Star Wars: Episode VII

Personally I thought Gollum was the worst thing about the LOTR movies.... not just because I hate CGI, but because the character was irritating beyond belief. Every second he's on-screen makes me want to reach for the fast-forward button on the remote.

 

So I guess they approached the big three before writing the script. That would only make sense.

 

And Carrie Fisher lost 50 pounds last year.

 

A fit Fisher is a sexy thing to behold. Sexy mind that lady!

 

Personally I would take a puppet Yoda over a CGI Yoda any day of the week.

 

If the Abrams sequel trilogy is brilliant then Disney, in addition to screening and re-releasing (blu-ray) the theatrical originals, could reboot the prequels. Done right, the new 9 film epic would bring in extraordinary revenue.

 

Yoda was a puppet in Empire and Jedi. I think he came to life because he was there sitting next to Luke with the same lighting and he was a tangible object with a shadow and reflection etc. Even though we know he was a puppet he just comes off real for some reason. Jim Hensen at the time was estatic when he saw this because here was a huge mega movie and here was this puppet as a main character and people were captivated. The Phantom Menace in the scenes with Yoda they used the puppet but somehow with the background being CGI and other fake lighting etc it didn't look right so the went back for the Blu-ray release I believe and replaced puppet Yoda with CGI Yoda. I'll admit the space battle in the beginning of Episode III was really good and was the better movie than the first episodes.

 

I can't image them bothering with that. There is so much uncharted territory to work with.

 

To be honest I bet they were approached years ago so determine their interest. Then sworn to secrecy. You know that Disney purchase was in process for a long time. I bet this was all handled together.

 

A lovely dream, but to improve the prequels they would need all new scripts too, and I just don't see that happening.

 

I agree. Episodes II and III suffered from overuse of CGI. So many of the scenes were obviously filmed on sets that were 90% green screen with the actors "reacting" to invisible CGI creations. It makes it look like a cartoon.

Lord of the Rings used CGI much more smartly. They had a lot more location shooting, used real costumed extras, and also models.

 

Rather than try to reimagine the prequels I would rather have them do side projects like film "Splinter of a Mind's Eye" and show a completely alternate story. Animation would be good for something like this.

 

Interesting idea. I used to have that book. IIRC, it was Lucas' plan b to film Splinter of the Mind's Eye as a low budget sequel to Star Wars if Star Wars were not a hit.

 

It will be a monster hit, too many generations love the Star Wars universe for it to be a flop. Everyone will give this movie a chance since Lucas isn't behind it anymore. The ultimate box office will depend on how entertaining Abrams makes it.

 

Truthfully, I'll be happy if they approach the feel of ROTJ. I believe the elements are in place for Episode VII to work as a proper sequel, which may help erase the awful memories of the prequels.

 

Dark Horse did make a 4 issue comic out of it. I haven't read it yet. In the story Luke and Leia are not siblings and Vader is not their father.

 

I liked Splinter of the Mind's Eye, though it's awfully dated. It sorta does have that feeling of a possible low budget sequel... Luke defeats Vader and there is sexual tension between Luke and Leia on a misty jungle planet that would help defray the cost of background shots (pretty much what you may have thought as a plausible 'further adventure' back in 1978 when it was released). It uses one of Lucas' abandoned plot ideas from his early Star Wars story treatments, the Kaiburr/Kiber crystal. Biggest downer is no Han or Chewie. I'd take the Yuzzem over the Ewoks any day though

Some of the novels/comics could make for a good animated tv series or special perhaps, but there's no way these things would be made into a live action feature film.

The comic adapation is pretty good too.

 

I was a bit curious about those Dark Horse comics but haven't read any of them.

 

They replaced the puppet with CGI because of advances in resolution and quality it had nothing to do with this. Lucas would have gone with the CGI Yoda but wasn't satisfied with the quality at the time prior to the blu-ray.

 

In a sense his two Star Trek movies were trial runs for these. I always thought that Kirk was like Luke and McCoy like Han Solo.

 

Oh dear, that doesn't bode well - I thought the two Trek movies were rather pedestrian, personally...

 

I enjoyed them for what they were. They had all the hallmarks of an Abrams movie. Heck, the ship that Kirk and company take down to Kronos looked a bit like the Millenium Falcon.

 

Perhaps Carrie Fisher is only going to be in a flashback scene. They could use computers to make her younger and we see Leia giving birth to her and Han's twins and then she dies in childbirth seconds after giving them names due to giving up and dying of a broken heart. Nah, that sound incredibly friggin stupid and no competent screen writer would ever do that.

 

So I guess the question is....who will be in the queue opening night?

I won't. Learned my lesson at a midnight screening of Phantom Crevice. But chances are I'll see it some other time.

 

This same argument could be made in favor of every change done to the original trilogy, you know... Paraphrasing Lucas: "This is how I always wanted it to be, but the technology prevented me from doing it." It is said that he almost put a CGI Yoda over the Yoda in Empire and Jedi for the blu-ray release. You're right about what you put above, though.