May the 4th Be With You!

[hansolo77]

Today is that one time a year when we can all get together and show our nerdy side and argue for hours about Star Wars. So lets get it started! Who's hyped about the new movie? Anybody reading Marvel's new comics? Read any good novels lately? Played any games? How do you feel about the "Rebels" cartoon? Did you hear they're making a Star Wars / Star Trek crossover movie? Lets talk shop!

[nullPointer]

Great thread Han!

The new movie ... well it's a bit of a tough one isn't it? I'm pretty hyped ... but cautiously so. The trailers are great AFAIC, so I'm feeling more and more optimistic. The trailers are the extent of what I've seen about the movie though. I've not delved into fan analysis or that sort of thing. A lot of people were (maybe still are) upset about the Disney transition, pleased but honestly I think that's a very shortsighted view. Disney are absolute masters of marketing, branding, etc. In many ways they were early pioneers in those areas. I feel like they're not going to betray the brand (if they can help it), because the first thing they're going to do is gain an understanding of the brand. And where they don't have that knowledge, they'll hire people that do. Disney has deep pockets, and loves to make (more) money. It's not in their best interest to create sub-par Star Wars content. And it's not exactly like they can 'sell out' the Star Wars brand, because well, TBH Star Wars has always been sci-fi as marketed to the masses. That's the whole basis of it's success, and if anything I've been extremely pleased with their treatment of the Marvel brand(s).

Star Wars Rebels ... I've really enjoyed the series from what I've seen so far. The characters are fairly solid, and it's a great story concept (i.e. the birth of the Rebellion). Favorite moment so far was early on:

In Spark of the Rebellion when the team is pinned down and under fire. Kanan, the Jedi in hiding has no choice but to reveal himself. I have to admit I got a bit of a fanboy rush when he stepped out, paused, fired up his lightsaber, and proceeded to apply a beat down.

I also appreciate that despite the fact that he's a Jedi, he's not averse to using a blaster when necessary. It lends a nice underscore to the themes of Jedi in hiding, dark times, and all that.

It's a great "Star Wars-lite" series that I can watch with my kids (age 6) and not worry too much about content (or loss of interest in my young ones).

[tthurman]

The new movie ... well it's a bit of a tough one isn't it? I'm pretty hyped ... but cautiously so.

My feelings exactly!

As for Disney, remember John Carter, yeah didn't think so!

I liked it, but something went terribly wrong with how it was sold to the public. Fortunately they won't have that problem here, or shouldn't!

Always some drama in Star Wars land

Great shot kid......

[tthurman]

For the lego geeks, you know who you are

[hansolo77]

You know I had to create this thread.

Personally I have mixed feelings about the new movie. I really want it to be rock solid, but I have major fears. I just don't want to get my hopes up and be totally smashed, so I'm being cautiously optimistic. My biggest fear is the fact that the director (JJ Abrams) has told everybody that the new movie completely throws out the window all of the 30+ years of expanded universe plot and rewrites history. The problem with that is that each and every new plot and story idea to come out was personally overseen and approved by George Lucas. So in my eyes, the expanded universe IS George Lucas' vision going forward. So now that we have this guy come in and make a new movie, it's all down the crapper. Then again, you have to realize he's just the director, and not responsible for WRITING the story. But for him to be doing this just further drives home the fear, much like the Star Trek reboot. Everything was fine and good, and it was an excellent view of Cadet times with just some fancy special effects. Then all of a sudden he decides to blow up Vulcan and completely rewrite Star Trek into an alternate time line. So to me, it looks like JJ loves screwing up pre-existing culture. But like I said, he didn't write it, just told the actors how to act and told the camera guy where to point his lens.

As for the new comics. I was very weary of the idea of Marvel taking over the Star Wars universe. In part because Marvel had their shot in the early 80's and completely ruined it. Also, Dark Horse has had it for over 2 decades and was doing FINE with it. But since Disney now owns Marvel AND Star Wars, it just makes sense. Now that the books have been in circulation for a few months, I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised and really like them. The stories are solid and the artwork is on par if not better in some cases to that of Dark Horse's. They aren't diving into things like The Old Republic or things in way in the future as yet (if they will at all), and everything is pretty much taking place right between episode 4 and 5 right now. There is currently a Star Wars book, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and Kanan (which talks about the Star Wars Rebels character Kanan when he was a padawan). There is also going to be a new book this month focusing on Lando. Good stuff all around as far as I'm concerned.

Which brings me to Rebels. I gotta say, I've been a little upset with this. The Clone Wars (by the same company) was great. It was dark, and a lot of mature stories. It looks like Rebels is more kids stuff, and focus's on a kid. It's too light hearted for me. The last episode or two though really pushed the limit and it looks like it might be getting better. I just really hope they get more exciting and stuff.

I've not read any novels recently, as I've been focusing all my reading time on A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones series). It's really kicking my butt. However, before I started reading them I had just finished reading the Heir to the Empire/Thrawn trilogy and really loved it. A great place for new readers to start.

I've also not played any games recently. As I said in a previous thread, I pretty much have all and finished all the available games, and am just patiently waiting for the new Battlefront game to come out.

Lastly, when I heard about the Star Trek / Star Wars crossover, I thought it was a joke, but it really does look like it's going forward. http://nationalreport.net/jj-abrams-planning-star-wars-star-trek-crossover-film/

Happy Star Wars Day!

[tthurman]

Very valid points you've got, but in my mind George lost whatever magic he had with this long ago. I recall being so pumped for the first prequel, only to be so disappointed. Hell, I even took off work that day to go see it. Needless to say I wasn't nearly so eager for the next couple, though I did get really excited at all the positive comments about Revenge of the Sith. Was III that good, nah, not to me anyway, just overhyped bad acting with great special effects, along with an average story. I will go into this one expecting the same, hoping to be surprised.

IMO the Star Trek movie series has been vastly superior to the new Star Wars, and I"m not a Trekkie.

Oh well, these movies will never deliver the experience they did for me as a kid, they can't, as so much of the cinematics is common place today we're numb to it. I think there's a better than average chance this will be a good flick though, and return some of the humor and lightheartedness instead of the stiff mannequin acting and dialogue we've been getting.

Don't worry......

[ClassicGMR]

Very valid points you've got, but in my mind George lost whatever magic he had with this long ago.

If I don't agree with anything anyone says for the rest of the year I will always agree with this. Sad but true...

[tthurman]

Good edit there, and a more accurate assessment IMO

[nullPointer]

Which brings me to Rebels. I gotta say, I've been a little upset with this. The Clone Wars (by the same company) was great. It was dark, and a lot of mature stories. It looks like Rebels is more kids stuff, and focus's on a kid. It's too light hearted for me. The last episode or two though really pushed the limit and it looks like it might be getting better. I just really hope they get more exciting and stuff.

Yeah, I hear you there man. I loved The Clone Wars and to me that was one of the biggest losses in terms of writing it out of the canon. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I would guess there were more hours of the show produced than there were in the entire theatrical saga, so it really is a loss in terms of the lore. Likewise, there were some really good characters introduced in the show for which it would be good to get some closure (i.e. Ahsoka). I'm also sorry to see the continuation of the Darth Maul saga written out. I always felt like he was vastly underutilized in the movies, so it was cool how Dark Horse picked up the reins there. Ultimately though whether they are considered canon or not, we still have some really cool stories. To that end, I really like how Wookiepedia has handled the whole canon vs. not canon shift (and I'm sure it's created a ton of work for those dudes). They've re-organized their pages into 'canon' and 'legends' sections. I think that's a cool approach being that it doesn't attempt to sweep the entire expanded universe completely under the carpet.

In terms of Rebels, I actually really like it, but that might be precisely because it is a good "gateway into Star Wars" for my kids. The episodic nature of the show means they don't have to have to be up to speed on the entire story arc of Star Wars, and it's not so intense as to give them nightmares. I'm going to stick with it and see where it goes. In truth there were some elements of Clone Wars that took some me some time to warm up to as well (i.e. 'overly excited newsreel guy reading the intro to every episode'), but I ended up loving it.

Actually I'm pretty intrigued at the prospect of the Rogue One project as well, which I hope makes it into production. "Grim and gritty" is a completely overblown trope at this point, but we've never seen it in a Star Wars film which could be pretty great if they were able to pull it off. We also don't see enough Jedi-less stories in the Star Wars universe (IMO), so it's always fun to see the world from a different (slightly less 'supernatural power-y') angle. It could be awesome for the same reasons that Republic Commando was a great game.

Hey on a completely unrelated note, Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! May the fifth be with you! Arriba!

[tthurman]

indeed....

fridge full of these waiting on me

[Draco1962]

I am already thinking about modding my GoG copy of X-Wing Alliance with the patches and graphics mods found at X-Wing Alliance Upgrade. Unless there is an updated by gog.com that breaks it, it appears that the team is able to work with the gog.com version only and will not support X-Wing Alliance versions purchased via Steam. Likely this is a DRM issue.

[tthurman]

Just ran across this bit of trivia.

Star Wars the arcade game was released in May 1983, how fitting!