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Author Topic: Inspirational: Star Wars '99  (Read 2510 times)

Offline tnjrp

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Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« on: September 04, 2013, 06:10:35 AM »
Or rather, it might be inspirational once it gets off the ground a bit. So far there's just the mission statement sorta thing but those inclined to game SW might want to keep half an eye on this one:
http://starwars1999.tumblr.com/

Offline Daeothar

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2013, 07:23:41 AM »
His observations are astute and pinpoint exactly what the problem with the prequels was.

I hope he will be able to accomplish what he's setting out to do, but with Disney having acquired the IP, there's no telling how they will react to fanfiction. Lucasarts was pretty relaxed in that it allowed much, as long as it adhered to the established canon (which this will not do of course), so let's see how this pans out.

But as he does raise all those issues I have with the prequel trilogy as well, I'll be following this...
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Online OSHIROmodels

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2013, 07:26:46 AM »
I won't hold my breath even with his points being fairly valid  :?

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Offline Mr Tough Guy

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2013, 09:06:06 AM »
While I agree with his thoughts about why the prequel trilogy is flawed, I don't necessarily agree with his thoughts on Darth Vader being just a part of Luke's story, I think Anakin would be a logical choice for protagonist of the prequel trilogy(although Ben would make another good choice). From what he sais I think he's trying a bit to hard to keep things fuzzy, by not showing specific established points, he's going of the main road. Which is fine if you're planning to do an expanded universe story, but if you're trying to a prequel trilogy there should be some connection to the original trilogy setting it 100 years before and having no established characters in it doesn't really make sense to me.


Offline Daeothar

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2013, 09:51:54 AM »
I don't think so. What I read in his motivation is that he balks at the fact that Lucas has tried his darnest to tie each and every loose end, which detracts from the feel of a huge, living universe. Instead, this leads to a very suffocating and  restricted world in which all elements are connected to eachother at multiple points instead of being the chance meetings they should be.

Example: We meet R2D2 and C3PO at the start of episode IV: just two droids in the line of fire, who get dragged into the story by virtue of being at the right place and time. Which leaves us with the impression that there are millions of droids in the galaxy and these were nothing special till some hussy in a white hoody and earphones uses one them to transport a message.

Then flash back (forward?) to episode 1, where we see that R2D2 used to belong to Obi Wan Kenobi, and C3PO was built by Darth Vader! Now, passing over the fact that neither of those two recognise their old droids in the later episodes, I think it's a shame that these double connections are made, as it constricts the universe and makes it smaller.

Why Django Fett as the bountyhunter in episode II? That could just as easily have been any other bountyhunter!

There is something to be said for one or two of those connections, maybe set up as easter eggs, as this adds to the fun experience.

But to have everything interconnect  :? ::)

If that is what he is trying to avoid, all the more kudos to him...

Offline Col. Aubrey Bagshot

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2013, 12:51:14 PM »
The reason that Episodes 1 -3 weren't that good, is down to George Lucas himself....
The whole saga is hardly original...

He read Joseph Campbell's books at college, namley " The Hero has a thousand faces" and wrote his space opera series from that...
His college chum, Mr Speilberg, as well as being an much much better film maker, also came up with better ideas after reading said tome....

So saying that Star Wars 1999 will correct Lucas' mistakes, starts form the premise that the first three films were not flawed....
And I'm sure even the most die hard fan, myself included, will cringe at certain points in all three.... just maybe less so in Empire..... ;)
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Offline Vermis

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2013, 01:33:23 PM »
How do you get rid of that 'follow' box that constantly covers the bottom corner of the the screen? Tapping the close X on it doesn't do squat.

Okay, read the thing. For most of the intro he says "I want to create a story based on character development and interaction, rather than attempts to fill in universe background."

Then the very last line is "There will be more than one woman and more than two black people."

A large part of his grand ideal and credibility collapsed, for me, at that point.

Now don't get me wrong! It's not 'more women and black people' in itself that does that. By all means include more women and black people; but... just include them. Don't make a hoopla about it, waving your PC credentials about for all to see. Not when you make a big deal about not 'fixing' the story by restoring 'missing components'. Makes me doubt how committed he is to character, rather than what are at this point, frankly, a bunch of tokens.

Reminds me of something I read about Billy Dee Williams, worried that he would be the 'token black guy' in ESB. I don't remember thinking that the first time I saw the film, and afterwards; partly because of my age at the time, partly because he wasn't paraded as 'the black guy'. Not any more than other characters were 'the white guy' 'the walking carpet guy', 'the golden metal guy', or the 'the green midget guy'. ("Judge me by my size, do you?" ;) ) He was LANDO CALRISSIAN: dashing swashbuckler, cunning gambler, faithful friend (after a while!), general and hero of the Battle of Endor.

I don't know if that's entirely possible with Aaron's likely audience (not so much childlike innocence as age, cynicism and conditioning) but I wonder how much he's shot himself in the foot with that statement, for both negative and positive responses. I can imagine quite a few people now keeping a special eye out for and applauding black characters, regardless of how well they're written or handled. (Haven't seen Dresden Codak before; I'll reserve judgement on how well this guy can write.)

Another thing is, his last statement seems to ignore the scads of EU material - books, comics, cartoons, video games etc. - and whatever amount of diversity those contain. A wee bit more than 'one woman and two black guys', last time I checked, which was admittedly some time ago.
To be honest that's all this guy is doing: another EU piece. (A little less than that, even, since it's got no official stamp.) It's not a film or set of films; it's not a rewrite of the prequel films; it seems that it'll have little in common with any of the six films beyond being set in a different, obscure time of the same universe. He's not doing anything that a bunch of authors, writers and artists have done umpteen times before, and in my book it's a bit rich to declare that as fixing Lucas' prequel mistakes. From what I can see it'll be little more than fanfic, and that prospect certainly doesn't fill me with a warm glow.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2013, 03:28:24 PM by Vermis »

Offline No Such Agency

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2013, 12:16:50 AM »
I think that the women/black people thing is probably his personal preference.  It is kind of glaring that in a universe with many of weird aliens but lots of humans , Lando is as much of an on-screen minority as Squid Head or Greedo.  A contrasting 80's sci-fi example would be "Aliens", where the cast is much more diverse.  I don't think it's a bad thing or overly-PC to address these issues, even if it's just by saying that in the SW universe, dark-skinned humans come from a single planet, and Lando is a long way from home.

Anyway, this link makes a lot of good points, especially about the dangers of trying to connect all the back stories too closely.  It's a big universe, after all.

Offline Momotaro

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2013, 08:55:38 PM »
Star Wars got dull for me when it got small - everyone related, lots of supporting characters who keep appearing.  Heck, I can even accept the ewoks.

Gotta agree with the Red Letter Media reviews (all 4 hours of them), which point out that the prequels are just terrible films - first-draft scripts, detached acting in front of green screens, action films that alternate between people on sofas talking about politics and CGI "rubber balls" pinging around the screen.  And possibly the worst love scene ever committed to film.

There are hints of grandeur about them - Art Deco Coruscant, the pod race, the arena and battle on Geonosis - but in general I prefer the Clone Wars cartoon, which manages to feel like Star Wars AND works on a personal level, even when it's following a bunch of rookie Clones.

All IMHO, of course  :D
« Last Edit: September 05, 2013, 11:08:00 PM by Momotaro »

Offline Col. Aubrey Bagshot

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2013, 09:58:28 PM »
Star Wars got dull for me when it got small - everyone related, lots of supporting characters who keep appearing. 

In general I prefer the Clone Wars cartoon, which manages to feel like Star Wars AND works on a personal level, even when it's following a bunch of rookie Clones.


Could not agree more old bean...
AND the stories were much much better, gad it even had decent female lead characters!

Offline Cosmotiger

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #10 on: September 06, 2013, 12:54:59 AM »
Very good analysis of the fundamental problems with the prequels.  I think the story of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire could have been told in a series of "smaller" movies with the same feel as SW and ESTB.  It's just too bad that they weren't.  I think the  CGI technology and essentially unlimited budget that George Lucas had at his disposal was more of a handicap than an asset.  He ended up trying to show EVERY SINGLE THING THAT HAPPENED EVER, IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL, to the detriment of characters and story.

Offline Commander Vyper

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Re: Inspirational: Star Wars '99
« Reply #11 on: September 06, 2013, 09:52:22 AM »
Could not agree more old bean...
AND the stories were much much better, gad it even had decent female lead characters!


What he said. :D
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