# How best could Episode VII please fans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403 "2012-10-31T07:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/41 "2012-10-31T18:36:01Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I would plotz if they’d do the Thrawn trilogy. You’d have to recast the principals (which isn’t that big a deal, really…after all, Lucas himself did it for the prequels in the case of Obi-Wan), but it’s the absolute best of the EU and it’s relatively soon after RoJ. > > I haven’t seen any pics of Billy Dee lately…think he could still pull off Lando? I realize I’m in the minority here… but while the Thrawn trilogy had some good parts, it never really felt like Star Wars to me. And, more seriously, Thrawn as a character bugged the heck out of me. I mean, he can look at a sculpture made by a artist from a planet, and from that sculpture can deduce the strategic weaknesses of military leaders from that planet? Come ON. That’s just ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/42 "2012-10-31T18:48:37Z")
There’s a lot of “Extended Universe” material out there, much of it already used as backstory for video games that are as familiar to many SW fans, perhaps more so, than the 6 canonical films. Wouldn’t it be cheaper and easier for them to make scripts based off of that stuff than to concoct all-new material? I’m not super familiar with the EU stuff but I know there’s a big old storyline involving Luke and Mara Jade, a Force-sensitive and formerly fanatically loyal “personal guard” to the Emperor, plus (multiple) clones of the emperor and Luke himself (from his severed hand from Cloud City) and all sorts of wacky post-Death-Star action. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/43 "2012-10-31T18:56:07Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I realize I’m in the minority here… but while the Thrawn trilogy had some good parts, it never really felt like Star Wars to me. And, more seriously, Thrawn as a character bugged the heck out of me. I mean, he can look at a sculpture made by a artist from a planet, and from that sculpture can deduce the strategic weaknesses of military leaders from that planet? Come ON. That’s just ridiculous. He doesn’t study A sculpture. He studies the whole body of a species art. Not that I’m going to even defend that as terribly realistic, but…IT’S SPACE OPERA! It’s not like the original trilogy had characters of infinite depth or plausible capabilities, either. The greatest danger the Star Wars universe faces is people taking its basic premises TOO seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/44 "2012-10-31T18:57:06Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I realize I’m in the minority here… but while the Thrawn trilogy had some good parts, it never really felt like Star Wars to me. And, more seriously, Thrawn as a character bugged the heck out of me. I mean, he can look at a sculpture made by a artist from a planet, and from that sculpture can deduce the strategic weaknesses of military leaders from that planet? Come ON. That’s just ridiculous. Still better than: 1. Virgin birth 2. Midichlorians 3. “She has lost the will to live.” But they’ve already said it will be a new story, so no Thrawn. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/45 "2012-10-31T18:57:54Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Wouldn’t it be cheaper and easier for them to make scripts based off of that stuff than to concoct all-new material? Well, cheaper, certainly, but I’m not sure the cost of generating new material would really even make a dent in the budget of a Star Wars film. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/46 "2012-10-31T19:14:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If the books are still canon, there’s going to be a bit of a problem-the future is writ, unfortunately. Nobody involved cares. > **[Star Wars 7 Plot Will Be "an Original Story," Says Lucasfilm Source](https://www.eonline.com/news/358685/star-wars-7-plot-will-be-an-original-story-says-lucasfilm-source)** > > Here's what to expect from Disney project > [@](#): > > As for the name Thrawn, well, that refers to a grand admiral with imperial sympathies who takes over as the leader of the vanquished enemy faction. > > So is that the basis for Episode 7 or not? I’ve heard directly from LucasFilm and other sources close to the picture, and they say: Definitely not. > > “It’s an original story,” a LucasFilm source tells me. > > In other words, forget the Star Wars novels. Forget the graphic novels. Forget everything you think you know about what happens to Luke Skywalker. According to my sources, Episode 7 will literally be nothing you’ve ever seen or read before from the Star Wars universe. Personally if it’s recent after 6 I’d like R2 and C3PO in it. Also all Ewoks. All the time. Complete with Jedi and Sith Ewoks. Just look at this cute little guy. [http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/114/03e9d0fe0047442f84f3aa2415e18e21/l.jpg](http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/114/03e9d0fe0047442f84f3aa2415e18e21/l.jpg) ETA: A Knights of the Old Republic 1 movie would totally kick ass as well. Revan lives! ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/47 "2012-10-31T19:22:25Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > ETA: I’m assuming you were supposed to play as a good character in the game. I invariably went to the dark side because it made Force Lightning/Force Storm much stronger, and slaughtering hordes of Sand People with that move is really what made the game. I played it through twice. Once full on light and once full on dark. The story worked well for both. Pretty much only the ending fight and cinematics and your companions attitude toward you were different. Dark was more fun though. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/48 "2012-10-31T19:24:12Z")
I really think they should bring back the original cast as much as possible. Hell, the Tron sequel and Benjamin Button proved that with enough CGI and makeup you can de-age someone miraculously if they need to. I’d have no problem with Luke, Leia, Lando and Han being old though. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/49 "2012-10-31T19:31:43Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I’d have no problem with Luke, Leia, Lando and Han being old though. I think that would be cool. Have the movie focus on the now adult kids of the above and their adventures with some screen time for the old actors. Have a sceen or two with Luke at his acadamy training new Jedi’s and Ben, his son, pops in for advice or something. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/50 "2012-10-31T19:57:21Z")
Story trumps sfx every time. They need a really good story. I wouldn’t mind a cameo by Luke, Leia or Han, and by all means Artoo and Threepio can remain as links to all earlier movies, but otherwise I’d want all-new characters, in a drama set perhaps 30 or 40 years after the destruction of the second Death Star, about the struggle to reunite and improve the old Republic. A prequel in the distant past would be my next-best option. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/51 "2012-10-31T20:16:47Z")
[del]Two and a half hours[/del] Half an hour of 25-year-old Carrie Fisher putting on her Jabba’s palace bikini. And two hours of her taking it back off. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/52 "2012-10-31T23:36:37Z")
> [@Scarecasm](#): > > If the books are still canon, there’s going to be a bit of a problem-the future is writ, unfortunately. I seriously doubt more than 0.02% of the viewing public is going to care. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/53 "2012-11-01T00:45:14Z")
Goofy communes with a Force-ghost of his remote ancestor, Jar-jar. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/54 "2012-11-01T01:35:13Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I would like to see them use sets and models as much as possible. I watched IV last weekend and it seemed so real. Even though things are tiny models in many cases, they are still real. I think that’s a bit facile. What they should do is just use whatever method is best for each individual scene. There are scenes in movies that look amazing with practical effects, scenes that look amazing with practical effects, and lots of scenes that look amazing with a mixture of the two. But even in the 7(?) years since Revenge of the Sith, the state of the art of CGI has advanced significantly, and many of the CGI scenes in it looked absolutely fantastic. > [@](#): > > No matter how good CGI is, it still looks like CGI. Nonsense. Lots of people think they can always tell CGI from non-CGI, and, they’re all wrong… (and that’s ignoring the fact that so many scenes in modern movies are a mix of the two). ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/55 "2012-11-01T14:41:29Z")
What make the Star Wars universe special, different compared to other alien-rich spaceshipy story frameworks? Foremost: the characters, but aside from recasting or aged cameos that will be difficult to recapture. Second: the Force! So imagine a world far far away from the central planets where Force lore is absent but pockets of people are becoming aware of it. Two buddies are discovering tricks they can do and bounce ideas off each other while learning and growing stronger (perhaps in conjunction with newly formed “Force Clubs” with a cameo by Ed Norton, but I digress) No one has yet figured out about Dark/Light side dynamics. One buddy unwittingly is seduced. Other buddy is intrigued but is exploring a technique of his own so plans to try the (unbeknownst to all) Dark side thing later. Story develops, following the path of Dark-buddy’s rise to power/fall from goodness. This leads to the inevitable showdown and either destruction or redemption of Darth Buddy. Side plots thrown in, featuring Tie fighter fly-by and other adornments from the original. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/56 "2012-11-01T14:45:42Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > Foremost: the characters, but aside from recasting or aged cameos that will be difficult to recapture. > > Second: the Force! > > So imagine a world far far away from the central planets where Force lore is absent but pockets of people are becoming aware of it. So, if the original movies happened a long time ago in a galaxy far away from us, then these sequels would occur – hereabouts, circa the 1970s? ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/57 "2012-11-01T14:53:01Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > So, if the original movies happened a long time ago in a galaxy far away from us, then these sequels would occur – hereabouts, circa the 1970s? Maybe they could make the Star Wars equivalent of Galactica 1980 ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/58 "2012-11-01T16:04:15Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > What make the Star Wars universe special, different compared to other alien-rich spaceshipy story frameworks? > > Foremost: the characters, but aside from recasting or aged cameos that will be difficult to recapture. > > Second: the Force! > > So imagine a world far far away from the central planets where Force lore is absent but pockets of people are becoming aware of it. Two buddies are discovering tricks they can do and bounce ideas off each other while learning and growing stronger (perhaps in conjunction with newly formed “Force Clubs” with a cameo by Ed Norton, but I digress) > > No one has yet figured out about Dark/Light side dynamics. One buddy unwittingly is seduced. Other buddy is intrigued but is exploring a technique of his own so plans to try the (unbeknownst to all) Dark side thing later. > > Story develops, following the path of Dark-buddy’s rise to power/fall from goodness. This leads to the inevitable showdown and either destruction or redemption of Darth Buddy. Side plots thrown in, featuring Tie fighter fly-by and other adornments from the original. So Chronicle, but in space? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/59 "2012-11-01T16:22:44Z")
> [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > Luckily, I didn’t give a definition for “awesome”. > > I somewhat agree with you, but let’s face it, science-fiction/fantasy _film_ in general, and Star Wars in particular, has _always_ been about special effects, and dazzling the eye. How the balance can be struck in a beautifully awesome way, between story and motion picture technology is, hopefully, what the sci-fi/fantasy genre aspires to. I disagree. I once started a thread about my belief that _Star Wars_ ruined the science fiction movie genre. _2001: A Space Odyssey_ came out in 1968 and you had a decade of SF movies that emphasized things like stories and characters (even if they were often on a b-movie level). The _Star Wars_ came out in 1977 and SF movies became a genre of special effects. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403/60 "2012-11-01T16:29:40Z")
**2001: A Space Odyssey** was trumpeted as a marvel of cinematic wonder and _[special effects](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000085-2001_a_space_odyssey/)_ at the time of its release. > [@](#): > > Stanley Kubrick’s landmark 1968 epic pushed the limits of narrative and special effects P.S. It’s one of my favourite movies of all-time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-best-could-episode-vii-please-fans/639403.md?page=4)