Star Wars 7 shit talk

There are several points in Khan where the film really slows to a crawl and characters just sit down and reflect. Which is not bad, it's a different movie, but Empire has a more engaging pacing imo.

impossible to give a shit about kirk's son in khan; not sure there's a comparable weakness in empire. otherwise a masterpiece obv.

i'll go empire over khan also but as someone who was on board w/ star wars literally almost as far back as i can remember and someone who only really watched tos a couple of years ago and always kinda scoffed at star trek in general (though i somehow ended up seeing all the movies and enjoying most of them) i will say the kirk-spock-bones interplay TOWERS over luke-leia-han. kirk also more of a badass than han though han way more plausible a ladykiller (nevermind lando).

I don't mind it -- Khan has a good script, and as a result those hanging out scenes with Kirk and the crew are Shatner at his most likable imo.

Empire is a visual triumph.

i will say the kirk-spock-bones interplay TOWERS over luke-leia-han.

star trek has people in it.

I was seven when Khan was released (a big deal too -- I remember it was the movie that Trekkies thought it was the movie of their dreams), so can't remember how loud the scoffing was at Mr. Rourke playing a supervillain.

* uh, the movie of Trekkies' dreams

is Montalban's Melville quote the best delivery of this line? Better than Gregory Peck's at any rate.

xps- not that the characters are much deeper than star wars' as written (tho i agree the hegelian spock-bones-kirk relationship is way more important than sw's campbell stuff) but the actors had had so much time to build out the roles.

all of montalban's deliveries are the best deliveries.

from a tos purist perspective khan is actually kind of a sellout, right -- straight hornblower space opera instead of high-concept exploration. star wars with olds. but then i guess the tos purist knows the whole point is the crew anyway.

THIIIS IS CEETI ALPHA V!

i feel bad now cuz my uncle who knew i LOVED star wars took me to the star trek movie thinking i know 'alright kid, get ready for the real deal', he wasn't a trekkie but he loved trek, and man five year old or whatever me was just not on board w/ star trek: the motion picture. i know when i was a little kid i used to say 'i'm bored' alot, almost reflexively, and i can't even imagine what a little turd i was coming out of that thing.

yeah i think from the tos perspective the movies were way too militaristic (although they address this kinda in khan!); that kinda hornblower stuff is catnip for me though, if/when i get old i'm pretty much just gonna sit around w/ my dogs and read patrick o'brian novels all day.

pretty sure the cast said the same thing

xpost

my pet amongst the towering montalban inflections is "of course! we are one big happy fleet!"

There's that moment when Chekhov and the Paul Winfield character realize Khan is serious about putting those worms in their helmets when the camera cuts to Montalban not going for the grand effect but standing with a small, deeply satisfied grin that's more evil than any Palpatine cackle.

It's really a funny comparison, since Star Trek is all about looking back in that movie. They have Kirk's birthday and the old man glasses. There is a lot of "We're getting too old for this" in the Bones-Kirk talk. And they bring back an old villain from the show. It's funny since Star Wars seems to be the most unashamedly self-cannibalizing nowadays.

Montalban's Khan definitely better than all of the SW villains.

Emperor Palpatine's menace always undercut by the fact that he tends to deliver his lines like he's the lead vocalist for The Trashmen

vader's pretty awesome in empire

The Abrams trek flicks are kinda pathetic in how they're unable to forge an original path imo. And the whole alternate timeline thing is such bs.

much love for grand moff tarkin also fwiw

Imperial Walkers had some serious design flaws

Vader kills half of his officers.

the emperor is a lesser prototype for dourif's wormtongue

"It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here."

I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Vader's chosen managerial style

the only effective empire military officer was afaik the general who led the hoth attack

Vader tends to ice people quicker prior to 3 years of vesting service so he can roll their pensions back into the plan

much love for grand moff tarkin also fwiw

there's a recurring shot of g.m. tarkin in profile, fingers to chin, watching the battle of yavin, that pops into the battle sequence from time to time and iirc is also the last or second-to-last shot before the death star blows up: i love this shot

Love how Kershner shows Vader without a helmet w/out, again, explaining. He could have filmed Vader kickin it with a scotch in his chambers; instead we realize Vader is human after all.

That scene w Vader putting his helmet on was insane.

there's a recurring shot of g.m. tarkin in profile, fingers to chin, watching the battle of yavin, that pops into the battle sequence from time to time and iirc is also the last or second-to-last shot before the death star blows up: i love this shot

as a kid I thought, "Aw, he didn't even know he was killed."

in the early '80s mega franchise sweepstakes, rank the following:

Khan
Darth Vader
General Zod

Vader's unhelmeted orange-tinted melon head gave me nightmares as a kid

"It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here."

vader often mordantly funny in empire. pray i don't alter it any further.

Vader kills half of his officers.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

i know! in star wars he's this kinda free agent muscle that tarkin let's off the leash, in rotj he's a chump but in empire he manages this total scary fucking relentless powerful evil that will outsmart you at every turn at cloud city while also being horrible at management. he's basically jordan and all those officers are kwame brown.

vader often mordantly funny in empire. pray i don't alter it any further.

― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour),

and Lando touches his throat -- Vader sending the faintest of Force squeezes.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/21ce6cbd19aeba30a7138f4029c284f5/tumblr_mpvwh6UMOb1rtthw6o1_500.gif

so pro

i know! in star wars he's this kinda free agent muscle that tarkin let's off the leash

from what I know of the published slash fic this is kinda what happened: the Emperor's top officer killed erased the line between military and this helmeted dude with the sorcerer's ways. At that point he officially became second in command.

also love how in ESB Vader completely loses interest in Leia after obsessing over her plans in the previous movie.

rots is awful but i did like seeing some dude at the end that was supposed to be muppet baby tarkin

My dad fucking lied to me when I first watched Empire as like an 8 year old and said that Hamill's hand really got lopped off in the film and they gave him a prosthetic but he didn't care cos he was rich now

he was rich in the Force

Way off-topic and late to the preview game but is Luke's lightsaber basically Excalibur/the One Ring in this next chapter?

the only star wars macguffin that matters

http://thestarwarssagacast.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/042GloveofDarthVader.jpg

one thing that's so weird about the incest thing is the luke-leia kiss and 'no, there is another' were in the SAME movie. like dude work that out. it's not like there was that much romantic tension between luke and leia in star wars to overcome (it was obv as hell the pirate and the princess would end up together).

also worth noting how the movies save Vader's lightsaber prowess for epic duels. When I was a kid this stoked anticipation ("when's he using it? when's he using it?").