Tuesday, July 08, 2008

The Clones are Coming.


They've posted a new documentary over on the Official Star Wars Site about the new Clone Wars animated film due out soon. Not a big fan of the prequels at all, in fact I thought they sucked big time. Watching this they go on about how each main clone starts to get it's own personality, they pick up traits from who ever is leading, they cut their hair differently, they say you should care about what happens to these guys... er, hang on, why ? In Revenge of the Sith once 'Order 66' was given every clone helps kill the Jedi, even so called characters like Commander Cody becomes just another mindless drone. They're basically asking for us to root for the bad guys ! And we know they become the bad guys because this is a prequel to Revenge of the Sith. If Lucas had any thoughts in his head what so ever beyond the mechandise machine then he would have made certain so called intelligent clones countermand 'Order 66' and fight along side the Jedi against the mass of Clone troops who did turn.

9 comments:

Matthew Scheuerman said...

but that's why it's so genius! It's such a great betrayal. Fighting alongside men that have become like brothers to you, only to have them turn on you like mindless robots.

paulhd said...

I don't really have a problem with bad guys having a personality, watching a show where the characters have so little personality and individuality I imagine it'd be tough to give a toss every time they got into danger. Still, I guess it might make it a little sad when some of the characters you've supposedly come to care about turn bad?
Better to have just kept them mostly silent, moody action type blokes just like the Genndy T cartoons, let the peril provide the drama.
Of course, none of that matters because the clip looks awful.

Andrew Glazebrook said...

Matt and Paul, I don't have a problem with the good guys turning bad, as long as we don't know it's going to happen, but with this we do so anything they say or do really counts for nothing in the grand scheme of things ! Oh yeah, and the clips are pretty terrible looking !

I. N. J. Culbard said...

You're kidding!!! I thought you LOVED the prequels, the way you go on about them! ;)

Concerning rooting for the bad guys - by that same measure, when you consider how the Cossacks and Poles were betrayed after WW2 - alls fair in love and war, buddy -- apparently. I think it makes it all the more tragic that their destiny is to essentially turn against their allies.

I wonder, how many people who hate the prequels have actually sat through SW, ESB, and JotJ recently?

I. N. J. Culbard said...

"I don't have a problem with the good guys turning bad, as long as we don't know it's going to happen, but with this we do so anything they say or do really counts for nothing in the grand scheme of things !"

So Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise movie that's coming up is a no go then. 1) they're German's during WW2 and 2) They clearly don't succeed as Hitler wasn't assassinated?

I think the point is the journey, not the destination. Basically Meta drama. Example... any WW2 movie, we know who wins, so where's the peril when it comes to a Nazi invasion? Well, it's in the drama, for example, Saving Private Ryan.. the individual stories etc.

allen etter said...

Kinda agreeing with Andrew here. Knowing that they'll turn bad is a bit different than knowing the outcome of a final battle or war. When I saw EP3 with my boys for a second time, I was sorta not too upset when a clone got killed and sorta hated Commander Cody...

As far as the Tom Cruise movie goes, I love the entire cast except for Tom Cruise. I was never a huge fan of his, but I enjoyed several of his movies in the past. Now, despite the eye patch, he still seems like TOM COUCH JUMPIN' CRUISE to me in the movie stills I have seen. I'll still see it on DVD even tho they don't kill Hitler...

Altho, the way Hollywood likes to rewrite history, they just might kill H. after all.

Andrew Glazebrook said...

My mate Paul sent me this feedback in an e-mail, he hasn't got a Blogger account so I said I'd post it here for him.

Paul said -

Just been on your Blog of War & seen another stream of vitriol :) aimed at the Clones thingy that'll be in cinemas soon. This time I have to agree with you but not for the reason you give - ie because you know whats going to happen you don't care about the characters - think that Ian Culbard's reply that was spot on.

He pointed out we know how the WWII films we watch end but it doesn't stop us caring about those involved. It's about the journey & as long as the story is good & the characters involving we should care. That's the crux - but it is sadly where Lucas falls down.

Trouble is that Lucas is really good at painting himself into corners continuity & concept wise.
The Jedi for instance: Luke is our only real point of reference in the originals (okay Obi Wan but he died early on & I mean point of reference as a being interacting with those around him - Yoda was in hiding). Luke has attachments, he has friends - this is how we see the Jedi from the point of view of the original films.

The prequels however show this isn't so - the Jedi don't have "friends" they don't form attachments partially to preserve them from loss.

As such any Jedi in the prequels were always going to be a let down & could never be as involving a central character as a Luke or a Han as they are distant & aloof. Lucas should've had more "real" characters surround the Jedi in the prequels who were slowly picked off - the loss of these characters would be felt by the audience & the Jedi as their initial inaction & later inability to prevent this would be an excellent motivational tool to spur Obi Wan to put things right with Luke.

In Jedi the Emperor says to Luke that his "faith in his friends" is Lukes weakness but he is wrong - the faith & attachment Luke has in & to his friends (especially Leia) is what brings him through. This is where the Jedi got it wrong in the prequels - they have degenerated as an order to the point where they shunned attachement & getting involved with the people because they felt it made them weak. In reality it actually made them stronger - this is what Qui Gon knew, why he would not adhere to the Jedi code & became a maverick in the eyes of the Jedi. So what i'm saying is that Luke was an exception to the Jedi rule but we didn't know this in 1983. The question is how much did Lucas know in 1983. Was it always the idea that Luke was the exception to the rule or not?

I'm all for high emotion in these things & getting angry meaning that you care but this idea of the right to expect great films or demand them is bollocks. Lucas & Speilberg owe us nothing & we owe them nothing. You said you felt the prequels sucked but I don't agree entirely. I would describe myself as a non intense hater of the prequels. Don't get me wrong here I admit that there is awful, stupid & badly thought out stuff in the prequels & indeed in everything surrounding Star Wars since Zahn's 1995 Heir to the Empire novel trilogy but there is also some good stuff in there too that was pure Star Wars.

There's no way I'm going off on a Strutter-esque Viaggro fuelled reaction at just the mention of the prequels or even Indy 4 - life is to short & there really are more important things to think about. Mind you I do find it ironic that my favourite and the best Expanded Universe stuff ie Zahn's trilogy was the first stuff and was used to test the waters for possible public interest in Star Wars. If the novels hadn't been a massive hit and shown the fan base was still there I reckon there probably would've been no Special Editions, Prequels & all the peripheral good and bad stuff since. So I guess the success of that book trilogy in 1995 is to blame.

Moonwatcher said...

From what I've seen of this film/show it doesn't look like it's going to be up to much in the way of original characters and plot anyway. He's just retreading old ideas for a 3rd time now after the Cartoon show.

I. N. J. Culbard said...

It might be were Lucas falls down, but other writers don't to enough of a degree that we can afford them the benefit of the doubt at least, and the Clone Wars isn't written by Lucas.

And another thing to remember is, the Star Wars audience isn't the audience of thirty years ago. It's a new generation of kids and this franchise is aimed smartly and squarely at them, as it was aimed smartly squarely at us a long time ago in our respective galaxies, far, far away.

And one last thing to remember is this. Nostalgia is the mother of all mercies.