Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[Karzak]

That's the beautiful thing about opinions - we all have them, and for subjective things like this, we can all be right.

 

[Reverend]

I've always found it a little surprising that Raymus and Wedge Antilles weren't related. I know that kind of thing is common, there's a newscaster out here who has the same last names as me, but as far as I know we're not related, but SW has always struck me as the kind of universe where they like to make those kinds of connections.

^They also like to recycle names. A lot of unused concepts and alternate names of people and places tend to get reused later on down the line and there's at least one other instance I can think of where two characters have the same first name: Mace Towani & Mace Windu.

 

[theenglish]

For all we know, Bail Antilles, Wedge Antilles and Captain Raymus Antilles could all be distant cousins of one another and hail from similar backgrounds on Corellia and/or Alderaan or another one of the Core Worlds of the Old Republic.

For all we know, Antilles is as common as Smith and Bail is as common as Benjamin.

 

[Mr Light]

Hey, I like Jimmy Smits and all, but yeah he was barely an afterthought in the movies. I do remember him doing one particularly lame limp fist movement at the end of AOTC when they're watching the army that I thought looked incredibly fake.

 

[theenglish]

Hey, I like Jimmy Smits and all, but yeah he was barely an afterthought in the movies. I do remember him doing one particularly lame limp fist movement at the end of AOTC when they're watching the army that I thought looked incredibly fake.

The prequels could have been very effective if they had followed a "slow story" / "action story" format. If Padme and Anakin had been on the run from bounty hunters and falling in love, cuts to the actual politics at play led by Bail Organa vs. Palpatine would have worked very, very well.

I love the story and plot of the PT, but the execution could have been as great as the OT with better editing.

 

[cooleddie74]

Can't argue with the Pernilla August performances as Shmi Skywalker. She was terminally underused (no pun intended) in Episode II and she doesn't get enough credit for turning in one of the best and most sympathetic performances in The Phantom Menace. Shmi's death in her son's arms was one of the most emotionally effective moments of the entire Saga, though I wish she'd had just an extra minute or two of screentime in the second film before we lose her character.

 

[fireproof78]

Can't argue with the Pernilla August performances as Shmi Skywalker. She was terminally underused (no pun intended) in Episode II and she doesn't get enough credit for turning in one of the best and most sympathetic performances in The Phantom Menace. Shmi's death in her son's arms was one of the most emotionally effective moments of the entire Saga, though I wish she'd had just an extra minute or two of screentime in the second film before we lose her character.

I agree. There are a number of characters that could have more time and build up to really make them effective but lack the best follow through. I agree that Shmi's story was among the most effective, and one of the few moments I sympathize with Anakin.

Bail is a similar figure that I find very sympathetic. He is a noble man trying to do the best but gets swept aside.

 

[beamMe]

Ian McDiarmid

Uuuuun-limited....POW-WUH!!

I don't think anyone came out of the Prequels looking flawless, but I agree that Ewan came closest. He seemed to get better and more comfortable in the role as the series progressed.

I don't agree. In Episode I he was acting - in Episode III he was just phoning it in.

Ian McDiarmid's performances were one of the best parts of the Prequels. He was fantastic.

Yes, there was passion in his performance.
Over the top as the character went, he made his colleagues look kinda bad by comparison--with the possible exception of SLJ. McDiarmid acted his way around the stilted dialogue and boring directorial style and showed that a great actor with instinct can make even the phonebook sound interesting.

 

[EnsignRicky]

I just noticed something about BB-8. Others may have brought this up, but it just occurred to me that he looks an awful lot like the love child of R2-D2 and V.I.N.C.E.N.T., which would make perfect sense since the two have them have been living in sin together under the House of Mouse, for quite some time now.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I think I'm starting to love the design; He's the combination of two of my favorite robots. All he has to do is say beedee beedee, and I'm home.

I'll give extra points if he can compress garbage with his body, but then I'd have to start to question just what the hell is going on under that House.

 

[EnsignRicky]

So yeah, "Bail" may be the inner core equivalent of "John" while Antillies could be along the lines of "Smith", or be the name of a very large old royal family that married into the aristocracy of several inner core planets over the centuries, including Alderaan & Corellia.

But yeah, by all means lets continue on to day three of this.

 

[cooleddie74]

This is the Trek BBS.

Continuing discussions and debates about trivial nerd stuff into a third consecutive day is just what we do.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^ And then get mad that other people are talking about things we're not interested in.

 

[cooleddie74]

It's the only way to survive certain forums on this board. You lose your soul in the process, but you survive.

 

[EnsignRicky]

The post I was responding too seems to have been deleted. It had something to do with Antillies being the Star Wars Equivalent of Smith. I'm not mad, I was merely pointing out that if this off topic required further discussion, at least cover new ground.

 

[Ithekro]

The thing is, there are going to be at least five movies in the next five years, maybe even seven in the next seven years. The three sequel trilogy movies and a number of anthology movies between them. That is a lot of movies but it sort of fits with how Marvel and DC are attempting to produce massive amounts of superhero content. The question mount about what happened after Return of the Jedi as all the novels that were covering that are now Legends. Then the question becomes what are the anthology films going to be about. The first one will be about the Rebellion stealing the plans for the Death Star. Okay that ties in the A New Hope easily enough. There are rumors of a Boba Fett film and a Han Solo film, both of unknown setting. There is a rumor of a Yoda film which could take place in the long past.

There is also the opportunity to reintroduce the more popular Legends characters and stories in the Anthology series. While maybe not Mara Jade, there is plenty of room in the Galaxy to introduce Grand Admiral Thrawn and his campaign to retake the galaxy for the Empire following Return of the Jedi. The Heroes of Yavin are not entirely needed for his story to be told. It helps, but you can tell it without them. Just put in other Rebel heroes as needed. You don't even have to tell the entire story. Just part of it and leave the rest to the imagination.

 

[Corran Horn]

The post I was responding too seems to have been deleted. It had something to do with Antillies being the Star Wars Equivalent of Smith. I'm not mad, I was merely pointing out that if this off topic required further discussion, at least cover new ground.

And that's why I deleted mine - I didn't see the earlier post.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

official pictures of the new Flametroopers and Snowtroopers found here

My theory is that those are flametroopers with Kylo Ren as he is burning that village in the trailer.

My guess is that he is looking for Sith artifacts (like Palgeuis' staff that Rey has in both trailers).

I hope these scene is done like the village marauder scenes in the Two Towers.

 

[Mr Light]

^^

Tonight, you will feast on MAN-FLESH!!!

 

[Venardhi]

There are rumors of a Boba Fett film and a Han Solo film, both of unknown setting. There is a rumor of a Yoda film which could take place in the long past.

This is exactly what I hope they don't do. Yoda doesn't need a tragic origin. Han Solo doesn't need one to tell us how he became so jaded. 'Rogue One' is a great idea for a movie, because we know exactly none of the details of how that story happened or how it turns out for the characters other than that the plans do somehow make it to Leia. More stories like that are what will expand the universe rather than making it feel so oddly small and incestuous like the prequels often did.

 

[fireproof78]

official pictures of the new Flametroopers and Snowtroopers found here

My theory is that those are flametroopers with Kylo Ren as he is burning that village in the trailer.

My guess is that he is looking for Sith artifacts (like Palgeuis' staff that Rey has in both trailers).

I hope these scene is done like the village marauder scenes in the Two Towers.

Someone linked to that earlier (I think) but I am really liking the new armor designs, and the fact that we get to see new variants early on.

Be curious to see how they are used.