The Star Wars Thread

[Ronnie]

Quote

"We find Obi-Wan at the beginning of our story rather broken, and faithless, and beaten, somewhat given up."

Sounds familiar! Hopefully without the OTT 'ruining of childhoods' fanboy reactions this time. Pep talk from Qui-Gon to get his head back in the game?

Quote

"They share a common dark-side goal," Ingram says about the villainous trio of Reva, the Grand Inquisitor, and Darth Vader. "They're on the same team." As for what stands out most to Ingram about her big bad: "It's all heart."

She looks cool! 'heart' is an interesting word to use though, wonder what she means.

Quote

McGregor is all cloaked up again as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he's got places to go... like the new planet of Daiyu, which "sort of has a Hong Kong feel to it," says writer Joby Harold. "It's got a graffiti-ridden nightlife, and is kind of edgy. It's just got a different lane and a different feeling."

Sounds good! Also I'm glad we're getting off Tatooine.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Ronnie

[Julius]

54 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

...the villainous trio of Reva, the Grand Inquisitor, and Darth Vader.

I know it's been rumoured but I can't remember it ever being confirmed - I was shocked that they really just casually mentioned the Grand Inquisitor turning up! 

54 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Sounds good! Also I'm glad we're getting off Tatooine.

I still find it kind of hilarious that the show that should have been a planet-hopping, intergalactic adventure (Boba) ended up with the main character spending all of his time on Tatooine, whereas the show that would have been easiest to argue for it all taking place on Tatooine (Kenobi) is going to end up being a planet-hopping, intergalactic adventure 

[Cube]

I wonder if they'll get Jason Isaacs back or cast someone else. 

[Julius]

Trailer time let's gooooooo

I'll just be talking music here, because they did it, they pressed the button!

THEY REMIXED DUEL OF THE FATES AND BATTLE OF THE HEROES AHHHHHHHHHHHH

And then ending on the ending stabs of Anakin's Dark Deeds with Vader's trademark breathing before going into the Force theme...genius. Much as I've loved it's minor appearances in Mando and Boba, it's so awesome to hear it used so triumphantly and liberally (twice) in this trailer. 

Also the trailer starting out in a super similar way to the first trailer for TLJ, which immediately takes me to the next conclusion: from the start up until the drawn out Battle of the Heroes solo, I wouldn't be surprised if what we're hearing is the new Obi-Wan theme that John Williams came on to create. The chime is pretty much directly lifted from Tales of a Jedi Knight (which is mostly referred to these days as the Force theme, but was originally talked about as Obi-Wan's Theme) but that definitely isn't Tales/the Force theme playing directly after that chime. 

Right then.

Think I'm watching Revenge of the Sith tonight 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

One of the best trailers I've seen in a long time. Lostmario sent me a message 10 mins ago that the trailer was out and I've watched 3 times since then.

The choice of music + scenes  shown = hype! Love me some Dual of the Fates and Battle of the Heroes.

[Julius]

1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said:

The choice of music + scenes  shown = hype! Love me some Dual of the Fates and Battle of the Heroes.

I just love that they decided to go balls to the wall hype with it! No fuss about showing it as some artsy, five-brain, two-head trailer, just "hey, here are the two best composed Star Wars battle themes, here's the Force theme (twice), here's Anakin's Dark Deeds, and maybe the new theme John Williams has been working on, idk."

They teased a lot but they showed what feels like so little. I think that's the best Star Wars teaser trailer we've had in a very long time - again, so little time spent building things up! - and it's possibly one of the better ones since Disney started sitting on the Emperor's throne. 

Revenge of the Sith isn't the best Star Wars film from my point of view, but it's absolutely one of my favourite (it's probably the one I've seen the most), and I do think - as a whole, with how poor parts of The Phantom Menace, and especially Attack of the Clones, were - still managed to salvage the mess of the prequels as a trilogy to an extent and put a nice big bow on things at the end. Personally I think it's the best prequel for what it accomplishes on the whole. 

It's the one I know the most intimately: I know the film back to front (it's comfortably one of my most watched films), I know the game back to front (it was my first PS2 game!), I know the soundtrack back to front, I know the Making Of book from back to front. I used to run around the playground and after church copying Anakin's stances from the film, quoting his final showdown with Obi-Wan on Mustafar, gunning down Jedi as a 501st clone (which is hilarious given the context that we were all of youngling age!).

It and the prequels mean so much to me and so many others, and man oh man, am I so happy that kids like myself who grew up on the prequels get to be the louder voices these days and talk openly about how much we personally can find enjoyment in these films. It's a shame that George and many of the actors, like Hayden, didn't get the love they deserved at the time from fans on the whole, and so seeing how well they were received during SWC 2017, and how well this is being received, does put a massive smile on my face. It really feels like this is coming at the perfect time in the saga of prequel forgiveness. 

I can't freaking wait. I'm cooking my food and then I'm watching Revenge of the Sith before the State of Play. This is the most excited I've been for Star Wars in a good few years 

[Hero-of-Time]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Revenge of the Sith as well. It was the perfect end to the prequel trilogy.

I remember when it was released at the cinema. Myself and a few mates took the day off work, got an early showing, saw the movie, grabbed some food, discussed the movie and then went and seen it again after we ate.  

The final battle between Yoda v Sidious and Obi-Wan v Anakin was perfect. The way the scenes switch between them, Battle of the Heroes playing, lines like "Your Empire?", "You were the chosen one!" and "Then you are lost!"...yeah, I may need to give it another viewing before this series hits.

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Revenge of the Sith as well. It was the perfect end to the prequel trilogy.

I remember when it was released at the cinema. Myself and a few mates took the day off work, got an early showing, saw the movie, grabbed some food, discussed the movie and then went and seen it again after we ate.  

Oh man, that sounds like it must have been a great time! 

I never got to see Revenge of the Sith in cinemas, a combination at the time of my parents not being in a great place financially, and them just being very busy. I never kicked off about it like some kids might have, but looking back...I kind of wish I did 

Being a little kid, I also had no idea when the film was coming out on VHS, so there was a long gap between the release of the film and me getting the chance to see it. I actually played the game first (which my dad bought for me the day I bought the PS2 I'd saved up for - the start of March 2006 - had to get it from WHSmith as I think it was a Sunday and all of the other shops were closed!), which is based on an earlier cut of the film and so is a very different experience, and then ingeniously took the terrible advice of buying someone what you would want for their birthday, so my dad got Revenge of the Sith on VHS for his birthday at the end of April 2006 

It was the first film I ever picked up on a super small inconsistency in, which was that the Magna Guard on the bridge of the Invisible Hand was still functional after getting its head sliced clean off, but one later on in the film half crushed under the machine (which I always thought looked like a massive AC unit) that Obi-Wan drops on them as they're circling around him on Utapau is finished off with the same move 

1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

The final battle between Yoda v Sidious and Obi-Wan v Anakin was perfect. The way the scenes switch between them, Battle of the Heroes playing, lines like "Your Empire?", "You were the chosen one!" and "Then you are lost!"...yeah, I may need to give it another viewing before this series hits.

Oh man, while I would've loved for it to be focused on only Anakin vs Obi-Wan, swapping from their battle on Mustafar with Battle of the Heroes/Anakin vs Obi-Wan to Yoda vs Sidious and Duel of the Fates blasting just...chills! Think there's a very strong argument to be made that of all of the Star Wars OST's, Revenge of the Sith has the single greatest OST of them all (and by far the best credits medley, too). 

And yeah, some spectacular lines, both in a comedic sense and just incredibly quotable. I remember walking into rooms in primary school and just being like "Hello there", or "you are wise and strong", or "did you ever hear the Tragedy of [insert whatever the topic of conversation is here]"  "another happy landing" is definitely a favourite I still use to this day, especially when surviving falls from great heights in games haha. 

Perhaps best of all, the film was a cautionary exchange for young boys/men on how confusing and complicated some girls/women can be:

Anakin: You are so…beautiful.
Padme: It’s only because I’m so in love.
Anakin: No. No, it’s because I’m so in love with you.
Padme: Then love has blinded you?

EDIT: forgot, I also had one of those plug and play controllers! 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Julius

[bob]

Oh wow. I've not been excited for a Star Wars thing in a long time, but that looks fantastic! 

[Ronnie]

Looks fantastic.

I can't share the Revenge of the Sith love I'm sad to say but I definitely feel like this will go a long way into redeeming it and the prequels in a lot of people's eyes, probably myself included. In a similar way to how The Clone Wars did.

LOVE the look of this place, so cool:

And this must be Nur from Fallen Order (and the comics?):

Looks like a Pasaana alien (from TROS) a couple of seats to the right of Obi Wan:

Overall though the whole thing feels different to the Favreau shows, possibly more cinematic? I'm probably imagining things because I think this show (unlike Andor) was filmed with Stagecraft tech. Either way, looks great and I like how little it showed, I probably won't watch any of the remaining trailers.

Just please no flying helicopter lightsabers. Rebels is amazing but man those things were silly 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Ronnie

[Cube]

Hopefully there's still more CGI to be done, particularly on the Grand Inquisitor - he looks so derpy in that trailer.

Here's what his species looks like in live action:

 

Thinking about it, Doug Jones would have been perfect if they didn't want to go down the CGI+voice actor route.

[Julius]

3 hours ago, Cube said:

Hopefully there's still more CGI to be done, particularly on the Grand Inquisitor - he looks so derpy in that trailer.

Here's what his species looks like in live action:

Thinking about it, Doug Jones would have been perfect if they didn't want to go down the CGI+voice actor route.

Doug Jones is a good shout, though I'm not sure how demanding this portrayal of the Grand Inquisitor will be. 

On the one hand, I get not going with the same practical makeup and costume design as in Revenge of the Sith, because it took a long time in that film, and might not be suitable if the role is physically demanding. But at the same time, I agree, it looks derpy as hell (I even saw some people online say they thought it was helmet-less Vader at first viewing of the trailer), heck, other parts of the get-up are wrong too, like the teeth and eye colour. I mean, just look at them next to each other:

I get that you'll probably never nail it perfectly, and hey maybe they'll edit it with some CGI, but then why would you show this now if that was the case? It's yet another case (though, well, maybe the outright worst case) since the Disney takeover where they just aren't getting some of the looks right, and so they look more like Halloween costumes. A lot of continuity in appearance has been sacrificed, some classic races just don't look quite right, and look I get there are practical reasons, but at the same time, another thing is the head tails on live-action Ahsoka being too short. They managed it in the past with Shaak Ti (though cut from RotS proper), so I really think there must be a way they could have handled it better. 

And the same goes for Sung Kang as the Fifth Brother, another one that I also think looks pretty atrocious, considering the guy is supposed to be a bit of a giant and hulkingly muscular:

It's a shame because the look and feel of these shows is otherwise pretty much spot on, it's just some of the alien races, look, well, too human. I'm sure the cost of CGI work isn't cheap or short, but this is Disney, and this is Star Wars, I don't think there's really an excuse for some of these characters to look quite as off as they do. Hopefully they just made a mistake of showing too much too early and it'll be cleaned up, but I have my doubts. 

The only other thing really with these shows is I hate that I'm getting to the point where I'm like "oh hey, they're in The Volume", "they're clearly on a super small set", etc., and I'm personally finding it very jarring. As a result, some of these locations just feel so much smaller than they should, such as that shot of Reva on a rooftop on Coruscant clearly just being them on a soundstage. 

[Ronnie]

Proportions in SW animation have always been exaggerated and aren't supposed to be taken at literal face value. Just look at Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters in Rebels or Count Dooku in TCW. Christopher Lee does not actually look like this:

Same with Ahsoka's head tails. There's a practical purpose to it. Filoni said as much recently:

Quote

“What if the Ahsoka that we have in animation was actually based on this [live-action] version of Ahsoka? One of the things you would do in animation is an exaggeration, making the montrals bigger. Once they’re in real life, suddenly it becomes a little less believable to the eye, at least for me. And if you ever see footage of Shaak Ti (another Togruta Jedi character seen in the Star Wars prequels) in action, there’s a lot of rubbery movement in the montrals. That works great for that character in the background, as she was, but if you’re talking a featured character, right up front, delivering drama, you have to make it all seem as natural as possible. And I don’t want you staring at the montrals and the lekku.”

I agree the Grand Inquisitor looks really weird/bad and they should have elongated his head a little bit but personally I'm much more interested in character portrayal than character appearance. Does Ahsoka act like the Ahsoka from the shows, will Sabine be the same character with all the same mannerisms from Rebels, will the grand inquisitor be as charismatic and menacing as in that show etc.. Plus I think they've done a good job appearance wise for the most part anyway, once you take practicality in mind.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Ronnie

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, Julius said:

The only other thing really with these shows is I hate that I'm getting to the point where I'm like "oh hey, they're in The Volume",

I was like that in season 1 of Mando, but I didn't notice it at all with season 2. Same with Boba Fett.

It's necessary for television given the cadence these shows require I think. Or you could have a series like Andor that's filmed on location and took three years to make because of it. There are benefits and negatives to both approaches really.

Also a shot like this in a film would have been surrounded by green screen so using the Volume isn't much different. It's in fact better because it gives the actors some context and something to play off of.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Ronnie

[Julius]

12 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I was like that in season 1 of Mando, but I didn't notice it at all with season 2. Same with Boba Fett.

It's necessary for television given the cadence these shows require I think. Or you could have a series like Andor that's filmed on location and took three years to make because of it. There are benefits and negatives to both approaches really.

I think it was better in Mando S2, sure, but I noticed it quite a bit in Boba - mostly on Tatooine, and honestly Tatooine has probably consistently been a problem child in the shows for me when it comes to both smaller sets and the wide, sweeping shots. It's getting better, but CGI sand can still look incredibly rough. 

And yeah, definitely benefits and drawbacks to both approaches, but considering that this is a limited run mini series, I think it's much harder to justify than it is with Mando/Boba, which have had very tight deadlines, what with them coming out on a yearly basis - things like The Volume were built mainly for that situation.

I personally would much rather it be shot on location in the case of Obi-Wan Kenobi, like with Andor, especially when you consider this could be the last time we get Ewan and Hayden portraying Obi-Wan and Anakin. It's actually one of the reasons I'm very excited about Andor, because I won't feel like I'm constantly jumping between my disbelief being suspended or not.

Like with everything else, I'm sure COVID got in the way of their plans to some extent, and I'm not going to make a mountain out of a molehill, because is it going to wildly tarnish my enjoyment of the show? Unless it's more distracting than I've found it before, probably not. I just think that of all of the live-action Star Wars Disney+ shows officially announced so far, this is the one where I think you need to push all of your chips into the middle of the table and go all-out. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

Lovely shot

[Ronnie]

4 minutes ago, Julius said:

And yeah, definitely benefits and drawbacks to both approaches, but considering that this is a limited run mini series, I think it's much harder to justify than it is with Mando/Boba, which have had very tight deadlines, what with them coming out on a yearly basis - things like The Volume were built mainly for that situation.

That's true you're right, there's no real time limit for this show.

5 minutes ago, Julius said:

I just think that of all of the live-action Star Wars Disney+ shows officially announced so far, this is the one where I think you need to push all of your chips into the middle of the table and go all-out. 

And yeah fair enough. Like you say maybe Covid didn't help things, and they also wanted a more controlled environment in case of leaks and set photos (which Andor has had a ton of).

Anyway will reserve judgement for the actual show, but apart from one shot in Chapter 1 of Boba, I personally didn't notice the Volume at all in that. 

[Cube]

I think they did a great job with both Ahsoka and Cad Bane (I've seen people complain), it's just the Grand Inquisitor that looks odd. 

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Cube said:

I think they did a great job with both Ahsoka and Cad Bane (I've seen people complain), it's just the Grand Inquisitor that looks odd. 

Oh yeah, I'm happy with where we're at with Ahsoka, but I do still wish they worked out the longer head tails. Cad Bane looked a little off to me, but again, it's me nitpicking and just thinking that if they wanted to have it be pretty much perfect, they could, they just decide not to (for financial reasons or what have you). 

But yeah, I'd agree and say the Grand Inquisitor looks odd, as well as the Fifth Brother. 

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

Lovely shot

I know we knew Mustafar was on the way from the concept art, but damn is that a great shot of him in his chambers in his Castle!

2 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Also a shot like this in a film would have been surrounded by green screen so using the Volume isn't much different. It's in fact better because it gives the actors some context and something to play off of.

Eh, it's pretty different in that in motion in scenes shot in The Volume, if you pay attention to what isn't the focus (for example, here it would be Reva and the sign), at times there's a noticeable sort of jittering to the scene as a result of the camera focus not being the same and the shape of The Volume that you wouldn't get with a green screen, just due to the nature of how the background is being inserted. Other times it looks a little too smooth - the best way I have to describe it is it looks like the framerate of the background don't match the foreground/points of focus.

I'm glad you haven't really noticed it with the Disney+ shows so far, so hopefully that continues for you with Kenobi, but for better or worse, I'm really sensitive to noticing things like this, and it can definitely take me out of it at times. 

Not to discredit the accomplishments in The Volume so far, though, and I agree that it's useful for actors to have context to the scene. It's probably the most Lucas-like thing they've done since the Disney purchase, to be honest (trying to push a new technology as far as it can go to lower the costs moving forwards as it - and places like it - become a more common stage for shows and films to be made with, kind of similar to how TCW aggressively ate the cost with regular, television 3D animation), I just hope they continue to improve it as time goes on 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

6 minutes ago, Julius said:

Eh, it's pretty different in that in motion in scenes shot in The Volume, if you pay attention to what isn't the focus (for example, here it would be Reva and the sign), at times there's a noticeable sort of jittering to the scene as a result of the camera focus not being the same and the shape of The Volume that you wouldn't get with a green screen, just due to the nature of how the background is being inserted. I'm glad you haven't really noticed it with the Disney+ shows so far, so hopefully that continues for you with Kenobi, but for better or worse, I'm really sensitive to noticing things like this, and it can definitely take me out of it at times. 

You've mentioned the dodgy CGI in the wider sweeting shots of places like Tatooine and apart from a few speeder bike shots, I've never really noticed an issue! I guess I'm just not too sensitive to things like that, which is both a good and bad thing I guess! 

It's great to see Lucasfilm on the cutting edge of things again, I'm sure their Volume work will approve, like you say. The CG is probably still being worked on a little I imagine.

[bob]

The only other thing really with these shows is I hate that I'm getting to the point where I'm like "oh hey, they're in The Volume", "they're clearly on a super small set", etc., and I'm personally finding it very jarring. As a result, some of these locations just feel so much smaller than they should, such as that shot of Reva on a rooftop on Coruscant clearly just being them on a soundstage. 

Here's a good tip, try watching on your phone instead. I could barely make out the characters at all, let alone specifics like CGI sand.

[Cube]

I actually really loved how they used the screen tech in Star Trek Discovery, it wasn't just for planet landscapes but also for some amazing looking internal rooms, which I think compliments the technology really well.

[Hero-of-Time]

I've finally got around to starting The Book of Boba Fett. I'm only two episodes in and have really enjoyed what I've seen so far. The only thing I'm not liking is the guy playing Boba Fett. I just don't think he's a very good actor at all.

Spoiler

I've really enjoyed the flashback story, probably more so than the one being set up in the current time with Jabba's cousins.

Boba escaping from the Sarlacc and eventually joining the sand people was great to see. Although, it does appear Boba put on a fair few pounds while he was being digested. Very strange.  

I loved how little talking there was in scenes with the sand people during the second episode. The story just flowed beautifully, despite the lack of dialogue. It was also great to see a bit of the rituals that the sand people go through.

Everyone I spoke to who has watched this show said they hated the first four or so episodes but so far I've not had a problem with these earlier showings. Looking forward to seeing how things develop. I may watch another episode this evening.

[Hero-of-Time]

Just finished episode 5.

Spoiler

This Mando specific episode was fantastic. I find him to be a much more interesting character than Boba, as well as a better actor.  

Was he on a Halo ring? I was expecting Master Chief to show up at some point.  

The whole reconstruction of the Naboo fighter was a great segment. It certainly brought a lighter tone to the series.

As much as I loved this episode, it did seem weird to plonk it in the middle of a series centered on Boba Fett and I think it took away from his story. 

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Spoiler

So at this point it's pretty much another season of Mando.  

The deep fake tech used to bring a young Luke Skywalker back on the screen is amazing. It looks so much better than the shoddy job done with Leia in Rogue One. It's nice to see his character get some more screen time after being done dirty in the sequel trilogy.

On to the final episode I go.