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Originally posted by: Nobody
The original Star Wars is a very classically and carefully structured piece of cinema, and it's definitely told from the droid's viewpoint. I think that ideal was much looser in the following two movies, so I'd say it's a stretch that the whole saga is from their point-of-view, but they're obviously a presence throughout.
Episode IV definitely shows it from their point of view to a greater extent. I agree with that. Although done more loosely in the next movies, it is still the baseline, no doubt.
Artoo and/or Threepio are always present or nearby with the heroes. I really liked how this carried on over to the Prequel Trilogy. What do you think of the irony of R2-D2 going with Anakin to Mustafar where he essentially becomes the mechanical Darth Vader we had all been waiting for?
That thought never did occur to me. Wouldn't that be strange to watch Episode IV, the original Star Wars and go "Hey, Threepio belonged to Anakin and Artoo was a close favorite astromech droid of Padme!" And Luke first seeing the two droids together, not even knowing how closely linked they are to his origins!
Keep in mind I did switch that ownership around to the canon ownerships, because I simply can't bend my mind around your fixation with having Threepio working for Amidala. I mean I can start to imagine it, but then the whole storyline of the saga starts to unfocus, and I just don't think it could ever work out that way.
For one thing, Padme and Threepio simply wouldn't get along being around one another all the time like you want. There are friends/companions out there with very different personalities from one another, yes, but I can only imagine those two getting on one another's nerves. For an example of this, look at how Leia and Threepio get along in the Original Trilogy. Leia is a lot different from her mother Padme but they really have the same temperament!
Originally posted by: Nobody
You know, I'm sure you can find a way to explain any of his actions, but it didn't come across to me on the screen. It's not that he wasn't emotional enough, or the scene wasn't emotional enough - it's just the emotions seemed contrived... they seemed inconsistent. But I don't want to debate this subject much, because it could go on forever, and I think it's off-topic here.
The original Star Wars is a very classically and carefully structured piece of cinema, and it's definitely told from the droid's viewpoint. I think that ideal was much looser in the following two movies, so I'd say it's a stretch that the whole saga is from their point-of-view, but they're obviously a presence throughout.
Episode IV definitely shows it from their point of view to a greater extent. I agree with that. Although done more loosely in the next movies, it is still the baseline, no doubt.
Artoo and/or Threepio are always present or nearby with the heroes. I really liked how this carried on over to the Prequel Trilogy. What do you think of the irony of R2-D2 going with Anakin to Mustafar where he essentially becomes the mechanical Darth Vader we had all been waiting for?
Originally posted by: Nobody
But, regarding Anakin's involvement, it only makes sense to me that he might have built Artoo. It's not real science that matters here, it's movie logic. Although both robots are technically complex, it is because of Artoo's personality that he speaks much more highly of Anakin's abilities.
Artoo is unique and whoever did create him undoubtedly put special twists and turns in the little droid's programming. That is not really a matter of opinion, it is a matter of a fact. No other astromech stands out in the galaxy and story as much as Artoo.
But at the same time it was the protocol droid who knew all the languages, was cynical of everything and everyone, and stumbled into danger where he didn't mean to. That I think reflects Anakin's own personality a bit more. A cynical, well-intentioned, sometimes oblivious personality. Artoo and Anakin, while there are parallels, I simply don't see it to the extent that I do with Threepio and Anakin.
I see so many people argue and fight about The Phantom Menace not contributing enough to the overall plot of the saga. Your version of the story how would've liked it, sounds almost like it is a side-story that wouldn't contribute, unless for instance you made Jabba a main villain ride beside Darth Maul. The reason for TPM being like it is with the escape from Naboo, was that they needed to pass through the blockade.
That blockade was initiated by the Trade Federation, which was being used like a pawn by Darth Sidious: that is a major role in his becoming Supreme Chancellor, because it creates doubt in the senate of the current Chancellor's collective wisdom.
Save for AOTC, there's very few useless moments. It's scenes like those, with the repairing of the Naboo cruiser that contribute to the overall picture. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan needed to escape in order to ever end up meeting Anakin.
And while I can see your version as possibly adequate, if contributing to the whole saga as an entity, I think it was handled great as is. Seriously. If anything was well thought out in the aspect of small, seemingly useless scenes, it is the whole Naboo/Trade Federation/Darth Sidious arc. Before Revenge of the Sith I can't blame someone for saying it all was for nothing. But now we have all the proof and back-up that we need to say "Hey this actually does make sense from the overall picture of things."
Originally posted by: Nobody
And what about Threepio? He's easy. As a protocol droid, he fits nicely into any official hospitality capacity, of which there are plenty, since the prequels deal with so many politicians. It was nice meeting a counter-part of his right off the bat, and frankly, I was expecting to see many more. For instance, you know who could probably use such a droid in their employ, but was conspicuously missing one? Amidala. So, that's my answer: Threepio works for Amidala. Which means we meet him in Naboo, and he's been along with the main characters the whole time. Probably we first see him on the escape ship - it would make sense for him to be stationed there, since it's sortof Naboo's Air Force One. Again, the movie logic side of my brain really likes this idea, because it means one droid belongs to Anakin, and the other to Padme. Nice and symmetrical.
But, regarding Anakin's involvement, it only makes sense to me that he might have built Artoo. It's not real science that matters here, it's movie logic. Although both robots are technically complex, it is because of Artoo's personality that he speaks much more highly of Anakin's abilities.
Artoo is unique and whoever did create him undoubtedly put special twists and turns in the little droid's programming. That is not really a matter of opinion, it is a matter of a fact. No other astromech stands out in the galaxy and story as much as Artoo.
But at the same time it was the protocol droid who knew all the languages, was cynical of everything and everyone, and stumbled into danger where he didn't mean to. That I think reflects Anakin's own personality a bit more. A cynical, well-intentioned, sometimes oblivious personality. Artoo and Anakin, while there are parallels, I simply don't see it to the extent that I do with Threepio and Anakin.
Originally posted by: Nobody
And that doesn't require taking the heroic repair job away from him. That scene was obviously contrived to introduce him, so it could simply be contrived at a different spot. A flock of robots driving out onto the hull to fix a severed wire is a little silly anyway. Imagine this instead: the ship is damaged, and either they have no droids, or none can fix it, and that's why they have to land. On Tatooine they meet Artoo, who comes with. NOW something goes wrong. They could be attacked again - could be Trade goons, or maybe Jabba discovered them and sent his own cronies (interesting chance to see another culture's space tech)- or maybe Obi-Wan is simply a lousy mechanic and his upgrades break. My vote is that Maul is after them, and Obi-wan didn't get the hyperdrive working right, and Anakin and Artoo work together to get it running in time - probably requiring Artoo's spacewalk. Makes them both look good.
And that doesn't require taking the heroic repair job away from him. That scene was obviously contrived to introduce him, so it could simply be contrived at a different spot. A flock of robots driving out onto the hull to fix a severed wire is a little silly anyway. Imagine this instead: the ship is damaged, and either they have no droids, or none can fix it, and that's why they have to land. On Tatooine they meet Artoo, who comes with. NOW something goes wrong. They could be attacked again - could be Trade goons, or maybe Jabba discovered them and sent his own cronies (interesting chance to see another culture's space tech)- or maybe Obi-Wan is simply a lousy mechanic and his upgrades break. My vote is that Maul is after them, and Obi-wan didn't get the hyperdrive working right, and Anakin and Artoo work together to get it running in time - probably requiring Artoo's spacewalk. Makes them both look good.
I see so many people argue and fight about The Phantom Menace not contributing enough to the overall plot of the saga. Your version of the story how would've liked it, sounds almost like it is a side-story that wouldn't contribute, unless for instance you made Jabba a main villain ride beside Darth Maul. The reason for TPM being like it is with the escape from Naboo, was that they needed to pass through the blockade.
That blockade was initiated by the Trade Federation, which was being used like a pawn by Darth Sidious: that is a major role in his becoming Supreme Chancellor, because it creates doubt in the senate of the current Chancellor's collective wisdom.
Save for AOTC, there's very few useless moments. It's scenes like those, with the repairing of the Naboo cruiser that contribute to the overall picture. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan needed to escape in order to ever end up meeting Anakin.
And while I can see your version as possibly adequate, if contributing to the whole saga as an entity, I think it was handled great as is. Seriously. If anything was well thought out in the aspect of small, seemingly useless scenes, it is the whole Naboo/Trade Federation/Darth Sidious arc. Before Revenge of the Sith I can't blame someone for saying it all was for nothing. But now we have all the proof and back-up that we need to say "Hey this actually does make sense from the overall picture of things."
Originally posted by: Nobody
And what about Threepio? He's easy. As a protocol droid, he fits nicely into any official hospitality capacity, of which there are plenty, since the prequels deal with so many politicians. It was nice meeting a counter-part of his right off the bat, and frankly, I was expecting to see many more. For instance, you know who could probably use such a droid in their employ, but was conspicuously missing one? Amidala. So, that's my answer: Threepio works for Amidala. Which means we meet him in Naboo, and he's been along with the main characters the whole time. Probably we first see him on the escape ship - it would make sense for him to be stationed there, since it's sortof Naboo's Air Force One. Again, the movie logic side of my brain really likes this idea, because it means one droid belongs to Anakin, and the other to Padme. Nice and symmetrical.
That thought never did occur to me. Wouldn't that be strange to watch Episode IV, the original Star Wars and go "Hey, Threepio belonged to Anakin and Artoo was a close favorite astromech droid of Padme!" And Luke first seeing the two droids together, not even knowing how closely linked they are to his origins!
Keep in mind I did switch that ownership around to the canon ownerships, because I simply can't bend my mind around your fixation with having Threepio working for Amidala. I mean I can start to imagine it, but then the whole storyline of the saga starts to unfocus, and I just don't think it could ever work out that way.
For one thing, Padme and Threepio simply wouldn't get along being around one another all the time like you want. There are friends/companions out there with very different personalities from one another, yes, but I can only imagine those two getting on one another's nerves. For an example of this, look at how Leia and Threepio get along in the Original Trilogy. Leia is a lot different from her mother Padme but they really have the same temperament!
Originally posted by: Nobody
You know, I'm sure you can find a way to explain any of his actions, but it didn't come across to me on the screen. It's not that he wasn't emotional enough, or the scene wasn't emotional enough - it's just the emotions seemed contrived... they seemed inconsistent. But I don't want to debate this subject much, because it could go on forever, and I think it's off-topic here.
Nobody, it might be getting a bit off-topic. But I might like to have an explanation of what you mean by inconsistent. Emotions of turmoil can't all be the same from day to day or Star Wars movie to Star Wars movie ....emotions are like a storm, and they are always going up and down. Especially with Anakin Skywalker.
