The Mandalorian

[Gimfain]

I'm just happy that this season is really good, only one episode i didn't like that much.

[HaemishM]

Fiege was also involved in Thor 2, avengers 2, iron man 2&3 etc.

He's clearly done a good job, but sometimes people talk about the MCU like it is 20 back to back home runs.

Every one of those movies is Galaxy Level Awesome compared to what Rise of Skywalker turned out to be, on every single level.

[Khaldun]

Yeah, Feige even when he was hamstrung by Perlmutter fucking shit up pretty much hasn't done worse than hitting a single; Rise of Skywalker is like a five-error fielding play that permits three runs by the other team to score followed by a lead-off bunt that pops up.

[Cyrrex]

I am more of a SW fanboy than an MCU fanboy, and I think that - relative to both Star Wars and most franchises - MCU has indeed hit an endless series of homeruns.  Even their bad shit is pretty good shit.  The same cannot be said for Star Wars, much as it pains me.

[BobtheSomething]

Fiege was also involved in Thor 2, avengers 2, iron man 2&3 etc.

He's clearly done a good job, but sometimes people talk about the MCU like it is 20 back to back home runs.

Each of those films was better than any of the sequel trilogy. 

[Draegan]

They also let off that "Rogue Squadron" will be set in the future of Star Wars with another new movie to follow.

Also remember the Asohka and Kenobi series are limited runs. So they aren't a new Mandolorian.

[Khaldun]

They should really use the Asohka series to create some other Force-using characters who aren't Jedi or Sith for post-ROS use, because the cupboard is very very bare as of ROS.

[eldaec]

I agree, but doing that does often bring out the 'star wars should never have shades of grey' crowd.

[MahrinSkel]

I agree, but doing that does often bring out the 'star wars should never have shades of grey' crowd.

Fuck those guys. Han Solo was in the pipeline to be an Imperial TIE fighter pilot, until he got kicked out of the Academy for being a lazy shit. Luke wanted,  dreamed of, going to the Academy. I'm sure there were guys in the super-laser room of both Death Stars that felt conflicted about it. There's ambiguity baked right in. Rogue One gave us Rebel Alliance as terrorists, and it was the best post-OT movie.

--Dave

[Draegan]

They should really use the Asohka series to create some other Force-using characters who aren't Jedi or Sith for post-ROS use, because the cupboard is very very bare as of ROS.

My pet theory I think I posted a few pages ago is basically this. The most successful Star Wars series (I don't have any metric for this) that has penetrated the cultural zeitgeist is the Mandalorian. With this new reality, you need to do two things. Create more content for this "time line" which is the Rangers show. Then you need to create a bridge to the future Rogue Squadron movie and beyond.

I hope Ahsoka is that bridge that lets us leap frog over the sequels and ignore them. Handwave ages and stuff like that. If Ahsoka is chasing Thrawn, use that limited run show to set up the new Star Wars movies.

[Draegan]

I agree, but doing that does often bring out the 'star wars should never have shades of grey' crowd.

Fuck those guys. Han Solo was in the pipeline to be an Imperial TIE fighter pilot, until he got kicked out of the Academy for being a lazy shit. Luke wanted,  dreamed of, going to the Academy. I'm sure there were guys in the super-laser room of both Death Stars that felt conflicted about it. There's ambiguity baked right in. Rogue One gave us Rebel Alliance as terrorists, and it was the best post-OT movie.

--Dave

I'm looking forward to the Cassian series that lets us watch the birth of the Rebellion.

[eldaec]

I agree, but doing that does often bring out the 'star wars should never have shades of grey' crowd.

Fuck those guys. Han Solo was in the pipeline to be an Imperial TIE fighter pilot, until he got kicked out of the Academy for being a lazy shit. Luke wanted,  dreamed of, going to the Academy. I'm sure there were guys in the super-laser room of both Death Stars that felt conflicted about it. There's ambiguity baked right in. Rogue One gave us Rebel Alliance as terrorists, and it was the best post-OT movie.

--Dave

I am completely on board with this.

Why people hate ambiguity or duality when the central character in the entire series is Anakin fucking Skywalker I have no idea.

[eldaec]

Then you need to create a bridge to the future Rogue Squadron movie and beyond.

The headline idea of Rogue Squadron is a good one.

But there are a few things that smell of 'we still haven't got a way of managing creative direction of the whole ip'. Little things like T65s being used in a 'future era' film, and big things like having a film with a narrow focus in a era without an established conflict.

[Khaldun]

I mean, there's the hilarious line in the prequels where Obi-Wan shouts that only the Sith think in absolutes.

And if the Force really is derived from life, life in the SW universe has predation and violence just like it does elsewhere (and the Jedi don't seem to hesitate when it comes to killing animal life forms that get in their way and are perfectly happy to lop off limbs whenever anybody gives them lip). There's plenty of room to have Force users who act according to their own judgment and are not Jedi or Sith--Westerns and samurai films both have plenty of those kinds of characters--white hats who are not pure as the driven snow.

[Draegan]

Then you need to create a bridge to the future Rogue Squadron movie and beyond.

The headline idea of Rogue Squadron is a good one.

But there are a few things that smell of 'we still haven't got a way of managing creative direction of the whole ip'. Little things like T65s being used in a 'future era' film, and big things like having a film with a narrow focus in a era without an established conflict.

I mean, there were Xwings in the sequels so they aren't just going away, so the future era could be inside a decade into the future past the sequels. Rogue Squadron could easily be a continuation of the idea of XWings patrolling space like in Mando that come across what will become "established conflict" in the new era of Star Wars.

If I had to randomly guess the Rogue Squadron story line it'll be this:

It's been 5 years since the fall of the New Order (lets not mention Palp) and the galaxy has been shattered into regional governance with the "New Republic" being one of the largest government bodies. The New Republican scouting group is patrolling space on it's farm flung outer borders when a mysterious force attacks and destroys the fleet/group/whatever. A group of Xwing pilots known as Rogue Squadron has been tasked with investigating this space in the Outer Rim (or insert distant sector that is wild/unexplored/empty). The squad find the wreckage and ...

Here you will find hints of a new Imperial Fleet or something like that headed up by Thrawn (or maybe he's hinted at but never seen or whatever). Dun Dun Duuuuun. The end of the movie is some fun space battles and they barely escape with their lives to report the new threat to Republic/Galaxy.

[eldaec]

Xwings in the sequels are T70s and they look different to the one on the logo for this movie.

It just seems odd to go into this trying to create a new setting when that went so badly last time, and when the concept works so neatly in the OT period.

I just think it suggests there is still no thought about how any of these projects fit together.

[Trippy]

I agree, but doing that does often bring out the 'star wars should never have shades of grey' crowd.

Fuck those guys. Han Solo was in the pipeline to be an Imperial TIE fighter pilot, until he got kicked out of the Academy for being a lazy shit. Luke wanted,  dreamed of, going to the Academy. I'm sure there were guys in the super-laser room of both Death Stars that felt conflicted about it. There's ambiguity baked right in. Rogue One gave us Rebel Alliance as terrorists, and it was the best post-OT movie.

Obl: “Han shot first!” reference.

[Draegan]

Xwings in the sequels are T70s and they look different to the one on the logo for this movie.

It just seems odd to go into this trying to create a new setting when that went so badly last time, and when the concept works so neatly in the OT period.

I just think it suggests there is still no thought about how any of these projects fit together.

I wouldn't really look to deep into promotional logos and shit for a movie thats 3 years out.

Also not sure what you mean went so badly last time. R1 and Solo were actually decent movies. The Sequels were trash over all (though you can say TFA was fine for kicking off the rust if not just mediocre).

Nothing about this suggests what amount of thought went in to these movies. Their track record suggests none. So right now I just have (misplaced) hope that it's going to work out.

[eldaec]

I meant the world building in the sequels. I'm surprised they are going near that time period.

R1 and solo worked in part because they cut that corner by working with the preexisting world.

[BobtheSomething]

Solo did more world building than the entire sequel trilogy.  Despite the time period, Solo rested less on the OT setting shorthand than the ST did, giving a wider, fresher take on the SW galaxy.

[NowhereMan]

Is Solo actually worth watching? I watched the Last Jedi and despite not absolutely hating it when I saw it kind of killed my enthusiasm for any of the new movies. That said Rogue One was very fun and the Force Awakens was, fine?

[MahrinSkel]

Is Solo actually worth watching? I watched the Last Jedi and despite not absolutely hating it when I saw it kind of killed my enthusiasm for any of the new movies. That said Rogue One was very fun and the Force Awakens was, fine?

Solo was worth watching, although it never really "felt" to me like I was watching a younger Han.

--Dave

[eldaec]

Only issue I had with Solo was the production was just a bit 'off'. Lighting was bad here, or location design was lacklustre there.

If had been a short TV series on disney+ this year instead of a movie following straight after certain types of people had had an aneurism over tLJ, then it would have been praised to high heaven.

It isn't as good as R1 but definitely worth watching now with your Mandalorian subscription.

[Abagadro]

Both Rogue One and Solo are cobbled together by replacement directors/reshoots/re-edits/studio meddling.  It's hard to judge them as actual movies from a filmmaking standpoint since they are both messes with some cool parts.

[Draegan]

Solo was fun. R1 was great

[Khaldun]

Solo was ok.

The worst part was the world building, though. I really did not need to hear that Solo is not his actual name, etc. What, does that mean that every stupid name in Star Wars is something the person adopted? I get that about "Darths" but otherwise, please no. I did not need to hear that he's actually kind of telling the truth about the Kessel Run. Etc. All of that was like fingernails on chalkboard--it was a perfect illustration of where "Easter Eggs" slide into being actively stupid.

[Velorath]

You didn't like that every single defining event of Han Solo as a character happened over the course of one adventure?

[BobtheSomething]

Solo was ok.

The worst part was the world building, though. I really did not need to hear that Solo is not his actual name, etc. What, does that mean that every stupid name in Star Wars is something the person adopted? I get that about "Darths" but otherwise, please no. I did not need to hear that he's actually kind of telling the truth about the Kessel Run. Etc. All of that was like fingernails on chalkboard--it was a perfect illustration of where "Easter Eggs" slide into being actively stupid.

His name isn’t world building.  Seeing the industrial base of the Empire, it’s less glamorous conflicts, the criminal underworld, and an glimpse of the Empire’s energy economy (with its own raised questions), those were world building that made Solo feel like a lived-in world in a way nothing in the sequels did. 

I agree with the earlier poster who said the movie is better if you don’t think of this guy as the Han Solo.

[Khaldun]

I hear what Bob's saying and yeah, but I'd have rather gotten that through a film focused on Lando or on a completely new character.

[MahrinSkel]

One problem with Solo was that Donald Glover did such an outstanding job of channeling Billy Dee Williams, that Alden Ehrenreich just felt flat. He didn't quite have the sneer right, the voice wasn't even close, and he was 4 inches shorter sharing scenes with actors taller than he was.

If Glover hadn't been such a good match to Billy Dee, Solo might have seemed better. Or maybe it just would have felt completely disconnected rather than slightly off.

--Dave

[Threash]

Should've just made a young Lando movie.

[BobtheSomething]

I hear what Bob's saying and yeah, but I'd have rather gotten that through a film focused on Lando or on a completely new character.

That would have been preferable.  But what we got had some decent Star Wars moments, explored the setting, and didn’t shit itself like the sequels.

[Threash]

Holy. Shit.

[Shannow]

That was weird.

[NowhereMan]

Oh well now I know what I'm watching as soon as I finish work.