Star Wars Risk

Where did you listen to that record or do you have the actual record? I had it as a kid along with the Superman movie and The Black Hole.

Ancient of MuMu wrote:

Plus pretty much every time there has been a war where one side was outgunned but understood and lived in the terrain, the underdogs won (the Scottish highlands were never taken, Vietnam war, numerous invasions of Afghanistan).

"Locals win" is a very long game. Vietnamese independence took 28 (I think) years.

As far as RotJ goes, that's where Lucas got Too Big To Edit.

Sagrilarius wrote:

I was in high school when it came out and loved Return of the Jedi, but had a friend that was whining about it from day one. "The Ewoks suck" was the summary of his complaint.

I'm on your friend's side. I was a little older than that back then, and at the time I thought the ewoks just flat out ruined the movie.

Aaaaand it just became clear to me: when you connect the side boards/battles to the center, you have a silhouette of a TIE fighter. Clever...

Feelitmon wrote: I understand and am receptive to the idea behind the ewoks storyline but it is just so poorly executed that it takes me out of the movie. The Empire's "finest legion" is taken out in hand-to-teddy bear combat, which is awesome when the ewoks are crushing AT-STs with their traps (which they have no real reason to know how to make, now that I think about it) but lame when we watch ewoks clumsily and slowly swinging sticks at stormtroopers who have to act like they're being overwhelmed.

You guys are forgetting the Ewok Adventure made for TV movie. It portrays Endor as home to some very large predators and giant sasquatch beasties. You should check it out. Nah, on second thought don't. It's pretty bad, but take my word for it, the large critters are in there and the ewoks have evolved to defend themselves. That kind of explains their expertise in taking out AT-ST walkers. It's lame I know but it's something.

Mr. White wrote: I don't have a problem with the ewoks or RotJ either. Though ANH is the only SW film I think is 'great' the OT is fine.

Not being the biggest SW fan, my opinion may not matter much, but is Disney taking the franchise in the direction y'all want to see? I mean, I understand there's going to be a Han Solo Origin film, a Boba Fett Origin film, and that Rogue One film is about how the Death Star plans were stolen. Is this material that really needs to be covered in film? Do we need all these gaps filled in? How about leaving something to our imagination? Seems to me whenever these sort of backstories are filled in, they're hardly as good as we imagine.

Why not just make new characters and stories? After all, the SW brand itself should be enough to sell new films. This is playing it way to safe, IMO. Doesn't excite me at all.

I'm probably a bigger Star Wars optimist than most, but I can understand this trepidation about spinoff films. There's a weird kind of purity to the series up until now, a certain neatness to having everything be part of one big narrative with separate episodes. The actual quality of the individual episodes doesn't even really enter into that. So spinoffs do seem to kind of wreck that purity.

While I understand the fear of treading the same ground, and I kind of agree, I do think the first spinoffs need to have an anchor point with what is familiar. Even by exploring the backstory of different characters, I am excited to see the new people and locations all of those stories might open up. The Rogue Squadron movie is by far the most interesting one to me though, precisely because it seems less tied to specific characters we already know. Hopefully future ones will branch out more. I'd love to see some Old Republic stories myself.

And we're also assuming The Force Awakens will focus on the Skywalkers and Solos to a large extent, which is by no means a given. Hammill, Fisher, and Ford are all involved, but it doesn't seem like they are the focus anymore. I'm alright with the continued focus on the struggle between the light and dark sides, whether it manifests as the Republic, Empire, Rebellion, whatever, since that would be a focal point regardless of the characters involved. It's a conflict that affects the whole galaxy as it were.

I liked the original trilogy but A New Hope was always my favorite. I've always thought the original cut of it was very smartly edited to show no more than necessary and keep things moving at a good clip. Unfortunately the extra scenes Lucas has added over the years ruin the pacing and to me the whole thing trundles along now.

Green Lantern wrote: You guys are forgetting the Ewok Adventure made for TV movie. It portrays Endor as home to some very large predators and giant sasquatch beasties. You should check it out. Nah, on second thought don't. It's pretty bad, but take my word for it, the large critters are in there and the ewoks have evolved to defend themselves. That kind of explains their expertise in taking out AT-ST walkers. It's lame I know but it's something.

I didn't know about that one! Well there you go.

iguanaDitty wrote: I liked the original trilogy but A New Hope was always my favorite. I've always thought the original cut of it was very smartly edited to show no more than necessary and keep things moving at a good clip. Unfortunately the extra scenes Lucas has added over the years ruin the pacing and to me the whole thing trundles along now.

I agree, the pacing in ANH is fantastic. For example, that whole sequence from the launching of the rebel fighters to (hey, that might be a spoiler) is so propulsive that it puts the other Star Wars movies to shame. The rebels launch, you've got S-foils in attack position, some concerned looks in the rebel base, and before you know it you're in the middle of dogfights and trench runs. Just wonderful editing. And from what I've read, the original cut of The Star Wars was practically unwatchable and was only really salvaged in the editing room.

The ewoks do suck. A product of decisions made for marketing reasons rather than story reasons. The fight on Endor is shit. The most feared soldiers in the universe being turned into keystone cops. Hey, what happens when you hit an elite soldier with a rock even when he's wearing an armored helmet? Why, he drops dead, naturally.

The entire Luke/Vader/Emperor story is awesome. The redemption of Vader at the end is extremely powerful and well done. brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.

Jaba's palace is good. Not a big fan of muppet pig soldiers and I think the special effects on he Rancor are on a level far below that of all the rest of the films. I don't know if the used a different technique or what. I love the way Leia frees Han. Frankly I love the Leia character period.

Luke and Leia being siblings is bullshit. A modification made in a clumsy attempt to snuff out the inferior Luke and Leia romance for the far superior Leia and Han love story.

As to this game. I have little to no interest. I'll play it when Josh inevitably buys it but otherwise I don't care.

I thought the Luke & Leia sibling thing was an attempt to one up the reveal of Vader being Luke's father. Look! More twists!

Don't forget Yoda teased another Skywalker or at least another Force user existed in The Empire Strikes Back, so the "big" reveal that Leia was his sibling in Return of the Jedi wasn't all that surprising or out of left field. You can hate on RotJ all you want but the sibling thing was established before that movie came along.

Obi-Wan: "That boy is our last hope."
Yoda: "No...there is another..."

I dunno...seems like Obi-Wan would have been aware of Leia. Wasn't he there when they split them up? But maybe you're right.

Saw ANH in a theater in 1977 when I was 8. Mind blown. It amazes me how incredibly connected I was to that title after that, having just seen it the one time, with no internet buzz or much outside info to really keep it all in my mind and interest. The toys probably had a lot to do with it, and conversations and role-plays with friends: "Remember when they were stuck in the garbage thing?! Remember when Chewie smushed the chess pieces?! Etc." That helped perpetuate it all in a way that we take for granted today. I recall we got a VHS at some point a year or two after that, and then of course, we could watch it another 50 times. But that first year or more, so much powerful excitement and connection was generated from that one viewing.

Seeing ESB in '80 at 11 years old was another mind blower. An even deeper story, but still as exciting and cool and interesting as the original, and with some great new wrinkles and characters (esp. Yoda and Lando). By the time of ROTJ, though, I was deep into getting high and playing guitar, and though I still had a reverence for those first two movies, something about ROTJ didn't really connect with me at that age/time. As someone said earlier about Ford and Fisher phoning it in, I recall the first time I saw it that the whole thing just felt a little samey, or kind of flat, or something that was hard to put my finger on at the time but just ultimately wasn't nearly as engaging. I've seen it a few times over the years since, and do appreciate it, but still can't shake the feeling that it doesn't hold together as well or feel nearly as inspired as the first two. It's not a fair assessment of me to say that ROTJ is not nearly as memorable, when I've seen ANH and ESB dozens of times, and ROTJ only 4-5, but regardless, there are very few scenes and moments that seem iconic and memorable to me, compared to so many in IV and V.

Game looks fun, though. I loved Queen's Gambit the one time I played it, so it will be good to get this, and a ROTJ setting is better than Phantom Menace, no doubt.

Mr. White wrote: I don't have a problem with the ewoks or RotJ either. Though ANH is the only SW film I think is 'great' the OT is fine.

Not being the biggest SW fan, my opinion may not matter much, but is Disney taking the franchise in the direction y'all want to see? I mean, I understand there's going to be a Han Solo Origin film, a Boba Fett Origin film, and that Rogue One film is about how the Death Star plans were stolen. Is this material that really needs to be covered in film? Do we need all these gaps filled in? How about leaving something to our imagination? Seems to me whenever these sort of backstories are filled in, they're hardly as good as we imagine.

Why not just make new characters and stories? After all, the SW brand itself should be enough to sell new films. This is playing it way to safe, IMO. Doesn't excite me at all.

I'm behind the direction Disney is taking things 110%. And that's not fanboy talk, I lost a whole lot of interest in SW, as most people did, for a large chunk of time. Everything I've seen out of them has actually what's reinvigorated my interest in the franchise.

The Solo/Fett movie is one movie, not two separate ones, and how much of an origin story is is has yet to be seen. There has been a significant attempt in the recent Marvel comics (which rule and are cannon) to back up Boba Fett's reputation as "the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy." Seriously, when he wants something, he's unstoppable. We didn't really get that in the original trilogy (and don't even mention the disservice the prequels did to him). The bottom line is that he's a character that people have really latched on to despite having pretty much nothing to go on. He doesn't do a whole lot in the OT and he downright sucks in the prequels. Redeeming him and developing him makes all the sense in the world. Han Solo's end in the movie? Who knows, only time will tell.

Rogue One is a badass concept. The team that stole the Death Star plans and it has the feel of a war movie (with the cinematographer to back it up)? How is that not even just a little enticing? The cast is pretty killer, too.

And as for the new trilogy...Despite us not knowing a whole lot, one thing we have been told on multiple occasions is that Han, Luke, and Leia are not the focus of these new movies. Mark Hamill himself has said that their role is minimal and that the new trilogy is very much about the new generation. Isn't that what pretty much everyone has wanted all this time? And say what you will about JJ's Star Trek movies, no, they're not true to the spirit of Trek but they would make some fucking _awesome_ Star Wars movies.

....and the first person to get on the "CAN'T WAIT TO SEE ALL THE LENS FLARES IN JJ'S STAR WARS MOVIE!!!! DERP DERP DERP, I JUST REPEAT EVERYTHING I READ ONLINE BECAUSE I'M A SHALLOW, SOULESS TROLL LULZ CATCANHAZCHEEZBURGER!" train gets kicked square in the dick.

Perhaps. But why even go with Han and Fett? Why not new characters that will be part of the timeline (and the new trilogies) going forward? Why must the Rogue movie be about the Death Star plans? Again, how about some side story to compliment the new films? Must we always latch back onto the OT? Makes this universe seem quite small.

However, if they _must_ use characters who debuted prior to EB VII, why not go with a scoundrel that has yet to be on film, such as Dash Rendar? Do we really need to see more Han and Jabba/Fett interactions?

Oh well, I really don't have a dog in this fight. Just making conversation on a Thursday afternoon.

EDIT: I'm sure the answer to my question lays within this post:
fortressat.com/forum/41-movies-tv/197691...children-gone#208639

Bullwinkle wrote: Whether Hollywood is correct or not doesn't really matter, because there aren't any studio mavericks when it comes to blockbusters. Part of the issue is that they essentially don't make high-value original properties anymore. Look at the top 20 grossing movies of 2014. Eighteen of them are based off previously existing successful properties.

It appears that Disney is so cautious with this franchise they aren't willing to really explore. Hamill, Fisher, and Ford are likely in to sell us on the new trilogy (the trailer sure pitched it that way), then all the spin-off films are OT stuff. Again, I'd think the SW brand itself would be safe enough for marketing. Maybe the prequels proved that not to be true? I dunno, I'm sure they made a truckload of money. This reminds me of all those DragonLance novels that are really just more tales on the Companions. Yawn. I hated that back in the day.

I would have liked to see the Timothy Zahn books made into Disney Canon SW. As I understand it, the Disney Canon will be ignoring the Han Solo books from way back as well. I could be mistaken about that.

That being said, I like the new Trek movies and I think JJ will do great with the new Star Wars movies.