Did anyone watch it?

I found it entertaining.

The first episode dealt with Yoda and some clonetroopers trying to meet up with the King of Wattos and get him to join the Republic, while Dooku and that bald-head dual-lightsabers wielding chick try to prevent it. I enjoyed this one.

The second episode featured Dooku and Gen. Grevious using their "secret weapon" (an *gasp* ION CANNON ) on a fleet led by Master Plo Kloon. Will Anakin and his "feisty" young Padawan be able to save him in time??? This one was okay, but there was one really, really stupid part. Anakin rescues Kloon and they fire their secret weapon at their ship. It's a really slow moving pulse and they try to fly their ship away from it. So do they try to turn out if the path of the shot? NO! They in the same direction the shot is traveling while they try to jump to light speed, and the pulse from the weapon slowly gains on them. The whole time my son was yelling "Turn! TURN! JUST TURN OUT OF THE WAY!!!!"

I haven't seen the Clone Wars movie yet, but if it was anything like the show, I can imagine at least not hating it.

I'm not going to be watching it. I prefer not to be one of THOSE fans, if I can at all help it.

Awww, come on. Just try it once.

No thx, I'm still in therapy from the prequels.

SW angst relived: Now on a Weekly basis!

I know, right? Every Friday I'd be doing this

Plus, I've read a review of the TV show, and seeing Jedi Girl say "right beside ya, Sky Guy" would probably cause me to rend my garment.

and there was much gnashing of teeth and lo the garments were rended from their bodies and in the background the Benny Hill music doth played...

:tfalugh

It's not like the original trilogy was freakin' Shakespeare.

I'm telling you, it's not that bad. Although it sure seems like the non-Anakin/irritating Padawan-centric ones will be better.

*is a hardcore original trilogy fan*

Madhammer, you've got to let go of your anger. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to fear, fear leads to...

Wait, hate leads to fear, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate...

How does it go again?

I'm not expecting filet mignon here. I'm just expecting my cheeseburger not to taste like horse meat.

I wound up giving into the darkside and watching the new episodes.

I felt they were passable. I also felt you didn't quite need the CW movie pilot to understand the opening episodes, with the exception that it explains where the semi-pain in the a$$ new padawan comes from. I won't get bent out of shape if I miss any episodes or anything, but I won't necessarily go out or my way to avoid it like I do all reality shows and the lifetime channel. I could laundry list my personal issues with the movie pilot and the series but I'm just dead tired of giving any real lip service to Mr. Lucas anymore.

I'll be watching them later today...and I'm on record as having liked the movie, even though I think it should a been a TV movie.

And I'd really like to see these in HD. I wonder when TNT is gonna start airing them.

I thought about watching this since I had gone to TRU and noticed the counter was at zero, but then I forgot.

Will watch it, I consider TV/Movies more cannon than those comic books.

I watched it, and the first episode was the better of the two.

They could have Yoda bouncing around and slicing droids all damn show long and I would be happy. Anakin/Annoying Padawan are both mega so I don't care about them, but I'll probably enjoy the rest of the episodes.

And massive to Pete's ongoing SW angst. It's almost like Lucas reopens and then pours salt in Pete's wound every week.

Maybe that's why I can't bring myself to hate MechaLucas.

Okay, screw the Slave Leia metal bikini, I'm want to get this costume for my wife. Or my girlfriend. Or maybe CHL's mom.

EDIT: Even better, this one.

We saw this one in the costume store yesterday. I just had to say "Come on! Really?" out loud.

http://www.costumediscounters.com/cd/prod/...i/1/product.web

Sexy Ghostbuster!

Would certainly cross streams with her, coat her with ectoplasm and fill New York with white stuffs.

Yeah, I find that Amidala costume way hotter than the metal bikini myself.



...and FROG!






Is he ejaculating or taking a shit?

Perhaps he's spilling his bowels upon the ground.

Both?

Chocolate cream pie?

SEPAKU'D

CHILI DOG'D

So, I was watching the newest episode "Rookies" Friday. It was weird because there was a disclaimer "Warning: the following contains mature content that may be inappropriate for younger viewers." HOWEVER, the disclaimer was shown right before the last segment of last week's episode (they re-run the previous episode before airing the newest one.) Also, I recorded it during the second airing on CN, which was about 11:30pm, so I figured it was just an "Adult Swim" disclaimer or something.

However, I think the disclaimer was for the episode because it featured quite a few "mature" moments.

1) An injured clone trooper was gunned down by three battle droids. The trooper was off-screen (laying on the ground).
2) A clone trooper was eaten by an "giant eel." (think sandworm.)
3) Right after this, another clone trooper blurted "What the hell was that?"
4) During one scene, a clone trooper detailed his plan to stay behind and fight battle droids alone, and another replied "Like hell you are!"
5) A clone trooper stayed behind and detonated a makeshift bomb, committing suicide. This is shown onscreen.

Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it did carry a disclaimer, which was aired during the last part of another episode (which did not have any mature content. Clone Wars also airs at 9:30 Eastern, 8:30 Central, which is late enough I guess. It also carries a TV-PG rating (reportedly only the second CN series to carry this rating). But what kind of audience is Clone Wars aiming for? Judging from online reviews of the movie (which I have not seen) it seems to be aiming for young children and, indeed, 6 million people watched the series premiere, the most-watched series premier on CN, and also making CN the most watched "children's network" in that time slot.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I'm all for mature story-telling in the Star Wars universe (lord knows it needs it.) I'm just wondering what audience Clone Wars is going for with a semi-serious "mature" story about foot sloggers one episode and an irritating semi-hip Padawan (who calls her Master "Sky-guy") the next. With battle droids played up for comedic effect one episode, and blasting a wounded soldier to bits the next.

Try watching the prequels sometime. From "Meesa go poodo" to "OMG MY FLESH IS BURNING".

Well, I think the prequels graduated in maturity from Episode I -> III, but yeah, silly bumbling kid appeal character gets his head stuck in energy binders and OH, HAY that guy just got bisected!

But still, feature film =/= tv show aimed at...uhhh...who again?

EDIT: I'm also remember the second episode "Rising Malevolence," which featured droid "hunters" who searched the wreckage from a destroyed Republic fleet for survivors. They came upon an escape pod, cracked the pod open which suffocated the survivors inside, and then continued the search. All the while the battle droids are played for comedic effect, they might as well be singing "dum de dum." OMG, battle droids are TEH FUNNI3 while they go around killing people.

Clearly the Clone Wars TV show is aimed at kids... but I was never sure who the target demographic was for the prequels. One could assume that the first poop joke pegged TPM as a kiddie movie, but



Oh and let's not examine the troubling bioethics subtext of all this clone warfare too closely...

And again, don't get me wrong. I would love to see some more mature story elements in Star Wars. But if they're going to go that route, let's not have Ahsoka running around with "Sky Guy" and "Artooey" to rescue "Stinky."

There's ways to go about making a show that appeals to kids and adults, but I don't think Clone Wars is going about it right. I'm sure its all George Lucas' fault.

EDIT: and now I'm reading the episode synopsis for an upcoming episode, Bombad Jedi.



I really want to like this show but...just...damn.
"Yousa don't needin' to be seein' mysa identificationny."

I don't think Star Wars and mature really go hand-in-hand... all I've ever wanted from Star Wars is for it to appeal to that adolescent demographic the originals were targeted to. And I'd like some more Joseph Campbell inspiration as well, thanks.

(side note: one reason that "Clone Wars" aka the Genndy Tartakovsky toon was so much more Star Wars-y than "The Clone Wars" is that they understood the Campbell thing. You can't write Star Wars without first reading The Hero With A Thousand Faces JMO.)

*has not seen any of the new Clone Wars shows or movie*

I think Lucas has the IST brand of "mature story telling" implanted in his head.
So if you want something to appeal to adults just melt someones head and chop of a hand

But I don't think he understands subtly and nuance. I think he actually believes that the prequels and the clone wars show has adult appeal. Something about that jarjar-theskyguy approach appeals to him on a gut level and he doesn't see that it absolutely doesnt appeal to other full grown adults. and so long as it does appeal to enough kids and emotionally stunted fanboys to turn a profit - i guess he's justified.

His son was three years old when they were making TPM... I can't believe that that didn't influence him (especially since the word "Gungan" first came from his kid's mouth). Not that I blame Lucas for this; it's his own limitations as a writer and director more than his demographic focus that hampered the prequels.

And speaking of chopping off hands, what makes Luke's hand-chopping in ESB powerful is that it's symbolic of the utter PWNing he received, not just physically but emotionally and mentally. Simply mirroring the event in AotC isn't going to provide the same dramatic resonance. But that said, I think the most effective moments of RotS were the Vader-y parts for this very reason.

*agrees with LMH's spoilered stuff*

Also the part where Vader kills the...younglings *bites finger.*

that coulda been cool if they'd decided on Anakin's motivation (see here http://www.secrethistoryofstarwars.com/index.html for more on that), but as the final film was split between explaining Anakin's fall as a result of his fear of loss vs. his mistrust of the Jedi, the kids-killin' part came off as more than a little WTF. (If the Jedi are really dangerous liars, then it's understandable that a Sith-influenced Anakin would get rid of all traces of their ideology. If on the other hand he's more concerned about his pregnant wife -- you know, pregnant with a CHILD -- then Anakin killing children to achieve that end = )

And that is why I finally stopped watching half way through the 3rd episode. The battle droids are just way to kid-centric for me. They quip at one another, they make snide remarks and in general either kill with a gleeful tone or act like it's a chore and should not be bothered half the time. I want my combat/battle droids to say not a damn thing except to acknowledge orders and kill with the best of them, even if they are as bad a shot as the monochromes. That coupled with a insanely see through story(Amidala shows up, get's captured, the local Jedi go on a robot killing spree, rescue Amidala and the big baddy escapes while shaking fists "You haven't seen the last of me!!" *yawn*[I'm guessing, I turned it off when she showed up and they noticed her]). Maybe I'm just too old anymore to enjoy the Saturday morning matinee feel the Lucas seems to think he is providing, or either that I'm just tired of watching 30 minute adds for his toys.

Yes I watched the escape pod popping scenes and was fairly amused, but I refer back to the previous paragraph about the droid behavior. As for Greivous...consternation comes to mind. Does this cyborg really believe he's that good? I dunno about you, but if a bumbling commander all but lost(or did lose) me a prized warship, I'd have him scraping paint on back water snub fighters on the outer rim post haste. But yeah, I understand the plots and the machinations of the whole thing, it just makes my head hurt watching it, hence why I stopped.



Color me jaded, but I think I'm done with SW on a whole, with the exception of the untouched original three films.

Well, I took it as a natural progression from Palpatine saying "We can save Padme, but now with the Jedi in the way." "Oh, by the way, the Jedi are liars and don't want you to have this power." "And look!! See? They want to arrest me!" "As long as the jedi are around it will always be like this!"

I always love SW angst, especially when people's biggest desire is to shroud themselves in the "untouched" originals as though nothing else ever happened...

Anyway, the TV show is pretty good, IMO. It seems to work best when it focuses on the clone troopers or the other supporting characters like Plo Koon. And it looks great in my brand-new Cartoon Network HD...

That's the thing, though -- you have to make that connection yourself. Again, because Lucas' original idea was to have Anakin turn because of the Jedi, but then he changed it to be more about Padme halfway through production. Not that either idea is inherently flawed, but the film never really satisfactorily explains why Anakin turned (and everything he did as a result). Which, considering the subject matter of the film, is a pretty big thing to drop the ball on.

But I do find the third act to be pretty strong overall.

Heh (although I wouldn't call it "angst"), anymore, I just like the first one and almost think none of the sequels/prequels should have happened.


But strangely enough, I luvs the Matrix sequels.

There is something special about the first movie. Lucas really did used to be very good at the visual storytelling. (Thinking specifically of the desert scenes with the droids.)

A turd is a turd is a turd, no matter how well you polish it. You like it, fine by me, however, I think it's tripe. Also, I never said or implied(or would even "Desire") that anything outside the first trilogy ever happened(putting words on me I never said),I have read quite a few of the books and enjoyed them. I take those 3 films as a snapshot of the "Lucas-verse" and leave it at that. Thanks for playing!

When I watch these movies (which admittedly I haven't done in a long time), I see a rough draft of what could be a really interesting film trilogy. And that's where my own angst comes from. There are definitely some cool moments and some effective sequences in the movies, but they're surrounded by a swamp of underdeveloped / ill-advised ideas. Not to mention the lack of any artistry in the cinematography or the acting or the direction (aside from the action-y bits).


Not that ANH had a lot of that either. It makes you realize that Mark Hamill's overacting was exactly what the franchise needed. (Ian McDiarmid is my favorite prequel actor for this reason -- I think he was the only one who got that these were supposed to be pulp / camp films.)

My biggest problem with the prequels wasn't the story necessarily. I even see the need for the all the ghey "Anakin & Padme rolling in flowers" BS in AOTC if you look at the overarching 6-episode story.

My biggest problems were a) the acting, and b) the over-dependence on CGIFX. He had some pretty decent actors at his disposal (Ewan MacGregor is AWSUM, and even Hayden Christansen can act a little) , but I guess it had WAY more to do with Lucas' directing than anything else. When "Faster and more intense" is the only direction you get, I guess you just stop giving a crap because they can always CGI a muppet in your place. Which brings me to my second disappointment: the over-reliance of CGI as a storytelling device. We didn't NEED to have a 20 minute podrace scene in TPM to prove Anakin was a good pilot, the end battle would have sufficed better at this. But Lucas had to wave his big old ILM wang around as usual...bleh.

I liked this week's episode of Clone Wars though. It really had nothing to do with the main characters, and that suits me just fine. If they just wanted it to be "random never-before-seen Jedi and clones fighting for 30 minutes a week", I'd be fine with that.

The funny thing about the useless-to-the-story podrace is that it was one of the more compelling parts of the film. Lucas is good at that stuff.

So I guess it worked out well that in ANH, he had the pod race happen at the end of the movie, and it REALLY REALLY mattered who won.

I got the recent "Making of Star Wars" book as a gift - I think one of the main reasons SW works so well is that Lucas spent so many years refining the premise with a number of collaborators traditionally held to be perhaps better filmmakers than Lucas (e.g. folks like FF Coppola). It's also interesting to note that Lucas used a number of the dopey ideas originally nixed from the SW screenplay in the prequel trilogy.

The original drafts of ANH read a LOOOOOT like the prequels.

See? Angst.