Tag: Star Wars

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I Have Spoken

I’m gonna say it:

After one episode, The Mandalorian is my favorite Star Wars since the original film.

It’s everything I’ve wanted from Star Wars since I was 10 and 11: it’s a Star Wars TV series AND it’s got a guy who looks like the guy that I liked from the cartoon in The Star Wars Holiday Special.

Seriously, I’ve wanted a TV version of Star Wars since I saw the original movie.  I even imagined episode descriptions as listed in TV Guide, like “Artoo gets captured by the Jawas again.”

And Boba Fett has been my second favorite character since I first saw him in that animated short in 1978.

I’ve gotten lots of shit from people over the years because Fett was a ‘do nothing’ character, much like Captain Phasma in the newer films.  But like Phasma, Boba Fett was a much better character in other media, like comics and novels, and my own imagination.

My gaming group actually met Boba Fett during one scenario, where my bounty hunter character called in a favor from him.

It was the look, and the mystery of Fett and his Mandalorian armor, that made him one of my favorites.

And even back then, and through the years, I never let other people’s opinion’s about him change my fandom.

If there’s one thing I actually hate about the prequels, it’s the way they changed the back story of Boba Fett, making him the son a guy who was the original clone of the Clone Wars.  No more Jaster Mereel, no more Mandalorian background except for the armor.

Which brings us to now, where this new Mandalorian character is everything Boba Fett SHOULD had been, but wasn’t, but it doesn’t matter now because he’s just as much of a badass as I imagined Fett to be in the first place.

Thanks again to Jon Favreau, for breathing life into the side of the Star Wars universe that always appealed to me: bounty hunters and the scum and villainy of the underworld in a galaxy far, far away.

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Soon

With the impending premiere of The Mandalorian, I’ll be able to pick my favorite Star Wars characters from film, animation, comics, and now live action TV.

Currently my top threes:

Film: Han Solo, Boba Fett, Jyn Erso

Animation: Kanan Jarrus, Captain Rex, Ahsoka Tano

Comics: Jaxxon, Doctor Aphra, Beilert Valance

Projected for TV: Mandalorian, IG-11, Cara Dume

To be fair, those are the ones who I have as action figures.

And I find it amusing that there is a bounty hunter in 3 of the 4 lists.  There could have been, but I really didn’t like Cad Bane.

Valance actually pre-dated Boba Fett by a couple of months in 1978.

This was the only ongoing Star Wars material back in the day.  I picked it up from the corner store.  And it was probably the beginning of my obsession with bounty hunters in Star Wars.

And Jaxxon’s on the cover of this issue, too!

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An Elegant Weapon

If there was another moment that blew my mind when I was first saw Star Wars when I was 10 years old, it was this scene:

Actually, it challenged my brain more than blew my mind.

HOW WAS SUCH A WEAPON POSSIBLE?!?!

I didn’t recall seeing a laser sword of any kind up to that point in my limited viewing of science fiction material.

That’s probably when I realized just how advanced things were in a galaxy far, far away.

Well, and droids.  And spaceships.

But a lightsaber?

Probably one of the reasons I identified with Han instead of Luke.

Ranged combat vs. Melee combat.

Which carries over to this day, preferring a blaster to a scrapper in City of Heroes, for example.

I’m continually, subconsciously influenced by a movie from 1977.

Though nowadays I do prefer to play a paladin-type.  Not quite a Jedi, but close.

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Growth

As much as I pan the Prequel Trilogy, the one thing that was good (for me) was Obi-Wan Kenobi, and by extension, Qui-Gon Jinn.  Those two were my favorite characters from those movies, period.  I’m looking forward to the Ewan McGregor ‘Kenobi’ series on Disney+.

“We’ll handle this.”

As a 10 year old, I seemed to identify more with Han Solo, and this went on throughout the Original Trilogy, from Episodes IV to VI.  I like to think that my personality during my teen and young adult years was influenced by Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Mr. Spock.

But watching The Phantom Menace, I realized that at that point in my life I was identifying more with the Jedi, particularly Qui-Gon.  I wasn’t as reckless and cocky (heh) as I was when I was younger, I was growing more patient and understanding as my career as a sysadmin went on.

“ID-10-T error…”

As far as the Sequel Trilogy, I seem to have gone back to identifying with Solo, mainly because, like him, I’ve seen shit over the past 30+ years that’s changed my world view.  Seeing him admit that he had been wrong about the Force was oddly satisfying.

What brought this on?  Discussion with a co-worker when she brought her Batuu lightsaber around to my cubicle, and talking about the impact of a 42 year old movie on a person, or people like us.

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Moments

The quote that stuck with me the most from the trailer?

“Confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi.”

Because I’ve faced my greatest fear, finding my Dad’s lifeless body at home.

The image that made me gasp?

Similar to the first image of a Star Destroyer in the original film, which had the same effect, more or less, on 10-year old me.

The bit of music that hit me in the feels?

Tie between Yoda’s theme during Threepio’s line:

“Taking one last look sir… at my friends.”

And the overly-triumphant Star Wars main theme during the latter half of the trailer.

A friend said that I have 2 months to get ready for this film, after I stated that I wasn’t ready.

After watching the trailer more than a dozen times, sleeping on it, letting it permeate my dreams, and waking up on Dad’s birthday, I think I may actually be ready for this.

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The Rise of Skywalker

I’m not ready.

I’m just not.  Because this is a saga that I’ve followed since childhood and through my teen and adult life.  And ending it seems to tell me that I have to be an adult now.

And I’m not ready.  I never will be.

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Return of the Fanboys

I was watching the closing ceremonies of Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019, and they showed the recap video.

Over Skype I told Nelson that I wanna go back.

He did too, and said that we should go if it came back to Anaheim or to Los Angeles.

After an interesting audience participation exercise involving a large replica of the data disc containing the Death Star plans and a large lightsaber, they revealed the next location:

Hope to see you there!

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The End

I got a bit emotional when I first watched this trailer earlier today.

Because it IS the end.

Not the end of Star Wars.

It’s the end of a story that I had first been aware of when I was 10 years old, and I’ve followed for 42 years.

The end of the Saga.

The end of the Skywalker story.

The end of a huge chunk of my childhood, since Star Wars has been an integral part of my life since 1977.

At least this story has been.

I said earlier that I don’t like the title, but the more I think about it, the more I suspect that it isn’t what I think it means.

There will be plenty of fan theories, and some may even be right, but as I learned from The Last Jedi, whatever happens happens, and no amount of whining and complaining will change that.

We shall see, come December.

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I Don’t Get It

When the reimaged Hawaii Five-O premiered, I watched it for a couple seasons.  I got bored of it and stopped.

I’ve stopped watching the DC shows on CW, because I got bored of them.

I’ve drastically cut down on the number of comics I read on a monthly basis.

I don’t watch Star Trek Discovery.

I’m didn’t watch a full NFL football game once this season.

In all cases, they went on without me.

I see lots of people bemoaning Disney and their upcoming Star Wars projects, or people upset with Doctor Who because of the way the show is now.

So why can’t they simply walk away?

The whole ‘childhood ruined’ excuse is stupid for a myriad of reasons.

Hell, any excuse is stupid.  Walk away.

Being a consumer doesn’t mean that you HAVE to consume everything.

And shouting at the wind won’t make any of these corporations change their minds.