The new 3D cartoon offering of the Clone Wars "semi branch-off" franchise has a few things going for it, actually, as well as drawbacks.
I'll go through some sweet stuff first and then switch over to gripes, then weave back and forth.
I have a bit more understanding of the fact that the producers let the movie be set in a time-frame we've technically already passed: there is an established frameset of lore, environments, people and factions (from both the prequels and the previous Clone Wars-miniseries) that, after the rise of the empire, simply ceased to exist or became moot. Also, there is the fact that neither Kenobi nor Yoda could partake in any spectacular "swashbuckling" adventures while being in exile and hiding, for obvious reasons.
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The choice of a 3D movie had the same pros and cons as other 3D-products: ships, vehicles and weapons look great, but facial expressions, emotions and lip-sync can't beat Tartakovsky's more organic, hand-made accuracy. Weirdly enough though, certain aliens like Kit Fisto and others look even better in this simplified drawing style.
The Clone Troopers in this movie didn't use the ugly Phase II Clone helmets (pseudo-stormtrooper) seen in Episode 3, they still had the good old Boba Fett-based ones, and Anakin's special commandos, the ARC Troopers, are sharper than ever. Also, there is none of the boring, lukewarm voice-work of Temuera Morrison in this movie, the ARC Troopers seem to be voiced by Blackwater operatives on crack. They have much more energy and diversity, some clones have different haircuts, and I think I even saw naval officer clones, sans helmets, in the Venator-class star cruiser transporting the jedi knights to Tattooine.
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There where quite a few vehicles and ships shown that weren't used (or used much) in the movies, such as the tri-wing V-19 Torrents, only seen in the beginning of the Clone Wars cartoon, and the AT-TE. Of special note was a new Republic ship never seen before, a wicked cross between a classic Lambda Class personnel shuttle and the LAAT gunship, resulting in the most heavily-armed and flexible attack shuttle I've ever seen in SW. It's definitely not the smallish "Theta class" shuttle Palpatine uses when rescuing crispy-Vader, this new thing is a pure war machine. I guess its name will be spread around once the SW book-writers and schematic-crunchers come out of hibernation again.
There is more screentime for the funny little nemoidian battle droids, and their suddenly-increased AI rather make it worth it. Apparently some of them have learned sarcasm.
There was no General Grievous, except very briefly during the narration in the beginning of the movie (yes, no yellow text crawl this time, kids. Instead they opted for voiceover for some reason, maybe to make the info stick more, since there was a lot of it).
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The main focus of the film was of course the master/padawan relationship between Anakin and Ashoka, the Togrutan jedi apprentice sent from Coruscant. Her demeanor can be confusing at times, because her slight frame and size suggests an awkward ten-year old, her voice is that of a plucky 20-year old and her face can sometimes look like a 35-year old woman's. Also, her maturity and level of experience shifts up and down a few times in the film, but mostly she's just a cocky sidekick testing her limits with Anakin. It's less of a Sensei/student relationship and more of a "Maverick cop gets fresh and cocky rookie partner" deal, which I first found a bit sad. It seemed to take away a bit of the holy mystique from the very serious and deeply-committed relationship between previous masters and students in the franchise.
Ashoka wasn't even close to being as annoying as Jar-Jar though, and she definitely proved herself more useful than Luke Skywalker during about, oh, 95% of "Ep4: A New Hope" (up until he incinerates millions of people on that grey blob-thing in space everyone's so worried about).
What surprised me regarding dialogue in this movie was that, compared to the relatively brief exchanges in the previous CW-miniseries, there's almost too much of it. Almost more than in the live-action movies and most of it is bickering between Anakin and Ashoka.
Kenobi's, Dooku's and Yoda's voices where top-notch (as expected from Lee, Daniels and the other originals), Anakin sounded nothing like Hayden, but that wasn't necessarily bad. C-3P0 was good as ever but got absurdly little screentime.
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R2D2 uses his leg-jets like crazy in this movie and the more they have him use them the harder it gets for them to explain away why he didn't use them in the old trilogy. I don't think Uncle Owen had time to steal them and sell them during those two days of ownership in ANH.
One of the problems with the whole film, something I still have trouble putting into perspective, is the whole premise of the film. It is explained that the various Hutt clans in the Outer Rim control the trade routes outside of the core worlds, and for some reason the bad guys get the weird idea to kidnap Jabba The Hutt's son! Thus do Anakin and Obi-Wan get assigned to rescue the son and allow the Republic to use the trade routes for war purposes, and this is where things start getting dicy.
We know that Palpatine controls both sides of the galactic conflict, and the only point of the whole thing was to get the Republic to mobilize and allow him executive powers. That's it. As soon as he has leverage against the Jedi, it's in his interest to stop the war immediately. Which is why it's very strange to see him both help Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda with the Hutt-problem while at the same time instructing Count Dooku to keep the kidnap-victim at all costs in order to acquire the trade routes for the Separatists. It doesn't really make sense, and has nothing to do with the Sith plot line, so a bit weird.
My biggest gripe would be that the Jedi-Sith lightsaber duels (which had grown from okay to quite well-made between season one and season four of the Clone Wars-miniseries) has some real problems in this movie. The limbs and sabers of the characters lack any momentum or mass whatsoever, resulting in very choppy and unconvincing moves, and there's no sense of urgency or desperation to spur the fighters on, something I actually appreciated in the end-fights of AOTC (slip up once against a Master and you lose an arm, as should be). Bonus point for Ventress, who finally uses that old speculated pair of dual sabers which attach into an S.
I do also want to point out that "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" was not overly PG and sissy-like; many clones met very harsh and cruel ends, and there where a few rather insensitive decapitations of characters, one of which was proudly performed by Ahsoka, no less.
So... scenery and effects 8/10,
narrative and immersion 5/10,
Saber-vs-environment 10/10,
saber-vs-saber 4/10 (moves sucked but the different stances where cool and good imitations of the live-action originals, since the animators could handle things that stood still),
Ships, Technology and general Nerd-fuel 9/10
I would give an Extra Penalty for the omission of the classic yellow text crawl and for butchering John Williams' Star Wars theme. You simply got to have that first big horn blast, there is no substitute. However, the cartoon Miniseries didn't have those things either, so I think they slimmed down the opening of this movie so that everyone would get that this isn't an actual feature film on par with the live action ones.
Bottom line: I enjoyed it and thought it worth the ticket price. The heavy focus on action compensate for the lack of plot depth and slave girls. Also the Hutt baby was cute. Oh, and it turns out Jabba's uncle is a transvestite Truman Capote-hutt! Didn't know if I was gonna laugh or tear my eyes out, which was nice.
Was this review helpful to you? ( Yes / Maybe / Lol / I'm Scared )
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Lol
Anyway, it seems like I might go see this then. As for R2, considering he was a droid used aboard the Queen's Royal Yacht in Naboo and later as something of an assistant to Padme, perhaps he was extensively modified to undertake these "special" roles. I would think that once the he is in possession of the Rebellion, they probably remove any costly modifications and use him as just another astromech droid.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
"We know that Palpatine controls both sides of the galactic conflict, and the only point of the whole thing was to get the Republic to mobilize and allow him executive powers. That's it. As soon as he has leverage against the Jedi, it's in his interest to stop the war immediately. Which is why it's very strange to see him both help Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda with the Hutt-problem while at the same time instructing Count Dooku to keep the kidnap-victim at all costs in order to acquire the trade routes for the Separatists. It doesn't really make sense, and has nothing to do with the Sith plot line, so a bit weird."
I have a feeling the Sith like to promote conflict for the sake of conflict. They want people fighting amongst themselves instead of uniting against their tyranny. It's always better for an Emperor (or 'Chancellor') to have a conflict going on that he can rally the people against rather than having them all getting along and peaceful. Fear is the tool he used to get into power, and I'd think he'd want to keep people afraid to cement his power. If he ends the war before really transforming the Republic into the full-fledged Empire, people would star talking about revoking his special wartime powers and going back to daily life. As long as there's a war going on, however, Palpatine can justify all kinds of actions in the name of the safety and sovereignty of the people and the Republic.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I saw the movie today, and I was generally impressed. It was definitely a movie geared towards younger fans, but I felt that the plot was developed enough to fit within an hour and a half long movie, and still not interfere with the canon already established by the preceding and following movies. The animation was excellent for the ships, clones, droids aliens and locations, but the "humans" looked slightly weird. Obi-Wan looked like his face was carved from wood, and Dooku had an ungodly large nose. Other than that though, I liked it. For a movie geared towards younger viewers, I agree with Nim, the deaths of some of the clones and droids was pretty greusome. Although, it did fit with the large Clone vs. Droid battle scenes, which reminded me something out of Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers.
So, yeah, I'd recommend seeing it.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I work at McD's as I've mentioned...we have new toys now. Clone Wars toys. There's a big display of them in the lobby with the caption... wait for it... "BOBBLE, TALK, OR LIGHT UP THEY WILL!" *facepalm*
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I thought they had Transformers there...hmm, I must be behing the times.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Oh no, you're out of touch with what cheep crap a fast food joint is peddling, how will you cope?
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Here's the V-19 "Torrent" clone fighter, shown in the cartoon but given loftier treatment in the movie. I like the variable positions of the dorsal wing;
And here's the new mystery shuttle. You get a better sense of scale in the movie when land vehicles roll out of the front bay after touchdown;
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Nice writeup, Nim!
I saw it Saturday afternoon with my 8 year old son, who loved it, of course. (He had the lifesize Droideka, remember?) It was interesting, half the audience was my age, the other half was his age.
I can't add much to Nim's review, except to say that we didn't see any of Anakin's troubles with slipping towards the dark side. He seemed just like any other fully light Jedi to me. Also, it's a bit odd where this is wedged in. The second cartoon miniseries led directly into Episode III, but at the beginning of it Anakin graduated from Padawan to Knight. So it's somewhere in the middle of that.
The only thing I'm having a hard time digesting is Anakin having a Padawan of his own. He just seemed too young and reckless to be a mentor, but I do believe that was part of the reason Obi Wan and Yoda saddled him with one. And what of Ashoka beyond this? I hear she's supposed to be in the TV series, but what about in Ep III? Can you imagine her reaction when she learns her master is now a Sith? (Assuming she's not already dead, of course.)
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I'd assume that she died sometime in and around the events of Ep III, or afterward, because didn't Obi-Wan mention in Ep III that Luke was the last of the Jedi. Of course, I guess he was wrong, because isn't Leia a Jedi too? ( I am no where near as obsessed with SW as I am with Trek, so I am probably very wrong)
Or, maybe she went into hiding and survived. Unlikely though, because I'd assume that she'd be first on Vader's hit list, being his former Padawan and all.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Sean:
quote:Of course, I guess he was wrong, because isn't Leia a Jedi too?
There's a difference between being a Jedi and just being force-sensitive. Leia had latent abilities but was nowhere as powerful as Luke, though in the ever so colorful books of Expanded Universe literature she does get Jedi training eventually.
Becoming a Jedi should really be as demanding as becoming an astronaut, it's a pity TPTB haven't shown more details about time required and phases to be passed. Of course, as long as it isn't specified it's still part of the mystique, and not yet mangled by self-taught Hugo Award wannagets.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
I understand we have funky-phresh first-gen Y-Wing starfighters in this one, before we see the literally stripped-down versions in the OT. I've been thinking of avoiding this one due to the generally negative reviews I've been reading, but maybe I'll have a go after all.
Mark
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
I remember seeing the V-19 and the slightly modified Delta 7 fighters, but I don't remember seeing the Y-Wing. I have seen the concept art for it, but completely forgot about it when we saw the movie. If it was in the background somewhere, I missed it, but it was definitely not in the foreground action.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Also that "mystery shuttle" looks like the lambda shuttle from the classic movies, albeit with a different cockpit and no middle "wing".
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Actually, the article says that it appears in the upcomming TV series based on the movie.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Well thank you Mr.Spock.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Mars:
quote:Also that "mystery shuttle" looks like the lambda shuttle from the classic movies, albeit with a different cockpit and no middle "wing".
Looks like, yes, though the individual parts look different on the two. Ah, the wookiepedia has updated for the movie and has it as the Nu Class attack shuttle, nice.
Imagine trying to get this information ten years ago. Man, we are spoiled.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Funny tidbit: in the flight simulator "Star Wars: Tie Fighter", Lambda class shuttles appearing in flight missions where always named after some of the shorter greek letters, such as Tau, Mu and Nu. Wonder if the naming of this new ship is a coincedence?
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
New ship.
Nu-class.
Heh.
Also, I would like to say that that "fully clad" Y-wing is ugly. Give me the stripped down Y-wing anyday.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
The first SW Incredible Cross-sections from 1998 has a sketch of the Y-Wing with hull plating, and it's a BIT more practical.
Posted by HerbShrump (Member # 1230) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nim: Funny tidbit: in the flight simulator "Star Wars: Tie Fighter", Lambda class shuttles appearing in flight missions where always named after some of the shorter greek letters, such as Tau, Mu and Nu. Wonder if the naming of this new ship is a coincedence?
Probably. It's keeping in the same imaginative vein of using Greek letters for names. Not much of a stretch.
My question is this - if the Nu class is older than the Lambda class then why are they not in alphabetical order?
Of course this assumes they were using the Greek alphabet a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Yeah I don't like the new (err old) Y-wing. It looks like a traffic cone. Give me the stripped down Rebel version any day.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
I dunno. I kinda like that they added in the bubble turret from McQuarrie's original concept. I just hope it has the same engine hum as in ANH.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
Why would one want to create so much internal volume only to waste it? It's like a car having an enormous long hood when the engine's in the dash.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Cargo space? Weapons bays? Aerodynamics? Components that were later replaced with smaller ones? Hot tub? You could really come up with a million reasons.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Long range fuel tanks, heavy ordinance bays, mother ship docking clamps? I actually quite like the "old look", especially how they continued the contours of the nose all the way back, that would have never occurred to me.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Well in any case, wouldn't you rather fly even that prequel Y-Wing than be stuck with this lovely thing? ... wait for it ...
The craft used by the main character in Lucasarts' new "The Force Unleashed" game, available to every console and playing system known to man EXCEPT PC; I give you, the Rogue Shadow!
The Scenario: A disgruntled "Sienar Fleet Systems"-employee sneaks in at the office at night on a weekend, drunk as a skunk and two days from unemployment due to production being outsourced (to Kamino or Mustafar or perhaps Ethnic-Minoritiosis VII). He takes a corellian YT-2400 transport, a TIE Interceptor and 5 chosen office droids (currently in sleep mode) who gave him lip during his 15 years with the company, and ceremoniously dumps it all in an industrial trash compactor, making sure to press down on the "ENGAGE"-button with his dick, and out comes this thing.
I don't know what to say. The ship speaks to me, "...k-kill me...kiiiill meee...".
Can you imagine this thing taking part in a battle?? Wing Leader: "Shadow-2, bandit two o'clock!!" S2: "Huh?" SL: "Shadow-2, bogey, Ten o'clock!!" S2: "What? Where-AAAH!"
I'll bet ten donkeys filled with colombian marching powder that the creative team behind this abortion have posters of the "Batman Begins" Bat-PanzerKampfWagen pinned to the ceiling above their canvas bunk beds, next to a SPACEBALL-1 centerfold, in the Lucasarts maximum security "motivational" compound, 20 stories below the San Fransisco peninsula.
[ August 22, 2008, 05:45 AM: Message edited by: Nim ]
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Except PC? Nevermind then.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Yeah, as fun as the game looks I'm not buying a new console just for that...not even for that and MGS4. What was their excuse for not porting to PC again? Most people don't have high end PC's? Have they SEEN some of the more popular PC games lately?
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I'm in the middle of playing MGS4. You're not missing much if you like games that don't focus on crawling in the dirt...(the story is incredible as always, however.)
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Yes, Lucasarts said, essentially, "Since the computer performance level of different PC owners vary so much, we didn't want to make a game that would exclude a lot of the PC gamers in the low- and medium-spectrum". Isn't it a bigger insult to exclude the ones that could play it??? And no, setting an outrageously high performance-bar wasn't a huge obstacle for EA Games and Ubisoft. They basically raped the PC world with Crysis and Bioshock and the crowds ate it up.
Also, the SW:KotOR-comic book was/is a great success, their mismanagement is really sad. They could've been the first major game house in the world to release a big title on all existing media at the same time, and everyone would've loved them for it.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Daniel: I played a bit of MSG4 at a friend's house, it was really nice and the motion-capture is better than ever, but I did find it hard to concentrate during those crawling-sequences, since everything in the universe and all collected timelines just stops...to focus on the struggling of grand-papa Snake's well-toned, sculpted ass. Seriously, they outfitted the old man's suit with a thong. I suspect Jean-Paul Gaultier did some unseen business in the art department.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
quote:Originally posted by Daniel Butler: I'm in the middle of playing MGS4. You're not missing much if you like games that don't focus on crawling in the dirt...(the story is incredible as always, however.)
Yeah, that's what bothered me with Snake Eater too. It became so hard to see what's going on and the enemy's became so clever that it took some of the fun out of it...still it'd be nice to have Meryl back. That's a thought, assuming Snake is now past it (spoil me and die!), I wonder if Meryl could be the new lead character in further MGS games. Codename: Foxy Snake. Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
There's no having to catch food in MGS4 though, thank God. Although the episode where you're tracking *SOMEONE* (wouldn't wanna spoil the fun ;P) through the damn *SOMEWHERE* is annoying as hell. You have to visually track footprints and judge how deep they are, the shape, etc. to figure out where this *SOMEONE* is at.
Also, you have a Psyche gauge that judges mental health, and a Stress meter that affects it. Low Psyche = bad performance, bad aim, etc. You can raise it by resting...or you know, looking at those porno mags you're always laying out for enemy sentries.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: Yeah, as fun as the game looks I'm not buying a new console just for that...not even for that and MGS4. What was their excuse for not porting to PC again? Most people don't have high end PC's? Have they SEEN some of the more popular PC games lately?
And GTA4 is coming for PC in November. So double-fuck Lucas.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
So, dragging this thread back on topic..... Did anyone else watch the premiere of the Clone Wars TV series last night? Personally, I'd say it accomplished what it set out to do, which is make an entertaining Star Wars show for kids. My son was enthralled (of course), but what surprised me was that my 4-year-old daughter wanted to watch it too. She's said before that she doesn't like Star Wars, but what drew her to this was Ashoka Tano. My wife (who is as much as Star Wars fan as I am) watched it too, but she was less enthusiastic about it. After the intro "news cast", she said "Would you like to know more?" I do find it interesting that they're going to be looking at the many different stories of the various Jedi. The first episode didn't even have Anakin or Ashoka at all. So this looks to be a fun ride, although it's still not in the same category as the movies to me.
Next week: Jar Jar! (shudder)
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Well compared to some of the rubbish my nieces watch when they come over it's not that bad, certainly. The animation quality is better than anything else I've seen in kids TV and just a little below par compared to what Dreamworks and Pixar put out...ok, well below Pixar, but not dreadfully so.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
I missed the premiere, but I'll try to watch the rerun on Sunday though it'll interfere with Dexter. Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Oh, another surprise to me was that they actually showed some clones dying (like in the movie). Bet you never saw *that* on Ewoks! Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I watched the re-runs of the show tonight. They were good. It seemed that the animation was slightly lower quality than the movie though, but not much. Maybe it's my tv though. I will definitely be tuning in to catch more eps of this. Probably in re-runs on Sundays, but this show is interesting enough for me to care about.
Posted by HerbShrump (Member # 1230) on :
quote:Originally posted by B.J.: Oh, another surprise to me was that they actually showed some clones dying (like in the movie). Bet you never saw *that* on Ewoks!
Ewoks!?! Ewww!!! Droids was much better.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
I saw it too, and wasn't too bad. I actually like the animation, though the voice acting could be improved (like Mace Windu). Also I didn't get the big deal with ion cannons in the second episode, haven't they always been existed, even before the Clone Wars? Though I guess the commotion comes from the fact that the Malevolence can disable multiple ships at once. Next week we get to see those Y-wings in action.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
About the ion cannons, the only specific reference I can think of is the one on Hoth.
Posted by HerbShrump (Member # 1230) on :
But the Y-Wings had ion cannons as standard armament in the X-Wing PC Game.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
quote:Originally posted by HerbShrump:
quote:Originally posted by B.J.: Oh, another surprise to me was that they actually showed some clones dying (like in the movie). Bet you never saw *that* on Ewoks!
Ewoks!?! Ewww!!! Droids was much better.
It's all about Ewoks.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
quote:Originally posted by HerbShrump: But the Y-Wings had ion cannons as standard armament in the X-Wing PC Game.
In a lot of other games, novels, and comics as well. And they they were equipped on a lot of vehicles and installations.
Posted by HerbShrump (Member # 1230) on :
Watched the movie online and just watched the first two episodes tonight. Overall much better than I expected. It is what it is, a Star Wars series targeted at the 7 to 12-year-old crowd.
Definitely will keep watching, even if it continues, in my opinion, the lackluster trend the prequel trilogy set. I mean, if this is the best the droid army can do then why was there even a war?
I did hate the overt references to the movies. I hope that doesn't continue with every episode.
How many seasons is this expected to last? Shoehorning it between Episodes II and III really limits the amount of story time available.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mars Needs Women:
quote:Originally posted by HerbShrump: But the Y-Wings had ion cannons as standard armament in the X-Wing PC Game.
In a lot of other games, novels, and comics as well. And they they were equipped on a lot of vehicles and installations.
Personally, I don't go looking beyond the movies. Besides, even if the Y-Wings did have ion cannons, it doesn't mean they can take out three huge cruisers in one shot! They did call it a super weapon after all, not a new *type* of weapon. Why am I debating the technical minutae of a kids' show anyway?
quote:Originally posted by HerbShrump: I did hate the overt references to the movies. I hope that doesn't continue with every episode.
I kinda liked it myself, especially seeing the two droids in the ion cannon's beam tunnel.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Saw the newest episode on Friday, and I am re watching it now. I think those "retro" Y-wings look pretty cool. It's nice to see what they originally looked like. I always thought they were ugly, but these look sleek and beautiful.
The only real problem I have with the episode is during the scene with the Y- Wings attacking the Malevolence. They veer upward to avoid the Ion Cannon o' Doom, and seem to have trouble doing so, akin to a plane trying to fly vertically. The engines even sound as if they're strained. And, when one of them loses engine power ( due to combat damage), it "falls" downward, hitting one of it's brethren, and blowing both to smithereens. This is space for god sakes! The laws of gravity normally don't apply...
But yeah, that's just ranting. It was pretty good overall.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Well, if the ships were accelerating, an engine failure would cause that ship to stop accelerating (its momentum would continue carrying it at whatever speed it was already doing). Since the other ships would still be speeding up from behind it, from their point of view it would give the impression of the damaged ship "falling" back toward them.
Does anyone know what the chronology of this show is supposed to be? Because Grievous was coughing. I thought the reason he coughed in Episode III was because of the the whole chest-crushing scene at the end of the other Clone Wars series. And I thought Episode III was supposed to pick up pretty much immediately from where that series left off. So, was the coughing just thrown in as a reference to the movie? Should we assume he had a cold, or something?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I think there was always something in character history that said the cybernetics didn't interface with his biological system very well. The chest crunching scene was put in I think because they made him too much of a hard bastard in the first series (based only on early concept work I think), before Lucas & co made him into the joke he was in the movie.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
There is only one rule for Hard Bastards: Don't run away, make others run away.
Grievous could've become some unholy, unbeatable jedi-killer that demanded a spectacular deus ex machina to kill, like the jedi council doing a "Force Storm" or dropping a capital ship on his head, not a gutshot any clone-grunt could've made. Shit, R2-D2 could've murdered Grievous, using the same oilpiss-maneuver that killed the battledroids in the hangar.
Yes, I heard they intended to add the Grievous-cough even before the chest-crush, to differentiate him from droids and make him organic. It actually didn't work, while I was leaving the movie theater after the swedish premiere of ROTS there was a Herbert walking next to me, saying "The whole movie was so silly, like that robot that was coughing, what the hell where they thinking?!"
Posted by HerbShrump (Member # 1230) on :
Note to the tactical staff: When combating or fleeing a super weapon that only points in one direction it is best to get your ships out of the line of fire AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE BEFORE the weapon fires. If you are in a squadron/fleet of ships trying to avoid said weapon, break up and fly in different directions. This will greatly increase the odds of survival for some of the ships.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Also I have gripe with their shameless use of Venators. It would have been nice to see the Rep Navy's gradual transition from relying solely on Acclamators to moving on to Venators.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Well we're seeing a tiny percentage of the war and it's hardware, so it can hardly be said to be representative of the entire fleet.
As for the Acclamators, weren't they essentially just armed troop transports anyway?
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Troop Transports that could attack ships of equal or greater size and land in water.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Land in water? Where'd you get that from?
Anyway, it was pretty sweet seeing the "new" Y-Wings in action. My only (minor) quibble was that they didn't have their distinctive "humm" from ANH. Instead, they whined a lot like the X-Wings.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
In Chapter 5 of the short Clone Wars cartoons, Acclamators land in the oceans of Mon Calamari.
quote:My only (minor) quibble was that they didn't have their distinctive "humm" from ANH. Instead, they whined a lot like the X-Wings.
It sounds like they whined even in A New Hope (at 4:19 and 5:08).
Edit: Lol! Chip and Dale.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Did anyone else notice the Gonk-gonk? Posted by Zefram (Member # 1568) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: Does anyone know what the chronology of this show is supposed to be?
I believe this series is supposed to take place between season 1 of the cartoon and season 2. Season 2 started with a brief montage of events that happened between the two seasons (e.g., the war continues, Anakin changes his hair, his face is scarred, etc.). The use of Jedi starfighters that are modified forms of the wedge-shaped fighters rather than the Episode III starfighters, as well as the use of the original clone armor, supports this. Season 2 of the cartoon was only supposed to cover the final months of the war.
quote:Originally posted by HerbShrump: How many seasons is this expected to last? Shoehorning it between Episodes II and III really limits the amount of story time available.
I think the show is supposed to last about 100 episodes. Thus far it seems like the episodes have covered about a day of action each. If you assume that some episodes overlap, the series could cover less than a year of time.
My biggest problem with the show's chronology is its apparent contradictions with the "Star Wars Republic" comics. In the comics, Anakin received his scar from Ventress in the last couple months of the war. In response, Anakin drops Ventress off a building. She is presumed to be dead until one final confrontation in the last weeks of the war. By the time of this particular comic, several clones had already been seen in Episode III style armor. The way the Clone Wars series is turning out, with Anakin already having his scar, Ventress being a regular villain, and the clones wearing Episode II style armor, the show appears to be set about halfway through the war rather than at the end of it. This is somewhat irritating considering how much pride the Star Wars franchise takes in maintaining continuity between the novels, comics, movies, and games. Other than that, I really have enjoyed the show.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Yeah I really enjoyed Star Wars Republic a lot more. I think they had better pacing in the transition from Episode II tech to Episode III tech.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I just found something really sentimental in CW!
I've just started going through this series, and in the third episode, at 6:26, a small flute theme is playing as the republic ship is preparing to launch Y-Wing fighters. That theme is taken directly from Lawence Holland's "TIE Fighter" PC game soundtrack (what I remember as part of the "mission briefing"-music). Having played through some of those 90 minute missions, I've been listening through many loops of midi music, and this isn't something I'd forget. :.)
If anyone could help me verify it, I'd be very glad.
I just got a massive flashback of TIE/A squadrons and burning cargo-containers. Oh the nostalgia.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
I really enjoyed the one mission where you're trapped in a minefeild in a TIE Interceptor, doing a test for Admiral Zaarin or Zarrin or whatever, it's been almost 18 years since I've played the game.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Anybody here ever played the Rogue Squadron games?
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I tried one of them, where you could unlock a Naboo fighter, but I got tired of it after about 4 missions, after failing some damn timer in a city strafing raid somehow, for the 10th time. Not my cup of tea, I prefer the dark void.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I liked X-Wing Alliance, though, and there's a team who's remaking all the ships, fighters and stations (both models and textures) into 2008 standards. They are about 60% done, but you can download the partial upgrades at any time. Ironically the best and coolest ship in the game, the new YT-2000 Otana, is the only main player ship they aren't finished with, so I don't want to try it yet.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Played Rogue Squadron on the old N64 and RS2 on the Cube. They were ok, I didn't much care for the control scheme.
Is Nim referring the the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade project? I'm suprised they're still plugging away at it, I stopped paying attention a few years ago.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Yes, they've taken it very slowly, they're not getting paid and it's on their spare time, but ("fortunately" is the wrong word) there hasn't been any other recent Star Wars flight simulator, so I'll still try it out when the main char's ship is ready.
As I said earlier, Star Wars: Knights of the old Kotor 2: The Sith Lords has its own restoration project due to Obsidian having had to mutilate the game right before the premature release, to disable the stuff they hadn't finished, and the boys and girls at Team Gizka have been at it ever since. They are much closer than XWA in completing it, and the incremental stuff is good enough for an enjoyable playthrough.
Both teams' forums are still very much alive, and both of them are also talking about this new "The Old Republic" MMO.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Now, the problem with taking that long on an 'update' project is that by the time their done, the earlier models they finished would look almost as dated as the originals, computer graphics being what they are.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Thing is no one knows if LucasFarts will ever make another space combat game, so XWA might be all we'll have to work with.
Now that we're talking about it I'm craving XWA now. I might just track down my old disks and dust off the old flight stick. Damn you Nim!
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nim: Yes, they've taken it very slowly, they're not getting paid and it's on their spare time, but ("fortunately" is the wrong word) there hasn't been any other recent Star Wars flight simulator, so I'll still try it out when the main char's ship is ready.
As I said earlier, Star Wars: Knights of the old Kotor 2: The Sith Lords has its own restoration project due to Obsidian having had to mutilate the game right before the premature release, to disable the stuff they hadn't finished, and the boys and girls at Team Gizka have been at it ever since. They are much closer than XWA in completing it, and the incremental stuff is good enough for an enjoyable playthrough.
Both teams' forums are still very much alive, and both of them are also talking about this new "The Old Republic" MMO.
I already know of team gizka but it seems they're also taking it slow. Oh well as long as they're doing a good job.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
The Y-wing sequences of "Clone Wars" got me thinking about one of those XWA-missions where you had to fly your YT-2000 in a Gauntlet through a tight formation of Imperial SDs that jumped your rendezvous, I disabled my shields and weapons to get full speed and one or two turbolaser hits could kill me, it was such a rush. Got my Thrustmaster Fox-2 in a box on a shelf, just waiting for that final Otana upgrade.
As for Team Gizka, I've played through Kotor 2 so many times it feels very predictable nowadays, I know exactly which gems and components to put in which sabers and give to which group members, at which time. Same with Diablo II, after the third pass through Arreat trench wars on Nightmare setting, there's nothing more to experience, screw the new additions of "runewords". I'm ready for part 3.
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