ST Your Expectations for Episode VII

I'm sure the visuals will be what we all expect. The challenge is having a solid story line and strongly developed characters. I think that is what has kept the OT relevant all these years. Sure the visuals were revolutionary for 1977, but I think it is the story and the characters that make it impressive in the year 2015. The prequels had far superior visuals, but a weak story and not very memorable characters for the most part.

 

Thankfully it sounds like we're getting an interesting cast of characters for the ST. Rey, in particular, sounds like a really compelling lead protagonist. Finn also should offer a new character dynamic we haven't really seen in the series before, with his journey from Stormtrooper to redemption.

 

I've read several of these types of threads now and it just reinforces for me what a miracle of its time ANH actually was.

All you've got to do is have a great story with a great script that's funny and charming and fun but at the same time gives you a sense that something serious is at stake (with great villains who present a real sense of danger) and incredible visuals no one has ever seen before and acted by a magnificent cast and edited superbly so it moves right along and with an underpinning of mythology and spirituality that resonates deeply with a secular culture and with a soundtrack scored by the 20th century American equivalent of Tchaikovsky who somehow produces yet another towering masterpiece to accompany it all.

Oh, and all we want for TFA is all of that, PLUS we want to rekindle our sense of nostalgia while at the same time moving on from cliched tropes and we want it to introduce new characters into new situations -- who interact in clever new ways with the old characters and don't steal too much of their screen time -- who find themselves in new perils but it must manage to be fresh and appeal to new generations of moviegoers and by the way leave a few plot points (but not too many!) dangling so we can set up the sequels.

No problem.

p.s. I'm not trolling anybody with this, btw; a lot of people very wisely seem to have put their expectations aside -- just reflecting on what a huge job this is. I always thought John Williams' use in the 2nd teaser of the cue from TESB where Luke raises the X-Wing from the swamp was his nod toward JJ's herculean task here...

 

The story of the prequels is not "weak" but the dialogue is, and since the dialogue has to help carry the movie, the Prequels suffer. I enjoy the novels of the Prequels more because it helps me understand the character motivations.

The characters are more memorable from the novelizations of the movies, but not necessarily the Prequel movies themselves and if you're just going off the movies, that is a problem.

 

Love this post, especially the Tchaikovsky analogy.

Yes, they have a huge task ahead of them, and will be ripped apart for somehow being incompetent if they don't meet the expectations of some. :/

My expectation: That it will be a fun way to kill a few hours with the gf and kids. Anything above that is gravy.

 

I expect it to rival my current favorite this year - Mad Max: Fury Road. If it manages to make me buy the ticket at least three times, it's a success.

 

I expect a very engaging, fast-paced, fun movie-going experience with good dialogue (even though I don't care all that much about dialogue quality), good acting, and engaging story-telling. I DON'T expect much originality from it, going by what I've seen and heard. You never know, though. I could be pleasantly surprised in that area.

 

My expectations are through the roof. However, when it comes to Star Wars, my standards are fairly flexible. With what I have seen and what we know, there is very little room left for disappointment.

 

Nicely said... love for Star Wars tends to be flexible, especially if you don't mind occasional bumps along the road. Still, this looks to be that one step forward in right direction, in bold direction, even.

 

If it's anything like the last teaser, in terms of tone and visuals, I expect to enjoy it. A lot. But I also expect it to fall just shy of being a great film. And it's those near-misses that frustrate me the most.

But this is healthy for me. If you keep your expectations artificially low, you increase the chances of being pleasantly surprised.

 

This. It's exactly where I am at the moment.

 

Expectations: Very little to none. If I like it, I'll see the subsequent two in the theater, if I don't, I won't.

As I've said many times here, ignoring the fact that J.J. & Disney are behind this. If the characters and story make me feel like I'm back in universe and I'm having fun, that's all I ask.

 

If it's like the rumors, or if the rumors are spot on, then it's gonna be stupid as hell (IMO). And I seriously doubt I'll see it.

And I'll just go over to the new Robotech franchise or something. That's what I went to back in '85 after Jedi was over and it worked then; it scratched my space thingy itch. And yes, Macross (or Super Dimension Fortress Macross or whatever) is superior. But at that time I didn't know any better, so... So either Sony's Robotech, or if that doesn't work I'll just go with whatever new hard sci-fi whatever comes out and leave Star Wars behind (or at least until the next trilogy or cool Ewan McGregor Obi-Wan/Lawrence of Arabia-style on Tatooine Anthology movie).

Now, if The Force Awakens is nothing like the rumors, and is like the teasers, and is how I imagine it will be, then I'll go and see it seven times on the opening weekend. And then a few more times over Christmas and the New Year.

So it's an either/or thing with me.

So if I like it, Star Wars is still good with me. And if I don't, then it's the perfect time to cut Space Opera/Space Fantasy off and go full-on hard sci-fi (because I really don't have a great deal of confidence in Sony's Robotech).

 

I get that, and totally agree. But there is also a part of me that tries to dismiss everything they have done in the past, all the rumors, all the specualtions etc. What do we actualy have so far, and does that bode well for the film?

*Thinks back to that first viewing of teaser two.*

Oh, hells yeah!!

 

I would agree that the Prequel novels are much stronger than the films. The problem I have with the story, Episode 1 in particular, was that it wasn't a "fun" story. The OT was a more accessible, fun story. A family could sit down, enjoy it as a bare bones good vs. evil story without going too deep. The whole trade negotiations breakdown (which caused the conflict in TPM) was interesting....but not a very fun story. Especially for a family sitting down to watch it. Once the Sith were revealed, then Episode 2 and 3 could be looked at as a more bare bones good vs. evil eye. The emotional response of Anakin turning to the dark side should have been bigger, but since his character (the way it was written) wasn't very likeable to begin with, I personally didn't feel compared to care all the much when he turned. Though I will admit I did have a "oh, he did not" verbal response when he ignites his ligthsaber in the council chambers before he strikes down the younglings.

 

Engaging next generation characters, engaging villains, something interesting for the OT generation to do. A fun adventure story. Camaraderie among the ST characters, OT characters and both the ST and OT characters. No character assassination of the OT characters.
Aliens, Jedi, The Force, starships and cruisers, lightsabers, planets, non force sensitives, rebels, Imperials, the underworld, plus new things.
Some nods to the PT would be nice as well.

 

I've been there in the past where marketing, teasers, full trailers, casting announcements/ directorial choices etc...have sucked me in and had me so hyped going into a film. Then the film doesn't pan out as well as I'd hoped and it is extremely disheartening. This time am going to be as relaxed as humanly possible for TFA and not let the expectations bubble over nor get the better of me. It will be Fonzy all the way.

 

My expectation is that there's a working consumer electronics version of bb8 going on sale by Thanksgiving priced at under $1,000.

 

The rumors? You mean that collection of rumors that some guy took and rolled them together as prose in a synopsis? Many of the rumors are likely to be false for one. Two, a vague outline written is a synopsis is going to sound horrible. MSW is getting what they want right now, CLICKS, and since there is no real info people are clamoring for whatever they can get.

MSW= Here is a picture of a storm trooper- Then we are going to make up bunch of crap to tie this into some other rumor and then tie it back into some scene in a trailer.

 

I'm ignoring any rumors regarding the movie because I want to be surprised.