After a long time of avoiding it due to inconsistencies of narrative and tone (a fancy way of saying I thought season 1 sucked a bit), I went back and gave Clone Wars another chance. I haven't regretted it. I feel the episodes, while sometimes not standing on their own feet, weave together into an appealing narrative. I was surprised, after the lukewarm action of the first ten episodes, to find some actual suspense building. There was also an episode dedicated to Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai", which was nice. And to get it out of the way, I am forced to modify my stance on "Clone Wars"' approach on showing violence and death. It's not all Nickelodeon, horrible shit does happen to good people, and morbid stuff is occasionally done to bad guys for poetic justice. There, I've said it. :.)
There was even (god forbid) a relatively funny Jar-Jar scene (the banquet distraction scene, parts of it reminded me of Frank Drebin in his Fishtank-scene). So I find that there are actually ways to use Jar-Jar in this more Jim Carreyesque way, avoiding the "Three Stooges" style. I hope they can develop that.
Also, the character art direction is growing on me. I find myself staring at characters whose look and voice acting manage to make a real impression on me. Not many animated shows can manage that, they have some real talent over there:
And speaking of making an impression, Bariss Offee was just crazy well-done, it was almost scary watching her. They made her face more accurate and lifelike than anything else in the show, she looked almost out of place next to Obi-Wan's infamous stone beard:
Then there's the new ship designs...
The Arquitens-class escort! Debuted in Season 2. Literally a threeway of corellian corvette, millennium falcon and star destroyer. Shut up and take my money. I've always loved smaller-range capital ships, they feel more manageable, a crew you could get to know, as opposed to on a 1600 meter Imperator. In that same episode and on that ship there was also a new elite ARC Trooper helmet design on the bridge (the one on the right). Similarily, a threeway cross between the Gen-1 Clone Helmet, the Gen-2 (standing behind him) and just the classic Stormtrooper, topped off with a mandalorian ocular sensor. Cool eyeslit. Well done there. Hope to see more of that helmet.
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The Slayn & Korpil H-2 Executive Shuttle, probably the most beautiful shuttle design I've seen in Star Wars, period. Wings that for once doesn't fold upwards, but back and to the sides? Super sexy nose-design? Forgeddaboudit. And it's an ancestor to the B-Wing, insta-win.
The Mandalmotors Kom'rk class attack shuttle. Nice mandalorian design. I've been reading the surpisingly well-made Knights of the Old Republic comic book, depicting the life of struggling, comically unlucky jedi Zayne Carrick, and I love what they are doing with the Mandalorians back in their prime. I'm glad "Clone Wars" wants to add to that with some new ships of their own.
(Btw, I'm going to replay the PC-game "Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lords" soon, because the "Sith Lords Restored Content Mod" v1.8 major update came out this summer. The mod adds a whole new planet full of missions, which weren't included at launch because Obsidian Entertainment didn't have time. There's a plethora of other updates, bug-fixes and stuff there, making the game shine. Plenty of Mandalorians there too, in fact you get one in your party. Will post beauty pics of game later)
Back to Clone Wars: In the episode "Supply Lines" I saw this interesting design of a courier/cargo transport, a gorgeous combination of Corellian Corvette and Acclamator I-class assault ship (proto-star destroyer):
I still haven't found a class name for it, not on Wookiepedia or anywhere. The variable sweeping wing-parts on the end are intriguing. The visual cleanliness of just a single engine nozzle is appealing, a very "less is more" approach. Hope we see more of that too.
Honorable mention to a cool blaster: the Pantoran "disruptor" as I'd like to call it, I think you can guess why:
A powerful and also ornamental, almost renaissance design, a bit high bore axis of the barrel but very high energy output. Up until now most of the Clone Wars weaponry had been fairly boring. The only drawback to the Pantoran disruptor: it's firing sound sounds like a kid's bicycle bell. "Ring-ring!" Nice, anyway.
That's when I hit upon a very weird easter egg that had gone unnoticed up until now... Baron N. Papanoida (the bearded guy with guns akimbo above) had a prominent role in the episode ("Sphere of influence"). His son (in the first blaster pic), Ion Papanoida, is voiced by Seth Green, which was nice in its own right, but that wasn't the nifty part. It's George Lucas.
The character and his daughter was originally in a short, non-speaking senate corridor walk scene in Episode 3, and they decided to incorporate him into Clone Wars. No wonder they have him kick so much ass in that scene, which by the way, also takes place in the Mos Eisley Cantina, involving Greedo!
Oh, and speaking of Easter Eggs, I think I caught a little teensyweensy detail in the background, in the episode "Liberty On Ryloth", when the Separatist Commander packs up his shit. Can you spot it?: Asps! Very Dangerous.
Well, that's all I had to say about that, so far. Hope you enjoyed this little frivolous excursion into Star Wars minutiae. Flare in a nutshell, I'd like to think.
I guess all that's left is some random beauty shots that tasked me. ---
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See you, space cowboy...
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
I have to say that I've been enjoying the Clone Wars as well. It's not the best show ever, but it's good.
Probably the best compliment I can give it is that it does what Episode II didn't: Portraying Anakin Skywalker as a good guy and hero while hinting at the darkness that is to come (as opposed to portraying him as a whiner and stalker).
Also, whenever this show ends (which I sadly expect to be soon since the show airs on Cartoon Network, which is owned by Disney's competitors), am I the only one expecting it to end with a Vader vs. Tano fight?
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Those are good arguments. I've gotten to the point where I look forward to the next episode and I especially like seeing new jedi knights and masters (if only for one-shot episodes). The ending of "Supply Lines" was tough to see, for Master Ima-Gun Di. He was cool.
Sadly, for all the cool new ships, there is a terrible lack of new saber designs. They are still just regurgitating the basic 3 models that came with "Phantom Menace": the Mundi, the Gallia and the Windu Mk.1 (before his purple badass-mofo one). I wish they would take some pride in proliferating the greatest icon of Star Wars, I'm so tired of those three models. There was Tera Sinube's sabercane, of course. They even invented a new official lightsaber color for him, pale blueberry. That was pretty neat.
Note: I haven't yet seen the episode where Ahsoka takes students to build their sabers, I'm holding out for that one.
About the aquisition: I would think that Disney sees the value of the show and just does a "we won't get in your hair, keep making episodes" move, so that the only difference is the name on the paychecks. I imagine there have been successful shows in the past who've survived channel jumps?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
NIM! You're reading Knights Of The Old Republic?!? Man, I rant and rave about that everywhere- KOTOR is the most fun you can have with Star Wars- Zayne is everyting a Jedi should be by way of morals and doing the right thing no matter what...and his being a total fuckup and his "special relationship to the Force" gets nicely explained...but I wont spoil it for you. There's a major shocker in the sixth trade paperback...and though I guessed it slightly beforehand, I was still suprised.
KOTOR would make for an incredible animated or live action series.
Also, you should get the two action figures they made- Jarael and Rholan! Rhola is impossibly well detailed too!
You should also read Star Wars: Dark Times- dealing with events starting six months after ROTS and the fallout from the fall of the Jedi. A very adult series with a few distinct Kurosowa nods in the third trade paperback. Like KOTOR, the art id fantastic- some of the best comic art I've ever seen. Period.
TFAW.om is the place to get the trades- they have them really discounted- there or Amazon for usd trades.
Anyway, getting back to Clone Wars (sorry for the detour, I'm just a huge fan on those two series!), season three showcases some great clone trooper development and shows us a trooper that was a "reject" for some reason- kinda old and frail: hunched over and limping, he helps out as a sorta custodian on Kamino. We also get to see Heavy and Echo's origins as raw cadets- and the origin of their names!
Soething that really shines in CW is how they not only manage to make each clone unique despite them all being voiced by the same (awesome) actor, but they make the clones compelling enough to carry whole episodes without any Jedi...and you dont miss them!
quote:The Arquitens-class escort! Debuted in Season 2. Literally a threeway of corellian corvette, millennium falcon and star destroyer. Shut up and take my money. I've always loved smaller-range capital ships, they feel more manageable, a crew you could get to know, as opposed to on a 1600 meter Imperator. In that same episode and on that ship there was also a new elite ARC Trooper helmet design on the bridge (the one on the right). Similarily, a threeway cross between the Gen-1 Clone Helmet, the Gen-2 (standing behind him) and just the classic Stormtrooper, topped off with a mandalorian ocular sensor. Cool eyeslit. Well done there. Hope to see more of that helmet.
That clone commander is Wolf- his squad is called the Wolfpack. You can see the wolf design on the front of their helmets. You see more of the Wolfpack in season four. Those helmets are for the ARC Trooper Commanders only- the rest of the squad get standard ARC trooper helmets (which are still far better than Stormtrooper helmets!).
You also get to see Waxer- it was him a Boil that saved that llittle girl on Ryloth.
Lets see...you're on Season Three...tons of great stuff there. That Jedi Light Cruiser is indeed badass- it's back in season four (though obviously not that exact cruiser!). That first episode with the light cruiser was brutal- I think almost all of that crew was killed on that mission.
The Pantoran Chancellor is NOT to be fucked with! Holy smokes, that old dude mows through lowlifes. That episode again shows a Jabba that can be reasoned with. The Pantoran disruptor is indeed cool- it reminded me a lot of mal's gun from Firefly.
quote:And speaking of making an impression, Bariss Offee was just crazy well-done, it was almost scary watching her.
Like you, I'm in love with Luminara Unduli,- your pic is of Luminara- Barris is her padawan. The way Luminara moves, is so liquid- it's almost like she's dancing. The fight between Ashoka and Luminara against Ventress was amazing- I've probably watched that episode ten times. Great depiction of Newt Gunray as well!
So far as I can determine, the Medical Transport design has no other name- and no one knows what the flippers on the aft are there for- I had thought they were for vectored thrust but that's unlikely at this point.
You're going to see a return to Geonosis and in the episode after that, you'll see a great tug design that makes certain those medical ships dock properly.
Huh...you've already seen the episode with my favorite CW ship design- the lovely Mandalorian Coronet.
The only thing I'm a bit disapointed in from season's three and four is that we dont get to see Anakin's freighter Twilight. That hunk of junk really grew on me!
....but you will see a lot of amazing new designs- and some tweaked to fit the CW a bit better- like the Z-95 Headhunter!
I'm hoping that they show the Deadnought class of capital ship- they'd be older than the Venator, but still- I love that design!
[ November 09, 2012, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: Jason Abbadon ]
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Of course it was Luminara Unduli, I will hide behind the pneumonia there. Don't think I've seen the Ahsoka/Ventress fight yet. I think Ventress started out really well in the original Tartakovsky-Clone Wars series, she had arrogance and a pained past, and clearly bit off more than she could chew with Anakin, in this show she's more one-dimensional, I think. The eternal Dr Claw. "Next time, Gadget, next time." I hope she grows more.
Thanks to your comment about that Republic transport as "medical", I managed to find it on Wookiepedia! It's called Pelta-Class, and I had no idea that it was the class of ship on which Ahsoka and Offee fought the brain worms! Unarmed and armed ship-version. According to the site, the vectoring aft "wings" open to activate the lesser mini-pair of engine thrusters, but that doesn't make sense since they opened when the ships in "Supply Lines" had docked. Ah well, they do give the ship a very cool outline.
INDEED I am a fan of the Kotor-comic, I've played through both of the PC-games at least three times (and as I mentioned up there, will soon revisit "Sith Lords" in High-def greatness). The last thing I read in the KotOR-comic was when Carrick assaulted a platoon of Mandalorians, then got captured by a bunch of renegade dark jedi who wants to decimate the Mandalorians, even though they were unarmed and retreating. They're on a swamp-land type planet. Haven't progressed beyond that, or finished the subplot.
I've never been a fan of the Episode 3 clone helmets, they feel like an orphan design, IMO not achieving a relevant "middle-ground" between the Boba Fett-style and the Stormtrooper style, and the visor slits are ugly to me, pinching in the middle when they should be wide, vision-wise. That's why I thought Wolf's helmet was so very nice, THAT'S what they should've gone with in Episode 3. Looking forward to seeing more of Wolpack.
Oh yes, about the Coronet, I do so love the Mandalorian ship designs that build vertically. In the KotOR-comic you see grand scale ship battles with their nautilus-shell style cruisers, many different classes. According to the (mildly retconning) Wookiepedia, the Dreadnaught is based on the Mandalorian Kandosii Dreadnaught, which I have no problem with. Do you know any names of the other "vertical" mandalships, like the ones in the background of the pic I just linked to?
I'd like to see more of the Juggernaut too, especially the interior. Do you know if the Juggernaut is used in season 4 or 5?
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Wait till you see their iteration of the z95 Headhunter. They took a clumsy looking EU ship and made it a design that you can point to and say, "Oh yeah, I can see an X-wing being developed from that."
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
That's a beaut. Can't wait to see it in action. I like the red, but I'd also like to see it in an alternative blue. :.) It really is a different craft than the original, though, judging by the number of engines and the nose shape.
Btw, have you guys got Hoverzoom? It's a free application for Google Chrome, expands a picture just by holding the mouse on the link. Very sweet. That, AdBlock and "Turn Off The Lights" (for dark youtube-viewing) has really made my web experience better.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Ventress gets the DELUXE character development treatment! Background, motivations, you name it- they mange to bring up a shiton of new questions regarding her people though...and the Sith. And what is called "Sith Magic" by the Jedi. Hell, we even get the original design for Darth Maul- a "Sith witch" realized in the series in the form of Mother Talsend. You'll see. By the end, you'll be a fan of Ventress as a character- she's much more fleshed out than Dooku, who so far remains a mystery...though you do get to see a bit of the beutiful world he aparantly owns.
Not only all that, but the CW crew decided to break with Tartakovsky's series regarding her- she definitely will not be serving Dooku toward the war's end and meeting her end against Anakin atop some myan-looking temple thinger.
The Z-95 in CW is the predesessor to the EU Z-95, so the resemblence is like seeing a 68 Corvette and a '78 model- you can tell they're the same make, but obviously not the same model.
I had not noticed it, but No, we dont get to see the Juggernaut design in use...at least not as of season five's sixth episode.
What exactly have you read of the KOTOR comics? The stuff you'retalking about is the War series- which would be like issues 80-90 or something if they were numbered that way.
If you missed the AMAZING stories that led up to that, it's nine trade paperbacks long, but well worth it all! ALL the issues are written by John Jackson Miller- and this guy has such a feel for the soul of Star Wars that he should be tapped to write the new movies.
The Mandaolrian Horde from KOTOR is a lot different than the Mandos from CW though- it's 3000 years prior and the galaxy is a much less explored and less setteled place- with the Republic only about a third of it's CW size- and the Mandalorians are nomadic raiders that shun any kind of centralized governmental authority- but they're unified under a single leader with the purpose of invading the Republic... What's so cool here is that they conscript the populaces of worlds they take over- having a standardized Mandalorian style armor that can be configured for whatever species wears it....which is pretty refreshing in it's novelty! But that's not to say that veteran warriors like Rholan Dyre wear that crap- the older guys all have unique and specialized armor that serves as their public face and reputation- and in their society, a person's accomplishments are all that matters- not money. Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Well then, that sounds great, her getting a narrative of her own.
About the KotOR-comic, yes, I've read every issue since the start and up until that new offensive towards the Mandalorians on a swamp planet. I have a bit of a backlog at the moment but when I soon get access to the mags again, I'll get up to date.
As I said before, I played through the KotOR video games when they came out (2003&2004), everything the comic book has in terms of republic ships (including my favorite, the Foray-Class cruiser), uniforms and the exotic Mandies either comes directly from those two games, or follows a design paradigm set by the games.
That's not to say the comic hasn't also come up with lots and lots of original content both ship-, weapon- and uniform-wise, it really has. The big Republic disc-shaped battleship isn't one of my favorites, but almost all the stuff from the Mandies is new (including the properly mountable Basilisk-droid, as opposed to the Kotor2-game's ugly-ass Basilisk "shuttle") and I really like it. Especially the unconventional vertically-shaped Mandy capital ships and cruisers:
[url= http://www.bwafer.com/starwars/images/Jehavey'ir-type_assault_ship.jpg]Jehavey'ir Class cruiser[/url]. No matter how many times I edit that line, the space between the url= and the adress keeps reinserting itself. Something must be wrong with the forum software, I can't believe it starts killing links if you write more than 5 hotlinks? What kind of arbitrary number is that?
[ November 10, 2012, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: Nim ]
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
You probably already know this but the Basilisk Shuttle is the same design (and CG model) as Prince Xizor's Virago. But if you're feeling that itch to build the model kit of the Virago...god help you. Many good Bothans died trying to get that thing's parts to fit together...and to fill the gaps they leave open!
Star Wars Miniatures makes an excellent Basilisk droid with a Mandalorian rider on top...would look cool atop your Computer's monitor or something. I think my roomate has that one.
As to the capital ships from the comics, I personally really liked the disk shaped Couragous! It was cool in that the bridge was on the ventral side -better to observe a large battle or look down on some planet, I suppose. Plus with all tah firepower on the ventral sie, the ship looks designed for planetary bombardment or as a command and control ship for ground troops. It's also (to me) nice to see new designs that look nothing like the familiar CW/OT designs- after all, it's a few thousand years prior, right? Ship design should have changed radicaly...even in a universe where technological advancments seem to have stagnated- or even fallen backward because of the massive wars that periodicly threaten to topple everything into anarchy.
I'd love to make a Ixpungible class class model (like the Courageous)to go with my Venator and Dreadnoughts... still, it was cool seing the Mandos blow the ship to hell, and for the Mandalore to make his axe from the wreckage! Nothing says "Fuck You" like that move.
Yes, that mandolorian shp that looks like a cross between a hairdryer, a Q-bert and a nautilus is bizarrely neat- functionally cool in that it lands on that decending stem part- giving the crew a height advantage over any hostiles around the ship. It's like a fortress that can just fly away. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/6/65/Jehavey'ir-type_assault_ship.jpg
I'm NOT a fan of the Kyramud-type battleship though- too organic and inscetoid. It just does not really fit with the other Mandalorian ships and the scale of them always seems off because they look like fleas- they could just as well be the tiny "gremlin" droids from ROTS.
Here's a gift from Season Five of Clone Wars- the Crucible class Jedi transport:
[ November 11, 2012, 07:58 AM: Message edited by: Jason Abbadon ]
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Oh that is a gorgeous design, it's engine layout is the same W-shape as the Foray-class! Very lean and nice lines, this style of ship is what I'd hoped the Normandy would look like in "Mass Effect". I hope they get around to an armed variant of this. "Crucible" does not ring of non-martial connotations. ; That's another design I would so love to see with blue markings instead of red.
Man, those designers at Lucasfilm seem to like their jobs. They could easily have just gone with another ship of existing design there, I wonder who at Lucasfilm makes the desicions to commission new ships? I would want to meet that guy and check out his concept art, the ones that almost made the cut. See one of their brainstorming design meetings.
I agree the Ixpugnable is a novel design, I suppose I thought it was a bit immobile-looking the first time I saw it, but as a siege-type command ship it's solid. And seeing its engines just now did redeem it even more.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I had to make a small recording. The sheer cuteness and level of silly in this scene caught me off-guard. I had to punch out a window to feel like a man again. The dramatic and dead serious musical score makes the scene even more silly.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I'm at work so I'll have to watch taht scene later- what episode is it from and what's happening? Is it the Jar jar distraction bit? That one cinched the idea that he does indeed have some latant Force ability- noting else explains his strange clumsy-yet-agile way that he manages not to get killed- or rarely even captured!
That Crucible is definitely made for weapons- you can see the space for a dorsal turret midships- this particular one likely is a schoolbus of sorts- it's used to take very young Jedi Padawans to find their lightsaber crystals at the temple shown in the CW cartoon shorts. Over at SSM, we're trying to get a feel for the ship's dorsal elevation- the shape of the "head" for want of a better term- it's smaller and more sharp angled than the Alderaan Blockade Runner (dont know it's precise name).
Season Four and Five show us such lovelies as the Gozanti Cruizer- another EU design like the Z-95 Bossk's Hound's Tooth and best of all- we see that Hondo's person craft is none other than the Lady Luck- the ship fated to oneday belong to Lando Calrissian! [URL=http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121024043314/starwars/images/f/f6/Obi-Wan_Kenobi's_Personal_Luxury_Yacht_3000.jpgg ]A screengrab showing her all pimped out.
The more I see Hondo, the more I really, truly love him. Wait till you see the wild free for all between him, his men (traitorus and otherwise) Darth Maul, Obi Wan, Savage oppress and Adi Galia. He's SO. DAMN. FUNNY. The perfect unflappable pirate leader. ANd...without spoiling anything really, his attitude when dealing with Maul and Obi Wan is very telling- he asks Obi Wan what this Maul guy's problem is and calls him "one of yours- referring to the Jedi. To the galaxy in general, the Sith seem forgotten...which is bad news when guys like Maul or Dooku fuck over the whole galaxy....and are viewed as Jedi. Which really is the case with Dooku!
I wonder why we dont see more of the media in Star Wars- we never see the press dogging politicians- no investigative reporters that might uncover the shocking truth- or even get in the way of the various missions or murder investigations- yet we can infer from the "Movietone" announcer at the start of each episode that there is indeed some means to keep the public informed about galactic events. weren't there floating cameas in the senate scenes from TPM?
[ November 12, 2012, 06:41 AM: Message edited by: Jason Abbadon ]
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Nope, not Jar-Jar distraction. I won't tell you which scene it is, you'll have to enjoy when you come home. :.)
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Okay. meanwhile, I edited my last post to clear some clutter and add some thoughts- SW Wiki seems to have a hotlinking countermeasure that prevents even the "URL" function from happening.
I'm annoyed and impressed.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
It's three in the morning in Florida. You work in a nunnery? I like the fact that the Crucible-class incorporates the engine nozzles from the original 1977 Imperator destroyer. While their placement makes them seem slightly exposed and vulnerable, they do look...thrusty.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
People still give this many fucques about Star Wars?
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Hey! I had pneumonia! But yeah, it's a nice distraction, with diligent voice actors, and the multitude of new ships are very nice. Also, there's a new movie coming out in 2015, imho.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cartman: People still give this many fucques about Star Wars?
I am actually excited for each new episode...whereas, by contrast, I doubt I'll bother wasting my time on a second JJTrek movie.
quote: It's three in the morning in Florida. You work in a nunnery? I like the fact that the Crucible-class incorporates the engine nozzles from the original 1977 Imperator destroyer. While their placement makes them seem slightly exposed and vulnerable, they do look...thrusty.
Things like engines being expose or half a ship's mass being attached by a twiggy think bit of hull dont seem major obstacles to ship design in the SW universe. Good eye on the engine nozzles though- I missed that. Huh. You're a pretty hardcore SW fan- I never knew.
Also, here in Florida, we have no Nunneries- I can not recall ever seeing a nun in real life, to be honest. Maybe it's the heat- that habit would be murder in 90 degrees and 80% humidity.
I spend my nights shoveling coal into the great furnaces of the stars, keeping them lit, being paid in the occasional wishes of children and the lovestruck. Meh. It came with insurance.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
quote:whereas, by contrast, I doubt I'll bother wasting my time on a second JJTrek movie.
Come now, Jason. It's sci-fi, it's Trek, it's got ships! You have a duty to your peers. Give it a chance. I retried Clone Wars and my face didn't melt. You'll do fine. Just do what I did with CW: ignore prickly prejudice against the writers' entrenched tropes and conventions (40% of CW-episodes are about someone getting kidnapped Scooby Doo-style) and any eventual predictability (Hm, all the people involved in this duel are in Episode 3, so what could happen?), and just allow yourself to experience the show/movie/book on its own terms.
When I studied cinema arts in uni, we got to watch many silent movies. Us second-year students sometimes sat in awe at some of the spectacular stunts and ingenious special effects of the era, while the first-year student teenagers sat and snickered derisively at the "silly men jumping around in high-speed" and the corny wording of the dialogue cards. Keep an open mind. (Oh, and if you haven't yet, catch Scorsese's "Hugo Cabret", it's an affectionate love letter to early cinema. And Ben Kingsley rules)
Also, the "all or nothing" approach to movie reviewing doesn't do anyone any favors. That's sithpublican thinking. For instance, while I didn't like "Chronicles of Riddick" even a third as much as "Pitch Black", I still appreciated the new locations, armor and weapons, even if the rest was a bit stale. But Colm Feore always delivers. Yay Canada.
In Star Trek (2009), the best moment in the entire movie, for me, is those few seconds when an ensign gets sucked out through the bulkhead of the USS Kelvin, bouncing off of one of the phaser mounts to her death. Tragic, beautiful and a novel approach, all at once. Despite not being shown in 3D, that shot had more visual depth and atmosphere than any action shot in any Trek movie or episode I've ever seen. Most beautiful, and most horrible way to die, bizarre combo. They actually are trying to do stuff that hasn't been done before in Trek, visually and stylistically. And that sequence made the movie for me.
Besides, avoiding a work means barring oneself from any future discussion of it. Criticizing a work one hasn't seen or read is to forfeit by default. That's boring.
Anyway, that's not at all what I wanted to talk about, but give me the benefit of the doubt.
I do like Star Wars minutiae and ship class genealogy, ever since 1993 and Lawrence Holland's "TIE Fighter". For instance, I've never heard anyone else comment on the slightly suspicious layout of General Grievous' personal flagship, the Providence class "Invisible Hand", as compared to the imperial Loronar Strike Cruiser. I think it's kind of a "Akira Class/NX-01" relationship. Actually, even closer than that, since this isn't even flipped, just tricked out with different jewelry.
Watched Clone Wars 3-10 "Heroes on Both Sides" yesterday. Yet another new pretty ship, no idea as to name:
Any ideas? Seems Corellian but could just as well be Kuat.
Also of note, the transport shuttle used by the separatist politician, Padme, and Ahsoka was another H-2 Exec Shuttle, red this time.
Bonus shot, the lean bridge of an Arquitens class cruiser (from brainworm episode). Sadly, it was a medical frigate in that episode, no guns.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
That's the Gozanti cruiser. Nick Sagan of SSM makes an amazing kit of that. The Invisible Hand looks like a wingless, eyeless cartoon woodpecker from the front, that other design looks more like a dogfish to me.
As to NuTrek, I dont know...giving more money to that seems like rewarding bad work. Yes, the effects were nice, if extremele unlike anything Star Trek- much more ike the NUBSG with the goddamn shakeycam "you are there" nonsense that I despise...and of course, LENS FLARE.
Nice ship designs that JJ then decided to super-size into idiocy...
I'll likely watch it as a bootleg, but unless I'm roling to the movies with a certain snarky girl, I'll pass...speaking on whic, you mentioned Chronicles of Riddick, which I had a GREAT time making fun of with that same girl (well, woman, she's 30 this year). That movie is SO BAD- so predictable that we called every scene 10 minutes before it happened and she called the knife would be used to kill the main bad guy -I noticed it was a catalog available Gil Hibben knife, just like Shinzon's was. Who makes the decision to buy something from Atlanta Cutlery and put it p before millions of viewers as something unique? Assinine.
Riddick and Trek both have something in common though-both waste Karl Urban's acting talents on rubbish roles....and according to his IMDB profile, he's in another Riddick movie which is in post productin.
Time for a new agent, Karl. Seriously.
Still, he's in Dredd, so I gotta give him props (annd my money). I really want to see that movie!
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Hey, I find Urban's McCoy to be spot on with DeForest Kelly's. Very convincing. But, then again, I'm apparently in the minority that actually liked the movie in the first place...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I liked Urban's performance in Trek- I find he's the shining light in many bad movies- That Riddic movie for example. It was like he just wanted to act the hell out of his character and the script was calling for him to be a dumb sack of meat.
In Trek he was spot on and then...wasted in the second half of the movie. (His IMDB page actuallylists him as Bones instead of "Doctor McCoy" which I find grating.) He managed the role without making it a parody (like Pegg Did) or an inpersonation... But the movie still sucked.
Love him in the LOTR movies- I hope some day that helmet he wore comes up for auction- that was badass, what with the horsey on the front and all. Just sayin. HIs bit about how the Hobbits really should not be in the battle was a great scene- it showcased how even a two minute scene with no action can be so memorable.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Indeed. And funny you should mention Lord of the Rings, because when I rolled with the Minas Tirith forums for Tolkien discussion there was this clout of high-horse "purists" who let details like "Farmer Maggot growing maize in the Shire and not corn grain" overshadow the long list of successful book-to-movie scene transfers (Rivendell, Rohan, Mordor, Isengard). Their scorn of "moviephiles" of all stripes almost rivaled McCarthy-era anticommunism.
I myself have an extremely hard time with Pirates of the Caribbean for a number of reasons, but I have huge respect for Geoffrey Rush and Bill Nighy, and Rob Marshall has a good portfolio, so I can't just write it all off because of Depp's planet-crushing vanity.
Hell, a few weeks ago Trey Parker and Matt Stone, in the episode "Going Native", buried the axe with Ben Affleck, after ten years of relentless hating on him, because they really did like Argo and had to give credit where it's due.
Anyway, the prevailing message is "make love, not war". Being critical is good, as long as you leave room for discussion, but finding saving graces in perceived flawed works is an extremely grateful skill for cinema, literature and life. Even more, it can be a useful tool for self-observation.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Trye, true...good points. If you realy want to love on the NuTrek's good points, check out Drexler's site- all the ship geekery you can want on trek is there for the drooling. I stopped saving all the images after a while though- it was like a part-time job.
Meanwhile, if you're looking to have a nice desk type model, my pal Nick Sagan makes all kinds of crazy Warsie models- his Gozanti Cruiser (the ship shown in the last set of images you linked) is lovely and his 1:350th Skipray Blastboat is flippn' awesome!
I know we're all "ship guys" and he makes some killer ships- you may recall I model in small scales like 2500th, well the SW equivalent is 1/2256th, so it's in scale with the Revell Venator class kit- Nick's got some goodies in taht scale coming out that I'm excited about- including that Gozanti cruiser- which is crazy tiny, but still perfectly detailed as it's "grown" from his digital file instead of being made by hand.
Nim, I know you're watching stuff in order but DAMN- you need to go to Starwars.com and watch the last two episodes with the younglings building their lightsabers! I recall you dig that technology aspect and this is a showcase of how it's done and the materials used, etc. The episodes wont blow anything for what you've got to catch up on either.
You get to see a LOT more of that Crucible transport too! It's much smaller than I first thought! I'm guessing it's about 90 meters long, tops. The bridge of it resembles a large Millenium Falcon cockpit and is centered at the fore... You can clearly see where a turret would go at the center of the ship. It's got three escape pods on each side and two docking hatches. Very much a Correllian design.
I also love that it's not white! the tan color is appealing to me- not something we've seen on Jedi ships before.
There's also an incredible looking teacher droid taht's over a thousand years old (without any wiping or anything so it's fully sentient, wonderfully voiced by David Tennant )- and the interaction shows how Jedi have a respect for droid life that the rest of the galaxy does not...or at least they do for some droids. It also shows that becoming a Padawan is usually a process that a youngling has to achieve- not just a given like how Anakin became Obi wan's padawan.
Anyway, there's a Season Five trailer from Comicon that shows us some spoiler type shots that dont really spoil anything- and something I've wanted to happen since the series began is gong to be shown...Sideous throws down on some poor sap! [IMG] http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/08/24/clone-wars-4.jpg[/IMG] Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I am a very big fan of David Tennant, I still like his Doctor the most, this was very good news. And I do like lightsaber designs and construction, the aesthetics of shape and function can carry just as much "sexiness" as an inspired ship design, in my opinion.
I am very tempted to take you up on that, as I am trying not to hurry through the episodes (when they are a finite commodity), and would take a while to reach the most recent ones.
A Sidious-encounter would be very desireable indeed. I'll stay away from any trailers or pics, though, I love getting it fresh. Watching the trailer for the new "Evil Dead" remake was a bad decision, they stuffed every cool reimagining of every iconic scene in the trailer, leaving almost nothing unseen for the movie. I think I'll have had time to forget the bits before seeing it, though.
That Crucible just gets better. And those engines look beefier than I first thought. Very balanced and tasteful design.
I don't think I would have money for a custom-built ship model right now, but if I did, I would like to one day have a 5-6 inch model of the corellian YU-410, for a story I've been kicking around in my head. After a long search, I've discovered it's the smallest ship that can carry a fighter in its holds, without resorting to outboard "parasite" hull clamps.
In the third part of that storyline with the younglings and their lghtsabers we get to see a few really come together- without spoiling story particulars, there's a lovely one with a wooden outer sheath that's a wookie's saber and it's just so damn classy!
We also learn that Venator class starships have MASSIVE and lovely to watch self-destructs to prevent their being captured...something I've always wondered about. I'd assume the Seperatist starships have something simmular which can be set.
And Cody's armor now sports something new onit's back, but it's purpose is unclear. That's just a tech observation, not relavant to the story which includes pirates, drinking, a mystery race which has "uses" for Jedi corpses, acrobats, lightsaber constructions, more drinking, General Grievius, a truly horrible death for a clone, the Crucible making an emergency landing (which is still pretty sexy), a big mix of characters from different species (a Dug character that speaks english!) Twilik sexual inuendo, a GREAT joke by Hondo and oh yes, a godamn traveling circus!
Catch up quick so we can do weekly episode synopsis and conversations!
That freighter design you linked is pretty cool, but I prefer the Solar Flare version Corellian design- like the falcon but with different engines and longer mandibles at the front- and the mandibles have a large, rectangular cargo pod between them which, back when I played the RPG, held my character's short-nosed Z-95 with it's specialty wings retracted and folded up like a BLackburn Buckaneer's. The idea being that if the shit hit the fan, he could climb in from the freighter and the front of the cargo pod would open, launching the fighter on a mag-rail where the engines would ignite and the wings fold out... Not something that could be put back in while in space though and the sizes probably dont work but what the hell, it was an RPG from back when that meant people sitting around a table having fun.
I'll check the Youtube link later and post on it- I'm at work (on break).
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
YOu were looking at the Wolkpack armor before- I was re-watching the slaver episodes and man, you're going to become a big fan of the Wolfpack's leader when that trilogy of episodes is complete! No punches are pulled on the bad guys in those episodes- and even Obi Wan does something that's...well, it's definitely NOT the Jedi way!
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
Glad to see I am not alone in enjoying TCW. I just wish I had more time to really analyze it a la http://nolettershome.info ... but I'll manage.
For awhile the Twilight caused me consternation despite my inability to dislike it on account of its off-axis thruster... the ships of the canon, as I recalled, all pretty much were inline, center-of-mass designs. But with the Nebulon and especially the AoTC refugee transport having high-riding engines, I got over it.
TCW, being part of the Lucas canon rather than 'merely' part of the EU, has been especially enjoyable for me. A lot of EU-philes have loathed it for trampling on EU material but you have to watch it as if only the films and such exist.
It will be interesting to see how 7-9 fit.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
More future-Star Wars news: not only have they pegged Michael ("Little Miss Sunshine") Arndt as writer for Episode 7, they got Lawrence Kasdan, who needs no introduction, and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class) for episode 8 and 9. I'd say that's good news.
As for Clone Wars, I'm through most of season 4, got some episode comments and some more ship notes.
First off, I liked this little nod to KotOR-mandies in the episode "Wookie Hunt", while showing off Trandoshan hunting trophies.
About that story, and CW-Trandoshans in general, it's sad that they made them bilingual, alternating between their hissing guttural reptile speech and then diluting it with corny, macho Klingon-sounding english. Taking a cue from Bossk in TESB, they would've been much more scary if only hissing in native tongue, like they did in the KotOR games. No subtitles, you'd have to make conjecture of their motives from their actions. Even more alien and unknowable. Ah well.
That episode gave another show of the Halo, bounty hunter Sugi's SS-54 assault ship. I'm starting to really like it. The engines are very big targets, of course, but anything with tiltmotors is a very welcome addition to CW.
I loved R2 and Threepio's two episodes. R2 is racking up a pretty sizeable body count by now, and Threepio's attempt at instituting democracy on the Gulliver-planet was cute, then horrible and funny.
I really like Commander Rex' new helmet design, a perfect combo of the first clone-visor and the vintage stormtrooper muzzle. The aesthetic blend feels natural, a match made in heaven.
The slaver episodes were pretty good, Kenobi did get to play rough, and the Zygerrian ships were nice. More tiltmotors still.
I've just finished the four-episode "Palpatine kidnapping" story, it felt like a thrust back to the worst parts of season 1. Dooku has no reason to kidnap his boss Palpatine, and if they truly wanted to, Palps could just walk out the door and onto a Dooku-hired ship, then claim "I'm kidnapped". The convoluted and unnecessary circus Dooku actually came up with was exactly why I stopped watching Clone Wars the first time around. Insulting the intelligence of the viewer.
I hoped the plot would have some other, deeper layer, but no, Dooku just wants to waste millions of credits in resources, prance about and have yet another pointless and predictable saber fight, then escape on a chopper ladder and gloat, even though he's the biggest loser there, having gained nothing, the entire operation a complete and utter failure. An operation which he had no motive to want to carry out. Also, Palpatine could've just as soon died in that shield reactor explosion. As it was, he blew up juuust hard enough to become unconscious. The script is worse than Ducktales.
I see from the wiki that a "Brent Friedman" was the writer for those four episodes, and his name appears nowhere else. Thank goodness.
In the episode prior to this, Katee Sackhoff calls Ahsoka skinny and smacks her on the rump. The bizarre hilarity of it almost makes up for all the crap in the proceeding four eps. Almost.
Then comes "Bounty", which shows just how night-and-day these episodes can be, depending on writer, director and cast. Simon Pegg as Dengar, new cool characters (Latts Razzi, Highsinger), an interesting plot, and a very pretty sky elevator. More of this. More of all of that.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$poilers "Revenge" and "Brothers": pure gold. I never knew Clancy Brown was the voice of Opress. Talking snake funny. Sam Witwer's Darth Maul is spot on, from the one line spoken by Peter Serafinowicz in TPM. Quad-fight aboard the freighter was geniously choreographed, they even had Maul do some genuine Wushu-style acrobatics and attack chains. Some of the finest animation I've ever seen. It's great that they still work to harness this style of rendering and don't just cheat and resort to simplistic motion-capture, like in the 2004 Appleseed-movie.
[ November 30, 2012, 11:26 PM: Message edited by: Nim ]
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
OKay, I wathed yoour clips- droids adding fruit to a cake. Gotcha.
Bounty was indeed a fantastic episode- the character development on Ventress is just exceptional- she even hooked up Boba after such an embarassing defeat. I think that maybe...just maybe...Ventress will get a happy ending instead of a grisly death. Dengar was nicely portrayed- he looked very competant, and not at all the fucked up hobo he appears as in ESB. Latts Razzi, Highsinger and the ninja brother badass were all highlights from that episode- as was the sky elevator. I love how no one in SW ever says "Holy shit, I'm not getting on that thing!". Everyone is so nonplussed when confronted with exotic technology- even when the opnly thing seperating them from space is a thin sheath of energy, no one asks questions about safety or anything...
In the slaver episodes, we get to see Kenobi stand by as Wolf just straight up murders a bitch with a thrown trident through the chest. Epic.
quote:I've just finished the four-episode "Palpatine kidnapping" story, it felt like a thrust back to the worst parts of season 1. Dooku has no reason to kidnap his boss Palpatine, and if they truly wanted to, Palps could just walk out the door and onto a Dooku-hired ship, then claim "I'm kidnapped". The convoluted and unnecessary circus Dooku actually came up with was exactly why I stopped watching Clone Wars the first time around. Insulting the intelligence of the viewer.
I was also disapointed with these but mostly with the Jedi Council's disregard for Anakin...
But then, it's a dry run for events in Revenge Of The Sith- the whole thing looked to be setting Dooku's ass to get killed and Anakin to take over... And of course, Palpaltine drove that wedge into Anakin's loyalty at the end.
So, you've seen the episode Brothers- what do you think of the junker ship Oppress steals? I'm pretty impressed by it- it's thrusters are in AT AT like legs and the entire command pod is the ship's lifeboat. I'm guessing the lifeboat was unarmed or Obi wan would have just turned around and shot the rest of the ship to hell....we know he's not above such things.
As to Dooku and palpaltine's relationship...I dont know that Palpaltine knows that dooku knows he's the Chancellor. That's the only thing that makes sense to me- Darth Sideous always wears his hood and robes and such when with or addressing Dooku...and Dooku and Sideous laughing at how they have gamed the whole galactic war... Maybe Dooku found out Sideous' secret and has to play dumb when ordered to do senseless shit like kidnap his boss. Maybe he's terrified to bring it up to his boss...that would kinda jibe with his little chat with Obi Wan in ATOC, where Kenobi fails the most important intition roll of his life and dismisses Dooku out of hand.
I bet he had some hard days in the desert thinking on how badly he fucked up there.
HEY! Now you can FINALLY watch the Season Five Teaser! You can see Kenobi in mandalorian armor, energy bucklers and Sideous force choke TWO bitches to death at the same time -just because they were kinda almost in his way.
I'm sad to report that this past saturday's episode was terrible- worse than anything from season one... But what the hell, five amazing episodes in a row before that...hopefully more starting next saturday.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Hey, Nim- I was looking at ebay and found this amazing listing: The KOTOR Mandalore's helmet! Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
DID YOU..I mean.....they....and then..... :shock:
Did you cats see today's episode? The CW series kinda went into crappy territory for three episodes of droid idiocy but last week's episode and now today's episode were two of the very best the series has made! Darth Maul and Deathwatch! An alliance between the Sith, Deathwatch, the Hutts, the Picts (spice dealers) and Black Sun!
A toppling of government, incredibly badassery by Mandalorians useing ALL the skills we could hope to see- including some masterful flying with their jetpacks!
And today....the best saber duel of the series to date! These episodes really show how the mandalorians of old could be a serious threat to the Jedi in combat- and pre vizla uses a TON of new weapons and gadgets, as well as all the old movie Boba Fett gear. I honestly was blown away by the episode...
It also leaves zero doubt taht "spice" means "drugs" and that it's all illegal- which makes han a much darker character in the first SW movie than if he were smuggling anything that was just banned by tarrif or treaty.
From a modeler's perspective, there's a LOT to love- The Deathwatch ships get a lot of closeup and screen time- I ahd not realized that their wing structure rotates around the centeral hull. They also have a great deployment bay under the craft for releasing mandalorians in jetpacks- it's a bit like a bomb bay.
Black sun uses Gozanti Cruisers with their Black Sun emblem covering the entire cockpit section. The picts use something i've not seen before but I did not get a great look at them (looking for screengrabs of it).
So...waht was your take on these episodes?
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
This last Maul arc was really quite good, and I say this as someone who is not interested in all the underworld side dealings. Maul vs. Pre was quite a duel. I presumed at first that Maul was going easy on him, but then we've seen Pre go against Jedi before and hold his own for a bit, and Pre was pulling out all the stops until he quit.
Maul's revenge against Obi-Wan was also quite well played and more than a little surprising. The disheveled hair and "master's bidding" lines were also suggestive of a lot more going on in the final hours than we might wish to ponder (I was reminded of BSG and the Six aboard the Pegasus).
The destruction of the Twilight was disappointing . . . the ship was just sort of forgotten, it seems, then shows up all of the sudden all a mess only to get whacked easily by wimpy back-rockets.
But for the arc to end with Sidious, too, made it quite the arc. And sadly it appears to be over for the moment, the show moving on to other things, so we won't know what happens for some time.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I thought the episode was easily the series' best and most shocking to date- hard to believe they did not leave this for the season finale though- hard to top this to say the least. Satine's death was brutal and shocking- Obi Wan was the series' true hero throughout by not turning to the darkside there- and his explanation of how the Darkside is the easy way out was so dead on- how it's for the weak. Both Maul and Kenobi appeal to each other to switch sides...but it's just not going to happen.
Savage Oppress' death was perfect- as with any bully, he was really a kid inside looking for some validation, here from his brother, Maul shows some real complexity in these episodes- obvious concern for his brother, holding his hand as he expires, switching to pure rage and then, to pleading fear when he gets SO beat down by Sideous.
This episode only re-affirms what I've been saying for the past couple of years- the CW crew need to make their own version of ROTS. There's just so much more complexity and added story going on that it's warranted- nad their depiction of Sideous, Anakin, Kenobi...hell even Amidala, is so much better than what the movie acctors brought to the table!
As to Twilight's death, I was saddened and knd of...satisfied? I'd rather that great ship get blown to hell than just forgotten completely...though it would be nice to see an episode showing where all that un-repaired damage came from.
I think the backpack missiles- heck, ALL the Mandalorian weapons and gear- were done perfectly. Really showing off how they could have been a threat to the Jedi for so long. Satine's sister in particular is an ass kicker!
As to your suggestin that the Dutchess had been...abused..I had the same notion. The series is already suprisingly adult in content- much moreso than could pass on network TV for a live action series, I think- and they can only suggest so much.
Sideous himself was everything I wanted him to be- evil as hell and twice as powerful as anyone we've seen to date!
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
The series is excellent within its constraints of at least the pretense of being child-watchable.
The thing is, though, they have yet to really sow the seeds of Anakin's fall as much as they need to. I mean, sure, he went all mother-avenger in AotC, but the transformation was just poorly played in RotS.
I really think they've erred by having him be heroic and mostly-mature here, save for occasional eyebrow-raising moments ("What? He was gonna blow up the ship!" . . . some of the Mortis stuff . . . et cetera). I mean, it would've sucked to have him petulant the entire time, but his biggest sin, as it were, is being brash and confident.
Philosophically, there is just no explanation from caring worried husband and mentor to child-killer, not to mention that he needs to be, frankly, a little more stupid. You tell me my boss is secretly working for the other competition, and I'm sorry, but that guy's an ass. And the TCW Anakin would agree, I think. But then you watch RotS and it's just wrong.
So yes, long story short, I agree that Dave Filoni and the gang could probably weave a more plausible RotS. For all his talent, the novelist of RotS (forced to keep to the source material) just couldn't make it work despite his best efforts, but a re-do TCW-style would probably be superior.
As for the Jedi detachment, I can see where they are trying to come from with that sort of thing but it just doesn't work for me. Data is more human a character to me in that regard. Borrowing from Chakoteya.net:
quote:(Data picks up the disrupter and points it at Fajo) FAJO: You won't hurt me. Fundamental respect for all living beings. That is what you said. I'm a living being, therefore you can't harm me. DATA: You will surrender yourself to the authorities. FAJO: Or what? You'll fire? Empty threat and we both know it. Why don't you accept your fate? You will return to your chair and you will sit there. You will entertain me and you will entertain my guests. And if you do not, I will simply kill somebody else. Him, perhaps. It doesn't matter. Their blood will be on your hands too, just like poor Varria's. Your only alternative, Data, is to fire. Murder me. That's all you have to do. Go ahead. Fire. If only you could feel rage over Varria's death. If only you could feel the need for revenge, then maybe you could fire. But you're just an android. You can't feel anything, can you? It's just another interesting intellectual puzzle for you. Another of life's curiosities. DATA: I cannot permit this to continue. (He levels the disrupter at Fajo again)
You can't tell me Data was getting all Dark Side there, yellow eyes or no.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Personally, I like the idea that the Darkside is like an infection...or possibly a fever. Once that infection gets going, it's pretty tough to turn around without some serious personal loss making you rethink your life- as with what Ventress went through or what Vader goes through when he learns Luke is his son (somewhere between ANH and ESB but never detailed).
By way of Ventress, I'd love to see her truly come full circle and smuggle some Jedi students out of harm's way when the Empire ascends- just as some Jedi had taken her in at a young age and trained her (bfore himself getting killed and the anger of it leading her to the dark side of the Force).
I think CW has the real chance of making Anakin's turn more plausable by having Ashoka get killed and having Anakin unable to process the grief- make him unable to even be near a kid or Padawan, then there Padme dropping the bomb on him about her being preganant and he's got all this shit, plus the war and the Jedi Council's frankly dickish attitude toward him- particularly Mace Windu's asshole attitude...
They would need to make it a kind of psychotic break for the bigger holes in ROTS' storyline to smooth over, but I always assumed that was the point of ashoka's character in the first place...though I've since grown to really like "snips" as she's matured. I wonder if she'll become a full fledged Jedi before the end?
Last season we saw some of that council dickishness towards him when they set him up to think Kenobi had been killed- that story arc ended with rael simmering resentment towards the council and a bit to Kenobi as well.
I'd also throw in him being physically run ragged by battle after battle wih no down time...and have Sideous applying the suggestive power of the force to him when they get together for their "mentoring" sessions, which I'd make a regular thing.
But yeah, trying to fix the horrible gaps in logic Lucas threw out in ROTS is a major hurdle- it might be best to jump contunity a bit and add in the appearance of a secret Obi Wan/Padme relationship- if they had done that in the movie it would have been great- adding a sorta Autherian twist and giving Anakin something to truly hate Kenobi over- he gets to Mustafaar wipes out the Seperatists, then Padme shows up and brings Kenobi with her...yeah, I've seen friends go at it over women before and it's always a bad scene.
It's the killing of the Jedi children that never works in ROTS...maybe a scene where Sideous demands Anakin kill ALL within the temple to save Padme...something like that might work better than the "and then he kills Windu and instantly is SOOOOO EVIL!" Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
So, could we be entering Ahsoka's final chapters...? I've got a bad feeling about this...
But MAN- whoever does the choreography needs a giant raise- holy smokes, I have never seen any animated or even movie effects look so ncredibly gracefulas Ashoka did here... This was an amazing episode- and there's a great nod to the Tarkin/Leia exchange from ANH where tarkin toucjes Ashoka's cheek and she flinches away in disgust. Such a felling of dread and things geting out of hand is conveyed here- and the prison itself is a poster child for everything the Empire will be- if you look at the inside decor, the lights and blast doors are all right out of the Death Star! Little touches like that really set the CW series on a level nothing else can touch.
It's interesting that Commander Wolf was the prison's commander- I dont know if that's a promotion or what exactly- it's a non-combat role to be sure.
Ashoka was sure set up bigtime- and my roomate and I were yelling "dont pick up the lightsabers, dumba$$! when everything was so laid out for her... I think that Barris will not turn out to be involved, but will be set against Ashoka in the next episode- Barris was visibly pissed that her friend had been killed and to learn taht her other friend ashoka was responsible might push her to the anger side of the darkside...
But then...who could be responsible? it could be Sideous himself- he's present at the funeral service and would have seen the exhange between Tarkin and Ashoka, would have access to the prison's video system via Tarkin and we've seen a Sith telekinetically strangle someone with only a viewer connection to focus on....Vader does it in ESB. Funny how range seems not to be an issue on that...but a Hologram seems not to be enough of a "connection" to do it... Maybe a Force user needs to visualize the target completely to do such things?
Anyway, it also raises the question of exactly how much Tarkin knows- he drops a little line abuot how the Chancellor does nothing without a plan in place...and since Tarkin is Vader's boss in ANH, he's got to be tight with the Man.
On a technical note. the effect of Ashoka deflecting the stun blasts was fantastic- almsot like they were made of water and had to be wiped away from her instead of the usual deflecting of blaster fire.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Just got done watching the season finale. Not gonna give any spoilers just yet for those who haven't seen it yet, but I gotta get this off my chest:
As much as I enjoy Tim Curry, he was so not the guy to replace the late Ian Ambercrombie as the voice of Palpatine.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Very interested as to who the new Sith will be, really hope it's nothing we've seen before. Obviously it's not Dooku. If anyone already knows who it is for some reason, please don't say.
Remember Ahsoka's small Jedi snubbie from "Sphere of Influence" which I mentioned in my thread starter? She used the same class of ship in the prison visit. No gun ports are visible on the bow or the dorsal area, but it does have that interesting black contraption on its belly, hope they ever use it.
Also, in one of the latest episodes, I noticed a new class of guard or acolyte in the republic government, does anyone have a clue what this guy does? And what might the small blade-looking belt attatchments do, unless being just ornamental? I don't remember the scene but I think this guard-type was assigned to the Jedi Temple, feel free to correct me.
Jason: very nice Mandalore mask, I hope people's appreciation for the KotOR-subfranchise keeps growing. The Mass Effect-trilogy was the continuation of the KotOR-franchise in all but name, it's obvious they got tired of being hamstrung by Lucasarts and built their own goddamn casino, as the saying goes. I still hold out for a proper sequel, ignoring the current MMO.
About my clip, the cake was not my point, the point was the over-the-top thriller score and how happy the rabbit droids got when realizing they'd made Padme happy. No droid in Star Wars has ever said "Yay!" before.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nim: Also, in one of the latest episodes, I noticed a new class of guard or acolyte in the republic government, does anyone have a clue what this guy does?
Jedi Temple Guards according to Wookiepedia.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"Very interested as to who the new Sith will be, really hope it's nothing we've seen before."
Wait, what did I miss? New Sith? Wasn't Palpatine lethally insistent just a couple weeks ago that there can be only two? Since Dooku will still be around when we catch up to Episode III, where would a new Sith fit in?
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
He's just guessing that the real culprit behind the attack on the temple is a Sith.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I still haven't seen ep20 but that Wookiepedia entry spoiled it entirely. Hope I'm the only one.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
TRON: Uprising also got the axe, and I loved that show.
And that godawful Spiderman cartoon is still on the air...
Everything is terrible.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I also saw an article about this at io9, and someone in the comments was suggesting that, because of the way the show is produced, they've probably got almost a season's worth of episodes still waiting to be aired. I don't know if that's true or not, but one can hope.
Gotta say, though, that, while I was cautiously optimistic that Disney wouldn't screw things up when they bought SW, I don't see this as a promising start.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
They definately have unaired material and somehow they're going to make it available.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
So I finally[/] got to watch the season/series finale...Gotta say, it was bittersweet.
Total agreement with Palpaltine's voice change not working- I had no idea the actor behind him had died.
***SPOILERS***
So...I'm thrilled that Ventress did not get killed and moreso that Ashoka also survived.
I was hoping the two of them would say "Fuck it" and get a ship together or something- that would make for a series unto itself, with their two backgrounds balancing each other. She's got no money and Ventress is the only person she really knows outside the Jedi order so...in my mind's eye, she does indeed partner up with Ventress, get a ship and maybe make a living running refugees away from harm's way. That would explain her absence from the OT.
The end credits were very sober- no SW fanfare...
The Temple guards were pretty cool- but obviously are either re-assigned or easily slain when Anakin leads a bunch of clone troops on his darkside killing spree in ROTS.
Barris though....man. I loved her character- and her speech before the Senate's little mock trial was perfect- the Jedi [i]had lost their way.
Thus ends the last of the truly great animated series on the air- joining Star Wars is Green Lantern (my second favorite show) Young Justice (a great under-rated super hero cartoon)
What the fuck is going on exactly?!?
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: So...I'm thrilled that Ventress did not get killed and moreso that Ashoka also survived.
I was hoping the two of them would say "Fuck it" and get a ship together or something- that would make for a series unto itself, with their two backgrounds balancing each other. She's got no money and Ventress is the only person she really knows outside the Jedi order so...in my mind's eye, she does indeed partner up with Ventress, get a ship and maybe make a living running refugees away from harm's way. That would explain her absence from the OT.
Honestly, I've always assumed that Ahsoka would not survive in the long term, and that the final episode of the series would be either:
1) Ahsoka dies just prior to the events of Revenge of the Sith. Anakin's sorrow at losing his friend and padawan pushes him towards being more possessive of Padme and thus further into Palpatine's influence, or...
2) Ahsoka survives the events of Revenge of the Sith (likely now as, no longer a Jedi, she's not subject to Order 66), but Palpatine orders Vader to hunt her down to tie up loose ends. Or, to tie into your idea, maybe Palpatine orders Vader to hunt down Ventress, and finds Ahsoka in the process.
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Thus ends the last of the truly great animated series on the air- joining Star Wars is Green Lantern (my second favorite show) Young Justice (a great under-rated super hero cartoon)
What the fuck is going on exactly?!?
Right there with you. I was really enjoying Green Lantern, Bruce Timm's still got it. Young Justice was pretty good too.
As for why they got canceled? From what I've read, they weren't selling toys.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:As for why they got canceled? From what I've read, they weren't selling toys.
No, it cant be that for GL- there was a toy line planned but they were never made. I think the GL animated series got dragged down by that shithole of a live action GL movie- and the movie's awful, poorly articulated figures, which were all "peg warmers" as us figure collectors say. Those figures are still stinking up the shelves of Toys R Us- long after target and Wal Mart clearanced all their stock for as little as $2 each.
The young Justice line of toys though..those were just insulting. They were 3.5" tall, (making them in scale with no other line) and had a retail price of $12.95 with only FIVE lousy points of articulation! Compare that to the 21 points of articulation on the 4" Marvel figures (retailing at the time for only $8)and you get a Young Justice line that was stillborn before it ever hit shelves- and was on clearance within a month of release.
I was actually suprised that show made it through it's storyline. I totally understand Young Justice getting canned- even omitting the failure of the toy line, storywise, it was a bad idea to completely remove all the most popular characters (Batman, superman, GL, etc). I get that they needed to be off earth to focus the story more on the teens, but a secondary plotline with the JLA fighting to get back to Earth would have made things more exciting- instead we see the JLA just standing around in an obviously rigged courtrom, episode after episode...
But when you look at GL and CW, their cancellations are senseless- they were Cartoon Networks highest rated shows (with Adventure Time also being a big hit- love that show).
Why cancel success? Same goes for Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes- Disney XD's top show and they canned it- to be replaced with a dumbed-down version of the same idea, more in line with the idiotic Spectacular Spider Man, which is laughably bad.
Getting back to Clone Wars, there are still a few big loose ends to tie up- most notably, what was Sideous going to do with poor Darth Maul... And what did he do with the project to clone the Zilobeast from season three?
And what happens to Mother Talsend? I dont think she got killed or anything, IIRC.
What happens to Barris? She seemed ripe for turning full on to the Darkside- she could have become a new assassin for Dooku....or she could have been allowed to escape to further tarnish the Jedi reputation. Funny that Sideous seemed uninvolved in taht whole incident.
And what of Rex? We know Cody disapoints by trying to shoot Kenobi in the back (that asshat) but Rex is not (to my knowledge) in on the whole Jedi massacre.
I was also hoping we'd get to see Mon Mothma get a peek behind the curtain and start to piece things together before the series' end- or maybe it would have been Bail Organa taht would have led the Rebel Alliance had he not been blown to dust by the Death Star.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: But when you look at GL and CW, their cancellations are senseless- they were Cartoon Networks highest rated shows (with Adventure Time also being a big hit- love that show).
Why cancel success? Same goes for Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes- Disney XD's top show and they canned it- to be replaced with a dumbed-down version of the same idea, more in line with the idiotic Spectacular Spider Man, which is laughably bad.
Whoa there. I think (or at least hope) you're mixing up your Spider-Man cartoons. Spectacular Spider-Man (which, like Young Justice, was headed up by Greg Weisman) was awesome. Then Disney bought Marvel, and from what I understand, immediately gave the show the axe. It was a miracle they even decided to show the already-completed Season 2. They then replaced it with Ultimate Spider-Man, which is indeed idiotic and laughably bad.
And completely agreed with Adventure Time. Definitely one of those rare shows that balances humor and drama while all the while being crazy awesome. And after a certain recent episode, I will never think about the theme song from Cheers the same way again.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Yes, sorry- it's Ultimate Spider Man that sucks it- and the same guy behind that decided to can Avengers to "replace it with a more kid-friendly show". Jesus, this guy thinks kids are fucking morons.
Well, I hope DC keeps turning out their direct to DVD movies at least- those have been pretty fantastic, with the Green Lantern [i]Emerald Knights" being my favorite. They really should have cast Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
So in the past, um, month or so I've watched the entirety of the Clone Wars series (minus the movie).
What happened to Maul? What happened to Ahsoka? Where's Cad Bane and Hondo Ohnaka?
Ahsoka walking away from the Jedi Order: so many feels
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Well, Ashoka hooks up with Ventress and they "aquire" a freighter and start running refugees from the war and then the Empire to the outer rim, eventually helping a bunch of younglings with force abilities to escape the Empire's detection. thus explaining why the emperor did not have a few hundred force useing agents at his command.
Sometime after RTOJ, ashoka and Ventress show back up and they and their mid-20-something year old apprentices smack Luke around and make him wait tables while they restore the Jedi order with abig dollop of common sense added in this time.
Cad Bane got too old for the bounty hunter bullshit lifestyle and opened seedy a bar catering to that profession. He gets a cut for brokering jobs.
Hondo also got old(er) but not too old for the pirate lifestyle- his men keep him around because he's been the boss forever and is like their father...and is probably the actual father to some of them.
Darth Maul's remains were found in a vat in the Emperor's mountain wharehouse (see Heir to the Empirenext to those from a legendary Zilobeast- and several preseved samples of horrible hybrids someone had grown combining DNA from the two. Nearby was the preserved corpses of Master Sifi Dias and Darth Plageus The Dead.
Obi Wan's four-armed fry cook friend still drops ominous hints that the droids could replace organic sentients.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
It makes you wonder if Ahsoka and Ventress survived the purge. I mean, Vader knew they were out there somewhere; maybe he convinced Palpy they were dead?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I doubt he ever gave it much thought- he seems to have been on a very short leash overall.
And, I know it makes fuck all or sense but...why would Vader have such a had on for killing Jedi? He really went along with Sideous to save his wife- gooood job with that, Annie.
After blowing it so badly, the only real reason to go after them would be from shame- that killing them might close that chapter on his life forever- allowing him to really focus on being Sideous' lickspittle.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Looks like we'll get the entire sixth season eventually- which is fantastic!
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
YAY
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I'm not sure where you're seeing "the entire sixth season". The article says "a few story arcs" are being completed, which is basically what we've known for weeks.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Yes, well, look how long the arcs are. Season 5 was five arcs, one of them a continuation from season 4.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: I'm not sure where you're seeing "the entire sixth season". The article says "a few story arcs" are being completed, which is basically what we've known for weeks.
Another article mentioned that the season was "almost wrapped up" when word of the cancellation came down- if the storylines started in that season, as well as wrapping up loose threads as mentioned in the lnked artcle are to be tied up, it's a pretty good bet that the whole season will be needed...or damn near. There's a lot to wrap up even without the mentioned Plo Kloon storyline, which I guess was in the episodes they had completed.
If they decide to make it a direct to DVD thing, I hope it's both soon- maybe along with season 5- and that Disney does not fuck over the fans as they did with the Marvel animated series DVDs (Avengers: EMH, etc.)
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Am I the only one that thinks this would be a perfect show for an Ahsoka/Ventress team up?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I wonder if this makes it even less likely that the live-action show will ever get going, since this one is set at the same time that one was supposed to be.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I think that rebels is what the live action show became when disney axed CW.
I just started a thread for Rebels...there's a ton of potentional in this idea if Disney stays the hell out of the creative process and lets the CW team do what they did so well- they really nailed the mix of action and humor that made the OT so great.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
13 new episodes will be available via Netflix in March:
I just hope they stay clear of Ahsoka.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Well that sucks, I was hoping for a DVD/Blu Ray release. As for Rebels, it seems like a lot of the Clone Wars staff is working on this project, it even has the Clone Wars look. I do hope that at some point the show will focus on the Rebellion in between the Classic Trilogy films.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Why do you want them to stay clear of Ahsoka? Do you not want some resolution?
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
No, I'm quite satisfied with the way they handled her departure. I fear that if they bring her back they will kill her off.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Good point, I hadn't thought of that.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
So...has anyone else watched the final episodes?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I'm nine episodes in. I wonder how much control they had over which episodes got finished, because, if they were given thirteen episodes to wrap up the series and chose to waste two of them on a Binks story, that would be pretty disappointing.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
They got as much that was already in play out as they could. The Jar-Jar stuff does sort of conclude Mother Talzin even though it introduces yet another group of non-aligned Forcey people.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
As for me, I don't see what more could have been done. RotS is pretty well laid out for the Jedi by the end… Palpatine's escorts start wearing spoiler tags when to the sides of him.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
I really dig Yoda's almost-TIE fighter; can't seem to find any pictures online yet.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Sup guys, - aint dead, only faking it until the angry bears got tired and wandered off.
quote:Originally posted by TSN: I'm nine episodes in. I wonder how much control they had over which episodes got finished, because, if they were given thirteen episodes to wrap up the series and chose to waste two of them on a Binks story, that would be pretty disappointing.
I dont think those were wasted- they got rid of a major baddie that wold have otherwise had been a huge loose end.
I wonder what happened to the duck-like, force-sensitive species that Jar Jar's love was the queen of? I cant imagine Sideous would have let them alone.
I have to say, I was shocked and delighted to see that the Jedi damn near put it all together- but their own care for the wellfare of the clone army was their downfall. Irony as sharp as a lightsaber.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Sup guys, - aint dead, only faking it until the angry bears got tired and wandered off.
quote:Originally posted by TSN: I'm nine episodes in. I wonder how much control they had over which episodes got finished, because, if they were given thirteen episodes to wrap up the series and chose to waste two of them on a Binks story, that would be pretty disappointing.
I dont think those were wasted- they got rid of a major baddie that wold have otherwise had been a huge loose end.
I wonder what happened to the duck-like, force-sensitive species that Jar Jar's love was the queen of? I cant imagine Sideous would have let them alone.
I have to say, I was shocked and delighted to see that the Jedi damn near put it all together- but their own care for the wellfare of the clone army was their downfall. Irony as sharp as a lightsaber.
Also, the extended Rebels trailer is online now- the animation looks MUCH lower grade than Clone Wars had at the end. Which sucks- the Star Destroyer in particular was pretty sad.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
I think the proportions are off, the Star Destroyer bridge tower is to high and the main hull is too flat, like something drawn for the Star Trek Fact Files. The TIES are squat and the R5 unit is super-deformed.
Posted by Capt. Kaiser (Member # 10511) on :
I liked Star Wars Clone Wars it just kinda sucked knowing Anakin would betray the Jedi in the end as seen in Star Wars Episode III
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
I found that the Clone Wars series did a better job showing his turning away from the Jedi than what the movies did. All his conversations with Tarkin, the whole incident on Mortis (even though his memory was wiped), Ahsoka's expulsion from the order, etc. I believe that even without Palpatine pushing him straight to the dark side he would've at least left the Jedi Order on his own.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
Indeed. As I noted elsewhere in 2010, "The only thing that is both good and odd is that Anakin is completely unlike his post-TPM characterization in the live-action films. There he whined about Obi-Wan, whined about the Council, acted like a stupid kid around Palpatine, and only seemed to have any nobility whatsoever while in battle. Here, however, he is precisely the Anakin we would've expected him to be initially . . . powerful, good-natured, occasionally overbold, and though he might sometimes forget himself he's generally mindful of Obi-Wan's teachings.
Basically, it's a vast improvement, but when I watched RotS recently after having been watching TCW exclusively, it was very jarring.
It is possible at some point that they will start to move Anakin's character toward darker whinier things, though, as such character changes are already occurring. Admiral Yularen, for instance, was first shown as a very good man in service of the Republic (a sort of mix of PIcard and RDM's Adama), but has since been shown as becoming impatient with Jedi leadership and techniques, and stuffy and by-the-book official in other ways.
In short, it's a pretty good show."
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
And to extend that, it wierded me out recently watching AotC and recognizing that TCW starts only a handful of months later. It really doesn't make sense to have padawans handed out to Jedi grad students, but maybe we are to assume it was only her influence that kept him from whining, somehow.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
It could be that the start of the war (and the whole situation being wholly new to the Jedi) meant that more advanced padawans had to finish their training with Jedi field commanders.
It's also likely that, like all big wars, no one thought the war would go on for so long and so putting padawans in the field would give them the rare chance to see combat...but that was a mistake, obviously.
quote:Originally posted by Fabrux: I found that the Clone Wars series did a better job showing his turning away from the Jedi than what the movies did. All his conversations with Tarkin, the whole incident on Mortis (even though his memory was wiped), Ahsoka's expulsion from the order, etc. I believe that even without Palpatine pushing him straight to the dark side he would've at least left the Jedi Order on his own.
His memories of Mortis must have come back eventually- Yoda asks him about speaking to Qui Gon Jinn while there. (this is in season six so I'll try not to spoil anything for those that have not finished the series).
Personally, I skip the prequels altogether- I dont really think you need them at all to enjoy CW. I wonder what a person would think if they never saw ROTS- just the first two and then the Clone Wars series.
quote:Originally posted by Capt. Kaiser: I liked Star Wars Clone Wars it just kinda sucked knowing Anakin would betray the Jedi in the end as seen in Star Wars Episode III
Yeah, but the CW really did a great job of pushing Anakin to the edge a little at a time- a force choke here, a mental push there, the occasional angry charge into combat... By the time he's investigating Ashoka's supposed crimes, he's boiling mad.
I was pretty (happily) suprised she survived that storyline, to be honest!
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
I think it was only the memories of the future implanted by the Son that were erased, so his speaking to Qui-Gon (if it was Qui-Gon) was still okay.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
That makes sense. The whole thing must have been a trippy experience for all three heroes- and it made me realize that Anakin looked back on Qui Gon as a sorta (short lived) father figure, while Obi Wan is like his older brother and Ashoka a daughter.
Between Ashoka leaving, his visions of his wife's death and misconception that Obi wan somehow betrayed him, it goes a long way to his having a psychotic break and becoming Vader.
I just wish they had Palpaltine trick Anakin into thinking Padme was cheating on him with Obi Wan- it would have made Anakin's sudden turning make a LOT more sense -and would have made for a sorta distopian Camelot story where Anakin is a failed Arthur and Luke a noble version of Mordred.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Jason:
quote:Also, the extended Rebels trailer is online now- the animation looks MUCH lower grade than Clone Wars had at the end. Which sucks- the Star Destroyer in particular was pretty sad.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on this. I have such mixed feelings about the "Rebels" teaser, trailer, and snippet. Thinking of starting a separate thread about it.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
So, over st Starwars.com, they have released a few unfinished CWw episodes from season 6- the acting. story and mustic are all there, but the renders are not complete- it looks weird but the stories are really good- and they get into how angry and hurt Anakin is over Ashoka's leaving the Jedi order! And then he does some (for my money) rather Darkside shit with his lightsaber when him and Obi Wan get briefly captured....
Go watch and tell us your thoughts!
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Oh- and there was also a 4 part story where Quinlan Vos (coolest Jedi ever) would redeem Ventress! Pretty apt, if you know Voss' backstory from the comics! That story arc is getting made into a novel for next year- but the concept art for updated Voss and Ventress looks is up.
Ventress with hair takes some getting used to, but I like the look.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
The story reel arc was very good, though it's remarkable that they've once again gone to a world from the films. With a million systems in the later Empire, you'd think there would be a few other places to go.
Still, though, the Death Star setup really makes you miss TCW.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Yeah- the Kiber Crystal let them do a nod to the EU and video games as well- with Yoda mentioning the super-weapons of yesteryear and Anakin having thought they were "just children's stories".
Makes you wonder exactly how much stuff from the Jedi Holocron Vault was deliberately concealed from general knowledge.
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