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Star Wars, post the whinny-Anakin years, wouldn’t be good without Han Solo, and Han Solo without Harrison Ford, well, that’d just be plain rubbish. Thankfully, Ford’s apparently on-board. Star Wars Episode VII with JJ Abrams and Harrison Ford might not actually suck.
Treat this still as rumour and conjecture, but apparently the source, Latino Review scooper El Mayimbe, is famed for being in the know about these things, so it’s likely he’s on the money when he says it’s a done deal.
If you look at other things Ford’s done recently, like Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull they haven’t totally sucked, so I have high hopes here. Come on JJ, do us a solid and don’t ruin our childhood memories of the cherished saga more than Lucas already has. [Latino Review via Total Film]
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Has any one seen Harrison Ford lately? He is not a likable character any more, he’ll just seem like a sorry old man like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I don’t want fan service, that is the worst thing they could do, the prequels did that and it sucked, not even they used a child Han Solo though.
Just tell a new story, one that is about the characters and not about CGI.
I also like it old fashioned man, less CGI. Out of all the old action heroes I guess Bruce Willis doing the best, watched A Good Day to Die over the last weekend and watching it again this weekend!
Well exactly, he’s an old man, so if JJ is going to shoehorn Ford into the movie they should give him a a minor role where he plays an old man, and acts like an old man. Maybe he struck lucky and lives a life of luxary somewhere, or holds some key information.
…whatever. Who cares. He can still be a key character, just as long as they don’t just re-hash his character, like-for-like, like they did with Indiana Jones, and he’s not an old man running around being chased by Stormtroopers, whilst dressed in the the same damn outfit, it’ll be a job well done.
I’m not so sure if JJ is wise enough to do that though.
Well he messed it up in Star Trek, it’s just depressing seeing them in an old state, you wanna remember them as old. Harrison Ford is a bitter old man now, it comes through in his acting too, he isn’t a good actor any more.
I don’t think he ever was a “good” actor.
We got a sort of elder statesman/scientist/philosopher Spock in Star Trek. I imagine this could be something similar.
Yeah, while I much prefer the classic, boring Star Trek, heavily focused on a strong sci-fi plot, I thought Abrams did well with the latest Star Trek film, generally. It was very entertaining, exciting, the plot was good and it wasn’t set on trying to mimic days of old. I think Abrams will inject a bit more character and humanity back into Star Wars, which is what the franchise sorely needs.
I suppose he did handle Spock quite well, which is the obvious citation, but Spock was maybe too central to the plot, seemingly just because “he is Spock”. It worked fairly well though in the case of Star Trek, but if the new Star Wars films involve a lot of new characters I’d like a very good reason why Han Solo has to be involved, other than just because “he’s Han Solo and everyone knows who he is”.
I never liked Star trek, he did a good job overall and at least he used his sets. I just felt the Spock thing wasn’t needed at all.
Did you actually say that Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull didn’t totally suck? Or am I having a brain aneurysm?
I decline to acknowledge that movie in polite company, lest I start swearing until I turn blue.
I actually thought it was alright. Sure definitely it was worse than the originals but it doesn’t deserve the hyperbolic rage that most people bestow on it.
Most people can’t get past the alien concept, and state that as the reason the film is bad, because it’s just silly.
I didn’t mind the concept – I don’t think a plot involving aliens is any more far-fetched than one involving a Holy Grail, or a Lost Ark. In fact, aliens are more plausible scientifically. Shia LaBeouf’s character wasn’t too bad either, and strikes a good balance with Ford’s older Indy.
I think people didn’t enjoying watching the film because it just isn’t very well thought out and a lot of things were just plain wrong – Ford’s acting, costume, and character. A hugely varying tone throughout. Questionable character decisions and logic. Ridiculous scenes that seem slapstick and out of place. Elements shoved in from other movies. No “ruthless to the end” evil character that you love to hate. The refrigerator scene, etc.
For me, the film failed on more fundamental levels though. Character’s identities and motives weren’t clear, and it was hard to relate to any of the characters.
The main reason the film failed for me is the elephant in the room; the fact that Ford is no longer a believable treasure hunter, who’s in it purely for the greed, archaeological interest and adventure. Instead he is roped into proceedings, and the whole film feels like a poor old man being given the run around, rather than a young, daring treasure hunter, who’s much more than just a stuffy college professor. That entire side of the character is naturally missing from Crystal Skull.
“If you look at other things Ford’s done recently, like Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull they haven’t totally sucked…”
What colour is the sky on that weird planet you live on, Sam?
Come off it Sam, Since when has the Latino Review been a reliable source of top level Hollywood information not involving Latino actors? This is either an accidental mistranslation/misunderstanding or(more likely) a deliberate one, designed to get publicity for the publication, that will be passed off as am accident when the inevitable correction is issued.
Oh and yeah, it’s time to reduce the dosage if you thought Crystal Skull didn’t suck.
I’d say increase the dosage! Clearly he’s still got a disconnect from reality!
“like Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull they haven’t totally sucked”…….Think about what you typed there Sam.
The Tarzan scene alone sunk that ship.
This film will suck just like the previous 6.
Nice try, but it sucks when nobody bites, eh?
They need a Han Solo esque loveable rouge character but you really need a chirpy 30 something for that not a grumpy old git, having said that although Lucas and Spielberg the serial franchise rapists did clearly commit a heinous crime when they made the Crystal Skull, Harrison Ford wasn’t that bad as long as he can still roll his eyes there is hope
Yeah, Crystal Skull was rubbish, but I don’t think that was Ford’s fault. He was just an older version of the the Jones character, and that’s the best you can expect of him.
Harrison Ford didn’t have to say yes…
Sure, but I wouldn’t blame him for turning down a pay cheque. After all, he’s reprising one of his most successful roles. If he does his job while Lucas and Spielberg ruin it, that’s their fault.
*sigh*
Correction: I wouldn’t blame him for taking a pay cheque.
I think Ford was OK it was the fridge, the gofers, the monkeys, the rocket sled, the over elaborate fencing scene the script the plot, Shia Lebeouf, the ending, George Lucas and the horrific over use of CGI which was the problem.
I liked the bomb range and diner scenes because they were a humorous take on the 50′s USA setting. I thought that the film was at its best when it borrowed from history, though the fridge-versus-nuke idea was ridiculous.
However, a few moments of amusement didn’t prevent the film from being a total train wreck.
I remember saying to a mate of mine when they first announced they were doing a 4th film (before any plot details leaked) that they should take it back to its roots in the south American Jungle and base it on the crystal skulls mythology, although I foresaw that I didn’t foresee the train wreck which ensued.
The ending was utter Shite I don’t think Lucas thought the plot through at all, basically all that was going through Lucas mind was “something something crystal skulls something something, CGI space between spaces DONE ! ”
The main problem for me was the CGI even Harry Potter had the good grace to build actual physical tangible sets and give animal trainers a job, instead we had these stupid implausible set pieces which defied the plot and basic physics, and that stupid collapsing pyramid stair thing clearly a desperate ill conceived attempt to top the rolling bolder from Raiders of the lost ark (awesome film) but just ended up as an ludicrous over the top set piece, much like the rest of the film. Having said all that I did enjoy the odd scene, it wasn’t utter shit but it was no where near the standard I expect from an indian Jones film.
Yep, agreed with all of that.
CGI can be a brilliant tool when used correctly. However, here it was used to create a number of implausible scenes that were badly conceived in the first place. Like you say, there are plenty of examples of CGI-heavy ‘family’ films that still manage to get it right.
Im not one of those anti CGI fundamentalist
I agree CGI’s is good but in moderation. its massively overused these days I think it should be used for things which cant possibly be filmed in real life, dinosaurs, cave trolls, space ships in flight, epic battles that sort of thing. When they first announced they were remastering the original Star Wars trilogy redoing the special effects shots ect I thought great star wars with Jurassic park style special effects awesome, I didn’t realise Lucas was gona have storm troopers walking round looking like they were taking a s*** and Jar Jar f***ing Binks.
In the original Star wars films they had massive sets with mock ups of a full sized Millennium Falcon and x wing fighters, they went and film outside in real snow for the battle scenes on Hoth, it was real it was tangible where ever Han Solo walked you could imagine walking, with CGI you haven’t got that no matter how well done, the Human brain will always be one step ahead. I was amazed by Jurassic park back in the day it looked real, but now our brains have been trained to spot CGI wether its off lighting or bad physics. Now George has gone completely mental from storm troopers to something as simple as a chair George will CGI it and in doing so it all looks like one big cartoon, and I think that goes for most CGI heavy films wether they’ve got Lucas’s finger prints on them or not.
Harrison’s too old, get this guy instead…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bba_wPdLxp4
Good find. Yeah F*** off Shia Lebeouf F*** OFF !!!!!