Star Wars (because I don't think there's any active threads on it)

[The cheeseman]

1 hour ago, Briar King said:

I mean if someone likes holding out their hands to catch what Disney is squatting and producing then I saw kudos if you are getting your jollies. They will be thrilled to keep taking your money. 

Nice ad hominem. However, I find your lack of response disturbing. I'm gonna stop the argument here. Have a nice day, and may the force be with you.

[Briar King]

So you’re stopping an argument that isn’t an argument. I did say if you enjoyed then kudos to you. This wasn’t an argument.

[The cheeseman]

Throwing an ad hominem insinuating that I eat Disney's crap kinda made it seem like an argument, but okay

[Briar King]

All my shade is being thrown at Disney. Like I said I ll dunk on them all day at this point.

[Kasimir]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:14 AM, Lego Mistborn said:

Do y'all like to read legends novels?

Dislike that term for it but yes with reservations. EU jumped the shark when we hit the bit where Karen Traviss and co wanted Jacen to fall to the Dark Side. LotF was a mess of them trying to God-Emperor of Dune a Sith Lord but also not daring to and taking it back halfway. I enjoyed the character development Ben Skywalker got but LotF got dunked on a lot by the fandom when it was being released for logical reasons.

FotJ was a mess too but had the right idea when trying to work with the political setting and potentially de-emphasise Jedi worship. 

NJO IMO had weak links but was overall fairly strong. This would be the Yuuzhan Vong war arc. Joiner Trilogy feels forgettable after it.

Everyone rightfully elevates Thrawn but forget Allegiance and Choices of One. OG Dathomir and Hapes were also some of the best creations but never given sufficient respect especially after TCW. It didn't help the OG EU books were fairly pulpy.

TCWMMP had a number of fairly strong books and I'm never completely cool with them all getting jossed. Shatterpoint, Jedi Trial, the Medstar Barriss duology before Filoni decided to abuse her character, the Cestus Deception, just off the top of my head. Dark Rendezvous needed more Yoda-Dooku focus, but I liked us getting Scout as viewpoint character. Traviss's Mando novels are always praised because of what she did for building them as a culture, regardless of her acrimonious parting with what happened in TCW. I find it ironic everyone freely uses her worldbuilding no matter their Star Wars views.

[Briar King]

Yes the bug trilogy was bad but it finally gave us Jedi Leia at least. Saba and her brood were great additions to the Jedi in NJO(personally I loved this mega arc but it did have some weak books in it no doubt. I’m still really annoyed that GL doubted his fans intelligence and insisted that we would confuse Anakin Solo with Skywalker so he had to go. He was my favorite hands down of the 4 grandkids. That said Ben was getting interesting with Vestara and I really liked the One Sith. Even got the Cade comics. Jaina and Jagged Fel were nice. Yes Hapes and Dathomir OG were some great stuff. It was really fun watching Pellaleon and Daala grow into their their final arcs. I could go on listing things but it would give me the itch to break out my collection and that is something I can’t get hooked on right now..

Man I totally miss that time period in my life. That was a fun 20 years collecting them not to mention more or less growing in real time with the grandkids as EU progressed. If I ever were to get one I missed I sure would try my hardest to get one not labeled Legends but OG edition.

[Kasimir]

Jedi Leia was good, and so was Saba for sure. The Doylist reasons for Anakin Solo's death annoyed me, cf. ("welp he's scheduled to fall to the Dark Side, fans will totally confuse him with my OG Anakin" - especially in light of Lucas selling off the IP anyway) but I actually liked what it did in-universe, since Myrkr really shook up what we thought was going to happen - Jacen as the idealistic peacemaker who was doomed to die, Jaina as the sassy hotshot, and Anakin as the grandchild on a hero arc. I think they could have leaned into the repercussions more but didn't, and we got weird Tahiri shenanigans as a result.

I liked the Cade comics, just didn't mention them because comics. Hands-up some weirdness, not to mention I am tired of uber-healing powers, but I found the political setting of the Cade comics to be top-notch, cf. Sith, Yuuzhan Vong, Fel Empire, Imperial Knights (!!! - we should've seen more like this rather than Inquisitorius smh) and Jedi. Darth Krayt was a fairly interesting antagonist IMO.

The One Sith was interesting, yeah. I felt eh about the Lost Tribe because it was back to the 'we will put Sith everywhere' mentality but I liked Vestara, did not so much like Christie Golden's writing, whom I'll forever remember as the writer who excused domestic abuse. Being afraid your girlfriend turned back to the Dark Side does not give you the right to chokeslam her, thank you.

28 minutes ago, Briar King said:

It was really fun watching Pellaleon and Daala grow into their their final arcs.

Agreed. Especially striking in light of where Pellaeon and Daala respectively started. I really, really felt Daala was almost speaking for the fandom at that point when she made her pitch specifically as it becoming a domestic Jedi (but more importantly, Skywalker) struggle and normal people were getting sick of it. Even if she wasn't, this was a very fascinating arc/tension to build a future series on (what happens when the Jedi need to find a new niche and people are no longer convinced the Order is fit for purpose?), and I'm partly convinced that FotJ squandered that a bit with the Abeloth focus.

Liked Jaina and Jagged, not convinced we saw payoff on Sword of the Jedi.

30 minutes ago, Briar King said:

I could go on listing things but it would give me the itch to break out my collection and that is something I can’t get hooked on right now..

Sorry  I'm one book away from finishing my 52-books challenge and Hael has semi-talked me into redoing a EU marathon, though I'll likely regret it. High Republic and some of the newer writers like Claudia Grey of Master and Apprentice haven't really worked for me, though I love the Cal Kestis games.

32 minutes ago, Briar King said:

Man I totally miss that time period in my life. That was a fun 20 years collecting them not to mention more or less growing in real time with the grandkids as EU progressed. If I ever were to get one I missed I sure would try my hardest to get one not labeled Legends but OG edition.

I dunno man, I sure missed it, but I also remember the growing fandom disillusionment when they were releasing Joiner, then LotF, then FotJ. Just increasing "what the actual frick are we reading" and "do they really think learning the berserkergang is the solution to all problems." I think I fondly remember the lead-up to the release of TUF but everything after TUF just feels like increasing estrangement, disillusionment, and disappointment. But that's sort of what I mean by EU and pedestals I think. Legends is a bloody awful label though, because it's just turned toxic at this point, and using it reminds people of what they did. They should've let the EU be the EU and made up their own new label since they were going MCU on Star Wars anyway, meaning the whole G-canon/Q-canon et al system could be dropped.

In that light, my beef with Disney isn't that they've produced stinkers because I sure as hell felt that LotF was increasingly nonsense. My beef with Disney is that they're milking the franchise without giving things a break, and that kills all the goodwill I've felt towards them. I get gems like Cal Kestis, Andor, and Mando, the books they wrangled out of Zahn and Stover, and then they churn out ever more content thinking I'll get 'em all when I just want to not be bombarded with content to exhaustion point.

If people on TheForceNet are actually writing better fanfiction than content that you're producing, you have a market problem, and this was actually happening around Joiner anyway when people decided to make more sense of NJO's plot hooks.

[Briar King]

Crucible was a horrible end to it all.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

I would ask that no one in this thread insult anyone for which part of Star Wars they enjoy, whether that be the EU, the Disney content, the in between. You are free to insult content put out by Disney, but do not make someone feel worse for what content they enjoy, regardless who makes it. art is subjective. Especially in a thread dedicated primarily to films directed by the king of bad dialogue, George “I don’t like sand is a good flirting move” Lucas. 

[Pineap-spider]

I refuse to admit there is more that 7 star wars movies. JJ Abrams just got a lot of money to fund the filming of his fan-fic. Origional Trilogy is the best, Rouge One was decent, Clone Wars (TV) is great, Bad Batch is okay, and I have a negative outlook on any new star wars by Disney. Mando was good, but went downhill, and Andor was under-rated.

Edited April 9 by Pineap-spider

[The cheeseman]

25 minutes ago, Pineap-spider said:

I refuse to admit there is more that 7 star wars movies. JJ Abrams just got a lot of money to fund the filming of his fan-fic. Origional Trilogy is the best, Rouge One was decent, Clone Wars (TV) is great, Bad Batch is okay, and I have a negative outlook on any new star wars by Disney. Mando was good, but went downhill, and Andor was under-rated.

What's your opinion of Rebels?

[J. Magi]

*deep breath* 

Ah man, I was super into Star Wars in middle school, and after that I really got into the shows as they came out but . . . These days it feels like there are 15 different things I need to watch and I'm honestly kind of lost. Not to mention one of the things I need to finish is Bad Batch, and I just don't care for it that much. I know a lot of people really like it, and everyone tells me the show is fantastic but I've watched a season and a half and I honestly have found it kind of boring. I'll admit, when the characters were introduced in The Clone Wars, they felt like filler side characters so I found them annoying. I just wanted the show to focus on Ani, Ahsoka, and Obi so I didn't enjoy their episodes much lol. I have a really hard time caring about the characters, I just don't connect with them.

It does make me sad though, I loved star wars. And I kind of wish I was still as excited about it as I used to be. 

Is it worth jumping back into? Does it get better?

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

37 minutes ago, justice magician said:

*deep breath* 

Ah man, I was super into Star Wars in middle school, and after that I really got into the shows as they came out but . . . These days it feels like there are 15 different things I need to watch and I'm honestly kind of lost. Not to mention one of the things I need to finish is Bad Batch, and I just don't care for it that much. I know a lot of people really like it, and everyone tells me the show is fantastic but I've watched a season and a half and I honestly have found it kind of boring. I'll admit, when the characters were introduced in The Clone Wars, they felt like filler side characters so I found them annoying. I just wanted the show to focus on Ani, Ahsoka, and Obi so I didn't enjoy their episodes much lol. I have a really hard time caring about the characters, I just don't connect with them.

It does make me sad though, I loved star wars. And I kind of wish I was still as excited about it as I used to be. 

Is it worth jumping back into? Does it get better?

I would say, finish watching season 2. If you don't like it still, it's fine to stop watching the bad batch. As for the other stuff, I have a few recommendations. I'll list them in order of how much I'd recommend them to you and to most people. It is worth it in some cases to step back in, but the franchise, at this point, is definitely not a "watch everything" franchise. I would recommend choosing like a few different sorts of projects you want to follow and doing that. Myself, I really will only watch Mando stuff, the animated TCW style stuff and Andor. Anything else, there's like a fifty fifty chance I'll watch it, but I'll usually not.

If you like the general vibes of Star Wars, but want something a bit more fresh that is a small step away from the mainline stuff, I would recommend at least the first season of the Mandalorian, and if you want to continue, watch season 2 but know that it is on a definite Disney level of cameos and easter eggs in that season than most other Star Wars projects. Season 3 just is so bad and I don't recommend watching it lol. 

If you liked the Clone Wars for the character arcs and the way it portrays the Jedi and like how it showed Anakin's story, I recommend Tales of the Jedi.

If you like a slow burn with some of the best technical writing in Star Wars with a rebel story, though it's more grounded, and you liked Rogue One, I would say you watch Andor. Even if you don't like Rogue one or some of those things I mentioned, I would recommend trying the first three episodes. If the third episode doesn't catch you, it would be fair to quit.

If you watched the sequels and thought they were anywhere from bad to fine and like the originals, I recommend the lego Star Wars specials, at least the first one about life day. That one is the only one that is fully worth it, the other two are kinda fine.

If you watched rebels and want more Ahsoka and Anakin, and you also love the Clone Wars, watch Ahsoka. 

If you want a study on how Disney Star Wars is bad in the way it's been constructed and executed as an overall vision, watch Obi-Wan's show.

If you didn't like Boba Fett and like slow burns while being okay with some bad writing and major cameos, watch the Book of Boba Fett.

If you want something new, fresh and different from the style of the other Star Wars projects in new and imaginative ways, check out Visions. This anthology is fun. I'm considering watching season 2, but am unsure. episode 5, I wanna say, is pretty good in season 1.

If you want to torture yourself, watch the original holiday special.

And, finally, if you don't care about writing whatsoever and enjoyed Attack of the Clone's writing, check out the sequels.

[J. Magi]

Thanks so much for your thoughts Thaid! It means a lot. From your explanation, it seems I've seen a lot more of the new stuff than I thought. I didn't realize Bad Batch and Andor were the only things I really hadn't seen. It felt like they had a new trailer for something out every few months, and I just assumed there was more lol

23 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

I would recommend choosing like a few different sorts of projects you want to follow and doing that.

So far, I've mostly wanted to only focus on Dave Filoni's projects because it's clear that his stories all connect in some way, and I would really like to see were it goes. Is Andor his work, or someone elses?

24 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

If you like the general vibes of Star Wars, but want something a bit more fresh that is a small step away from the mainline stuff, I would recommend at least the first season of the Mandalorian, and if you want to continue, watch season 2 but know that it is on a definite Disney level of cameos and easter eggs in that season than most other Star Wars projects. Season 3 just is so bad and I don't recommend watching it lol.

[Jack Black flash backs]

I don't know if I'd say season 3 is all bad, I enjoyed the parts with Bo Katan

27 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

If you like a slow burn with some of the best technical writing in Star Wars with a rebel story, though it's more grounded, and you liked Rogue One, I would say you watch Andor. Even if you don't like Rogue one or some of those things I mentioned, I would recommend trying the first three episodes. If the third episode doesn't catch you, it would be fair to quit.

This is probably what I'm most interested in checking out, because I've heard a lot of good things. It does sound like it's quite a bit darker than the other stuff, is that true?

28 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

If you watched the sequels and thought they were anywhere from bad to fine and like the originals, I recommend the lego Star Wars specials, at least the first one about life day. That one is the only one that is fully worth it, the other two are kinda fine.

I actually remember watching the life day one, my mom and brother made me sit down and watch it with them XD

37 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

If you want a study on how Disney Star Wars is bad in the way it's been constructed and executed as an overall vision, watch Obi-Wan's show.

 

I would argue the last two-ish episodes were good, and I really liked the parallels with the Vader Vs Ahsoka duel in rebels. Those were the only part of that show that needed to exist though.

52 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

If you want something new, fresh and different from the style of the other Star Wars projects in new and imaginative ways, check out Visions. This anthology is fun. I'm considering watching season 2, but am unsure. episode 5, I wanna say, is pretty good in season 1.

I loved Visions so much! But, I am a sucker for anime, so it was right up my alley. My favorite episodes were 1,3,4, and 8.

39 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

 I'm considering watching season 2, but am unsure.

OH MY GOODNESS THAID YOU NEED TO WATCH IT

They didn't really focus on Anime as much this time, inviting some other studies to do shorts as well. It was a fairly mixed bag, like the first season, there were some bad, some good. For the most part, I really enjoyed it, but I enjoyed the first season as well. I love the softer approach to the Star Wars Universe. I think S2 had more misses then the first season but. It also had an episode or two that were fantastic.

Ep. 2 'Screecher's Reach' is honestly one of the best pieces of star wars media in existence, John Abrahms could never. Please watch that one at least, it's so good. I also really liked 'Journey to the Dark Head' and 'Spy Dancer.' The rest were just okay, if not a little weak, but it's worth watching for the nice animation. My least favorite episodes were 'The Pit,' and 'The Bandits of Gloak.' The animation wasn't as good, and the stories felt bland/unoriginal.

If you do watch it, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

11 minutes ago, justice magician said:

Thanks so much for your thoughts Thaid! It means a lot. From your explanation, it seems I've seen a lot more of the new stuff than I thought. I didn't realize Bad Batch and Andor were the only things I really hadn't seen. It felt like they had a new trailer for something out every few months, and I just assumed there was more lol

The thing is that they have announced so many different projects and promises, so it feels like it's super crowded. They keep saying stuff about Rogue Squadron, or Taika Waititi's Star Wars, or Kevin Feige's Star Wars, or, or, or, or. There was just so much announced that's just been left unfulifilled. They thought they could MCU Star Wars to that degree, but they couldn't sustain it at all, especially with how VFX artists, writers and actors have been overworked by the franchising that's been going on in Hollywood. What I hope happens is that they don't try to sell us on. the proposition of a movie or a show anymore and only bring us fully developed ideas with directors, writers and actors signed on with some sort of release date and an assurance that it will happen. I only want to hear about a SW project if it's in filming or animating.

14 minutes ago, justice magician said:

So far, I've mostly wanted to only focus on Dave Filoni's projects because it's clear that his stories all connect in some way, and I would really like to see were it goes. Is Andor his work, or someone elses?

No, it's Tony Gilroy, one of the guys who made Rogue One. Andor, TCW and the bad batch interchange so much for my favorite Star Wars shows, so it's hard to tell. Andor is just really good and I highly recommend it, as I mentioned in the other post.

15 minutes ago, justice magician said:

[Jack Black flash backs]

I don't know if I'd say season 3 is all bad, I enjoyed the parts with Bo Katan

Bo Katan was enjoyable, yeah, but her parts undermined Mando's story and took away from some of the ideas of his arc. Part of the problem for that season was that it felt unattached from Mando's story from the first two seasons, especially that first season. It felt like he was just a side character along for the ride with no journey or goals. It was like a watered down version of season two, a far less interesting one with the major highlights being things that were not about the title character. 

17 minutes ago, justice magician said:

This is probably what I'm most interested in checking out, because I've heard a lot of good things. It does sound like it's quite a bit darker than the other stuff, is that true?

I would say it is the same level of dark as the prequel trilogy, just all the campiness and goofiness has been stripped away. It's grittier than any other Star Wars show or movie, the only contenders to match it are RotS and TCW, maybe an episode or two of the bad batch. It's like Rogue One, but less colorful and improved technically in every conceivable way.

21 minutes ago, justice magician said:

OH MY GOODNESS THAID YOU NEED TO WATCH IT

They didn't really focus on Anime as much this time, inviting some other studies to do shorts as well. It was a fairly mixed bag, like the first season, there were some bad, some good. For the most part, I really enjoyed it, but I enjoyed the first season as well. I love the softer approach to the Star Wars Universe. I think S2 had more misses then the first season but. It also had an episode or two that were fantastic.

Ep. 2 'Screecher's Reach' is honestly one of the best pieces of star wars media in existence, John Abrahms could never. Please watch that one at least, it's so good. I also really liked 'Journey to the Dark Head' and 'Spy Dancer.' The rest were just okay, if not a little weak, but it's worth watching for the nice animation. My least favorite episodes were 'The Pit,' and 'The Bandits of Gloak.' The animation wasn't as good, and the stories felt bland/unoriginal.

If you do watch it, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Oooh. I'll put it on the list to watch after October Sky and the last two X-men movies I need to finish. 

[Pineap-spider]

2 hours ago, The cheeseman said:

What's your opinion of Rebels?

Rebels? I never watched rebels much, but the few episodes I did watch were okay.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Oh my gosh, @justice magician, I just realized that your Member title is "Feanor for president." XDDDDDDD that is the best!

[The cheeseman]

He would maybe not make a great president lol

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

13 minutes ago, The cheeseman said:

He would maybe not make a great president lol

He totally wouldn't, but he would at least be the best looking president ever.

[J. Magi]

1 hour ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

The thing is that they have announced so many different projects and promises, so it feels like it's super crowded. They keep saying stuff about Rogue Squadron, or Taika Waititi's Star Wars, or Kevin Feige's Star Wars, or, or, or, or. There was just so much announced that's just been left unfulifilled. They thought they could MCU Star Wars to that degree, but they couldn't sustain it at all, especially with how VFX artists, writers and actors have been overworked by the franchising that's been going on in Hollywood. What I hope happens is that they don't try to sell us on. the proposition of a movie or a show anymore and only bring us fully developed ideas with directors, writers and actors signed on with some sort of release date and an assurance that it will happen. I only want to hear about a SW project if it's in filming or animating.

No, it's Tony Gilroy, one of the guys who made Rogue One. Andor, TCW and the bad batch interchange so much for my favorite Star Wars shows, so it's hard to tell. Andor is just really good and I highly recommend it, as I mentioned in the other post.

Bo Katan was enjoyable, yeah, but her parts undermined Mando's story and took away from some of the ideas of his arc. Part of the problem for that season was that it felt unattached from Mando's story from the first two seasons, especially that first season. It felt like he was just a side character along for the ride with no journey or goals. It was like a watered down version of season two, a far less interesting one with the major highlights being things that were not about the title character. 

I would say it is the same level of dark as the prequel trilogy, just all the campiness and goofiness has been stripped away. It's grittier than any other Star Wars show or movie, the only contenders to match it are RotS and TCW, maybe an episode or two of the bad batch. It's like Rogue One, but less colorful and improved technically in every conceivable way.

Oooh. I'll put it on the list to watch after October Sky and the last two X-men movies I need to finish. 

Nice! Thanks for the info! I'll try and start Andor soon then.

1 hour ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Bo Katan was enjoyable, yeah, but her parts undermined Mando's story and took away from some of the ideas of his arc. Part of the problem for that season was that it felt unattached from Mando's story from the first two seasons, especially that first season. It felt like he was just a side character along for the ride with no journey or goals. It was like a watered down version of season two, a far less interesting one with the major highlights being things that were not about the title character. 

1 hour ago, justice magician said:

Oh yeah, I get that. Boba Fett had the same problem. 

43 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Oh my gosh, @justice magician, I just realized that your Member title is "Feanor for president." XDDDDDDD that is the best!

XD yeah lol, I've almost finished the book. (my pfp is Feanor too, but it's not a super serious drawing of him so he might not be as recognizable.

31 minutes ago, The cheeseman said:

He would maybe not make a great president lol

That's what the caption is for lol ('it's funny cause he'd be terrible at it')

17 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

He totally wouldn't, but he would at least be the best looking president ever.

Oh of course! He doesn't wear all that bling for nothing.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

46 minutes ago, justice magician said:

XD yeah lol, I've almost finished the book. (my pfp is Feanor too, but it's not a super serious drawing of him so he might not be as recognizable.

I can't wait to see what you think when you're done! I love the Silmarillion. 

[J. Magi]

9 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

I can't wait to see what you think when you're done! I love the Silmarillion. 

I've absolutely loved it so far! I'm really excited to finish it.

[The Honorable One]

Making me choose between "The Clone Wars" and "Andor" was so hard. Same with "Revenge of the Sith" and "Empire Strikes Back".

Also, yeah, I was looking for this thread before it existed.

Edited April 14 by The Honorable One

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

Happy Star Wars day y’all.

[Immortal Platypus]

I have seen movies 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and half of Solo. I've watched the first few episodes of S1 of mandolorian and clone wars. I don't have Disney+ so it's hard to watch some stuff. In general, I liked the originals the best. I want to watch the rest of the prequels, and I despise the sequels. I just think that they decided that Rey should be able to use whatever ability she wanted without having to work for them. I'm ok with characters being powerful, what I don't like is random villains showing up and/or villains who have been set up on a pedestal being easily defeated, and if the characters are going to be powerful, they should have to work and struggle for it.

Happy May the Fourth!