ZkinandBonez

ChainsawAsh said:

I feel like I’m the only one who likes the “bleeding crystals” thing from the new canon.

I just read the first storyline of the new Darth Vader comic book series, and despite prefering the old EU, I much prefer the new crystals lore. The idea of Jedi bonding with crystals, contrasted with Sith having to force their will onto them is a great idea. It also allows for a lot of inretesting stories as all Sith must “earn” their lightsabers. They’ve basically made lightsabers a part of character development, and that’s quite ingenious in my opinion.

dahmage said:

ZkinandBonez said:

I used to think the probe-droid in ESB kept saying “needing assistance”. It’s just electronic gibberish, but I still think it sounds kind if similar.

“in need of assistance” is what i still hear to this day. even though i know it isn’t that.

Glad to hear I’m not the only one who heard it.

And it does kind of make sense as well.

I used to think the probe-droid in ESB kept saying “needing assistance” in the scene where Leia and C-3PO listens to the message/code it broadcasts to the Empire. It’s just electronic gibberish, but I still think it sounds kind if similar.

suspiciouscoffee said:

So… Gavin Darklighter’s a furry. I’ve read the first X-Wing book, and I don’t remember that, but it could come later in the series.

Yes, apparently she first appeared in the second X-Wing novel; Wedge’s Gamble

suspiciouscoffee said:

Meh, stranger things have happened in SW.

Dare I ask?

So I just finished reading the book Dark Tide I: Onslaught, and I came across a reference to the character Asyr Se’lar in one of the last chapters.

“Almost two decades ago you drove my Bothan lover, Asyr Sei’lar, to distraction, and that distraction got her killed.” - quote from Gavin Darklighter in Chapter 34.

I haven’t read the X-Wing novels, is this a thing in the EU?

I’ve heard that Lucas, back in the 70’s, joked(?) about Han having a Wookiee-wife, but I had no idea stuff like this actually happened in the EU. Was this made during a time when Bothans still look fairly human? Keep in mind that according to Wookieepedia she looks like this. Or like this? I get the feeling that none of the illustrators had any idea what to do with this information.

Mocata said:

MathUser said:

Someone in another thread asked if a Jedi or Sith ever stopped a Light Saber from starting. I’m curious about this too.

I have a teniously related thought.

So in several movies, dropping the saber makes it turn off. But why? Also in ROTJ Vader throws his, it hits the catwalk Luke is on and then turns off. What’s going on, some kinda magic powers?

Lightsabers generally require the wielder to keep the activation “button” down to keep the saber on. Once you let go it powers down. When Jedi/Sith throw the saber they use the Force to keep it activated.

The movies aren’t always consistent, but the little box on the middle is meant to activate the blade when it is pushed down while the hilt is being gripped.

MathUser said:

Someone in another thread asked if a Jedi or Sith ever stopped a Light Saber from starting. I’m curious about this too.

In Dark Empire Palpatine blows up a lightsaber hilt with the Force. However, that’s the closest I can recall just from memory. Of course Vader (even in the movies) used the Force to activate his lightsaber slower than normal to make himself look intimidating, so it shouldn’t be outside the realm of possibilities.

You could always go through the Force power list on Wookieepedia if you’re patient enough; http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force_power/Legends

moviefreakedmind said:

Hardcore Legend said:

People saying Vader was fan service in RO: wasn’t he originally supposed to have all of Tarkin’s scenes before they gave the go-ahead for the CGI? I think he originally had a much larger role.

Plus, I think he fit just fine in the film. I actually think, unlike the ST, RO gets better with each viewing.

His appearance in itself wouldn’t be fan service if he did something of value to the plot. Mon Mothma and Jimmy Smits weren’t fan service. They had a tangible purpose in the film. I’d have much preferred Vader to the cartoon Tarkin though. His lightsaber battle actually might have been better had he been built up in the film itself and not just thrown in there under the assumption that he’s the most badassest villain in the galaxy.

You could argue that RO has a little bonus 4th act after the death of the new main characters to bridge the film to ANH. And the final Vader scene does add an extra obstacle at the very end when you think the battle is won. Sure, it’s hardly detrimental to the final film, but it does allow RO to end with a burst of action and suspense after the main story has been wrapped up. SW movies can’t just be movies anymore, there’s too much lore. If the escape of the Tantive IV had been omitted I’m sure people would have complained about that too.

LuckyGungan2001 said:

ZkinandBonez said:

ray_afraid said:

Those Tsuyoshi Nagano’s are really great. Thanks for posting, ZkinandBonez.
They make me wanna read those books. And I might!

Well, I’m about halfway through the second book in the New Jedi Order series now, and I’ve been enjoying them quite a lot so far. The Yuuzhan Vong are pretty interesting, I think, as long as you put yourself in the mind-set that these aren’t classical SW stories.

Yeah I’ve almost finished the last book (taken me a year to finally get through this huge series), and it’s definitely not the same tone as the films, which is why I love it.

Exactly. Just like with Dark Empire, I love how the old EU dared to take chances and fiddle with the genre & the atmosphere of several stories/plot-lines.

ray_afraid said:

Those Tsuyoshi Nagano’s are really great. Thanks for posting, ZkinandBonez.
They make me wanna read those books. And I might!

Well, I’m about halfway through the second book in the New Jedi Order series now, and I’ve been enjoying them quite a lot so far. The Yuuzhan Vong are pretty interesting, I think, as long as you put yourself in the mind-set that these aren’t classical SW stories.

Isn’t this film supposed to cover several years of Han’s life?

I think Kennedy or Iger said something like that a while back.

LuckyGungan2001 said:

ZkinandBonez said:

*Tsuyoshi Nagano book cover art ranging from 1997 - 2004.

(This is by no means all of them, just some of my favourites.)

New Republic books source
New Jedi Order books source
PT books source

(Images removed due to space)

Oh yeah I love these. They make me wish the American covers were better, but instead we got stuff like this:

or this:

I’m currently reading the NJO books with the American covers, and yes, some of them leave much to be desired. If I ever get to re-visut Japan I’m definitely going to try to get some of the Nagano covers for my collection.

However, the NJO book covers weren’t all boring photoshops, some of them, especially those made by Terese Nielsen, I think are pretty good. Nagano even used some of them as reference for his own covers.

And I like the simplicity of these two;

Tsuyoshi Nagano book cover art ranging from 1997 - 2004.

(This is by no means all of them, just some of my favourites.)

New Republic books source
New Jedi Order books source
PT books source

Mocata said:

Huh.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/more-solo-reshoots-on-the-way/

“Once again, Solo: A Star Wars Story is undergoing some additional photography. Now, before anyone panics, bear in mind that this new round of filming is stated to be pick-ups to aid in the post-production process and not a significant overhaul of the existing movie.”

Source: https://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2018/01/solo-a-star-wars-story-expected-to-film-pick-up-shots-in-the-next-few-weeks.html

MathUser said:

Well, another forum I was on just said the ROTS novel says that Emperor wasn’t disfigured by his lighting but the lighting made him drop the illusion and his real look came out. So it looks like I might have been right about Emporer being a different species after all, also there is this:

Possibly more members of his species.

Though I do prefer the idea that the Force lightning revealed his true self instead of scarring him, I’m not too sure about Palpatine being an alien. That doesn’t really fit in with his, and the Empire’s, poor treatment of non-humans. I do seem to remember the ROTJ novelization saying that Palpatine’s appearance was due to him being corrupted by the Dark Side. So it makes sense that his “old” look is his true Dark-side corrupted self and that he made himself look younger to tric the Jedi and the senate, but him being alien seems a bit weird and inconsistent to me. Also his advisers just look old to me, not melted like Palpatine does, and it’s not impossible that they too are Dark-side users to some degree.

Even more Lego set photos revealed, incl. more character names.

https://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2018/01/more-lego-star-wars-solo-toys-arrive-revealing-closer-look-at-new-cast.html

Tobar said:

Someone was able to get the character names off those Lego sets.

“Han Solo (Imperial Disquise) & Tobias Beckett (Imperial Disquise)”

This could end up being a funny little nod to ANH. Was it ever established who’s idea it was to disguise themselves as stormtroopers? I always got the idea that it was Han’s idea.

Also, wasn’t Rey originally supposed to be called Kira? I guess Qi-Ra (Emilia Clarke’s character) is meant to be a nod to that.

I originally had very little interest in RO and it ended up being my favourite Disney SW movie so far, so I’m cautiously optimistic about Solo.

Like with RO I think a lot of people will get more positive about this movie once the trailer comes out.

So I just got a Youtube ad for HBO Nordic about showing the OT and PT films and I noticed that the colours on the OT clips looked quite normal. I haven’t actually watched the official blu-ray version, but aren’t ANH pretty weird-looking colour-wise? In the Despecialized Edition comparison video ANH has a purple hue to it. The same clip of Leia talking to Vader on the Tantive IV that was used for the comparison was in this promo/trailer and it looked quite normal. There was a shot at the end showing the DS explosion with the Praxis effect, so they were obviously SE clips (not that I expected anything else). So has there been an “improved” release of the SE OT recently or am I just imagining things?

Wolfman said:

You may want to check this out. Only hardcover at the moment.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Collection-Omnibus-Legends/dp/1302908200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514294637&sr=8-1&keywords=marvel+star+wars+uk

Neat. Are the stories without colour like they were originally, or have they been coloured?

Either way, I already have the “Wild Space” version and $70 is a bit much for me right now.

My SW-related Christmas gifts this year.

(Many people on this forum has recommended against me reading 'Vector Prime", but to be honest, the more weird stuff I hear about it, the more I want to read it.)

suspiciouscoffee said:

One of my gifts today was the second trade volume of the original Marvel comics, and included is a story from the UK weekly series that was never printed in the US. It takes place immediately after the original movie, and shows Leia giving Chewie his medal later in the ceremony. I’m happy.

I’m just curious, which omnibus includes the UK stories? I bought this one a few years back, which at the time was the only place you could get those stories. Are they now included in the “Original Marvel Years” books?

So I’ve been getting kinda curious about the New Jedi Order series. Yes, I know that most fans don’t like them, heck even many of the SW authors themselves don’t seem to think too much of them. But I do regardless feel like picking up Vector Prime just for the sake of having experienced it.

So, is Vector Prime passable, just as a curiosity, or should I avoid any of these books like the plague? I’m also wondering how Vector Prime works on its own? I have no intentions of reading the entire New Jedi Order series, but I am intrigued enough to actually spend money on buying the first book in the series, if only for the sake of having it in my collection.

Despite their weirdness and ‘deviation’ from what would become established SW tropes and lore, I still think the original Marvel SW comics from 1977-1986 (especially the Goodwin/Infantino ones) feel like SW. The lightsaber colours may be wrong, and Star Destroyers have “warp-speed”, but the narratives and the characters felt like they belonged in the SW universe.

Despite not liking TPM, I do think it feels like a SW movie. I often joke that about TPM saying that out of the three PT films it does have the redeeming feature of being a bad SW movie. AOTC and ROTS, barely, if at all, feel like SW to me.

My ranking of the films based on how much I enjoy them (or in the case of the PT, how much I can tolerate them):

ESB/ANH
ROTJ/RO
TLJ/TFA
(----)
TPM/ROTS
AOTC

On a more critical list the only real differences would be that ESB is above ANH, RO below ROTJ, and TLJ would probably be a bit higher up. I still haven’t gotten around to re-watch TLJ so it might go further up on both lists in the future.