eyes. He was able to defeat Finn with little trouble and even chase Rey around just fine.

        Basically, Kylo didn’t act like he was badly injured until the film wanted to end the fight.

        • March 14, 2016 at 9:52 pm
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          Ermahgerd no.

  • March 1, 2016 at 1:38 am
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    Poor writing that’s what it is. You don’t need to kill off characters to evolve the story. The best example is the lord of the rings.

    • March 1, 2016 at 10:38 am
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      Well said. It was such a hack move by Abrams to kill off Han Solo. I would have liked Micheal Arndts script better. At least he had Han Solo survive in his script.

      • March 2, 2016 at 12:32 am
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        “I would have liked Micheal Arndts script better”

        Have you actually read it?

        • March 2, 2016 at 10:26 pm
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          I’ve heard about parts of it and they sounded better than Abrams rubbish.

          • March 2, 2016 at 10:51 pm
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            Please tell us more. This sounds interesting.

          • March 2, 2016 at 11:39 pm
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            Well read it. Then talk.

    • March 2, 2016 at 6:38 am
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      Game of Thrones showbizz formula, they choose the trendy path. Trendy leads to emptiness, emptiness leads to hate, hate leads to ….

  • March 2, 2016 at 6:28 am
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    TFA embraces the hate and the power of violence in this JJ’s decision. For me , its like erasing the energy around Darth x Luke duels, father and son battles but they respect each other. Kylo Ren is a sad coward that represents some of Generation Y fools. Once again, it was an over the top decision for a film that reunites generations, I felt bad seeing fathers and sons in the Theater. Also a tragic action figure to sell to kids around the world. TFA could be much better in terms of storyline. BEN SOLO AND JAINA SOLO saga, its my vote

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