Star Wars: The Force Awakens [** SPOILERS FROM POST 4472 ONWARD **]

Zubeneschamali

karaokeman wrote: »

Its clear he is desperate for the special editions to be the only circulating versions of Star Wars and will stop at nothing to make sure the fans see as little difference from that standard as possible.

No, that isn't clear. I think it is more likely that he has in fact sold the whole of Lucasfilm and Star Wars to Disney, and no longer has any say in what gets released.

This might not be true, he might have written some clause in the sale to say the original editions are not to be released, ever, but I think it's unlikely. Disney are the original "We bought it, we own it forever" company, as you can see with Winnie the Pooh.

Adamantium

So the Phantom Menace was released 15 years ago today!

We got at least one good film out of it...

watch the sequel to this video as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSCm8yAxBr8

SterlingArcher

I would like to see just one star wars. That is dark, Jedi lifting up women's dresses for ****ts in giggles. Pulling girls using their mind powers.

But apart from that awesomeo immaturity.

Something along the lines of a Jedi outcast , who is very dangerous. In a time when stuffs gone sour. Nobody gives a rats about anyone else. A cold cruel world. I'm thinking like a Clint Eastwood type. Not an evil guy but not necessarily good. Does not fight evil ,but evil gets in his way. Not the usual Jedi dead brain. Smart mouth with a hint of menace.

And he would essentially bring a coolness back to the series.

Radiosonde

Adamantium wrote: »

A dubious rumour but...

The thought of the prequels being kicked to the curb warm my black heart.

I wouldn't bet against it. After this new trio is complete, it might make sense to reboot the prequels, allowing Disney to use characters like Yoda and Vader (who presumably won't feature in later episodes), and help prevent the series degenerating into a soap opera.

On the other hand, they did leave the Clone Wars cartoons as canon, so why do that now only to dump the prequels to non-canon later?

Zubeneschamali

The most iconic Star Wars character is Vader. If we can see 3 Hulks and two Spidermen in 10 years, why not more Star Wars with Vader?

If that means junking Lucases prequels, good riddance.

Tony EH

It's a different type of franchise. It just isn't as "all over the place" as comic book adaptations are.

The Marvel stuff, by and large, is rubbish. All of the Hulk films are crap, really, and the Hulk itself is a pretty awful superhero, if the truth be told.

The Spiderman thing, that was done simply to prevent the rights reverting back and squeezing some extra cash of out the public. I for one am thankful on that particular occasion, because I think this iteration of Spiderman has gotten more right than Raimi's overrated series.

In general, though, this reboot culture is extremely bad for cinema. It's simply a cash creation en devour, most of the time, devoid of any other point. It's good that most fail, but the downside is that they do have a tainting effect of superior originals.

TBH honest, I can do without ever seeing another lukewarm comic book adaptation for a long, long time.

thegreengoblin

Adamantium wrote: »

A dubious rumour but...

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/05/15/new-star-wars-rumors-include-original-trilogy-re-release-on-blu-rayvod-and-more/


The thought of the prequels being kicked to the curb warm my black heart.

As poor as they mostly were I sincerely hope they're not rebooted. A huge amount of work was put into them by some incredibly talented people and although they were poorly received, it's over and done with so just leave them be. Why re-tread old ground?

I'm interested in new Star Wars stories and that's what we're getting so let's be happy with that. I really don't want to start seeing them try to cover old ground and I can't see it happening anyway.

Zubeneschamali

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Why re-tread old ground?

Two reasons: firstly, money. Lucas didn't make any Star Wars movies for 15 years because he didn't feel like it, and he had plenty of money to do whatever he liked. Disney are a business: if there's money to be made, they'll make more.

Secondly: Lucas's prequels were crap. Original story, as related by Ben Kenobi: Obiwan meets Anakin, who is already a great pilot, strong in the Force, and takes it on himself to train him without Yoda. Anakin turns to evil, becomes Vader and hunts down and kills the Jedi for the Emperor.

Instead we get a documentary about trade and tariffs on frog world, the Jedi are shot in the back by a bunch of clone mercenaries, and Anakin/Vader does nothing except massacre some 8-year-olds at a school (offscreen).

thegreengoblin

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Two reasons: firstly, money. Lucas didn't make any Star Wars movies for 15 years because he didn't feel like it, and he had plenty of money to do whatever he liked. Disney are a business: if there's money to be made, they'll make more.

Secondly: Lucas's prequels were crap. Original story, as related by Ben Kenobi: Obiwan meets Anakin, who is already a great pilot, strong in the Force, and takes it on himself to train him without Yoda. Anakin turns to evil, becomes Vader and hunts down and kills the Jedi for the Emperor.

Instead we get a documentary about trade and tariffs on frog world, the Jedi are shot in the back by a bunch of clone mercenaries, and Anakin/Vader does nothing except massacre some 8-year-olds at a school (offscreen).

Okay, so Disney go ahead and reboot the prequels. And they turn out to be crap. What then? You want them to keep rebooting and rebooting until they get them just right? And while they're at it maybe they should reboot the OT so they can get rid of the incestuous stuff between Luke and Leia, or replace the Ewoks with Wookies. There's a line to be drawn somewhere and that line is right through the idea that prequels should be rebooted.

Yeti Beast

I can't tell you how nice it is to see an actual animatronic/puppet alien rather than a CGI piece of crap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfNiC9iKM0Q

Nice prize too.

humanji

Ha, I just saw that and thought the exact same thing. It really makes a difference.

Duggy747

That puppet alone looks and will age better than the CGI horribleness of Jabba and Jar Jar.

Mr Freeze

Lucas is probably disgusted with that puppet!

Tony EH

Dair. wrote: »

I can't tell you how nice it is to see an actual animatronic/puppet alien rather than a CGI piece of crap.

It is isn't it.

There simply remains a believability behind good puppetry and animatronics, that is missing in CGI.

pixelburp

Pffh, that was nothing a tennis ball on the end of a broom couldn’t have done

Has it been revealed what company will be on the FX work for these new films; were ILM even part of the Disney acquisition and is it known if they're on the job for the puppetry?

For some reason I thought the puppet looked very 'Henson'esque, if you know what I mean. Anthropomorphic with a touch of the caricature about it.

roanoke

Dair. wrote: »

I can't tell you how nice it is to see an actual animatronic/puppet alien rather than a CGI piece of crap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfNiC9iKM0Q

Nice prize too.

Reminds me of the junklady from Labyrinth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDEcPsj8Dc8

norrie rugger

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Okay, so Disney go ahead and reboot the prequels. And they turn out to be crap. What then? You want them to keep rebooting and rebooting until they get them just right? And while they're at it maybe they should reboot the OT so they can get rid of the incestuous stuff between Luke and Leia, or replace the Ewoks with Wookies. There's a line to be drawn somewhere and that line is right through the idea that prequels should be rebooted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jln3mi0vfJU

Adamantium

Dair. wrote: »

I can't tell you how nice it is to see an actual animatronic/puppet alien rather than a CGI piece of crap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfNiC9iKM0Q

Nice prize too.

The moment the alien walked into shot, I lost track of what Abrams was saying, and that little look they shared was more startling and heartwarming than anything in the prequels. Looks like a creepy friendly, sagely Persian seller, which is exactly what an alien in Star Wars should look like.

I started looking at it and all the snakeheads in the cages or whatever they are, are moving independently and I kept thinking to myself what is it, where's the guy inside the costume? the strings? the motors? How does it maintain balance on two legs, that's AMAZING. HOW DID THEY DO THAT? That's what I miss about animatronics and models

You don't get that kind of visceral illusion when you say we made it in a computer no matter how beautiful it is.

These days it's genuinely startling to see something like that, instead of guessing trying to figure what's CGI or not!

Fair ****s to him for at least doing his best, he must be loosing at sleep at night with his biggest homework task yet.

norrie rugger

I have said it before and I will say it again. That real world effect coupled with CGI touch ups are what work so well.

thegreengoblin

I have to say it's a delight to see what's presumably going to be scenes set on Tatooine. It was always my favourite location in the SW universe, or at least it was until the prequels ruined it.

I'm thinking specifically of Anakin's scenes in AOTC when he goes in search of his mother. The speeder bike scene is atrocious, it's like something from a bad computer game. Same with the sunset ending from ROTS, it simply didn't look real.

The signs are definitely good as far as Abrams' awareness of what to do and what not to do in making these films. I'd like to think that with the clip released today he's saying to us 'Listen, trust me on this one'.... :cool:

Zubeneschamali

thegreengoblin wrote: »

I have to say it's a delight to see what's presumably going to be scenes set on Tatooine.

Sigh. It's a galaxy far far away. They clearly have no concept of how big a galaxy is - no, we keep getting dragged back to the same familiar places.

Star Wars: Cool! Tatooine, Death Star, Forest Moon of Yavin.

Empire Strikes Back: New! Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin!

RotJ: Rot sets in: Tatooine again, Dagobah again, another forest moon, another Death Star

Episode 1: New! Naboo! (boring, though). Tatooine again. Coruscant (cool!).

Episode II: Coruscant again. Kamino (one outdoor set?). Naboo again. Geonosis!

Episode III: Coruscant again. Utapau! Mustafar!

13 planets total out of 100s of billions stars.

And now, with a fresh start, what are we going to get? Tatooine again. Coruscant, too, I'll bet, and maybe Dagobah.

The Master

thegreengoblin wrote: »

I'd like to think that with the clip released today he's saying to us 'Listen, trust me on this one'.... :cool:

Defo

Imagine if the alien in the background alien crashes into shot...

"Hello pallys, meesa Jar Jar..." etc..

thegreengoblin

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Sigh. It's a galaxy far far away. They clearly have no concept of how big a galaxy is - no, we keep getting dragged back to the same familiar places.

Star Wars: Cool! Tatooine, Death Star, Forest Moon of Yavin.

Empire Strikes Back: New! Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin!

RotJ: Rot sets in: Tatooine again, Dagobah again, another forest moon, another Death Star

Episode 1: New! Naboo! (boring, though). Tatooine again. Coruscant (cool!).

Episode II: Coruscant again. Kamino (one outdoor set?). Naboo again. Geonosis!

Episode III: Coruscant again. Utapau! Mustafar!

13 planets total out of 100s of billions stars.

And now, with a fresh start, what are we going to get? Tatooine again. Coruscant, too, I'll bet, and maybe Dagobah.

Ah in fairness they've got two hours and a bit for every film! It would be pretty hard to keep jumping from planet to planet just to squeeze as many in as possible and it wouldn't make for any kind of coherent story. Anyway, it's a given that there will be new worlds to see in these films so have a bit of patience. And Tatooine has been so central to the story of the Skywalker family that it's always going to have a role to play.

I think you need to watch Episode 3 again by the way, as we also got to see (if only briefly in most cases) Mygeeto, Cato Nemoida, Felucia, Saleucami and of course Kashyyk. And if we're being thorough...the Polis Massa asteroid!

Turtwig

It's not like every planet will be habitable or anything other than a molten rock coalescing, anyway.

Pod Racing better exist in the new canon though. That was cool.

Yeti Beast

This has nothing to do with Episode VII, but I don't care, I'm posting it anyway. :P

Tony EH

thegreengoblin wrote: »

The signs are definitely good as far as Abrams' awareness of what to do and what not to do in making these films. I'd like to think that with the clip released today he's saying to us 'Listen, trust me on this one'.... :cool:

I'm still not holding my breath.

There's nothing in his back catalogue that makes me go wow.

Zubeneschamali

thegreengoblin wrote: »

I think you need to watch Episode 3 again

I don't think anyone needs to watch it even once.

pixelburp

Dair. wrote: »

This has nothing to do with Episode VII, but I don't care, I'm posting it anyway. :P

I've no audio, but that was incredibly sweet and perhaps touches on something we might be quick to forget here - we take it all seriously but Star Wars is loved by kids as a bit of fun and the wee mites adore the like of R2D2 and the Ewoks. Maybe even ... *gulp* Jar-Jar. The Phantom Menace was one of the worst blockbusters ever committed to film, but I suspect Lucas knew exactly who his audience was.

Roar

pixelburp wrote: »

but I suspect Lucas knew exactly who his audience was.

Trade disputes and blockades and space taxes and boring boring boring senate hearings in a film made for little kids?

He had no clue what he was doing. None.

pixelburp

Roar wrote: »

Trade disputes and blockades and space taxes and boring boring boring senate hearings in a film made for little kids?

He had no clue what he was doing. None.

You removed the very caveat that contextualized my point; the entire plot - the entire film - was horrendous for adults, nevermind the kids, it really shouldn’t need saying by now, but Jar-Jar / the Gungans, most of the other aliens, those whacky-voiced droids, Jake Lloyd etc? Naw, I think it was clear Lucas had a deliberate intention to market the trilogy at a younger audience; no way he thought anyone over the age of 10 would like Jar-Jar, or elements like the ‘comedy’ scenes with R2D2 in later films.