Episode VII: 'The Force Awakens' Discussion Thread

[Omega 8]

Hamil is in the movie, Luke will be seen. Trust me.

[SnTrooper]

In the shot of Ren attacking Finn he has his helmet off. So unless Luke now has long black hair he is not Kylo Ren.

[mako]

Whether or not Luke is Kylo, (let's be honest, if you're absolutely sure one way or the other, you're kidding yourself), I see him as the MacGuffin of the piece. Like the Wizard of Oz, he's this mythical figure around which the plot revolves. The good guys want his help, the bad guys want his head.

 

He turns up for the last act, encouraging speech ("Get out there and win this one for the Gipper!"), climatic battle, inspiring cast shot, role credits, listen to millions of self-proclaimed fan-boys whine about how the movie sucked and the original trilogy was better.

[yojoebro82]

I see him as the MacGuffin of the piece.

 

listen to millions of self-proclaimed fan-boys whine about how the movie sucked and the original trilogy was better.

 

I actually predict the MacGuffin of the film will be Luke's original lighsaber, the one lost with his hand. One of the cast members said "everything hinges on the lightsaber". So far we've only see that one and Kylo's in action, so it's a safe bet he isn't referring to a saber orgy like we got in AOTC (thankfully). I'm guessing theres some story/mystery surrounding that one lightsaber....which could be cool.

 

Whinning will happen regardless of whether or not the movie is good. It's a given.

[mako]

Whinning will happen regardless of whether or not the movie is good. It's a given.

 

I see the whinning as a back-handed compliment. Nobody bitches or moans when a new Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible sequel comes out.

 

Only sci-fi and superhero movies inspire that kind of passion.

[yojoebro82]

 

Whinning will happen regardless of whether or not the movie is good. It's a given.

 

I see the whinning as a back-handed compliment. Nobody bitches or moans when a new Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible sequel comes out.

 

Only sci-fi and superhero movies inspire that kind of passion.

 

That is true, I guess...

[yojoebro82]

I don't usually do this kind of thing, but I watched the video of the two stars' reactions to the trailer. In all honesty, Boyega's reaction to seeing himself on film holding a lightsaber is probably the exact same as any of us would have had if we were in the movie. Kind of fun to watch.

[yojoebro82]

I think featostrength will appreciate this:

 

[featofstrength]

 

Whinning will happen regardless of whether or not the movie is good. It's a given.

 

I see the whinning as a back-handed compliment. Nobody bitches or moans when a new Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible sequel comes out.

 

Only sci-fi and superhero movies inspire that kind of passion.

 

 

I hate the MI movies...so there's one. And people made fun of grown men "bitching" about Jem and the Holograms...well, the reviews are in, folks!

 

and dont forget book adaptions outside of sci fi...tough crowd there. Waiting for the #$## to hit the fan for the younger, hotter, black Ms Marple movie coming soon

[mako]

Saw the Force Awakens character posters, and I'm just gonna put this out there: Leia looks pretty darn good.

[Wheeljack35]

I was watching some reactons to the newest trailer on the morning talk shows and the news about Luke comes from Harrison Ford.He said that there is a very good reason why Luke isn't on the poster and will not say why

[yojoebro82]

Here are a couple more new pictures.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/new-star-wars-7-images-shed-light-on-the-force-201443289.html

 

A couple that caught my attention:

 

The one with Kylo, Rey, and Finn in the snowy woods. Yeah, that mess of curly black hair on Kylo would make you lean toward guessing that he is NOT Luke....

 

Also the creature walking with a cage on his back. I love it. The return to using puppets and the like is really helping setting the "old time" feel that I'm hoping this movie will have. If I saw this same character in CGI I wouldn't have given a darn about him.

[featofstrength]

Here are a couple more new pictures.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/new-star-wars-7-images-shed-light-on-the-force-201443289.html

 

A couple that caught my attention:

 

The one with Kylo, Rey, and Finn in the snowy woods. Yeah, that mess of curly black hair on Kylo would make you lean toward guessing that he is NOT Luke....

 

Also the creature walking with a cage on his back. I love it. The return to using puppets and the like is really helping setting the "old time" feel that I'm hoping this movie will have. If I saw this same character in CGI I wouldn't have given a darn about him.

 

Luke has already run the gamut of emotions. Going evil was stupid in the expanded universe, and would just be plain lazy in this one.

 

Also... more practical effects? "As much as possible?"

http://moviepilot.com/posts/3658402?utm_source=fb-stream-post&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=kylo-ren-tv-spot

I want to believe that seamless wire work made that Stormtrooper go end over end after Han shot him.

 

Also also...lightsaber-blocking Stormtroopers. I'm gonna guess that came from the thought that there wasn't enough swordplay and that audiences might get bored? Skilled in hand to hand combat in an age where Jedi are "legend" yet they still can hit the broad side of a moisture farm with blasters...

[yojoebro82]

 

Here are a couple more new pictures.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/new-star-wars-7-images-shed-light-on-the-force-201443289.html

 

A couple that caught my attention:

 

The one with Kylo, Rey, and Finn in the snowy woods. Yeah, that mess of curly black hair on Kylo would make you lean toward guessing that he is NOT Luke....

 

Also the creature walking with a cage on his back. I love it. The return to using puppets and the like is really helping setting the "old time" feel that I'm hoping this movie will have. If I saw this same character in CGI I wouldn't have given a darn about him.

 

Luke has already run the gamut of emotions. Going evil was stupid in the expanded universe, and would just be plain lazy in this one.

 

Also... more practical effects? "As much as possible?"

http://moviepilot.com/posts/3658402?utm_source=fb-stream-post&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=kylo-ren-tv-spot

I want to believe that seamless wire work made that Stormtrooper go end over end after Han shot him.

 

Also also...lightsaber-blocking Stormtroopers. I'm gonna guess that came from the thought that there wasn't enough swordplay and that audiences might get bored? Skilled in hand to hand combat in an age where Jedi are "legend" yet they still can hit the broad side of a moisture farm with blasters...

 

 

Ah, good! Since your admission that the trailer was "pretty exciting", I was afraid you'd gone soft on this movie.

 

I don't know what kind of ratio of CGI to practical effects you're looking for. They said the're going to do more practical effects, I've seen evidence of it, I'm happy. No one ever said "zero CGI" and I would never expect that to happen in this kind of movie. If they need computers to help them make a trooper flip backwards or put a dozen fighters in the air, fine. There's a big difference though between that and putting four actors in front of a green screen for the duration of a movie. I'm seeing puppets and location shooting in these trailers. To me that means there's an effort, at least to give this a more visceral feel than the prequels.

[featofstrength]

There was a huge difference in Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones... more puppets, costumes, sets, location shots. Kinda like comparing sfx in Fury Road and Jurassic World this summer.

 

The did some excellent stunts in Indy 4, using post sfx to remove wires and safety harnesses. Again, I would love to believe they COULD do the same with a physical Stormtrooper...especially since they seem to be priding themselves on putting people in armor instead of going all Clone on us.

 

Indy 4 also had that monkey scene... so, yeah, somewhere between wire harnesses and jumanji, please.

[featofstrength]

 

Also also...lightsaber-blocking Stormtroopers. I'm gonna guess that came from the thought that there wasn't enough swordplay and that audiences might get bored? Skilled in hand to hand combat in an age where Jedi are "legend" yet they still can hit the broad side of a moisture farm with blasters...

 

 

For the "fans" :

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/01/lightsaber-battle-on-force-awakens-opening-night-hopes-to-break-record?utm_source=IGN%20hub%20page&utm_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=16&utm_campaign=Blogroll

[yojoebro82]

 

 

Also also...lightsaber-blocking Stormtroopers. I'm gonna guess that came from the thought that there wasn't enough swordplay and that audiences might get bored? Skilled in hand to hand combat in an age where Jedi are "legend" yet they still can hit the broad side of a moisture farm with blasters...

 

 

For the "fans" :

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/01/lightsaber-battle-on-force-awakens-opening-night-hopes-to-break-record?utm_source=IGN%20hub%20page&utm_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=16&utm_campaign=Blogroll

 

 

We'll see you there! I call green....

[mako]

 

 

Also also...lightsaber-blocking Stormtroopers. I'm gonna guess that came from the thought that there wasn't enough swordplay and that audiences might get bored? Skilled in hand to hand combat in an age where Jedi are "legend" yet they still can hit the broad side of a moisture farm with blasters...

 

 

For the "fans" :

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/01/lightsaber-battle-on-force-awakens-opening-night-hopes-to-break-record?utm_source=IGN%20hub%20page&utm_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=16&utm_campaign=Blogroll

 

Soooo. To celebrate the movie a bunch of guys around the country are gonna beat each other with colored sticks?

 

I hear they wanted to do something like this when the last Highlander movie came out, but it got . . . ugly.

 

Seriously though, that's why I love sci-fi! You just don't get that level of fan participation from Bridges of Madison County.

[yojoebro82]

Seriously though, that's why I love sci-fi! You just don't get that level of fan participation from Bridges of Madison County.

 

 

 

Exactly. Let them have their fun. Who cares?

[featofstrength]

 

Seriously though, that's why I love sci-fi! You just don't get that level of fan participation from Bridges of Madison County.

 

 

 

Exactly. Let them have their fun. Who cares?

 

 

$10 gets you a $2 "glow sword" from Oriental Trading?! Yippee!

 

Of course, the Uber-nerds can bring their own from home and join the "ceremonial banging of the plastic toys" for free.

 

You know what would be amazing? If lightsaber fights had inspired even a handful of fans to actually take up some form of swordplay as a genuine hobby or sport.

[yojoebro82]

 

 

Seriously though, that's why I love sci-fi! You just don't get that level of fan participation from Bridges of Madison County.

 

 

 

Exactly. Let them have their fun. Who cares?

 

 

More than fun for some...$10 gets you a $2 "glow sword" from Oriental Trading

 

That's OK. I'm willing to bet many of the participants are into the action figure hobby in which case they are used to getting ripped off buying toys.

[featofstrength]

I'm still excited:

 

FINAL TRAILER!

https://vimeo.com/143101569

[yojoebro82]

I'm still excited:

 

FINAL TRAILER!

https://vimeo.com/143101569

 

You know I have never seen that. Maybe this will be a good year to give it a watch. It looks like fun. Wasn't Life Day officially in November sometime?

[mako]

I'm still excited:

 

FINAL TRAILER!

https://vimeo.com/143101569

Ah yes! The Holiday Special. Most infamous, and possibly best camouflaged, variety special of the decade that brought us Donny and Marie, the Captain and Tennille, the Brady Bunch Variety Hour, and my personal favorite, Legends of the Superheroes.

 

Sweet Lord, how did we ever make it to the '80's?

[featofstrength]

 

I'm still excited:

 

FINAL TRAILER!

https://vimeo.com/143101569

 

You know I have never seen that. Maybe this will be a good year to give it a watch. It looks like fun. Wasn't Life Day officially in November sometime?

 

 

November 17th...had my annual Life Day party with goodies from the Star Wars cookbooks. Set up the Ewok village to stand in for Kashyyyk, populated with Wookie figures. A friend of mine gave me a hand painted ornament featuring Chewie's family.

 

Peter Mayhew is coming to a convention in my town in February. I bet I'm the only person there getting something "Holiday Special" signed

 

 

I watch the Dvd transfer I made from the who-knows-how-many-generations VHS tape I bought at a convention in the early 90s. It's ugly, but I love all the old commercials that are still included.

Here is a link to watch the cleanest copy out there, just discovered a few years back:

http://www.thestarwarstrilogy.com/starwars/post/2013/10/04/Star-Wars-Holiday-Special-New-Recording