Official Star Wars Thread

[Dan]

I guess it shows just how confident Disney was and is that virtually everyone would see the film in its opening week that a number of merchandise released would be seen as spoilers.

Slight Spoilers in case there are people here who haven't seen it yet.

I went into the Disney Store over the weekend in the hope of nabbing the Elite Series Rey figure I couldn't get back on Force Friday. Not only were they restocked, but they also had a variant addition with her holding the lightsaber (which is the one I eventually picked up). There's also a variant Kylo Ren with his mask removed.

Probably the biggest, though, is The Force Awakens playset for Disney Infinity 3.0 as that follows the film's plot a great deal.

[Ben]

For such a huge character, the Big Moment was nowhere near as big as it should have been. When he walks out on that ramp, you know it's coming...especially with what Kylo says just before...and then it just happens with no emotional buildup via a final plea to see the light, or any kind of attempt to fight/redeem (like Vader cutting off Luke's hand) and scant recognition in the score...and then it was over and no-one seemed to give a damn. Heck, even Kirk got a better send-off than that in Generations!

[Dacey]

What movie is Ben talking about? I happen to know for a fact that Generations doesn't actually exist.

[Ben]

Whoa...wha...?

[Dacey]

Generations. It doesn't exist. Just like Alien 3.

[Ben]

And Superman Retards, and Indiana Jones And The King-dumb Of The Rusty Skulls...

I get'cha...but I really, really like Generations...! (And Alien 3 exists more than the directionless fourth.)

[EricJ]

Think the basic point was that every true Trek fan knows that Captain Kirk lived to a ripe old age, and was given a mighty Viking funeral by all of Starfleet, and wasn't piled under a bunch of stupid rocks, so there was really no reason to start thinking "Malcolm McDowell" in the big moment where...err, you know.

[Ben]

But I never thought that. To me he died a hero saving the ship...no-one else but Picard knew that he was still around (and what are the chances of THAT!? )

Besides...we may still see him yet...?

[Vernadyn]

I enjoyed it, even though it felt more like the set-up for a trilogy than a standalone story. I actually think the "big emotional scenes" were done well for Star Wars standards, only trumped by Empire Strikes Back. What could have been done better were the moments right after those scenes--the film moved at such a brisk pace that it didn't seem to acknowledge the gravity of the scenes before rushing on to the next thing.

The "Starkiller destroying planets" scene was fairly potent, but the film moved on almost as if it hadn't happened.

On the other hand, it was better than being bored like I find myself for long stretches of Return of the Jedi. (I'm not going to write about the prequels here.)

While I don't think Williams's score is quite up to what he's done before (though I'd rank the score for Attack of the Clones lower if it weren't for Across the Stars), what's sadder is that I don't think many Hollywood composers could have done much better. Not to say that there aren't talented composers out there, but none of them can write as well as Williams in the specific Star Wars idiom. Giacchino did stellar homages with his Medal of Honor scores, but he's grown into his own personal voice since then--a voice that actually doesn't sound too much like Williams, even though both composers have a knack for great melodies. I've heard some pastiche stuff from other composers, but it's all surface level. But yes, the baton will have to be passed on at some point, and I don't envy the composer(s) who will take Williams's place.

[droosan]

IMO, Bruce Broughton could probably pull-off a decent Star Wars score.

.. but he's only ten years younger than Mr. Williams .. so that wouldn't pose a 'long-term' solution!

[Ben]

Saw it against last night and...yes...had less faults knowing what to expect. Both Empire and even the reviled (by me) Sith dealt with big emotional scenes better than the big one here, and everyone is right when they say it moves on afterwards with hardly a mention...pretty ignominious end for such a huge character. I enjoyed the score even less...it really does just go through the motions and simply repeats themes when it needs to, and the end does just repeat Star Wars (or, more specifically, Jedi).

However, as I said before...this does feel like Star Wars, so the next one should be more like Empire...hopefully we're in good hands!

[Vernadyn]

IMO, Bruce Broughton could probably pull-off a decent Star Wars score.

These days, Broughton works much less than his considerable talent deserves, so I admit that I forgot about him as an option--and I did like his recent music for Texas Rising, written with John Debney. In fact, Debney's music for the video game Lair proves that he also has the chops to write Star Wars-esque music. (One track is a little too much like Battle of the Heroes, but the rest is magnificent.) So I guess it's not as bleak as I thought--as long as they pick the right composer.

The more I listen to the Force Awakens score, the more I find myself liking it, especially Rey's malleable, multifaceted theme, the fugal Resistance march, and Williams's manipulation of Luke's theme in "Scherzo for X-Wings." Outside of Giacchino and two or three other scores, 2015 has been a pretty poor year for Hollywood film scores. Whereas if this were 1977, or even 1999, there would be a plethora of other composers talented enough to take over the franchise.

[Ben]

Danny Elfman...?

[Vernadyn]

Mix Batman and his contributions to Age of Ultron and that could work. Elfman's style is usually quite distinctive (even apart from the stereotypical cooing choirs and "bouncy" rhythms), so who knows whether his style would mesh well with Williams's. I would certainly welcome him on one of the spin-offs; it seems like those could offer more opportunities for musical voices that can diverge from the established Williams sound.

[EricJ]

Mix Batman and his contributions to Age of Ultron and that could work. Elfman's style is usually quite distinctive (even apart from the stereotypical cooing choirs and "bouncy" rhythms)

Like Dick Tracy, Batman was more in his Simpsons "bombast" style of the 80's, but the Marvel scores are a good example of how 90's-00's Elfman's done a ton more versatile scores than fans give him credit for. Even his Middle-east-tinged score for the Ang Lee "Hulk" was better than the movie itself deserved.
It's only his proximity to Tim Burton that get him the accusations of doing the exact same old gags over and over.

As for who could do Star Wars today, I look at the Harry Potter scores for an example:
Williams gave up after the third one, and in #3 you could see him trying to liven up the job by putting new unusual themes into the mix, but at that point anyone could assemble the existing motifs and just add exciting incidentals for the action. And anyone did, for 4-7B.
(For new themes here, I liked the adventurous theme for Rey, but it just doesn't spring to mind at the moment.)