Disney buying Lucasfilm

[Samprimary]

Well, stuff like the politics were a bad thing, because they were the underpinning structure of the conflict that the movie is intended to dramatically resolve, and yet it cannot be made to make sense even from the very onset — a point which I think can hardly be made better than that drawling shitty pretend-old dude Plinkett as he legitimately tries to make sense of the trade dispute in Ep. I or the political threat of Palpatine in Ep. III. It is all just legitimately bad in its own right, it just ceases to matter even remotely as much as it would have, had the rest of the movie been well done at all.

Whereas what we get is that the major problems with tone, pacing, acting, framing, and dialogue at a very basic level of filmmaking were all so pressingly poorly done that "whether or not the trade dispute makes sense to viewers in establishing the central conflict of the movie" ends up not mattering at all; it's simply buried way back behind core issues that eclipse it.

[Simond]

Things I'd like to see:

Pixar make a movie based on insert-old-lucasats-game-here. I don't care which one.

Never mind Pixar, I want to see a traditional Disney version of Loom. It would be perfect for that story.

[Ratman_tf]

This is how I feel about the prequels. A lot of people bitch about this or that nitpicky thing. (Politics, my space opera? Oh noes that's never been done before.  ) The problem is the scripts were lazy and the films were shot lazy. (shot, Reverse-Shot) Even Jar Jar wasn't necessarily a bad idea. Just a poorly executed one.

Most peoples problems that I know is that the scripts were shitty and the filmmaking was lazy. I have never known someone whos main complaint about the politics being the bad thing.

http://simpsonswiki.net/wiki/Cosmic_Wars:_The_Gathering_Shadow

[eldaec]

Phantom menace is actually salvageable. The phantom edit version is hugely superior, if anakin had been padme's contemporary you'd be almost there. 2 and 3 are just hopeless.

[Kail]

2 and 3 I actually didn't mind as much.  For me, the prequels were fine when it was Obi-Wan hitting shit with a lightsaber, and they turned to shit whenever it was Anakin and Padme talking at each other.  Since ep.1 was almost all Anakin and his amazing wunderkind powers as awkwardly portrayed by a child actor, I hated it way more than the other two.  Hell, Yoda's lightsaber fight was pretty awesome, I thought.  But then, that's what Star Wars has basically always been about to me, space ships blowing shit up and people fighting with laser swords.  Fun action/adventure movies.  I never really got much into the books because they all lacked that, and I loved the games because that's essentially all they are.

[Morat20]

They should just reboot it all. Worked for Batman. :)

I still think the Decieved trailer for SW:TOR was the best Star Wars movie of the last few decades. Maybe Disney should hire those guys...

[Samwise]

Speaking of Plinkett, this was Mike Stoklasa's Halloween costume.

[Venkman]

They should just reboot it all. Worked for Batman. :)

I still think the Decieved trailer for SW:TOR was the best Star Wars movie of the last few decades. Maybe Disney should hire those guys...

Definitely yes.

I'm actually excited by this. Warts and all I still love the Star Wars universe. And as much as that includes the EU stuff, they're welcome to reboot all of it, including ESB, if that's what it takes to get a new generation into it. Nothing should be so sacred that a superior reboot is unthinkable. I cite Batman Begins and JJ Abrams Star Trek.

And yea, Nathan Fillion as either Han Solo reboot or Dash Rendar in a Shadows of the Empire story leading into RoTJ. I also wouldn't mind if they grabbed some plot points from Timothy Zahns second EU series that introduced the Yuuzhan Vong, even if they did an accelerated timeline thing between Admiral Thrawn almost taking down the Republic, through Palleon picking up the pieces, to ending with the extra-galactic Force-less threat that then kicks into another trilogy. The age of Ford, Hamil, et al all works out there.

Or back in time to KOTOR. I could see, err, "some business interest" in that 

Oh yes, full on geek mode here.

[Bzalthek]

Shut up about Star Wars.  Nathan Fillion = Indiana Jones.  MAKE IT HAPPEN!

[schild]

Shut up about Star Wars.  Nathan Fillion = Indiana Jones.  MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Fuck that. His crew of awfuls would tag along with him and I don't want any part of that shit.

Besides, he'd make a better Nathan Drake.

[schild]

Actually, fuckit, I don't care if Nathan Fillion comes anywhere near any of these properties as I simply haven't cared about any of them since the 80s (or ever in the case of Star Wars).

[Khaldun]

Look, I can see them evacuating the few decent characters from the EU like people getting on the last choppers out of Saigon, but the plotlines are either dumb reprisals of the movies, convoluted fanservice, or just plain bollocks. Thrawn, Mara Jade, maybe a couple of others.

If they really need an arc beyond good guys v. bad guys, something focused on the reestablishment and reinvention of the Jedi, opposed by a hidden alliance of Sith, gangsters, bounty hunters and neo-Imperial shitheads with maybe an aged Master Luke Skywalker making a brief appearance and croaking it in the first flick. I really think they cannot get away with a recasting of the originals to take up the story right after ROTJ. Star Trek worked because most of the characters were more "types" with less of a narrative arc.

The real trick will be to come up with an iconic bad guy like Maul or Vader.

You need to watch Clone Wars. (Not themovie but the CGI series.) They do all this very well and it's "only" a kid's cartoon.   The only thing they lack is a good iconic bad guy because Count Poop was running things at the time.

I do watch it. It's good. Doesn't mean the EU novels post-ROTJ are anything but poop.

[tgr]

What the fuck does that line about Jar Jar even mean? The concept of a comic relief character is not necessarily bad? Yes... the fucking point is that it WAS TERRIBLY executed. That's the exact point.

I hate the way he talks, the way he walks into stuff and steps on cowshit etc, but what makes me want to literally strangle someone (Lucas) is the "durr I'll just accidentally open this ammo truck's rear door and somehow the ammo'll run down-hill and win the battle single-handedly" scene, as if the entire defending army is a bunch of chucklefucks and jar-jar is, by accident, the best fighter there ... and of course that the attacking army is worse than jar-jar.

Why, god, why?

[Merusk]

Look, I can see them evacuating the few decent characters from the EU like people getting on the last choppers out of Saigon, but the plotlines are either dumb reprisals of the movies, convoluted fanservice, or just plain bollocks. Thrawn, Mara Jade, maybe a couple of others.

If they really need an arc beyond good guys v. bad guys, something focused on the reestablishment and reinvention of the Jedi, opposed by a hidden alliance of Sith, gangsters, bounty hunters and neo-Imperial shitheads with maybe an aged Master Luke Skywalker making a brief appearance and croaking it in the first flick. I really think they cannot get away with a recasting of the originals to take up the story right after ROTJ. Star Trek worked because most of the characters were more "types" with less of a narrative arc.

The real trick will be to come up with an iconic bad guy like Maul or Vader.

You need to watch Clone Wars. (Not themovie but the CGI series.) They do all this very well and it's "only" a kid's cartoon.   The only thing they lack is a good iconic bad guy because Count Poop was running things at the time.

I do watch it. It's good. Doesn't mean the EU novels post-ROTJ are anything but poop.

You won't find me disagreeing there.  Then again they ARE aimed at the Teen market.

Which, in the end, is what makes me laugh about all this.  The market any of it is aimed at doesn't give two shits. My son and nephews all enjoy it in different ways.  It's only sad old farts who somehow think that it diminishes their childhoods that get really up in arms.  Fan that I still am I don't begrudge any of it because it's not meant for me.

I'm always amazed how often that's lost in this day and age.

[Yegolev]

I hate the way he talks, the way he walks into stuff and steps on cowshit etc, but what makes me want to literally strangle someone (Lucas) is the "durr I'll just accidentally open this ammo truck's rear door and somehow the ammo'll run down-hill and win the battle single-handedly" scene, as if the entire defending army is a bunch of chucklefucks and jar-jar is, by accident, the best fighter there ... and of course that the attacking army is worse than jar-jar.

Why, god, why?

Leads to a senator seat and contributes to instigating the war, that's why.

[Sir T]

Regarding Ewoks, I actually remember the first time seeing ROTJ at 19 at a friends house, and thinking they were completely lame. Its not the battle scene actually that did it, it was the scene that everyone erases from their memory with C3PO telling the story with R2D2 providing sound effects. That made me cringe.

ROTJ started off decent, got really REALLY crap in the middle, and then turned really good at the end. TESB is about as pitch perfect as you can wish for in a movie, which pretty much shows that Lucas had nothing to do with it.

[ghost]

Jabba's Palace is about the best Star Wars has to offer, in my opinion. 

[Merusk]

Regarding Ewoks, I actually remember the first time seeing ROTJ at 19 at a friends house,

The Ewok Line strikes again!  Really, the more I hear from people the more I realize the HIMYM writers were actually on to something there.

[eldaec]

I am post-line, and would have had no issue if ewoks if they weren't on screen at the same time as a much cooler space battle. All I could think at the time was that every second of ewok was a second we weren't watching spaceships pew pew or light sabres.

[Sir T]

I think someone has a secret shame in his CD collection

 



I wonder why no-one ever mentions those as star wars films...

[Shannow]

You won't find me disagreeing there.  Then again they ARE aimed at the Teen market.

Which, in the end, is what makes me laugh about all this.  The market any of it is aimed at doesn't give two shits. My son and nephews all enjoy it in different ways.  It's only sad old farts who somehow think that it diminishes their childhoods that get really up in arms.  Fan that I still am I don't begrudge any of it because it's not meant for me.

I'm always amazed how often that's lost in this day and age.

Thats a lame cop out. Pixar films are aimed at kids and adults love them. Why? Because they are great films. I'm quietly confident that in a few years or so my son will look back at the prequels and go 'wow were they crap'. Especially after we go see the Brad Bird directed SW VII! (ok ok one can hope)

They are poop, they will always be poop and trying to make excuses for them will not change that.

[Merusk]

Pixar are kids films that understand adults watch them too and focused on catering to both audiences.  Like the old Loony Tunes.   I'm sure many of us have fond memories of the Transformers and GI Joe cartoons, too.   They're utter shit, however.  Complete and utter shit with zero redeeming value.  I've watched them since they're on HUB and thought, "Why the fuck did I ever enjoy this."   However, my son enjoys them.  Why? He's the market and I'm not.

Great art can do both markets and provide both with something they want.  The prequels are not great art, but they are successful at what they attempted.  Capturing a target market that is not 40 year old guys with 30 year old childhoods they're trying to protect. 

They were never for you, I or anyone on this board. They were meant to introduce a money-maker to a new generation to get them as hooked as we were so in THEIR teens and 20s they'd buy all the merchandised crap that we look at and say, "No way I'm buying an R2-D2 hoodie.  I could never wear that in to the office." I'd say it worked pretty damn well.

[HaemishM]

Fan that I still am I don't begrudge any of it because it's not meant for me.

Queue obligatory Penny Arcade strip.

[Mrbloodworth]

Wookie life day V.2.

[Sky]

  The prequels are not great art, but they are successful at what they attempted.  Capturing a target market that is not 40 year old guys with 30 year old childhoods they're trying to protect. 

But that in itself is the problem. The first two movies had none of the muppet-ification intended to kid-ify things. I was 7 when Star Wars came out and it was awesome. Turns out kids like space ships and lasers and don't need to be dumbed down to.

[Merusk]

I don't disagree with that at all.  I understand being disappointed, frustrated and even a little pissed that things shifted.  They didn't have to, but they did.  In the end the problem is the creator, not the created.  Which is why I'm a little happy the property and company have shifted hands to folks who actually understand that.  Folks who - I HOPE - will have some passion behind the project besides "What will get the kids buying." (While understanding they'll also have that motivation.)  Passion that was visible in the first two movies and a good portion of the 3rd but was gone from the prequels.

I'm not defending the prequels as anything but jaded crap aimed at getting kids to have their parents buy them stuff. As you said, Sky; It didn't have to be, but it was. 

[Bunk]

Now they are reporting that Lucas plans to spend the entire four billion on philanthropy, using it to benefit education.

What the hell! How am I supposed to continue hating a guy that spends four billion dollars on actually doing something good for the world?

[Yegolev]

He's far more likely to spend it on his end-of-the-world bunker.

[Shannow]

Now they are reporting that Lucas plans to spend the entire four billion on philanthropy, using it to benefit education.

What the hell! How am I supposed to continue hating a guy that spends four billion dollars on actually doing something good for the world?

Just remember Jar Jar..

[Merusk]

He's already been spending a ton of money on education and public good.  The George Lucas educational fund is one of the mentioned sponsors on NPR in both the morning and evening news shows.

[Sky]

Did ILM get split off or is that part of the deal? Seems like it would be at least as desirable as the IP.

[Trippy]

It's part of the deal. Same with Skywalker Sound, LucasArts, etc.

[Ratman_tf]

Now they are reporting that Lucas plans to spend the entire four billion on philanthropy, using it to benefit education.

What the hell! How am I supposed to continue hating a guy that spends four billion dollars on actually doing something good for the world?

He's a great guy who makes shitty movies. Happens.

On the subject of Star Wars being for kids. Why in the mighty fuck is Anakin slaughtering children and force choking his pregnant wife? When did child murder and domestic abuse become selling points for merchandising?  No, Lucas just made some rather poor movies, and then backpeddled the fuck with the excuse that "It's for kids!"

[Ingmar]

They were obviously for kids from the start. The first movie happens before all that other stuff, and is the kiddiest movie that ever kidded.

[sickrubik]

What the fuck does that line about Jar Jar even mean? The concept of a comic relief character is not necessarily bad? Yes... the fucking point is that it WAS TERRIBLY executed. That's the exact point.

I hate the way he talks, the way he walks into stuff and steps on cowshit etc, but what makes me want to literally strangle someone (Lucas) is the "durr I'll just accidentally open this ammo truck's rear door and somehow the ammo'll run down-hill and win the battle single-handedly" scene, as if the entire defending army is a bunch of chucklefucks and jar-jar is, by accident, the best fighter there ... and of course that the attacking army is worse than jar-jar.

Why, god, why?

The comment I was responding to was "Even Jar Jar wasn't necessarily a bad idea. Just a poorly executed one."

That is a weird comment. Of course it's shitty. The idea of a character for comic relief IS fine. A bumbler IS fine... it's just that Jar Jar WAS SHITTY.