Adam Driver Says Episode VIII Has a Different Tone Like The Empire Strikes Back!

Angry Kylo

There is yet another interview with Adam Driver from today. This time the actor talked with Collider. Driver praised director Rian Johnson, and compared the Episode VIII script to The Empire Strikes Back…

 

 

While talking with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Driver praised Rian Johnson’s incredible job on writing and directing Star Wars: Episode VIII, spoke about the approach he takes on big budget versus smaller independent films, and briefly talked about how the script compares to the most popular installment in the franchise: The Empire Strikes Back.

 

From Collider:

 

Collider: What was it like working with Rian Johnson after knowing the character (Kylo Ren) and now working a new director? What was that experience like?

 

Adam Driver: Maybe this is just me thinking of myself, but I’m surprised [because] in their shoes I’d be way more stressed out than [J.J. and Rian] seem to be. Rian is coming into something that we kind of set up and he just took it to the next level in a really great way. He wrote it, too, and Rian’s writing is so clear. I learned a lot of things about my character through his writing. Some things we talked about before and some things we didn’t. He was working on [the script] while we were still working on the first one. To understand what J.J. was doing and take ownership from there is kind of a remarkable thing. And he’s the most polite, unassuming guy and he was appropriately territorial about some things but would still be the first to admit when something’s not working. A lot of times you need to rise to understand what the script is, and perhaps I’m beginning to be unclear, but he’s a great person to work with.

star-wars-force-awakens-deleted-scene-kylo-ren

 

Collider: That’s all I ever ask, how was the script?

 

Driver: It’s great. It’s similar to how The Empire Strikes Back has a different tone. For that people always go “oooh, it’s dark” but I don’t know that it necessarily is. It’s just different in tone in a way that I think is great and necessary but also very clear. He trusts [that] his audience is ready for nuance and ambiguity. He’s not dumbing anything down for someone and that’s really fun to play.

 

 

For the full interview make sure to go to Collider. Also stay tuned for the full inteview which they will post in the following days.

 

What do you think? Are excited about Episode VIII. Do you think Rian Johnson’s take on Star Wars should be different from JJ’s? Tell us your thoughts and as always, SWNN will keep you up-to-date on the latest Star Wars news daily.

 

May the Force be with you…

 

 

+ posts

138 thoughts on “Adam Driver Says Episode VIII Has a Different Tone Like The Empire Strikes Back!

  • September 13, 2016 at 8:25 pm
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    Did he meant in the spiritual sense of being like of Empire Strikes Back? Because I’m fearing that the geewuners are about to strike back with their comments…

    • September 13, 2016 at 8:30 pm
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      If there are going to be structural similarities to other films’ scripts, I believe it would be to the six movies Rian mentioned during his appearance on Star Wars Celebration.

      • September 13, 2016 at 8:34 pm
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        Six films?

        • September 13, 2016 at 9:13 pm
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          “Letters never sent,” “Three Outlaw Samurai,” ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai,” “Twelve O’Clock High,” “Gunga Din” and “Sahara” (a 1943 film.)

          • September 13, 2016 at 9:20 pm
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            Oh right!

          • September 14, 2016 at 2:28 am
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            If you have not watched these, I HIGHLY recommend it!!

          • September 14, 2016 at 6:49 am
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            I watched The Bridge on the River Kwai actually!

          • September 14, 2016 at 4:51 pm
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            I’m definitely going to watch them, it’s just a matter of time.

  • September 13, 2016 at 8:31 pm
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    All he said was that there was a shift in tone, like there was from ANH to ESB. He never said they were very much alike.

    • September 13, 2016 at 8:34 pm
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      Let’s hope so…

  • September 13, 2016 at 8:46 pm
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    Here come the “Episode VIII will be an ESB rehash” comments…

    *grabs popcorn*

    • September 14, 2016 at 7:15 am
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      You’re in for a long movie.

  • September 13, 2016 at 8:47 pm
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    and the torches are being lit by the angry villagers… 😉

  • September 13, 2016 at 8:48 pm
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    The headline worried me when I read it. I’m sure there will be some parallels with this movie, I just don’t want a different TESB.

    • September 13, 2016 at 9:19 pm
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      The headline is awful, and misleading (shock). That’s not what Adam Driver is saying, only that it is different in tone than VII, like ESB was to ANH. Nowhere does he mention similarities beyond that.

      • September 14, 2016 at 1:39 pm
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        Correct.

    • September 14, 2016 at 7:14 am
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      The First Order Strikes Back. Fall of the Resistance…. The title may be along those lines.

  • September 13, 2016 at 8:49 pm
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    i think its more like the first order is going to be agressive on trying to turn or kill rey and luke is the yoda teaching her the ways of the force. also maybe lando coming back or some certain bounty hunters…

  • September 13, 2016 at 8:49 pm
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    Before some genius come here saying “Oh no! Another rehash!”, let’s think about this: even Attack of the Clones had his similarities with TESB in the structure and in the tone. But it was a bad movie. What I expect from Ep.8 is nothing less, nothing more than what Driver said: a change of tone and an opportunity to see these (fantastic) characters growing up.

    • September 13, 2016 at 9:11 pm
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      #blocked

      • September 13, 2016 at 9:15 pm
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        please stop. you add nothing to the conversation.

        • September 13, 2016 at 9:54 pm
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          #blocked

          He he he, only kidding!

          • September 13, 2016 at 11:23 pm
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            #hashtag. 😉

        • September 13, 2016 at 10:10 pm
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          Don’t care. I’m not into contributing to conversations in comments sections like this one anyhow

    • September 13, 2016 at 9:33 pm
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      good thing Platinum Star isn’t here anymore to read this, laberinto911, his mind would explode and his anti-prequel hate would be flying around like diarrhea.

      • September 13, 2016 at 9:40 pm
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        More like, Post-Original Trilogy hatred to be precise.

      • September 13, 2016 at 11:57 pm
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        Oh he’s still here. He has a new moniker. The clue is the profile picture…

        • September 14, 2016 at 2:00 pm
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          they didn’t ban his ISP?

          • September 14, 2016 at 3:21 pm
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            What fun would that be???

            Honestly, I wouldn’t know.

    • September 13, 2016 at 10:19 pm
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      even Attack of the Clones had his similarities with TESB in the structure and in the tone. Youre joking right.

      • September 13, 2016 at 11:39 pm
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        heroes are separeted, there is the beginning of a love story, a villain asks a hero to join him (Vader-Luke, Dooku-Obi Wan), a chasing scene in an asteroid field, and more 😀
        (there are similarities, but that didn’t make the movie any better xD )

        • September 14, 2016 at 2:57 am
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          Totally agree.

        • September 14, 2016 at 7:10 am
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          Not to mention…the main character gets his arm cut off in a duel..what more does one need for proof right? – lol

          (plus the stronger tones of romance too.)

          • September 14, 2016 at 7:13 am
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            The tone of the prequels was completely different from the OT.

            The problem with the ST thus far is that it is tonally exact to the OT. Couple that with similar plot elements and even direct quotes from the OT (see the “Kessel Run” line) and it is clear that Rian has his work cut out for him.

          • September 14, 2016 at 7:49 am
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            I didn’t consider the Kessel line to be that much of trying to be a call back to the original trilogy. My biggest, and really, only problem, was Starkiller. Anything other than Starkiller would’ve worked; a massive warship that could somehow destabilize oncoming fleets in some way like a kind of space EMP burst, thus rendering entire fleets helpless against the first Order. It may not seem as menacing, but in a way that would’ve made sense as you could say the First Order is on par with the Rebellion of the OT, they had to work their way up with whatever force of power they could use to tip the scales.

            In any case, I love TFA, for me the lines and small bits came off as more of a charming homage (like Kessel) rather than reliance to succeed as a film. Many films often to use certain bits and pieces from their predecessors as a love letter to fans, but I’m sure Lucasfilm realize that the “poetry” card can only be played so much. JJ felt the need to play safe as he was the first in line of a new beginning for the franchise, I’m sure Rian taking the helm will step it up.

          • September 14, 2016 at 8:55 am
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            The Kessel line was ok. Finn accidentally turning on the space chess board wasn’t too bad. But I had to roll my eyes when Finn pulled out Luke’s old floating ball remote that he used for lightsaber training in ANH. You’re telling me that after 35 years that thing is still on board? What, Han and Chewie never clean out the Falcon? And I agree, Starkiller Base was my biggest complaint about the movie. It just required me to suspend too much disbelief (even for a Star Wars movie), and functionally it made no sense whatsoever. It uses the sun to charge it’s weapon? Great, so they got 2 whole shots out of it before the the sun was gone – aren’t you First Order guys glad you spent DECADES hollowing out AN ENTIRE PLANET so that you could shoot it a whopping 2 times and then run out of ammo? Seems totally worth it! My second biggest complaint was how Rey was awesome at everything and could do just about anything she wanted on practically the first try. Ok, it took her 3 tries to get the mind trick to work on the Stormtrooper (with seemingly zero Jedi training), but I guess that was her big “struggle” in the film. Not to mention the final battle with Kylo and how she totally took him behind the woodshed, even though at the beginning of the movie she thought the Jedi were a myth and not real – but somehow she knows how to fight like they do. Ok, rant over. I actually do like the movie for the most part, I just hope they explain and/or fix some of these pretty glaring holes in the next movies.

          • September 14, 2016 at 4:23 pm
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            “Great, so they got 2 whole shots out of it before the the sun was gone”

            If the GFFA is anything like our galaxy, it has about a trillion stars in it. Starkiller is (was) mobile.

          • September 14, 2016 at 9:48 pm
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            Was Starkiller mobile? They never mentioned that in the movie that I recall. Maybe it was, but I still have issues with that. With it’s energy source depleted (the sun), where is it now going to get the energy it needs to move through the galaxy or possibly even go through hyperspace – if it’s even possible for something that massive (an entire planet?) to go through hyperspace (which I think is really pushing the boundaries of plausibility – even for Star Wars). I know the OT implied that the Death Stars could go through hyperspace, but in The Force Awakens they even show us a side by side comparison of the two and how much bigger Starkiller is. And we know the Death Stars had their own huge reactor cores that provided their energy. If Starkiller had a similar type of energy core (which would need to be HUGE, since I don’t think a few AA batteries are going to power that huge mother’s hyperdrive), why did it need to siphon the sun’s energy to power it’s super-weapon? Why not just tap into that same massive internal power source? Look, I know I might be over analyzing and nitpicking a bit – and strict adherence to hard science is not something Star Wars has ever been very concerned with – I’m just illustrating why I thought it was a poorly executed concept and required me to suspend too much disbelief. I think the writers could have come up with something better, not just another Death Star on steroids that makes no sense.

          • September 15, 2016 at 7:18 am
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            Yeah, I second-guessed it myself, but apparently Pablo Hidalgo confirmed that Starkiller moves. FWIW, I pretty much agree that Starkiller and the trench run were the weakest elements of the movie. And the ‘remote’ was kinda sorta funny the first time, but doesn’t hold up.

          • September 14, 2016 at 7:24 pm
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            Funny enough I missed the ball scene completely on my first viewing, but I see your point; callbacks can get tiring. I guess for me as I said earlier, it all came off as charming, minus Starkiller base. We’ve heard the Falcon being called a “piece of junk” numerous times in the saga from it’s exterior, it wouldn’t be surprising to say the same interior-wise. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Han and Chewie barely ever clean the ship, minus what was necessary to keep it running. Although yes, even if charming, you can only do it so many times right?

            JJ was pretty hesitant to film Star Wars, and it is possible that a little fear shows in the movie. On the other hand, I do feel there is truth to the whole “going back to go forwards” idea. We see this now in movies, video games and other media when we feel something has lost its touch. Now we need to assert this idea of going more forward.

          • September 14, 2016 at 9:03 am
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            Not to mention.. we see a major batle at the start. Our herous are chased by the evil empire the whole movie….

      • September 14, 2016 at 10:36 am
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        – After a first action part, the characters are separated (battle of Hoth/Coruscant chase);
        – One of the two storylines involves the solving of a mistery (search for Yoda/search for Kamino);
        – The other storyline is set in a relatively static and isolated location (the Falcon/Padmé’s palace on Naboo), and it leads to a love story;
        – The two storylines reunite because of a kidnapping (Han Solo and Leia by the Empire/Obi-Wan by Count Dooku);
        – The movie end with a general failure (Leia can’t save Han/the Jedis can’t catch Dooku).

    • September 14, 2016 at 7:10 am
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      Attack of the Clones was not “bad.” I stopped reading from there on.

      • September 14, 2016 at 8:16 am
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        K.

        By the way, it was bad.

        • September 14, 2016 at 11:55 am
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          Bad as far as being the weakest of all of the Star Wars movies, however, that’s just my opinion. When you try watching the seduction/romantic scenes again they are just soooo bad. Like Freshman college drama level bad.

          I’d rather sit through Jar Jar’s antics twice than watch Anakin try to seduce Padme. Even though, he has to succeed lol

          Anakin is such a Gary Stue, no regular guy would be able to get away with that kind of obsessive behavior hahaaa

          I’m kidding. 🙂

          • September 14, 2016 at 10:20 pm
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            whats especially odd is that padme rejects anakin when he’s just weird and awkward. but then he kills a bunch of sand people and has a crazy rant about it and then she loves him.

          • September 15, 2016 at 4:30 pm
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            In that scene, Padmé should have said what Uma Thurman said in Kill Bill pt. 2: “You… overreacted?!?”

          • September 15, 2016 at 3:13 am
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            Exactly.

      • September 14, 2016 at 10:23 am
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        It’s called “opinion”. In my humble opinion, Ep.2 is a bad movie with some great action scene. But bad overall.

  • September 13, 2016 at 9:11 pm
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    I like that he says they’re not dumbing it down. I felt that TFA fell into that a bit.

    • September 14, 2016 at 9:20 am
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      “The droid we seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon…in the hands of your father, Han Solo”

      • September 14, 2016 at 4:29 pm
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        Who doesn’t need to be reminded of their father’s name every once in a while? 😉

  • September 13, 2016 at 9:23 pm
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    What Adam is saying isn’t so much that Episode VIII is going to be “like” ESB, but that it is going to have a different tone and feel to it than what we saw in TFA.

    Nothing in what he says indicates to me that Rian is aping the story/plot of ESB in the new film. What I assume is that it will be even more character-driven than TFA was (though I think TFA was already significantly more character-driven than ANH was, even with its similarities.)

    • September 13, 2016 at 10:33 pm
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      Hoping the pacing will be more Empire than TFA.

      • September 13, 2016 at 11:08 pm
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        In what way?

        • September 13, 2016 at 11:30 pm
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          In a pacing kind of way.

      • September 14, 2016 at 2:55 am
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        ANH & ESB and TFA have similar pacing. They move for 2 hours, have those quiet moments, but the movies never come to a complete halt with some unnecessary scene or scenes. ROTJ & the PT movies have major parts in them that could have been trimmed and really slow down the movie (Ewok part in ROTJ, Pod Race in TPM, Love story in AOTC). JJ totally got what makes a SW movie great, as you keep things moving, and don’t get bogged down in scenes that kill the pacing.

        • September 14, 2016 at 8:06 am
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          I may get killed for this, since I know how beloved Empire is among most of the people that comment here (it’s also my favorite of all the films), but I’ve never felt that Empire had perfect pacing. Very good, yes – perfect, no. Not that there were major problems, my biggest gripe was that I felt the movie really slowed to a crawl in a lot of the scenes where Luke is training with Yoda on Degobah. The early scenes when Luke and Yoda meet, followed by Luke’s vision of his battle with Vader in the cave – were great. But I feel like many of the Degobah scenes after that really put the breaks on the movie, especially since they were being intercut with Han and Leia’s pursuit by the Empire and their arrival at Cloud City where they meet up with Lando. I honestly didn’t think the pacing in ROTJ with the Ewoks was any worse, I – like a lot of people – am just not a huge fan of Ewoks (I don’t hate them, but they’re tolerable – they don’t ruin the movie for me). In fact, I actually prefer the pacing of ROTJ to Empire a little bit. The only scene in ROTJ I really thought slammed on the breaks was the scene with Luke and Leia on the bridge in the Ewok village. Other than that, I thought the pacing was great. But ANH probably has the best pacing of all the OT movies, in my opinion.

          • September 14, 2016 at 4:25 pm
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            Empire is my fave, but I agree with this.

          • September 14, 2016 at 5:16 pm
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            Agreed. Great post.

      • September 14, 2016 at 3:57 am
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        Probably, although sources I trust suggest that it is more like ESB in reverse, structurally. ESB started with a climactic battle and then had the characters go their separate ways (a rarely successful inversion of normal film structure), but VIII will probably have the different leads (Poe/Leia, Finn/KMT, and Rey/Luke) following their own stories that eventually converge.

  • September 13, 2016 at 9:47 pm
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    From what I can tell so far from the comments is that reading comprehension may be up 25% or more since 2015.

  • September 13, 2016 at 11:03 pm
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    sounds good

  • September 13, 2016 at 11:35 pm
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    I would be fine if the tone was similar to Empire, I just don’t want beats to be so similar like it was in VII. That aspect didn’t bother me with Force Awakens nearly as much as it did others, but its still there. I know he says the tone is different, not in the sense of Empire’s, as in its a different tone than the first like Empire was. Still, I don’t think mimicking the tone of Empire would be a bad thing as long as it doesn’t feel too much like Empire.

    • September 14, 2016 at 2:51 am
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      I don’t think they will mimic Episode 8 with ESB the same way they did with TFA to ANH. TFA was a more safe movie to get the fans back on board with a GFFA who had been burned by the PT. In the process, JJ left a lot of unanswered questions so there are many avenues they can take the story in Episode 8 & 9.
      Maybe Snoke turns on Kylo in Episode 8 and Kylo searches for Rey and teams up with her, Maybe its not about his redemption, but more out of necessity that Rey/Kylo align with Luke to battle Snoke and possibly another villain?
      Again I’m just throwing my crazy theory out there (I have avoided all spoilers). But I think there is a lot of ways they can go with this trilogy that are totally opposite with the OT.

      • September 14, 2016 at 9:01 pm
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        JJ has made a career, a good one, but still a career out of mimicking other filmmakers and rebooting franchises. I thought because of that, hiring him was the right decision in a way to bridge it once I came to terms with the idea they have no desire for people to remember the prequels. And that is kind of how it worked out, though I wish it wasn’t as on the nose as it was. Still, I love the movie.

        I also agree with the idea they won’t be drawing so close creatively with the other films. I am sure they are mindful of the criticisms. Its also nice they brought in different directorial talent for the next two films.

        • September 14, 2016 at 10:20 pm
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          What about Lost? It was pretty original… Or Cloverfield.

          • September 14, 2016 at 10:23 pm
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            cloverfield is basically a found footage Godzilla movie.

          • September 14, 2016 at 10:57 pm
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            Kind of… But at least it tried to show a new perspective.

          • September 14, 2016 at 11:54 pm
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            (for extra points, Abrams neither wrote nor directed Cloverfield. His sum total creative contribution to that film was saying “hey, wouldn’t it be cool to have an american Godzilla?)

          • September 14, 2016 at 11:22 pm
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            Lost lays out an intriguing premise, with the world’s biggest mystery box. When it actually has to deal with answering the questions in the box, it collapses into absurdity. Cloverfield, I had forgotten that Abrams wrote and directed that movie. Anyways, it is mostly a piece of poop, with totally unlikable characters doing unlikable things, filmed by a DP who apparently hates the audience.

          • September 15, 2016 at 11:38 am
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            He didnt direct Cloverfield, just produced.

          • September 15, 2016 at 12:11 am
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            He didn’t create Lost alone and other films before him have used the found footage gimmick which I hate but yes both are original works. I didn’t mean everything he does is unoriginal, but a lot of his films are remake/reboots and using the signature style of other filmmakers. He has had a good career still, its a little knock but its not something that bothers me about his work. I enjoy it, but its still there. Its part of the reason I thought he was the right pick for Force Awakens.

          • September 15, 2016 at 11:34 am
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            Im sorry, but what are you talking about? J.J. and David Lindelof created Lost. They were the creative people behind the series just like D&D behind GoT (but ofc Lost was an original story).
            The whole series screams J.J Abrams, its basically a giant mistery box.

            Also, J.J. directed a couple of episodes, including the first 2 episodes of season 1 (which he also co-wrote).
            He also wrote the screenplay (teleplay) for season 3 pilot.

          • September 15, 2016 at 8:37 pm
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            My point wasn’t well put there. I meant he didn’t write or direct cloverfield and did lost as a collaboration with Lindelof. Still, I said I didn’t mean everything he does is unoriginal.

  • September 13, 2016 at 11:39 pm
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    From Driver’s interview, I’m afraid the script may be too complex for an audience not used to “nuance and ambiguity”. TFA”s secret, of course, was that JJ kept it simple (and similar to ANH). I sense Episode VIII might get a backlash similar to Batman v Superman if the script is too involved.

    It sounds pretty interesting though and I ‘m looking forward to seeing what RJ came up with.

    • September 14, 2016 at 12:09 am
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      I wouldn’t call BvS’ script “involved,” but that’s not the topic here. On surface, I’m sure Episde VIII is going to be a fun blockbuster, but after a deeper look it will convey deeper messages, similarly to Pixar films.

    • September 14, 2016 at 1:59 am
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      nuance and ambiguity make my brais hurt. If bad guys dont has evil eyes and horns, my brain hurtss

    • September 14, 2016 at 2:18 am
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      kylo and han on the bridge was way more “nuanced” than “martha”, pee jokes or batman and superman punching each other in the face for ‘reasons’.

    • September 14, 2016 at 2:46 am
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      See, I think fans will go along with any route they take with Episode 8 & 9 for one reason: We’re all on board with the characters. The problem with the PT is each movie had to reintroduce many main characters to the audience in hopes that they would resonate, and the plot became secondary and in many forgotten. After Episode 1 Jake Lloyd backlash, Lucas had to introduce a new Anakin, and when he didn’t resonate with many fans, ROTS was in trouble before it came out. You then had the Jar Jar Episode 1 backlash, so his characters was shelved and Lucas didn’t know who to use to comedy foil. It was a never ending search to please the fans with the characters.
      Johnson has the benefit that fans care about Rey, Finn, Poe, BB8, and even Kylo Ren, so he doesn’t have to waste time re-developing them. He can do what Kirshner did in ESB and the movie starts up and doesn’t let up for 2 hours. We see Han, Luke, Leia, C3PO, Chewy, R2 are all there, and then the movie goes right into the plot. Episode 8 should pick up with Rey/Luke and probably won’t let up for the next 2 hours.

      • September 14, 2016 at 3:30 am
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        Smart man.

      • September 14, 2016 at 3:52 am
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        Abrams did really well in creating new memorable characters for TFA. There hasn’t been an entirely new movie character as iconic as Kylo Ren since Pirates of the Caribbean hit a home run with Capt. Sparrow. Both he and Rey consistently place high in polls of favourite Star Wars characters. Oscar Isaac is charismatic as hell in his role as a space jockey. And BB-8 somehow managed to one-up the cutest, most beloved droid in film history.

        And VIII has fantastic actors for the new characters in Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro.

      • September 14, 2016 at 4:54 am
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        I wouldn’t say we are all onboard with the new characters.

        Many here insist Rey was created with the sole purpose of appeasing little girls and is a complete Mary Sue. And then claim Luke wasn’t a Mary Sue at all even though Rey is obviously based on his character and story arc.

        Also a lot of people here don’t like Finn again claiming he was only cast to PC up the franchise.

        Be careful in your generalizations.

        • September 14, 2016 at 6:05 am
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          Rey being a Mary sue or not has nothing to with her being a woman, it has to do with her being a perfect character. And a character lacking obstacles can be boring for some.

          • September 14, 2016 at 7:08 am
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            I didn’t know Rey was a “perfect” character. That’s news to me.

          • September 14, 2016 at 11:48 am
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            They only say that because she was able to do a jedi mind trick after three attempts, and also beat Kylo in a saber duel even though he was severely injured, mentally unstable, and tired from running around and fighting Finn.

            Actually, if you think about it lol

            Rey messed up about just as much as she got right.

            Mess Ups:
            1. Flew the Falcon into the ground scratching it all up, even though she knows how to pilot ships.
            2. Released the Rathtars by accident, even though she knows mechanics quite well.
            3. Ran away from Anakin’s lightsaber because of a scary force vision.
            4. Was kidnapped by Kylo Ren.
            5. Failed jedi mind trick two times.

            Got right:
            1. Succeeded in escaping the pursuing TIE Fighters.
            2. Saved Finn from Rathtars.
            3. Knew how to fix the hyperdrive by bypassing the compressor.
            4. Successfully used a jedi mind trick.
            5. Beat Kylo Ren in a one on one duel.

          • September 14, 2016 at 1:06 pm
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            Honestly when people start crying about how she was able to do those things…I felt it was fairly obvious that it had less to do with her being so inherently powerful, and more to do with this “awakening of the force”. Ya know, like the title suggests. So being dormant, and out of balance, for the last 50 years basically…it seems that maybe it came back with a vengeance. Just like any natural yin-yang to the universe.

            If the sith were able to wield so much of the force between just two, and be that much more powerful than most of all the Jedi…when it goes the other way, or just “awakens”, it’s going to be quite powerful. Don’t Jedi say they are just a conduit for the will of the force? She had no idea what she was doing, but she gave into it, and it made her go ham. SO OBVIOUS, at least to me. And I’m fairly positive that’s exactly what they were going for.

          • September 16, 2016 at 4:49 am
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            Yeah, it does, but don’t tell that to any of the butt hurt Rey is more powerful than Luke after one movie fans.

          • September 16, 2016 at 7:11 am
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            Then I guess I qualify as one of those fans. This is not a terrible theory. But I don’t fully agree. I wouldn’t say I’m “butt-hurt,” but – as charming and likable as I found Rey – the ease and simplicity that everything seemed to come to her (especially the Force) did not sit especially well with me. The counterpoint that I would present is this – what about the period after the Jedi purge when there was only Vader, the Emperor, Obi-Wan, and Yoda (both of the last 2 in hiding and not really using their powers) left in the galaxy for at least a couple decades? We saw no such “build up of the Force” that manifested itself in Luke after all that time – even though the Force was WAY out of balance and the Sith basically had all the power in the universe. So does that line up with that theory? I don’t think so. Luke still had to spend time with Yoda learning about the Force, battle Vader at Cloud City and get his butt handed to him, and it wasn’t until THE THIRD MOVIE IN THE TRILOGY that Luke finally had enough experience and power to even think about realistically standing up to Vader and Palpatine. Rey had absolutely no Jedi training whatsoever but she was able to resist Kylo’s mind probe, successfully perform a Jedi mind trick, and kick Kylo’s butt in a saber battle WITHOUT ANY JEDI TRAINING WHATSOEVER! Doesn’t anyone see how ridiculous this is? Everything just came too easily to Rey, and it was annoying.

          • September 18, 2016 at 11:32 am
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            That’s because we DON’T KNOW HER BACKGROUND YET. If after three movies and we still don’t have a solid reason to explain why she is so powerful then everyone can complain. Even if they don’t explain it, use your imagination.

            How do you know she hasn’t had jedi training in the past?
            How do you know if she had?
            What if she is just a prodigy and is able to do things that even Luke and Anakin couldn’t?
            The list will go on and on until we get confirmation in canon as to how she is able to do these seemingly amazing feats.
            You don’t think Lucasfilm has thought about this, considering all of the people working on it?

          • September 21, 2016 at 6:02 am
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            Hopefully you’re right and the filmmakers have some very good explanations and reveals planned for us in the next movies to address all these uncertainties. But at the moment, I’m not completely digging it….

          • September 14, 2016 at 4:03 pm
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            “beat Kylo in a saber duel even though he was severely injured, mentally unstable, and tired from running around and fighting Finn.”

            Don’t forget he was also *not* trying to kill her.

          • September 14, 2016 at 8:11 am
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            I guess emotional obstacles don’t count anymore?

          • September 14, 2016 at 11:13 pm
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            What emotional obstacles? She misses her family, but that doesn’t inform any of her character – she’s not ‘angry’ because she misses them, she’s not ‘distrustful’ because she misses them, she’s not ‘sad’ because she misses them – that she misses them adds literally not one thing to her character in terms of flaws to be overcome.

          • September 15, 2016 at 3:13 am
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            You need to listen to some Yoda dialogue about anger and emotion. Then rewatch Rey’s scenes in TFA. She’s got some problems….

          • September 15, 2016 at 3:19 am
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            Agreed and Didnt she damage the Millennium Falcon on her first fly through? Open the wrong fuse for the Rathtars? Get knocked out by Kylo Ren twice? Fail to save Han Solo from death or Finn from a good slicing? She messed up and is flawed plenty, but god forbid a female character be any good at anything yknow. Whether a mary sue is male or female, Rey was under that much scrutiny for being a capable female (I dont see that stigma attached to any character Tom Cruise plays or Luke or Anakin).

          • September 15, 2016 at 3:21 am
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            I agree. Anakin was nine and destroyed an entire droid control ship. Seems fishy to me.

          • September 15, 2016 at 3:24 am
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            And hes male, a little fishy that he wasnt under scrutiny like Rey was. But hey, ill be called an SJW OR PC NAZI so what the hell do I know right?!!

          • September 15, 2016 at 5:59 am
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            True, but in my opinion that whole sequence was poorly conceived and just a flat-out terrible idea. I don’t think it should have ever been in the movie at all (along with a lot of other things I won’t get into). But it was Lucas’ vision, so….not my movie, not my call.

          • September 15, 2016 at 6:23 am
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            I disagree with that last part. George Lucas isn’t immune from criticism.

          • September 15, 2016 at 6:32 am
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            True. Fair enough.

          • September 15, 2016 at 6:31 am
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            She did damage the Falcon at first, and then shortly after she proceeded to fly the heck out of it – even being so bold as to fly into a crashed Star Destroyer and coming through unscathed (even though she tells Finn right after that she’s not that experienced of a pilot). She did release the Rathtars, and then she saved Finn from them by being quick and smart enough to close the exact right door at the exact right time by looking at a bunch of CC monitors. She did get knocked out by Kylo, but after she closes her eyes and mutters something about the Force she turns into Jedi She-Hulk (with zero Jedi training) and proceeds to completely dismantle him. It would have been a little hard for her to save Han Solo, seeing as he was way down on the bridge and she was at least 3 or 4 levels above him (unless she could fly like a superhero, which the writers might have considered judging by the way they wrote her). As for Finn, it would have been a little hard to save him while she was unconscious, but she did wake up and eventually hand Kylo his rear-end (see point above about dismantling Kylo).

            Look, I like Rey. Daisy Ridley is extremely likable and that likability clearly comes through in her character. And I’m glad we finally have a female central hero in this trilogy (I’m a guy by the way, if it wasn’t obvious). I’m just not too happy about some of the choices the writers made about her character. Maybe with all the Marvel superhero movies that are so popular right now that’s what they think audiences are expecting to see – Rey the super girl. I just didn’t like the way they made her so awesome at almost everything without ANY extensive Jedi training. This is Star Wars, not James Bond. Maybe VIII and IX will resolve some of these issues and explain why they depicted Rey like this in Force Awakens, but right now these issues do bother me a bit.

          • September 15, 2016 at 5:57 pm
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            My point was she didnt do everything perfectly, and if that had been the case, TFA wouldve been a less bumpy ride, i have disagree with all your justifications there. I meam god forbid, any female character be a capable badass. Im willing most of you who saw the movie, saw it before Landis (whos only really in it for attention, I watch movie fights) made the whole mary sue thing real, enjoyed it and didnt find any qualms with Rey. Im in fact willing to bet most people who havent even seen the movie are the ones yellong Mary Sue. Cause i tell you what, alot more male characters (and female too) within 2015, were far more “perfect” then she was and faced far less scrutiny. She faced it cause she was a female lead in a popular Star Wars film. I dont ascribe to the Mary Sue thing and i never will, like Andre the black nerd said, those two things should only be uttered in a threesome with two girls named Mary and Sue

          • September 15, 2016 at 7:11 pm
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            Well, that’s fine. Art is subjective – you see Rey one way, I see her another. I don’t think we are going to change each other’s minds. And I never used the term “Mary Sue” to describe Rey (and I don’t know who you mean when you refer to “Landis”). Like I said – she’s very likable, I just don’t agree with all the decisions the writers made for her character – and my feelings on that haven’t changed since the first time I watched the movie.

            The first 2 “Alien” movies are a couple of my favorite movies ever, and Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal of Ripley I think is one of the best lead performances – either male or female – in any action/sci-fi film. She was strong, she was a natural leader, but she was also vulnerable and scared. She was real. So real in fact that she was actually nominated for an Academy Award for “Aliens.” Rey just doesn’t seem anywhere near as believable to me, and it has nothing to do with her gender. You shouldn’t imply that I, or anybody else who critiques Rey’s character, are only doing so because we’re sexist and we don’t like women in these kind of movies. That may not always be the case.

        • September 14, 2016 at 12:58 pm
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          Seems most of those types let that simply ruin the characters. Which is daft. Pissed cause you think they did it just to spark diversity. Which if the actors failed monumentally on their face, yes, it’d be a dumb mistake.

          But they didn’t. Your opinions are yours, but I just don’t see how anyone can not like them. Other than having an ignorant chip on your shoulders. Rey is probably one of the most instantly like able characters I’ve seen in any movie. Finn was funny, and had good chops towards the end. Not to mention the dynamic between those two was great.

          Fans who pull that “they did it just for the sake of diversity” crap, just reminds me of crybabies whining about affirmative action in jobs. Get over it. It’s happened, life’s not that serious.

          • September 14, 2016 at 11:26 pm
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            DAISY is likable, outrageously so, and she commits to that role in a really admirable way. Rey though? Rey is not much more than a constant series of running from one action sequence to the next, with no time to reflect or make deliberate choices. There’s just not enough substance to Rey to be a likable character for me.

          • September 16, 2016 at 5:20 am
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            Wasn’t Anakin, and Luke the same way though after one movie?

        • September 14, 2016 at 1:22 pm
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          Well, not really here on this forum. Those people are much rather in the darker areas of the internet…

      • September 15, 2016 at 4:36 pm
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        Glad to hear that. If Johnson’s movie will be good, it will also be thanks to JJ’s job with TFA. In this case, I think the not-so-original script kept the screenwriters on the characters and their development. And this is what need to be strong in a serial franchise.

    • September 14, 2016 at 3:50 am
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      That’s quite a leap.

    • September 14, 2016 at 10:50 am
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      Batman v Superman sucked for other reasons…. a complicated story was not one of them. Dark Knight was much more involved, and a classic.

      BvS ruined Doomsday (both in Origin and in character design). Was slow to start (started getting interesting at Lex’s party). Felt LONG!… like… longer than Hobbit long… This was probably due to the pacing. Had terrible pacing (unlike TFA, which had epic pacing). In the last third, they went from 100% action and that awesome WW theme (love that theme), then straight to a tender moment with Supes and lois with the piano Man of Steel theme… then… 5 seconds later… back to full throttle.

      • September 14, 2016 at 11:27 pm
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        Ok, leave the BvS comparison aside if you want to. The main point though is that Driver implied Episode VIII will have more “nuance and ambiguity” than TFA and that the director is aiming at a more “spohisticated audience” who can appreciate that nuance. I still think that might be problematic for a Star Wars film with a mass, usually young audience,

        I’m expecting the nuance to come mostly from Kylo Ren, but we may see it with Rey and Luke too. And I still don’t know what part Finn will play in the overall story, assuming he has a relevant part at all, which is also doubtful.

        • September 15, 2016 at 3:07 am
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          It is Star Wars….. it will bank 1-2 billion regardless. They can literally do anything and it will sell, and it should be good. They do’t have to worry about the audience, they have to worry about making a great story.

  • September 14, 2016 at 1:16 am
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    “A lot of times you need to rise to understand…”

    I’m beginning to appreciate the way this ST seems to be being delivered. What can seem like a simple re-hash in initial viewings starts to reveal more depth and layering – including many OT trope reversals. It took multiple viewings and exposure to some deeper analysis from other commentators to help me “rise to understand” some of the “nuance” and “ambiguity” in TFA.

  • September 14, 2016 at 3:46 am
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    I know better than to read this particular comment section but for anybody still foaming at the mouth over what Adam said about VIII.

    I’m saying this: When he says similar tone to ESB, I don’t even think we’re talking about the same type of tone…id say it’s the fact that the stakes are higher and naturally you’re going into a deeper place by exploring these characters even more and given how TFA ended, it can’t be too shocking to think that a darker tone would make sense, story wise. Of course, saying anything like “it’s similar to ESB” is going to raise concern.

  • September 14, 2016 at 3:50 am
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    He’s saying the tone is different the same way Empire had a different tone from ANH. He’s not saying Episode 8 is like Empire or comparing them directly.

  • September 14, 2016 at 7:06 am
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    For an interview with that many words, he sure didn’t say much…

    • September 14, 2016 at 7:26 pm
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      I find that with Adam in general, don’t know the actor too well with his previous works..but I have seen a few interviews where very little comes out of the guy (or were you referring to the interviewer?).

  • September 14, 2016 at 7:18 am
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    It’s what I would come to expect but it’s good to hear this, while not always a rule of thumb it is a classic for sequels in storytelling to always raise the stakes.

    If there are any parallels to that of Empire, let’s hope it will draw even more attention to the villains.

  • September 14, 2016 at 8:27 am
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    well, that happens when you get the director of Looper and Breaking Bad episode “Ozymandias” to do Star Wars…

  • September 14, 2016 at 8:38 am
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    So excited for this to elaborate on TFA. This is going to be the movie that really cements the series going forward.

  • September 14, 2016 at 10:52 am
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    …this title just popped up in my head..maybe it was the will of the force..or maybe it’s because I’m craving for some more info on this movie..but here goes..
    Star Wars Episode VIII: Knights of the Dark Side

    That is all..

    • September 14, 2016 at 1:32 pm
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      I’m not sure that would be the title, but I do like the sound of “Knights” in the title. We knew Episode 7 was “The Force Awakens” in November 2014… hopefully we’ll know soon!

      • September 14, 2016 at 8:24 pm
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        I need it in my life lol the wait is killing me.

  • September 14, 2016 at 5:18 pm
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    Rian is such a great story teller and his writing is on a level way beyond anything JJ could ever put on paper. As long as the green nosed execs over at Disney didnt get their claws too deep into RJ we should be set up for a great movie! In RJ I trust. Not Ep. 9 in the hands of the Jurassic World disaster…ugghhh that has me very concerned…

    • September 15, 2016 at 8:39 am
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      Isn’t Rian writing 9, just not directing it?

  • September 14, 2016 at 8:40 pm
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    I’m really curious what do they mean by different tone. Imo ep VII was pretty dark already for a Star Wars film. Yeah, there were a couple of clusmy scenes, but overall its not a happy story.

    • September 15, 2016 at 4:47 pm
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      It’s funny, I never considered ESB dark at all. It felt more mystical and romantic, serving it’s purpose as a second act. If anything Ep 6 was the darkest; in the classic sense.

  • September 15, 2016 at 4:45 pm
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    Considering we all had #betterthanempire shirts made for the crew……

  • September 15, 2016 at 5:53 pm
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    Just please be original in 8 and 9…please! I don’t even like to hear a comparison between 8 and ESB. I’ve argued enough about 7 and it’s rehashing. For all my dislike of 7 and it’s issues, I’m hoping that 8 will at least give us something deeper and away from anything done in the past.

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