Now that the first episode has dropped, probably time to start a dedicated spoiler thread so people that aren't up to date don't have to run the gauntlet of lax spoiler tags in the old speculation/news/anticipation thread. So far so good. First episode had solid direction and some neat worldbuilding details. Nice to finally see the escape from the sarlacc (Lucas briefly toyed with doing this for the SE), and relieved it wasn't as weird and involved as the EU version. The sandstorm right after the battle at carkoon was a neat bit of continuity (or just a subtle nod) to a deleted scene. I don't remember Mos Espa being so vast a city, but then up until now we only saw the outskirts by the junk traders, slave quarters, and docking bays. Now we get to see what passes for Tatooine's fancy people live. It makes sense that the posh part of town in in a deep depression, as on a desert planet shade is bound to be at a premium. Plus the only real overview we got was in this scene, and it's so far out you can't really tell the size or topography. (Interestingly though it also shows a similar sized city within sight of Mos Espa, which looking at the terrain looks like it could have been intended to be Mos Eisley.) Also, am I crazy, or was that Dee Bradley Baker voicing the Trandoshan? Sounded just like his Bossk voice. One assumes the group raiding the moisture farm was the Mining Collective, tying into what went down over in Mos Pelgo. But I guess it could just as easily be one of any number of upstart swoop gangs taking advantage of the sudden power vacuum. For a second there I thought that sand monster thing was going to be a juvenile krayt, but it seems to be a new design, and something that wouldn't look out of place in a Harryhausen movie.
Nice start to the episode, it reminded me a bit of the Star Wars comic where Boba escaped the sarlacc pit. Not hooked by this show though, at least not the way the Mandalorian hooked me. I like the flashback sequences and want to see more but I hope they aren't going to be sequences we only see in the bacta tank.
I think it's a safe bet that they are going to continue to use the bacta "dreams" as a framing device for flashbacks, at least for one or two more episodes, since they haven't quite caught up to where he was in The Mandalorian. That he's still using the bacta and that he had trouble in the Mos Espa ambush seems to indicate at least part of the reason he's doing all of this is because he's simply not physically up to bounty hunting work anymore (presumably thanks to the sarlacc bile) and needs a career change/retirement plan. One detail I found interesting was that this Tuskan tribe don't make their females wear different robes as did the ones Anakin wiped out, and they even accept them acting as warriors. This could be A'Yark's tribe I guess, or more likely just another tribe that has differing customs.
It was neat to see Kamino for a few seconds. Though the framing shots were kinda weird. I expected to see Obi-Wan and Jango fighting, though the shot of the platform looks like it's being shot through a window frame. Maybe Boba looking out into the rain from his room. I wonder if we'll see more of it. Shot of young Boba on Geonosis, the background is entirely new, except for Boba himself. Compare to AOTC
Good first chapter. Probably the mayor's boys that jumped him and Mulan. Guess we'll see the mayor next episode. Nice to see the Gamorrans kick ass. Only thing for me is the need for the tank after the fight. He faced off with the kraken and just needed water, 5 years latter he can't get in to a light fight without needing help? Huh..
It's kinda weird if that's the case because he completely kicked ass in The Mandalorian season 2. There must be something more to it. I would put money on it. I was wondering if it's just an excuse by writers to put him in the tank so they can do a flashback. I'll be glad to be completely wrong about that though once I see later episodes.
Interesting. Reminds me of the Tuskins from The Worlds of Star Trek book, and the tribe the anthropologist visited.
This shot is also brand new, it wasn't in AOTC. I wonder if it was a newly shot (created?) or taken from unused AOTC footage.
I know Jango wanted an 'unaltered' clone of himself to raise, but I would guess something about the cloning process still has long-term consequences because I believe Boba is only supposed to be a few years over 40 at this point. The bacta treatments may be to address that breakdown going on in his clone body.
A nice solid start to the show. I enjoyed the flashbacks to Kamino, as well as seeing Boba settling into his new role on Tatooine.
My brain was not ready for effective Gamorreans. I'm still having a problem processing that one. Jennifer Beals as a Twi'lek is such oddly perfect casting. I'm curious what her character will bring to the story moving forward. And you have to give it to the Jawas. Nobody loots that efficiently. That was some practiced personal property theft, right there. I may not like their approach, but you have to admire their work ethic.
Looks promising, although I admit that I've never really been a Boba Fett fan. That said, I really like The Mandalorian, so I'm hoping this one'll be just as good.
My biggest takeaway from this episode is how much 10-year-old me would've loved this. Not that I didn't like it but man I would've been over the moon over this as a kid. The monster evoked a definite Harryhausen vibe to me, Ymir (EDIT:Kraken?) in particular. Though as an older adult I can certainly relate to inconsistently needing a bacta tank. I can shovel the driveway and then hurt my back taking off my shoes. Even though you could see it coming I loved the way the tribe leader giving him a beer, er water, at the end was done. It said everything without a word. I never noticed it too badly in The Mandalorian but a few of the scenes looked a bit setbound which I'm assuming is a side effect from using The Volume. Though I think Morrison's girth fits this current characterization they're going for with Fett I couldn't help but think of that as well.
For half a second there I almost got excited when I thought they'd slipped Darth Revan's mask into that Star Wars animated helmets/masks/droid faces logo thing they've had in front of Mando, Clone Wars & Bad Batch . . . but on closer inspection it was just Fennic's helmet. So close! As I said above though, I'm thinking that Boba's state of ill health is the result of some kind of long term health problems, probably a result of having to claw his way out of a live sarlacc. I don't see this as being at odds with his performance in 'The Mandalorian' since we never see him take any hits (he was fighting Stormtroopers after all.) Most of the time he was the one dealing out the punishment, or he was just piloting Slave One. In the Mos Espa fight he was mostly holding his own, until he started taking multiple hits from those electrostaff things. I rather think the tank is there primarily as an excuse to let Temuera have his eyebrows back. The credits list a double for "Young Boba" (as well as crediting Logan) so this over the shoulder shot seems to be new. Very well matched too. The accelerated aging could easily be hand-waved off as the result of untreated acid burns, plus all that time out in the desert. That said there was a plotline in the EU about Fett suffering from some for of cancer or some-such , as a result of a flaw in the cloning process.
Maybe not entirely. The mid-ground elements have certainly been replaced (gone is the Reek) but the background plate appears to still be a shot of the original "bigature" arena set. Also, I rather suspect the original footage of Daniel Logan is from an alternate take, and indeed a much longer one than was used in the final edit. See here in the flashback, the shot actually starts with him running in from stage right. Whereas in the original shot, it cuts straight from Artoo & Threepio to this. The closest the "new" version gets to that pose is this, which as you can see is ever so slightly different, both in Logan's pose and the camera angle which appears to be slightly higher as opposed to being down at his level, indicating that it's not the same take. Finally, the AoTC shot ends here, with his head pressing against the helmet. Whereas BoBF it goes on for a little longer and the camera appear to boom up and tilt down. Indeed this camera movement may have been what necessitated replacing the mid-ground elements since the original shot was essentially locked off with no shift in parallax. Finally, it's a very subtle thing but if you look closely and compare the rotoscoping, the matte line in AoTC is decidedly more noticeable (the hair gives it away) indicated just how far digital compositing has come in two decades!
I just love when they utilise old unused or alternative footage like this in a new show, that both ties the show to the AOTC, yet it's something you haven't (at least exactly) seen before. Perhaps I would have liked it more if the new editions didn't use footage like the Han meets Jabba one to break the pacing without cause, but kept it for some future tie-in. They can't exactly use that one or the Tosche station one here or in any of the other shows, I think, but still.