Official Star Wars Thread

[Ben]

That was intended as a Family Guy reference...!

[Vernadyn]

Ah yes, how could I forget… Family Guy isn't my type of humor or storytelling (I much prefer South Park, Futurama, and "classic" Simpsons), but I loved that gag. (And the Red October one.) Of course, it should go without saying that Elfman wouldn't write in that "oompah" style should he ever be offered a Star Wars film.

[Vernadyn]

As for who could do Star Wars today, I look at the Harry Potter scores for an example:
Williams gave up after the third one, and in #3 you could see him trying to liven up the job by putting new unusual themes into the mix, but at that point anyone could assemble the existing motifs and just add exciting incidentals for the action. And anyone did, for 4-7B.

From what I remember, the only Williams material the other composers used was Hedwig's theme; all other Williams material went out the window, to the scores' detriment. (Though maybe 5 and 6 had other Williams references; those scores in particular were astoundingly dull and thus have mostly vanished from my memory.) Then, of course, we got the final cue from 1 being repeated almost verbatim for the end of 7.2.

However, Star Wars music has been indelibly linked with Williams for about 38 years, while he was only on Harry Potter for about 3 years. I suspect it will be much more daunting for whatever composer continues the Star Wars franchise than it was for Patrick Doyle on Harry Potter.

[Ben]

Giacchino is an obvious choice, especially given the JJ connections and the Williamsesque score he pulled out the hat for Super 8, while I continue to be surprised and impressed by Alexandre Desplat too.

They're the two most currently original composers working today who also don't yet have a strong personal voice (despite how great and original their music is, it's all so *different* each time, a good thing but also one that doesn't give them a distinct Williams or Elfman "sound") and so they would be brilliant at making the scores their own while not balking at picking up the baton to keep the same tonal quality or themes.

[Vernadyn]

Well, if the Internet is correct (and things don't get shuffled around), Desplat will in fact be doing the Rogue One spinoff. I don't think his Harry Potter scores sounded much like Williams's, but his scores do demonstrate remarkable versatility. Unbroken, Imitation Game, Monuments Men, Grand Budapest Hotel, Godzilla--and that's all just from 2014! And, with the exception of Unbroken, all magnificent scores as well.

Giacchino back in Medal of Honor mode would be awesome, but he hasn't written like that for a while. Even his last entry in the franchise (Airborne) eschewed most of the Williams style, and I thought Super 8 sounded more ET-Williams than Star Wars-Williams. (Probably preaching to the choir here, but the ET score and Star Wars scores are quite distinct, even though you can tell they're written by the same composer.) Giacchino's "emotional" themes are starting to sound kind of similar to each other, and Jurassic World wasn't that Williams-esque, but I do think he'd be one of the best choices.

And if Giacchino did take up the baton, he could also emulate what Williams did in Jedi and have his son write the source music

[Dan]

He totally wouldn't fit the Star Wars style, but it would be cool if Hans Zimmer did the score for an anthology film.

Michael Giacchino probably would be the ideal successor to John Williams, though I'm thinking Patrick Doyle might also be worth considering.

Thinking outside the box, I'd consider Greg Edmonson. He composes a fantastic score for the Uncharted video games and has also done Firefly (but not Serenity, interestingly).

[Dacey]

Just to clarify, I actually don't think that Generations is a bad film (I like all of the Trek movies on at least some level, including The Motionless Picture and Kirk Meets God). It's just that there's no reason Picard couldn't have taken care of the situation on his own. He didn't need Kirk for it (who didn't even play a major role anyway), and it seemed like the Shat just wanted to play out the character's death scene more than anything. And the fact that they waited until the final act for them to actually meet didn't help.

On another note, it looks like Star Wars is not only going to beat Avatar domestically, but it looks like it's going to do so unbelievably fast. I'm expecting for Disney to give Rouge One a budget increase now as there's now going to be a ton of pressure on that movie to deliver (and, again, Episode 8 is almost certainly going to be pushed back for a Christmas release as opposed to a more competition-filled Memorial Day one, especially since Disney has their own Guardians of the Galaxy 2 opening only weeks earlier).

[Vernadyn]

He totally wouldn't fit the Star Wars style, but it would be cool if Hans Zimmer did the score for an anthology film.

Personally, I'm feeling a bit of Zimmer overexposure. I mean, he's the only composer who's scored for the three big superheroes (Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man) and has also got the Justice League, Pirates, Christopher Nolan… And even when he's not scoring a big film, many of his acolytes (some very talented, some less so) score a healthy portion of today's Hollywood (and even non-Hollywood) films. However, if we get a straightforward, testosterone-fueled, Bruckheimer-styled spinoff, Zimmer would fit well; I feel his real strength lies with those types of films rather than more intellectual ones or films that require a more sensitive touch.

As for other left-field choices, Naoki Sato would be superb. I don't think he's done anything outside Japan, but his music for the live-action Space Battleship Yamato is wonderfully exhilarating without aping Williams or Korngold. I'm sure there are other lesser-known composers who could do the job as well.

[Ben]

It doesn't work that way, Dace.

Rogue One's budget is set. They will probably not grumble as much if it nudges over, but it won't get an "increase". Each film made is like its own little company. Although Disney owns LucasFilm and pays for everything, it doesn't actually come in and out of the same pot.

As for VIII's opening, I don't see that date changing either. Star Wars has always been a May title, and the only reason this got a Christmas release was because that's the earliest it could be delivered and Iger wanted as soon as possible, both to start to recoup the $4bn outlay and to see at least the first few fruits of his labor before he steps down.

Force Awakens was almost pushed to May next year when the script changed, and JJ pushed for a delay, but with Rogue One already in that date and further films having their schedules set, this one needed to open when it did. Bear in mind that this film is performing abnormally for the holiday period...Disney won't be thinking that they can just replicate this again at is time of year (and my bet is that the anthology films won't be as big as the episodes), but they will be thinking "hey, if this thing can make what it is at Christmas, with all those diversions, just think what we can make in the regular early summer window", when grosses for these kinds of films are bigger to begin with.

Nope, look for Star Wars films to settle into their May release patterns, probably with even more marketing push to get "May the fourth be with you" lodged into wider audiences' (as in non-core fans) minds...

[ShyViolet]

An exceptionally entertaining film, with a real story and real characters. And sets! And location shooting! And puppets and...everything we loved about the classic OT, but with fresh eyes and real characters that we care about.

(FWIW, I never, with the exception of PM, hated the prequels, just found them unbelievably lacking, because there was potential for good stories even under all that ******** about midochlorians, the pod racing, and "Annie" being a slave but with no apparent suffering in the picture. What about how Obi and Qui-Gon met? Where was Yoda in this picture? Why not contrast Obi and Qui-Gon's early relationship with Anakin's rise into becoming a Jedi? I remember the one line Lucas wrote to "ride over" the complexity of Anakin going from slave to Padawan at Qui-Gon's funeral: "What's going to happen to me now?" That's it. Ugh!

Anyway, getting back to TFA, excellent film, wonderfully written, dramatic on an almost tragic, Shakespearian level. A close second to Empire. Lucas could learn a lot from Abrams and Kasdan, that's for sure!

(BTW I loved both "big moments", and the end was absolutely riveting! Can't wait for the next installment!! )

[EricJ]

Personally, I'm feeling a bit of Zimmer overexposure.
However, if we get a straightforward, testosterone-fueled, Bruckheimer-styled spinoff, Zimmer would fit well; I feel his real strength lies with those types of films rather than more intellectual ones or films that require a more sensitive touch.

Although his style fit the Pirates movie, I think my ultimate opinion of Zimmer was formed when I joked at the time that his generic-bombast theme for Gladiator "sounded like an orchestra playing 'We Love You, Conrad' in a minor key".
And they, and 80% of studio action-blockbuster scores, have sounded just like it ever since.

What about how Obi and Qui-Gon met? Where was Yoda in this picture?

Always two, there are, the master and the apprentice...

(BTW I loved both "big moments", and the end was absolutely riveting! Can't wait for the next installment!! )

Although I could see "the" big moment coming, when:

Han Solo first walked out onto the bridge--As PT haters joked, "Never, never walk out over an open pit in a Star Wars movie!...They're hazardous to a characters health!"
(Actually, although I knew Ford probably wanted out, I half-hoped Han was tragically going to end up having to Shoot First, and Kylo would only turn out to be a "McGuffin" villain to the "real" one, like Darth Maul was at the end of TPM. And frankly, he deserved to be, as Maul was just a hotheaded lil' teen snot, too.)

[Dan]

On the night of the film's official release, The Graham Norton Show had Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Carrie Fisher (along with Kylie Minogue and later David Beckham) as guests. A discussion about Carrie becoming a sex symbol as Princess Leia led to her giving Daisy a heads up of what's to come for her.

[Randall]

And yet... I never really thought of Carrie Fisher as being all that attractive. With fanboys decrying how she's lost her looks, I can't help but think, "She looks the same to me!"

[Ben]

Bingo!

Like Margot Kidder, I thought both looked pretty in their first films (Star Wars, Superman) but then the excesses of fame got to them and they never looked as sweet. Although "Slave Leia" looks hot, she was already quite momsy to me throughout the rest of Jedi, a role she slipped back into here with ease.

[Dan]

I do agree that she was aging in Empire and Jedi. For a while I thought it was an artistic choice by Kershner to enhance Leia's royalty status to be more Queen-like, I guess.