Star Wars Star Wars - General Discussion / Legends / Comics

[JackOutback]

The most watched film on Disney Plus on May the Fourth was reportedly...... THE LAST JEDI!

 

[glenferry23]

I really thought it'd lean into the Palpatine cloning plot a lot more than it did.

This is my issue with where SW is these days. Everyone seems scared of stepping on someone else's toes creatively so they leave stories 'for another show' to tell, but then no one tells them and now it's been 6 years and no one actually cares anymore.

Since the somehow Palpatine returned debacle, I do get the similar sense. Some of the shows have then placed nods or hints that relate to the cloning subplot, more so to try and
seem like it was a thing all along. I compartmentalise the sequels as much as possible.

The Bad Batch first season I thought was fantastic. Hasn’t hit the same heights since for me.

 

[JackOutback]

According to Pablo Hidalgo at Lucasfilm, one of George Lucas's favourite works of Star Wars from Disney is.... Kenobi.

 

[SM]

According to Pablo Hidalgo at Lucasfilm, one of George Lucas's favourite works of Star Wars from Disney is.... Kenobi.

Yeah I liked Kenobi. Didn't quite understand the hate.

 

[JackOutback]

Yeah I liked Kenobi. Didn't quite understand the hate.

I didn't hate it but I didn't love it, it's just kinda there, a bit of fun Star Wars content. I found it a little cheap looking at times, the plot was a little creaky, the fight scenes were generally great. But it leans into the prequels so Lucas probably has more of an affinity with it than, say, Andor, which is also more adult and Lucas tends to think of Star Wars as primarily for kids first.

 

[Coolangatta]

Yeah I liked Kenobi. Didn't quite understand the hate.

Yeah, so did I, I would rate it above Ahsoka, Mando S3, and Boba Fett.

The only thing I didn't like was Reva's arc.

 

[Ry009]

Kenobi was enjoyable.

I liked BB and final season enjoyed the most, the slower paced episodes were really good IMO. They just left too much on the table and teased a whole lot for nothing substantial to come to fruition.

Dunno if Filoni is spread too thin but a lot of recent stuff has been a let down. Ashoka was a huge disappointment.

Bit like current phase of Marvel, majority of stuff has felt really phoned in.

Andor really is an outlier in what Disney overall has produced in the last few years.

 

[Jatz]

Almost done with Tales of the Empire.

I like the bite sized episodes. I'm really not sure it adds all that much overall though.

 

[Kellythatsit]

Almost done with Tales of the Empire.

I like the bite sized episodes. I'm really not sure it adds all that much overall though.

It’s fine for what it is. Loved Tales of The Jedi, especially the Dooku arc and the final Ahsoka short. Empire also had some great moments but I am hoping they will move beyond the prequel/pre-rebellion era.

I’m hoping the next season will be Tales of the Rebellion, then Tales of the New Republic.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Tales of the Empire were awesome.

 

[SM]

Tales of the Empire were awesome.

The second half was.

 

[Jatz]

I didn't think it reached any great heights. Which is fine, I'm not sure that was the intention anyway.

 

[skam85]

It’s fine for what it is. Loved Tales of The Jedi, especially the Dooku arc and the final Ahsoka short. Empire also had some great moments but I am hoping they will move beyond the prequel/pre-rebellion era.

I’m hoping the next season will be Tales of the Rebellion, then Tales of the New Republic.

This might be a hot take but the Dooku arc, with the Yaddle stuff is some of my favourite Star Wars, ever.

 

[Kellythatsit]

This might be a hot take but the Dooku arc, with the Yaddle stuff is some of my favourite Star Wars, ever.

That’s been my favourite story so far in the series. Thanks to this and Cavan Scott’s audiobook, Dooku has gone from a character I had zero interest in to now being one of the most compelling.

 

[Kellythatsit]

According to Pablo Hidalgo at Lucasfilm, one of George Lucas's favourite works of Star Wars from Disney is.... Kenobi.

It makes sense. Visual effects aside, Kenobi has a lot of the same successes and flaws as the prequel trilogy.

I loved it personally. The prequels trained me to mentally squint through some Star Wars storytelling to get the full experience.

 

[edgie]

I didn't hate it but I didn't love it, it's just kinda there, a bit of fun Star Wars content. I found it a little cheap looking at times, the plot was a little creaky, the fight scenes were generally great. But it leans into the prequels so Lucas probably has more of an affinity with it than, say, Andor, which is also more adult and Lucas tends to think of Star Wars as primarily for kids first.

I would wonder if he noticed or appreciated the references to THX 1138 in Andor...

 

[Freshwater]

The more Star Wars television that comes out, the more appreciation grows, if it hadn’t already, for George Lucas. I read a very good biography on him over summer and the guy not only had an amazing vision, he was able to see it through. How he got the talent around him (from music, sounds, cinematography, special effects, models, actors etc) in so many key areas was also an incredible feat.
We are in a time of talentlessness, merit is trumped by identity politics and its whole philosophy is toxic.
How he understood the heroes journey and the world religions spirituality. His ‘force’ was deep Methodist/Budhist going back to their roots that modern pigmy minds can’t comprehend. Goodness, truth, beauty, purity, sacrifice, asceticism, peace, stillness lead to know the force. Not based on passion, desire, will, lust, envy, revenge, magic, ego, deviancy etc.
Tolkien and CS Lewis knew this too, and it is through their wonderful, enduring fantasies as well. This is a dark time for visual media compared with 20 years ago when we had the Prequels, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Narnia among others. Whilst the ‘elites’ with their toxic ‘identity politics’ have the keys to Hollywood we’ll have to bunker down during these dark times until the transcendent rises again.

 

[Kellythatsit]

The more Star Wars television that comes out, the more appreciation grows, if it hadn’t already, for George Lucas. I read a very good biography on him over summer and the guy not only had an amazing vision, he was able to see it through. How he got the talent around him (from music, sounds, cinematography, special effects, models, actors etc) in so many key areas was also an incredible feat.
We are in a time of talentlessness, merit is trumped by identity politics and its whole philosophy is toxic.
How he understood the heroes journey and the world religions spirituality. His ‘force’ was deep Methodist/Budhist going back to their roots that modern pigmy minds can’t comprehend. Goodness, truth, beauty, purity, sacrifice, asceticism, peace, stillness lead to know the force. Not based on passion, desire, will, lust, envy, revenge, magic, ego, deviancy etc.
Tolkien and CS Lewis knew this too, and it is through their wonderful, enduring fantasies as well. This is a dark time for visual media compared with 20 years ago when we had the Prequels, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Narnia among others. Whilst the ‘elites’ with their toxic ‘identity politics’ have the keys to Hollywood we’ll have to bunker down during these dark times until the transcendent rises again.

There’s a few books out there about Lucas. Was that the recent bio by Brian Jay Jones?

Skywalking is really good too but I think the best is The Secret History of Star Wars by Mike Kaminsky.

The man is an absolute legend and completely revolutionised the film industry.

Disagree about the current toxicity being studio driven though. From my perspective it’s come entirely from anti-fans provoking disenfranchised genuine fans.

 

[Freshwater]

There’s a few books out there about Lucas. Was that the recent bio by Brian Jay Jones?

Skywalking is really good too but I think the best is The Secret History of Star Wars by Mike Kaminsky.

The man is an absolute legend and completely revolutionised the film industry.

Disagree about the current toxicity being studio driven though. From my perspective it’s come entirely from anti-fans provoking disenfranchised genuine fans.

Yes, the Brian J Jones. I have lent it out so wouldn’t have remembered who until you mentioned the name. I’ll have a look for some of those others. I already had an idea of Star Wars history, but a book helps with many other facets of how it got put together. The ILM series on Disney about all those ILM legends was better than the actual Star Wars tv shows. And there were so many of those ILM legends. His understanding of the ‘heroes journey’ was profound. Alec Guinness, Harrison Ford, Peter Cushing were perfect casting etc etc. you could go on so many talents all came together. We’ve all been chasing that ‘lightening in a bottle’ they miraculously managed to do twice, for the next 50 years. With the occasional surprise to get close. Second half of Revenge of the Sith, stealing the Tie Fighter in The Force awakens, final scene in Rouge1, last episode of season 2 of the Mandolorian.
The saddest part was Marcia Lucas and their relationship breakdown. She seemed to get the audience more than George and helped both Star Wars IV and Empire Strikes Back much. Her not being with George maybe was a big part in Star Wars not always getting their fans?

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

 

[Exe Gesis]

With all the time that's passed since Disney's ownership, all the multimedia theyve pumped out. I'm keen to read more of the Disney-era books and graphic novels.

Seeking your recommendations.

Give me a too 10 list so I can seek them out.

 

[SM]

With all the time that's passed since Disney's ownership, all the multimedia theyve pumped out. I'm keen to read more of the Disney-era books and graphic novels.

Seeking your recommendations.

Give me a too 10 list so I can seek them out.

Not many must read books. The thrawn trilogy looking at his life with the chiss was great. Master and apprentice which is qui gon and obi wan was fun. The new Jedi council book is meant to be good but I haven't read it. High Republic is more miss than hit and is too convoluted to just pick one up at random.

The irony that they swept away the EU to produce more consistent quality is not lost on me.

 

[Kellythatsit]

With all the time that's passed since Disney's ownership, all the multimedia theyve pumped out. I'm keen to read more of the Disney-era books and graphic novels.

Seeking your recommendations.

Give me a too 10 list so I can seek them out.

I’m actually not a big fan of the Star Wars novels. Prefer the making of kind of stuff. A few that I’ve read over the past 10 years that were noteworthy are Lost Stars, Bloodline, Master and Apprentice, and Shadow of the Sith. The first of the High Republic books was good but started to lose me with the second. Haven’t bothered with the third.

Really enjoyed Dooku Jedi Lost audio drama. For me it took Dooku from a fairly mundane, by the numbers character, and gave him some real depth. That’s probably the only story I’ve listened to more than once.

With the comics I’d recommend Soule’s Darth Vader series. Especially from volume 2 on.

For me the new canon is about as hit and miss as legends was.

For non-fiction definitely read Rinzlers Making of collection. Really in-depth info into the production of each of the original films. It’s fantastic stuff. Dale Pollock’s Skywalking and Brian J Jones George Lucas:A Life are also excellent bios on Lucas himself.

Probably the best though is Michael Kaminsky’s Secret History of Star Wars. This goes in depth into the development of the original 6 films focusing on the evolution of the story Lucas started to tell with Star Wars and how that changed drastically with each of his films. It’s really fascinating.

 

[JackOutback]

Not many must read books. The thrawn trilogy looking at his life with the chiss was great. Master and apprentice which is qui gon and obi wan was fun. The new Jedi council book is meant to be good but I haven't read it. High Republic is more miss than hit and is too convoluted to just pick one up at random.

The irony that they swept away the EU to produce more consistent quality is not lost on me.

The EU had some wonderful highs but some terrible lows. It was very inconsistent and I think nostalgia plays a big part in people some thinking it was any more than that. The current canon has been equally inconsistent but it also hasn't been around long enough to make a fair judgement call.

They also came from very different places. The EU began with Star Wars almost a non-existent property at that point and the Thrawn trilogy was a brilliant piece of work that kicked off the whole thing. It created an anticipation that allowed it to overcome the misses. The Disney canon began when Star Wars was a globally popular franchise again, so expectations were high to begin with and it's first major trilogy, Aftermath, ended up disappointing. It's had some good books but it's probably still waiting that one brilliant novel or series that people rave about.

I agree that both Thrawn trilogies in the new canon are very readable. Bloodline was probably the best thing produced thus far, imo. I quite liked Shadows of the Sith for fleshing out the sequel trilogy in a positive way. I've found both the Dooku and Dr Aphra audio scripts far better than I expected. There's some readable stuff in the rest, Alphabet Squadron has its moments, the High Republic has some decent books but is kinda buried under its interconnectedness and ongoing story. Reckon I need to reread a few, like Last Shot or Resistance Reborn, vaguely recall liking the latter, not so much the former, but can't remember much about either.

 

[SM]

The EU had some wonderful highs but some terrible lows. It was very inconsistent and I think nostalgia plays a big part in people some thinking it was any more than that. The current canon has been equally inconsistent but it also hasn't been around long enough to make a fair judgement call.

They also came from very different places. The EU began with Star Wars almost a non-existent property at that point and the Thrawn trilogy was a brilliant piece of work that kicked off the whole thing. It created an anticipation that allowed it to overcome the misses. The Disney canon began when Star Wars was a globally popular franchise again, so expectations were high to begin with and it's first major trilogy, Aftermath, ended up disappointing. It's had some good books but it's probably still waiting that one brilliant novel or series that people rave about.

I agree that both Thrawn trilogies in the new canon are very readable. Bloodline was probably the best thing produced thus far, imo. I quite liked Shadows of the Sith for fleshing out the sequel trilogy in a positive way. I've found both the Dooku and Dr Aphra audio scripts far better than I expected. There's some readable stuff in the rest, Alphabet Squadron has its moments, the High Republic has some decent books but is kinda buried under its interconnectedness and ongoing story. Reckon I need to reread a few, like Last Shot or Resistance Reborn, vaguely recall liking the latter, not so much the former, but can't remember much about either.

Sorry I'm not denying that the EU was very inconsistent, I'm highlighting the fact that the NuCanon was meant to be far more consistent but it's just as choppy.

Compare some masterpieces like Traitor and Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover, or Darth Plagueis by Luceno and there's just simply nothing on that level in the new canon.

I think the key issue with the NuCanon is that the books are predominantly tie ins. Think of the Jedi: Survivor and Princess and the Scoundrel which are tie ins for a video game and a hotel, Black Spire tying into the theme park, New Dawn tying into Rebels. A lot of books have been one-shots focussing on a character (Phasma, Tarkin, Thrawn, Inquisitor, Mace Windu, etc.). The common issue between the two being they come off as a directive to an author "Write a story about this place/person/thing" rather than "Hey [Author X] we like your work, what do you want to write about in the SW Universe? Does it fit into our vision and tell a compelling story?"

Add to that the fact that all major characters and events are perpetually off the table in case a TV show or director wants to cover something they did in a particular time period, you just get a revolving door of new casts meaning you never actually connect with them and therefore have no investment in their story. It's actually why having a cohesive canon has its set backs because Disney are terrified of having anything meaningful happen 'off screen' as 90% of the audience won't read it. At least with the EU they could do basically whatever they wanted and then bend over backwards to fit into something presented on screen, rather than being too scared to try.