Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens (spoiler-free thread)

Lucas has confirmed that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are all returning to reprise their roles in Star Wars VII:

http://boingboing.net/2013/03/07/star-wars-trio-to-reprise-role.html

I was already excited about the news that Lucas would not be writing/directing, so this is just icing on the cake.

project37 said:

Lucas has confirmed that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are all returning to reprise their roles in Star Wars VII:

http://boingboing.net/2013/03/07/star-wars-trio-to-reprise-role.html

I was already excited about the news that Lucas would not be writing/directing, so this is just icing on the cake.

I've been rewatching the prequels recently and struck by just how many poor authorial and directorial choices were made. Even if we kept all the same elements including Jar-Jar f***ing Binks, were those films in the hands of someone like Lawrence Kasdan on script and even maybe Joe Johnston at the helm, they would have been far superior to what we got.

I'm trepidacious about the new trilogy. It all depends on the story for me. If they get that right, I know J.J. will pull off a great movie. I enjoyed MI:3 and loved Star Trek and Super 8.

Light saber battles really won't be the same with the combatants using walkers.

Yoda used a cane...Han never used a lightsaber...I can't wait to see if Carrie Fisher dons the cinnamon buns.

You can't un- jump the shark.

Agreed on the prequels not being what they could have been but the story was still a great one. I am excited for the new trilogy and what JJ can bring to it. I think it makes sense to have those characters return as the elders for the new generation. They don't have to even do much- just having them there again to see how they all turned out would be nice,

tjohn said:

Light saber battles really won't be the same with the combatants using walkers.

They'll probably be the old guard in the first film making way for a younger cast anyway.

As long as Shia Lebeouf is nowhere near this set, it could be okay.

Will they bring the Fett back? Officially he dug his way out of the Sarlac's belly. He is the Chuck Norris of Star wars!

Wow ,my son will be thrilled.

tjohn said:

Light saber battles really won't be the same with the combatants using walkers.

You underestimate the Power of the Force, tjohn.

From what I've read, they'll be expanding the universe and making movies focusing on different characters. It sounds like it'll be similar to what Marvel is doing: Make a movie for each character, then bring them all together for a big team-up movie every so often. So there'll most likely be a Fett-focused movie as well as stories focusing on the new guard.

I've checked out The Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network a few times and was surprised at how good it was - it proved to me that it was still possible to tell good stories within that universe as long as someone else not named George Lucas was at the helm.

@ridski - You're a braver man than I am for wanting to go back to the prequels. Did you ever check out "The Phantom Edit"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Edit

PeggyC said:

tjohn said:

Light saber battles really won't be the same with the combatants using walkers.

You underestimate the Power of the Force, tjohn.

Christopher Lee and Yoda, anyone?

I'm still waiting for "Conan the King", with the now appropriately aged Arnold. But this star wars thing... I guess I can say with all sincerity and confidence that it can't get any worse than the last few films, so who knows?

I refused to see the "re-imagined" star trek movie - just not doing it - but I'll hold out some hope for the next Star Wars!

project37 said:

From what I've read, they'll be expanding the univeTrse and making movies focusing on different characters. It sounds like it'll be similar to what Marvel is doing: Make a movie for each character, then bring them all together for a big team-up movie every so often. So there'll most likely be a Fett-focused movie as well as stories focusing on the new guard.

I've checked out The Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network a few times and was surprised at how good it was - it proved to me that it was still possible to tell good stories within that universe as long as someone else not named George Lucas was at the helm.

@ridski - You're a braver man than I am for wanting to go back to the prequels. Did you ever check out "The Phantom Edit"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Edit

Still haven't seen Phantom Edit. I'm more intrigued by the fan-cut that Topher Grace (of That 70s Show) allegedly made which cut the entire prequel trilogy into a single 85 minute film about the downfall of Anakin.

http://www.slashfilm.com/topher-grace-edited-star-wars-prequels-85minute-movie/

Needless to say, I'm about 25 minutes into Revenge of the Sith and at this point in Attack of the Clones I was wishing I was still watching Phantom Menace, as bad as it is. When I saw Attack of the Clones in the theater (at the Zeigfeld, of course), all of us Star Wars fans were setting ourselves up for disappointment, and any time Anakin and Padme were on screen we laughed our asses off at the awkwardness of their "romance". The one time Hayden had a chance to deliver a cool quip ("What kept you?" "Well, you know, Master, I couldn't find a speeder I liked.") it's destroyed by Lucas' hamfisted writing ("...with an open cockpit and the right speed capabilities...") It's a set-up and a one-liner and he just kills it. It's like that all the way through the series, too. More frustrating than anything, I think.

< stalk >

project37 said:

a Fett-focused movie

)

< /stalk >

wnb said:

You can't un- jump the shark.

I don't know, the last Star Trek movie was pretty good and, if any movie ever jumped a shark, it was Star Trek Generations.

case said:

I refused to see the "re-imagined" star trek movie - just not doing it

You should, it was far better than pretty much any of the Star Trek movies other than the Wrath of Khan and, (maybe) the Save the Whales movie.

I AM a marine biologist!

LP said:

case said:

I refused to see the "re-imagined" star trek movie - just not doing it

You should, it was far better than pretty much any of the Star Trek movies other than the Wrath of Khan and, (maybe) the Save the Whales movie.

For some reason Wrath of Khan never did it for me. Liked Voyage Home and love Undiscovered Country, though. The re-boot is a lot of fun, though, especially for Karl Urban as McCoy, but I just can't get over the concept of the technology being so advanced before the split into two different timelines. Simply doesn't make sense to me.

ridski said:

I just can't get over the concept of the technology being so advanced before the split into two different timelines. Simply doesn't make sense to me.

I think you have to assume that the folks in the original series were REALLY into a retro look for their design. It was a universe of hipsters.

ridski said:

For some reason Wrath of Khan never did it for me. Liked Voyage Home and love Undiscovered Country, though.

Is the Undiscovered Country the one where they (literally) find God?

LP said:

ridski said:

For some reason Wrath of Khan never did it for me. Liked Voyage Home and love Undiscovered Country, though.

Is the Undiscovered Country the one where they (literally) find God?

No, that's Final Frontier, or Star Trek V, Undiscovered Country is the troubled peace process between the Federation and the Klingons.

LP said:

ridski said:

I just can't get over the concept of the technology being so advanced before the split into two different timelines. Simply doesn't make sense to me.

I think you have to assume that the folks in the original series were REALLY into a retro look for their design. It was a universe of hipsters.

)

ridski said:

LP said:

ridski said:

For some reason Wrath of Khan never did it for me. Liked Voyage Home and love Undiscovered Country, though.

Is the Undiscovered Country the one where they (literally) find God?

No, that's Final Frontier, or Star Trek V, Undiscovered Country is the troubled peace process between the Federation and the Klingons.

Hmmm.... I forgot about that one.

ridski said:

LP said:

case said:

I refused to see the "re-imagined" star trek movie - just not doing it

You should, it was far better than pretty much any of the Star Trek movies other than the Wrath of Khan and, (maybe) the Save the Whales movie.

especially for Karl Urban as McCoy

Oh my, yes. I agree wholeheartedly with this.

Heck, yeah. Karl Urban made that movie for me. The whole scene where he is following Kirk around jabbing hypos into his neck to "cure" things and then counteract the side effects is hysterical. He really got "Bones" down pat.

Yeah, but I really like Star Trek. The original TV show, the animated series, the first 100 books (yes, really) of both The Original Series and The Next Generation.... so this 're-imagining' BS is something I can't get behind.

It violates canon, basically.

Ehhhh. By putting it all in a separate universe, essentially, for me there's waaaaay less canon problem with the Trek reboot than there is with crap like the midichlorians, or even things like Anakin's close association with the droids he'd later spend three films not recognizing. I think I can just see it sort of as a "what if," or a (sort of) alternate universe version of the story, and I'm cool with that.

You folks are like the guys on "The Big Bang Theory"

case said:

Yeah, but I really like Star Trek. The original TV show, the animated series, the first 100 books (yes, really) of both The Original Series and The Next Generation.... so this 're-imagining' BS is something I can't get behind.

It violates canon, basically.

I'm going over the geek cliff here, but Star Trek embraces multiple universes. Just look at the Mirror Universe (Spock with a beard) thread that runs from the original series through, Enterprise and on to DS9.