canofhumdingers

ken-obi said:

crissrudd4554 said:

Tonight I finally noticed something that answers a question that’s bugged me literally EVERY time I’ve watched ESB until now. After Luke flies out the window I’ve constantly asked myself “how did he get his lightsaber back??” when he confronts Vader again. Well I finally got the answer. The lightsaber landed just a few feet away from where Luke pulls himself onto the platform. Never realized this until now.

Huh. That is a pretty cool spot. Is that an image from the 2019 version?

Even if that image is from a more recent edition, the lightsaber’s been there since opening day in 1980.

Are we taking bets on whether we’ll see that awful helicopter nonsense with the spinning (that’s a good trick!) saber?

Omni said:

Anakin Starkiller said:

Stardust1138 said:

Now we’ll never get the canon story of how Luke ended up after ROTJ.

Its like Bond just getting his license to kill and then we never get to see anymore movies.

That’s just patently false. We’ve had two different continuities exploring what happens after, and just because it wasn’t written by the original author doesn’t mean it’s not canon. Besides, Lucas never even wrote TESB or RotJ.

Lucas wrote all six movies he was involved in.

Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt would probably disagree with you.

Really? Huh. I always thought spinning was a good trick.

I’m no expert on vfx but I have to believe it’s at least in part because ILM already did the lion’s share of the work and you tubers are just touching up what already exists. Plus the YouTube clips are usually just a few seconds or one shot vs doing a whole episode or scene

I loved chapter 5. Chapter 6 was quite uneven but still one of the more enjoyable episodes of this show. Luke looked surprisingly great most of the time. The lip movements were still odd when he talked and the voice was hit or miss to me. And it made no sense for him to adhere to the “no attachments” dogma of the old Jedi (surely they have a plan to explain this? Right?) but overall it was cool to see Luke building his school and training Grogu.

Maybe I’m just too stuck in old pre-Disney lore but wasn’t Han running spice for Jabba? And now all of a sudden spice running is a big no-no on Tatooine? I feel like they haven’t given enough explanation about why this is such a contentious issue. Especially in a lawless, crime-lord controlled place where drug running seems like it’d be par for the course. And what little they have given us seems to indicate it’s more than just a turf war type of problem. Fett and Vanth both clearly don’t want spice anywhere near their territory. But we don’t know why.

I agree with pretty much ALL the complaints about this show. For me the two biggest issues are 1) Fett himself not being decisive or tough enough and 2) the overall disjointed writing and editing of the show.

But I’m starting to accept it for what it is (a subpar, poorly planned/written show with some really cool stuff sprinkled throughout) and just enjoying the good bits. It’s still more fun to watch than the prequels or sequels.

Wow, I actually kinda like that cover art. Except they just had to go and use the awful ROTS Vader on the OT box. 🙄 I guess it must just be really hard to track down any photos of an OT Vader in the lucasfilm archives.

4th episode was better but still has major issues. Boba continues to be a moron who needs Fennic’s guidance to actually get anything done. Going back to the sarlacc could’ve made sense is he was just going to the area to search for his armor. Poking his entire ship into the hole? How stupid is he?! And as others have mentioned, he used his armor to escape. Why would he still think it’s in the hole? Why wouldn’t he be looking for it around the wreck and the dunes?

Mods still look like something from Doctor Who and feel jarringly out of place. The thing is, they could totally work if handled just a little differently. Much like so many parts of the prequels, the idea of people intentionally modding themselves with droid parts could feel very much in line with Star Wars, but the execution just kills it. If their designs were more simplified, homebrew, and analogue rather than sleek and high tech I think this subculture could work. Their droid parts should be rusty and outdated looking, not so modern and shiny. Star Wars does have a long history of cybernetically enhancing humans, after all.

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed Black Krrsantan. I guess I’m just a total sucker for a big Wookiee! But did anyone catch why he hated the trandoshan? Was that explained and I missed it or did the show not give a reason for his hate?

ZkinandBonez said:

canofhumdingers said:

I think a big issue I have with Boba Fett’s characterization here is that he keeps saying he’s the ruler (daimyo) and that he wants to rule with respect, but he shows almost zero leadership in pretty much every situation where leadership, strength, and decisiveness are needed or appropriate (especially if he wants to establish himself as the guy in charge).

When people complain he seems too weak, it’s not because of his success or failure in battle. It’s his absolutely wishy-washy lack of any real leadership skills.

There’s a such thing as “tough but fair” which is what Fett needs to be (and I think what we all anticipated). But so far he really isn’t.

And it’s especially jarring since that is the characterization we saw with his appearances in Mando and it was fantastic.

I don’t get this, are you saying he was a good leader in his appearances in The Mandalorian season 2? Because I don’t see it. He ordered Fennec around a bit, but that’s about it. They served as temporary killers for hire as they (or rather just Fett) owed Din a debt. Fett was briefly doing what he’s always done, kill for someone else, though obviously for a noble cause this time. Now in BOBF he’s trying to run a small criminal empire (though that’s probably just a facade for an ulterior motive) which involved a entirely different set of skills.

No, the lack of leadership is a general complaint about the way his character is written on this show specifically. Although his indecisiveness plays a huge part in that lack of leadership and that particular aspect (indecision) does run contrary to what we saw in Mando.

But what I was really referring to with my last paragraph was the tough-but-fair issue. In Mando he seemed to be going down a path of becoming like a typical John Wayne character: tough as nails and harsh on the surface, but with a deep sense of loyalty, respect, and true kindness (not surface politeness, but the kind of guy who would sacrifice anything to help someone he deemed worthy of that help). The kind of guy who would exhibit “tough love” like immediately throwing a kid in a lake upon finding out the kid hasn’t learned how to swim yet.

But the Fett we’re getting comes across as MUCH softer than that. Too much, IMO (and apparently plenty of others). We were hoping for a grittier, rougher “nice guy”. And it’s worth noting despite his desire to be nice and respectful, he is still trying to be an organized crime boss!! He just seems too soft, indecisive, and lacking in leadership to succeed in that role so far.

I think a big issue I have with Boba Fett’s characterization here is that he keeps saying he’s the ruler (daimyo) and that he wants to rule with respect, but he shows almost zero leadership in pretty much every situation where leadership, strength, and decisiveness are needed or appropriate (especially if he wants to establish himself as the guy in charge).

When people complain he seems too weak, it’s not because of his success or failure in battle. It’s his absolutely wishy-washy lack of any real leadership skills.

There’s a such thing as “tough but fair” which is what Fett needs to be (and I think what we all anticipated). But so far he really isn’t.

And it’s especially jarring since that is the characterization we saw with his appearances in Mando and it was fantastic.

Mrebo said:

Black Krrsantan

Why does everyone call him that? Are there other Krrsantans?

Because that’s his name. Or at least that’s how it was made out to be in the comics.

Yep episode 3 was rough. Big chunks of if felt more like a crappy episode of Doctor Who than a Star Wars show.

But the biggest issue for me is Boba Fett just seems like a moron. I have no problem with character growth or a change of heart. But you don’t magically go from being a calculating man of action (who’s both fearsome enough to talk back to Darth Vader and successful enough to be “the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy”) to suddenly needing your assistant to make all your decisions and tell you how everything works and being dumb enough to watch the majordomo guy walk away and close the door in your face when he’s clearly been giving you the run around. And then going and pushing the open button like that was ever going to work!?

I had no problem believing Boba Fett in The Mandalorian was the same guy we saw in ESB but with additional growth (the fact he saw through helping Mando even after he already got what he wanted). But the way he’s written in this show feels like an entirely different (and stupider) person, not someone who’s grown or had a change of heart.

Enough complaining, I’ll end on a positive note:

Black Krrsantan (sp?) was awesome. Loved every moment he was on screen.

I also liked that Boba was into his new pet rancor. Even bad guys like their pets!

Definitely enjoyed this episode more. It was a little derivative of standard tropes, but Star Wars is derivative to its very core and origin so that’s fine.

I particularly liked the callback to Lawrence of Arabia when the Tuskens were looting the train after they conquered it. Those scenes always stuck with me and it worked very well in this story too.

Honestly my only complaint is something about the cinematography felt cheap and “made for tv” in a negative way. Didn’t ruin it for me but it definitely isn’t as good cinematography as Mando or some of the marvel series they’ve put out.

RicOlie_2 said:

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.

I agree, that felt off. Especially since Boba was particularly ruthless and fearsome in his recent appearances in Mando. I was expecting more of that persona (which jives more with the Clint Eastwood feel Boba has always exuded) than this much more timid version we saw.

I also kept wondering why he didn’t just fly out with his jet pack when they were surrounded by the electro-shield guys. Like, it was such an obvious choice it felt really dumb for him NOT to.

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.

It’s also worth noting that camera angles and especially lens distortion have a tremendous impact on how a helmet (or person or anything really) looks on screen.

Case in point:

These are both me in the same helmet on the same day. Photos taken within seconds of each other. (I zoomed and cropped just to focus on the helmet, but I didn’t manipulate the vertical or horizontal stretch. This is exactly how the photos appeared when taken).

I like the graphical upgrades, but they lost me when they said they removed the function of higher turn rates at lower throttle (I.e speed) settings. That was a major function of gameplay and made the combat way more “real”. I know these are fictional spacecraft, but their flight mechanics rely HEAVILY on established real-world aircraft (particular WW2 to Vietnam era aircraft since that’s the reference that was available when the OT was made). And those real world aircraft have this thing called “cornering speed”. It’s the speed at which a fighter can make its tightest turn at the highest g-load it’s designed to sustain. Any speed above or below that speed results in a wider turn. ALSO, higher speed turns result in higher aerodynamic forces and less maneuverability (often a LOT less). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Point being an aircraft’s speed has a direct and significant impact on its maneuverability and turning radius. The game’s throttle-setting-to-turning-rate function was a decent compromise between adding a meaningful real world physics element while also maintaining a more simplified and accessible flight model to the game play. Removing it seems unnecessary and, IMO, is an oversimplification that will remove an extra layer of immersion into the simulated galaxy.

Nilbog said:

I wonder if the prints were since scanned in 4K at the LOC?

In all honesty, probably not. The LOC is a phenomenal institution and the value of work they do preserving our knowledge, history, and art can NOT be overstated.

However, they are a government institution and subject to all the bureaucracy, politics, funding, and budget constraints typical of such governmental trappings.

Private corporations and even private individuals generally have newer, better, more advanced tools and technology at their disposal.

With the exception of classified and/or legally unobtainable military tech, the wealthy private sector almost ALWAYS has better stuff than the government. And film preservation is not any different.

Though I will say the cold storage film vaults of the LOC are top notch (mostly because they were built and donated by a wealthy member of the Packard family - as in Hewlitt Packard) and thus it’s name: the Packard Campus.

Oh they have Joh. They have copyright deposits of the ‘97 SEs too. I didn’t spend much time with them but they were all very clearly brand new prints sent directly to the LOC after being struck. Pristine condition.

The LOC does not have a technicolor print. They have copyright deposit prints on the standard film stock used for each regular printing of the OT films. I don’t have time to retype the whole story again but a number of years ago I was able to visit the film storage vault in Culpepper, VA and see the prints in person.

Star Wars looked like a regular release print that had been shown in theaters prior to being sent to the LOC and had all the usual wear and tear of a theatrical release print. It was faded to a light pink but still had enough color info for the telecine operator to color correct it with relative ease.

ESB also looked like a release print and was sadly as red as a cherry, though with today’s tools you could probably still pull out decent colors.

ROTJ looked brand new like it was struck yesterday. No noticeable print damage and beautiful vibrant colors.

The prints have since been elevated to a preservation status that means it’s basically impossible for the public to access the actual prints anymore. The author of that article above saw a copy of Star Wars that was made via a 2K telecine which was completed sometime after my visit (it was in a pipeline of upcoming projects when I was there). It’s my understanding anyone can go to the LOC in D.C. (not the film storage facility) and request to view that copy but you have to sit and watch it there on whatever player they provide. Which, honestly, is rather pointless these days with the existence of 4K77.

The copyright deposit print for ROTJ at the LOC is absolutely not in rough shape. The portions I got to see in person looked brand new. Great colors and virtually no print damage. It’s likely that, unlike Star Wars and ESB (which seem to have been release prints that were later sent to the LOC copyright depository) ROTJ was a newly struck print sent straight to the LOC.

On one hand, I very much want to see a 1983 film where Boba Fett is the main villain and the entire film is just about the heroes rescuing Han from him.

On the other hand, I question how well a sequel like that would be received after the intense drama and cliffhanger ending of Luke and Vader’s duel in ESB. Would audiences have been willing to wait until further films to have that plot continued or resolved?

You know what I’m really enjoying? How new Star Wars content is so fun and exciting that it’s making us speculate and come up with our own stories to fill in the gaps/backstory. It feels like the old days (when Star Wars was only three movies) speculating about what these mysterious “clone wars” must’ve been like, how Obi-wan beat Anakin on a volcano, or how Han escaped the Imperial Academy and rescued Chewie. While I’ve enjoyed a lot of the new Star Wars content, I haven’t felt like this in a long time.

Nah, helmets are really cool but they also require a LOT of display space. I’m happy with just the “big three” from the original trilogy. I don’t really see myself ever wanting more Star Wars helmets.

I could maybe see adding a Luke Skywalker pilot helmet one day. But that’s a pretty big maybe. I’m very content with what I’ve got.

So I had this thought back when Mando Season 2 aired but never discussed it. With Book of Boba Fett coming soon I’ve been thinking about it more:

Bo Katan makes a point that totally works as a retcon that has actually helped me accept the prequel version of Boba Fett as “canon” (for what that’s worth) and allows me to continue enjoying the OOT as the only version of the original trilogy, even as it tied in to the prequels and all the Disney content.

Basically, Bo Katan immediately recognizes Fett as a clone the second she hears his voice. It’s logical to assume MANY people would recognize the clone voice (even if it doesn’t really make sense that they would all have the same accent). It makes absolute sense that he would disguise his voice (and keep his face hidden) during Imperial times, especially around someone as prominent as Vader, for a multitude of reasons.

And it also makes reasonable sense that he would drop the secrecy by the time of Mando with the Empire having fallen.

Anyway, all that’s to say the version of Fett in the OOT (with the original Jason Wingreen voice) works perfectly fine (if not better, honestly) with the overall story of Fett as presented in current official media. It’s a small thing, but one I greatly appreciate. And I kinda suspect it’s intentional on some level.