Star Wars 7 shit talk

You're totally not wrong, these are just my personal biases here. Never cared about comic books for some reason but loved the shit out of Star Wars when I was growing up.

My main beef with Transformers is that when I was a kid I thought they were really stupid because why in the world would alien robots need to turn into cars? And why were a gun and a walkman the same size as jet planes? The scale was way off and the premise was stupid and seemed to defy the laws of physics.

unlike everything in Star Wars, which totally does not defy the laws of physics ever

I know this is kind of corny but I actually think the original Star Wars trilogy introduces some pretty high-minded concepts about morality, mindfulness, spirituality, etc. in a way that a young audience can grasp. I think this is something that gives it a little bit of an edge over Transformers.

care to elaborate? Ethical or political subtext of og trilogy eludes me. I guess the rebels don't blow up a planet (they do blow up an entire space station of comparable size)

not a lot of non-humans in the empire

"Fear is the mind-killer." - Yoda

seedy gambler/rogue guy ends up fighting for a cause, showing that the lines between bad/good and criminal/law-abiding aren't necessarily directly related
acknowledgment of non-corporeal "force" that binds all things in the galaxy
repeated plot point that rebels with a strong ideology can fight against the tyranny of a militaristic state
responsibility to others / self-sacrifice (obi wan's moment of peace when he allows himself to be struck down rather than fighting to the death)

lol Old Lunch

but yeah, the fear -> anger -> hate progression is definitely a spiritual maxim

rebels with a strong ideology

what ideology

seedy gambler/rogue guy ends up fighting for a cause, showing that the lines between bad/good and criminal/law-abiding aren't necessarily directly related
this is such a standard trope of genre fiction (take yr pick of genres) idk if it's really a credit or unique in any way

acknowledgment of non-corporeal "force" that binds all things in the galaxy which is also evil depending on which side of it you're on!

responsibility to others / self-sacrifice (obi wan's moment of peace when he allows himself to be struck down rather than fighting to the death) could be argued that obi-wan does it just so he can become even more powerful/live forever as a magical ghost = self-interest

Ultimately the thing that really sets apart Star Wars (the original trilogy) from stuff like Transformers and Marvel is that it has far superior set design, which may seem a minor thing for some people, but makes a world of difference to me personally.

yeah dude I didn't say they weren't incredibly standard and I'm sure over the course of all of the Transformers episodes those points were hit but as a whole Star Wars is a pretty simplified movie structure that has all these things

Ethical or political subtext of og trilogy eludes me.

responding to that, not "what does SW have that nothing else has"

Power of hate to consume a person (and the strength of the temptation to hate and the benefit of resisting that temptation), self-development through meditation, etc., IDK I thought this shit was kind of obvious so I don't know why I'm explaining it to someone who is challopping/being obtuse/trolling

when obi-wan says he will become more powerful when he is dead he is referring to radicalizing luke, not special ghost powers, imo

they even treated some dumb forest teddy bears as equals, which ended up benefiting them

ok lol

Power of hate to consume a person (and the strength of the temptation to hate and the benefit of resisting that temptation), self-development through meditation, etc.

yeah these are cool I guess

I mean it's not Gandhi but it seems a cut above the typical sci-fi/action children's movie.

how different people treat droids is pretty integral

yeah it's not the deepest thing in the world but like all the stuff about the force in Empire is way more thought-provoking (even just on an imagination level) (but also on an ethical level) than most movies I got into as a kid. Just the idea that Yoda is very strenuously trying to keep Luke from doing what seems to him and to the audience like obviously the heroic thing to do - - - in fact that this kind of zealous, well-intentioned action is what defines the "dark side" that claimed his father... that's super cool. I also, and this is less directly about ethics, but while the Force has been banalized by the prequels and spinoffs, there's still something wonderful about Yoda's new age presentation of it. I mean I wasn't seeing a lot of stuff at age 10 where someone says "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship." That's great! Like you leave the theater with something kind of weird to ponder, and not just CGI exploding at your face.

the rebels obviously have incredible patience and some sort of workplace inclusion policy, only possible explanation for why c3po is kept around

btw the empire has much better style and iconography, as fascists often do

Ultimately the thing that really sets apart Star Wars (the original trilogy) from stuff like Transformers and Marvel is that it has far superior set design, which may seem a minor thing for some people, but makes a world of difference to me personally.

― silverfish, Friday, October 2, 2015 1:10 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is otm. not really into the antiseptic paramilitary world of marvel movies, the good bits of thor aside (and probably guardians of the galaxy, which i didn't see, also aside). have never gotten bored of looking at or listening to star wars (exceptions, finally ruined by commercial ubiquity: never need to hear a lightsaber again, or r2d2) even tho i have gotten bored of thinking about it.

"luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" will be the absolute last line in star wars i come to feel superior to

and the little illustrative pinch he takes of luke!

Yoda being mischievous is sorely missed in the dumb prequels. He can be funny!

it was an ok twist to have him actually be strong in combat but only as a counterpoint to "Wars not make one great"

"Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is!"

he was an instructor of lightsaber combat at the jedi temple!

i like "how you get so big, eating food of this kind"

his disses were so good

his early sets at the Chuckle Hut slayed

Yoda's flat, dull dialogue in the prequels make the scrambled syntax so annoying.

AROUND THE SURVIVORS A PERIMETER CREATE.

dredging the x-wing in empire is still pretty special imo. genuinely stirring moments in blockbuster fx bombast. and then after that, yoda's crowning diss.

also the puppet's facial expression when he thinks for a moment luke might succeed is terrific.

AROUND THE SURVIVORS A PERIMETER CREATE

haha, Yoda is a terrible battlefield commander, all his orders take way too long to say and interpret correctly when the main verb comes way at the end

it's also annoying that they took this occasional linguistic tic of his from the old movies, and then made sure that every single sentence he spoke in the prequels used this structure

"they"

George Lucas and his massive goiter

btw the empire has much better style and iconography, as fascists often do

― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, October 2, 2015

Actually this is a great socratic teachable thing about the series too - who looks tougher, cooler, who has better stuff, and why - I feel like one thing that SW does really well is making the bad guys and the good guys (not nec. just "empire v. rebels" - jabba, the bounty hunters, bespin etc) all have distinct and reasonably thought-out aesthetics, so all the different parties at play look impressive or at least put together in their own right, aside from the cantina extras who are genuinely assembled from spare parts, nobody really looks like they just go thrown together from spare parts. Even though up until Jedi they basically all were.

I mean there's totally some fuckyeahmenswear style tumbl'n waiting to get implemented here
https://botwt.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/hanchew1.jpg

so you haven't seen the "hipsters dress like han solo" memes going around then?

Ultimately the thing that really sets apart Star Wars (the original trilogy) from stuff like Transformers and Marvel is that it has far superior set design, which may seem a minor thing for some people, but makes a world of difference to me personally.

Yeah for real, I'm increasingly thinking it's the design (character and vehicle as well as set) coupled to straightforward but cannily resonant plotting which makes the originals so iconic. The Stormtrooper armour for example has an unfussy elegance you would never ever see in a Transformers movie.

it's the design (character and vehicle as well as set) coupled to straightforward but cannily resonant plotting which makes the originals so iconic.

this is totally it. cuz it sure ain't the dialogue, the direction, the acting, the subtext (there isn't really any), the characters, or anything else that typically makes a film great.

and this is presumably before anybody had to go and write 20 page design documents to help explain the space-naval-architectural ethos and office dress codes of the respective organizations in the universe. somebody just drew some ships and some outfits and tweaked them here and there and then we end up with incredibly iconic things that literally have a higher Q rating than any of the actors involved.

dredging the x-wing in empire is still pretty special imo. genuinely stirring moments in blockbuster fx bombast. and then after that, yoda's crowning diss.

All the Dagoba scenes are incredible. What they did to Yoda in the prequels was a travesty.

I take issue with the direction not being great (at times). The superior aesthetic qualities wouldn't come through or work as well if not for the way they're shot, edited, etc. Probably editing as much as anything (the prequels and special editions do bear that out) but you also can't splice a shot that wasn't ever there.

the subtext (there isn't really any)

droid racism leads directly to the downfall of the empire. if they'd considered droids to be alive they would have detected them on board the escape pod, destroyed it, and lived happily ever after.

Also, sound design better and weirder than anything else out there. Tie Fighters sounded like nothing else, speeder bikes sounded like nothing else, imperial walkers whose audio design complimented and enhanced their story role, etc.

As effed as Phantom Menace was, I so dug how Ben Burtt varied up the engine sounds in the pod race, from what sounds like a V1 to something like a mic'd leafblower fed thru a flange pedal.

droids are a race now?

surely the term should be droidism or something