The Clone Wars is so good, it managed to use Jar-Jar in an effective and entertaining way.
Jar Jar on trial for war crimes.
- Thread starter sbk1234
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More entertaining than the PT ever managed anyway. But the real proof of TCW's superiority is that they seem to have forgotten Jar-Jar exists.
As far as I'm concerned, anything that prevents The Clone Wars from becoming the all Jedi, all the time show is fine. I'd love to see more Jar-Jar or Artoo, and, say, less Plo-Koon.
The Jedi are pretty boring, aren't they? But at keast now I understand why. When you're all disciplined and self-controlled and don't allow yourself to get attached enough to anyone to get upset if they DIE, then what kind of personality is there to write a story about?
They're using that to good effect with Anakin (and Ahsoka). They're both bad Jedi, and thank GOD for that because they aren't boring like the rest. If that means they both become Sith or Dark Jedi or whatever, more power to them. Better evil than boring, I always say.
When the story focuses on random Jedi of the week or the clonetroopers I just zone out. Interchangeable, limited characters are a bore. What works is Anakin; Ahsoka; Padme and the political stuff (Separatist politics are good, but cool it with "corruption," which is too complex a topic for this show to handle well); Obi-Wan in context with any of those three characters (being a humanized representative of the "correct" Jedi way, he provides all the contrast that is needed); and interesting tangental characters every so often like Cad Bane and little Boba Fett.
They're using that to good effect with Anakin (and Ahsoka). They're both bad Jedi, and thank GOD for that because they aren't boring like the rest. If that means they both become Sith or Dark Jedi or whatever, more power to them. Better evil than boring, I always say.
When the story focuses on random Jedi of the week or the clonetroopers I just zone out. Interchangeable, limited characters are a bore. What works is Anakin; Ahsoka; Padme and the political stuff (Separatist politics are good, but cool it with "corruption," which is too complex a topic for this show to handle well); Obi-Wan in context with any of those three characters (being a humanized representative of the "correct" Jedi way, he provides all the contrast that is needed); and interesting tangental characters every so often like Cad Bane and little Boba Fett.
Give in to the Dark Side, I command it!
Just catch up with the DVDs. The first season is mainly fighting, but they do action well. More political and character development starts creeping in, in S2. They continue that in S3 (the political stuff can be tedious at times, but I think there's a master plan) and then they finally get around to delving into the "mystical" story of the Force, what being the Chosen One means, etc. The stuff that should be the core of the story.
It sounds very tempting. For a long time my reservation was due to not wanting to get into anything targeted at a younger demographic for fear it would come off as way too childish, but recently I've been taking a few trips down Nostalgia Lane with a friend of mine, watching a couple of the more serialized animated series we grew up with for the heck of it, and they've held up pretty nicely despite my being 23 years old and all that.
So I'm going to grab the DVDs after I'm done with Babylon 5 and in a few months I should be available for chatting it up in the TCW threads.
I'll voice a little dissent here - I think TCW is trash. It's very juvenile and overly simplistic and loaded with plots that make the prequel trilogy look positively Shakespearean. I watched the first two seasons and just couldn't torture myself into watching anything more. If I had to see them come across just ONE MORE CULTURE that was completely pacifistic, I was going to put my foot through the TV.
Really? Did it happen more than once?
TCW has revised Anakin's character so that he works as a sympathetic lead character at long last. Obi-Wan is improved and actually seems like the same guy Alec Guinness played now. Ahsoka is a good addition because they need a character to serve as a sounding board for Anakin's notions of Jedi-hood so we finally understand where he's coming from. The relationships between Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Padme are well drawn and emotionally believable.
The addition of Separatists with legitimate motives makes all the good guys seem less stupid and more just like good people trying to deal with a self-destructing political system. Visits to various alien worlds, not all of whom are pacifist in the least, broaden the Star Wars cosmos and make it seem more like a whole, believable place.
All that is significant, and hardly qualifies as "trash." The remake of V? Now that's trash.
The addition of Separatists with legitimate motives makes all the good guys seem less stupid and more just like good people trying to deal with a self-destructing political system. Visits to various alien worlds, not all of whom are pacifist in the least, broaden the Star Wars cosmos and make it seem more like a whole, believable place.
All that is significant, and hardly qualifies as "trash." The remake of V? Now that's trash.
The leprechaun lemurs (good story but I couldn't stop giggling at those critters and their silly accent) plus the Mandelorians. There have probably been others. Doesn't bother me, in context with the whole show. You'll have some pacifists, some belligerants, some folks like the Seppys who aren't pacifist, they just don't think the Republic is worth fighting for - the more they expand the spectrum of beliefs, the more real it all seems.
All that is significant, and hardly qualifies as "trash." The remake of V? Now that's trash.
We'll have to agree to disagree. I think you're seeing a lot more depth and quality than I am. However, you're spot on with V. I stopped watching that after a few episodes.
Yes, I was, but I didn't think about it enough. You're right, it happened twice.
There were a few more times, but I honestly don't remember the names of the species. Didn't they say Rodia was a completely pacifist society too? Wasn't Ryloth completely pacifist? I'm trying to remember stuff that I really didn't like so pardon my fuzzy memory. I just know it happened enough to annoy me, which is much more than twice.
Rodia was neutral and Ryloth was occupied. Neither was particularly pacifistic. We can't expect every alien species to kick as much ass as the Ewoks.
I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a jab or what... but whatever the case may be, the pacifistic thing is just one of my irritations with the show. It's just not very good.
I think the fact that my buddy's 10 year old son doesn't really want to watch it any more because he finds the plots lacking is a good indicator (he was specifically put off by some episode this season where they were poisoning Mandalorian kids or something).
I think the fact that my buddy's 10 year old son doesn't really want to watch it any more because he finds the plots lacking is a good indicator (he was specifically put off by some episode this season where they were poisoning Mandalorian kids or something).
A jab? Ewoks are an extremely aggressive species, able to wage war against a galactic empire and WIN using nothing but primitive weapons. And they EAT PEOPLE, which is something that most Star Wars fans tend to overlook.
Really, we can't expect every species to kick as much ass as our little furry friends with sharp teeth.
Well that was an unusually crappy episode. The reason it existed (I think) is because the writers are trying to establish that the Republic is corrupt. I seem to recall some talk of this in the PT, but they never made the sale.
Now TCW is trying to make the sale, probably so that it will make sense later on if Anakin gets fed up with the corruption and starts to wonder whether this damn Republic is worth all the suffering the war has caused.
But corruption is a complicated topic and Star Wars doesn't do complication very well. They do great when they stick with a simple, streamlined approach that feels like mythology. So they simplified the idea of corruption so much that it came off as glib and trivial. I got the idea behind the episode without much liking the episode itself.
As far as I'm concerned, they made the sale - the Republic is corrupt, that's why the Seppys bailed, and nobody is seriously trying to solve the corruption problem - no need to bore us with any further proof. They really need to stick to the mystical part of the story like in the Mortis Arc as the core, and concentrate on that and the major character relationships. Bring in politics and psychology as secondary plot threads, but don't depend too much on them.
I don't begrudge anyone their Star Wars love-- after all, I like the old Flash Gordon serials-- I just never liked Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher, and the whole scenario just doesn't appeal to me. But the worst thing, and the reason that I never bothered to watch it until after Empire Strikes Back came out, is that it's so ugly. All the clunky gray ships with the meganooks and hypercrannies and so forth-- bleah. That's why I like the SFX in Episode One; it shows how cool it would be to adapt some classic SF like Foundation or something.
Yeah, except that Foundation doesn't have cannibal teddy bears or rastafarian frogs.
It has been established since Episode I that the Republic is corrupt.
In case you were willing to bend over backwards to give the Republic the benefit of the doubt in permitting even the blockade of Naboo to occur at all, the fact that the Senate could "get bogged down in procedures" over a question [if not a matter] of life and death should have sold it for you.
And if that's not enough, Queen Amidala's decision to return to Naboo should have told you that, precisely since she thinks it's futile for Naboo to depend on the Senate, we are supposed to think so too.
From scene I of Episode I onwards, we have never seen the Republic in its glory days. We've seen it only when it's on its way down.
In case you were willing to bend over backwards to give the Republic the benefit of the doubt in permitting even the blockade of Naboo to occur at all, the fact that the Senate could "get bogged down in procedures" over a question [if not a matter] of life and death should have sold it for you.
And if that's not enough, Queen Amidala's decision to return to Naboo should have told you that, precisely since she thinks it's futile for Naboo to depend on the Senate, we are supposed to think so too.
From scene I of Episode I onwards, we have never seen the Republic in its glory days. We've seen it only when it's on its way down.