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Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Officially Announced
eldavojohn writes: "Word was leaking this week of some familiar faces in London hanging out together. Finally today an official cast listing for Star Wars Episode VII was handed down from on high to us mere mortals (Google Cache and Onion AV recap available). From the short release, 'Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.' Let's not bicker and argue about who shot first but instead come to an agreement on expected levels of almost certain disappointment. No, this will not feature the Expanded Universe (EU) — you can now refer to those tales as 'Legends' which are not part of Star Wars canon. Instead prepare yourself for what will likely be the mother of all retcon films."
It's been a while since a site got hit by /. this bad. Site offline atm
No?
I am disappointed that they are even making another Star Wars "film."
Han: "Back in my day, we had to go through asteroid fields all the time! Right, Chewie?"
Chewie: (asleep) "ZZZZZ"
Han: "Now get offa my lawn!"
Multiple Autoplay ads while unattended and minimized?
I come back into office and my computer is yacking away.
Good bye dickheads
It's a fucking movie. IT's going to violate its previous mythologic narratives? It was MADE UP by writers. IT doesn't matter. It will still be a crap movie.
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Be sure to include lots of 'plosions and farting aliens!
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
These are not the actors you are looking for... (Or the story, writers, or director .....)
You KNOW that after 6 movies of declining quality and a host of spin off cartoons of horrible quality, this can go only one way. I'm already disappointed that they didn't leave the story alone after the first three (i.e. Star Wars, Empire, Return). What can they do now? Invent another alien character like JarJar Binks? PLEASE NOOOOOOooooooo!!!
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
The moves, announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, are the most severe sanctions the league has ever levied against a Franchise owner.
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
The most heart-wrenching part of the polygon article was finding out that Amy Hennig was going to be working on a new Star Wars game, but it'll be published by those bastards at EA.
After her work on LOK, I would have loved to see what came of that...
Well, at least it has live human people and not animations or 100% robots or dogs or some crazy crap like that.
To 'Star Wars Sequels'.
Thanks,
Everyone
Most fandoms would be furious at literally the entire storyline beyond six films being tossed aside, and new sequels commissioned using only a handful of the original actors and one original writer.
*Most* fandoms didn't have to go through the prequel trilogy and a series of bad retconny rereleases being made by the original creator himself.
Add the fact that the SWEU is remarkably uneven in quality - while some parts are downright brilliant, there's wide swaths of crap that were still canon because the movies didn't contradict it - and I can completely understand why the general fan reaction to this is "cautious optimism" or "reserved pessimism" rather than nerd rage (there's *some* nerd rage, but not much). My own response is "interested apathy" - it might be good, but I really just can't force myself to care anymore, not the way I used to.
...am looking forward to Andy Serkis' mocap performance of Jar Jar's light saber seppuku.
3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
He already tried turning Star Trek into Star Wars, now they are giving him that franchise to ruin too... Star Wars, now with 5000% more lens flare!
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
which will suck worse:
Ep VII or Glen Larson's Galactica movie?
I'm going to go w/the later b/c it's got so much further to fall (from Moore's BSG vs Ep I-III)
A long time ago in a galaxy... (unreadable due to lens flare) ....
STAR (unreadable due to lens flare)
Princess Leia (unreadable due to lens flare)....
Spaceship... (unwatchable due to lens flare)
Monster/special effects, jiggly camerawork. Things happen in film for no logical reason and plot holes you could fly the death star through....
This *is* a JJ Abhrams movie after all....
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Han shooting first means there was a shot fired second. There wasn't. Therefore Han didn't shoot first, he just shot.
Thank god they got Kenny Baker. I would hate to see someone else we can't see inside a metal can that makes beeping noises.
I wonder if they got the same key grip?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Have gnu, will travel.
With Ford's last two movies, a cardboard cutout of him in his 40's would have done a better job than he did. His performance in Ender's Game was horrendous (don;t blame the script Asa Butterfield and Viola Davis did great with what they were given.) Hopefully Harrison Ford's reprisal will be Han Solo sitting in a Laser-Rocker in the old folks asteroid telling stories of who shot first to you bantha fodderlings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
-- The Doctor, "Doctor
First off, in most of canon, books are rarely considered canon. (ie: Star Trek, etc) there are a few exceptions, like Babylon 5 where JMS took an active hand in things.
But frankly, I am so so so thankful that they are NOT doing the whole Skywalker Twins, Thrawn, etc. I never liked where those stories went. And so while you may be disappointed. I am sighing a huge sigh of relief.
And retcon, was the silly stuff they did in the prequels. I think JJ Abrams will be a bit more mindful. That said, I kind of would like to see some soft ties to a few of the prequels. Aliens pictured...or about the Gungan genocide that wiped out the entire race. Etc.
And got first post
No Greedo, you did not. ;-)
Perhaps, IJ4 and Ender's Game Mr. Ford was weak. But he was amazing in the recent Jackie Robinson film 42.
Maybe it was just me who was hoping that it wasn't a thing of the past.
Should be interesting to see how they wrap Star Wars around "climate change." Doubtless there will be some cute, fuzzy species suffering the over-heated environment of an exploited planet as they stare pitifully from their bushes at the throbbing machines of industry. The Jedi will blow up another huge Trade Federation command ship and then dispatch white, municipal looking Gaia ships to fix the atmosphere as the credits roll. Scenes from the Galactic Senate will provide ample opportunities for self-flagellating lectures about the environment.
You know that's what they're going to do.
If there is one thing Disney is good at it's their ability to take someone else's work and run with it.
... to the idea of a star wars film beginning without John Williams conducting the LSO, playing the 20th Century Fox opening them that then leads into the main title.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
You know how you can retain your good memories of Star Wars? Don't watch the movies. As for the rest of us who never read the books and thought the original movies were a range of merely okay to pretty dismal, let us watch these new movies in equally okay to dismal peace.
no thanks hack ruined star trek i'm not going to watch him ruin another sci fi universe
fuck you J.J. Abrams stop ruining good scifi and just stick to crappy action movies
It's more like attempting to do a dozen full-length, theatre-released feature films based on the Silmarillion, having already done Lord of the Rings, and butchered The Hobbit into multiple movies because money.
I preemptively grant potential exception to Disney though, because I enjoyed the hell out of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Also, completely unrelated, Frozen.
I have hopes that they could potentially make up for the complete shit that were Lucas' prequels. So this could be a potential "Oh god, we're sorry, what have we done? Oh god. Oh god. Sorry. Can we have some money, if you forgive us?"
Eh, I like charity cases. Damned altruism.
Episode VII? But they haven't even done the Episodes I-III yet! I do hope they don't screw them up, though. The first 3 episodes (by which I mean Episodes IV-VI) had so much promise.
Get your own fucking pop culture.
Sincerely,
Old Farts
I thought he had to be in everything these days
all the old cast will be in the falcon and leia is having baby.
ship explodes killing all old cast.
years later when baby is in teens he/she and other new cast go after the killer of their parents.. oh and 1 of them has to be a jedi probably the baby of leia.
that is the script for the new movie in a nutshell
not that we can see anything of it becouse of camera shaking and lensflare hell
Ewoks.
Jabba's entourage.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The EU has always been subject to being tossed out for the films. I mean, I still have a copy of the 1994 "A Guide to the Star Wars Universe". On pages xviii-xx, it has a timeline that establishes the following:
1) C-3PO is 57 years older than Anakin Skywalker.
2) Obi-Wan Kenobi is only five years older than Anakin Skywalker.
3) The Clone Wars ended 17 years before Anakin became Darth Vader and Palpatine became Emperor.
4) Anakin was in his mid-thirties when he fathered Luke & Leia.
How could anybody have anything like a reasonable expectation that things would be different this time?
C'mon people - they have Ming the MFing Merciless in this. In a just world, Brian Blessed would have a place in this movie.
"OLD BEN'S ALIVE!?" "Wookiees, DIIIIVE!"
Aping Flash Gordon for a Star Wars sequel is one of the less grievous mistakes they could make.
The original movies have always been kids movies. For us old timers we were teens or less when we saw them and loved them for the action, adventures, swashbuckling laser space fights. As we grew older our glass became rosier and rosier. We then started making Jedi a religion on the census and other squirrel crap nutty stuff like that. The prequels came out and we hated them because they "ruined" our star wars. We all failed to notice that our kids loved them though. Try getting your 6-8 year old to sit through star wars then pop in Phantom Menace and see how long they sit. Star Wars movies were always made for kids to love, we just stopped being kids. Go back and watch other shows that we loved. All out young nerd loves were just that. Let me know how well the original Transformers or GI Joe cartoon holds up. Go find the high school head cheerleader while your at it. She may have a little grey in her hair too.
I though you said Steven Moffat for a second there.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
At the neighbourhood kids running around on his lawn.
I stole this Sig
Stormtrooper replies: "These are not the cast we are looking for"
It will be fucking awful.
The Goods:
1. Say what you want, but J.J. can make actors act to their potential, puts emotions into scenes, and by all accounts is a fan of the Star Wars franchise.
2. At least some attempt at a continuity will be welcome.
3. I've never liked the EU books, so I'm not turned off.
The Bads:
1. Watch out for that LENS FLARE!
2. I went to Disneyland last week with my girls and I saw Mickey Mouse swinging a light saber. How many hidden Mickey's will be in the film, and those that aren't so hidden? The script notes from the executives may kill the chance at a good story.
I'm looking forward to it, fanboys will always complain, but I'll give the creator of LOST his shot.
"Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
I would say that Episodes I-III, which went back and revised/reinvented the backstory of the original trilogy, would be The Mother Of All Retcon Films before Episode VII would be.* Since that's what "retcon" actually means.
These upcoming films are simply a partial reboot, wiping out one semi-official post-RotJ continuity, and replacing it with an all-new all-different one.
*Actually there are other, better candidates, but let's confine ourselves to the Star Wars universe here.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
If all the other canon is now Legend, then what's left is just generic Sci-Fi universe. Without the name recognition I wouldn't know or care that the story was "of Star Wars". IMO, it would be just as much of a "Star Wars" flick if they changed the universe out from under the characters instead of the other way around.
I leave you with: Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager in a Galaxy Not so Far Away.
our choices are not: JJ Abrams or Star Trek 6
and we don't have to choose between "fan service" and "general appeal" either
it's these stupid, reductive contextualizations that make it up to the marketing morons who monitor "social media" for what "fans" want to see
Thank you Dave Raggett
Wouldn't "retroactive continuity" imply the modifying of "history" in-story to make it fit with new narrative? (i.e. how Arthur C. Clarke's original novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey took place around Saturn, yet the movie couldn't afford that, so the movie took place around Jupiter - then the novel for 2010: Odyssey Two took place around Jupiter, like the film, instead of Saturn, like the book.)
Only, in this case, they're not retroactively *CHANGING* the story. They're completely dumping an entire set of story - anything non-film. Thus, it's creating brand-new continuity, with no relation at all to the old continuity.
"Midichlorians" was retcon. Placing Anakin's age at entering Jedi training as 9 years old, yet "too old to become a Jedi", after Luke being a late teenager, and just barely "too old" - THAT was retcon.
This? This isn't retcon.
Jesus H. Christ on a tauntaun - every movie in the series from Empire onwards has been nothing but a money grab. Hell, for that matter Star Wars itself was made for the sole and singular of generating a profit.
They are going to need a bigger bikini.
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
What No return of Billy D Williams??? WTF!
Funny. I thought ignoring fanfiction was just business as usual. Fuck EU.
Sounds like ST Generations where they shoehorned in a old and fat kirk toasting marshmallows in for no real reason
these fans are expecting too much for Disney to follow all the post RotJ books, cannon or not...its fanboi mellodrama
it's a question of **expectations**
is it reasonable to expect Disney to know enough to keep the new films in line w/ cannon from *other films*?
YES
is it reasonable to expect Disney to obey cannon of *books* written long before their purchase of the franchise and never intended to be filmed?
NO
Thank you Dave Raggett
Am I the only one who finds a lot of the big action CGI stuff really boring? I mean a lot of the Marvel stuff has been good, Gravity was amazing, and there's other stuff that really makes good use of special effects. But it seems like there's a lot of movies that seem to live on long drawn out action sequences, 300, the new Star Trek films, the Star Wars prequels, the Hobbit. I just end up disinterested because I don't actually care about the characters.
I maintain that it isn't the ignorance of youth, the original Star Wars is good, maybe it was the melodrama or the simple story but I actually did care about the characters, that's why those simple action sequences are still riveting. I don't see a basic difference between the new Star Trek and the old new old Star Wars, sure the Star Wars had some cringe-worthy writing but a lot of good things do as well, the problem was they used spectacle to distract from the fact the story and characters weren't that interesting. They need less spectacle and bigger story, I'm just not sure Abrams is the one to save the franchise.
I stole this Sig
Who the hell cares?
More costumes on couches?
No thanks.
Please don't bring something as lame as Star Trek as an example when talking about Star Wars. I mean, it's easy to improve Star Trek, since you start with such low standards. And for the JJ Abrams part, he's in the same boat as Michael Bay: Give the people enough explosions and 3-D crap to fill 120 minutes and you're done. You don't even have to make a consistent story!
The guy playing Anakin (don't even remember his name) had less acting skill than a 2x4 from my tool shack's ceiling. And the way they had to force the storyline to make it congruent with the good old 3 first movies was painful... You can summarize those two and a half hours in the last ten minutes, when Vader is born and Padme names Luke and Leia.
Maybe. However people seem loath to recall the significant plot holes the original movies had.
Anyway I think people were most fascinated with the *idea* of the universe. Keep those ideals in line, and I will still look forward to it. Actually making really good movies would be a nice change thought. You are right however JJ does have a "style" all his own, that I would call a formula (for money mostly). However there were elements that were done really well, like the first 10 min of Star Trek. They also cast very well. If they concentrate a bit more on some of the major elements of the story or character building and motivations I think it would go a long way, as his do seem to be a bit light in that department.
The major problem is that the viewing audience is a dichotomy. Most of the people he is targeting for the movies he makes (Transformers, Start Trek, Star Wars, etc...) are basically kids movies 12-18. However because all of the above are remakes of classic memorabilia we all grew up with, it ALSO has that audience of 30-45 year olds. Go figure the kids are sated with action and funky camera work, whereas the old guard want something a bit more. Hell 1,2,3 had the same problem with Lucas, selling it to kids and merchandising. Shit the originals did the same, and there was no base back then. Best call it just the Hollywood machine and be done with it.
Maybe they will come out with a new Serenity movie, that is one more aimed at adults.
I don't see anyone mentioning that this new move throws out all the years of crap Kevin J Anderson has pumped into the Star Wars universe. So even if the movie is awful, we still get this benefit.
I also wait for most comic movies to the dollar theater or Redhat. But sometimes I am pleasantly surpised if there is a creative story. For exmple the Nth remake of superman last year the backstory about Zor having good intentions, but msiguided, was novel.
Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film. free games