The Star Wars Saga

[Morrigan2575]

And now I'm sad ?

[VCRTracking]

Edited March 9, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Perfect Xero]

[Joe]

So there's a new season of Forces of Destiny out. I'm only going to link to one ep, because it answers a question I've wondered about for several years now. Can Mark Hamill do the voice of his younger self? He's a voice actor, and it is him, but no. Not quite, IMO.

That's Tom Kane as Yoda. He's played Yoda since 2000, in various projects. He's not quite Frank Oz either.

[benteen]

Tom Kane isn't Frank Oz but he's pretty damn good.  I was surprised when I learned it wasn't Oz.

It's James Arnold Taylor's Obi-Wan that I hear when I read a Star Wars book.

Edited March 26, 2018 by benteen

[MrsR]

This would be terrific if real.

https://movieweb.com/star-wars-9-meryl-streep-replace-carrie-fisher-leia/

[Morrigan2575]

They are in a no win situation but, hell no to recasting Leia. Just kill her off in the title scroll.

I don't want Meryl Streep, I dont want CGI Leia, I just don't want any of it. Have a force ghost Leia and Luke show up at the end.

Or I could accept a force ghost, young CGI Leia but, that's about it.

[Browncoat]

There is only one Princess Leia, and Meryl Streep, as fab as she is, is NOT Princess Leia.

[Perfect Xero]

Personally I'm fine with a recast if Leia is to be in the film and as much as I love Carrie as Leia I want to see Leia's story get a proper resolution, my only strict NO is CGI Leia.

[Danny Franks]

On 29/03/2018 at 11:51 PM, Perfect Xero said:

Personally I'm fine with a recast if Leia is to be in the film and as much as I love Carrie as Leia I want to see Leia's story get a proper resolution, my only strict NO is CGI Leia.

I thought the CGI Leia in Rogue One was actually quite good. Better than the Tarkin one, but it's still not something that would work for anything longer than a few minutes. You just don't get that glow of life in the eyes, and it becomes unnerving.

And given the controversy around using Peter Cushing's face, I think the shitstorm around 'resurrecting' Carrie Fisher simply wouldn't be worth it. 

On 29/03/2018 at 7:53 PM, Morrigan2575 said:

They are in a no win situation but, hell no to recasting Leia. Just kill her off in the title scroll.

I don't want Meryl Streep, I dont want CGI Leia, I just don't want any of it. Have a force ghost Leia and Luke show up at the end.

Or I could accept a force ghost, young CGI Leia but, that's about it.

I agree, there's simply no scenario that will work for everyone (then again, those making the Star Wars movies will be used to a fair amount of fanboy rage, by this point). And it really sucks, because Leia's story is unfinished. But that's the way it is. I'd rather they just had her die off-screen and have characters talk about how they're fighting for this in her memory. It would be a nice way of paying tribute to Carrie Fisher, and having her still be in the heart of the movie.

[VCRTracking]

17 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I agree, there's simply no scenario that will work for everyone (then again, those making the Star Wars movies will be used to a fair amount of fanboy rage, by this point). And it really sucks, because Leia's story is unfinished. But that's the way it is. I'd rather they just had her die off-screen and have characters talk about how they're fighting for this in her memory. It would be a nice way of paying tribute to Carrie Fisher, and having her still be in the heart of the movie.

I agree.

[Cherpumple]

Honestly, I’m torn about the Leia thing. I’ve stated in the UO thread here that I wish recasting on TV shows would be more common and accepted, because I hate seeing good storylines get derailed when an actor gets fired or chooses to leave. And in the case of cast deaths in particular, I try to be as open-minded as possible to productions choosing to recast, since it must be a difficult thing to deal with either way. But this seems like a special case.

On one hand, I might be willing to accept this recast knowing that it was only done due to tragic circumstances, not because of behind the scenes shenanigans, and I still have faith that the filmmakers would make a huge effort to pay proper respect to both Leia and Carrie if they choose this path. On the other hand, I oppose recasting because Carrie Fisher IS Leia; it isn’t the same as having two Dumbledores or franchises like James Bond or Batman where actor changes are a regular occurrence. On the other hand, I want to see the best possible story, and if episode IX was meant to be Leia’s big moment (which many signs point to), I still want to see that happen. On the other hand, the emotional payoff for Leia’s great triumph or tragic death will be greatly diminished with another actor in the role.

Suffice it say, I have too many hands at the moment, and just need to wait to see what they choose to do. My only firm request is that they announce the decision well in advance, so people can get used to it. I have enough concerns about how the story will conclude, and the last thing I want on opening night is to worry about whether or not a fake Leia will walk on screen at any moment.

Edited April 1, 2018 by Cherpumple

[Joe]

1 hour ago, Cherpumple said:

Honestly, I’m torn about the Leia thing. I’ve stated in the UO thread here that I wish recasting on TV shows would be more common and accepted, because I hate seeing good storylines get derailed when an actor gets fired or chooses to leave. And in the case of cast deaths in particular, I try to be as open-minded as possible to productions choosing to recast, since it must be a difficult thing to deal with either way. But this seems like a special case.

On one hand, I might be willing to accept this recast knowing that it was only done due to tragic circumstances, not because of behind the scenes shenanigans, and I still have faith that the filmmakers would make a huge effort to pay proper respect to both Leia and Carrie if they choose this path. On the other hand, I oppose recasting because Carrie Fisher IS Leia; it isn’t the same as having two Dumbledores or franchises like James Bond or Batman where actor changes are a regular occurrence. On the other hand, I want to see the best possible story, and if episode IX was meant to be Leia’s big moment (which many signs point to), I still want to see that happen. On the other hand, the emotional payoff for Leia’s great triumph or tragic death will be greatly diminished with another actor in the role.

Suffice it say, I have too many hands at the moment, and just need to wait to see what they choose to do. My only firm request is that they announce the decision well in advance, so people can get used to it. I have enough concerns about how the story will conclude, and the last thing I want on opening night is to worry about whether or not a fake Leia will walk on screen at any moment.

Lucasfilm has already announced that they won't recast or CGI. Will Leia be offscreen or dead, I don't know. But she won't be in any more movies. Though I don't know if this applies to any possible young Leia. If they wanted to do that, Millie Bobby Brown looks the part.

[Cherpumple]

Thanks, good to know.

[benteen]

On ‎4‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 5:26 AM, Joe said:

Lucasfilm has already announced that they won't recast or CGI. Will Leia be offscreen or dead, I don't know. But she won't be in any more movies. Though I don't know if this applies to any possible young Leia. If they wanted to do that, Millie Bobby Brown looks the part.

Millie Bobby Brown would be good as young Leia, largely because she looks like a young Natalie Portman.

[WritinMan]

On 4/1/2018 at 5:26 AM, Joe said:

Lucasfilm has already announced that they won't recast or CGI.

I've that they won't use CGI, but where did you hear that they won't recast her?

I don't want them to recast, and I've been wanting to hear them say it.

[Joe]

23 minutes ago, WritinMan said:

I've that they won't use CGI, but where did you hear that they won't recast her?

I don't want them to recast, and I've been wanting to hear them say it.

This is the one about CGI. I can't find a direct Lucasfilm release about not recasting, but Kennedy is quoted here.

[VCRTracking]

From SlashFilm:

The Novelization of ‘Revenge of the Sith’ is One of the All-Time Best ‘Star Wars’ Stories

I completely agree. Even if you don't like the prequels the ROTS novelization is one of the best written Star Wars books.
Excerpt:

Quote

 

Writing Style

“The end starts now.”

The four words that complete the book’s epigraph are weighted with import and gravitas, somberly setting the tone for the unavoidable tragedy that is to come. The prequel trilogy as a whole charts the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker and of the esteemed Jedi Order, so the bulk of the “fall” takes place during the events of Episode III. As such, Revenge of the Sith really is a tragedy in the truest sense, an embrace of the tropes promulgated and perfected by ancient Greek playwrights: there is prophecy, there is hubris, and there is brutal inevitability.

Indeed, the inevitability is compounded by the fact that readers of the Revenge of the Sith novelization (and novelizations in general) already know the story because they’ve already seen the movie. Which means that the style of writing – the way the story is told – is perhaps even more critical to the enjoyment of a novelization than to the enjoyment of a regular ol’ novel. You don’t read the Revenge of the Sith novelization to be shocked by the plot twists (Anakin Skywalker becomes who?!) but to be moved by the written language, and to envelop yourself in the inner monologues of characters whose actors (ahem) may not have reflected such depth on the screen.

Stover’s novelization contains an epigraph before each of the book’s four sections, and these brief but magnificent passages wax poetic about the darkness and the light in a way that illuminates the saga as a whole, befitting the grandiosity of the space opera genre. Behold:

“The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back.

Love is more than a candle.

Love can ignite the stars.”

 

[Cherpumple]

2 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

I completely agree. Even if you don't like the prequels the ROTS novelization is one of the best written Star Wars books.

Thanks for the tip! I recently read the novelizations for TFA and TLJ (which I've NEVER done for any film before), mainly to see if they offered any additional insight to the debates going around the fandom. I found them pretty entertaining overall, and it was interesting to see whose POV was used for each scene. I was actually annoyed during the throne room scene in TLJ, because it was told from Snoke's and then Rey's POV, so we never found out what exactly was in Kylo's head (but there was clarification that Snoke definitely did not foresee Kylo killing him). And there's a very poignant scene at the end between Leia and Chewie in the Falcon, where she's remembering all their adventures with Luke and Han and she says, "it's just us now", which may or may not have made me teary-eyed. Dang it, why couldn't that have been in the movie?!

I say "read" but I actually listened to the audiobooks. They were fun because there were some musical cues and sound effects added (battle noises and the beep-boops of R2D2 and BB-8), and Chewie's growls. I did laugh a bit though, because the voice actor was clearly imitating the film actors' voices, and he made Kylo sounded even more like a mopey emo kid.

[benteen]

I've been reading the novelization and I have been very much enjoying it.  It does give more insight into the character and decisions while having some new scenes in it.  That is what a novelization should do.  The prequel novelizations did this too (I loved the TPM one, hated the AOTC one, and was so-so on the ROTS one).  The best novelizations though are the first seven Star Trek ones, which go above and beyond when it comes to providing additional material.

Edited April 5, 2018 by benteen

[Morrigan2575]

Just stumbled across this and found it fascinating.

[VCRTracking]

On 4/6/2018 at 10:31 AM, Morrigan2575 said:

Just stumbled across this and found it fascinating.

Someone also posted it a while back.

The problem I have with the video and this idea that Lucas was a hack and that others were really responsible for Star Wars success was Lucas was always going to create the movie in the editing stage. Editing was the thing he was best at starting in film school. He spent a year editing THX 1138 with his wife Marcia before it came out. It was never a matter like he had this vision that was all set in stone and he filmed it and suddenly it changed to something better by other people during the editing stage.  Writing and shooting was something he hated and suffered through in order to get the material he needed so he could put it together in post-production. Obviously he had help from editors like Marcia, Richard Chew, and Paul Hirsch(who deservedly won Oscars for their work). They picked the best takes, cut out the bits of dialogue that didn't work, and determined the rhythm but they each did different scenes so Lucas had to be the one with the overall vision to tie it all together. He determined the tone, the pacing, and knew how sequences would work before the special effects and sound effects were even done.

From the Making of Star Wars book:

Quote

“I was working with three editors at once,” Lucas says. “I was spending half of my time in Los Angeles working on the special effects, so I could only work with them for three or four days a week. I would tell them what I want, say this is the shot that I want, and this is the way I think the scene should work. Then I would come back the next day, look at what they’d cut, and we would discuss the changes and problems. I was going from editor to editor to editor, all day long.”
As the editors went as fast as they could toward a first cut, with Hirsch working upstairs and Marcia and Chew downstairs near the assistant editors and the coding machine, both Chew and Hirsch were able to assess Lucas’s editorial style. “George likes to keep things simple and gets his energy from the cutting,” Hirsch says.
“He was pretty spare,” Chew observes. “Coming off Cuckoo’s Nest, it especially struck me. Milos Forman would have four or five printed takes of a master; then he would have the singles and the two-shots, and four or five takes of those. George, either for aesthetic or budgetary reasons, was much more controlled about that.”
Although there were certain scenes that each editor “owned,” they began to trade off just before completing the initial cut. “We put it all together and then spent about three or four days as a tag team,” Hirsch says. “George, Richard, Marcia, and I would sit at the machine each for a couple of hours, taking turns and making suggestions. The last day, we did this for about twelve hours.”

Edited April 7, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Joe]

So on another note, I was watcing a breakdown of the new Solo trailer. At 55 seconds, he hits on something I've felt for a while. Apart from two Twi'leks in the first Solo trailer, all the background aliens in the new movies are new ones. We never see a background Rodian or Bith or Munn or anything. I remember going through the TFA cantina scene and trying to spot some familiar aliens. Only Wookieepedia told me I was wrong every time. I'd like a mix of old and new background aliens. Somewhere between a third and a half old. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[Danny Franks]

7 hours ago, Joe said:

So on another note, I was watcing a breakdown of the new Solo trailer. At 55 seconds, he hits on something I've felt for a while. Apart from two Twi'leks in the first Solo trailer, all the background aliens in the new movies are new ones. We never see a background Rodian or Bith or Munn or anything. I remember going through the TFA cantina scene and trying to spot some familiar aliens. Only Wookieepedia told me I was wrong every time. I'd like a mix of old and new background aliens. Somewhere between a third and a half old. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

I think it's an interesting example of creative people wanting to be creative when they really could dial it back. I understand the excitement about creating new aliens and creatures, I understand why you'd want to add to the rich collection of aliens in the Star Wars universe.

But that's the point, there already is a rich collection of aliens, and they really should be obliged to use them in the new movies, alongside the new creations. Because they tie the universe together. Sure, we can see a few Mon Calamari and Twi'leks, but if everything else looks new, then it does seem disjointed. 

There's an argument that different parts of the galaxy would have different inhabitants, and that makes total sense. But Star Wars is set in a world where everyone can travel so widely, that you'd expect to see the same races all over the place. With some exceptions, like the ridiculous Gungans, or the Sand People.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Danny Franks

[VCRTracking]

[benteen]

Awesome news, rumored for several weeks now.  I'm very much looking forward to it.  I loved Clone Wars and Rebels and I trust Dave Filoni.

[BetterButter]

[VCRTracking]

As both a Star Wars and Arrested Development fan, that made me so happy.

[galaxygirl76]

Me while watching that video

 

[Joe]

Today allegedly being Star Wars Day, ABC has a quiz up. I got 15/15, but I think my real score is 18. May 25 is Star Wars Day, they spelled Wookiee and Kashyyyk wrong. Just wanted to boast/complain.

[Browncoat]

I am proud to say that the only questions I missed were about the prequels. 

[Silver Raven]

5 hours ago, Joe said:

Today allegedly being Star Wars Day, ABC has a quiz up. I got 15/15, but I think my real score is 18. May 25 is Star Wars Day, they spelled Wookiee and Kashyyyk wrong. Just wanted to boast/complain.

May the Fo(u)rth is Star Wars Day.

[Joe]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

May the Fo(u)rth is Star Wars Day.

Only if you like a bad attempt at a pun. IMO, it's the 25th.

[VCRTracking]

7 hours ago, Joe said:

Today allegedly being Star Wars Day, ABC has a quiz up. I got 15/15, but I think my real score is 18. May 25 is Star Wars Day, they spelled Wookiee and Kashyyyk wrong. Just wanted to boast/complain.

15/15 or 100% for me.

[BetterButter]

[Browncoat]

Heathrow wins the day!

[VCRTracking]

Lots of new "Forces of Destiny" shorts just released but I just had to post this one:

[Joe]

Some news on the Favreau TV series. Seven years after ROTJ, new characters, they will use the technology from his Jungle Book movie. Probably for the aliens and droids. Looks like it'll launch in late 2019 or early 2020. IMO, probably closer to the former, maybe getting a boost from Ep IX and being the flagship reason to fork out for the new Disney streaming service.

[Silver Raven]

In the wake of the publicity over the Childish Gambino video, news is coming out that there will be a Lando Calrissian stand-alone film.

[BetterButter]

[VCRTracking]

On 5/22/2018 at 10:02 AM, BetterButter said:

 

God, that would be so cool if the two Ewok TV movies were the Captain Phasma origin story!

Also I have never been able to get through the Star Wars Holiday Special and seeing the bits shown in that Honest Trailer I don't think I ever will!

[Joe]

3 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

God, that would be so cool if the two Ewok TV movies were the Captain Phasma origin story!

Also I have never been able to get through the Star Wars Holiday Special and seeing the bits shown in that Honest Trailer I don't think I ever will!

I've never even tried to watch it. So bad it's good just doesn't interest me. THough I saw some of the Boba Fett cartoon once, I remember that being decent.

[BetterButter]

'Star Wars': Boba Fett Movie in the Works With James Mangold

[VCRTracking]

49 minutes ago, Joe said:

I've never even tried to watch it. So bad it's good just doesn't interest me. THough I saw some of the Boba Fett cartoon once, I remember that being decent.

 

39 minutes ago, BetterButter said:

'Star Wars': Boba Fett Movie in the Works With James Mangold

Speaking of! Okay, that is actually a great choice.

[Morrigan2575]

I remember the Ewok Specials

[Luckylyn]

The Ideology of the First Order

[Joe]

4 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The Ideology of the First Order

Basically, nothing. Much like the Empire, they seem to stand for evil and oppression for their own sakes. Which actually puts them below even Malekith in the motivation stakes. It's funny, we all love to hate the Empire. They blew up Alderaan and tortured Han. Their evil has been plain to see for fourty years. Surely people have tried to work out their motivation before now.

Okay, I know in Legends Palpatine was readying the galaxy for the Vong invasion. There's something in the new books about him doing something fancy with the dark side, I think. Trying to ascend to another plane of existence? But those are retcons. Hasn't anyone ever asked George Lucas? Or have I missed something?

[VCRTracking]

1 hour ago, Joe said:

Hasn't anyone ever asked George Lucas? Or have I missed something?

It was a metaphor for America in the late 60s, early 70s. The Emperor was Nixon, Ewoks were the Vietcong.

6 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The Ideology of the First Order

 

I love all the cutaways to Gob and his Alliance of Mucisians' "We demand to be taken seriously" from Arrested Development!

[ulkis]

After seeing Solo, I really want an Obi-Wan movie now. I am okay with the prequels, but it would be nice to  see a movie with McGregor as Obi-Wan where he didn't have to act against 80% green-screen.

[VCRTracking]

3 hours ago, ulkis said:

After seeing Solo, I really want an Obi-Wan movie now. I am okay with the prequels, but it would be nice to  see a movie with McGregor as Obi-Wan where he didn't have to act against 80% green-screen.

Agreed. There is definitely a lot of questions that need to be answered as this twitter thread brings up: