Finished watching Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and overall, it was pretty good. I found the first half rather uninteresting but the final hour was very good. I think it's really cool to see these side stories that explain the things that happened in between the main movies.
Not to mention that I've unintentionally prepared myself for the upcoming Star Wars Andor TV show as I had no idea it's a prequel to Rogue One, so that was a nice surprise.
I'm saving all the TV shows until I'm done with the movies (except for The Mandalorian which I've already watched). So now I only have Solo left to watch and then I can start watching The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi and of course Andor, all of which I'm very much looking forward to.
@RR529 I've done a quick Google and yeah, it looks like Scavengers are pretty useless until you've completed a story mission which introduces their abilities. This'll either happen with Wicket in Return of the Jedi or, if you jump ahead, Rey in The Force Awakens. Some folks even seem to suggest that their Scavengers were still locked until they'd completed the entire episode, as well.
Seems a bit cheeky, considering how much you're encouraged to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. If you play through in episode order, you can't grab any Scavenger kyber bricks in any of the hub worlds until you're well past the game's halfway point. That's kinda nuts!
Also, whilst we're here, I saw you and @ThereThere discussing Obi-Wan in the TV topic, and I would have to agree that some scenes were visually darker than I'd have personally liked. I could still see most of what was going on, and I get the stylistic choice (lightsaber duels in the dark instantly become 100% more dramatic, with faces briefly illuminated and whatnot) but there's definitely a growing trend towards "true" darkness in modern movies and shows. Perhaps because it's expected that more and more people are buying HDR screens? If so, I think that's more than a little unfair.
Obi-Wan itself ended up being pretty great overall. It did everything I wanted it to do, but not in the way I'd have done it. That's okay, though. I'm not one of those people who'll say something's bad just because it didn't agree with my expectations. You're right, there was quite a bit of padding early on, which made the finale sting when it rushed through some of the beats I was most looking forward to.
Still, comparatively speaking, it's been one of the highlights of Disney's Star Wars output. I'm choosing to be cautiously optimistic about Andor, but The Bad Batch remains my reason to live.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@ThereThere Yeah, my fancy tellybox did what it was supposed to do, but I'm somebody who's not the biggest fan of HDR to begin with anyway. I prefer my colour and brightness to look artificial, so whilst it's a personal preference thing with me, it's a hardware shortcoming for others.
I totally understand where you're coming from, with regards feeling swamped by content at the moment. I'm really having to get selective about what I watch, what services I subscribe to, etc. and arguably it's made TV and movies closer to gaming, because there's no way in heck I could buy and play every major game year on year, either. It sounds like you got plenty of good stuff from Obi-Wan, and will think fondly of it in the grand scheme of things, but I'm still sorry to hear that it was an ice cream scoop too far for you. Thinking about this year alone, we've had Boba Fett, we've had Obi-Wan, we're about to have Andor and The Bad Batch... and that's just one specific tab, on one specific streaming service! Don't get me started on how far behind I am with all the new Marvel shows!
Saw an ad for Paramount+ earlier today, and I just shook my head at it. It's too much!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@LN78 Because almost all of the media I consume isn't just fictional, it's also fantastical. If you try and make something like Star Wars look "real" then it ends up looking silly instead. It's an incredibly minor problem that I've had with a lot of the Disney+ live action shows because, on occasion, they can start to look like a bunch of fans dressed in semi-decent cosplay, shot by a soap opera's crew. Dialling everything up to eleven and making it look like a cartoon does something useful to my brain, and I stop noticing the seams, at least during an initial viewing. It's totally a "me" problem, though.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger You're right - a lot of the Disney+ live action content (Marvel and Lucasfilm both) that I've seen looks really cheap. Difficult to fathom why, given the budgets and technical prowess that these outfits have at their disposal.
@LN78 I mean, Obi-Wan had some truly stunning "event" shots, which really made an impact, but then it'd show some Stormtroopers and a chap in an animatronic rubber mask, and it quickly started to fall short of the bar it'd set for itself. I get that The Volume has revolutionised greenscreen filming, and that it's an incredibly impressive piece of technology, but... I dunno, there's just a percentage point missing somewhere, at least for me (but again, my brain likes what it likes, and everybody seems to be raving about all of these latest advances in home cinema standards, so perhaps it's just me).
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
The missus and I binged the whole of Obi Wan this weekend and… while it wasn’t perfect (what is?) we really enjoyed it. I think all the hate that I heard about just lowered any expectations that I had and probably caused me to enjoy it all the more.
@colonelkilgore People have been incredibly unfair to Moses Ingram. I thought Reva was a triumph and, without giving anything away, I really hope we haven't seen the last of her.
I've steered clear of other, more general criticism, but have seen a lot of praise from dedicated fans.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger ahh, is that what all the hate was about? Hmm, weird… yeah she was fine. I loved the inquisitors as a whole tbh, particularly the grand inquisitor.
For me, I can’t put a price on how much we (in the kilgore household) appreciate cast consistency. Hayden Christensen, Joel Edgerton, Jimmy Smits, Bonnie Piesse et al reprising their roles. It might seem a real little thing to many but to the missus and I it just shows a production is willing to go that extra mile.
@LN78 I know right… but while I agreed with much of the hate for the sequel trilogy, I’ve really quite enjoyed the D+ shows.
I think the thing which I’m always a little surprised about with regards to the shows is that we don’t watch them until all of the eps are available… so while we hear that there is hate, we have absolutely no idea what the hate is actually about as we are doing all that we can to avoid spoilers. So by the time we get to watch the shows, I’m kinda in a constant state of ‘so what were they hating on?’.
@colonelkilgore I read about some of the backlash that the Reva character was getting (I don't watch the show) and actually had to ask @RogerRoger what it was all about. Needless to say, that it was couched in some pretty disgusting (and thinly veiled) racism didn't come as much of a surprise.
@LN78 it’s so weird mate. My path crosses a wide cross-section of society and I run into almost no discrimination at all. Inclusion and diversity is at the forefront of my professional life… and while it isn’t constantly sign-posted in my personal life, I can’t think of the last time that anyone made a comment that was in opposition to it. Yet all I hear about online is discrimination.
I’m not for one instant saying that there is no prejudice irl… but a more cynical me would at the very least consider that some/many/all of these outrageously discriminatory online campaigns are generated by bots to destroy any chance at the vast majority of society from attaining unity.
@RogerRoger In fairness, dedicated fans were always going to praise the show. That's what fans do.
That's very true! Should've clarified that I follow the reactions of a very select few, ones who're often a little more nuanced than simply going into fandom overdrive. They're folks who were critical of certain Boba Fett episodes and who speak ill of the sequel trilogy, for example. In fairness, Obi-Wan was very generous with its fan service, though, so there still might be some sway there.
***
@colonelkilgore The Grand Inquisitor cracked me up when he just strode into that particular scene and dropped the most delicious "Hello!" ever committed to film! I was concerned about somebody other than Jason Isaacs being cast in the role, but Rupert Friend was an inspired choice.
He was the only bit of inconsistent casting, but you're right, the efforts to uphold the legacy of these characters and performances has otherwise been brilliant across the board (and as Mr. Friend proved, when they do have to go in a different direction, for whatever reason, they usually end up doing justice to the character in question anyway). After they made a 30-something Mark Hamill so terrifyingly accurate in The Book of Boba Fett, I was concerned that they'd just start deepfaking anybody they wanted to, so seeing them track down the original cast members and integrate them so lovingly has been real reassuring.
Also, I think you and Mrs. Kilgore are wise to wait and then binge these shows. Boba Fett worked much better as a binge, and I have a feeling Obi-Wan will, too. I understand that weekly release schedules are a necessary evil (gotta retain those subscribers somehow!) but particularly with Star Wars, it's clear that some of these projects have been written and shot as though they were long-form movies, and chopping them up into bitesize chunks can end up wrecking the flow.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger as we’ve never caught up with the animated shows, I had no idea that it was a pre-established character tbh. I guess it would’ve been nice to have had Isaacs play the role in live action but I’m okay with recasting from animation to live action… as long as the actor is good. In this case I’m a huge fan of both anyway and probably wouldn’t be able to choose between the two if I had to.
Even though I haven’t had the pleasure of watching the animated shows, I’m aware of how loved they are… so I do appreciate when I learn that one of these cool new characters was actually established elsewhere 👍.
@colonelkilgore Yeah, it's different when you're translating a character from animation to live action. I think there's definitely more room to play there, and it depends on the character. Ahsoka Tano has a certain look and physicality that Ashley Eckstein would've had difficulty replicating. Cad Bane being a rubber-faced alien with a distinctive voice, though, meant that a combination of stuntman and original voice actor could work. The Grand Inquisitor needed to be almost a decade younger in Obi-Wan, so Jason Isaacs might've looked and sounded a little awkward, especially from behind prosthetic teeth.
I do apologise for the moments where I write like I assume everybody already knows the full backgrounds of these random characters, by the way! I know that's not the point you're making, but I do have a tendency to go "full auto" with some of this stuff, so I'm grateful that you appreciate my ramblings!
Brace yourself for more during the forthcoming Ahsoka show, if you plan on watching it. Reports suggest it's gonna be a full-blown Rebels reunion, so there'll be a lot of this crap to unpick!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger no, I definitely appreciate the additional info Rog for sure. I’ve never been one to follow the ignorance-is-bliss perspective. The more info the better as far as I’m concerned 😉
Forums
Topic: Dex's Diner - The Star Wars Topic
Posts 381 to 400 of 810
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic