Star Wars is back!

Avoozl said:

The fact that Disney's influence is involved really doesn't help hold my hopes up that it'll be that good.

Well, Star Wars rebels has been ok so far with the exception of the main character and his stupid energy slingshot.

Memfis said:

Yeah, that part seemed inappropriately funny to me. And I guess I'm going to be called a racist but that guy being black added so much to the weird comedic effect for me, like "OH NO, NOW WITH A BLACK LEAD!". I'm sorry.

You find the concept of a black lead character inherently comedic? Yes, you're a racist.

Seriously, how people on DW can have positive reactions to that Jurassic World hamster ball garbage and then think this looks at all bad is mind-boggling. It's just a teaser, sure, but every shot is well composed and interesting, with an aesthetic that both invokes the feel of the original trilogy and innovates in terms of lighting and camera movement. It couldn't look any more different from the prequel trilogy, or the confused jumble of CGI shit in the Transformers movies that is standard "action movie" fare nowadays.

Memfis said:

And I guess I'm going to be called a racist but that guy being black added so much to the weird comedic effect for me, like "OH NO, NOW WITH A BLACK LEAD!".

DooMAD said:

v93Jh6JNBng

This one is excellent. :D

You find the concept of a black lead character inherently comedic? Yes, you're a racist.

"I don't see how the juxtaposition of fan service same old same old Star Wars with 2014 American progressive values pushed in every piece of media for brownie points these days, combined with the sudden silly jump out of nowhere presentation, could possibly be seen as comedic by anyone in the world. In my view of the world, which is obviously the only correct one, there is no possible situation where race would come into play to result in comedy. Therefore anyone who disagrees with me is a racist, no matter the circumstances. This is not a sign of narrowmindedness on my end because I'm right and they're wrong."

Seriously, how people on DW can have positive reactions to that Jurassic World hamster ball garbage and then think this looks at all bad is mind-boggling. It's just a teaser, sure, but every shot is well composed and interesting, with an aesthetic that both invokes the feel of the original trilogy and innovates in terms of lighting and camera movement. It couldn't look any more different from the prequel trilogy, or the confused jumble of CGI shit in the Transformers movies that is standard "action movie" fare nowadays.

"Having now established I am the smartest person of the entire universe by calling someone else a taboo word thanks to my straw man, let me demonstrate to all of you how dumb you all are with vague flowery prose alluding to cinematic quality without actually making any tangible deconstruction of the trailer. I will now point at a blockbuster known for its awfulness and mass appeal for mere plebeians. If you disagree with me at all, it logically follows you're an uneducated mouth breather who likes these bad things, because there is no such thing as false dilemnas."

boy oh boy I'm convinced

PROTIP: you now have two options.
- prove you're so much more evolved than us monkeys by being the greater man, actually put your money where your mouth is and explain what you meant in the second paragraph
or
- get in the mud and look like a retard either by trying to argue the racist angle further, by calling troll or by pretending you don't have time for this shit

Choose wisely, o wisest of wise ones. Your e-cred rides on this one.

<slow claps internally>

I dunno, is it so much they went looking for a Black Guy or did the Black Guy just have a better audition so boom there he is? Honestly, Billy Dee shouldn't have got the WB boot from Batman. Granted, regardless of his involvement in Batman Returns Joel Schumacher probably would have found his way there anyways.

Like in Alien, I read that the script didn't call for black guys or girls or anyone. People auditioned and that was that.

Why is a black lead such a big deal that the epic maymay videos have to be posted?

Mr. Freeze said:

Why is a black lead such a big deal that the epic maymay videos have to be posted?

Phml is an old fart from the old white world, also from France, and integrating black people into the mainstream is librul affirmative action bullshit, because in the real world they're fringe poverty-stricken illiterate immigrants from central Africa maybe good for football.

Memfis is a Russian from Moscow, so the idea of a black person is hilarious to him.

It's super-easy when you know the personal background.

^ I truly hope you are fooling around and do not actualy believe what you wrote there...

The teaser remains thrilling in terms of teasing, and showing fragments containing innovation, humor, action, and a realy small
hint towards a story element. The effects look amazing but not world shattering. And yes i can go on, as i watched it over and
over, paused it, rewind, look closer, repeat. And that weird hasty sweaty guy jumps into the frame scene remains odd...

Pretty sure what he wrote explains a whole hell of a lot.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10408049_10152532954333479_324582751421031320_n.jpg?oh=ff9e1f88f7c3e0095fa384f8c1b77119&oe=550DE295&__gda__=1427007402_b7b1cda0d645fc37b638055f56f6dcc9

Seems to raise a fair point, heh.

A hilt guard is only effective against swings from above the guard. All the amputations are from across the arm.

I'm looking forward to it. The prequels set the bar so low they can't get any worse.
As for the light saber suicide hilt, a weapon that's far more dangerous to the wielder is suited for a Sith.

I wonder if there'll ever be a yellow/orange lightsaber.

Avoozl said:

I wonder if there'll ever be a yellow/orange lightsaber.

There are, in both Original Canon and Nu-Canon. Kyle Katarn had both a yellow and an orange lightsaber in the Dark Forces games.

In this version, instead of tie fighters making the sound "NEEEOOOWWW" (in outer space... where there is no sound) they will go "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!". And you thought Darth Maul, the uh... space devil... I guess... was badass with his DOUBLE light sabre? Well guess what, there is a TRIPLE light sabre this time... because the crossguard on a sword is designed to protect your hand, so of course you want some extra sabres there to burn your fingers off to give your opponent a sporting chance. (darn above posts already mentioned the crossguard, my post was useless like usual). The black guy was only cast because Obama is president, or as part of the behind the scenes Ferguson negotiations lol. In a galaxy far far away, there exists aliens, oh and also humans with exactly the same races as earth humans and who speak the same language. Casting a black actor is really disgusting discrimination against little people. Last time the Watto alien was... italian... I thought that was pretty creative, how about just an italian culture instead of some unique alien one, it could happen. What else is stupid besides all of it, oh yeah Yoda doing acrobatic flips. The main stream will love it though and its a good place to absorb more of their funds and sneak in some subliminal propaganda. Maybe Lucas found out Disney wanted to buy star wars, then he threatened to intentionally start ruining it until they agree to buy at his desired price.

I never liked the idea of Yoda "kicking ass". I thought his best strength in the OT was his wisdom, defeating the enemy through purely intellectual and verbal means. Yes, he probably could slice everyone's limbs off ten times over if he wanted to, but he was so badass all he needed to do was direct a few people in the right direction without needing to actually touch a lightsaber.

Sure, they probably couldn't do much with the original puppet, but regardless of that likely being physical limitations in an older production, he did seem more badass in the OT than the PT and it made him a stronger character for it.

Technician said:

The trailer only presented us with a black man person of color and a women, so I'll have to assume all the heroes will be opressed PoC and women and the empire will be white, patriarchal, cis-het male scum.

I think a lot of people are forgetting that the storm troopers are clones, and the original trooper was black....Not hard to see why they chose a black guy for this trooper, Has no one even attempted to watch the prequels?

Is he actually playing a storm trooper? I had assumed that he was just using the armor as a disguise, similar to how Luke & Han used them in the original movie.

Only humans would call "black" people "people of color" when the RBG value of black is (0,0,0). If I made this thread I would edit the title to "Star Wars is black!". What would be epic lol is a black Jar Jar Binks, and I wouldn't even be surprised by that only they would do it is a way not intending to be funny. They already made a mexican alien, Nien Nunb. Italian Watto, native american aliens from Avatar.. I guess aliens everywhere just adopt earth human cultures. Klingon/human sex would be beastiality since they're different species. My only idea for the evolutionary function of Worf's forehead is maybe digging. Either that or a product of sexual selection. Why not just wear a suit of armor made completely of light sabre material?

That guy popping up outta nowhere, wth were they thinking? He looks boring and uncharismatic. They should have him say something.

Jaws In Space said:

Is he actually playing a storm trooper? I had assumed that he was just using the armor as a disguise, similar to how Luke & Han used them in the original movie.

I suppose we have to wait and see, Disney will get my money just to see if that guy is a legit storm trooper.

VGA said:

That guy popping up outta nowhere, wth were they thinking? He looks boring and uncharismatic. They should have him say something.

"Oh lawds!"

Phml said:

"I don't see how the juxtaposition of fan service same old same old Star Wars with 2014 American progressive values pushed in every piece of media for brownie points these days, combined with the sudden silly jump out of nowhere presentation, could possibly be seen as comedic by anyone in the world. In my view of the world, which is obviously the only correct one, there is no possible situation where race would come into play to result in comedy. Therefore anyone who disagrees with me is a racist, no matter the circumstances. This is not a sign of narrowmindedness on my end because I'm right and they're wrong."

It's the idea that casting a black character in a lead role can only be a sop to "progressive values" that is racist. Seeing everything through a lens of bullshit whinging about affirmative action or rampant liberalism or whatever is racist.

Jumps can be funny, sure. Race can be funny too, in the right context. But laughing at a black character, simply because they are black and you assume any black character is symptomatic of some progressive agenda is not the right context.

Phml said:

"Having now established I am the smartest person of the entire universe by calling someone else a taboo word thanks to my straw man, ...

Memfis began by suggesting he would be called a racist. I only did what he apparently thought he deserved. Saying, "I'll probably be called a racist for this..." is not a get-out to then spout racist shit.

Phml said:

... let me demonstrate to all of you how dumb you all are with vague flowery prose alluding to cinematic quality without actually making any tangible deconstruction of the trailer. I will now point at a blockbuster known for its awfulness and mass appeal for mere plebeians. If you disagree with me at all, it logically follows you're an uneducated mouth breather who likes these bad things, because there is no such thing as false dilemnas."

Someone said in this thread that it looked like "it [is] attempting to be a 'cool' action movie". My point was that it actually looks different from the typical modern action movie, of which Transformers is the prototypical example.

Anyway, sorry if my flowery prose is too impenetrable for you. I'll try and dumb it down a bit:

"Every shot is well composed and interesting." Composition is the way elements are arranged in the frame of a visual medium, such a painting, photograph or film. Many films suffer from poor composition, including an inability to understand the concept "less is more". A serious problem in the prequel trilogy was Lucas' tendency to just throw as much shit as possible onto the screen, with the end result being a mish-mash of blaster bolts, CGI robots and other background noise. At the same time, his choice of camera angles and movement, especially for sequences involving actual actors, was usually stilted and bland.

In contrast, the shots in this trailer are well composed: They have a clear focus of interest, whether its a person riding a speeder, a trio of X-Wings or a Sith Lord striding through a forest. There is a clear separation between foreground and background, without extraneous clutter to distract you. All of this is well illustrated by the "special edition" parody video. And little things, such as having John Boyega's character stand up into frame, or having the Sith in the woods walking away from the camera, are the difference between interesting shots and boring ones.

"an aesthetic that both invokes the feel of the original trilogy and innovates in terms of lighting and camera movement." The look of the environments and props like the droid looks closer to how things appeared in the original trilogy than the bland digital wash of the prequels. But there are also things in the trailer, such as the flickering lighting in the Storm Trooper show, the X-Wings flying over water, and the camera following the Millennium Falcon that are a stylistic evolution over anything the original films attempted.

Phml said:

boy oh boy I'm convinced

PROTIP: you now have two options.
- prove you're so much more evolved than us monkeys by being the greater man, actually put your money where your mouth is and explain what you meant in the second paragraph
or
- get in the mud and look like a retard either by trying to argue the racist angle further, by calling troll or by pretending you don't have time for this shit

Choose wisely, o wisest of wise ones. Your e-cred rides on this one.

Blah, blah, blah. Grow up.

Phml is an old fart from the old white world, also from France, and integrating black people into the mainstream is librul affirmative action bullshit, because in the real world they're fringe poverty-stricken illiterate immigrants from central Africa maybe good for football.

Did I say *I* found it funny? I understand in your world view it's impossible to defend a perspective without agreeing with that perspective, but what I took offense to is yet another xenophobic imperialist asshat calling someone else racist because he dares live in a different culture rather than under the glorious eagle of freedom.

Besides, you need to stop getting your knowledge of France from Hollywood movies portraying Paris as pale skinned men in costumes buying baguettes and pale skinned prostitutes who don't shave their armpits, while accordion music plays in the background. France has ~15% Muslims, most young people are métis or black, most new doctors and surgeons are from Morocco or Algeria FFS.

But hey, if "personal background" based on country of residence is enough to sum up one person's views (gosh that does not sound racist at all no sir), why is it mr. Czesh Republic is apparently the local expert on multiculturalism?

How's that for stereotypical oldschool french: "Je ne suis d'accord avec vous ni sur l'essentiel, ni sur l'accessoire. Par contre, je me battrai jusqu'à mon dernier souffle pour que votre voix soit entendue." Chew on that one, smartass.

It's the idea that casting a black character in a lead role can only be a sop to "progressive values" that is racist. Seeing everything through a lens of bullshit whinging about affirmative action or rampant liberalism or whatever is racist.

Yet nobody said that. We're talking about this specific Star Wars trailer, not every movie ever. You're still full of shit, you're still ignoring context in favor of pushing your strawman.

Memfis began by suggesting he would be called a racist. I only did what he apparently thought he deserved.

Being aware of the possibility of backlash doesn't mean you condone said backlash as "deserved" when it happens; but it's not surprising to see you phrase it that way, yet another moral crusader who espouses mob rule as an excuse to safely oppress scapegoats.

Phml said:

Being aware of the possibility of backlash doesn't mean you condone said backlash as "deserved" when it happens; but it's not surprising to see you phrase it that way, yet another moral crusader who espouses mob rule as an excuse to safely oppress scapegoats.

It also doesn't exempt you from responsibility when you say stupid shit.

"Look, this part is quoted, so I can say phml is a vicious vitriolic asshole, because insulting people indirectly is perfectly okay." -interpreting some other guy that's not me.

edit: There are 13% pure blacks and 9% mixed in America's population. Makes sense that at least one new character would be black. It's an American movie after all. No one is trying to impress anything on Russia or France, because I doubt the production gives a single shit about Russia or France. Finding a black lead funny or, even worse, an ongoing black agenda, says all about you and nothing about an American movie.

Yeah, I don't think you get the fake quotes thing. If you took my earlier post at face value that'd make me the pretentious asshole who's calling others racist because they dislike trailers. It's... kind of what it says. On the other hand you being the usual you in quotes changes nothing save for unnecessary punctuation. Well, "vicious vitriolic asshole" is actually a step down from your usual xenophobia and condescension, so I kinda like this some other guy that's not you, he seems like a nice chap!

Still going with the black lead fallacy? Remind me who brought this up in the first place... Jonathan. Stormtrooper suit doesn't exactly scream "lead character" to me. But it must be because I don't live in a truly multicultural democracy like the Czesh Republic, so I can't appreciate the nuances of subtlety in the panting and running of that man, all of which obviously denoted his status as a main actor.

Wait wait wait, I get it. This is a cinematic convention, right? First guy who shows in trailer has to be important. And obviously I should have known that because as an elitist French asshole I'm all educated about art, wine and eating cooked snails. Huh. It couldn't possibly be that making assumptions on intent based on made-up stereotypes is some kind of circular logic resulting in blaming people for things they didn't do, no, no, it's all my devious frenchness at play here.

Edit: oh right, my bad. Memfis did say that. Let's give you this one nitpick you will tout as evidence of your uncontested forum victory while you run away from every other counterpoint.

Still shushing away the particular presentation and the particular situation? Because Memfis and I (since apparently I am now against black characters, despite explicitely denouncing that position, but hey, apparently dew knows Phml opinions better than Phml) have a history of raging hard against every black character in every movie on every related Doomworld thread, a history I'm sure you will no doubt be able to bring up to support your argument.

New "black agenda" straw man? What's up with that? You were wanking about liberal ideals earlier, at least try to keep your bullshit straight. Fun fact: if you knew anything about France, you'd know the fact that I'm posting in an english forum at all makes me hopelessly liberal by our standards.

While you're in full evasion mode Luke piloting the X-Wing style, here's another one for you to not reply to: two days ago, my nationality apparently made me an authority according to you. It just so happened what I said was what you wanted to hear. Now, my nationality is suddenly what explains my problematic behavior. It just so happens what I said was not what you wanted to hear.

Flip flop. Why, it would take someone truly cynical to think it might just be that you start from a predetermined conclusion and work back to find a fitting hypothesis, rather than the other way around. I believe in you, dew, you can spin this around one more time. Perhaps the "old world of French white men" is all about having sex with underage girls?

It's cool nobody gives a shit about Russia or France. So why did you bring up Russia or France out of nowhere, again?