"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Teaser Trailer Debuts Online

[Ambaryerno]

The more I see that new lightsaber the more I like it. As other have said with it's length and guards it looks like a bastard sword and that make me think this sith is not one to fool around with fancy move and fine swordsmanship. This sith is coming in hard and fast and will take you down with sheer power more than with skill hence the shape of his (or her) lightsaber.

Oh you did NOT just say that.

European swordsmanship IS NOT BRUTE FORCE. Good GOD when will this @#$%ing fallacy go away? It needs to stop. There's no less finesse to the longsword than there is the mystical magical katana everyone and their mother has a pop culture hard-on for.

You are purposefully undervaluing the duels in the prequels.

No, I'm not. The prequel duels were just meaningless action scenes. Darth Maul wasn't even a character, he was a plot device.

[JaggedFel]

Oh you did NOT just say that.

European swordsmanship IS NOT BRUTE FORCE. Good GOD when will this @#$%ing fallacy go away? It needs to stop. There's no less finesse to the longsword than there is the mystical magical katana everyone and their mother has a pop culture hard-on for.



No, I'm not. The prequel duels were just meaningless action scenes. Darth Maul wasn't even a character, he was a plot device.

Honestly despite the lack of hand guard broadsword is probably a better reference then the katana seeing as the Katana only cuts on oneside. Lightsaber cuts on all sides

[Ambaryerno]

Honestly despite the lack of hand guard broadsword is probably a better reference then the katana seeing as the Katana only cuts on oneside. Lightsaber cuts on all sides

While functionally that may be true, the style that Bob Anderson developed for the Original Trilogy were nonetheless built around Japanese swordsmanship (specifically kendo), and the visual design of the OT lightsabers are certainly reminiscent of the katana in their design. And then Nick Gilliard went and butchered it for the Prequels (I once knew a guy who was one of the Jedi extras for Episode II -- Bob Brown, who was one of the main Star Wars Tech Analysis guys back in the late-90s/early-2000s alongside Curtis Saxton. LucasFilm HATED him, because unlike Saxton he wasn't willing to toe the line, was openly critical and unapologetically pointed out their internal inconsistencies, and particularly despised the EU. Mentioning Bob Brown's name used to be a sure way to get kicked out of the Ranch back in the day. He was also a long-time kendo practitioner and REALLY knew his stuff -- and he had some very, VERY nasty things to say about Nick Gilliard).

[JaggedFel]

Hmm that is an interesting story

[Beantownbrown]

Lucas talked to Hamill about Episode VII in the 80's

[Calighoula]

No surprise that initially there were to be more than six films. Revisionists be damned.

[RobinFan4880]

No, I'm not. The prequel duels were just meaningless action scenes. Darth Maul wasn't even a character, he was a plot device.

Darth Maul is the embodiment of everything the Jedi fear - a highly skilled, powerful enigma. Who is he, where did he come from, why is he here? All questions the Jedi do not have an answer for. He is a force of nature that robs them of one of their greatest members and in whose death brings forth the shadow of their own downfall.

Yoda and Dooku dueling is the master and the Apprentice vying with one another to see whose philosophy is superior. Yoda proves stronger. Unlike the Kenobi/Vader duel in IV, Dooku does not sacrifice himself at the alter of destiny, rather he runs away like a selfish coward (thus exemplifying the Dark Side).

Anakin v. Dooku on the Invisible Hand is the point where the Devil first ensnares an Angel, thus giving the Dark Lord the opportunity to yank Anakin from Heaven and twist him to the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan v. Anakin on Mustufar is a clash of brothers in Hell itself, fighting for the soul of a man who has long since died.

Yoda v. the Emperor the final nail in the coffin for the Light. Not even the Light's greatest Champion can overcome the Dark's greatest master. The duel represents the Jedi's utter failure in seeing, fighting and stopping the evil that has conquered the Galaxy. The old guard failed and the task of picking up the pieces would thus fall to the next generation.

[choptop]

Darth Maul is the embodiment of everything the Jedi fear - a highly skilled, powerful enigma. Who is he, where did he come from, why is he here? All questions the Jedi do not have an answer for. He is a force of nature that robs them of one of their greatest members and in whose death brings forth the shadow of their own downfall.

Yoda and Dooku dueling is the master and the Apprentice vying with one another to see whose philosophy is superior. Yoda proves stronger. Unlike the Kenobi/Vader duel in IV, Dooku does not sacrifice himself at the alter of destiny, rather he runs away like a selfish coward (thus exemplifying the Dark Side).

Anakin v. Dooku on the Invisible Hand is the point where the Devil first ensnares an Angel, thus giving the Dark Lord the opportunity to yank Anakin from Heaven and twist him to the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan v. Anakin on Mustufar is a clash of brothers in Hell itself, fighting for the soul of a man who has long since died.

Yoda v. the Emperor the final nail in the coffin for the Light. Not even the Light's greatest Champion can overcome the Dark's greatest master. The duel represents the Jedi's utter failure in seeing, fighting and stopping the evil that has conquered the Galaxy. The old guard failed and the task of picking up the pieces would thus fall to the next generation.

nice interpretations man i love it TY.

[Guest_1001]

While functionally that may be true, the style that Bob Anderson developed for the Original Trilogy were nonetheless built around Japanese swordsmanship (specifically kendo), and the visual design of the OT lightsabers are certainly reminiscent of the katana in their design.

Really? That's interesting. I always thought lightsabers were reminiscent of fencing and the rapier.

[simbob4000]

I believe Cyke was referring to Obi-Wan V Anakin in ROTS, as it's in reply to Obi-Wan kicking Darth Vaders' ass in that film.

And, I'm up for all seven Star Wars film, original, prequel, sequel, animated, live action. Star Wars is Star Wars, and I can find flaws and pluses to every film.

No need, sure, to be generous. No, I'm just talking about what kind of stuff it implements, and whether it relates to sci-fi, or sci-fantasy, and I think both, not because of the falsehood, or the contradictions.

Force etc, make me think fantasy.

Death Stars, Tie Fighters, droids, sci-fi.

Sci-fantasy-fiction.

What is space opera actually? Is it how operatic, or cosmic it is? The politics, or deeper issues? The emotion involved? While being sci-fi?

It's just a sub-genre of sci-fi.

[simbob4000]

Really? That's interesting. I always thought lightsabers were reminiscent of fencing and the rapier.

Just skip to the 5 minute mark.

[Ambaryerno]

Hmm that is an interesting story

To elaborate, Bob's kendo group was one of a number in Australia contracted to serve as extras in the Arena Duel (his part got sabotaged when, after the crew learned who he was, the costume he was fit for got "misplaced" the day of filming and they stuck him in the cheapest, crappiest one they could find, ending with most of his scenes cut because it looked so bad). Most of them were all serious practitioners, but there was one group that was actually nothing more than a hippie commune which spent most of its time getting stoned rather than studying and practicing. And I mean these guys were BAD. Anyone who's ever studied a martial art seriously knows this type.

When Nick Gilliard arrived on location and started working with all the different groups on the fight choreography, guess which group is the one he fell in love with?

That's right, the drugged-out-of-their-minds hippies. Gilliard virtually ignored the established clubs in favor of this group, who got the bulk of the camera time during the arena duel.

@Robin

And none of this comes out in the movies.

Darth Maul was by no stretch of the imagination a realized character. He had no personality whatsoever, and is only memorable because he looked cool. As I said; a walking plot device whose only purpose was to separate the Jedi from the rest of the ground troops and kill off Qui-Gon.

Yoda and Dooku? When they were matching Force against Force, sure, why not. But then Yoda draws his lightsaber and starts jumping around like a leprechaun on crack, and any meaningfulness in the scene is destroyed by the ludicrous absurdity of the visuals.

Anakin vs. Dooku is a poor attempt at recreating the final duel of Return of the Jedi (right down to Palpy sitting on the sidelines). But it was missing EVERYTHING that made the RotJ duel work. Dooku was as forgettable a villain as Darth Maul, and a tragic waste of the talents of Sir Christopher Lee. He lacked the close personal connection that was the crux of the battle of wills between Luke and Vader, while Palpatine, by "virtue" of needing to maintain his cover, was barely more than a spectator, rather than playing the full-on puppet master he was in Return of the Jedi.

Anakin vs. Obi-Wan lost any meaning it might have been aiming for in the overdrawn choreography and overwhelming special effects. It's the PRECISE problem with the entire Prequel Trilogy in microcosm.

And ugh, Yoda vs. Palpatine. Let's take one of the greatest and most evil villains of all time, and turn him into a VIDEO GAME PLATFORMER BOSS. I only WISH that was an exaggeration; but there you have Yoda once again in hyperactive leprechaun mode, hopping form platform to platform while the boss throws parts of the arena at him (to take the video game metaphor a step further, Obi-Wan's fight against Grievous even had him ATTACKING THE GLOWING WEAK POINT).

Any substance was drowned by the over-reliance on special effects spectacle.

[AJBopp]

Darth Maul was by no stretch of the imagination

.....


Any substance was drowned by the over-reliance on special effects spectacle.

This entire post was one of the more odd misrepresentations and misunderstandings of the movies I've ever seen. Hats off to you.

[Guest_1001]

Yoda and Dooku? When they were matching Force against Force, sure, why not. But then Yoda draws his lightsaber and starts jumping around like a leprechaun on crack, and any meaningfulness in the scene is destroyed by the ludicrous absurdity of the visuals.

Anakin vs. Dooku is a poor attempt at recreating the final duel of Return of the Jedi (right down to Palpy sitting on the sidelines). But it was missing EVERYTHING that made the RotJ duel work. Dooku was as forgettable a villain as Darth Maul, and a tragic waste of the talents of Sir Christopher Lee. He lacked the close personal connection that was the crux of the battle of wills between Luke and Vader, while Palpatine, by "virtue" of needing to maintain his cover, was barely more than a spectator, rather than playing the full-on puppet master he was in Return of the Jedi.

Yeah. I don't read the books or comic books of the expanded universe but I visit Wookieepedia occasionally and the article on Dooku is one of the most interesting I've read. They paint a picture of a brilliant man who became disillusioned with the Jedi but stayed with them for twelve years because he couldn't bear to leave them. The Jedi are painted as a group who had let him down and they know it. None of this comes across in the films, where Christopher Lee is just an evil bloke.

[Calighoula]

Let's call them Yoku and Dooda.