[azerty]

Posted 11 April 2005 - 05:45 PM

Post #18, page 2 "Final Countdown"


In keeping with my theory that sequels in an episodic saga should follow each other quickly in time, and also have individual climaxes that wrap up their own story, here is how the movie that precedes Star Wars should end: Those rebel spies have benn trying to get plans to the Death Star, and have been having lots of adventures and close scrapes along the way. In the end, they manage to beam the plans to a ship waiting in orbit, thus foiling their enemies and they think that they have just saved the day. It tells it's own adventure, with the goal achieved, while simultaneously leading into the next film, (Star Wars).

[civilian_number_two]

azerty, on 24 December 2016 - 02:49 AM, said:

Posted 11 April 2005 - 05:45 PM

Post #18, page 2 "Final Countdown"


In keeping with my theory that sequels in an episodic saga should follow each other quickly in time, and also have individual climaxes that wrap up their own story, here is how the movie that precedes Star Wars should end: Those rebel spies have benn trying to get plans to the Death Star, and have been having lots of adventures and close scrapes along the way. In the end, they manage to beam the plans to a ship waiting in orbit, thus foiling their enemies and they think that they have just saved the day. It tells it's own adventure, with the goal achieved, while simultaneously leading into the next film, (Star Wars).

Ha ha I had forgotten about this post.

Too bad you hadn't the chance to sell it to Disney. You were on to the nut of the idea, and it was a good one.

[Jordan]

civilian_number_two, on 01 February 2017 - 09:02 PM, said:

Ha ha I had forgotten about this post.

Too bad you hadn't the chance to sell it to Disney. You were on to the nut of the idea, and it was a good one.

Civ #2 it's been years! Good to see one of your posts again, even if it was short.

I haven't seen Rogue One and probably won't. I did watch the latest in the main saga and thought it was mediocre. I was sad to see the main villain was a literal example of Dracco in Leather Pants. It's the laziest of all the villain / tragic hero story lines. After watching Game of Thrones, I now think it's impossible for modern fantasy / sci-fi writers to create good villains. And, if they do (in the case of Prince Joffery) they murder them off half way through the story instead of exploring the character in a meaningful sense. Bad guy deaths rarely serve a purpose in modern fantasy realm, other than sate blood lust in the audience. "fuck yea, he deserved it".

This post has been edited by Jordan: 09 April 2017 - 02:25 AM

[civilian_number_two]

Jordan, on 09 April 2017 - 03:24 AM, said:

Civ #2 it's been years! Good to see one of your posts again, even if it was short.

I haven't seen Rogue One and probably won't. I did watch the latest in the main saga and thought it was mediocre. I was sad to see the main villain was a literal example of Dracco in Leather Pants. It's the laziest of all the villain / tragic hero story lines. After watching Game of Thrones, I now think it's impossible for modern fantasy / sci-fi writers to create good villains. And, if they do (in the case of Prince Joffery) they murder them off half way through the story instead of exploring the character in a meaningful sense. Bad guy deaths rarely serve a purpose in modern fantasy realm, other than sate blood lust in the audience. "fuck yea, he deserved it".

Jordan!

Yeah Rogue One is a lot more interesting than Force Awakens, for some of the reasons you mention. Kylo Ren is boring as hell and the whole movie was just a not-subtle reboot rather than a sequel. Rogue One on the other hand is all about different characters, a new plot (it's entirely a war movie this time), some Star Wars lore (there is a force-user), and jokes that actually work. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a good movie to a person who didn't like Star Wars at all, but it's a good Star Wars movie.

I'm not anticipating the upcoming chapters, but at least I am not dreading them like I did with the prequels.

This post has been edited by civilian_number_two: 18 April 2017 - 10:58 AM

[azerty]

I found it interesting that Rogue One was careful to state that it was merely a Star Wars Story and not connected with the rest of the movies, and yet had more connection to the original movie than anything we've seen yet.

I have defended the scroll up in the original...

Quote

This brings up the point of scroll ups in general. The original scroll up had a point; to fill us in on a bit of necessary background. Civil War... rebels... Evil Galactic Empire... plans for the ultimate weapon... a princess in trouble... OK, we've got a few facts, let her rip!

and blasted the scroll ups in the other films...

Quote

But all the scroll ups in all the rest of the movies are a pointless waste of time. Once the decision was made (with the release of Empire Strikes Back) that the films would become "episodic", instead of stand alone stories, then the previous movies themselves should be all the background the viewer requires to understand the current episode.

Rogue One both stands alone and connects... and has no scroll up.

Rogue One keeps the force to a mostly mysterious "force" like it seemed to be originally. I mean how can Solo and Motti say they don't believe in the force, it's just tricks used to fool the gullible, when jedis can obviously jump 50 feet vertically, survive falls from rocket cars thousands of feet in the air, shoot lightning from their hands etcetera? The force types in this film (the script is careful not to call them Jedi) are far closer to Obi Wan Kenobi and the subtleties of the original, and leave more room for incredulity and doubt. The Force feels far more like a cultish religion again, and not a shopping list of magic tricks like the force choke, the force push, super speed and all that video game crap.

Unfortunately Vader does choke someone again in this film, but the fans expect that sore of repetitive dullness from their favorite villain, so I guess we are going to have to put up with that one ad nauseum. And I never thought much of those jedi crystals myself, but the public seem to like them, so I guess we have to put up with them. These are small things however, in a big universe, and the rest of the film kind of kicks ass.

The Imperials are evil again, not just buffoons masquerading as Nazis, and spaceships rule the sky in that slightly off kilter way which mimics the slightly off kilter movements of the original movie. The rebels actually have a plan when they attack with their X wings, and aren't just flying around shooting randomly and hoping for the best. Even the humor is funny.

Watch the teaser trailer and if it resonates with you, give it a try!

[Jordan]

civilian_number_two, on 18 April 2017 - 11:38 AM, said:

Jordan!

Yeah Rogue One is a lot more interesting than Force Awakens, for some of the reasons you mention. Kylo Ren is boring as hell and the whole movie was just a not-subtle reboot rather than a sequel. Rogue One on the other hand is all about different characters, a new plot (it's entirely a war movie this time), some Star Wars lore (there is a force-user), and jokes that actually work. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a good movie to a person who didn't like Star Wars at all, but it's a good Star Wars movie.

I'm not anticipating the upcoming chapters, but at least I am not dreading them like I did with the prequels.

Rogue One was a fun ride! I wasn't a fan of the Carrie Fisher animation, that felt wrong. I did appreciate how the script writers were able to make a film from one line found in A New Hope, the reference about many paying a price to obtain the death star plans. I suppose it was a prequel of the prequel? A Star Wars film without a "chosen one" in the story worked very well. The nerdism and fanboy pandering was kept to a minimum. Overall, good flick. Kudos to the the writers for including an Asian Shaolin warrior monk Jedi into the film, took long enough.