Anchorhead

Reel it in, folks.

Watching it for a third time right now. Paused for this thought: the part early on when the two of them are walking along the trail is my favorite thing to come out of Star Wars TV since Mando. Ewan damn nails it and so does little Leia. Just as I was on the first viewing, I’m moved by how stressed he is over their situation. Leia obviously doesn’t understand because she’s too little. The best part of the passage is when he snaps at her : ”people are not all good, Leia!”.

Outstanding work on both their parts. His stress-driven short temper and her innocence. Perfect.

Well, as usual I’m apart from the board on this. I thought that was a fantastic episode. Much better than the two before. Ben and Leia walking along in the mining area at the start was perfect. That little girl is a perfect little kid Leia and Ewan really is the best he’s been yet, here or prequels (what little I know about them). Obi Wan just works much better as an older, weathered hermit. I’m assuming it’s because that’s who he was for me when I first met him. For me, all of that first half of the episode worked really well. As a friend of mine pointed out, this is a lone wolf and cub story now and the sparse production value suits this character-driven style really well. No complaints here.

As has been the case since 1980, I just don’t find Vader interesting. In 77 he was a second or third tier military member and suddenly in 1980 he was this omnipotent super human who everyone fears and answers to. He’s that here also but he’s been that way for so long, I just roll with it.

James Earl Jones sells it and he sounds every bit as deep and strong as the 77 version. It worked really well. Also, his choice not to over explain (Vader, in-universe) works perfectly for their scenes together. Adding to the depth is their sword fight being the slower and heavier non-spinning, non-behind the back silliness of the Prequels.

That fight looked and felt like a 1977 fight. That made me very happy. As soon as little Leia ran into Reva, I thought “well, here goes the credits/cliff hanger”. Damn. I wanted more.

Which brings me to my last thought for tonight. Just like that, Reva is a deeper more realistic character. I thought she was a cardboard cutout baddie in #1 and #2 and suddenly she’s well rounded, believable, and more interesting.

I’ll probably watch this again in a few minutes. Yes, I thought it was that strong.

While we’re on the subject of the criticisms of Reva, I’m going to clarify mine here instead of a few pages back since this topic is so fast moving at the moment.

My criticism, which I stand by, is fully on the character as written, not on Ms Ingram. She can only work with the material they give her and they aren’t giving her much. Reva is just the newest baddie-chasing-the-hero.

Ingram deserves better. I’m still interested in the show, but with any luck they’ll give Reva some depth instead of her just being a knock off of Vader from The Empire Strikes Back. That’s assuming there’s any sort of second season. I don’t remember if they said this was a one & done or a potential multi-season.

For the record, if you haven’t seen The Queen’s Gambit, it’s very interesting and Ms Ingram is outstanding in it.

That’s my take as well. He’s newly on the run/in hiding. Fifteen years from now (in universe), he’ll most likely be much more settled in to his hermit existence.

Season two is Spring of 2023

https://www.starwars.com/news/swca-2022-star-wars-visions-panel

Well, as a Bad Batch fan, consider me excited. I had zero interest in the first season or the characters. A few episodes in I realized I dug it. I know there are Prequel callbacks that are over my head, but I don’t care. I like the show, I like the voice work, and I find the animation very interesting.

Digging that Omega appears to be more than just an innocent kid bystander this time around.
I really think a live action version of the Bad Batch would work.

I watched it mostly out of curiosity. I have to say, it was better than I expected. That said, I didn’t expect much at all. As Bear said above - and I mentioned the very same thing to a friend of mine a few days ago - I lowered my expectations after Fett and the second season of Mando.

Disney’s TV shows are really starting to get a brightly-lit and clean TV show look to them. I liked the opening scene of Ben working in the meat processing facility the best of the first episode. Ewan really looks good as a more aged person now. It fits.

The second episode looked and felt like it was a movie set. Fine I guess, because it is. I enjoyed the last half with Ben and Leia the best. They work well together. I was for sure concerned when I saw they were going with yet another cute kid. That’s not a strength of Lucasfilm, past or present. She works well though and I have no problem at all believing that kid would grow up to be 1977 Leia. She even favors her a bit. I thought the scene with little Luke pretending to fly a ship looked ridiculous. That could easily be a Lucas-created moment with yet another cute little kid. Again, not their strong suit.

To me, the biggest weakness is Reva by far. She’s wooden, one-dimensional, and completely predictable. I’ll watch both again this evening and see if it feels a bit more interesting.

StarkillerAG said:

Anchorhead said:

Just started the second episode and stopped for a moment. Temuera Morrison cameo? That’s a very distinctive voice. Noticed it before they even showed his face.

I know you haven’t seen the prequels, so I’m gonna clue you in: that’s not a cameo, it’s just his character. Boba Fett is part of a legion of clone soldiers that were basically the first generation of stormtroopers, created using the DNA of a bounty hunter called Jango Fett. Jango is played by Temuera Morrison, so as a result all of his clones (including Boba retroactively) are played by Morrison as well. The beggar in that shot is part of that legion of clones, out of a job after the Empire switched to civilian conscripts.

Oh. My bad. Makes much more sense then. Thank you, sir.

Just started the second episode and stopped for a moment. Temuera Morrison cameo? That’s a very distinctive voice. Noticed it before they even showed his face.

I agree. I’ve waned on Kenobi, but Andor still looks to be strong. Again, staying out of the main franchise sure helps. It’s an awfully big universe out there.

StarkillerAG said:

Anchorhead said:

Not sure which film, but it was Kenobi going to someone’s apartment either underwater or in a terrible rain storm. Some kid answered the door

That kid was Boba Fett. I am not joking.

Ah. That explains why, in Bad Batch, they reference Omega and Boba Fett so often. Something about the two of them being different than all the other thousands of clones, as well as Clone Force 99 being another sort of exception.

jedi_bendu said:

I respect your decision not to watch the series though, I’m just surprised you’d make that decision based on a lightsaber spin.

I didn’t. It’s many reasons, as I already mentioned.
I just pointed out that the behind-the-back spin silliness is a clue to what part of the fan base they may be courting.

MalaStrana#2 said:

It’s true it looks more like a sequel to the prequels than a prequel to the OT. So was Rogue one. So was the Bad Batch, so it’s surprising you enjoyed it that much.

Rogue One doesn’t feel like a prequel film or an OT film (to me). All new people, locations, mission, etc. It feels standalone to me. My only nitpick was it having Vader in it. I’m not a fan of the character. Sacrilege, I know, but I’ve never found him interesting. I’m also sorry they showed Leia’s face and gave her a line. Would have worked better, I think, if we just saw her from behind as someone handed her the plans. But that’s for another discussion…

Bad Batch is for sure prequel heavy, but it’s animated so I suspect that’s what made it interesting to me. Plus they aren’t directly in the prequel story, just adjacent to it. Worth mentioning again; I’m not really familiar with the prequels, so all these Bad Batch characters are new to me.
They could do a live-action Bad Batch and I think it would work. Even as a short TV series.

This new Kenobi show just seems like a sequel to the third prequel, so it won’t be for me. Yes, I realize that’s exactly what it is timeline-wise, but I’m speaking more of feel, look, and characters. I may give it a look, but it would only be out of curiosity.

I did the same thing with one of the prequels. Not sure which film, but it was Kenobi going to someone’s apartment either underwater or in a terrible rain storm. Some kid answered the door, and I lasted all of two or three minutes before I realized I had zero interest in whatever was going on. I saw that same building in the last episode of Bad Batch. Again, prequel time frame, but not prequel characters (at least not that I know of).

I was mildly interested when this was all first announced. Ewan is the perfect age for this now. Also, not being familiar with the prequels, I would be going in fresh and with nothing to reconcile story-wise. As more has come out, however, I realize this isn’t for me. Not personally, nor am I the target audience. This is clearly for prequel fans - and that’s fantastic, by the way. Other than Bad Batch (which I really like), most Disney era Star Wars has been backward-looking. Good for me, bad for the TFN faction.

I figured I’d probably pass on this, but after seeing something in Bendu’s video discussion above, I’m certain of it.
This;

Here we go with that idiotic behind-the-back sabre twirling. I guess it’s supposed to be the cool move because it was all over the prequels, but I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous it is. Every person who did that - placed their weapon behind their back - would be slaughtered instantly. Too bad Disney is carrying it over from Lucas.

Good luck with the series. It is my sincere hope that whoever is looking forward to it finds it to be just as fulfilling as the first season of The Mandalorian was for me.

Going to Multiverse tonight. Looking forward to seeing Wanda. Looks like she has a much bigger role than I originally thought. Three episodes into Moon Knight. Digging it. I’ll stay out of this topic for a bit so I avoid any spoilers.

Finally. We’ve been in the Solar System Far Far Away for 40+ years. Time to step out.

AspiringCreator said:
People should remember that if it wasn’t for toxic fans? George would still own the franchise and be happy about it with maybe the extent of him being done with Star Wars just coming from him growing tired of speaking about the same few topics with every interviewer.

He created the toxic fandom. Also, there was a very easy fix for it. He chose instead to dig his heels in and even went further by trolling the fans (e.g., selling Han Shot First T-shirts, “it’s my movie, not yours”, etc).

Her score for Loki is outstanding. One of my absolute favorites. Genius work. I’m a soundtrack nerd from decades back and listen to film scores more than anything else, by far. Her score for Loki is in my regular rotation.

This will be the highlight of he show for me for sure.

Abrams has mentioned in interviews that Seven Samurai is one of his favorite films. He’s also mentioned that John Ford and Terrence Malick were big influences.

That’s good news for sure. Visions has been one of my favorite Star Wars things in a long time. Stay with the hands-off format and let the animation studios tell the story they want to tell.

Omni said:
Sure, the oojason “time travelling revisionist” thread can be seen as a response to Lucas’ “efforts of burying history” over time, but when people come to this website and that thread stands tall, with no “a moment to thank George Lucas” or something thread next to it, it paints an obvious picture on how the community views him.

It’s not a response to his decades of lying and suppression of the theatrical versions of Star Wars, Empire, and Return. It’s a catalog of the facts and explanations of his decades of lying. This site exists almost solely as a way to try to get the original films released and in the absence of that, find ways to try and preserve them. That cataloging of the lies is something that should be at the forefront of what we do here. We’re one of the only places bothering with the truth and the facts to back up the discussions.

We don’t need a Lucas praise thread. Obviously we appreciate his work. That’s why we’ve spent years trying to get it released and preserved. There are plenty of Lucas-as-genius sites out there where people spend all day discussing all that rhyming, poetry, ring theory bullshit where Lucas is praised like some sort of film savant.

Stardust1138 said:
… but as long as films like Marvel and what Star Wars is becoming are successful the storyteller will be pushed out of the equation.

The MCU is light years ahead of the Star Wars franchise where consistent story and vision are concerned. Casting, writing, acting, depth, etc - all are significantly better that the Star Wars franchise. That consistent vision also translates to their TV shows as well.

Across both mediums, the MCU holds a solid and connected narrative. After 1977, Star Wars hasn’t even held a narrative from one film to the next.

Lucas was already well into writing with the intent to sell toys by then. Plenty of articles and interviews about it.

Regarding the topic; I wanted to walk out of the theater when watching how he’d ruined the 1977 story. I didn’t, but I turned on Lucas that day. Star Wars had gone from an outer space adventure to a children’s toy advertisement.

I won’t weigh in on the different classes of like or don’t like of TLJ - because I don’t care, not even remotely. I saw the first two sequels and thought they were bad. I didn’t bother with the third. Of those two, I thought TlJ was particularly bad. It was all over the place with the slow speed chase, the casino sidetrack, and with Luke being some sort of hermit kook.

I’ll say this though: I don’t care. It’s a movie in a very convoluted franchise with a harshly divided fan base. I watch what I like, I ignore what I don’t. I don’t give so much as a passing thought. Truth be told, I haven’t cared for much since 1977. One or two recent offerings, but not worth mentioning here.

Regarding Rian’s tweets and social media posts when he was criticized; Incredibly unprofessional. When you set out to make a sequel in a loved franchise and you openly admit you’re going to turn the franchise and the fans on their ears, be ready for some blowback and be ready for it to be harsh. All that maaaahh deeeeeeek!!! bullshit is just weird and childish. WTF, Rian?