hanshotfirst1138

Technically, wasn't the PT technology more advanced because the Empire set everything backwards? Wasn't it supposed to have gone from gleaming utopia to dirty and ragtag?

mcnabb

Come on people, we are getting off track here. What is going to make or break this trilogy is the story and the characters. If the story isn't interesting, and we can't gravitate to the characters, then it won't matter what 'technology' they are using.

The reason we loved the OT was because of Han, Luke, and Leia, along with a great villain in Darth Vader, and cool secondary characters like Chewbacca, Obiwan, Yoda, Lando, The Emperor, etc. We can talk about Midiclorians and CGI til were blue in the face, but the failing of the PT (for me) is that I just didn't give a shit about Padme and Anakin. If those 2 characters clicked with the audience the same way Luke, Leia and Han did back in 1977, then the PT would be more liked these days.

Since it sounds like Luke, Leia and Han will be getting their sendoff in Episode 7, it is up to the new leads (whoever the are: Daisy Ridley? Boyega? Gleeson?) to click with the audience. If those characters can't gravitate to us, then it will be another trilogy that will split the fanbase.

Timber

Best explanation I've read. Compare Tattooine in the PT to Tattooine in the OT and there is not that much of a difference. That's the only apples to apples comparison that we can do. It's like comparing DC in the 70's to some village in Africa today.

Solid Snake

Well we had Neal Adams in the 1970s DC. Who did Africa have?

Guru Askew

The difference in PT battles (two large armies) vs the OT battles (large army vs. small army) is supported by the actual storyline as well. And for all the instances of more elegant design there are really no PT spacecraft with actual functionality not present in OT spacecraft. As someone who doesn't read those books with spaceship specs and cutaway illustrations the only thing "new" old spaceship feature introduced in the PT is the big hyperdrive engine ring thing from the Jedi fighters that has obviously become an on-board functionality on similar spacecraft.

RoboDad

Here is another shot of the rumored new stormtrooper helmet that looks very similar, but with a couple of slight changes. What is interesting in this shot is that you can see portions of several more of them in the background, which might mean they are legit.

joe_b

^ The "snowtrooper" design matches a description I read months ago (thin eye slit, back fin of the helmet reminiscent of Vader). It's possible some cosplayers just created these based on those reports, but I'm betting both helmets are legit.


Speaking of costumes, MakingStarWars has a description of what one of the Daisy Ridley character designs might look like:

While I would be surprised if the Empire is still as strong as it ever was, I'm not opposed to it still existing as a threat in the new trilogy. Also, it's possible the Alliance/Republic commandeered some of the Empire's weaponry for their own use. Badass Digest has a new report that claims:

Abob Teff

This may be the most intelligent thing posted on here ... Thank you. Point awarded.

Draven

I certainly do - that's one of the main reasons is has the potential to mop the floor with the PT.

RocShemp

I never realized that poor Han missed out on what a lot of teenage boys delighted to while watching RotJ.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zdukWtJwlPU?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

joe_b

Edgar Wright had some kind of formal dinner with J.J., Boyega and Ridley yesterday. There were place cards and everything:



Probably just a friendly get together, but how awesome would it be if they bring Wright into the Star Wars fold? That would certainly make the fanboys forget about the Ant-Man controversy.

RichC2

All I take away from that is that Edgar is a messy fucker.

Solid Snake

He's British, man. That's a given for them. Eloquent personalities but sloppy people.

hanshotfirst1138

If Scott weren't there, I'd hope it was for the Kodak campaign.

joe_b

^ Daisy Ridley.

joe_b

Folks over at TheForce.net message boards have pointed out that all these "leaked" plot details for Episode VII are uncannily similar to the current Dark Horse comic "Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2". The story features a female Solo descendant who goes on an adventure with a young black Imperial after finding a lightsaber. The young Imperial is then pursued by another high-ranking female Imperial and crosses paths with a Sith who is half human, half cyborg. So basically, it sounds like these movie websites got trolled and most of those "spoilers" are bullshit.

Oh, and Harrison seems fit enough to be back at work:

spsimmons

That picture of Harrison must be how they're doing the jump to hyperspace scene with practical effects.

Josh-da-man

Why is he Taylor Swifting?

hanshotfirst1138

I honestly wonder if Lucas had slightly higher intentions with the PT, maybe wanting some sort of significance to the political stuff or some kind of allegory or something, and maybe that was in conflict with the have-fun spirit of the franchise and led to the disconnect. Maybe? No? OK, well, it was worth a shot.

hanshotfirst1138

Like I said, I think that the idea behind the design aesthetics was that in the PT, things were more advanced and gleaming and utopian. By the the time of the OT, everything looks ragged and used because of the Empire's evil influence, basically not allowing much technical advancement unless it's in the service of something beneficial to them, so people make due with what they have. Han is a smuggler, and the rebels operate on the fringes, I'm sure they salvaged what they could and use whatever is available. It stands to reason that most of the technology they have wouldn't be very advanced, and would likely be ragged, used, and beat up.

On a more practical note, there's also the obvious increase in filmmaking technology which naturally would've meant that FX allowed more more complexity in the designs and execution of what was depicted.

Supermallet

It's clear that Lucas intended the PT to be more about politics, the problem is that he's not a good writer. There are plenty of excellent political thrillers (ironically the heyday of them was killed by the release of Star Wars), but Lucas seemed to have taken inspiration from none of them.

Rob V

I really just believe the designers all the way to Lucas didn't give a shit about continuity and wanted to create a "badass" design. The late 90s and early 2000s are notorious for giving us a bowl full of "Shut the Fuck Up and eat this movie" garbage.

Solid Snake

A fan of Sorcerer too, eh?

Oliver Clothesoff

This is fantastic and hilarious. Abrams runs a tight ship - everything I read was with a huge grain of salt.

hanshotfirst1138

This wouldn't be the first time JJ Marketing has distributed misinformation to throw people off the trail, would it, John Harrison?