Translation: I'm a modern filmmaker and I don't know how to compose a coherent action shot. Say what you will about George Lucas, but his compositions for A New Hope were pure filmed poetry
Do the crawl, just without episode numbers. Star Wars had the crawl without a number until ESB came out. Weird enough the Fox logo is gone, do the fucking crawl. The alternatives are just jump right into the movie after the Lucasfilm logo, which would be jarring, or, show opening credits, which would make it like every other generic movie, and would blow, or have a talking announcer like Clone Wars, which would suck a donkey's balls empty.
Eh, it works within the animated universe, because it has a slightly heightened style, but the live-action world? Ehhh....
This. Although I have to admit, in the end, not having the 20th Century Fox opening didn't bother me as much as anticipated. Still, Star Wars has the crawl, that's part of what makes it Star Wars. And I'll add that Star Trek never should have dropped the opening final frontier monologue.
Speaking of SW, has anyone read Film Crit Hulk's essay on The Force Awakens here? http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/06/28/star-wars-the-force-alluded-to I think he's bang on the money regarding the film and JJ.
I hadn't heard that story, but have always had the same thought. It's EU, so no longer valid, but in The Courtship of Princess Lea, Luke essentially free falls through a planet's atmosphere and comes to a gentle landing in a lotus pose. And on screen, we've seen Mace jump from the top of the arena to the floor with no apparent difficulty. So the idea that he's still alive isn't all that unreasonable. But I have to think if the character were in this movie, Jackson would have been cast.
The problem I have with any Jedi Bering alive at the time of ANH is that it takes away from Luke's story and contradicts everything said by Obiwan and Yoda.
This, however, is still canon. Were there rumors about him being in Iron Man before it was released? I don't remember.
Yoda and Obiwan told all kinds of lies in the OT. I've always liked the idea that a few other Jedi survived the purge. I don't think there's any reason why there couldn't have been a few others. It's not like Yoda and Obiwan were out there doing Jedi shit while they waited for Luke to grow-up. Others could likewise have been in hiding.
Says who? Obiwan says Luke is their last hope, despite knowing about Lea. Yoda tells Luke that on his death, the last of the Jedi will he be. But they are both exposed liars. They don't want Luke to know there are others, because they figure he won't confront Vader if he believes somebody else is available. They know that the only way to beat Sidious is by turning Vader, and they know Luke is the only one who can do it. Everything they do in the OT is an effort to manipulate and control Luke, so as to ensure that he reaches that moment where Vader must choose between his master and his son. Luke knowing about other Jedi doesn't fit that plan, so they lie to him. Luke probably realized this at some point between ROTJ and TFA, which is why he went to hide in Ireland.
Unless Mace Windu shows up onscreen, he is dead, whatever Jackson or Lucas would like to think notwithstanding.
I'm okay with this. The anthologies can do their own thing. The "mainline" movies should absolutely keep the crawls though.
I think this is dumb and I'm very disappointed. Star Wars without the crawl is like Star Trek without the opening monologue, yeah it can and has been done, but it's just not the same.