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

Myrddin

Boogie's character Francis says it all

_Kaiser_

Myrddin wrote: »

Boogie's character Francis says it all

It's like a real-life Cartman!

thegreengoblin

tony stark wrote: »

Yes definitely delighted they've dispensed with the expanded universe. Terrible stuff altogether. Timothy Zahn was about the only half decent attempt. And even then those books wouldn't stand up as being that great now as an adult. The best thing to happen to Star Wars is a new movie no one knows anything about. Hats off to Abhrams for that. That was a major problem with the prequels( along with everything else ). Mark Hamill will save the day. Remember he was Star Wars back in the day!

Ah that's very unfair! There were loads of books and comics that were very entertaining and more than helped fill in the gaps. My take on the EU being dispensed with, and as a big fan of most of it, is that it doesn't bother me at all. Nothing can take away the great memories I have of those stories, and even the books that I haven't got round to reading yet I'll still read them. The fact they're not canon or part of the official SW universe anymore is irrelevant to me.

I actually agree that it was necessary to do what they did in order to give the new stories as much scope and freedom as possible.

bilston

eviltimeban wrote: »

Not necessary, if it is before ANH. Luke is still a farm boy at this stage so would have no role to play. Leia doesn't really need to be in it, as they end up in her possession but the story would be about how the rebels operated between ROTS and ANH.

Maybe Vader will make an appearance, after all anyone could play him!

Zubeneschamali

bilston wrote: »

Maybe Vader will make an appearance, after all anyone could play him!

With the obvious exception of Hayden Christiansen, of course...

J Mysterio

Zing

TerrorFirmer

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

With the obvious exception of Hayden Christiansen, of course...

The most criminal aspect of that is that Christiansen CAN act, and has given some good performances in other films, but what should have been the pinnacle of his career instead turned out to be his grave.

Roar

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

The most criminal aspect of that is that Christiansen CAN act, and has given some good performances in other films, but what should have been the pinnacle of his career instead turned out to be his grave.

Yup, he was excellent, truly excellent in Shattered Glass, a movie well worth checking out.

Adamantium

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

The most criminal aspect of that is that Christiansen CAN act, and has given some good performances in other films, but what should have been the pinnacle of his career instead turned out to be his grave.

He got the physical mannerisms and movement of Anakin and a person that has something desperately wrong mentally wrong down pat, he just looks like's he's got something crawling beneath the skin and eyes. And not a word spoken.

Natalie Portman did an interview where she said those SW films almost killed her career. She said that everyone thought she was a bad actress because of them; she also had to fight for a lot of roles just to stay legitimate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLQekc4vvKc

pixelburp

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

With the obvious exception of Hayden Christiansen, of course...

Christiansen seems to get all the flak when it comes to acting in the prequels and I'm not sure it's completely justified.

It's easily forgotten that ALL of the main cast put in some shocking performances: Neeson, McGregor, L Jackson & Portman in particular - they were no better and just as constipated and flat as Christiansen. Maybe theirs were more unforgivable considering they were supposed to be the more established / (probably) higher paid actors at the time. Ian McDiarmid seemed like the only one actually bothering his backside to act, albeit via chewing the scenery.

FunLover18

pixelburp wrote: »

Christiansen seems to get all the flak when it comes to acting in the prequels and I'm not sure it's completely justified.

It's easily forgotten that ALL of the main cast put in some shocking performances: Neeson, McGregor, L Jackson & Portman in particular - they were no better and just as constipated and flat as Christiansen. Maybe theirs were more unforgivable considering they were supposed to be the more established / (probably) higher paid actors at the time. Ian McDiarmid seemed like the only one actually bothering his backside to act, albeit via chewing the scenery.

They also had terrible scripts to work with.

Sleepy

And a director who hates dealing with actors...

J Mysterio

I think Christiansen made a decent fist of it in Revenge of the Sith?
I loved Ewan McGregor's delivery after he had ****ed him - "You were the chosen one!"

Realt Dearg Sec

J Mysterio wrote: »

I think Christiansen made a decent fist of it in Revenge of the Sith?
I loved Ewan McGregor's delivery after he had ****ed him - "You were the chosen one!"

He did the best he could, but you can't polish a ****e, and that was the script he was stuck with.

Never understood that line. Us he referred to as that elsewhere? Implies he was selected rather than possessing something innate to him (****ing midichlorian bull****)

J Mysterio

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Never understood that line. Us he referred to as that elsewhere? Implies he was selected rather than possessing something innate to him (****ing midichlorian bull****)

Wut?

"You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. You were to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness."

Realt Dearg Sec

J Mysterio wrote: »

Wut?

"You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. You were to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness."

Yeah, that's that quote. Do they ever call him "the chosen one" ELSEWHERE?

J Mysterio

Hmnh. Pretty sure they did? Think Yoda mentions it at some point. There was a prophecy relating to a great Jedi. I think Qui-Con Jin and Obi Wan discuss it when Anakin is a kid and potentially when they are at the Jedi council also.

A Brad Maddox Guy

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Yeah, that's that quote. Do they ever call him "the chosen one" ELSEWHERE?

Isn't that essentially the basis of the trilogy? Definitely Phantom Menace; Qui Gon was adamant that he was "the chosen one", and argued the point with Yoda. That Anakin Skywalker was meant to fulfill a prophecy & bring balance to the force. And even though he took a pretty big detour he did eventually fulfill that prophecy at the end of Jedi?

Realt Dearg Sec

A Brad Maddox Guy wrote: »

Isn't that essentially the basis of the trilogy? Definitely Phantom Menace; Qui Gon was adamant that he was "the chosen one", and argued the point with Yoda. That Anakin Skywalker was meant to fulfill a prophecy & bring balance to the force. And even though he took a pretty big detour he did eventually fulfill that prophecy at the end of Jedi?

Ye might be right, I'm not going to lie, my knowledge of the prequels is patchy. Not that I'm inclined to rectify that. It's just such an overtly Christian reference.

thegreengoblin

pixelburp wrote: »

Christiansen seems to get all the flak when it comes to acting in the prequels and I'm not sure it's completely justified.

It's easily forgotten that ALL of the main cast put in some shocking performances: Neeson, McGregor, L Jackson & Portman in particular - they were no better and just as constipated and flat as Christiansen. Maybe theirs were more unforgivable considering they were supposed to be the more established / (probably) higher paid actors at the time. Ian McDiarmid seemed like the only one actually bothering his backside to act, albeit via chewing the scenery.

Obi Wan, Anakin and Palpatine find themselves suddenly trapped inside ray shields: 'Wait a minute! How did this happen? We're better than this!'

As toe-curling as that line was, it also summed up what the cast were probably all thinking.

Myrddin

thegreengoblin wrote: »

'Wait a minute! How did this happen? We're better than this!'

Lol, a shining example of some serious wtf moments in the prequel trilogy

thegreengoblin

It's up there with Mace's laughably over the top reply when Anakin informs him that Palpatine is a Sith lord:

'A SITH LORD?!?'

:pac::pac:

_Kaiser_

thegreengoblin wrote: »

It's up there with Mace's laughably over the top reply when Anakin informs him that Palpatine is a Sith lord:

'A SITH LORD?!?'

:pac::pac:

For some reason the next line that springs to mind is..

"Holy Captain Obvious, Batman!"

*POW!*



Now that ye mention it though, some of the lines in the prequels really were terrible!

Synode

Do you all think the acting was good in the orginals?

_Kaiser_

Synode wrote: »

Do you all think the acting was good in the orginals?

I think the point though is that the actors being referenced in the prequels are established, successful people with many films under their belts.. you'd expect better!

But to be fair, as already said, what they had to work with wasn't great from the start.

thegreengoblin

Synode wrote: »

Do you all think the acting was good in the orginals?

It was hardly Oscar-winning stuff but it was more fluent and natural...two words you'd never associate with the prequels.

Brian Shanahan

A Brad Maddox Guy wrote: »

Isn't that essentially the basis of the trilogy? Definitely Phantom Menace; Qui Gon was adamant that he was "the chosen one", and argued the point with Yoda. That Anakin Skywalker was meant to fulfill a prophecy & bring balance to the force. And even though he took a pretty big detour he did eventually fulfill that prophecy at the end of Jedi?

Of course at the start of the prequels the fact that the Jedi were by far in the ascendancy, and by the end they were on the defensive (but not beaten), Anakin did do quite a lot to bring balance to the force.

Of course this fact was more a symptom of the reality that Lucas had filmed himself into a corner with a very bad script and had in all probability no planning before it.

Zubeneschamali

Synode wrote: »

Do you all think the acting was good in the orginals?

The original Star Wars had all the same problems as the prequels, and everyone (including all the people who acted in it) thought it was going to be crap. Bad dialogue, actors getting no direction...

What saved it were the special effects, a ninja edit which cut a lot of tedium out, and John Williams score.

Lucas didn't direct Empire or RotJ, and it showed.

Zubeneschamali

Some Hollywood dude named Topher Grace apparently cut all 3 prequels down to one 85 minute movie, which was, by all accounts, a big improvement.

tok9

I thought the acting in A New Hope was pretty poor tbh but it was mostly from Hamill. Maybe it was the material but losing his Uncle and Aunt didn't seem like a particularly big deal to him.

Harrison Ford was very good though. His comic timing is excellent throughout.