Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Pre-release)
- Thread starter Warpaint
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I don't see the army of Wookies being that hard to shoot.
Who needs a whole army of 7ft tall guys? Just find a few really tall guys for the foreground shots. The background Wookies could be a bunch of 6'3" guys with another 2" of shoe lifts. Pair the shorter Wookies off with a bunch of 5'6" Stormtrooper extras and nobody would know the difference.
Same for the suits. Only the foreground guys need to look really good.
Besides, they replaced the impractical Wookie army with a whole army of little people wearing the same costumes. How much cheaper/easier could that have really been?
Lucas was probably wanting the Ewoks to be more "underdog" & primitive than Chewie.
Today people act like it's absurd that the Ewoks gave the Empire a struggle on Endor. But in the early 1980s the Vietnam war was still a fresh memory. The US war machine had struggled against a barefoot jungle insurgency.
If the Ewoks had been played just a little differently the concept might have been plausible. Have the Ewoks be less of a genuine threat to the Stormtroopers & AT-STs and more of a distraction/annoyance. Give the Ewoks a few nastier combat tactics & traps. Problem solved.
Who needs a whole army of 7ft tall guys? Just find a few really tall guys for the foreground shots. The background Wookies could be a bunch of 6'3" guys with another 2" of shoe lifts. Pair the shorter Wookies off with a bunch of 5'6" Stormtrooper extras and nobody would know the difference.
Same for the suits. Only the foreground guys need to look really good.
Besides, they replaced the impractical Wookie army with a whole army of little people wearing the same costumes. How much cheaper/easier could that have really been?
Lucas was probably wanting the Ewoks to be more "underdog" & primitive than Chewie.
Today people act like it's absurd that the Ewoks gave the Empire a struggle on Endor. But in the early 1980s the Vietnam war was still a fresh memory. The US war machine had struggled against a barefoot jungle insurgency.
If the Ewoks had been played just a little differently the concept might have been plausible. Have the Ewoks be less of a genuine threat to the Stormtroopers & AT-STs and more of a distraction/annoyance. Give the Ewoks a few nastier combat tactics & traps. Problem solved.
Zombie_61
Master Member
This response goes to eleven; you've just won the Internet.
thumbsup :lol
Zombie_61
Master Member
For starters, he'd get three to four Ewoks for every Wookiee he had planned to use. That fills up a whole lot more scenery...providing you put the cameras low enough, that is.
I agree. I realize Lucas wanted to sell cutesy little teddy-bear-like toys by that point, but if their "battle attitude" had been more vicious it would have been more believable.
Riceball
Master Member
It was hardly a "barefoot jungle insurgency", the VC were pretty well armed & trained and had the support of the NVA along with Russia & China. What made the VC so effective was that they knew the terrain and like insurgents in Afghanistan & Iraq they could just put down their rifles and blend in with the civilians. On top of that, they had safe havens across the border in other countries, our troops were constantly being micro-managed from the White House, and there wasn't enough emphasis on proper counter insurgency tactics.
No, Vietnam is hardly a good analogy. Personally, I can't think of any instance of where a technologically advanced nation, or military, has ever been defeated by a vastly more primitive opponent with primitive weapons. Custer & the Little Big Horn is the closest example I can think of but the Indians there actually had rifles along with their bows so that's not the same as the Ewoks on Endor.
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Yeah, I know. I was exaggerating with the "barefoot" comment. It's not a literally accurate analogy.
But my point is that the core idea is reminiscent. The Ewoks were supported by the larger & more advanced Rebel force. They knew the terrain & could probably blend in pretty well. They used guerilla tactics, in their G-rated Lucas-ian way. The Empire force at the scene wasn't strong on counter-insurgency. Etc.
It's the little underdogs in the trees standing up to the big bullies and making a good show for themselves. It wouldn't have seemed as far removed from reality in 1983.
Nowadays the public recalls the story playing out differently. Saddam & Osama are dead by our hands and their regimes are pretty well crushed.
astroboy
Master Member
Mark Hamill is the real badass in all this. For like, 20 years Joe public would make comments about how he was a flop after star wars. Constantly a "where are they now?".
I personally never wanted to see the original cast again. In my mind, their chapter was done.
Flash forward to the moment we saw that pic of mark with his prerequisite beard. Holy hell. That was the hero we always wanted. He's almost out-badassed Ewan McGregor.
I personally never wanted to see the original cast again. In my mind, their chapter was done.
Flash forward to the moment we saw that pic of mark with his prerequisite beard. Holy hell. That was the hero we always wanted. He's almost out-badassed Ewan McGregor.
Yeah, he's warmed up to Star Wars and the Kenobi character.
glunark
Sr Member
Anakin put a sample of his DNA inside C3PO while he was building him, in the event of his death it was supposed to grow into a clone of his, but when his memory was wiped it was never activated.
This was inadvertently activated when he was shot by the stormtroopers on cloud city, and that is why Vader wouldn't let Boba Fett shoot Chewie with 3PO on his back.
Jabba's pet could smell the clone growing inside 3PO and that is why he tried to eat his eye, and even the Ewoks could sense something special about him.
Over the last 32 years the clone has been gradually replacing the inside of the droids body with his own organic flesh.
And that is why the voice over by Luke says his father has it, and why we never see 3PO.
This was inadvertently activated when he was shot by the stormtroopers on cloud city, and that is why Vader wouldn't let Boba Fett shoot Chewie with 3PO on his back.
Jabba's pet could smell the clone growing inside 3PO and that is why he tried to eat his eye, and even the Ewoks could sense something special about him.
Over the last 32 years the clone has been gradually replacing the inside of the droids body with his own organic flesh.
And that is why the voice over by Luke says his father has it, and why we never see 3PO.
joshvanrad
Master Member
3PO has been upgraded.
He looks like a bronze version of this now...
He looks like a bronze version of this now...
I'm as big a SW fan as anyone. There is a LOT of problems with the franchise beginning with ROTJ. The only films in the series I rewatch with joy are ANH & EMPIRE. The rest if I must choose to rewatch actually comes from the PT and that's AOTC. But let's be very Scientologist (clear!) about this... I usually only watch parts at best of this film & and ALWAYS come away disappointed with what could have been.
As long as ANH & EMPIRE exist I will forever be a SW fan. No matter what! TFA could be complete dog $h1t and it won't change a thing. It defiantly won't be ANH or EMPIRE because it simply can't. But it can be good if not even great. Seeing "old friends" back in a SW film will most defiantly be magical and distracting (for a while) from true & honest criticism of the film. JJ has proven he can tell a good adventure story so he alone has me excited.
But SW is and forever will be the love of my life (except for my 2dogs and future wife)
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I'm still sad we won't hear a Fox fanfare before the ALTA logo appears on screen
That too
ghostryder
Legendary Member
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