Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[RoJoHen]

Wasn't Anakin referred to as a Jedi General in many different episodes of The Clone Wars? Most of the Jedi leading Clones into combat during that period probably held the honorary rank of General.

Yeah, he was definitely called General Skywalker on more than one occasion.

Though I will definitely agree with one thing FSM is saying. You do get the impression in the OT that the Empire has been around a long damn time, much longer than the 20 years or so that it turns out to be. I mean, just look at how old the Emperor is!

I always assumed that Palpatine looked the way he did because the Force was keeping him alive a lot longer than a normal human, not that he got all Force Lightninged in the face.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Palpatine's makeup in AOTC and ROTS (before the battle with Mace) actually differs quite a bit.
In AOTC he seems more gaunt, spotted and pale, but in the first part of ROTS they seem to have toned back that look to just basic Ian Mcdiarmid since his transformation would be more sudden instead of gradual.

 

[cooleddie74]

I kind of liked the way Palpatine looked in Episode II even if isn't some respects he looked older than he did three years later in Episode III. Ian McDiarmid gave off a creepy and slimy vibe that he didn't have in the next film until just before his transformation.

 

[JD]

I was kind of shocked too by how recent the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire were. For some reason I had always thought they had happened a lot longer ago than just 20-30 years.

 

[Mr Light]

Originally, they were supposed to have been. In the OT, the Jedi are mythical and long gone. Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker look like old men, not 40 somethings. That's why in the original Heir to the Empire trilogy, they say the Clone Wars happened 50 years ago.

At some point after ROTJ came out, Lucas decided that Luke and Leia would be born at the same time as the Clone Wars and shifted the timeline. What he originally intended, who knows. Since Anakin and Padme would have had to had sex 30 years after the Clone Wars ended...

 

[Corran Horn]

I was kind of shocked too by how recent the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire were. For some reason I had always thought they had happened a lot longer ago than just 20-30 years.

I always kind of felt that way but what's stated in ANH doesn't really bear that out. Maybe because Obi-Wan looks pretty far removed from fighting in any war when we first see him? Granted, he can still fight. He appears to have aged much more than 20 years since Episode III though - maybe it was the suns. (JJM's "Kenobi" indicates as much)

If Luke's father was a Jedi and betrayed and murdered by Vader it could've only been within Luke's lifetime and Luke doesn't look much older than 20.

 

[Mr Light]

Oh wait, now I remember. Originally, the Clone Wars were a separate event from the Fall of Anakin Skywalker. 50 years ago, Obi-Wan and Anakin fight together in the Clone Wars. 30 years after that, Anakin fathers Luke and Leia, goes evil, and takes a lava bath.

The question is, when did the Empire take form in this original version? 50 years? 20 years? Somewhere in between?

 

[Tosk]

He appears to have aged much more than 20 years since Episode III though - maybe it was the suns. (JJM's "Kenobi" indicates as much)

It's a pretty weak excuse, but I guess that must be the idea. Look at how fast Beru and Lars age between Eps III and IV!

 

[cooleddie74]

Twin suns, desert heat and having to raise a whiny Luke Skywalker going through puberty would age anybody 40 years in twenty.

 

[InklingStar]

All this talk about the Empire being too young misses the point, I think. The Empire was not some foreign entity that took over the Republic, it was the Republic. In our own world, Rome went from Republic to Empire in a gradual transition over the course of decades, even centuries, depending on how you define it. Sure, the Empire was born out of Palpatine's proclamation in the Senate in RotS, but it really did not change much of anything at first. It was the Republic who built the star fleet, and the Republic who organized the stormtroopers. The Empire of the OT is the same political entity as the Republic of the PT and prior, just with a different name.

The transition that started with the militarization leading into the Clone Wars and the proclamation of the First Galactic Empire was completed in ANH when Palpatine dissolved the Senate. Again, in our world, the first emperors remained subservient to the Senate in Rome for many years after the formation of the Empire. It was only with the construction of the Death Star that Palpatine felt secure enough to do away with even the ceremonial vestiges of the Republic.

 

[Ithekro]

On a related note, Ewan McGreggor was 33 or so when they filmed Revenge of the Sith. Alec Guiness was in his early 60s during the filming of Star Wars. However, youthful does Alec Guiness look around 1949 (Kind Hearts and Coronets) or 1957 (Bridge on the River Kwai) in comparison to McGreggor who will be 44 in a few days.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Today's Star Wars Nerd Rage:

Although I can see the various techniques used in the OT (stop motion, models, blue screen, etc), it all still felt of a piece and really made this galaxy seem like a tangible place. There were only two effects that ever bugged me since I was a kid.

The first is "glitter" in place of asteroids in A New Hope, wherein Alderaan was destroyed and the Falcon arrives. They did show actual asteroids (nothing like on the scale of the scene in the next film) but some of the more distant asteroids seemed to look more like glitter. That effect was always kind of tacky.

The second was hard to quantify as a kid: the Dagobah swamp. It looks really good, but despite all the work that went into it, it always felt like it was done indoors on a stage. As a kid, I didn't know how describe that it felt more claustrophobic than it should.. I just thought it was somewhat "off."

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The first is "glitter" in place of asteroids in A New Hope, wherein Alderaan was destroyed and the Falcon arrives. They did show actual asteroids (nothing like on the scale of the scene in the next film) but some of the more distant asteroids seemed to look more like glitter. That effect was always kind of tacky.

Those weren't distant asteroids. It was up close dust they were flying through, aka micrometeroids. It's evidently intended to be the result of all the chunks from Alderaan repeatedly colliding into each other and breaking off pieces.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Maybe so, but it's really the only effect that never really worked for me.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

From what I've read Kershner and co. weren't all that terribly pleased with the Dagobah set. Although it was easier to work with than the Carbon Freezing chamber, which was difficult because of a lot of steam effects, among other things.

 

[cooleddie74]

The ”glittery” space debris near Alderaan never bothered me and still doesn't. I just assumed it was very small pieces of the planet, which made the debris field seem more realistic since a real planetary explosion would leave remnants of all sizes and shapes and not just giant jagged boulders. Frankly, the original and clunky rotoscoping for the first lightsabers bothered me a lot more than anything like that.

 

[DarthTom]

Potential major spoilers about the film's villains

 

[cooleddie74]

Thanks for that link!

 

[theenglish]

From what I've read Kershner and co. weren't all that terribly pleased with the Dagobah set. Although it was easier to work with than the Carbon Freezing chamber, which was difficult because of a lot of steam effects, among other things.

I know what you mean about Dagobah. It always feels like it is on a stage (because it was). For all the time Star Wars spent actually filming location scenes, would it have hurt to actually film in the Amazon?

 

[Awesome Possum]

From what I've read Kershner and co. weren't all that terribly pleased with the Dagobah set. Although it was easier to work with than the Carbon Freezing chamber, which was difficult because of a lot of steam effects, among other things.

I know what you mean about Dagobah. It always feels like it is on a stage (because it was). For all the time Star Wars spent actually filming location scenes, would it have hurt to actually film in the Amazon?

You need a raised stage for puppetry, that's why they used a set. Otherwise Frank Oz wouldn't be able to work and have Yoda appear to be touching the ground.