MollyMillions
Neo Member
Love McQuarrie but Dagobah doesn't look that alien in the final film. It's basically a misty swamp out of Willow or Legend or any number of other fantasy films.
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JJ Abrams to direct Star Wars Episode IX, Chris Terrio co-writing, now due Dec 2019
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Herr Schwarz
Banned
That looks like the xenomorph homeworld. If they had a homeworld
BossDarkseid
Member
What is the empowerment contrivance? I should know but for some reason in drawing a blank
Poor GRIMES
Banned
I remember reading all the threads for TFA before it came out, and most people seemed to agree that it would likely play it safe and rely on nostalgia. And now we have so many people outraged that that was the case. TFA did exactly what it needed to do - start a new story, and introduce Star Wars to a new generation, while catering to the nostalgia of the older ones. They weren't going to let the first Star Wars movie since the prequels be anything but a safe crowd-pleaser.
Now if Episode 8 just ends up borrowing a little too much from ESB, we can talk, but people treating this announcement as "GREAT EPISODE 9 WILL BE SHITTY SAFE MOVIE THAT WILL BE RETURN OF THE JEDI 2.0 FUCK" because of TFA, when TFA was coming out when Star Wars was in a completely different place than it's in now, need to relax.
Now if Episode 8 just ends up borrowing a little too much from ESB, we can talk, but people treating this announcement as "GREAT EPISODE 9 WILL BE SHITTY SAFE MOVIE THAT WILL BE RETURN OF THE JEDI 2.0 FUCK" because of TFA, when TFA was coming out when Star Wars was in a completely different place than it's in now, need to relax.
Also TFA was pretty damn good imo so bless I'm happy with this
Hero of Time
Member
Cool, was actually hoping he would return, but didn't think it would happen.
You don't suppose the decision to shoot in the desert was informed more by the desire to capture a real location/use practical effects rather than mimic Tatooine? The swamp would've been totally green-screened, and a big part of TFA's early marketing buzz was its emphasis on real effects and real locations.
There was early concept art that featured sand as well, mind.
It's still an important part in the film though. It's not our reintroduction to Han Solo, showing off what he's doing now (smuggling, again), but it's also about reinforcing the bond between Rey and Finn. It's not a classic action scene by any means, but it does a job.
It's also the requisite creature feature in a Star Wars film, which made me happy, because there was no hint of it in the trailer.
- I: Diving to the planet's core sequence
- II: Grub things / in the arena on Geonosis
- III: ... does this have one?
- IV: Trash compactor
- V: Inside the asteroid
- VI: Rancor / Sarlaac pit
- VII: Rathtars
- RO: Bor Gullet
AlexFlame116
Member
Don't kill Finn or Rey, give me a happy ending, take some risks (whatever that means), and try to make IX the best episode of the new trilogy.
That's all I want please. Do that and I'll keep my worries away.
That's all I want please. Do that and I'll keep my worries away.
Also please make Finn and Rey a romantic couple. I love how the two interacted in TFA.
MollyMillions
Neo Member
It's fair to say that you wished the new filmmakers were trying to go for Lucas' stated intent (special editions/prequels with huge busy planetscapes full of beasties) rather than his actual result in the OT (more grounded, very much in the Henson workshop realm of creature design, etc).
I think the general consensus among the filmgoing public is that one worked much better than the other; I can't blame Abrams, Johnson et al for building off the design and aesthetic world of the OT as it originally existed and not the final Lucas version with all the (arguably unnecessary) bells and whistles.
A big part of Crystal Skull's early marketing buzz also was they gonna use practical effects and then there was a CG creature in the first frame and a full CG jungle chase scene later on
You could have easily found some swampland locations close to the New Orleans studio lots probably and then extend that with greenscreen. TFA had SOME foreground stuff real but they still used greenscreen everywhere.
thehypocrite
Member
That's way they do. Then complain endlessly about them as if these movies were ever good. (ESB excluded, the only good one)
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
MollyMillions
Neo Member
I remember reading all the threads for TFA before it came out, and most people seemed to agree that it would likely play it safe and rely on nostalgia. And now we have so many people outraged that that was the case. TFA did exactly what it needed to do - start a new story, and introduce Star Wars to a new generation, while catering to the nostalgia of the older ones. They weren't going to let the first Star Wars movie since the prequels be anything but a safe crowd-pleaser.
Now if Episode 8 just ends up borrowing a little too much from ESB, we can talk, but people treating this announcement as "GREAT EPISODE 9 WILL BE SHITTY SAFE MOVIE THAT WILL BE RETURN OF THE JEDI 2.0 FUCK" because of TFA, when TFA was coming out when Star Wars was in a completely different place than it's in now, need to relax.
Also TFA was pretty damn good imo so bless I'm happy with this
Is making the villain a school shooter who worships Darth Vader but is really Han and Leia's kid, making Luke a mysterious hermit and killing Han at the hands of his child really a safe, easy breezy first installment though? Like i get that desert planet, giant megaweapon is familiar but almost everything else about the emotional and character beats of the film are significantly different than ANH and the overall tone is much more lyrical and less pulpy than ANH as well.
Killer Queen
Banned
Yeah all that stuff is really good and I'm super excited to see where they take it in the future.
Inferno313
Banned
It's a clone in so-far as it's an obvious and intentional reference, allowing Rey's origin to mirror Luke's in an example of thematic parallelism, sure.
I like this news. Yes, TFA was safe, but it had to be. I'm not even sure that is a criticism in all honesty. They needed to re-establish what Star Wars was to people - and more importantly, what it isn't, and they did it. There will be a bit more wiggle room with this one I'd suspect, just as TLJ probably got a bit more too.
One thing that does interest me is how much of where the trilogy was going did JJ already have in his head, and how much will he stick to that now? Lets say, hypothetically, that JJ thought he would reveal that Rey was Palpatine's secret daughter, but Rian has zigged off in a direction that suggests Rey was instead a droid - will JJ stick that course, or zag back to how he originally envisioned it?
One thing that does interest me is how much of where the trilogy was going did JJ already have in his head, and how much will he stick to that now? Lets say, hypothetically, that JJ thought he would reveal that Rey was Palpatine's secret daughter, but Rian has zigged off in a direction that suggests Rey was instead a droid - will JJ stick that course, or zag back to how he originally envisioned it?
Why are you bringing up Crystal Skull? It was shit and people lashed out against its artificiality. That movie contributed to TFA's push for practical, practical, practical.
And the Florida Everglades don't look anything look those concept images. This would've been a set.
MollyMillions
Neo Member
I must have missed the graveyard full of fallen x-wings and star destroyers on Tatooine as well as the scavenger culture surrounding them.
Herr Schwarz
Banned
It could be argued Rey typed in godmode into the console in terms of her accelerated force powers when you contextualise the acquisition of force powers I.e when Luke was getting trained by jedi masters.
I mean shit Rey pretty much speed ran training.
shira
Member
2021 hype
Fancyarcher
Member
Yup, TFA has a lot of new ideas & stories, inbetween all that so-called ANH rehashing. It's why I'm looking forward to TLJ, since they will expand on those stories, hopefully very well.
2020 something hype.
BossDarkseid
Member
Ah ok. Thought you meant something like that. I felt they could explain it away but ultimately...itll be interesting to see affects her training with Luke have, and the theory some people had that her parents were students at Luke's academy.
It'll be fun to see anyway
MollyMillions
Neo Member
Yeah, by the time we meet her she is much more accomplished than Luke is when we meet him, by clear and purposeful design. She isn't raised by a loving Aunt and Uncle and kept safe, she's a self-taught fighter and scavenger who has scraped by for most of her life with a singular, sad obsession with one day meeting the family who abandoned her if she stays in the exact same spot they left her on. Look at how she fights off the guys trying to nab BB-8 versus how Luke reacts to being ambushed by sand people.
She's not Luke, and her journey to learning about the Force isn't the same either. I don't see why her story being different than his and coming at a different rate is seen as a negative instead of hey, not repeating the hero's journey we've already seen.
Come on in all honesty, what do you think is more likely:
A) JJ: I wish we could do the swampland version of Jakku, but we promised the fans practical sets so lets fly to Dubai and go for my 2nd favorite, the hot desert version that incidentially looks like the one planet that is most associated with StarWars nostalgia.
B) Lets do Jakku like Tatooine. I want Rey's journey to rhyme with Luke's and catch all those fans the PT left cold with a rush of nostalgia so let's go with the one that already has pre-built in StarWars feel.
Canklestank
Neo Member
This is the point though, right? They made it very clear that they were doing things the "old fashioned way" and avoiding CGI as much as possible. It's hard to have exotic locales doing that.
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I generally really liked Episode VII. It captured what Star Wars is to me, which is a fun, mostly lighthearted adventure. VII was a blast to watch. So, I'm okay with Abrams returning, as I generally like his stuff. My main thing is that they better not rehash any old plot-lines for this. That and Kylo-Ren basically ruined an otherwise great Star Wars film.
I like hearing that VIII takes more risks, but not that it's going to upset fans of the series. And really, they don't need to take risks, they just need to come up with some original plots. That really isn't asking for much, is it? Even the prequels managed that.
Now that they've had two decent, but flawed efforts, I'm really hoping they nail it with VIII and IX.
Albino_Yeti
Member
With the exception of Dagobah and Bespin I agree. Cloud City may have been a human city, but it was very sci-fi.
But what the OT had that TFA didn't were lively worlds. Tatooine had the jawas, tusken raiders, Jabba's alien gang etc. Hoth had the tauntauns and the wampa. Cloud City had those weird goblin looking things operating the carbon freeze. Endor had the Ewoks.
In TFA, we get that ripoff Mos Eisley cantina scene and a few scatterings of aliens in that pathetic excuse of a settlement on Jakku. Where is all the alien goodness? The environments were just so plain in TFA.
For all the faults of the prequels, at least the worlds were filled with all sorts of aliens. Some were a cgi mess, sure, but it's better than looking at an empty desert like Jakku.
They were submerged in swampland, not desert sand.
That's a lot more interesting than what we got. If they were going to go the desert route, I wish they had at least done the bare minimum to visually differentiate from Tatooine.
Herr Schwarz
Banned
Sure I don't hate it. It just minimises what a lot of the understanding as to what the force is.
Like something that has to be learned and finely tuned requiring the most serious mind. Like a warrior monk. And tapping into such power when you're not ready could even lead to terrible consequence.
But instead it led to powerup mode. Fuck what yoda said, just do it.
I mean dang if I was force grabbing shit out of the blue I'd go power crazy. I'd be death gripping you all.
I dunno if they were that loving. Lukes uncle seemed like a real ball breaker.
Chained Prometheus
Member
To be fair though, that "empty desert" element of Jakku plays a huge factor into defining Rey as a character and what her arc throughout the film is.
The whole point of why everyone keeps questioning Rey about her obsession of ever going back there is because everyone knows that Jakku is a desolate dump. It's a tougher world to live in. Rey's survival skills as a scavenger come directly from her living on the type of world that Jakku is.
Sorcerer
Member
Another reason JJ mentioned is he dislikes leaving the country and being away from his family.
MollyMillions
Neo Member
I don't think the film soft-peddles the Force so much as intentionally gets at the idea that the Force is (gasp) awakening within Rey, in a way that had to be teased out of Luke much more gradually.
Again, she's not the abandoned son atoning for the father's mistakes the way that Luke is, she's a different thing, chosen one, whatever, again, not repeating the same tropes as Luke. I mean, TLJ will really determine what they are doing with her character, but the path they've laid feels consistent with the OT and has plenty of potential to me.
Also, Uncle Owen is a lil cranky but he's clearly snapping at Luke's questions about his dad and wanting him to stay on the farm in order to protect him. Not to mention Luke being watched over by Obi-Wan nearby for 20 years.
That's the point of Jakku though. Its supposed to be empty, to emphasise how lonely the existence is for Rey. It wouldn't work as effectively if it was a busy town, even Tatooine would be too busy for the effect they were going for.
The planet Maz was on could've been more populated, but we spend so little time there it doesn't really matter.
Yeah, there's a lot more original stuff that TFA does that people won't give it credit for, while hollering about the originality of the prequels when they are a lot sloppier about mining the OT.
Spartancarver
Member
Are people ITT pretending TFA was bad now?
Inferno313
Banned
hesrightyouknow.gif
B, of course. But the desire to mirror ANH and the emphasis placed on practicality go hand-in-hand. They aren't separate objectives.
And again, the only difference is... sand. The junkyard imagery is intact and heavily present in the film. I'm not sure why you chose three shots of Jakku that DIDN'T feature those qualities you highlighted in the concept art. They're in the film.
PhantomZone
Member
TFA was a remake of ep iv. So will ep ix be a retread of ep vi ?
Canklestank
Neo Member
I mean, look at it like this:
Kylo-Ren = Darth Vader
Han Solo = Obi-Wan
Rey = Luke
Luke = Yoda
Sure, these characters have different motivations, but they're filling the same roles. Does it matter that Kylo is killing his father instead of Vader killing his father-figure? Rey loses her mentor the same way Luke loses his. Making the villain whiny instead of the hero doesn't magically make it less of a carbon copy. The emotional beats are mirror images of ANH.
And I don't care what anyone says, Star Wars was going to sell gangbusters no matter what. They didn't need to be safe and tap into people's nostalgia. It's Star Wars. The fact that there are X-wings, Tie-Fighters, stormtroopers, etc. is enough to tap into that nostalgia. We're talking about the most popular movie series of all time, here.
Yeah, the whole TFA is a remake of ANH is both tired and inaccurate if you give it a moment's thought, hopefully we can drop the....
...god dammit.
Enter The 36 Chambers
Member
I liked TFA, more than the originals tbh so Im pretty happy with this news
Canklestank
Neo Member
I feel like the prequel trilogy mostly just ties in plot points with a little bit of "*wink**wink* This is still Star Wars! We swear!" I can't think of any part of the PT that copies any plot in the OT as much as TFA does with ANH.
That's not to say the prequels were good, TFA was a much better film, but credit where it's due.
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