Basically, don’t expect very much. My iPad charger picked today to go wonky on me and I don’t want to have to do blog posts on a phone.
I will however post sporadically on Twitter (@lazypadawan) and Facebook (Lazy Padawan and of course the SWPAS Facebook page).
P.S.–SWPAS comments are moderated. If you don’t comment here all of the time, your comments are going to be in queue until I approve them. It might be a few days before I can get to your comment.
Tags: SWPAS housekeeping
starwarsprequelappreciationsociety.wordpress.com 
April 15, 2015 at 12:08 pm |
I hope not to stumble upon “this trailer is so much better than all the Prequels combined” comments. I will have to avoid to read anything about the Celebration…
April 16, 2015 at 9:49 am |
Just accept that its going to happen. It doesn’t matter what’s actually IN the trailer, people will say it. Just like they saw the digital Falcon and X-Wings in the last trailer and crowed, “Look at all the practical effects!”
April 16, 2015 at 11:39 am |
I just saw one of those comments on IGN….
April 16, 2015 at 11:53 am
Aaaaaaaand one of the guests on the Celebration Live-Stream just took a not-so-subtle shot at TPM and the host loved it… wow.
April 16, 2015 at 1:15 pm
Got a link to that IGN post so i can shit on his face?
JJ’s ”practical this & that” & that bald guy’s dish at TPM really have me infuriated.
April 16, 2015 at 1:55 pm
I had other things to do this evening (I live in Europe, so 10 AM was in late afternoon here), and it seems it was maybe better that I did not watch the live stream…
Just be careful, blade57, not to turn to the dark side. (I can however completely understand your feelings – I have them, too.)
April 19, 2015 at 6:03 pm
Wait, who did that? When? Was it during the Thursday morning panel? I didn’t catch it.
April 19, 2015 at 8:36 pm
It was that interview with Paul Scheer (I’ve never seen anything he’s been in). blade57hrc posted it below.
April 16, 2015 at 2:00 pm |
Hmm, the teaser is nice – reminds me of the Episode 1 teaser. Otherwise, you can interprete it the way you want. And there could indeed be a bit too much of fanboy service in it.
April 16, 2015 at 8:15 pm |
I think there was alot of OOT fanboy service in it. The SD weck in the desert looked like fan art.
April 16, 2015 at 3:24 pm |
I’ve already seen comments from people on my FB feed about how the teaser is “better than all the prequels combined!” ad nauseam, and it has me so angry right now I’m mighty hard-pressed to curb my tongue. I made my own post where I pointed out that this new teaser seems little more than “fanboy service”, as you pointed out, Stefan….and I went into more detail explaining how, as others have also commented here, JJ Abrams seems to possess no understanding whatsoever of actual thematic and storytelling elements such as an awareness of philosophy, art, religion, spirituality, politics, history and mythology *which George Lucas employed in telling the Star Wars story, and the Hero’s Journey in so doing”, and which understanding others such as Dave Filoni do apparently possess, at least….though that seems to avail very little at all, unfortunately. In any event, though, I did make comment on it all for my own part, at least – I felt I had to, even though I’ve less than *no* desire whatsoever to see this movie (George Lucas *is* Star Wars, a la Doug Chiang’s comments, and without him it just *isn’t* and that, to me, is becoming ever more patently obvious) – and if I see more nasty and hateful anti-PT comments and dreck being spouted anywhere, consequently, over the next little while….I fear I really won’t be able to restrain myself.
TPM came out sixteen years ago…AOTC thirteen, and ROTS ten years ago. What is so utterly, unhealthily *wrong* with these people in that they obviously can’t give up their campaign of hate even after all this time?? Just how ruddy deranged *are* they, really….I swear it strikes me as plainly sociopathic, at this point.
April 16, 2015 at 5:17 pm |
The SW fandom really should be researched by professionals in psychology…
I mean i showed a guy about 300+photos of actual sets/locations/models from the Prequels and what he said was ”….but they were greenscreened to death…….and JJ is doing it right”…
Apparently the ”right’GFFA also only has deserts planets, forest planets and snowy planets [roll eyes]…Damn i miss Lucas’ epic imagination already…
anyways, judging from the trailer, the movie looks to be something like the new Star Trek movies…fun to watch 1-3 times tops but no substance beneath that at all…
April 16, 2015 at 8:36 pm
The haters can’t expect that their world view of the PT films is wrong or flawed. That the nerd hivemind is always correct and never wrong.
April 16, 2015 at 11:36 pm
I have a friend in another fandom who really opened my eyes to fanboy psychology. He himself was a hardcore fan, and he was quite up front about the personal issues that contributed to him turning out that way. The way he put it, and I’m paraphrasing here, was that “Emotionally healthy people don’t join hardcore fandoms.”
He was the type of guy who spent every day on the forums, joined chat groups with the biggest fans he encountered from there, and who met many other fans in person at conventions. He stated that in his experience, fanboys were disproportionately bullied, sheltered, and abused as children. Because of that, they were far more likely to be childish, unemployed, and afflicted with crippling anxiety or personality disorders. My friend was also very open about being autistic, something he had observed in other fans. After finally meeting him and many others at a convention, I have to say that his observations are quite accurate.
I want to tread lightly here because I don’t want to demean people simply for going through any of those things. As I said above, this was all coming from my own friend. Many of the other fans whom I met at the convention also possessed those same traits, but they were still good, friendly people.
But Google up some nonfiction psychology books (many are largely available for free in preview mode), and you’ll find plenty of agreement that these hardships can embitter a person and stunt their ability to behave in a decent way.
“Narcissistic” behavior isn’t just about being selfish and arrogant. It’s attributed to deep seated feelings of insecurity. The narcissist really does feel small and weak inside, which he compensates for by posturing, attacking others, and refusing to admit error in the face of any opposing evidence. The fanboy narcissist is desperate for validation and any shred of superiority that he can claim. He hates anything that makes him feel childish (even as he consumes a media diet of pulp movies and comic books), and he wants his entertainment to be critically acclaimed and “badass.”
I hate to boil all of this real life stuff down to a movie quote, especially one from the film at the center of this very “controversy,” but George Lucas absolutely nailed it in The Phantom Menace:
“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
April 17, 2015 at 8:23 am
Jim, spot on and well said. What I always say to people is that the reason the most hardcore fans intensely love Han Solo and intensely hate Jar Jar is because Han Solo is who they want to be, but Jar Jar is who they are.
April 17, 2015 at 3:19 pm
Very insightful Jim. If you read some of their comments you can detect some are highly emotional and “sperg out”. Really a good bit of internet nerd culture is pretty childish and immature.
With the comments on the TFA trailer on Youtube for example. Many of them talk about having a “nerdgasm” or “creaming” to the trailer which is not only disgusting, especially for a family film. But really immature and reveals they have issues. One of the reasons I dislike nerd culture is how they often try to talk like highschool jocks and talk about fluids and other gross things all the time.
April 18, 2015 at 6:27 am
Exactly. I go through all the same things, which makes me wonder why others who do go the other way with it. I wish to STOP the cycle, not perpetuate it!
April 16, 2015 at 10:24 pm |
eventually they will turn on the sequels. it will happen. right now, some are using it as a weapon against the prequels, but the minute something they hate happens in the sequels, they’ll turn on them. besides it’s jj lmao and i watched star trek and this has happened before and this will happen again.
April 16, 2015 at 10:47 pm
Who knows. In the “worst case”, EP VII is so much fan service that this won’t happen. However, I will not judge a movie by its trailer. On the other hand, some reasonable speculation is of course allowed.
Anyway, what bugs me is a serious lack of respect for GL’s achievements. People forget that he reawakened the use of special effects in movies. He created the childhood of a large portion of a generation. He changed the way movies are made and was involved in the creation of Pixar. Last but not least, he is deeply involved in charity. All this is not respected because he changed his movies and made three new ones some did not like. Even if someone did not enjoy his recent stuff (wait, that’s TCW, loved even by haters), this does not give a hater the right to just forget all of GL’s achievements. But no, he is remembered by dark media as the “once good moviemaker who just betrayed (whatever).”
April 16, 2015 at 10:48 pm
Okay, sorry for the mess, ehm, vent.
April 16, 2015 at 11:08 pm
it’s sad that people (including me) are being petty enough to hope that the sequels are “divisive” too. but that’s what the current environment in fandom and media has driven us to.
i hope it’s not all fanservice. i’d rather they make “controversial” choices rather than play it safe. maybe the fanservice is what some want because they’re looking to relive the feeling they had when they first saw star wars, but that’s not for me. that feeling is special and it most likely can’t be captured again, especially if you felt that as a kid. and, i’d rather the narrative move onward and upward rather than stay stuck.
there are things george did i love and things i’m not hugely fond of, but i get annoyed when people are so black and white about him. like him or not, he’s the one who created the universe that some claim to love so much. ugh and that whole betrayed/”raped my childhood” nonsense makes me so angry. i will never get what is so awful about the prequels to inspire such feelings.
i was on twitter right now and sterling gates, a comics writer, took on the midichlorian argument because he just didn’t get what was so awful about it or why people were upset about it 16 years later and, of course, he was getting replies about how it was just indicative of the “prequels’ pedantry.” i couldn’t roll my eyes hard enough. he impressed me though with dismissing those who claim that midichlorians ruined star wars and whatever that nonsense is. heh, i hope they mention midichlorians in the sequels too.
April 17, 2015 at 3:09 pm
I think it is a given they will turn on the ST someday. Just look at ROTS, back in 2005 even many of the PT haters liked ROTS. That Lucas came though at the last minute and saved the PT. Even James Rofle (AVGN) who gave bad reviews of TPM and AOTC gave ROTS a glowing review.
Now the haters say ROTS is also awlful, of just being the nicest turd still makes it a turd and other BS. Heck if James did a SW review now he probably bash ROTS too. Yesterday I read an article about TFA and how JJ has such a hard job pleasing the fans after ROTS leaving a bad taste in their mouth.
As far as TCW, most of the haters who like TCW do so because the TCW “fixes” the so-called “flaws’ and “mistakes” from the PT. Like making Anakin less-whiny and more “likeable” and other BS. Basically they claim TCW cures the PT films which I disagree with. While I do like TCW, I think the PT is far better and doesn’t need any spin offs to fix them.
April 18, 2015 at 6:29 am
See, Anakin is one of the things I DON’T like about TCW. He doesn’t sound a thing like himself, he’s too generic. Is that what the haters want? A generic, bland Anakin?
(Again, nothing against Matt Lanter. He seems like an awesome dude. It’s just nobody seems to GET Anakin).
April 19, 2015 at 11:41 am
I agree. I liked Hayden’s vulnerable Anakin a lot more than TCW, where he’s basically a Jock.
April 19, 2015 at 6:08 pm
lisse, I’m going to go in far more detail in a separate post but based on spoilers/rumors I’ve read, the fates/roles of the old school OT3 in TFA will deeply upset some people.
April 20, 2015 at 12:30 pm
@ Adam, yes the hateboys do prefer TCW Anakin. Surprisingly many PT fans also prefer TCW Anakin over the PT Anakin. Perhaps the latter are more of TCW fans over PT fans?
The two Anakins are mainly different because when a moive is made into a TV series, the story is usually “adapted” for TV. There is even a credit for it. Adapting is going to involve changing story elements to better fit a weekly TV series format. Movie format and the TV format are very different.
April 16, 2015 at 10:57 pm |
I don’t have any ill will towards Episode 7 (although the PR campaign about “practical effects” vs CGI has long gotten old) and will approach the movie with an open mind, but anyonw who says that the teasers are already better than the prequels is a hater with a serious confirmation bias.
The teasers have shown us almost nothing. No story and no information on the characters. Just a series of brief visual shots designed to imitate the Original Trilogy.
And that’s fine. They’re teasers, not full trailers. But the way certain fanboys are going nuts over this already suggests to me that they’re setting themselves up for more disappointment.
J.J. Abrams is a good filmmaker, but he has an established track record of hyping things up way more than he probably should. Cloverfield and Super 8 are proof of that. Mysterious, mind-blowing revelations were promised in those movies, both of which turned out to be standard genre movie pastiches.
The Star Trek fandom (which has its share of crazy haters as well) has already turned on Abrams. What makes the bitter Star Wars fanboys so confident in his ability to satisfy them? This is an unpleasable fanbase that claims to hate almost every Star Wars movie made after 1980.
April 16, 2015 at 11:26 pm
i am a star trek fan and the ‘jj abrams betrayed my childhood’ ‘jj abrams ruined star trek/everything’ narrative has been bandied about quite a bit by fans as well as by media. so, that’s why i’m cackling at the idea that this might be any different.
i’m open to the sequels. i’m not hugely into it, but a lot of that is just pushback against fandom/media using the sequels to bash the prequels. i’m not here for that and i’m a naturally petty person so. even then, i’m curious and i’m open enough to what it could be. that doesn’t mean i won’t laugh my head off if/when the same contingent that are touting the sequels as savior movies that will lift us out of the prequel pit are disappointed/enraged and turn on them. they can cling to anh and esb and let the rest of the star wars universe keep spinning along.
April 17, 2015 at 12:52 am
I think Lucas himself described it all pretty well in this video…
And paraphrasing him a bit ”TFA is pleasure…it’s not joy…”
April 17, 2015 at 10:50 am
Haters are spiteful, childish brats, no matter what their chronological age, who were likely picked on a lot in school, and are now compensating for that by becoming bullies themselves and latching onto what they perceive as “cool” and “badass” behavior. The anonymity of the Internet not only allows for but nurtures this.
They WANT the teaser for Episode VII to be better than all t he prequels combined — it’s all about “getting back” at Lucas — so therefore, to them, it is.
They WANT the prequels to have been “all CGI,” and for Episode VII to be “all practical,” or at least, “mostly practical with only a little CGI” — and of course CGI is the devil when it is used by Lucas, but not when it’s used by any other filmmaker who’s currently not in the hateboy-sanctioned doghouse — so therefore, to them, it is.
No amount of evidence, or flat-out proof, to the contrary will sway them.
April 17, 2015 at 10:33 pm
That is a great quote from him.
April 19, 2015 at 6:12 pm
Jim, you’re right. Right too about the damaged souls in fandom as well as the number of people with autism or Asperger’s. I’ll add there are a good number of “hardcores” who suffer from depression.
April 21, 2015 at 9:15 am
That’s a great observation Lazy. I’ve actually debated writing an article on this very subject, but it is kind of a hot button issue. Most of the OOT only crowd I’ve had personal dealings with fall into a couple of different categories…
1) Man children who have never grown up and are desperately trying to be like Peter Pan. Lost on them is the lesson of Peter Pan, that while childhood things and recollections of childhood are fine, we all have to grow up at some point..
2) Very bitter, insular people who have been damaged on some level, and for them the Saga is an escape… a refuge for a happier time and place in their lives. So naturally they want NOTHING to change. Change means having to deal with the other issues in their lives… but if Star Wars remains evergreen, and unchanging then they have no reason to change. Frankly, this is pretty dangerous because they are using Star Wars as a fortress, a barrier which actual prevents them from finding real happiness.
Real happiness and joy is not found in the pages of a novel, or on your television, or in a theater. It’s found in living life, interacting with family and friends, and as Joseph Campbell put it, “finding one’s bliss.” Finding that thing in life which keeps you going and makes you truly happy to your core.
When I was younger, and immature, I tried to find joy through Star Wars, and while the Saga certainly did entertain me and give me pleasure it could never bring me true joy and peace. I still had struggles at home with an alcoholic father, and the slow, painful dissolution of my parents 20 year marriage. No amount of reading Star Wars stories, or watching the movies could absorb the pain I was masking.
Thank God I “found my bliss” long ago when I became a father. I did not realize how profoundly that would change me as a person and force me to grow up and be a role model for them. Sure I may not have “bliss” in my career, but my family, and my faith sustain me in a way a piece of popcorn entertainment never could.
That unfortunately is lost on a lot of the more hardcore fringe fanatics who live and die by pop culture entertainment… inevitably it lets them down, and old wounds are reopened.
April 16, 2015 at 4:06 pm |
The first shot in the teaser was nice. Other than that, it’s really just rehashes of stuff we already knew from the last trailer. And that means, really, nothing but OT stuff, again and again. X Wings, Tie Fighters, Vader’s mask, Star Destroyers, the Falcon and crew. The only “new” things we got were a shuttle without the middle fin, an actual shot of Kylo Ren’s face (ok, but nothing to write home about), and maybe a new-ish color scheme for the Empire (white on black instead of black on white! red in the imperial insignia!).
Really, so far it’s everything-old-is-old-again. And that last shot of Han and Chewie? It feels more like it’s recreating an old publicity still of them, not any actual moment from the films themselves. The snake is choking on its own tail.
April 16, 2015 at 8:34 pm |
The crashed Star Destroyer looked like fan art instead of a real SW film. The red imperial insignia looks like something from the EU. But really not much new stuff in in the trailer. The PT looked and felt like a different time period which I liked. It wasn’t just a simple rehash like TFA is shaping up to be.
April 16, 2015 at 10:41 pm
I’m not gonna deny, the Star Destroyer thing did work for me. Maybe because it’s the only relatively still shot in the trailer.
April 17, 2015 at 12:55 am
Honestly, that first shot looked awfully 70ish 1-dimensional matte painting!
Had it been in the prequels it would be deemed ”cartoonish”.
Yet somehow i’ve already seen people praising it as some form of ”deep” artistic genius framing that looks ”sooooo real”…
I can only facepalm and lol…
April 16, 2015 at 4:35 pm |
Hmm, Ian McDiarmid just dropped a possible hint at his involvement in Episode 7…
April 16, 2015 at 9:21 pm |
We will have to wait and see (as usual). Maybe this trailer was so OT-heavy to appease dark media (and because the marketing department of Lucasfilm really thinks only the OT is memorable…), but the final movie will be more original than we think.
However, I will not respect any mindless PT bashing because of a trailer.
“So you think that EP VII will make you forget the Prequels? I hope so, then you may finally stop complaining about them all the time! BTW, do not watch Rebels, they have a PT character in it.”
April 16, 2015 at 11:48 pm |
Wait, what did Ian say?
April 18, 2015 at 5:26 pm |
no he didn’t! i was there and he specifically said he’s not in it!
April 16, 2015 at 5:54 pm |
Is anyone watching to D.Filoni right now?
He just encouraged all the PT/afterwards fans to be more vocal amongst other things!!!
This guy should be the fucking president of LFL!
I officialy *LOVE* this guy!!!
P.S. It seems to me KK is the business side of Lucas & DF is the child inside Lucas…He probably gave the power to the wrong person…sigh…
April 18, 2015 at 5:56 pm |
Which panel did he say this? I’d love to see the clip.
April 18, 2015 at 6:55 pm
Wasn’t a panel. It was an interview in the ”cantina”.
Don’t know if it’s available on demand.
April 19, 2015 at 6:18 pm |
I was not at that panel but I heard he’d said that the voices of PT fans matter too.
April 16, 2015 at 6:03 pm |
In Dave Filoni, clearly, I think we *all* of us could’ve truly trusted. Safe to say, we all would’ve followed him nigh-well *everywhere*, because he at least truly gets it….all his comments thus far, and this now as well, seem to speak pretty compellingly, to that end. Which just hurts even more, knowing that he doesn’t have more power in it, that he’s not in a position to exercise more influence….!
April 16, 2015 at 8:30 pm |
I have some issuses with Dave but he does seem to respect Lucas much more that other people do. I will give him that.
April 16, 2015 at 6:18 pm |
The more I hear and see about TFA, the less I want to see it. I got a bad feeling about this, pun intended. If they recton anything that’s been pre established or mess with George’s story told in 1-6, I’m done. Nope. These movies won’t exist to me. They can come up with plenty of stories that DON’T mess with the pre established events in 1-6.
And considering the fact that Disney would never dare hire anyone that actually respects the PT and doesn’t blindly worship the OT, who knows what to expect.
April 16, 2015 at 8:29 pm |
I agree with you Nick. It seems they are already retconing Stormtroopers to be not clones, even though ANH hints they are clones. Guess they are correcting that “PT mistake.”
April 16, 2015 at 9:13 pm
To be fair, it is not really clear what GL himself thought about the Stormtroopers in the end. If you just watch the movies, you cannot avoid the impression that they are clones. Newer comments by George seem to imply that this does not have to be the case. (I do not have a source and may be wrong.) Tricky fan discussion anyway that we had here on the blog once.
April 16, 2015 at 9:36 pm
It doesn’t bother me that the Stormtroopers aren’t clones in the OT and especially 30 years after JEDI. I can’t that the clone factories on Kamino would still be active more than 60 years after they produced the army for the Republic. The fact that Luke wanted to join the Academy in ANH led me to believe that much of the Imperial armed forces consisted of volunteers or drafts. The clones would’ve all aged out by that time and I bet the Emperor would’ve shut down Kamino as well.
April 16, 2015 at 9:40 pm
That’s the discussion I meant. 😁
April 17, 2015 at 3:24 pm
The stormtroopers were never clones to begin with (random voices, heights, etc). The end of Revenge of the Sith establishes random humans as imperial officers.
April 17, 2015 at 3:57 pm
In ANH the Academy is never said to be an imperial one. There is a deleted scene from ANH where Biggs tells Luke he is leaving the Academy before he is drafted out of it by the Empire. That he is a officer on a freighter and is going to jump ship to search for contact with the rebels. This suggests the Academy is a civilian space flight school.
The Empire has many ranks that could be volunteers or drafts like officers and AT-ST drivers. Stormtroopers aren’t the only troops in the Empire’s armed forces. So “if” stormtroopers are all clones there are still plenty of other jobs in the imperial armed forces for normal humans. Even the CIS used normal organic troops along with droid forces.
Still I can’t help but feel making Stormtroopers in TFA non-clones is a “prequel correction” since many of the hateboys prefer recruits over clones or droids. Many of them hate both the clones and droids and cite them as one of the reasons the PT sucks to them, that they are just toy armies that lack emotional impact like recruits or draftees would have. Many many fan rewrites of the PT features the Jedi and a recruited stormtrooper army fighting a invading clone army from outside the galaxy.
It looked liked to me in AOTC, that Kamino had probably been in the cloning business for a long time and that is is probably their main industry. I don’t see a reason they would stop after 60 years. Detroit stills makes cars after a 100 years of making them. Palps doesn’t seem like a guy who would downgrade his troops either. Thought out the films he is always upgrading. However, with TFA, we don’t really know if the Empire in that film is the same exact Empire from the OT, or a new Sith Empire of some kind? The new red logo hints that it is a new different Empire of some kind. So that may be a factor too.
April 16, 2015 at 11:47 pm |
Something more positive: have you read the great stuff about TCW? Hopefully the people in charge will someday change their minds and greenlight the production of the last seasons.
April 19, 2015 at 6:46 pm |
The reaction to Clone Wars (went to both panels) was overwhelming. Lucasfilm should hear the message loud and clear.
April 17, 2015 at 10:35 am |
The media is STILL putting forward the crap about the prequels being “all CGI,” and JJ Abrams is “coyly” perpetuating it — “TFU goes back to practical sets after the CGI-laden prequels.”
April 17, 2015 at 10:41 am |
The hateboys are, as any of us could have predicted (and many of us did), using this teaser trailer as another paddle with which to spank the prequels. They’re praising it to the skies to spite Lucas and continue to “punish” him for his perceived crimes against them and their childhoods.
April 17, 2015 at 12:58 pm |
I sense a lot of frustration in some of the comments – understandably so. Well, let’s all wait to the end of the celebration and see what LP’s impressions were. Is anyone else we know there?
April 18, 2015 at 8:35 am |
Yeah, there’s no reason to give in to the Dark Side this early. Let’s just wait and see. Don’t go into this stuff expecting to be disappointed or you likely will be.
“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” -Qui-Gon Jinn
April 18, 2015 at 9:30 pm
My focus is practically exactly what they wanted…it’s just PRACTICAL practically, LOL.
April 17, 2015 at 1:08 pm |
I figured out last night what it was about the TFA teaser that kept bugging me – well, one of the numerous things, I suppose, but this having occurred to me, I wonder if this is in fact the way of it….that it seems, more than most anything else, to be like “paint-by-numbers” filmmaking….Abrams just hitting all the points that he thinks people want to see or, at the very least, what the fanboys et al, certain segments of the fandom, have been incessantly screeching about so long and so hard to deafen and drown out the rest of us….these points being, I think, like “Millennium Falcon, Han and Chewie, X-wings, star destroyers, stormtroopers, Tie fighters, wild and ZOMG AWESOME EXCITING chases and shootouts with the Falcon and Imperial forces in tight close quarters, etc., etc., etc.” – just seems like he’s endeavouring really most of all to hit those points because he thinks that’s what the movies are really all about or what people most want and need and “deserve” (HOLY WTF EVEN) to see….and it smacks to me, at least, as really being something rote and even plainly predictable in so doing. There’s no sense whatsoever of grand and epic, masterful scope, no feeling of epic woven-tapestry myth, it’s just chases and shootouts with X-wings and rebels and Imperial forces and the Millennium Falcon, and I could *swear* that we’ve seen the like of this before….! *mild, bemused sarcasm*
April 18, 2015 at 2:01 am |
It is hard to judge the movie from the X-Wings, the Vader mask etc. One the one hand, this could just be the marketing department: “Throw in some obvious SW/OT references so that even the average moviegoer knows this is a sequel to Ep VI, and even if these elements only play a minor part in the final movie.” (The normal moviegoer generates the $$$, not the O-OT purist.)
On the other hand, it could of course be that the movie really is just “fly and shoot and blaster and nostalgia”. But at least the new characters are prominently featured. But THEN we have the “Resistance” (continuation of the Rebel Alliance or not?) and “the First Order” (Empire or not?) – the old black-white situation of the OT continues? And a Sith wannabe (could be interesting or just a not-so original story idea, depending on how it is handled…) Hard to judge The Force Awakens still is…
From an in-universe point of view, we should not expect PT references design-wise: the PT designs were gone during the OT. I just hope that the ST will feature some new designs. (Remember, we had TIE Interceptors as well as A- and B-Wings in EP VI, and the Mon Calamari ships?)
April 19, 2015 at 1:37 pm
Im not sure if you saw this, but according to the Battlefront press release, the New Republic defeated the Empire in what is the wreckage of Jakku one year after Endor…
So I think it’s safe to say that the Republic did return, but perhaps some remnants of the Empire have been fighting back and gained control of Star systems that belonged to the Republic. That’s where the Resistance comes in, which is trying to free themselves from the first Order and join the Republic.
It’s all speculation on my part anyhow.
There is still hope
April 18, 2015 at 5:23 pm |
don’t think like that because i am a prequel lover and i was there! i saw it live with jj and the audience was in tears when han solo said “we’re home.”
April 17, 2015 at 1:33 pm |
There is hope.
April 17, 2015 at 6:25 pm |
😀
April 17, 2015 at 7:50 pm |
But what does she actuall think of them, though?
April 18, 2015 at 12:58 am |
Everyone in their right mind (who is under a certain age) watches the film labelled as “1” before the one labelled as “4”.
The insanity of haters becomes obvious when they’re even shocked at this.
April 18, 2015 at 6:08 pm |
John Boyega grew up on the PT first too.
April 19, 2015 at 6:49 pm |
So did Domhnall Gleeson.
April 17, 2015 at 8:23 pm |
(AussieRebel from TFN) I thought the trailer was quite emotionally evocative – especially the old Darth helmet. But apart from that, I’m sad that JJ Abrams seems to believe that SW is defined exclusively by dusty frontier stations. What annoyed me so much wasn’t the trailer per se, but the unambiguous tone JJ and Kathleen took toward the prequels in the QandA beforehand. They are more or less forgetting about them apparently, and have decided to make the ‘tone’ of the OT a kind of sacrosanct, inviolable standard.
This is sad, because I much prefer seeing an imaginative urban environment like Coruscant to yet another desert.
April 17, 2015 at 11:04 pm |
Hello everyone, I’m new to commenting here but this seems like my kind of place. Thoughtful and intelligent Star Wars discussion is in such short supply these days.
Like many of you, I am less than enamored with the approach the powers that be at Lucasfilm are taking with the saga and in particular it’s promotion. It really does feel like OT purists (and I love the OT and grew up on it like many of you) are running the show now. I think Dawn nailed it with what bothers me about what we’ve seen of TFA so far. There’s clearly a deliberate effort being made to highlight specific imagery from 4-6 and very little focus on anything related to story or myth. I mean JJ goes so far as to rip off a classic production still of of Han and Chewie from ANH (anyone else find that camera angle slightly odd and un-SW like?) Of course, maybe this is all intentional and part of his “mystery box” approach to filmmaking. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that although I can’t say I think it’s ever really paid off in his work (Star Trek, Super 8, Lost, et al. seemed like a lot of smoke and mirrors). I am not a fan of the modern camera work, flashy cutting and zooming that I’ve seen in these trailers either. It’s odd that for all this talk about “shooting on film” and using “more practical effects” things still have this glossy, high-contrast, very contemporary look to them. Other than the opening pan of the crashed Star Destroyer nothing really looked “classic Star Wars” to me—more like a Marvel movie quite frankly.
Again the important thing is what kind of mythic resonance this next trilogy will have. I’m OK with the standalone movies being more action/adventure oriented but the numeric episodes need to fall in line with the sociological, mythic, philosophical undercurrent of 1-6 in order for them to be worthy of being called “Star Wars”.
I am in the middle of reading “The Star Wars Heresies” and it’s fascinating to learn how much is really going on in Star Wars that probably 99% of the population and 90% of the fanbase don’t even recognize or, from here on forward perhaps, even care about.
April 18, 2015 at 1:02 am |
A nice summary of an interview of GL: variety.com/2015/film/news/george-lucas-stephen-colbert-star-wars-tribeca-talk-1201474961/
April 18, 2015 at 6:03 am |
Classy. I would bet it bothers George that so many of his “fans” who claim to love Star Wars are really happy he’s no longer a part of it, and see his departure as a good thing, yet he’s going to be cheering the new filmmakers on — even as these ungrateful $%^#$&’s are collecting big paychecks for playing around in the universe he created.
April 18, 2015 at 6:26 am
Well, I think most of the involved are really passionate about the opportunity to add something to SW, paycheck or not. However, some could really be more professional when stating their opinions.
Anyway, GL really seems to enjoy his retirement. I am happy for him.
April 18, 2015 at 1:28 am |
Apparently Star Wars Battlefront has no E I-III and TCW content …
April 18, 2015 at 2:06 am |
The question is, why? New stuff (ST) is clear, OT also. Did they do not have the resources to develop PT and TCW content? They certainly did not consider these eras to be so important… But just only slightly, or have the suits decided that the PT just does not sell?
April 18, 2015 at 8:32 am |
I’ve heard that there won’t be space battles, either. No space battles, no PT, even though there are far more ground battles to choose from in the PT/TCW. I just don’t know…. I’m still looking forward to the game, but I’m kind of bewildered right now.
April 18, 2015 at 9:19 pm
Yeah I don’t get it. ( i mean I do, but it’s still sad). Battlefront II gave us more than the first (Episode III locations, playable heroes, new maps from the originals and prequels), and this next installment seems to be taking one giant step backwards in terms of actual content. The graphics and gameplay might be superb, but the content of the game feels literally half-complete.
April 18, 2015 at 11:38 pm |
PT era levels/content may come to the game as downloadable content (DLC). That’s what was told to Bryan Young (swankmotron) on Twitter. So there’s hope. (Good man, BTW, one of the most famous PT defenders.)
April 19, 2015 at 12:38 pm
I like that we might get CLone Wars content, but it’s also what I was afraid of. DLCs as far as the eye can see. Gone are the days when a complete game was released on Day One. Gone are also the days when they would release mod tools to the player community and let them create maps and eras. Battlefront II had some amazingly polished player-made maps and mods that has made the game a classic and highly fresh even 10 years later. Instead of giving mod tools to the community, they will roll out selective DLCs until they decide to stop supporting the game. Sad, but true.
April 19, 2015 at 8:58 pm |
Considering starting a Change.org petition to shed some light on this issue. The only problem is Change.org petitions don’t really ever seem to go anywhere…
April 18, 2015 at 2:43 am |
Anyway, what is your general impression? I am surprised to have found some media people that are happy about the new trailer because it is SW, and not because it is “not the prequels.” Is this the general buzz? (On the other hand, this was to be expected… The hateboys are just the loud minority. And let us not forget the merits of the PT and TCW to keep SW alive and creating a load of new fans!)
April 18, 2015 at 8:47 am |
I’m excited by what I’ve seen of The Force Awakens. Can’t wait to see where they go. Hopefully it will be as thematically powerful as GL’s Star Wars was.
I don’t know how to feel about Abram’s directing. The camera movement, the angles, the intense close-ups–they’re so much more modern than SW has traditionally been. SW was very clearly based on a 30s/40s adventure serial kind of look and feel. Hopefully Abrams and co. have kept the wipes intact, at least! 😛
I guess we have to get used to those kinds of stylistic differences, though, considering GL’s not calling the shots any more, and this is a different trilogy in a different era (just like the prequels were), so we can’t expect the same thing again and again.
I’m remaining optimistic and open-minded. We’ll see where that goes.
April 18, 2015 at 8:58 am |
Posted my thoughts on the trailer… https://onesaga.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/star-wars-the-force-awakens-teaser-reaction/
April 18, 2015 at 9:18 am |
Dude, get out of my head!!! Wow. That was perfect. I couldn’t agree more.
April 18, 2015 at 10:03 am |
Yup! My thoughts exactly!
I would only add or differ in that i couldn’t enjoy the trailer.
Had it been made by Lucas, the usual bashers would already attack it for its ”fake CGI” and ”ruining Han Solo”…but since it is made by someone else it gets praise…
How the frack can i enjoy something made by people who not only do what you said, but blatantly LIE about what they’re doing (practical bs etc.)?
April 18, 2015 at 10:39 am |
Yeah, the marketing BS is infuriating. I’m hoping the movie is being made much more thoughtfully than the marketing suggests.
April 18, 2015 at 10:42 am
Me too. Maybe he’s just a politician appealing to his base, and somewhere down the road we’ll learn that there’s really a profound but fun story being told here…. at least that’s my hope.
April 18, 2015 at 12:43 pm |
Kathleen Kennedy certainly meant that fan reaction is very important for the moneymaking process and corporate filmmaking is moneymaking more than anything else.
April 19, 2015 at 7:31 am
Walt Disney: “I do not make movies to make money. I make money to make movies!” Sometimes, the company he founded lives this dream. Sometimes, it does not. Hopefully, the ST will in the end really express something new and challenging. (And maybe TFA will already be that, despite the catering to the OT-only fans that Lucasfilm sometimes – but not always – does.)
April 18, 2015 at 12:51 pm |
Hm. The Rebels Season 2 trailer looks interesting. Looks more like what the show ought to have been from the start. At the very least, it’s incorporating more than just OT fanservice. Not breaking new ground for the most part, really, but at least it seems more even handed than just “all OT, all the time”.
April 18, 2015 at 3:11 pm |
Arrgh, I just need to vent a little bit. I had the unfortunate discovery today that my boss and coworkers are prequel bashers. I found out from them that a new trailer was out and all they could go on about was allllllll the practical effects.
It was literally a bingo session of all the popular sayings that haters’s recite about the prequels; The CGI, the bad acting, Jar-Jar being a racial stereotype and “trade negotiations” (of course that means that the entire first movie is nothing but senate scenes.
They can’t even recognize the double-standards when they say this and not see the flaws in the original movies, like they are some how “untouchable holy relics”.
And when I try to speak up and make a point I get shut down and told it’s an age thing. (The prequels are how old now, and they still can’t let go?) They never want to hear a different point of view, they want to hate on the films, I’m never sure why, so many reasons exist, but it’s like they can’t even help themselves. Same old arguments, ad nauseam.
*sigh*
April 18, 2015 at 3:39 pm |
This is a comment someone posted to me on YT:
”Lucas hasn’t done practical effects and sets on the scale of this new picture since ever. There is very little green screen used in The Force Awakens. In the new trailer the TIE fighter scene in the hangar with the stormtroopers firing and getting fired on is all practical. They built life sized TIE models. George got greenscreen happy.”
You get the picture…i guess also that what i saw as being obviously a digital-stunt-double Stormtrooper was an actual extra deing exploded…
And btw, X-wings flying over a digitally composited backdrop is now ”practical”, yet when Lucas did it for Kashyyyk it was ”baaaad cgi”…
sigh…
April 18, 2015 at 4:01 pm
I apologize, I used the word “literally” the wrong way, see this is how upset I am.
You can bet that all the CGI used in the ST will be majorly downplayed, to disguise that it will be prominent. How can any major Sci-Fi film today, let alone, this Star Wars reboot, get away with more practical shots than effects shots. It’s how movies are made today. And the irony is, it’s often more practical to use effect shots to save on budget. Am I wrong, or misinformed here?
April 19, 2015 at 3:38 am
It is a fact that there were lots of blue/green screens used for TFA.
-I remember reading someone’s story of visiting the set on Making Star Wars, and they mentioned seeing a set that looked like part of a hangar bay with a few life-sized TIEs within it. This is most likely where they shot a lot of that hangar bay scene that’s in the trailer. There were apparently huge blue screens on either side of the set.
-I remember seeing footage (again, on Making SW) that a few British guys were able to get of location filming in a forest in England. There were a few set pieces that looked like ruins and the scene involved some people being chased by stormtroopers. Huge blue screens surrounded most of the filming location that could be seen in that footage.
-Lots of green screens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48dGX8zmK4I
-Lots of blue screens (this is probably that location where the troopers were filmed chasing somebody…): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVUAFMVwYm0
From what I’m seeing, TFA has been filmed a lot like the prequel trilogy had been, and like almost all modern big-budget movies.
April 19, 2015 at 4:31 am
I just posted links to two youtube videos about TFA and one or two stories from people who’ve seen some of the filming that show that they did indeed use plenty of blue and green screens, but the comment is awaiting moderation.
Look up “Thank you from the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens!” for green screen action, and “Star Wars: Force for Change – Meet Winner D.C. Barns” for blue screen action.
TFA doesn’t seem to have been made very differently from the prequels or any other modern big-budget film.
April 18, 2015 at 4:40 pm |
You are correct.
Practical and in-camera shots are generally cheaper than CGI/digital composites, despite the common misconception.
If cgi was this cheap, easy (another misconception) thing than why did Avatar cost half a billion $?
And apparently JJ didn’t want the ”easy CGI thing” for BB8…
In one phrase you can read that ex.R2 was CGI in the PT and there were no stand-ins for digital characters (sigh) / his prior films were riddled with cheap CGI / we are supposed to believe that the BB8 which tilted its head towards the direction it was moving on the panel was the (obviously CGI) one in the trailer which moved completely differently…and ofc ”i am pandering to you OT uber-fans…your BS was right!”…etc.
You could tolerate this from an outsider but someone in the business SHOULD know better than that!
April 19, 2015 at 6:36 am |
Hey Heidi, this is a sad experience. I briefly talked about SW with my colleagues a while back. They may not be the greatest PT lovers (actually, they are mostly interested in the OT), but they did not have any problems with my support of the PT. And they did not throw at me these “stereotypical” reasons for not liking the PT. (Sorry, but “only CGI”, “Jar Jar is racist” and “only trade negociations” just sounds too much like “I have read that somewhere on the internet.”)
I’m just wondering… “Okay, guys, so you only liked the OT because of the old-school special effects?”
April 19, 2015 at 8:16 pm |
Can anyone find Heidi a new job ;)? I hear ya…feel free to vent anytime.
April 18, 2015 at 3:46 pm |
On a lighter note…
Does anybody else have a hunch that there will be a JJ-type ”i am your father/mother/uncle/aunt” re-creation in this movie (or the next 2) just like when GH said ”my name is Khan” in ST:ID, that we supposedly didn’t see coming and ”shocked” us? LOL
April 18, 2015 at 4:14 pm |
KHHAANNNNN!!!!
April 18, 2015 at 4:29 pm
Kylo Ren: Luke skywalker never told you what happened to your brother…
Rey: He told me enough…he told me you killed him!
Kylo Ren: No…I am your brother…Daddy was a playa!!!
😀
April 19, 2015 at 2:36 am
Ooooo… I just got goosebumps…
April 18, 2015 at 4:55 pm |
It seems like every writer wants to link its Star Wars stuff with the PT and TCW… except J.J. Abrams
April 18, 2015 at 5:19 pm |
I just came home from Celebration and let me tell you: PEOPLE DO LOVE THE PREQUELS I saw so much prequel love it made me realize that Star Wars truly is a saga; all the films, all the shows, it’s okay to not like a movie or a tv show as much as the ones you do like but to reject it as not part of the story in any form…you are not a star wars fan….I got to hang out with Darth Maul/ ray park… a super cool dude!
April 18, 2015 at 5:25 pm |
This makes me happy, and turns my day around. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
April 18, 2015 at 6:08 pm |
Thanks for reminding us all of the positivity that still permeates REAL fandom.
April 18, 2015 at 7:02 pm |
We know people love the Prequels…
The thing is…where are they? What are they doing when they see all this hate on the internet?
I have to admitt that as of late, i’ve been seeing much more love on YT videos than some months ago (which felt as if i and 10 others were ”battling” hundreds of haters) but still…
April 18, 2015 at 8:01 pm
I think the answer might be, why bother?
Not to say they aren’t worth standing up for. But more like, why waste the same amount of time that haters waste bashing, when instead I could be using it to appreciate and enjoy what I love about SW.
This is what bothers me so much about bashers. Why waste that much time bashing? They could be spending it loving the OT if that’s all they allow themselves to enjoy.
Personally I just find it mind-numbing trying to arguing with this group of continual hate fans. And I wouldn’t want to stoop to their level of time consumption.
They only place I can go to these days to hear about SW is this blog because I know here, I’m not walking into a room expecting my favorite thing to be dumped on any waking minute.
April 18, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Yeah? Where? I just did a search and all I got was bashing and backhanded compliments.
April 18, 2015 at 8:26 pm
@Heidi
Why bother?
The answer is simple…take a look around and see where the ”why bother has gooten us, the PT & Lucas…
btw, Did anyone watch M.Hamill’s panel?
I swear i haven’t heared the word PRACTICAL being shoehorned into everything so many times in my life as during this past few days…
It’s like listening to G.W.Bush talking about ”nucular” weapons all the time…lol
April 18, 2015 at 10:25 pm
honestly? i rolled my eyes and i moved on for years after seeing the annoying behavior of some fans who can’t seem to love what they love without trying to convince others that what they love is wrong. but, tumblr was probably the first place, besides this site, where i saw a lot of fans think and love on the prequels and that’s always a nice feeling.
April 19, 2015 at 3:55 am
I think it’s pretty clear that we can’t sit back and stay quiet. I don’t mean we should get into pointless slapfights with “haters”; I mean that we should make an effort to go out there and spread the good word about the prequels, provide an alternate perspective, shed light on some of the facts that people don’t know about them, etc. If the “haters” have driven a lot of us away, and they’re all that people see, that hate and the ignorance that fuels it becomes the standard, and people will take that and repeat it ad nauseam.
Let’s follow Dave Filoni’s suggestion and speak up for ourselves, the prequels, and GL. I know that’s what I’ve been doing in various places for the last decade or so, even when it feels like I’m the only one….
April 18, 2015 at 8:13 pm |
Great to know, thanks darth66zannah! It seems like it was a good time there, one of these days I should attend. It’s a little like the Star Trek conventions I used to attend back in the day. There were (and still are) fans of just the original Trek series who find many ways to tear down the newer series, such as Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. At conventions, you could usually find the group you clicked with the most, other Niners or TNG fans, but there should be room for everyone without hate or shaming.
April 18, 2015 at 8:43 pm
Shaming is what it is. One set of Star Wars fans shaming another. Just to be clear, WE don’t shame OT fans. What goes on here is reacting to the shaming. I’m an OT fan. I’m also a PT fan and a saga fan. This site wouldn’t exist if one dedicated group of loudmouths weren’t determined to make life miserable for another group of fans.
April 19, 2015 at 8:24 pm |
More on this from me soon. It’s clear to me the fans feel one way while the powers that be don’t quite see it.
April 18, 2015 at 7:27 pm |
John’s got a clone helmet. You can tell he actually likes ALL of the Saga if you read his tweets.
April 19, 2015 at 8:25 pm |
He seems like a cool guy.
April 19, 2015 at 12:52 pm |
the thing is that OT fans are very selfish and think They have some sort of first claim to SW. When I was at celebration it struck me: a lot of young women love Padme…and her story in the PT. The haters aren’t considering the appeal that the PT has to specific individuals…in this case young women. And the kids love Maul still! it was like 1999 all over again! And there were so many clone wars lovers…no people, the PT era is here to stay and it’s the selfish OT fans that have to deal with it because we are not going away only growing! The reason why many PT fans don’t voice themselves is because we are occupied with our love for PT and are content, living life like a normal person while the haters are discontent losers with nothing better to do than complain and complain and complain…it’s okay to not like something but the anti pt wagon is an example of mentally unhealthy individuals…back in the day i saw robocop 3 and i didn’t like it..so guess what? i never saw it again and haven’t spoken about it until now…i have no desire to rant about the damn thing fir 20 years like some loser…this is a healthy dislike..get me?
April 19, 2015 at 2:54 pm |
Go to 0:35
Like what you hear…in a Star Wars Celebration…?
See, the thing i’ve realised is that the mentality of ”who cares” is what brought us all here…
The surprising thing is, that it is quite easy to shut up the haters.
Their strategy is known. They write looooong comments one would maybe have difficulty answering….and thus their BS remains unanswered!
Wanna hear what i do? I have an MSword file filled with answers to every topic. Yes you can do that because their ”citicisms” are ALWAYS the same! That way when someone answers with a 200word comment, i answer with a 300-400 word comment (& many times multiple ones,lol). They might try to answer…but after 1-3 times they just give up…and shut up!LOL
April 19, 2015 at 3:19 pm
Yes, I used to think like darth66zannah, but the truth is Lucasfilm only listens to outrage now. We’re not in George Lucas’ era anymore, when he did what he wanted no matter what the fandom said.
At Celebration, Filoni said that they hesitated to bring back Ahsoka into Rebels. It’s the huge number of requests frome The Clone Wars’ fans which convinced them to do it.
(I’m french, sorry for grammar errors)
April 19, 2015 at 8:36 pm
Oh, so that’s what BansheeGun was talking about. While this is an on-the-fly interview and you don’t know what people are going to say, I think Lucasfilm needs to realize it’s stuff like this that makes fans like me believe we’re second class citizens in their eyes.
April 19, 2015 at 8:28 pm |
I think a lot of PT fans don’t realize what they can do or need to do to make things better for us.
April 20, 2015 at 5:13 am |
@piccolojr1138 I’m of the opinion that fandom (of any kind) shouldn’t dictate creative decisions. Doing what the fans want is, in my opinion, the wrong way to approach any creative work because fans “don’t know what they want”. And if you’re appealing to the masses, you’re setting yourself for cheapness and mediocrity.
April 20, 2015 at 10:44 am
@Chris N.
E-X-A-C-T-L-Y!
I am happy to confess that i am extremely grateful that GL didn’t make a PT of Vader ”badassery” (which is what i wanted as a teenager) that i wanted.
Btw, anybody else notice the obvious removal of the bluescreen in this photo.
I think they’ll try and hide them as much as possible…funny…
https://scontent-fra.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11129247_741138252670080_8214756922021847772_n.jpg?oh=0aeb05877558c59ef4d5fb4aa28b6c96&oe=55A29525
April 20, 2015 at 4:10 pm
@Chris N.
But that’s what’s happening, either we like or not. The company is no longer run by an artist. Of course the fans don’t dictate things (there is also money, trends, and some real artistic choices), but it counts more than before.
The aim would not be to dictate specifics like “you have to do this scene that way” ou “you have to bring this character and that one at this moment”, but to put pressure on them to ensure the prequels’ legacy, to make it more tangible. It’s more general.
April 19, 2015 at 3:32 pm |
So the first teaser of Whitta’s standalone is 100% CGI… It’s a treason of the real Star Wars spirit, isn’t it ? :p
April 19, 2015 at 8:31 pm |
I just wonder why the hell we need a “teaser” for a movie that hasn’t been shot yet and won’t come out for another 20 months.
April 19, 2015 at 8:54 pm
I have a strong feeling this film isn’t going to do very well…
April 20, 2015 at 11:54 am |
I’m actually looking forward to the Anthology films to a degree. As revealed in the panel, Lucas came up with the name and envisioned a series of films loosely tied to the Saga, but allowing artist to explore the Star Wars universe in other genres. Lucas did this himself in a number of episodes of Clone Wars… so it could be interesting.
And the trailer is just Disney throwing a bone. I suspect this was nothing more than a Celebration exclusive.
April 19, 2015 at 6:27 pm |
Maybe it’s just me, but does Chewbacca look kind of crappy? He looks so fake compared to his ROTS costume (Which was great looking).
April 19, 2015 at 8:30 pm |
I thought he looked a little odd too. Granted he’s 60 years older in this film than he was in ROTS…
April 20, 2015 at 7:36 am |
Looks to me like they tried to make him look as much like OT Chewie as possible, but they also wanted to use the improved animatronic mask that was introduced in ROTS.
April 20, 2015 at 11:24 am |
I was confused. He actually looked YOUNGER than in ANH… closer to his ROTS appearance.
April 20, 2015 at 1:27 pm
Bad cosmetic surgery ;)?
April 20, 2015 at 1:42 pm
It was a hair tuck and liposuction gone bad. Then of course he used copious amounts of Grecian Formula for Wookiees. He’s gone all Joan Rivers on us (may she rest in peace)
April 19, 2015 at 9:33 pm |
Don’t worry everyone I’m working hard of a documentary film called “Culture of Misconception: Vindicating the Star Wars Prequels” This baby has been well researched and is going to be the antithesis of the redlettermedia reviews…this will be out hopefully a couple of months before TFA drops….it might end up being 3 hours long…just started the voice over work today
April 19, 2015 at 11:37 pm |
I look forward to it.
April 20, 2015 at 2:59 am |
Ooh, I’m sure I speak for everyone here when I say any and all of us would be willing to lend whatever help you might need in the form of voices, testimonials, etc.
April 20, 2015 at 4:22 am |
@darth66zannah
Can you send me an e-mail with the script or maybe topics you want help?
I have video material that completely shatters some of RLMs points (examples: his ”Lucas was bored and that’s why he used 2 cameras” which completely ignores the benefits of digital cameras etc.)
Reading another comment of mine you’ll see i have been thinking of doing the same. One of the many ideas i have is using a ”persona”, so at times in the video you can say things like ”if you don’t agree with me you’re a ******** idiot…….but you shouldn’t be offended because this is just a persona (the latter could be displayed with a ”disclaimer” meme….explaining humor is hard,lol).
April 20, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Refuting some of RLM’s points is a good thing, if zannah even wants to go that route in his pro-PT documentary. As someone who actually spent the time slogging through the RLM BS though, I feel like even mentioning him is giving him more legitimacy than he deserves. I’d rather see more clean pro-PT essays and videos which highlight the positives instead of taking a defensive stance against ignorant haters.
I’m torn in my opinion though. On one hand, some of these people don’t deserve to be taken seriously and given the publicity. On the other hand, not responding to them gives the false impression that they haven’t been refuted.
Zannah, what you (or anyone else making pro-PT material) choose to do is your decision. But if you do choose to directly respond to the likes of RLM, could you please highlight how utterly insane his “points” and thought processes actually are? It’s not even that he’s being too hard on the prequels, its him compulsively opposing everything in the movie to the point of denying reality. It’s him acting like a deranged baby and making SW fandom look like a bunch of weird neckbeards for liking his profanity laced and rape joke filled videos. THIS is the guy that online fans and even celeb fans (like Simon Pegg) want representing them?
I feel like the RLM reviews are the scifi geek version of Sandy Hook Truther videos or Birther conspiracy nonsense. It’s crude, insane, and offensive, and not even close to legitimate opinion.
April 20, 2015 at 9:35 am |
On second thought, sending me the script might be too much to ask.Scratch that.
April 20, 2015 at 10:39 am |
I had been considering doing some sort of videos about the influence of the Prequels on modern films, but I never worked up the nerve fro it. Kudos for doing this.
April 20, 2015 at 11:55 am
Here’s another idea:
Why don’t we flood ILM’s YT channel with requests about showing the truth behind the Prequels & their influence on later works they did?
I’ve already posted a message doing that in their channel, but tens or hundreds of messages i guess would be much better. 😉
https://www.youtube.com/user/ILMVisualFX
April 20, 2015 at 12:23 pm
I would love for you to do that, sir.
April 20, 2015 at 2:06 pm |
I’d highly recommend getting a hold of Paul F. McDonald, author of The Star Wars Heresies, and Mike Klimo of Star Wars Ring Theory fame… they would both offer some tremendous insights for this kind of documentary.
April 20, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Also I have a background in film… especially writing/editing. SO I’d certainly be happy to help in this kind of endeavor.
April 20, 2015 at 7:13 pm
I’ve got a BA in theatre performance and would gladly lend my voice.