• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

That was a problem with the direction, not the casting.


+1.

Seriously, I can't see how the casting can be blamed over the directing and writing. To be fair, most of the actors in the Original Trilogy weren't going to be contending for any major acting awards and some of them were downright goofy and wooden, but the writing and directing by Lucas, Kershner and Marquand overcame most of the performance limitations of those people.

Portman. McGregor. McDiarmid. Jackson. Christopher Lee. That's the kind of cast most sci-fi and fantasy films wish they could assemble for a sequel or a prequel. They were fine. Even Hayden Christensen was competent enough, but they just weren't given the best material nor the most skilled on-set direction much of the time.

+1 again.

Darth Vapid, anyone? :lol:
 
Although he was poorly directed/acted/given bad lines, Jake Lloyd's Anakin I felt was a more likeable character than the Hayden/AOTC/ROTS portrayal. He seemed to be a lot less selfish than his later self (apart from his reaction to Padme's question about him being a slave and his general reaction to the Jedi Council). I remember a lot of reviews at the time expressed disbelief that the "sweet" Anakin would ever become Vader (There was a deleted scene however of Anakin becoming angry and agressive when Greedo-yes, Greedo-accuses him of cheating on the race). I think Matt Lanter's voice-acting and writing in the Clone Wars version of Anakin sort of has a happy medium between the two. (Which we 'sort of' got in the first half hour of ROTS until Anakin had the dream and then pretty much went back into Jerk mode for the rest of it).

To add to that, there's some inconsistency I think with Obi-Wan and the council's attitude towards him. In TPM we see Mace, Yoda and the council highly skeptical of Anakin. However in the next film, Mace and Yoda seem far trusting of Anakin, while it's Obi-Wan who is having trouble trusting him. There's even a deleted scene (Included on the DVD release) where Mace is reassuring Obi-Wan in the Jedi Hanger bay (Which would later appear in ROTS) that Anakin's going to do the right thing (Interestingly, in the EU novel Shatterpoint released shortly after AOTC Mace has pretty much become a true believer in Anakin being the Chosen One) However in the next film it's again reversed, with Yoda and Mace once again not willing to trust Anakin despite Obi-Wan's reassurances.

I'm wondering, since Lucas wrote both TPM and ROTS mostly by himself, and AOTC was written by a co-writer (Although it was a "Yes man" writer mainly, John Hales), if the mix up in loyalties was John Hales fault.


BTW the Lightsaber seen being handed over in the trailer looks like Anakin's/Luke's ANH and ESB saber, oddly enough. Vader's saber is similar but with sort of a more blackish handle, and Luke's is mainly patterned after Obi-Wan's (Despite Palpatine's comparison). However, both sabers were pretty much lost (Although I recall Anakin/Luke's was recovered in the EU and later given to Mara Jade, although I think in the films it's possibly the debris that falls into Bespin when Luke hangs from that vane, as the storyboards seem to indicate).
 
Last edited:
Also, as much as I would like to see McGregor as Obi-Wan again, within the context of the story and universe, it would not make sense, since Luke did not know Obi-Wan at that age.

I think it's only within the context of the story and universe that it could work. To us, it's obvious that for real-world production reasons two actors play the role of Obi-Wan at different ages, but we have to assume that within the fictional context, as far as other characters are concerned they're recognisably the same guy. if Obi-Wan appeared to Luke as his younger self for some reason, Luke would no doubt recognise him just as Spock Prime recognised Chris Pine as Jim Kirk.
 
Yeah, it's the same lightsaber Anakin had throughout Episode III and that Luke inherited 20 years later. The one lost on Cloud City.
 
Although he was poorly directed/acted/given bad lines, Jake Lloyd's Anakin I felt was a more likeable character than the Hayden/AOTC/ROTS portrayal. He seemed to be a lot less selfish than his later self (apart from his reaction to Padme's question about him being a slave and his general reaction to the Jedi Council). I remember a lot of reviews at the time expressed disbelief that the "sweet" Anakin would ever become Vader (There was a deleted scene however of Anakin becoming angry and agressive when Greedo-yes, Greedo-accuses him of cheating on the race). I think Matt Lanter's voice-acting and writing in the Clone Wars version of Anakin sort of has a happy medium between the two. (Which we 'sort of' got in the first half hour of ROTS until Anakin had the dream and then pretty much went back into Jerk mode for the rest of it).

I doubt if that was meant to be Greedo and really if Anakin wasn't agressive he'd never have won the pod race to begin with. Also teen age Anakin had been worked on for a decade by both Paplatine and Obi-Wan plus he's a teenager and prone to follwoing his urges not always what's the right thing to do. Luke wasn't that much different, in Ep. V he rushes off to try and save Han and Leia even though he was warned not to do it and as Yoda pointed out in the novel in the end it was Luke who needed the saving.
 
It was supposed to be Greedo as a small child. When the other Rodian (Wald) chastises him for provoking the fight he uses dialogue foreshadowing Greedo's eventual demise for being a confrontational jerk.
 
article on the narration in the trailer
This whole article is stupid. ALL of the narration is from the scene between Luke and Leia on Endor. Even the line "you have that power too." What throws people off was that he said that BEFORE he said the rest of it, when Leia starts question his convictions. "You have a power greater than I could ever have." and he says "You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time you will learn to control it as I have." It is THEN that he mentions why he must confront Vader, that Vader is his father. "There's more. It won't be easy for you to hear, but you must." The person that wrote that article needs to turn in their geek card. All JJ did was to add more bass, a whisper, and change the order a bit.
 
Also, as much as I would like to see McGregor as Obi-Wan again, within the context of the story and universe, it would not make sense, since Luke did not know Obi-Wan at that age.

I think it's only within the context of the story and universe that it could work. To us, it's obvious that for real-world production reasons two actors play the role of Obi-Wan at different ages, but we have to assume that within the fictional context, as far as other characters are concerned they're recognisably the same guy. if Obi-Wan appeared to Luke as his younger self for some reason, Luke would no doubt recognise him just as Spock Prime recognised Chris Pine as Jim Kirk.

Perhaps. It could simply be written off as a mystery of the Force, or just as a disembodied voice. Or, Yoda could now, I suppose.

I'm not saying it could not work from an in-universe perspective, just that I find it jarring and unnecessary. This, of course, is just my opinion.

One of the things that I appreciate about Abrams working with Trek was that is was not all that self-referential in terms of calling back to moments in the previous series, save for when it served the story (Pike finding Kirk in a bar, for example).

In contrast, the Prequels feel very small and self-referential due to this fact. If Obi-Wan or Yoda makes sense, in universe and in story, then please include him. Otherwise, it feels needlessly stepping backwards.
 
article on the narration in the trailer
This whole article is stupid. ALL of the narration is from the scene between Luke and Leia on Endor. Even the line "you have that power too." What throws people off was that he said that BEFORE he said the rest of it, when Leia starts question his convictions. "You have a power greater than I could ever have." and he says "You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. In time you will learn to control it as I have." It is THEN that he mentions why he must confront Vader, that Vader is his father. "There's more. It won't be easy for you to hear, but you must." The person that wrote that article needs to turn in their geek card. All JJ did was to add more bass, a whisper, and change the order a bit.

Yeah, pretty fucking stupid. This guy waaaay over anylizes it when he almost imideately answers his own question.
 
I try to avoid most online articles analyzing new movie trailers because most of the time they either line up more or less with my own views and thoughts and are thus redundant to slog through or they're just so bat-guano ridiculous and/or dumb that you glean nothing of value from the article.

Except that some people overanalyze trivial things to an extent that would make some message board posts and walls-of-text seem downright scholastic and even professorial.
 
I didn't bother reading past the second or third paragraph, because there's not question about who's narrating it, it's Luke. I don't think anybody who's really paying attention has questioned that. The question is if it's being used in relation to one of the new characters.
 
I try to avoid most online articles analyzing new movie trailers because most of the time they either line up more or less with my own views and thoughts and are thus redundant to slog through or they're just so bat-guano ridiculous and/or dumb that you glean nothing of value from the article.

Except that some people overanalyze trivial things to an extent that would make some message board posts and walls-of-text seem downright scholastic and even professorial.

I get the feeling he's just trying to attract attention.
 
Most of these types of articles are clickbait. I trust actual fans and forum goers to be more insightful and analytical than a bunch of paid online shills.
 
uh.. does Kylo Ren look like a platypus.?. his face has the shape of a duckbill. LOL

One thing I noticed is that Vader's helmet is on a black metal shelf.. never noticed that before
 
Last edited:
Mark Hamil just confirmed during his panel that he did actually record the narration for the teaser. However they ended up using both the new recording and the old dialogue from RotJ in the teaser. I didn't notice it before, but if you listen carefully you can hear Luke repeat each line again in an edited hushed voice.

ETA: He's now talking about Peter Cushing and how honered he was to meet him during his time on the first movie. They showed this pic:

cushinghamil_zpsev9ef2tj.png
 
Last edited:
Look what premiered earlier today at Celebration Anaheim.

Old faces are back, and so is the one and only James Earl Jones. :)

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsIG6UBPEWo[/yt]
 
Look what premiered earlier today at Celebration Anaheim.

Old faces are back, and so is the one and only James Earl Jones. :)

A good mix of older (Clone Wars) and later (Original Trilogy) stuff there. Ahsoka, Captain Rex, Hondo/Vader, B-Wings, AT-ATs.

Hmmm, I wonder how Rex and the others managed to avoid Order 66.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top