Star Wars: The Thread Strikes Back

[Reply #360 on:]

Source on this?

Its even on wikipedia


Also on StarWars.com

"In addition, Iger confirmed that Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. The film, which continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set for release on May 26, 2017 "

[Reply #361 on:]

Its even on wikipedia

Right... I'm guessing when you said...

Episode VII will air in may 2017

...you meant episode VIII, because that's what your link says. The Force Awakens still has it's 2015 release date.

[Reply #362 on:]

Yeah, that's what I read on Wikipedia.

[Reply #363 on:]

I knew he was talking about Episode VIII. He just fucked up.

[Reply #364 on:]

I knew he was talking about Episode VIII. He just fucked up.

as usual ...



damn my fingers

If its any consolation it happens to me a lot in spanish as well  ... and its one of the reasons why i hate programming

[Reply #365 on:]

But wasn't a 2017 release pretty much predicted?  I am not bothered by this at all.

[Reply #366 on:]

Yeah, the two year wait is pretty standard for sequels, there was three year waits for all the sequels for both trilogies, so I'm not too worried with that

[Reply #367 on:]

Pretty rad.

[Reply #368 on:]

Yeah, the two year wait is pretty standard for sequels, there was three year waits for all the sequels for both trilogies, so I'm not too worried with that

All 6 first movies were released in 3 year intervals .. except obviously for episodes 4 and 1 (production for episode 4 probably started arround 1974 but Lucas had been developing his script from earlier since he noticed he couldnt direct a Flash Gordon movie)

But aparently JJ Abrams was given a deathline of 3 years (actually a bit less) and he considered it being quite short time.. and now the next guy gets even less..
unless there is heavy sharing of production stuff .......

Pretty rad.

Yeap.... seems like the final version.. i had seen the shorter version couple of years ago..  tought i dont like the music much (not bad but personally it doesnt match much with this for me) .. this final version has even more X-Wing/TIE Fighter stuff ... and the rebels do a bit more. Loved the inclusion of shields in the rebel fighters.. displays and sounds from the games and the huge detail..

Its also striking.. this is a 7m animation.. i think made by one guy over some years..  its practically 1/3 of the standard duration of an animated/sitcon episode... and that means that it would had probable cost if made by an animation company arround 1/3 million dollars.. (is not Futurama but this is quite effects heavy wich increases production prices even more).. even if its just 200000 bucks it puts work in perspective

[Reply #369 on:]

Cool, Clone Wars is getting another 4 episode story arc, about the Clone troopers:
http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-bad-batch-4-episode-arc-coming-to-star-wars-celebration

[Reply #370 on:]

Oh god... why cant they stop it allready...

literally beating a dead horse

[Reply #371 on:]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet

[Reply #372 on:]

[Yoda] Your trailers, you will not need them.

[Reply #373 on:]

WOO!

[Reply #374 on:]

I'm not even that big of a Star Wars fan, but I peed a little when it showed Han and Chewie.

[Reply #375 on:]

* Tachy blocks this thread to avoid spoilers...

[Reply #376 on:]

I'd barely call myself a fan, but wow... I've got nothing but hype for this movie.

That opening shot of a landspeeder driving along to reveal a massive crashed star destroyer was just awesome... not to mention the chase with the Falcon, among other things.

Also... the black Storm Trooper with the cape (Who has the name 'Captain Phasma', I beleive) looks so, so cool. Same to the new Troopers in general. I like that the only differences they made were minor enough to make them different, yet still 'in the mold'.

This isn't so much about the teaser, but more for you ultra-nerds... how expansive is the 'required watching/reading' for the basic Star Wars story? I know it goes a bit beyond the movies, but is there anything important a kinda-sorta fan like me should check out?

[Reply #377 on:]

This isn't so much about the teaser, but more for you ultra-nerds... how expansive is the 'required watching/reading' for the basic Star Wars story? I know it goes a bit beyond the movies, but is there anything important a kinda-sorta fan like me should check out?

I was under the understanding that they scrapped all the ridiculously vast Star Wars lore in favour of making only the movies canon. At least, that's what I heard. Could be wrong.

[Reply #378 on:]

I could care less about what's considered canon or not; Disney now owns Star Wars, so anyone who cares about the franchise in that manner has some sort of cfnitive dissonance disorder.

If you're interested in the franchise for the Star Wars story watch just the movies in this order: Episode IV, V, II, III, VI. It's called Machete Order, it makes both trilogy stories make sense, and it turns both trilogies into one cohesive story line. If you're going to show someone, anyone Star Wars who has never seen it before, show them those movies in that order; the characters are relateable, all the plot twists are left in tact, and furthermore it strengthens the themes within the story. Then you can keep in mind that the story was really about how a father and son restored balance to a galaxy; I like to think the main character, and whom the story is about, is Darth Vader.

If you're interested in the universe that Star Wars resides in, I'd suggest reading some of the EU stuff, playing the KotOR games, or just plain spending a month reading through every article on wookiepedia (warning: reading wookiepedia will steal your time in the same way that clicking on the tv tropes website will deposit you in an infinite vortex where time and living become meaningless abstract concepts). Going down this path will open your eyes to the fact that the Star Wars universe has been fleshed out in such a way that the story in Star Wars is like a footnote on some battle that took place in World War II.  The galaxy in Star Wars has a rich history with planet annihilating technology that's existed for tens of thousands of years; the skywalker story also has more depth with respect to the past, the Star Wars present, and the future. There's even an implication that the purpose for Darth Sidious' consolidation of power was not merely greed, but also a desire to take on the responsibility of guarding the galaxy from a very real, very serious, and very imment threat. You can also delve more into the philosophical considerations of whether the Jedis were the good guys or the bad guys, whether the Sith were the bad guys or the good guys, or whether this galaxy wasn't merely filled with a huge number of alien species confused in their existence searching for a righteous obtainable purpose in their lives, much as we live out ours.  If that interests you at all, I'd suggest that the Extended Universe material is a worthwhile endeavor to delve into. Wookiepedia really is a good way to go if you decide to dig into that stuff; it really seems to be the cliff notes for all star wars information, and for me that seemed acceptable to satiate my own interests.

[Reply #379 on:]

In other words...no.

[Reply #380 on:]

Why anyone would watch any of the prequels deliberately is beyond me.

[Reply #381 on:]

What's required depends entirely on which perspective one wishes to view the story from. If you want the story to be an adventure tale about a young person coming to age, finding inner strength, and overcoming the impossible, by all means just watch the original trilogy. If you want the story to be about how George Lucas hates his fans and became seduced by the allure of computer cartoonography, watch the prequel trilogy. If you want the story to have real depth and consider the many angles which protrude into our lives on a daily basis including the intricate politics of social interaction, then delve into the EU stuff.

None of it is particularly required to be fair.  George Lucas had a dream of making a large scale scifi movie, tricked some exceptional film makers into helping him, then realized he could make a load of money off merchandising.  If you enjoy the franchise get whatever you can out of it, eh?

[Reply #382 on:]

Why anyone would watch any of the prequels deliberately is beyond me.

The only prequel movie which is exceptionally bad is the first. Without considering the first movie whatsoever, the second two are not only palattable, but actually lend strength to the original trilogy. Luke wearing black in VI and force choking actually makes sense--parallels are made between Luke and whomever his father may be which coincide with the very real reality that we are all fighting a battle over the temptations of this life.  Furthermore, the identity of Darth Sidious and the identity of Luke's sister are made more prominent as plot twists with the viewing of the second and third films.

If you're going to completely ignore the prequels, I do certainly hope you're watching the original trilogy in the closest way to how it was displayed in its original theatrical release.

[Reply #383 on:]

Honestly, I think Episode II is far worse than I.

[Reply #384 on:]

This isn't so much about the teaser, but more for you ultra-nerds... how expansive is the 'required watching/reading' for the basic Star Wars story? I know it goes a bit beyond the movies, but is there anything important a kinda-sorta fan like me should check out?

I was under the understanding that they scrapped all the ridiculously vast Star Wars lore in favour of making only the movies canon. At least, that's what I heard. Could be wrong.

You're not wrong. The entire expanded universe is now a seperate canon than the movies, which are the "main" canon, and are free to contradict the expanded universe whenever they feel like they need to.

A new EU canon is expected to begin at some point, which will complement the movies rather than be a seperate canon from them.

Honestly, I think Episode II is far worse than I.

Remove Jar-Jar from Ep I, and Episode II is easily as bad. But I think that the weakest film in the prequel trilogy is actually the one that's the most fun - Episode III has some truly awful acting, dialogue, and direction. It's just that you're distracted from that by all the action, spaceships, lasers, and the lack of Jar-Jar (and the whole rise of Palpatine that's going on), so it doesn't seem quite so egregiously awful.

I just think that the prequel trilogy overall is a very weak addition to the franchise and could have been done much better.

[Reply #385 on:]

Episode III has some truly awful acting, dialogue, and direction.

Yes, but so do the other two. It's been years since I've seen any of them but I don't think anyone can convince me that Revenge of the Sith has dialogue worse than the "I don't like sand" monologue from Attack of the Clones.

[Reply #386 on:]

You're not wrong. The entire expanded universe is now a seperate canon than the movies, which are the "main" canon, and are free to contradict the expanded universe whenever they feel like they need to.

I find it hard to imagine that there weren't some grave contradictions already apparent throughout the Expanded Universe, considering the ridiculous amount of material by so many different authors that it encompasses. I'd be surprised to learn that there was much if any oversight there, and clearing all of it from canon rather than going through all of it to decide what should and shouldn't be canon seems obviously much less daunting for anybody trying to add to that canon.

If you're going to completely ignore the prequels, I do certainly hope you're watching the original trilogy in the closest way to how it was displayed in its original theatrical release.

Not many options on that front, unfortunately. The closest versions to the originals that have been officially released recently would be the bonus "theatrical" editions included in the 2006 DVD sets. Since the original prints of the films were apparently damaged beyond repair while transferring to the 1997 DVD versions (which were the ones that were first "improved" with CGI changes), the 2006 sets took transfers from the 1993 laserdisc versions. Unfortunately, these versions are mostly shit, as basically no additional remastering or color-correcting had been done on the picture or audio, and the resolutions weren't even fixed for modern widescreen televisions. Proof that Lucas doesn't care at all about restoring them and released them only as a cash grab.

There was a project that was undertaken to create high-fidelity restored versions of the original films, with no alterations to the special effects or dialogue but with excellently remastered picture and sound while still resembling the theatrical releases as much as possible. The fans who did it took from pretty much every source they could, including every home release as well as incredibly rare copies of the original prints of the films that had been collected. The results of this effort are known as the Despecialized versions. Unfortunately they still aren't widely circulated on the internet, and even less-often compressed for easy downloads from what I've found, but if you look you can find torrents for them. The people who made them are also still working on making them even better and releasing new updated versions over time.

I literally found out all of this just tonight. I'm not even that big of a fan/purist, but I've been wanting to watch the original trilogy again before the new movie comes out and figured I'd like to see as close to the originals as possible like you said. And thus this is what my research turned up.

[Reply #387 on:]

I loved the shot of Vader's helmet and the bit with Han and Chewie but everything else just seemed like a really generic sci-fi action movie.

But then, "indifferent" is probably the best way to describe how I feel about Star Wars at the best of times.

[Reply #388 on:]

I'd knew the minute I entered this thread, I was going to stumble upon, well, what I have stumbled upon. (Luna's brain not function yet. Too much words. Baby Laser up all night...)

Either way, I was stoked to see the trailer. Canon, non-canon. Disney or no. Prequels, sequels, cartoon series. (We re-watched all of Clone Wars when I was first pregnant, and for a hot minute Baby Laser was almost name Asoka. However, we thought that invited the nickname "Assie," which in term made me think of Bender... Anyway, I digress.) I will eat all of it up. At this point, I expect generic sci-fi, and I don't really care.

[Reply #389 on:]

I was under the understanding that they scrapped all the ridiculously vast Star Wars lore in favour of making only the movies canon. At least, that's what I heard. Could be wrong.

Disney didnt scrapped anything... it never was "canon" ...never was oficial.

Lucas had allready total lack of disregard towards EU sources.. and nearly all EU bits that showed up in the prequels were barelly eastern eggs (like the action IV transports, the juggernauts) with only Coruscant being the one mayor EU element taken seriously..

The CloneWars series was the first that began taking EU seriously and using it as sources for canon: The Dathomir night sisters, Mandaloreans, Z-95s ,  Coruscant lowest levels, holocrons.. etc. And Rebels now under disney is contunuing taking EU as source for some stuff, like Sinear Fleet Systems, TIEs lack shields,  inquisitors, Imperial Secutiry Bureau, that holodisc from JediKnight game.. etc


So i never understand why such uproard when Disney says they were ignoring the EU.. they jusy saying the obvious and what had been done until then by Lucas...

Yes.. nobody wants to see Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Pellaen , Corran Horn and Tycho Celchu, Jacen, Jaina and Anakin, Kyle Katarn, Bel Iblis, the new Jedi order and so more than  me... but we had for sure that under Lucas that wouldnt happent... disney says they dont have to use EU  as the base for new histories.. but they might borrow elements from it.. so there is hope

altought im afraid they will scrap some big EU heavy guns like the 3 offsprings from Han and Leia, or Mara Jade..

[Reply #390 on:]

So the long wait to watch the Star Wars Battlefront trailer has come to an end - now I just need to wait a little longer to see it without a obnoxiously large black box-cum-"sorry, we're experiencing technical difficulties, lol!" message blocking out a third of the footage.

Looks good otherwise.

The movie trailer itself looks superb however - really getting stoked for it now
Got some theories over some of the plot points for the film(s) but I need to wait till I'm feeling better before investing the time to look up everyone's supposed names.

[Reply #391 on:]

This is (currently) the official Star Wars canon:

[Reply #392 on:]

Meanwhile, this is what I consider canon:

• The original trilogy.
• The Timothy Zahn novels.

[Reply #393 on:]

So, does shadows of the empire not count anymore?

[Reply #394 on:]

BTW.. the wreckage the Falcon enters at the end of the teaser chased by a new TIE .. seems that its actually an upside down crashed Executor class SuperStar Destroyer:

[Reply #395 on:]

Rogue One is a heist movie set after Revenge of the Sith but before A New Hope.

It's about a bunch of resistance fighters who team up to steal the plans for the Death Star.

More info here.

[Reply #396 on:]

As was mentioned in that link, is that it for Kyle Katarn then?

Still, mostly looking forward to it. A part of me revels in the idea of Star Wars being opened up so all aspects of its universe can be explored, from the airy-fairy Jedi to the actual grim, bitter and bloody reality of its warfare, which R1 seems to be going for. Unfortunately I don't know if I can take Star Wars too seriously though. Depends on how they build the universe - a RL-based drama means it doesn't have to try too hard to convince the viewers of the stakes involved. Thing is though, it's Star Wars, so the need for exposition will not be huge, but convincing us that the stakes are high will be difficult, imo. They're up against the Empire, the same force which is toppled by a farmboy, a princess, a wise-ass, a walking carpet and a gang of teddy bears. They're fending off Stormtroopers, who famously can't hit the broadside of a Star Destroyer...

That said, there were several episodes of Star Trek that were able to convince me that I wasn't just watching a sci-fi fantasy. I'm very curious to see what comes of this

One other thing from all the previews going up - so, the desert planet is not Tatooine... Maybe they couldn't convince viewers that Arabian sand can substitute for Saharan sand?

Also I was very impressed that the new droid is a practical effect. Heck, seeing the lineup of neo-Stormtroopers at the back of the stage during the Celebration panel, when in ROTS they specifically set themselves the task of never creating a physical set of clonetrooper armour for the film, is a great sign.

[Reply #397 on:]

As was mentioned in that link, is that it for Kyle Katarn then?

Well... i use the spoiler tag for almost certainly spoilers about episode VII about what characters will not be on it ..

Show spoiler

Aparently they killed very basic EU characters like Jacen, Jaina and Anakin Solo... Mara Jade and Ben Skywalker... so if they went on to kill those im gessing Kyle is more than done for..

Still.. i dont mind they negating Kyle hystory about the plans.. because that was shadowy to say the least.. what we know canonically about the steal of the death star plans? only what the crawls say in episode IV:

It is a period of civil war.
Rebel spaceships, striking
from a hidden base, have won
their first victory against
the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel
spies managed to steal secret
plans to the Empire's
ultimate weapon, the DEATH
STAR, an armored space
station with enough power
to destroy an entire planet.

What does tell us? that there was a battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire not long ago before the movie, that the alliance won and that during that battle rebel agents stole the plans..

But then videogames tell us like 2 or 3 diferent histories about the stealing of the plans..and non of them involving a big battle.. and books do the same..

just look at the wookiepedia article.. its a mess.

so here i can see it makes sense to scrap all and tell the history.. the problem will be if even this movie fits with that short description in the crawls.. it only needs to be placed not long before episode IV ... and that the action takes place at least during a major battle between the alliance and the empire wich the alliance wins

Also I was very impressed that the new droid is a practical effect. Heck, seeing the lineup of neo-Stormtroopers at the back of the stage during the Celebration panel, when in ROTS they specifically set themselves the task of never creating a physical set of clonetrooper armour for the film, is a great sign.

It was worst than that.. ALL clonetroopers in episodes 2 and 3 were 100% digital.. Lucas didnt even did a single physical armour.. for something that only needed to use extras and plastic armours to make a physical presence.. he could even "clone" digitally the extras to make number but no.. lets turn all theese guys into digital non-existand beings..

hell even Temuera Morrison in the episode 3 in the scenes where he was next to Obi-Wan (as Captain Kodi) HAD A DIGITAL ARMOUR.. hell even his helmet was digital.. Morrison was holding an OT classic stormtrooper helmet wich was digitally altered to the clone type.

i never could understand that utterly moronic move ...why not just produce a dozen plastic armours (because the OT armours were plastic) and hire a dozen extras.. it cant be more expensive than having to digitally create so many effects and digitally edit Morrison in so many frames..just to create digital puppets that evidently move like a digital puppet.. it was beyond digital stupidity for Lucas...

[Reply #398 on:]

I've actually taken part in the process of playing a soldier that is later "cloned" to make the appearance of a larger army. Had to march through a bog about 10 times, trying not to fall over/in or set fire to my comrade-extras with the flaming torch I was holding. Great fun!

It's a bit laborious though; if you have the technology to have digital puppets go off and fight an epic set-piece for you, it would save time.

I remember one improvement they made for EpIII was that they hired professional soldiers and ex-spec ops guys to do the mo-cap work, making their behaviour and overall appearance a lot more convincing (and unfortunately setting a benchmark that makes the OT Stormtroopers look even more inept)

You could say a better alternative would be to simply dress the soldiers and ex-spec ops guys in armour and have them film it for real, but then again the same comparison is true - which is better, a 100 digital Stormtroopers who are programmed to act and behave like Navy SEALS or real-life sets of armour, placed upon 100 men off the street, who barely know how to hold a gun properly. Like me!

Though I will definitely say I prefer to see real-life armour and real people, and your opinion on the "we're doing everything digital, look how clever we are!" of the PT is something I wholeheartedly agree with.

Still, it's a mighty big claim by JJ that the film is already watchable without any ILM CGI effects placed into it. Fantastic if true, suggests the focus is squarely back on storytelling

[Reply #399 on:]

Where did he say that?