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Topic: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015 (Read 245 times) |
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TheMidnighter
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #1 on: Oct 31st, 2012, 02:28am » |
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This can turn out very well or horrible. At least we do not have George Lucas at the helm of Star Wars. Like he says himself in the article: the new generation of filmmakers can work on Star Wars now. I feel there are better suited people available now than a guy who would make Greedo shoot first.
On the other hand, Lucas was (for better or for worse) always protective over Star Wars. Lucas would always try to maintain some form of quality, misguided or not. With company Disney in control, that will no longer be the case. Episodes 7, 8 and 9 cannot be a surprise to anyone since they were always planned for (my father told me when I was a child that the three Star Wars movies we watched were only parts four to six and that there were three movies before and three movies after the ones we watched). Yet, the announcement that after the final trilogy, they will probably make a new Star Wars movie every two to three years, has me worried. Star Wars is something special to a lot of people -- I hope they put quality people on the projects to have it turn out great. I do not want them to solely ride on the name "Star Wars."
As always, we can do nothing but wait and see. I still wanted to have my say about this first tidbit of news.
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Nick
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #2 on: Oct 31st, 2012, 05:03am » |
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The only good thing that can come of this is that with no more interference from Lucas, Disney might want to make some quick and easy money, and the easiest way to do that is to release the REAL Star Wars Trilogy on Blu Ray.
The only way I would want to see future films is with traditional special effects, matte painting, miniatures, real sets etc etc, an entire film without any CGI. I despise the modern reliance on CGI that has killed the art of cinema over the years.
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Will
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #3 on: Oct 31st, 2012, 09:33am » |
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For me, the story is told. The Anakin/Vader schism, light/dark, new-trilogy-as-old and vice versa, with the central character both being the films' savior and antagonist, worked as throughline. Lucas' thematic (cosmological/political) interests in his prequel trilogy, along with allusions/parallels to things, say, like The Trojan War or Leibniz's Theory of Monadology bring an underlying weight and textual heft to movies that are problematic in other ways.
The Six Episode outline makes a great deal of sense, and I think will only be drowned in franchising with the move beyond Anakin/Vader. Lucas turned the character into the cliched but effective image/avatar of the Sun (god) -- he's the center of that universe, and though there may be a second sun/son there certainly isn't a third.
What will direct sequels be but addendums or asides? It's pointless at best, subversive at worst.
Everything we've complained about as far as DC Inc. will now become the case with Star Wars. Though they redefined the blockbuster, in truth every major studio really wants to follow the Bond Model; this will be that, only less personal.
A flood of films as merchandise. Sequels, sequels, sequels. Then reboots. Then remakes. Then reimaginings.
Can't wait for Disney Gay Day Lightsaber Giveaways.
It's vaguely depressing.
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| « Last Edit: Oct 31st, 2012, 3:36pm by Will » |
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snipe
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #4 on: Oct 31st, 2012, 1:09pm » |
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I'm going into this with a positive outlook. Lifelong SW fan. Can't get enough. I read the comics, the novels, etc. Haven't paid much attention to the new Clone Wars cartoon, but will get the dvds when the series is over.
There is creativity out there. There are good film makers. There are good ideas. This is the Mouse's new flagship. They aren't going to put out a shit product.
I'm looking forward to what ever is coming up. Whether it be a "true" episode 7, or something that takes place elsewhere on the timeline.
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Will
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #5 on: Oct 31st, 2012, 4:02pm » |
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on Oct 31st, 2012, 1:09pm, snipe wrote:I'm going into this with a positive outlook. Lifelong SW fan. Can't get enough. I read the comics, the novels, etc. Haven't paid much attention to the new Clone Wars cartoon, but will get the dvds when the series is over.
There is creativity out there. There are good film makers. There are good ideas. |
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The bolded points have a number of meanings, though. And not always agreeable with each other.
Atomized, it's a fantastic idea for Disney to own Lucasfilm and the attached franchises. It's a financial boon, and could, alone, keep Disney going for decades, not that it would be likely to come to that.
But artistically? Look at the DC point, either alone or extended to the standard of film, there's a great deal to protect beyond artistry or respect -- there's brand synergy as fulcrum of company strength.
So far as branding and franchises mixing with top talent, a close analogue to this situation may be The Godfather. Coppola may have been the best director of the 70s -- arguably the best decade in film -- yet returning to the series is generally thought of as a disaster, in hindsight. Why? Because Michael's story was told. It was made for profit, purely.
I feel similarly about where Star Wars is at. Ironically, I'd be happier, short term, if they made movies that had little to do with Lucas' Saga: in other words no continuation after Jedi of story structure. Anakin's story is not only told, but further sequels would seem likely to undermine the narrative/thematic/character arc of the the earlier films.
Further, you can have a great filmmaker on a major franchise and have less than stellar results. A more particular example, even though I like the film and its confused cuts, is Fincher's Alien 3 -- the point here would be studio interference crowding out artistic intent.
More directly, though Favreau is arguably a far more pedestrian filmmaker both as a stylist and storyteller, his ability to make a solid sequel was never allowed with Disney's Iron Man. Why? Corporate branding for The Avengers mattered more. This sort of cause and effect is a rampant if not constant element from the executive branch.
Disney may be on a roll commercially, but their record with Marvel, in my opinion, has been more miss than hit as an artistic venture.
Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe. But I think the Saga is over. And rather recently, so did Lucas -- at least publicly.
Quote:This is the Mouse's new flagship. They aren't going to put out a shit product.
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Disney will do everything they can to protect corporate synergy, and brand relevance. That doesn't necessarily bode well for quality, or have much to do with it.
In other words, instead of a Saga, insular, Star Wars is now officially a franchise.
I'm not a blinded zealot when it comes to Lucas or what his interests were -- in his own words, he became a corporate head -- but he's also the creator of the universe and within the film setting did not saturate or abuse the market with releases or go beyond the bounds of relevant storytelling.
There's nothing to match that now. Instead, the story, as corporate and "artistic" balance, has been flipped.
All that said, I hope something good comes from this. However, inevitably, I believe it will be abused as a corporate marker, and that this will happen onscreen rather than on store shelves. The uniqueness of Star Wars as an independent brand is now gone, and we're already hearing from Disney how things will change.
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| « Last Edit: Oct 31st, 2012, 4:18pm by Will » |
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snipe
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #6 on: Nov 1st, 2012, 09:33am » |
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Not to sound snippy at all here, guys, but am I the only one who watches and reads for ...enjoyment? Without trying to analyze everything?
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TheMidnighter
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #7 on: Nov 1st, 2012, 5:35pm » |
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Well, it depends on what you find enjoyable. If you find the analysis of a movie (or another type of media such as comic books) enjoyable, then the analysis is part of the fun.
I guess it's the same with comics, continuity and why we all hate the New 52 reboot: it's not that stories themselves are worse or better -- they're still enjoyable. It's that these stories don't make sense if you analyse the characters and the entire universe they occur in.
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In any case, I enjoy watching all six Star Wars episodes, despite Jar Jar Binks and despite Hayden Christensen's performance in Episode Two (I could stomach it in Episode Three). 2015 is a while into the future and I will happily look forward to Episode Seven. It still has the possibility to become enjoyable.
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"One among you will shortly perish."
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Will
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Re: Disney purchases Lucasfilm. SW EP7 in 2015
« Reply #8 on: Jan 30th, 2013, 6:41pm » |
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So. Abrams, huh? This is why I find the Lucasfilm sale to Disney compounding: a saga that is centralized over six films with the protagonist/antagonist dichotomy of Anakin/Vader is now going to be artificially revived and extended for...what reason? It's a dumb question if it isn't rhetorical. And Abrams is the perfect answer to that rhetorical question.
He's not terrible, I suppose. At least so far as mainstream recycling. He's a corporate mediocrity extending this franchise in that very direction, I'd bet. Everything he's ever made has been a milquetoast retread or remake; kind of like buying Bud Light instead of Heineken.
He's safe. And if there's going to be another trilogy grafted onto a series that is, at least, thematically coherent and narratively closed, there likewise needs to be someone in charge a bit more daring. But this is Disney. And worse, it's Disney with this big franchise that it needs to protect.
So why the fuck am I even bothering to point out the obvious? I suppose that's another rhetorical question.
As it is, I don't think Abrams is that impressive with story or character, though he's wildly -- or is that fulsomely -- praised for both. Watch a season of Alias or that abomination MI:III, then tell me what notable character work you can find in either; soft lighting and pop music after an action scene is evidently some sort of signifier of character drama and complication.
Star Trek is a decently self-aware remake that is arguably dumbed down and hyped up relative to characterization and devoid of a big idea...it's film about bloodlines, with a postmodern opening that bookends with Kirk's death from Generations (see, the franchise is reborn. get it?). It ultimately is a film that pretends it's boldly going forward by limply going back ("where no one has gone before", natch), and manages little more than a meager dual-narrative about lost parents for Kirk/Spock with some Holocaust implications painfully shoehorned in.
Is Star Wars known for character depth? Not really. But the films work as both broken pieces and brilliant archetype when taken as a whole. Lucas understands mythmaking and revealed himself to be antipodal to his own work with the prequels, to positive effect for both trilogies. He made three commercial and at times infantile prequels with a deft understanding of fate, and intertexual postmodern structure through that; they surface-read (often plot points/holes) as stupid, but their visual density and thematic depth is quite intelligent.
The charm with Lucas was that, at least with the prequels, even when he tried to be trendy he merely managed clunky. On the other hand, I'd much rather see a filmmaker that creates a 21st century franchise spectacle with Harryhausen and John Ford on his mind, rather than Abrams' pedestrian Gen X allusions and lifts.
Worse for Abrams, Lucas is a great visual storyteller that understands lighting, framing and movement -- he knows how to mount big shots and explore what's in them dynamically. Abrams has developed somewhat, but he often shoots small, like he's doing tv.
Still, I'm glad he got it instead of Snyder. What a perfectly inoffensive choice.
I think that's what offends me.
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| « Last Edit: Jan 30th, 2013, 6:52pm by Will » |
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