h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So then it is official.... Jay Jay Ay has got the gig:-

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/24249/official-jj-abrams-to-direct-star-wars-episode-vii

What do people think? I continue to be cautiously optimistic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e7Upf6i7dE

FB

Yes, cautious optimism seems in order. After all, his (first) Star Trek film has been described as "the best Star Wars movie since the original trilogy."

JJ, eh.

Damn. I've just seen the last few episodes of FRINGE
and am convinced he has lost the plot and the magic,
now relying solely on a melange of gore and sentimentality
to appeal to teenage boys.

Oh right, just like the first Star Wars with its planet shattering,
incestuous romance, bestiality and Daddy issues.


~jwf~

No no, melange was from another sci-fi series again.

Oh right, the remake of 'Melange Rouge'
with Nicole Kidman. All singing, all dancing
and all red.

~jwf~

Use the Spice Luke,
That curry just won't taste right otherwise.

What do we think about the original Star Wars 3 amigos being in the new film? I think it will be OK if they just have a peripheral role basically passing on the batons.

But I hope they are not the main characters. That should probably be Han and Leia's kids, plus maybe someone new and enigmatic maybe from the new Jedi academy or something.

FB

I have always believed that the reason Lucas was taking so long to get to this final trilogy
was because he was waiting for that trio to age enough to be believable parents of grown children.

I hope they continue to feature in all three of these last three movies.
A new 9 part space opera can be then created without them, but keep them in the story.
They create a thread of continuity, as do the robots, and they are heros.

Harrison Ford is presumably now old enough to be a passable grandparent of grown-up children surely. He was in his 30s in the original film wasn't he?

Well who knows how much stuff from the expanded universe Jay Jay Ay will take. I suspect there will be bits and bobs.

I reckon Luke's new Jedi academy wont be like the old temple because Luke was trained when older. So if it is about Han and Leia's adolescant to grown up kids then I reckon HF can beleivably play their old man.

FB

Having suffered through the "Thrawn Trilogy", I'm quite keen on JJA ignoring the "Expanded Universe"...

Well, I just hope everyone remembers how Star Wars started and what it is all about - It was for the kids and should remain so.

I shall not defend the expanded universe novels. Pretty much everything I have read has been universally terribly written.

But....

There are ideas, concepts, and threads within lots of EU stuff that is interesting and in the hands of a better writer could have been good.

Also whilst mostly the novels are shite, the Dark Horse comic stuff was usually boss, and some of the stuff from the old skool Lucas Arts games was interesting too.

FB

As long as he ignores 'Caravan of Courage'
How come that gets released on DVD while the Ewoks and Droids cartoons don't?

<BB<

Harrison Ford is 70. I think he's old enough.

He could be old enough for great grandchildren

My understanding of the quality of 'expanded universe' novels is that they're hit-and-miss, with plenty of dross but a few definite gems.
I watched the most recently released movie in the franchise, 'The Clone Wars', quite recently. It was pretty poor, although I'm told the animated TV series which follows on from it gets much better. Here's my review: http://cinemainferno-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/star-wars-clone-wars-2008.html

I saw Princess Leia being interviewed the other day.
She said she had already been cast. But she could be
playing Jabba the Hut these days. Well beyond matronly.


~jwf~

Got to say, I'm sick of the "Carrie Fisher doesn't look like she did in the 1970s, ergo she's a two tonne giant slug creature" comparison people keep wheeling out.

Fair enuff.
But her mother still looks good.

~jwf~