Star Wars VII - The Force Awakens, on BluRay and Dvd April 5th, 2016

[Duke Togo]

Hamill said in a recent interview that the droid is not CGI, and is infact a real, working prop: And when they were demonstrating how they did this thing, live on set because its not CGI, thats a live prop I was just amazed. They let me play around with it. [Laughs] I was running it all around at the creature shop up in Pinewood. Im telling you, its an absolute delight.

Just a thought: some of what we think is CGI (like that Falcon/TIE sequence at the end of the trailer) may end up being real models that have been 3D scanned and then manipulated with computers to produce some of what we see onscreen. That the droid is a fully-working prop is pretty awesome and totally surprising.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Duke Togo

[jenius]

I can stand names that are a bit off. Dameron Poe is totally a Star Wars name. But Finn? Makes me feel like I'm gonna go on a summer adventure in the woods as an 11 year old while visiting extended family or something. Not like the guy is an Imperial Stormtrooper in unusual circumstances.

If it helps, you can imagine it's spelled "Phyn" . Besides, it's Star Wars, soon kids in their classes will equate the name with a science fiction character and have a hard time not imagining him while they read classic literature.

[Chronocidal]

Or, in the reverse case, you could have people not realizing that they're names from a science fiction universe, and years from now, we'll have a bunch of kids named Wedge and Lando.

I actually know a guy with a son named Revan. Yes, he was fully aware, but his wife was the one who suggested it. Something about a tradition of mixing relative names (if it's not ridiculous) and having uncles named Richard and Evan.

[SchizophrenicMC]

I know a guy who named his son Ozai. Yes, that Ozai. I also know a girl who named her son Raiden. Yes that Raiden.

What happened to normal names?

[JB0]

Hamill said in a recent interview that the droid is not CGI, and is infact a real, working prop: And when they were demonstrating how they did this thing, live on set because its not CGI, thats a live prop I was just amazed. They let me play around with it. [Laughs] I was running it all around at the creature shop up in Pinewood. Im telling you, its an absolute delight.

Just a thought: some of what we think is CGI (like that Falcon/TIE sequence at the end of the trailer) may end up being real models that have been 3D scanned and then manipulated with computers to produce some of what we see onscreen. That the droid is a fully-working prop is pretty awesome and totally surprising.

Soccer-bot is a real robot? Color me surprised. Very pleasantly so. Wonder how it works...

Still not sold on some of these names. They just don't sound "Star Warsy" to me. I mean, what's next? A farmhand named Luke? Let's get some proper space names in here, like Star Wars is SUPPOSED to be.

Edited December 13, 2014 by JB0

[Gubaba]

Soccer-bot is a real robot? Color me surprised. Very pleasantly so. Wonder how it works...

Still not sold on some of these names. They just don't sound "Star Warsy" to me. I mean, what's next? A farmhand named Luke? Let's get some proper space names in here, like Star Wars is SUPPOSED to be.

Y'know what would be REALLY dumb? If that had a guy who was a total lone wolf, no allegiances, looking-out-for-number-one kinda guy, and named him "Solo."

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

Soccer-bot is a real robot? Color me surprised. Very pleasantly so. Wonder how it works...

it's 2014, we have working hoverboards and a non cgi soccer droid, where's my newly constructed working green light saber?

[Jefuemon]

Still not sold on some of these names. They just don't sound "Star Warsy" to me.

How about Porn Starsy? Kit Fisto for life!!

[JB0]

Y'know what would be REALLY dumb? If that had a guy who was a total lone wolf, no allegiances, looking-out-for-number-one kinda guy, and named him "Solo."

Thank GOD the writers on the original trilogy were better than that, right?

[Dynaman]

For how that droid works - same principle as the Segway.

[F-ZeroOne]

I know a guy who named his son Ozai. Yes, that Ozai. I also know a girl who named her son Raiden. Yes that Raiden.

What happened to normal names?

I once had a work colleague who was called Lorien. Apparently his father was a big "Lord of the Rings" fan. The UK T.V. personality Jonathan Ross allegedly wanted to name his son "Galactus", but his wife put her foot down...

[anime52k8]

I also know a girl who named her son Raiden. Yes that Raiden.

I'm actually not sure which Raiden you're referring to. If she named her kid after the one from Mortal Kombat, that's frakking badass. Now if we're talking MGS2 raiden, significantly less so.

Either way, I think that's far better than the literally hundreds of thousands of parents who have named their kids Edward and Jacob.

[Duke Togo]

Edward and Jacob? I don't get it.

[Gubaba]

Edward and Jacob? I don't get it.

A7 will.

[Dobber]

Edward and Jacob? I don't get it.

Twilight

Chris

[jenius]

I'm sure this isn't a new idea but I have a colleague who is HUGE on the idea of rebooting Star Wars. He wants the original trilogy remade and for there to be only one death star that doesn't get blown up until the third movie. The first two movies would then be the story of how the rebellion solidifies and grows in strength to be a force big enough to take on the death star. His take is that if Lucas had known all along that all three movies would get made that's what he would have tried to do instead of encapsulating the whole thing into the first movie. Instead the first movie would end with some other Empire icon being destroyed which encourages more rebels which leads to the strike back and then ultimately the return of the Jedi. Anyway, it kind of blew my mind since that was the first person who ever told me they needed to get rid of the original trilogy and start all over.

[myk]

I'm sure this isn't a new idea but I have a colleague who is HUGE on the idea of rebooting Star Wars. He wants the original trilogy remade and for there to be only one death star that doesn't get blown up until the third movie. The first two movies would then be the story of how the rebellion solidifies and grows in strength to be a force big enough to take on the death star. His take is that if Lucas had known all along that all three movies would get made that's what he would have tried to do instead of encapsulating the whole thing into the first movie. Instead the first movie would end with some other Empire icon being destroyed which encourages more rebels which leads to the strike back and then ultimately the return of the Jedi. Anyway, it kind of blew my mind since that was the first person who ever told me they needed to get rid of the original trilogy and start all over.

I've said the same thing as well. We can debate for an eternity whether Lucas envisioned the Star Wars story in its entirety or not, but the fact remains that the original trilogy, the prequels and the new movies don't look or feel like they belong together. I'd like to see an original trilogy reboot as well, but I know that's about as unlikely as Hayden Christensen becoming a decent actor...

[Duke Togo]

I'm sure this isn't a new idea but I have a colleague who is HUGE on the idea of rebooting Star Wars.

[Scyla]

But the unfinished Death Star from RotJ looks so much cooler than the one from Episode 4.

[Dobber]

I never knew, until very recently, that the second Death Star was significantly larger than DS1.

Chris

[Hikuro]

I saw one that showed the Lucasfilm and Disney logos at the beginning, then showed some red-haired guy singing about how he's never gonna let you go or something like that. Is that the real trailer?

I was wondering why the production value seemed so dated and became a true Disney musical

[F-ZeroOne]

I never knew, until very recently, that the second Death Star was significantly larger than DS1.

Chris

Not only that, but had it been finished it would have had thousands of tiny, distributed exhaust ports two small for a proton torpedo to get down.

Not that it should worked on the first one either - according to some sources, a proton torpedo had a maximum range of a couple of kilometres. Now match that against the 160km or so diameter of the first Death Star...

(this is what happens when RPG mechanics become semi-canon... )

Edited December 14, 2014 by F-ZeroOne

[Dynaman]

Not only that, but had it been finished it would have had thousands of tiny, distributed exhaust ports two small for a proton torpedo to get down.

Not that it should worked on the first one either - according to some sources, a proton torpedo had a maximum range of a couple of kilometres. Now match that against the 160km or so diameter of the first Death Star...

(this is what happens when RPG mechanics become semi-canon... )

It was finished though, it looked like it did as part of the trap.

As for it being twice as large, that is like going "plaid" speed.

[Dobber]

It was finished though, it looked like it did as part of the trap.

As for it being twice as large, that is like going "plaid" speed.

I wouldn't say it was finished, it was fully armed and operational. I "think" the intention was that it would look like the original Death Star, but the Empire had it ready to fight early for the trap.

Some sources have the DS2 MUCH larger than twice as large.

Chris

Edited December 14, 2014 by Dobber

[SchizophrenicMC]

Not only that, but had it been finished it would have had thousands of tiny, distributed exhaust ports two small for a proton torpedo to get down.

Not that it should worked on the first one either - according to some sources, a proton torpedo had a maximum range of a couple of kilometres. Now match that against the 160km or so diameter of the first Death Star...

(this is what happens when RPG mechanics become semi-canon... )

In a vacuum, range is the difference between launch point and the closest thing along the launch vector. Not to mention, it would be heading toward a gravitational center.

Though, you are right in stating that the second Death Star's design brief included a revised exhaust system that relied upon numerous millimeter-scale ports spread across the entire surface, rather than a set of two-meter-wide ports spread around the trenches.

[Dynaman]

I wouldn't say it was finished, it was fully armed and operational. I "think" the intention was that it would look like the original Death Star, but the Empire had it ready to fight early for the trap.

Some sources have the DS2 MUCH larger than twice as large.

Chris

The sole purpose it was made was a trap to lure the rebels there to be destroyed, it was completed in time for that so it was "Done".

> In a vacuum, range is the difference between launch point and the closest thing along the launch vector.

Only problem is that space is not a vacuum in the Star War universe, not sure what it is exactly but it is not a vacuum (or sound would not carry...)

[JB0]

> In a vacuum, range is the difference between launch point and the closest thing along the launch vector.

Only problem is that space is not a vacuum in the Star War universe, not sure what it is exactly but it is not a vacuum (or sound would not carry...)

Either way, the Death Stars have gravity by all appearances. The torpedo would happily keep falling down that exhaust shaft straight towards the center.

And the sound is actually simulated by the ships' computers based on sensor data, then played in the cockpit to enhance pilot situational awareness. It's not really traveling THROUGH space, it just APPEARS to.

Or it's artistic license. Take your pick.

[Mommar]

I'm with Duke, the original Trilogy doesn't need to be rebooted in any way.

Having two Death Stars makes perfect sense from a modern spacecraft design standpoint anyway. Typically the first one is proof of concept and the second one is built on the lessons learned from the first in a more streamlined capacity, which is precisely what happened in the movies (this happens with lots of other engineering projects as well.) Besides, why not have the ability to blow up two different planets at the some time rather than just one?

[Black Valkyrie]

Same here the OT should never be rebooted, only digital polished without the special edition scenes.

[JB0]

Personal thoughts: I can see where the Star Wars trilogy could be tightened up, but... I'm generally against remakes. It implies you have no good ideas, and is almost always a sign of a shameless cash grab that banks on nostalgia more than quality.

A remake is a good idea IF the original film had a great concept but was technically ill-executed. I suppose if it's aged sufficiently aged that it looks REALLY dated, and it was a great movie but no one can look past the age.

Star Wars is in neither camp. It was well-executed, and it doesn't look dated. There's no real point to remaking it.

And I haven't seen anything showing remakes lately are concerned with respecting the original. So no remake.

[jvmacross]

The only thing that looks "dated" is the dang hair on some of the imperials on the original Star Wars....aka A New Hope....

Plus....I'm pretty sure Rouge Squadron was also pumping the dramatic final attack orchestral score via hi-fidelity 8-track players mounted on their X-wing dashboards!

[Agent ONE]

IMO, a reboot should only happen with a franchise that started off with a very interesting idea, but became totally F***ed up with bad sequels.

Batman for example.

[JB0]

IMO, a reboot should only happen with a franchise that started off with a very interesting idea, but became totally F***ed up with bad sequels.

Batman for example.

That doesn't require a remake of all the previous movies. See: Superman Returns.

You can just say "Yeah, those bad movies never happened. This is a sequel to the good parts."

[azrael]

Never got around to posting this on Friday from the Sony hacking.

Shocking New Reveals From Sony Hack: J. Law, Pitt, Clooney, and Star Wars

“Star Wars: Any studio would have lost josh trank and rian Johnson to this, it's freaking Star Wars. Your After Earth writer Gary Whitta is writing Gareth Edwards stand alone Star Wars film. Simon Kinberg is writing Josh Tranks. No one knows what they're about but Boba Fett is rumored to be the subject of one. Rian Johnson as you know is doing the main ones, episodes 8 and 9 of the Luke and Leia story lines, after JJ. Not sure anything is gained by looking at what Lucasfilm is doing except we are stalking all these people too, except Whitta whom I think blows.”

So it looks like JJ is likely to back into the producers' chair come Episode 8 & 9.

[Agent ONE]

That doesn't require a remake of all the previous movies. See: Superman Returns.

You can just say "Yeah, those bad movies never happened. This is a sequel to the good parts."

You mean like Universal Soldier for example:

Universal Soldier - Awesome, though kinda in a 'bad 80's movie kind of way'

Universal Soldier 2 - Made for TV crap

Universal Soldier 3 - More Made for TV crap

Universal Soldier the Return (the new Universal Soldier 2) - Bad and written by someone who didn't even watch the first one. Van Damme was back for this one and he was a former UniSol (which makes no sense of course)

Universal Soldier Regeneration (the new NEW Universal Soldier 2) - Brought Dolph back, but was still pretty bad.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (A semi-sequel to Regeneration, so UniSol 3 [sort of]) - This one was more like a zombie film, where zombies are military trained, was actually pretty good.

I just wanted to point out that there is ONE Universal Soldier film of that name, but they have made a true sequel of that original movie THREE times... Thats right there are THREE Universal Soldier 2 films!!! It is so insane I can't stand it. There has NEVER been a franchise that has been this fuked up. EVER.

This pretty much sums up the whole: 'Ignore one of the sequels' thing. A reboot is better than this nightmare.