SPOILER MakingStarWars Rumors and Speculation Thread (Part 1)

No I don't think you are alone on this. And agree that if the writing, acting, directing and so on are good there shouldn't be any backlash. I just think that given the past history and the demographics as to which Star Wars films went over best. I think Disney will take baby steps towards change.

 

I guess you're implying that the cooperate filmmaking structure will prevent things like GL's comic relief inspired battle droids or a character like Jar Jar...?

Idk, BB8 might have something to say about Disney's willingness to take risks. Maybe not..., we'll see.

Anyway, the PT "battle droids" were pretty useless, and were designed by GL to be that way. Picture the "droids" from Elysium in SW. Tens of thousands of those bots would represent a threat. But GL, adding insult to injury, has his inept (and roger, roger spouting stupidity) easily killing Jedi. I always assumed that 3-4 Jedi together would be near unstoppable. But this the PT, so hey, the Jedi might as well be inept and useless too.

...So I guess after all that, I agree with you. Lol!!

 

Personally, I think what has been missed with the material so far is this:
There is concept art showing things happening on a snow planet, there is concept art showing things happening on a desert planet. There is concept art showing "Finn" doing certain things, there is concept art showing "Dameron" doing similar things. There is concept art showing a crashed TIE, there is concept art showing an X-Wing being salvaged. And so on.

It was quite easy to discard the ice planet stuff altogether in our heads - we've already seen it is a desert planet.
But I'm guessing what we should be doing is consolidating everything in those concepts we've seen or heard about for the opening scenes into the simplest possible story. I just think they tried out every iteration of events, and we have not been open to editing out the bits that may have fallen by the wayside.
For me, it seems like we are trying to cram in all of those variations into one storyline, when the simple conclusion (I'm guessing) is: There is a mission to raid and destroy a settlement led by Kylo Ren and involving Finn. There is an attempt to prevent that mission, which fails and results in Poe Dameron being shot down. Finn baulks at the nature of the Empire's mission and attempts to defy Ren and escape. Both Poe and Finn are captured and held. They work together and escape and meet Rey (or Rey helps them escape). Poe's X-Wing is salvaged and Finn and Rey attempt to find their own world off the desert planet.

I just don't see the need for the whole "taken up to an orbiting Star Destroyer, escaping from there, then crashing a TIE into the surface of the same planet they were both just on" element. It doesn't add anything.
Unless someone can provide evidence to the contrary, I'd say the crashed TIE and the idea of a Star Destroyer brig being involved were just alternate concepts explored for explaining how Finn came to end up on Tatooine that are no longer relevant. Possibly even conceived before Poe was even included in the opening act...

 

I think you are overstating the incompetence of the Empire. For the purpose of on screen action they lose the story but. If you go by the language the characters use they reputation of the Empire is firmly established. I mean I get the joke that Troopers miss everything but that is incidental to the story. The reputation the characters shared was . . . "Look at these blast marks too precise for Sandpeople, only Imperial Stormtroopers could have . . . " Later when booking flight and Ben wants "no Imperial entanglements" Han can confidently say "That's the trick isn't it." Again they are spoken of as extremely competent.

 

Any new Star Wars movie will automatically face heavy scrutiny. The first new Star movie in a decade even more so. Add in that it will be the first one without George Lucas, the first one set after the original trilogy, and the first one in a new string of films, and the scrutiny goes off the charts. It's critically important that they tie this film into the previous ones, so starting over with an entirely new group of enemies would not be a good move. There are enough fans upset over the new cross-guard lightsaber and stormtrooper helmets. Think how much of an uproar there would be if they went with something like the Yuuzhan Vong.

 

Just out of curiosity, I was looking back through the old Marvel comics to see how they dealt with the post-ROTJ situation and how long it was before the Empire resurfaced, and was mildly amused to find they chose to have a character called Finn in the story which introduced Vader's successor...

 

The story and acting is everything. If it doesn't make sense (like Anakin's fall to the dark side "hey your name is Darth Vader now! OK! Yippee!") then it will fail. We need a good space battle too. Battle Droids could have worked if they were't made for 5 year olds. Once they spoke I wanted to throw something at the screen.

 

you want a good space battle ? look at into darkness, the kahn & spock fight on that flying platform multiply the effects quality by 10 ... thats ep.7
it will be impressive

 

Well it rhymes.

 

When I say Space Battle I'm talking about the Battle of Endor x10. Not fist fighting on moving platforms. Plus we saw enough of that when Anakin was standing on the lava droids head in ROTS.

 

"When I say Space Battle I'm talking about the Battle of Endor x10. Not fist fighting on moving platforms. Plus we saw enough of that when Anakin was standing on the lava droids head in ROTS."

absolutely, i am talking about realism of special effects of moving ships just like you

 

@MakingStarWars Hey Jason! Hope you're alright and coming back to The Cantina soon. I was wondering if you think you may be getting a super detailed account of the next trailer. I only ask because one of your biggest scoops is a near shot by shot accurate description of the teaser trailer. Think your source may come through again? I certainly hope so, since I won't be at Celebration.

P.S. Really enjoy the Lego set reviews you and your staff have been posting.

 

Empires generally die slow deaths.

The only one that I can think of that drastically collapsed after its leader fell was Alexander's Hellenistic Empire.

He didn't have a successor so the empire was split up amongst his generals and didn't last long.

They could go for that angle, but historically Star Wars had followed the Roman model: republic into Empire, empire meets a massive loss (Death Star II/Getmania) over stretched forces until finally Rome (Coruscant) is captured.

 

I have said this before and some people don't like it but. The fate the empire completely depends not on real world analogies or historical precedents but purely on if they make a sequel.

If Disney never bought the rights and never announced they canonical fate of the empire is that the Wicked Evil Emperor is dead and the galaxy lives happily ever after.

But they want to make a sequel. It is narratively a ongoing serial space fantasy. So the plan to make a sequel means that after the celebrations get quelled the Empire goes away a lot slower.

 

It may be fantasy but let's not insult everybody with an education that at least achieved high school status.

The Empire was born from the Republic, which controlled the Galaxy for at least a thousand years.

You don't topple an infrastructure like that over night. Especially if your rebellion hasn't actually retaken any territory. Instead, they fled from system to system and fought guerrilla warfare. Both of their major victories were in remote systems with little strategic value.

Also, keep in mind, that regime changes for the common citizen mean very little to their every day life's.

Fantasy is fine and all, but it should be rooted in at least a little factuality and common sense.

 

Insult? Not at all. I don't disagree. My point was simply that fate of the Empire is about the story they want to tell. You @Shawshank are a writer that should be an idea that makes sense to you.

 

People can point to a thousand examples of how real-life empires may have fared - the fact still remains, the tone of ROTJ is still one of closure. Especially so in the montage at the end of the Special Edition. Coruscant is liberated, people are celebrating across the galaxy.
I think it makes sense that the forces of good were making real progress post-ROTJ, and the Empire really was pretty lost once it was left in the hands of the bureaucrats... UNTIL a new figurehead emerges in the form of Kylo Ren (and his master), and the Empire's reorganisation may have been happening quietly behind the scenes.
That's the backdrop I see for these movies. A period of relative peace interrupted by a new charismatic leader taking control of what remains of the Empire...

 

i would say those are interesting points when trying to compare a tyranny of real world history to star wars but the fact remains that power simply does not work the same way when you can mind control / physically menace the masses using the force.