Star Wars: The Force Awakens Sets Another New Record

Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens-Blu-ray-slipcover-front

J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens recently became the highest-grossing box-office film of all time in North America topping 900 million, doing so on its fiftieth day of release, becoming the first film to reach that milestone unadjusted for inflation.

On Wednesday Variety reported, the Disney and Lucasfilm mega-blockbuster has set yet another record.

 

The mega blockbuster made an impressive home video debut, outselling the remaining 19 Blu-ray and DVD releases in the Top 20 VideoScan charts nearly five to one.

According to new NPD data, 83% of the blockbuster’s sales were on Blu-ray, which is a record for a new release.

 

Blu-Ray Open Box 2

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens also helped the original “Star Wars” trilogy climb back to No. 4, followed by the prequel trilogy at No. 5 on the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

 

Top 20 NPD VideoScan First Alert, powered by Nielsen, chart for the week ended 4/10/16:

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (new)

2. The Hateful Eight
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
4. Daddy’s Home
5. Concussion
6. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
7. The Good Dinosaur
8. Point Break
9. The Peanuts Movie
10. Star Wars: The Original Trilogy
11. Game of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season
12. Sisters
13. Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
14. Creed
15. Snow White and the Huntsman
16. Forsaken
17. The Martian
18. Inside Out
19. Countdown (new)
20. Spectre

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens began as the most anticipated movie of 2015 and ended being one of the best films of the year. While seeing director J.J. Abrams’ newest installment in the Star Wars franchise in theatres was a delight, viewing the film in Blu-ray at home multiple times was just as entertaining. Matter of fact, our very own Hard Case here at SWNN did an extensive review of the Blu-ray and DVD. CHECK IT OUT! HERE

 

May the Force be with you…

 

+ posts

97 thoughts on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens Sets Another New Record

  • April 15, 2016 at 11:43 pm
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    I just recently watched it at home, and it’s just as good as it was in the theater. I loved watching the Secrets of The Force Awakens documentary too.

    It seems like there were some very minor edits because there were a couple of scenes I don’t remember being where they were or they weren’t there at all.

    Like for example, I swear the TIEs flying in from the sunset shot was placed on Jakku in the theatrical release, but in the blu-ray it’s placed during the raid on Maz’s castle. Also, I don’t remember the thugs that Rey beat up went to go get the stormtroopers. That was also in the scene right before Rey, Finn, and BB-8 were chased.

    • April 15, 2016 at 11:46 pm
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      I saw the movie 7 times in theaters, and the home video release is identical as far as I can tell – except that the end credits song is a different arrangement.

      • April 16, 2016 at 4:52 am
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        I brought this up on an IMDB message board and no one seemed to agree with me. Glad someone else caught it.

      • April 17, 2016 at 8:37 am
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        I’ve heard several people mention that the end credits is different from the theatrical version. Can you explain to me how its different? I never stayed for the credits when I watched it in theaters.

    • April 16, 2016 at 12:03 am
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      Sunset scene was always on Takodana, I saw it 13 times in the theaters. But it’s context and some of the trailer spots made us think it was on Jakku.

    • April 16, 2016 at 12:29 am
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      it was on takodana, just it doesnt feel right…. it doesnt look like sun’s setting at the time they start the attack

      • April 16, 2016 at 12:54 am
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        I agree – it’s a very weird shot for Takodana – both from a logical POV, (the time of day is wrong), and from an aesthetic POV (the pallette is wrong).

        • April 16, 2016 at 2:32 am
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          I think Abrams just wanted a cool shot of the TIE fighters flying in from the sun much like the famous Apocalypse Now shot.

          But, the time of day for that shot is wrong, and I’ll bet they thought of it afterwards and put it in more for the cool factor.

        • April 16, 2016 at 10:54 am
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          I guess it was meant to another scene, but then implanted there, just as Kylo and the table of ashes…

    • April 16, 2016 at 12:53 am
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      It is exactly as good as it was in the theater. Read into that what you will 😉

      • April 16, 2016 at 2:34 am
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        Well, I thought it was an excellent movie and I enjoyed the experience of watching another Star Wars movie again that I never thought I’d see in a long time. Of course, not everyone feels the same way. 🙂

        • April 17, 2016 at 8:44 am
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          No doubt a lot of people will agree with you. Same parts work for me, same parts don’t – no more and no less than it was in the theater 🙂

    • April 16, 2016 at 2:17 am
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      Yeah it was weird as it doesn’t make sense for Takodana, but I remember thinking the exact same thing when I saw it in theaters.

    • April 16, 2016 at 6:26 am
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      That’s just your memory. I’m pretty sure that the reason you remember the TIE shot being on Jakku is because that’s how it was edited in most of the TV spots.

    • April 16, 2016 at 9:14 am
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      Your powers of recollection are weak; saw the movie both time in theatres, and those scenes are there and in the same places you describe in the home release.

      • April 16, 2016 at 8:51 pm
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        Thanks

    • April 16, 2016 at 10:00 am
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      I’m pretty sure they didn’t change anything.

      Having said that, did anyone else think it was strange that the attack on Maz’s castle happens in the middle of a fairly bright day, then they show one fleeting glimpse of TIE Fighters with a sunset in the background, then back to the bright day?

  • April 16, 2016 at 12:25 am
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    At first I thought the direction from which the Starkiller Base beams were hitting the Hosnian Prime system was a mistake, but I realized that can be explained with basic understanding of Astronomy and Physics.

    We see the beams firing at Hosnian Prime from a Eastward direction or from the right of the screen in the movie so the only possible way that would work based on the canon Galaxy map is if the camera is showing us their destruction from a North Eastward view. From Maz’s castle on Takodana that would mean if the beams were coming from the East as well, that would mean Maz’s Castle location would have to be in the Southern hemisphere of Takodana.

    If this is all one large galaxy though, would it be possible to see the destruction of planets from pretty far away with the naked eye. Unless the Galaxy of Star Wars is a lot smaller than we originally thought which it very well could be. Since in Empire they state that the Millenium Falcon would be on the other side of the galaxy by now.

    • April 16, 2016 at 12:51 am
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      No, the “Astronomy and Physics” in that sequence are absolutely atrocious. It’s like Abrams read the criticism over the similar scene in his Star Trek and doubled down on the stupidity. That the planets are all visible from Takodana, that in the wide shot they’re all closer to each other than the Earth is to the Moon, that the weapon discharge arrived nearly instantaneously half way across the galaxy – it’s a giant middle finger to logic, not to mention science, so don’t try to invoke astrophysics to explain that mess.

      • April 16, 2016 at 2:23 am
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        I think the worst offense, if we wanted to base our criticism off of realistic scientific approach but let’s be honest this is space fantasy after all, was that beings on Takodana could visibly see the destruction of Hosnian Prime. I mean we can barely see Mars from Earth and that distance is much less than the distance established between Takodana and Hosnian Prime.

        The distance between those bodies seemed larger than the distance betweeen Yavin and Yavin IV though, so there’s that.

        Those 5 bodies we see being blown up could very well be just 5 planets or moons that we don’t know the names of close together. Like Saturn with it’s 53 moons. Only one of those planets we know was called Hosnian Prime. One could argue that the wide shot was just to establish and show five bodies being destroyed, hardly a depiction of realistic astrophysical bodies.

        The weapon’s shot was not instantaneous either. We don’t know how much time passed between the shooting of the beam and when Hosnian Prime blew up.

      • April 16, 2016 at 4:01 am
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        Yeah when has Star Wars ever followed those rules. Part of its charm. Gotta love all those sounds in space right.

        • April 18, 2016 at 6:58 am
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          It’s not about following the rules, it’s about not asking the audience to stretch the suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. For me that sequence is just asking too much. Abrams set himself up a huge problem in terms of storytelling there – he wanted something BIGGER than the DS, so this thing can destroy multiple systems from way, WAY far away. That’s not easy to sell visually, and the way he chose to solve it just doesn’t work for me.

      • April 16, 2016 at 6:25 am
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        It’s Star Wars. The science is not extremely important, as it’s fictional anyway.

        • April 17, 2016 at 8:39 am
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          I wouldn’t argue that. I’m in fact just pointing out that trying to defend it as logically reasonable is silly. That said, it’s still the first leap of visual storytelling I haven’t been able to make with this franchise.

          • April 17, 2016 at 8:07 pm
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            Seriously?

          • April 18, 2016 at 6:51 am
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            Yep, no fooling – nothing else in any of the previous 6 have made me go “Oh, FFS, just, no.” like that sequence did. I just couldn’t make the leap with the film there, and that’s where it lost me and where I peg the moment it felt like the thing suddenly derailed. Go fig.

          • April 18, 2016 at 7:24 am
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            I just find that extremely hard to believe, considering all the pseudo-scientific bullshit in the other 6 films.

          • April 18, 2016 at 10:12 pm
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            To be clear, there is no pseudo-science in the other films – SW isn’t’ ST – it never tries to explain that stuff. No bouncing graviton particle beams off the main defelctor dish need apply. It ALSO never threw stuff on the screen that was so immediately, obviously, in-your-face…WRONG like that sequence is. Sure, there’s stuff that could be picked apart, or if you go back over it after the film ends makes you go “yeah, but that wouldn’t work”. TFA is the first one for me where the BS I was being sold by the visuals really yanked me out of the storytelling.

      • April 16, 2016 at 9:12 am
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        I think if you wanted to make this more logical, the beam should have made the Hosnian central star go nova. This would have acheived the same effect – destroying the entire system – AND would have been visible across the galaxy. Of course though, it’s been done; the Sun Crusher of Legends, and ST:Generations.

        I still have a problem with sucking the mass of a noniillion ton star into the core of an earth sized planet…

      • April 16, 2016 at 10:03 am
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        Do you raging dorks ever listen to yourselves? Does the term science fiction or even just the word “movie” ever come to mind while youre babbling away about this stuff? These are f’in movies! Not historical scientific documents … There is suppose to be a suspension of disbelief to be brought in while viewing … But damn if you ubergeeks dont like to keep the stereotype quota at full maximum … watch any episode of Mythbusters where Adam Savage does his “over serious techno dork” voice and this is exactly all I hear in your constant whining … No wonder Triumph The Insult Comic Dog had loads of material back in 2002 for the AOTC line.

      • April 16, 2016 at 10:51 am
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        It’s like that in all the films, they are fantasy, Astronomy and Physics is way off in ALL of them.

      • April 16, 2016 at 9:36 pm
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        All space movies have sound in space… Think about that for a second.

  • April 16, 2016 at 12:34 am
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    just rewatched now that it arrived episode VII, and… afterall… no. It’s not a copycat of a New Hope. Yes, there are similarities, but there are soooo many new concepts and plot points aswell.

    • April 16, 2016 at 5:09 am
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      Keep telling yourself that.

      • April 16, 2016 at 5:56 am
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        Keep telling yourself it is.

    • April 16, 2016 at 6:23 am
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      Thank you.

    • April 16, 2016 at 9:54 am
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      I must say I seem to enjoy the movie more and more every time I see it – it was a difficult movie to make and they did a wonderful job in many ways.

      I still say they re-used far too much of A New Hope – but I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the new concepts used?

      • April 16, 2016 at 10:51 am
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        well, first of all… we have the stormtrooper-turned to fugitive and Resistant, then a planet full of starship wreckages, the Force has been used different ways than before: it’s the first time I see someone usung the Force to enter someone else’s mind, at least in movies, and it’s the first ever depiction of psichometry what we saw when Rey touched the lightsaber, as we couldn’t see in The Clone Wars the same thing when Quinlan Vos used it. Also, I noticed how the “droid plan” arc in unconnected to the “blow up the superweapon” arc, as It’s Finn who gives the info they needed. Next to that, we have the first time a dark sider that feels tempted by the light, and what hasn’t been in ANH, was the importance of light in the ending scenes. Ben/Kylo decides to kill his father when all light disappears, and when starkiller blows up, it turns in a star, wich I found quite poetic. Speaking of Kylo, he seems to be torned constantly by his temptation of going back to the light side, I could see confusion in him right after he killed Han aswell.
        Personally, I felt overly hiped at first view, while at third and fourth view I started to see the similarities with ANH. Now, after two months, rewatching it was just a great experience. I do hope in Episode VIII they do more ambitious things, I am not completely in agreement with Jakku being a desert planet (even though it’s different than Tatooine – more sand, while Tatooine is rocky except for the Dune Sea), but it was overall one of the most enjoyable movies in the saga.

        • April 16, 2016 at 4:09 pm
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          You make some really good points. As I said, the more I see it, the more I enjoy it. It is a lot of fun and there are definitely new things in there.

          A lot of the things I criticized after my first viewing I am now at peace with. I can understand why they made certain decisions and did certain things, and at the end of the day I think it is set up for a really exciting Episode 8. Hopefully Rian Johnson takes us to some new worlds, answers some (a lot, hopefully!) of the questions raised in Episode 7, and gives Luke Skywalker a worthy role.

          • April 17, 2016 at 12:27 am
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            I agree completely. Huge expectations for Episode VIII

        • April 16, 2016 at 6:54 pm
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          Tatooine is more populated than Jakku. Episode 7 also showed a scavenger lifestyle. A first for any Star Wars plus the political intrigue was minimal.

          • April 17, 2016 at 12:26 am
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            a first for any star wars, what do you refer to? That’s actually something that I think should have been explored better, by having that only scene that explained how corrupt is new republic senate.

          • April 17, 2016 at 12:39 am
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            The only scavengers before Jakku were Jawas but you did not see their total lifestyle. Tusken Raiders also were not shown much either. On Jakku you see the totality of Rey’s life as a scavenger. That is most different than anything else displayed before.

          • April 17, 2016 at 8:22 pm
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            right!

          • April 17, 2016 at 12:53 am
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            In Star Wars the complete life styles shown were the Political Elite, The monastic style of the Jedi, The Underworld lifestyle of the Smugglers, bounty hunters, Tradesmen but not the lowest on the socio-economic ladder.

          • April 17, 2016 at 8:21 pm
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            Oooh you were refering to the scavenger

      • April 16, 2016 at 5:35 pm
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        Think J.J. Abrams is more guilty of crafting a nostalgic fun ride than rolling out a re-hash. The way he introduced our beloved characters, I almost cried when we first saw the Falcon. Sure there were retreads of scenes we’ve seen before, but that is inevitable in a movie franchise. People have to remember that ‘Empire’ was basically ANH turned on its head. Have seen the movie 6 times now (5 on the big screen), and never once felt I was watching ‘A New Hope’. The Force Awakens was the perfect catalyst for the sequel trilogy.

    • April 16, 2016 at 3:26 pm
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      Yep. Very similar on the surface, massively different underneath.

  • April 16, 2016 at 1:40 am
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    Looking at the top 20 this record is largely meaningless seeing as how most if not all of those are very recent releases. I do kind of want the VHS copy now though just to say I have all of them in that format.

  • April 16, 2016 at 3:58 am
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    I stock shelves at a department store and we had to restock the whole Star Wars display three times. For a rural town in Alabama that is incredible.

  • April 16, 2016 at 4:50 am
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    “Rey’s parents are not in ‘Episode VII,’” Abrams said (via The Hollywood Reporter). “So I can’t possibly say in this moment who they are. But I will say it is something that Rey thinks about, too.”

    • April 16, 2016 at 6:19 am
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      Just to be that guy. Parents is plural.

      • April 16, 2016 at 6:23 am
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        And Benedict Cumberbatch is totally not Khan by the way.

    • April 16, 2016 at 9:49 am
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      JJ later clarified this by saying “What I meant was that she doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world.”

      Which means that either he is backtracking so that he doesn’t get called a liar again after the “Khan” denial in Star Trek, or they want to keep the speculation happening.

      Really, though, I would be amazed if she is not a Skywalker, given how powerful she is.

      • April 16, 2016 at 5:45 pm
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        Guess we’ll see, Mattel released images of some upcoming character cars and one of them was Rey Skywalker. Maybe Luke adopts Rey that’s something we haven’t really seen. And Disney seems to be all about different types of people etc

        • April 16, 2016 at 5:56 pm
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          I haven’t heard about that – has it only just come out? And does it actually say Rey Skywalker? I thought “Rey” wasn’t even her real name, it was just written on her helmet?

          • April 17, 2016 at 6:10 am
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            Yeah, that X-Wing pilot helmet had the name of Dosmit Ræh.

        • April 17, 2016 at 6:12 am
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          Link? And is this legit, or is it like that “Finn, Lando Calrissian’s son” thing?

          • April 18, 2016 at 7:41 am
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            Nope, legit. Entertainment Earth posted images of the Hotwheels labeled Rey Skywalker. Hidalgo however has already clarified that EE was incorrect.

  • April 16, 2016 at 6:22 am
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    Unsurprising but impressive all the same.

    • April 16, 2016 at 11:08 am
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      You’ve been reported for being unsurprised and impressed at the same time. I expected more from you TUD

      • April 16, 2016 at 8:47 pm
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        You didn’t add a period to the end of your last sentence, so you’ve been reported.

    • April 16, 2016 at 8:57 pm
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      I flagged you as inappropriate. 😉

  • April 16, 2016 at 2:49 pm
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    As Darth Grootvader (Dutch: grandfather) would say: Impressive, most impressive

    • April 17, 2016 at 6:09 am
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      I am Groot.

      • April 17, 2016 at 2:55 pm
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        You’ve been reported for being Groot.

  • April 16, 2016 at 2:59 pm
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    Glad to see the honeymoon didn’t end at the theaters! Such a remarkable thing they’ve achieved. I’m just glad the glow didn’t wear off on me either. In fact I rather liked it the more I watched it.

    Come on Rian… don’t let us down!

    Totally random but my DVR didn’t record the Rebels finale. So I finally got to watch it yesterday. Wow. That was pretty dang epic.

  • April 16, 2016 at 4:52 pm
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    Glad to see it again. The first real Star Wars movie after more than 30 years. On my shelf next to both trilogies (though the prequels are pretty dusty).

    • April 16, 2016 at 6:45 pm
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      Id love if people would use some kind of spoiler alert when they are going to bash the PT, so I’d avoid reading those comments.

      • April 16, 2016 at 8:31 pm
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        Good luck w/ that one, mate – it’ll be hard road ahead in life…

      • April 16, 2016 at 10:07 pm
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        It would be so easy right? Only reading and hearing things we like in our safe spaces… Sadly life is not like that.

        • April 17, 2016 at 6:08 am
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          TRIGGERED!

        • April 19, 2016 at 10:10 pm
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          More like not wasting time than feeling unsafe, but to each his/her/its own

      • April 16, 2016 at 11:46 pm
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        He didn’t actually bash it though, that’s the thing…

      • April 17, 2016 at 2:53 pm
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        *SPOILER ALERT* Davis has some prequel DVDs that are pretty dusty.

    • April 17, 2016 at 6:08 am
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      You should be careful, Marsha could report you for having a differing opinion!

  • April 16, 2016 at 5:58 pm
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    No big surprise right. Disney created a mass marketed drool fest for the drone masses. Story and originality be damned. Just keep raking it in Disney. Id put my hopes on the next movie being more original and some risks being taken because youve already made back most of your money; but alas, thats not how corporations work in this country. Im sure the next 2 will be fan fed shallow drool fests as well.

    • April 17, 2016 at 6:07 am
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      “a mass marketed drool fest for the drone masses”

      Which you most likely saw multiple times, which tells Disney to continue making movies just like it. If you really think that you’re above the “masses”, then maybe you should put your money where your idiotic hipster comment is and stop watching the movies that they all watch.

      • April 17, 2016 at 2:58 pm
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        Reported for replying to an idiotic hipster comment.

        • April 17, 2016 at 6:59 pm
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          Which one? My original comment was neither made by a “hipster” nor was it “idiotic”. So you dont agree with it, thats your right. No trolling here bud, just trying to keep it real.

          • April 18, 2016 at 8:39 am
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            Neither mate, I’m just having a bit of fun. Just taking the piss out of a certain person who likes to report a lot. Unfortunately TUD is the person I have in my sights. I’m not reporting him obviously, like I say it’s all just a bit of fun.

          • April 19, 2016 at 6:52 am
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            Reported for explaining a reference.

        • April 17, 2016 at 8:02 pm
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          Reported for having a two-word username.

      • April 17, 2016 at 6:58 pm
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        True. You are right. I did pay them my money 6 or so times. So YES I did contribute to Disney reaffirming that playing it safe is profitable. The movie was certainly worth paying to see. Never said it wasnt. If VIII and IX are the same shallow, fan service, safe films, I will pay money to see those too. But lets keep it real and call a spade a spade.

    • April 17, 2016 at 9:21 am
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      Come on dude, Star Wars hasn’t had a movie in 10 years let alone a good one that was 30 years ago…did you really think Disney was going to take some huge risks with their first film? No, I don’t think so, they wanted something where dollars were a little more of a sure thing because at the end of the day, Disney is a business overall. However, they have created some great characters and a lot of unanswered questions, thereby building up towards the next two films. Relax.

      • April 17, 2016 at 6:56 pm
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        Everything you say is true. As a multi billions dollar business with share holders they weren’t going to take any risks. Still one could have argued that no matter what the Ep. VII was going to make a huge profit, its Star Wars. So how safe did they really need to play it? I simply like pointing out the reality of Ep. VII. Which a lot of people here dont want to hear, but probably know in their hearts. TFA was a fun, well done movie that is certainly worth watching (I did so 6 or so times in the theatre). But lets not pretend it isnt a safely made, shallow, fan service flick.

        • April 18, 2016 at 5:33 am
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          It’s all fan service if it please the fans. Everything has been FAN SERVICE since 1977 since George made the movie that he hoped he’d just break even on. If they do what a lot of the fans want it’s “fan service.” They are damned if they and damned if they don’t, There are always going to be that percentage that don’t like the films for whatever reasons no matter who writes or directs. The goal is to keep that percentage lower.

        • April 18, 2016 at 6:42 am
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          Dude, THAT much bitching, whining, and generic pap about evil ‘corporations’ and you watched the thing SIX TIMES in the theater? Come on.

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