StarkillerAG

Omni said:

PixelJoker’s upcoming Kenobi edit might join the pantheon of greatest edits, we’ll see. Could also be too ambitious for its own good, but I hope not.

In my experience, ambitious ideas are only a bad thing if the editor doesn’t have the technical skills to actually pull them off. I’ve seen so many “radical prequel edits” that aimed to recast Anakin and replace all the special effects and other insane stuff, and they all crashed and burned because the editor had no idea how to actually do any of the stuff they were promising. PixelJoker doesn’t seem like that type, though: he’s clearly an insanely skilled VFX artist of the Adywan mold, and I have no doubt his edit will be released eventually (although it might take years).

I really like the idea behind the “clone” line (I think we need an explicit confirmation of how Palps survived for the movie to make sense), and the AI voice is literally seamless. But still, I get why a few people are put off by the specific phrasing. In my opinion, it isn’t the presence of the word “clone” that makes it feel awkward, but how it’s used. Putting it at the end of the sentence just feels awkward somehow, like it doesn’t really flow poetically.

So, as an alternate suggestion, how about this:
“You’re a clone, in a rotting body.”

It’s just as terse and Kylo-esque as the original, and gets the clone info across just as well, but somehow just “feels” better to my ears. Your mileage may vary, though.

Welp, looks like this is the first live-action Star Wars installment that I’ll be skipping entirely. Between my disillusionment with the recent state of the franchise, the fact that it’s a sequel to a series that I have zero passion for, and the overall lukewarm reception even from superfans, I don’t see any reason to waste my time with this. It doesn’t even sound bad enough to hate-watch.

When it comes to that scene, I remember Hal’s edit removed Jar Jar releasing the “big boomas” completely, but kept in Jar Jar landing on the droid tank with a couple trims. I think that would be the best solution: not only does it prevent you from having to recolor that one Gungan into Tarpals, but I think the droid tank works way better as a moment of levity than the “big boomas”.

EDIT: I was responding to something on the previous page, but we should probably move beyond that stuff.

I get what you guys mean. Healthy debate is always good, and I find arguing about something I like to be incredibly mentally fulfilling.

I’m mostly just sick of fans, both on this site and others, who seem to have nothing valuable to offer beyond “This sucks, Disney ruined my childhood, I just don’t care anymore”. I’m fine with criticism, but there has to be some substance to it beyond vague anger at nothing in particular. Otherwise, it sounds less like genuine debate and more like a one-sided, depressing rant.

Luckily, most people here do contribute very valuable discussion (including you, Vlad), but the comment I was responding to in the first place was exactly the kind of ranting I’m talking about. I was responding to that, not any member of the site in particular.

Vladius said:

StarkillerAG said:

I know I say this too much, but if you’re really that done with Star Wars… why are you still here? It’s pointless to come into these threads every week just to complain about how Star Wars is dead to you, and Disney are a bunch of hacks, and you just don’t care anymore. If you really don’t care, just move on. Find something you actually like.

People still talk about it because it’s fun to talk about stuff

But I can’t imagine it’s fun to talk about something that only causes you pain at this point, and that’s the way a lot of the people I was addressing there seem to react to Star Wars. I’ve said my peace, though.

Anjohan said:

Now that Pedro Pascal confirmed he’s hardly on set anymore and its mainly just voice work, it makes total sense how easy it was to sideline his character in season 3 when the actor doesn’t have to be there/doesn’t care anymore and can’t approve or disapprove of his character’s arc in person.

It’s just a very easy paid gig for him right now and I applaude it. May the mandalorian season 4 never happen and Disney fail spectacularly.

Indiana Jones might be the nail in the coffin/beginning of the end for these hacks at this point.

Everyone but a rare few are totally against them at this point, and all the legacies are exploited and ruined.

And this is what I meant when I said that you were too negative. It’s fine to constructively criticize Disney’s stuff in hopes that they’ll do better, but this just reads like you think everyone at Disney is an evil hack fraud who hates your childhood and deserves to be unemployed. They grew up with this stuff, just like you did. It’s just that some of them are making crappy choices, and that’s certainly no reason to want Kathleen Kennedy burned at the stake.

And as for you continuing to claim that Pedro was “sidelined” in Mando season 3, I fail to see how. Sure, Bo Katan was the one who actually took back Mandalore, but was there any indication that Din would be the one to do that? Bo Katan actually had a personal connection to Mandalore and its government, and a character arc that revolved around making amends for her allowing the planet to fall. There is no reason why Din should have taken her place, other than him being the main character (and a man, but let’s not talk about that). Other than that one thing, Din was still very active in the season, and it was definitely still “his show”.

I also hope they never make a season 4, though: not because I hate Kathleen Kennedy and want her to fail, but because I feel like Mando has exhausted pretty much all its storytelling capabilities by this point. Both Book of Boba and season 3 felt like they were stalling for time, in order to stretch a story that could have ended in one season into two. I sincerely hope they don’t stretch it out even further.

Wow, that is so much better than the original! Anakin and Obi-Wan actually feel likeable with all the awkward pauses and pointless bickering removed.

I especially like how you rearranged Anakin’s “we will find out who’s trying to kill you” to be a direct response to Padme. It makes it feel like Anakin is actually worried about her safety, rather than just trying to get on Obi-Wan’s nerves after he said there wasn’t going to be an investigation.

Agreed with everyone else. You can like the prequels (although we’ll sure as hell disagree with you), but you have to be willing to defend them. Asking people to watch a multi-hour video essay instead of defending the movies yourself is just laziness, especially when the multi-hour video essay features a ton of disingenuous arguments made in bad faith. Prequel fans who condescend towards anyone who disagrees with them are no better than the worst prequel hater.

of_Kaiburr_and_Whills said:

Why do people keep using the term “mid”? What’s “No cap”? What is this?

They say “mid” because it’s shorter than “mediocre” (although some people misuse it to just mean “bad”). “No cap” is one of many examples of ghetto slang co-opted by a non-ghetto audience: “Cap” means “bullshit”, basically, so “no cap” means “that’s right”. I don’t use those terms, but as a zoomer I hear them enough to know what they mean. 😉

Tantive3+1 said:

StarkillerAG said:

Tantive3+1 said:

Should Yoda be a present character within the prequels?

I feel that removing him from the PT preserves the revelation in TESB of who Yoda really is.

Personally, given that the prequels are best seen after ESB (either in Machete Order or release order), I don’t see the point. And I think pretty much everyone on Earth knows what Yoda looks like at this point anyways. 😉

Anakin Starkiller said:

First of all, you should be watching the OT first, and second of all, the Yoda reveal frankly works better when you know he’s Yoda.

Yes, but suppose you made an edit to watch the films chronologically.

First of all, why? I fail to see the point of doing something that would just create more complications. We’ve all seen the Star Wars movies already, so editing them for a nonexistent first-timer audience is unnecessary at best.

And second of all, my point about literally everyone on Earth knowing what Yoda looks like still stands. 😉

This seems like a nice game, Hal, but I think you need to rethink your jail selections. Most of the members you chose are either no longer active or completely banned.

KnightsOfRevan: Inactive
DorkSyde: Banned
vicioust1000: Inactive
Moralcrocodile: Somewhat active
Vidmaster: Active
TestingOutTheTest: Banned
YellowYoda: Somewhat active
Atom-88: Active
Master Lawdog: Active
ChernobylLiquidator86: Inactive

Tantive3+1 said:

Should Yoda be a present character within the prequels?

I feel that removing him from the PT preserves the revelation in TESB of who Yoda really is.

Personally, given that the prequels are best seen after ESB (either in Machete Order or release order), I don’t see the point. And I think pretty much everyone on Earth knows what Yoda looks like at this point anyways. 😉

I’d be up for it! Making a decent cut of AOTC is one of my top fanediting priorities, so your cut seems like a dream come true. I’d love to give some input.

Spartacus01 said:

I love the idea of Yoda not using a lightsaber until he kills the two clone troopers during Order 66.

But perhaps he could fight Dooku by only using the Force. In fact, this is exactly what I did in my edit, I eliminated the lightsaber duel, but I left the Force duel between Dooku and Yoda intact. Honestly, I’m very satisfied with the result, and if you want I can send you my edit in private, so you can copy that clip and use it in your edit.

I mean, that’s not exactly an original idea. Hal already did it to great effect in his own edit.

But I do agree with you. At least some parts of the Yoda duel should stay as the climax of the fight, otherwise it feels like something’s missing. Spence’s trims to the Anakin vs Dooku fight were very well done, but all they did was highlight how poorly choreographed the fight was in general. I wouldn’t want the climax of the movie to end on that note.

This looks awesome, Spence! It’s nice that someone besides me recognizes the core problem with the prequels, especially AOTC: they just feel bland. There’s almost no energy in the pacing at all, and removing the awkwardness that plagues almost every scene would make it much easier for me to unconditionally enjoy this trilogy. I’ll be watching this thread with great interest!

Marooned Biker Scout said:

That, and do I do hope they land this New Republic film, and whatever this “climactic story event” is. But that hope is fading if the quality and execution of stories is going to be like BoBF or the last season and a half of The Mandalorian.

Yeah, I know the feeling. It seems like the best Star Wars of the modern era is going to be the stuff that has Favreau and Filoni as far removed from production as possible. They’re both decent storytellers on their own, but they seem to feed each other’s worst impulses in a very strange way. Right now, The Acolyte, Skeleton Crew and Andor season 2 seem to be much more promising than anything “Mandoverse” related.

Mocata said:

I enjoy them a lot, though it’s not like you can recommend them to casual viewers. But at this stage I think the conversation has gone beyond them because the internet has changed so much. They did a good post-PT/partial TFA review but struggled to say anything useful about TLJ for example.

Yeah, it feels like the Plinkett style “character reviews” where the reviewer creates a persona for themselves with tons of skits and stuff have become yesterday’s fad. People just want to see someone breaking down a movie, good or bad, without any distracting gimmicks. RLM themselves ended up transitioning into that format with Half in the Bag, and it resulted in much more insightful commentary than they were ever able to achieve with Plinkett: I still use the phrase “passive progressive” that they coined in their TROS review.

Tobar said:

StarkillerAG said:

Yeah, I’m pretty much on the same page as Superweapon here. I really like 80s and 90s anime, and some 2000s anime can be pretty great too, but it’s hard for me to find an anime from the past 15 years that I can unconditionally enjoy.

There’s still good stuff being made and even getting theatrical releases in the US. If you’re interested I’d recommend looking into the films of Makoto Shinkai. Especially his last three films (Your Name, Weathering With You and Suzume). I’d also recommend others like A Silent Voice and The Bear and the Beast.

And while you do have a point about the flood of isekai and fan service. There are still outstanding series being made like Your lie in April. You just have to keep an eye out for it.

I get what you mean. When I bemoaned the current state of anime, I was referring to TV shows more than movies. If anything, anime movies have leaned much more into the “prestigious art film” thing after the massive success of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

As for the stuff you mentioned though, I’ve heard of most of them (with the exception of Bear and the Beast, I’ll have to look into that), and they don’t really do much for me. Pretty much all of Makoto Shinkai’s stuff is the exact same movie repeated over and over again: a depressed teen/college-age boy has no reason to live, until he meets a Manic Pixie Dream Girl with some sort of quirk and/or magic power, and they fall madly in love over a beautiful Technicolor backdrop while indie rock music plays in the background. Same thing with A Silent Voice and Your Lie in April. It’s probably someone else’s jam, but I have different tastes.

I’m glad he’s excited I guess, but at the same time I don’t know if making a movie in the most over-scrutinized franchise of all time is exactly the best move for Taika right now. Thor: Love and Thunder was an absolute disaster for Taika Waititi’s “brand”: people have begun to see him less as a funny guy who makes cool movies, and more as an immature manchild who doesn’t have the self-seriousness to handle a major franchise.

In my opinion, Taika needs to do what Robert Pattinson did after Twilight, and step out of the limelight for a moment. Make some good low-budget films, rebuild his image, and then, only THEN, do Star Wars and Akira and whatever else he has planned. Maybe then people will actually have confidence in him.

I know I say this too much, but if you’re really that done with Star Wars… why are you still here? It’s pointless to come into these threads every week just to complain about how Star Wars is dead to you, and Disney are a bunch of hacks, and you just don’t care anymore. If you really don’t care, just move on. Find something you actually like.

Yeah, I’m pretty much on the same page as Superweapon here. I really like 80s and 90s anime, and some 2000s anime can be pretty great too, but it’s hard for me to find an anime from the past 15 years that I can unconditionally enjoy. It’s all either cookie-cutter isekai bullcrap, or insane horniness with massive-titted women. Or both.

In my opinion, “otaku culture” crystallizing into its current, proudly degenerate form is what killed mainstream anime. It has resulted in anime moving further and further away from the interests of normal people, and more and more towards pandering to basement-dwelling masturbation addicts. There are a few shows that are still being made for a well-adjusted audience, but the vast majority is repulsive on a physical level.

Emre1601 said:

I hope we do get to see more Star Wars like this. It doesn’t all have to be the same, but more grounded, real, intelligent. A level up in quality across the whole range of qualities needed to make an engaging, compelling show.

Yeah, I hope so too. I’m not sure if Disney sees the writing on the wall, but with interest in “vanilla Star Wars” continuing to wane, and interest in gritty, nuanced prestige TV continuing to rise, moving the franchise in a more intelligent direction would be a very wise choice if they want people to keep watching their stuff. From what we’ve heard about The Acolyte and the Rey movie, it already seems like they’re trying to make Star Wars smarter, but we’ll have to see.

Mocata said:

StarkillerAG said:
the two moments that everyone says were stolen (the cavalry arriving and the “I am” one-liner) are pretty common fantasy blockbuster tropes. Those moments were pretty dumb, don’t get me wrong, but not because they were ripping off Marvel.

That’s two things too many and frankly I find it suspicious, particularly when they’ve said other things like Rey Palpatine were changed at the last minute.

But again, there’s stuff like that in a ton of blockbusters, even before Endgame. It’s just that Endgame was the main thing on people’s minds back in 2019, so people were naturally inclined to compare the two.

And the first moment I mentioned, Lando arriving with the cavalry, has been documented to have been in the movie from the very beginning: it was in Colin Trevorrow’s “Duel of the Fates” draft, written before Endgame even started filming. So that obviously couldn’t have been Endgame inspired.