Star Wars

[TheFriskyIan]

Where is Vader?

Don't want to show off too much in the trailers do we?

[Sachi]

Don't want to show off too much in the trailers do we?

Vader would have probably been the best thing to show in this teaser. Just the sound of his breathing would guarantee people to see this film in theaters, even if his ultimate role in the film is minimal.

[TheFriskyIan]

Vader would have probably been the best thing to show in this teaser. Just the sound of his breathing would guarantee people to see this film in theaters, even if his ultimate role in the film is minimal.

Maybe they're expecting people to know Vader is already in it? Based on where it is in the time line I would think Vader is an automatic given.

[Sachi]

Maybe they're expecting people to know Vader is already in it? Based on where it is in the time line I would think Vader is an automatic given.

That's not how you market (unless Vader is going only going to be in the last 90 seconds of the film, with no lines. :P ) Based on where it is in the timeline, we can expect many things that we probably won't be getting. Only nerdy kids like us are going to be following the little news leaks, such as James Earl Jones being confirmed to reprise as Vader. Many people aren't even aware that this movie is a thing yet, or that it's separate from the new trilogy. I'm telling you, the hype that would have been generated by simply inserting Vader's breathing after Forest Whitaker's "What will you become?" line would have been explosive. If they don't include him in the official trailer later on, something is wrong.

[zlink64]

There was a Sith looking guy in the trailer like some guy had a black cloak, I think he might be an inquisitor. Maybe they are gonna bring in inquisitors so they are choosing to not focus on Vader. They did use inquisitors in star wars rebels and Disney likes to have their cartoons and movies matching.

[Blue Monday]

This trailer inspires more hope in me than anything we saw in The Force Awakens. That movie was pandering to the fans through and through by repeating the same famous iconography. It's a good movie, but hardly a great movie. This film looks like a filmmaking team really playing around with Star Wars iconography and doing something new! The sense of scale is amazing! There are more "take my breath away" shots in this trailer than in the entire two hour run of TFA.

Completely agree. Also, I really liked Gareth Edwards' past two films, so I have pretty high hopes for Rogue One.

Admittedly, I'm not much of a Star Wars fan, but even as a kid, I didn't get excited so much about lightsabers, Jedi and Sith; I got excited about X-Wings, TIE Fighters and the Rebel Alliance versus the Empire dynamic. This film obviously focuses much more on that latter aspect.

If they don't include him in the official trailer later on, something is wrong.

Personally, I would be fine if we don't get any Vader in this film, although I agree that it's practically a given.

[BrikHaus]

This is the only Star Wars movie I'm excited about. I hope Vader is in it, and they DON'T ever show him in any trailers. It would be nice to be surprised for a change.

[Alaska Slim]

Finally saw The Force Awakens. Liked it. Some thoughts:

* Dig the Re-design of the Tie, it's adds to survivability, and seems like a rational extension of the design. At least in a universe where space dog-fights are practical.

* I'm willing to buy Kylo Ren's twist to dark side--- if the back story I expect is coming. One of placing faith in Luke/Dad during something important, being let down by it/betrayed, and feeling helpless.

* If not for the quad cannons; I would have guessed they were flying a different YT-1300 freighter at first... and that it was eventually going to get wrecked.

* To my surprise, Han Solo is the film's Obi-wan, not Luke. I especially liked the scene of Rey taking his place in the Falcon to cement that succession.
Equally, by his emboding that role, it's clear that were seeing Han complete an arc from the OT. He's no longer just a cynic, even though the universe is still pretty awful, and awful things have happened to him.

* Were there no capital ships to call upon to attack the Super weapon? With shields down, orbital bombardment would have been their best bet.

* Speaking of which; Coruscant has a planetary shield. It'd probably be overpowered, but it would have been nice if they had included it. OT had at least a partial one; protecting Hoth base from the Star Destroyers.

* I can dig holding onto the "Parsecs is dumb and we're sticking to it" thing, but the whole "lost track of time" thing? Episode IV had the Death Star battle scene go on way longer than their stated time. Episode VII has more excuse in the reactor accruing damage mid-fight (so perhaps it slowed), and there's more non-space fight-scenes to argue for "concurrent time"... still, stretching credulity there.

* Equally... why couldn't the weapon fire a partially charged shot?

* I find it dumb (and hilarious) that a injured, non-force sensitive with no training with a lightsaber, can somehow land a hit on a mostly realized Sith-lord in a duel. Partly because form, and partly because Mace Windu's answer to General Grievous in the Clone Wars mini-series; Force Crush, which a dark sider would be more prolific with.


* The sense of "knowing", and the meta-humor the movie targets. it's... good, but it also broke my suspension of disbelief. I hope it's sparse going forward.

[Glor]

Finally saw The Force Awakens* Speaking of which; Coruscant has a planetary shield. It'd probably be overpowered, but it would have been nice if they had included it. OT had at least a partial one; protecting Hoth base from the Star Destroyers.

The planetary system destroyed by Starkiller was the Hosnian system. I wish they'd made that a little clearer in the movie, as I initially thought it was Coruscant that had been destroyed as well.

* I find it dumb (and hilarious) that a injured, non-force sensitive with no training with a lightsaber, can somehow land a hit on a mostly realized Sith-lord in a duel. Partly because form, and partly because Mace Windu's answer to General Grievous in the Clone Wars mini-series; Force Crush, which a dark sider would be more prolific with.

The Knights of Ren or Snoke don't seem associate themselves with the Sith or their teachings.

[Chuckman]

The whole planet-blowing-up sequence was terrible done.

What planet was that? Why could people see that planet from the hippie bar planet? Who was there? Who died?

Both planets about to be blown up/blown up in Star Wars were relevant to the audience. We get to know Princess Leia. She's spunky and tough, and though it's melodramatic the story builds empathy for her. Then her planet is blown up.

In the back half of the movie, the Death Star is getting ready to blow up the rebel base.

The Megadethstar just comes out of nowhere and blows up a planet we know nothing about and don't know anything about where it is or why it's important. You could cut it out of the movie and replace that MacGuffin with something else and it'd still make sense.

Force Awakens is a good movie in spite of its own plot.

[Sachi]

What planet was that? Why could people see that planet from the hippie bar planet? Who was there? Who died?

Apparently there's deleted scenes (though, it didn't make the blu-ray), that explains a bit of the political situation and who the random girl on the planet is. There was a whole story arc for Leia's dealings with the New Republic.

I'm guessing it got cut because Carrie Fischer can't act anymore, and every moment she's on screen in this movie is grating.

Force Awakens is a good movie in spite of its own plot.

Star Wars in general suffers/benefits from its own world-building. How much information has to be found from extra-canonical sources? It seems like they do a whole bunch of world-building, and then strip it down to just what's necessary for the plot, which does wonders for audience immersion into the world. TFA tried to follow suit, but ended up shaving off some relevant stuff, which leaves the audience confused save for the nerds (like me) that take the time to learn it.

[Chuckman]

DId she get stung by a bee before all her scenes? She sounds like she's trying to talk through a huge wad of gum, like five gum.

[Alaska Slim]

The planetary system destroyed by Starkiller was the Hosnian system. I wish they'd made that a little clearer in the movie, as I initially thought it was Coruscant that had been destroyed as well.

"The planet was chosen as the Republic's capital and the headquarters of the Galactic Senate through an election; the Senate's location rotated every few years based on what planet was elected to serve as its headquarters at a given time."

--- *sigh* Okay. I wanted to give this decision crap, (Coruscant had been the OR Capital for like, a 1,000 years, and the Rebellion billed itself as a restoration of that Republic)... but that above actually sounds rational.

You win this time... Abrams. Still, why no Planetary shield?

The Knights of Ren or Snoke don't seem associate themselves with the Sith or their teachings.

Okay, but they do embrace the Dark Side. And Ren is basically worshiping a Sith.

[Sachi]

* I find it dumb (and hilarious) that a injured, non-force sensitive with no training with a lightsaber, can somehow land a hit on a mostly realized Sith-lord in a duel. Partly because form, and partly because Mace Windu's answer to General Grievous in the Clone Wars mini-series; Force Crush, which a dark sider would be more prolific with.

Who, Finn? I'm pretty sure Finn's only injury before landing the hit on Kylo in the snow fight was the one he received on his shoulder from the crossguard (and then he got the slash on the back).

Kylo Ren, on the other hand, was shown receiving a direct hit from Chewbacca's crossbow, which had already been established by the movie to be a devastating weapon. The snow fight scene also made sure to establish that Kylo was being slowed down by this injury. Lastly, I wouldn't call Kylo Ren "mostly realized". He's clearly an amateur whose biggest advantage is his connection with the force; throughout the movie, we mostly see him bullying others, yet when he comes across another force-sensitive individual, we see him fumble and struggle. He's not used to the competition.

We also finally get to see the major difference in philosophies between traditional light side and dark side users, simply through this fight. Kylo Ren uses passion as his strength, yet this also makes him unrefined and clumsy. Rey, on the other hand, gets the advantage when she finally opens up and taps into the force; light side users use inner peace and serenity to guide them, and this allowed her to triumph over Kylo in this instance. This dichotomy between the light and dark side had always been talked about, yet I feel as though this is one of the first times it's actually shown. The elaborate dances of the prequels just weren't suited toward expressing these differences, and is partly why I feel Anakin's turn to the dark side felt hollow.

[movieartman]

Disturbing Rogue One news/rumor.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/scifi_mov ... ry-a142162

[BrikHaus]

Disturbing Rogue One news/rumor.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/scifi_mov ... ry-a142162

Lots of movies go back to do reshoots. Sometimes they didn't get the right angle, or the performance was underwhelming, or they need to film a couple of "bridge scenes" to get the characters from Point A to Point B in a more streamlined fashion. The fact they are doing reshoots doesn't automatically mean the movie is in trouble.

[Chuckman]

I'm not expecting Shakespeare. If Darth Vader is in it I'll squee so hard. Squee.

[Sachi]

That fact that the theatrical release has not been delayed suggests that these reshoots are anything but major. Remember that the script rewrites for ep VIII postponed the film by about seven months. Like Brik says, the reshoots are probably minor things intended to help the edited film flow smoother. Sometimes scenes with exposition get cut out or rearranged, so they have to stick the exposition in elsewhere by changing a line or two here and there.

[Bagheera]

In fairness the blurb beyond the link specifically says these are not the typical reshoots and such, but rather something bigger. That doesn't make the news correct, but it does mean saying this is just the same old thing is missing the point of why this is news to begin with.

[Sachi]

^the impression I get from the news site itself overall is that it's rather alarmist. Having little to go on, the article relies on words like "expensive" and "crisis" in its citation. While that may be true, those words may simply refer to the amount of reshooting that need to be done. Otherwise, if the film were really in "crisis", the film's release would have also been delayed, right? IMO, they're heavily revising certain parts of the film in order to get the best possible product before release, especially after the success of TFA and the subsequent attention this film is getting because of it.