Star Wars Rewatch

[MarkB]

Yeah, it’s interesting. I was so upset when watching TPM for the first time in the theater that I almost walked out, but when I watched it again more recently with my kids, I found it wasn’t as bad as I’d first though.

AotC is definitely the worst. Anakin and Padme’s relationship is awful. The action scenes are dull. And so on and so forth.

RotS is the best of the prequels. Yes, it still has some cringey moments, and Anakin’s fall to the dark side feels a little sudden. The guy who wrote the novelization did a better job making it believable.

Clone Wars had some real highs, and I’m really enjoying the Bad Batch (so much so that it’s actually making me want to run a SW RPG campaign again). Rebels was fantastic.

The Mandalorian is, of course, the best SW. Not just because it’s great on its own but also because it builds on the foundations that shows like the Clone Wars and Rebels laid (Bo-Katan, Ahsoka, the Darksaber, etc).

I made the mistake of starting to watch the new season of The Bad Batch just after rewatching Andor (which, IMO, is very much the best Star Wars). The tonal shift was too much. I'll give it another try.

 

[pukunui]

I made the mistake of starting to watch the new season of The Bad Batch just after rewatching Andor (which, IMO, is very much the best Star Wars). The tonal shift was too much. I'll give it another try.

Yeah, I can see how that might be off-putting.

I’ve been really enjoying it. I feel like it addresses the aftermath of Order 66 in a compelling way, and at the same time, it plays like Clone Force 99 is a group of PCs in an episodic RPG campaign. There are four of them, each with their own role, plus their trusty kid NPC sidekick. They’ve got a somewhat sketchy patron who gives them jobs. They’ve got their own shop. They’ve got a recurring antagonist who used to be one of them so they’re incentived to keep him alive rather than kill him. And so on. Great stuff!

One little detail I particularly appreciate is that, while the regs view the Bad Batch as traitors and shoot to kill, the Batch still view the regs as their brothers and set their weapons to stun.

 

[Zardnaar]

Played this today.


Gave players a choice between Mandalorian inspired Canon or use legends. Either way the basic storyline would be the same except Imperial Remnant vs Imperial Remnants.

 

[Hussar]

We’ll just fishes Reveng of the Ner…. I mean Sith. . This ends like the first chapter of the story I feel.

Honestly this bit reminds me of a DnD campaign where the dm has a thousand pages of back story but due to only playing a couple of hours per week, the players never learn it. There’s just so much tossed out there.

Take General Grievous. Ok. He pops up, and is pretty much ended in the first act. Like what was the point of that? And there’s a lot of that.

Like I said, the story seems to work better in serial format where there is enough time to actually establish characters.

Now the final fight on Mustafar is again visually stunning. It really is gorgeous. But Yoda fights the emperor? Why? Who cares? One cgi character having a go just isn’t really all that impactful.

Granted I do feel that the prequels really do have a serious problem in that we already knew that the bad guys are going to win. So a series like Star Wars ending on such a down beat is always going to be a hard sell.

But I just found myself not caring through so much of this movie.

Well, Disney plus says Solo is my next show. I saw this in the theatre with my girls and, unlike the many, many (oh so freaking many) complaints that this was the worst movie ever, I had fun. And my girls had fun. It was worth the price of admission. We’ll see how it holds up on rewatch.

 

[Deset Gled]

But I just found myself not caring through so much of this movie.

I think that's a great summary of RotS. Also, it's surprisingly sexist.

Well, Disney plus says Solo is my next show. I saw this in the theatre with my girls and, unlike the many, many (oh so freaking many) complaints that this was the worst movie ever, I had fun. And my girls had fun. It was worth the price of admission. We’ll see how it holds up on rewatch.

I'll remove the spoiler tags from this after you post your thoughts about watching Solo:

IMNSHO, the most unfortunate part about Solo was the fact that they made it about Han Solo. If you take Han out of the move, it becomes a neat little heist movie set in the Star Wars universe. Some mild connections to the rest of the expanded lore. Nice backstory that fills in some gaps. And overall, just a fun balance of action and adventure with a few twists and turns. Good stuff.

Once you add Han in, it becomes much worse. For starters, the idea that Han was so involved in the early phases of the Rebellion is as stupid as the plot point that Anakin built C-3PO. It's coincidence that pushes past "unexpected" and goes straight into "contrived" or even "condescending". But in the bigger picture, Solo ruins Han's character.

When we met Han in ANH, he was a rough, seasoned smuggler. He was shown to be the tough guy, and an expert criminal. Throughout ANH, ESB, and RotJ he showed real character growth. He struggled with his inner outlaw and worked hard to become a better person, transforming from a selfish renegade to a good guy, friend, and leader.

Solo destroys all of that character growth. With the new backstory they present, he spent his whole life as a big softie, always sacrificing to do the right thing, and always doing it for one girl or another. The "tough guy" Han we met in ANH never existed; it was a facade he put on for 10 minutes. He no longer has character development, just character reversion. By trying to force a character arc into Han in Solo, they effectively destroyed any meaning to the arc he had in the original trilogy. And that's a darn shame.

 

[Hussar]

Thanks for the tags. I just finished Solo.

It was fun. I really don’t get the beefs. Han was never a”rough, seasoned smuggler”. He was a full on loser who was about to get killed by Jabba because he failed. After rescuing Leia from the Death Star, he’s always a straight up hero

People make this big deal about his “character arc” that I honestly think exists more in people’s minds than anywhere else.

Now since I just finished watching Andor not that long ago, I’ll be skipping that.

Not that Andor isn’t fantastic. It’s definitely one of my top Star Wars choices. But this means I get to watch Rogue One next and I’ve been REALLY looking forward to it.

 

[Zardnaar]

Thanks for the tags. I just finished Solo.

It was fun. I really don’t get the beefs. Han was never a”rough, seasoned smuggler”. He was a full on loser who was about to get killed by Jabba because he failed. After rescuing Leia from the Death Star, he’s always a straight up hero

People make this big deal about his “character arc” that I honestly think exists more in people’s minds than anywhere else.

Now since I just finished watching Andor not that long ago, I’ll be skipping that.

Not that Andor isn’t fantastic. It’s definitely one of my top Star Wars choices. But this means I get to watch Rogue One next and I’ve been REALLY looking forward to it.

Hans redemption arc isn't really complete until start of ESB.

He was gonna bail with money to pay off Jabba on Hoth. He goes out to save Luke.

He bails out Luke twice essentially back to back (end of ANH, start of ESB).

The 3 main characters are 3 different characters in the movies. Han goes from cocky smuggler to rebels hero to rebel general. He's transitioning end of ANH to ESB.

Leia princess/rebel operative to rebel leader to rebel commando.

Luke bright eyed kid to Padawan to Jedi Knight.

 

[MGibster]

How come Battle for Endor is never on these lists? It's live action!

 

[Deset Gled]

How come Battle for Endor is never on these lists? It's live action!

You're too early. Caravan of Courage and Battle for Endor take place after RotJ (Wicket doesn't understand Basic in RotJ, but knows it in the Ewok movies).

Hans redemption arc isn't really complete until start of ESB.

Han's still a renegade and self centered jerk in ESB, just not as much as in ANH. Limited growth. Remember, he was planning to leave the Rebels at Hoth.

His growth arc isn't completed until after he is rescued by his friends from Jabba. When he volunteers to lead the away team (and give up his ship) for the battle of Endor, it's the first time he totally devotes himself to his friends and the Rebel cause. Even his friends were suprised when he volunteered for it.

 

[MGibster]

You're too early. Caravan of Courage and Battle for Endor take place after RotJ (Wicket doesn't understand Basic in RotJ, but knows it in the Ewok movies).

It's been about 38 years since I've seen Battle for Endor. The only thing I remember about it is that even as a kid I thought it sucked and I never wanted to watch it ever again. Although it's still better than the Holiday Special. I could not watch the Holiday Special even going in there knowing it was horrible.