STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

[bull]

     
Yeah, I know about the onslaught of SW projects coming.  I'm just glad they're not literally shooting all three of the big episodes at once.

Disney will run SW into the ground as best they can.  They are smart enough to make sure the quality is there for the tentpole movies that the whole world sees.  But they will probably be much quicker & dirtier on TV/video releases aimed directly at kids.  That's how Disney handles all their franchises. 

I do think Disney is on a path to over-expose SW in the coming decade.  IMO a new theatrical movie every year is probably too much for any franchise to sustain for very long.  The only way I could see it working would be to vary the flavor of the standalone movies a lot more than SW has ever varied before. 

But which is worse? An onslaught of decent to good SW movies (Disney) or utter garbage after a 16-year drought (Lucasfilm)?

[ACUDANUT]

 Where was R2D2. lol

[Mike DC]

But which is worse? An onslaught of decent to good SW movies (Disney) or utter garbage after a 16-year drought (Lucasfilm)?

How about what we had in the 1970s-80s:  A lone auteur controlling his own franchise and only putting out a few very well-done shows?  That was ideal.  It still would be.  But the lone auteur eventually lost interest in doing movies (long before he stopped doing them).  



When I heard that Lucas had sold SW I was glad that Disney was his choice.  At least Disney has the sense to think long-term, even if they do over-expose it.  

In the wrong hands we could be looking at SW movies with boy-bands singing songs.  Crossover appearances with comic superheroes.  Dark gritty teen-angst reboots.  Movies being filmed while the script is half finished.  A bunch of extra fan-favorite minor characters & villains all being crammed into a movie (for toy sales) and ruining it.  Etc.  

[bull]

Lucas might have done what Disney is doing now but he couldn't. The tech of the 80s is what stopped him IMO. I believe he was excited about his SW universe back then but trying to create his vision was such a daunting task he got burned out and bored after ep. 6. I have no proof of that but it makes sense.

Also, the ewoks kind of foreshadowed Jar-Jar. Somehow it got into his head that he needed to play to the kid crowd but didn't really know how to do that. The result was the prequels - a horrible mix of boring political monologues and infantile action/gags. I just wish he would have quit while he was ahead. He was ahead in 1983.

[Mike DC]

  
If you read about the making of ROTJ, the Ewoks seem to have ended up a notch cuter than anyone intended.  They kept kicking around concept drawings and the only ones that didn't look creepy or scary looked too cute.  So cute won out.  

The Ewoks were also supposed to share screen time with another taller/thinner critter which would have been guys on stilts in costume.  But they axed those critters for practicality & photography issues late in development, leaving more screen time for the Ewoks alone than they had originally intended.



George Lucas must not have been too burned out on producing movies after ROTJ.  He followed it with two more Indiana Jones movies, Willow, Howard the Duck, and the Young Indy TV show.  Willow would have been turned into another trilogy if the public had liked it enough. 

[bull]

George Lucas must not have been too burned out on producing movies after ROTJ.  He followed it with two more Indiana Jones movies, Willow, Howard the Duck, and the Young Indy TV show.  Willow would have been turned into another trilogy if the public had liked it enough. 

Well, I meant to be more specific in saying he was burned out on the tedious special effects task of Star Wars at the time. Although technically difficult I bet those movies you mentioned were a special effects picnic by comparison.

I don't understand Lucas's obsession with Howard the Duck. He still talks about wanting to see that stupid thing made into a good movie.

[bull]

Is Chewie in a Charger?

[b5blue]

  Interesting, I came away from the movie mostly thinking what would G.L. have done. This was a reboot of the franchise in every way possible. G.L. would not have done this? I think he was smart to just bale out, how much more can one guy do? He'd ended up like Howard Hughes, nut job lost in his own head eventually. 
 

[Dino]

I have to dig this thread back up and eat my words. I was the first to comment on the thread and said that I would pass on watching the movie and that the magic was gone.

Well I was wrong...

Maybe it was the prequels that left me feeling like that or maybe it was the belief that it could never be what it once was, I dunno.

I already knew this was a loose reboot of the original movie but after watching it, it makes complete sense. This was exactly what the franchise needed.

The entire movie had the look and feel of the original trilogy and I found myself enjoying every single minute of it.

So there, I'm a fan again.   

[nvrbdn]

Got that right driver. Ha Ha  haven't said that in ages.  It was a good movie. Bought my copy too.

[funknut]

It was a fine movie, but IMO they tried to cover too much territory in too little time.  I walked away feeling very little connection to the environment or characters, whereas in Ep 4-6 I felt like I could have lived in the SW universe.

Granted I was a kid at the time, but even compared to other movies I've seen recently, Ep 7 just felt rushed and disconnected.

Maybe my expectations were just too high.

They still can't make a foe anywhere near as scary Darth Vader and the Emperor.  Darth Maul was freaky but still didn't have the gravitas of Vader.  Kylo Ren as the baddest bad guy in the galaxy is nearly laughable.

I'm glad I saw it, but there were lots of missed opportunities to recreate their universe in J.J. Abrahams' vision.  Some have said they had to clear the slate for upcoming episodes.  Hopefully Ep 8 will bring back some character development.

[Mike DC]

   
I don't think this movie felt rushed compared to a lot of other blockbusters these days. 

Every summer there are big movies that you can tell were shooting before the script was even done.  People joke about storylines in movies that were "just afterthoughts to string together a series of action scenes" like it's an exaggeration.  But that literally happens on a regular basis. 

[69wannabe]

I have enjoyed watching it three more times since we picked it up at the local wal mart!! It was entertaining and I liked the fresh new character's and seeing the original cast being there too!! It wasn't over done it didn't seem like to me and seeing the falcon again put a giant smile on my face!! Hate that Han had to do what he had to do but I saw it coming a mile away. I honestly didn't think that it would be that good and that it was just alot of built up hype until I watched it and I know I am not as critical as others about these movies but I grew up with a new hope,empire and jedi and really didn't care much for the prequel's except for the last one which was ok. A New Hope will always be my favorite and The Force Awaken's had alot of that same feel so I guess that is why I like it so much!!