Anchorhead said:
I'm surprised at the doubt some fans are expressing, particularly around here. The very reason so many prequel & SE fans are pre-judging it (non-Lucas film) is the very reason I would assume people here would be optimistic.
I've never made any secret of the fact that I own, like, and on occasion watch only the 1977 original Star Wars. I all but abandoned the franchise thirty years ago, EU excepted. Even then, that was only after several people here made me give some of it a read (thank you again, by the way).
However, everything that caused me to abandon ship all those years ago has now been eliminated. With the restored franchise we now have a director with a proven track record of quality films. In just over 20 years, Abrams has an impressive record of success and recognition in film and TV, both critical and commercial.
He has successfully handled the restoration of another culturally significant franchise which had long since lost its way (Star Trek). He also very clearly understands the type of story, character, and tone of film that connected with audiences in the late 70s\early 80s, as well as how to continue it (Super 8).
His casting choices have also been amazing. If you can successfully recast Kirk, Spock, & McCoy, you can recast anyone. He's obviously a fan of Star Wars and from what we've seen so far it shows in his aesthetic, his set design, and his pacing (or sometimes lack of it, which is equally important).
To add a cherry on top, Kasdan is the screen writer. The very person who gave us what many people consider to be the best film of the franchise, not to mention the third Star Wars film and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Second cherry; they've gone back to the original McQuarrie art to guide the visual design.
There are plenty of people saying things like "I learned my lesson in 1999. I was tremendously let down with Phantom". How could you not have been? Nothing had changed since Return other than Lucas having removed anyone who didn't parrot his every thought. We'd seen how Lucas had tampered with the originals, and we'd witnessed him continually lying about the franchise while attempting to revise history.
Here we are 15 years later and all that made Phantom terrible has been removed and a great deal of what spoke to us 30 years ago has been returned. Not the least of which is the original cast, who have nothing but praise for all this is turning out to be.
If you have Harrison Ford fully engaged and complimentary, arguably one of the most outspoken critics of the original trilogy and director, you've no doubt moved the franchise back to solid ground.
For me, a fan who jumped ship a long time ago, what I've seen the past year is light years better than anything post-Empire.
It's an unpopular opinion, I know, but I enjoy Star Trek 09 the most of all the Trek films. I don't care if you guys don't, too bad. I will most likely enjoy TFA, too. What if it's awful? I don't know. We'll find out in a couple months (!) I guess.
Also, I would encourage all the people decrying Abrams's proclivity for camera shake and lens flare to watch the trailers for TFA again.
