All Things Star Wars (No Spoilers)

[Cackalacky]

Speaking of Boba Fett---why is there such an obsession with him by fans? I've always been "meh" about his character because he really doesn't do much.

His appearances in the books are great. He has a long life in the EU so I would love to see more of him as well.

 

[rikkitikki08]

Over/under on the amount lens flares seen in episode VII?, lets start at 250,000

 

[greyhammer90]

Speaking of Boba Fett---why is there such an obsession with him by fans? I've always been "meh" about his character because he really doesn't do much.

mask + jetpack + "he's no good to me dead" + badass ship + bounty hunter + bad guy = little kid idolization

 

[ClausentoTate]

In case anyone has a few hours to kill...

Red Letter Media Star Wars Reviews :

I really hope they fix the writing in 7-9, 1-3 were just so badly written.

 

[greyhammer90]

Over/under on the amount lens flares seen in episode VII?, lets start at 250,000

actually the two things that have me hopeful about this movie is that JJ Abrams has said no lens flare and admitted he got carried away in Trek and that he wants to cut back on special effects in favor of more practical live set + special effects mixtures that we used to see before.

In case anyone has a few hours to kill...

Red Letter Media Star Wars Reviews :

I really hope they fix the writing in 7-9, 1-3 were just so badly written.

Best online reviews of anything ever. Thoroughly plasters the lack of logic and incoherent nature of the entire prequel trilogy.

 

[wizards8507]

Over/under on the amount lens flares seen in episode VII?, lets start at 250,000

The 3D glasses will be produced and sponsored by Ray-Ban. Just $199.95 will get you a movie ticket and your choice of polarized 3D wayfarers or aviators.

 

[wizards8507]

Maybe they can retcon midi-chlorians out with a throwaway line like "I can't believe how much our understanding of the Force has improved in the last 30 years. We were so wrong about midi-chlorians."

 

[Cackalacky]

mask + jetpack + "he's no good to me dead" + badass ship + bounty hunter + bad guy = little kid idolization

 

[Huntr]

Maybe they can retcon midi-chlorians out with a throwaway line like "I can't believe how much our understanding of the Force has improved in the last 30 years. We were so wrong about midi-chlorians."

Good call, my young Padawan.
-Obi-Wan to Anakin, Ep2

 

[me9rob]

ORDER 66 WAS BOGUS!!

I don't buy a half dozen to a dozen clone troops killing a jedi master? Some of whom where sitting members of the jedi councel. A dozen clone troops would struggle with a teenage patawan learner.

I also don't buy Anakin who was a damn talented jedi turned sith with maybe a couple hundred clone troops can kill every single freakin jedi in the Jedi Temple?

I thought the reason the Jedi were killed so easily was that the Dark Side had been clouding their judgment and power. Yoda always referenced this in the first two movies and then it becomes super prevalent in the third and then it plays into the movie by showing the Jedi basically becoming powerless, because the dark side has gotten so strong. To me it made the 3rd movie super depressing and dark which, imo, is a great lead in to the next film (A New Hope).

The Jedi Temple scene was meant to show off Anakin's power. At the time everyone felt he had the potential to be the most powerful Jedi ever, even more so than Yoda and other masters. Also most Jedi were out fighting and the few that would've been at the Temple had gone out to arrest Palpatine as well so it really only left the young kids and maybe a master or two. When you have them going up against the best clone troopers out there and the one of the most powerful Jedi of all time, then it's not to far-fetched to show Anakin taking them all out.

 

[TDHeysus]

Speaking of Boba Fett---why is there such an obsession with him by fans? I've always been "meh" about his character because he really doesn't do much.

mask + jetpack + "he's no good to me dead" + badass ship + bounty hunter + bad guy = little kid idolization

Boba Fett was pretty much a phenomanon from the very start; when his charactar was originally offered, you could only get him by mailing in 'Kenner proofs of purchase'. I can remember as kid that he was a 'must-have' figure. Originally they were going to have his rocket shoot from his backpack, but there was a problem with a battlestar gallactica figure around that time where I believe a kid was injured. If I understand correctly, there were only a few prototypes of Boba Fett that were made with the 'firing' rocket launcher, and those prototypes are currently worth BIG BIG money.

In episodes 5 and 6 he had only a very small part (Empire Strikes Back); and was killed early on in Return of the Jedi (getting thrown into the Sarlacc pit). But later in the prequels he had a larger part and it was revealed that he was cloned to make all of the Clone Troopers.


http://www.brianstoys.com/catalog/67/premiercollect.pdf

 

[greyhammer90]

I forgot about that. When Darth Vader is like "dude chill out on the evil things for the moment" you know you've got a badass.

 

[GATTACA!]

Although I had seen episodes here and there over the years, I'm just now checking out the whole series of The Clone Wars on Netlfix w/my daughter. About half way through S1, they really got rollin and we are enjoying it immensely. It's not perfect, but much better than Ep1-3.

If Ep7 gets story and direction like these, I'd be satisfied. Not real confident w/Lens Flare at the helm, tho'.

I love JJ and think he will do a fantastic job with the franchise. He made star trek cool......Star Trek! Imagine what he will do with the franchise that he grew up loving? All the lens flare bashing is over the top IMO. People make a big deal out of little things when there isnt anything else to criticize.

 

[greyhammer90]

I love JJ and think he will do a fantastic job with the franchise. He made star trek cool......Star Trek! Imagine what he will do with the franchise that he grew up loving? All the lens flare bashing is over the top IMO. People make a big deal out of little things when there isnt anything else to criticize.

He made Star Trek into a dumbed down action movie. Star Trek was never supposed to be cool, its science fiction not science fantasy.

 

[wizards8507]

He made Star Trek into a dumbed down action movie. Star Trek was never supposed to be cool, its science fiction not science fantasy.

This. This so hard.

 

[GATTACA!]

He made Star Trek into a dumbed down action movie. Star Trek was never supposed to be cool, its science fiction not science fantasy.

The two movies together made nearly 1/2 a billion. Science fiction or science fantasy thats a huge success that the mainstream public agrees with based on the box office results. JJ made the Trek films more like Star Wars films because thats what he loves and grew up on, so this seems like a perfect fit to me.

Also how about his casting? Out of this world.

 

[Huntr]

I think JJ Abrams is a no talent hack who didn't understand his source material for Star Trek. Those 2 are enjoyable enough, but they aren't Star Trek. Super 8 was basically his love letter to Steven Spielberg's vision of his own childhood and Cloverfield sucked, too. Dude never saw a played out trope he didn't like. But,hey, there's always Lost, which petered out or Felicity (!...not really) or the 2 MI movies he made. Actually, all those sucked, too.

The lens flare stuff is fun to dog pile on (because its true!), but I just think the guy makes movies like hes a 1st year film student with a big budget.

 

[gkIrish]

Boba Fett was pretty much a phenomanon from the very start; when his charactar was originally offered, you could only get him by mailing in 'Kenner proofs of purchase'. I can remember as kid that he was a 'must-have' figure. Originally they were going to have his rocket shoot from his backpack, but there was a problem with a battlestar gallactica figure around that time where I believe a kid was injured. If I understand correctly, there were only a few prototypes of Boba Fett that were made with the 'firing' rocket launcher, and those prototypes are currently worth BIG BIG money.

In episodes 5 and 6 he had only a very small part (Empire Strikes Back); and was killed early on in Return of the Jedi (getting thrown into the Sarlacc pit). But later in the prequels he had a larger part and it was revealed that he was cloned to make all of the Clone Troopers.


http://www.brianstoys.com/catalog/67/premiercollect.pdf

Actually it was his father that was cloned--Jango Fett.

 

[greyhammer90]

The two movies together made nearly 1/2 a billion. Science fiction or science fantasy thats a huge success that the mainstream public agrees with based on the box office results. JJ made the Trek films more like Star Wars films because thats what he loves and grew up on, so this seems like a perfect fit to me.

Also how about his casting? Out of this world.

Box-office success is all Hollywood cares about, but its not how I judge success. Star Trek is supposed to be more about a thought experiment of a space faring civilization encountering other forms of life and conquering philosophical and physical differences. There was usually a "bad guy" in the movies but he was usually just a physical vehicle for the story.

I DO agree with your second point though. Star Wars is NOT science fiction, it is science fantasy, and I think Abrams has the right touch for this sort of movie.

The best way to see the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars is by looking at the ships and what we know about them. Star Trek took the time to explain every aspect of how the ship worked, how it gets fuel, and why everything is the way it is. Nobody in Star Wars gives a crap why the X-Wing's engines work or what it runs off. Because it's science fantasy, that's not the point.

 

[GATTACA!]

I think JJ Abrams is a no talent hack who didn't understand his source material for Star Trek. Those 2 are enjoyable enough, but they aren't Star Trek. Super 8 was basically his love letter to Steven Spielberg's vision of his own childhood and Cloverfield sucked, too. Dude never saw a played out trope he didn't like. But,hey, there's always Lost, which petered out or Felicity (!...not really) or the 2 MI movies he made. Actually, all those sucked, too.

The lens flare stuff is fun to dog pile on (because its true!), but I just think the guy makes movies like hes a 1st year film student with a big budget.

 

[wizards8507]

Box-office success is all Hollywood cares about, but its not how I judge success. Star Trek is supposed to be more about a thought experiment of a space faring civilization encountering other forms of life and conquering philosophical and physical differences. There was usually a "bad guy" in the movies but he was usually just a physical vehicle for the story.

I DO agree with your second point though. Star Wars is NOT science fiction, it is science fantasy, and I think Abrams has the right touch for this sort of movie.

The best way to see the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars is by looking at the ships and what we know about them. Star Trek took the time to explain every aspect of how the ship worked, how it gets fuel, and why everything is the way it is. Nobody in Star Wars gives a crap why the X-Wing's engines work or what it runs off. Because it's science fantasy, that's not the point.

Right. I took a class at Notre Dame called "Philosophy of Science Fiction" and it basically boils down to two key distinctions. First, if things are explained by magic, it's generally fantasy. If they're explained by science, it's science fiction. "The Force" is much closer to magic than science. Second, the "science" in a science-fiction story plays a part in the plot, whether it's time travel, technology, artificial intelligence, etc.

 

[wizards8507]

I think JJ Abrams is a no talent hack who didn't understand his source material for Star Trek. Those 2 are enjoyable enough, but they aren't Star Trek. Super 8 was basically his love letter to Steven Spielberg's vision of his own childhood and Cloverfield sucked, too. Dude never saw a played out trope he didn't like. But,hey, there's always Lost, which petered out or Felicity (!...not really) or the 2 MI movies he made. Actually, all those sucked, too.

The lens flare stuff is fun to dog pile on (because its true!), but I just think the guy makes movies like hes a 1st year film student with a big budget.

 

[Huntr]

Oh, it is. It is.

 

[Emcee77]

actually the two things that have me hopeful about this movie is that JJ Abrams has said no lens flare and admitted he got carried away in Trek and that he wants to cut back on special effects in favor of more practical live set + special effects mixtures that we used to see before.

Yeah, that gets my hopes up too.

Others have commented on how poorly written the Star Wars prequels are, and I totally agree. (Although, let's face it, the writing in the originals wasn't great ... I mean, "laser brain"? Come on.)

But what I really hated about the prequels is that the computer-generated effects just didn't look as good as the models, puppets and lower-tech stagecraft of the original trilogy.

Jabba the Hutt may not have looked totally "real" in Return of the Jedi (he was a puppet or whatever he was, and you could tell) but he looked way better there than the glossy image of him in the prequels looked. The prequels just looked "faker" than the originals. That may sound like a silly criticism -- it's science fiction, it's obviously fake -- but what was so thrilling about the originals is that they looked real enough to thrill you and almost make you forget that you were watching a movie. Not so with the prequels, which looked almost animated. Not sure if others agree.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Right. I took a class at Notre Dame called "Philosophy of Science Fiction" and it basically boils down to two key distinctions. First, if things are explained by magic, it's generally fantasy. If they're explained by science, it's science fiction. "The Force" is much closer to magic than science. Second, the "science" in a science-fiction story plays a part in the plot, whether it's time travel, technology, artificial intelligence, etc.

That's a pretty superficial distinction. I think the biggest difference is metaphysical. Fantasy, as a literary genre, was basically created by the devoutly Catholic Tolkein, and every fantasy book and genre thereafter has been heavily influenced by his worldview. Star Trek, and the majority of science fiction, tends to be much more secular/liberal in its outlook.

 

[ACamp1900]

This last page or so is like those super embarrassing conversations your two uncles have at Thanksgiving, where your only consolation is, "Well, at least no one outside the family is here to see this.".........

 

[JughedJones]

Box-office success is all Hollywood cares about, but its not how I judge success. Star Trek is supposed to be more about a thought experiment of a space faring civilization encountering other forms of life and conquering philosophical and physical differences. There was usually a "bad guy" in the movies but he was usually just a physical vehicle for the story.

I DO agree with your second point though. Star Wars is NOT science fiction, it is science fantasy, and I think Abrams has the right touch for this sort of movie.

The best way to see the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars is by looking at the ships and what we know about them. Star Trek took the time to explain every aspect of how the ship worked, how it gets fuel, and why everything is the way it is. Nobody in Star Wars gives a crap why the X-Wing's engines work or what it runs off. Because it's science fantasy, that's not the point.

Powering the T-65C A2 are a series of power cells and an ionization reactor. A centrifugal vapour fusion and ionization reactor supplements engine power, and generates power for all on-board systems, including the deflector shields. Energy to drive the engines are stored in the cryogenic cells. If the fuel cells are exhausted the reactor can drive the engines, but at greatly reduced performance. Located in the tips of its wings are its reserve power cells. These cryogenic capacitors, similar in design to the primary power cells store additional power for the engines. Shielded high-energy dynoric laser power lines run along the trailing edge of each wing to allow for easy access so that they can be repaired or quickly replaced. These power lines feed energy from the engine power converters to the laser cannons. --Wookiepedia

Never underestimate the power of the Nerd.

And for what it's worth, I am pumped beyond belief for Ep.7!

 

[GATTACA!]

Never underestimate the power of the Nerd.

And for what it's worth, I am pumped beyond belief for Ep.7!

Im in the process of building my own 4 ft star destroyer miniature from scratch, and this is just one of the many reference diagrams im working from.

 

[UmphreakDomer]

Actually it was his father that was cloned--Jango Fett.

no. boba is in fact a clone of jango as well. he just doesn't have the growth accelerant. so, he grows at a normal pace and is told that mango is his father, when he really is a mere copy. a rocking badass copy.

 

[Cackalacky]

That's a pretty superficial distinction. I think the biggest difference is metaphysical. Fantasy, as a literary genre, was basically created by the devoutly Catholic Tolkein, and every fantasy book and genre thereafter has been heavily influenced by his worldview. Star Trek, and the majority of science fiction, tends to be much more secular/liberal in its outlook.

This. Star trek was uber progressive as it purposely integrated races, species and time periods with a distinct lack of religious overtones as Rodenberry believed the future would be much more tolerant and accepting. Fantasy is highly dependent on religious and cultural settings, plots, and themes.