The Force Awakens What are the essential elements of a great Star Wars movie?

[MessiahDecoy123]

1) the jedi are sparse and underdogs

2) you need a cool character for everyone (including non-nerds) to root for

3) you need a powerful family element to identify with

4) you need to show a protagonist slowly master the force

5) practical effects

6) jedi must remain mysterious and outdated to some extent

7) favorite characters must serve a purpose that drives home emotionally powerful themes

8) the temptation the protagonist feels toward the darkside has to be relateable and a common challenge we all face

9) we must care about why a lightsaber duel is being fought. The emotion and suspense must be truly earned.

Did I miss any?

 

[MrMaooz]

Adventure and humor.

 

[SuperFerret]

From the movies that we've gotten thus far, I'd say the biggest essential element is Han Solo.

 

[Hyde]

Why, Jar Jar Binks of course!

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Why, Jar Jar Binks of course!

I'm going to request you get banned from the Star Wars forums, buddy.

 

[Hyde]

You know it to be true, in your heart.

 

[Lord]

Scope and different locations, with a fast plot, that still takes it's time to breathe when needed, with Abrams's Star Trek the locations were mostly the ship and a few other things, but everything seemed to end up in a single place, in fact that's one of my problem with all the Star Trek films, with Star Wars i expect a full quest with various adventures that tie into the larger plot.

 

[Michael Frost]

[YT]_joDNOpeWWo[/YT]

In general these are true tho the first might not necessarily apply now that the war is over. Or is it?

 

[Bim]

For me: amazing music, a space battle, a lightsaber duel, heroes i can root for, a bad guy to root against, fantastic planets and technologies that capture the imagination, all kinds of alien creatures and humor.

 

[Great Mind(s)]

Real sets, little CGI, good characters with human motives and believable fun dialogue, of course some cool space action. Could there be a movie without a lightsaber duel? Would that ever happen? I wonder what it would feel like but I don't think it would.

 

[titansupes]

^ I'm happy for there to be no lightsaber duels... in a spin-off movie. The MAIN series - one per movie. Or two if called for (Empire dark side cave).

 

[Thoix]

1. A story worth telling with characters we can root for.

2. A balance between practical effects and CGI.

3. Enemies who are threatening and interesting.

4. Soldiers and warriors who are worthy adversaries. (Not like Battle Droids and Storm Troopers)

5. Multiple locations of any kind. (No restrictions)

6. Great battles/fights of any kind.

7. Another brilliant John Williams score.

 

[Octoberist]

1. Discovery

2. Coming of age.

3. A sense of awe.

 

[titansupes]

Graphic, intrusive Wookiee sex.

 

[Gianakin_]

They still should be shaved, down there. But only there.

 

[Spider-Vader]

Great characters.

It's why the prequels failed. There was no one I really cared about until Obi-Wan in ROTS.

 

[Human Torch]

I don't think the Jedi should be sparse at this point.Luke has had 30 years to rebuild the order.I'd like to see him teaching and (eventually,due to whatever threat ultimately comes up)leading them into battle.

 

[jonathancrane]

Disciplined lightsaber battles. Keep them short, but with the emotional stakes high. In terms of the Jedi, ignore the b.s. about midi-chlorians: keep the Force a mysterious, but, well powerful, force. Don't abuse it either: there's no need to pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky, but do something that is meaningful, like when Yoda pulled the X-Wing out of the swamp.

Characters other than Jedi and Royalty. Having some Jedi would be great in the film, but they need to have some accessible characters: a pilot, a smuggler, or a schmuck who gets thrown into adventure. They need to ignore politicians and royalty, as the prequel trilogy porned out the archetypes...which is why there was no character to relate to.

Unique locations. As much as I would like to see Yavin or Coruscant (particularly the underbelly,) I would be up for some new planets. Since the EU is gone, the writers have a nearly clean slate to operate with. They could come up with some unique environs that have not been fully used onscreen before. If Tattooine has to be used, I would prefer they limit its time in the narrative, as it's been the near-center of five films. Cinematically, we've explored almost every damn inch of the planet.

Reduce the use of pre-existing enemies. The Trade Federation Robots had their time, as did the Empire. If the Empire has to be used, have them as a secondary threat. Come up with a cool organization/faction/race to use.

 

[SuperFerret]

Characters other than Jedi and Royalty. Having some Jedi would be great in the film, but they need to have some accessible characters: a pilot, a smuggler, or a schmuck who gets thrown into adventure. They need to ignore politicians and royalty, as the prequel trilogy porned out the archetypes...which is why there was no character to relate to.

In other words, Han Solo.

 

[Mr.M]

I think you need a love story. Be it Anakin coming to love his son Luke in Jedi. Or Han and Leia. What made the prequels terrible, outside of the CGI, was that it was a terrible love story that was in no way believable or serious. You bring in a director that would have made that work, the prequels would have been held in a totally different light. I would have casted an actor maybe 3-4 years younger than Portman that could have passed as a 12 year old character in Phantom, and then use that same kid in Attack of the Clones and RotS, which could have taken place maybe 5-6 years after Attack of the Clones, and they could have made the kid look older with some makeup and lifts for height, since he'd be coming out of puberty at that age. That way we would have seen that maturation, growth, and development of Skywalker and his relationship with Padme.

Edit: Plus there is always the obsession of the geeky, freshmen high school kid that lands the senior Prom Queen. Had they executed a story in that vein, it would have scored major points with the fanboys. Here, you have not only a Star Wars movie, but you have a story similar to the one where the geeky nerd scores with a friend's hot older sister. This is the wet dream that fanboys conceptualized as the PT came together. We, as fanboys, could have lived vicariously through Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Any time you have a younger Natalie Portman on the screen you have the potential of exciting horny fanboys, but had they made that relationship actually believable, it would have taken the PT to a whole other level.

 

[Great Mind(s)]

They should have had the same actor for Anakin I agree. He should have also not been Hayden or Jake. I agree there was no love or passion in the PT. I sort of believed Obi-Wan's care for Anakin but it was only half of the equation because I didn't believe Anakin's character.

 

[eatup]

Tron Legacy was Disney trying to test Star Wars ideas. The fights and special FX in that movie was something! Episode I: The Phantom menace had a very good fight scene with Obi, Qui, and Sith. It was good, except...

If they kept the fight sequence the same, but brought in the Tron Legacy team, it would have been spectacular. What I'm trying to say is this:

Disney needs to bring in the Tron Legacy team for the light saber fights. That team had Chinese and Japanese Special FX artists that knew how to capture a martial arts fight scene and WOW the audience more than what Lucas did for The Phantom Menace.

Trust me when I say this:

Lucas - Can capture a good fight scene on film
Electronic Arts - Can capture a great cinematic light saber duel in a video game cinematic sequence
Tron Legacy FX team - Can capture the best cinematic light sable duel

When I say Tron Legacy for the first time, the "martial arts" in the movie (mostly by/from "evil" Tron corrupted by Clu) had me glued to the edge of my seat! Story-wise, Episode VII-IX may not live up to the OT. But to be honest, I don't really watch the modern Star Wars for the story. I watch them for the light saber duels. And I think that me and the rest of the world deserve the best fight scenes possible!

So why would the same fight scenes end up looking differently on film with different FX teams on board? In Tron Legacy, I got the sense of height, sense of momentum, sense of kinetic energy with every movement that Tron made. It made me feel like I was really there with Tron "dancing" around my seat. My spider senses didn't "tingle" the same watching the recent EA SW games' cinematic sequence, nor the threeway duel with Sith in Episode I... Those made me feel like I was watching the scene from a 3rd person perspective...

 

[DorkyFresh]

Other then the obvious special effects, lighsaber duels, awesome ships...

Adventure and humor.

1. Discovery

2. Coming of age.

3. A sense of awe.

Great characters.

It's why the prequels failed. There was no one I really cared about until Obi-Wan in ROTS.

...these guys know wasup.