First, we have the prequels. Defend them if you will, but they're not up to par with the originals. Lucas took a solid, classic science fantasy story, tossed in a shitload of fanboy wank, and forgot that he needed help to make great movies before.
Boba Fett had absolutely no fucking reason to be in the prequels. And his involvement was a total waste. He should never have been there, and giving him an origin robs the character of what mystique he had left.
Darth Maul and General Grievous: What the fuck were they? Sure, they looked cool as hell, and had some good action sequences, but why include them? Neither added anything to the plot. Either could've been replaced by good storytelling. Instead, we get two of the biggest instances of fanboy wank.
Yoda had two fights, simply so he could bounce around like a fucking Happy Fun Ball. Neither fight actually ended, either. Point?
Jar Jar Binks is set up as a major character. And yet, simply because people didn't like him, Lucas wrote him out of AOTC and ROTS. He needed to evolve, he needed to become a true hero or a martyr. As it is, he's nothing more than a ripoff of half the time spent watching TPM.
No, all the prequels did was establish that the Jedi were beaurocratic twits who all can get killed within split seconds, and that the baddest villain in film history was really only an idiot, a patsy, and a crybaby.
There are so many contrivances, it's not funny. Dooku wants Padme dead, so he hires Jango, who in turn hires Zam, who still doesn't have the balls to do the job herself and sends a droid armed with centipedes, all just so we can see a car chase and bar scene? Wasn't there a simpler, less convoluted way to set up the chase?
Worst, though I'd never say as much elsewhere, as they tend to take themselves seriously, the inclusion of the 501st. Nothing at all against the real guys. If you've got the time, money, talent, and inclination to dress up like a Stormtrooper, more power to you. I am both in awe and fear of your dedication.
But because there's a costume club, the most elite Stormtroopers of all get named after them? And then get official action figures and shit? Why weren't there references to other fan groups?
Speaking of which, why is this fucking armada of clones, supposed to be totally faceless, so colorful? In AOTC, we had colors to designate rank, much like the pauldrons in the OT. Where did this shit with every damned Clonetrooper wearing different armor come from? I'll tell you: Marketing. Even before Hasbro started making up their own, Lucasfilm knew that each different Clonetrooper was a potential unique action figure.
And the action figures. Woah boy. I'll get to them in a minute.
The EU was always kinda goofy, but it was doing a good job of keeping itself plausible for a few years, until very recently. Suddenly, the prequels are done, the New Jedi Order is done, and they have no clue what to do.
So we get Legacy, where Leia's son becomes a Sith Lord, and the apprentice of some stupid broad from the Marvel Comics series who never was a Sith Lord and who's been killed about fifty times already. Why? Because they don't have any ideas, so they throw out everything that makes Star Wars, Star Wars.
Face it, the fucking Force is in balance, and there are no more goddamned Sith Lords. You want to argue, you can suck my dick.
That's not even the worst. There's a comic called Legacy where, 100 (?) years after the latest book, a huge group of Sith Lords rules via an Empire, there's a Rebellion, and there's only one Jedi left, and he happens to be named Skywalker. What the fuck? What story about Spider-Man fighting the Ninja Turtles did you tell a friend in third grade that made him tell you that you had some good ideas? Fans like scantilly-clad Twi'leks? And Sith Lords? And Maul's tats? And double-bladed sabers? Dude! How about a scantilly-clad Twi'lek Sith Lady with Maul's tats and a double-bladed saber!! Every fucking thing in that series is pointless rehash and fan wank.
I've not bought a SW comic in months. I've got four SW novels that I haven't read, and I don't have much interest in reading them anytime soon. I don't know how many SW reference books have come out in the last year, and I don't give a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.
Non-book EU? Well, we've got a TV show supposedly in the works, though who the hell knows if it will happen? And we've got Lucasfilm canning Tartakovsky (probably because Clone Wars was so good, it made it more apparent how lacking the prequels were), but stealing his designs. Nice. Fucking thieves.
Videogames have always been a bit iffy, but Force Unleashed is poised to take the cake. I got a magazine in the mail a few days ago, and it starts off an article by saying:
"I am your father." Spoken on a rickety platform in the bowels of Cloud City, these words are among the most surprising and enduring in cinematic history. In fact, the revelation is so prominent and shocking that many viewers have overlooked the significance of what Darth Vader says to Luke almost immediately afterwards: "You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny." Some may say this is an empty promise meant to sway the young Jedi, but there is much more underneath the surface....
It then goes on to say that this line was so open that it was the basis for a game about Vader's first Sith apprentice.
Uh, what the fuck? I didn't miss the significance. It was about the fucking Emperor calling Vader up and talking about Luke being dangerous not thirty minutes earlier in the goddamned movie, you fucktards!
Oh, and Shaak Ti is the first Jedi you hunt down. I swear, that bitch has returned from the dead more times than all the fucking X-Men combined.
But since I brought up Force Unleashed, well, you all know how much this pisses me off. There are characters from the films--some minor background characters that look cool (Yarna, Doallyn), others actual speaking characters with pretty major roles (Cliegg Lars, Jocasta Nu)--that we have literally been begging for since the beginning. But Hasbro, instead of actually listening to what people have to say about their toys, would prefer to repeat the fucking Shadows of the Empire mistake and make a whole fucking line of videogame figures.
Not novel figures, since they have their heads too far up their asses to realize that is (or was) the backbone of the EU, and responsible for the resurgence in SW popularity 15 years ago, but bland, stupid characters from an unreleased videogame. And one that's only on the systems that cost upward of $400, to boot.
And that's when they're not wasting R&D money by popping Jango Fett heads on Stormtrooper bodies.
And never mind that the last two Fan Choice figures were shortpacked. I saw a total of four Ephant Mons. I saw one McQuarrie Stormtrooper. It's the most requested figure, so you're going to waste the money to develop it and then not make it available? What kind of fucked up business logic is that?
And Fan Choice, well, apparently 8% of the voting among 25 characters is a mandate, and we're going to get Darth Cobra Commander from the Who Gives a Flying Fuck videogame this year. Again, instead of something actually necessary, like Beru Whitesun.
On the rare occasions they give us something esoteric that we want, like Snowbunny Padme, it's an exclusive and a pack-in. I didn't need another fucking Artoo and Threepio, especially a Threepio that they went through the trouble of painting snow on but couldn't be troubled to get his fucking body color right.
The Fan Club and Celebration IV? Give me a break. Too transparently scams to even be worth bitching about. ($110 per person to go see vendors booths at an event LFL actually says is basically "make your own fun"? No thanks. Well, actually, since they just announced that the third Stormtrooper from the left in scene 28 is going to be there, selling his autograph....)
Eh, just had to bitch. Like I said, I don't hate SW yet. I'll still get the figures I want. But the whole thing is becoming so fucking commercial and ass-backwards, it's bugging me. Yeah, it was always commercial, but at least there was some recognition that the folks spending the money had some say over what would and wouldn't sell. Now, there's so many fucktards buying everything, worshipping every goddamned thing that every item with SW printed on it, even maxi pads, will sell out.
*--For behavior unbecoming anyone, perpetrated in real time over an extended--AH, FUCK IT! MORE MALIBU, BITCHES!!
You sir, are where I was several years ago. Just about the time I never found my Ephant Mon fan choice figure. I kept at it, steadily declining, and had a small resurgence around Episode III. but for the most part, I'm just bored with it. Every line has been dissected and explored to death. it's just n00bs regurgitating shit they've heard from other fans and the elder statesmen quietly correcting them and Hasbro sitting in a giant conference room looking at sales charts with not one actual fan in the room. And at the center of it all is George and his back patting media/industrial machine pumping out variations of the same dreck, knowing that every Star Wars fan has had children and those nostalgic simpletons are creating an even bigger fanbase feeding his bank account. Douche.
"Say Jim! WHOOOO! That is a bad outFIT! Whooo!"--Pimp, Superman The Movie "You're an idiot, Starscream." --Megatron,Transformers: The Movie
Thanks, dawg. I might clean up the profanity and put it over there eventually.
In the meantime, this takes the cake. In their "Weekend Blowout" sale, I can get the fucking 2006 Saga Yoda for the unbelievable cut-rate price of $9.99! What a bargain! This is a bargain for me!
*--For behavior unbecoming anyone, perpetrated in real time over an extended--AH, FUCK IT! MORE MALIBU, BITCHES!!
Eternal Padawan wrote:it's just n00bs regurgitating shit they've heard from other fans and the elder statesmen quietly correcting them and Hasbro sitting in a giant conference room looking at sales charts with not one actual fan in the room..
I actually got the impression from the sculptors that they are fans, but sorta strung up by the balls by the bigwigs.
BTW, I picked up extra Ephants, knowing how rare he was, and still have one on a mushed card. Do you still give a shit?
*--For behavior unbecoming anyone, perpetrated in real time over an extended--AH, FUCK IT! MORE MALIBU, BITCHES!!
Shit, you're kidding me. I found two at a KB about a year after they hit, and grabbed 'em knowing most people weren't so lucky. Then never got around to getting rid of them. I thought you had him for some reason.
They're definite openers--major bubble damage. One's yours. EP has first shot at the other if he still wants one. Otherwise, the next vynsaniac to ask gets him.
*--For behavior unbecoming anyone, perpetrated in real time over an extended--AH, FUCK IT! MORE MALIBU, BITCHES!!
That was some rant- I'm with EP, I think- sure, being insanely poor was one motivator fo me, but even when I have extra bread I don't go too nuts over anything SW anymore- I actually gave up on the EU about 2/3 of the way into "Heir to the Empire".. the return of the toys and the prequels got me back "in" for a while there, but after actually seeing the prequels, I am back to my pre-EU state, pretty much...
I'll never forget, a buddy pf mine told me there was this BIG new SW book comin down the pike, that it was possibly the script for a new film, even- I had to ride right across town to the underused Library out there to snag a copy and get my SW fix- the first bit of the story was fine, but it just got too silly somehows- even the revered Thrawn character, I thought, was silly as fuck, he was so obviously a SW "serpentor" type character, with plenty of allusions to famous generals and warlords etc (how he "meditated on the art of a culture to understand how to defeat them" that was fucking GHEY).. then the ysalamiri or whatever the fuck they were- THEY were the first REAL problem- a problem that later returned in gargantuan proportions with medicloeriants- I was expecting "force cubes" by the end of the prequels for fucks sake
But I resent the fact that PURE SHIT keeps getting cranked out, both toy-wise and story-wise for the sake of product (Clone Wars excepted, that shit ROCKED in REAL SW style, except for that "dark jedi" chick who sucked fanboy dick, IMMHO ) some of it is very good, VERY good (figures and the odd video game, like BF2, which I enjoyed more than 99% of the prequels JUST for the fuckin story, which is fucking SAD) but most of it is idiotic SHIT...
This phenomenon is where my fixation on Dengar and Deuce came from- the fixation itself is some kind of parody, even tho it's real as can be- it is like SW got SO fucked up that it somehow fucked up the part of me that liked it, or something
WHEW OK that's mine- I want to ask for that Ephant Mon for some nostalgic reason, but I already have him and he is already opened- I guess SOME things never die, eh??
And what's sad, Is when I was collecting, I was collecting HUGE. I have so much Star Wars stuff boxed up in my parents basement, it would fill a small bedroom top to bottom, back to front. So I now have all this "investment" and not a solitary item on display, anywhere. I remember feverishly hunting down vintage ships on eBay and going to the book store, flipping through all the Guides trying to decide which one to get next, and gleaning each new nugget of trivia ( So THAT's who played Captain Needa..) from the pages.
The only thing that still peaks my interest, is the Pablo Hidalgo Q&A in issues of Insider ( which I have long since let my subscription slide) because they give movie answer, EU answer, and then top it off with why that choice was made, in the movie making process. And that fascinates me whenever I actually flip through a copy at the magazine rack.
"Say Jim! WHOOOO! That is a bad outFIT! Whooo!"--Pimp, Superman The Movie "You're an idiot, Starscream." --Megatron,Transformers: The Movie
The prequels were a big turd, which lead me to only collecting OT toys. I read some of the EU novels, but lost interest in them. The only SW comic I have is the one that came with the Boba Fett vs. IG-88 SOTE pack. The TV shows are going to suck, and I won't watch the Droids cartoon, Ewok cartoon, or either of the Ewok movies. By blocking out all of this other crap has saved me from really getting burned out on Star Wars. Plus, I don't collect other toy lines or follow other comics
AOTC was on HBO recently. I wouldn't watch it otherwise because I can't bring myself to put the DVD in. This movie sucks more ever time I watch it. Zam had that sniper rifle. Ok, I can understand her not using it to pick off Padme because she didn't want to get caught. But then why did she have her assassin droid return to her instead of self destruct?
I try not to listen to Lucas' interviews because I think he is full of crap or makes stuff up as he blabs on. So the Stormtroopers are clones now? Fine. You made Jango Fett bump his head in tribute to the Stormtrooper in ANH? Shut the hell up. You always meant for Luke and Leia to be brother and sister? Bull.
While I never saw Ephant Mon at retail, my wife happened to be at a TRU or something one day just before Christmas and found 2. She bought both.
anarky wrote:Shit, you're kidding me. I found two at a KB about a year after they hit, and grabbed 'em knowing most people weren't so lucky. Then never got around to getting rid of them. I thought you had him for some reason.
They're definite openers--major bubble damage. One's yours. EP has first shot at the other if he still wants one. Otherwise, the next vynsaniac to ask gets him.
Sweet, I have a MOC one, but I always wanted an opener, now I got one. Thanks boss man.
As far as waning interest, I'm not as far gone as you guys are, but obviously without any new movies coming out it's not as fun as it used to be. And since they keep everything so fucking close to themselves, it's hard to get excited about much. I'm awaiting the TV shows but they never say a damn thing about them - no concept art, no casting news, no pics at all. I'm also worried that they'll be like the Droids and Ewoks shows (which were fuckin' shit) instead of Clone Wars.
They are doing all this pre-production stuff for Force Unleashed, but I won't be getting that anyway since I didn't plunk down $600 (or whatever the fuck it is to get a PS3) so I don't care much about it. It seems kind of like a cool game, but since it's really off-limits for now, I'm not that interested in it.
Every once in a while, Hasbro gives everyone what we actually want (SA Mace, SA SBD, deleted scene Biggs, curved cantina bar, Hermi Odle, to name a few upcoming ones) but mostly it's just repacked shit we all have sixteen times over. But wait! Buying the old shit is the ONLY way to get new figures that you actually want. It's getting old. But, it's not like that's the entire line, and just because they haven't given us Cliegg and Jocasta Nu and Yarna doesn't mean the other figures aren't good.
On EU figs and merchandise . . . some EU stuff is really great (a lot of prequel-era stuff, like the Dark Lord book and the Clone Wars comics) and I'll gladly buy figures from it. They're doing a lot of it, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as everyone's saying - one wave based on the game, McQuarrie figures (which I love), and comic packs (which come with the source material so I'm cool with it).
And I still like the prequels anyway so that's not an issue for me. I've written enough on that so I won't here.
As someone said, this would be a good topic at the other site.
Where the fuck were you people when I suggested the poll about declining SW interest?
Ashats.
Anyway, I am 99% in the same boat here. Star Wars is just totally fucking boring now. Most of the time I wonder why I still buy The Insider (I guess it's because its good bathroom reading) or check SW news sites even listen to TFN's podcast.
I like the PT, I really do, but there is now way I will ever hold them in the class as the OT. Not even close. I see the crap that is in there, but I still think they are fun movies.
I have a very hard time connecting any character in the PT to their OT counterparts. As good as he was, I don't see Ewan McGregor as the same Obi-Wan that I see in A New Hope. The Anakin Skywalker of the PT is not the Darth Vader of the OT. Artoo and Threepio (ROTS) are the only ones that come close, but that is only because they look (almost) exactly the same.
The EU is totally fucking retarded - except for Shadows of the Empire (:mabs:), the Tales books were fun and Dark Lord was fairly entertaining. I didn't finish Heir to the Empire a decade ago and have no plans to ever finish it. And killing Chewie a few years ago officially killed it for me.
Clone Wars was extremely overrated. Fun, yes, but nothing amazing. Season 1 was fun because it was new. Season 2 was lame.
"As they say in China, 'Arrivederci'!"
*For the creation of the Golden Deuce Award.
i guess i'm a bit in the middle on everything... when episode 1 came out, i was already buying the PotJ figures, so at "midnight madness" i went out and bought up a bunch of figures. when the movie came out, i enjoyed it.
i was psyched for episode 2, but only bought a handful of figures. i enjoyed the movie, but wasn't inspired to buy any merch.
i was psyched for episode 3, but didn't buy a single figure - i tried to buy a bunch that were shelved three weeks early to sell on eBay, but they denied my purchase at the counter. that would've been a sweet haul, but whatever. AND, i enjoyed the movie.
i read some of the EU before the prequels came out. i thought the "heir to the empire" trilogy was cool, but thought the "jedi academy" trilogy was better. read a couple of others that were really sub-par, didn't like SotE. other than the "jedi academy" trilogy, i think the best EU were the rogue squadron games.
i guess what i'm trying to say is: i haven't been going out of my mind trying to find every last figure for a long time now... i haven't taken the time out of my life to read every crap EU book just to feel cheated for wasting the time and money on it...
and i still enjoy the movies.
i watched all three prequels two weeks ago back-to-back while i was working from home. i'll probably do all three of the originals this week. i can't wait to watch them with my daughter (doing my best to make sure she's a geek goddess...)
i know the prequels have their flaws, but they're fun flicks to watch. could it be that the relentless pursuit of all the OTHER crap has turned your hatred of the entire franchise onto the movies themselves? crappy books, re-painted figures, expensive videogame systems... none of these are reasons to hate three movies that entertained you for decades... or the other three that, while flawed, are much better than a lot of the other crap out there.
) some of it is very good, VERY good (figures and the odd video game, like BF2, which I enjoyed more than 99% of the prequels JUST for the fuckin story, which is fucking SAD) but most of it is idiotic SHIT... 
