ST And why do we think Ep VII will be a rehash?

Rehash seems to be a very common prevailing thought of some here, and I'm trying to find out why. Is it just because there's X-wings, Falcons and original cast members? Tatooines and Hoths? In other words, elements that make this a sequel? Are we mistakingly viewing the movie in the context of expanded Star Wars material, where everything went in wildy different, often mediocre directions? And forgetting the Star Wars movies are, and need to be, about the Skywalker family and the universe as established the first film. Are we completely losing our heads and judging the movie in the context of JJ's previous Star titled directorial work, that was wholly intended to be a modern retelling of old material? Am I just addressing crazy fanboys wanting to complain, at anything?

Because since we know nothing about this movie yet other than it has familiar star wars elements, needed to make it a Star Wars sequel, I am very interested to know how one could interperet the movie as being made to be simply a rehash, or what that even means.

Discuss. And only sanely, please.

 

Not in a million years with Kasdan leading the writing team, i think it'll be fresh whilst echoing ANH with a flair about that has been missing for a while.

 

Paying homage to the OT certainly isn't rehashing, in my book. I'm sure the trilogies will be completely different, only look familiar.

 

I think a rehash of the OT would be bringing back the Emperor and Darth Vader, Han Solo using the same clothes, going back to some OT planets which bringing them back would be a bit of a stretch like Hoth and Endor.

So far I'm not seeing it in EPVII, even thou JJ is using lot of elements from the OT, but he's giving a few tweaks like the new X-Wings designs. I see a more natural evolution and not a complete revolution probably some people were expecting.

 

I think for a lot of fans, the PT set the expectations for what we get in a new Star Wars trilogy (this is regardless of their actual opinion of the films). When Phantom Menace came out, it wasn't just new Star Wars, it was different Star Wars, and that surprised a lot of people. Not only was it in a different time period with a new principal cast, but the galaxy looked and behaved differently than it had before. Suddenly we were seeing the civilized areas of the galaxy, the shining towers and decadent palaces. Neither the Empire or the Rebellion existed in any form yet (we didn't even get white armored troopers till the next film). The PT in many ways seemed like it was going out of its way to not be like the OT.

Now, 15 years later, we have a director who is not the creator of the franchise but rather a child of it, we have the cast of the OT returning, we have the falcon and X Wings and Ralph McQuarrie and rumors of the Empire existing in full force. Compared to the PT, what we've seen of the making of these new films suggests they have ok qualms about recycling and resuscitating the elements and things people remember from the OT to hook people in. Whether that amounts to a "rehash" remains to be seen.

I'm actually someone who is fairly optimistic about the ST on the whole, but the people crying "rehash" aren't totally without base for their claims (even if they are way, way premature.)

 

I don't think it'll be a rehash of the OT at all. It'll start out a little familiar yet slightly different, and become even more different as the series moves forward.

 

I think it's gonna be Re-Awesome.

 

I don't see it as a rehash. My gut says it will tip its hat to the PT, to be nice, will have a look and feel of the OT, for continuity, and then add its own twist and expansion to the saga. I can't wait for this movie to come out.

 

Most of the officially revealed stuff has been of the very familiar variety, while Abrams as a theatrical director is not exactly known for doing anything that comes across in a very noticeable "jazz riff" manner (as Lucas would put it). Plus the Disney factor, as well as the commonly accepted belief that the prequels were very much disliked, so it stands to reason that the new film will go back to the more "accepted" formula.

Now, of course it's way too early for doom and gloom, and obviously it's a very safe bet a lot of unexpected/new stuff is going to happen. But at the same I think it's reasonable to believe that, while rehash probably isn't the right word as that suggests an automatic negative, there's a good chance that the film might come across in a manner that indicates the creative team made a bit of an effort to play it safe. I know I would have different expectations if it were a situation where, say, del Toro was directing and Arndt was still writing or co-writing. Not more positive expectations, but different.

 

It's a sequel to 'Return of the Jedi'. Get over it.

 

I watched the John Adams miniseries on HBO loved it, BUT then I saw Lincoln and felt cheated, the same White House in Adams was in Lincoln....the nerve! Are we expected to believe that the president of the United States lives in pretty much the same building? I was equally disappointed when I saw these men riding horseback....

 

Not too thrilled about another super-weapon. TPM was a 'rehash' of sorts. The finale had a land battle, lightsabre duel, and a space battle. Oh yeah, and an awards ceremony.

 

Don't think it'll be a rehash Instead it will incorporate the same tones of the original trilogy. Which is by no means a rehash. However I don't have much hope for the new trilogy .

 

I'm really afraid it will be a rehash and can't seem to get the idea out of my head, but Kasdan being apart of the team give me hope.

 

Its a direct sequel to the OT. Rehash isn't the word, but of course there will be familiar and somewhat identical elements. Like Rabs said up there, I think it will be very familiar in VII and move on from there.

 

A lot of these rumors make it sound like a rehash but I don't believe most of these rumors and everything we have actually seen shows its an evolution.

 

Its really hard to not throw around the "rehash" word because we have so many of the same concepts.

A war in the stars
A Jedi named Luke Skywalker
X-Wings and the Falcon

That's like saying DS9 was a rehash of the orig Trek because it contained the Federation, starships, and a Captain.

 

Why would you say that?

Kasdan's work on TESB and RotJ was really quite different to ANH - if anything it would "echo" those, not the first one. He isn't "leading" either - he'd be at most equal with Abrams.

And he hasn't done anything remotely interesting in years. Not since Wyatt Earp in the mid-90s.

I'm not saying he'll be terrible - Abrams and Kasdan will deliver a great script I'm sure. Kasdan's work on Star Wars and Indiana Jones is solid.

As to a rehash? I have this concern every now and again - that "recapturing the spirit" malarkey that was being spouted a few months back got me worried, but I try to be positive.

I don't want the new movies to be, or look too much like, the Originals, or the Prequels.

I want them to be their own thing, but just fit in with the previous films - share elements but be mostly new.

 

The galaxy didn't look different (tattooine?), we just saw planets we hadn't before, which this trilogy will do too. The Empire and Rebellion didn't exist based on the story the prequels were always going to tell, logically they still will exist for this trilogy. Your really wrong use of the word 'recycling' is precisely what I'm talking about.
ezekiel22x Production design cannot be equated with 'playing it safe', sorry. And I cant even imagine what you think a "Jazz Riff manner" is..

 

I think rehash is thrown around because all the confirmed stuff are old things. The only named planet is tatooine. We have a slightly tweeked X-wing and the Falcon for confirmed ships. Only the returning cast members have announced roles. It is kinda understandable.

 

You don't seem to understand, TPM echoed ANH just as AOYC echoed ESB just as ROTS echoed ROTJ. It would make zero sense for Ep VII to echo anything other than TPM and ANH and i doubt they'd break from such a traditional sequence anyway.

 

There was "echoes", yes, but they were not the same - different stories, designs, characters, etc.

That is a far cry from a "rehash".

Actually, most of the hate directed at the Prequels is because it is so different to the Originals - so those people actually wanted a "rehash" but felt they didn't get it.

And you haven't answered the comments on Kasdan.

 

Let me expand a little on what Rabs had to say:

The thing about TPM, as you've said, is that of all the PT films it was the MOST different from the OT in terms of design, characterization, etc. because it was the furthest back in time FROM the OT; the further forward in time you moved, through AOTC to ROTS, the more things began to look and feel more like elements of the OT were in play, and of course the end of ROTS looks a LOT like the OT, even though it is still separated from the events of the OT by about twenty years.

Now consider Episode VII in that context. Sure, it's been thirty, thirty-five years, but the passage of twenty years meant nothing in regards to seeing OT elements in ROTS, so of course it shouldn't mean anything now. And the logic would need to work in reverse as well: the closer we are in time to the OT period, the more OT elements we should be seeing; the further away, the less elements. So I'm not remotely surprised that Episode VII has OT elements, and I don't regard that as "rehashing." The further forward in time we move, through Episode VIII to Episode IX, the more things should look and feel different.

For these reasons, the inclusion of things like the Falcon and X-wings, etc., seems to me to be entirely logical and natural. It doesn't say rehash - the script will determine if it is or isn't, not comparatively minor things like whether certain OT-related elements are present or not.

 

In the end of the prequel trilogy, I realized all I wanted to see was more OT stuff.