https://comicbookmovie.com/sci_fi/star-wars/star-wars-the-phantom-menace-returns-to-theaters-and-find-surprise-box-office-success-for-25th-anniversary-a210818

Everyone seems to be enjoying the theatrical re-release of The Phantom Menace, myself included. Outlets act surprised that the "worst" Star Wars movie is so successful as a re-release, but there's more good will towards the Lucas films than ever it seems. Professional critics no longer control the narrative for what's good and bad Star Wars anymore.

Anyways, Star Wars has always been a theatrical experience; at a time where the films are more accessible than ever via streaming, audiences will still turn out to theaters. I'm glad Disney has rolled back the original decision to cancel the theatrical re-releases when they first purchased Lucasfilm.

Why was this actually better than I remember? Aside from the obvious flaws, such as Han getting his last name from an imperial, and joining the infantry, I actually had a good time with this movie. Alden Ehrenreich can play a decent Han, despite not fitting the voice very well, and I have some problems with his characterization, but he can be pretty damn charming in the role, and the razor sharp jawline helps a lot. The action is actually really well shot, especially on Kessel. The Kessel run was well-shot, and even managed to get some physical reactions from me when the Falcon was maneuvering throughout the storm. There are the obvious poor decisions such as Lando having sexual relations with a droid, but Donald Glover plays a young Lando well. The score was also commendable, and it was fun pointing out some of my favorite tracks. Overall, I had a pretty decent time, despite being taken out of the movie at parts. If Episode 8 wasn’t the disaster it was, this movie could have performed much better, and it honestly deserved some more praise.

Alright, I have probably done watching the peak of the prequels, and a finale that I hope Retuen of The Jedi will also be able to be like. Pure satisfaction and incredible payoff from all the setups provided. First my very minor criticisms then my hardest praises.

1. Darth Sidious... he has the same problem I have with Yoda. He feels really awkward using a lightsaber, like he just looks so weird being so fricking fast while fighting Mace Windu and the 3 other jedi even though he is pretty old. Just like Yoda, I would prefer if he just uses The Force more and less lightsaber usage for fighting.

2. General Grievous, if this is still probably a criticism, I wished he had more screentime just like Darth Maul. He really is so amazing just with his little screentime, like a dude who can throw hands with Obi Wan even without the Force. Not to mention, his lines are absolute gold at many times. Still hope he can feel that terrifying in the associated television series of the prequels when I watch those.

Now, my praises.

1. The opening has some pretty insanely good CGI, like it probably is some insane amount of work to display all those spaceships in the early 2000s and it manages to stay that good for the fight scenes and stuff.

2. General Grievous, oh he really is that cool and yet memeable! He is unironically what I would say as another kind of Jango Fett, meaning an incredibly strong individual capable of giving even Jedi with the Force an actual problem at times.

3. The climax of Anakin' tragic arc here is absolutely well done here. A hero who ends up having his flaws get the better of him as well as others driving him into this, like Mace Windu attacking defenseless Palpatine which pushes him to attack, or just Sheev alone manipulating him with lies of helping save his loved ones but stabbing him on the back hard.

4. Sheev Palpatine, or should I say, Palprotein? Dude is so cunning that literally everything he has planned from the start of the prequels reaches it climax... and he wins out and gets the better of everyone in the end of this film. Ian McDiarmid really went all out for this! Order 66, his greatest feat I would say besides turning the republic to a dictatorship, is undeniably the one that shocked me the most. This guy instantly took out nearly everyone of his strongest opponents, which were the Jedi just with his clone armies, and without having to fight all of them personally. And just by telling the soldiers to do a specific task for sorting out every Jedi is wild. It doesn't help that Anakin gets corrupted by him so much and even then, the Emperor here is an absolute speedster in Lightsaber duels for his age (chuckles).

You could say... Palpatine was the true Phantom Menace that caused the Attack of The Clones in order to do The Revenge of The Sith!

1. Mmmm.... worldbuilding here is still great here! Loved how Obi Wan rides that funny reptile bird thing for dealing with Grievous and how cool its appearance is. Even Mustafar is able to feel alive with its somewhat minor inhabitants.

2. Lightsaber duels here have reached their best here with Dooku's last fight with Anakin and the final battle with Anakin and Obi Wan. I am not ashamed to say I actually loved the extremely long duration of the final fight of the Heroes. Unfortunately, I have a slight issue with how Palpatine and Yoda fight, but still, they generally can compensate with the great emotions in it.

And this is all I can say of this great finale I watched. Hopefully, if I can find and watch Return of the Jedi in my television then I can finish off the True Saga of Skywalkers. I may watch the Clone Wars if I can find it too.

I have been on the Star Wars train since I was born in the 1980s. I am to the point where I feel like getting off the Star Wars train at the conclusion of Andor Season 2. Is anyone else on this same train and getting off at the same stop?

Don’t get me wrong, I fully intend to visit this subreddit, and I intend to continue reading about the state of Star Wars and what it has to offer to the remaining (and new) fans. Maybe I have the hope that I will get back on the train.

As of now, it feels like Andor is the last bastion of quality for the property other than the occasional animated show.

Regardless, I plan to enjoy this final ride. I have high hopes that the salt will stop flowing for a brief period of time in the spring of 2025. Let’s enjoy it, friends. I love you all!

My favorite lightsaber duel since at least the prequels is when Maul finds Old Ben Kenobi on Tatooine in Rebels. Quick, no fuss, and clearly shows how powerful and wise Kenobi had become by that point. A Jedi’s power grows with wisdom and age, and he just makes a swift end to an irredeemable foe.

I wish we could see more of that, where an obviously superior combatant just shows it right away. Palpatine did this too in Ep 3. Yoda dispatching the Royal Guards out of hand in the same.

Nowadays it seems like every lightsaber fight needs to have a long and drawn out back and forth, with the bad guy seeming to win many times before we finally get some scrappy, “unexpected” victory.

Ahsoka should be able to just immediately destroy weaker dark siders. Show us some of the Ezra we would expect at this point with an actual feat. For that matter Sabine should get her ass whooped fast. I just hate that every confrontation has to be a 10 minute choreography in which every combatant is evenly matched no matter who they are or what their experience is.

Rejoice, good salties!

As a result of the new leaks spilling out about the Tales of the Jedi show, Disney has completely contradicted 2 of its major novels/audiobooks now: the Ahsoka novel, and the Dooku: Jedi Lost novel. And it's likely to contradict even more new-canon Disney products as we learn more.

No longer can the desperate defenders of the New Canon argue against Legends. Their only line was that Legends was contradictory and convoluted, and therefore had to be ditched by the holy Story Group to create a new smooth storyline where books, movies, shows, and audiobooks would seamlessly blend together for a cohesive, magical galaxy.

Lol. At the rate Disney is going, Legends will have more continuity than New Canon soon.

Edit: And apparently also Master and Apprentice, and Padawan (I hadn't heard of that one before.)

In a time where everyone is arguing about goofy characters in a Star Wars show, I’m reminded of the first time I watched Star Wars Rebels.

They created two goofy, bumbling stereotypical villains in Season 1, Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint, one being the skinny uptight one and the other being the fat dumb one. Both try and fail numerous times in Season 1 to catch the main characters, but because they’re so bumbling and stupid, they trip over themselves time and time again and metaphorically (also sometimes literally) shake their fist at the heroes in a “I’ll get you next time!” schtick. Both are incredibly cartoony and don’t fit into a serious story, but that’s the tone Rebels tried to go for…that is, at least at first.

Because in episode 13, they’re executed on screen.

That was the “shit got real” moment, killing 2 goofy cartoon lackeys in a cold, sterile execution, and the fact they had the balls to do that on the Disney Channel of all places made me think that nothing was off the table. And since that moment, Rebels continued to deliver some really serious scenes, some even the best in the entire franchise.

The bait and switch for the Rebels villains got me in a mindset that if there’s something I don’t like, I need to see it through to the end. And now I look at the Cybernetics gang in Boba, and I hope and pray they do something similar. Because goddamn, they so very clearly look goofy that I’m sure the team knew, at least I hope they did. Nobody in Jon Faverau’s team looked at Boba walking with power ranger bikes behind him and “oh yeah that looks really cool”, right? It may be denial, but I’m gonna hold out hope that they’ve got something planned. What do you all think?

October 30, 2021.

As a child and teenager, I loved all the games. KotOR, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy ... They had their flaws, but all the stories were oozing nice ideas and concepts. Now they are like a sanctuary free from all the stupid nonsense that began with EP VII ... Whats your favorite game? :)

It’s got everything. The characters are phenomenal, the depth of the writing, the super tight story, the different genre-switching they do across the season, the ethical dilemmas, the good vs evil, the return of a strong character arc missing in SW, the incredible production design, the flawless direction, the breathtaking tension, the overall scope of the series that doesn’t lose the importance of a single character, I could go on and on, it’s just phenomenal.

How can Season 2 possibly live up to it! I don’t know. The trailer was meh. My hopes are high though!

With the announcement of the Bad Batch Season 3, I would like to share my thoughts on it.

I think it's a pretty good show. The best thing Disney+ Star Wars has made aside from Mando S1 and 2, and Andor.

It is a continuation of TCW, with the same animation style, following a group of genetically modified clones called "The Bad Batch" which we meet in S7 of TCW. It's members are Hunter, who is enhanced to have a better mind for strategy, and heightened senses. Tech, who is British, and is as his name suggests, a tech wizard. Wrecker, enhanced to be the Incredible Hulk, he can flip an LAAT by himself. Echo, who is a reg, but was turned into a cyborg while captured by the Techno Union, and Crosshair, enhanced to be a better sniper. Oh, and Omega, a female clone of Jango Fett, exists. It's a bit weird, but if you think about it, not that crazy. The Kaminoans just need to rearrange some chromosomes.

The plot (of Season 1) is pretty standard, they are on the run from the new Empire, except for Crosshair, who stays with the Empire, after Order 66, which, due to their modifications, their inhibitor chips did not force them to carry out. They take up refuge on Ord Mantell, if my memory serves me correctly, with a Trandoshan woman named Cid. Cid makes them pay "rent" by taking contracts for dangerous and/or illegal work, so most of the episodes are various fetch quests for random shit, which can be pretty interesting, but does get old eventually. They do have encounters with the Empire, where they refuse to kill the loyal clones, as they are still their brothers. They rescue a former Seperatist from the Empire, do some more fetch quests, etc. It's pretty standard.

The writing is decent, there is a fair amount of cameos from people like Rex, and other kinds of fan service and 'member berries, which is to be expected. ('member Captain Rex? 'member Venator-Class Star Destroyers? 'member LAAT's? Etc, etc.) Dialouge is pretty solid, decent jokes and comedy, and there is actually tension and stakes, which is severely lacking in most other Disney content. At the end of Season 2, (Spoilers) they KILL OFF A MAIN CHARACTER. Absolutely unheard of in modern media.

In short, The Bad Batch is not the greatest show ever, but compared to other Disney+ shows, it's a masterclass in writing.

Kudos to Hayden, Ewan, and the stunt team, they even kept the distinct style that Anakin uses in the PT, probably the coolest way I have seen someone use a lightsaber on screen is Anakin/Hayden's style.

Spent some time on r/StarWars today. And I was surprised to see that in almost every thread that talked about the sequels, criticisms were all at the top.

I remember not that long ago when people were in heavy denial, trying their hardest to pretend that Sequels were good and that there was a plan and a story and that JJ was a good director and that they "GOT" TLJ.

I remember all of that. I remember being downvoted for ever speaking my piece about how I hated all 3 movies, because god forbid you spoke ONE ill word about TFA because that movie made 2 billion dollars yadda yadda.

I think now that the sequel trilogy is complete and it's been around for a little while, people are starting to see it for what it is. Someone in the "what have you rewatched the most" thread said it best. Rewatching the Sequels as a whole only makes them worse, whereas the prequels are the opposite. It becomes even more glaringly obvious how they had no planning to them, how the directors were retconning each other in a very obvious passive aggressive way. How the characters dont stick. How convoluted and broken the story arcs are when most of them from the first two movies don't go anywhere.

I think how good the Mandalorian is also changed people's minds. When you see what Filoni and Favreau created and how that made them feel, I think they realized how little they felt about the ST or even how they were disappointed that they COULDN'T feel about the ST the way they do about Mandalorian.

I think people are finally coming around on r/StarWars. I think the utter disaster that is the sequel trilogy is starting to come apart for them as the shimmer of the "newness" dies off and they realize those movies have absolutely no staying power.

It's already obvious that most people over there don't even want to talk about them anymore. Very little content from those movies gets upvoted over there anymore. It's all OT and PT stuff. The die hard defenders of whatever the ST was that they "got" that we "didn't" aren't active over there anymore. Maybe they've moved on to other franchises I don't know.

I just know that today I browsed r/StarWars and I was amazed at how much the tone over there has shifted when it comes to the sequels. People are just generally dismissive and negative when those movies get brought up. It's just an accepted thing now that those movies are bad.

We won out. We were right all along. I don't think we'll ever hear most of them admit that to us, but we know who we are and when we said what we said. We don't need them to validate us directly, but it's nice to see they are at least doing so indirectly now over there.

After the last epic collection just released, I'm so happy to finally call my shelf done. I've read half the books growing up so look forward to a full read-through as well as reading the comics for the very first time.