Star Wars News

[mothman]

Overall, the original six films are, in a vaguely halfassed way, about Darth Vader. Or, perhaps, and if they're looking to continue in that vein, the Skywalker family. Will they be looking to extend and prolong the apparent nythology and prophecy? Will someone finally explain what is involved in Balancing The Force?

Also, of the five youngish actors, one is black, one is apparently the villain, leaving three - one from Guatemala (but presumably able to pass for an American - I haven't seen the Coen Brothers film he's just done, yet), one from Ireland (but has done US films so can do the accent if required) and one is British, presumably deliberately so and thus maybe unlikely to play a child of Han & Leia. Perhaps Luke shacked up with someone with a British accent.

Or maybe

Spoiler alert

she's the love interest which drives a wedge between two Solo-Organa brothers, sending one to the Dark Side. The Yanks do so like to be able to blame the British for everything...

[close]

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Obi Wan was British (via a galaxy far far away).

[Custard]

I actually thought Attack Of The Clones was a big step up in quality from Menace, but haven't seen it in years and it seems to get slagged off just as passionately as the first, so I could be very wrong.

Sith was passable too, I thought. Its the only one of the prequels I own and it sits right next to the original film box set. There was a decent fan edit though, that takes out much of the guffier bits, like Vader screaming when Portman carks it

Menace is genuinely one of the worst films I've ever seen, mind. Everything about it is reet shite. Even the one good scene, Anakin racing, has dated horribly, with the awful CGI green screen nothing-looks-real shite

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I've never quite made my mind up about the prequels. There are times when I think that Phantom Menace may actually be the best of them. It's still crap, but it at least isn't trying so hard to be all dark and ominous and Anakin doesn't turn up until about halfway through.

Other times I think maybe it's Attack of the Clones, but that's likely nostalgia because of the time I first saw it - my first summer at university and a raucous midnight showing on opening night with all my friends. Revenge of the Sith experienced the opposite effect - university was over, life had changed and the film felt a bit like an unpleasant bookend to that - so sometimes I think I've underrated it and it's really the best one.

The real answer is that they're all rubbish.

[Custard]

For all Lucas' protests that Star Wars is aimed solely at kids, Sith is incredibly dark and bleak. There's no light, and everyone just dies or becomes a cunt

I know its then meant to lead nicely into the original trilogy, with its nice big happy ending three films later, but it was quite a downer for Lucas to go out on, looking back. I imagine kids being disturbed, more than anything

I really liked Darth Maul from the first, but even then he is is sorely underused, and I wish he'd have made it to the other prequels. I'd have been terrified of him when I was 7, so job done. Just a shame more wasn't done with him, like with Vader in the original trilogy

[Big Jack McBastard]

Will someone finally explain what is involved in Balancing The Force?

That's already sorted, the vagueness of 'bringing balance to the force' was pretty much achieved with the purges of the Jedi in RotS, the problem for the council then and possibly one of the reasons they weren't keen on training Anakin, was the very real chance that there were too many Jedi about who needed to go in order to 'balance' everything out.

Anakin and Palpatine got the numbers of known force users down to 4, with Kenobi and Yoda on the other side of their see-saw (albeit with two unborn kids who could go either way in the wings). So that's that balanced, for a while at least, no-one said it'd be a permanent state of affairs.

They're all dead by the end of RotJ bar Luke and Leia and Leia is untrained and almost entirely ignorant of her potential abilities, so we're down to Luke, who was another dubious recruit, who didn't get a full raft of training from being a sprog and would have gotten his neophyte ass handed to him if he'd not messed with Vaders bonce while being fried by the Emperor, even by the end of RotJ he still had the potential to turn into a wrong-un within him (as he does for a bit in the EU).

That aside it's interesting that one of Han and Leia's kids might go off the deep end as that happens in the EU too, as a direct result of the Vong torturing Jacen pretty consistently for a whole book.

Hope they get the Sun Crusher out for a whirl, or get Centerpoint Station up and running, they'd be fun.

[Famous Mortimer]

That's already sorted, the vagueness of 'bringing balance to the force' was pretty much achieved with the purges of the Jedi in RotS, the problem for the council then and possibly one of the reasons they weren't keen on training Anakin, was the very real chance that there were too many Jedi about who needed to go in order to 'balance' everything out.

Anakin and Palpatine got the numbers of known force users down to 4, with Kenobi and Yoda on the other side of their see-saw (albeit with two unborn kids who could go either way in the wings). So that's that balanced, for a while at least, no-one said it'd be a permanent state of affairs.

Huh? Was this mentioned in one of the films?

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Huh? Was this mentioned in one of the films?

Not mentioned, as such, but it's essentially a description of what actually happens.

Anakin was meant to 'bring balance to the force'; he and Palpatine - the only two true Sith - kill off all but two Jedi, thereby bringing mathematical balance to the force. Two of the dark side and two of the light side.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I'm pretty certain I've seen Lucas say that the whole balance thing referred to Anakin destroying the Sith (by killing the Emperor and turning good/dying). The two Jedi, two Sith[nb]One Cup[/nb] idea is just fanwank. Semantically it makes sense, but I don't see why the Jedi would possibly want to tolerate the existence of the Sith, let alone be on level pegging with them. The two sides of the force aren't morally ambiguous enough for that sort of balance to make sense.

[Big Jack McBastard]

Yeah I suppose you could argue he did it twice by killing off Palp since Yoda had already pegged out at that point.

[Big Jack McBastard]

Huh? Was this mentioned in one of the films?

Does it really need to be mentioned? It's pretty clear, perhaps some of the council assumed there was some big unknown malevolent bad out there somewhere in TPM but they weren't too arsed about it, they clearly didn't know it was Palp.

The end result of training the prophesied 'balance bringer' could mean anything to a massively one sided pro-Jedi training organisation, there *might* have been larger colonies of Sith out there 'somewhere' which would mean the Jedi would be on the rise if they trained him, but there's no mention of that and it's not as if their Temple was under daily attack from some army of off-world shitters.

The Sith may get a mention or two as a potential boogie man but whatever remained of them at that point was old news as far as they were concerned. The Jedi are on the heavier side of the scales until Anakin rolls into town.

[kidsick5000]

I was never full of nerd rage about the sequels because there was always part of me that believed it was George Lucas' creation. It's up to him to do what he wanted, good or bad.

It's nice to think of what could have been. If he had a creative confidant not  yes men. Red Letter Media has said it all so well and in a much more objective & productive way.

But the fact is, the prequels don't fit with the original films. (They should never have gone to Tatooine).

There are some analogies to be made. A young man assembles a rag tag team to take on established and seemingly all powerful empire with some homegrown (industrial light and) magic. But then he becomes corrupted by technology, rejecting the organic and ended up as bad as the old empire.

or something like that.

[Big Jack McBastard]

They should never have gone to Tatooine

The first film could have done without Anakin and all his bullshit entirely.

The speed at which Kenobi points out Tatooine as a possible port of call always rived my nutsack, it's a split second of:

"Oh the ship is fucked, where we gonna fix it?"
<half a beat>
"Here, this shitty desert planet full of badly acted CGI creatures right here sir!"

They could have at least floated about for a bit ticking off potentials but no.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

I've said it before, but Watto is much better as a character if you replace his love of money with women.

"Republic credits don't work here. Only pussy."

[Custard]

Apparently the new film is called

Spoiler alert

The Ancient Fear

So the exact opposite of A New Hope. Clever

[close]

It's better than the last three titles, at least

[kidsick5000]

I've said it before, but Watto is much better as a character if you replace his love of money with women.

"Republic credits don't work here. Only pussy."

Voiced by Harry Seacombe's son, apparently

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I thought he was voiced by Cheech Marin. I never got the alleged anti Semitic implications of the character. I thought Lucas was having a go at the Mexicans.

[Famous Mortimer]

Does it really need to be mentioned?

Well, yes, as it makes no sense, and

The two Jedi, two Sith[nb]One Cup[/nb] idea is just fanwank.

[Glebe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfNiC9iKM0Q

Yay! Old skool SW vibe!

Also, there's apparently been some speculation about the original versions getting a Blu-ray release:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/051914_0010

[Ignatius_S]

....Also, there's apparently been some speculation about the original versions getting a release:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/051914_0010

That kind of speculation started as soon as the Disney deal was announced and it's really only educated guesswork. Personally, I could see Disney do it, however, Disney bought Star Wars for the brand - the films themselves are secondary to the merchandise and theme park revenue (Disney makes far more money from the latter two than the former). Having that kind of treatment is a big deal for older fans, but not really for younger ones, which is why I don't think it's as inevitable as some would like.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

It's funny to see how The Digital Bits has slid into irrelevance. A decade ago, it was a must-read site for rumors and news about releases. Now, they claim partial credit for persuading George Lucas to release the original trilogy on DVD in 2005, as if there weren't plans for this at Lucasfilm.

Disney has a good reason not to promote the original cuts over the special editions — they don't want Lucas to publicly speak against them. He's basically Gene Roddenberry at this point, minus the sex obsession and the dribble. But they may restore the original cuts while working on a 4K restoration of the special editions (the current Blu-rays are based on somewhat dated transfers), which may be an opportunity to bundle both edits on a new boxset.

Remember that, if the special editions were "deleted", there would also be an important number of people being lost because their Star Wars now features low-budget SFX, different songs, and misses scenes they grew up enjoying. And they would, rightly, complain that Disney decided to overlook the final vision of the main creator of the trilogy and improvements he spent decades working on.

[Alberon]

Remember that, if the special editions were "deleted", there would also be an important number of people being lost because their Star Wars now features low-budget SFX, different songs, and misses scenes they grew up enjoying. And they would, rightly, complain that Disney decided to overlook the final vision of the main creator of the trilogy and improvements he spent decades working on.

I don't think anyone is talking about getting rid of the special editions, it is just that there is no logical reason that both the original and latest versions [nb]lets not forget that the Special Editions kept being tweaked and changed over the years[/nb] can exist on Blu-Ray and download services. Release the originals in proper restored editions [nb]rather than the insulting unrestored non-anamorphic things released on DVD years back[/nb] alongside the latest versions of the Special Editions and everybody[nb]except Lucas[/nb] can be happy.

In other news the first standalone Star Wars film is due out in December 2016. The writer will be Gary Whitta

Gary Whitta's screenwriting credits include 2010's The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington. He is also well known as a journalist and editor in the video game industry, as well as part of the BAFTA award-winning team on Telltale Games adaptation of The Walking Dead.

Which doesn't sound much of a resume.

The director is Gareth Edwards, the director of Monsters and Godzilla who has probably passed on the opportunity of directing the sequel to his latest film.

No idea yet what the film is about though.

EDITED TO ADD: Though a recent Hasbro product event had the line up for upcoming Star Wars films as follows.

2014: Rebels
2015: Episode VII
2016: Boba Fett
2017: Episode VIII
2018: Solo
2019: Episode IX
2020: Red Five

So that would mean Gareth Edwards was working on the Boba Fett film.

[Famous Mortimer]

Release the originals in proper restored editions [nb]rather than the insulting unrestored non-anamorphic things released on DVD years back[/nb] alongside the latest versions of the Special Editions and everybody[nb]except Lucas[/nb] can be happy.

If the Library of Congress can't have the originals, I doubt we'll get em.

http://www.savestarwars.com/lucas-nfr.html

[Ignatius_S]

It's funny to see how The Digital Bits has slid into irrelevance. A decade ago, it was a must-read site for rumors and news about releases. Now, they claim partial credit for persuading George Lucas to release the original trilogy on DVD in 2005, as if there weren't plans for this at Lucasfilm....

Ah, I didn't know there was that claim!

...Disney has a good reason not to promote the original cuts over the special editions — they don't want Lucas to publicly speak against them. He's basically Gene Roddenberry at this point, minus the sex obsession and the dribble. But they may restore the original cuts while working on a 4K restoration of the special editions (the current Blu-rays are based on somewhat dated transfers), which may be an opportunity to bundle both edits on a new boxset...

Yes, I would agree about that – although I'm not sure how inclined Lucas would be speak out for various reasons. Also, if the franchise is doing well under Disney (e.g. the next film is huge hit and people are saying it's far better than the last three Lucas films... my wishful thinking might have come up with that example) and then they did a swanky new re-release, then Lucas would most likely be seen as an – and I say this with the greatest respect – an out of touch, old prat.

I don't think anyone is talking about getting rid of the special editions, it is just that there is no logical reason that both the original and latest versions can exist on Blu-Ray and download services...

As much as I would like them to restore the originals (and I would like this a lot), I still feel there are logical reasons not to do it.

One thing that's often forgotten is that Disney doesn't own the distribution rights to the first three films. 20th Century Fox owns those rights to the first film (I still have trouble thinking of it as A New Hope) forever and the ones to the next two for a few more years. However, it's possible that Disney would do a deal with Fox to get the rights – it's done similar deals in the past. For example, after buying Marvel, Disney then acquired the rights to existing Marvel films.

Lucas probably wouldn't be too best please – although he's still nominally involved with Star Wars as an advisor (FWIW, I can't see him having any real creative input), the president of LucasFilm is Kathleen Kennedy and she is very pally with Lucas (she's effectively his anointed successor). To keep the business side of things running smooth, arguably it's going to best to avoid actions with questionable benefit and which will cause upset.

It's Star Wars, so it will sell but I suspect that a lot of people are overestimating how many people will want restored original versions. Certainly, most fans who didn't grown up with the originals that I've spoken to – I'm not claiming that this is representative as a whole, incidentally – aren't bothered; in fact, they want to see new stuff, not old stuff rehashed.

If the original versions were restored and released, then we have different versions – which is going to definitive? Disney might think it's just simply to stick with one.

Personally, I haven't ruled out a re-release could be a goer because that Disney could use that to drum up publicity etc. for the next film.

In any case, Disney knocked the 3D versions on the head and it's not going to do the constant tinkering that Lucas felt compelled to.

....In other news the first standalone Star Wars film is due out in December 2016. The writer will be Gary Whitta

Which doesn't sound much of a resume...

Maybe not, but a reasonably experienced writer and there will be others working on the script. Disney – I know this sounds like the bleeding obvious, sorry! – will really want this to work, so would expect it to pay even closer attention.
   

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

I don't think anyone is talking about getting rid of the special editions, it is just that there is no logical reason that both the original and latest versions [nb]lets not forget that the Special Editions kept being tweaked and changed over the years[/nb] can exist on Blu-Ray and download services. Release the originals in proper restored editions [nb]rather than the insulting unrestored non-anamorphic things released on DVD years back[/nb] alongside the latest versions of the Special Editions and everybody[nb]except Lucas[/nb] can be happy.

We totally agree. I just don't think we'll ever see a separate release of the original versions, because it would confuse people and give the impression that both versions are equally canon. The special editions, in their current state, are supposed to be the definitive edition, aka canon.
My guess is that they'll release instead some boxset with three discs of Lucas' final cut of the trilogy in a restored 4K transfer, then at least three discs of extras including the original cuts, reconstructed from the same restoration.
It would target hardcore fans, people who'd be ready to buy an expensive boxset just to get, finally, their memories back. And George Lucas would be satisfied too, as his dubious re-edits would get "magnified" by another restoration. But, as CGI was finalized at 2K more than 15 years ago, they'd have to redo the stuff almost from scratch.

[Glebe]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/67529

Leaked from the set... not particularly spoilery as far as I can see.

[Replies From View]

Where can we have gone wrong for "a lived-in world!" to be an incredible cinematic pull?

[CaledonianGonzo]

Where can we have gone wrong for "a lived-in world!" to be an incredible cinematic pull?

It's clearly just mentioned to contrast it to the sets / backgrounds from the prequel trilogy.

[Replies From View]

It's clearly just mentioned to contrast it to the sets / backgrounds from the prequel trilogy.

I know but it's still ridiculous.

It's like when some big news around The Dark Knight was that more stunts than average would be done for real rather than in computer.  It's good news and everything, but it's sad that the bar sank that low.

[mobias]

Millenium Falcon confirmed