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General Star Wars Random Thoughts Thread — Page 118

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Does everyone know about the very OT friendly podcast, "Far, Far Away" over at Geek Nation?

http://geeknation.com/podcast/far-far-away/  

It's an actual professional and consistent podcast by one of the Schmoes Knows guys.  Editorially, they take the same view of the PT and SEs as most of the real life people that I know. I.E.  They happened, it's unfortunate that they happened, there no reason to let them ruin the OT.  No more having to sit through gushing at Force Cast or Rebel Force Radio to listen to pro broadcasters talk about Star Wars. 

...With apologies to any of the dedicated professionals at either of those  podcasts that, besides the PT gushing, otherwise put on fine shows.

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I've been meditating recently (read: at 2 AM) on all of the in-universe reasons why the PT Jedi are awful. The TL;DR version is 'it's all Yoda's fault'.

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I just finished watching the entire Clone Wars microseries (that 2-D series that premiered before the CG version), and all I can say is this:

I liked that one scene where they showed a Jedi weilding a red lightsaber. No, it wasn't a red lightsaber briefly borrowed from a Dark Jedi or Sith -- it was the Jedi's own lightsaber. I don't know who thought to do that, but I commend them regardless -- I love Jedi with red lightsabers, and it's certainly hard to find any in the franchise since AOTC came out.

Yep, that's it -- a Jedi with a red lightsaber is the only thing I liked about the series. Everything else was either meh or mindnumbingly stupid. I certainly hope the CG version is better than this (yeah, I have decided to give the series a chance after all; even if I don't end up liking it very much, some aspects of it may inspire my own writing).

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I've only made it to the beginning of the second season, but apparently the first two are the worst. I quite enjoy the series though (for the most part--I don't like Ahsoka and the amazing new shape-shifting abilities of Clawdites for instance).

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I guess these shape-shifting abilities you speak of are some kind of over-the-top Clayface-like deal, right? 'Cause I remember the race being a race of shape-shifters from the beginning, only they weren't capable of altering their mass or changing into anything non-humanoid.

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DuracellEnergizer, from what I know of your tastes/viewing habits you may wish to do some research first and find a high point to begin with on Clone Wars and then go back if you feel necessary.  A slew of bad episodes at the start may be enough to turn you off from the show entirely; I can be the same way.  Just so you actually know you have something to look forward to.

I may be projecting on this, though -- I've been meaning to look at the series myself, and the jump to Netflix seems the perfect excuse.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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KilroyMcFadden said:

Does everyone know about the very OT friendly podcast, "Far, Far Away" over at Geek Nation?

I've been searching for such a podcast. Thanks; I'll check it out today.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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I've been grinding through Clone Wars, too, and I've found that going in with VERY low expectations has greatly improved my viewing experience.

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DuracellEnergizer said:

I just finished watching the entire Clone Wars microseries (that 2-D series that premiered before the CG version), and all I can say is this:

I liked that one scene where they showed a Jedi weilding a red lightsaber. No, it wasn't a red lightsaber briefly borrowed from a Dark Jedi or Sith -- it was the Jedi's own lightsaber. I don't know who thought to do that, but I commend them regardless -- I love Jedi with red lightsabers, and it's certainly hard to find any in the franchise since AOTC came out.

Yep, that's it -- a Jedi with a red lightsaber is the only thing I liked about the series.

What is with you and darklordoftech and your bizarre lightsabre colour fetish? As far as I am concerned, red colour has been a Sith trademark since May 1977. And there hasn't been any indication that Jedi should use red colour.

真実

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I'm sure differing Lightsaber colors originally came about to make dueling scenes easier to follow, and keep the guys doing the rotoscope FX from going insane. Now, it's probably a couple mouse clicks and done. ;)

Vader's was actually blue in McQuarrie's early conception.

In universe, I would think a Lightsaber color is purely a personal preference. There has to be a switch on the hilt for that somewhere?

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Where were you in '77?

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imperialscum said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

I just finished watching the entire Clone Wars microseries (that 2-D series that premiered before the CG version), and all I can say is this:

I liked that one scene where they showed a Jedi weilding a red lightsaber. No, it wasn't a red lightsaber briefly borrowed from a Dark Jedi or Sith -- it was the Jedi's own lightsaber. I don't know who thought to do that, but I commend them regardless -- I love Jedi with red lightsabers, and it's certainly hard to find any in the franchise since AOTC came out.

Yep, that's it -- a Jedi with a red lightsaber is the only thing I liked about the series.

What is with you and darklordoftech and your bizarre lightsabre colour fetish?

I got into the EU prior to the release of the PT, when the Jedi, Dark Jedi, and the Sith got to play with multiple lightsaber colours. That aspect appealed to me instantly and I've been in love with multiple lightsaber colours ever since.

As far as I am concerned, red colour has been a Sith trademark since May 1977.

One character with one lightsaber doesn't define an entire religious order in my book.

And there hasn't been any indication that Jedi should use red colour.

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SilverWook said:

I'm sure differing Lightsaber colors originally came about to make dueling scenes easier to follow, and keep the guys doing the rotoscope FX from going insane. Now, it's probably a couple mouse clicks and done. ;)

Vader's was actually blue in McQuarrie's early conception.

In universe, I would think a Lightsaber color is purely a personal preference. There has to be a switch on the hilt for that somewhere?

It gets better than that: the text of GL's 1974 rough draft of The Star Wars describes only one lightsaber color, and that is red. And the lightsaber thus described is that of the protagonist!

Although the initial idea was to give everyone red sabers, early effects tests (glimpsed on the Blu-ray) show that ILM considered using all-blue, all-white, and all-red sabers. The all-white sabers were what GL picked--possibly after reading a SF story by Edmond Hamilton featuring white "lightswords," a term which may have helped GL abandon his use of "lazersword" in earlier drafts--and they can be seen in all their ugliness in the original trailer.

The failure of the original attempt to realize the lightsabers' glow in-camera meant that a new rotoscope effect had to be devised in post. It's at this point that GL probably remembered reading Lord of the Rings and the scene where Gandalf wields the blue-glowing Elvish sword Glamdring against the flaming red sword of the Balrog.

McQuarrie certainly seems to have devised the idea of different saber colors earlier, but even after agreeing to it Lucas didn't follow his choice of colors (yellow for the hero, blue for the villain, and white for stormtroopers!).

Even after the finalization of the effect, the idea of uniformly colored sabers didn't stop: one of McQuarrie's concepts for the cover of the SW novelization (a second take on his famous painting of the second draft's Deak Starkiller/Vader duel) shows all-white sabers. The Marvel adaptation of SW used all-red sabers. And Splinter of the Mind's Eye and the ESB novelization both describe Vader's saber as blue as well as Luke's.

“That Darth Vader, man. Sure does love eating Jedi.”

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I would have preferred one colour for both the Jedi and the Sith or one colour for the Jedi and Sith each over the unbalanced mess utilized by the PT. Sith get only red while Jedi get blue, green, and the occasional purple? Give me a break!

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The Making of ROTJ reveals that it was Lawrence Kasdan who first suggested that Luke should have a different color lightsaber for ROTJ. However, the idea wasn't actually acted on until post-production, when the bright blue sky of the footage shot in the Yuma desert made Luke's blue rotoscoped saber blade all but invisible. (The original blue saber can be seen in the film's trailers.)

“That Darth Vader, man. Sure does love eating Jedi.”

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I'm in the strictly Red for evil, Blue for good and only the symbolic-rebirth-of-the-jedi Luke gets green camp. There is no story reason that JJ couldn't ignore the PT and be in my camp. But multi-colours do have so many more marketing oportunities for the ST, so that's what I'm expecting to see.

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DuracellEnergizer said:

I would have preferred one colour for both the Jedi and the Sith or one colour for the Jedi and Sith each over the unbalanced mess utilized by the PT. Sith get only red while Jedi get blue, green, and the occasional purple? Give me a break!

From a philosophical standpoint, it would seem like a Jedi wouldn't care in the slightest what color their lightsaber was. Their first, second, and third priorities would be to have a functional weapon, and their teaching would make them reluctant to use the lightsaber except in great need. As the Jedi are all a part of an ancient order, they may have standardized the blades to a blue color as well. The Sith/agents of evil would make their weapons into a more personal statement, so it doesn't make sense that they would all have the same color lightsaber.

It would be neat to see a unified force of Jedi with identical blades as opposed to numerous self-styled Force users, all with lightsabers which differ based on their personalities.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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To change the subject, I was down in VA visiting a friend last month. He has a weekly radio show at a local college, so he had me on to talk Star Wars, Fan Edits, and Episode VII. Apparently his programming director is also supposed to find people for panels at "Deep South Con 52" in Bristol this year. He wants me and my friend to do a panel on Star Wars. I think we're going to do it.

It's not like being on a panel at a sci-fi convention is one of my dreams. Oh wait, it is.

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NeverarGreat said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

I would have preferred one colour for both the Jedi and the Sith or one colour for the Jedi and Sith each over the unbalanced mess utilized by the PT. Sith get only red while Jedi get blue, green, and the occasional purple? Give me a break!

From a philosophical standpoint, it would seem like a Jedi wouldn't care in the slightest what color their lightsaber was. Their first, second, and third priorities would be to have a functional weapon, and their teaching would make them reluctant to use the lightsaber except in great need. As the Jedi are all a part of an ancient order, they may have standardized the blades to a blue color as well. The Sith/agents of evil would make their weapons into a more personal statement, so it doesn't make sense that they would all have the same color lightsaber.

It would be neat to see a unified force of Jedi with identical blades as opposed to numerous self-styled Force users, all with lightsabers which differ based on their personalities.

A problem with that, though, is that it makes the Jedi look too homogenous, a problem the PT blatantly has.

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Although the EU describes multiple Jedi orders/philosophies and the earliest Star Wars book chronologically describes the Jedi as finding balance in the force (i.e. balancing the "light side" and "dark side") rather than being strictly "light side" users. I thought that was the way Jedi should have been in the prequels. They're also a lot more individual, are allowed to marry and have families, and have much more interesting methods of training.

Anyway, in case you're interested, the book I'm describing is Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon. The writing style isn't great unfortunately (meaning it isn't bad, just that it could be better), but I still enjoyed reading about what the Jedi could have been.

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RicOlie_2 said:

Although the EU describes multiple Jedi orders/philosophies and the earliest Star Wars book chronologically describes the Jedi as finding balance in the force (i.e. balancing the "light side" and "dark side") rather than being strictly "light side" users. I thought that was the way Jedi should have been in the prequels. They're also a lot more individual, are allowed to marry and have families, and have much more interesting methods of training.

Anyway, in case you're interested, the book I'm describing is Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon. The writing style isn't great unfortunately (meaning it isn't bad, just that it could be better), but I still enjoyed reading about what the Jedi could have been.

Have you read the Dawn of the Jedi comics? I love them.

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No, I have not. I would read them if I knew how to get my hands on them for free, but I've never seen them anywhere.

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To 005, thank you.  The rest of you, random thoughts or get out.

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Personally, I've only read the first story arc of the Dawn of the Jedi comics, but it doesn't seem like a bad series at all; Ostrander and Duursema don't seem as preoccupied with making it as prequeltastic as the others they've done *cough*Legacy*cough*.

I only wish the proto-Jedi weren't called "Je'daii".

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TV's Frink said:

The rest of you, random thoughts or get out.