Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Being skilled in parkour would translate well to Jedi fighting style, so we have an idea what the guy's role will be.

I'm really glad that Episode 7 seems to have a more diverse cast compared to the previous movies in the series.

I'm a little worried that Abrams is clinging a bit too tightly to the OT. Shouldn't the galaxy have moved on from X-Wings by now?

Sure, but that there might be a twenty year old relic. It looks like it is to the OT X wing what the OT X wing was to the Revenge of the Sith Triple Wing.

Yeah, I know. I'm probably just being paranoid.

I'm glad there's at least the one X-Wing in the movie. It's an iconic design and Legends the EU has a whole series of advanced X-Wing models serving with the Rebellion and its successors.

Now, the funny thing is how much it looks like a Z-95 Headhunter...

Yeah, that X-Wing definitely look like a relic from The Original Trilogy.

Just from the still photo before you hit play, that looks shinier than an X-Wing. I bet if there's X-Wings still in use, they're advanced models that pack more punch or speed or both than the old ones.

Picture being able to house X-Wings on bases on-planet, and sending them not only into the vicinity of the world, but to distant systems on a single jump. Like, three or four stars away. Minimal need for carriers within or near the Republic's borders, just place bases on every world with a few wings of ships, and you can replace those old carrier ships with troop and battle ships instead.

Wow. Drama about a ship design that's been in service for over twenty years. How cute.

Never heard about the B-52 Stratofortress then? That plane type is going to be in service till I'm 70, and I'm only 44 now. And it's been around since my dad was in short trousers. Basic point is, if a military force thinks a design of combat aircraft or indeed space ship is still good, they will keep it in service regardless of how long in the tooth outsiders may consider it.

This was already posted, right?

I don't believe a single word of that until Lucasfilm confirms it.

Ha. Ha.

Say what you will about the prequels, they at least made it look like they were in a different era. I'd like for the same to be true of these movies.

Say what I want about the prequels?

No. TOOO tempting. I'mma pass on that, thanks.

I'm glad they're sticking to the X-Wing personally. It looks somewhat updated like it could be a new model, with a bit of wear & tear.

...Hopefully this means we'll get a new X-Wing game of some kind in the future. Come on Disney, you know you want the money...

We're more than likely getting games on these movies. Full of Hoth and Tatooine levels for no reason other than you can't have Star Wars without them.

Don't get your hopes up for a good one. Remember, Lucas Arts has been crunched down to a licensing station and other companies will probably have to pay for the pleasure of making said game. If they do make one, it might be good, but the only trope about such games that I've read isn't a good one.

EA has the license to any Star Wars games that aren't for mobile or IOS devices, so......

yeah.

Something I like about the prequels is that it showed both technology of a different era but also that technology progressing into what we saw in the OT.

The PT had everything be shiny and have flimsy joints because it's fresh off the industry line, we get prototypes to both the A-Wing and the X-Wing in the PT, but then the Empire is established with a budget and it's the blocky ships (Like the Star Destroyers and A-Wings) which can stand the test of time and be fixed over and over which stick around and stand the test of time, and turn up in A New Hope looking like they're twenty year old ships. Meanwhile flashy things which require more maintenance like that triple wing with the folding wings fall out of fashion because they require too much maintenance, go into private ownership, and then turn up again when a Rebal Fleet needs any and every serviceable ship they can get their hands on.

It combats the ties forward by giving the CSS completely fresh looking ships which never got continued after their money, banks, backers, factories and schematics are destroyed.

General Grievous' mono wheel was really cool, and we'll never see it again because Nute Gunray got sliced apart.

That fighter was very similar to the classic X-Wing but it IS a different design, the quad engines are replaced with two larger engines and it's not clear if it even splits apart to form the iconic "X" look. It also has what looks like a layer of rust on it, rather than just dirt the OT ships had. In fact the engines and wing design evokes the Clone Fighters while the nose, cockpit and wing-tip weapons keep the X-Wing look.

I do find it funny that the new and shiny look of the prequel trilogy was heavily derided when it first started, but died off as we saw the deliberate and brilliant design evolution take place. The chrome on the Naboo ships in general is quite clever, as military hardware in peaceful times often come across as ceremonial rather than rugged. Also there is a rather clear "hero" design scheme that the entire saga has kept to throughout all the various stories, the KOTOR games and SWTOR have ships that look very similar to Star Destroyers, Millennium Falcon, X-Wings, etc. It's the more obscure aliens that have the weirder looking crap (Like the Mon Calamari, Umbarans, etc).

If I were to guess, I think we will get a new production design scheme that shows some of the more rugged designs blending with a "retro-cool" updating, kind of like the car design renaissance we got in the mid '00's.

edited 21st Jul '14 5:32:29 PM by KJMackley

I'd say if Star Wars on screen has an iconic look which can't be tampered with, but all else is free to be toyed with; it's the light and shadows first truly realised on screen in the Cloud City confrontation between Luke and Vader.◊

No matter how much money there was in the franchise, Empire Strikes Back was made 34 years ago and was an independently funded film and yet the look of that scene is still glorious today. Back lit steam beyond the stage giving everything a solid black silhouette, and within that silhouette are negative silhouettes of bold colours which stand out, but are dim enough not to spill into the darkness around them.

It is a timeless look and can be beautifully seen through out the series. Lightsabers themselves◊ contribute to this imagery; their light is often just painted onto the stils. Even Vader's suit;◊ perfectly black and angular, but polished enough for light to catch across lengths of it and in other places rippled fabric to allow shadows to be cast across the stitching and ribbing. Palpatine's◊ face is almost plan white, but the sagging of it allows charcoal shadows to dance over the chalk. In fact all the iconic things of the Star Wars series utilize this; the ships are angular to cast bold shadows, and every episode opens with a crisp image of a planet boldly encroaching on the vast blackness of space.◊

This same imagery◊ appears throughout◊ the Prequel Trilogy◊, even though the setts are completely different and in completely new worlds and a different era, there are still silhouettes and negative silhouettes.

edited 21st Jul '14 7:38:04 PM by Whowho

So it's like light punching through darkness, but everywhere there's a crevice the shadows creep back in. That supports the idea of the Dark Side being stronger. The Light Side might punch holes through it, but the Dark Side is always there to creep back in as soon as the Light isn't looking.

That imagery was supported in the Bookend narration of the much-talked-about Revenge Of The Sith novelization. The narration kept mentioning how the dark was superior, because it was omnipresent and eternal, and would always creep back in when the lights go out, as even stars die. But the novel ended on a Hope Spot, saying first that it took only a candle to beat back the darkness, and that love was more than a candle, love was enough to light the stars.

Yeah, but love is alien to the Jedi...

was, key point. Perhaps Luke will have fixed that, for all we know

(please be married to Mara still!)

grumble grumble sensitive markup

edited 22nd Jul '14 11:54:41 AM by Ogodei

So Gwendoline Christie is allegedly an Imperial Officer who is pursuing John Boyega's character.