Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens (SPOILERS)

That's setting the bar pretty high. Do we know whether Daniels is demented? He's getting on in years.

Do we know if his contract requires him to only say nice things about the movie? (And will he be appearing in the spin-off films slated to come out between 7,8, and 9?)

The movie or just the title?

So, Phantom, Clones, Sith, Stars Wars, Empire, Jedi, what are we gonna shorten this one to? Force?

Were these fans unicorn jockeys, by chance? Because o can't wrap my head around the fact that these people exist. That BS on midichlorians was the absolute most stupid thing thrown into Ep. I. Yeah, including Jar Jar.

And beyond that, if 3 is Sith and 6 is Jedi, what's 9 going to be? How about The Redemption of Common Mortals?

First, yes I do agree it's probably going to suck, and be bland and boring.

Second, if they're telling an old warrior comes out retirement for one last ride story, Han has to die. Might as well just hope he isn't killed by a falling catwalk.

Han should be mortally wounded, but have enough life left in him, that Leia opts to have her and him frozen together in the same carbonite slab holding hands, and then they're put in orbit around a blackhole to stretch the stasis to forever.

Then, have Bill Murray sing a somber version of the Star Wars song with a tear in his eye.

I have it on good authority that we'll be calling 8 "Ewoks" and 9 "Jar Jar."

You joke, but knowing Lucas, he'll probably reassert control after 7 does better than any of his films and do just that.

Fortunately it's not likely he has the amount of money it would take to buy it back.

Is Lucas still involved as an advisor in any way? I thought he sold it all straight up with no strings attached so he could retire and live out his days with his new sexy wife.

He still has "creative control" over what comes out under the Star Wars brand, however. So, depending upon the details of his contract, he might very well be able to reassert complete control over everything. Without seeing the contract, knowing what he's actually able to do, is pure speculation. News accounts have said that he's outlining the films and approving scripts, which could mean any number of things, really. His "outlines" could be simply vague statements about what he thinks should happen, or they could be highly detailed notes, which require only a little bit of fleshing out on the part of the screenwriters. As for script approvals, he could be allowed broad powers to change things, or he might have only a limited amount of say.

Would he be willing to sue the House of Mouse over any of that? I dunno. He's certainly not one to shy away from protracted and expensive legal battles.

I think he's pretty much where Gene Roddenberry was during the classic movie era.
He's free to offer ideas, but they can go ahead and ignore him, and if they use anything he tosses out it'll be out of a courtesy, and they won't pay him for it.

He gave their 4.5 billion away to charity, so, yeah.

FTFY. Some times, and I'm not crawling through the documentation (which is online), charities like the one Lucas started, are really nothing more than a tax dodge. The bulk of the money funneled into them goes not to whatever cause they're supposed to be helping, but to pay the people running the charity. The Susan G. Komen charity has been accused of this by numerous groups over the years. Regardless of what he did with that money, the man still has piles of cash just laying around, and I doubt that he signed over the royalties he earns when he sold his empire to Disney.

Star Wars VIII: The Force Has a Hangover.

Makes sense, the middle part is always the dark one.

Star Wars IX: The Force goes to Work Anyway, Because, You Know, Bills and Stuff

Which is kind of the motto of the new series anyway.

People forget that when it came out "The Empire Strikes Back" was very heavily criticized for leaving gaping plot holes completely unresolved.

Now, I was only 13 at the time, but I'm pretty sure the "Luke, I am your father" moment was really loathed as being "soap operaish". I can remember lots of people writing in to various magazines (like Starlog) hoping that Vader was simply lying.

"Empire" did not become the "best of the Star Wars movies" until several years after "Return of the Jedi"

Other things:
1) The Han/Leia romance was really loathed. So bad that in the Marvel Comics continuation of Star Wars, they continued to include stuff that indicated a future romance between Luke & Leia.

2) In "Empire" two things became readily apparent. Harrisson Ford was head and shoulders above the rest of the cast in acting, and that Carrie Fisher's cocaine addiction was getting serious.

3) The two most memorable things about Empire at that time were the Imperial Walkers and the asteroid field chase.

4) Mark Hamil complained that Empire was too violent.

5) Even then Boba Fett was beyond cool. Having the best helmet in all of science fiction.

I don't remember that at all. The only "complaining" I heard was people saying how they just couldn't wait for the next installment to resolve the open questions. (And, BTW, those AREN'T "plot holes.")

Maybe it was different where you were at, but every kid I knew thought that moment was very, very powerful.

There was much debate about whether this was true or not, but I believe most people (me included) accepted that it was true.

Empire was pretty well-regarded at the time. Of course, "best" is always subject to re-evaluation, but here's what Time Magazine said in a contemporary (1980) review:

Maybe by a small segment of the fans.

It's been a long time since I read the comics, but I don't think that's true. I remember Marvel gave Luke a girlfriend after Empire. Naturally, she turned out to be an agent of the Empire...





While we all wondered whether Leia was going to wind up with Luke or Han--and deleted scenes from Empire prove that the script incorporated that tension--most everyone accepted Han/Leia after Empire. It was clear that was the direction things were going to go in the third film.

Ford's movie star appeal definitely increased, but I think Mark Hamill had the more challenging role.

How does that show at all in the film? Empire is arguably Carrie Fisher's finest performance.

Two big action set pieces in an action film. So what? And I'll add: Yoda. "No, Luke, I am your father." Han/Leia romance. Boba Fett.

So what? Audiences didn't.

Perhaps YOU "loathed" some of these things, but I think you're projecting your own opinions onto everyone else. The kids I knew--and everyone was wild about Star Wars in my neck of the woods--loved it, and several aspects of the film you bemoan have become huge cultural touchstones.

Yeah, iirc, my own response to Empire was, "OMG!" shortly followed by "when can I get in line for episode VI tickets?"

Said just about everyone between the ages of 4 and 30 at the time.

Either Dayton lived in some bubble where Empire was poorly received or he's confusing HIS reactions with the reactions of movie audiences.

BTW, when I was searching for the Luke/Shira picture above, I saw this from the comic adaptation of the first movie...



Doesn't it kinda look like Camie's giving Fixer a handjob here?

Either that, or he just shot up with some good dope.

As usual, Dayton is way off the mark. When Vader told Luke that he is his father the almost universal reaction to it was "Oh my God!!!" as in holy shit that is fucking awesome, not you've got to be kidding me.

But then again, he did say people don't go to movies for entertainment. So yeah, in his little bubble his reactions are everyone's reactions.

I'll take the bolded part for $500, Alex.

I liked "The Empire Strikes Back" myself.

And I do have the Marvel Comics issues where the writers (by their admission in the letters section) tried to "nudge along" the idea of a Luke/Leia Romance.

IIRC the agent of Darth Vader (Shira Brie IIRC) introduced in the comics as a potential girlfriend for Luke, resulted in considerable jealously from Leia.

No matter, Luke nearly killed her when he blasted her TIE fighter out of the sky (one of the best issues)

As usual, you're wrong about almost everything.

...in the chicken coop.

So, you're saying Dayton didn't like ESB?