One episode in. I’m already looking forward to the movie-fold-down fan edit. Okay so far but it just feels like the first 15 minutes of a movie stretched out. The final sequence felt at least 7 minutes too long.
I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently.
It has a primary audience that I am not. I prefer the Valerian set pieces more than the Amblin inspired stuff.
As I’d mentioned to some coworkers , I went into this with no hopes or expectations. I’ve been let down SO many times over the decades, I just figured I’d like it or I’d bail. No hard feelings because I’ve long since stopped being emotionally invested in Star Wars as a franchise. (1983 for any newbies)
I’d recently bailed on the Acolyte after about 10 or 15 minutes into the first episode. It was an uninteresting rehash of all things twirly and Sith. I changed the channel, moved on, never gave it another thought. I was prepared to do the same with Skeleton Crew, again, with no hard feelings or second thoughts.
I was pleasantly surprised with Skeleton Crew. I think we all sort of knew what we were getting and this is exactly as advertised. It’s a 1980s style story about a group of kids on an adventure. This thing has Spielberg’s finger prints all over it. That’s not a bad thing. That formula has worked the past 40+ years for a reason.
To be sure, it’s cheese and it’s predictable - because we grew up watching this same dynamic. I guess I enjoyed it for the same reason I like watching ET, Sandlot, Troop Zero, or Stand By Me. It’s a light distraction. We’ve seen this group many times before; Tech-nerdy girl, slightly awkward chubby kid who goes along because they’re his friends, the dreamer kid who accidentally gets the adventure started, and the cool girl.
To my eyes, visually it looks better than The Mandalorian, Andor, or what little I saw of Acolyte. It looks a little bit less TV. Maybe it’s the story setting, maybe it’s the physical sets, or maybe it’s my imagination.
I’m going along for the ride.
edit;
I also enjoyed the beat-for-beat homage to Star Wars for the first 5 minutes. I thought it was done with respect for the source material. In the hands of someone like Abrams or even Favreau, it would have been a ham-fisted mess.
Speaks alot when everyone has been so let down and disappointed for the last 4 years that they can be elated over a new product that’s “fine”. This still isn’t going to save this franchise. I’m interested to see the numbers of viewers for this series…I imagine the interest is extremely low. At my job there are about 4 casual SW fans and they either haven’t heard of this…didn’t know it was out…didn’t know what it was about…or just weren’t interested. Disney plus just increased it’s monthly rate, pretty hard to hook people now with just “another SW tv show”. 🤷♂️
Having said that…haha…my friend has Disney plus and I’m going to watch the two episodes tonight.
Speaks alot when everyone has been so let down and disappointed for the last 4 years that they can be elated over a new product that’s “fine”. This still isn’t going to save this franchise. I’m interested to see the numbers of viewers for this series…I imagine the interest is extremely low. At my job there are about 4 casual SW fans and they either haven’t heard of this…didn’t know it was out…didn’t know what it was about…or just weren’t interested. Disney plus just increased it’s monthly rate, pretty hard to hook people now with just “another SW tv show”. 🤷♂️
Rather than worry or even think about viewing figures, why don’t you just watch it for yourself (or don’t). Rather than be concerned with what the wider world is or isn’t enjoying, experience it for yourself, and if you enjoy it, good for you, if you don’t then that’s fine too.
Speaks alot when everyone has been so let down and disappointed for the last 4 years that they can be elated over a new product that’s “fine”. This still isn’t going to save this franchise. I’m interested to see the numbers of viewers for this series…I imagine the interest is extremely low. At my job there are about 4 casual SW fans and they either haven’t heard of this…didn’t know it was out…didn’t know what it was about…or just weren’t interested. Disney plus just increased it’s monthly rate, pretty hard to hook people now with just “another SW tv show”. 🤷♂️
Rather than worry or even think about viewing figures, why don’t you just watch it for yourself (or don’t). Rather than be concerned with what the wider world is or isn’t enjoying, experience it for yourself, and if you enjoy it, good for you, if you don’t then that’s fine too.
Thanks for the lecture. We were just having a discussion and since you didn’t read further…I AM going to watch it tonight. So instead of “being concerned with the wider world” of other commenters you could just not reply to everything…or if you do “that’s fine too.” 😁
This still isn’t going to save this franchise.
The Franchise is 46 years old and includes 12 films, 16 television shows, 110 video games, 380 novels, and nearly 1000 comic books (maybe more, I’m not too sure about my arithmetic). This far in, there’s something for everyone regardless of story preference, age, format, etc. No one thing can save it or sink it at this point. It doesn’t even need saving. It’s a product now, like potato chips. Sometimes they release a Lobster Roll (vile) and sometimes it’s a Salt & Pepper (delicious).
As has long been my thought on the matter - watch what you like, ignore the rest. I can’t fathom why some fans still do battle with a franchise.
Oh, and one awesome 6-hour radio version of the original story. 😉
This still isn’t going to save this franchise.
The Franchise is 46 years old and includes 12 films, 16 television shows, 110 video games, 380 novels, and nearly 1000 comic books (maybe more, I’m not too sure about my arithmetic). This far in, there’s something for everyone regardless of story preference, age, format, etc. No one thing can save it or sink it at this point. It doesn’t even need saving. It’s a product now, like potato chips. Sometimes they release a Lobster Roll (vile) and sometimes it’s a Salt & Pepper (delicious).
As has long been my thought on the matter - watch what you like, ignore the rest. I can’t fathom why some fans still do battle with a franchise.
Oh, and one awesome 6-hour radio version of the original story. 😉
I wasn’t referring to it’s deep past…the last 4 Disney + SW shows have sank and sank in interest and viewership. Some people are still feeling the damage from the last 4 years and are hoping for something great to change. I’m not waiting on it, but there is alot of discussion online about it. Even I didn’t think I would have to watch soo much bad Star Wars the last 7 years but here we are…and you’ve gotta watch to find out if it’s good for you or not. 🤷♂️
As Hal said the opening episode was over-stretched (I know the original pitch for Skeleton Crew was a movie, and in that form I’m sure this part of the story would have been much compressed). We didn’t need to see 45 minutes of Elliot’s mundane family life before he hooked up with E.T. - this genre of family movie relies on pep, zing, pace - call it what you will - but it was lacking in the first episode.
That said, the pacing improved massively in the second episode, and also the cinematography and set design really started to shine. The pirate spaceport was really, really well-visualised. Brimming with foreground and background density of detail and some really good practical aliens and costuming. It rather puts Ahsoka, Kenobi, and The Acolyte to shame how good this looked.
The child actors were also decent and based on the strength of the second episode I’m actually rather excited to see the third!
The third episode is a little more like what I expected the whole series to be. More Goonies like. Not as kiddie as it could be though, so no complaints. I was concerned at the trailers that Joe would be a sort of good guy older brother hero type. I’m pleasantly surprised again. I like his character more now. More mysterious and so far deeper. Credit to Law for giving him the depth.
Loving this series so far - and already looking forward to the next episode. Kudos to everyone involved in the making of this.
Layered and interesting characters, in a solid story, with an intriguing mystery to boot… and done in an unpredictable manner. A fun Star Wars adventure… with a little something for everyone.
Skeleton Crew is Special - 7 minute video from HelloGreedo.
Creatures & Droids - a 2 minute video from the official Star Wars youtube (contains spoilers and scenes for future episodes).
Skeleton Crew - 80’s style TV opening credits - a 50 second video from the official Star Wars twitter.
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This still isn’t going to save this franchise.
The Franchise is 46 years old and includes 12 films, 16 television shows, 110 video games, 380 novels, and nearly 1000 comic books (maybe more, I’m not too sure about my arithmetic). This far in, there’s something for everyone regardless of story preference, age, format, etc. No one thing can save it or sink it at this point. It doesn’t even need saving. It’s a product now, like potato chips. Sometimes they release a Lobster Roll (vile) and sometimes it’s a Salt & Pepper (delicious).
As has long been my thought on the matter - watch what you like, ignore the rest. I can’t fathom why some fans still do battle with a franchise.
Oh, and one awesome 6-hour radio version of the original story. 😉
47 years, you could even say 48 if you are talking about the 1976 novelization. As for the Radio Drama, fantastic. It’s a pretty great standalone story, same with the 1977 film.
So far this series is enjoyable.
Liking it more and more as I settle into their world. I’ve watched every episode twice and I’m looking forward to the next. To hold me until then, yesterday I watched Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
My thoughts through the first 3 episodes:
Pros:
Higher than average production quality at last
Enjoyable nostalgia based memories of being a Star Wars fan as a kid
Good child actors!
Fun/light hearted adventure that’s easy to watch
Cons:
I don’t care about the story in general or any of the characters at all… And that’s not to say I don’t enjoy the episodes when I watch, but if you told me the rest of the episodes wouldn’t even air, I wouldn’t be disappointed in the least. It’s not a bad show, and I realize as an adult EU fan I’m not the primary target audience here, but it’s certainly not the Star Wars that made me fall in love with the universe when I was a kid. I support side stories like this in general, but also I think we miss the beauty of how kids ALREADY connected with the OT/PT even those were more serious stories. We don’t need to venture so far into trying to appease one segment of target audience that we lose the incredible ability that Star Wars already had to bridge all age groups. I fell in love with Star Wars because seeing Yoda die in RotJ helped me process death when I was 6 years old. I fell in love with Star Wars because seeing Anakin as an isolated/lonely teen helped me process my own identity in middle school. I fell in love with Star Wars because it taught me universal lessons about life through mature stories that challenged my worldview.
(The Force Awakens) Heirs of the Force | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit
(The Last Jedi) Fate of the Jedi | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit
(The Rise of Skywalker) Legacy of the Force | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit
(The Bad Batch) Cinematic Version | A More Mature Edit
(The Mandalorian+Boba) The Way of Mandalore | A Compilation Edit
Episode 4 was probably my favourite episode yet. Pleasing to see both plot and character progression, yet was its own little adventure in itself… with some welcome world-building (of sorts)… and still the overall story pulls me in more with passing week.
Kudos to the young actors in this once again.
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The first three episodes had a “maybe this shoulda been a movie instead” vibe to me, but now with this fourth episode, I’m starting to see how the show can work as a show. If the rest of the episodes are this good, this’ll go way up in the ranking for me.
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This show has really grown on me. It’s easily my favorite out of all of the live-action shows now!
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Episode 4 was probably my favourite episode yet. Pleasing to see both plot and character progression, yet was its own little adventure in itself… with some welcome world-building (of sorts)… and still the overall story pulls me in more with passing week.
Kudos to the young actors in this once again.
Funny I have like the exact opposite opinion of Episode 4 but I’m still loving the show. I just found the main plot far more interesting than that children-at-war subplot. It just felt too glossed over and simplified for such an intense topic. I get that it was intended more as a vehicle for Neel’s character development (and that this is a kids show) but I was hoping for more context and weight and maybe even relevance from that whole sequence, but it never really came. And as quickly as it started, we’re back to the main plot and heading up the tower. I think Neel’s character development could have been easily written into one of the two subsequent episodes while At-Achrann just becomes a dead planet and the arrival and tower sequences gets pushed back to the ending of the previous episode. Hmm, I’m getting ideas… maybe I’ll have to attempt an edit.
The cast is all great, the plot is keeping me invested, its fun, and it offers a different glimpse into the GFFA. This show goes right up there with Mando S1-2 and Andor for me.
Another great episode (again). Very excited for the finale.
I assume the owl lady from episode 3 is gonna be brought into the finale as a Deus ex machina, of sorts.
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Episode 4 was probably my favourite episode yet. Pleasing to see both plot and character progression, yet was its own little adventure in itself… with some welcome world-building (of sorts)… and still the overall story pulls me in more with passing week.
Kudos to the young actors in this once again.
Funny I have like the exact opposite opinion of Episode 4 but I’m still loving the show. I just found the main plot far more interesting than that children-at-war subplot. It just felt too glossed over and simplified for such an intense topic. I get that it was intended more as a vehicle for Neel’s character development (and that this is a kids show) but I was hoping for more context and weight and maybe even relevance from that whole sequence, but it never really came. And as quickly as it started, we’re back to the main plot and heading up the tower. I think Neel’s character development could have been easily written into one of the two subsequent episodes while At-Achrann just becomes a dead planet and the arrival and tower sequences gets pushed back to the ending of the previous episode. Hmm, I’m getting ideas… maybe I’ll have to attempt an edit.
Yeah, I guess it was a little glossed over - in comparison to say… last week’s episode which I though beautifully captured KB’s character and issues with her having physical limitations since her accident… in a really well executed manner. (Though thankfully Neel has been pretty cool character throughout this season, too.)
The cast is all great, the plot is keeping me invested, its fun, and it offers a different glimpse into the GFFA. This show goes right up there with Mando S1-2 and Andor for me.
Same here - something a little different and fresh; a series that also took a risk in focusing on child actors for the main plot. A well constructed show that worked hard to draw us in and makes us care for the characters and also the story… (credit and kudos to all involved). I’m really looking forward to the finale.
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The finale was pretty damn good, I must say
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The finale was pretty damn good, I must say
Same for me - really enjoyed it and the series as a whole.
Finale Spoilers…
I do wonder if the finale perhaps had an edit to it made late in the day? There were a couple of noticeable jumps (story-wise; leaving what happened to Jod so open ended, the pirate takeover of the planet seemed a little out of place / may originally have had more to it?) That is just pure speculation on my part - but may explain an otherwise a few loose strands in an otherwise tightly put together and fun adventure series.
Separate to this…
Actress Yasmine Al Massri revealed on Instagram she was cast as a Jedi in a deleted scene from Skeleton Crew - the link is to the actress’ instagram account with a gallery of 11 or so images of her in Jedi garbs on-set.
&
B-Wings rule! That is all.
Less than 100 days until Andor Season 2 (Tuesday 22nd April) 👍
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I haven’t watched this show, and it’s encouraging to read all the positive reactions. But it seems this show barely registered on this forum’s radar, judging by the extremely limited engagement in this thread. In contrast, the thread for The Acolyte (which had a mostly luke-warm or negative reception on this forum) generated like 15 pages of posts, and the Andor and Kenobi threads generated even more than that. It seems this forum is just not particularly interested in Skeleton Crew. I wonder if this is a more universal phenomenon that extends beyond this forum. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the case, because this show does not use widely-known pre-existing characters and has a very unique or niche premise for a Star Wars show.
This reminds me of a larger conversation about awareness and advertising for streaming shows. I mean, 20 years ago whenever a Hollywood film or network TV show (especially something as culturally impactful as Star Wars) was released, the marketing would be pretty much unavoidable. You would become aware of the show fairly quickly, and then be constantly reminded of its existence via an unrelenting bombardment of television commercials, movie trailers, billboards, etc. But nowadays, fewer and fewer people (particularly younger people with Disney+ subscriptions) watch cable television or go to the movie theatre, choosing instead to watch things on YouTube or other online platforms. Of course, these streaming video platforms do embed video advertisements in their content, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ad for Skeleton Crew. Perhaps there are fewer vectors available to advertisers nowadays to cost-effectively spread awareness among target audiences than there was in the past. Or perhaps the target audiences are scattered across too many different online platforms, making it difficult to cost-effectively reach them, unlike 20 years ago when everyone was watching the same television networks and seeing the same movies in theaters. This problem is probably further exacerbated by the niche premise of Skeleton Crew and the fact that its title lacks any connection to the Star Wars IP. Of course, if you already subscribe to Disney+ you’ll see new shows advertised on the home screen, but if you don’t already have Disney+ you might never become aware of new shows.
Personally, I was aware of Skeleton Crew and its Goonies-inspired premise months ago, and I subscribe to Disney+. But I still haven’t watched any episodes. I’m not even sure why. The limited promotional material and positive reviews I’ve seen simply haven’t sufficiently motivated me to actually go watch it, even though I (perhaps hypocritically) really do want to encourage the production of original shows like this that take creative risks with the Star Wars IP. That’s how you get really outstanding stuff like Andor.
I don’t have a Disney+ account anymore, but I was at least interested in the show based on the good reviews here until I saw a clip from it on Youtube and couldn’t make out what was happening because it was too dark. My actual reaction was to squint and try to make sense of it, then to shut off the video in frustration halfway through.
This specific problem isn’t limited to Star Wars shows either, I know that some of the new Star Trek shows are particularly bad in this regard, but it just makes no sense with Skeleton Crew. This is supposed to be a kid-friendly show with a lighter tone, I assume, so why bathe everything in sepulchral shadows?
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Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)