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

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by camper

There was NOTHING wrong with Jake Lloyd's performance, on his part. He was a cute kid, played the innocent thing well, and did as good a job as any child actor his age. The role may not have been fleshed out or directed well, but I get the sense he did exactly as directed.

And when I say Hayden at his worst, I'm pretty much talking about the whining and sad-sack attitude. Again, I'm not entirely convinced its all on him because I've seen Hayden in other films and he was fine in them. So he either got much better real fast, or the fault isn't entirely on him.

Portman...she was horrible in these films. Her belly shirt in Ep 2 was the only redeeming quality to her performance. But, I'm not really a fan of her and think she's the female version of Tom Cruise--good by surprise, but generally there because of the name and because she's pleasing (for men..and I suppose some women) to look at.

Part of the problem with AOTC and ROTS is there is absolutely NO chemistry whatsoever between Portman and Christiansen and I cannot believe casting did not see this from the very beginning. All of those "love" scenes between the two of them are so awkward and just....weird! There is absolutely no "heat" between them and they might as well had been brother and sister. Hell Luke and Leia WERE brother and sister and there was way more chemistry between those two than Hayden and Natalie. Personally I just think Hayden was the wrong choice. Not because I don't think he can act. I just think when paired with Portman, it wasn't a good fit.

[camper]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Personally I just think Hayden was the wrong choice. Not because I don't think he can act. I just think when paired with Portman, it wasn't a good fit.

There was no chemistry between Portman and Lloyd either. Not talking sexual chemistry (because, ewww) but there wasn't any chemistry at all.

So, methinks Hayden and/or Lloyd wasn't the problem...

EDIT: Thinking about it, there wasn't much chemistry between her and Hemsworth in either of the Thor movies. So...I'm gonna go with the "Portman was the problem" position.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by camper

There was no chemistry between Portman and Lloyd either. Not talking sexual chemistry (because, ewww) but there wasn't any chemistry at all.

So, methinks Hayden and/or Lloyd wasn't the problem...

EDIT: Thinking about it, there wasn't much chemistry between her and Hemsworth in either of the Thor movies. So...I'm gonna go with the "Portman was the problem" position.

I was fine with the scenes between Lloyd and Portman. In fact I was fine wth Portman throughout TPM. Personally I think by the time AOTC and ROTS were made, Portman's stock in Hollywood was on the rise, she began to adopt the attitude that Star Wars was somewhat beneath her, and the only reason she was there was because of contractual obligation and to collect a paycheck. I think that attitude came through in her performances. I even remember back when ROTS was being made, I read that her and Lucas' relationship had become somewhat "salty" and she had become more difficult to work with. I don't know if that's actually true but I distictly remember that being put out there.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

From that Reddit piece...

"JJ has very high degree of paranoia regarding leaks. Spoiler Man contends that JJ himself is "the only reason the whole plot hasn't been revealed yet," and that the Disney oversight trusts him in keeping spoilers from becoming rampant until the Fall of next year.

JJ has apparently been given a blank authority cheque from Disney.

JJ is said to have great disdain for the prequels. A rumor circulates LucasFilm that he told Kathleen Kennedy "[George] literally betrayed and murdered his past achievements".

Despite that, JJ is said to have paid "lip service" to George previously. Lip service means giving someone approval and/or support.

Lucas is sympathetically tolerated and venerated, but also "lampooned" for "murdering the prequels". Bad Robot loathes him."

I'm calling BS on Abrams telling Kathleen Kennedy that Lucas betrayed and murdered his past achievements. Who else would be in the room to a) overhear that, and then b) blab it out?

.


That entire part sounds like fanwank trying to generate excitement from the fanboys who continually bray about how much they hate Lucas.


I also have a hard time believing Abrams would ever say such a thing, especially after the way some Trekkies are eviscerating him on the internet over the last 2 STAR TREK films (wishing him dead, etc). Abrams has been there. He's always indicated Lucas is a hero to him.

[camper]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

IPersonally I think by the time AOTC and ROTS were made, Portman's stock in Hollywood was on the rise, she began to adopt the attitude that Star Wars was somewhat beneath her, and the only reason she was there was because of contractual obligation and to collect a paycheck. I think that attitude came through in her performances. I even remember back when ROTS was being made, I read that her and Lucas' relationship had become somewhat "salty" and she had become more difficult to work with. I don't know if that's actually true but I distictly remember that being put out there.

All that could be true I guess. I honestly thought she wasn't all that special. I was on the Hayden-hate bandwagon too, but then I watched it again and other than the horrible lines (everyone had a few of those) I noticed that whenever Padme was around a majority of the suck was too.

I'm fully aware that because I'm really not a fan of Portman I could be being biased though. Still, I think its almost universally accepted that the chemestry between/scenes with Anakin & Padme were awful period.

[camper]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

.
I also have a hard time believing Abrams would ever say such a thing, especially after the way some Trekkies are eviscerating him on the internet over the last 2 STAR TREK films (wishing him dead, etc). Abrams has been there. He's always indicated Lucas is a hero to him.

I agree with this too. I can't fathom he would badmouth--publicly--Lucas. He may genuinely feel this way, and it could be be interpreted as this, but to out and out say that out loud is not something I could picture.

Abrams may be an up and coming member of Hollywood Royalty, but Lucas has already proven himself a Legend.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by aiman04

The original debate was not about the quality of the films (though I would still defend), but about them "being loathed by the majority". I firmly believe it's not, to the general public worldwide. If you don't accept the fact of ticket sales or RT ratings, then what did he has to support his statement?

I fall on both sides of the argument at different times. The problem with ticket sales is that you can have a bad film that everyone still goes to because they want to see what happens next. It reminds me of when Howard Stern was on WNBC radio in New York. People who claimed to hate Stern listened longer (TSL) than people who liked him. Why? Because they wanted to hear what stupid thing he was going to do next.

Also, back when those films were released, the "internets" was not what it is today and there wasn't one place where everyone could gang up and destroy the reputation of a film. We really just had the professional film critics and word of mouth. And the reality of any film is that you don't know if it's good or bad until you see it. I've paid to see plenty of bad movies.

The true test of a film (or any media) is how it stands the test of time. There are plenty of great films (like "Casablanca" and "The Wizard of Oz") that did lousy when first released. And there are other films that had great box-office, but no one cares about today. Taylor Swift is probably the most commercially successful artist of the moment - she's the only one who can actually sell a million albums today. But do you think decades from now she's going to be remembered like a Dylan, Springsteen, Beatles, Stones or Aretha Franklin? I don't think so.

I was extremely disappointed with the prequels when I saw them theatrically, although I thought Episode III was "decent". We all know what the criticisms are - there are 60,000 posts on the subject on this Board alone, so I won't repeat them. But a funny thing happened: some months back, I rewatched all six film on BD and in spite of still recognizing all the flaws, I kind of enjoyed watching the prequels, to my very great surprise.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I was fine with the scenes between Lloyd and Portman. In fact I was fine wth Portman throughout TPM. Personally I think by the time AOTC and ROTS were made, Portman's stock in Hollywood was on the rise, she began to adopt the attitude that Star Wars was somewhat beneath her, and the only reason she was there was because of contractual obligation and to collect a paycheck. I think that attitude came through in her performances. I even remember back when ROTS was being made, I read that her and Lucas' relationship had become somewhat "salty" and she had become more difficult to work with. I don't know if that's actually true but I distictly remember that being put out there.

I don't buy any of that. There simply has been too much written about how George is a lousy director of actors and is impatient with the process. And there are too many bad performances in the prequels by actors who have done well in other films. If Portman was "testy" with Lucas during production, it was probably because she realized just how bad the dialog was or because she saw him being far more concerned with special effects and CGI than with story, dialog and performance.

[tigertron]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

From that Reddit piece...

"JJ has very high degree of paranoia regarding leaks. Spoiler Man contends that JJ himself is "the only reason the whole plot hasn't been revealed yet," and that the Disney oversight trusts him in keeping spoilers from becoming rampant until the Fall of next year.

JJ has apparently been given a blank authority cheque from Disney.

JJ is said to have great disdain for the prequels. A rumor circulates LucasFilm that he told Kathleen Kennedy "[George] literally betrayed and murdered his past achievements".

Despite that, JJ is said to have paid "lip service" to George previously. Lip service means giving someone approval and/or support.

Lucas is sympathetically tolerated and venerated, but also "lampooned" for "murdering the prequels". Bad Robot loathes him."

I'm calling BS on Abrams telling Kathleen Kennedy that Lucas betrayed and murdered his past achievements. Who else would be in the room to a) overhear that, and then b) blab it out?

I thought what he said sounded pretty legit until I got to that part.

I definitely cannot picture JJ saying that.

[stvn1974]

I call BS on Abrams saying that to Kennedy. While I do feel that Lucas murdered Star Wars I just can't see Abrams saying it even if he does believe it. But if he does feel that way why would he want to make a Star Wars film at all? It would be a continuation of something he feels is ruined. Now if Kennedy and Disney convinced him that they will be releasing the UOT in some form and that the new films would tie into that and the prequels would be forgotten then maybe I could see it.


Of course I expect monkeys to fly out of my butt before that happens. Badly done CGI monkeys to keep with the Lucas theme of course.

[rickah88]

Lightsabers don't have hilts....childhood ruined!

[camper]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Lightsabers don't have hilts....childhood raped!

Fixed it for you!

[stvn1974]

George Lucas didn't rape your childhood but he did ruin Star Wars.

[rickah88]

George Lucas has given me so much more than he has ever taken away.
For that, I'll always be thankful.

[captveg]

Reading through those spoilers the whole feel of the film is very positive to me. Like they *get it* when it comes on how to use the OT cast, but not over-use them; how to introduce new, compelling characters that will carry the story forward; etc. I especially like the idea of

[Show spoiler]the Force becoming more powerful/widespread, as well as both the main light (Luke) and dark (Serkis) side leaders recognizing that organizing Jedi like the Old Republic and the Sith with the "rule of 2" Palpatine style is not the best way to go. So now we'll probably have an eventual Jedi/Sith mass face-off by Episode IX largely devoid of politics outside of good/evil for good/evil's sake.

[Tok]

It's time to drop off the face of the internet for the next year. No spoilers please. I wish they would just create a thread for spoiler free news and one where the fans can argue and spoil the whole movie for those that don't care.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Tok

It's time to drop off the face of the internet for the next year. No spoilers please. I wish they would just create a thread for spoiler free news and one where the fans can argue and spoil the whole movie for those that don't care.

Yeah, it's going to be a long year.

[camper]

Originally Posted by Tok

It's time to drop off the face of the internet for the next year. No spoilers please. I wish they would just create a thread for spoiler free news and one where the fans can argue and spoil the whole movie for those that don't care.

Agreed, that would be a great idea. I for one love talking about spoilers, but don't want to spoil it for those who don't.

[Himmel]

Again these come from SpoilerMan...(who correctly predicted that the trailer will debut May 1st.)

[Show spoiler]At the end of the first act, Deak meets with Kira and Sydow's character, and Han and Chewie take them off Tatooine in the Millennium Falcon.

Han takes a liking for Deak, and Chewie has a robotic arm

Leia has been the leader of the New Republic for 30 years and is married to Han Solo. They are constructing a new weapon on a 'Scandinavian-esque cold and forsaken forest world.

The Sith appear to have abandoned the "rule of two" - where there are always two Sith, a master and an apprentice.

Adam Driver's character is a force-sensitive hotshot red-squadron pilot who falls to the dark side. It's thought he plays the hooded character seen in the teaser trailer with the red 'junk' lightsaber, which he constructed himself.

Andy Serkis' character is a very old, very powerful alien Sith. He's thought to have trained or manipulated Emperor Palpatine at some point for his own purposes - though his goals differ from Palpatines.

In the new universe, the Sith are not necessarily aligned with the Empire.

The lightsaber battles have been described as "magnificent", "heavy hitting" and "original-trilogy styled"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/s...pisode-4748644

[Megalith]

Since when is the black dude's name Deak.