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Star Wars: Episode VII to be directed by J.J. Abrams **NON SPOILER THREAD** — Page 25

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Ryan McAvoy said:

Just realised that Disney and Lucas are both responsible for a lot of the most ill-judged unintentionaly racist atrocities in film history:

http://www.chacha.com/gallery/5753/who-are-the-most-offensive-movie-characters

God knows what they could dream up together! The above article doesn't even cover the Ewoks sounding like Hindus and Disney's short films from the thirties.

Also factor in that ILM where part of the team beind the imfamous 'Mudflap and Skids' characters from Transformers 2 and you've got a recipe for disaster!

Yet another internet article rehashing the same crap about Song of the South. And they probably haven't even seen the film.

Ben Burtt picked exotic languages Western audience couldn't recognize for most aliens in the OT, and even then he chopped and mixed them up. There's nothing sinister about it.

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Ryan McAvoy said:

Thrawn said:

I agree that Nute Gunray and his race are totally based on Japanese people... I kept expecting to hear one of the exclaim "Oh, no, it's Godzilla!", while pointing out of a window. But Watto is NOT modeled after a Jewish person... he's the stereotypical Arabic bazaar owner... Middle Eastern accent, a five o'clock shadow, and he keeps women as slaves.

Animator Rob Coleman admitted he drew inspiration from Alec Guinness' Fagin in David Lean's Oliver Twist for Watto (A portrayal by Sir Alec that had the film banned in Israel - Rightly or wrongly... wrongly IMO).

I love Watto. Probably my favourite PT character (Probably beacuse he has some!), sure he does say he loves "Only money" and deal in slaves but you can tell he's a softie at heart.

Because of Frink's machinations, I've warmed up to Watto in the past year or so. I want him in the sequels now! ;)

 

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Hey, it's me. said:

The thing is the Gunray accent was totally comical. It was like a Benny Hill piss take (rubbery instead of lovely) it was utterly pathetic. Here's a character who were supposed to believe is sinister and we just end up laughing at him! Great way to set a scene! Is this a fantasy/comedy? What's goin on? Lol

That's the problem with George Lucas... he simply can't character write... at least, not anymore. All of his characters either lack true depth, are cookie-cutter, or are blatantly greatly exaggerated caricatures of ethnic/racial stereotypes. Look no further than the godawful Dex character from the prequels... a comically (though not at all funny) exaggerated caricature of some obese, crusty, dirty, butt-scratching Brooklyn diner cook. Lucas just isn't that great of a character writer.

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SilverWook said:

Ryan McAvoy said:

Thrawn said:

I agree that Nute Gunray and his race are totally based on Japanese people... I kept expecting to hear one of the exclaim "Oh, no, it's Godzilla!", while pointing out of a window. But Watto is NOT modeled after a Jewish person... he's the stereotypical Arabic bazaar owner... Middle Eastern accent, a five o'clock shadow, and he keeps women as slaves.

Animator Rob Coleman admitted he drew inspiration from Alec Guinness' Fagin in David Lean's Oliver Twist for Watto (A portrayal by Sir Alec that had the film banned in Israel - Rightly or wrongly... wrongly IMO).

I love Watto. Probably my favourite PT character (Probably beacuse he has some!), sure he does say he loves "Only money" and deal in slaves but you can tell he's a softie at heart.

Because of Frink's machinations, I've warmed up to Watto in the past year or so. I want him in the sequels now! ;)

 

He's a simple dude who just wants a good slice of pizza. ;-)

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No, that's Pizza the Hutt.

“Grow up. These are my Disney's movies, not yours.”

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May 4th Q&A with Mark Hamill.  Nice to read these quotes on his views on special effects:

"He also said since then he's only had one creative meeting with Kathleen Kennedy in which he brought up the desire to have a more balanced approach to the effects. His favorite film is the 1933 King Kong and he loves the way they used all sorts of tricks to pull off the effects and he also believes part of the longevity of the original trilogy is in those effects.

“There's nothing wrong with CGI, but I think you have to have a balance because the camera perceives the width and the depth and the weight of a miniature or a model.” He just said he isn't a fan of the one guy surrounded by greenscreen look and told Kennedy that he'd hate for these new movies to “look like Roger Rabbit.”

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/62268 


“In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.” - George Lucas

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I read that Watto's design originally was intended to represent the Neimoidians, but George took it and applied it to Watto instead.

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Watched "Into Darkness" today, it was full of action, lasers, space ships, music and tongue in cheek humor just like every good Star Wars movie, cough! cough! I mean every good Star Trek movie.

You never know:-)

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Goddamn it!! it won't let me change my Avatar!!!!!!! What the..???

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lpd said:

Watched "Into Darkness" today, it was full of action, lasers, space ships, music and tongue in cheek humor just like every good Star Wars movie, cough! cough! I mean every good Star Trek movie.

You never know:-)

Yes totally agree with the above, it is a fun ride...

However, it is also a badly plotted and stupidly structured mess. With core emotional scenes that woefuly miss the mark and that are in fact sobotaged by the plot and direction itself.

And if you are wondering has JJ turned down the god awful lense flair. Hell no! Now you've got hundreds of lights hovering between you and the actors in glorious 3D.

With 2009's Star Trek reboot I was so glad to have a new trek romp that I was fully prepared to forgive it the flaws.  But they've had 3 years to come up with something better.

JJ has only 2 years before episode VII. This does not look good.

VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.

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Hell I'm waiting for the BR to come out so I can edit ST and STID into one better film.

Can already see it in my head.

VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.

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Hey, it's me. said:

Goddamn it!! it won't let me change my Avatar!!!!!!! What the..???

Why would you want to! If you want me I'll be in my quarters covered in Taramosalata.

VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.

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Ryan McAvoy said:

lpd said:

Watched "Into Darkness" today, it was full of action, lasers, space ships, music and tongue in cheek humor just like every good Star Wars movie, cough! cough! I mean every good Star Trek movie.

You never know:-)

Yes totally agree with the above, it is a fun ride...

However, it is also a badly plotted and stupidly structured mess. With core emotional scenes that woefuly miss the mark and that are in fact sobotaged by the plot and direction itself.

And if you are wondering has JJ turned down the god awful lense flair. Hell no! Now you've got hundreds of lights hovering between you and the actors in glorious 3D.

With 2009's Star Trek reboot I was so glad to have a new trek romp that I was fully prepared to forgive it the flaws.  But they've had 3 years to come up with something better.

JJ has only 2 years before episode VII. This does not look good.

I saw it in 2D as I believe it was a retro fit wasnt it?

Yeah I agree with you too but we must remember these movies are scifi action popcorn movies. Yes at times its silly and unbelievable, things happen which make you go WTF but I'd take this any day over, say Prometheus which was more serious more "proper" scifi but at the end left me (and many others) scratching my head wondering why Ridley even bothered.

Lets just say it shat all over the prequels from a great height and I just hope the guy can make an exciting sequel to our beloved OT.

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lpd said:

I saw it in 2D as I believe it was a retro fit wasnt it?

I struggled to find a 2D showing. Seems to be more the case this year. I think most people, if given the choice would go for the better looking and cheaper 2D. So the cinemas prefer not to give you the choice.

3D isn't great in STID, not as bad as say Thor3D but still off putting at times. Especially the office scene where Kirk is talking to Pike. It was like they were two cardboard cut outs on two entirely different plains of frickin reality.

If you've got a choice go see it at a 2D screening and spend the money you save on a bag of revells.

Oh and another thing. In a funny way the FX in STID are totally unimpressive. In that they are so convincing you forget they are even FX. Especially the London city scenes which look like time warping location shots. Can't remember the last time a blockbuster film looked this realistic.

VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.

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Ryan McAvoy said:

Hey, it's me. said:

Goddamn it!! it won't let me change my Avatar!!!!!!! What the..???

Why would you want to! If you want me I'll be in my quarters covered in Taramosalata.

What a guy.

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Before it happens, please avoid STID plot spoilers in this thread. (There are off topic threads for Trek.) Hard enough to do my job around here as it is, and go to the movie unspoiled in a week. ;)

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Just saw the film and I was very impressed, I have full faith in JJ to deliver an amazing SW-VII

ILM's effects are flawless, impossible to distinguish between practical or CG,

Without spoiling anything.....one scene made the goosebumps rise as a ship rose out through the clouds.....nuff said

J

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http://starwars.com/news/star_wars_feature_film_production_returns_to_the_uk.html

Lucasfilm announced today that production of Star Wars: Episode VII will take place in the United Kingdom. All of the six previous live-action Star Wars movies have included UK production in such famed studios as Elstree, Shepperton, Leavesden, Ealing and Pinewood Studios.

"We've devoted serious time and attention to revisiting the origins of Star Wars as inspiration for our process on the new movie, and I'm thrilled that returning to the UK for production and utilizing the incredible talent there can be a part of that," said Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm. "Speaking from my own longstanding connection to the UK with films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire of the Sun and recently War Horse, it's very exciting to be heading back."

Earlier this year, representatives from Lucasfilm met with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, in London to establish an agreement to produce Star Wars in the U.K. "I am delighted that Star Wars is coming back to Britain. Today's announcement that the next Star Wars film will be shot and produced in the UK is great news for fans and our creative industries," Osborne said today.

Star Wars: Episode VII will be directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Michael Arndt and is scheduled for a 2015 release.

“Grow up. These are my Disney's movies, not yours.”

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That is good news! The UK is famed for the historic craft it puts into designing and building classic sci-fi e.g. The SW OT, Alien films, 2001 etc.  From listening to James Cameron's commentary to Aliens, it sounded like at the time he would've gladly driven the stuck-in-their-ways British unionised crew off a cliff but he still admitted that they took their time to make his film look wonderful.

So it'll be just 2 films out of 9 where suddenly half the galaxy speak with antipodean accents.

VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.

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Is Elstree still an active studio these days? Does the Star Wars stage still exist? Would be nice to see the saga back where it all started.

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SilverWook said:

Is Elstree still an active studio these days? Does the Star Wars stage still exist? Would be nice to see the saga back where it all started.

 

yep Elstree is still up and running. The Kings Speech was filmed there. Not too sure about the Star Wars stage?

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Glad to hear it. So many of my favorite films were shot there.

It would be so cool if Abrams went all out, and had another life size Millennium Falcon built. Only this time, give it to a museum when it's no longer needed for the films.

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SilverWook said:

Glad to hear it. So many of my favorite films were shot there.

It would be so cool if Abrams went all out, and had another life size Millennium Falcon built. Only this time, give it to a museum when it's no longer needed for the films.

It's been all over the news here this morning.