Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

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Shockwave
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by Shockwave »

andersonh1 wrote:
Shockwave wrote:What do you think of the Darth Jar-Jar theory?
Fun, but a bit of a stretch. :lol:
Indeed. And I pretty dismissed it as an interesting idea until Ahmed Best himself responded to it with a cryptic remark about how he likes it when "the true meaning of something is discovered". That kind of makes me think there might be more to it, but either way, Disney obviously isn't going that direction. Unless we get Jar-Jar: Sith Lord: A Star Wars Story.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by andersonh1 »

Shockwave wrote:
andersonh1 wrote:
Shockwave wrote:What do you think of the Darth Jar-Jar theory?
Fun, but a bit of a stretch. :lol:
Indeed. And I pretty dismissed it as an interesting idea until Ahmed Best himself responded to it with a cryptic remark about how he likes it when "the true meaning of something is discovered". That kind of makes me think there might be more to it, but either way, Disney obviously isn't going that direction. Unless we get Jar-Jar: Sith Lord: A Star Wars Story.
I'd go see THAT spin-off movie.

Speaking of Ahmed Best, I felt bad for him when reading some article about how "unfair" fans are to Kelly Marie Trans in Last Jedi, but the author said it was fine to mock Jar Jar because "he's not a real person". Did it occur to the guy that an actor played that character? I think Ahmed Best has not had the best Star Wars experience, despite honestly doing a good job with his performance integrating a digital character into a live action movie. I think he was one of the first actors to do that.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by Shockwave »

Oh yeah, his performance was spot on. Heck, I was one of the few people that actually LIKED Jar-Jar at first. But on subsequent watchings it's pretty terrible. Not Best's fault by any means, he was saddled with a poorly written character. I also feel bad for Jake Lloyd who played young Anakin who's experience was so bad he quit acting.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by Dominic »

Jake Lloyd was a kid who was hired because he looked right, not for his talent. Unfortunately, he had a center-piece role in a movie that needed to be better than it was. And, the movie had a particularly unforgiving fan-base. He could have worked as a secondary or back-ground character. But, he was pushed in to a role that he never should have gotten.

Ahmed Best was given a role that was doomed guaranteed to piss people off.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by Shockwave »

Jake Lloyd's acting is not the worst thing about that movie (I wouldn't even say it was bad). I mean, they hired a kid to play a kid, and he acts... like a kid. I don't see the problem there. The liberties it takes with screwing the continuity is the biggest problem I have with it. And really Episode 1 isn't even the worst of the prequels for that. 3 is the worst, followed by 2 and 1 doesn't really contradict anything directly.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by andersonh1 »

I finished the animated Clone Wars movie and season 1. I enjoyed both quite a bit, while there are admittedly strengths and weaknesses to the series.
- One of the things the series does is allow for more time with the main characters than a few two-hour movies. So we get to spend a lot more time with Anakin Skywalker as a heroic, moral character, for example. I presume there will also be a much more gradual move towards his ultimate fall to the dark side, as well as developing his conflict with the Jedi council.
- Background characters get some development as well. Several of the Jedi that are just seen in group shots or getting killed during the Order 66 sequence get entire episodes as lead characters.
- On the other hand, the series is doing the villains no favors. The droid armies are pretty much incompetent, and even the once-lethal droidekas that act as anti-Jedi weapons are often easily dealt with. This makes sense on a certain level, given that each side is bound to learn to counter the other side's weapons, but it still weakens the droid armies as a threat.
- Watching a whole season over a few weeks really drives home how incompetent the villains often are. Or else, their victories take place off-screen, with the actual episode devoted to the heroes reversing that victory, so you only actually see one side win. For the villains to be taken seriously as a threat, they must be seen to have significant victories on screen, just like the Jedi and the clone armies.
- The one exception so far are the commando droids, who wipe out a clone outpost with ease. They need more enemies like this on the show. Grievous also manages to kill a Jedi in one episode.
- The "newsreel" voiceovers at the start of each episode (in the style of WW2 news bulletins) used to annoy me, but I see how they're used to often skip a lot of setup and just throw us right into the middle of a story, so they help with a more economic narrative. They work better than I thought.
- Some of the character designs are over-stylized, in my view. They don't go for photo-realistic models, which is wise, but while character designs like Anakin or Mace Windu work well, Palpatine and Count Dooku are overly-stylized. Obi-Wan Kenobi always looks slight off as well. The "hair and beard chiseled from stone" look is a bit off-putting.
- The first season is a mix of standalone episodes and story arcs. It's also heavily weighted with General Grievous episodes early on, while he disappears entirely in the second half.
- The show makes a great effort to treat the clone troopers as invididuals rather than disposable cannon fodder, even going so far as to give them unique haircuts or facial hair or scars. The Jedi treat them as individuals, who are worth knowing and treating with respect, while the droids are just thrown into battle with no concern, something the villiains remark on in several episodes.
- despite this, the poor clone troops die in large numbers nearly every episode, but that's realistic. Soldiers die in war. At least the deaths have some impact since the series spends so much time building sympathy for them.

Overall, it's a good series. I've rediscovered some of my old enthusiasm for Star Wars while watching it. Looking forward to season two.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by andersonh1 »

Looks like heads will roll.

https://movieweb.com/star-wars-lucasfil ... placement/
After an incredibly disappointing box office performance with Solo: A Star Wars Story, rumors started to swirl that Disney was looking to replace Kathleen Kennedy as the head of LucasFilm, overseeing the Star Wars franchise. There were more specific rumors that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige would be brought in to oversee the Star Wars franchise, but that was shut down earlier this month. Now a new rumor claims Disney wants Kennedy out, but they're having trouble finding a replacement. Here's what Beyond the Trailer's Grace Randolph had to say in a new video, adding that her source came "deep within Pinewood Studios."

"There was a call, a secret conference call with all the top Star Wars brass in attendance, the kind of call where, apparently, security guards stand outside the different conference room doors and makes sure that no one eavesdrops. But here's the kicker. Top brass at not only Star Wars, but also Marvel and Pixar, were also in on the call, but listening only, likely at the request of Bob Iger, who wants their advice on how to fix this s--tshow. And yes, he does know it's a s--tshow. Evidence? The word that he wants Kathleen Kennedy out. He actually does, but, nobody will take her job. Several have been approached, but turned down, including J.J. Abrams, who turned it down flat and didn't even hesitate."
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

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I'm 3/4 of the way through the third season, so it will be awhile before I get to these, but still... good news. New Clone Wars episodes on the way.

https://www.cbr.com/star-wars-clone-war ... sdcc-2018/
Fans received a welcome surprise on Thursday at Comic-Con International in San Diego during the 10th-anniversary panel for Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The beloved animated series will at long last receive a proper conclusion with 12 new episodes, destined for Disney’s upcoming streaming service.

Airing from 2008 to 2013, The Clone Wars defined an era of the Star Wars saga, recounting events that unfolded in the three years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The series ended prematurely, leaving creator Dave Filoni to pick up dangling threads — most notably, the fate of the beloved character Ahsoka Tano — in its animated successor, Star Wars Rebels. With Thursday’s announcement, teased with the hashtag #CloneWarsSaved, the franchise faithful will finally will finally get what they’ve wanted for the past five years.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by andersonh1 »

Clone Wars continues to improve both visually and in terms of storytelling as the seasons go by. Midway through the fourth season, and this show looks outstanding.

I had my doubts about Darth Maul surviving, since he was cut in half, but apparently he did. His return was signposted last season, and he's on the menu screen for season 4, so I presume he's going to turn up before all is said and done. And that's fine, because I thought the character was wasted in The Phantom Menace by being killed off so quickly, so I honestly don't mind having him come back because of all the possible storylines that could be mined from his presence on the series.

I do have to wonder what the Clone Wars would look like with Maul rather than Count Dooku. I can't picture Maul leading the Separatists in the way that Dooku does, putting on the charm in public (like Palpatine) while being a cold blooded killer in private. Maul just couldn't pull that off. Perhaps Palpatine intended him to lead the armies rather than Grievous?

I never binge watch tv shows. I like to make them last, but I'm watching a season of Clone Wars every 2 weeks. I plan to move on to Rebels when I'm done.
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Re: Star Wars - General Discussion Thread

Post by Shockwave »

andersonh1 wrote:Clone Wars continues to improve both visually and in terms of storytelling as the seasons go by. Midway through the fourth season, and this show looks outstanding.

I had my doubts about Darth Maul surviving, since he was cut in half, but apparently he did. His return was signposted last season, and he's on the menu screen for season 4, so I presume he's going to turn up before all is said and done. And that's fine, because I thought the character was wasted in The Phantom Menace by being killed off so quickly, so I honestly don't mind having him come back because of all the possible storylines that could be mined from his presence on the series.

I do have to wonder what the Clone Wars would look like with Maul rather than Count Dooku. I can't picture Maul leading the Separatists in the way that Dooku does, putting on the charm in public (like Palpatine) while being a cold blooded killer in private. Maul just couldn't pull that off. Perhaps Palpatine intended him to lead the armies rather than Grievous?

I never binge watch tv shows. I like to make them last, but I'm watching a season of Clone Wars every 2 weeks. I plan to move on to Rebels when I'm done.
I was a bit dubious about Maul surviving as well, but it was an interesting story and one that continues in Rebels. I really enjoyed all of Rebels and if you're enjoying Clone Wars, I think you'll like that one too.
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