Star Wars: The Thread Strikes Back

[Reply #520 on:]

Regarding Snoke:

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Remember this is Andy Serkis we're dealing with here. The guy has given some of the most acclaimed CGI performances in live action films. Did anyone actually question the authenticity of his performance in LoTR, for example? I'm sure he'll make it work.

What I want to know is if he's a giant monster or if that hologram's being a deceptive bugger.

I'm presuming the latter.

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No, I didn't question his authenticity because he fit so perfectly into the character.  I cannot recall which late-night show I was watching at the time, but the host was cajoling Andy to reprise a line or two, and he was a little embarrassed and reticent.  When he finally relented, the audience responded with the most enthusiastic standing ovation I've ever witnessed.

Still, I'm hopeful that the later in-person interactions will not be CGI.

And yes, I admit that I'd like to watch it again in a theatre, but going to a nice one is a major pain.  Option one is go after work, driving 30+ minutes through horribly congested rush-hour traffic, then paying through the nose for the privilege of fighting for a rare parking spot however many levels underground, likely circling for 5-10 minutes.  Option two is to drive 45 minutes from home to catch a matinee, which is what I did for Force Awakens.

The local theatre is wretched^*: tiny screens, awful seating, and worst of all, inadequate sound insulation between the individual 10 or 15 screens so they lower the sound to a level considerably beneath what I experience in my own living room.  The last time I went there was when taking my ex to see Episode I, and the experience was even worse than I'd recalled.  Five minutes into the film I stood up, took her out to the ticket counter, and demanded a refund from the manager (and received it).  I took a day off work the next week to drive her the nearly two hours to Seattle, and we watched it at the magnificent Cinerama theatre.

^*They probably have nicer theatres in Mos Eisley

I would have posted this in the main movie thread but for fear of the Wrath of Josh...

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j/k, Josh

[Reply #521 on:]

I'll have to admit I am relatively blessed by several decent cinema complexes within 30 minutes drive, plus irregular work shifts which allowed me to watch it in the middle of the day. I'm glad I saw it again because it so happened the first time it was on a much smaller screen, which I stupidly overestimated the size of and booked a seat right at the back of the theatre for...

Anyway, back to Snoke

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I have no doubt; Andy Serkis is a fantastic actor, whether live-action or as a motion-capture artist. They'll make Snoke work, it'll just be a shame that for what should be a really pivotal scene, you'll know it'll be CGI, after so much effort has gone into making it less CGI in general. That said, I'm fairly sure Andy would be on set, acting everything out - it'll be like Lord of the Rings rather than prequels. Probably.

If Snoke is a giant, well, then... that would be cool! Certainly different But then, Palpatine didn't end up being a giant floating head, so, who knows?

[Reply #522 on:]

I think it would be great if Snoke was not only not a giant, but if he was actually Yoda-sized.

We're probably past the point of needing spoiler tags in here, right? I can't imagine anyone who doesn't want the most popular blockbuster movie in the world that's been out for a month spoiled for them is going to come into the thread dedicated to it. That's part of the advantage of having the conversation in here instead of the general review thread.

And Tachyon: If your post has more to do with movie theaters themselves than it has to do with Star Wars, you're probably alright to post in the appropriate thread. Look out though, I have my eye on you...

[Reply #523 on:]

We're probably past the point of needing spoiler tags in here, right? I can't imagine anyone who doesn't want the most popular blockbuster movie in the world that's been out for a month spoiled for them is going to come into the thread dedicated to it. That's part of the advantage of having the conversation in here instead of the general review thread.

While it's a bit of a stretch, there's a slim possibility someone could get spoiled by unmarked spoilers if they're stalking their recent posts.

I mean... no, I never do that.

[Reply #524 on:]

I agree with KyloTheater. It's time to stab these Han Spoilertags in the chest with a lightsaber.

[Reply #525 on:]

Bruce Willis was Luke's father all along.

[Reply #526 on:]

re: spoilers, I saw a non-shooped-looking photo on FB of some ginormous douchenozzle driving around in his pickup with a large banner across the tailgate.  The banner had the Ben/Han spoiler in large letters.


Any thoughts or rumours or factual tidbits regarding when Ep VII might become officially available on consumer media?

Back in the day, during the Dark Times, it seemed like centuries would pass between the premier of a Star Wars film and its subsequent release on home video.  After the sixth film came out, that agonizing interval had diminished to a more reasonable duration: Revenge of the Sith was shown in theatres (mass market release) on May 19th, 2005 and available on home video by that November.  I'm making a wild guess that Lucasfilm controlled that schedule.  Now it's the Dark Mouse in charge.  The timings of the exclusive theatrical run, PPV, and home release is of course a delicate balance that the cold-blooded suits have to make in order to maximize their profits.  I will try to find patience, but there's no bloody way I'm going to wait two years, which was the interval for Return of the Jedi, iirc.

So over the last week and a half I've watched the restored versions of A New Hope¹, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi².  Plus the anti-cheese cut of The Phantom Menace that's on Youtube³.

Not being a patient boy by nature, when I get home from poker tonight it's going to be tough to resist watching at least one of the next two episodes (the anti-cheese versions, of course).  I really, really hope that the nerve-grating anguish of Anakin romancing Padme is kept to a merciful minimum


¹Brilliantly done, and a wonderful watch.

²WITH the proper ending: the original celebration score, and Sebastian Shaw as Anakin's Force spirit.

³Quite well done, with only one short cringeworthy shot remaining.

[Reply #527 on:]

About the worst thing that could happen is if Disney makes the movie something like a streaming provider exclusive, perhaps as an incentive to draw people to their own as yet unannounced (and, I should add, entirely hypothetical) subscription service.  However, I think they will realize how many box sets Star Wars fans have been willing to buy and will produce discs.  My instinct tells me they'll be available at least by Thanksgiving 2016 to capitalize on the Christmas buying season.

[Reply #528 on:]

I certainly hope so!  


Well, I was smarting after losing a lot on the last hand of poker, even though I finished ahead.  So I put on Episode II (anti-cheese edit) shortly after getting home.

This is a movie I've watched only once since buying it, as I'd rather be subjected to the sounds of people trying to ice-skate on a concrete sidewalk than watch the creepy, cringe-inducing romance between Anakin and Padme.

Fortunately, the edits are mostly well done and a lot of that material was removed.  The only edit I really noticed was in one scene where spoken Gungan was replaced with non-English and subtitled, and it wasn't really jarring (or Jar-Jarring, either).

Attack of the Clones is not a good movie.  But the edit bumps it up from a D to a C or C+ for me.  If they'd removed the Spielbergian conveyor belt scene I'd rate it a solid C+, or maybe even a B-.

And now I'm very intrigued, wondering how they (presumably) managed to edit out the M-word mention in Episode III, where Palpatine is stroking Anakin's ego and attempting to seduce him to the Dark Side.  I can't wait to get home and watch it!

[edit]

And I came across a link on FB this morning teasing some footage of Maz (no, not our Maz) that was supposedly cut from the final edit.  Footage where she was actively using The Force against the invading Stormtroopers.  

[edit II -- Revenge of the Edits]

Darth Maul uses Kylo Ren's Lightsaber

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[Reply #529 on:]

Inspired by Tachyon's anti-cheese binge, I too watched the PM anti-cheese version.  There was still a lot of guff I would have left by the wayside, but I suppose it was left in for pacing.  I did like that they changed some of the alien dialog to make more sense, though there was no helping the stinkburger selection of human dialog.

[Reply #530 on:]

I did like that they changed some of the alien dialog to make more sense...

And mercifully spare us the Gungan faux-Jamaican dialect!  That, plus removal of the M-word^*, took nearly all of the pain out, for me.

Treat yourself, and find a copy of the DeSpecialized Ep IV to watch.  I'm guessing that you're not old enough to have ever seen the original theatrical version?  Maybe on Laserdisc?


And finally, Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith (no cheese).  It was so-so.  I did have to turn the sound way down for most of the scene where Anakin confronts Padme on Mustafar, just before and after Obi-Wan emerges from her ship.

Amazingly enough, I realized at the beginning that I'd only seen this once, at the theatre.  And there was a lot of material that I'd forgotten over the intervening ten years.  e.g. I'd forgotten that Padme mentions her newborns by name -- Luke twice.  And yes, they managed to remove the M-word in a seamless manner.  It's a so-so movie.  I'll give it a generous C.


^*"Midi-chlorians".  It makes my skin crawl just to type it.

[Reply #531 on:]

I didn't see the first two movies until the Special Editions.  I had seen a pre-Special Edition copy of RotJ first thanks to a friend who did not care to keep the big ESB reveal a secret.  Consequently, I'm also not that fussed about a great many of the problems people have with the SE changes, Jabba in the hangar scene notwithstanding.

[Reply #532 on:]

Well.. here i go

I liked it the first time.. and enjoyed quite more the second .. many people werer saying that .. i went to the premiere to Madrid (500km car travel) and couldnt see it again until a week later in my town..  watched it a 3rd time in original dubbing and 3D.. but the 3D theather was rubish .. also there were only 4 people in the theather including me.. none of them were anyone i knew so it was ackward

Overall i enjoyed and liked it .. give it a 7/10.. i first gave a 8/10 but lowered it to 7 as i was digesting stuff .. actualy i went lower than 7 but after digesting i saw much stuff wich i really liked so i ended at 7... but im dissapointed .. it feels like its good but a lost great oportunity

the good:

-While it had more digital work than they advertised (watch BTS videos to see) Abrams used CGI very wisely.. it wasnt striking me in the face like the precuels did .. everything seemed beliable, and the only over the top stuff was out of necesity (starkiller base)..anm even so the stupid platform with the weird beams in Naboo seemed way more over the top and ludicrous than the starkiller interiors

-Acting was great.. i was pleased with everyone in this movie..  Boyega, Ridley, Driver and even Isaac had very good and beliable actings.. maybe Isaac was a bit "cheesy" but i still somehow liked the character .. (probably biased as he is an X-Wing pilot)

-Kylo Ren. and im sorry but i liked the character.. he is getting a lot of negative feedback .. that he seemed like an inmature winny kiddo.. well he is suposed to be exactly that.. an imperfect villain ..a Jedi falled recently to the dark side who is not totally black/white or simply has a switch "light/dark" side on him (atjem ....  Anakin) ..  the character is pretty complex.. he is an obvious Vader wannabe but cant get there and is torn apart by that and the aparent lack of respect high rank first order officers have on him .. and while he expected to see stuff clearer and be more powerfull resorting to the dark side he is not and thats whats probably fraking with him...  I believe that when he killed his father he was expecting that act to make him more powerfull, more focused and more centered on the dark side.. yet that didnt happent.. he was confused as he didnt felt any more powerfull or better.. he felt worst.. more confused and torn.. tought he didnt had much time to think about that before Chewei put a bowcaster bolt into his pancreas

-The first order stormtroopers were great.. they seemed way more competent than the original trilogy ones.. still cant hit main characters but at least they "justified" a bit here putting them in confusing and big multiple fights... not in a narrow corridor with the heroes right in front... the new armours are also growing on me.. i was not much sure at firsr as they seemed a bit too "apple" to me.. but its true that they allow the extras inside them a great more deal of movement and that shows in the movie.. also they had great moments.. i dont care if it was goofy by i love the GUAAARDDDS moment..

-"TR-8R" was awesome.. i utterly enjoyed that moment of a pretty anoyed stormtrooper going nuts on a character one on one..and getting the upper hand..  he is so popular that he is getting his backstory and Disney even said it might not be the last time he and Finn fight..  fan service? yes totally but in this case bring it..im in

-The ships were great.. the first appearance of the Falcon was just fraking epic.. in a totally unexpected and original way.. the entire theather cheered and applaused when the camera moved to reveal "the garbage" ..  we dont see much other ships tought.. the TIE Fighters are largely the same (the slighty bigger 2 seater variant with the chin turret is hard to tell apart as it uses the same wing panels) the new X-Wings are growing on me but we barelly see that , the Falcon and the new star destroyers..

-The lightsaber fights were great.. a clear return to the original trilogy fights.. with lightning enhanced using light rods for the actors.. abrams made sure the sabers had a weight so the actors would handle them like in the precuels .. despite the "real" (ie ficticious in universe) saber wouldnt weight any more as the blade is energy it allways gave a sense of realism in the original trilogy.. wich Lucas destroyed with his stupid circus spinning crazyness saber fighting in the precuels.. Abrams clearly went back to roots.. i hope they keep it this way throught the rest of the trilogy.. but they will probably ruin it (more on that later)

-It felt star wars.. from start to finish... i even apreciated that the first thing we see after the scroll is the triangular shape of a star destroyer..  i was wondering before if they would keep the original trilogy tradition or going something new like Lucas did in the precuels (in this case i dont blame him.. it was totally logic not have star destroyers the first thing in episodes 1 and 2 and Lucas gave us one in ep 3)

-Im very pleased


Now the bad:

-Another death star? really... i really hate this .. and i hated that it was planet size.. (a very small planetoid if the comparison graphic is right and exterior shots of the starkiller and recognizable structures on the surface seem to confirm this) i was fearing this since i saw the movie poster wich showed the "not-deathstar" but seemed to be made into an ince planet.. but then showed those shots of the first order speaking in a snowy enviroment ..and X-wings in the same.. and Finn and Rey fighting Kylo in snow.. and i was fearing "oh no they are not going to do that will they?" and yes.. they totally did..

Also the thing is suposed to move? because if it consumes a sun to fire it would only be capable of one shot.. that was left to anyone guess ..and while i enjoy a movie making me think (Mad Max movies) its up to us to guess the thing moves from system to system.. also the star would need to be quite small as the starkiller base is arround 1200km diameter (1/3 of the diameter of the moon.. yet normal gravity..trees.. snow, mountains..)

 .. but thats not the worst.. it was very.. very poorly...cheaply done and treated ..
In ANH the Death Star was the mcguffin of the movie.. the entire movie was about the existance of the DS, the stealing of its plans and delivery to the rebellion.. it destroying planets and the final showdown against it..
In ROTJ it was also the main plot.. the emperor had built a new deathstar and he himself went to it to lure the alliance out of hiding and put a trap to them .. the alliance took the bait as they could not allow the new DS to be completed and they had a chance to kill the emperor there

here it looks like badly inserted..  the movie didnt spinned arround that.. it was the first order and resistance trying badly to find Luke Skylwalker.. then oh look .. they seem to have a megaweapon capable of destroying several planets in one shot from the other side of the galaxy (concept simular to the galaxy-gun of the dark empire comics)... we shall destroy it before it destroy us ... wait.. we dont have any plans or any intell.. lets then send a long reconisance fighter to survei it and ask this defected stormtrooper who worked there.-.. voila! we have an attack plan.. and then send a strike team composed of 3 guys to lower the shields..  yes something similar to the Endor strike were we sent a Shuttle filled with like 30 or 40 comandos .. lets send an even bigger ship with just 3 guys... then the pathetic way they had to lower the shields (really.. are you kiding me?). tought i dont have much complains about the attack itself save for the lower numer of operatives in the ground ... because actually the resistance plan fails.. they fail to make critical damage in their first run and then must expend the next couple of hours arround trying to survive until the ground team realices it and tries to blow the regulator by themselves.. wich also fails but gives the resistance another shot at..  they could had done this way better..

And the worst thing.. is that this whole new-giant-not-deathstar was totally Disney's fault.. Abrams/Kennedy didnt want to make that but Disney has the final word on everything.. Disney aparently felt fans wanted to see another death star yet again... more on this later.

-Abrams could have handled Carrie Fisher better... those first shots and close-ups made the people ackward... and i could see in the next viewings that when she is presented from the side or in not close-up she looks much better...  its a director's job to exploit that stuff and could had shown up her in a better way.. Harrison Ford for example is old too but got much better shots somehow.. But fisher is acward because every time she shows up close you cant help but to to think you are watching old Carrie Fisher and not old Leia Organa


-The first order higher ranks totally lack the charisma of the empire.. i cant care less about Hux..  Piett  or Jerjerod despite their very limited screen time had way more charisma than Hux... First order oficcers seemed way more nazy inspired than their original counterparts.. wich contrasts with the improvements made on the stormtroopers.. im not sure that works... it gives them a discting feeling to the empire thats for sure.. wich can be seen as original as "they are not the empire even tought they totally want to be the empire"...

-Captain Phasma was a total dissaster.. the angry stormtrooper that tried to battoon Finn had way more charisma and interest than her.. she was advertised as a bad ass and she totally fails.. even when they capture her and force her to lower the shields... she didnt even hesitates.. she just does? what kind of resistance of loyaltie does she to the first order?.. totally wasted character in the movie..  
She will come back in episode VIII so will see if they try to fix it.. but in this movie she is absolutelly forgateble

-R2 waking up conveniently... yes i know he could be triggered by Luke or something. but you cant let THAT MUCH to the viewers judgement or personal guess.. it seemed too cheap

-speaking of cheapness.. the destruction of the republic was a HUUUGE letdown..  so they introduce the new republic (in text and mentions only) .. only to have this starkiller blow up the system were the new republic goberment was at this time (the Hosnian system) and just happens that ALL republic ships were in orbit of this planet.. ALL of them?

Its a galaxy with thousands of systems.. by this time 30 years later i guess than most of them would had rejoined the republic..  seriously would you keep all millitary in one system? is totally retarded and a cheap way to write out the republic out of the history and leave it like in ANH

maybe they can fix it later and show other republic fleets in episdodes VIII and IX.. because this is like blowing Washington or Moscow.. the rest of the country is there and they wouldnt be happy abut this empire wannabes blowing their leaders.. there would need to set a new new republic senate and chancellor..and reorganize the remaining army to fight this agressor.. this is what logic dictates.. but im afraid we wont see any more of the republic in the next films

-Too much context and information out.. ok you dont need to see and be told everthing (see the Mad Max movies wich tell a lot with very few words) but this is absolutelly lack of everything.. and why? because there is books out there and comics that tell it..

But no movie should need a fraking instructions manual to work

-Im dissapointed overall.. i liked it a lot .. but im dissapointed becase it was a great oportunity lost.. wich wont repite:

Abrams was great.. his part in this job (save for the Fisher handling) was spot on.. i had mixed feelings with him after seeing star trek but even there the parts of directing and fotohraphy were good.. and he did imho a better job in star wars.. he cured his lens flares-filia  acting was very good, sets were vety well done (even they used more CGI than they were saying), sound was very nice and he did many moments wich made the entire theather room cheer and applaude.. i felt energy there that i didnt felt in the precuels.. and i can help but guess thats what people felt in the original trilogy back in the late 70s/early 80s.. all that made sense.
the actors were good.. Lawrence Kasdan was in.. John Williams .. original cast willing to cooperate..

yet disney steped in and demanded a reboot of A New Hope to play it safe..

Disney btw was responsable of the starkiller and the very short time they now have to make the next movie .. thats the reason Abrams left.. he had a lot of discussions along Kennedy (who allways supported Abrams 100%) against disney and ended up being fed up with this..

And now i feel like this will be the best of the three... maybe Ryan Johnson can make a good work in episode VIII .. Abrams , Kasdan and him worked a lot tohether to write the script.. so many can work.. but episode IX... Colin Trevorow? REALLY?

episode IX will be an epic dissaster.. i have a really bad bad bad feeling about that

[Reply #533 on:]

The more I think about the Starkiller/Death Star similarity, the more okay I am with it.  Consider the original Death Star: for a spacefaring, terrestrial civilization such a weapon would be most akin to nuclear weapons in our context.  How much have nuclear weapons changed in the 70 years since they were first used (on a practical level...I'm not and don't mean to become an expert on the subject)?  The delivery systems has been improved, and the capacity to do more with less is increased, but overall they are just really devastatingly big bombs.  Much like the Death Star, where do you go from there?

Well, I think we've seen it.  Instead of a huge, lumbering space station that has to fly into orbit before blowing up a single planet a la the Enola Gay, you build a larger, stationary complex and launch multiple laser MIRVs at an entire group of planets, more like a ballistic missile.  It could be intentionally allegorical, but even if it were accidental it would still make sense given what we know about humans.  Forget that the people ordering these things were all autocrat-types who seem to have a penchant for ruling by fear and using coercion to gain compliance.  What kind of leader, in a mortal struggle against their enemy, would dismiss the technology that would give them the greatest weapon in history, a weapon against which there is no viable defense?

Either side would and should have built a planet-destroying device if it had the means and know-how.  Does it matter that it's not an Eclipse-class ISD or Sun-Crusher?  No.  People would still be saying, "It's just like the Death Star only..."  They'd be right.  Star Wars is always less Sci and more Fi, so a planet-destroying superweapon is just a dramatic device.  How it works—with the exception of that one part that is specifically important to the plot—is unimportant.  Moreover, since the Rebels and Resistance did not have the capacity to build a competing weapon, how were they supposed to fight it but exploiting small weaknesses?  That's got to be out of the Iliad or The Art of War or some other equally old time tome or treatise on tactics.  Maybe a Jedi could Force Push it into the Sun, but the Jedi have been in short supply in these movies and usually seem to be busy doing something else.

[Reply #534 on:]

Either side would and should have built a planet-destroying device if it had the means and know-how.  Does it matter that it's not an Eclipse-class ISD or Sun-Crusher?  No.  People would still be saying, "It's just like the Death Star only..."  They'd be right.  Star Wars is always less Sci and more Fi, so a planet-destroying superweapon is just a dramatic device.

the problem is not so a superweapon itself but the way it was thrown like nearly casually, even the destruction of the Hosnian system (wich was far a larger scale than Alderaan) didnt seemed to be that dramatic as Alderaan..  it would been better imho if they had left it in the background for the trilogy.. it was very poorly handled.

And about superweapons.. i got quite fed up with Kevin J Anderson and his mega-weapon obsesion... the maw prototype.. the sun crusher, the dark saber.. all those were his inventions and we made kind of a joke of the guy and his megaweapon thing.. only to see here something even worst.

and the way they came up with the strategy was lame... yes obviusly you cant kill such thing bit by bit.. and it makes sense it having a weak spot to exploit (the second death star didnt btw..  i dont know why people keep complaining about the second having same weak spot as the first or worst.. it didnt.. it was just still in construction.. those tunnels were for maintenance and transporting stuff inside the death star.. they would been sealed once completed.. same that at one point the reactor core was probably very vulnerable.. the rebellion simple didnt found out sooner).. but while discovering that was a big deal in ANH and it made sense after a carefully planned attack in ROTJ .. it was lame seeing they come up with that on the fly in literally 20 seconds..

still its funny that this reminded me the Rebellion strategy game.. were you could literally destroy a death star (or any ship/installation) with an infiltrated commando by sabotage.. it wasnt any easy.. actually it rarelly happent.. but it was posible

[Reply #535 on:]

maybe Ryan Johnson can make a good work in episode VIII .. Abrams , Kasdan and him worked a lot tohether to write the script.. so many can work.. but episode IX... Colin Trevorow? REALLY?

I agree. Rian Johnson is great and I think Episode VIII may be even better personally. But Colin Trevorrow is a horrible choice for IX.

[Reply #536 on:]

I agree. Rian Johnson is great and I think Episode VIII may be even better personally. But Colin Trevorrow is a horrible choice for IX.

I'm a big fan of Rian Johnson's work, looking forward to seeing what he does with Star Wars! Looper is one of my favourite films. (Also, interesting to note, Johnson directed 3 episodes of Breaking Bad, one of which is often named the greatest episode in the entire run of the show.)

As for Colin Trevorrow's work, I've only seen Safety Not Guaranteed, which is a nice little indie film about a guy who claims to be building a time machine. That film gets mixed reception, though, much like his first big "mainstream" film, Jurassic World, which I have yet to see.

[Reply #537 on:]

Jurassic World doesn't have a lot of substance (which is sort of predestined, given that it's the fourth film on the subject) but I thought it was well crafted and entertaining.  My only real annoyance was the over-the-top nature of one of the character tropes.

But I do not want a Star Wars film to be like JW.  I want a little mystery.  Some genuine passion, as well as respect for the emotional investment that a lot of fans have put into SW over the years.  Not a non-stop roller-coaster amusement park ride.

[Reply #538 on:]

Star Wars Episode VIII Just Got Pushed Back Seven Months

Major bummer.

At least we have Rogue One in the December of this year.

[Reply #539 on:]

Hopefully they're not reworking the script to add an even bigger Death Star... 

[Reply #540 on:]

They're adding the Death Cluster next, and after that the Death Galaxy.

Eventually the Empire's improvements will be so drastic that all the characters will have to be omnipotent in order to stand a chance.

[Reply #541 on:]

Star Wars Episode VIII Just Got Pushed Back Seven Months

Major bummer.

Quite the opposite ... thats good news everyone (Farnsworth voice).. my worry was the movies being too tight scheduled in a total comertial release .. with disney not caring about quality and wanting money now.

thats why Abrams left the directing of the other 2 ... he and Kennedy fought a lot with disney for more time and disney refused every time.. now they finally conceded.. when you make such movie in such tight schedule only a dissaster usually comes out..

so for me this was good news.. more time to polish and work stuff

[Reply #542 on:]

And speaking of sequels relating to this thread...

The Schwartz Awakens???

It's likely just a dream at this point, but I would love to see it come to fruition.

May the Schwartz be with you!

[Reply #543 on:]

Retrospectively, it was wise not to parody the prequels with a Spaceballs movie.  That Rick Moranis wouldn't have been in it was only one reason.

So, on another forum I saw someone complaining that Kylo Ren was a badass in the first half of the movie and a pushover in the second.  It hadn't occurred to me until then that he is pretty much infallible, as most Star Wars villains are, until he takes off his mask while interrogating Rey.  I had to say it's pretty effective filmmaking: he visually exposes his humanity and then does so in the narrative.

[Reply #544 on:]

He shouldn't have taken off the mask. He should have kept us all guessing. He should also not have stabbed Han. He should've signalled for Stormtroopers to open fire, and watched Han be cut down by a barrage of laser bolts. Instead of attempting to mind-rape Rey, he should have promised to give her something. Higher understanding? Purpose? A secret? Something. Then he could've made a less-clumsy attempt to recruit her later.

Kylo made mistake after mistake as soon as he took the mask off. Fuckup piled upon fuckup. I'm severely underimpressed by this trilogy's Big Bad.

Star Wars Episode VIII Just Got Pushed Back Seven Months

That's pretty much a confirmation that it's being re-written to keep Han Solo alive (he's going to be the highest paid anything ever to appear in the next one, that's already confirmed). Since pandering to fans of by rehashing previously plotted material is something Disney don't balk at, and even Lucas knew enough to rewrite the prequels to keep Jar Jar to a minimum in the second and third, I don't think that this is a huge surprise to anybody after the millions of butthurt Solo fanboys collective internet tantrum over his death.

But man, does it suck when people interfere like this with something that had all the hallmarks of shaping up to be something pretty damn good.

[Reply #545 on:]

Kylo isn't the Big Bad, he is Some Guy.

[Reply #546 on:]

Agreed with Svip - I think it's quite effective if we give the writers enough credit in assuming it's all written to show Kylo develop over time. He appears a Big Bad early on, which he clearly personally thinks he is, but in truth he's an overly emotional emo kid who has a way to go - it also works as the audience can almost believe the bridge confrontation could go either way, with Ben either realising he's got no real business being a Big Bad, or Kylo believing that literally severing his link to his past will set him free of his conflicted emotions and make him stronger - but even with that, as others have pointed out, this outcome is not guaranteed. Kylo/Ben may still go either way in the future and I look forward to seeing how they handle him.

He should've signalled for Stormtroopers to open fire, and watched Han be cut down by a barrage of laser bolts.

Dude, these are Stormtroopers, two minutes later they'd all be dead and he'd still be standing there; chances are they would have more likely hit Kylo anyway...

Anyway, I really hope they don't shoehorn Han Solo back into Star Wars 8 in a major way - a Force Ghost that literally haunts Kylo might be one thing, except that he has no business being a Force Ghost (unless we delve into a bit of psychology and have Harrison Ford play a construct of Kylo Ren's ravaged, delusional mind), or maybe he appears to Rey as her training progresses? Maybe Leia imagines him? But there can be no way that return to status quo ante could be acceptable - Disney can't be that stupid.
Right?

Apparently Mr Ford is being paid a packet of money to be part of the Star Wars land at Disneyworld - maybe some news stories are blurring together. Lots of speculation and smokes and mirrors too; it was reported that he had no interest in being involved in the Han Solo anthology spin-offs, even to the point of not giving advice to the next actor to play Solo; the fact that he got top billing in VII suggests some tight negotiations, so just how much a role would he want in Episode VIII anyway?

We'll see I guess...

[Reply #547 on:]

Wasn't Ford practically begging Lucus to kill Han off in episode VI? I seriously doubt he'd want to return to the role again, unless it's just a cameo.

[Reply #548 on:]

Very excited to play this!



The original Lego Star Wars game was fantastic, as was the sequel. I also played the one based on The Clone Wars, but I don't remember much of it. (Speaking of CW, I finished season 1 the other day. Really enjoying it!)

I thought they'd wait until Episodes VIII & IX before releasing a new Lego game, but hey, I guess they still need millions of dollars.

[Reply #549 on:]

Isn't LEGO supposed to be largest toy manufacturer in the world in terms of revenue and profit?

[Reply #550 on:]

They cant bring Han back.. at least not physically..

he inserted him with a plasma sword.. then he fell down a botomless pit.. and then that bottomless pit was thrown into a star....

literally

its hard to be more dead than that..

unless they go the "he went down some pipe in the side of the pit like Luke did in cloud City and some first order guys saved and kept him alive for some reason while also evacuating him from the StarKiller" ...

that would be a level of lameness and forced so :

[Reply #551 on:]

I think the outrage over how lame it would be to have him be alive would far outweigh any minimal complaining on the internet from a small group of basement-dwelling losers over his death. Despite what tnuk asserted, the overwhelming response to the movie that I've heard is Han's death scene being well-received and not even very surprising for most people to boot. I'm not sure from where Disney would be feeling much if any pressure to bring him back, especially when their ploy of not having Luke in any of this movie has created so much excitement for his role in the next one as to completely overshadow Han being gone.

[Reply #552 on:]

for some reason i saw i sliped a T in CAN-T ..and had writed "can" .. wich is the exact opposite of what i meant..

they CANT bring Han back for reasons described

[Reply #553 on:]

Despite what tnuk asserted, the overwhelming response to the movie that I've heard is Han's death scene being well-received and not even very surprising for most people to boot.

So many desperate petitions have been launched to bring back Han Solo (although, the highest number of signatures I've seen has been in the low 30s), and the idea has spawned quite a bit of Twitter rage. As well as this, I've seen countless "Han shouldn't have been killed" reviews online, and associated polls which all seem to agree with the reviewers.

There are butthurt fanboys out there. The pressure comes from the spectre of their disposable income suddenly not being spent on Star Wars merchandise because their favourite character is gone.

[Reply #554 on:]

George Lucas's Force Awakens re-release: Han shot first.

[Reply #555 on:]

How did they want Han Solo to die?  I mean, he couldn't just die of old age.  That would be too unfitting for Solo.  If he died in a pointless fight, that would also be stupid.

I am not saying they killed him in the best way, but it was definitely one of the better ways.  And in my mind, as fun as Solo was as a character, I think it's time for him to be put aside and let the new kiddos shine.  This ain't a fucking reunion.

[Reply #556 on:]

So many desperate petitions have been launched to bring back Han Solo (although, the highest number of signatures I've seen has been in the low 30s), and the idea has spawned quite a bit of Twitter rage. As well as this, I've seen countless "Han shouldn't have been killed" reviews online, and associated polls which all seem to agree with the reviewers.

I believe all of this. It still only represents a minuscule minority of opinion on the film though, at least from my observation.

[Reply #557 on:]

If Han Solo didn't die the movie would have no legs whatsoever. What is wrong with people?

[Reply #558 on:]

I honestly didn't even see anyone really talk about Han dying.

[Reply #559 on:]

The only people I saw talking about it were the ones deliberately spoiling it.