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The Official Movie Thread

Is there an actual storyline that follows Solo prior to us meeting him in the canteen? Yeah, we all know the history with Jaba and Lando, etc. But is there any real literature? That could be kind of fun.
 
The Sarge said:
Is there an actual storyline that follows Solo prior to us meeting him in the canteen? Yeah, we all know the history with Jaba and Lando, etc. But is there any real literature? That could be kind of fun.
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Yeah, he's an Imperial cadet who ends up rescuing Chewie. It's a little hammy and I really don't like the idea of any of the original main Star Wars characters being played by someone else. I mean, they kind of made it work with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he wasn't really a main character in the original trilogy.
 
bustaheims said:
Well, Lucas is still involved as a creative consultant, and I'm not fooling myself into believing that he won't have his fingers all over any Star Wars projects.
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As he should. He has some great ideas. He just can't write or direct (well, his older work suggests that he can, he's just old and lazy) and he needs someone to say "uh, no George, that's a really stupid idea".

I agree that there's a lot of content that could make interesting projects. I'd much prefer they explored some of those stories instead of a sequel trilogy. KotOR would be great. I also think something really interesting could be done with Vader's apprentice (certainly, something better than what they did with Force Unleashed). I just think the main story line is best left alone. I mean, the sequel trilogy story, as it's been explained to me (I haven't read the books or any of the stuff they'd likely draw from) is less interesting than the prequel trilogy story, and, look at what a mess that was made of that.
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I definitely agree. I would really like to avoid seeing any of the characters re-used, except in certain cases. Luke in a original trilogy Obi-Wan/Yoda role would kind of bring the thing full circle and would be an acceptable nod to the whole trilogy. Anything else will turn into what Lucas tried to do with the prequels, where he incorporates characters that really have no reason being in the movies; Threepio, R2D2 and Chewie are all great examples of that.
 
#1PilarFan said:
Yeah, he's an Imperial cadet who ends up rescuing Chewie. It's a little hammy and I really don't like the idea of any of the original main Star Wars characters being played by someone else. I mean, they kind of made it work with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he wasn't really a main character in the original trilogy.
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I don't love it either, but, if the script was strong enough and so on . . . though, I mean, all things considered, that's unlikely.
 
The Sarge said:
Unham it?
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Sure, I mean you can probably do anything with anyone Star Wars-related and do it well. I'd prefer to see them work to build off the universe, not the original movies.

Also, any Star Wars plot has to be focused around the Jedi (one thing Lucas got right) and since this is pre-Luke Skywalker, you'd really have to jump through hoops just to make a coherent storyline.
 
#1PilarFan said:
Also, any Star Wars plot has to be focused around the Jedi (one thing Lucas got right) and since this is pre-Luke Skywalker, you'd really have to jump through hoops just to make a coherent storyline.
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Well, you could do something without the Jedi/Sith, but it would have to at least be about the rebels - though, I guess a whole chunk of movies where the good guys don't really win may not be the most appealing series.
 
I'll probably be shot for this, but I really don't think there's much difference in the six films in terms of quality. They're all cheesy and enjoyable in their own way. The acting is forced and the dialogue is deplorable.

I honestly believe much of the criticism about the newer movies is due simply to nostalgia. I've watched all six movies numerous times and, really, they're all bad, though the Empire Strikes back is probably my favourite.
 
Bullfrog said:
I'll probably be shot for this, but I really don't think there's much difference in the six films in terms of quality. They're all cheesy and enjoyable in their own way. The acting is forced and the dialogue is deplorable.

I honestly believe much of the criticism about the newer movies is due simply to nostalgia. I've watched all six movies numerous times and, really, they're all bad, though the Empire Strikes back is probably my favourite.
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They are kind of cheesy. I don't think too many people would debate that. Lucas has shown some ability to be able to create interesting characters and/or stories, but he's awful when it comes to dialogue and direction. That being said, I feel like the original versions of the original trilogy have a lot less unnecessary stuff in them, a more engaging and less convoluted story, and, because they're not over-populated with obviously CG everything, they feel warmer and more real. They're more cohesive movies than the prequels.
 
My 18 year old self liked the first movie when it came out. A lot. Probably too much. While I watched and enjoyed Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Ewoks, they never captured the magic the first one did. And don't get me started on the reekquels. I'm not sure I want to see any more damage done to the franchise :-\

<---awaiting smite
 
Bullfrog said:
I'll probably be shot for this, but I really don't think there's much difference in the six films in terms of quality. They're all cheesy and enjoyable in their own way. The acting is forced and the dialogue is deplorable.

I honestly believe much of the criticism about the newer movies is due simply to nostalgia. I've watched all six movies numerous times and, really, they're all bad, though the Empire Strikes back is probably my favourite.
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You're not going to get shot, but that doesn't make you any less wrong. And it's not necessarily a subjective thing either; Lucas only directed the first one in the original series and he was coming off two movies where direction was not an issue. By the time of the prequels, he kind of ignored everything that made him an alright director and instead settled for identical and boring scenes filmed while he sat in a director's chair in a studio sipping coffee.

Same goes for the writing. Star Wars I, II, II and IV were all written solely by Lucas. The other two, were co-written by Lawrence Kasdan, likely to smooth out Lucas' terrible dialogue and help cut down on Lucas' awful idea.s

If you're unconvinced, check out Red Letter media's reviews of Star Wars. They're long, but they do a much better job of demonstrating the noticeable dip in quality between the original series and the prequels.
 
#1PilarFan said:
Bullfrog said:
I'll probably be shot for this, but I really don't think there's much difference in the six films in terms of quality. They're all cheesy and enjoyable in their own way. The acting is forced and the dialogue is deplorable.

I honestly believe much of the criticism about the newer movies is due simply to nostalgia. I've watched all six movies numerous times and, really, they're all bad, though the Empire Strikes back is probably my favourite.
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You're not going to get shot, but that doesn't make you any less wrong. And it's not necessarily a subjective thing either; Lucas only directed the first one in the original series and he was coming off two movies where direction was not an issue. By the time of the prequels, he kind of ignored everything that made him an alright director and instead settled for identical and boring scenes filmed while he sat in a director's chair in a studio sipping coffee.

Same goes for the writing. Star Wars I, II, II and IV were all written solely by Lucas. The other two, were co-written by Lawrence Kasdan, likely to smooth out Lucas' terrible dialogue and help cut down on Lucas' awful idea.s

If you're unconvinced, check out Red Letter media's reviews of Star Wars. They're long, but they do a much better job of demonstrating the noticeable dip in quality between the original series and the prequels.
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The issue is we watch them all as adults having seen the original trilogy when we were kid and the new trilogy when we were older. And we care and can make qualitative judgments about the quality.

But when my 4 and 7 year old boys watch the original trilogy and then watch the new trilogy, it is no contest. They love the new trilogy much more than the original. They love pod-racing and clones and yes God forbid Jar-Jar. And isn't the major audience for these movies the kids.

These aren't meant to be Oscar winners they're meant to be pure entertainment.

 
TimKerr said:
And isn't the major audience for these movies the kids.
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In general, the major audience for sic-fi type movies are teens and young adults, since they have the most disposable income. The original trilogy is clearly aimed more at this age group (outside of the ewoks, at least), whereas the prequels . . . I'm not sure they're sure who they're aimed at.
 
bustaheims said:
That being said, I feel like the original versions of the original trilogy have a lot less unnecessary stuff in them, a more engaging and less convoluted story, and, because they're not over-populated with obviously CG everything, they feel warmer and more real. They're more cohesive movies than the prequels.
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I just want to emphasize this because of how strongly I agree with this particular point. The older movies have their issues, and to be fair I don't think anyone ever seriously argues that they should be considered some of the finer works of filmmaking in history, but I do think that there's something to be said for the authentic, lived in quality of the original movies that comes from the fact that sets had to be built and authentic out door settings be found/

Personally, when a movie is almost entirely CGI I find that there's a distance to it because of how much it resembles a cartoon. The Prequels don't just have CGI'd characters but most of them are almost entirely shot against green screen. To me that's just so visually ugly when compared to the first one being shot in the Tunisian desert.
 
TimKerr said:
These aren't meant to be Oscar winners they're meant to be pure entertainment.
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But remember that the Oscars recognize technical achievement as much as they do artistic achievement. The first trilogy won 10 Oscars, largely for things like Score and Sound Mixing and Visual effects. That said, the original trilogy got some artistic love as well. A New Hope won seven oscars and was nominated in categories like Direction, Screenplay, Supporting Actor and Best Picture. The DP, Gilbert Taylor, was the same guy Kubrick used on Dr. Strangelove.

In a lot of ways, it's a really great movie.
 
Nik V. Debs said:
TimKerr said:
These aren't meant to be Oscar winners they're meant to be pure entertainment.
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But remember that the Oscars recognize technical achievement as much as they do artistic achievement. The first trilogy won 10 Oscars, largely for things like Score and Sound Mixing and Visual effects. That said, the original trilogy got some artistic love as well. A New Hope won seven oscars and was nominated in categories like Direction, Screenplay, Supporting Actor and Best Picture. The DP, Gilbert Taylor, was the same guy Kubrick used on Dr. Strangelove.

In a lot of ways, it's a really great movie.
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Sorry, I should have clarified Oscar winning. I was referring to the non-technical categories.
Now I love A New Hope, but there is no way it should have been nominated for Screenplay, Direction or Supporting Actor.
So I went to Wikipedia to check what else was nominated that year and see that John Travolta was nominated for Best Actor for Saturday Night Fever and my entire argument got thrown out the window. So I give up.

My point is, my kids and all their friends like the Prequels much more than they like the original Trilogy.
 
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