All Things Star Wars (No Spoilers)

[Huntr]

My story would be that Darth Vader went looking for it using some droids after Luke fell and got away. They recovered the hand and Light Saber at the bottom of the Bespin spire. He took them with him, then felt terrible about maiming his son and ejected it from the Executor into space to get rid of them as they reminded him of his past. Then>>>>Lens flare... I forgot what I was saying.

JJ?

 

[wizards8507]

Company picnic. R2-D2, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and loads of storm troopers running around.

 

[brick4956]

<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-video" data-allowfullscreen="1" data-href="/StarWars/videos/vb.169299103121699/1030579940326940/?type=3"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/StarWars/videos/1030579940326940/"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/StarWars/videos/1030579940326940/">Star Wars: The Force Awakens Immersive 360 Experience</a><p>Speed across the Jakku desert from Star Wars: The Force Awakens with this immersive 360 experience created exclusively for Facebook.</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StarWars">Star Wars</a> on Wednesday, September 23, 2015</blockquote></div></div>

 

[ACamp1900]

Company picnic. R2-D2, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and loads of storm troopers running around.

Clearly you didn't wear ND gear bc it's against company policy.....

 

[wizards8507]

Clearly you didn't wear ND gear bc it's against company policy.....

That's a "God, Country, Notre Dame" t-shirt.

 

[BeauBenken]

Company picnic. R2-D2, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and loads of storm troopers running around.

Wizards...that baby face.

 

[irishnd31]

Company picnic. R2-D2, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and loads of storm troopers running around.

. Don't see many wives or girlfriends tho.

 

[ACamp1900]

That's a "God, Country, Notre Dame" t-shirt.

Sure boss, .... Sure.

 

[wizards8507]

Wizards...that baby face.

#FatGuyProblems

 

[irishnd31]

Very sweet picture of you and your daughter BTW.

 

[Cackalacky]

star wars ring theory | Mike Klimo

This Guy Spent Two Years Writing One Article About How the Star Wars Prequels Didn't Suck | VICE | United States

ACamp....

 

[ACamp1900]

I opened the link, scrolled down, saw attack of the clones, one of the worst movies I've ever seen, compared to Empire Strikes Back, one of the greatest movies I've ever seen,... Laughed, and couldn't go any further... Should I fight the dark side and actually attempt to stomach the fanboyism?

 

[Cackalacky]

I opened the link, scrolled down, saw attack of the clones, one of the worst movies I've ever seen, compared to Empire Strikes Back, one of the greatest movies I've ever seen,... Laughed, and couldn't go any further... Should I fight the dark side and actually attempt to stomach the fanboyism?

Yes. Please do. Take some time. There is a lot in both of the links. Maybe try the Vice article first?

 

[ACamp1900]

Yes. Please do. Take some time. There is a lot in both of the links. Maybe try the Vice article first?

Sigh, alright, I promise I'll hit them up tomorrow when I'm more awake and have more time, I'll share my thoughts then... Cool?

I am interested, why me specifically? Surely I'm not the only one who said they didn't enjoy the prequels that much...

 

[Cackalacky]

I would say that would be a starting point. Star Wars has elements of both. There is obviously the science fiction element. There is also the yin/yang transition of Luke and Anakin and the samurai nature of the Jedi/Sith. The "Force" has its roots in eastern mysticism. I don't think that is truly genre defining though.

Star Trek is truly science fiction though just as The Silmarillion is truly fantasy IMO. There is definitely a sliding scale.

Did anything specific help bring everything together for you?
Around that time, I stumbled upon a book called Thinking in Circles by a social anthropologist named Mary Douglas. And that's when everything started to click. She was essentially describing what I argue Lucas was doing with those six pictures.

Do you think the yin-yang structure was intentional on Lucas's part?
The evidence, to me, is overwhelming that the structure exists—that this idea that there is a chiastic structure (you can call it ring convolutions). I think the evidence for that kind of speaks for itself.

 

[Cackalacky]

Sigh, alright, I promise I'll hit them up tomorrow when I'm more awake and have more time, I'll share my thoughts then... Cool?

I am interested, why me specifically? Surely I'm not the only one who said they didn't enjoy the prequels that much...

Well...I figured you might actually enjoy this guy's take or research even. It added some perspective for me as to what Lucas was doing whether he succeeded or not.

I am not aware of many others disdain for the prequels that I recall. I am sure there are I just remember yours better. Haha.

 

[ACamp1900]

Cool, I'll def hit it up, too drained and chill to be analytical tonight tho...

 

[ACamp1900]

I got to page four and got the gist of it... interesting... It doesn't address any of my personal beefs with the prequels (mainly the last two)... but it's cool that it adds another layer to a series that I am still a fan of even if the majority of what it lays out is/was somewhat obvious from the get go...

 

[dublinirish]

Gleeson casts doubt over new Star Wars movie - RTÉ Ten

The force may be weak! Domhnall Gleeson isn't sure if Star Wars fans will be impressed with The Force Awakens and said the cast and crew put their heart and soul into the new movie.

“(I don’t know) if fans will be entirely satisfied,” he admitted.

“That’s the bitter truth. We put our heart and soul into it. I saw how hard everybody was working on it. I think it’s got a shot,” the 32-year-old Dubliner told InStyle.

 

[gkIrish]

Gleeson casts doubt over new Star Wars movie - RTÉ Ten

That's such a weird quote.

 

[RDU Irish]

prequels sucked. Acting and animations are so bad that any of this deeper meaning is hardly worth worrying about. Empire is the best of the bunch, Jedi is almost ruined by the Ewoks. JarJar Binks did more to defame George Lucas than if he was caught naked in bed with a dozen 10 year old boys.

I don't get Yoda looking completely different in Episode I he is redeemed in his light saber sequence later in the prequels, best part of the first three and much less fake than most of the scenes.

The originals were able to be completely bad ass in within a PG framework and the prequels were not. Special effects added to the originals and detracted from the prequels.

I don't get that there are many people carrying water for the prequels, I thought it was well accepted that they generally sucked. Then again I haven't read deep into this thread so just going off the last page.

I am looking forward to the new ones, the trailer already has more of a Star Wars "look" too it. They also benefit from no tether to where it has to end like the prequels.

 

[Buster Bluth]

I agree with everything you said except the Yoda bit. The Yoda lightsaber stuff is commonly brought up amongst prequel haters for having ruined the character. Yoda was this tiny wise super-Jedi who seemed to get his strength from a mental aspect, not physical. Having him jump around parading saber skills took away from that IMO.

 

[ulukinatme]

star wars ring theory | Mike Klimo

This Guy Spent Two Years Writing One Article About How the Star Wars Prequels Didn't Suck | VICE | United States

ACamp....

I don't buy it. Interesting theory, but it's still only a theory. No one knows what George was really going for except George himself. Certainly some of the shots are very similar to previous movies, but how much of that is simple coincidence? The comparisons to the beginning of Jedi and Phantom are very similar, but at the end of the day...it's still a damn ship docking with a larger ship. There's no big metaphor going on here, it's a basic sci-fi/space operation. There's definitely frequent call backs in the two trilogies...but if there weren't, then how would they be connected at all? They would be two separate stories all together.

While they're long as hell and obviously were meant more for entertainment value, there are a lot of valid points in the Red Letter Media reviews of the prequels. While the special effects were certainly top notch, they definitely took something away from the film with the constant use of green screen. The prequels just felt fake, the backgrounds made them look like a cartoon at times. In the original trilogy you don't get as much green screen, it's easier to imagine that the locations could actually exist in a galaxy far, far away as oppose to built on a computer and shot on green screen in England. In addition, the storylines in the prequels were awful at times and not well thought out (See the Red Letter Media reviews below), and some of the characters were really bad. The dialogue wasn't much better, the delivery was often very bland and felt forced. There were no Han Solos with witty dialogue and improvisation in this cast, they felt like they lacked passion.

As promised, part 1, but all parts of the Phantom Menace review should be watched:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FxKtZmQgxrI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


I haven't read all of Klimo's thesis, just the first few pages, but in the Vice article he said:
"He was using Star Wars as a vehicle to kind of express larger themes and emotions." C'mon now. George isn't some savant that was trying to tell some masterful story between the prequels and the original trilogy. Maybe there was some of that in the original trilogy, but by the prequels they replaced great story and great acting/dialogue with boring plot and flashy effects. The prequels weren't a vehicle to express larger themes and emotions, they were a vehicle to make George lots of money, period. It's all about the ticket sales and merchandise. Yes, a lot of that money goes to the studio and to Kenner, but you get the idea. If Star Wars was George's masterpiece where this great, complex, artistic story was going on behind the scenes would he have ever sold the rights to Disney? No, I doubt it, he would have guarded that story from being damaged by someone who didn't share his vision.

At some point George lost his edge and may have lost some of his sanity. Just look at some of the moves and movies he made from the prequels and the later years. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull had some boneheaded decisions in it too, and a lot of them came from Lucas, not Spielberg. That's a good review to watch too. It goes beyond those movies though, it's the additions and edits he made to the original trilogy that were lame and stupid. Making Greedo shoot first in the rerelease of the original trilogy in the 90s? Makes no sense. Replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden at the end of Return of the Jedi? Bullshit. Adding the "Noooooo!" to the Return of the Jedi scene where Vader throws the Emperor down the shaft? Are you fucking kidding me? It's a good thing George sold the rights, he may have found other ways to continue to screw with the franchise.

 

[ulukinatme]

prequels sucked. Acting and animations are so bad that any of this deeper meaning is hardly worth worrying about. Empire is the best of the bunch, Jedi is almost ruined by the Ewoks. JarJar Binks did more to defame George Lucas than if he was caught naked in bed with a dozen 10 year old boys.

Here's the thing for me...Empire is certainly the best among the films, but Jedi will always be my favorite. The diverged story lines each had different settings and struggles, coming together nicely in the end. You had Han and Leia fighting to bring down the shields, Luke struggling with the Emperor's attempts to turn him while not wishing to fight his father, and then the badass space battle with Lando outside the Death Star. It bordered on being too much, but it was well done I thought. The Ewoks were a problem, but from what I've read they originally wanted it to be the Wookiee planet which would have been a lot cooler and not so "cute," but for budget reasons I guess they decided to go with Ewoks. Instead they put Wookiees in Revenge of the Sith and they were all digitized, and everything about that planet sucked and felt fake.

 

[IrishLion]

Instead they put Wookiees in Revenge of the Sith and they were all digitized, and everything about that planet sucked and felt fake.

Speaking of the Wookies in Revenge of the Sith, I could watch an entire movie about Order 66 being carried out.

The brief shots of the different locations, battles and situations when it happened were really neat.

 

[Cackalacky]

I am surrounded by a bunch of haters.

 

[ulukinatme]

I am surrounded by a bunch of haters.

Well, you are likely the minority. The prequels didn't exactly have stunning reviews from the beginning.
I actually went to the theater to watch the Phantom Menace in 3D. Among the prequels it's definitely the one I enjoy the least, but at that point I had never seen a movie utilizing the newer 3D technology and I thought "Why not, maybe it'll make it better." It was still pretty shitty, and it just reinforced the entire problem the movie always had: pretty visuals, with crappy story, dialogue, and characters. It also gave my wife a headache, which meant no sex after the date, although I probably botched that one taking her to Star Wars to begin with.

 

[RDU Irish]

Spot on with the last two comments.

Yoda kicking ass is sweet. It's like the old man saying, "son, don't make me prove that I can still kick your ass" - in the context of the movie he is really still too old for that sh!t though, that battle should have 100 years earlier seeing how Yoda was decrepit at 300+ years old when Vader is probably 60 but when Yoda is 50 years younger his is supposed to be in his prime? Seems a bit loose - rather see some footage from 100 years earlier of the little green guy going ape sh!t.

I never heard Ewok choice was an expense thing. I didn't realize little people were less expensive actors than giants. Who knew. Maybe they were exploiting child labor or something. I did hear that it was a conscious decision to go small instead of big driven 100% by Lucas.

Using the Redwood Forest to shoot Jedi was perfect example of finding Earthly locations that seemed other worldly. Same with Hoth, and Tatooine. Makes it seem more real when the set is actually real. I always thought Lucas got stupid with computer graphics and childish planted subjects to appeal to what he thinks a three year old would like - more so for the sake of commercialization than anything. Ewoks and Jar Jar, wtf. Jar Jar is enough to make me never want to re-watch I-III alone, and as Lion points out in the Order 66, there is some good stuff going on in there worth seeing.

 

[ACamp1900]

Phantom Menace was easily the best of the prequels imo... by far... Jar Jar and the CGI destroyed any chance it had to be a good film on it's own... but compared to the other two, especially AofC, it was a much better film.

All my opinion of course.

 

[ulukinatme]

I never heard Ewok choice was an expense thing. I didn't realize little people were less expensive actors than giants. Who knew. Maybe they were exploiting child labor or something. I did hear that it was a conscious decision to go small instead of big driven 100% by Lucas.

I always heard it was an expense thing, maybe finding taller actors and bigger suits, I don't know. When I went searching for information to back that up I found this instead:

Wookies, not Ewoks - Secrets of Return Of the Jedi - Movies - Virgin Media

The battle between Imperial ground forces and the rebel commandos trying to blow up the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor was originally supposed to take place on the Wookie home plant of Kashyyk. It would have reunited Chewbacca with his furry kind and offered the stormtroopers a much tougher enemy than the Ewoks, who ended up helping the rebels. Lucas, who wanted an allegory of Vietnam – where the technologically superior US was beaten by a less sophisticated but still worthy foe – plumped instead for the dwarf-like Ewoks, armed with rudimentary weapons but tactics worthy of Stormin' Norman himself.

I've also seen rumors that the Ewoks were actually supposed to be lizard-like creatures, so who the fuck knows what was really going on in George's head, but Ewoks were likely not the first choice of creatures either way.