Star Wars Episode VII's working title is... about as cheesy as you'd expect.

[wyldwolf]

Last edited Tue May 6, 2014, 09:25 AM - Edit history (1)

But I'm still looking forward to it. It gives me... A New Hope...

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/67205

[kentauros]

1. All I want to know is:

How many billions, or even trillions, or people will Abrams kill off in the first/last two minutes of the film?

Expect the action to be over-the-top hyper-active-edgy, the plot to make no sense, even on multiple viewings, and for billions/trillions to die meaningless deaths and for no good/logical plot-reason whatsoever.

Can you tell that I'm not looking forward to this at all?

[wyldwolf]

2. I have more faith in this than when Lucas announced the prequels

[Dr. Strange]

10. Your faith in Abrams is your weakness!

[wyldwolf]

11. LOL. Abrams over Lucas any day. I'll embrace the cloudy side over the dark side.

[Dr. Strange]

12. Well, can't argue with that.

I'm glad Lucas isn't directing.

[Salviati]

13. The Abrams side isn't cloudy...

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

3. It's like...

Michael Bey and David Lynch had a kid that only retained his parent's negative aspects...

[Orrex]

4. Maybe we should wait until the rough outline is finished before we shit-can the completed film?

I mean, the bible kills thousands upon thousands of people for no sensible reason whatsoever, but people still treat it like a good book.

I don't share the internet-wide knee-jerk hatred of Abrams, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Certainly he can't fuck up the universe any worse than Lucas did in EPs I, II & III.

[kentauros]

5. I don't care if it's Internet-wide;

I simply don't like his tired approach to story-telling. His modus operandi (as I have observed over several films and television) appears to be "Let's kill as many people as possible in the most imaginative ways possible and/or acceptable to audiences in general, yet don't let anyone feel much, if anything, for those deaths and losses."

Now, you know me; I don't care what's in the Bible as to how many people are killed in it, and I don't know why you used that as an example at all. I simply do not like over-the-top death, especially in massive body-counts. The first Star Wars did blow up a planet, yet it was treated almost like a non-event, with regards to most of the characters' feelings. Plus, I was a different, far less mature, person when I saw that, and do react differently to it now. Vulcan gets obliterated in the remake of Star Trek, yet only Spock seems to have any grief. San Francisco is damn near obliterated in the second movie, and the deaths are almost throwaway there, too.

Some stories, and movie portrayals of character and "collateral" death, appear to understand how to show such fictional people grieving for the losses, no matter how many or few. Yet I haven't seen much of that in anything Abrams has done. It's also why I find his characters either flat or unlikable, even the villains (a "likable" villain, as an example, is Bester from Babylon 5, mostly because he's a complex individual.)

So, I'm not looking forward to it at all. I don't hold out much hope for it being a good film, due to Abrams being at the helm.

[Orrex]

6. Well, the body count in Super 8 was pretty low

And the entire story revolved around reconciling feelings of loss and mourning, so I'd say that Abrams can play to that vibe if he wants to.

He's also written a surprising number of films that should squeak past your too-many-deaths test, so make of that what you will.


Hey, see the film or don't see it. It's up to you. What likely helps me get through these irredeemable tales of wanton genocide is the awareness that they are, after all, fiction. Much like the bible, which is why I brought it up. That is, the deaths of fictional characters mean very little to the real world, and they should be recognized as the imagined dooms of imaginary people.

If a member of the prospective audience is unable to bear in mind that fundamental truth--true since the Epic of Gilgamesh and earlier--then perhaps that prospective audience member is indeed better off sitting it out.

Maybe you could stay home and rent the 1990 tour de force Taking Care of Business, which Abrams wrote and which features zero onscreen deaths, if memory serves.

[kentauros]

7. I doubt I'll rent it.

I just do not have any respect for him or any like of his story-telling, as I stated earlier. Maybe he's created some gems, but as I've got plenty of other far more compelling things to watch or read, I won't lose any sleep not seeing his stuff.

[Orrex]

8. Guess I won't bother saving you a seat, then.

[kentauros]

9. If a friend of mine with whom I see movies wants to see it,

I may go, but we tend to avoid crappy movies. That wasn't the case (the avoiding part) with Prometheus, though, and we were quite disappointed we wasted our money on it.