Star Wars Episode 7 Thread

[Rosbjerg]

This trailer even shows the guy without the helmet on. His hair is fabulous.

 

Confirmed to be Adam Driver

 

[Blarghagh]

He's also tall and thin. I dunno if any of you have seen Mark Hamill lately, but he was never the first and now is neither.

[Hurlshort]

Well I did a test run with my 5-year old and we watched the trailer together.  He talked the whole time, so he's out for at least my first time seeing it.  

 

He kept saying "Those guys fight rough!"

[Hiro Protagonist]

I liked how the original trilogy had one main villain throughout the 3 films. I hope they do the same with these next three films but wouldn't surprise me if it take the prequel route with different villians for each movie. I really do think having one main villain fits better.

[Blarghagh]

Well, supposedly Andy Serkis plays a villain (and it is in fact his voice narrating the original teaser) and as far as I know we still have no idea who Max von Sydow is playing...

[Raithe]

Heh, an authors blog..

 

 

So I was reading this blog in Wired, kind of a snarky millennial, “Oh, I finally got around to watching Star Wars” kind of thing, and it made me think about why my generation was so enthralled with that movie.

 

First off, you have to put it in context. There was no cable television, no VCRs, DVRs, nothing. There were 13 channels on television, and sometime between 10 pm and midnight, the National Anthem played, and then those channels went blank with static or a test pattern until the next morning. There was only one TV in the house, so you were at the mercy of what your parents wanted to watch. The only time you got to watch cartoons was Saturday morning, and sometimes for half an hour right after school. (There were Sunday morning cartoons, but they were really horrible).

 

Forget about the internet, forget about computers, forget about video games. We did have Atari, but Breakout and Pong were about it. The Commodore 64 was still a few years off. The phone hung on the wall, safely attached to its cord, and you weren’t allowed to use it, anyway.

 

In terms of movies, special effects weren’t that special. There was a lot of cheesy stop animation in monster flicks. If there was a space ship in the scene, you could probably see the string it was attached to. The Muppets were cutting-edge. That creepy animatronic Lincoln at Disneyland was the only robot you had ever seen.

 

And then came Star Wars. I still remember the first time I saw the opening scene, when that Imperial Star Destroyer crawled across the screen. My jaw dropped and I thought, “oh my god, what is THIS!” I sat with my little brother in the dark of that theater and we were mesmerized. Over the next three years while waiting (a lifetime) for The Empire Strikes Back, I saw Star Wars over 40 times in the theater. When we got our first cable network (The Movie Channel) my brother and I watched Star Wars every single time it came on. I bet between the two of us we’ve watched that movie over a thousand times.

 

Star Wars affected me in unanticipated ways. It gave me a great love of classical music. Prior to that movie, my exposure to classical music was primarily from Looney Toons cartoons (who among us can hear “Ride of the Valkyries” and not start singing “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit…”). Music appreciation class tried to get me to comprehend Peter and the Wolf. I wasn’t having it. But when I heard John Williams’ score, I could see the movie. I suddenly understood classical music. It conveyed characters, places, moods in very specific ways. “The Imperial March,” “Force Theme,” and of course the overture, still send chills up my spine every time I hear them.

 

So Star Wars was so special because it occupied a very specific place and time in culture, one that is unlikely to ever be reproduced. Today’s generation has more entertainment options on their phones than we had in the totality of our lives.

 

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some rant or screed. I love technology and wouldn’t trade my gadgets for anything in the world. But in this one instance, I feel sorry for you, because you will never find anything that will so totally blow you away like Star Wars did Generation X.

[Enoch]

[Raithe]

[Guard Dog]

 

Heh, an authors blog..

 

 

So I was reading this blog in Wired, kind of a snarky millennial, “Oh, I finally got around to watching Star Wars” kind of thing, and it made me think about why my generation was so enthralled with that movie.

 

First off, you have to put it in context. There was no cable television, no VCRs, DVRs, nothing. There were 13 channels on television, and sometime between 10 pm and midnight, the National Anthem played, and then those channels went blank with static or a test pattern until the next morning. There was only one TV in the house, so you were at the mercy of what your parents wanted to watch. The only time you got to watch cartoons was Saturday morning, and sometimes for half an hour right after school. (There were Sunday morning cartoons, but they were really horrible).

 

Forget about the internet, forget about computers, forget about video games. We did have Atari, but Breakout and Pong were about it. The Commodore 64 was still a few years off. The phone hung on the wall, safely attached to its cord, and you weren’t allowed to use it, anyway.

 

In terms of movies, special effects weren’t that special. There was a lot of cheesy stop animation in monster flicks. If there was a space ship in the scene, you could probably see the string it was attached to. The Muppets were cutting-edge. That creepy animatronic Lincoln at Disneyland was the only robot you had ever seen.

 

And then came Star Wars. I still remember the first time I saw the opening scene, when that Imperial Star Destroyer crawled across the screen. My jaw dropped and I thought, “oh my god, what is THIS!” I sat with my little brother in the dark of that theater and we were mesmerized. Over the next three years while waiting (a lifetime) for The Empire Strikes Back, I saw Star Wars over 40 times in the theater. When we got our first cable network (The Movie Channel) my brother and I watched Star Wars every single time it came on. I bet between the two of us we’ve watched that movie over a thousand times.

 

Star Wars affected me in unanticipated ways. It gave me a great love of classical music. Prior to that movie, my exposure to classical music was primarily from Looney Toons cartoons (who among us can hear “Ride of the Valkyries” and not start singing “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit…”). Music appreciation class tried to get me to comprehend Peter and the Wolf. I wasn’t having it. But when I heard John Williams’ score, I could see the movie. I suddenly understood classical music. It conveyed characters, places, moods in very specific ways. “The Imperial March,” “Force Theme,” and of course the overture, still send chills up my spine every time I hear them.

 

So Star Wars was so special because it occupied a very specific place and time in culture, one that is unlikely to ever be reproduced. Today’s generation has more entertainment options on their phones than we had in the totality of our lives.

 

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some rant or screed. I love technology and wouldn’t trade my gadgets for anything in the world. But in this one instance, I feel sorry for you, because you will never find anything that will so totally blow you away like Star Wars did Generation X.

 

That is so right on. Good movies are good movies but Star Wars was something no one had ever seen the like before.

[Darkpriest]

This looks like a cool idea.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/stormtroopers-assemble-on-the-great-wall-of-china-085736528.html

[HoonDing]

Star Wars: Thousand Lightyear Stare

[ShadySands]

Pfsh! Han can do a thousand light year stare in less than 600 light years

Edited October 22, 2015 by ShadySands

[Azdeus]

Pfsh! Han can do a thousand light year stare in less than 600 light years

 

I'm sure you mean 12 parsecs.

[ShadySands]

That's even more impressive since according to google 12 parsecs is just over 39 light years

[Azdeus]

Indeed! =)

 

By the way, quote from one of the funniest movies ever, that I can't link to or reference here;

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"

"Th...that does'nt even make sence, parsec measures distance, not time!"

[Nonek]

 

 

Heh, an authors blog..

 

 

So I was reading this blog in Wired, kind of a snarky millennial, “Oh, I finally got around to watching Star Wars” kind of thing, and it made me think about why my generation was so enthralled with that movie.

 

First off, you have to put it in context. There was no cable television, no VCRs, DVRs, nothing. There were 13 channels on television, and sometime between 10 pm and midnight, the National Anthem played, and then those channels went blank with static or a test pattern until the next morning. There was only one TV in the house, so you were at the mercy of what your parents wanted to watch. The only time you got to watch cartoons was Saturday morning, and sometimes for half an hour right after school. (There were Sunday morning cartoons, but they were really horrible).

 

Forget about the internet, forget about computers, forget about video games. We did have Atari, but Breakout and Pong were about it. The Commodore 64 was still a few years off. The phone hung on the wall, safely attached to its cord, and you weren’t allowed to use it, anyway.

 

In terms of movies, special effects weren’t that special. There was a lot of cheesy stop animation in monster flicks. If there was a space ship in the scene, you could probably see the string it was attached to. The Muppets were cutting-edge. That creepy animatronic Lincoln at Disneyland was the only robot you had ever seen.

 

And then came Star Wars. I still remember the first time I saw the opening scene, when that Imperial Star Destroyer crawled across the screen. My jaw dropped and I thought, “oh my god, what is THIS!” I sat with my little brother in the dark of that theater and we were mesmerized. Over the next three years while waiting (a lifetime) for The Empire Strikes Back, I saw Star Wars over 40 times in the theater. When we got our first cable network (The Movie Channel) my brother and I watched Star Wars every single time it came on. I bet between the two of us we’ve watched that movie over a thousand times.

 

Star Wars affected me in unanticipated ways. It gave me a great love of classical music. Prior to that movie, my exposure to classical music was primarily from Looney Toons cartoons (who among us can hear “Ride of the Valkyries” and not start singing “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit…”). Music appreciation class tried to get me to comprehend Peter and the Wolf. I wasn’t having it. But when I heard John Williams’ score, I could see the movie. I suddenly understood classical music. It conveyed characters, places, moods in very specific ways. “The Imperial March,” “Force Theme,” and of course the overture, still send chills up my spine every time I hear them.

 

So Star Wars was so special because it occupied a very specific place and time in culture, one that is unlikely to ever be reproduced. Today’s generation has more entertainment options on their phones than we had in the totality of our lives.

 

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some rant or screed. I love technology and wouldn’t trade my gadgets for anything in the world. But in this one instance, I feel sorry for you, because you will never find anything that will so totally blow you away like Star Wars did Generation X.

 

That is so right on. Good movies are good movies but Star Wars was something no one had ever seen the like before.

 

 

I can appreciate this but for me Forbidden Planet had it beat years before in terms of wonder and content, what Star Wars introiduced for me was Speed, and films have been getting faster ever since then. It roared out of the gates at a hundred miles an hour and never let up, perfect for attracting a child or young adults fevered imagination. Films of the period seem so plodding and slow in comparison, but that tempo allowed a lot more examination and nuance, take Taxi Driver and its slow build up to that fevered crescendo, or any other film really. I think Star Wars was the herald of a new era of cinema, both good and bad.

 

Edit: I have to say, 13 channels of TV? The gentleman was utterly spoiled, the Wireless was an extravagance in my childhood home, there was only a phone booth at the end of the road, and a penny mix of sweets was a relished treat.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Nonek

[teknoman2]

Indeed! =)

 

By the way, quote from one of the funniest movies ever, that I can't link to or reference here;

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"

"Th...that does'nt even make sence, parsec measures distance, not time!"

and who says that in that galaxy a parsec is a unit of distance?

besides the Kessel run may be a sort of test that measures acceleration or something.

Edited October 23, 2015 by teknoman2

[Nonek]

I think I understand that, navigational computers would be most useful at plotting more efficient courses, so a vessel that was capable of formulating the shortest route in hyperspace(?) would be the fastest at travelling from point a to b. It's not a measure of acceleration and thrust at all, as we think of speed, but how short a distance between two points you can calculate safely. Avoiding gravity wells and known obstructions, though this would require very frequently updated star charts to work in practise I suppose.

 

Just my theory however.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Nonek

[Blarghagh]

No, it was technobabble in a fantasy film disguised as space opera. Pointing out how that doesn't make sense is like pointing at a white wall and going "gosh, this wall is white".

[Elerond]

 

Indeed! =)

 

By the way, quote from one of the funniest movies ever, that I can't link to or reference here;

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"

"Th...that does'nt even make sence, parsec measures distance, not time!"

and who says that in that galaxy a parsec is a unit of distance?

besides the Kessel run may be a sort of test that measures acceleration or something.

 

Everything is explained in Star Wars lore

The Kessel Run was an 18-parsec route used by smugglers to move glitterstim spice from Kessel to an area south of the Si'Klaata Cluster without getting caught by the Imperial ships that were guarding the movement of spice from Kessel's mines.

 

It took travelers in realspace around The Maw leading them to an uninhabitable—but far easier to navigate—area of space called The Pit, which was an asteroid cluster encased in a nebula arm, making sensors as well as pilots go virtually blind. Thus there was a high chance that pilots, weary from the long flight through real space, would crash into an asteroid.

 

The Kessel Run was one of the most heavily used smuggling routes in the Galactic Empire. Han Solo claimed that his Millennium Falcon "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs". A parsec is a unit of distance, not time. Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs. The smuggler BoShek actually beat Solo's record in his ship, Infinity, but without cargo to weigh him down. A few months later, Han Solo beat both his own and BoShek's records in a run he made with Luke Skywalker.

 

In the revised fourth draft of A New Hope in 1976, the description for "Kessel Run" is put as follows:

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"

Ben reacts to Solo's stupid attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation.

So it implies that the puzzling speech of Han Solo is "misinformation" and not truth, and it has nothing to do with the nature of the Kessel Run in any respect. Han means nothing other than impressing Obi-Wan and Luke with pure boasting. Indeed, even in the final version of the script, the parentheses attached to Han's line state that he is "obviously lying."

In the A New Hope novelization, Han says "standard time units" rather than "parsecs." Which show that Lucas forget to tell his explanation for the novel writer or they wanted novel to be independent product that don't need outside explanations. But who knows Lucas changed Star Wars lore every time he though something else sound more cool to him.

[Raithe]

 

 

Edit: I have to say, 13 channels of TV? The gentleman was utterly spoiled, the Wireless was an extravagance in my childhood home, there was only a phone booth at the end of the road, and a penny mix of sweets was a relished treat.

 

 

To be followed by:

 

You were lucky. We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t’ mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt.

[Amentep]

 

 

Indeed! =)

 

By the way, quote from one of the funniest movies ever, that I can't link to or reference here;

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"

"Th...that does'nt even make sence, parsec measures distance, not time!"

and who says that in that galaxy a parsec is a unit of distance?

besides the Kessel run may be a sort of test that measures acceleration or something.

 

Everything is explained in Star Wars lore

The Kessel Run was an 18-parsec route used by smugglers to move glitterstim spice from Kessel to an area south of the Si'Klaata Cluster without getting caught by the Imperial ships that were guarding the movement of spice from Kessel's mines.

 

It took travelers in realspace around The Maw leading them to an uninhabitable—but far easier to navigate—area of space called The Pit, which was an asteroid cluster encased in a nebula arm, making sensors as well as pilots go virtually blind. Thus there was a high chance that pilots, weary from the long flight through real space, would crash into an asteroid.

 

The Kessel Run was one of the most heavily used smuggling routes in the Galactic Empire. Han Solo claimed that his Millennium Falcon "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs". A parsec is a unit of distance, not time. Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs. The smuggler BoShek actually beat Solo's record in his ship, Infinity, but without cargo to weigh him down. A few months later, Han Solo beat both his own and BoShek's records in a run he made with Luke Skywalker.

 

In the revised fourth draft of A New Hope in 1976, the description for "Kessel Run" is put as follows:

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"

Ben reacts to Solo's stupid attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation.

So it implies that the puzzling speech of Han Solo is "misinformation" and not truth, and it has nothing to do with the nature of the Kessel Run in any respect. Han means nothing other than impressing Obi-Wan and Luke with pure boasting. Indeed, even in the final version of the script, the parentheses attached to Han's line state that he is "obviously lying."

In the A New Hope novelization, Han says "standard time units" rather than "parsecs." Which show that Lucas forget to tell his explanation for the novel writer or they wanted novel to be independent product that don't need outside explanations. But who knows Lucas changed Star Wars lore every time he though something else sound more cool to him.

 

 

IIRC Alan Dean Foster worked from a shooting script - hence why it novelizes scenes not in the film.

 

 

 

Edit: I have to say, 13 channels of TV? The gentleman was utterly spoiled, the Wireless was an extravagance in my childhood home, there was only a phone booth at the end of the road, and a penny mix of sweets was a relished treat.

 

 

To be followed by:

 

You were lucky. We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t’ mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt.

 

 

Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down at the mill, and pay the mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."

[Blarghagh]

I was without existence. Do I win?

[Nonek]

Non existence...luxury! I was suspended in a state of spiritual flux 'tween Heaven and Hell and tormented by gibbering horrors from the dark between the stars while being force fed marmite on those tasteless lumps of cardboard Americans call bagels. And I were glad of it, and thanked the tentacled horrors whose form my fractured mind could not concieve of with genuine relish on a job well done, stripping my pathetic man flesh from my bones and twisting the immortal soul within!

[Raithe]

But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.

 

 

Edit:

 

Still, to get back on track.. the Supercut of all the teasers and trailers put together..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIRoASL90EI

Edited October 23, 2015 by Raithe