Star Wars Discussion Thread v. Rogue One

[hefdaddy42]

lol british mods

[Zantera]

The decision to make the prequels 95% CGI has to be one of the worst decisions ever though. Bad dialogue and iffy acting aside, the prequels look so dated because of the decision to make them so CGI heavy. They might have been good for their time, but it looks like a cut scene in an early 2000's videogame for the most part. If they had put more effort into real props, real sets, the movies would have been more enjoyable. As it is now, watching them just feels like an assault on all your senses. So much crap thrown up on the screen.

[ariich]

I was just terrible

QFT.  But this thread is about Star Wars.

WHY I OUGHTA

[Calvin6s]

a

[Zantera]

Artists/Musicians/Film Makers etc. shouldn't have to cater to what the fans want.

Definitely, but like Calvin pointed out above, I think there's a line between catering to the fans and getting some second opinions. Just take the scripts of the prequels for example. They feel like first drafts that Lucas didn't bother to get a second opinion on, he just finished a rough first draft and then went with it. He could have told the exact same story, but tightened it up and gotten some help to write dialogue. What Lucas really struggles with in the prequels is writing characters and specifically writing how they feel, without them saying how they feel. Think about it for a second, most of the times the characters talk about how they feel, instead of conveying it through acting or other means. Darth Vader's "Nooo" is a great example of this. Lucas couldn't come up with a good way for Darth Vader to be upset over Padme, so instead he wrote this comical line which resulted in laughter in theaters. The Anakin/Padme lovestory overall is a good example of what Lucas does poorly. Instead of showing us why they are in love, the characters just keeps telling us they are. Same with Anakin and Obi-Wan really. We are told about their adventures and great friendship, but all we get to see is Anakin whining about how Obi-Wan is annoying, never trusts him, and so on. Obi-Wan also shows annoyance with Anakin, yet in Ep IV he talks about Anakin and says "He was a great friend", something they failed to show us.

That's ultimately one of the mistakes of the prequels for me. We are being told about characters reactions and feelings for each other, instead of experiencing it. In the old movies, we got to see Han/Luke become great friends through shared experiences, and there was a more natural evolution to relationships. The Leia/Han lovestory was great and also evolved naturally, and just compare that to the forced Anakin/Padme lovestory with "That must be because I'm so in love" -"No.. no.. I'M so in love with YOU".

[jammindude]

Sooooo true.   In the OT, we got to grow with the characters and see why they felt about each other the way that they did.

In the PT, we were simply told what these characters felt, and we were just forced to accept it.      When people compare the two trilogies, the similarities will be pointed out by the PT defenders, but poor storytelling is the root problem with the PT's.   

[Zantera]

Also, sometime after I first saw the Plinkett reviews of the prequels, I re-watched them and they really are 80% scenes with people either sitting in a room talking, or standing and talking, or walking and talking. Sure, a movie has a lot of dialogue, but I feel like this makes the point of my previous post even more clear.

[Accelerando]

Star Wars Land is coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Park!!!!

[bosk1]

Star Wars Land is coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Park!!!!

Awesome!  It's about time. 

[Accelerando]

The rumors about Star Wars land has been going on for a very long time, so hopefully during this time, they developed everything and can start breaking ground early next year in both theme parks. If Cars Land at Disney California Adventure indicates anything, we're in for a real treat. There's going to be a Millennium Falcon ride, new scenes for Star Tours, and a Cantina restaurant.

Along with this announcement at D23, George Lucas was named a Disney Legend along with Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman. Disney Legends is their Hall of Fame program. George Lucas did not only help create the Star Tours ride for Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios, but he helped produce Captain EO, the 4D space adventure with Michael Jackson, and he helped develop the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye ride at Disneyland Park and The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Probably also helped he sold billions to Disney. Here is his ceremony, introduced by Bob Iger himself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCCs1THKeSw

[bosk1]

The rumors about Star Wars land has been going on for a very long time, so hopefully during this time, they developed everything and can start breaking ground early next year in both theme parks. If Cars Land at Disney California Adventure indicates anything, we're in for a real treat. There's going to be a Millennium Falcon ride, new scenes for Star Tours, and a Cantina restaurant.

Any idea whether they are going to put it?  In other words, are they going to build out and expand onto what little additional land is there and add onto the guest-accessible part of the park, or are they going to jam it into the existing space and eliminate/re-create existing attractions?  I suspect you have no idea, but I thought I'd ask.

[Accelerando]

The rumors about Star Wars land has been going on for a very long time, so hopefully during this time, they developed everything and can start breaking ground early next year in both theme parks. If Cars Land at Disney California Adventure indicates anything, we're in for a real treat. There's going to be a Millennium Falcon ride, new scenes for Star Tours, and a Cantina restaurant.

Any idea whether they are going to put it?  In other words, are they going to build out and expand onto what little additional land is there and add onto the guest-accessible part of the park, or are they going to jam it into the existing space and eliminate/re-create existing attractions?  I suspect you have no idea, but I thought I'd ask.

Rumor has it that Disneyland's Toon Town will be bulldozed and expanded into the backstage area to create this area. I suppose they are going to rebuild Star Tours for the new land and create a new Tomorrowland attraction. But that is all speculation, and if that is true, then I hope that they are able to fit Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin somewhere else in that park 

For Disney's Hollywood Studios, I think that a lot of backstage area that is by their Star Tours (With that awesome giant AT-AT in the front!!!) will be gone to make room for the land. This park is also getting Toy Story Land, and that's going to be take over where Backlot Tour used to be. That attraction closed fall of last year. Disney's Hollywood Studios will no longer be the park that will take people behind the scenes of Hollywood productions, but rather put them in it.

[kaos2900]

An interesting nugget I read at IGN. The celebration song at the end of The Phantom Menace is actually a take on the Emperor's theme. Listened to it again and it's quite obvious now.

[Calvin6s]

a

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Your welcome

[hefdaddy42]

Your welcome

Still better than The Phantom Menace.

[Kotowboy]

Your welcome

Still better than The Phantom Menace.

It's like Poetry - so that they rhyme

[Phoenix87x]

[Onno]

Something else: I've been watching the Clone Wars animated series for a few weeks now. Aside from a few filler episodes (mostly in seasons 1 and 2), I think this series is really good. It has more character development than the prequel trilogy combined, has good voice acting, and a few key story elements of the SW Saga are elaborated upon, such as Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, his relationship with Padmé and the reasons and politics behind the Clone Wars. I haven't watched all the episodes; instead I use this guide and the individual episode ratings on IMDb to determine which episodes I'll skip; if the rating is too low for my taste, the synopsis doesn't sound interesting and the episode is not on the aforementoined list, I skip the episode.

Of course the show was made for children, and that's easy to notice sometimes. But it's not really a kids version of Star Wars per se. The stories tend to be pretty good, and as I said, make up for a lot of seemingly illogical stuff in the prequels IMO. I'd recommend it to every SW fan. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but personally, I love it.

[jammindude]

I think Rebels captures the spirit of the OT far more than The Clone Wars ever did.    Still has a bit of that "aimed at kids" feel to it, but seriously much better stories, atmosphere, characters, chemistry....just all around vast improvement.    (there were some animation blunders early on, but I think they've mostly fixed that)

[BlackInk]

I have seen all of Clone Wars, and I liked it fairly well, but haven't gotten around to Rebels yet. I might catch up before Ep VII comes though.

[Onno]

I really like Rebels as well. The atmosphere between ROTS-ANH is so interesting.

[Implode]

I came across this, this best recut of the prequels I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDLM-dXP-KE

It mainly focuses on the events of III and II with flashbacks and rearranging of some events. A lot of things are changed for the better, including all the horrible dialogue. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes these sort of things.

[Calvin6s]

a

[hefdaddy42]

I can't watch those animated shows.

For me, the SW films have a certain look and feel.  And that look and feel is not animated.  I just can't do it.  Doesn't matter how much character development they do.  Film & TV are primarily visual mediums, and  my mind just can't reconcile what I'm seeing with one of the animated shows with what I'm seeing with one of the films.

[Calvin6s]

a

[hefdaddy42]

I can't watch those animated shows.

So how do you deal with book v. movie? 

I haven't read a Star Wars book in years.  But it's not the same problem.  Books aren't a visual medium, it's something else.  I can read a book about anything.

[Phoenix87x]

Benicio to play a villain in 8

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-episode-8s-villain-to-be-played-by-benic/1100-6430364/

Sounds good to me

[Calvin6s]

a

[hefdaddy42]

]I haven't read a Star Wars book in years.

I just started reading Star Wars - Aftermath (a trilogy)

It is supposed to be events after SW6:RotJ

It has quite a few nice parallels with the problems of dealing with the "aftermath" of "mission accomplished".

Oh yeah.  I need to get that.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Do you think The Force Awakens will crush Avatars record on the "highest-grossing film of all time"?

[BlobVanDam]

Do you think The Force Awakens will crush Avatars record on the "highest-grossing film of all time"?

God I hope so.

Even worst case it should crack $1bn. If the movie is actually good, it should be around $1.5bn, and if it's amazing, who knows.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yea even if it turns out to be meh it still will gross gianormously and crush atleast some records. If it's on pair with the insane hype that's been cooking the last year or so there's no above limit how much this movie will gross.

[hefdaddy42]

Do you think The Force Awakens will crush Avatars record on the "highest-grossing film of all time"?

It will make a shitload just because it is Star Wars.

If it is really, really good and gets a lot of repeat business, then yes, it will beat Avatar.

[BlobVanDam]

The Phantom Menace was one of the biggest movies ever, and that movie was awful. The trailer alone for The Force Awakens is already a better movie than TPM, and it already has a ton of positive PR going in.