-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Star Wars Episode VII Cast Announced
- Thread starter Deadly Cyclone
- Start date
- Status
Anton Sugar
Member
"Criticism is useless" is such an inane statement, I assumed he made a mistake when posting that.
Warm Machine
Member
Iconography?
Digital-Hero
Member
The mistake is not clearly making my point and doing it well.
robertsan21
Member
for those sub 20k medichlorian gaffers
I Lawrence kasdan, the one and only that can save this film from imploding on itself. God I hope they manage to save star wars with these films. I want them to be bad ass and great.
Liquidsnake
Banned
There is a small chance that I could feel relieved walking out if this movie, as apposed to the WTF did I just watch coming out of TPM.
Never had my heart been broken so badly then when I first walked out of that movie. The theater was in silence, not one word spoken on my way out with all my friends.
I had one friend who just looked at me in the car and said "ok then"
We were all crushed.
I am honestly pulling for this movie to make right all that went wrong. I have serious trauma from the TPM. As the series went on I grew to accept it more, AOTC I felt was ok, and episode 3 was pretty damn good.
I don't know. I have feels.
Warm Machine
Member
The prequels were shot to be as simple and visually understandable as possible for all audiences. This is because the OT was shot like that.
If you want to see Lucas pulling out all the photographic stops go watch THX-1138. Like Stanley Kubrick and David Fincher co directed a movie and every shot is gorgeous.
Getting too arty can ruin the mood. Those Old Republic cinemas by Blur or whoever with Matrix slo mo are terrible in terms of matching tone.
Star Wars is almost defined by wides.
If you want to see Lucas pulling out all the photographic stops go watch THX-1138. Like Stanley Kubrick and David Fincher co directed a movie and every shot is gorgeous.
Getting too arty can ruin the mood. Those Old Republic cinemas by Blur or whoever with Matrix slo mo are terrible in terms of matching tone.
Star Wars is almost defined by wides.
I was 9 when TPM came out, I saw it in theaters with my dad. I liked it (went as Darth Maul that Halloween) but even back then I felt that it wasn't as good as the OT (which I had only seen 2 years prior when they were re-released in theaters, so it was none of that "nostalgia" BS prequel-defenders like to harp on).
But as I left I remember seeing a group of people all dressed in Star Wars T-shirts looking very sad and whispering among themselves.
It was only three years later when I saw episode II (and in contrast to TPM, I knew at once what a piece of shit it was) that I understood their pain.
Also, filming wide and then just cropping the image to get closeups. In Clones, you can see the pixellation and compression artifacts shimmering away, it's horrible.
Anton Sugar
Member
Simple or wide doesn't equate to ugly or boring. The compositions of the OT blow the PT out of the water, IMO.
Some weird digital zooms in Clones, too.
It would appear that way, judging by that group photo because she's sitting between Harrison and Carrie, implying that they're reading their character lines together.
This is one of the most confusing and overreactive posts I've seen in awhile. And I mostly stick to the gaming side!
Yeah but simplicity can obviously be both good and bad. ESB of course feels like a sequel to the original, but is also beautifully shot (not that ANH is badly shot at all though).
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
Abso-fucking-lutely
Digital-Hero
Member
In execution arena. Yup.
One of my cinematography professors hated zooms. Told us to refrain at all cost. I disagree in some regard. The reason I believe they did in Ep 2 is to make it look like you were observing the battle.
Man. Who knew Coruscant had 3 suns shining at it from all kinds of angles?
btw the reason most of Episode 2 looks like shoddy compositing is simple:
It was one of the first digital HD camcorder projects, they actually shot some material for action scenes on lossy HDCam tape which had super crappy compression. Imagine ILM trying to get good greenscreen keying results with basically heavily compressed 720p material and then on top of that there was the occasional: "This scene was lit and shot to emulate nighttime lighting, but can we now have Padme also stand at the window and have the scene at sunny daytime?"
I also remember McCallum talking about how cool it was to zoom into the image and choose a different framing after the image was shot. *sigh*
I think Lucas desperately lacked proper storyboarding and previs for the prequels. Like proper previs. EVERYTHING, not just action scenes.
In many regards Lucas was a bit too early with Episodes I-III. Digital HD format was not really there yet, the previs culture was non existent and CG reality was not fully at DAVY JONES/AVATAR levels yet.
Anton Sugar
Member
I've heard the same. It just depends on how you use them, really--just like anything else.
Kid in a candy store. So much cool technology to try out but very little forethought put into it.
I can't find the video, but there is some footage of Lucas reviewing storyboards for one of the PT. He is going through each story frame and marking, with highlighter, what can be CGI and what is practical.
I don't want to base my understanding of his preproduction ethic on that clip alone, but WOW
Sectorseven
Member
Why did he insist on directing all three of the prequels?
thecouncil
Banned
I hear ya. When TPM ended in my theater, I heard hushed whispers. The disappointment was palpable. I saw one person crying. I left the theater and sat in my car, staring for a while, shocked at how this movie had the audacity to call itself "Star Wars". I don't know if it was the anger or the sadness that finally broke me, but the tears began to flow. I cried for close to 10 minutes before I could muster enough courage to turn the car on and drive home.
As I walked into my parent's house, my mom asked me how the movie was. She might have noticed my red, swollen eyes. "Not fine?" she wondered out loud. I could only get 2 words out before I started to cry again: "Jar. Jar." My dad looked at me with a disappointment in his eyes, like maybe he understood the problem. He probably read spoilers about Jar Jar or something.
My life was pretty much ruined that day and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to go to therapy for months to get over it.
AOTC was pretty shit too.
Good question. I don't know. He certainly didn't seem passionate about it.
lol @ thecouncil's post. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
From the making of docs, I remember Lucas saying that he wanted to imitate the rawness and immediacy of war documentary footage ala Saving Private Ryan, hence the crash zooms during the Clone War battle.
Because apparently in ESB director Irvin Kershner fought Lucas at every turn for such outrageous things like shooting more than one take for dramatic scenes, ya know, so the actors could actually ACT. In RotJ Lucas got a yes-man director (I forget his name) who did what he was told but did not get along with the cast (except for Harrison apparently).
That and as can be seen from all of the PT behind-the-scenes videos by the time of the prequels Lucas surrounded himself with suck ups and toadies. There nonstop praise probably convinced them he could direct them himself and not have to put up with other directors.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
There were casting call profiles for the parts a while ago, and the girl part was described as an orphan. That could be just a rumor or rewritten by now, though.Daisy Ridley is going to be Han and Leia's daughter.
I'll put my money on it!
One of the biggest challenges for Abrams world building framework will be exactly this:
How can you have "dirt" return to the Star Wars universe when ROTJ pretty much left the audience with a "happy days" ending?
There must be:
-A "New Republic" that came from the rebel movement and is supposed to be democratic and nice.
-A Jedi Academy run by Old Luke
-The Empire defeated.
That all sounds like you are off to a boring start already.
If the plot would begin with "The chancellor/council has instructed two Jedi to investigate an incident in the X sector" sounds like it would fall into the Prequel trap immediately.
Abrams needs to up the stakes right from the beginning. Something pretty spectacular and world shaking needs to happen ASAP in the first act to get a rag tag team of rebels together to get the OT spirit back.
A mysterious attack on the Jedi Academy? Luke disappears?
A major strike at the head of the New Republic?
I hope they thought of something good to get the drama going and to get rid of the happy days status quo the new trilogy is poised to begin with.
Pagusas
Elden Member
Look at how Star Trek began, I fully trust JJ to be able to start it off with a bang.
MisterArrogant
Neo Member
It probably doesn't hurt that I watched them over and over as a kid (the OT). I didn't initially dislike the PT. I originally drank the kool aid like a lot of other people. But unlike the originals, I never felt compelled to rewatch them. Same with JJ movies. They're alright entertainment. They kept me engaged for the couple hours I was viewing them. But once they were out of sight they were pretty much out of mind. I didn't really think about them again. I'm just expecting more of the same here though I'd really love to be proven wrong.
Time traveling Imperial mining ship with a pissed off Emperor Palpatine from another dimension!
shira
Member
it should be fine as long as Serkis isn't gungan.
Pagusas
Elden Member
Bam, there we go. See that wasn't so hard.
tringworldso
Member
I remember hearing Zac Efron being a part of the movie. Has that been debunked or have they yet to announce all the actors?
thecouncil
Banned
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JJ: for he shall save his people from those prequels."
-Matthew 1:21
-Matthew 1:21
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
Whatever they do, for the love of god leave all the political "intrigue" completely out of these movies. There were a lot of terrible things in the prequels but the political stuff was so, so bad.
You know i was kinda thinking the same thing until i rewatched ROTJ. There is plenty of room for follow ups. Luke even says that in time Leia will learn to use the force. And Yoda says that Luke must teach the ways of the force.
All we need now is a new threat in the form of a Sith. Pretty sure they can make something interesting up.
Dr Zhivago
Member
Spielberg convinced him.
That's why you have to scrap a lot of the EU stories to make it work.
If the Empire collapses there's going to be a huge power vacuum and lots of conflict. A lot of the Rebel Alliance will probably go home once the main Empire forces are gone. I'm sure some areas will be stable and pretty well-off but others are going to look like the Space versions of Iraq or Afganistan or Somalia. There will be several wars between different systems.
There's no Jedi order established to keep the peace. I doubt Luke could fully establish it in 30 years with all the other stuff he's going to have to be running around and doing. Think more like a rural Samurai Temple as opposed to a huge Academy.
There's no ideal happy ending for Luke/Han/Leia and things should be much more gray then what the EU presented.
Sectorseven
Member
The most obvious thing to me is a being more evil than the sith and the empire. Something that makes the rebels and the empire have to join forces.
SeventhSon
Member
He messed up Star Wars, too? What is it with Ricks?
You see that sounds implausible. Chancellor Palpatine stated in the PT that "the Republic has stood for a thousand years"
So it seems the galaxy has a long tradition of functioning "democracy"/goverment.
Why would a clearly evil Empire that lasted for a mere 20 years destroy all that and turn systems into Somalia?
A big problem lies in the fact that Lucas compressed the time so much between PT and OT. The Emperor basically reigns for 18 years until Luke is of age and then he gets his ass handed to him. Before the PT I always thought Obi-Wan would be crazily old (like a 100 years) and the Empire would have been the established order for decades already.
He was never part of it - just a rumor tossed around in the absence of official news.
But yes, casting is not yet complete (mostly secondary roles, possibly one more major one).
Anton Sugar
Member
Isn't this the same Republic that Palpatine manipulated and basically dismantled? I could understand sovereignties not wanting to put their trust in its governing power.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Yeah, the role that Lupita N'yongo read for, the role that seems to be going to Maisie Richardson-Sellers, is still to be announced.
Hollywood Reporter seems to think she's a Kenobi somehow.
Yeah you can probably make it work, but the compressed timeline due to the PT doesn't help. If the galaxy basically prospered for a 1000 years, the 20 year Empire rule must have felt like a short intermezzo.
"This Palpatine idiot dismantled himself and his racist goons quite fast, ah well back to another 1000 years of peace".
If the Emperor had ruled for like a hundred years already it would make sense that not everything is roses in the galaxy after Luke/Vader kill him.
But then...even in ANH the Imperials in the conference room debate the news that the Emperor has finally dissolved the Imperial Senate. So even by the time of ANH his rule was not 100% solidified.
"This Palpatine idiot dismantled himself and his racist goons quite fast, ah well back to another 1000 years of peace".
If the Emperor had ruled for like a hundred years already it would make sense that not everything is roses in the galaxy after Luke/Vader kill him.
But then...even in ANH the Imperials in the conference room debate the news that the Emperor has finally dissolved the Imperial Senate. So even by the time of ANH his rule was not 100% solidified.
Anton Sugar
Member
Just when I thought my "shitty things about the PT" list couldn't get any longer!
SeventhSon
Member
The original concept was that it was the military leaders who were leading the Empire, and that the Emperor wasn't the central villain. For example, Grand Moff Tarkin is the main villain, Vader is just a henchman. The Death Star was created to establish further military control over the galaxy through threat of planetary annihilation.
Tell me about it! Not only did the PT make the universe smaller instead of bigger (C3P0 was built by Anakin, etc.), it also made lots of weird choices for the timeline.
Obi Wan in the OT is basically 55 years old now thanks to the PT!
And Anakin bring something like 44 years old at the end of ROTJ, giving George the opportunity to replace Sebastian Shaw with young Anakin. You know, tie the saga together and all.
tringworldso
Member
Scooter155
Member
Well we do know that local militias were running most star systems and that the senate has been officially dissolved thanks to that scene you mentioned in A New Hope, so it seems likely that a lot of that infrastructure would still stand after the Emperor's demise. How did Tarkin say it? The "regional governors now have direct control over their systems" or something? They hoped fear of military retribution in the form of the Death Star would keep the local systems in line. After the battle of Endor, in the absence of a centralized government it seems pretty likely that there'd be lots of little uprisings as well as lots of military takeovers establishing themselves as local governments, independent of the Empire or the Alliance.
Pagusas
Elden Member
I hated how that one guy in the board room of the Death Stay told vader "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you enough clairvoyance to find the rebels' hidden fortress..."
The jedi have ONLY been gone for 20 years, and that makes it sounds like its been several generations. This guy was old enough he probably saw vids of the clone wars and the jedi in action.
- Status