The Force Awakens SDCC Behind-The-Scenes Reel

[Sandro 251]

 

Who's cutting onions? And why am I six years old again?

[brooks. 58]

Well let's back down from the leet speak there.

 

Having said that this movie is going to be so great. It seems so purely Star Wars. Lots of respect for how they're approaching this.

[Beketov 9,029]

I saw this he other day and it got me really excited for Episode VII. Abrams seems like he really wants to do Star Wars justice by using as much practical effects as possible. Hopefully that means we'll have a film that feels proper and not glossy and impossible like the prequels.

[Devise 4,475]

The only thing I hope sticks around from the prequel stuff is the superior lightsaber duels.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Mr. Power

[gorlab 4,321]

i shot a couple ropes to this 

[Sandro 251]

The only thing I hope sticks around from the prequel stuff is the superior lightsaber duels.

 

Ehhh... Not really. While the choreography was flashier and at times worked really well, for the most part I don't think it's as good as the original trilogy because 1) you can really tell it's choreography and they're not trying to hit each other and 2) most of the duels lacked the emotion of the duels in the original trilogy. The only one that had any real weight to it was Anakin vs. Obi-Wan at the end of Ep III, but that's because it was what we had all been waiting three movies for!

 

We need a mix of the faster choreography, as well as the emotional weight behind the battles as well.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Sandro

[Devise 4,475]

Ehhh... Not really. While the choreography was flashier and at times worked really well, for the most part I don't think it's as good as the original trilogy because 1) you can really tell it's choreography and they're not trying to hit each other and 2) most of the duels lacked the emotion of the duels in the original trilogy. The only one that had any real weight to it was Anakin vs. Obi-Wan at the end of Ep III, but that's because it was what we had all been waiting three movies for!

We need a mix of the faster choreography, as well as the emotional weight behind the battles as well.

I kind of agree. But similar to any sword duel a lot of the flashing techniques are actually real and meant to distract opponents and throw them off guard. Even in MMA tactics such as that get used but to a lesser extent.

Honestly people overrate the hell out of the original trilogy for me. That isn't to say the prequel stuff was better of course not. But people push for realism far too hard. In the space stuff sure. But Jedi and Sith aren't realistic. They are basically wizards who duel with laser swords. And I love it and would rather they go more badass awesome for the fight scenes in that regard. Provided the characters are still done well you'll still have your emotional stuff as well.

[Sandro 251]

I kind of agree. But similar to any sword duel a lot of the flashing techniques are actually real and meant to distract opponents and throw them off guard. Even in MMA tactics such as that get used but to a lesser extent.

Honestly people overrate the hell out of the original trilogy for me. That isn't to say the prequel stuff was better of course not. But people push for realism far too hard. In the space stuff sure. But Jedi and Sith aren't realistic. They are basically wizards who duel with laser swords. And I love it and would rather they go more badass awesome for the fight scenes in that regard. Provided the characters are still done well you'll still have your emotional stuff as well.

 

It's not about realism, it's that a lot of the fights in the prequels just seem like "whatever". There's no weight to them. Darth Maul was cool but he's got like, 10 minutes of screen time in the movie. Everything about Episode II was god awful. Episode III did finally have some of that missing element that made the originals better. For all the crazy special effects the original trilogy had, the heart of those movies was the characters. That's the biggest area that the prequels failed. They were so damn focused on pioneering this new digital technology that they forgot about everything else.

 

In the original trilogy, there are four duels. In A New Hope, it's the first time Obi-Wan and Vader have faced each other in 20 years. The first time since Mustafar. While at the time no one had actually seen it, we knew there was a lot of history between these two characters. Hell, Vader outright thought Kenobi was dead before this.

 

In Empire there's the vision in the cave on Dagobah that warns Luke of what he might become, because of Luke's struggles to follow Yoda's teachings. This is nothing special in terms of choreography, but the way it is shot and the score creates this really uneasy feeling that ends with "Vader" being decapitated, the mask exploding, and Luke seeing his own face behind the mask. It was a warning for what he may become.

 

After that we have the proper duel after Luke has abandoned his training and run off to Bespin. If I remember correctly, this is the first time Luke and Vader have come face-to-face. Vader has set the whole thing up as a trap because he wants to capture Luke that badly, and thanks to Luke's lack of training Vader is allowed to effectively toy with him the entire time. Of course, this all leads to the revelation of, "I am your father."

 

Finally, in Return of the Jedi, Luke has nearly completed his training as a Jedi but we still see him slipping closer to the dark side. He wears dark robes just like Anakin Skywalker did. He's using the force to choke creatures at Jabba's Palace, which is something we had only seen Vader do. As we get to this final duel with Vader, Luke is constantly being taunted and drawn to the dark side by the Emperor. He tries to keep his composure but once Vader realizes that Leia is his sister, he goes beserk. He's fighting with pure rage at this point, and may have momentarily fallen to the dark side.

 

There's a lot more to those sequences than just flashy choreography and nice special effects.

[brooks. 58]

And then in Episode 7 we expect to find that Luke has secluded himself, afraid of falling to the tendencies of the dark side. Prior to that, in one of the books (which I believe is now non-canon but previously was considered official) Luke does turn to the dark side and his powers grow immensely. Never read the book though...

[Sandro 251]

And then in Episode 7 we expect to find that Luke has secluded himself, afraid of falling to the tendencies of the dark side. Prior to that, in one of the books (which I believe is now non-canon but previously was considered official) Luke does turn to the dark side and his powers grow immensely. Never read the book though...

 

Apparently part of the original plot for ROTJ (back when it was Revenge of the Jedi) was that Luke would kill Vader in the first half of the movie and fall to the dark side, but he would come back by the end of the movie. Of course there's the reported 12 episode arc that was apparently originally planned as well, though I don't know how much of that existed beyond really rough outlines.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Sandro

[Tyler 885]

The only thing I hope sticks around from the prequel stuff is the superior lightsaber duels.

 

 

this and jar jar imo

[Fire Tortorella 2,653]

this and jar jar imo

 

Me-sah says fuck no.

[Tyler 885]

Me-sah says fuck no.

 

 

remember the time jar jar had to give the emperor unconditional power? #powermoves