GZK8000

Tobar said:

Or that evil, black, assassin 3PO.

fmalover said:

TFA had its fair share of idiotic humour (the cringe worthy rathtars) and nobody batted an eyelash, in fact some even praised it “OMG SW now has comedy in it LOL”, and Johnson has decided to continue with Abrams brand of humour but now everyone is like “WTF Johnson is ruining SW with his comedy”. Seriously why? I don’t get it.

I would need to rewatch the movie but the only bit I do remember smiling was when a woman is doing a medical check on Chewbacca, because that’s the most OT Chewbacca bit of the movie (in the rest of his scenes, Chewbacca felt more like a terciary character with forced attempts at humor, being there just because without adding something substancial). Dunno why, but that bit reminded me of Chewbacca after the Imperial probe droid from TESB self-destroyed, I always smile at Chewie’s reaction there. The rest of the comedy from TFA felt very forced, not based in the characters just being themselves as in the OT.

Pretty much using the prequels or the Ewoks is the easy answer.

From the Disney movies, I’d say most of K-2SO’s scenes, specially the grenade scene.

joefavs said:

[…] and the two Leia-centric books had her alone too, as well as significantly younger and older than the OT time frame).

You forgot Moving Target.

It was forgetable.

lovelikewinter said:

Smuggler’s Run
Weapon of a Jedi
Moving Target

Of these three, Smuggler’s Run is the best and can be easily enjoyed by a kid. I’m not sure if OP would like to give the kid Weapon of a Jedi since there are some few sexual tones in the book.

That too, but the biggest reasons why I liked it so much were:

a) it’s a love letter for Leia, and it addressed many problems I have with the character in the OT, including the metal bikini crap. Princess of Alderaan (from Gray too) was also a Leia story, but it’s more of an origin/transition into adulthood/backstory, it tries to explain how kid Leia became OT Leia, and I find it uneccessary, while Bloodline takes OT Leia, makes her older, and develops her (still unecessary, honestly, but if the ST exists then Bloodline acts as a painless bridge).
b) it has a relatively quiet, calm story. Because the comics and books are free of technical limitation, they can do action scenes way too over-the-top for my tastes (the PT and ST are also too intense for me, but I can kinda understand a stronger push on spectacular visuals and scenes in the movies); Bloodline is quite free from this problem.
c) it does not attempt to make an OT-like movie in book form (second biggest complain I have with Shadows of the Empire, after the boring plot and villain). Rather, it’s a story set in the Star Wars universe with its own style and themes.
d) it doesn’t really add forgetable side/secondary characters to justify its own existene, using said charactes to add “depth” or “morality” or themes or whatever. There are some shades of this in Bloodline but it’s a very minor problem (and the non-Leia/Castefo scenes could have been cut and the book would still work), specially compared with many other EU stories.

It’s not really for kids, but I do recommend everyone Bloodline from the nuEU. Not very Star Warsy, it’s more of a political/detective story, but it worked for me. The other nuEU stories I have read has left me with a bad taste in my mouth, whereas Bloodline was very enjoyable. It’s also a better take on gray morality than the prequels.

I do agree that Star Wars has always been rather generic in its concepts, ideas and world building (Hamill said Lucas once confessed him he took the idea of the Force from hundreds of pulp fiction stories), and I do think that’s partially the reason why the post-RotJ films doesn’t work for me: they have tried to build an entire franchise (with some takes on morality and politics and with more complex stories) from a set of movies that were about an evil masked guy being evil, the good guy being an uncorruptable good guy, and the hot chick being a hot chick, the plot being a mere excuse to watch exciting adventures. You’re probably aware of this, but there was a 1979 paper about Star Wars (I haven’t read it yet, though) where the authors basically said the massive success of the first movie was the result of the lack of any kind of political message or philosophy there: everyone could make a different reading of the movie and insert their own narrative into the movie, which is why many spiritual people interpreted the Jedi religion in Star Wars as being based on their own religions and mythologies. Empire certainly was more scifi-ish than the first movie, so naturally many people uninterested in science fiction never bothered to watch Jedi.

I don’t particulary think the generic nature of the OT is a problem for marketing, because for many 1977 and 1983 people Star Wars meant lazer swords and mind control and a masked dude and Rebels versus Imperials (even the ST has taken a more OT-like line than the boring PT): it’s no surprise the pre-PT videogames took that route instead of being based on the oEU, because after all even in extremely limited systems like DOS or the early 3D consoles you can make space simulators or 2D platforms. In a world where the concept of parallel universes would be part of Star Wars, you could have sub-franchises, each one appealing to fans of every parallel universe, just like now we have PT-era stories that are marketed as part of the “Clone Wars”.

Perhaps the franchise could have taken the original path Lucas had in mind in the last weeks of Star Wars’s production: that every movie could have been unconnected from the rest, set in different eras, with only some aspects that would define them as “Star Warsy” (perhaps the presence of the Empire or the Jedi or “lazer swords”, but that’s it). Sadly, Vader’s massive retcon in Empire, as fantastic as a twist and climax for that movie, set the movies in the Trilogy/Saga direction. I still don’t understand why the main franchise “needs” to be about the Skywalkers (the ST may have a non-Skywalker protagonist but it has Luke and Ben as the two core characters of VIII and IX).

If only the EU authors could write stories set in OT-only parallel universes…

In Lucas’ mind, Luke met Anakin a few minutes before the dude died, so it doesn’t matter what shape the ghost takes.

It doesn’t make sense but it’s the SE after all.

In my headcanon the Stormtroopers from Cloud City allowed the heroes to escape, because Vader had ordered the sabotage of the Falcon’s hyperdrive and there was the change Luke might run away from Vader and to try to escape from the city. With Luke’s X-Wing probably taken down or heavily guarded, Luke’s only hope would be to telepathically call Leia. That way, Vader would capture all the good guys and Lando would reveal himself as a Rebel sympathiser, thus granting the Empire a plausible justification for taking Cloud City.

If Vader did not let Leia, Lando and Chewbacca escape, Luke would have remained in Cloud City until he could get a safe way to leave the city, and the Imperials would never capture him again (maybe Vader would have tried to torture Leia, who knows). If the Falcon is outside Cloud City, Luke’s first choice would be that ship.

Given how smart Vader is in TESB, I think it makes sense. But it’s headcanon.

ZkinandBonez said:

Yoda set to make comeback in Star Wars: Episode IX to ‘acknowledge Rey’s success as a Jedi’

Obviously to be taken with a grain of salt (especially with an “insider” source), but it does make sense.

If she fails, she gets a lightning strike.

Is the latest preview file available? If not, thanks anyway for your work poita.

From better to worse:

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Rogue One
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith

Mocata said:

Stormtrooper helmets can’t even withstand a blow from a rock being dropped on them, never mind actual hand to hand weapons.

Which specific scene from RotJ are you talking? I don’t remember any helmet breaking from the impact of a rock.

flametitan said:

On the same line of thought, one thing one of my casual star wars watching friends noticed is that to them Rey felt more like she was a supporting character for Luke and Kylo’s stories, rather than the lead character she was touted to be in TFA, and I can’t say I disagree. Now, as a director I can’t say my own ideas would be any better than RJ’s, but my idea to fix it would’ve been to at least give Rey her own plot point in having little to no control over the force. Like her force abilities are growing faster than she is able to keep them in check.

I feel doing that, it’d change the dynamic of Luke and Rey’s lessons, with Rey growing more frustrated that Luke is focusing more on telling her why the Jedi were bad than actually helping her with her problems. It’d also give Rey a reason to turn to Kylo for help, as he could actually be trying to teach her what she needs to learn, rather than a vague sense of, “I still feel good in him.”

This has been raised by some fans. I do remember someone making a video of how Rey and Jyn lacked agency in TFA and R1 and were in the story just because, or because one character needed them at one point or two. I would say Finn has this same problem in TFA, although not as bad as Rey.

In a Blackened Mantle-like fanedit, you might make the FO obsessed with capturing Finn because, as a guy who has been in Starkiller Base and under Phasma’s direct orders, he may leak stuff to the Resistance or reveal the existence of SB. So you might reduce or remove BB8 (I find the droid a much weaker, flanderized, irrelevant to the story and annoying version of Artoo) from the story and instead make the story about Finn and Rey.

Hardcore Legend said:
Once you know Vader is Luke’s father, you look back and see that everything Vader does in ESB and ROTJ is to be reunited with his son.

I know RotJ changed the character of Vader but I can’t really see TESB Vader torturing Han as “attempting to be reunited with his son”. I may be wrong but in my eyes TESB Vader was clearly written as someone who merely wants to use Luke as a weapon against the Emperor. He may have some feelings but he wouldn’t put Luke above his own quest for ultimate power.

Hardcore Legend said:

GZK8000 said:

Hardcore Legend said:

There is no redemption. He needs to die like a dog. He murdered his father. He murdered his mentor. He murdered all of his fellow students. He attempted to murder his uncle. He either needs to win and the trilogy ends on down note or he needs to die.

I don’t see any reasonable way he can turn to the light and survive. He was part of the murder of an entire system.

You’re almost 35 years too late.

Is this in reference to Vader? Because his death was part of his redemption. There is no logistical way he could have survived and returned with Luke to the Rebels.

Also, I don’t think we actually saw Vader kill any Rebels in the OT. Kylo ordered the murder of an innocent village of people in TFA. He’s gotta die or win.

He betrayed the Republic in support of a space fascist regime. He helped the new Empire to hunt Jedis. He tortured Leia and sent Stormtroopers to kill or capture anyone onboard the Tantive IV. As the Emperor’s right hand, he gave thumbs up to planet killing weapons twice. He tortured Han and put him in permanent hibernation. He cut Luke’s arm. He forced Obi-Wan to commit space seppuku. He took control of a peaceful mining colony just because. He took Luke to the Emperor, who later tortured him. He sent countless of people to almost certain death just to capture a few people.

Saying sorry five minutes before dying of injuries caused by the tyranical, genocidal guy you helped and supported him for two decades is not enough.

CarboniteSolo said:

I think he and others have read the reviews for The Force Awakens, they know what not to do now, at least I hope so.

To be honest their chances of rehashing the OT are much smaller. They already rehashed SW and a few bits of TESB in TFA and TESB and RotJ in TLJ.

So naturally it’s time to rehash the prequels.

Hardcore Legend said:

There is no redemption. He needs to die like a dog. He murdered his father. He murdered his mentor. He murdered all of his fellow students. He attempted to murder his uncle. He either needs to win and the trilogy ends on down note or he needs to die.

I don’t see any reasonable way he can turn to the light and survive. He was part of the murder of an entire system.

You’re almost 35 years too late.

snooker said:

I enjoy Hux acting like a buffoon. Makes him less of a Tarkin-archetype like he was in the first movie.

Personally I don’t mind Hux being less of a Tarkin-like character (although I didn’t find TFA Hux similar to SW Tarkin at all), I don’t even mind Hux or any other FO official struggling with higher level leaders and even conspiring against others. But Hux’s “buffoon” nature is a little jarring, specially because no other FO person seems to be very competent and smart against the good people: when it comes to harming anonymous people or advancing the plot, they may build superweapons or tracking devices which work through hyperspace, they may mount surprise attacks, but they allow important, Force user prisoners to be guarded by a single Stormtrooper, for example. Or they send two TIEs to capture two people and a droid when the Empire sent four TIEs while pretending to go after the Falcon.

It also raises the question of why has Hux become the big general. But Star Wars has a problem with characters proving they’re as good as other characters say (General Calrissian, duh).

I also think Ren’s chaotic nature diminishes the dangerous, genocidal nature of the First Order, and affecs the other characters, who aren’t up to OT Empire standards anyway (Snoke, Hux). You may not want to make a Vader-like character, fine. You may not want to make Ren as smart and capacle of mounting Batman Gambits as TESB Vader because you already made TESB. You may also want to say people like Ren are dangerous, regardless of their general competence, because they don’t know what to do with their own emotions and fears and uses their insecurities to harm other people. But you can put said character in the good side, rather than placing the character in the position a traditional villain would take.

At least the ST villains aren’t as bad as PT villains.

Plot Twist: Vader is back.
Episode IX: Vader’s Revenge.
With Yoda’s secret sister.
And younglings.

Jeebus said:

That Stormtrooper armor looks cool, kinda like an intermediary between Phase 2 Clone armor and OT Stormtrooper armor.

If there’s one thing I liked from RotS is how some ships are prototypes/early versions of the ships we saw in the OT. Shame it was restricted to few scenes, would have been nice to have seen a slow progression in the trilogy.

You asked why people bother with how a film was produced. I said some people care about this stuff, or they want to know what has the director in mind before judging the movie in these or those terms.

Enfys Nest’s design looks a little like trying too hard. Hope she ends up being memorable and related with the main plot (unlike Phasma lol).