OFFICIAL NEWS * THE OFFICIAL * JJ ABRAMS THREAD

I am not looking forward to the SAGA ending with Colin Tevorrow either. IMHO!!!

 

i hope so.... cos i find it hard to re watch the star trek films..... their just stuffed with plot holes....paper thin plots and lack of substance. the films just fall apart when you give them any kind of thought.

 

No problem whatsoever

 

Plot holes & Star Wars... not exactly the best to judge against JJ!

I'm not aware of any plot holes in Star Trek... though I'm sure they exist, none come readily to mind as much as Luke & Leia making out (had siblings been on Lucas' mind in '81) (which it wasn't)

As far as substance goes, I mean at least visually speaking...JJ's Star Trek is substantial! Just look at the behind the scenes videos!

 

plot holes im talking about are things like, a mining ship that can destroy fleets, sorry how did captain kirk become captain by smuggling himself on the enterprise and then angering Spock so much he resigns, and don't get me started on into darkness.

i agree with you that i don't think siblings where on George's mind in 1981...... but i don't think that twist jars as much as the the Kahn's mates in torpedo tubes.

but i agree with you that abrams films are generally visually stunning.

 

You can't blame the plot holes on JJ. He directed the movies he was given to direct. He did not write either Star Trek movie. That was Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for the first on and add Damon Lindelhof to that list for Into the Darkness

 

i think the fact that he was a producer as well as director on both films means he will have had more then his fair share off say in the story.

 

I'm pretty curious why JJ Abrams is saying that Lucas wrote the story and Lucas is saying he didn't write the story. I think I'm gonna side with Lucas on this one.

 

JJ isn't saying Lucas wrote the story.

 

Well people voted he did in a poll, so he should clarify.

 

Yes, but one of the great appeals to many people of Star Wars- including me- is the more celebral, intellectual element to it. The philosophical and moral themes; the strong attention to archtypes portrayed by great myths throughout human history; the connections to events in human history such as the rise and fall of tyrannies, etc..

I am sure JJ is aware of this and will pay plenty of attention to it. For example, he has been very open about the fact that the fall of the Nazi's was a very strong influence on him when conceiving the First Order, going so far as to say it was born out of the question, "What would happen if the Nazis who fled to Argentina got together and struck back?" (Apparently, he saved himseslf from surrendering to the dark side of right-wing whackobird conspiracy theorism.)

The key is making it all of the required elements- the cerebral, the emotional- work. This is where great writing and directing comes in. This is where the OT succeeded and the PT failed miserably (not just in terms of not having the balance right, but not getting either element right).

 

I agree with all that you've written, but I guess I'm making a distinction between technical and cerebral. I myself am a big fan of sci fi movies that make one think, hence my avatar is a play on the HAL-9000 computer from 2001. (And speaking of alternative history, my current obsession is The Man in the High Castle). I think all of that is true of Star Wars (perhaps to a slightly lesser degree) compared to those two properties, or I wouldn't find it as interesting as I do.

This is all just my opinion, of course, but it seems to me that JJ doesn't have big a fascination with scientific gizmos and gadgets, like a stargate or time traveling machine. George Lucas didn't, either. (Hence the Kessel run and parsecs problem). That's not their thing. If there is a hyperdrive or the use of red matter, it'll be used as a foil to advance the story and develop the characters. Actually, I never made it past the first couple of episodes of Fringe because all these funky scientific things were happening with no explanation so honestly it's probably better that Abrams does stay away from that stuff.

What JJ is good at, and perhaps even better than Lucas, is the emotional aspect. And that's something that is relatively uncommon in the scifi genre. They are rarely tearjerkers. Certainly STTOS wasn't. But the opening moments of the rebooted Star Trek were a stunning shift away from that, I think. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he does with Star Wars. And if a certain Han Solo is going to die, then I'm really glad Abrams is the one to kill him off, instead of Lucas.

 

Oh, I would agree. SciFi does cover technical and cerebral, typically, but Star Wars is at the lower end of the technical emphasis. Yes, there is technology that is foreign to our current capbility, but the technology is not central to the time and setting as it is typically with SciFi. I would aso add that advanced technology exists in SciFi typically in the context of a futuristic society on Earth, whereas Star Wars is about a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, where a mystical energy field is the center of everything.

Heck, you could argue that Star Wars is more fantasy than pure SciFi. And I think most would agree on that. And I think JJ is probably a better fit to more fantasy/adventure/thriller than pure SciFi.

 

JJ and team seem to be doing a great job with the lead up to TFA so far. I now see this saturation of footage as a smart way to dominate a narrative.

I think even Sheev would admire Disney/Lucasfilms perception managment and propaganda control!

Edit: I'm also suspecting some serious misdirection may be at work...

 

the whole galaxy is waiting ...its going to be great and im happy in some way to be part of this ...

 

Thats not a plot hole neither character knew that the other one was their sibling, there was no reason why they wouldn't kiss, its just awkward in hindsight.. There are plot holes in the OT, Obi-wan not remembering Artoo or C3po, Leia remembering Padme.

 

What I meant is that Lucas wasn't aware of them of being siblings at the time... I guess Retconning would be a more appropriate term?

 

I think reconning would be a better term.

 

Speaking of retconning, I looked through another magazine while waiting in line at CVS this morning with them quoting that TFA is a REBOOT. It IS NOT. I wonder why a lot of outlets say that, and they have to do their homework before writing to the general public .