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The Book Of Boba Fett (live action series) - a general discussion thread - * SPOILERS * — Page 8

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SilverWook said:

I think the business with the young Tusken is a coming of age ritual to prove his maturity. Boba winning respect from the Tusken leader (and probably eventually the rest of the tribe) reminds me of the 1970 Richard Harris film A Man Called Horse.
https://youtu.be/5H0dKc9QG9E

Yeah, that’s what I figured as well. This would explain why they’re such a small group out in the middle of nowhere with tents instead of huts. Might also explain the darker outfits, though that could just be tribe/clan related.

It’s also possible that the male outfits aren’t necessarily for males only, but rather warrior outfits, hence why one of them in this episode seemed to be female (her costume seemed like a bit of a blend of the classic ANH and AOTC female outfits). She might be the Tusken equivalent of a shield-maiden or something similar.

Either way, I think Favreau has done a great job at expanding what he know about the Tuskens while still keeping other aspects of the universe appropriately abstract and vague.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
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Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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 (Edited)

My take is that Boba previously kept his helmet on more often and electronically disguised his voice somewhat to differentiate himself from the clones. I think he feels a little more free to take it off now, plus he probably has a new outlook on a lot of other things too after his ordeal.

The galaxy is so huge, how could someone be so famous that they’re recognized by sight in every town of every planet. His name and appearance are likely just very well known in certain circles. I’ve heard of Christiano Ronaldo, but I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.

I wonder when that stormtrooper went into the sarlacc because we didn’t see that in RotJ. I would have liked to see the Jawas open up the sarlacc and pick through all the junk inside, kinda like Brody and Hooper did with that shark in Jaws. Just imagine what could be in there.

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Having the voice changer in the helmet briefly sound like Jason Wingreen when it hiccups or when Boba is adjusting the settings would be a nice tip of the bucket.

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Where were you in '77?

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Bib Fortuna got fatter, but the Gamoreans got thinner. I prefer the way they were in RotJ, but I’m guessing this new look (here and in The Mandalorian) allows them to be more agile for action scenes.

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Rodney-2187 said:

Bib Fortuna got fatter, but the Gamoreans got thinner. I prefer the way they were in RotJ, but I’m guessing this new look (here and in The Mandalorian) allows them to be more agile for action scenes.

It occurred to me they might have re-used the thinner Gamorrean ring fighter costumes from The Mandalorian chapter 9, but I don’t have anything to back that up.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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They look pudgy enough to me. I saw it said somewhere the thinner ones on Mando were more gladiator types as opposed to the guards. Anyway, I like the Gamorrean look inspired by old ROTJ concept sketches.

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I really love that we see why Boba wants to “rule with respect” in this episode. Using violence to escape the Tuskens gets him nowhere, but once he does something impressive and honourable he gains their respect and presumably wins his freedom. I also like that we see Boba truly get put through the wringer, helpless and humiliated as his armour is stolen by Jawas and he’s captured and bested by Tusken Raiders. Both these experiences make for a great explanation for why Boba is such a changed man.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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I really enjoyed watching this, and I’d rank it about at the level of an average episode of Mando. I appreciate the restraint and/or budget that allows for non-explosive, smaller stakes stories like this. It’s just Boba Fett, Tatooine, and sand. There were a few instances of characters and things popping up I could have done without, the biggest being Max Rebo. These weren’t anything to get bent out of shape about, but I feel the show would be stronger for omitting them. But it was very pleasant to look at Morrison and I look forward to what comes next. Boba Fett never seemed to me like a terribly interesting character for sustained storytelling outside of miscellaneous bounty jobs. If the events of this series were told in the medium of a comic book I wouldn’t probably have even read a summary. But I’m glad to have this show to enjoy. Much like my thoughts about Rogue One, I’m happy to relax a sense of criticism on this one.

Seems odd for the Sarlacc to have a stormtrooper being digested, as Tatooine didn’t seem to have much of an Imperial presence outside of the search for the droids during ANH. I’m glad they handled the Sarlacc without showing the SE beak, that was nice.

I’d never fall asleep on Tatooine. Poor Luke must have had nightmares about a Machamp coming up out of the ground to get him.

That Rodian prisoner has such emotive, unmoving eyes. Another great instance of SW having the audience project emotion onto a motionless face.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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The flashbacks were great. The kind of stuff I’ve waited for. My biggest complaint is for the poorly written/cast minor characters, starting with the mayor’s majordomo. At least do an accent! I rationalize it is the price to pay for a live-action TV show on a budget and what we would have gotten in any decade. The monster was good, almost looked like an old claymation. I’ve nitpicks like Tuskens in black and lean Gamorreans (I hope Boba Fett feeds them well and lets them take a well-deserved nap). It was great to see Max Rebo and I hope we see more of him, even a spinoff.

The blue elephant in the room.

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Yeah, the desert monster did give me Harryhausen vibes.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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And what’s wrong with having a Max Rebo cameo every 35 years? 😉

It would be neat if the Fromm gang gets mentioned somewhere. I doubt we would actually see them.

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jedi_bendu said:

Yeah, the desert monster did give me Harryhausen vibes.

So true! I like when other pulp references are smartly displayed this way, since they were part of the same cultural mayhem SW was born from, especially as I felt that JJ was only circling SW on itself in his dry takes on the Saga.

Good first episode: nothing great but nothing bad either (well, maybe the way Roberto does shoot action, it’s still atrocious on the editing). 35 entertaining minutes, that don’t change SW by doing non sense, and which expands on little inoffensive details. Perfectly fine in my book (!). More or less the same level as Mando season 2.

So long 🙌

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MalaStrana#2 said:

nothing bad either (well, maybe the way Roberto does shoot action, it’s still atrocious on the editing

I liked the rooftop chase sequence and Fennec besting those two guys much more than the chaos that was the initial fight scene, yeah. Felt more laboured than it should have and I’ve no idea why they even equipped Boba with his jetpack for those scenes when he doesn’t use it.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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I enjoyed it but I also query the Stormtrooper in the Sarlaac (not even a Sandtrooper with a Pauldron). One of Jabba’s goons would have created a connection to ROTJ rather than a question mark (wonder when TK-321 fell in?).

The Sand People too had previously been established up as low threat enemies “they startle easy… will soon be back in larger numbers”, and then we see a single Tusken absolutely wallop Boba Fett in a one-on-one. I guess Boba was in a weakened state, but the Tusken (female Tusken?) was still shown as a deadly capable fighter.

These are the nitpicks of a long term fan, but that’s what this forum is for!

Also, is this vintage toy now Star Wars canon?

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They startle easy when they think a Krayt dragon is around. (And thanks to Mando, we now know why.) It wasn’t just Obi Wan waving his arms at them. And they almost did Luke in, so I think they can be pretty dangerous.

The pauldron could have come off or dissolved. We don’t know how long that guy was in there.

I had that Kraken toy back in the day.

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I think the differences in the Tusken camp & costumes from AOTC are pretty easily explainable: Different tribe, different customs

I got the impression that the Tuskens had the kid take Boba & the Rodian out into the desert specifically to show them the swoopgang problem in their area.

ROTJ Storyboard Reconstruction Project

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timdiggerm said:

I got the impression that the Tuskens had the kid take Boba & the Rodian out into the desert specifically to show them the swoopgang problem in their area.

I wonder what they wanted Boba and the Rodian to do about that. We know from the trailers that Boba fights the gang at some point, I’m gonna guess in the next episode, but I assumed he did it of his own free will - maybe he agrees to fight them if the Tuskens set him free. But then again, it makes more sense for him to have already won his freedom by saving the Tusken child. We’ll find out on wednesday, anyway.

Happy 2022 by the way!

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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Liked the pilot, only wish it was a bit longer to cram in a more developed hook for the the present-day storyline which was left very open-ended. The flashbacks of course compensated for this. I was overjoyed to see a few seconds of the Kamino cloning facilities and the Geonosian arena.

Overall I’m glad they prioritised character work over action for this pilot. The flashbacks were the ideal route to go, as one of the most interesting things about post-ROTJ Boba is what events led to his more humbled and affable demeanor. The EU always zigzags on whether Boba had an honor code before, so I think the show would do the right thing by having the Sarlacc incident and Tusken captivity be the events that bridge the ruthless and the honorable depictions of Boba. Speaking of the Tuskens, seeing even more of their customs after The Mandalorian did a lot to humanise them was very welcome and I’m intrigued to see how they factor in Boba’s personality shift to the one we meet in Mando S2.

It was really interesting to see a different kind of Tusken tribe. Besides the different attires, they seem to be more nomadic and more progressive, as apparently there isn’t segreggated clothing for women and younglings among them (as there was in AOTC).

The Kraken-like monster was a fine addition to the rather implausible levels of Tatooine biodiversity. I liked the old stop-motion feeling conveyed by its movements, though its somewhat humanoid face veered a bit into the uncanny valley for me.

As always, the small easter eggs and connections to other Star Wars media are welcome. It’s so refreshing that Mando and Book of Boba feature so many familiar aliens like Twi’leks, Trandoshans and Rodians after they were conspicuously absent from the sequel trilogy. The Cantina song variant, the 8D8 torturer droid at the palace and the Tusken gourds were also nice details. One thing that left me scratching my head however was the depiction of Mos Espa. Yeah I can find it likely the city grew considerably in the span of 30 years since it was last seen in the prequels, but I don’t remember Mos Espa being built in the middle of a valley surrounded by huge cliffs (and reaching beyond them as well).

The end credits theme song is growing on me and it kind of reminds me of Viking music. Could the chanting also be a reference to Tem Morrison’s Maori background?

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Knight of Kalee said:

Yeah I can find it likely the city grew considerably in the span of 30 years since it was last seen in the prequels, but I don’t remember Mos Espa being built in the middle of a valley surrounded by huge cliffs (and reaching beyond them as well).

I can believe that the portion of Mos Espa we see in TPM is just a suburb and we never see the whole city. This image is pretty low quality but you can see how far beyond the valley it reaches.

I like the thought that’s gone into this as well. I don’t believe the city has grown into the valley since TPM: it makes more sense to begin in there and spread outwards, as the valley provides more shade and presumably protection from winds. And it’s nothing too fancy, but design wise we can see rickety-looking elevator shafts or stairways of some kind, leading up the cliff walls into the city suburbs. That spire that’s comically taller than everything around it could be the city hall, where I’m gonna guess we are heading next week to visit the mayor.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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I really enjoyed this, it was not earth shattering, but the start of a good story told simply and well. Loved the world-building, pace and feel of the episode, and also the Kraken! Morrison was good too, and played the character well.
Is it Wednesday yet for the next Chapter?

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I don’t begrudge Boba wanting a different color jumpsuit and I think the black works fine. The choice of Tuskens also wearing black feels like it’s simply the go-to color for new and cool. It’s a nitpick but creatively I would have liked to see something different. What I haven’t thought until now is that he changes to a black jumpsuit because of his time with these Tuskens, so this is a way to explain why he makes that choice. Whether this is meaningfully symbolic or needless explanation for a minor cosmetic choice 🤷

The blue elephant in the room.

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I’m gonna have to rewatch this to get a better hold on it. I’ll be honest that I was a little surprised by the overwhelming positive reviews in this thread.

I’ll start out on a positive note and say I really did love that four-armed sand kraken. It was a great monster, a clear callback to Ray Harryhausen (of whom I’m a huge fan) and in most shots it looked REALLY good. Like, it looked like a physical prop. I also like Temura as Boba Fett a lot more than I ever expected (and this carries over from his appearance in The Mandalorian). As someone who’d rather forget the prequels exist, they’ve done an incredible job retrofitting them into the OT and making me accept them as part of the story (as long as I don’t have to actually watch them again… 😄 )

I also really enjoy the dynamic between Fett and Fennic Shand. They make a good team.

Now for the airing of grievances (I’ve got a lot of problems with you people! And now your gonna hear about it! 😄)

First and absolutely least importantly, I just have a hard time buying Morrison as the guy in the Fett suit during ROTJ. He’s just the wrong body type and does not convey the lanky Clint Eastwood style of OT Fett, especially once the armor is off and he’s just in the jumper. To be clear I’m NOT picking on the actor. It’s just that his physical appearance is noticeably different than the guy(s) who played Fett 40 years ago. It’s something I want to just overlook but I just couldn’t help but notice repeatedly.

More importantly, the episode just had a lot of stuff that felt very un-Star Warsy. Parkour. The “humor” - particularly the very modern and marvel-esque banter between Fett and Shand while receiving tributes. It just felt out of place and too modern. Part of me wants to accept it as “hey they’re branching out and trying to give us different types of Star Wars content” but then, Star Wars has always had a very specific timeless and documentarian feel that is, IMO, an intrinsic part of what makes something unequivocally Star Wars. You can have all the right elements (stormtroopers, music, blasters, lightsabers, what have you) but if you just throw them into modern style editing or writing something feels very off. Maybe it’s just me but if it doesn’t capture that timeless feel it just doesn’t capture the Star Wars feel to me. And I realize “timelessness” is a vague and nebulous quality to require, but there you have it.

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I finally got to watch the episode and I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed. It’s too early to judge, but I think my main two issues are:

  1. Boba Fett seems suddenly really tame. I don’t have a problem with post-Mando Boba being that way, but the Boba Fett that came out of the sarlacc and is captured by the tusken raiders seems very mellow. It doesn’t seem like the OT Boba Fett who had to be told not to disintegrate people. The fact that he’s smiling as the tusken kid shows off the kraken head seemed so out of place to me. I expected a tougher, more determined and ruthless Boba Fett to start with. If he had been consciously trying to escape the sarlacc for years before he succeeded, that would help explain why he might be different, but the episode shows him waking up and then almost immediately blasting his way out. The fight with the town ninjas also made Boba seem kind of pathetic. Given the kind of action we’ve gotten from the Mandalorian, you’d think a renowned bounty hunter would put up a bit more of a fight, without needing Gamorrean guards. Then again, he did blow up a guard, so maybe he was just trying to avoid causing too much trouble at first.

  2. The ending felt too open-ended, but it wasn’t a cliff-hanger, so it left me feeling dissatisfied without strongly wanting more. I feel like something more should have happened with that guard that was captured, setting up some kind of problem or more serious conflict for the next episode.

There were several things I did enjoy:

  1. The sarlacc escape and Boba losing his armour to the Jawas, then his freedom to the sandpeople. It was exactly what I would have expected and handling it any other way would have felt wrong, I think.

  2. The world-building, especially the shots of Mos Espa and getting a look at the tusken raiders.

  3. Seeing a lot of familiar aliens and other “Tatooine stuff” in a setting where it didn’t feel shoehorned in or world-shrinking.