Official Star Wars Thread
- Thread starter bearfan
- Start date
I honestly never had a problem with midichlorians. I never considered them to be "the meaning of the force"; they're just an interface.
I get the impression most people are simply upset with the attempt to put a rational explanation onto a concept that works better without one. I don't have that opinion. In my headcanon, the ability to sense the Force is just like any other sense, except most people are born "blind". Every other sense works via a physical organ e.g. eyes, why wouldn't the Force work the same? In my opinion, the idea of something like midichlorians actually makes sense.
Posted as I was typing, and it's the next point I was going to make, so I'll just say LC is 100% right. I expect that the new movies will ignore the whole idea.
I get the impression most people are simply upset with the attempt to put a rational explanation onto a concept that works better without one. I don't have that opinion. In my headcanon, the ability to sense the Force is just like any other sense, except most people are born "blind". Every other sense works via a physical organ e.g. eyes, why wouldn't the Force work the same? In my opinion, the idea of something like midichlorians actually makes sense.
Posted as I was typing, and it's the next point I was going to make, so I'll just say LC is 100% right. I expect that the new movies will ignore the whole idea.
Explaining too much is something all sci-fi and fantasy suffers from eventually, I think, if the storyline or franchise runs for long enough. There has to be some enigma remaining, even though sci-fi fans by and large like explanations and reasons. But the second you provide too much explanation, it loses some of the magic.
My money is on the new film having a strong focus on action, though.
My money is on the new film having a strong focus on action, though.
bearfan
Ancient Mariner
Star Trek (the TV shows) could get away with this because they were TV shows ... but getting bogged down in continuity is foolish in a movie franchise. You need to stick with the main points, but screw all the minor crap, especially when it is not even important to the story. My guess was they were trying to quantify in some way that Anakin had something no other Jedi did, they went the "scientific" route, which I think was a mistake ... but it is not really that important.
What Abrams did with Star Trek suggests that is a very good bet. The only thing that might suggest otherwise is that Abrams is doing a trilogy now, and the first movie will (possibly) need to have some significant exposition to set up the sequels.
RTC
Libera et impera!
You're forgetting that ignoring it also has drawbacks of its own.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
I just did a quick google to check out release date for the movie
Go bilbo kick them jedi ass
Go bilbo kick them jedi ass
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
As a casual Star Wars fan, what the fuck are you guys talking about?! 
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
About midichlorians. A device from Heisenberg Compensator series.
They were making him a chosen one, a messiah, right down to the virgin birth. The prequels focused above all on providing the background to the original trilogy. To me, the explanation was part science and part spirituality. The new film has the benefit of not needing to be shoehorned into filling any gaps, the plot can cover new ground. There's room for creativity.
Yeah, the Star Trek franchise doesn't have to deal with too much continuity, that's why it has lasted so long, I think. They can set out on an unrelated adventure each week. I'm thinking more of things like the Alien franchise. The audience really wants to know more about the xenomorphs and their origins, but the more questions are answered, the less interesting the whole subject becomes.
Are you saying Prometheus was boring?
I really enjoyed Prometheus, myself, but I've heard a lot of criticism of it from people who loved the first three Alien films. And I wonder where they take the franchise next. Supposing we find out the precise origins of the Xenomorphs, we lose the whole 'fear of the unknown' factor that worked so well in the first couple of films. And when there's few or no questions left to be answered, will the films be as enjoyable?
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
Agree with Briggs. The viewer's own imagination is the key to filmmakers..Especially in horror franchises like Alien.
RTC
Libera et impera!
Continuity, and to make up for what most people who watched TPM a grave mistake. It's not just hardcore fans who have an issue with it.
bearfan
Ancient Mariner
From the Hollywood Reporter ... makes sense to me, though I do like the episode numbers in the titles
So, now we know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the real title of the movie formerly known as Star Wars: Episode VII — but what can we glean from that title? It’s not as obvious as Attack of the Clones ("Some clones will be attacking!") or The Empire Strikes Back ("The Empire? It'll be striking back"). But what does The Force Awakens actually tell us about next year’s return to a galaxy far, far away?
The most obvious thing to note is the suggestion that the Force has been asleep in the first place. This may come as a surprise for many Star Wars fans, as the previous assumption — backed up by spinoff material now officially removed from canon — was that Luke Skywalker’s victory in Return of the Jedi heralded a second Jedi Order, with the Force resuming a position central to society as seen in the prequel trilogy. But if the Force is only awakening now, clearly that hasn’t been the case.
The title also suggests that the Force will be central to the new movie, something that isn’t likely to be the greatest surprise to anyone — what would a Star Warsmovie be without a lightsaber battle? — but it's worth pointing out, nonetheless. To date, we’ve had a trilogy about the fall of the Jedis and rise of the Sith, and a trilogy about the rise to power of a character who was supposed to “bring balance to the Force.” Does this title hint that the new trilogy’s overarching theme is what happens after that balance has been recovered? Is the “awakening” brought about by Luke Skywalker?
Also significant is the lack of “Episode VII” in the title now. Considering the amount of focusJ.J. Abrams and his team have put on the original trilogy as an inspiration for the new movie, that’s again unsurprising — we didn’t have any episode titles in the original releases, either. Additionally, Star Wars: The Force Awakens just sounds like the beginning of something in a way that Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens doesn’t. The immediate response to the latter is “Wait, do I have to watch the earlier six?”
(Not to mention, removing “Episode VII” also removes a subconscious link to the much-derided prequel trilogy, while allowing the spinoff, nontrilogy movies Disney and Lucasfilm are working on to seem like projects of equal standing. There are many reasons to ditch the episode number.)
Most importantly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens really does fit into the pattern set by the earlier movies — the first installments of each trilogy to date have had these vague titles that don’t really tell you anything for sure, but let you speculate to your heart’s content. The Force Awakens isn’t any less confusing and meaningless than The Phantom Menace or A New Hope, when it comes down to it, and its selection leaves the possibility open for a second title that’s far more descriptive of the plot — and then a third that features the words "Return of the" or "Revenge of the" in there somewhere.
For now, all we know for sure is that, come 2015, the Force’s nap is over. And for the fan base, that’s probably more than enough to get them excited.
So, now we know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the real title of the movie formerly known as Star Wars: Episode VII — but what can we glean from that title? It’s not as obvious as Attack of the Clones ("Some clones will be attacking!") or The Empire Strikes Back ("The Empire? It'll be striking back"). But what does The Force Awakens actually tell us about next year’s return to a galaxy far, far away?
The most obvious thing to note is the suggestion that the Force has been asleep in the first place. This may come as a surprise for many Star Wars fans, as the previous assumption — backed up by spinoff material now officially removed from canon — was that Luke Skywalker’s victory in Return of the Jedi heralded a second Jedi Order, with the Force resuming a position central to society as seen in the prequel trilogy. But if the Force is only awakening now, clearly that hasn’t been the case.
The title also suggests that the Force will be central to the new movie, something that isn’t likely to be the greatest surprise to anyone — what would a Star Warsmovie be without a lightsaber battle? — but it's worth pointing out, nonetheless. To date, we’ve had a trilogy about the fall of the Jedis and rise of the Sith, and a trilogy about the rise to power of a character who was supposed to “bring balance to the Force.” Does this title hint that the new trilogy’s overarching theme is what happens after that balance has been recovered? Is the “awakening” brought about by Luke Skywalker?
Also significant is the lack of “Episode VII” in the title now. Considering the amount of focusJ.J. Abrams and his team have put on the original trilogy as an inspiration for the new movie, that’s again unsurprising — we didn’t have any episode titles in the original releases, either. Additionally, Star Wars: The Force Awakens just sounds like the beginning of something in a way that Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens doesn’t. The immediate response to the latter is “Wait, do I have to watch the earlier six?”
(Not to mention, removing “Episode VII” also removes a subconscious link to the much-derided prequel trilogy, while allowing the spinoff, nontrilogy movies Disney and Lucasfilm are working on to seem like projects of equal standing. There are many reasons to ditch the episode number.)
Most importantly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens really does fit into the pattern set by the earlier movies — the first installments of each trilogy to date have had these vague titles that don’t really tell you anything for sure, but let you speculate to your heart’s content. The Force Awakens isn’t any less confusing and meaningless than The Phantom Menace or A New Hope, when it comes down to it, and its selection leaves the possibility open for a second title that’s far more descriptive of the plot — and then a third that features the words "Return of the" or "Revenge of the" in there somewhere.
For now, all we know for sure is that, come 2015, the Force’s nap is over. And for the fan base, that’s probably more than enough to get them excited.