Star Wars Rebels

[Lane Arroway]

Just watched the Pilot episode, thanks for the link Zarm!

I thought it had the perfect mix of action, comedy and drama that goes well with the original Star Wars trilogy. This group of characters reminds me alot of my first rebel game.

Very cool!
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"This job is 90% talking to people and 10% shooting at them."

[DougRed4]

[DougRed4]

I just watched the three minute long little intro (that's available On Demand) where the main kid runs into a TIE, and it was very well done. I've set my DVR to record the series, and am now kind of looking forward to it!
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[Lane Arroway]

The pilot is available to purchase from walmart, fyi.
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"This job is 90% talking to people and 10% shooting at them."

[DougRed4]

I watched it last night and for the most part greatly enjoyed it!
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[Bulldogzeta]

I saw the premier. While I'm not crazy about the artistic style of the characters, neither do I hate it. At least it didn't detract from the plot.

I know that some dislike the simplistic (immature) plot, but I feel the episode had a very true to Star Wars feel. I'm going to continue to watch future episodes.

BTW; does anyone know what model ship the rebels were using? I think I read somewhere it's a CEC ship, but I don't recognize it.
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Never tell me the odds!

[Edheldun]

Bulldogzeta-
Looking at the illustrations from Stock Ships, it looked like the cockpit and front section of a Starwind Pleasure Yacht attached to a Barloz freighter. Neither interior seemed to match up particularly well from what I saw. Both Correllian models though, and I'm sure it's hardly a "stock" ship any more.

Overall, I thought the episode was fun, and appreciated the gravity of the lightsaber's appearance along with bothering to name Kalus an ISB agent instead of just Imp officer #12.

[Teazia]

After just finishing The Clone Wars series in a somewhat marathon, I must state that I have unpopular opinion of liking Snips. I look forward to seeing her further adventures in Rebels (I'm guessing she will be in it at some point). Maybe she will even fall to Vader...

[Bulldogzeta]

[Zarm R'keeg]

[klhaviation]

Just finished watching it. I have gotta tell you guys it really got that exciting feeling rumbling in my gut for the first time in a long time. Seeing Imps, respect for lightsabers, TIE fighters, and modified freighters back on the screen again really puts a smile on my face.

Its not a perfect show, but its a pretty good start to the series, and it is just great to see the Star Wars tone and flavor I originally fell in love with back in the forefront of the franchise again... I hope that it bodes well for Episode VII.

[Whill]

[Teazia]

The second episode is out there now and it is an interesting bit of fan service. Many will be pleased, it also propels the plot quite a bit.

One thing of note that I have noticed is that the animation in some of the previews (especially the space battle one) is far superior to the animation in the first few episodes. This could be that they were produced later in the life of the show, or had more focus placed on them. It seems that The Clone Wars also had episodes that had superior animation (end of Season Three was fantastic). Was this ever explained by LucasFilm?

Also, after having Clone Trooper be so badazz in TCW, it is odd to have inept Storm Troopers. I hope this is explained a bit (maybe they are just fat and lazy now, hehe).

Cheers

[Whill]

I finally watched the pilot. The sound design is on par with everything I've come to expect from Lucasfilm. The sound effects were great. The musical scoring was pretty good. The vocal performances seemed good. The visual design/animation of non-living things such as vehicles and ships, even stormtrooper armor, was excellent.

However, the living characters looked horrible. Why are Ezra's eyes so oddly-shaped, large, and far apart? Is he even supposed to be human? The hairy alien characters were attack of the wooden beards times ten. The Wookiees were absolutely ridiculous looking. At least for the faces of human and humanlike characters, I can't imagine that it would be more expensive to use more realistic designs. These were unnecessarily stylistic choices made to give the characters a more distinctive appearance. TCW was intentionally a 3D animation version of the prior 2D CW series, but I don't see the need for Rebels to just repeat TCW's animation except maybe to enhance the suggestion of this show taking place within the same continuity as TCW... a business-based decision for marketing purposes, instead of just trying to make the new show as good as it possibly can be.

Story and content-wise, it was a bit hokey at times but there was nothing that screamed outright violation of film canon to me, so it is immensely superior to TCW's pilot film so far. The action was decent but there was also nothing truly engaging to me about the pilot. The show's target audience is obviously teenaged boys. After previewing it, my five-year-old will be pleased to know that I don't feel there was anything he can't handle, so I will let him watch it and at least it is Star Wars that he will probably enjoy and if so, then we can share it together. Maybe I can appreciate the experience of Rebels more through his happiness with it.

I concur that the crew of the Ghost does seem very much like a SW RPG group, but not a beginning character-level group. And taking place only 5 years before ANH, it definitely has a lot of the trapping of the classic trilogy, intentionally by design. It's a got a near-classic trilogy setting with classic trilogy stormtroopers, tie fighters, etc. However I'm curious what specifically about Rebels makes a lot of you feel that it a classic trilogy "feel", "tone" and "flavor"? Something more ethereal than the obvious Classic Trilogy setting and elements?
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[Zarm R'keeg]

To me- and this dovetails with other discussions we've had recently- there's a brash adventure, Flash Gordon-esque tone of daring heroics and wonder at the Force and the galaxy that really embody the original trilogy (and to OT fans like myself, all of Star Wars, which made its perceived lack in the PT/CW cause them to not feel like Star Wars, hence the dislike of them). There's a ragtag feel; a group of underdogs snatching victory from defeat, improvising- a simplicity of bold adventure in which good and evil are clearly demarcated and (like the RPG) telling a simple, exciting, straightforward adventure is paramount in the storytelling.

Certainly, this doesn't preclude going to dark places narratively (ESB, anyone?)- but it does mean that while the characters may experience grim things and go through grim times, while there may be pain or sorrow, it's not about psychological darkness and moral ambiguity or deep inner conflict (except, perhaps, between the light side and the dark side). That sort of weighty, gritty, 'real-world' stuff is left to other forms of entertainment, and, well... to real life. Even when the heroes are losing and the situation looks grim, there is never a feeling of nihilism or that the darkness will win, but an optimism that (like the ending of ESB), good can rally, and *can* overcome this.

There is an element of escapism... not necessarily meaning fluff storytelling in which nothing bad ever happens- but focused on hope, and the idea that good will always triumph in the end. There's swashbuckling and adventure, heroics, larger-than-life actions performed by throttle-jockeys and freedom-fighters and guys and gals with nothing but attitude and a blaster just as often as any Force-user.

And there's mystery. The Force, and the Jedi, and any such supernatural trappings, are held at a remove. Even when the characters know them well, when the concepts are culturally ingrained, we as the audience are still held to approach them as deep, vast, unfathomable mysteries- bigger than we know (or will find out), full of awe and mysticism, with nature and capabilities and limits unknown to us; there's always a sense of discovery. A sense of the frontier. A sense of something new- never taken for granted- right around the corner.

And there are characters with real human feelings- bonds of friendship and camaraderie, rivalry and jealousy, conflict and respect... they interact like people, and live on the streets, down amongst the heart of the average joes of the galaxy, rather than at a remove from them. Basically, they are down-to-earth... despite the lack of Earth anywhere in the vicinity.

There's more, I'm sure- but in brief, that's what Star Wars/the OT (to me the two are the same thing) is to me. Brash heroics, Flash Gordon-esque swashbuckling adventure, a little fun and a lot of mystery, a sense of discovery, relatable characters, and a clear protagonist. It's why I love the works that I love (films and beyond) and dislike the ones I dislike- for embodying or failing to embody that spirit that, to me, nothing can be true Star Wars without.

And that's the feel, tone, and flavor that Rebels is working to capture- at least, IMHO.
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Star Wars: Marvels, the audio drama: www.nolinecinemas.com

Hard core OT, all the way!