Star Wars things I've recently discovered

[Katarn07]

I haven't been here in ages. I came across the Swamp randomly in a Google search. I can't believe how many familiar faces I see here! It is disheartening to see the amount of users in this area has dwindled to so few members though. Quality over quantity though, right?

 

I thought I'd make up for my eight year absence and share some cool finds I came across with fellow Star Wars fans:

 

1) The Star Wars Radio Drama. Sure, I'd heard about this while growing up with Star Wars but I only just experienced it last Christmas. I had the opportunity to listen through A New Hope and it was quite an experience! Some stand out moments for me include the T-16 Skyhoppers racing through Beggar's Canyon, Luke wasting time with his friends in Anchorhead and witnessing the battle above Tatooine through his macrobinoculars, Biggs Darklighter as an actual character, and Bail Organa and Alderaan making a brief appearance before their inevitable fate. I feel the additional content added a new depth to the film I never experienced. Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels reprise their roles and it's filled with actual sound effects from the movie and features John Williams' score.

 

2) Red Letter Media's Mr. Plinkett reviews the Prequel Trilogy. Whether you love or hate the prequel trilogy, I think we can all admit it is flawed. This hilarious although NSFW review spells out all of its problems and missed opportunities. I won't bash the prequels here. I remember how exciting of times it was drooling over new Star Wars movies and speculating what was to come in the next ones. Let's just say I don't care for them anymore. In fact, I don't own them anymore. I only own the originals.

 

3) Harmy's Despecialized Edition. When I say I only own the originals, I mean the originals! Do you wish you can watch the original theatrical cuts in anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 surround sound? Look no further than here! I do like some of the SE changes such as the updated Battle of Yavin, Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor, and those floating sentry droids in Mos Eisley. But the bad outweighs the good. Greedo shooting first, Temura Morrison as Boba Fett, the weird dance number in Jabba's Palace, and Hayden's ghost rub me the wrong way. I didn't bother with the Blurays but understand there are even more changes?

 

4) Star Wars Miniatures by Wizards of the Coast. Ok it's true I didn't recently discover this one. After all I've been rocking this awesome picture signature here made up of these little guys! But back when I was buying them, I was doing so as a collector. I just played the game for the first time a couple summers ago. It's pretty awesome. It takes a long time to set up and play and it's pretty pricey as far as games go but if you like tactics, strategy, and d20 RPGs then it may be worth looking into. The game is discontinued so you'd have to pick up most of it off eBay or something.

 

5) X-Wing Miniatures by Fantasy Flight Games. A very different table top game but fun nonetheless! This is cheaper to get into, quicker to set up, quicker to play, but no less tactical. This game is not discontinued and new pieces are being made. They even make the Moldy Crow!

 

So any other Star Wars news I may have missed in the past eight years? I heard they're making a new one or something?

[ZBomber]

Hello again!

 

I'm gonna have to check out the despecialized version of the OT. I bought the blu ray set about a year or two ago and was really disappointed by it. It's awesome to have the trilogy in high-def, but dear lord some of those changes completely ruin the films. Vader shouting "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" as he throws the Emperor just... it completely ruins the entire scene, one of the most powerful in the entire saga.

 

(I still check here now and then. Don't usually post or sign in, but it's nice to just see the forum layout and old avatars/usernames now and then. Spent most of my middle school years here so it's always a throwback!)

[Katarn07]

Of all the people to creep out of the woodwork to respond, I didn't expect it to be ZBomber! How are you doing Mike? Long time no see! I remember posting here for hours a day as a teenager and remember a bunch of usernames and avatars but I genuinely considered you and Andrew as friends. I wasted so much time on MSN Messenger and AIM with the two of you. We were all passionate about collecting and were overall immature. Are you two still in contact with one another? Either of you still collecting?

[Alexrd]

This hilarious although NSFW review spells out all of its problems and missed opportunities.

 

Debatable. Those videos can hardly be described as reviews or be taken seriously at all. The amount of pretentiousness, condescension and fallacious reasoning present in them is baffling. The fact that so many take them as evidence of anything is at the very least worrisome.

[Katarn07]

What fallacious reasoning are you referring to? I will concede that no one needs to take his videos seriously. If you like the movies, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But I do think the videos describe the fundamental problems with the trilogy that make it a let down for so many people. I love Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and I consider Star Trek Generations my favorite Trek movie. I don't disagree with any of the problems he finds in them. I watched the videos on those films and walked away refusing to let their problems affect my enjoyment of them. I suppose I should clarify it wasn't Plinkett's videos that made me grow to dislike the prequels. I stopped caring for them after my third or fourth viewing of RotS.

[Alexrd]

What fallacious reasoning are you referring to?

 

Where to start? He takes his own baseless speculation and subjective interpretation of things as fact and judge them accordingly? The double standards of what he perceives as problems also being present in the original trilogy?

 

But I do think the videos describe the fundamental problems with the trilogy that make it a let down for so many people.

 

Like every work of art, no movie is enjoyed by everyone. What is a problem for you may not be a problem for me, and vice versa. I consider problems to be objective and not dependable on our own preferences. If I like X and a movie has Y, it doesn't mean the movie has a problem for not having what I like.

 

I watched the videos on those films and walked away refusing to let their problems affect my enjoyment of them.

 

Are they really problems? Everyone has a right to dislike things and criticize them, but most of his arguments are based under false premises or his own personal preferences.

[ZBomber]

Of all the people to creep out of the woodwork to respond, I didn't expect it to be ZBomber! How are you doing Mike? Long time no see! I remember posting here for hours a day as a teenager and remember a bunch of usernames and avatars but I genuinely considered you and Andrew as friends. I wasted so much time on MSN Messenger and AIM with the two of you. We were all passionate about collecting and were overall immature. Are you two still in contact with one another? Either of you still collecting?

 

I am doing well Matt, how are you? Those were really fun times, the entire collecting forum was basically just you me and Andrew chatting in every thread! Was really surprised and happy to randomly stop in and see a post from you, definitely a blast from the past (and you still have the signature!)

 

I still talk to Andrew now and then and go out to visit him about once or twice a year, but it's a bit of a drive and we both work a lot so I don't get the chance to see or talk to him too often. I don't collect Star Wars too much anymore. Once Episode III was over, I kind of moved on to other things. However, the new films have really revitalized my interest in Star Wars. Lately, I've been picking up some of the figures that really pique my interest... the Black Series is really awesome and some of the first figures I've bough since 2006. The 6 inch series in particular, I have a couple of them on my desk now. But other than the black series, not too much.

 

Andrew still collects, but he actually recently sold a lot his Episode I and later figures. His focus now is more on the vintage Kenner figures (since he has everything from POTF2). I believe he recently got every figure loose in good condition, or he might be missing one or two. You know how the vintage lines work though, so many variations and everything, so I'm sure he'll be moving on to those/carded figures next. Oh, and of course his always expanding Boba Fett collection.

 

Are you still collecting the 3 3/4 figures, or have you moved over strictly to the miniatures? And "changing diapers"... do you have a miniature of your own now?

 

 

 

re: the RLM reviews... it's been a long while since I saw the videos, and while they were definitely a bit "pretentious" (they are meant to be entertaining, after all), I think there were also a lot of really good points. The movies came out during a time when I was still a kid, a rabid Star Wars fan so of course I ate them up and they'll always have a place in my heart, even if that place is in a closet under the staircase. He did a pretty good job of pointing out why they were never really good movies. If I remember, there was something on Darth Maul about being a terrible villian. I don't entirely agree with that, because I think Maul was one of the more interesting things to come from the PT, but I agree that he needed to be fleshed out more. He had a lot of potential, but they didn't really do much with him. I think it woulda been better to keep him alive instead of introducing Count Dooku, whose character wasn't very interesting or memorable at all (aside from the actor). Oh, and episode 1 being about a trade federation (zzz) and episode 2 being about a terribly written love story (gag). And I can't remember if the point was made in those videos or not, but the PT has AMAZING actors who had absolutely MEDIOCRE performances. I think that in itself is a big testament to just how poorly written the movies were. ROTS was the best of the lot, and I don't have any major complaints about that one, but I also don't really have any desire to watch that again, unlike the OT films.

[Katarn07]

Are they really problems? Everyone has a right to dislike things and criticize them, but most of his arguments are based under false premises or his own personal preferences.

 

I don't believe underdeveloped characters, continuity mistakes, plot contrivances, and an overreliance on CGI that makes it look like you're watching a cartoon instead of films in an established movie series are subjective problems. They're very real problems. The prequels, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the TNG Trek films, and too many modern films released today are plagued with these things. Enjoyment of art is subjective. I can look past some movies' problems and enjoy viewing them over and over again. Other films like the prequels? Not so much.

 

I'm not looking for an argument or fight. I don't like ragging on the prequels nonstop like some folks do. I enjoyed them at the time of their release. They're an integral part of my childhood and they established a lot of additional lore to the saga which I appreciate. There were some cool story ideas presented, some cool characters introduced, and a handful of great performances. I just can't sit through them and enjoy them the same way I can with the originals. No knock to anyone else that can say otherwise

 

 

Are you still collecting the 3 3/4 figures, or have you moved over strictly to the miniatures? And "changing diapers"... do you have a miniature of your own now?

 

I quit collecting 3 3/4" figures after the RotS line came to an end. I went into the minis for a while but gave that up as the factor of random chance priced me out of the hobby. The quality began to suffer as well for the money I was putting into them.

 

I too got sucked into the 6" figures but I think the quality dipped by wave 3 for the price they cost. Vintage collecting is cool. My Indy and Planet of the Apes collections consist of modern and vintage stuff. I won't dare dabble with the SW line though! Too many to get and some fetch expensive prices. Happy to hear he kept the PotF2 stuff. In the end that is my favorite line produced.

 

I did get married, got a full-time job as a teacher, got a house, and we recently had a son this summer. My time and money is pretty much revolving around other priorities but I do have a limited display area in my TV room. Only two shelves are devoted to Star Wars. The rest of the collection includes Indy, Apes, Batman, TNG Trek, Xena, Spawn, Disney's Gargoyles, Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender, USA's Burn Notice, and I have a small spot saved for some upcoming Mass Effect statues and I want to get a few of the old Toy Biz LotR figures. Then my collection will be "complete." But you know how that goes

 

Great hearing from you! Happy I popped by this place again!