There is so much that I am feeling right now I honestly don’t know how to process it.
In real life, Carrie Fisher wasn’t a princess, and she wasn’t a General. Nevertheless, she ruled the hearts of many and she fought the good fight on and off screen. Let us honor her memory by fighting that fight. Stand up for one another, confront your demons and share your troubles. Be as strong as Carrie was.
In her book, Wishful Drinking, Fisher wrote: “I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.” Fisher lived a life of good spirits and humor, and touched so many be her work as a screenwriter, actress, and author.
She died today on December 27th at 8:55am PST following a cardiac arrest on December 23rd. Carrie was survived by her mother Debbie Reynolds and daughter Billie Lourd.
Your father’s lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon… for a more civilized age.—Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The lightsaber is one of the most iconic weapons in movie history, from the look to the sound and use they are the defining characteristic of the Star Wars universe. Today I’m going to explore the 10 most unique/iconic blades from Clone wars to TFA. In no particular order: more “Lightsabers: 10 Blades We Love”…
There is one question that we keep seeing and it drives fans crazy: Is it canon? No matter what fandom you are part of, for a segment of that fandom this is an extremely important question. Its used to prove people wrong or right to settle fights and start them, it even has levels of canon in some fandoms. The old Star Wars EU was “book canon” that could be superseded by the movies, Star Trek does the same and now also what is called NuCanon for the new timeline split. So the question is for Star Wars does canon that is supposed to be overseen by the Lucasfilm Story Group(LSG) actually matter or is it still only the movies that are truly canon? And does Canon even matter?
In the aftermath of The Force Awakens the fans have developed all types of great hypothesis to explain backstories and fill in gaps of our knowledge. While this is a fun exercise that we at Spoiledbluemilk.com participate in regularly it helps to have support for it or at the very least not have canon contradictory evidence. So here 5 hypothesis that won’t go away despite all evidence that they are in no way true.
This year we will see the first Star Wars film that doesn’t involve our main line trilogies. We are finally starting to get leaks Rogue One and the most interesting one of late to me is about Code Names for three factions. Who are the Seals, Eels and Sharks that we will get to know this December and what can those names tell us?
Maz Kanata is one several characters that made an impression with minimal screen time in The Force Awakens. Perhaps only Snoke has an unknown backstory and future that creates as much speculation as Maz. Instead of the past, today we are going to dive deep into the Force and try to see the always moving future of Maz Kanata. This post is almost exclusively speculation based on available information, spoilers may occur so beware.
As The Force Awakens continues to break records and delight fans and critics alike there has been one constant criticism; Its too much like A New Hope. And yes it certainly hits some of the same notes and leaves in a similar place as the end of A New Hope(with some key differences) but is that a bad thing?
Hello Star Wars fans! Season’s greetings from Spoiled Blue Milk! Well, The Force Awakens has been out for a couple days now, and we’ve both seen it at least three times. You got @davestrrr review last week and now it is time for mine.
Hello Star Wars fans! HOLY COW THERE IS A NEW STAR WARS IN THEATERS NOW!!!! Oh and its pretty damn good. Believe it or not there is also some news on other fronts too. We’re here to bring you your weekly recap. Lets dive right into that.
Our twitter Friend @endless_Skye recently live tweeted re-watching the Saga. She decided to go Machete order and I thought it was funny and should share it with you today, on the premiere of the new installment The Force Awakens.
This week every question is answered….about The Force Awakens, then comes a ton of questions on Rogue one and Episode 8. But for now lets get you up to date on the latest rumor, leaks and news. Some people in the press will get to see it today, other people will have to wait until Wednesday at 7pm. Can you believe it’s almost here? Given how close we are, we have lots of major SPOILERS, so be warned. Let’s get into it…
This character is much better executed as a CGI character. That’s just a practical reality when he’s 7-foot-something tall; he’s very, very thin.
They built costumes for Serkis to wear on set.
“[Snoke] is strangely vulnerable at the same time as being quite powerful,”
davestrrr: Very interesting. That’s two “very”s up there before thin. This guy is going to be shockingly thin. Like he might break if he falls over. This might be the “vulnerability” that Serkis was talking about?
mazlow01: This so cool to me, honestly I think he is the most anticipated character now. Disney and Lucasfilm were smart to hide him.
2.Snokegate! The internet has been buzzing back and forth about Snoke.
2.1Collider claims a piece of fan art of Plaguies is Snoke. To be fair, they sent this picture to their “sources” and they said that was the look.
davestrrr: This is clearly fan art of Plagueis, and the guys at collider agree with this. So at this point, are we done? Nope. They think this is actually how Snoke looks. Then we didn’t need this magazine to ask them. Why could they just ask their sources if Snoke looks like all the Plagueis fan art? I don’t buy the whole Disney asked them to take it down. It was up for days after. This just smells like some attempt to get more views and more publicity.
mazlow01: Yeah no. They say they have sources that say Snoke looks similar to this and then claimed Disney told them to remove it. 5 days later it was still there, though now gone… clicks baby clicks. Also one of them has been on Plaguies=Snoke train from day one and the other has slowly joined. They were also claiming to have confirmed Rey’s staff was Plaguies’. I don’t buy it at all.
2.2The next day a user on NeoGaf gave us this image of Snoke from “The Art of The Force Awakens”
davestrrr: This is the first “real” image that feels real. I don’t know if this is the final design, but this is the first thing we’ve seen that looks like actual concept art. These two versions look different, one younger with more recent injuries, and other older and more wrinkly, with older wounds. We did have the quote from Serkis earlier that they kept working on the design up until post-production.
mazlow01: Now this I believe will be close to the final design. Not exactly it, but close. Also both the collider boys said this was bogus and or fake.. the same user also released the next pics so he track record is already better than theirs.
2.3The Collider guys came back and said that this NeoGaf image wasn’t real. It isn’t Snoke, they claim. We have this response from John Campea saying that the NeoGaf pic was “bogus”:
and then Kristian Harloff said that this image just “isn’t Snoke”.
davestrrr: I don’t know how John Campea can say that he has “never been firm”. He has frequently said that he is 100% of the view that Snoke = Plagueis, and we have reported on this before. In a recent interview with Justin Bolger, he has said “very firmly”, and other times he has said “100%”. Isn’t this “firm”? As a matter of fact, and this is kind of hilarious, in the Justin Bolger interview, John Campea says, and I quote (at 9:28) “I do believe, very firmly, that Snoke is Plagueis. I believe that whole-heartedly”. And now he says he has never been firm? Is this guy for real? Does he have no memory of what he says from one show to the next?
mazlow01: Once these guys are proven completely wrong will they hang there heads and go away? I doubt it. Instead they pretend they said they hoped it was Snoke but were never positive. This is a pathetic use of controversy to get hits up on their show.
Han was leading a “normal” life married to Leia. Until some sort of tragedy struck.
Lor San Tekka is a member of the underground “Church of the Force” which operated during the reign of the Emperor. Loosely associated with Jedi.
Confirmation that Maz is force sensitive. But was never a Jedi.
Maz has been holding on to a relic from the past that may someday make a difference. Aka the lightsaber.
Confirmation of old leak that after Return of the Jedi the Empire fled to the “unknown regions” to regroup and explore. General Hux’s father was one of those people.
“Kylo Ren betrayed the other Jedi Students studying with Master Luke Skywalker, and is responsible for their destruction.”
Through his veins course the bloodlines of the most powerful Jedi and the Sith.
Kylo is also called a Jedi Killer
davestrrr: Tremendous news here. The thing about Lor San Tekka being part of the “Church of the Force” is very interesting. Gives some point of reference to our earlier article on him. Could this connection provide him with knowledge of where Luke is? Great list of news here.
mazlow01: We had a good idea of the Gang based on the Lego set released that had them and this just rocks I really like the look and can’t wait to the actors (from The Raid) show off. The rest of this info! Han being a “family man” come on people he was married and after the loss of his kid he and leia didn’t survive like we suggested. And finally Kylo Ren confirms he kills Luke’s students, and he’s related to Luke. AWESOME!
davestrrr: Great shots there. Some good acrobatics too. Will there be other fights that are not trained here? Time will tell, but it looks like they are doing some good work. Interestingly, JJ has also stated that they are going back to an old school version of lightsaber fighting and that it won’t be as intense as the PT, more like the OT. More dialogue and emotional conflict than choreography.
mazlow01: Very cool. They are going to be freaking great, honestly this might hype me more than any of the trailers. Is that weird?
davestrrr: Very exciting. John Williams is so freaking brilliant. The man is 83 years old and still has the mind of a young man. Pure genius. I can’t say enough about this great man, and all I can say is I hope he stays with us for another 10 years plus.
mazlow01: I only hope JW is around for the rest of this trilogy. This sounds closer to the PT than OT to me also.. part of his evolving style.
davestrrr: Sweet moves! I know the fights will be more old school, but skill like Kylo’s spin move is much appreciated and looks fantastic.
mazlow01: Dude Kylo is a badass! I can’t wait for Rey vs Kylo.
7. There were so many “5 days” TV spots. Here is a link to a compilation of them all!
davestrrr: Nothing terribly new here, and we’re already at 3 days (or 4 depending on when you are counting to), so this is a bit old at the rate news is coming. Have you felt it?
Return of the Jedi is the first Star Wars movie I ever saw in the theater though if we’re honest I don’t remember the event. I was five years old and according to my parents immediately hooked. That birthday and Christmas I racked up on Star Wars toys. I had lightsabers with holes at the top to make the noise, an Ewok village and ALL of the Ewoks, every Main character and stormies, X-wings, TIE fighters, speeder bikes, you name it I had it*. My parents weren’t rich or willing to spoil me but I was the only grandson and one of two Grand kids at the time and my grandparents were more than willing to spoil me. Thanks Papa and Grandma! To say that Return of the Jedi started me on the Path of Geek is one percent correct. All that said lets jump into the final review before The Force Awakens.
What I Liked
The first shot mimics ANH opening and that is just a great sign. Vader really sets the tone when he uses the line “The emperor is not as forgiving as I am”. I really liked just about everything that happens at Jabba’s palace. Real Jabba over CGI Jabba any day of the week too, the CGI Jabba from the prequels and ANH:SE just aren’t the same character to me. Jabba is no fool and he proves it when he prevents Leia from rescuing Han and once Luke shows up by trying to dispatch him quickly. Leia shows us once again she’s a bad ass by taking down Jabba single-handedly. This highlights the failure of Padme’s arc in the prequels to me. Luke is obviously more powerful and confident and adds to his total as a mass murderer.
The Emperor is still so cool, I want to join the darkside as soon as he starts to speak. Yoda dying is actually really sad and yet he still jokes! Once back with everyone learning of the Rebels plans, Han’s incredulous look when Leia’s says “who’d they get to pull that off” is just… Han. As is the Han’s line later when they arrive at Endor “Fly Casual” I enjoyed the speeder bike chase and the introduction to both Leia and the rest of the group to the Ewoks. I know Ewoks aren’t the most popular of creatures but I like them. People act like 3-4 foot bears aren’t terrifying… really? Intelligent 3 -4 ft bears are absolutely terrifying to me. Anyway. Luke using C3PO and C3PO’s reaction are great. As is Han’s orders to C3PO about getting there stuff and the other 5 questions/commands he had.
Everything after Luke meets up with Vader is pure gold. The final battle is raging across three fields and the one with least amount of impact on the outcome for the Rebellion is one we care about the most. Luke vs Vader and the Emperor. Luke could lose that battle and still the rebellion could win if he wins the rebellion could still lose. The battle between these three is emotional with Luke trying to turn his Father and the Emperor trying to turn Luke. The Emperor is good but he blows it in his overconfidence. He unwittingly prevent Luke from truly going dark with his comments. Luke is willing to die to save his friends Anakin was willing to kill, the Emperor thought they were of the same cloth. Vader looking to his son and then teh emperor you can feel his conflict. Knowing what we know about the prequels you can make a guess of what is going through his head. Padme died, the Emperor couldn’t help me save her. If I let him kill Luke then everything I’ve done has been for nothing. Boom dead Emperor. I could go into the other battles but they don’t have the impact of this one. They are visually great and Han has a great moment with Leia after the Death Star 2.0 is destroyed. Act three is as good as ESB in my mind, no need to wax poetic.
What doesn’t work for me
ROTJ works on just about every level so there is very little to dislike. The special edition additions of the CGI band in Jabba’s place are kinda terrible as is the new song. I also can’t stand the new mouth on the Sarlacc. The only two other things I’d change about the first act are Boba goes down like lil punk and Yoda kinda should have given Luke a better warning about the Emperor. As far as the second and final acts I only have two issues. One is the scene after Luke leaves to face Vader. Leia and Han have what is at best an awkward scene, not quite Anakin and Padme in AotC but not great. The second would be the traps the Ewoks had set up for the Imperials in the woods. Seriously that would require tons of planning and work and they just didn’t have the time.
What ifs!
I mean in the orginal first draft of ANH we have an Ewok/rebels team up that was wookiees instead. How cool would that have been? I still like my Ewoks but Wookiees man. We could have had Wookiees!
Final Thoughts
RotJ is and always will be a great way to end Anakin’s story. If it weren’t for nostalgia and the way ANH changed the game RotJ would probably most people’s number 2. After my re-watch I have come to new conclusions on how I rank these films. ESB, RotJ, TPM(you read that right), ANH, RotS and AotC. This has also heightened my excitement for next Thursday first viewing of The Force Awakens to levels I’ve not felt for any movie since TPM. I will probably watch the OT Thursday then go right into TFA after seeing RotJ twice in a as many weeks. Expect my review of TFA to be bonkers.
Leia, princess, fighter, rebel, leader, Senator and we learned all that in the first 15 minutes of A New Hope. Its been over 30 years since we have seen her and quite a bit in her life has changed. However its fair to assume that not much has changed about Leia’s overall personality, a little older and wiser maybe but just as take charge and confident.
What do we know?
Leia was a leader in the Rebellion and she is now a General for the Resistance . She leads the Resistance which we believe is a separate organization from the Republic. This would mean she is no longer a political leader but a military one so her change from the begining of ANH(Senator) to the RotJ(Fighting on the ground) is complete.
After the events of RotJ Leia had a choice, study with Luke to become a Jedi or continue her work with the Republic . She decided she’d do the most good with Republic and now with the Resistance.
“It was a great question, and one that we talked about quite a bit, even with Carrie [Fisher]: If there was another, why did she not take advantage of this natural Force strength that this character had? And one of the answers was that it was simply a choice that she made, that her decision to run the Rebellion — ultimately, this Resistance — and consider herself a general, as opposed to a Jedi, it was simply a choice she took. Not that there was any regret that she could have and didn’t, but clearly we’ve seen, and we do again, she’s still Force-strong, and it’s something that is an intrinsic piece of her character.”JJ Abrams (Source)
So she is Force sensitive however she is not a Jedi and limited skills with the Force.
What we suspect
As the Leader of the Resistance she is tasked with stopping the First Order’s rise to power in the Galaxy. She is responsible for sending Poe to Jakku which starts all of our cast on its journey. After the Attack on Maz’s castle Leia leads the Resistance to Takodana to save the rest of the heroes and brings Han Chewie and Finn to the Resistance base. She is also responsible for the Resistance’s secret weapon which they use during the final battle of the movie.
Based on where we meet Han and the fact that Han goes to Maz instead of Leia we can assume that they no longer have the relationship they had at the end of RotJ. Speculation has named Kylo Ren Han and Leia’s son and possibly Rey as their daughter, making Leia a mother of at least one child. Considering where meet Rey and Kylo’s allegiance one would assume the loss of their child(ren) caused their estrangement. However they quickly put aside whatever the negative past is to fight once again against the darkside and save Rey.
By the end of TFA Leia will have won a battle against The First Order and most likely lost Han forever. She will have found a new family member in Rey, whether it be a daughter, niece or just in the Force is yet to be determined.
When Revenge of the Sith first came out I was admittedly less excited than I had been for the two previous Prequels. I found myself focusing on the negative aspects of the previous movies instead of the many positives. Basically I was slowly becoming a prequel hater. After the first showing Revenge became my favorite prequel far and away, I thought it was the closest to old school Star Wars and was so freaking happy about it. However now it trades places with TPM as to which is my favorite of the prequels depending on the day. In some way the faults of AotC hurt the potential of RotS and it has it own faults but is still a great movie.
What works
Lets start with a technical and story aspects that work, I’m going to focus on characters and the lightsaber battles after. The opening battle’s effects are just spectacular. I loved every visual they gave me. Once Obi-Wan and Anakin are on the ship there is a great mirror scene where Destroyers roll up on them just like in TPM, it just makes me smile. The comedy R2 adds by being a badass works in RotS in ways earlier comedy attempts did not, maybe because its R2? Who knows but it works. Also the interaction between Anakin and Obi-wan seems much more familiar than it did on AotC. When the Jedi spurn Anakin and then ask him to spy on Palpatine… well it was just another nail in their coffin. The effects on Utapau are also really well done and hold up great. Once Anakin has finally realized the Chancellor is a Sith lord, I absolutely loved how the Jedi seal their fate by excluding Anakin in the arrest. Mace is a total badass in his fight with Sidious but based on Mace’s actions I can believe Anakin would save the Sidious. I find Anakin’s fall completely believable while I know others don’t. The Jedi have consistently undervalued and mishandled Anakin while Sidious has played him perfectly. Of course Anakin would believe him and think the dark side could save his wife. Yoda’s answer was let go of attachment, Mace straight up said I don’t really trust you. Yoda and Obi-wan’s assault on the Jedi Temple was a great example of what teh Jedi SHOULD have been to me. Also Yoda is a badass again. Finally the funeral of Padme when she has the Juniper necklace in her hands… the feels man, right in the feels.
Lets talk about Sidious/Palpatine, holy cow was this a great character and performance by Ian McDiarmid. This is his movie more than any other charcter. Honestly he just chews up every scene and piece of dialog he has. When Obi-wan takes out the two guards during the battle with Dooku and Palpatine gives that lil “Yes!”, it is funny and believable. And after Anakin has Dooku in his grasp, Palpatine is convincing and just works Anakin so well. Honestly I would do what he told me too. I did like how Palpatine seemed nervous about the landing and had a certain amount of contempt for Grevious. The legend of Darth Plaguies is another example of Palpatine being so damn awesome. That scene places one more domino in the final downfall of the Jedi and Anakin. The line “Not from the Jedi”… damn! It is no wonder that Anakin joins him, why wouldn’t he?
Obi-wan once again is great. Pretty much any scene he is in is better because of it. Ewan seems to really be enjoying himself too(Sith lords are our specialty) . Anakin is much better written than in AotC and his interaction with Padme is believable and not creepy like before. I found Anakin’s rage more believable this time also. You tell he has continually been held back and viewed unfavorably and has become frustrated and resentful.
Lighsaber battles. Man o man is this one full of them. Obi-wan and Anakin vs Dooku. Obi-wan vs Grevious, Windu vs Sidious, Anakin Vs Obi-wan, Yoda vs Sidious. And they are all freaking awesome! I will say this the first two were better on the written page than in the movie. The background given about fighting style and subtle uses of the force in O+A vs D made it a much better fight. And Mace’s pep talk to Obi-wan before he leaves to find and destroy Grevious would have been great to see on screen. That said both fights were still really well done. Windu vs Sidious was great on screen. And the finale of Sidious yelling Unlimited power was spine chilling. Now of the two big battles I liked the Yoda vs Sidious better. Sacrilegious I know. Anakin vs Obi-wan was fast paced and just great fight choreography but I wanted to see Anakin getting the better of Obi-wan more. It seemed much more even of fight than my personal head cannon had always pictured it. What I love about the Yoda vs Sidious fight was Sidious’s reaction to everything. When Yoda force pushes him across the room then prevents him from leaving… He laughs! Once the fight is in the Senate chambers he is maniacal in his laughter and just seems to be enjoying the wanton destruction he causes. He even seem annoyed when Yoda fights back. Its is just awesome. Plus the dialog during the fight between the two is very OT style.
What didn’t work
I hate the opening crawl on this movie. I can’t explain what exactly it is maybe its the “War!: start or Heroes on both sides line but it just isn’t Star Warsey to me. The dialog and opening space battle why beautiful is choppy and slow. It could be more dynamic on the action front. I really did not like Padme’s portrayal in RotS. She seems like more of an Anakin prop than anything else and I absolutely hate that. This character carried the first movie, it was hers and in the final movie she merely there to push Anakin into uncomfortable situations.
I also didn’t like how Mace just up and decided Sidious had to die. The Chancellor being killed by a Jedi is good for no one. It makes no sense at all for him to do so. Anakin’s fall to the darkside is great however having him kill younglings right away doesn’t match up and leaves no “good in him” for Obi-wan to think there may be some (RotJ cannon). Anakin should have just let the troopers in and maybe handled any full Jedi there. Padme getting injured by Anakin should have been accidental similar to how they show at the end when Vader destroys everything around him. Padme should have been caught up by his rage focused on Obi-wan not the focus of it herself. Yoda didn’t lose his fight with Sidious he just gave up. Cheap. Having Padme die at the end also ruined RotJ cannon. They could have said she’d never recover fully and might live a couple more years. Have it her as part of the decision to separate the twins to hide them from their father. Let her have some agency in their lives. My final complaint is the complete lack of Jar-Jar. For gods sake he had a quarter of the dialog in TPM and in RotS he has all of one line and two scenes. I don’t care if you hate him its a disservice to the character that was important to the first movie.
Final Thoughts
No matter the faults I see in RotS, half of which are really just my own head cannon really, its still a great movie. I do like that the prequels are billed as the Story of Anakin but are really the stories of those who shaped him. The first is Padme’s story the second is Obi-wan’s mixed with Padme and Anakin’s courtship and the third is Palpatine’s. While none of these is really about him they all let us know how he became Darth Vader and I think the real fault people have with the movies is they wanted it to be 3 Anakin Skywalker movies and George told us the story we wanted in a way that we weren’t expecting.
I am going to state this from the beginning; this is my least favorite Star Wars movie but when it first came out it was my second or third favorite. As time passed from its initial release its faults became more apparent and its shiny parts became duller to the point that I no longer saw them. I will say that now I can view everything that it truly is a good movie with a few bad spots. Lets just say Star Wars movies are like pizza there isn’t a bad one and I have had pizza that was worse than AotC could ever be viewed.
What didn’t work
Dialog: this is the root of every problem in AotC. Related would be the development of Anakin and Padme’s relationship however I believe with proper dialog I think this would not have been bad. Much of the dialog is telling us things that we should be able to see instead. Anakin telling us how great Obi-Wan is as a master would have been better shown. Perhaps open the movie with them working together well. The chase Obi-wan and Anakin participate in could have done a better job of them cooperating and Obi-Wan being a mentor with the better dialog and interaction. Instead Obi-wan acts like Anakin is a child that needs minding and Anakin acts as though he HAS to just do things or his abilities aren’t recognized. The development of Anakin and Padme’s relationship uneven while parts are great they veer off into uncomfortable territory. The much maligned sand scene actually is pretty great however the scene with fireplace is terrible and could have been so much better. I could give more examples of where the dialog failed the story but that’s been overdone (Almost everything with C3PO).
The only other thing that doesn’t work is the lack of continuity between AotC and ANH. After Anakin and Padme decide to leave Tatoonie I would have like to have seen Owen try to convince Anakin to stay and not get involved, the Jedi are idealistic fools on a hopeless crusade.
What worked
Anakin’s talent with the force was highlighted well, he seemed to be better than everyone else with exception of Yoda. He is also cocky about his abilities which to me matches well with Vader’s opinion of himself. Obi-wan’s entire storyline was great and if anything could have been expanded. I found the acting to be as good as the material presented unfortunately Hayden and Natalie’s performance suffered because of the poorly done scenes however MOST of their work is great. Yoda teaching the younglings scene was fantastic and the interaction with Obi-wan and the other masters fit with how we saw them. The story and plot are quite good in themselves and though and despite it being the longest run time for any Star Wars movie it feels shorter.
The lightsaber battles were very good. Obi-wan vs Dooku was great as it showed Anakin’s rashness was a weakness and Obi-wan’s methods had there place. One thing about the movie that the book did better was Anakin vs Dooku. The movie was not as dynamic as the book made the battle seem and Anakin seemed more of a badass in the book but it was still good. However the best was Yoda vs Dooku. I have heard people complaining of how Yoda fought with a lightsaber but because its so unexpected is why I love it. When the battle is over and Yoda goes back to his walking stick… that is just pure awesome.
Final Thoughts
I wish the Jedi council had raised Anakin to a Knight but basically a be with Padme and leave us or give that up and stay, with Anakin choosing Padme. Palpatine could have then asked Anakin to be his personal Jedi and represent him on the council with no vote. Thereby putting Anakin in the hands of the Sith Lord but allowing him to continue to work with Obi-wan. This would have set up the next film nicely. I still like this movie even though I can see its faults and missed opportunities.
We have a poster, we have a trailer, we have a lot of news and spoilerific info about The Force Awakens. The question I’m going to revisit today is might we get a shot of everyone’s favorite little green Jedi? What are the chances of seeing Yoda in The Force Awakens? Let’s take a stroll through the internet and see what we can dig up.
image credit: joe.co.uk
A recent post over at StarWarsNewsNet (formerly StarWars7News) caught my eye, and is the main impetus for this post. There were a couple of rumors in this post, but the point that Yoda will be in The Force Awakens jumped out at me. The exact wording is:
I know someone who works in the ****** media (dubbing) who assured me that there was indeed a scene with Yoda in The Force Awakens.
So, it is pretty tough to evaluate this claim given that we don’t know this source, and SWNN claims their sources are just readers of SWNN making this claim. However, given the decent credibility of SWNN, I couldn’t help but stop and think how this could even happen.
image credit: comic vine
We of course know that if Yoda is to make an appearance, he’ll have to be a Force ghost. That is, if he isn’t a hologram. We’ve only seen Force ghost Yoda talking to Luke in any of the films. Therefore, we can assume that the most likely scenario is if Yoda is talking to Luke. The possible exception could be that Maz Kanata is some kind of old wise alien that somehow also knows Yoda. We’ve speculated before that Maz is also some kind of a Jedi, or perhaps a non-Jedi mystic with deep knowledge of kyber crystals and the Force.
image credit: Indie Revolver
So Maz is the only other character I can imagine at this point that could communicate with Yoda other than Luke. However, as it turns out some of the earliest rumors about The Force Awakens was that Yoda would make an appearance.
Going back to December 2nd 2014, we have this report from Galactic News One (found via Star Wars Underworld) that gives a lot of alledged details on The Force Awakens. Actually the post just references a 4chan post as the evidence. A lot of this post has held up, but there are a lot of statements that are flat-out wrong (for example Gleeson being some sort of a “scoundrel”). However, enough of them are correct that I think it is worth taking notice. Among them was the point that
Luke speaks to Yoda’s force ghost in the film.
Going back even earlier, we have a post from January 2014 suggesting that Yoda will be in the film. This article quote Cosmic Book News, who cites their “DC Entertainment Source”. Now this isn’t exactly DC Entertainment news, but maybe they have some inside info. The direct quote is:
‘We’re told that Yoda will have words with Luke Skywalker about a rising unbalance in the force and the need to preserve the Jedi.’
Where would it make sense in the film, given what we know about the film? We actually know fewer details about the second and third act of the film than we do of the first. But given the MakingStarWars plot synopsis, which seems to hold up pretty well, there might be some places where Yoda could fit in. If anything, such a scene might fit into two points in the film.
The first scene could be during the flashback scene. We don’t know many details, but there is a believed scene where Knights of Ren attack on Luke’s Academy. From the MSW synopsis:
VISION: There is what looks to be a Jedi Academy, and the dead bodies of padawans are on the ground. Luke Skywalker shows up, too late. He sits by a funeral pyre with R2-D2.
Luke returns too late to save them, and many padawan have been killed. Depending on how long the flashback is, there might be room for a quick shot of Yoda’s Force ghost consoling Luke, perhaps close to the shot of Luke consoling R2D2.
The second scene that could plausibly make sense is at the end, with a shot of Luke communicating to Yoda’s Force ghost while in his seclusion in the huts above Skellig Micheal.
This would have to be before Rey arrives, assuming that when Rey hands off the saber to Luke, we then immediately get the closing credits. We don’t know this is exactly how it ends, but that seems to be what MSW thinks. Therefore, we might have a scene with Luke and a Force-ghost Yoda talking before Rey arrives. I mean, hey, Luke has to talk to somebody while in his seclusion, right? The problem with this is it could steal the thunder of revealing Luke at the very end. However, and forgive a brief bit of fanfic here, what if the scene is Luke in a hooded Jedi robe facing away from the camera, talking to Yoda? Then the sound of a space ship causes the hooded Jedi to walk outside and greet Rey.
I’m not completely convinced that Yoda is needed, but perhaps some sort of statement to Luke, telling him that it is time to come out of seclusion and rebuild the Jedi order could work. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below if you’d like to see something like this.
We first heard the name Resistance in April at Star Wars Celebration and immediately there were questions. What happened to the New republic? Is the First Order in control of the Galaxy? What is the nature of the Resistance? Well we have some ideas we’re going to break down using what we know and what we suspect.
The New Republic
Immediately following the Rebellion’s victory at Endor they restructured themselves into the new Republic. After the death of the Emperor, the Empire spiraled into chaos according to an old report from Making Star Wars. Several former imperials tried to claim the throne of the Emperor, while Mas Amedda tried to hold things together. After this, the Rebel Alliance was able to secure several star systems with little push-back, and ultimately they declared themselves the New Republic.
Their ranks swelled with planets and fighters as the new Republic took the fight to the scattered Empire culminating in the Battle of Jakku. We in fact learned that the new Republic was in effect during the battle of Jakku from some promotional material for Star Wars Battlefront that reads:
Fans who pre-order Star Wars Battlefront will be among the first players to experience the Battle of Jakku, the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet on the Outer Rim.
From there the Republic planned a massive reduction in military forces and encouraging the planets to have their own defense forces. All of this we know based on the Journey to The Force Awakens novels and comics. So far there has been no information released or teased that says the Republic is not still around. Based on this I believe the Republic is still around and quietly supporting the Resistance as the Republic does not have its own military. The Republic is most likely left the outer rim alone and this allowed the First Order to coalesce., It appears there is an uneasy truce between the Republic and the First Order, one that most likely not survive the events of The Force Awakens.
One question is, will we see any scenes of a new Republic Senate in TFA, or it will it be only alluded to like the senate in ANH? At this point, there is absolutely no evidence of any new Republic Senate scenes, but given that such scenes could be almost entirely CGI, it is hard to rule it out.
The Resistance
The Resistance is a military organization that opposes the First Order. It is lead by General Leia Organa. They do not appear to be officially part of the Republic and are made up of former Rebel leaders like Ackbar and new fighters that have fought against the First Order. We know this, for example from the junior novel “Moving Target“, where PZ-4CO says:
“You are the leader of the Resistance, a critical check on the designs of the First Order. You are a symbol of the Resistance and an inspiration to all soldiers who follow our cause and do their duty in hard times.“
So, it appears that the Resistance may have been created to fight the First order. In addition to General Organa, we also have reports of Major Caluan Ematt, who also fought for the rebel alliance. Major Ematt was among the “shrikes”, a special rebel recon team. In fact, Major Ematt was the only surviving shrike after an ambush on Tanaab. Could this be the same battle of Tanaab that Lando referred to in RotJ? What role with Major Ematt play in TFA? Still no hard evidence at this point.
The Resistance has adopted the symbols of the former Rebellion such as the X-Wing and the starbird (see above symbol). So what are they really? It appears they are an independent military that is supported by the Republic and formed for one reason only: Stop the First Order. I think this is why they are searching for Luke, they need a Jedi to help fight against Snoke and the Knights of Ren. After decades of no military force the Republic is not ready or able to fight against the military machine the First Order has built on the outer Rim. The former military leaders of the Rebellion put together their own forces calling upon the many planetary forces in the Republic.
We got a look at the resistance base in the new trailer, and it closely resembles this concept art, but with mountains added in the background, but at this point it is unclear what planet it could be on but there many different reports calling it Yavin IV
Why are the Republic and Resistance separate? I think there are two reasons in the end. First it is made up of former Rebellion leaders that are better fighters without the interference of the Senate. As we saw in the prequels such large bodies can make running a war next to impossible especially when the dark side can be used to influence members. By having them separate the are free from the influence of certain groups. Second one of the biggest complaints of the prequels was the political scenes and tone. I suspect that JJ is avoiding the Republic and its politics through the Resistance, keeping the Galaxy small and storytelling tight. In the end I suspect we will find out the Resistance is really just another word for Republic “unofficial” Military forces.
Although we both love the original trilogy (a.k.a. the Holy Trilogy), in this post we’ll discuss the 10 things that we’d change if we had the chance in a perfect world. We did a similar post about the Prequel Trilogy not long ago. There are two of us (mazlow01 and davestrrr) and we don’t always agree on what should be changed! Let’s begin:
5 things that mazlow01 would change about the OT:
1) Two Special Edition changes- Emperor’s dialog in ESB and Han vs Greedo shoot out in ANH
Mazlow01: I don’t want to just make this about SE changes and honestly I like most of them., so I am going to mention these two. Han shoots first. We know George knows this, the change was stupid. In ESB they had Ian McDiarmid re-shoot the scene where the emperor speaks to Vader which hey that makes sense lets have them look the same. BUT they changed the original lines which was terrible. Lets compare just the changes:
Original: EMPEROR:We have a new enemy – Luke Skywalker. VADER:Yes, my master. EMPEROR: He could destroy us. VADER: He’s just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.
SE: Palpatine: We have a new enemy. The young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker.Vader: How is that possible? Palpatine: Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us.
That is the type of dialog that limited the story telling ability throughout the prequels.
davestrrr: I don’t necessarily mind Ian McDiarmid doing the scene in ESB, and I think it is good to have the same actor throughout. For the dialogue, I don’t really have a problem with the new dialog. Actually, in some ways I actually like that new dialogue better! As for Han shooting first, yeah, that shouldn’t have been changed. It makes less sense now with the whole neck twitch thing to dodge the blast. I thought shooting first was actually better for his character. He’s a scoundrel and a smuggler. Somebody comes to claim a bounty that could potentially cost him his life, Han would definitely shoot that punk-ass bounty hunter down.
2) Death Star 2.0
Mazlow01: Seriously another giant planet killing star base super-weapon? They couldn’t come up with better idea? Instead of using a super weapon how about just put the Emperor on Coruscant on the Anniversary of the formation of the Empire and have have a goal of disabling the planetary shield to attack? Or just on a regular space station or anything besides Death Star the sequel: Bigger, better, this time with a force field!
davestrrr: Yeah, I can see this. Maybe having just one Death Star would work better. When to do it? I think just keep the original trench run, since that is classic. RotJ could have just been an epic space battle, and maybe something cool with a Super Star Destroyer with a force field that needed to be blown up from the inside. Lando could still have needed to pilot inside once the shield was down, and navigate inside to blow it up.
3) Leia being Luke’s sister.
Mazlow01: I know what some of you are thinking: sacrilege! Hear me out though. When Empire was written the idea was Luke had a twin but it wasn’t Leia. He was going to have to go find his brother or sister after Return of the Jedi to restart the Jedi order. Making Leia his sister is just cheap. Vader and Palpatine both interacted with her face to face (I am assuming as a senator she dealt with the Emperor though maybe not still they had to have had SOME proximity) and they couldn’t tell she was Force sensitive? Or hey you bear a striking resemblance to my dead wife and you are the adopted daughter of one her allies in the senate that just happened to be born around when she died. Really?
davestrrr: Yeah, having Leia be adopted by the Bail Organa when they needed to be hidden from the Emperor doesn’t make sense. Her becoming a Senator when she needed to be hidden from the Emperor didn’t make a lot of sense either. Luke going to Tatooine to Anakin’s stepfather’s old house doesn’t make a lot of sense either for that matter, but people have argued why it does (Anakin was traumatized by that place). That’s another story though.
Anyway, with Luke and Leia being twins, I always thought it was hinted at from the get-go with them both having 4-letter names starting with L. Maybe it wasn’t planned all along, but to me it kind of made sense. Just the explanation that Leia needs to be adopted by one of the most high-profile families in the galaxy in order to hide from the Emperor doesn’t make sense.
4) Ewoks. Why’d it have to be Ewoks.
Mazlow01: So this is where I am supposed to say it was dumb they were able to beat the Storm troopers etc. That’s not my problem with the Ewoks. I don’t care that they are cute lil teddy bears. I don’t find it that hard to believe that with superior numbers, knowledge of the terrain and the obvious planning they had done, that they could beat the Storm troopers. My problem is they should have been Wookiees. The Ewok attack was based off of one of the early drafts of ANH and they were wookiees then. Replace all those ewoks with wookies and how bad ass is that! It would have been SO much cooler and wookiees are just as loved by children as Ewoks are.
davestrrr: Well, we got that scene in RotS, so it’s all good. I don’t know about the Ewoks. I don’t hate them, I don’t love them. I definitely loved the Ewoks when I was 8 years old, so I’d keep them around. I have a distinct memory when I was a little kid I liked RotJ best because it had both Yoda and Ewoks.
5) Diversity
Mazlow01: Total of what 4 female characters with any type of lines? Two die with in minutes (Slave dancer and Aunt Beru) Mon Mothma is in one movie has 3 lines and isn’t seen again. Then there is Leia. Yeah she’s awesome but she’s the only female character in all three movies and she doesn’t speak to the other female characters. Then minorities. In ANH the only one I remember is the voice of Vader James Earl Jones. Then we get one supporting character Lando in Empire. Finally in RotJ we have a couple of more but still its pretty whitewashed. That is a damn shame, not because diversity is needed for diversity’s sake but in a wide galaxy of diverse aliens we get not much diversity in the humans.
davestrrr: Yeah, it is hard to argue with this. We need more strong female characters. I think ANH, in terms of the number of non-white actors on screen is a bit embarrassing. Yeah, James Earl Jones did voice work, but there should have been at least one actor on set. I guess it was filmed in England and maybe back then the vast majority of actors in England were white? Not sure, but I’m guessing that was part of it.
5 things that davestrrr would change about the OT:
1) In terms of the Special Edition, I wouldn’t have introduced Jabba the Hut in ANH.
davestrrr: The CGI was terrible in the first version, and the second version was a little better, but still pretty bad. I thought it was better when Jabba was left more mysterious and not introduced until RotJ. It was cool to have the character mentioned, and not seen until much later.
Mazlow01: OK I can see this. I never liked the idea of Han stepping on his tail or the introduction of Boba Fett in that scene. It was just more of a hey look here’s a fan favorite!
2) Use a practical Millennium Falcon in RotJ
davestrrr: There is a scene with Han and Lando talking by the Millennium Falcon, and the ship is a painting. There are other matte paintings in the OT that work a little better, but this one sticks out. A lot of people that complain about the PT and its over-reliance on CGI, need to take a look at this:
Doesn’t look 3D enough and totally looks like a green screen, especially when Lando walks toward the Falcon.
Maybe some old school fans like this better than CGI, but I don’t think it is any better. It still lacks some depth to me, and looks like a “green screen” shot. I wish there was a way to make the ship practical, and/or do the shot next to it or at least next to a practical ramp.
Mazlow01: OK I have to be honest I do remember seeing this but it never bothered me. I always chalked it up to effects of the time kind of thing.
3) Improve the lightsaber fight between Obi Wan and Vader in ANH
davestrrr: This fight was a bit weak. I mean, it was explained by the fact that Obi Wan was old, and Vader was half robot, but I think it could have been better. Maybe some Force pushes, maybe some Force-thrown objects. Maybe some stunt doubles doing a few better moves. Maybe using some of the same face-swapping CGI tech that made Dooku more dynamic in the PT. Something. I remember watching ANH with a friend that hadn’t seen Star Wars before, and she was yawning and frustrated during this scene.
Mazlow01: OK so here’s an unpopular opinion, I’d say slow down the fights in the PT. Lightsabers were supposed to be heavy and only a Jedi could weld one because the force was needed. I like the simplicity of the OT fights.
4) Why didn’t Chewbacca get a medal?
Wait, where is my medal? What gives?
davestrrr: This seemed weird. Wasn’t he just as much a part of the whole ending as Han? I mean, he was the co-pilot, and played a big role in rescuing Leia. When they turn around, and he gives that roar, you know he’s pissed that he didn’t get a medal.
Mazlow01: Dude I just argued for more Wookiees so I am on board with this all day long.
5) Boba Fett’s death is too simple
davestrrr: I think Boba Fett was kind of played up as being a bit of a badass. His death falling into the sarlac pit was a bit lame. It was an accidental hit to his jetpack. I think a more epic showdown would have been more fitting. He should have been harder to kill.
Mazlow01: OK so here is ANOTHER unpopular opinion. I don’t think Boba did anything to earn his “Badass” rep in the movies. He just looked cool and was smart enough to think “hey maybe this smuggler will use a smuggler’s trick” and then followed Han to cloud city. I mean why would we think he was awesome at anything?
After they team up, the heroes Rey and Finn get chased down by TIE fighters. As Rey leads Finn and they run across the dessert, they end up to a ship with an open door and platform. It’s the Millennium Falcon, and the run in and take off. The Falcon is on Jakku, and Rey runs straight to it. Let’s try and navigate through the confirmed and rumored info, including spoilers, about the Millennium Falcon.
First things first if you haven’t watched the trailer lets take care of that now. If you have, lets watch it again.
Now that we have that out of the way lets break it down! ( Our interpretations of the trailer are based on spoilers, so consider yourself warned. Spoilers Ahead!!!)
It’s our 10th Weekly Recap, hence our 10th week of operation at Spoiled Blue Milk. And what a week! We’ve decided to devote part one of this recap to the newly released The Force Awakens official movie poster. How much can you get out of a poster? Quite a lot. 
Spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the world wide web to bring you the latest news about the Force Awakens character Finn. He is one of those characters that we think we know a lot about, but somehow it seems like there is still quite a bit to know.
The big question that everyone wants to know…Does Finn become a Jedi? I had assumed that he would for a long time, and then these cards showed up saying that he wasn’t. However, we don’t know how seriously to take these cards. In fact, there is good reason to not take them seriously at all because it also says R2 is a Jedi! So, we’re back to the drawing board. We do know that he is carrying the lightsaber for most of the movie from the concept art:
but that could be just carrying it because he thinks it’s cool. The MSW plot synopsis suggests he is attracted to it, while Rey is repulsed by it. Therefore, that would make Finn the best person to carry it to bring it to Luke (until Rey takes it, as is rumored).
Boyega plays the character of Finn, who he describes as being “in conflict, mostly with himself and also with the powers” but is tight-lipped about why this conflict exists, or which powers he means for that matter—the Force?
And when confronted with this point, most of the readers of SWNN (49%) voted that they thought that he was a Jedi, and the lightsaber is no coincidence.
Still, even Han wielded a lightsaber in ESB, so in my mind the lightsaber doesn’t guarantee anything. Or does it? To cut the guts out of a Tauntaun is one thing, but to use it in fighting? According to Wookieepedia, you need a certain strength dexterity to wield one. Perhaps even only the strength of a Jedi. The idea that Finn is in a lightsaber fight with Kylo goes way back, to a post by Jimjamjim on the Jedi Council Forums. A lot of what he posted has held up, and this was the first mention of Kylo’s crossguarded lightsaber (way back Sept 2014). So we can likely expect him to fight with the saber. However, we’re left then wondering with what skill does he use the lightsaber? Does he fumble around with it for a little bit and then just get taken down, or does he actually use it well enough? The synopsis says he is quickly taken down and then saved by Rey. Therefore, my money is on Rey being a Jedi. In the end, I don’t know if there is any solid evidence that he will become a Jedi, and I’m starting to think he just tried to use the saber, but couldn’t hack it. Could absolutely be wrong, but so far I’m struggling to find anything solid that he shows signs of being Force-sensitive. Please let me know if you’ve heard of anything!
There are some recent rumblings around the web that Finn’s story is loosely based on the Legends character “Finn Galfridian”. It’s interesting that this character interacted with the Solo twins and rode in the Millennium Falcon. In many ways, Finn Galfridian’s story has a couple similarities to Finn, but still pretty different. Finn Galfridian was a Jedi sent to help the Solo’s from none other than Luke Skywalker. Frankly, I’m not going to defend this theory, but it could be an interesting idea to look into, hence pointing it out.
In a the same article from V Magazine mentioned above, John Boyega basically stated that the fan theories are wrong. We’ve always thought that Finn is a stormtrooper, with number FN2187. There are some rumors that suggest that he might be just posing as a stormtrooper.
“We’ve seen him in the Stormtrooper outfit and his own clothes. Why is that?” The answer, he says, is “very surprising.” And if you think you’ve worked it out, the chances are you’re wrong. “J.J. will send me YouTube clips of fans reacting to things online and it’s funny. The fans have no idea. It’s great they are talking, but nobody has a clue.”
So it makes you wonder how the rumors could be wrong. It would be a nice surprise if he was in fact not a stormtrooper, and wearing the outfit as a disguise. If so, I guess he might be a Resistance fighter or spy trying to infiltrate the First Order. That would explain why he is shorter than all the other stormtroopers. That’s him in the middle:
Would someone that short make it into the StormTroopers? According the Leia in ANH, there are height requirements.
I’ve definitely all this time thought that he was a stormtrooper and I assumed that his name “Finn” was based off his stormtrooper id number “FN2187”. But what if it’s the other way around? What if he is a Resistance spy, infiltrating the First order, and when asked his number, he made one up, using “FN” as the characters based on his name? For example, this idea would explain why he was repulsed by the actions of the stormtroopers. Wouldn’t someone trained in the First Order be sort desensitized to the kind of violence that they do? Again, this is just entertaining a wild idea here, and I still think that the evidence points to him being an actual stormtrooper, but nevertheless again worth contemplating. What do you think? Share your comments below.
I know what you are thinking–more prequel bashing. Not here! Although we enjoy the prequels, in this post we’ll discuss the 10 things that we’d change if we had the chance. We will do a similar post about the Orginal Trilogy soon too. Not ony that, there are two of us (mazlow01 and davestrrr) and we don’t even agree on what should be changed! Let’s begin:
Things that would be changed by mazlow01:
1)No Qui-Gon Jinn. Merge his character and Obi-Wan in TPM.
davestrrr: I have to disagree about #1 with Qui-Gon! He is essential. He is the guy that had the view about the Living Force before anyone else, and ultimately who discovered retaining awareness after death. Maybe it could work if everything was shifted around. Also, you have the parallels between Obi Wan’s “death” in ANH and Qui-Gon’s death in TPM.
Mazlow01: See I would merge those qualities into Obi-wan, he’d be the outcast Jedi Knight not yet made a master, though with his ability alone should have already. TPM would end with him becoming a Master and being able to choose Anakin as his Padawan. As far as learning to live on after death that could be something he figures out with Anakin. Anakin’s obsession with keeping people alive after losing his mother and Obi-wan working with him tempering his ambition.
2) No Darth Maul! Merge him and Dooku together- Show Dooku on the Council mention him leaving after the duel on Naboo
davestrrr: On #2, it may work as you have it. Depends on how it is done. It does seem a little weird that there are so many bad guys in the prequels and so few in the OT, so maybe merging a couple would be better.
Mazlow01: That was my goal. I’d also add in Grievous to TPM. Make him the general in control of the droid army control ship. He becomes the cyborg we see in ROTS because of his injuries escaping the droid control ship when Anakin blows it up. You could also show Dooku as the one objecting to Anakin becoming a Jedi instead of Mace looking like the bad guy.
3) Have Anakin Build R2 not C3PO- A mechanic would like an astromech more than a protocol droid. A queen would need a protocol droid
davestrrr: I like #3, that does make some sense. Maybe because of all the gadgets that R2 has makes it impractical to be built by a kid, and after all, Anakin built C3P0 for his mom.
Mazlow01: I don’t know why a Protocol droid would be of any help to his mom anyway. I think R2 being built by Anakin would explain his personality and why he has so many cool things.
4) Have Anakin made a Knight at the end of AOTC and given the choice by the council of marrying Padme or staying with the Jedi to one day be a Master. Anakin chooses Padme, Palpatine asks him to be his liaison to the Jedi.
davestrrr: With #4, I don’t have a problem with your idea, but I also don’t consider this a flaw in the prequels. I thought it that sequence of the marriage and joining the council in RotS worked for me.
Mazlow01: The idea here is give Anakin more reason to not trust the Council and to resent them. Also it allows Palpatine to influence him more. I think people have a problem buying into why Anakin turns so quickly. This gives us reasons for distrust of the Jedi and trust in Palpatine
5) Have the Sith lighting show Palpatine’s true age… he is 200 plus that is why Anakin believes he can save Padme.
davestrrr: For #5 that is an interesting idea. One thing that people complain about with RotS is how quickly Anakin turns to the darkside. Maybe if he had confidence that he could save Padme because he sees that Palpatine is really old, then that might have been more believable.
Mazlow01: Thank you! This plus number 4 gives us reasons why Anakin would turn. It would help prove that Plagueis COULD keep people alive through the force and give us a good reason for the emperor’s appearance.
Things that would be changed by davestrrr:
1) Introduce the villains briefly an episode earlier (introduce Dooku in TPM, and Greivous in AotC). This way the trilogy holds together a little better.
Mazlow01: I like this idea… the villains just seem one note the way they were in the PT. Sure Dooku survives AotC but then he turns around and dies in the first 15 min of RotS. It was just a waste of good potential.
davestrrr: I agree on the wasted potential on Dooku. Given that he was probably ordering the clones during TPM, including him in a scene could have gone a long way.
2) Make the clone troopers in AotC, and maybe RotS, practical costumes. The CGI on them got better in RotS, but with AotC, they just don’t look real. I would have done all the clones practical, and then digitally copy them for the big scenes.
Mazlow01: GOOD LORD YES! I tend to fall into the trap of fixing story elements because I want to avoid the idea of blaming the green screen but this is one place where the movie suffered.
davestrrr: Yeah, I think this was a sore thumb in AotC. Scenes like when they were boarding the Republic Star Cruiser at the end of AotC just didn’t seem lifelike enough for me.
3) Have an older Anakin in TPM. I think having a 10 year old and different actor was a bit rocky. It may have flowed better if they used the same actor throughout. It could have paralleled the OT better if it was the same actor.
Mazlow01: Again I agree here. Starting him as say a 14-16 year old vs a 10 year old just gives certain story elements more heft.
davestrrr: Yeah, I think that’s it. However, I can also see that Anakin needed to be a certain height, and the timing makes the growth spurt that the actor may or may not have difficult to predict. I’m guessing that might be part of the decision.
4) I would have titled AotC something like “The Clones Retaliate!” to make the grammar more similar to ESB.
Mazlow01: On this one I disagree completely. I love the title Attack of the Clones. I can’t explain why it just hits me.
davestrrr: Interesting. Yeah, it is kind of an interesting title. My biggest thing is that too many titles are “blank of the blank”, so one less might be good.
5) I think it would have been cool it have a scene with the ordering of the clones in TPM. This would tie the trilogy together I think.
Mazlow01: See I don’t think its needed. Having them be an unexplained doesn’t hurt anything. At best a closing scene with Sidious and lets say Dooku with a “You’ve seen to our friends on Kamino?” “Yes my master the next stage has begun as you have foreseen” it would give us a view but nothing direct.
davestrrr: Maybe you’re right. The mystery might have been lost if a scene preceded AotC. Tough to tell.
In closing…
Mazlow01: As a close out I would like to point out neither of us mentioned Jar-Jar and I want to now. I don’t necessarily like him BUT I know tons of kids that thought he was great. I could see making him a Han Solo type- Gungan smuggler bringing in Naboo stuff that is against the law and that’s why he was banished. But I honestly don’t think he needed to be fixed.
davestrrr: Yeah, I actually don’t have many major problems with Jar Jar. We are probably different in that respect. The thing is, Jar Jar was annoying in a way because his character was supposed to be annoying. The other characters even verbalized it, for example Obi Wan saying “Why do I get the feeling we’ve picked up another pathetic life form”. It was Qui-Gon that saw Jar Jar’s value and brought him along. In the end, it paid off. Part of being a Jedi is seeing the inherent value in someone that goes beyond clumsiness or behavior that could be seen as annoying.
Rebels tells the canon story of how the Rebellion against the Empire developed until A New Hope. This leaves us with a bit of a problem though, three problems actually, Ezra, Kanan, and Ahsoka. It would seem that they would be present at the Battle of Yavin though I could see them skipping that, however by the time ESB rolls around Luke and Yoda are all that is left of the Jedi according Yoda. So what what happens to the heroes of Rebels? This is going to be pure speculation, there is nothing to back this up so far except the known canon.
Is it Monday already? Well last week had quite a few new character bits and pieces come out. Various rumors that seem to back up several of our previously posted theories. Lets not waste anytime and jump right in. And remember as always spoilers abound.
“And it’s all about the story and family. I mean that’s what J.J. is all about.” – Greg Grunberg talking about The Force Awakens.
So far The Force Awakens has given us two protagonists and one antagonist without a last name and it has set the speculation machine afire. We’re going to break down what we know about all of our characters and who their possible parents or children are.
With the release of multiple “speaking” toys we have our first glimpse into TFA dialog and that leads us to multiple questions. First is will the dialog actually be in the movie as there precedence of that happening(Star Lord toy comes to mind) second where are these in the movie and third who are they talking to? As to the first I believe most if not all of these will be in the movie, though some might end up with a different intonation or slightly different phrasing. As to the second and third question well that’s the point of this article! Note this almost PURE speculation however it is informed speculation. more “We have dialog, what does it mean?”…
Through six star wars movies there have been a few consistencies, Lightsabers, Jedi, Star ships and Droids. Often ignored by their human counter parts, the droids have been the supporting cast saving the day as often as our “Heroes”. Yet the two most famous droids in the Galaxy seem conspicuously absent from many of the rumors and advertising with the new kid on the block BB-8 all over the place (with exceptions…recall that R2 was the first character to be confirmed for TFA in the image below). What does this tell about the movie and what has happened to C3PO and R2-D2?
Only four characters made it through the first six movies and three of them went through serious changes: Obi-wan became a force ghost, Anakin became Vader to become Anakin again (force ghost) and C3PO had his memory wiped. This means only R2-D2 has been through it all and remains unchanged. For most of the major story arcs through all six previous films either R2-D2 and/or C3PO was present and for the few they weren’t present it is certain they were around when the main characters discussed what happened and they no doubt discussed what they saw and heard between themselves. For this reasons it has seemed that we are being told these stories by R2-D2 and C3PO (translating R2 for the prequels) and before the introduction of BB-8 I assumed they’d be telling the sequels too. However our droid duo has become a trio or possibly even a quatro.
It appears that for the first half of this movie BB-8 is our “story teller” as he is around most of the action. He is Poe’s droid that escapes when Poe can’t and is found by Rey. From there the two hook up with Finn and then Han, Maz etc. Throughout every rumor of the first half of the movie BB-8 is there or will no doubt over hear what happened (Finn and Poe’s escape).
With that, we have a parallel to ANH. In ANH we had Leia entrust the Death Star plans with R2, and in TFA we’ll likely see Poe entrust BB-8 with the lightsaber, assuming he’s found it at this point, and the story will follow BB-8 for a bit like it did the droids.
R2 and C3PO are with Leia at the Resistance base as is another new droid character PZ-4CO(the possible fourth), who we were introduced to in Moving Target. In fact, StarWars.com updated its databanks with an entry for “peazy-fourseeo”. Based on the rumors it appears that after Luke’s Jedi academy is attacked and destroyed, R2, who was with Luke, is sent to Leia. C3PO was already with her in a role much like his in ESB and PZ-4CO is acting as Leia personal droid.
From the plot synopsis posted at MakingStarWars.net, we know that one critical role the droids will play is decoding some kind of puzzle hidden in Luke’s lightsaber. Perhaps, Luke put it there so that they would find him eventually when the events before the film were set in motion. R2 has shown himself to be a natural code-breaker, plugging into computer terminal and interpreting the Imperial network in the earlier films. It’s possible that the old duo of R2 and C3P0 aren’t in the film a lot, but nevertheless play this critical role in moving the plot forward. Indeed, it could be the scene from the above canister where this happens.
One big question that may mean absolutely nothing is C3P0’s red arm. Could be nothing could be something. Probably nothing and probably won’t even be mentioned in the films….still. Some people around the web have pointed out that the red accent is on his left side, just like the red accents seen on the TIE fighers:
So if we were to go out on a limb and get crazy-speculative here you might wonder is this red accent a First Order thing? Makes you wonder if before the events of the film, C3P0 was trying to infiltrate the First Order at some point and had to change out his arm to fit in with the other First Order droids who are also adorned with this red accent. Part of why this is pure speculation is to my knowledge we haven’t seen any First Order droids yet. Interesting hypothesis nonetheless. We will get an answer soon though as there is a one shot C3PO comic on the way in December that tells us why he has his red arm.
Supreme Leader Snoke, the man (?), the myth, the motion capture character played by the best in the business Andy Serkis. We have seen concept art of Maz, a stolen shot of Luke, but nothing has been seen of Snoke. JJ and Lucasfilm are keeping him under wraps for now only releasing his name and the sound of his voice. So what can we expect from this new villain? more “Who is Snoke?”…
Today Entertainment Weekly released new info on our new favorite bad guy Kylo Ren. The most important part being he took his name from a group called the “Knights of Ren”. So what was his name before? Are the Knights still around? Are they Sith or something else? Let’s dive into the spoilers and piece this together…
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