Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[Brahby]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

Because spin-offs smack of milking the franchise for every last penny. Disney spent billions for star wars and it sounds like they're rushing to get it all back asap. Origin stories are an easy and lazy way to do it as well. Why think up something new when you can just take created characters and one by one make whole movies about them?
Not to mention that you can do more harm than good in the process. How much more interesting was darth Vader before the prequels? He was a mystery. We were given bits of information about him and our minds had to fill in the rest. Now we know he was a whiny brat who had a higher midichlorian count than yoda. The character is ruined for me. I have to pretend that didn't happen when watching the ot now.
Han, Lando, and chewbacca as kids? No thanks.

I agree with the part about Han, Lando, and Chewy as kids being a bad idea. I think showing Vaders turn to the dark side was a good idea in theory but the delivery was just horrible. The kid version of anakin in episode 1 rivals jar jar for the worst character in the franchise and then 2 and 3 just felt "rushed" to show his actual turn to the dark side. What ruined the character more for me was the "nooooooooo" at the end of 3 and even worse the return of it at the end of 6 on the blu rays. In retrospect maybe you are right, because it might have just been better to imagine what would drive him to the dark side instead of watching it be rushed so quickly that it didnt even seem like he considered the consequences of doing so.

[rickah88]

New teaser trailer....not sure what I'm more interested in seeing: the trailer, or the inevitable ripping, and tearing, it to pieces.

I think I'll opt for the previous, as I won't be looking at this film under a microscope, just a happy Star Wars fan.

[Packerfan75]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

Who says it has to be prequels? From the sounds of what the first spin-off is, it's not a prequel at all. You're making assumptions right now based on rumors, but ones that aren't substantiated. They're just considered spin-offs because they're not part of the ongoing trilogy, but that doesn't make it desperate. Again, by your own wording, the universe is vast and you can do anything in it. That's the point of the spin-offs, to go to the territory that the main trilogy may not allow. The EU books did the same thing, and it worked fine.

Also, rushing it how? By having everything set in place early? Getting talent to make sure the movies have full productions, the opposite of rushing? I think you're worry is clouding your judgement. Lucasfilm is treating each project with a lot of love and respect, and it shows. They're letting every film have a full pre-production, fleshing out the scripts, and making sure they'll work. That's the opposite of rushing it. They can't make films that are less than subpar because then they'll torpedo the series, and they can't afford that. These movies really need to be good to keep going, and keep people interested.

Ah, now you're the one that's assuming. How do you know that care is being taken to preserve the franchise? That they really are putting thought and time into each one of these spin-offs? If not much is known about these and there's only rumors, how do you know the slightest motivation or quality of work that's gone into any of them?
At the end of the day it's all going to be about money. It's a business like any other and the real motivation is profits. Go to Disneyland and see how much a burger and fries are if you want to know how much Disney is concerned about the customers.
Not only that but imo Disneys track record with buyouts of major franchises is 50%. Marvel has been great so far, Pixar is a shadow of its former self. Pixar movies were awesome before Disney. Now, bring on the unnecessary sequels.
Either way it goes, I have good reason to be concerned for these spin-off ideas which came out nearly the same time as the new trilogy was announced. Star Wars is special and I don't want bland cash grabs featuring old or young established characters to ruin it because Disney wants it's money back.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

Ah, now you're the one that's assuming. How do you know that care is being taken to preserve the franchise? That they really are putting thought and time into each one of these spin-offs? If not much is known about these and there's only rumors, how do you know the slightest motivation or quality of work that's gone into any of them?
At the end of the day it's all going to be about money. It's a business like any other and the real motivation is profits. Go to Disneyland and see how much a burger and fries are if you want to know how much Disney is concerned about the customers.
Not only that but imo Disneys track record with buyouts of major franchises is 50%. Marvel has been great so far, Pixar is a shadow of its former self. Pixar movies were awesome before Disney. Now, bring on the unnecessary sequels.
Either way it goes, I have good reason to be concerned for these spin-off ideas which came out nearly the same time as the new trilogy was announced. Star Wars is special and I don't want bland cash grabs featuring old or young established characters to ruin it because Disney wants it's money back.

You don't get the writers and directors involved this early on in the process if you're just going to rush something into production. We know all the players in the game are being given time to develop their films. That's not an assumption, it's what we know. That means they're being given the time to work on them to make sure that their films are well handled.

You're right about Pixar, but I'd argue that Pixar has been their biggest undoing. Cars 2 wasn't a Disney problem, it was a John Lasseter problem, because the series is his baby. It's sad that he let the film get out of hand as much as he did before stepping in to try and fix it, but it was beyond repair. Brave was a similar situation as well. That's why I'm not excited about Toy Story 4 at the moment, because I'm afraid Lasseter has gone full Lucas, with everyone telling him yes instead of no. They can still turn everything around though, with Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, so I'm really not willing to say Pixar is a shadow of their former self. Not until I see what they do with the new three films that aren't sequels. Monsters U was a contractual movie, but I thought it turned out well, all things considered.

At the end of the day, as long as the films are good, I think we'll all be happy. I get being cautious, but we can only hope with Lucas not controlling everything, that the company has learned from his past mistakes and will move away from them. That's why I like the idea of the spin-offs, because they can be anything that wouldn't fit the trilogy narrative at the time, but is still a great self contained story at any point of the Star Wars universe. I'm hoping the idea of character origin films has died away already. It seems it may have, if the rumored first film is true.

[camper]

Originally Posted by Brahby

The kid version of anakin in episode 1 rivals jar jar for the worst character in the franchise and then 2 and 3 just felt "rushed" to show his actual turn to the dark side.

I don't think the kid who played Anakin did a bad job at all. But I do agree with the "rush" to show him turn evil and how forced it was. The death of Shmi should have happened in Ep 1, with him being a little boy...and his mother dying as a direct result of him getting trained as a Jedi.

Ep 2 should have focused on an older Anakin, already a Jedi, freeing the slaves on Tatooine. That is where we should have seen the pent up anger/rage/hatred being exhibited as he went ape on the slave traders while originally there to destroy a droid army being formed--who he reprograms--for the purpose of wiping out the slaves. This is also where Palpatine should have essentially converted him, promising that "in my future slaves will never again be needed or permitted" and then revealing the clones.

Ep 3 should have focused on a conflicted Anakin, dealing with what he did on Tatooine, his pledge to help Palpatine, and the eradication of the droid army. With the Jedi trying to get him to stop and swear allegiance to the Order rather than a single man. Padme, pregnant, leaves Anakin because of his Behavior, ambiguity that she and Obi Wan formed a relationship, he "kills" her with the lightsaber (takes off a legs and an arm) he and Obi Wan fight with Obi leaving Anakin for dead.

Cut to the end of trilogy, with the vader breath as a background, we see Padme, alive and in a hoverwheelchair or something, looking very worn out, talking with Obiwan and Bail Organa sitting with a couple very young toddlers who are playing, and luke exhibits some force sensitivity by raising a toy nerherder or something, and them saying how having Luke near padme could be dangerous. Obi-wan offers to take him somewhere safe, and Padme starts to cry and agrees, and Leia says "why so sad mommy?"

Cut to Darth on the deck, breathing louder, with Palpatine and Tarken watching over the death star beginning its construction. Then, cut to black and end the breathing.

Sorry. Kinda rambled there.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

I haven't timed it but I think the amount of time between Padme giving birth and dying of a broken heart took about 30 seconds. She names them, tells Obi Wan that there is still good in Anakin and then kills over.

And the entire movie takes 2 hours, 20 minutes. Do you think all the battles and action took place in 2 hours, 20 minutes? Movies compress action. That's how they work. And it's "keels" not "kills".

Originally Posted by stvn1974

Their mother abandons them and their father is a mass murderer, Episode 7 should be about Luke and Leia both having a psychotic break and trying to wipe out the galaxy.

I wouldn't consider dying (unless it was suicide) abandonment. This whole line of thought that Padme bailed on her kids is completely absurd, IMO. She was just physically attacked by Anakin using the Force, under great stress otherwise and delivers twins. Based on human standards, she's underweight. I don't think a heart attack is out of the question. I'd like to see what kind of shape you're in after almost being strangled and delivering twins. But that's not to say that I think the plot points of that film make a lot of sense.

As for your plot idea, that doesn't make sense to me either. Since Leia never really knew her mother's history, there's no reason for her to have a psychotic break. At worse, after learning in Episode VI that her biological father was Vader, she might feel some guilt, but you'd think she would have worked that out in the intervening decades between VI and VII. If not, she'd be living in denial, which many people do, but she wouldn't necessarily want to destroy the galaxy she spent years saving.

Another possibility would have been that since "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" that the Rebels who are now governing the galaxy becomes corrupt themselves and Luke and/or Leia feel the need to go after them. Perhaps those rebels even got the aid of new Siths to go after new rebels who oppose the old rebels.

As I've posted before, I would have liked to see a plot dealing with the "galaxy" learning that Luke and Leia are Vader's offspring and having them accused of abetting Vader's actions. They have to go into hiding until they can prove otherwise. Maybe the accusations are coming from someone seeking power who is actually a Sith.

But if the rumors are correct, Luke does seemingly have some sort of break and succumbs to the Dark Side, which might make for an interesting story, although I think the fans will hate it because they're never going to want to see Luke as a bad guy. Luke was never a complex character before and IMO, they're not going to want to see him that way now. It would have made more sense for Leia to have the complexity - she was always much more of an aggressor and when you think about it, she would be much more likely to have her anger lead to the dark side.

[klauswhereareyou]

I'm going to guess that Lucas' relationship with his first wife and eventual divorce is more the motivating factor for what happens to Padme more than something that makes sense to the plot.

[Packerfan75]

@Walt

I hope so too because Star Wars is unique from any other films or franchises out there in that it became bigger than it's creator. Not only that but it's own creator came under attack from the fans when he started to trample his own creation. It's bigger than Lucas, and bigger than Disney as well. What they bought want just a movie franchise but the cares of all the many fans out there who love these films so much. It can't be all about the money but that's what 99% of Hollywood is. And Disney, though a mega corporation, has not passed it's profits onto it's customers. Disney merchandise is notoriously expensive. That says something to me.
It's just that it can be too much too soon to hear about the new trilogy and then all these leaks about character spin-offs, make it a lot to take in at once. I grew up in the 80's when it was all new and then the long wait for the prequels which, for the most part, didn't live up to their predecessors.
Now it's the new trilogy and this, and that and another and it's too much. If they really care about the preservation and integrity of the franchise, why not just stick with the new trilogy for now, pool all their time and resources into that, then see where it goes down the road? Why does it have to be Star Wars overload. News of multiple spin-offs and such. It's that rush of that makes me nervous.
I like what I've seen and heard from JJ and company so far. But that's enough. I don't want Star Wars every year or in my face all the time. I don't want to get sick of it till I can't stand it anymore. With so much planned at the same time, it just doesn't sound like care and patience. It's sounds like profits and it will show in the movies.
Honestly, I hope you're right about these but I don't think my reservations will go away until the plan is unfolded before us.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

Based on human standards, she's underweight. I don't think a heart attack is out of the question.

Her doctor ruled out a heart attack. Her doctor unambiguously said that medically she was completely healthy.

She 'lost the will to live'.

I don't like it either but pretending it wasn't written that way is almost as silly as writing it that way in the first place.

[Walts Ghost]

Full theater list released:

AZ PHOENIX HARKINS TEMPE MARKETPLACE
CA LOS ANGELES AMC CENTURY CITY
CA LOS ANGELES Indep EL CAPITAN
CA IRVINE REGAL SPECTRUM IRVINE 21
CA SAN FRANCISCO AMC METERON 16
CA SAN JOSE CINEMARK OAKRIDGE 20
CA SAN DIEGO REGAL MIRA MESA 18
CAN TORONTO CPX YOUNGE & DUNDAS
CAN VANCOUVER CPX RIVERPORT
CO DENVER AMC WESTMINSTER 24
DC WASH D.C AMC TYSONS CORNER 16
FL MIAMI CARMIKE PARISIAN 20
GA ATLANTA REGAL ATLANTIC STATION
IL CHICAGO REGAL CITY NORTH
MA BOSTON AMC BOSTON COMMONS 19
MI DETROIT CINEMARK SHOWCASE 20
MN MINNEAPOLIS AMC SOUTHDALE
MO KANSAS CITY AMC STUDIO 30
NY NEW YORK AMC LINCOLN SQUARE 12
NY NEW YORK REGAL UNION SQAURE
OH CLEVELAND CINEMARK CINEMARK 24
PA PHILADELPHIA REGAL WARRINGTON 22
TN NASHVILLE CARMIKE THOROUGHBRED 20
TN KNOXVILLE REGAL PINNACLE
TX DALLAS CINEMARK PLANO 20
TX HOSTON REGAL MARQ*E STADIUM 23
TX AUSTIN ALAMO ALAMO S LAMAR
UT SALT LAKE CITY CINEMARK CINEMARK 24 WJ
WA SEATTLE REGAL THORNTON PLACE 14
WI MILWAUKEE MARCUS BROOKFIELD 16

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

Full theater list released:

I haven't been to the theatre since the wife was pregnant with our first child, and we fittingly saw Due Date.
But I might have to line up a baby sitter and head to Tyson's Corner.
Can't believe Arundel Mills didn't make the list.

[DCW]

Phoenix, AZ

[Chaotic]

Of course the Denver theater is the farthest away from me. Why couldnt it be at the AMC 2 minutes from me. grrrr

[MorgolKing]

Don't understand limiting the teaser to only select theaters....just alienates a bunch of fans.

[MCT]

We all know this will be on the interwebs well before Friday anyway.

[Richard Graham]

Imagine the hoops one is going to go through to see this footage.

This is one trailer that won't get bootlegged.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Richard Graham

Imagine the hoops one is going to go through to see this footage.

This is one trailer that won't get bootlegged.

Righhhhhhht

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Richard Graham

Imagine the hoops one is going to go through to see this footage.

This is one trailer that won't get bootlegged.

You do know they build movie cameras into phones now, right?

[SilentDawn]

This is kinda pointless. It's going to leak so quickly.

[Richard Graham]

Originally Posted by octagon

You do know they build movie cameras into phones now, right?

I imagine cell phones and google glasses will be collected at the theater entrance. There's a reason it's only showing in select theaters. Probably ones with enough staff and proper security to ensure no leaks.