Star Wars TFA vs ANH

Originally posted by queeq
Oh yeah, ANH is almost a direct copy from Hidden Fortress. Really weird to watch that movie, if you ever do. (But most of you probably won't because it's a) in black and white and b) entirely in Japanese) .

It starts exactly the way ANH starts, except the two lowly farmer are replaced but two lowly workers from the SW galaxy: 3PO and R2. Lucas took a lot from that movie, but gave it a different twist. IMHO exactly what JJ did with TFA.

I love Kurosawa, especially Seven Samurai so definitely one of these days, I will watch Hidden Fortress

also actual samurai warriors and ninja should sue Lucas too lol

Originally posted by quanchi112
To me something works or it doesn't I don't get all excited for originality.

Yup, same here. TFA definitely worked for me.

Originally posted by queeq
Nope, TFA is fun and great entertainment. And Ford rocked.

Some complain about Ford's performance, but I had no issues with it. Only regretting Han got offed so soon.

Not being Original is one thing but copying another film so closely is another thing entirely.
And copying another film in a sequel format, in a way that doesn't entirely make sense and needs further explanations by reading fact files and EU books, is just lazy writing Imo.

Originally posted by Darth Thor
Not being Original is one thing but copying another film so closely is another thing entirely.
And copying another film in a sequel format, in a way that doesn't entirely make sense and needs further explanations by reading fact files and EU books, is just lazy writing Imo.

Originally posted by Darth Thor
Not being Original is one thing but copying another film so closely is another thing entirely.
And copying another film in a sequel format, in a way that doesn't entirely make sense and needs further explanations by reading fact files and EU books, is just lazy writing Imo.

Have you not read the multiple posts stating that Lucas ripped off Kurosawa or are you just not getting the hypocrisy?

Originally posted by Darth Thor
Not being Original is one thing but copying another film so closely is another thing entirely.
And copying another film in a sequel format, in a way that doesn't entirely make sense and needs further explanations by reading fact files and EU books, is just lazy writing Imo.

To be fair now... Prequel Trilogy skipped the whole Clone Wars, sans the beginning and the end.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Have you not read the multiple posts stating that Lucas ripped off Kurosawa or are you just not getting the hypocrisy?

The similarities between Hidden Fortress and ANH are being overstated (though I think the same is true of TFA and ANH). With that said, Lucas did take the Monomyth, Kurosawa, and Flash Gordon and basically put them into the blender to create SW. But, I feel that taking these disparate elements and combing them took no small amount of creativity.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Have you not read the multiple posts stating that Lucas ripped off Kurosawa or are you just not getting the hypocrisy?

I posted it for him and he still denies it. It's amusing to watch him squirm and reveal his utter hypocrisy.

Originally posted by quanchi112
To me something works or it doesn't I don't get all excited for originality.

Stop the presses I agree with this

Originally posted by ares834
The similarities between Hidden Fortress and ANH are being overstated (though I think the same is true of TFA and ANH). With that said, Lucas did take the Monomyth, Kurosawa, and Flash Gordon and basically put them into the blender to create SW. But, I feel that taking these disparate elements and combing them took no small amount of creativity.

An overall fair appraisal, imo.

Tarantino is a director who openly takes elements/scenes from other movies, that doesn't mean his ability to mix them in and create a good story here and there should be overlooked.

Were their lightsabers and use of the force and starships in Hidden Fortress? There is a difference between inspired and a copied.

Those using Hidden Fortress as an example don't know the difference or are reaching really hard.

TFA is a good movie but a direct copy of ANH. Stop denying and get over it.

And anyone who actually prefers The Force Awakens is only doing so out of recency bias.

Originally posted by Dr Will Hatch
And anyone who actually prefers The Force Awakens is only doing so out of recency bias.

Originally posted by quanchi112
I think TFA is a much more entertaining film to ANH. The acting in it is also far superior.

People always say that, but I don't get why. I think the acting in the original movies is fine. Han is charming as f.uck, Leia is a snarky b.itch in the best sense of the term, and Mark Hamill IMO did his best to make Luke into an actual character instead of just another guy on the hero's journey. What exactly about the acting in The Force Awakens is better?

Originally posted by Dr Will Hatch
People always say that, but I don't get why. I think the acting in the original movies is fine. Han is charming as f.uck, Leia is a snarky b.itch in the best sense of the term, and Mark Hamill IMO did his best to make Luke into an actual character instead of just another guy on the hero's journey. What exactly about the acting in The Force Awakens is better?

Nothing seems horribly off in TFA. Abrams is a great director when it comes to getting the best out of an actor IMO.

Originally posted by quanchi112
No, the acting in ANH is bad. Harrison ford got much better as did the rest of the cast by the series end.

Nothing seems horribly off in TFA. Abrams is a great director when it comes to getting the best out of an actor IMO.

Give me a specific example of bad acting, and you're probably talking about a situation where the one of the actors is forced to recite one of George's s.hit pieces of dialogue instead of ruining the film on their own.

Oh, really? I can't remember a single damn thing about Super 8 or any of the Trek movies other than Zachary Quinto and Cumberbatch.

Originally posted by Dr Will Hatch
Give me a specific example of bad acting, and you're probably talking about a situation where the one of the actors is forced to recite one of George's s.hit pieces of dialogue instead of ruining the film on their own.

Oh, really? I can't remember a single damn thing about Super 8 or any of the Trek movies other than Zachary Quinto and Cumberbatch.

Pine, Zoe, etc. the acting across the board is well done. You might not remember the scenes because the movies weren't great to you but the acting is solid.

Originally posted by quanchi112
I am not pulling film on my PS4 now to cite a specific scene. Cheesy dialogue is all over Star Wars but the acting seemed shitty throughout the film. It improved in the later films.

Pine, Zoe, etc. the acting across the board is well done. You might not remember the scenes because the movies weren't great to you but the acting is solid.

I watched A New Hope in the lead up to The Force Awakens the week it came out, and I actually was surprised that the acting was actually pretty good. I remembered Leia being a very flat and boring character in particular, but she actually made me laugh a couple of times because she was just so f.ucking cocky and haughty like she thought she was better than Han and Luke, just the way a princess should be. I'm used to hearing the complaint the Luke was whiny, but when you think about his situation, he has every damn right to whine since he is stuck in basically the ghetto of the galaxy with his Aunt and Uncle who tell him that he'll never make it out.

To be fair, I do remember those movies. I was being dramatic. I don't dislike J.J or his movies, I just don't find anything particularly good or memorable about them.

Originally posted by Dr Will Hatch
I watched A New Hope in the lead up to The Force Awakens the week it came out, and I actually was surprised that the acting was actually pretty good. I remembered Leia being a very flat and boring character in particular, but she actually made me laugh a couple of times because she was just so f.ucking cocky and haughty like she thought she was better than Han and Luke, just the way a princess should be. I'm used to hearing the complaint the Luke was whiny, but when you think about his situation, he has every damn right to whine since he is stuck in basically the ghetto of the galaxy with his Aunt and Uncle who tell him that he'll never make it out.

To be fair, I do remember those movies. I was being dramatic. I don't dislike J.J or his movies, I just don't find anything particularly good or memorable about them.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Have you not read the multiple posts stating that Lucas ripped off Kurosawa or are you just not getting the hypocrisy?

Oh geez. Could you suck up to Abrams and hate on Lucas anymore?

Lucas did not rip off or rehash any 1 thing in particular. Star Wars borrowed elements from Flash Gordon, Wizard of Oz, Westerns and WW2 dramas and by doing so created something very new.

That's called being Creative, a quality Abrams severely lacks in.

And btw if you are going to rehash a story at least don't do it from the 1st film in the same damn franchise (which didn't even make sense half the time being in a sequel format). Rehashing an old story from say a Flash Gordon episode as a Star Wars episode would have been more interesting and something most people wouldn't even notice or care about if it was pointed out.

But hey let's not expect Abrams to even rehash with a little creativity.