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

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I wouldn't say it's about "fixing" anything, it's taking the wider mythology that Lucas only hinted at in the prequels (dude bit off FAR more than he could chew and ultimately he pussied out because of all the fanboy wailing about the midis and so on) and running with it to create another 3-film arc that is still intrinsically linked with the Skywalker clan.

The irony being that if Lucas hed kept to his original plans and overtly stated Anakin was created by the Sith and the high midi-count was the proof, it would have shut up all the griping about the midis. People would have understood why he created that story point in the first place, and how it was intrinsically and even vitally important to Anakin's fateful decision to join with Palpatine.

As it stands now, it *is* a story point that needs to be addressed, and I hope they take the opportunity and use it to not only enhance SW7 with some juicy story meat, but redeem the Prequel storyline (at least as far as the "mysterious birth/massive midi count" plotline).

[Goldensuitcase]

have there been any speculative release dates for parts 8 and 9 and the spinoffs as well?

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Goldensuitcase

have there been any speculative release dates for parts 8 and 9 and the spinoffs as well?

Reading the tea leaves looking at the Marvel, Disney, and DC release schedules, it's a safe bet Star Wars is going to be a December event for the foreseeable future. SW 7 - 2015. SW 8 - 2017. SW 9 - 2019. Standalone films in between. Assuming the first SW stand-alone comes in 2016, the only major thing looking to go against Star Wars in December months from 2016 onward appears to be Avatar sequels.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

The irony being that if Lucas hed kept to his original plans and overtly stated Anakin was created by the Sith and the high midi-count was the proof, it would have shut up all the griping about the midis. People would have understood why he created that story point in the first place, and how it was intrinsically and even vitally important to Anakin's fateful decision to join with Palpatine.

As it stands now, it *is* a story point that needs to be addressed, and I hope they take the opportunity and use it to not only enhance SW7 with some juicy story meat, but redeem the Prequel storyline (at least as far as the "mysterious birth/massive midi count" plotline).

Exactly, that's what I meant about this film bridging that gap and bringing the prequels in from the cold. If there was an underlying plan or purpose to some of Lucas' more contentious decisions then he should've carried on regardless, instead of wimping out and robbing them of their necessary context. But TFA might just redeem what Lucas did after all, not unlike how Luke's love for his father (in spite of the bad things that he did) was enough to bring Vader back to the good side...

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Exactly, that's what I meant about this film bridging that gap and bringing the prequels in from the cold. If there was an underlying plan or purpose to some of Lucas' more contentious decisions then he should've carried on regardless, instead of wimping out and robbing them of their necessary context. But TFA might just redeem what Lucas did after all, not unlike how Luke's love for his father (in spite of the bad things that he did) was enough to bring Vader back to the good side...

Lucas said he got 10% of his backstory into Menace, 10% into Clones, but when he got to Sith, he "ran out of time" and could only get 60% of it in. Lucas wrote the story outlines for Episodes VII, VIII and IX -- I think it is a good bet he found a way to get that missing 20% into the new films. That's why I believe the "cyborg" could actually be Plagueis...not "Evil Luke" as has been reported by the rumor mills.

[Geoff D]

What's jazzing me is, how did Sidious have all of these implants and this suit and everything ready to go when Vader got ****ed up by Obi-Wan? What if Sidious' old master - Plagueis - was already a cyborg when he knew him, hence Sidious having a working knowledge of such things*? Vader would then truly have been his father's son...

*Hell with the recent (and awful) Plagueis book, I think that was wiped out in the great EU purge.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

What's jazzing me is, how did Sidious have all of these implants and this suit and everything ready to go when Vader got ****ed up by Obi-Wan? What if Sidious' old master - Plagueis - was already a cyborg when he knew him, hence Sidious having a working knowledge of such things*? Vader would then truly have been his father's son...

*Hell with the recent (and awful) Plagueis book, I think that was wiped out in the great EU purge.

I'm dreaming, of course, but it would be great if the existence of that is one of the things that prompted LucasFilm to purge the "canon".

[EvaDK]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Lucas said he got 10% of his backstory into Menace, 10% into Clones, but when he got to Sith, he "ran out of time" and could only get 60% of it in. Lucas wrote the story outlines for Episodes VII, VIII and IX -- I think it is a good bet he found a way to get that missing 20% into the new films. That's why I believe the "cyborg" could actually be Plagueis...not "Evil Luke" as has been reported by the rumor mills.

Yeah, Sith suffers from poor choices on Lucas' part with TPM and AotC on a storytelling level. The entire Sifo-Dyas subplot is completely dropped. Padme sort of chooses to die, because 'she had lost the will to live'. After holding her newborn children and giving them names... just because... Who writes shit like that?

Sith was the better one of the prequels, but overall so much potential was lost with these films.

[DarkDune]

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Not sure I like the title yet.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I'm hoping they address it, also, as it is a giant story chunk missing from Revenge of the Sith that would have gone a long, long way to "redeeming" all that midi talk in Phantom Menace. They were brought up for a reason...as a mystery clue that something really messed up was going on regarding Anakin's existence. Anakin learning he was created by the Sith was supposed to be part of the process of his decision to serve Palpatine. He was living proof that the Sith could create life, so it would seem plausible to Anakin to learn the Dark Side to save his wife/keep her from death.

So yeah...I'm on Team Plagueis (especially if Max Von Sydow is going to play him). Lots of potential here to tie up the unresolved story threads in the prequels. We keep seeing this cyborg looking thing in the SW7 concept art. What if that's Plagueis? Terribly maimed and needing machinery to live (a Star Wars staple)...and that shot of the cyborg holding Vader's charred helmet? What if that's Plagueis basically holding the helmet of his son? "The Force Awakens" then has dual meaning...Plagueis returning, and Luke returning from his self-imposed exile to deal with him.

It's already right there, if you pay any attention, and don't need it to be hammered into your brain.
I like it this way.
Fans would have complained regardless. You are kidding yourself believing that they wouldn't have complained, if Lucas had resolved that plot point more apparently than he did. It's the SW "fans".

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

As it stands now, it *is* a story point that needs to be addressed,...

It's really not.

I for one could live out my days quite contentedly without ever hearing the word midichlorian again and I feel no burning desire to have the mystery of Anakin's birth explained.

I'm not necessarily against the new films exploring those areas but they most certainly do not need to.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

The irony being that if Lucas hed kept to his original plans and overtly stated Anakin was created by the Sith and the high midi-count was the proof, it would have shut up all the griping about the midis. People would have understood why he created that story point in the first place, and how it was intrinsically and even vitally important to Anakin's fateful decision to join with Palpatine.

As it stands now, it *is* a story point that needs to be addressed, and I hope they take the opportunity and use it to not only enhance SW7 with some juicy story meat, but redeem the Prequel storyline (at least as far as the "mysterious birth/massive midi count" plotline).

At this point I'm wanting him to wipe the prequels from canon. They're such a jumbled wreck at this point

[Ernest Rister]

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

It's already right there, if you pay any attention, and don't need it to be hammered into your brain.
I like it this way.
Fans would have complained regardless. You are kidding yourself believing that they wouldn't have complained, if Lucas had resolved that plot point more apparently than he did. It's the SW "fans".

I'm talking about the rest of the Earth's population...not the internet fans.

[Auditor55]

Will there be an openly gay Jedi in this one

[EvaDK]

Originally Posted by octagon

I for one could live out my days quite contentedly without ever hearing the word midichlorian again and I feel no burning desire to have the mystery of Anakin's birth explained.

I'm not necessarily against the new films exploring those areas but they most certainly do not need to.

This. How Lucas decided to abandon the beauty of this mysterious force field, only felt by those with the gift and insight to be able to, in favor of something that you can also measure and quantify with a blood sample, will always be beyond me.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by EvaDK

This. How Lucas decided to abandon the beauty of this mysterious force field, only felt by those with the gift and insight to be able to, in favor of something that you can also measure and quantify with a blood sample, will always be beyond me.

That's not what Lucas was about. In his SW universe, Midis are in every living thing. They're just a mechanism. Anakin's numbers were off the chart as a clue that he was created by the Sith. That's all Lucas was doing with them...it was supposed to be a clue, a setup, with the payoff in Sith (which didn't happen).

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by EvaDK

This. How Lucas decided to abandon the beauty of this mysterious force field, only felt by those with the gift and insight to be able to, in favor of something that you can also measure and quantify with a blood sample, will always be beyond me.

Yeah it left a sour taste in many people's mouths. The saving grace was he abandoned that crappy plot device in the later two movies

[aiman04]

I think "Episode VII" will remain as part of the title, on posters and other promotional items, but in smaller font. This is because of the standalone films coming in between, so it's a good idea to differentiate them.

[spiderfan1985]

Originally Posted by camper

I always hated Star Trek, at least the Kirk crew of it (I loved Next Generation though) and I found his 2 films to be extremely enjoyable and entertaining.

And I was a huge fan of Lost.

Granted, his directing credits are pretty sparse other than a few random episodes, but supposedly Mission Impossible 3 was good--my wife thought it was the best of the lot.

So, I'm very optimistic.

It was. Until Ghost Protocol crushed it under sheer awesomeness. Seriously, M:I-3 is great, but Brad Bird got the tone right with Ghost Protocol (with Abrams producing no less). That's important to me. Intense, but also light and chipper. Abrams has a lot of detractors I know. The whole "lens flare obsession" thing has lit up a million forums just like this one with complaints about how overdone it is. It never bothered me. I agree with you about his Star Trek films. The first is the best, but both are fun. The opening prologue of Abrams' first Trek had me in tears. Seriously. How many movies can you think of that get you emotionally worked up in 10 minutes or less in the beginning? That's impressive. Especially since it deals with characters you never see again. Super 8 is awesome. Abrams really strikes me as an old school film fan. Just watching the featurettes on the Star Trek blu ray and seeing how he used as many old school film tricks as he could before jumping to CG was impressive to me. And I am no CG hater. I just have to give the man a tip of the hat if nothing else. Super 8 definitely captured that 80's Spielberg/Dante/Reiner vibe. The cast of kids he got in that was remarkable down to the last one. He pulled excellent performances out of all of them. Especially Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Riley Griffiths. The one who had the pyro obsession was hysterical. It is an impressive thing if a director can get a great performance out of just one child, but to get great natural believable performances out of an ensemble of preteens (and only one of them had any real experience… Fanning) like that is just extraordinarily rare. Earth to Echo managed it most recently and it bears more than a passing resemblance to Super 8. So Abrams' oeuvre is not very extensive as of yet, but I find the guy to be both talented and passionate about his work. That is a great combo in any director. He doesn't phone it in.