Costume Designer Michael Kaplan Reveals How Apple Inspired The Force Awakens Stormtroopers

Michael-KaplanAward winning costume designer Michael Kaplan spoke with Vanity Fair about his work on The Force Awakens, including the influence of Apple on the new Stormtroopers and also briefly touched on Princess Leia’s and Han Solo’s costumes.


Michael Kaplan has been working in the Hollywood film industry since 1981. He won accolades for Best Costume Design by the 1983 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards for his costume design work in Blade Runner, the first theatrically-released film he worked on as costume designer. Other film projects that Kaplan has worked on are: Flashdance, Fight Club, Seven, The Game, Panic Room, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Miami Vice, I Am Legend, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness.

 

 

Excerpts from Vanity Fair:

 

Did you draw much on your Blade Runner experience for The Force Awakens?

 
We re-used many things, like taking old military gas masks and tubes and hoses and kind of applying them, which we did on Blade Runner, which I’ve always liked to do when I can.

 

Stormies

Did you actually re-use any old Star Wars costumes? Are there like racks and racks of old stormtrooper uniforms in some warehouse up at Lucas Ranch?

 
We didn’t use anything, but I went up to George Lucas’s archives—huge building—and just spent a day going through sketches and looking just to get the tone of the movie, you know, in my guts and veins so that when I went to London I felt equipped and inspired, which I certainly did.

 

But the old stormtroopers uniforms would not be usable. Audiences of today have become so sophisticated that a lot of things you could get away with in the past, you can’t anymore. So the new uniforms are much heavier. Also, the action in the film required them to not be “VacuFormed” [like the old uniforms] as those all broke and cracked. These new ones are much more heavy-duty, but they are redesigned, too, they’re not the same stormtroopers.

 

Did you invent some kind of fashion back-story in your head to explain how the look of this galaxy might have evolved?

 
Maybe subconsciously, but with the stormtroopers it was more of a simplification, almost like, “What would Apple do?” J.J. wanted them to look like stormtroopers at a glance but also be different enough to kind of wow people and get them excited about the new design.

 

Stormtroopers

 

What other old looks did you update?

 
I remembered when I saw the original movie I was a little bit confused by the warring factions, because the uniform colors kind of overlapped—both [the rebels and the Empire] had some khakis and olive, and I kind of thought, Now I’m in a position to do something about this. So I made two very, very clean-cut palettes. The Empire is in very cold blacks and grays and metallics and teal blues. The Rebels are in khakis and olives and some oranges—warmer colors. So there are very clear separations and you know who you’re looking at when you see them. Also, the lines of the costumes. The Rebels are kind of wools and natural fibers, cottons, and the Empire is very hard-lined, almost like Thierry Mugler. Very kind of edgy. The haircuts are these three-quarter parts, which were big in the 1930s, so that’s kind of recalling something from the past.

 

Tell me about designing for Leia and Han and Luke. They’re such iconic characters and they had such iconic looks. Do you reference what we’ve seen in the past, or not at all?

 
A lot of it had to do with what was right for the story and the action, but a lot of it was also, you know, people have a way of dressing. I wouldn’t really be doing my job if I thought, Hey, let’s redesign this character totally and put them in colors they’ve never worn. It just wouldn’t make any sense. But you also want new, interesting things to look at. You want enough change to be there.

 

 

For the full interview visit Vanity Fair

 

Website | + posts

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

91 thoughts on “Costume Designer Michael Kaplan Reveals How Apple Inspired The Force Awakens Stormtroopers

  • May 20, 2015 at 10:46 am
    Permalink

    How about that. Our first product placement.

    • May 20, 2015 at 11:01 am
      Permalink

      Indeed. And why not show Google the love instead since they have…you know…a “droid” line of phones via Verizon and all. Maybe consult with Lucasfilm first before going all apple fanboy in interviews about a SW movie hehe.

      • May 20, 2015 at 3:18 pm
        Permalink

        George Lucas actually gets a royalty for the use of the word Droid on those phones.

      • May 20, 2015 at 3:57 pm
        Permalink

        Admiring Apple for trying to simplify and sophisticate a design doesn’t make one a fanboy. It’s just acknowledging something that one company does very well (like them or not), and trying to incorporate that into their own designs. It’s nothing different than what Samsung is doing anyway. Chill out man.

        • May 20, 2015 at 5:32 pm
          Permalink

          Yeah i agree with you. Apple makes nice products, even though im not a fan. They do what they do best and people seem to like it. I dont get it why people would hate on each other because they like something the other doenst. Just do your thing, respect others and be happy.

      • May 21, 2015 at 1:30 am
        Permalink

        You’d have to think different to understand why Apple.

      • May 21, 2015 at 3:24 am
        Permalink

        Because Apple is great, and Droid is not.

    • May 20, 2015 at 4:42 pm
      Permalink

      It’s a philosophy in design. Simple, clean, efficient. Never forget that Apple is huge in design.

      It’s not about selling Apple products.

      • May 21, 2015 at 12:15 am
        Permalink

        A friend of mine who’s not a fanboy but a huge apple nerd watched TFA panel only because JJ was using a new apple product (the watch I think). Also Kennedy said she did that desert photo with her iphone. And then the clear apple inspired troopers which many people recogizrd at first glance. I wouldn’t be that sure Apple has no sponsoring on the filn

  • May 20, 2015 at 12:05 pm
    Permalink

    So, they learned their lesson from that Ewok incident and improved the stormtrooper uniforms. It never made much sense that they could be defeated by some tiny creatures armed with sticks.

    • May 20, 2015 at 12:19 pm
      Permalink

      even my 7 year old daughter asked how the arrows and rocks were killing the stormtroopers… shortly before asking where Jar Jar was as he was funny…

      kids these days….

      • May 20, 2015 at 12:20 pm
        Permalink

        david vs golaith. armys best elite fighter brought down by a stone. shit happens.

      • May 20, 2015 at 1:02 pm
        Permalink

        “kids these days….”

        Exactly. Which is why TFA needs to return to Star Wars’ roots instead of becoming another TPM. Our kids’ tastes in quality entertainment are at stake.

        • May 20, 2015 at 3:31 pm
          Permalink

          There are a whole lot of things besides Star Wars that affect a kid’s entertainment psyche. A lot of crap shows are out there now (ex: Disney cartoons, Cartoon Network cartoons such as Super Adventure Time) so don’t expect Star Wars to turn them into lovers and experts of high-quality cinematic art just by watching the ST. There’s too much going against you that you probably should just stop trying to resist.

          • May 20, 2015 at 4:39 pm
            Permalink

            I was specifically referring to the upcoming generations developing their taste in decent-excellent quality Star Wars films.

          • May 21, 2015 at 1:35 am
            Permalink

            I’d wait to see the ST before making that statement.

            Morevoer, if you bring up your kids to assume things based on wishful thinking, as opposed to teaching them to think analitically, the kind of entertainment that they watch these days will be the least of their problems in the future.

          • May 20, 2015 at 5:48 pm
            Permalink

            Actually, I think Adventure Time is too intelligent, have you seen any of the newer seasons? It’s boring philosophical weird-for-the-sake-of-weirdness.
            I miss the old episodes where it embraced its childishness.

        • May 21, 2015 at 7:29 am
          Permalink

          ^says every crybaby generation.

      • May 20, 2015 at 3:36 pm
        Permalink

        Mine asked how 2 logs didn’t just bounce off the side of a steel walker

        • May 20, 2015 at 3:59 pm
          Permalink

          For the same reason that 2 planes didn’t bounce off those buildings on 9/11…

          • May 20, 2015 at 4:40 pm
            Permalink

            WTF, dude…

          • May 21, 2015 at 12:26 am
            Permalink

            What, too soon?

          • May 21, 2015 at 5:59 am
            Permalink

            those 2 airforce planes? the grey ones?

          • May 20, 2015 at 5:54 pm
            Permalink

            um, ^^ bad example, but yeah, those logs would have done SOME damage
            I wouldn’t expect pancaking of that degree though

            really the thing that bothers me most about that shot is:
            How the hell did those Ewoks lift two 600 pound tree-logs 40 feet into the air, a mere 20 yards away from 4 guards? Like, WHAT THE HELL? If I were a security guard, I’d be horrible, but at least I’d notice something like two redwood trees being hoisted by teddy bears.
            That’s like the dumbest plan ever, and it’s even dumber that that ACTUALLY WORKED.
            There’s a lot of things that make no sense about the ending of that movie [don’t get me wrong, It’s possibly the best ending of any movie ever emotionally, but, it’s pretty dumb]

          • May 20, 2015 at 8:03 pm
            Permalink

            Maybe Luke help them to set their traps because… you know… he’s a Jedi and he could lift some shit here. And it’s a Sci-Fi Fantasy movie. And all can’t be tell in a movie. And this is called ellips. No one talks about how a lot of Ewoks is dying but in favor to the movie i can argue there was more Ewoks than troopers, it’s their land so they had an advantage, they had Han Solo and Chewie and everyones knows stormtroopers are horrible at aiming because their helmet vision.

    • May 20, 2015 at 4:17 pm
      Permalink

      well the ewoks were getting their ass kicked at first, but rallied with stronger tactics. close lining speeders, mashing walkers with giant logs, not exactly just sticks and stones. it was the whole point of a vastly outmatched race rising up and taking down a superior force, with the help of our heroes who stole an at st. like the ewoks or not, its a parallel to a lot of incidents in history

      • May 20, 2015 at 6:05 pm
        Permalink

        You mean like the Viet Cong doing ZERO damage against the American forces in the Tet Offensive?
        Yeah, technology sucks when it’s out of it’s comfort zone, but it knows how to defend a friggin’ building.
        Lucas attempted a good message, but… the Empire would’ve won. Vietnam [the inspiration behind the Ewoks] didn’t win on sheer force, they won for creative use of the homeground as well as behind-enemy-lines collaboration. Plus the fact that America was also being defeated by it’s own media.

        I’m not meaning to get into a big webwar here, my point is:

        It takes more than just “surprise” and sticks and “believing in yourself” to stand up to an Empire.
        Stick versus armor just doesn’t work if you spend more than 1 second thinking about it. PERIOD

        Death Star with a magic “self-destruct” shaft, yes,
        engineers can be stupid sometimes.

        wooden stick through plasticine alloys, no, engineers aren’t THAT stupid.

  • May 20, 2015 at 12:20 pm
    Permalink

    its obvious the new uniforms are inspired by Apple products. My biggest complaint (beside the symmetrical knees) is the uniforms look like 2015 storm troopers. and as such I imagine they will date. However, they could have been worse. Overall while not perfect, i like them more than clone trooper designs and do at first glance look like storm troopers.

    • May 20, 2015 at 1:05 pm
      Permalink

      They’re supposed to date. They’re a product of their time. Later on, if they’re still around, we’ll see new designs.

      • May 20, 2015 at 3:32 pm
        Permalink

        I agree. Everything dates no matter how it’s made. It’s the nature of the beast.

    • May 20, 2015 at 3:42 pm
      Permalink

      Like the other said, they’re supposed to date. You could take someone wearing a German WWI uniform and place them next to someone wearing a German WWII uniform, and they’d be similar but obviously of different time periods.

    • May 20, 2015 at 6:10 pm
      Permalink

      Yeah, but the original Stormtrooper designs are STILL the coolest, so, yeah.
      I agree, I’m not sure if the new ones are going to reach the same timelessness as the guys who took on the blockade runner.
      They’re good, well designed, it just isn’t timeless.
      Timelessness is kind of like lightning, sometimes it strikes, the rest of the time it doesn’t. It didn’t with the new designs, but they’re still perfectly respectable additions to the Stormtrooper legacy.

      • May 25, 2015 at 10:34 am
        Permalink

        Subjective opinion, not objective fact there, you are stating.

    • May 20, 2015 at 7:59 pm
      Permalink

      The original Stormtroopers were a triumph of the used-universe design principle on which the original film was based.
      These guys are catwalk models. They’re one of those prototype designs that car manufacturers produce that never make it into production because they’re impractical.
      The 2015 trooper is over-designed in the same way that Michael Kaplan claims the competition approached Bladerunner’s costume design.

      • May 21, 2015 at 7:27 pm
        Permalink

        In all fairness, the new Helmet has got to have like 300% better field-of-vision, they actually seem very practical, also it wouldn’t surprise me if it comes into interchangeable parts, whereas the original is one single piece.

    • May 21, 2015 at 12:34 am
      Permalink

      It has nothing to do with apple. This guy is making stuff up. OT had it’s iconic stormtroopers. Everyone recognized them and loved them regardless of how effective they were. Then, PT had it’s clonetroopers. Now ST has new stormtroopers. Why? Because of different time frames? Perhaps, or more probable than not, Lucasfilm and Disney see the $$$ it will bring in merchandising sales. It will be new for everyone, so sales skyrocket.

      • May 25, 2015 at 10:36 am
        Permalink

        People will bitch no matter what they do, if they’d have reused the same suits as 30 years ago some would bitch because of nothing new.

  • May 20, 2015 at 12:24 pm
    Permalink

    He is always talking about the Empire and the Rebels, not the First order and The Ressistance… strange

    • May 20, 2015 at 1:55 pm
      Permalink

      Oh c’mon really? He’s a designer not a SW geek, fan, junkie (LOL), enthusiast, etc. etc..

  • May 20, 2015 at 12:27 pm
    Permalink

    I still love em. New but harkens back. Such an impossible task and they’ve done it. Now I just need to see them in a full range of motion. Running, attacking and more.

    Soon… SOON. Well as soon as 211 days can be.

    Designs were never really a problem for Star Wars anyway. I just want the plot and characters to knock it out of the park!

  • May 20, 2015 at 12:30 pm
    Permalink

    to me the new stormtrooper armours diverge a little bit too much from the OT uniforms. i know 30 years had passed bullshit but, say mandalorian armour didn’t change much for centuries. i think they should have fixed issues there were with the classical stormtrooper armour instead of redesiging it. i mean the original stormtrooper helemt is as perfect as a sci-fi military headpiece can get and for me, any change design-wise done to something of that quality will always be inferior to the original.

    the second generation clone trooper helemt were a graceful tribute to the OT stormtroopers, i don’t understand why they had to change everything drastically for TFA, i mean, beside the layout of the eyes and the nose the shape of the helmet itself is a drastic departure. too round, too smooth, too perfect almost.

    my opinion, tho

    • May 20, 2015 at 5:09 pm
      Permalink

      How drastically did they change it?

      Its still white, the eyes are the same, the shape of the chin is the same, angles are similar…..

  • May 20, 2015 at 1:54 pm
    Permalink

    are u serious? star wars contect inspired by apple? are u kidding me? is this for real? fire this guy. whats next? speeders inspired by mercedes? this is ridicilous.

    • May 20, 2015 at 1:57 pm
      Permalink

      New ewoks inspired by Ted.

      • May 20, 2015 at 6:13 pm
        Permalink

        Family Guy parody that completely ruins the ending party scene in ROTJ coming right up!

    • May 20, 2015 at 4:25 pm
      Permalink

      not ridiculous at all. People find inspiration in the world around them. Apple is known for taking products and redesigning them with a specific, modern aesthetic. Cell phone to iPhone. Watch to iWatch. Some of the changes are really noticeable, others not. Their use of metals is a good example. Using Apple to figure out how the Empire would advance over 30 years makes perfect sense.

      • May 20, 2015 at 6:15 pm
        Permalink

        Yeah, Apple and the Third Reich are kind of perfect for eachother… in a way.
        Actually, shit, I’m getting a little creeped out now…

    • May 20, 2015 at 5:11 pm
      Permalink

      You realize the yellow speeder in AOTC and the Naboo fighters were all inspired by GL’s hot rod….right? In fact, they’re exact copies.

    • May 21, 2015 at 1:58 am
      Permalink

      You really don’t know what you’re talking about, do you?

      Have you ever created ANYTHING. Have you never taken inspiration from ANYTHING?

      Because that is how it works, from cave paintings to Stormtrooper uniforms.

    • May 25, 2015 at 10:39 am
      Permalink

      He was just using Apple as an example get f’n grip on yourself. You people are so uptight. Geez

  • May 20, 2015 at 1:56 pm
    Permalink

    apple one of the most cancerous products of the 21st century thank you michael kaplan very creative

    • May 20, 2015 at 6:50 pm
      Permalink

      What a drama queen! Smh

    • May 21, 2015 at 7:29 pm
      Permalink

      better than Windows, *shudder*

      yeah, Windows is 100% Trade Federation,

      Apple is the Empire

      Where are Rebels when you need them?

  • May 20, 2015 at 2:56 pm
    Permalink

    Regardless of where the inspiration came from…the new design is awesome and I love that they actually produced the armor for the actors. It’s sad that the only clonetrooper armor in existence are fan made or replicas as the original armor exists only on a computer, as I really liked the design (moreso the episode 3 armor). It will be interesting to see a full bodied actor and not just the head of a stormtrooper bouncing around on a CG body. Lol. I enjoyed a lot of elements of the prequels, but to this day the over use of CG gets me everytime.

    Also – the First Order “Nazis” with 1930’s inspired haircuts reminiscent of the real-world WWII era…nuff said.

    • May 20, 2015 at 3:38 pm
      Permalink

      Interesting! NWO deranged psychopath central bankers! inspired illusion and devastation reminiscent of the real-world, history of Nazis will shrivel in comparison to our time! 2015/16 era Yeah! nuff said

  • May 20, 2015 at 3:53 pm
    Permalink

    “What would Apple do” it’s not a direct inspitration or anything, for me.
    This sentence means nothing.

  • May 20, 2015 at 4:24 pm
    Permalink

    The Stormtrooper helmet looks like an odd smile:

    B]

    • May 25, 2015 at 10:41 am
      Permalink

      Looks like a frown to me, but you see both, depending on what u are looking for

  • May 20, 2015 at 4:54 pm
    Permalink

    Eh… the new order / Empire looks like they still kept the power and finances , meaning they look pretty flush with cash for RnD . I think it may have been an interesting concept to have the new order kit bashing their armor and weapons ships ..looking more ragtag militia

  • May 20, 2015 at 4:54 pm
    Permalink

    It doesn’t sound to me like the design itself was inspired by apple, but rather the concept. Apple takes their old designs and re imagines them in order to get people excited for a new product. Same goes for something as iconic as the stormtrooper.

  • May 20, 2015 at 5:38 pm
    Permalink

    I don’t get the Apple connection at all.
    Those new stormtroopers look BADASS bbboooiiieee!!!
    I didn’t like them at first, especially the single vent off-centered but I’ve changed my mind. They seem just a tad thin though. Should be a little more muscular looking. I don’t mean like He-Man or some shit like that but just so they don’t look feminine.

    I wonder if they will talk with that “click” noise that was in A New Hope but none of the other movies for some strange reason. In ANH, there was a click sound before and after they spoke. In ROTJ, they did not, they just talked like regular people. In ESB the mfs didn’t even speak a single word.

    It seems like no one else notices this small detail.

    • May 20, 2015 at 6:24 pm
      Permalink

      Woah, seriously, come to think of it, I actually don’t recall a Stormtrooper speaking once in TESB, that’s weird that I never noticed that…

      • May 21, 2015 at 7:31 am
        Permalink

        Isn’t this the same guy who designed the bland t-shirt fashion in the last two star treks?

        His job this time isn’t much easier… just look at Ralph McQuarrie’s stuff and start cutting fabric.

  • May 20, 2015 at 6:22 pm
    Permalink

    One thing that occurred to me is that the New Armor is better than the Clone Armor, for this reason:
    The Clone Armor was designed by a Graphics Visual Designer to look “cool”.

    The New Armor was actually physically built, sure they used a computer, but at some point there was that extra step where someone trying on a specific piece is like “wait a minute, this doesn’t work” or “hey, this isn’t functional for an actual person to where”

    So by going through the trouble of fabricating an actual suit, there’s an extra fine-tuning and editing step.

    Whereas the outfit Commander Cody wears could have been designed in like half a week, with little real-world functionality at play.

  • May 20, 2015 at 6:33 pm
    Permalink

    aha. now I know why I dont like the new designs as much as the OT storm trooper. Exactly because they were inspired by “apple”. They should be inspired by military hardware, not consumer devices. Thats why they feel a bit too smooth, like bland japanese cars. Had they gone slightly more utilitarian, maybe they would have been a touch more timeless. And they still do look quite good. Im quibbling over a few % points.

    • May 20, 2015 at 8:14 pm
      Permalink

      I hear where you’re coming from, but from what he’s saying it doesn’t sound to me like the design itself was inspired by apple, but rather the concept. “What would Apple do” implies that he’s using Apple’s method of taking an old design and re imagining it in a way that’s both familiar and brand new at the same time. Such a method works well for something as iconic as the Storm Trooper’s costume.

  • May 20, 2015 at 6:35 pm
    Permalink

    also, i dont think star was is supposed to date. If you look at the 76 film – apart from a few imperial officers hairstyles and some of the death star control room elecronics panels, there isn’t much to date the film design and style wise. I dont feel I can look at products from 1977 and say “OMG that matches the storm trooper style so much”. prove me wrong interweb.

    • May 21, 2015 at 7:34 pm
      Permalink

      The only thing that really aged was the blue-screen,
      and the audiences’ knowledge of how doors work.

      Shoots button = door is locked on BOTH sides… you gotta love the logic at play there.
      Yeah, that wouldn’t work on the average movie-goer nowadays, at least I hope not.

      • May 22, 2015 at 8:26 pm
        Permalink

        I think it would.

        Its just one of those cliche’d things that we readily accept. Like the bad guys being bad shots, and a dumpster being a good cushion for a fall off a building. And bad guys explaining their whole plot.

  • May 20, 2015 at 6:38 pm
    Permalink

    i like the click to talk comlink sound in ANH. seriously, some of the post production teams on TFA should be reading this site and taking detailed notes on what people pick up on. if you are doing that… hi 🙂

  • May 20, 2015 at 6:51 pm
    Permalink

    What?! Apple inspired lightsaber, and stormtroopers!!

  • May 20, 2015 at 7:15 pm
    Permalink

    Whomever said the helmets look like a duck bill really ruined it for me. i mean, i love the new uniforms. i just can’t… unsee…

    • May 25, 2015 at 10:44 am
      Permalink

      Duckbill with a mole on the side?

  • May 20, 2015 at 9:13 pm
    Permalink

    I dunno. the new stormtroopers look like they’re wearing sunglass….seriously..look at the pic in front of the red flag…looks like theyre on the beach!

    overall they’re just not nearly as scary looking as the original stormtroopers. they look like itroopers. its not an improvement. same with the xwings. everything seems over designed. (if it aint broke dont fix it!, i would have loved to the the new empire using their battered up old stuff like the rebels had to in the original movies..! think about it) it all seems too graphic designy, not star warsy. even the dirt and scuffs on R2 look carefully placed. and chewie looks like a costume..not chewie. hard to put my finger on it, this is shaping up to be a fun movie, but something about it i fear will ring “false”.

  • May 20, 2015 at 9:17 pm
    Permalink

    “But the old stormtroopers uniforms would not be usable. Audiences of today have become so sophisticated that a lot of things you could get away with in the past, you can’t anymore.”

    nonsense.

    this attitude frightens me.

    watch the OT…stormtroopers look badass. they do not look badass now, they look slick and expensive and ready for the winter space olympics.

    • May 20, 2015 at 11:30 pm
      Permalink

      “Audiences of today have become so sophisticated” Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…
      You’re right Andy.

  • May 20, 2015 at 9:27 pm
    Permalink

    I’m interested in Kaplan’s comments about colour palettes, and how the ’empire’ palette is all greys and teal blue, etc. Anyone else remember that Leia’s new costume is rumoured to be grey and blue? Could she be with the First Order?! Now that would be interesting.

    • May 20, 2015 at 11:07 pm
      Permalink

      No it would be stupid.

  • May 21, 2015 at 8:18 am
    Permalink

    on the subject of the ewocks…the force was with them!!….anyway George wanted to show that even a small poorly armed force can still defeat a powerful one with just a little clever organization

  • May 21, 2015 at 10:58 am
    Permalink

    For what I could have seen thus far, the design of TFA is not so inspired..

    -) Kylo Ren seems a video game character;

    -) The First Order seems a mix between nazi and Sony Killzone franchise;

    -) Harrison Ford in brown leather jacket I believe I have seen him somewhere else…

    -) The new lightsaber … Hell NO!!

    -) Also the new troopers… Knowing that their design is inspired by Apple is really not a big relief…

    If we count that we will also see a planet that seems identical to Tatooine, a snow planet, a yavin like planet etc… MMmmm

    For now, the design of this sequel trilogy seems really subpar in front of the other 2 trilogies.
    The first one has created and defined everything since then.
    The second trilogy has innovated and shown us one of the biggest production design ever.

    Probably this is due to JJ attitude, imagination and capabilities. Hope Ryan do better.
    And more over hope that this lack of imagination will not be reflected also in the script.

    My humble and honest opinion.

    • May 22, 2015 at 3:51 am
      Permalink

      Do we really need to bust out the list of uninspired prequel designs??

    • May 22, 2015 at 8:29 pm
      Permalink

      The PT was over-designed – half of the Obi-Anakin fight over-designed CGI video game crap. Same with the Kenobi-Greivious fight.

      Similarly, the PT was under-designed:
      AOTC chase scene was right out of Blade Runner. It had a gladiator ripped off scene too.

      And if you really look into it – there are scenes in the OT that are ripped DIRECTLY off pages of the original Buck Rogers comic strips.

    • May 25, 2015 at 10:46 am
      Permalink

      I laughed at your entires list because u are so way off base and looking to hate.

  • May 21, 2015 at 6:44 pm
    Permalink

    Coincidentally, I read that Johnny Ive, Apple’s head of design, suggested the unstable/flickering lightsaber blade.

    …should be “more analog and more primitive, and I think, in that way, somehow more ominous.”

    Sometimes digital things can be a little too clean, a little too at one with their environments. Ive told the New Yorker: “I thought it would be interesting if it were less precise, and just a little bit more spitty.”

  • May 21, 2015 at 7:41 pm
    Permalink

    Shit, Apple REALLY IS just like the Empire.

    you see, Apple is all sub-divided, with each project completely separated from the other projects, which means A) workers aren’t allowed much freedom
    and B) workers can SNEAK IN and continue working on a passion-project WITHOUT ANYONE ELSE NOTICING because everything’s separated.
    This is a true story I heard somewhere,

    If they created the iStar, you can bet your ass it’s super easy to break into if you look like you’re “supposed to be there”.

    I don’t know about you guys, but I’m taking notes in case an iWorldWar breaks out…

  • May 22, 2015 at 1:31 am
    Permalink

    I’m not entirely sure about the new stormtrooper wardrobe. It might grow on me, and I might be old and lack the enthusiasm I had as a child when I first saw the first movie… but I get a bit worried.

    See, I remember someone telling me a long time ago that Slave 1 was originally designed by someone drawing inspiration from a street light outside ILM. If that is true or not, I don’t know, but as other people pointed out in the comments here inspiration and new ideas always come from somewhere- be that a street light, a razor, a nail clipper, a line in a book, some childhood memory or whatever.
    Thing is, I never thought of Slave 1 as a street light until I heard that.

    First time my wife saw the new stormtroopers, she said “they look like Iphones”. And blast, I think she’s right.
    They seem too fashionable for me. I might be proven wrong. Maybe they’ll be fantastic and a true icon of our age.

    But that’s my fear I guess. That they might try too hard. Of course, we cannot undo the impact of the original trilogy, but I do hope they did learn from the horror that was the prequels and try to not create another Hollywood monster, but a movie for all ages that everyone can love, with a simple warm-hearted story.

    The original movie was created by people not knowing they were making an iconic movie, but the love, the passion and craftmanship that went into that first movie back in -77 was just… fantastic, and the hunger of everyone involved shines through. To me, ANH is always first, then ESB, and finally ROTJ.

    And why can’t we mix uniforms a bit? What was wrong with the old colour scheme? I always thought the rebel military was formed from the Imperial military, or at least they got a lot of their officers from there. They’re rebels from crying out loud, why would they first run to the tailor?

    I’m not judging anything here, I am really really looking forward to this movie, and I do trust JJ, I’m just voicing some small fears in an unessecary long comment. Please forgive a middle aged man his ramblings.

    • May 25, 2015 at 10:47 am
      Permalink

      You’re not an f’n child anymore the world changes u. Experiences change u

  • May 22, 2015 at 2:01 am
    Permalink

    SpoilerBoard has the fake ending with Luke killing Han. AHAHAHAHAH. God, you people are way too much

    • May 22, 2015 at 6:47 am
      Permalink

      Have another beer pal. All will be well, I’m sure 🙂

  • May 22, 2015 at 7:53 am
    Permalink

    i too am a middle aged man. and I agree with the critical design minds who voice small concerns. Its because the OT was created with love and care for every aspect. The PT was created with love for pushing boundaries, developing technology and lots of other great driving forces – but crafting the best warm film, with perfect chemistry and acting with timeless special effects – missed out.

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET