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ChainsawAsh

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31-Jul-2004
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24-Dec-2020
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Post
#343180
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

I think it may be interesting if the Jedi realize at some point that the tide is turning in such a way as to cause an incredible imbalance in the Force, and the only way they can stop it is to oppose the Republic - thus birthing the Rebellion.  This also makes it very easy for the Empire to discredit the Jedi, saying that they were fighting for the enemy in Clone War II (whether they do or not depends on who the enemy ends up being).

Post
#343164
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

I like the ideas, and to Octorox, he's right, it just seems that way because all he described were 2 or 3 major scenes in the movie, not the story really.  It still needs a glue to gel it all together.  It does, obviously, still need work though - it's a great start, but the end product will probably be very little like this initial idea.  That's how it always works (usually for the better).

We're starting to think in the right direction, though, and that I very much like.  RE Anakin's age, I think he should be 17-19, but not 20 or older, in Episode I, mainly for the reason Blackhawk said.  Honestly, though, it will work as far as Sebastian Shaw's ROTJ appearance if Obi-Wan is established as being about 10 years older than Anakin (I'd say he should be around 30-35 regardless), with about 30-40 years taking place between Episodes I and IV (longer, theoretically; Yoda could be seen as a precedent for the Force extending the life of a Jedi).

Post
#343141
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

I agree wholeheartedly with Blackhawk's view on the Jedi, and I really like the idea of the Clone Wars (I still think there needs to clearly be multiple "wars," otherwise why call them the Clone WARS instead of Clone War?) parallelling the World Wars.

I think it would be a great idea for Clone War I to parallel World War I, where the future Emperor secretly sets off an ostensibly small event that snowballs into a galactic conflict that ends in a victory for the Republic.  Then, Clone War II should show the Republic slowly degrading into the Empire, where they take a role similar to the Nazis in WWII.  Thus, the Galactic Civil War could be a continuation of Clone War II, though that ended decisively in a victory for the Empire/Republic - the Rebellion could be remnants of the opposing force of Clone War II.

The Republic should also be fashioned similarly to the Republic of Rome, and the Emperor should (similarly to AOTC) be appointed by the Senate as an emergency leader during one of the Clone Wars.  Except once he's in power, instead of being Caesar-ish, he should be more Hitler-ish, with the extermination and discreditation of the Jedi being similar to the Holocaust.

Post
#343132
Topic
Superman by Taolar (Formally: Son of Jorel) WORKPRINT AVAILABLE
Time

Apparently, there won't be a sequel to SR.  They're going the Batman Begins route with the next one - Bryan Singer won't be involved, either.  The bad news: the studio seems to think it's a good idea to make all their future superhero movies (Superman included) "dark and brooding" like BB and TDK since those made money.  (I read all of this on a couple different news sites over the past few months, but can't find the links right now)

Post
#342928
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

The PT should most certainly include Anakin's story, but when you start talking about depicting Anakin's turn to the Dark side, you enter dangerous territory with respects to the reveal in ESB (whch I think MUST be preserved).  The best way to go about it is to have Anakin start acting under the Darth Vader moniker as basically a Jedi hitman, but you have no idea that it's him - the Darth Vader thing is going on parallel to Obi-Wan/Anakin's story.  You get hints that Anakin isn't quite a saint, but the real "turn" happened long ago and it's really just about the breaking down of his cover as a Jedi, which culminates in Obi-Wan discovering that Anakin is evil (but not that Anakin *is* Vader), then he confronts him and apparently kills him.  The lie in ANH could just be Obi-Wan covering up the fact that he killed Anakin, which would alarm Luke quite a bit.

Then toward the end of Episode III, Obi-Wan confronts Vader in full suit and armor, but by the end of the duel, Vader says "You taught me well, Master" or something to that effect.  Giving Obi-Wan another student that blatantly turned evil as well is basically a fake-out to the audience, who assumes "Oh, so Vader is _________!" until ESB.

Also, for someone watching this new saga from I-VI will assume it's all about Obi-Wan until his death in IV.  You don't realize that the through-line for all 6 movies is really Anakin's fall and redemption until ESB.

It also makes sense, then, as to why Vader's role in ANH is much less than his role in any other film (including Anakin as "Vader") - you think he's just another villain from the first time you see him, rather than being a major protagonist who all of a sudden turns into a villain with 25 minutes of screentime in the next movie.

Post
#342918
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

Awesome, it worked.  Now for my basic-overall-skeleton-of-an-idea for the "new" trilogy:

Episode I should establish the galaxy as being a good place, peaceful and just.  But as the film goes on, we start to understand that there's something terribly wrong bubbling beneath the surface.  Anakin should be about Luke's age or older, and should be exactly as Obi-Wan described him in ANH (I like Bingowings' ideas here).

Episode II should show this darkness spreading, to the point where, while Anakin is learning the ways of the Force from Obi-Wan, he starts to realize that the utopian Republic he used to know isn't what it seems.  Palpatine should start to be a force in Anakin's life here, and should start subtly manipulating him into thinking that the Jedi are the reason for this trouble.

Episode III should occur during the Clone Wars.  Rumors of "Darth Vader," a Dark Jedi that no one has ever seen and lived to describe, should begin to circulate while Obi-Wan and Anakin fight in the Wars.  At this time, Anakin is a Jedi Knight and Obi-Wan is training another, much more rash, impulsive and potentially dangerous student, who disappears and is presumed dead.  Slowly, Obi-Wan should become aware that there's something wrong with Anakin.  They confront one another, they fight, and it appears that Obi-Wan kills Anakin.  Later, Darth Vader comes in, he and Obi-Wan fight, and Vader reveals that Obi-Wan was his master.  (This way, we know Anakin was starting to become evil, but don't know which of Obi-Wan's students is Vader until ESB.  In ANH, we believe that Obi-Wan is lying about Anakin because he doesn't want Luke to know that he killed him, but that he's telling the truth about the identity of Vader)

Naturally, this is just a very bare-bones sketch of my idea of where things should go, and doesn't yet take into account the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, or Luke and Leia, or Palpatine, or Yoda, etc.

The fall of the Republic should be a very gradual thing over the course of the three films, and the birth of the Rebellion should occur in Episode III.

I think the clones in the Clone Wars should be treated the way clones were treated in Zahn's books (not just because I like the books, but because I think the idea of the presence of clones being like a void in the Force is very intriguing).

Threepio, if involved, should NOT be built by Anakin and should be presented throughout all 3 movies as being complete, not as a skeleton, then dirty as hell, then nice and shiny.

And that's all I have for now.  I still think this is a great idea and I really hope something comes of it.

Post
#342917
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

Alright.  I'm on a new 'net connection.  Here's hoping I can post these now.

About the production process:

What needs to happen is, as TMBTM said, we need to kick around ideas.  Everyone who wants to help out should come up with outlines, then we should try to agree on the best elements.  Then, a couple people should write screenplays based on those outlines (note that we should be writing for all three at once BEFORE we start any animating).  Then, we can compare scripts, combine and revise them, until we have something everyone is satisfied with.  Then we'd have three 90-120 page scripts (feature film length) for our Episode I, II, and III.

Then we'd need to begin the conceptual process - the artists on board should come up with ideas for the look and feel of the locations, characters, weapons, vehicles, et cetera.  Once we're decided on those, we need to get voice actors.  Have open auditions, we post dialogue from each character we'd need dialogue for, then have people record the lines in character, and pick and choose the best (not limited to one character per actor, either - if one person works for several parts, they can have all the parts they'd work for).  *Then* we can begin the animation process, matching lip-sync of already-recorded dialogue, animating full shots from storyboards.  Then, send the shots to an editor, who cuts the video together.  Then send that off to a sound editor (if the editor chosen works for sound editing too, then fantastic), then get that mixed (which I can have done easily and well), then it's basically ready for distribution.Not so hard, eh?

Post
#342869
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

I still think everyone here is being WAY too tied down to the prequels as they are.  If we do this, we really need to start 100% from scratch, as if we're George and crew writing this in 1983, just after ROTJ has been released.  Not "What if Qui-Gon is the villain in II?" - instead we need to be thinking "Do we need Qui-Gon's character, or can Yoda or even Obi-Wan himself fill the role of the mentor?"  Instead of "How can we make Naboo's Gungans less annoying," we should be thinking "Okay, let's set this on Alderaan, focusing on Bail Organa and his daughter," or something to that effect.

Let's pretend the prequels never happened and write our own!  If we don't do that, what's the point of animating three whole movies from scratch?  Just edit the prequels if you just want to change things.  If you're making three whole movies yourself, why wouldn't you scrap everything you've seen and do it *right* instead of trying to fix something that's irreparably broken?

RE the droids thing, hey, if they work into the story we create, awesome.  But if you try to force them in there just because you feel that they should be in every movie, then you sacrifice quality for fan service, and that's what we're trying to avoid after the fiasco that was the prequels.

Post
#342815
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

I tried to post all these as one, but it didn't work, so here's part II:

---
Here's my thoughts on a VERY BASIC overall outline for the prequels:

Episode I should establish the galaxy as being a good place, peaceful and just.  But as the film goes on, we start to understand that there's something terribly wrong bubbling beneath the surface.  Anakin should be about Luke's age or older, and should be exactly as Obi-Wan described him in ANH (I like Bingowings' ideas here).

 

--edit--

Sorry guys, this doesn't seem to be working.  These last two posts are less than half of what i'd originally written as one post, and now it won't let me post the next part at all, so I'll just try this again later.

Post
#342812
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

And I disagree with you on everything except your EU comment.

I hate 99.999% of fan-fiction and 95% of the EU for the very reasons you said.  In all honesty, the Thrawn trilogy is really the only EU that I feel is up to par with the OT.  I don't even read EU anymore, and have read probably around 10-15 EU books outside of Zahn's.  So I'm not trying to make the preuquels more like the EU or anything, just something worthy of the standars set by ANH and ESB.

I don't believe that the "basic prequel story was correct" and doesn't need changing.  It was awful and didn't make any sense as a set-up for the OT.  The PT needs to establish the universe and what happened to get things where they are in ANH - the PT we got didn't do that.  In fact, the PT we got required the OT to be changed to fit what happened in the PT.  How does that not strike others as being very, very wrong?

Post
#342770
Topic
The Prequel Radical Redux Ideas Thread
Time
mrbenja0618 said:

I said this in another thread; but I wish a group of us would be bold; get together, and just reshoot the prequels...Haha. I laugh because I know no one will take me seriously; but if you really think about it; it could be done... Would take 20 years probably; but it could be done.

 

Alas; I think we're stuck with what we have. With that said; in my edit, I have actually cut the operating table scene so you hear no screams. The only scene that has screaming is when he's burning... That was harder to work for me.

Check out the Star Wars Animated thread.  We're talking about doing pretty much just what you said as an animated trilogy.

Post
#342701
Topic
STAR WARS Movies Animated
Time

I think if we do this, we need to completely rethink the prequels, pretend they DO. NOT. EXIST. - then start from scratch.

They need to be designed to set the audience up for the OT, while still preserving the surprises of the OT.  The fate of Anakin and the origin of Darth Vader both need to be ambiguous enough that the audience can accept Obi-Wan's story in ANH, if perhaps they are suspicious of it.  Likewise, the Leia-as-Luke's-sister aspect needs to be ambiguous, as well.  Hell, maybe the birth of the twins should occur off-screen, or between "Episode III" and Episode IV.  Yoda may be one exception to this - he kind of needs to play a part, and if he does the surprise of his identity in ESB can't be preserved.

The Jedi should be treated the way they were in the prequels.  I.E., they should be portrayed in such a way that their powers are more spiritual in nature and less well-known to the general public, leaving enough people skeptical so comments like "That anicent religion ... " and Han's disbelief in the Force make sense.  The Jedi shouldn't have such a prominent role in society and government - they should be on a different planet than Coruscant (if we use Coruscant) and should perform a more religious function, and should only aid the Republic under secrecy, and only if abstaining from involvement will cause a dangerous imbalance in the Force (which should also remain mystical and spiritual, none of that "midichlorian" bullshit).

Adding in characters just because people like them (Boba Fett, Threepio, Artoo, Chewie) is a HUGE mistake and should be avoided at all costs.  Characters should only be used if they are essential to the story.

The biggest challenge in doing this is really trying to forget about the prequels as they exist in order to make something entirely new that isn't just, as Adywan likes to say, "fanwank."

Post
#342390
Topic
Ideas Thread: for... The Dark Knight edits
Time

That's not how I saw it.  He was making Batman choose, alright - but Batman thought he was choosing who to save, when in reality the Joker made him choose who would die.  By choosing to save Rachel, he actually chose here to be the one to die - the Joker knew Batman would make it while the police weren't fast enough.  He did get to see his "Batpod" in action, and it was pretty damn fast.

That's another thing I'd like to see excised from the movie - any mention of the name "Batpod."  It sounds quite stupid IMO.  I don't think they ever called the Batmobile "Batmobile" in the movie.  It's a vehicle he uses, another high-tech gadget, a tool - but we don't need to know its name.  We can just be left to think "Batcycle" in our heads, the way we think "Batmobile" when we see his car.

Post
#342371
Topic
BSG
Time

According to the AICN review, the final cylon WILL be revealed in tonight's episode (though that scene was removed from the review copy of the episode - it comes at the end/toward the end).

I was betting on Gaeta, but after the webisodes and based on the "YouWillKnowTheTruth" website, it seems like they're trying real hard to make us think he is only to pull the rug out from under us.  I think he's going to do something to sabotage the alliance between the rebel Cylons and Humans, but won't be a cylon himself.

I've changed my bet to Elosha.  I know she's been dead since Season 2, but I think she's the original Cylon, living on Earth, controlling everything.  Either that or it's Dualla.  Guess we'll find out tonight.

--edit--

Wow.  I was wrong.

Post
#342370
Topic
Ideas Thread: for... The Dark Knight edits
Time

Both.  I thought both were kinda stupid, to be honest.

Cutting it in Hong Kong is easy.  Just cut Bruce/Fox's conversation in the crowd of people (not really necessary now that the sonar concept is gone) - now the second phone is just an EMP device that knocks out all the power to the building.

Cutting it later in the movie is trickier and, honestly, I have no idea how it'd be done.

Post
#342365
Topic
Ideas Thread: for... The Dark Knight edits
Time

When Batman's standing on the Sears Tower, and you hear the Joker say "....you'll find Harvey Dent there," cut from that to the parade and Bruce searching the apartment, as if the Joker gave him the address.

My ONLY problem with that is that I LOVED the scene with Batman at the crime scene.  Straight out of the comic books, and the first time he's really shown as a detective in the movies.  Even though I agree about the logistics of the shattered bullet, I wouldn't cut any of it out.

As for the ballet thing, just don't show him on the boat.  Show Dent and Rachel seeing the newspaper clipping, then cut to him in Hong Kong.  He didn't really need to *do* that, just make everyone think that he did.

And the disc 2 IMAX scenes do NOT include every IMAX shot in the movie.  They didn't even throw in the montage scene where Batman finds the coin, and Alfred burns the letter.  If anyone has the full-screen version, they should compare that to the IMAX scenes on disc 2 and the Blu-Ray - maybe they didn't crop them much since they're already basically full-screen.

Now, here are the ONLY suggestions I'd make to improve TDK:

1) Make Scarecrow's voice match his voice in BB (the distorted growling).  It sounds stupid and unimpressive in TDK.
2) Cut Dr. Crane's "Not my diagnosis" line.  Awful.
3) Cut "Have a nice trip, see you next fall."
4) If feasible (may not be), cut all references to the "sonar" thing.  I'd much rather see that excised than the bullet thing.