JJ Abrams to direct Star Wars?

[XDel]

Abrams didn't do Cloverfield...

 

[McHaggis]

Mr. Plinkett called it... three years ago.

J.J. Abrams' take on Star Trek was pretty damn good. It wasn't Wrath of Khan, but I'd definitely say it was up there. He's a director that knows how to work with special effects without getting lost in them. If he's handed a good script, I think he'll make a fine Star Wars film.

Plus, we're one step closer to that Star Wars/Star Trek crossover I've always imagined. Imagine Kirk and Han Solo battling Storm Troopers aboard the Enterprise, and Picard and Obi-Wan Kenobi exchanging words of wisdom over a nice cup of Earl Grey tea!

Just one question... Star Trek Wars or Star Wars Trek?

 

[Hadrian]

what's your home address? I need to send you something
(I hope you have a good insurance)

Come at me, bro.

I think he means "better than Episode 1 Lucas".

Nope.

I'm not a fan of JJA, his work is functional at best and stupid at worse but I did feel he did Star Trek well despite the lens flare and suddenly making Spock & Lt Uhura suddenly into each other where. I felt that the actors chosen were very well suited, especially Pine as Kirk (apart from Sulu, he didn't show any essence of that guy at all). Ok the story was a bit hammy and but doing the "Alt universe" thing was a good thing to keep the respect of TOS. Even then I like his stuff more and I find he is more of a capable director than Lucas.

 

[Taleweaver]

Well...since everyone has their opinions, here's mine:

Cloverfield was awesome.
That star trek movie was horrible (and I'm totally neutral on Star Trek; had never seen an episode or movie before, mostly for being busy with other stuff. In any case: if it wasn't for my girlfriend, I wouldn't even have finished watching).

I can explain my reasons for that latter if anyone wants me to, but it'll be only for informative reasons...I'm not going to change my mind, and I'm not trying to convince anyone else either.

Abrams didn't do Cloverfield...

Erm...yes he did. Check your sources again.

 

[DSGamer64]

Still a better director than George Lucas.

George Lucas is a great director, just an absolutely horrendous script and story writer. If you look back on history, the original Star Wars films have a very linear and predictable story, the acting and the script overall are also generally pretty lousy with some of the most corny lines ever seen in science fiction. And that was part of what made episodes 1-3 so very very shitty. The acting was bad because the script was bad, yet funnily enough that is one of the biggest similarities between all 6 films. People expect better dialogue and acting in today's films, so it can easily be understood why the writing of a man like George Lucas is so painfully bad, because people actually care about it.

 

[XDel]

Well...since everyone has their opinions, here's mine:

Cloverfield was awesome.
That star trek movie was horrible (and I'm totally neutral on Star Trek; had never seen an episode or movie before, mostly for being busy with other stuff. In any case: if it wasn't for my girlfriend, I wouldn't even have finished watching).

I can explain my reasons for that latter if anyone wants me to, but it'll be only for informative reasons...I'm not going to change my mind, and I'm not trying to convince anyone else either.


Erm...yes he did. Check your sources again.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/

 

[JustChillin1414]

I love J.J. Abrams' work, lately I've been going through every TV series he's been involved in (after watching Lost) and I can't say I've been disappointed, I think this would be great for the franchise.

 

[LightyKD]

Not sure I agree with this. I found the recent Star Trek movie to be more enjoyable than the others I've seen. While those were fine, they all seemed more like feature-length episodes rather than a movie worthy of the big screen. But, then again, it's not like I'm a devout Star Trek fan, so what do I know? (or, maybe that was the point of the film.)

I agree that the new Trek movie was enjoyable but many of us Trek fans also understand that Star Trek isnt just a media franchise. Trek is a philosophy. I just dont want J.J. to go all "shoot em up" with these movies and forget to actually add a moral, humanizing sub story within. It's the thing that has always separated Trek from Wars.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

George Lucas is a great director, just an absolutely horrendous script and story writer. If you look back on history, the original Star Wars films have a very linear and predictable story, the acting and the script overall are also generally pretty lousy with some of the most corny lines ever seen in science fiction. And that was part of what made episodes 1-3 so very very shitty. The acting was bad because the script was bad, yet funnily enough that is one of the biggest similarities between all 6 films. People expect better dialogue and acting in today's films, so it can easily be understood why the writing of a man like George Lucas is so painfully bad, because people actually care about it.

George Lucas is good when he doesn't have uncontrolled creative power. That's what happened in the prequels.

The movies aren't directed amazingly. They're not bad but there's nothing substantial about how they're directed. What makes the movies great is the story, the characters, the environment, and the musical score. Like the movies are directed well, Lucas is competent in that regard, but he's not a standout director.

The movies aren't meant to be complex. They're meant to be "linear" and "predictable". Being so simple is why Star Wars became so popular. It's a story of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. There's no grey areas, it's just very simple. It has memorable characters, the scripts are actually rather good (they convey the story well and make the characters and lines as famous as they are), and the acting isn't bad (nothing amazing but it's not cringeworthy).

The prequels are bad because there is an overwhelming amount of plotholes, some terrible acting (Anakin Skywalker is fucking awful, even Ewan McGregor, a great actor, feels so drab and boring, as does Natalie Portman), and everything is so bland. They juggle so many balls in the air that they forget what Star Wars is about. It's a good vs. evil feelgood story. It's not about intergalactic senate politics or Naboo royalty. It's about a valiant white knight (Skywalker), a beautiful princess (Leia), a redeemable rogue (Han Solo), and their cast of colorful characters (Chewbacca, C3PO, R2D2).

 

[retKHAAAN]

"Meesa so happy to directa mee Star Warsa!" - Jar Jar Abrams

 

[krazykracker1288]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/

He's actually right on this one. Abrams produced Cloverfield, and let his close friend Mr. Reeves direct, and decide what to do with his money. Anyways, nobody has any love for Felicity???

 

[Taleweaver]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1060277/

...and Bad Robot production (the producer of the film) is owned by Abrams.

 

[narutofan777]

super 8 felt rushed...I didn't enjoy the movie. i feel like he only focuses on the ideas rather than the characters.
i don't make sense.

 

[totalnoob617]

great he has already ruined star trek why not star wars as well!

NOT HAPPY JAN

it will probably resemble a pile or turds anyhow ,its owned by disney now, be prepared for it to star justin beiber and demmi lavatto ,and celina gomez

they should dig up irvin kershners corpse ,it could do a better job i bet

 

[XDel]

...and Bad Robot production (the producer of the film) is owned by Abrams.

O.K., O.K., so he paid for the toilet paper the crew wiped their butts with, I guess he was involved somehow, just not creatively as far as I know. You win this battle.

As for Abram "ruining" Star Wars...

I think it's a little late to take the title as the guy who "ruined" Star Wars since Lucas took that title long ago in the 1990's in a cooky, pop culture culture not so different from our own.

With Episode 4, Lucas had a ton of help which took his mediocre pile of crap and turned it into the story that all of us in this thread apparently know and love. In fact, it was artists who created the look of the space ships, aliens, and atmosphere of the movies not to mention all the sound effect and ambiance. What does Lucas know about the art of noise, drawing, air brushing or anything to that effect? Episode IV: A New Hope (as it later came to be known) was not so much the creative effort of George Lucas, than it was the people around him, as it was the author of the original novel, and as it was with the team behind the original radio play. As far as I see it, Lucas was responsible for two things. Holding a Camera and having written a very rough script as to what the basic story would be, the rest was the work of others. O.K. well I will say this, I did like his taste in new world, dystopian themes. Nature against the System, Mysticism vs Human Philosophy, and so on. I loved THX 1138, it was by no means original, but very fun and worthy to fit within my dystopean themed collection. Likewise, I love and will always love the American Graffiti! It is a fun simple movie where you just enjoy the "happening" as it were and you grow attached to the characters on the screen and how they interact with the other characters. This sort of story telling certainly carried over into Episode IV, so I will give Lucas that much, he used to have some talent once upon a time.

Anyhow , to play things safe, Lucas did not even write or direct Empire Strikes back but instead gave the job of directing to Irvin Kershner and handed the writing over to Leigh Brackett and, Lawrence Kasdan. Well Lawrence helped convert Leigh's story over to screen play format, but what ever, the movie had me laughing and crying all at the same time. It re-enforced my own observations of the "living force" within our own reality, and well just pretty much left a marked for life. In fact it was the first Star Wars I ever saw as I was 4 in 79 when I realized that Star Wars existed, but never made it into a theater in time to see it, so I first saw Empire when VHS came about, then went back and watched A New Hope.

Anyhow, personal history aside, Lucas returned as director for Return of the Jedi... oh no wait, wasn't it some dead guy called Richard Marquand? O.K. well Lucas and Lawrence did write the story and screen play conversion, and it seems apparent that Lucas intended to try to market this puppy a bit because as much as I love it, Return does come across as a freaking muppet movie (no disrespect to the honorable Jim Henson). And I don't mean awesome and legendary muppet movie like The Dark Crystal, I mean muppet movie as in Fraggle Rock, as in targeted to an audience that barely graduated diapers...

...yet while the other non-muppe-ish moments in the movie were very adult in nature and often times very dramatic, emphasizing the Buddhist truth of impermanence and Samsara, while also emphasizing aspects of human nature and folly such as being consumed by the illusions of our passions and so forth. Somehow though, despite it all, this turned out to be a wonderful film, and aside of maybe Indiana Jones and Willow, this is probably the last good movie I have ever seen with Lucas' name attached to it. The prequels were in them selves a mess which I don't even need to bother psycho analyzing for you all because well...

...you all know who Red Letter Media is, they may not know the books, comic, and old pen and paper RPG cannon like I do, but they do know good film making and they can cite a million reasons why the prequels really have nothing going for them and everything against them. O.K. maybe there were a couple cool scenes through out all three films, but other than that. Absolute garbage.

I can not imagine Abrams can do any worse, though I do fear that nothing, books and comics excluded, is ever going to come out that can top Empire, but as long as they put in a good effort, and even more importantly, put in an effort to keep all use old school fans pleased by doing their best to tie into the old cannon as much as possible, that being the Thrawn Trilogy and the like, then I'll be happy! I'll be happy if I care about the characters, the story, and if they avoid plot holes and the like. I will be happy if this film is not marketed towards demographics that have nothing to do with the key elements that made up the original trilogy and expanded universe. That is huge part of what killed Star Wars in the 90's was trying to appeal to too many demographics. I.E. introducing a Hannah Montana Character into the Star Wars universe who always wears a tube top and a mini skirt into battle all the while maintaining a positive, school spirit/ cheer leader attitude, whilst remaining devoid of shell shock, flash backs, depression, trauma, and all those other realities that come with war time...

...ya cause that happened in World War II all the time, so it should happen in Star Wars.

 

[Costello]

Still a better director than George Lucas.

sorry Hadri, I take back what I said, just read this (and the comments)
http://kotaku.com/5979887/one-of-the-worlds-greatest-actors-hated-working-with-george-lucas
yeah, I didn't see it under this angle

 

[totalnoob617]

sorry Hadri, I take back what I said, just read this (and the comments)
http://kotaku.com/5979887/one-of-the-worlds-greatest-actors-hated-working-with-george-lucas
yeah, I didn't see it under this angle

george lucas , BOW BEFORE ZOD!

 

[Another World]

i hope the plot doesn't get lost.

-another world

 

[FencingFoxFTW]

When Disney announced that Star Wars: Episode VII is actually happening, the studio mentioned that they were aiming for a 2015 release date. According to producer Kathleen Kennedy, that is not exactly the case, as of now. Here's what she had to say in a recent interview, revealing they are more interested in getting the story right than hitting a release date.

J.J. Abrams was "flipping out" upon learning that Michael Arndt was on board to write the script, and Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, was serving as a consultant.

http://www.movieweb.com/news/the-st...ams-is-revealed-2015-release-might-be-delayed

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Surprised no one posted it lol