Star Wars Ep. VII Megathread: The Force Awakens (1 Viewer)

[Bryan^H]

I've completely stopped watching trailers online but I gotta admit that this might be a time that I break my own 'rule'.

I hope so. I'm sure the trailer alone will generate a 20 page discussion thread here on HTF

 

[Bryan^H]

Personally, I don't think this is a good idea. What more of a send-off do these characters need than the one they got in Return of the Jedi. I love these OT characters, but the only one of the central three that is worth bringing back is Luke by virtue of him being the only Jedi left at the end of 6. Let Han/Leia be simply a cameo as leaders of whatever organisation is set up for the heroes or just referred to. It doesn't even need to be their offspring at the centre of the films

Absolutely agree. Return Of The Jedi had the most rewarding, happy ending any movie or trilogy could hope for. But like I said, I love the original characters so much I'll just be glad to see what they are up to so many years later in a galaxy far, far away!
Even at the risk of being an original trilogy "buzz kill". I'm thinking Episode 7 will be more fun than dark.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

postquel (dibs on coining this phrase)

The term you're looking for is "sequel."

Han will lead the republic (albeit hesitantly since he probably would rather continue his pirating ways, maybe with his children by his side).

Good lord, no.

There is a lot of room to set up an amazing trilogy to finish out the saga. When ROTJ ended, the empire was defeated. But, there were Imperial forces all over the galaxy. The war is far from over. I liken it to the Revolutionary War. We declared our independence from Imperial England. We had a helluva war to fight to become truly independent.

Because when I think "Star Wars," I'm anglin' for the War of 1812!

 

[TravisR]

I'm thinking Episode 7 will be more fun than dark.

I'm not sure that that's what they'll do but that would be exactly the right move. For my money, one of the best things about Star Wars (A New Hope) is that it's a fun, light hearted movie. I love The Empire Strikes Back but an unfortunate consequence of people's love for it is that every piece of Star Wars lore tries to be 'dark' and 'gritty' like ESB.

 

[dpippel]

The original Star Wars may have been light-hearted at its core, but it *did* feature, er, such "group-hug" moments as the burned, smoking corpses of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, a funeral pyre comprised of a dozen or so dead Jawas, an entire planet being destroyed along with it's millions of inhabitants, Vader crushing a Rebel's throat bare-handed (with gratuitous crunching sounds), an arm being hacked off by a lightsaber with a shot of the bloody aftermath, and an alien being gunned down at point-blank range with a blaster. It wasn't all sweetness and light.

Hollywood is convinced that "dark" and "gritty" and "brooding" is what sells movies these days. Look at Man of Steel. However, even though I don't like everything he's done with his Star Trek reboots, Abrams has done a pretty good job in keeping with the spirit of Trek and his two films are fun. I think he'll do alright by the Star Wars universe too. But J.J., PLEASE dump the #@*&@^! lens flares!

 

[TravisR]

The original Star Wars may have been light-hearted at its core, but it *did* feature, er, such "group-hug" moments as the burned, smoking corpses of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, a funeral pyre comprised of a dozen or so dead Jawas, an entire planet being destroyed along with it's millions of inhabitants, Vader crushing a Rebel's throat bare-handed (with gratuitous crunching sounds), an arm being hacked off by a lightsaber with a shot of the bloody aftermath, and an alien being gunned down at point-blank range with a blaster. It wasn't all sweetness and light.

Don't forget that the climax of the movie has the hero blowing up like a million people.

But J.J., PLEASE dump the #@*&@^! lens flares!

I've said it before but I'm thinking/hoping that they'll try to somewhat emulate the look of the Star Wars movies and drop them for the most part. I don't have specific memories of his episodes of Alias but the three episodes of Lost that he directed didn't have lens flare.

 

[SilverWook]

I think it's smart. It will appease the fans of the OT and set the stage for a new cast for new fans to finish the postquel (dibs on coining this phrase). As stated above, Abrams did the same thing for Star Trek. Lucas set up the 2 trilogies to be about Anakin. Well, he is a force spirit now so he can still mentor Luke and Leia and the children.

Luke will be training new Jedi -- bet on it.

Leia will be a Jedi -- bet on it.

Han will lead the republic (albeit hesitantly since he probably would rather continue his pirating ways, maybe with his children by his side).

There is a lot of room to set up an amazing trilogy to finish out the saga. When ROTJ ended, the empire was defeated. But, there were Imperial forces all over the galaxy. The war is far from over. I liken it to the Revolutionary War. We declared our independence from Imperial England. We had a helluva war to fight to become truly independent. The Republic and Jedi need rebuilding. I'm sure a plot to destroy the Skywalkers will emerge and it will be up to the next generation to end the conflict forever. Lastly, say what you will about Abrams as a director but he is a Star Wars fan (geek really) first and foremost. The series is in good hands.

I have issues with buying into that the whole saga was all about Anakin.

 

[Sam Favate]

I have issues with buying into that the whole saga was all about Anakin.

Agreed. That was just a convenient line during the production of the prequels when Lucas was not entertaining the idea of sequels to the OT. But those of us who were there for the OT remember the "From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker" bit.

 

[TravisR]

That was just a convenient line during the production of the prequels when Lucas was not entertaining the idea of sequels to the OT.

I completely disagree. The OT is Luke's tale and it results in his father's redemption but even prior to 1999, what could Episodes I to III realistically have been except for the story of how Anakin became Vader? When you consider that, those six movies are the story of Anakin Skywalker.

Granted, if you're looking at just Star Wars (A New Hope), you can say that it's Luke's story but by 1980 when The Empire Strikes Back is referred to as Episode V, the stage is set for Darth Vader's backstory in Episodes I to III and the saga essentially becomes about Vader.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Back in the day, the original idea for a 9-film series was presented as a trilogy of trilogies about the rise of the Empire, the Rebellion, and the rebuilding of the Republic. There was never any "it's all about the Anakins" talk until the prequels were actually in production.

 

[TravisR]

Back in the day, the original idea for a 9-film series was presented as a trilogy of trilogies about the rise of the Empire, the Rebellion, and the rebuilding of the Republic. There was never any "it's all about the Anakins" talk until the prequels were actually in production.

Not that George Lucas couldn't have said that about "a 9-film series" but almost everything I've seen him (and not a rumor) say in the late 1970's/early 1980's interviews was much more vague than that (even the total number of movies varied). I'm not saying that Lucas ever said that the story was about Anakin Skywalker back in the 1980's but when Vader became a more central character in ESB and ROJ and they established Episode numbers, the prequels could only be about Anakin becoming Vader so those six movies would clearly follow Anakin and that would have been obvious in 1983/before the prequels were made. Even if Lucas had 9 scripts completely planned and written in 1977, Episodes VII to IX would still be like an addition to the story of Anakin.

 

[RobertR]

Back in the day, the original idea for a 9-film series was presented as a trilogy of trilogies about the rise of the Empire, the Rebellion, and the rebuilding of the Republic. There was never any "it's all about the Anakins" talk until the prequels were actually in production.

The idea that the Star Wars films were originally conceived as being the "story of Anakin" is pure Lucas historical revisionism, made up after he decided what direction the later films would take. It's no more factual than his silly claim that he never meant for Han to shoot first.

 

[TravisR]

The idea that the Star Wars films were originally conceived as being the "story of Anakin" is pure Lucas historical revisionism, made up after he decided what direction the later films would take.

Once again, I'm not trying to say that. I'm saying that when Lucas decided that The Empire Strikes Back was Episode V and retroactively decided that Star Wars was Episode IV, it was clear that any Episodes I to III would involve Anakin becoming Vader. Don't even try to tell me that people expected that the prequels would focus on anything else. At that point, the six movies tell the story of Anakin. I realized that long before Lucas said it and long before the prequels were made. I'm not saying that that's what Lucas initially intended when he created Star Wars but by ESB and certainly by ROJ, it's what the story became and another trilogy- good or bad- seems more like an addition to that story.

 

[RobertR]

Once again, I'm not trying to say that.

I'm not saying you said it, I'm saying Lucas said it.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

when Vader became a more central character in ESB and ROJ and they established Episode numbers, the prequels could only be about Anakin becoming Vader so those six movies would clearly follow Anakin and that would have been obvious in 1983/before the prequels were made.

Not at all. The prequels might have been set before Anakin was even born.

 

[Chris Will]

I can't believe this has gone over all of your heads for all these years, you guys are all wrong. The Star Wars saga, no matter what its creator has or will say, was never about Vader/Anakin or Luke; it has always been about the adventures of R2-D2.

 

[TravisR]

Not at all. The prequels might have been set before Anakin was even born.

Yes, they could have been. They could also have been about Luke moisture farming with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru but everyone expected that they would be about young Anakin and Obi-Wan.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

You're entitled to your opinion, but as long as you're making hyperbolic statements sans evidence like "they could only have been about. . ." and "everyone expected that they would be about" I'm'a call you on it!

 

[TravisR]

You're entitled to your opinion, but as long as you're making hyperbolic statements sans evidence like "they could only have been about. . ." and "everyone expected that they would be about" I'm'a call you on it!

If you're calling out hyperbole in a Star Wars thread, I think you can find a lot better examples of it than my posts. Anyway, as far back as the OT, Lucas was saying that Episodes I to III would focus on Anakin & Obi-Wan and the Clone Wars (basically the stuff that Obi-Wan tells Luke about in his hut in the first movie) and it's true that some people might not have know that, I can't imagine that too many fans were expecting anything other than what Lucas had talked about for nearly 20 years before they were made.

 

[michaeltrottar]

Like CG R2 in regular non-flying photos or more intense, the use of CG Duplicate Military. I think they never ever used a actual individual in Duplicate Trooper outfit.