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, 2 October 2015 20:10 (nine years ago) link
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
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:11 (nine years ago) link
Ethical or political subtext of og trilogy eludes me.
responding to that, not "what does SW have that nothing else has"
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:12 (nine years ago) link
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
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:13 (nine years ago) link
when obi-wan says he will become more powerful when he is dead he is referring to radicalizing luke, not special ghost powers, imo
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:13 (nine years ago) link
they even treated some dumb forest teddy bears as equals, which ended up benefiting them
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:14 (nine years ago) link
ok lol
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 October 2015 20:17 (nine years ago) link
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
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 October 2015 20:18 (nine years ago) link
I mean it's not Gandhi but it seems a cut above the typical sci-fi/action children's movie.
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:21 (nine years ago) link
how different people treat droids is pretty integral
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:21 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Gorefest Frump (Doctor Casino), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:22 (nine years ago) link
the rebels obviously have incredible patience and some sort of workplace inclusion policy, only possible explanation for why c3po is kept around
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:22 (nine years ago) link
btw the empire has much better style and iconography, as fascists often do
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:23 (nine years ago) link
― 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.
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:27 (nine years ago) link
"luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" will be the absolute last line in star wars i come to feel superior to
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:28 (nine years ago) link
and the little illustrative pinch he takes of luke!
Yoda being mischievous is sorely missed in the dumb prequels. He can be funny!
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:30 (nine years ago) link
it was an ok twist to have him actually be strong in combat but only as a counterpoint to "Wars not make one great"
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:31 (nine years ago) link
"Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is!"
― jmm, Friday, 2 October 2015 20:42 (nine years ago) link
he was an instructor of lightsaber combat at the jedi temple!
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:43 (nine years ago) link
i like "how you get so big, eating food of this kind"
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:44 (nine years ago) link
his disses were so good
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:46 (nine years ago) link
his early sets at the Chuckle Hut slayed
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 October 2015 20:47 (nine years ago) link
Yoda's flat, dull dialogue in the prequels make the scrambled syntax so annoying.
― jmm, Friday, 2 October 2015 20:49 (nine years ago) link
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.
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:54 (nine years ago) link
also the puppet's facial expression when he thinks for a moment luke might succeed is terrific.
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 2 October 2015 20:55 (nine years ago) link
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
― too young for seapunk (Moodles), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:05 (nine years ago) link
"they"
― playlists of pensive swift (difficult listening hour), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:06 (nine years ago) link
George Lucas and his massive goiter
― too young for seapunk (Moodles), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:09 (nine years ago) link
btw the empire has much better style and iconography, as fascists often do― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, October 2, 2015
― 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.
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:10 (nine years ago) link
I mean there's totally some fuckyeahmenswear style tumbl'n waiting to get implemented herehttps://botwt.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/hanchew1.jpg
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:14 (nine years ago) link
so you haven't seen the "hipsters dress like han solo" memes going around then?
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:15 (nine years ago) link
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.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:17 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 October 2015 21:20 (nine years ago) link
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.
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:20 (nine years ago) link
All the Dagoba scenes are incredible. What they did to Yoda in the prequels was a travesty.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:22 (nine years ago) link
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.
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:24 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Do you feel guilty about your wight western priva (ledge), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:28 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Purves Grundy (kingfish), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:34 (nine years ago) link
droids are a race now?
surely the term should be droidism or something
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 October 2015 21:35 (nine years ago) link
"We don't serve your kind here" from a joint that allows Rodian bounty hunters free entrance
― Purves Grundy (kingfish), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:36 (nine years ago) link
the inclusiveness of the rebels is pretty clearly the reason they win out in the end. They pretty much take anybody who seems like they give a shit, which makes it seem like they would be easy pickings for imperial double agents, so perhaps there's a hidden side to all this where there's brutal rebel counterintelligence and potential innocents getting wiped out in "accidents" because they couldn't be trusted. Maybe Biggs' death was arranged, you know? Like, isn't that a little convenient that he just happens to ditch Luke for the Empire, then gets disillusioned as a cadet and joins the rebellion, just in time to find himself BEHIND LUKE in the the trench run on Bespin? Aw man I would like to see the SW version of The Departed now, please.
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:36 (nine years ago) link
if there's one thing the world doesn't need any more of it's SW fanfiction
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 October 2015 21:38 (nine years ago) link
brave stance
― BRAAAAAAMETHEUS (El Tomboto), Friday, 2 October 2015 21:44 (nine years ago) link
"Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing. How embarrassing."
Pretty sure that's Yoda's only attempt at humour in the prequels. Padawans must love him.
― jmm, Friday, 2 October 2015 23:09 (nine years ago) link
well, Count Dooku was one of his padawans, so
― μpright mammal (mh), Saturday, 3 October 2015 01:00 (nine years ago) link
he did beat the hell out of Dooku in a lightsaber battle (lol) until that damn sith pulled the classic "drop part of the building on your friends while I make a quick exit" move
fuckin' sith
― μpright mammal (mh), Saturday, 3 October 2015 01:01 (nine years ago) link
unlike everything in Star Wars, which totally does not defy the laws of physics ever
if you accept that the force is a thing I can allow for some flexibility in the behavior of matter. Whereas transformers are 50 foot tall robots on earth who pretend they're cars.
― joygoat, Saturday, 3 October 2015 01:09 (nine years ago) link
If you can accept the force then the allspark can't be much of a jump
― μpright mammal (mh), Saturday, 3 October 2015 01:10 (nine years ago) link
allspark, did someone say?http://news.tfw2005.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2010/02/Yoda_1266125789.jpg
― Philip Nunez, Saturday, 3 October 2015 02:10 (nine years ago) link