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Loving the names here!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And because threads can always do with a classy interlude?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp2CILkGsDw

 AduroT wrote:
I bet Cass’ crew actually pulls it off, probably not a flawless victory, but a win nonetheless. They need that big win to start setting up the actionable intel that establishes the pattern of incidents required by Officer Stop-Quoting-The-Manual. Officer Mom’s-Basement will get pulled in by Officer Ladder-Climber for a chance at revenge because he had eyes on the scene when the box incident went down. I don’t think he’ll go defector too easily, given he started out wanting Justice for slain officers, and only saw Cass kill yet more officers when they went to arrest him, with locals who were hostile to his authority. I feel he’s more likely to see the Empire’s methods as necessary to maintain order.

 ZergSmasher wrote:

Spoiler:

Am I the only one who was slightly disappointed that we get to see the ISB and it's not Ysanne Isard running it? Would have been an interesting way to bring in a favorite villain from Legends.

Yeah I don't think that room represented all of ISB.

I wanted Admiral Yularen to be there though.

I’m still impressed at the atmosphere of that meeting.

The characters absolutely looked the part, being visibly similar to the Death Star Meeting in terms of hairstyles - just considerably younger.

The bickering and oneupmanship over who has jurisdiction also amused me.

I'm thinking Colonel Yularen might be the wrong division at this point. I think in Rebels in he was stated to have trained Kallus, which implies that he's teaching when he's not in the field. And the incident ISB has to deal with may be too low level for a senior operative like him to get involved in.

But yeah, would be nice to see him in some fashion.

The emphasis on the otherworldly luxury of Coruscant is something I didn't realize I needed. Great episode all around.

pgmason wrote:

 Gert wrote:


The AKs are super annoying though. Even taking the clip out and sticking a silly scope on them would make them less obvious as AKs.

I agree. Star Wars has such a good history with taking real life guns and greebling them so they look sci-fi but plausible - the original's Sterlings, Mausers and Lewis guns looked so good. I kind of get why they used them - nothing says insurgent like an AK after all - but I'd have liked to see some sort of dressing to make them slightly less mundane.

Other than that though another excellent episode.

It was really really weird. By all means use a stock weapon, but not one of the most iconic stock weapons in the world.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 AduroT wrote:
I bet Cass’ crew actually pulls it off, probably not a flawless victory, but a win nonetheless.

I am betting on 3-4 casualties.

But they didn’t have stocks?

Oohhhhhh.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
But they didn’t have stocks?

Oohhhhhh.

GET. THE. F***. OUT!

The_Real_Chris wrote:

pgmason wrote:

 Gert wrote:


The AKs are super annoying though. Even taking the clip out and sticking a silly scope on them would make them less obvious as AKs.

I agree. Star Wars has such a good history with taking real life guns and greebling them so they look sci-fi but plausible - the original's Sterlings, Mausers and Lewis guns looked so good. I kind of get why they used them - nothing says insurgent like an AK after all - but I'd have liked to see some sort of dressing to make them slightly less mundane.

Other than that though another excellent episode.

It was really really weird. By all means use a stock weapon, but not one of the most iconic stock weapons in the world.

I'm on the greebling side of the argument. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving space insurgents space AKs as long as you have a prop maker space up the gun without losing the recognizable look.

I have to wonder if they simply didn't think it was necessary or if the issue might be that they lack the skill. Some of the alien masks in previous shows weren't all that well done either.

I might just be able to overlook it once the novelty wears off, though. It's hardly a unique entry in the questionable props department. After all, Snowspeeder seat belts in The Empire Strikes Back had bubble wrap stuck to them. Probably somebody in the late 70s figuring stuff looked sci-fi as feth without worrying what future generations might think.

The women's razors in Ep1 always stand out to me as something they didn't really cover well. If I've learned anything painting Legion models its that a remarkable amount of Star Wars tech is just some glued together garbage spray painted black.

 Gert wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Part 4.

Hey look, a reference to my cultural and ethnic background with Highland Clearences!

Literally the first thought in my head.

I know! I thought we were on Planet Machu Pichu with the ponchos and everything but actually we were on Planet Scotland the whole time!

The AKs are super annoying though. Even taking the clip out and sticking a silly scope on them would make them less obvious as AKs.

They did it on purpose. It ain't like SW prop designers don't know what they're doing. I would guess that it was on purpose either to say 'insurgents' or to hint that maybe these guys ain't the good guys we're expecting, the AK having been the bad guy gun of the last 70+ years after all.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


The bickering and oneupmanship over who has jurisdiction also amused me.

Yeah I gonna need a copy of those Space TPS reports on my astro desk Monday morning and don't forget the cover sheets.

Gonna be honest, their guns meant nothing to me. Didn’t even give them a second glance or register anything might have been out of place.

 ZergSmasher wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
But they didn’t have stocks?

Oohhhhhh.

GET. THE. F***. OUT!

No. Shan’t. You’ll sit there and ready my awful “jokes”. Just be thankful I’m not James Corden.

Ahem. Anyways.

I am super psyched Andor seems to be universally enjoyed. Not just because it’s a nice change to be able to chat about Star Wars without someone coming in to remind us that They Didn’t Like It for the umpteenth time, regurgitating the same points yet again.

But because the show itself is a pretty big tonal shift. That it’s definitely found it’s audience and is receiving justified praise could bode very well for the future of the franchise.

See….Star Wars has always had a Star Wars feel. I can’t really define it beyond that. But they’re largely feel good films. Andor has taken what makes ESB so popular, and built upon it.

Dare we hope this leads to a MCU type approach, where films like Thor Ragnarok, Avengers Assemble and Winter Soldier can sit happily together as a wider canon, despite being really quite different movies? I do. I have that hope. Call it….aha A New Hope.

Look I told you you’d sit there and read my bad jokes and still be happy that at least I’m not James Corden!

Given what a lovable bunch of grumpy old get off my lawn types we are here on Dakka, Andor has indeed received a lot of positive reactions and not very much criticism at all, so far.

I blame the production crew. They seem hellbent on doing a good job instead of doing whatever the Obi-Wan guys have been doing. I don't know how they can expect to earn the lasting disdain of the fanbase like that. Bunch of amateurs!

The secret sauce of Star Wars has always been that you can take pretty much any good movie and reskin it with the Star Wars aesthetic. Part of the problem with the franchise has been how stuck its been trying to force stories out of its few unique elements, where it shines brightest when it tells any story it wants coming up with unique ways to include new elements in the setting. Making something familiar feel alien or fantastical is where the series shines, IMO.

I’d agree with that.

I genuinely believe the longevity of Star Wars, and the love for it was a product of quite unique circumstances.

I wibbled about this earlier in the general Movies thread, so this will be a potted version.

ANH, ESB and ROTJ all came out before Home Media really and truly found it’s feet. So folk couldn’t easily watch it outside of the cinema.

But….ANH caused a revolution in Marketing. Yes movies had had toys and that before. But never quite like Star Wars. If you look at the very original line? The background characters made up a pretty solid percentage. So background, they had daft names, like Walrus Man, Hammerhead and Snaggletooth.

Yet, for a generation of kids (not me, sadly. Born 1980, so really I’m the generation after) only had those toys to recreate their memories of the film.

Even betterer? Despite doing ridiculous money, Kenner didn’t cheap out for later releases. If you compare the range from ANH to the range from ROTJ? The toys just got objectively better. Superior likenesses in sculpt, colours and accessories. More involved vehicles and play sets.

Pretty much all the Expanded Universe will stem from those kids, grown to adulthood. The tales they told with their toys serving as inspiration for Fairly Official Stories in the very universe that so captured their imagination.

Yes, there are elements of ANH which were firsts. For me, it will always be the Cantina Scene. Just a pub, but filled with wildly varying (and very cheaply created) denizens. That scene provided at least three of the original figures. And so according to my wider theory, much of the love. It made the universe more real. Not just humans. Not just Star Trek random head bumps (or back then, pointy ears and slightly racist facial hair). Actual monstrous looking beings just…..existing. Having a nice wee pint after a day of doing their job.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
They did it on purpose. It ain't like SW prop designers don't know what they're doing. I would guess that it was on purpose either to say 'insurgents' or to hint that maybe these guys ain't the good guys we're expecting, the AK having been the bad guy gun of the last 70+ years after all.

I'm not buying that because it doesn't track with any other modified IRL weapon we've seen so far. Han Solo is one of the big heroes of Star Wars and uses a modified Mauser, the rebels on Hoth use modified STG 44's, the heavy weapons Stormtrooper in ANH uses a modified Lewis Gun, Jyn Urso uses a modified Luger and Cassian uses a modified AR-15 in Rogue One, and the E-11 and Dh-17 (i.e. the iconic Stormtrooper and Rebel blasters respectively) both used modified Sterling SMGs.
There isn't a precedent set for which side uses "baddie" guns from real life because both sides of the GCW used props made from a variety of weapons from a variety of manufacturers.
It's also not like there aren't props from the many other Star Wars shows still kicking about that could have been used, or like I suggested just stick some random bits on and try to hide the bits that obviously make it an AK. It's just plain lazy and it's my only big gripe because it's so glaringly obvious that the weapons don't fit the setting.

 LunarSol wrote:
The secret sauce of Star Wars has always been that you can take pretty much any good movie and reskin it with the Star Wars aesthetic. Part of the problem with the franchise has been how stuck its been trying to force stories out of its few unique elements, where it shines brightest when it tells any story it wants coming up with unique ways to include new elements in the setting. Making something familiar feel alien or fantastical is where the series shines, IMO.

I think that's a pretty good assessment. Star Wars has some meat to its setting, but it's very true that it's a cool skin on any good story and that is where it finds its success.

Or doesn't if the writers figure or are mandated all it takes is a string of scenes trying to make beloved characters look good with no concern for the quality of the larger story.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Actual monstrous looking beings just…..existing. Having a nice wee pint after a day of doing their job.

Not just existing. Coexisting. Peacefully, in a movie entitled Star Wars. It's a great little hint that there can be more to the setting than just plucky rebels fighting evil empires. It's the kind of thing that sparks the imagination. I'd consider that a pillar of longevity.

I hadn’t thought of that before, but it’s a bloody good point!

One of my favorite Star Trek TOS episodes is Journey to Babel where the Enterprise carries a bunch of alien diplomats to a conference.

To me it did a lot to open up the Federation as more than just Earth plus Mr Spock.

The cantina scene does the same thing.

I can’t watch TOS. Too ropey, even for my tastes.

 Geifer wrote:

Not just existing. Coexisting. Peacefully, in a movie entitled Star Wars. It's a great little hint that there can be more to the setting than just plucky rebels fighting evil empires. It's the kind of thing that sparks the imagination. I'd consider that a pillar of longevity.

This is why the Vong never worked for me. Star Wars has a post globalization (galaxization?) setting. Evil invading aliens is as jarring to the setting as they would be in a political thriller or sitcom.

Just rewatching Andor pt 4.

The ISB meeting seems…so petty and pathetic. Like a bunch of middle managers having a make-work meeting, where they discuss a job they themselves aren’t capable of doing.

That the blonde Lass is doing her job, but all we get is squabbling over jurisdiction rather than collaborative action is just….almost tragic. She can see a possible pattern. But the bureaucracy just stonewalls her.

I am halfway through episode 4… but have been rewatching from the start so Mrs. GG can get caught up. It is a very pleasant surprise for me that my only real complaint are those AK prop weapons. Everything else is stellar! For me anyway…

Mrs. GG is not as keen as I am unfortunately, she seems put off by so many of the things I am enjoying… such as the tone (too unremittingly darkly dystopian), the color palette, and the music. I think it might be a little too “close to home” with its “gritty realistic” atmosphere for her to truly enjoy with a sense of pleasure. But then she also prefers that I do not use bloodied casualty figures on in the table in our gaming.

I think the campy Pulp vibe of the original Star Wars helps take some of the sting out of the horrors in that story, kind of like the Fallout universe… and Andor is a bit more explicit on just how grim things are just as the Rebellion gets started.

Episode 5 is very much a "calm before the storm" episode, building up to the heist. Still some great moments though.

Blue milk.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:

Mrs. GG is not as keen as I am unfortunately, she seems put off by so many of the things I am enjoying…

Yes, its always a surprise for me to discover what I think is great about x,y,z diverges wildly from what the mass market likes (seeing films and comparing to box office takings is often like this...). I do hope this is a success and it means we get better programmes down the line, but I can imagine the core audience prefers kids under cloaks.

Another solid episode. I pretty much echo what the above posters said, but would add…