Humby

I think this is an interesting idea regardless of whether it's Boba Fett or not, whether it's a Star Wars movie or not.  It has a real western drifter type of feel to it.  And considering the idea starts with killing off the clone Fett, this would probably be set sometime between the two trilogies.  But even if this works, it's still gonna burn when he dies like a b*tch in ROTJ.  Although that never really bothered me the way it does some fans. 

Although I don't oppose political themes throughout the story, I hope they keep most of the actual politics off screen.  They will need to establish the political climate of the galaxy post ROTJ, but once they do so, keep the focus on the struggle of the protagonists.

Surely the antagonist's goals will have clear and serious political repercussions, but they need to express that through the characters, rather than through senate meetings and boring exposition.  And I think J.J. is just the guy to do that effectively.

Baronlando said:

I think all of our little rules about what makes it good/not good, should/must/can never happen, have to go in the trash. We're looking at maybe EIGHT movies in ten years, it's a totally new animal now. The director will have to just go with his gut and ignore us or it'll be a total clown show.

Not that I don't necessarily agree, but that's like telling the public to stop voting, because we aren't informed enough to understand government policy.  It's still an important part of the process to keep the audience feeling involved and relevant.

Not to mention that the writers, director, producers, and many others who are involved go through a similar process in deciding what to do with these films.  It all starts with discussion.  They just don't have years to bounce ideas off of one another like we do.  But I'm sure they have just as much fun discussing these things as we do.  And as a testament to this particular site, I think we are probably the most modest in terms of what we would like to see.  These forums are made of amateur film makers, story fanatics, and star wars fans.  I think we're actually pretty good at developing, critiquing, and discussing ideas.

darklordoftech said:

One thing I don't want to see is, "The Force is out of balance again. Put it back into balance."

No disagreement here.  The force was turned into a moral compass during the prequels.  As if balancing the force would suddenly solve all the problems in the galaxy.  I hope the sequels don't fall into such lazy tropes.

Despite the rumors, I still don't believe that the big three will be the only focus.  I think it's more likely that Arndt really sidelined them, and Abrams just wants to make sure that they have more presence.  This will still be the film where they pass the torch, but it will be a gradual transition.  I'm betting the younger cast will still see equal or even more of the action, while the older cast deals with more of the social & political elements of the plot.

Also, regarding the age-ism, it's important to note that many people that were introduced to Star Wars back in the late 70s and 80s are still interested in the original cast and want to see them have one more shot at saving the day.  I'm only 26 and I'm incredibly excited to see Luke, Han, and Leia get back into some action.  We won't be seeing them in any mind-numbing prequel style acrobatics, but I'm sure as hell they can believably defend themselves during an intense skirmish.  And the younger generation will be there to support them the whole way, while also drawing in the younger audience.  You can tell from the casting rumors alone that this movie is going to be chock full of supporting cast members anyways.

I'm willing to bet that there will be two different stories going on.  One following Luke, one following a younger character.  The two stories will then tie together at the climax of the film.  There is no doubt in my mind that both generations will have close to equal parts in the plot, they will just be juggling different issues.

CO said:

Hayden's in the ST = I'm out

Ben Affleck in the new Batman/Superman movie = I'm out

Hardly comparable situations, but I respect your opinion.  At least Affleck has some acting chops and can carry a film without making you roll your eyes.

I was in high school when ROTS came out, so I'm kind of the in between generation, where I was raised on the originals but I also just young enough to be 'wide eyed' about the prequels.  I remember my dad taking me to see TPM and I loved it.  Then when AotC came out, I was a little older and wiser, and I still enjoyed it but something about it didn't sit right with me.  By the time RotS came out, I understood that these movies were never going to be as good or culturally relevant as the originals.  I sat through it, and I enjoyed it, but in the end, it felt like an empty shell.

In the years since, I have trouble sitting all the way through any of the prequels.  TPM is probably my favorite, because I think it best captured some of the original spirit and fun of Star Wars.  Sure, it has a pretty bad child actor, an annoying cartoon rabbit, and seems to be packed full of plot holes and poor writing, but it none the less had a sense of discovery, and fun moments.

Anyways, I got off topic...  The point of this, is that Episode VII news didn't really shake my world.  I didn't start to get excited until JJ was announced as director, and the original 3 were rumored to return.  I enjoy Ardnt's writing, I trust JJ to respect the original material, and I don't think the original three would return if they didn't trust the script.  So once all of these things came together, I started to actually care about what happens with the movie.  And now I *want* to see it, and I *want* it to be good.

The original trilogy is and will always be Star Wars, where as the prequels were almost like poorly made fan films in my mind.  I originally expected the sequel trilogy to also turn out as poorly made fan films, but now I really want them to be part of what I consider Star Wars.

Oh I certainly agree, and I didn't mean to imply that scrapping everything is a good idea.  I was just pointing out the extreme option and how close to viable it actually seems considering the amount of work that needs to be done.  Obviously creating 3 brand new movies from scratch would be silly, but recasting a few characters, filming 'new' scenes, reworking the structure and certain plot elements is going to bring us as close as we've ever come to a complete remake.

Fassbender would make a good remnant imperial officer.  I wouldn't want to see him as one of the main protagonists, though.

And I'd like to see Hugo Weaving in a role that isn't the stereotypical maniacal villain.  I'd like to see him as an ally to Luke, possibly a Jedi.

The prospect of what is needed to REVISIT the prequels seriously makes me anxious, haha.  It almost seems that with the amount of work that needs to be done, Ady could create 3 brand new fan films to replace the prequels, and just use the films to pull different visual resources from.

ben_danger said:

I always throw out this idea, but I'm sure you could introduce characters in the PT who are older in ROTJ:R. They could be used to good effect in adding more depth to the 'BIG' story, while the heroes have their personal battles. Could also add a nice bit of bookending.

These could replace generals and pilot. Maybe even some of the troops on Endor and Imperial Admirals on the Death Star.

I think this is a great idea.  I still question why they cut out the rebellion scenes in ROTS.  Seeing Mon Mothma was one of the few nods to the OT that actually worked.  Injecting other characters into the prequels and subsequently into ROTJ's rebel debriefing and battle would be a great addition.

DuracellEnergizer said:

TMBTM said:

I don't know 7 people on this picture, is that normal, or am I just getting old?

Oh, it's completely normal. After all, modern teenybopper crap is completely forgettable (unless they shove it in your face and try to force-feed it to you). 

 The only person (besides our beloved Stars) I'm sure about is Miley Cyrus.  And having been a late 90's Disney kid, I think I recognize that blonde girl on the left.

EDIT:  Wait a minute, those blonde kids on the right... is one of them the kid from Big Daddy?

So despite the clear lack of interest here, I am still working on this project haha.  I just started new job and I've been a little distracted recently, but I get a couple hours of work in every week.

I'm reconsidering releasing any sort of clip or trailer, because there isn't really a short enough clip that emphasizes the point of this edit.  It would come off too simply as two clips from two movies juxtaposed right next to each other.  But we'll see.  And a trailer would just slow down work on the final project anyways, so I've kinda ruled that out.

There is however going to be a "Marvel one-shot" released sometime in the next few months that supposedly will feature Ben Kingsley in some form or another.  Some people claim it will be about the Trevor character, others think it will dismiss Trevor as a look alike and introduce the real Ben Kingsley Mandarin.  Either way, I want to wait until this is released before I finish my edit, as it may provide me with some good footage to use.

Oh, and Happy Belated New Years, OT-ers!

Anchorhead said:

It makes no sense what so ever that he's suddenly elevated to the feared-by-all status in the following film. What (in-story) warranted that transformation?

Exactly.  This was kind of the first slip-up, where Lucas started showing a lack of understanding of the world he had created.  This is one of the instances I can somewhat forgive, however, because in the end it does serve the story well.  But when Lucas got around to the prequels, he suddenly had this preconception that Anakin needed to "live up" to the name of Vader.  And that resulted in all this nonsense about a prophecy, a chosen one, and that Anakin's fate was somehow tied to the fate of the galaxy.  He didn't understand that just like Luke becoming a Jedi in the original trilogy, Anakin's fall to the darkside should have been auxiliary to the story.

CO said:

But I will also say that the SW movies would have gotten redundant if he just made them standalone stories like Indiana Jones movies, and no real overall plot line.  That's why I say every great franchise gets to a point where there is nothing more to tell, and the stories are just catering to the fanboys.

I definitely agree, and I didn't mean to imply that they should be standalone stories.  I actually like the plot that runs through the OT.  Although I think ROTJ could have been handled a little bit differently, I have no issue with the fact that Luke and Vader remained the main protagonist/antagonist up until the end.  Their intertwined fate gave the relatively small scale events of ANH new meaning, and that's one of the things I enjoyed about it.  What I intended to convey was that Anakin's fall to the dark side didn't need to be the sole focus of the story, and it didn't need to be so closely tied to the fate of the galaxy.  

The difference here though, despite any of our personal tastes, is that Abrams is approaching this project with an outsiders perspective.  This something that Lucas never had the ability to do, and that is (in my opinion) the biggest thing that went wrong with the prequels.

After years of being on the inside, Lucas had no understanding of what made Star Wars important in the first place.  I'm not accusing him of trying to sell toys as many of us like to do, but the cultural marketing of Star Wars is what influenced Lucas' decision making.  For example, Darth Vader was only a larger than life character to the audience, not to the other characters in that world.  But Lucas didn't understand that.  And that resulted in a story that focused on Anakin/Vader being presented as this fallen Christ-like figure.  Or perhaps look at the Jedi and their trusty weaponry.  The marketability of that iconography certainly influenced Lucas in making the Jedi being a huge focus, and such constant use of Lightsabers, scene after scene.  There are countless examples like these, and although that "cultural marketing" perspective may not have been his sole influence, it's still an obvious factor.

Now don't get me wrong, there are definitely certain fans out there who love the prequels, some of whom may only see Star Wars for its superficial imagery, and if they had any say in Lucas' plan, they would have made very similar decisions.  But a successful filmmaker who understand the history of both Star Wars as well as film history in general, will be far more capable of understanding what makes Star Wars interesting and engaging.

I'm not putting my full faith in Abrams just yet, but I am optimistic about what he'll be able to pull off.  You may not like his other movies, his aesthetic style, his interpretation of the Star Trek universe, etc, but at the very least, he always gets engaging performances from his cast, so we're already improving upon the prequels.

TV's Frink said:

Humby said:

The only complaint I could make towards Ady's new Vader hologram is that he looks a little short and stout for some reason. 

He's just a little teapot.

Earl Grey, of course.  It helps with the burns.

The only complaint I could make towards Ady's new Vader hologram is that he looks a little short and stout for some reason.  It might be the angle, but if his image were stretched just a tiny bit to make him appear taller, I think it would be spot on.  Either way, a billion times better than the old one.

bkev said:

I'm sorry.  I can't make this on-topic, but this resemblance is too uncanny to go unnoticed.

bkev, I'm really bad at detecting sarcasm online so I apologize if there was implied sarcasm there, but you do know that Dave Grohl, the singer in Foo Fighters is the drummer from Nirvana, right?

darklordoftech said:

Anyway, the sequel trilogy can do things to compensate for the prequels. For example, Luke could say, "The Jedi used to believe in midichlorians, but we now know that midichlorians don't exist."

In my eyes, I would much rather have a PT plot point be ignored than try to be fixed.  A scene like this would take me out of the moment.  Memories of Qui-Gon and young Anakin, memories of Palpatine's silly create life speech, these would all come flooding back and seriously take me out of what would probably be a meaningful conversation about the force (the only place a scene like this could probably fit).  Overall, it just seems unnecessary, other than appeasing a few disheartened fans.

I don't mean to pick on your idea, specifically, but it was a good example for me to explain why I feel it is more important to let the prequels be, reference them only in a broader manner, and leave the details out.  That way, those who want to ignore the prequels can continue to do so, but those who enjoy the prequels aren't completely left out.

If they can reference events from the PT without a level of detail that invokes specific scenes/imagery/characterizations, then I would be satisfied.

For example...

Reference Palpatine's rise as an abuse of political power aided by the shroud of the dark side, but don't give us exposition about specific aspects of his plan.  We shouldn't need to know that he was a senator from Naboo, or how he controlled both sides of the Clone Wars, or who all of his apprentices were, or that he fought Yoda and won, etc...

By all means discuss the the fall of the Jedi Order and blame that on their deep involvement in politics, but don't explain every detail about how Anakin was close to the Palpatine, don't use Order 66 by name, don't even mention that the jedi were painted as traitors, etc...

---

In other words, if they must reference the PT, keep it in the form of general ideological overviews.  Stay away from detailed exposition of past events, and make sure the plot doesn't rely on such exposition.

An extreme case of this might be something like this... if we have a scene where Ghost Anakin has to sit down and explain to his grandchildren the Story of Darth Plagueis, so they can learn more about whatever enemy they are facing.  This level of exposition and relying on past events would be a slap in the face to any audience.  Frankly, I would walk out of the theater.

Keep the references light, and use them sparingly.

No typo DominicCobb, I said "IF" they were closer to Boston.  Sorry for the confusion though.  But it's true, they are not coming here, which is why I won't be participating.  They are sticking to some larger cities across the States, but actively avoiding some of the largest like NYC and LA. 

I totally would have if they were closer to Boston.  Obviously not expecting to achieve anything, but just to be involved in that experience.  Even if its just the simplest of auditions, it's a great story to tell.

For someone like myself who wasn't born to catch the original in theaters, but was heavily raised on them, my only experience with the summer tradition came through the prequels.  So I have no problem breaking this tradition, haha.

For Episode I, my friends and I first watched the original then off to the theater we went.  For Episode II we first watched the originals, followed by Episode I, and then to the theater.  Finally for Episode III we broke the pattern and watched them in order.  My buddy's dad had an awesome projection set-up in his backyard, so I fully admit, the summer provided us a good setting for that.

I enjoyed the prequels for what they were back then, when I was a bit younger, but it's hard for me to sit through any of them anymore.  In that sense, I am fully open to breaking tradition, because it tells me the creators are willing to mix things up.  Even through something as small as a release date change, shines a glimmer of hope for something fresh with these movies.

He wont die in Episode VII, but I think he will sacrifice himself before the end of the trilogy.

Ford may have wanted Solo to die back in the days of ESB and ROTJ, but the only purpose he served in ROTJ was to be saved, so you can understand Ford's reasoning.  After that, he didn't do much that affected the story.

If his character arc in the new trilogy serves to be meaning and impactful, he may have no problem reprising the role two or three more times.  And he may end up dying anyways (like I said, hopefully in a sacrificial way), but it wont be in Episode VII.

Not a bad idea.  A less problematic approach might be to add a short bit of dialogue to the battledroid when he tells Grievous where the Jedi are.  "The Jedi are in hallway 3218, and an unknown droid in hanger bay 5."  Something to that effect.

But in all honesty, the first time I watched your clip, I didn't give R2's capture a second thought.  It was still a smooth transition without explicitly showing or saying how he was captured.  Just my 2 cents though.

Aalenfae, that's a great rough cut!  I've always wanted to edit the elevator scene so that as the ship levels out, the three of them simply fall into an open doorway, because I'm not a fan of the miracle grappling hooks.  That always left the problem of how to show Obi-Wan waking up, and left the cringe worthy ray shield scene.  This ingeniously circumvents both of those events!

I noticed you put in some non existent dialogue subs for Grievous towards the end, so I'm assuming you're planning on redubbing Grievous' voice?  If so, I would go even further to say, if possible, rework the entire conversation between him and the heroes to make his banter with them fit better with their responses.

Either way, great work!