My son showed me this video this morning. I'm sorry, but I didn't hear anything JJ said after 00:25. That looks so good! We're trusting you JJ, don't screw this up!
Hmmm, history doesn't bode well for remakes/re-imaginings/sequels/prequels/special editions of classic sci-fi.
Lucas f**ked the original trilogy over himself with his endless tinkering, then shat on them from a great height with the travesty that was the prequels. Abrams turned Star Trek into a brainless lens flare fest, and when he ran out of ideas (that didn't make sense anyhow) attempted to remake the greatest Star Trek film... Ambitious, and utterly futile.
Then we've got the others... Hollywood turning the hard R Robocop into a kid friendly action film. Missing all the satire and cleverness that made the original so awesome. Ridley Scott himself deciding to use the completely directionless Lindelhof to write the prequel to the greatest Sci-Fi monster movie of all time. A film that looks beautiful (Ridley Scott through and through) but makes so little sense and answers none of the questions it poses (Lost anyone?).
Any re-make of a classic (In the Mouth of Madness and earlier) John Carpenter film. The only exception being the Thing (which was ironically a remake itself) that they actually did a pretty decent job on. Not a patch on the original and the pure CGI alien parts jarred badly. But still, not bad.
Should we mention the Crystal Skull...?
No my prediction for this latest attempt to cash in on our childhood's is that it'll be utter bollocks. Completely missing the fact that the audience for this film has grown up. Then again I suspect they're going for the younger audiences that they believe are brainless morons with very short attention spans. Explosion! Pretty! Awesome! It's a bit sad really.
Bah! >:(
The prequels are turds.
I loved the originals as a kid, but I feel like Lucas p*ssed on my childhood with his later endeavors with the franchise.
However, I think there may at last be a glimmer of hope with these.
JJ Abrams makes films that are usually entertaining.
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 08:26:56 AM
Should we mention the Crystal Skull...?
Every once in a while I see people mention this film. I thought it ended up not getting made?
Your second paragraph was awesome, by the way.
You could be right John. I just want it to feel like a Star Wars movie. Lucas doesn't seem to know what that essence is that made the original three so special. I'm hoping that a guy who remembers what it felt like to experience those as a kid might get it. I like his take on Star Trek but I'm in no way a Trekkie. Anyway, my hopes are up.
I don't know why everyone likes JJ. He tends to either dumb down or over complicate and ruin every story line he touches. Star Trek, Fringe, and Lost are just a few. I just looked at his IMDB page to see what else he wrecked and it turns out he announced 2 stories he is going to soon destroy as well. Half-Life and Portal. Two of my favorite video games...great. I can now look forward to never understanding those again too.
Now George Lukas on the other hand hasn't done anything note worthy since The Last Crusade and The Land Before Time (<- my favorite movie from when I was a kid). He has a constant stream of piss trickling down on the Star Wars story and Indiana Jones will never be the same after the "Kingdom of the Cryatal Bullsh*t". Put a fork in it, They are both done! IJ5 was announced too, Depressing just depressing.
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 08:26:56 AM
Ridley Scott himself deciding that using the completely directionless Lindelhof to write the prequel to the greatest Sci-Fi monster movie of all time. A film that looks beautiful (Ridley Scott through and through) but makes so little sense and answers none of the questions it poses (Lost anyone?).
Any re-make of a classic (In the Mouth of Madness and earlier) John Carpenter film. The only exception being the Thing (which was ironically a remake itself) that they actually did a pretty decent job on. Not a patch on the original and the pure CGI alien parts jarred badly. But still, not bad.
I don't really agree with you hear, I kind of liked Promethius. It was a bit directionless but i thought it was a decent film. As for The Thing, you nailed it. I loved the new one! The adaptation from the 80's was good but what most fail to realize it that Carpenter's (the one from the 80's) is a remake, NOT a sequel. I digress
For the Star Wars movies (new ones) they should have just had M. NIGHT SHAMMALAMMADINGDONG do them. It's easier to swallow a SH#T sandwich from him. Just my 2 cents.
Quote from: midwayfair on May 22, 2014, 12:31:28 PM
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 08:26:56 AM
Should we mention the Crystal Skull...?
Every once in a while I see people mention this film. I thought it ended up not getting made?
Your second paragraph was awesome, by the way.
Sadly it was actually made.
http://www.amazon.com/Indiana-Jones-Kingdom-Crystal-Skull/dp/B001M6KTLG/
Quote from: Clayford on May 22, 2014, 01:11:38 PM
Quote from: midwayfair on May 22, 2014, 12:31:28 PM
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 08:26:56 AM
Should we mention the Crystal Skull...?
Every once in a while I see people mention this film. I thought it ended up not getting made?
Your second paragraph was awesome, by the way.
Sadly it was actually made.
http://www.amazon.com/Indiana-Jones-Kingdom-Crystal-Skull/dp/B001M6KTLG/
LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU.
Seriously Jon, just don't. You think Lucas ruined Star Wars... Not a patch on what he did to Indy in that travesty.
It's where the expression 'nuking the fridge' (similar to the Happy Days 'jumping the shark') came from.
We're 10 posts into a Star Wars thread and Jacob hasn't posted yet. We should probably have someone go check on his house to make sure he's OK...... :P.
While I have no skin in the game as the last time I watched anything Star Wars related was when they were first in theatres in the 80s (Ewoks were awesome when you're eight), always a little concerned about JJ's ability to continue something good. He seems to start out OK (i.e. first season of Alias or Lost), then tank it something fierce when it becomes popular (second/fourth season of Alias, every other season of Lost, still think he wrote the Dexter finale cause it stunk that bad).
Did anybody else think the ostrich dude was cool? At least it was good CG. And not a gungan.
Looked like a man in a suit to me, which is high praise indeed if it was actually CGI!
Quote from: GermanCdn on May 22, 2014, 04:20:08 PM
He seems to start out OK (i.e. first season of Alias or Lost), then tank it something fierce when it becomes popular (second/fourth season of Alias, every other season of Lost, still think he wrote the Dexter finale cause it stunk that bad).
100% agree with the Lost finale! Total disappointment :-\
Have to say I disagree with the Dexter finale though. You can definitely tell they left it open for movie potential 8)
I am posting in this thread.
Jacob
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 04:04:14 PM
Seriously Jon, just don't. You think Lucas ruined Star Wars... Not a patch on what he did to Indy in that travesty.
It's where the expression 'nuking the fridge' (similar to the Happy Days 'jumping the shark') came from.
Actually, we saw it in the theater (the Senator) on opening weekend. I just like to pretend it never happened. I can remember bits of it if I think hard, but I just really couldn't believe how awful it was.
JJ isn't an artist. He's a salesman with connections. Everything I've seen of his so utterly vapid an argument could be made that it's some kind of sophisticated satire.
As bad as the directing and acting is, the WRITING really makes you just want to vomit bile - totally incoherent and full of holes with dialogue that just bounces from one cliche to the next.
Try to imagine one of those Star Trek movies without the $160 million of computer animation. It would make those dorky Turkish Star Trek ripoffs look genius.
What would be cool? Getting Nicolas Winding Refn to do the whole thing in deserted Mexican villages and jungles.
Anyway, if you guys haven't seen this, it's about an hour and a half of pure hilarity.
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 08:26:56 AM
Any re-make of a classic (In the Mouth of Madness and earlier) John Carpenter film. The only exception being the Thing (which was ironically a remake itself) that they actually did a pretty decent job on. Not a patch on the original and the pure CGI alien parts jarred badly. But still, not bad.
Juan, I do agree with you on remakes but The Thing (2011) was actually a prequel of The Thing (1982). The 2011 version ends with the Norwegians chasing the wolf that then finds the american camp in the 1982 version. I love both movies and wish the marketing was a bit better with the 2011 one since all my friends refused to watch it when they thought they replaced MacReady with a woman... but that's not the case. Everyone I explain it to and watches the movie loves it. Its a great film and did a great job on the effects.
Cody
Quote from: selfdestroyer on May 22, 2014, 05:32:42 PM
Juan, I do agree with you on remakes but The Thing (2011) was actually a prequel of The Thing (1982). The 2011 version ends with the Norwegians chasing the wolf that then finds the american camp in the 1982 version. I love both movies and wish the marketing was a bit better with the 2011 one since all my friends refused to watch it when they thought they replaced MacReady with a woman... but that's not the case. Everyone I explain it to and watches the movie loves it. Its a great film and did a great job on the effects.
Cody
I totally agree. It was a great movie. I didn't really care for the actual alien but none the less a good movie.
Yeah that's what I meant. The latest Thing was a prequel to Carpenter's Thing, which was the remake of The Thing From Another World, which was an adaptation of Who Goes There ;)
For clarity I liked the prequel (latest), only the full monster shots let it down for me. I liked the way they had to use the darkness and leave a lot to the imagination in earlier films. I know that was down to the technology of the time, but it made for greater suspense. Carpenter's film remains one of the greatest sci-fi horrors ever made. I remember seeing it as a kid and it still makes me jump if I haven't seen it in a while at the blood testing and resuscitation scenes.
Indeed these days I see CG as a cop out. Things just work better with models, puppets and suits. It's just harder to do well. The only CG of late that's worked is the sort of thing WETA have been doing with Planet of the Apes (the latest one, not the Wahlberg one...) which was excellent (looking forward to the next), and of course Gollum.
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 06:17:48 PM
Indeed these days I see CG as a cop out. Things just work better with models, puppets and suits. It's just harder to do well. The only CG of late that's worked is the sort of thing WETA have been doing with Planet of the Apes (the latest one, not the Wahlberg one...) which was excellent (looking forward to the next), and of course Gollum.
I totally agree. That's what I loved about Zathura. Cameras filming models! Real is real. I really hope the new Star Wars at least shoots real models for ships where it makes sense. For me that's part of the feel of the original trilogy.
I also totally agree about planet of the apes. The facial expression stuff they're working on right now is mind blowing.
One of the things that always bugs me about CG creatures is that there seems to be a fear of letting things go into fully dark shadows. Sometimes black just looks better than really dark grey. It's like the animators can't stand the thought of some of their work disappearing into darkness. Let shadows be shadows. Don't let something look lit where there isn't any light.
Quote from: midwayfair on May 22, 2014, 03:50:40 PM
Quote from: Clayford on May 22, 2014, 01:11:38 PM
Quote from: midwayfair on May 22, 2014, 12:31:28 PM
Quote from: juansolo on May 22, 2014, 08:26:56 AM
Should we mention the Crystal Skull...?
Every once in a while I see people mention this film. I thought it ended up not getting made?
Your second paragraph was awesome, by the way.
Sadly it was actually made.
http://www.amazon.com/Indiana-Jones-Kingdom-Crystal-Skull/dp/B001M6KTLG/
LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU.
+ >9,000
Clone Wars is the real Star Wars. fantastic show. Revenge of the Sith was almost good enough. My little boy does not understand why Anakin kills the little kids. The movie does not explain it either. he just does. weak.