Should Episode VIII continue the tradition of a ship passing over the screen after the opening crawl

One possibility is that they could revisit the probe droid dispersal from ESB. Instead of landing on Ahch-To it floats and witnesses the meeting of Luke & Rey and reports it back FO.

That's a little too JJ and repetitive to be what happens. It also brings up the question of why they didn't use probe droids before.


I think all the (legit) criticisms of TFA being unoriginal may kill the ship fly over beginning. The cliffhanger ending as well.

It seems like RJ has backed himself into a corner by saying 8 will pick right up where TFA left off.


Are we taking him too literally?
Can't he show Hux delivering KR to Snoke or Finn healing while arriving at the new Resistance base to get those plot lines started have Rey and/or Luke be mentioned (they are on everyone's minds) then do a wipe to the light saber offer.

One possibility is to show Leia arriving at the new base discussing Luke then a wipe to the Jedi steps. Im not saying they should alter footage or anything for that.

I think they can start with the crawl, space, and a short ship scene (the probe droids thing didn't require any dialogue and was quick) THEN go to Luke for the movie to start.

JJ ending TFA with a cliffhanger (even I admit that it was a great ending despite it personally frustrating me) broke with tradition, and that's not a problem in and of itself, especially since it enhanced the movie and the trilogy.

I don't see any benefit to breaking the tradition of the title, crawl, and ship in space before the film begins.

The only reason is change for the sake of change and that's not a positive

Having no time elapse between movies is already a massive change

I sincerely hope they don't change the beginning tradition.

One reason I am hopeful is that showing Rey and Luke then cutting away to the crawl (which we know the film will have) is kind of awkward since the first 15 minutes (I think minimum) will be with them, so I don't think we get a RO style setup then title and crawl.

Maybe the most likely thing is to show the Falcon's arrival again and quickly show Rey finding Luke (perhaps from his perspective) on the island. Then we hear them speak to each other.

That approach would give the audience a little context rather than going full "in medias res"

 

Something a little more radical would be jumping back in time and opening with Luke's ship arriving on Ahch-to, and then a sequence that fast-forwards through his time on the island until Rey's arrival...

 

I see Episode VIII beginning with a shuttle with General Hux and Kylo Ren (Possibly Captain Phasma too) inside arriving at Snoke's location in a sequence similar to that of the openings of Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace then going directly to Luke and Rey on Atch-To to pick up right where we left off in The Force Awakens.

 

That's where my head keeps going, but the problem is I don't think they will rush the reveal of where Snoke is. They have to show his location, but why burn that reveal in the first minute?
I'm not saying your suggestion is without merit. I just feel like that's too easy of a route to go.

Obviously we're going to keep debating this for 11 months.

 

My thought is to establish the poetic structure and also to give a tiny glimpse to where Snoke will complete the said training of Kylo Ren to mirror that of Luke's training of Rey. In a way it could be something similar to the introduction shots of Rey and Finn from The Force Awakens. You don't have to reveal everything right away with Snoke's location, just a small tease until after you show where everyone else is like the characters at the Resistance Base.

 

I like this a lot!

 

Ahhhh that would be so cool! Cant wait for Ep VIII!!!

 

I have decided that the "ship" in the opening sequence will be the trash compactor within which Captain Phasma escaped the destruction of Starkiller Base tumbling through space...

 

We have been told that Snoke has a mobile command centre. For me, Snoke's backstory is more important than Snoke's present location. Of course, his present location may reveal something about his backstory, but -since it is a mobile command centre- I do not think it will tell us much.

While I agree with many on this thread that showing us what the First Order (Hux bringing Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma to Snoke) have been doing during Rey's journey to Ahch-To would be a good and likely start to the movie, I would like to offer some alternative openings. The movie can start either with introducing Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern or Kelly Marie Tran into the story or with showing Poe's next mission.

Movies often start with an incident that drives the plot of the movie. For example, at the beginning of Attack of the Clones, Padme's ship is attacked when it lands on Coruscant. The investigation into the attempted assassination reunites Anakin with Padme and leads Obi-Wan to Kamino and, eventually, Geonosis.

Poe might discover the next threat to the Resistance (showing his x-wing approaching a planet), or Benicio Del Toro or Laura Dern (who may not be who they appear to be) might meet with General Leia to discuss an incident (showing their ship approaching D'Qar). After the beginning, the movie goes back to Ahch-To and we see the first scene between Rey and Luke.

 

Id like to see it open with the remaining resistance doing scorched earth on every FO Star destroyer by ramming them sort of Japanese zero style out of anger and desperation of them destroying those planets in VII. I would like to see the FO reeling back on it's heels at the sure ferocious response of the resistance.

I would like to see Hux looking nervous and retreating while receiving reports of multiple Star Destroyers being destroyed by suicide runs.

Then I would like to see Luke sense the Anger, Hate and revenge taking place while training Rey.

 

I think It will despite what RJ said. Every film has started this way it will be shocking if not but refreshing.

 

Well, they have broken the tradition of a 4 word title for the second episode of the trilogy. They have broken tradition by having the SW logo in red in the promotional shot (ooo - will it be green or blue for EPIX??). It wouldn't surprise me if they break the opening shot tradition too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for change. All for progress. Loved R1 and all the differences it had because it was supposed to be different. TFA and TLJ are supposed to be part of one big story, and I believe they should be written and presented as such. It's all about respect.

 

I think all traditions should continue in the main trilogies. The spin offs can do whatever they want like Rogue One did though and that'll be a good way of keeping the two separate