So they've announced the official release date of Star Wars VII.

 

http://starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-vii-to-open-december-18-2015.html

 

Two more years... not sure I can wait that long!

11 minutes ago, thoroakenfelder said:

I feel like the internet has been saying that they want that for the past 16 years.

Yeah I would not be surprised if movie 8 features a city in the sky not called Cloud City in a planet not called Bespin

 

23 minutes ago, jeff_14 said:

Exact same plot points does equal remake. Both Rebels and bad guys are pursuing a droid with secret information who winds up on a desert planet where his owner sends him away to escape capture. Said droid is found by a mysterious youngster with parental abandonment issues that has a connection to the Force and the main bad guy who then leave the planet after fighting some locals with the aid of a stranger aboard the Millennium Falcon with Han and Chewie. There is an alien bar scene with the heroes and someone with knowledge of the Force, a rebel planet is destroyed by the Death planetoid, the droid is delivered to the rebels, there is a break and enter and escape from the planetoid following a confrontation between an old man and the bad guy in black where the old man buys it otherwise our heroes are never hit by laser blasts, and then there is a fighter assault on the planetoid where it is destroyed by an impossibly lucky X-wing pilot amidst a big dogfight. Which movie am I describing?

As far as the bulk of the paying public is concerned, that movie is "Star Wars". We've set a revenue record for it all three times it was released to theatres.

That's the point, folks.

10 minutes ago, yang said:

I would rather take bad original stories than good remakes, any time. Because it takes 10 times of the effort to do an original than a remake, and if remakes sell well, then the innovation dies.

Think about other products: if there's no patent protection for the original ideas, and fake copycat products sell well, then eventually no one will try original ideas anymore, because it's not cost effective. Maybe not a very good comparison to movie remakes, but my point is, I would appreciate and encourage the original ideas all the time, good or bad.

Dude, where have you been?  Creativity is dead in Hollywood.  The new movies need to be some kind of remake or rehash of old properties, next installment of a franchise, or based on books / comics with already established fan base.

1 minute ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Dude, where have you been?  Creativity is dead in Hollywood.  The new movies need to be some kind of remake or rehash of old properties, next installment of a franchise, or based on books / comics with already established fan base.

This is my concern in a nutshell. Given how big and influential Star Wars is, I always figured it would be above that as it didn't need to slum it with the rest of Hollywood. This may be Lucas' ultimate legacy. Not until he sold out did Star Wars do the same. 

3 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Dude, where have you been?  Creativity is dead in Hollywood.  The new movies need to be some kind of remake or rehash of old properties, next installment of a franchise, or based on books / comics with already established fan base.

True, I feel the TV shows are better and more creative than the movies in recent years.

3 minutes ago, Darth_Raichu said:

Dude, where have you been?  Creativity is dead in Hollywood.  The new movies need to be some kind of remake or rehash of old properties, next installment of a franchise, or based on books / comics with already established fan base.

The risk (up front cost) to reward (box office) is pretty cruel to untried commodities in today's Hollywood. The low budget John Carpenters and George Romeros of the world have gone to Youtube  and live in their parents' basements.

47 minutes ago, jeff_14 said:

Exact same plot points does equal remake. Both Rebels and bad guys are pursuing a droid with secret information who winds up on a desert planet where his owner sends him away to escape capture. Said droid is found by a mysterious youngster with parental abandonment issues that has a connection to the Force and the main bad guy who then leave the planet after fighting some locals with the aid of a stranger aboard the Millennium Falcon with Han and Chewie. There is an alien bar scene with the heroes and someone with knowledge of the Force, a rebel planet is destroyed by the Death planetoid, the droid is delivered to the rebels, there is a break and enter and escape from the planetoid following a confrontation between an old man and the bad guy in black where the old man buys it otherwise our heroes are never hit by laser blasts, and then there is a fighter assault on the planetoid where it is destroyed by an impossibly lucky X-wing pilot amidst a big dogfight. Which movie am I describing?

And there's even a "trench run" and the main characters even say something similar to "didn't we do this once?"  LOL

Just now, sauromosis said:

And there's even a "trench run" and the main characters even say something similar to "didn't we do this once?"  LOL

I loved the line about how much bigger it was this time. To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee - That's not a space station, this is a space station. 

It just occurred to me that there used to be a drinking game where you had to kick one back everytime Darth Vader was near or tried to kill one of his relatives. Now that Han is part of the family and father to Vader's grandkid, that game just got a lot more fun.

16 minutes ago, jeff_14 said:

I loved the line about how much bigger it was this time. To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee - That's not a space station, this is a space station. 

 

Exact same plot points does equal remake. Both Rebels and bad guys are pursuing a droid with secret information who winds up on a desert planet where his owner sends him away to escape capture. Said droid is found by a mysterious youngster with parental abandonment issues that has a connection to the Force and the main bad guy who then leave the planet after fighting some locals with the aid of a stranger aboard the Millennium Falcon with Han and Chewie. There is an alien bar scene with the heroes and someone with knowledge of the Force, a rebel planet is destroyed by the Death planetoid, the droid is delivered to the rebels, there is a break and enter and escape from the planetoid following a confrontation between an old man and the bad guy in black where the old man buys it otherwise our heroes are never hit by laser blasts, and then there is a fighter assault on the planetoid where it is destroyed by an impossibly lucky X-wing pilot amidst a big dogfight. Which movie am I describing? [emoji6]

TFA of course... A star is not a planetoid.

I agree with you in principle, but TFA was fun anyways. I just wanted VII to be a good "old school" Star Wars movie and it was. I know it's a simple way of looking at it, but it's what I expected. I like what JJ does with films but he's not a big risk taker.

My kids (5 and enjoyed it which was a bonus.

I also hope Luke says "I am your father." Why not... It's Hollywood movie tradition to have some cheesy line repeated in sequels. Or at least give us a "these are not the droids you're looking for." I'm a sucker for the cheese a la "I'll be back!"

True, I feel the TV shows are better and more creative than the movies in recent years.

Many refer to it as being the new golden age of television. It's definitely true compared to the garbage at the theaters.

18 hours ago, gregpj said:

TFA of course... A star is not a planetoid.

I agree with you in principle, but TFA was fun anyways. I just wanted VII to be a good "old school" Star Wars movie and it was. I know it's a simple way of looking at it, but it's what I expected. I like what JJ does with films but he's not a big risk taker.

My kids (5 and enjoyed it which was a bonus.

I also hope Luke says "I am your father." Why not... It's Hollywood movie tradition to have some cheesy line repeated in sequels. Or at least give us a "these are not the droids you're looking for." I'm a sucker for the cheese a la "I'll be back!"

There was no star. They refer to it as a moon in ANH and it's a planet in TFA. All planetoids in my book. Rumour is Luke says "You are my father".

How large was the Starkiller Base planet supposed to be anyway? Like Jupiter big or around there?

The only thing I am mad about is that Ackbar had the golden opportunity to say "it's a map!" When the missing skywalker map r2d2 got filled in and he didnt!  How did they miss adding that in! 

1 minute ago, TheOrcKing said:

How large was the Starkiller Base planet supposed to be anyway? Like Jupiter big or around there?

Isn't 'planetoids' the old name for 'asteroids?' I estimate that the Starkiller Base is a dwarf planet like Pluto or Ceres. Jovian planets or Hot Jupiters are mostly gas, and Super Earths are too big to engineer it to make it a weapon, while the rest in TFA is pretty accurate.

1 hour ago, BoomBoomFlash said:

Isn't 'planetoids' the old name for 'asteroids?' I estimate that the Starkiller Base is a dwarf planet like Pluto or Ceres. Jovian planets or Hot Jupiters are mostly gas, and Super Earths are too big to engineer it to make it a weapon, while the rest in TFA is pretty accurate.

I haven't a clue as to which term came first and seeing how loosely defined "planetoid" is doesn't help much. Still your points made me think something within the proximity of our gas giants wouldn't work (I imagine, this is science-fiction after all, haha). Just going by the holographic representation in The Force Awakens comparing the Death Star to Starkiller Base suggest to me perhaps the two Death Stars could have been even smaller than Ceres' dimensions while Starkiller Base was close to it. I guess when they go on over how big the thing is, I get spun around and lose my bearings on more realistic proportions. Haha.
 

1 hour ago, CoastaLego said:

The only thing I am mad about is that Ackbar had the golden opportunity to say "it's a map!" When the missing skywalker map r2d2 got filled in and he didnt!  How did they miss adding that in! 

That would have been a golden opportunity.

20 hours ago, TheOrcKing said:

That would have been a golden opportunity.

Seems perfect for me

I'ld watch that

Just now, brickcrazyhouse said:

I'ld watch that

That might be "The Ford Awakens".

So it looks like filming has got under way in Malin Head for Ep VIII. Large mats on the ground not far from Bambas Crown. There seems to be a small structure built too. Wonder if i arrive with all my R5s would Mark Hamill sign them?

Interesting stuff 

 

 

9 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Interesting stuff 

You know it is a JJ Abrams movie when scenes that would add to the understanding of the universe were cut in favor of prolonged chase scenes

(The above was true for the new Star Trek movies too )

On 4/24/2016 at 10:47 AM, thoroakenfelder said:

The further we get away from anything the more flaws you can find. Here's my favorite flaw from ANH. Some kid shows up with a kid princess to your secret base. Based on the ending ceremony there are dozens of available pilots. You have 24 fighters. The kid says he's a good pilot and some guy that's been with the rebellion a day longer say he's a good pilot. Without running any tests, you figure, "Let's give him one of our only fighters." In the middle of the fight, you place him in charge of a flight element. There is no logival reason why he should have been in the seat of that X-Wing or been the one making the shot in the trench run.

Or,what about some of these? Apparently there was only about a dozen TIE Fighters in a space station the size of a small moon.

Apparently years of training and dedication to learning the ways of the force can be distilled down to flailing blindly with a lightsaber in a cargo hold, carrying an alien on your back while running and doing handstands for about a week.

Apparently the Rebel Alliance military doesn't have a lot of problems with people taking a lot of personal time, as Luke runs off on them in ESB and Jedi.

The rank of General is apparently handed out to anyone. Lando had zero exposure to the alliance. Han had left the alliance on some kind of personal thing and wasn't heard from for a year, ostensibly causing COmmander Skywalker and Princess Leia to take a leave of absence, and the moment they come back they're all put in positions of authority.

That's just a few things off the top of my head. I think if I really thought about it, I could come up with a lot more. The thing is, I'm not really interested in picking apart the entire fabric of the series. I just want to enjoy it. are there problems with the OT, the PT and TFA? Of course there is. Nothing is perfect. If someone has serious problems with the last 4-5 outings in the same series, can anyone explain to me why there's even a hope that episode 8 is going to bring back the great times?

One more thing: Rey lives her whole childhood on a hot desert planet. She jumps on a ship and ends up on StarKiller Base in the snow. Even Han Solo has a warm bomber jacket on, but Rey soldiers on in thin clothes throughout a few snow scenes without even once rubbing her arms, showing blueness in the face, chattering teeth or any other cold symptoms. Heck, she doesn't even complain about the cold (unlike other women I know who put on sweaters when the A/C kicks in).