Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[TRON JA307020]

As a low level fan of the original trilogy, the new trailer, while slick, does little for me. Ford is just too old to be doing this kind of stuff anymore, and my one fear is that he will, well, not embarrass himself as an actor as such, but that the nostalgia factor of him, Hamill and Fisher being in the movie will drag it down. I can see Ford almost shuffling around the film just as Larry Hagman did in Dallas shortly before he died.

Also, I can't see how another trilogy can be sustained without a focal bad guy ie Vader. There has to be a very large pay off for fans by the end of these 3 Abrams films, and it will surely be Vader coming back from the dead. 3 films of the Rebel Alliance fighting against a faceless Empire will run out of steam pretty fast.

Star Wars has always been Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C3PO, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Vader. . .or maybe more to the point, Hamill, Fisher, Ford, Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Frank Oz, James Earl Jones, and Alec Guinnness. I can't see any new actors or characters being able to carry the franchise. Even Lord George of Lucas found that out the hard way with those awful prequels.

Abrms is only directing the first. Harrison wont be shuffling aroung like Hagman. First his injuries were fully healed when he came back. 2nd hes 10 plus years younger than Larry was. 3rd he doesnt have cancer eating away at him like Larry did during the filming of Dallas. Ford looks good enough to portray Han and if they have him last the 3 films it will be a nice rounding out of the character.

What makes Han Solo is his one liners not his fighting. Ford can still deliver great lines while pretending to pilot the Falcon until he's ninety.

Agreed. Plus Ford is in great shape for his age and will have no problem pulling it off. I would hate to see them kill Han off in the first movie or even at all. The killing of Kirk at age 65 went badly and most of us fans are still pissed about it. I hope they don't make the same mistake for Han, Luke or Leia.

 

[Unicron]

This.

The Prequels were brilliant and groundbreaking from a technical perspective and they looked beautiful and even spellbinding, especially when you watched them in a dark theater on a very wide and tall screen. It was George's clunky writing and rusty directing that caused most of the problems with those three films.

Agreed. AOTC in particular suffers from a lot of horrible dialogue, and it's unfortunate that some of the main cast weren't used to their fullest extent in terms of writing.

 

[theenglish]

Abrms is only directing the first. Harrison wont be shuffling aroung like Hagman. First his injuries were fully healed when he came back. 2nd hes 10 plus years younger than Larry was. 3rd he doesnt have cancer eating away at him like Larry did during the filming of Dallas. Ford looks good enough to portray Han and if they have him last the 3 films it will be a nice rounding out of the character.

What makes Han Solo is his one liners not his fighting. Ford can still deliver great lines while pretending to pilot the Falcon until he's ninety.

Agreed. Plus Ford is in great shape for his age and will have no problem pulling it off. I would hate to see them kill Han off in the first movie or even at all. The killing of Kirk at age 65 went badly and most of us fans are still pissed about it. I hope they don't make the same mistake for Han, Luke or Leia.

The problem with Kirk's death was that it paled in comparison to Spock's. In addition to the poor writing we never really got to see what it was that was saved--Data said something about a population of sentient beings somewhere--but in terms of on screen story we never really got a sense of the stakes. I felt worse for Soran than I felt for Kirk.

As for the new movie, my guess is that somebody is going to have to make a sacrifice. Having Han and Chewie sacrifice themselves and the Falcon in the finale (if done well) would be a worthy end to the characters.

 

[TRON JA307020]

What makes Han Solo is his one liners not his fighting. Ford can still deliver great lines while pretending to pilot the Falcon until he's ninety.

Agreed. Plus Ford is in great shape for his age and will have no problem pulling it off. I would hate to see them kill Han off in the first movie or even at all. The killing of Kirk at age 65 went badly and most of us fans are still pissed about it. I hope they don't make the same mistake for Han, Luke or Leia.

The problem with Kirk's death was that it paled in comparison to Spock's. In addition to the poor writing we never really got to see what it was that was saved--Data said something about a population of sentient beings somewhere--but in terms of on screen story we never really got a sense of the stakes. I felt worse for Soran than I felt for Kirk.

You've got a point there. If they can do a death correctly and that is a big if I would go for it. Unfortunately I feel they would screw it up. I would rather see the characters have a ending like in Return were they are celebrating etc. and then we just think they will wither have other adventures or retire to their respective worlds.

 

[Lindley]

As for the new movie, my guess is that somebody is going to have to make a sacrifice. Having Han and Chewie sacrifice themselves and the Falcon in the finale (if done well) would be a worthy end to the characters.

The books tried having Chewie sacrifice himself. It took a long time for the fans to forgive them. It would be odd for the movie to go down that same road.....

 

[Hound of UIster]

Yes but Abrams has bodyguards. Even if he kills Luke the backlash will be minimal.

 

[Cicero]

Is there any evidence of a restored Republic at all?

Why are the good guys called the Resistance?

The Star Wars Battlefront press release mentions the galactic political situation (though it doesn't say when that situation was current):

Spoiler: Galactic politics

Fans who pre-order Star Wars Battlefront will be among the first players to experience the Battle of Jakku, the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet on the Outer Rim.

Slashfilm

 

[The Old Mixer]

The wrecked Star Destroyer shot was really impressive....I wonder if that could be the opening shot of the film--a play on the OT films always opening with a Star Destroyer?

The Journey to The Force Awakens

Ugh...sounds like some writer needs to make The Journey to the English Teacher.

Ford can still deliver great lines while pretending to pilot the Falcon until he's ninety.

But is Han so old now that he'll back out of spacedock without bothering to check his mirror? Or that all people will see of him in the Falcon's cockpit are his knuckles on the controls?

 

[cooleddie74]

Agreed. AOTC in particular suffers from a lot of horrible dialogue, and it's unfortunate that some of the main cast weren't used to their fullest extent in terms of writing.

Bingo. Good or even great actors, amazing backdrops and breathtaking settings.

Crappy dialogue and wooden directing.

 

[TRON JA307020]

As for the new movie, my guess is that somebody is going to have to make a sacrifice. Having Han and Chewie sacrifice themselves and the Falcon in the finale (if done well) would be a worthy end to the characters.

The books tried having Chewie sacrifice himself. It took a long time for the fans to forgive them. It would be odd for the movie to go down that same road.....

I agree Lindley. These characters are iconic and I don't see how any death even heroic will seem forced and empty. Basically fans are already expecting or fearing it and when and if Abrams or some other director decides to do it I suspect most wont like it. At this point if I were the directors, writers etc. I would go down a path most aren't expecting to basically keep the originals alive and on hand for future movies as guides.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

The voice over was chosen for the trailer obviously because they want to tie into the family line idea... (imho)

As to Kylo Rens saber, it makes perfect sense that his saber would look unpolished, if he was building it not from a plan, which likely no longer exist, but maybe something is guiding him. Its been long theorized that the side "blades" are actually vents to keep it from exploding.

Maybe Palpatine as a force ghost is guiding him

But the dark side only leads to death--not everlasting life.

Darth Banes ghost says hello

 

[theenglish]

As for the new movie, my guess is that somebody is going to have to make a sacrifice. Having Han and Chewie sacrifice themselves and the Falcon in the finale (if done well) would be a worthy end to the characters.

The books tried having Chewie sacrifice himself. It took a long time for the fans to forgive them. It would be odd for the movie to go down that same road.....

I agree Lindley. These characters are iconic and I don't see how any death even heroic will seem forced and empty. Basically fans are already expecting or fearing it and when and if Abrams or some other director decides to do it I suspect most wont like it. At this point if I were the directors, writers etc. I would go down a path most aren't expecting to basically keep the originals alive and on hand for future movies as guides.

To paraphrase GRRM, it is not a "choose your own adventure". I certainly hope that Abrams is making a good movie on its own merits and not a fanboy wankfest.

 

[Iamnotspock]

Maybe Palpatine as a force ghost is guiding him

But the dark side only leads to death--not everlasting life.

Darth Banes ghost says hello

No he doesn't. That was an illusion.

 

[theenglish]

But the dark side only leads to death--not everlasting life.

Darth Banes ghost says hello

No he doesn't. That was an illusion.

I am a Star Wars fan who has only seen the movies and read a few comics. Who is Darth Bane?

 

[Hound of UIster]

Lucas's fanfic character.

 

[theenglish]

Lucas's fanfic character.

LOL--I DID do a quick Google. Is there anything I should actually know before watching the movie in December?

 

[Hound of UIster]

Not really no. Because I seriously doubt Kasdan or Abrams is going to touch any of the ancient Sith backstory.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Lucas's fanfic character.

LOL--I DID do a quick Google. Is there anything I should actually know before watching the movie in December?

The guy with the red lightsaber is the bad guy. That's all you need to know.

 

[theenglish]

Lucas's fanfic character.

LOL--I DID do a quick Google. Is there anything I should actually know before watching the movie in December?

The guy with the red lightsaber is the bad guy. That's all you need to know.

That's good because it is taking me long enough to get through A Dance with Dragons.

 

[Saul]

Maybe Palpatine as a force ghost is guiding him

But the dark side only leads to death--not everlasting life.

Darth Banes ghost says hello

The sith way is to prolong life and cheat death. The jedi way is to become one with the force.