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Posted

The 1st tv spot! Some new footage and dialogue.

 

 

Looks like there's gonna be scenes in every setting that they had in the entirety of the OT: Desert, Snow, Forest. One thing we're getting, for sure, is variety. Lookin' like it might be a globe (galaxy) trotting adventure like Indy!

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

 

I really feel bad for this guy. He clearly underestimated his audience when it came to the Prequels.

 

"They want to make a movie for the fans..." Yeah, what an insane notion. I'm glad Disney has it now. I'm sure he's dying inside - he's a control-freak w/ a massive ego...and a history revisionist. He is a genuine rebel - it's one of the qualities I admire about him as a film maker / artist - but he had his shot to tell another Trilogy and it fell flat.

 

He's not the same guy w/ that burning desire to tell a story. He was clearly motivated by finance, whoring out the quality of the franchise. I'm sure on some level, he resents the fans for not accepting his...vision - but what must suck the hardest, is that he knows everyone is happy he's not involved. That's gotta burn.

Posted

...He's not the same guy w/ that burning desire to tell a story. He was clearly motivated by finance, whoring out the quality of the franchise. I'm sure on some level, he resents the fans for not accepting his...vision - but what must suck the hardest, is that he knows everyone is happy he's not involved. That's gotta burn.

Damn. There is some hardcore Lucas fanboy anger inside you. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

 

I mean, as much as I disliked some of the changes he made to the Original Trilogy in the re-mastered versions, he is still The Father of the franchise. So it is hard for me to bare him as much ire and disgust as some other fans do. (Looking at you, Newt.) I think back in the day many of us fanboys were so precious about the Original Trilogy that we got lost in the minutia of it all when it came down to the additional footage and changes. The fact there was nearly zero NEW Star Wars footage released in over a decade contributed to that. But time has put some things in perspective for me, and as clumsy as the prequels were, they still have a lot of great characters and visuals (great story and pacing are more difficult to find), so I am not gonna hate on Lucas for at least trying to get his vision across. Bottom line is George Lucas is an artisit, a successful one, and many, many, many successful artisists have big egos.

 

It was 16 years from Jedi's release in 1983 to Phantom's release in 1999. And it's now 16 years from the release of Episode I to Episode VII In 2015. I think Force Awakens will benefit from 16 years of steady new Star Wars material when it comes to reducing any fan backlash over "questionable" content. A benefit Lucas didn't have in 1999. So, maybe it is time to cut Lucas some slack.

Posted

prequels didn't even feel like the same director, to be honest - and the fact that the new ones aren't has me optimistic

 

lucas no doubt gets his place/due for creating it but the bulk of the better stuff since the 80's hasn't been him, nothing wrong with saying such. Stan Lee's an iconic in comics but i don't know that i wanna read a monthly spidey title with him at the helm right no....wait, i'd prolly read that, so let's go with Frank Miller on bats anything

Posted (edited)

Revisiting the series for my column I came upon an epiphany. Lucas was never an auteur, the best things about Star Wars were never his to begin with. He had the ideas, sure, but he's a mediocre writer and a pretty poor director. The first Star Wars has very little going for it beyond some kickass cinematography (one of Lucas' strengths), great special effects for the time/budget, and a lot of potential. But the good movies in that series are Empire and Return of the Jedi where more competent directors/writers took over the reins and Lucas sunk back into a producer spot where he's more proficient. Star Wars was never Lucas' baby, it was his idea but the things we love about it were, like Alien with Ridley Scott, the work of other people. I agree the prequels are judged far too harshly but they were what the Star Wars series would've looked like if Lucas had been in control of every aspect of production. George Lucas is not an autuer, he's a producer, a cinematographer, and certainly an idea man but doesn't have the talent on his own to make anything as legendary as The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi.

Edited by Iambaytor
  • Upvote 1
Posted

right, but baytor's post kinda echoes the Lee/Ditko thing, or worse yet, Kane/Finger. creators are gonna get their due but that's not an issue for Lucas, his name's all over it. if anything, the other guys who really made things shine/brought out the memorable bits are the ones we don't know/cite...i mean, ryan's point on Ridley Scott wasn't even something i knew, but having seen the man's works since, it's clear he had help with the absolute classics he created.

 

to keep the analogy going: had that thread a while back on character's identity & how much % you give to who; creators are a given, but what if Wally Wood had more to do with how Daredevil is than Lee, or Miller's take on bats far closer than Kane's, etc? the formers' would still have their name on the cover, but the latter names feel like the ones not being given their due, to me.

 

TL;DR it's Lucas' baby, but it grew up to be something else entirely - maybe stepdads need more props

Posted

Eh, see the research I've done has counteracted that. Lucas created the skeleton of the world but his The Star Wars is radically different from what it actually became. He's the idea man and I'm not saying you could remove him from the equation without harming what makes Star Wars great, just like you couldn't remove Ridley Scott from Alien without drastically changing what that is. Lucas IS essential to the Star Wars experience. What I am saying is that he's only responsible for one part that others built onto/off of. It's the difference between The Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones and everyone involved had an equally important part in accomplishing what Star Wars is.

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Jurassic World was bettah

 

 

this was really better than i expected, and man was it refreshing to actually like the characters, much less care about their plight. i was good with a lot of it, i think the only knock i'd give it is the meme going around about one family's drama fucking up all of space - i'm okay with darth jr as han/leia's kid, but i'd actually be okay if homegirl wasn't luke's, somehow. lucas is salty as fuck right now, but i'll give him that tying stuff together so much does feel like it's a little afraid to branch out.

 

 

really was a great movie though, and reading random people online saying they liked phantom menace better feels insane. much love to lucas, but disney saying no thanks to his input looks like such a great move right now.

Posted

I just got back from the theater...

 

 

It was entertaining - I was engaged the whole way through, but damn - did it feel like we've been here before. Luke's appearance at the end was soooo disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing Luke for years now. That was it? Laaaame. I felt cheated. Looking forward to Episode 8, though - but Ep 7 felt really weak n' safe. A marvelous thing to look at - great production, but I honestly expected...more punch.

 

Posted

really? i kinda thought it hit the ground running

 

 

honestly, we hyped Luke up most of this movie, and he got his moment - while i was bummed about Han dying (apparently, they'd wanted to do that forever), i don't want the new ones revolving around the old guys so much. part of me is wondering if they're filming stuff together all LOTR-like just out of fear some of the old folks might pass before its done?

 

but yeah, this is Rey, Finn & Poe's time, i get them playing it safe but i don't want the old crew to be crutches that the story leans to heavily on in lieu of developing them, you know?

 

Posted (edited)

Oh, hell yeah -

 

 

The opening was great - I was gripping my hands together for the first 10 minutes of that movie. I genuinely smiled when they revealed the 'piece of garbage' (the Falcon). LOL! They did a great job of naturally 'passing the torch' - it all felt properly 'thought out'. I really didn't like the Episode IV remake vibe - totally reminded me of Jurassic World, which really rubbed me wrong in the theater. "Hey, man - don't call this a sequel - this is a reimagining / remake / reboot." Force Awakens felt like that - remake / reboot / reimagining. I knew where the movie was going as it was happening...because I know Star Wars so well!

 

Whatever - it introduced really charming, likeable characters, it did a great job of 'reintroducing' the Star Wars universe and that ending really upset me - that's it?! You want to see more! That's a good job in my book. I just wished it had more originality - take Star Wars in a non-cyclical / predictable place. I'm sure the sequels are gonna be wild - but the re-introduction felt too familiar and safe. I'm sure this chapter will fit when this specific Trilogy is done with.

 

Was that Coruscant they destroyed? That planet the First Order blew up after that huge speech? Are the First Order up-and-comers or are they the established government? Felt like I had to buy a bunch of books n' such to understand the nature of the universe / hierarchy of the galaxy.

 

Edited by Little Nemo McFly

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