Andor does politics the way Lucas wished he could have.
this post was submitted on 04 May 2024
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The plot points in the prequels were interesting. The script, direction, and acting were all horrific. It makes me really sad to think of what the prequels could have been if they'd been like Andor.
Or if Lucas had done what he did with Empire strikes back. Accept his limitations and hire an outside writer and director who could create his vision while improving it
He originally wanted someone else to direct them. Sometimes I dream of what they could have been if he succeeded in getting another director to pick up the mantle , and that director also brought along a good scriptwriter. We know a lot of those people can act, so I bet with proper direction and writing, they could have actually been good.
I’ve always thought this was a little bit of a disingenuous argument from George Lucas‘s camp. I mean, who did he ask? Steven Spielberg? Ron Howard? Why not dig up the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock while we’re at it?
There would have been any number of really solid directors below that tier, who could have done a better job with the actors than George Lucas did. Hell, Richard Marquand from Return of the Jedi was there as a non guild director from British TV, pretty much specifically and only to make sure that the actors gave reasonable performances, and waddaya know? For all the weaknesses of that movie, The cast still makes it perfectly watchable and enjoyable.
Good point. You think he didn't really try hard enough to find another director? Maybe face up after like Spielberg and one other guy probably?
Haha exactly. Let Lucas do what he wanted to do, which is clearly focus on the new special effects technology, helping with alien and monster creation maybe, and being a kind of universe bible on set. Everything else I would've let this hypothetical other director and writer team handle. I'm so frustrated with what could've been now lol.
Andor only gets better and better - savor it like a fine wine, scotch, cigar, chocolate, or delicacy - don’t binge it
Okay, I am settled in and paying excruciating attention to it right now haha.
I can't promise anything about not binging it, but I'm definitely giving it the respect the production deserves.
I think the episodes kind of naturally fall into groups based on the story arcs, so if you're watching multiple episodes at once, I'd recommend watching them in those groups if you can!
- 1-2-3
- 4-5-6
- 7
- 8-9-10
- 11-12
Oh nice, thanks
Not exaggerating: episodes 8-10 arguably the best entertainment on TV. Visceral, palpable tension.
Enjoy the buildup.
Go slow and savor.
Enjoy it :)
Or, hear me out, binge it and then immediately binge it again.
Certainly a viable technique.
I love everything about it. As much as I enjoy the force and lightsabers and all that shit, Andor is next level. Got chill bumps in a few places thanks to Andor.
I keep nagging my friends to watch it, the people I know will like it. It's tricky, because there's so much stuff to stream these days, and people like me nagging you to watch a show they love is a little bit obnoxious.
I felt this I ty to put so make friends and family on shows from andor to fallout to Shogun but they never listen .... So I gave up
Edit: Don't get me started on trying to get them to watch animated stuff
The lightsabers are useless now. They're so ridiculously nerfed
"Hey guys, what if we make a whole planet full of super soldiers with armor lightsabers can't go through because theyre sooooooo coooooool won't that be awesome?"
No. Stop. Let things have counters. Let your MC experience danger.
Half the reason Andor worked is because even though you know he will be fine the threats to him felt credible anyways.
I went in expecting it to be bad (“Who the hell cared about Andor?”), watched the first two episodes and then sort of sat on it for a few weeks because it seemed so slow at first. Then I picked it back up and it was just awesome, it feels like something from a different era. It just builds and builds and it feels like an actual “mature” Star Wars story. It’s so goddamn refreshing given the string of trash that Disney has put out, actual good writing feels so rare now.
I've described the pacing of the series as like the T1000 chasing John Conner in T2. Starts out with a brisk walk, moving within a few steps to a jog, and before you know it he's sprinting as fast as a dirtbike at full throttle
Lol, they released the first three episodes together for a reason.
I loved that the Imperial officers and such, were mainly British, and many of them looked like actors out of 70s films, giving it that new hope feel when it was done with London actors
It is absolutely mind blowing to me that Andor, the least hyped up series of the Star Wars universe, turned out to be the single best offering from Disney for the franchise in decades.
It's the best Star Wars since Star Wars
It's my favorite Star Wars product, I can't wait for season 2.
100% agree
The Stellan Skarsgard speech. “What have I sacrificed?” Just an awesome delivery. Great acting.
I really love that Andy Serkis delivers an absolutely fantastic monologue in episode 10, and it's only the runner up for best monologue of the episode. To be fair, I think the Sacrifice speech had some of the best writing I've seen; it's definitely in my GOAT list.
It's brilliant not only because it hits all bases on the little details (>!like the citizens of Ferrix making noise to make their police lose focus!<) as well as the bigger picture (>!the importance of fighting against fascist regimes, and how even neutral people like Andor was at first can and will get screwed over!<).
Playing the base solo campaign in SWtOR and actually listening to the dialogue and following the story with each class I think gives a similar feeling (so long as you skip the non-story quests). Star Wars IP can be good.
I tried picking that up again a couple years ago so I could say I actually beat one of the storylines and literally couldn't figure out where to go to beat it
I definitely played way too much on release and burned myself out trying all the classes
I can't want to have my wife watch it before season 2. I think she, the generally ambivalent to the Wars, will like it a lot.
Yea, I thought halfway into episode 1 this isn't a good Star wars show, this is just a good show.
Brethren I thought it was going to be a 3 episode series, so when episode 3 ended I told my GF at the time "give this man ALL the Star Wars, I need moooore!" only to discover there were 9 more episodes coming!
The best Star Wars content in YEARS since Rogue One, which, ironically, was directed by the same guy.
Ironically? Nay, purposefully.
Mine definitely enjoyed it. She's patient with my sci-fi viewing habits, as I am with her RomComs. But she said if all of Star Wars were like Andor she'd watch them with me
If my partner is ambivalent about Star Wars, but liked Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones, will she like Andor?
I think Rogue One and Andor are better entry points for people who like grittier more socially realistic fantasy/sci-fi. If she likes BSG and GoT, she is far more likely to be into Andor than other Star Wars.
Thanks! That's good to know. Maybe I can trick her into watching with me with these recommendation quotes in hand lol.
Yes
The only thing I really hate is they did the prequel nonsense again. Disney doesn't trust that they can do anything original. So instead of a new character, they take a well received character from a previous movie and make a prequel which itself was a prequel. At this rate, they'll take a character from Andor like Sirkis and make the next series a prequel for his character.
It diminishes the story if you've already seen the ending.
It also isn't a formula for success, look at Ahsoka. No amount of nostalgia can save bad writing and directing.
I think that's even more of a testament to what good writing, acting, and directing can do. And a harsh indictment of the Star Wars DU as a whole. Bad set direction and blocking in Obi Wan. Turning Ahsoka into a live action Rebels, complete with childish dialogue and an absolute lack of verisimilitude. Book of Boba Fett having complete tonal shifts, not just episode to episode, but scene to scene. Shoot, i wish Disney would finally film and release Episode IX, just so we could have a completion of the sequels.
Sorry to say, but the "second coming" that is Dave Filoni is a pox on the franchise. He took the worst of Lucas's indulgent tendencies (world building over character building, crappy dialogue, aiming solely at kids, elevating Campbellian mythology into quackery like midichlorians and space whales) and somehow managed to take over the whole franchise. I simply cannot fathom the loyalty of the fan base to this guy, barring those who grew up with cartoons and the typical misogynistic knee jerk to Kathleen Kennedy. He has churned out 4 series of pure shite
Andor and TLJ were bright spots but I've more or less moved on from Star Wars. Let them earn back my interest. In the interim, I'll continue to slay in the fantastic Dark Forces remaster
Harsher than I would say is necessary, but agreed that Filoni has created more issues than he’s solved in live action. Maybe it was partly still crawling out of the COVID mindset, but Ahsoka felt so oddly small, both as a story and a production. Give him twice as many episodes to let the characters breathe in between the world building, and the relative freedom from production restrictions that you get in animation, and it would have been better.
Gilroy told a smaller story, but somehow it felt more expansive. The money was spent in ways that made it feel right, and when they needed to dial it back? Boom: arc in a plastic prison, instead of traveling to a completely different galaxy only to film in one sand dune and one hallway.