ST Worried for Episode VII?

Vision.

 

I disagree.

Their are certain curveballs that a film like Star Wars simply can't pull without destroying itself.

And that is one of them.

 

How so? A vision with Vader to the next generation Skywalker/Solo showing them that falling to the Dark Side is possible is too much? Or Luke getting a vision of Driver or someone falling and tying Vader into it somehow. Dark Side Cave on Dagobah. Have to change it up a bit this time but don't see how it is a problem.
There also could be a recording of Vader from the old days.

 

I am worried. Specially since I heard one of the writers was let go because he wanted to focus on the new characters instead of the Big 3. I know a lot of people are excited to have them back, but from a story stand point, what more can you do with them at age they are being presented??? Plus the rumors going around really scare me....They sound too EUish for me and just plain fan service. After TCW,it's difficult for me to be completely hyped for this movie I was when we found out the last log awaited three were indeed going to be made. I don't doubt the movie itself will be fantastic but the story could leave much to be desired.

 

I reckon it would be better if you had a young big name celebrity like Natalie Portman in there. She could return as a force ghost. She did marry the chosen one and gave birth to extremely powerful force users. Plus it's called the force awakens, so maybe an unexplained surge in the force allows her to return as a force ghost

 

^ As bad as clone Palpatine and Darth Luke sorry.

 

What I think I am worried about most is the reaction of the die-hard fans who are fixated on the EU, complain endlessly already about the title, and don't have an open mind. Many casual fans out there cling to what the die-hards say and think and follow the cliche of "the first one was the best" or "those prequels were all so horrible" that whatever the most vocal groups say will dictate the reception of the film.

So in other words, the biggest fans of SW could easily be the ones that hurt the new SW the most and drive it into the ground, poisoning everyone else's opinions.

 

If it's genuinely good, even the loudest EU fans will be drowned out by the critical reception and general public's joy.

 

A vision featuring Vader, or the fact that Vader seems to have a cast a long shadow and the possibility we may explore that legacy all seem like great ways to get Vader back "in" the ST to me, and would, if well executed, do much to enhance it and tie all 9 films together.

 

The only worry for I have for Ep VII is having to use the bathroom during the movie on opening night..
Other than that, no worries whatsoever.

 

The OT movies still had good sized roles for Obi-Wan, Yoda, Anakin and Palpatine. So why shouldn't the ST movies have roles for the OT characters?

 

Ditto. I'm not even a fan of post ROJ EU, but it has kept the franchise alive for how how many years?? It's not that LucasFilm has disregarded EU before(like CW material to my annoyance)...but this is going to affect the "heart" if you will. The aggravation the films may cause could be worse than OT purists wrath towards the PT; compounded by purist discontentment it could be total chaos. I doubt Disney cares though, as long as the films are enjoyable enough & brings in a new generation of fans their ass is covered.

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The characters you mention have concrete narrative throughout the the Saga. Bringing back Han, Luke & Leia to the big screen after so many years is gamble that if not done right could turn the whole fandom against the franchise and that is what worries me.

 

Lady_Skywalker87 Every film has been a risk so far so what's one more?

 

There are very few things that would make me worried about EP7, chiefly if this film renders the others mute in terms of Villian. Bringing Vader/Emperor back as real characters who have a big sway on events would be a no no for me. If they appear in a vision/flashback/recording/ghost I would be fine with that, infact I am secretly hoping we see Vader (badass Jedi who fell to the darkside whose been there done that) appear as a ghost to one of the new guys and lecture them like Obi.

 

More reason to go for something completely new rather than work with the nostalgia factor, just my opinion.

 

Then it wouldn't be Episode 7 of the Saga.

 

Completely new is for the standalone films.

 

About eight years out of 37--those between the release of Heir to the Empire and TPM--if you're being generous. After that, SW has existed either at the cinema or on TV pretty much continuously.

1999: TPM
2002: AOTC
2005: ROTS
2008-2014: TCW
2014-??: Rebels

I think everything has shown that LFL under Kennedy care very much about bringing original fans back into the fold. Furthermore, if this film is better than the post-ROTJ EU (and really, how could it not), only the most ardent EU fans will be up in arms, and that group are about as niche and as invisible to the public as you can get.

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It's a gamble, but not having them there isn't a gamble so much as commercial suicide.

 

Point taken. I wasn't aware the EU is relatively new.

So are OT purist. That didn't stop them from waging a rage campaign against the PT. A campaign that in my opinion that affected TCW greatly as far narrative and other things. I have no desire of seeing the pattern repeat itself on the big screen.


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Not doing it with care can be one as well.

From a nostalgic point of view yes...from a pure narrative perspective not necessarily.

 

I'm not sure what you mean here by TCW being affected? IMHO, TCW was informed by Lucas' desire to explore various stories, themes and genres in SW combined with Filoni's taste for oldschool SW charm.

Anyway, I really don't think "OT purists" made a dint in public opinion--the movies did that themselves. These things largely succeed or fail on their own merits in terms of long-term public perception.

 

I like Natalie Portman, but not in the SW movies. She was incredibly bland, just sort of stood there and read lines. I would only go for this if force ghosts appeared in the nude. Speaking of - why do force ghosts where clothes? Have their clothes also reunited with the force? Or can they choose whatever ghost-outfit they want?

 

Not worried.

 

Good post. But I want to agree with what Artoo-Dion is pointing out: while the most vocal fans often drive the conversation of these fan forums, as I pointed out in another thread, that doesn't mean that the general audience or the Star Wars franchise itself are affected. I don't know that we can prove one way or another what will influence the casual Star Wars fan, but I think the movies themselves will always be the biggest causal factors.

It's not true that the PT has a negative reputation simply because a minority of OT purists talked badly about it. No, people went to the movies and many were either disappointed or ambivalent (didn't love or hate it, like me) -- this is reflected in the critical reaction, which helped drive the narrative in the popular media more than anything else. The critics are evidence that not only OT purists were unimpressed with the PT; paid experts wrote lukewarm reviews. That is an objective fact that the PT extremists try to ignore or even try to cover up.

This is why it doesn't really mean much that the PT made money -- people who didn't enjoy the films still bought tickets for them. I paid to go see TPM three times as I was trying to figure out what wasn't working for me. So I think Star Wars is the kind of franchise that still makes money when the product is not universally loved. People still love the world so much, they're willing to spend their dough while still vocalizing their discontent.

However, the problem for SW fans is really the problem of having a constructive discussion on these fan forums. Extremists from both sides, the OT and PT purists, try to control the conversations here, and they try to revise history as much as possible, and they would love to write the future of how SW fans perceive things.

That's why it's important for the fans in the middle, who love the franchise despite the occasional weaknesses, to speak up here against the ax-grinding ideologues who insist on spinning and trying to generate hate for a particular part of Star Wars.

 

Like I said before, I am much more worried about obsessive, narrow-minded fans giving it a bad name and having others jump on the bandwagon than I am about the quality of the movie itself.

 

Exactly right, though I think LFL/Disney are painfully aware that such a financially positive response despite mixed critical/public reception is not something sustainable. And for that reason, TFA needs to bowl people (and especially critics) over, just to get the franchise back to equilibrium.

And people can continue to point to lukewarm reviews of ESB from 1980 as some proof that the PT was exactly the same, but SW was such a massive juggernaut in 1980 that the odd "Yeah, it's good, but it's not as fun as Star Wars!" review would not have made an ounce of difference. Here we have the seventh movie in a 37 year old franchise opening in a climate where spectacular genre films are commonplace--you absolutely do need a strong critical response here, or at least strong word of mouth, just to cut through the noise if nothing else.

But if TFA gets the average person saying good things and the critics proclaiming "Star Wars is back!" and "The best entry in the series since 1980's The Empire Strikes Back" (both of which seem likely to me at this point) you'll see a film that will be able to compete with Marvel's Avengers at the very least.