Echoes in the Force: Some of the parallels between A New Hope and The Force Awakens

One of the most persistent criticisms of Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens is that it borrows too heavily from the previous movies, especially A New Hope. Some of the parallels are obvious, to the point that some of the characters even comment on the Starkiller Base being similar to the Death Star. Personally I find the similarities to be interesting, and I think they add an extra layer to the film rather than detracting from it.

But just how many parallels are there? I thought it might be fun to see how many I can identify. I am sure that I am not the first to try this, but I'm not going to let that stop me!

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens initial thoughts

I think enough time has passed now that I can post this without worrying about spoiling the movie! That said, this post does contain spoilers, so if you have not seen The Force Awakens yet... go see it first!

Star Wars is pretty much the best thing ever. I have loved Star Wars all my life, so I approached The Force Awakens with a little trepidation. Could the new trilogy live up to the original trilogy in a way the prequel trilogy hadn't?

I must confess that, by the time the movie came out, I had utterly failed to keep my expectations low. I got hyped about the trailers and I loved the interviews with the actors as they promoted the movie. I went and saw the movie as soon as I could in order to avoid spoilers. As I waited in line with my wife, I was genuinely worried that some troll who had seen the movie already would pass by and shout out a spoiler. That was how worried I was that something would ruin the experience for me!

Our hours of waiting in line were rewarded when we got into the theater and sat down in our favorite seats. The movie began, the music kicked in, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. This was it. I remember thinking that, no matter what, in the next two hours I would see the new Star Wars movie. After all those months of waiting and anticipation, it was finally happening. As the first scenes played, I was struck by the realization that I would no doubt rewatch these scenes through my life.

I was still worried about whether the movie would live up to my expectations. Things seemed pretty dark as the First Order attacked the village, and I hoped the film would not get too grim. Then Poe said, "So, who talks first?" and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. That moment was like J. J. Abrams telling me: Relax. Enjoy.

I'm beginning to like her: Thoughts on Princess Leia Organa

Ever since bluefish and I wrote posts about Han and Luke, I've been wanting to round out the trio of Original Trilogy stars by sharing some things that make Leia great, too. Today is International Women's Day, so I figured now was the time to do it!

Of all of the characters in the Original Trilogy, Leia may be the one who is the most complex. Some of her characteristics seem to be contradictions at first glance, so I will explore some of those contradictions to see how they make Leia a fantastic, well-rounded character.

One in a million: Why you'd rather be Luke Skywalker than Han Solo

 Taken from starwars.com

As my colleague Baron von Chop pointed out, it's hard to pick between being Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Maybe it's because they each exemplify so much of what makes for a good hero. One of them is the classic farm-boy-turned-hero, who undergoes the Hero's Journey to find not only glory but himself. The other is the Scoundrel with a Heart of Gold, who discovers that there are depths to himself that even he didn't know about (and gets the princess, too). But we have to look beyond some of the obvious things, too. These characters aren't just archetypes, and there is plenty to recommend them both beyond the roles they play. But let's start with the obvious.

He does have his moments: Reasons why it's better to be Han than Luke

There are many ways to describe Han Solo: heroic, sarcastic, charming, skillful, and cocky all come to mind, but perhaps the word that best sums up the Corellian smuggler is "scoundrel." While Luke pursues his destiny and Leia fights for galactic freedom, Han is in it for the reward (or so he claims). Of course, we always knew there was more to him than money, but it's that devil-may-care swagger that makes Han so likable.

Personally, I can't say for sure whether I would rather be Luke or Han, but for the purposes of this post, Luke can keep his hokey religions and ancient weapons: here are the reasons why it's better to be Han Solo.

Would you rather be Han or Luke?

I know that nerds are supposed to debate whether they like Kirk or Picard more, but that's never been a hard question for me. Kirk is fine, but I like Picard better as a captain and I find him to be a more interesting character.

There is another question that has long plagued me, though, and I have never felt sure about my answer: would I rather be Han Solo or Luke Skywalker? I can argue for both sides, but to make things more interesting, I talked my to my co-blogger bluefish, and he will argue for Luke while I take Han's side. We'll post our thoughts in separate blog posts to keep things more manageable.

If you have an opinion one way or the other, feel free to share it as a comment!

Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie will be in Star Wars VII!

Photo from the starwars.com announcement

What a time to be alive!

The folks at starwars.com have announced Lupita Nyong'o will indeed be joining the cast of Star Wars Episode VII, and will be joined by Gwendoline Christie. Christie, known for playing Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, will bring the total number of new women characters to three. When you add Carrie Fisher's return as Princess Leia to the number, you get four major roles for women, which is four times the number found in both the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy.

A New(er) Hope? Star Wars VII may still cast a woman of color

Lupita Nyong'o; image from Forbes

Maisie Richardson-Sellers; Image from The Hollywood Reporter

In the wake of the cast announcement for Star Wars Episode VII, the internet is up in arms about the single new woman and the single person of color in the cast. It sounds like there may still be hope, though: J. J. Abrams has announced that he is looking to cast one more woman for a major role, and rumors indicate that it may be a woman of color.

'Star Wars: Episode VII' Casting: It's Not Over Yet on The Hollywood Reporter

The EU is Dead, Long Live Star Wars

Probably the most reposted picture on the internet today

Today the Star Wars website announced some big news, ending months of rumors and speculation. In addition to the returning, original Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, the seventh Star Wars movie would star John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. Also returning would be famous suit-wearers Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, and Peter Mayhew.

In with the new, out with the old: today's announcement follows up on another announcement a few days ago that the Star Wars creators are setting aside the established "Expanded Universe" of Star Wars novels, comics, video games, etc, and relegating them to "Star Wars Legends."

I feel like I am still wrapping my brain around some of these changes, and clearly a lot is still left to be revealed, but I wanted to share some of my first thoughts.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is better than you'd expect

The game's marketing pushed the physics engine, and how enemy characters react to being tossed around.

** Contains Some Minor Spoilers **

Star Wars: the Force Unleashed is a fairly old game, having originally been released for the XBox 360 in 2008 and the PC in 2009. I had heard mixed things about it, so I never bothered picking it up until this past Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you), when all the Star Wars games on Steam were on sale. It was only a few dollars, so I grabbed it. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found: the gameplay was quite fun, and the narrative, while not great, at least made an effort to tell a new, interesting story.

There's no paper in Star Wars, and 4 other things I am glad Star Wars lacks

Image from the datapad entry on Wookieepedia

Star Wars fans know that one of the rules of the setting is that there is no paper in Star Wars. Star Wars may take place "a long time ago," but it's full of spaceships and blasters, so it makes sense that people wouldn't still rely on chopping down trees, mashing them up, pressing the paste flat, and smearing ink over it to convey messages. Instead, characters in Star Wars use datapads to record and transmit information. If characters absolutely have to jot something down, they use flimsiplast, which is basically "space paper."

Though the lack of paper in Star Wars is hardly vital to the setting, it got me thinking about the other things that I am glad Star Wars doesn't have. As it turns out, most of the things on my list exist in Star Trek but not in Star Wars. I love Star Trek, too, but these differences help the two great franchises "feel" different, with Star Trek being more science fiction and Star Wars being more space fantasy.

Bluefish's Ideas for Star Wars VII

I drew up a comment to the last post, but  it wound up even longer than the original, so I thought I'd post it as its own entry.

I've been thinking about this ever since last night, and I've decided to narrow down my answer in a few ways to keep it from getting to be book-length (or at least fanfiction-length). First, I'm going to write about Star Wars VII, not just a new Star Wars movie. I hope that Disney--as they have hinted--will put out side movies in addition to the regular storyline of VII, VIII, and IX, just like they're putting out individual films for the Avengers in addition to the main plot. So as much as I'd love to watch a Star Wars movie that plays out like a horror movie with the main characters entering an ancient Sith temple on a forgotten planet where a hidden evil lurks, or a movie in which an outcast Jedi is hunted by the enemies she's made in the criminal underworld, those ideas will have to wait until later. And I have lots of ideas. Only a few involve Twi'leks and are rated R.

Picture source: Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, picture by Kieran Yanner

BVC's suggestions for Star Wars VII

In my previous post about the upcoming Star Wars movies, I gave some reasons for optimism. Now that I have had more time to think about it, I would like to make some suggestions for ways in which the new films can be as good as, or even better than, the ones that came before. We have had several decades to enjoy the original trilogy and think about what else we would like to see in the Star Wars universe.

"It is the future you see:" Some speculation about Disney buying Lucasfilm

We will never get this again, but that's okay, because we already got it once

Ever since the news came out that Disney bought Lucasfilm, the fan reaction has been astonishing. Reactions have run between "NOOOOOOO" and wild optimism, with fans on both sides digging up every picture of a Disney character dressed as a Star Wars character ever created for Star Wars Days at Disneyland. Countless fans have said they hope the sequels will deal with the Thrawn Trilogy, with just as many fans hurriedly jumping on them to point out how unlikely that is. And, yes, Leia is now a Disney princess, and both the Death Star and the binary sunset on Tatooine can be Photoshopped to add Mickey ears.

Now that I've had time to think about it, I will say: I've gone from cautiously optimistic without getting my hopes up to fully optimistic, with hopes raised high. I'll give a few quick reasons why.

People Love Star Wars: Star Wars Fan Films

Chances are, I don't have to explain to you what a fan film is. If you're reading this blog, you may well have even considered making one yourself. The fan film comes from a pure well: people love Star Wars. When that passion gets to be too much, fans join in the saga by adding their own stories to the stories they love from the films, comics, video games, and books. People put weeks, if not months and years, of their lives into a fan film. It's a big love letter to the franchise that gave us so many happy memories.

Also, people want to see themselves holding lightsabers.

But the fan film has changed since I was a teenager. There was a time fans would put on bathrobes, go out into the woods behind their houses, and hit each other with lightsabers that they later added cheap glow effects to on their computers. Then came an age when fans would share their work with each other and collaborate on things like special effects, sounds, and music. Now, we have come into an age when fan films actually have budgets (albeit small ones). With a little imagination, you can feel like you're actually watching a new Star Wars movie (or, if we're honest, at least a TV show).

Who wouldn't want to be the hero of Star Wars? (from Dark Horse)

The Old Republic

As you may already know, I got a chance to participate in the beta of Star Wars: the Old Republic, the blockbuster new MMO by Bioware. This is probably the most anticipated MMO since World of Warcraft. It's made by a superstar company riding high on the success on the Mass Effect franchise. They clearly know their way around the Old Republic era, having previously made Knights of the Old Republic, which is considered one of the best RPGs of all time. Bioware aren't just a sci-fi powerhouse: they are also well known for Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and the more recent Dragon Age. The one kind of RPG that Bioware has never attempted before is an MMO*. So did they succeed?

Paprika, the Smuggler, was the first character we created

Han is always wrong

What do I do on my lunch break? Make up new memes for my own amusement. Think of this as a viral ad for my post(s?) about Star Wars: The Old Republic, coming soon/eventually.