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Discussion How alien should Star Wars aliens get?

Discussion in 'Archive: Disney Era Films' started by Loupgarou, Jul 27, 2013.

  1. Loupgarou

    Loupgarou Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 19, 2010
    One of the appeals of star wars to me, as opposed to other sci-fi franchises, is how monstrous the aliens can be while still being sapient and capable of good and evil. Very few are just people-plus-one-wierd-thing aliens (Zabrak and Twileks being these exeptions). There have been a few restrictions though, with almost all aliens being humanoid and clothes wearing, and often a species is really just a human body with an animal head. This is largely due to the limitations of costumes. But now, with the advancements in both CG and practical effects since even the prequels, even the most bizarre design could be given life. My question is, how far out there can a sapient alien design be and still be believable to you? Similarly, should more animal designs be regulated as having animal minds? Would a Tauntaun member of government really be harder to accept than a wookiee? Note that I Don't really want tauntauns piloting ships, they've already been shown to have more animal style intelligence, while wookiees more like people. But if they were portrayed differently, would you buy it?
     
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  2. MillionthVoice

    MillionthVoice Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2013
    Wasn't there a furry snake dude on the Jedi Council in TPM? And what about Jabba?
    I think the existence of starfish aliens is good for credibility. The one species I have trouble with are actually the togruta (Ahsoka's species), they don't make sense, they are too alien and too human-like at the same time. I keep thinking they are near-humans with some traditional headwear but they are apparently supposed to be evolved predators of some kind. I hope for new strange aliens and old too.
     
  3. Bobatron

    Bobatron Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    Lately there seems to be a trend in movies of alien adversaries being completely mysterious, mostly unseen, violent beings. Battle: Los Angeles, Battleship...Pacific Rim, and I think it was the weakest part of Super 8. It's like they take what's in Alien or Starship Troopers and either have them as creatures or as intelligent life with machines and or clothes. I don't really want to see that with STAR WARS. I like when there is better interaction and the aliens are just other civilized beings. The creatures serve their purposes. I hope to see more humans anyway. The aliens of the first two movies stood out more--someone on the commentary track stated the TESB bounty hunter scene was that episode's version of the cantina scene, which at the time was something new and fascinating before every other movie did it (and before we got use to watching those movies.)
     
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  4. Eeth-my-Koth

    Eeth-my-Koth Jedi Grand Master star 9

    Registered:
    May 25, 2001
    We need to see Luke training a jellyfish Padawan.
    [​IMG]
     
  5. my kind of scum

    my kind of scum Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2002
    I would like to see a few more alien races that are non-bipedal, personally. I don't know how crazy you want to get with SW alien design, but a couple of races in the background that get a bit out there could be fun. I know they tried to get a bioluminescent alien into ROTJ but couldn't get the effect to work - could be cool for that idea to come back...
     
  6. WatTamborWoo

    WatTamborWoo Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 22, 2011
    Interesting. I had not heard that. Was there any concept art published of the bioluminescent alien?

    Two of the most successful aliens in SW are Chewbacca and Jabba on opposite ends of the "alien" scale. Their success comes from the writing - making them interact seemlessly with the story and other characters. They are just believable as denizens in the overall story. Whatever is added as part of the new stage of the SW saga, whether alien or character, is cool with me if it comes from good writing. I must say I was really pleased to see those pictures from CE II with Abrams, Lucas and Kennedy. It showed, to me at least, that care is going into the story and ideas for the writers. Also Kennedy looked relaxed which bodes well that the writing is going smoothly.
     
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  7. FRAGWAGON

    FRAGWAGON Jedi Master star 4

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    Nov 3, 2012
    Ooh I like that.
     
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  8. my kind of scum

    my kind of scum Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2002
    All I've seen is a photo of a person wearing a costume covered with lightbulbs. I'll try and locate that shot, but there weren't images of what the final creature would look like as far as I know.
    Edit: Here's the image that I had seen:
    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Lightman
    Not sure where I read/heard about what they were trying to do with the character as there's nothing about it on Wookieepedia.
     
  9. acroyear7

    acroyear7 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 11, 2006
    I want to see some really, REALLY exotic aliens and much less cgi muppets. I was disappointed in the alien Jedi in the prequels because they really didn't stand out. I like Adi-Ki Muni (or whatever his name is). But I want to see some truly imaginative aliens. Ep. 7 is the perfect opportunity to go 'all out'.
     
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  10. WatTamborWoo

    WatTamborWoo Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 22, 2011
    Wow! It reminded me a little bit of Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhatten during filming of Watchmen. He had to wear lots of lights in order to get a glow coming from Dr. Manhattens body on the characters around him.
     
  11. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    For a major character, the audience should be able to identify with it or at least understand its emotional state and/or thought processes. If an alien is too different from humanity, it ought to be either a big mystery or just a background image. That was a big part of why Star Trek: The Motionless Picture failed; audiences had no idea what they were looking at when V'ger appeared. I heard Leonard Nimoy describe the movie as "Two hours of the bridge crew watching the viewscreen and saying, What is it? I don't know." Too much focus on something so bizarre that it's incomprehensible to the viewer is boring and frustrating, which is not what I want out of SW.
     
  12. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2000
    Abrams has had a couple of good creature designs in his films; the alien in Super Eight had this nice ape-reptile-insect thing going on. The human-scale parasites in Cloverfield were good too, I thought.
     
  13. Krueger

    Krueger Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2004
    I’ve always like the fact that Star Wars aliens have always looked alien (apart from when they look like people in elaborate Halloween costumes). Like Hammerhead, Bossk, Yak Face, or the Whiphid and Amanaman (don't know if I got that right). Yeah, some of them were men (and women) in suits, but the designs were (usually) utterly alien and otherworldly. That’s why I never liked Star Trek as a kid. The aliens were usually pretty ridiculous-looking. I hope Abrams continues the trend. The aliens in Jabba's palace had some great designs, but obviously due to technological constraints they couldn't pull them off. That is no longer an issue. I really want to see some freaky things. CGI is a must, IMO, if they want to pull off some truly otherworldly designs.
     
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  14. Darth Eddie

    Darth Eddie Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 14, 2013
    How alien should Star Wars aliens get?

    As alien as they can be.
     
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  15. darklordoftech

    darklordoftech Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    A scientist once said that realistically, aliens wouldn't resemble humans in any way.
     
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  16. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    I would say that they should continue the pattern that has been established by previous SW films. That is to say, there is a great variety in body types and looks. Lots of different and interesting aliens to enjoy, but they are also all on about the same level playing field. Some are smarter, some are stronger, but they are all essentially equal. You don't have the godlike Q beings of Star Trek as an example.
     
  17. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    Keep 'em coming, the weirder, the better. It's a hallmark of Star Wars for me, and I'd dare say that one of the reasons ESB feels the least "Star Warsy" in some respects is that it's kind of mundane in the alien department.
     
  18. Echo-07

    Echo-07 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
    I want plenty of aliens -- moreso than in the new Trek movies -- and am happy that JJ prefers practical aliens over CGI. So long as the CGI aliens are limited I think I will be pleased.
     
  19. Krueger

    Krueger Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2004
    Exactly. I think the odds of alien life looking like us is something ridiculous, like a trillion to one or something. Another reason why I always hated that side of Star Trek.
     
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  20. Little Mike

    Little Mike Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2013
    There was this thing in the cantina:

    [​IMG]

    I read that it was literally a sock puppet, but it worked. There's also the spider monks in Jabba's Palace - they're not actually aliens, they're brains in jars on a robot spider, but it's still a good weird concept.
    Sebulba was pretty far out - walking on his hands.

    So yeah, they should take things as far as they can, but not too Star Trek, I don't want to see floating balls of light talking to anyone. Maybe aquatic characters?
     
  21. EviL_eLF

    EviL_eLF Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 16, 2003
    Most Star Trek Aliens, they just add some ridges to the nose or forehead or neck and call it an alien race. Star Wars has always been much more creative... getting anything from the Hutts to the Dugs (Sebulba) and anything in between like the Kaminoans and Toydarians.

    I'd like to see a regular Verpine character in the ST.
     
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  22. LANDO_ROCKS

    LANDO_ROCKS Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2002
    I liked the prevalence of humans in the OT, you just can't get the same sort of emotion from crazy CGI things.

    Sure put a few weird aliens here and there but I don't want the ST to be hours of conversations between a bucket of slime and a worm of some kind.
     
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  23. WatTamborWoo

    WatTamborWoo Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 22, 2011
    Just watched the video of Warwick Davis interviewing Iain McCaig and Doug Chang backstage at CEII.
    They emphasised that whatever design they came up with it had to real world based but changed or else it would just be a passing fad. If I remember rightly they had Teryl Whitlatch for TPM who was an excellent wildlife illustrator and could give reality to the joints and skins etc of any aliens created. That is how they were able to come up with such great designs for Sebulba and Watto. Perhaps they have a similar approach too for the ST. Using real world animals, for example, and extending them to make them 'weird' aliens.
     
  24. El Jedi Colombiano

    El Jedi Colombiano Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2013
    Not like Yuuzhan Vong type.
     
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  25. DantheJedi

    DantheJedi Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 2009
    As long as they don't have anything like this alien from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:

    [​IMG]

    , we'll be good to go.

    (C'mon man, this poor guy can't even open his mouth wide enough to eat something like an apple!)