Discussion Could "The Force Awakens" receive some backlash from fans after its release?

If there is any backlash of TFA, it will be insignificant to the power of the PT backlash.

 

Do not underestimate the powers of the fandom backlash, or suffer the fate of the PT you will

 

Don't try to frighten us with your pessimistic ways, Lord ObidioJuan. Your sad devotion to that depressing outlook has not helped you conjure up a solid argument, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the meaning behind-.....

 

Once you start down the path of fandom backlash, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will! As it did the PT.

 

It can receive backlash and it WILL receive backlash -- why should anyone care?

They will keep making these movies until they stop -- and I will see them all regardless of fan backlash -- I really only care about my own thoughts.

Like all movies - they are subject to opinion.

 

Already some backlash in the form of the "Boycott Star Wars VII" trend... but I find that highly suspicious in that its incredibly difficult to actually pinpoint the actual inflammatory postings, rather everyone's reaction (including J.J.'s). Either a publicity stunt, or an extreme overreaction to a small group of people who never deserved that spotlight.

As far as the response from fans after its release, it's hard to not look at the new film through jaded eyes in light of the prequels. I enjoyed every bit of the prequel era, but there's the overwhelming corner of fans that will rip them to shreds (I obviously don't need to elaborate). What I'm seeing in the trailers is much the same as the prequels (new characters, same effects, etc.), yet it's being built up by the hype machine all over again... not unlike the Phantom Menace. I'm going to try to block everything out and enjoy it for what it is, but there's simply some people who won't be satisfied because it's not made in the 70s/80s. And we will be hearing about their opinion.

 

It'll receive backlash, every movie does, it is more a question of how popular and mainstream will the backlash be?

 

I'm betting hipsters will start lashing out at OT stuff. "I hated Star Wars before hating Star Wars was cool."
#FreddyMercury

 

...what I told you was true, from a certain POV. Chewiewe'reHome you're going to find out that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly to our own POV. The Star Wars was a good trilogy, when I first saw it I was amazed about the SFX and the silly yet deep plot, I took upon myself to become a fan, I thought that all Star Wars will be good, I was wrong, when GL made the PT they ceased to be the great Star Wars movies and became bantha poodoo, when that happened the good Saga that was Star Wars was destroyed.
...to protect the new trilogy from GL it was sold to Disney, they knew as I did if GL was to direct and produce another Star Wars trilogy it will a threat to the legacy, that is why TFA has remained for the most part secretive.

 

If you read the "what are your fears about TFA" thread, you will see backlash is inevitable. Some say "I want it to be mostly the big 3", some say "I want new stuff", some say "I don't want it to focus on Solo, I want it to focus on Luke", or "let's explore the new people". They can't meet all those expectations. I am excited for what's coming. I have my expectations and hopes but if I don't get them, hopefully there'll be a good explanation as to why I didn't get them and I'll accept it for what it is.

If I don't like the movie, which will be hard for me not to like, I can simply ignore this and go back to just loving the OT.

 

The trailer looks sweet, the director is possibly the best qualified guy and the person I'd have chosen anyway, the new characters look very interesting, and the setting so far looks inspired. Let's not forget the returning cast and crew from the OT.

Its going to be hard to deliver a crap movie from this standpoint.

Yes, the new movie will have its detractors (it already does), but its not going to come from me. I'm going to the theatre with positive expectations (not ludicrously high expectations). The movie won't have to be better than the OT ones to win me over, all I'm asking for is it to be better than the PT. But that last trailer really blew my hair back, DAMN!

 

That's exactly how I feel. You put it perfectly.

 

Right? I remember my first showing of RotS and seeing the Battle of Coruscant. I said, well, something that can't be repeated on a family friendly board. But I was blown away in the same way that three-year-old me was blown away by Luke fighting his way onto Jabba's sail barge. If I get a moment or two like that in TFA (and I'm guessing that's a pretty safe bet from these trailers,) we'll have a great addition to the six we already have.

 

The last hour of RotS... Man, oh man... And I remember lots of tears all around me both when Obi-Wan says "you were my brother" and when Luke and Leia are born. All the "I hate the prequels" people were crying!

 

If the film has a good story, that continues on the Skywalker saga, then I don't think there will be anyone complaining about the nostalgia afterwards. But there will undoubtedly backlash from fans of the EU; some of it will be for legitimate reasons, some of it irrational; I may even be one of those people, but hopefully not.

For myself, I fear that they will kill off one of the major OT characters. While this would provide a huge emotional reaction, personally I liked to think that they all had that fairy tale ending, and to ignore that is to ignore what Star Wars, at its heart, is; a fantastical fairytale.

 

Some people just like to criticize it's in their nature.

One thing I've learned is that Trailers are not always a good indication of how good a movie will be. In many cases the only good thing about a movie is the Trailer (or the opening/closing credits, man I've seen some really nice credit designs on really awful movies).

I remember being super excited when the teaser trailer for TPM came out. Before I heard Jar-jar speak or his antics. The full trailer also blew me away. The movie is good in some parts and really awful in others. Some things I was really banging my head against the wall and I sometimes skip those scenes when I watch it again.

 

There's no doubt there will be some backlash to the movie in a knee-jerk way. A small part of me is preparing for a TPM/AOTC-ish scenario, where everyone is excited and happy and distracted by a shiny new Star Wars film, but after some time, the gloss wears off and people start to get savage with it. Like others, I'm going in with some positive expectations (it's taken a lot of work to keep them tempered), and as long as it's better than the PT, I'll be happy. I mean, come on, it's Star Wars!

 

I'm going to start issuing some backlash for my own at all the "as long as it's better than the PT" comments.

 

Hey, don't get me wrong, I still love the prequels because c'mon, they're Star Wars! But that's for another thread haha.

 

It could work the opposite way too. I remember when I saw the Gravity trailer for the first time at the theater. Everyone was laughing. Then it won 7 Oscars.

 

There will always be fans who find something at fault with a new movie. The problem with Star Wars in particular is that everyone has what they think Star Wars should be and if it doesn't meet that expectation it's considered garbage. The Prequel hate seems to stem from the fact that fans were expecting the same level of film as the OT, but it was in a totally different environment - both in the context of the popular culture and the state of the film industry. The same applies to the new trilogy, which will be even further removed from Episodes IV-VI. Hopefully, these new films will be very strong, and the differences won't matter to those hardcore fans, but there are some who will never settle for anything other than the OT or, in the case of younger fans, the OT and the PT or maybe even just the PT...you never know. Each fan is different and has their own expectations as to what Star Wars should be.

I guarantee there will be a vocal portion of the fanbase who determine for themselves that this new trilogy is not what they believe Star Wars should be.

 

In a way it's really not a fair expectation to set.

How many films have blown you away to the extent you're hoping TFA will blow you away? How many films have you seen that fall short of that? All films are made with the best intentions.

This movie has had a production that is typical for an average Hollywood blockbuster. The writing process had it's kinks with Michael Arndt not being able to deliver a script of any sort on time; Abrams and Kasdan started from scratch and it wasn't polished until production was already underway. Again, typical fro an average Hollywood blockbuster.

It may be enough. I saw Star Trek (2009) four times in the cinema. If TFA has a ten minute sequence that compares with the opening to that movie, then as far as I'm cocerned Abrams and Star Wars has lived up to it's potential. If it turns out to be more of an Into Darkness then I will consider it a disappointment.

But you won't hear any complaining from me. I've never been able to shake the sentiment that incessant whining about bad movies is kind of pathetic. Criticism is one thing, having a few rants online makes sense, all films are subject to it. Backlash is a fanboy phenomenon and therefore very much a Star Wars phenomenon.

It kind of reminds me of this idea surrounding the Republican presidential primary candidates and how everyone fawns over Ronald Reagan: the party has changed so mcuh since the 80s that they'd reject another Reagan if one stood. (Sorry for the offense this analogy may cause to any Republican readers!) It's analogous to Star Wars though. I don't believe diehard Star Wars fans as a whole would be capable of accepting another Empire Strikes Back if one came along this Christmas.

There will be backlash even if it scores 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. Backlash is a function of the movie but it's also a function of the fans.

 

To me films that are good are those that can take the test of time and when I watch them 20 or 30 years after they came out I still enjoy them, not because of nostalgia but because they're good and fun to watch.
And I know they're good because my offspring (now adults themselves), also enjoy those films even though they were made many years ago.

And not because they won Oscars or have fan-following. Heck some examples won no Oscars at all.

Their favorite Star Wars is either ESB or ROTJ. Even though they watched PT first.

Back to the Future (any of them)
Jaws but none of the sequels
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Blade runner
Indiana Jones (specially the first two)
Wizard of Oz
2001
The Matrix (but not the sequels)
etc.

I agree with Raz Zaphon about backlash being a StarWars fandom thing. And as I posted before people will complain of any thing:

For example:
If the OT characters get a lot of screen time then some people will complain that the new characters didn't get enough. If the opposite happens and the OT characters are reduced to glorified cameos then other people will complain. If the screen time is split between the new and old then other people will complain that either group didn't have more screen time.

The same will be about the ships designs.

Costumes.

Acting

Dialog.

Lightsabers and/or duels.

Story.

Locations and planets.

Scene transitions ( will we still have the swipe transitions between scenes?)

Aliens (not enough, too many, stereotypes, etc.)

The list is too long to even post. I think you get the point.

 

Yeah, that's the standard for it really. I keep thinking of The Dark Knight. It was a classic when I saw it. It's a classic now. I'm sure it'll be a classic still in another ten years. I'd argue Nolan scored 1/3 for making his Batman movies into classics.

I wish there were a predictive model that could determine a films chance of being one. Any stats nerds posting here?