Star Wars: The Mandalorian [** Spoilers **] [Disney+] (US Pace)

Wibbs

Venom wrote: »

My desk needs this bad.

and it's a Star Wars toy from the disney run that should actually sell in decent numbers.

pixelburp

Wibbs wrote: »

Look at how it did in China without all that. Opened OK and then fell off a Skellig island cliff in the second week(IIRC takings dropped by 80-90%).

Already said but China has no interest in Star Wars, though not without deliberate attempts by Disney. The country simply doesn't care for the franchise, presumably because it doesn't have that groundswell of fandom starting with the 77 release. The box office might say Last Jedi did poor, but ALL the new movies did so, because when it comes to all things Skywalker, China is the shoulder-shrug emoji

Stop moaning ffs

Wibbs wrote: »

and it's a Star Wars toy from the disney run that should actually sell in decent numbers.

And it’s not out until June.

Yes seriously.

Stop moaning ffs

Wibbs wrote: »

That was my point. Without the goodwill, nerds putting jedi down as their religion in census forms and the hope behind it as a background it was seriously lacking on its own merits as a standalone, even with all the might of marketing behind it, even with TFA being a near scene for scene ripoff of the very first one, then again Abrams is the directorial equivalent of listening to a mediocre Beatles cover band in a flashy venue and he proved it there.

"Different and brave" are all too often catchphrases rolled out for sh1te and nonsense. Forget the Star Wars background story, forget the favourite characters and all that, the fans, good and bad. The production design was spot on, as were the effects, but as an example of story, plot, tone, characterisation, writing and direction it is appallingly clunky from damn near from the very first scene and rarely pops its head above the parapet of jarring from then on to the closing credits and often sinks well down below it. That the same studio that could produce something as good as Frozen signed off on that beggars my belief TBH.

The very reason we're able to watch the Mandalorian is precisely because of the gargantuan box office takings of the franchise back in the late 70's and 80's and beyond. Disney wouldn't have forked out many billions to buy and spend on the thing if it weren't for the box office. Box office isn't a marker in this? That's a stupid argument.

Like anything, mileage may vary. Myself and many pals are balls deep in the new canon and can see th brilliant job they’re doing weaving and connecting all these stories accross and into each other. They’re doing an amazing job of world building. Again, it’s treasure for many and irrelevant to many. It’s cliche but the idea that you get out what you put in falls in here. I personally like up to love all the new films. It’s Star Wars. Not The Godfather or high minded drama like.

Tony EH

Wibbs wrote: »

"Different and brave" are all too often catchphrases rolled out for sh1te and nonsense. Forget the Star Wars background story, forget the favourite characters and all that, the fans, good and bad. The production design was spot on, as were the effects, but as an example of story, plot, tone, characterisation, writing and direction it is appallingly clunky from damn near from the very first scene and rarely pops its head above the parapet of jarring from then on to the closing credits and often sinks well down below it.

It's a source of great bemusement that 'The Last Jedi' gets the good will it does from certain quarters - I'm not talking about the fanbois now...they'd like it if it was two hours of blackness with Jar Jar singing.

But, even on its own terms, it was a terrible film for the most part. It's plot was atrocious and it's subplots even more so. It features at least a couple of awful secondary characters, who exist purely to give a couple of the main characters somebody to talk to and it's main space chase remains one of the most silly things I've seen in any film, never mind a Star Wars film...and that's just for starters.

It has some scenes that look nice, such as the throne room and the hyperspace suicide. But that's about it. However, even those scenes are dumb if their analysed even slightly beyond a surface level.

To me it looks like Rian Johnson would rather had made a film solely based on Luke and Rey in Kerry, because that is where he seems to have put his heart. Everything else looks and feels like a complete secondary concern.

Stop moaning ffs

The thing that grinds my gears is the Finn and rose mission. It’s ultimately totally pointless.
The whole theme of the film is failure and overcoming it. It works for all the other elements but not finns. Nit picky but hey

Venom

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

And it’s not out until June.

Yes seriously.

That's a pretty big oversight for a company like Disney to make and kinda shows how little faith they have in Star Wars as a franchise these days.

Stop moaning ffs

Venom wrote: »

That's a pretty big oversight for a company like Disney to make and kinda shows how little faith they have in Star Wars as a franchise these days.

So on one hand they’re obsessed with making money and another they have no faith in th brand they spent 4 billion on.

Laughable.

What it actually is
Toys particularly have an 18 month lead in time from design to production. Coupled with the fact they want to keep everything secret to protect the film or show in this case. Luke Skywalker action figures from tfa weren’t available until 8 months after TLJs release.
And Favreau has said he didn’t want this getting out in any form as it would ruin the entire premise of the series

But sure. Oversight. No faith. Flagship show of the channel they just launched. No faith.

Stop moaning ffs

In other news. The Irishmandalorian

https://twitter.com/_paul_briggs_/status/1201297658796630016?s=21

Gbear

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Like anything, mileage may vary. Myself and many pals are balls deep in the new canon and can see th brilliant job they’re doing weaving and connecting all these stories accross and into each other. They’re doing an amazing job of world building. Again, it’s treasure for many and irrelevant to many. It’s cliche but the idea that you get out what you put in falls in here. I personally like up to love all the new films. It’s Star Wars. Not The Godfather or high minded drama like.

I liked the Last Jedi (and maybe the first half of TFA), but effective worldbuilding is not something you can praise the new trilogy for.

They've really dropped the ball on setting up a new coherent state of the universe.

Even if you're backfilling the story across 3 or 4 different media (games, films, animated, TV, books, comics, etc), I just don't think they've created a particularly interesting universe post RotJ, and they've done a worse job of presenting it.

I enjoyed both new films on the night - I think they were well directed, had mostly well-written dialogue, Adam Driver is a fantastic centerpiece villan/potential anti-hero, good visuals, good choreography (the throneroom scene in TLJ is probably the best produced lightsaber fight so far, not that that's saying that much), but long term they've been forgettable because unlike the trilogy, I think they've failed to create a universe with much depth, and I have an amazing lack of hype for the third film. I'd nearly forgotten it's out in a few weeks.

I've liked Rebels, and this show so far, I'm looking forward to the Clone Wars, and I'll probably get around to Resistance at some point, but I don't think the centerpiece films are at all carrying their weight in delievering entertainment that actually feels at home in the overall story of the expanded universe they're trying to create.

pixelburp

Yeah, the worldbuilding in the new movies is not their strong point, starting with the First Order; who neither possess nor convey any motivations or purpose beyond the mandated requirement to bring back the Empire and give them a fashion update.

Wouldn't mind but all they had to do was keep the galaxy split between the new Republic, and the fragmented Empire. Boom, instant conflict. Instead the First Order arrrreee... Uh? Like do they even have territories?

(Yes I'm sure there are comics or books that expound on their motivations but from the POV of the films they're pretty wishy washy)

Stop moaning ffs

Gbear wrote: »

I liked the Last Jedi (and maybe the first half of TFA), but effective worldbuilding is not something you can praise the new trilogy for.

They've really dropped the ball on setting up a new coherent state of the universe.

Even if you're backfilling the story across 3 or 4 different media (games, films, animated, TV, books, comics, etc), I just don't think they've created a particularly interesting universe post RotJ, and they've done a worse job of presenting it.

I enjoyed both new films on the night - I think they were well directed, had mostly well-written dialogue, Adam Driver is a fantastic centerpiece villan/potential anti-hero, good visuals, good choreography (the throneroom scene in TLJ is probably the best produced lightsaber fight so far, not that that's saying that much), but long term they've been forgettable because unlike the trilogy, I think they've failed to create a universe with much depth, and I have an amazing lack of hype for the third film. I'd nearly forgotten it's out in a few weeks.

I've liked Rebels, and this show so far, I'm looking forward to the Clone Wars, and I'll probably get around to Resistance at some point, but I don't think the centerpiece films are at all carrying their weight in delievering entertainment that actually feels at home in the overall story of the expanded universe they're trying to create.

Clone wars is brilliant. Look up the correct viewing order. It’s not what was release order. I still don’t know why.

Makes far more sense in chronological order. There’s an article on starwars.com will show you the way

Gbear

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Clone wars is brilliant. Look up the correct viewing order. It’s not what was release order. I still don’t know why.

Makes far more sense in chronological order. There’s an article on starwars.com will show you the way

Yeah, I think they particularly buggered it up in the 2nd season with the "Clones" storyline, where it went back in time to them being trained, later on they were elite troops, and then went back to being rookies again.

Stop moaning ffs

Gbear wrote: »

Yeah, I think they particularly buggered it up in the 2nd season with the "Clones" storyline, where it went back in time to them being trained, later on they were elite troops, and then went back to being rookies again.

They made the clones not just interesting but engaging. So sad many will never watch that series.
It’s got so much serious deadly stuff going on. But you’re right. Release order would confuse everyone. You wouldn’t have a clue what’s happening

CastorTroy

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Disney are making a Children's game show hosted by Jar Jar Binks.



Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge

Final episode: Guest judge is Anakin Skywalker. :pac:

Stop moaning ffs

CastorTroy wrote: »

Final episode: Guest judge is Anakin Skywalker. :pac:

I hope it’s like a crystal maze kinda thing.

Make Anakin the final challenge

Kids are often quicker at figuring out puzzles than adults.
Do it.

Relikk

I hope Ahmed does a great job with it. The best of luck to him.

I'll get me coat... (but seriously, the shit that man had to put up with must have been horrible).

Stop moaning ffs

Relikk wrote: »

I hope Ahmed does a great job with it. The best of luck to him.

I'll get me coat... (but seriously, the shit that man had to put up with must have been horrible).

Have you ever heard him tell the story about meeting Michael Jackson during the production of phantom menace?

It’s fvckin amazing and puts the office in second place for awkward

Venom

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Have you ever heard him tell the story about meeting Michael Jackson during the production of phantom menace?

It’s fvckin amazing and puts the office in second place for awkward

I prefer the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise myself :cool:

Skerries

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

I hope it’s like a crystal maze kinda thing.

Make Anakin the final challenge

Kids are often quicker at figuring out puzzles than adults.
Do it.

well the younglings couldn't figure out how to get of the way of Anakin

Skerries

Skerries

leggo

Wibbs wrote: »

I would disagree. It was all over the place on basic storytelling, characterisation, tone, pacing and plot. To a truly scary degree for such a huge budget franchise leader film from a major studio. For all the angry fan stuff and the we'll watch anything so long as it's Star Wars fan divisive stuff, it would have been critically mauled if it had been a brand new entity without all the Star Wars behemoth and good(and even bad)will behind it. Look at how it did in China without all that. Opened OK and then fell off a Skellig island cliff in the second week(IIRC takings dropped by 80-90%).

I’m going to ignore the meme attempting to dunk on me and derail the topic for enjoying a widely enjoyed movie, because it probably came from a place of insecurity and I’ll leave that to yourself to deal with. And since we’re here to discuss, you know, The Mandalorian I’ll try steer this back to the topic at hand. And earlier I brought up how toxic fandom has infiltrated the Star Wars Universe. You’ve actually provided a couple of key examples here so nice one.

The Chinese comparison is frankly bizarre. I don’t see how looking at how the 8th movie in a series did in a country that doesn’t really have that as part of their culture is a gauge of anything. It’s like saying “Avengers Endgame was the first MCU movie released in Syria and it did badly, therefore it is a terrible movie.” No, it’s just a movie you need to have seen other movies beforehand to understand. It’s part of a series (which is a valid and established form of storytelling) and acting like it’s not for the sake of criticising it is weird.

It’s also impossible to try judge TLJ as a standalone entity: that fundamentally misses the point as it’s not trying to be standalone to begin with, the movie was sold and begins with the return of a character introduced 30 years prior. If you don’t care about that, yeah you’re not going to like it, but that’s not the film’s fault. So already you’re adopting a stance and viewpoint that can only be used to criticise it (which is the toxic nature of fandom I spoke of earlier, i.e. actively taking stances to dislike the thing which is supposed to provide you enjoyment). Another bizarre, irrelevant critique.

I’m not saying you’re wrong and ‘should’ enjoy TLJ. I’m just saying that the sticks you’re using to beat it with were specifically crafted to do so. This is the problem when fans take ownership of something that, ultimately, isn’t theirs and the word ‘should’ starts to come into discussions. It’s not an honest critique of the material, it’s fundamentally flawed because the critique has no interest in weighing up the merits of what they were trying to achieve and instead weighing it up against how fans wanted it to be. If you were to boil it down to an essence, it’d be “I know the most about this. They should do what I want and I’m going to criticise anything they do, from whatever angle that allows me to do so whether it’s relevant or not, unless I’m writing it myself or they cater the series specifically towards my wishes.”

Loafing Oaf

Proof that Baby Yoda has taken over the world: from this week's David Squires cartoon in the Guardian

Skerries

Mandolorian merch available

https://www.zavvi.com/franchises/the-mandalorian.list?utm_source=04122019-zuk-mandalorian-merchandise&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04122019-zuk-mandalorian-merchandise&affil=thgemail&ecrmcid=gbRXa7wDjA0lzv9lapbrW5y26Z8xoNKn&shae=giHDOEqNo%2BIIix9vuVsH16anHzPcaSNqBxY0QUna7ZI%3D&sendTime=1575461700&widget_id=1566007

pixelburp

The decision of when to "broadcast" The Mandolorian seems stunningly obvious in hindsight. Say what you will about them, Disney are canny, devious b*stards.

Varik

pixelburp wrote: »

The decision of when to "broadcast" The Mandolorian seems stunningly obvious in hindsight. Say what you will about them, Disney are canny, devious b*stards.

The way Jon Favreau talked about it, that he didn't' know which it was going to be makes it seem like a later decision.

Just going off the 4 so far, would have preferred if they dropped it in blocks at least. You don't get the same run up length to the movie but still suits the show better.

Agent Coulson

Skerries wrote: »

Mandolorian merch available

https://www.zavvi.com/franchises/the-mandalorian.list?utm_source=04122019-zuk-mandalorian-merchandise&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04122019-zuk-mandalorian-merchandise&affil=thgemail&ecrmcid=gbRXa7wDjA0lzv9lapbrW5y26Z8xoNKn&shae=giHDOEqNo%2BIIix9vuVsH16anHzPcaSNqBxY0QUna7ZI%3D&sendTime=1575461700&widget_id=1566007

€32 for the Baby Yoda Plush is cheaper than I expected to be honest.

Tony EH

If I promise my wife a Christmas baby, do you think she'll be upset if I walk through the door with a plush Yoda.

1800_Ladladlad

Tony EH wrote: »

If I promise my wife a Christmas baby, do you think she'll be upset if I walk through the door with a plush Yoda.

No, say it's for the baby like .........