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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2017 23:03:57 GMT
The lack of quality alien designs is something that jumps out at me everytime I watch TFA. Sure, there's some cool practical effects aliens in the cantina scene but there's also a lot duds... And a lot of them look too "JJ Abramsy" for my taste.
I always look at Ungar Plunko (forget how to actually say it) and think: man, they should've done a better design on that character. Minor alien characters like that should be memorable and iconic even if they're only in one scene: Think Greedo or Bossk. Why they thought Simon Pegg in a CGI fat suit would fit the bill boggles my mind. It's such a missed oppertunity.
Then there's Kanja Club. Why are none of them aliens? That was a missed oppertunity too.
They tried hard with Maz so I give them credit there even though I personally dislike her design.
Overall this is one of my biggest issues with TFA. It may sound like nitpicking but I think SW should be held to the highest standard when it comes to minor characters and alien designs.
Thoughts? Feelings? Musings? Rants? All opinions welcome!
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Post by coldenhaulfield on Apr 27, 2017 19:28:07 GMT
I thought the cantina scene epitomized the extent to which JJ fails to understand (a) Star Wars as a whole and (b) the specific Star Wars movie he's attempting to rip off, A New Hope. George Lucas wasn't self-consciously trying to make his cantina scene look like garbage; its unintended charm is just a byproduct of the times and the project as a whole.
Edit: also, that abysmal "intergalactic Rasta" music is literally the worst thing I've ever heard ascribed to John Williams. It's fucking horrible. Worse than "Jedi Rocks."
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Post by rateater on Apr 27, 2017 19:34:37 GMT
Edit: also, that abysmal "intergalactic Rasta" music is literally the worst thing I've ever heard ascribed to John Williams. It's fucking horrible. Worse than "Jedi Rocks." true.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2017 20:13:45 GMT
I thought the cantina scene epitomized the extent to which JJ fails to understand (a) Star Wars as a whole and (b) the specific Star Wars movie he's attempting to rip off, A New Hope. George Lucas wasn't self-consciously trying to make his cantina scene look like garbage; its unintended charm is just a byproduct of the times and the project as a whole. Edit: also, that abysmal "intergalactic Rasta" music is literally the worst thing I've ever heard ascribed to John Williams. It's fucking horrible. Worse than "Jedi Rocks." I do hate how the TFA cantina scene feels like a blatant remake rather than its own organic version of the original one. As you mentioned it does feel very self aware, almost as if it were a parody instead of an homage.
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Post by Tristan's Journal on Apr 28, 2017 10:03:18 GMT
Edit: also, that abysmal "intergalactic Rasta" music is literally the worst thing I've ever heard ascribed to John Williams. It's fucking horrible. Worse than "Jedi Rocks." the (totally forgettable, generic) "intergalactic Rasta" music was not "composed" by Williams. It was committed by JJ Abrams (surprise) and some musical writer dude. So pls do not ascribe that banality to poor ol Jonny, he is innocent as charged.
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Post by Tristan's Journal on Apr 28, 2017 10:11:42 GMT
The lack of quality alien designs is something that jumps out at me everytime I watch TFA. interesting, not with me. I am certified TFA hater; I made a thread with a long list of TFA crimes and midemeanors on this very board. You will not find this particular criticism among them, as I think that the alien designs (compared to e.g. vehicle, devices or world building) were ok. Nothing really iconic or highly creative, such as Jabba, Ackbar, Watto, Yoda, Geonosians etc, but still ok.
You are spot on with the CGI fat suit though.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2017 16:36:40 GMT
Edit: also, that abysmal "intergalactic Rasta" music is literally the worst thing I've ever heard ascribed to John Williams. It's fucking horrible. Worse than "Jedi Rocks." the (totally forgettable, generic) "intergalactic Rasta" music was not "composed" by Williams. It was committed by JJ Abrams (surprise) and some musical writer dude. So pls do not ascribe that banality to poor ol Jonny, he is innocent as charged. That's true. It was JJ and the writer of the play Hamilton. They should've used John Williams. Not sure why they didn't.
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Post by coldenhaulfield on Apr 28, 2017 17:37:28 GMT
the (totally forgettable, generic) "intergalactic Rasta" music was not "composed" by Williams. It was committed by JJ Abrams (surprise) and some musical writer dude. So pls do not ascribe that banality to poor ol Jonny, he is innocent as charged. That's true. It was JJ and the writer of the play Hamilton. They should've used John Williams. Not sure why they didn't. Yeah, my mistake. Wasn't aware anyone but J-dubs contributed to the soundtrack.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2017 22:37:12 GMT
I forgot to mention a few other aliens in my original post:
Rathtars. The rolling octopus balls. On paper these would've sounded great, but somehow they just feel random and cheesy, like something out of a goofier sci fi comedy. This scene to me is where the movie really takes an ugly turn.
Teedo and the Luggabeast. I really like them actually. Great practical effects and they felt very Star Warsy to me.
And then there's Jakku Pig. And he rocked. Best alien of the movie by far! 🐽
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Post by Waxer-n-boil on Apr 29, 2017 5:51:18 GMT
I found the TFA aliens to be hit and miss. The CGI aliens were nothing to brag about. Especially considering that they were no better than the prequels CGI aliens some 15 years older. The practical effects aliens: some of them were okay but many of them looked like "Mystery Science Theater 3000" rejects or leftovers from Jim Henson's garage sale.
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Post by coldenhaulfield on Apr 29, 2017 14:06:01 GMT
I forgot to mention a few other aliens in my original post: Rathtars. The rolling octopus balls. On paper these would've sounded great, but somehow they just feel random and cheesy, like something out of a goofier sci fi comedy. This scene to me is where the movie really takes an ugly turn. Teedo and the Luggabeast. I really like them actually. Great practical effects and they felt very Star Warsy to me. And then there's Jakku Pig. And he rocked. Best alien of the movie by far! 🐽 I actually would agree with this. The pig/hippo/thing looked the best.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2017 17:39:50 GMT
I forgot to mention a few other aliens in my original post: Rathtars. The rolling octopus balls. On paper these would've sounded great, but somehow they just feel random and cheesy, like something out of a goofier sci fi comedy. This scene to me is where the movie really takes an ugly turn. Teedo and the Luggabeast. I really like them actually. Great practical effects and they felt very Star Warsy to me. And then there's Jakku Pig. And he rocked. Best alien of the movie by far! 🐽 I actually would agree with this. The pig/hippo/thing looked the best. It's the one alien that really felt like they put effort into. And he represents everything I want in my SW creatures. He's grand and has a real presence, yet he's also quirky and has that whimsical Lucas/McQuarrie quality. The movie should've been packed with things, creatures and characters like him!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2017 22:08:33 GMT
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Post by coldenhaulfield on Apr 29, 2017 23:23:21 GMT
The other thing was: it just didn't feel like it belonged in the same galaxy as the Lucas Six.
Where were the Rodians? Twi'leks? Ithorians? Gammorreans? And so on. The prequels introduced lots of new species, as they depicted events occurring on the "core worlds" during a time of "full-scale war" not seen since "the formation of the Republic," but it still clearly existed in the same "universe" as the OT except that the latter was about guerillas on remote planets with ragtag forces trying to basically win tactical victories and/or escape the clutches of the Empire.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2017 2:39:55 GMT
The other thing was: it just didn't feel like it belonged in the same galaxy as the Lucas Six. Where were the Rodians? Twi'leks? Ithorians? Gammorreans? And so on. The prequels introduced lots of new species, as they depicted events occurring on the "core worlds" during a time of "full-scale war" not seen since "the formation of the Republic," but it still clearly existed in the same "universe" as the OT except that the latter was about guerillas on remote planets with ragtag forces trying to basically win tactical victories and/or escape the clutches of the Empire. Would've been really nice to see at least one familiar species somewhere in Maz's castle or on Jakku. Twi'leks would've been especially cool to see. I like them for some reason.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2017 4:49:16 GMT
The other thing was: it just didn't feel like it belonged in the same galaxy as the Lucas Six. Where were the Rodians? Twi'leks? Ithorians? Gammorreans? And so on. The prequels introduced lots of new species, as they depicted events occurring on the "core worlds" during a time of "full-scale war" not seen since "the formation of the Republic," but it still clearly existed in the same "universe" as the OT except that the latter was about guerillas on remote planets with ragtag forces trying to basically win tactical victories and/or escape the clutches of the Empire. Would've been really nice to see at least one familiar species somewhere in Maz's castle or on Jakku. Twi'leks would've been especially cool to see. I like them for some reason. Commentary: It really seemed like Abrams went out of his way to exclude both prequel aliens and OT aliens. I couldn't be sure why. Perhaps he was jealous for ownership of that part of the film. I have to agree with where you stand on this.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2017 15:45:12 GMT
I agree, most of them are all the same, generic orange blobs. The only one that really stands out to me is the crimson corsair
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Post by coldenhaulfield on Apr 30, 2017 16:23:26 GMT
I agree, most of them are all the same, generic orange blobs. The only one that really stands out to me is the crimson corsair He's cool, but to me he's too similar to these guys:
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2017 16:49:58 GMT
I agree, most of them are all the same, generic orange blobs. The only one that really stands out to me is the crimson corsair I did like his partner too. Yes, he's another slightly generic blob but he fit better for some reason...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2017 18:54:21 GMT
Another thing I should've mentioned in my OP is that they do deserve a lot of credit for going with practical effects. They may not all look great and I may not love all of the designs but I do prefer real costumes and animatronics/puppets to CGI most of the time. And it's not just for nostalgic reasons I do honestly think that real physical creations come through the screen in a tangible way and wish more studios would take the time, effort and money to use them.
In a way I feel sort of guilty criticizing the alien designs when practical effects was at top of my sequel trilogy wish list.
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