Star Wars News Thread

[lhb412]

I feel bad for fans of the original Expanded Universe, because that was the bread-and-butter for your hardcore SW fans for about two decades while at the same time the actual new SW movies disappointed. Naturally, I completely understand that Disney did what they did. Effectively erasing it all was the only way they could make the series of movies they've set out to make.

[O.Supreme]

[lhb412]

I'm gonna echo whats been repeated a multiplujillion times already, but I was just thinking wistfully about how much I want the original, unaltered trilogy on Blu-Ray.


I won't believe it until it's officially announced, and even then, maybe not until I own the discs and am actually watching them on my TV!

[XvGojira]

[jellydonut25]

So my Star Wars rundown thus far is:
Phantom Menace (no thanks)
Attack of the Clones (NOPE)
Revenge of the Sith (okay)
Clone Wars 2008 series (decent)
Rebels (only 4 episodes in thus far. It's okay...I want to know more about the characters...specifically Hera and I'm not super keen on the Inquisitor. I don't know what it is that bugs me about it, but it seems that "Always two Sith" actually means "Several Sith. Lots and lots of them, so we can have cool red light sabers all the time")

Comics
Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir (meh)
Kanan the Last Padawan (eh, not bad, but nothing really special or terribly interesting)

Novels
Dark Disciple (a good read, but a poor ending)
Tarkin (AWFUL. Horribly written, and unbelievably boring. Much of this takes place in passive tense, "He had done this" or "He once accomplished that" and you're like "Who the hell cares? What's happening NOW? Oh...nothing, nothing is happening. I'm bored." Fell asleep several times attempting to read this.)
Lords of the Sith (Better written than Tarkin, and thus more engaging, but a flawed book, ultimately. It spends a lot of time on action sequences, it winds up being difficult to follow at times, and though there are definitely characters other than Vader and Palpatine, there are also large chunks devoted to them and their relationship, which I don't think needs to be fleshed out anymore, as it's already been done in the original trilogy...and even in the prequels. Can we please move on from these characters? So much focus is on the action sequences, that a lot of potentially interesting sub plots and character moments are brought up and just dropped. At least this seems to get the character of Vader right, though, which Tarkin fails at miserably)
A New Dawn (Good, actually. It centers on characters we've never encountered before, aside from Kanan, and therefore there's some intrigue and interest in finding out about them and their ultimate fates. It's decently paced, and exactly what I want from an EU story: it expands the universe, brings in new worlds, new characters, new things, and doesn't get side-tracked by exposition on characters we already know from the movies and TV shows. Count Vidian is a solid villain and a welcome addition to the Star Wars lore.)
Battlefront: Twilight Company (JUST started it. Interested in this one as I don't think it deals with any of our main characters and is about some side battles in between New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, so things could go either way...possibly/probably bad for the rebels)


So, it's all a pretty mixed bag, I guess as one could/would expect when dealing with so many different creative minds involved, but still a tad disappointing. Disney purged the existing EU, which I was good with, but the expectation then would be that they'd tighten/focus and learn from what did and didn't work in the previous EU. I don't know much about the Legends stories, but I doubt to those who do it feels like this new EU is very different in terms of its quality or stories/characters (I think they even used some of the same writers). I'd really hoped a show like Rebels would signify we're going to focus largely on characters new to us, but stuff like Tarkin is a total drag not just in terms of its general quality, but also the choice of subject matter. Who REALLY cares about learning more about Tarkin? Lords of the Sith also suffers in that regard and some of the other books that lie ahead of me seem to be marked as Luke or Han or Leia stories. EXPAND the universe, please. NEW characters, please! Is that so hard? I'd imagine it gives you more free reign instead of essentially writing fan fiction.

[O.Supreme]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4fxpRc3IIEQ

Best mash up Ever

[Dai]

I took the afternoon off work to see The Force Awakens (I won't get into plot specifics until more people have seen it), and now I'm sorting through how I feel about it. I had a smile on my face throughout the first half, but felt rather deflated by the end.

It's a good movie, but borrows a few too many elements from the original trilogy to feel fresh or find its own identity (specifically one that you can see lurking in the background of the movie poster). This is surprising because, in many ways, the Star Wars of JJ Abrams feels very different from George Lucas's. This is most apparent in the way John Williams's music is employed. In the earlier movies, the music was frequently enough to tell the story by itself, and was pushed forward to operatic effect, but Abrams dials it back, using it more as conventional background music. Probably the biggest disappointment for me was that the new music themes were pretty forgettable, at least on an initial listen.

Where The Force Awakens really shines is the characters. With few exceptions the actors turn in solid performances, dialogue is lively, and it's just fun to watch them. Special mention has to go to Finn; turning a stormtrooper into the most loveable guy in the galaxy was a stroke of genius.

Bearing in mind I've only seen this once, compared to the many dozens of times I've seen the others, I'd currently rank The Force Awakens behind the original trilogy and Attack of the Clones, but ahead of Revenge of the Sith and 12 parsecs ahead of The Phantom Menace.

[klen7]

[lhb412]

I'd better avoid the internet for the next few days if I want to remain relatively unspoiled.

[jellydonut25]

It falls somewhere between Phantom Menace (2nd least favorite) and New Hope (2nd favorite) on the scale for me.

I think most of the gushing right now is from people who are just happy that they didn't screw the pooch. It's good. It's not bad. Therefore, because people went in so nervous due to three previous disappointments, and worrying that it was a whole new creative team and everything, it's AMAZING to them simply by virtue of being good.

It's weird in that it has some of the same exact problems as New Hope, in that there's an over-arching story (think Empire v. Rebellion and the Death Star of New Hope) but an emotional core (think Luke's journey and the more fantasy type adventure) and the two don't quite mesh up. My problem is, I think the two things are a tad more divorced here, and I think JJ was too afraid of being labeled as a nostalgia-whore to give the emotional thrust of the plot the proper time and development it needed to be something TRULY great, and once that portion of the movie is over, there's still a good 20 minutes of run-time left (maybe more) and it's kinda like "Okay. I KNOW what's gonna happen here, can we move it along a little faster? I don't know if I exactly CARE anymore." There are a couple of really cool things that happen in that last 20 minutes or so (one that I think a lot of people have probably wanted to see for some time), but it could all have been done faster...and there's actually one thing that makes it go faster that is just kinda...LAZY storytelling. Like, they realized they hadn't paid off the opening crawl/ostensible point of the movie, and did something that had absolutely no prior setup for it happening at that moment and then threw a huge smile-moment at you to make you forget they just did it.


A bunch of cool little things that will bring smiles to your faces as you notice a cool practical effect or little character/story moment that is just nicely done.
A couple of BIG things that are really good. Emotional payoffs, passing of torches.
A few little things that are not so good. The music is...blah. I'm really disappointed The First Order doesn't have a memorable theme, nor does Kylo Ren.
A couple of BIG things that are kinda bad. The aforementioned writing issue. Some pacing issues. And

Overall, I think I agree with an early review I read that said something to the effect of "The Force Awakens will make you feel every emotion you have. Both the good and the bad. It's overall both a thrilling and somewhat overwhelming experience."

[mr.negativity]

[Dai]

[Henry88]

[Mac]

[Dr Kain]

Star Wars The Force Awakens - Wow, the franchise is definitely in good hands. It does retread some old material and areas, but the characters are actually characters with development instead of just being a plot device as they were with the prequels. The light saber duels are done with such finesse and grit that they really feel like the this is a battle to the death and now it has made me question whether the cool choreography of the prequels were actual fights at all. You could actually see the ferocity involved when dealing with a light saber. The effects are top notch and there seems to be a bunch of practical effects to go with the CGI. Kylo Ren is more Vader than he is Maul, which was great as he is also actually a character. Finally, I feel sorry for all of those people out there who were spending huge amounts of money on the Phasma figure because you are probably going to feel like an idiot for doing so. In the end, there is nothing more I can say without spoiling anything, so just go see the movie and open your minds to re-enter the Star Wars universe. JJ Abrahms work on Star Trek was just him practicing for this delectable film that kicks off a new era for Star Wars. I give it an 8/10.

[Dr Kain]

[O.Supreme]

SW:TFA -Good Solid Film. Looking forward to future entries.

[tbeasley]

Here's my spoiler free review which I'll put in spoilers anyway -

[Rodanex]

"It's like poetry, it rhymes."

[Henry88]

$250,000,000
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=starwars7.htm

in one day

[Dr Kain]

Saw it again and I just realized a few things this time around:

1. Snock says Kylo is from the Knights of Ren. Does this mean there are more of them and that Ren is actually their surname while their first name is the name they choose? Does this mean the Knights of Ren are like the Inquisitors to the Empire?

2. There is actually a double meaning when Kylo has his conversation with Han. I just realized when he says, "I have this pain that won't go away and I need to do something I'm not sure I can do without your help to make it go away."

3. Rey must have been at the island Luke is on before because Kylo saw it when he was scanning her mind.

[lhb412]

I'll be seeing The Force Awakens in a few hours! I'm pretty dang excited, and I've mostly avoided spoilers since the movie's come out - I mean; aside from rumors and stuff that have been floating around for months.

I was a huge, huge Star Wars fan as a kid. I may not be fond of Lucas' Special Edition tampering, but I'm grateful it put all the movies back in the theater when I was 9 years old. I was mega hyped for Phantom Menace but, naturally, with each prequel my enthusiasm dampened to somewhere in the negative range. Here's hoping they recapture a bit of the magic, and I just hope they don't kill my favorite character: Admiral Akbar!

[Henry88]

$517,000,000
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=starwars7.htm

in two days

[lhb412]

[Hybrid Gojira]