Speculation Non "Episode" Star Wars movies, should they open with crawl, etc.?

That's what most action films do nowadays. I like it. It feels a bit more realistic.

 

I think that they should keep the familiar format, only for the 'episodes' which in my opinion should only be used for the really big epic stories, and maybe only for Skywalker related stores. For the rest of the 'spinoff' movies, they can experiment and do different things .

 

Why not! They can explain a young Han, Chewie and Lando arriving here and now, via a tear in a space time continuum (?) and that they are delivering super wedges to EU fans!

 

This is a tough one and it brings up some questions for me. The opening crawl is a direct lift from the Saturday matinee serials, which serve as the basis of the entire package in which the Star Wars narrative is housed. This includes the story being told in multiple episodes, screen wipes, and the general style of the acting as well as the feel of the movies themselves. If even one element is removed, then will all the rest come tumbling down like a house of cards until the end result doesn't even resemble Star Wars anymore, or will they pick and choose the elements they use even when it doesn't make sense within the framework of the films? For this reason I'm not sure I even want to see standalone films, as they don't fit in with the Saturday matinee serial mold, unless they go back to the original idea of ANH and present them as individual parts of a larger story that you'll never get to see. On the other hand, I would in no way rule out the possibility that there won't even be any standalone films, and that they will just continue the story into the future, generation to generation, while keeping the episode numbers intact. The problem with this, however, is that at a point it becomes absurd, and Hollywood is generally wary of using large numbers in the titles of sequels. All in all, I'm not sure how they should do it. I almost wish they'd just finish the ST and leave it the hell alone aside from the TV realm, but that isn't going to happen.

 

I have no problem with the non-Episode movies having a different opening.
Although having the crawl would add a nice touch to the movies. However I don't think it will be the case.

 

I was just going to post the same thing. The way Clone Wars does it gives you the feel of Star Wars without taking away from the real story - the films.

 

I like the crawl being used but if we had to change that I wouldn't mind the intro for the old Cone Wars Series. Maybe have In Trouble Again

 

Still need the Title Card, still need the Long time ago...

 

Well, I do think there's a lot of potential in the "spin off" idea to actually break with the format. I mean, just look at the wealth of different Star Wars based stuff out there in books and comics and games, they don't exactly replicated the saturday matinee serial feel, they just take a very specific corner of the SW universe and run with it. I love stories set in the Star Wars universe, and I love the central series but I think if The Mouse wants to take the series in different directions then the spin-off flicks should be tonally different and actually break with the format. All of the stylistic quirks that go with the Star Wars series should and must continue if it's an "episode" but there's real potential to play around with exactly what type of stories there are in Star Wars movies to present to a mainstream audience. Do we really need space battles and Jedi in every movie? If it's a part of the main series, hell frakin yeah. After that, I'd rather see movies that tried to be different than just be imitations of what is supposed to be in the Star Wars series. Actually, if the spin offs are really different, it increases the idea of the "main" series being a very special, very unique thing than if there's a bunch of Star Wars movies that all just kinda look, sound, and act the same way. Which goes way way back to the original post in the thread, just how do you kick off these other films to make them distinct?

 

This is a solid list on the site hitfix about spin-off movies, some of the suggestions are solid, some are downright silly and meant to be jokes but the idea is there - if you're gonna do it then be different.

http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/whi...you-like-to-see-get-their-own-spin-off-film#1

Probably my fav idea is this one:


Who: The worst Stormtrooper in the world
From: 'Star Wars'
What we would like to see: While this widely-distributed photo makes a great joke out of one of the most memorable moments from 'A New Hope,' we'd like to see a low-budget movie that traces the downward spiral of death stick abuse and self-destruction that this Stormtrooper follows as he realizes that his one moment of weakness led to the end of the system of life that he had so eagerly embraced. Shot in black-and-white on a budget of less than a million dollars and directed by Shane Caruth, this is 'Star Wars' reimagined as existential despair.

Also this one:

Who: Salacious Crumb
From: 'Return of The Jedi'
What we would like to see: An epic road movie, telling the story of what happens when Salacious Crumb is accidentally carried out of Jabba The Hutt's palace and shipped to the far side of the galaxy. His struggle to get home to his beloved corpulent gangster overlord is a heartwarming holiday comedy for the whole family. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll believe a creepy little bird-monkey thing actually loves his life of servitude and bondage.

 

Yeah but you can get away with that in other mediums where the stakes aren't as high. Do you really think a large movie-going audience will pay to see a Star Wars movie without Jedi and space battles?

 

Maybe. There might be an audience for a gritty story who are all Jedi-ed out.

 

I'll grant you Jedi... maybe. But space battles are an absolute must in any movie with Star Wars in the title.

 

At which point, you go back to stuff like brand name awareness, how much cash is thrown at it, what the profit margin is and all that jazz. Like Marvel actually did a bunch of very different movies, Captain American is a freakin' world war II movie with superheroes which it's just bizarre that it even exists. But the brand carried it through to get people in there and they actually got a different film stylistically out of what is usually makes up a super hero flick. And Disney said they wanted to follow the Marvel idea with Lucasfilm. So the way I see it, is you have your "episodes" which are the standards, your meat and potatoes, which continues the saga. That will always be there (but, like you said, if they just keep sequentially numbering it's gonna get absurd around Episode 14, y'know?) then take the different route for the other flicks. Also like you said, ANH in it's original idea is actually meant to just be like the audience member randomly walked into the wrong theatre and just sat through the middle part of a sci-fi serial and had no idea what was going on. Keep that spirit alive and just run with it. We'll always have the saga to go back to (much like how Marvel is gonna run off in different directions in their movies but they always come back to The Avengers)

 

Hey, no knock against space battles, I done love them to death and would sit through a freakin 2 hour space battle. But, if The Mouse isn't throwing the entire pit of money at a movie, then, hey, maybe there can be a star wars movie without a space dogfight, depending on what type of story is being told. Which is, by that point, really start breaking with the format and don't do the "crawl" and "horn blast" and all that bidness.

 

Okay then you'll get Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which did away with the naval battles and grossed the least amount of money domestically out of any of the POTC films. I enjoyed it better than the sequels, but I'm not the public.

 

Damn good question. There is little doubt in my mind that repeated SW movies over time are simply going to cheapen the experience of the originals. If you must put out movies every year or two, then you might as well go ahead and put the crawl up there! On the other hand, maybe the originals could be kept unique by the exclusion of the crawls in other "films".

One thing is certain. Its a great time to be a SW fan. The future of this saga is unfolding right in front of us.

 

It might end up being the best time to be a fan, while we can still be optimistic about the future of Star Wars. Once these movies start rolling out... who knows?

 

I love the first sentence of the commentary on episode one. I think Disney should do their own thing with the braand. They paid for it so they should do whatever they want & focus on the newer next generation fans.

 

Really? I had no idea that you felt that way

 

no need to be rude.

 

Sorry. No offense intended but you're right. I've just seen you say that same thing so many times now that I couldn't help myself. I'm usually not that guy.

I'll just say I respectfully disagree and be done with it.

 

The ultimate goal for the Disney Trilogy, is to make money. Disney needs to get a return on their investment. Id rather them make 3 star wars movies a year and let many different directors take a crack at it. That would be great for me as a Star Wars fan.

 

Personally speaking, I have more confidence in the depth of the Star Wars universe to get a variety of different types of movies as opposed to the range you can get outta the POTC-verse.

 

I like the idea of any non-episode SW film having an alternate opening like that do on the Clone Wars series. Familiar variation of the SW openings.