DominicCobb

There's an argument to be made that Star Wars hasn't been clear cut good vs. bad, idealistic, and lighthearted since 1980.

Tobar said:

DominicCobb said:

by the way, Abrams is a very competent writer...

 Does not commute. Most of the projects coming out of Bad Robot have serious writing issues. And he had three of the worst writers in the business working for him for the longest time.

I did not call him a great writer (though I think he is a good one). But calling him incompetent is ludicrous.

Producing =/= writing. 

From what I remember Johnson is, in fact, writing the Episode IX screenplay, though I'm sure there's room for another writer to add to it.

When all is said and done I'd really like to see a comprehensive book on the making of this trilogy.

From what I understand Lucas had an outline that was entirely thrown out by Abrams (by the way, Abrams is a very competent writer and I think he was calling the shots more so than Kasdan). I'd imagine Abrams has an outline or at least an idea of where he thinks the trilogy should go but I imagine his priority was to make his film stand on its own (as many first parts do). I don't know if its been confirmed that he's producing VIII and IX, but I'd be surprised if he didn't as he's still a producer on the Mission: Impossible sequels and the new Star Trek. I think he really wants to move on to making his own stuff as soon as possible but he'll probably be around to consult and give feedback to Johnson and Trevorrow.

It actually makes a lot of sense that they'd have Johnson write both VIII and IX, as second parters are in many ways set ups for the conclusion, and conclusions are in many ways pay offs to second parts. They go hand in hand so its good that one person's there to breakdown those stories. 

The one thing I wonder is where is Kasdan in all of this? I know he's developing the Han Solo movie but it'd be strange if he didn't at least do some revisions to VIII and IX to keep them consistent with each other and the OT. There's certainly enough time before those films come out for changes. I'd honestly be surprised if Johnson ends up being the only credited screenwriter on both. To me it seems like he's laying down the groundwork for later drafts to be written with Kasdan and (in the case of IX) Trevorrow. 

When it comes to the visuals, I'm not all that worried. I hope that Trevorrow tries to remain consistent with what's come before but I do want some visual differentiation between the films which is part of the point of the different directors (though if Trevorrow even thinks about applying a color grade like in JW I'll be pretty angry). I think Trevorrow actually wanted more practicals in JW but didn't have the clout to make it happen. Obviously now he has a mega blockbuster behind him and it's become almost a mission statement on the part of Lucasfilm to go as practical as possible (and there's reason to believe that Johnson will go even further in that regard than Abrams). And I think it's safe to say at this point that the whole trilogy will be on 35mm (save the stray IMAX scene).

Yes the poster does scream alternate to me and Solo's inclusion seems a little forced.

If we could keep the spoilers to minimum that'd be great - just as much as the poster reveals. I know people have been skeptical that Jakku isn't Tatooine but I've firmly believed it until now. I just cannot for the life of me figure why they'd lie about that. But here we are, and not only are there two Suns but there's also a moisture vaporator.

I'm surprised they're revealing the return of Anakin's lightsaber so soon (in the teaser), and now showing who wields it. The fact that it's even in the movie is sort of surprising in and of itself. I wonder if it shows up early in the film. Or maybe it makes an appearance in a lightsaber duel that will feature in the next trailer/poster. 

I guess the poster raises a lot of questions which is probably part of what they're going for.

I think the poster itself looks awesome but it is both sparse and a little in your face, if that makes any sense. Ultimately it is a convention exclusive poster and not the official one sheet. I imagine we'll see a more traditional design for that.

Posters are pretty much impossible to avoid so I took a look at that D23 sheet and it is quite rad.

Not surprised they got Struzan to do it. But will he do the theatrical poster too? And when should we expect that? October?

My big question is how closely will this lead up to the original film (basically how prequelly will this be)?

Which sort of goes with my other question which is what will be the time span?

Since this is a spin-off, it has the liberty to jump around the timeline (time gaps, flashbacks, etc.). I could easily see this just being a film about the week before ANH but we could also get some backstory on the characters and the rebellion (for instance it's not surprise they're at Yavin, but will we see how they get there?).

Presumably the final scene could be Vader's Star Destroyer chasing the Tantive, but will they go that far? Will they show Vader? Though they could do either or both, my guess is neither. This is supposed to be a standalone film and I'd imagine they mean that in the truest sense. 

DominicCobb said:

ATMachine said:

Hopefully now that John Boyega is the male lead of Ep7, Star Wars casting agents will at last get bold enough to let more than one person of color be visible on-screen per movie.

Personally, I'm still holding out for Asian actors to show up in the live-action GFFA. After all, GL did want to get Toshiro Mifune as Ben Kenobi..

Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo is in TFA as is newcomer Maisie Richardson, both black. Don't know how big their roles are though (AND DON'T WANT TO). It's also worth noting that Oscar Isaac is hispanic.

The lack of asian representation is strange, especially considering the heavy Japanese influence on the saga. Maybe in another new movie. Wasn't there a rumor about a martial arts actor getting cast for Rogue One?

 Would you look at that... two asian actors in Rogue One.

Rogue One's cast and crew announced or how this movie is going to be awesome (pic included).

http://www.starwars.com/news/colin-trevorrow-to-direct-star-wars-episode-ix

Thoughts?

My feelings are mixed. Obviously you could do way worse. But, while I liked Jurassic World, I didn’t love it, and just because it’s a mega hit doesn’t necessarily mean its director should be given this trilogy’s conclusion. Trevorrow clearly has a more old fashioned approach than most modern directors, but he’s not perfect. JW was enjoyable enough but I thought the pacing was a little off in spots. And he’s probably better at directing than screenwriting, so I sort of hope that he’s not taking up writing duties.

On the other hand, Rian Johnson is still signed on to write this one and Trevorrow revising the script is sort of to be expected. It probably shouldn’t be a surprise that Trevorrow was hired though I guess I was still holding out hope they’d sign on Brad Bird. But maybe this is the next best thing? Bird himself has said that Trevorrow reminds him of himself and the two almost co-directed Episode VII (which should have made this hiring even more obvious).

I guess the most important thing to be happy about it that there are different directors for each film. Not only is this keeping with the OT, it ensures that each film will feel like its own beast and that each film will have its director giving it his everything with the knowledge in mind that this is their one chance to make a good Star Wars movie - so they’d better not mess it up. One thing I notice a lot these days when sequels are announced to films that aren’t out yet is that the filmmakers often seem to be too busy setting up for other movies. With different directors, you can be sure that they’re not going to want to have they’re one shot at the galaxy far, far away be a throw away feature length advert. Similarly, each film will be fresh and, with new blood in for the trilogy capper with their own ideas, hopefully Episode IX will not fall victim to the curse of the threequel (even if I’m already anticipating a repeat of the reaction to the OT - 1 is the audience favorite, 2 is the fan favorite, and 3 is mostly regarded as the least favorite).

Anyway, there’s really no reason for anyone to be pessimistic about this for the next four years. Trevorrow is a talented filmmaker and I’m excited to see what he brings to the franchise.

As a courtesy to fellow members, when linking to youtube videos or articles etc, please give both the title and source to which you are linking to - thank you.

I got the whole Williamson set on a whim after looking at some samples and deciding they looked awesome. Obviously on this site we all care about the original versions and I'm no different but ultimately the revisions are in a format that is easier to read and the changes were of course minimal and simply serve the new format and it was all supervised by Williamson. So who cares basically?

Good idea. Will do.

I've been reading the original Marvel run for the last week and it's sort of the best thing in my life right now. I'm on issue 18 now. It's not really the typical Star Wars stuff but that's part of what makes it great. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.

Will get to Classic Star Wars sometime soon. 

I'm not bored enough to list my entire collection but since this is a SW forum and I've been buying a lot of SW books recently I'll list the SW books I have (physically). 

These are the ones I already had:

- All the Visual Dictionaries

- Revenge of the Sith Cross Sections

- Making of Revenge of the Sith

- Wildlife of Star Wars

- Some kid stuff that I can't remember

- Thrawn Trilogy

- Empire Strikes Back Illustrated Screenplay

- William Shakespeare's Star Wars

- Marvel's Empire Strikes Back paperback

These are the ones I've purchased within the last year:

- The Art of Star Wars

- Han Solo Adventures

- Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1st edition! In good shape too, and not a bad price. Got it awhile ago, don't why I never posted about it. It's basically proof that I'm a true fan, right? Right? Anyway I love it.)

- Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (both 1st edition, sort of felt like I had to round out the trilogy, also super cheap)

- Splinter of the Mind's Eye (also super cheap 1st edish)

- Making of Star Wars

- Making of Empire Strikes Back (just came in today--beautiful book)

- The Star Wars paperback

- Classic Star Wars: In Deadly Pursuit, Rebel Storm, Escape to Hoth

- Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... vols. 1-3 (and now I have to get the other two so I'm looking for a good price on those)

Yeah I've probably over done it recently but I've been shopping smart and actually haven't spent all that much. But summers ending now and so are my purchases. So that'll probably it for now.

I'd be surprised if they're doing a Kenobi movie. They seem to be putting the PT behind them (even if Ben is an OT character, McGregor makes it closer to the PT perception wise). Besides, I get the idea that the anthology movies are the non Jedi movies (though people with special powers does fit in Trank's wheelhouse).

I would love to see a Kenobi movie though. But Boba Fett makes more sense. A fan favorite character who hasn't actually done anything on film.

The cast was not leaked. 

Some details: release date is May 25, 2018. Han will be late teens/early 20s. Was originally going to be the third anthology film but the second (most likely Boba Fett) got pushed back because Josh Trank is an asshole.

source: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/13/star-wars-anthology-young-han-solo/

ATMachine said:

Hopefully now that John Boyega is the male lead of Ep7, Star Wars casting agents will at last get bold enough to let more than one person of color be visible on-screen per movie.

Personally, I'm still holding out for Asian actors to show up in the live-action GFFA. After all, GL did want to get Toshiro Mifune as Ben Kenobi..

Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo is in TFA as is newcomer Maisie Richardson, both black. Don't know how big their roles are though (AND DON'T WANT TO). It's also worth noting that Oscar Isaac is hispanic.

The lack of asian representation is strange, especially considering the heavy Japanese influence on the saga. Maybe in another new movie. Wasn't there a rumor about a martial arts actor getting cast for Rogue One?

I'll read Shattered Empire and Aftermath after I see the film. I want to be walking into an unknown world. I'm glad I don't know what happened after ROTJ, that'll be part of the fun. I'm actually annoyed that images of stormtroopers are everywhere and that I know the names of the two warring sides. Actually, I know the names of pretty much everything just from headlines. Even if I see it once I'll remember it forever. It's like when they say "don't think of elephants." What are you think of?

I'm going to avoid the trailer if at all possible. I wanted to avoid the first teaser, but caved. I wanted to avoid the second teaser, but images of it were all over the web, so I watched it, thinking the best way for those images to be spoiled were in the context of the trailer rather than thumbnails.

I think even if there are images for the new trailer on the web, it won't be enough to get me to see it. I've been lucky that the first two were teasers. But they can't hold out on plot details for much longer. And I've avoided trailers in the theater before. It's not easy, but it's possible.

I'm going to have to seriously reconsider my internet activities for the next few months. I've already learned more than I care for from headlines. Once the real spoilees start coming I need to be far away. I might be completely internet free the week of the release. 

The good thing about the diner scene is that no editor worth a damn is going to keep that in. I'm still interested to see what you did with it though.

I'd also be willing to give feedback on grades when the time comes.

Well the natives had every right to fight back against the US army so any instance where they took things a little too far would be a shade of gray.

It'll be interesting to see how TFA deals with the force inheritance, and it obviously will as it's right upfront in the second teaser with Luke's VO. I don't think that line from ROTJ is necessarily saying that it solely comes down to genetics. I think there's still room for everyone to have that potential, but the Force just happens to be stronger than usual in that bloodline. It's a little ambiguous, but so is the nature of the Force, in and out of universe.

Oddly enough while the PT solidified the fact that not everyone has the same potential it also solidified the fact that Force ability is not passed down through generations as Jedi did not have offspring, so youth with Force abilities have been granted such at random and are always born to those (presumably) without Force abilities.

sunglassesatnite said:

As a pre-teen (or twenty-something) empty-headed idiot of low birth and low character who was "drafted" into the Jedi based on a "hunch" by a malcontent who was himself not highly regarded

Say what you will about TPM but I appreciate these aspects. Who did you want Anakin to be, some prodigy from a noble family who is recruited by the most respected master ever or some bullshit? The fact that he came from nothing and the person who brought him in had to fight for it are compelling narrative choices (whether they lived up to their potential is another matter). Luke comes from nothing and is brought into the fold by an old hermit well past his prime. That's the charm of SW's heroes - they're underdogs. I wouldn't have it any other way.

ATMachine said:

The problem, to my mind, is not the presence of the current SEs on home video, but rather the enforced *absence* of all the editions that came before it.

 Thanks Ric.