Rifftrax Takes On Star Wars VII, Pleases Fans and Unfans Alike

It's been four and a half months since Star Wars returned to theaters. There are those who were thrilled when the Force Awakened after more than a decade, and those who didn't because they thought it was doing the first movie again (so did Creed, and no one complained about that).
It didn't matter, because it was a major hit, and made the new generation of the saga a new thing to anticipate just before Christmas. Kind of like Harry Potter.

Rifftrax's take on TFA is sure to please people who enjoyed and didn't enjoy this movie. There are lots of comments about Kylo Ren's mask, old vets returning and the story itself. This is bound to be Rifftrax's biggest seller because it is that funny. It's a fine kickoff to this year's big events, which will include Time Chasers and the big MST3K reunion.

I'm smart enough to not mention the riffs when certain people make their first appearance, especially Han Solo and C-3PO. There's plenty of riffs anyway, aside from the You Tube clip above.

The first shot of the Stormtroopers
99 bottles of beer on the wall...

Rey boards her transport
Mysterious floating electric razor, how's it going?

Heading to Maz Kenata's place, described as "Hogwarts Technical College". How they describe her is not that much better.

A robot contacts the Resistance
If two Radio Shacks had sex, this robot would be the baby

Kylo Ren meets Rey for the first time: "The girl I've heard so much about"
You are Ariana Grande, right?

There's the final fight, but the Rifftrax crew complain "Peter Griffin's chicken fights are shorter than this"

There's also riffs on Aaron Spelling, eharmony, another new slogan for Golden Corral, Pablo Sandoval, Fuller House and (surprisingly) Time Chasers.

The riff is available here at rifftrax.com. This is the start of an ambitious movie riff schedule connected with the successful Kickstarter campaign. Mary Jo Pehl and Bridget Nelson, for example, will have their take on Gravity. It'll be interesting what happens when Mary Jo figures out George Clooney is not the hero here. There's also riffs coming on Jurassic World (imagine what they'll do to Claire and Owen's first scene together) and their first Rifftraxed movie, Road House, If the TFA riff earns enough money, maybe they'll afford the rights to riff this movie live in theaters. That would be the best anniversary present Rifftrax and its fans can get.

The Farce Will Awaken, Thanks to Rifftrax

At this time, thousands of Star Wars fans will be watching The Force Awakens on their DVDs, iPads or even their phones.
In just a few months, though, others will be seeing the movie in another way, through the Rifftrax app.

Yesterday, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett revealed during the last week of the Kickstarter campaign that if they raised at least 335 thousand dollars, they would provide an mp3 of their "opinions" about The Force Awakens. Some fans feared they'd go back to their insults about the prequels, but it's more likely they'll point out how similar it is to A New Hope (aka the first one). They'll also talk about C-3PO's red arm, Kylo Ren's unmasked face, and a couple of Alec Guinness moments.

Several hours after they made the announcement, Rifftrax broke through that goal, resulting in this:

Actually, this really makes sense. Rifftrax made sure fans saw riffed versions of every Harry Potter movie, and already knocked on the previous six Star Wars movies. A few already suggested TFA should be mocked, although now more people would like to see Batman v. Superman on Rifftrax's hit list.

By the way, Sphero, who makes mini-versions of the BB-8, announced that you can update the toy so that it can respond to what's happening to the movie while you watch. Now, if it can make Tom Servos and Crows that can do the same thing, or link the BB-8 to the Rifftrax app and hear it riff on the movie, then you have something to brag about.

As of 9 AM Pacific time, April 5th, the campaign has earned nearly 340 thousand dollars, much more than last year, mainly thanks to offering free shorts while they're trying to confirm two more movies for this year. If they hit 350 thousand, they'll take on the first episode of Game of Thrones. This is Daenerys' reaction to that likelihood:

(UPDATE: as of 4/6, they broke 400 thousand dollars. Sorry, Khaleesi)
Once again, no one is safe from Rifftrax. Then again, if anyone remembers the plot to that episode, it's bound to inspire some really interesting riffs (especially the term "Lannistering").
(MORE UPDATING:  More stretch goals have allowed the campaign to break 600 thousand dollars, and backers will also see riffs on the first episodes of The Walking Dead and Netflix's Daredevil, along with Gravity, Jurassic World, and the original Road House. Does this please Khaleesi?)

The MST reunion, by the way, is set for June 28th at hundreds of theaters nationwide.

For more info, go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rifftrax/rifftrax-live-2016-mst3k-reunion-time-chasers-live

Review of Star Wars, The Force Awakens: And So Does the Franchise

Star Wars may be compared to, say, the New York Knicks, Montreal Canadiens or entertainers who have residency in Branson, Missouri. They used to be great, but lately are now a shell of their former selves.

When it was announced JJ Abrams would direct the seventh movie, there was a lot of skepticism, mainly thanks to the Star Trek sequel. When the first trailer came out, and we heard Han Solo say, "Chewie, we're home", our hopes started to improve.

Then the movie came out last Friday, and the Force came back with a vengeance.
Due to my warehouse job and the Christmas rush, I didn't have a chance to see the movie until now, but I was lucky to avoid any spoilers or reviews that told too much of the story. That really helped my enjoyment of this movie,

What's more, it started with something simple: what if Luke Skywalker wasn't around to make sure the Republic would stay strong? That happened because he tried to train new Jedi, and one of them turned on him and jumped into the Dark Side. That guy, of course, is the main Big Bad in this story, Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver. This is a man who is determined to be the heir to the darkness of Darth Vader. It's a title he wants, and he'll get it by wiping out the rebellion against his First Order.

The heroes are Finn (John Boyega), a Stormtrooper who was trained from birth, and Rey (Daisy Ridley), a girl from Jakku who lives through scavenging old ships. Finn decided to reject his role after his first battle, and helps Rebel Pilot Poe (Oscar Issac) escape via Tie Fighter. They're shot, though, and crash in Jakku. Poe seems to be dead when Finn wakes up. He crosses paths with Rey, who just found a droid called BB-8 with a very special message to the Rebels.

The way Rey and Finn seemed a bit too "meet cute", mainly because he pretends to be one of the rebels, and needs BB-8 to cover for him, Once the First Order show up, it turns back into an action movie and stays there. The point when I was convinced it would work is when Rey and Finn looks for a way to escape, and she prefers one ship because the other one is garbage. When that ship is destroyed, she heads to the garbage ship...and one look tells us the ship she takes (and learns how to fly on the spot) is anything but garbage,

Later on, Han Solo and Chewbacca find them, and get involved in getting BB-8 to the rebels. Things haven't worked out too well for Han over the years, but Harrison Ford shows the character really has aged well. He's still got it as the wise-cracking sort-of-sketchy pilot we know and love. Still, he has a very important role in the story and his connections are deep. In fact, I'd make a good case for him to be considered for Best Supporting Actor come Oscar time.

As I saw the movie, it dawned on me that this was a variation of Episode IV, which brought Luke Skywalker, Leia and Solo into the battle against the Empire, Here, Finn doesn't want to be part of the battle and Rey wants to be home, hoping her family will come back to her. There's even a "cantina scene", but it includes Rey receiving something very important from Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o). There also a couple of "Alec Guinness moments" as I call them. One of them involves Ren using a certain trick to escape, and the other is an important confrontation.

As for Ren, he wants to finish what Vader started, and considering his family tree, he's certain he has the chance. He is guided by Smoak (Andy Sirkis) who leads the First Order but is mostly seen via hologram. Ren is someone who is strong with the Force, but also is very destructive with his lightsaber when something goes wrong.
The biggest shock is when you see his true face. He's still intimidating, unleashing his Dark Side for all to see. Yet you get the feeling he wonders if he took the wrong path, but it's a path he can't change.
In any case, he has the weapon to stop the Rebels in their tracks, and it's something that literally makes the Death Star look like a peashooter.

Someone on the 'net called the movie mainly a reunion of the franchise's "greatest hits", and everyone does come back at one time or another. The thing is, the classics are there to give the new hits (Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, Poe and BB-8) their launch so they can lead us fans through the next two chapters. That is done very well, right to the end.

The best news is that we don't have to wait long for the next episode, only until the summer of 2017. Until then, we can speculate what's next, and have Marvel and the Batman-Superman clash to distract us. At least we'll know the Force will really be with us, always...or at least until 2019 or so.