Originally Posted by mcnabb

I guess I'm in the minority here (even the Kathleen Kennedy Haters loved this show), but I was expecting more from the show. Everyone kept saying 'this is the Star Wars I've been waiting for since 1983', and this is it? It's a pretty basic show with not much plot, as it's feels like a standard action/western summer blockbuster. I think it was well done and looked great visually, but there really isn't much to the show in terms of story and the characters. Now many of you (like several friends of mine) will counter that 'being simple' is what makes it great, and I wouldn't argue with that point. If that's what you're looking for in a show, that cool. In this day and age of cable/streaming drama's, I expect more from shows like this as I have no interest in a Season 2. But trust me I'm in the minority, so you can all starting screaming at me for disliking it.

Originally Posted by brayzie

No, I totally get why you don't like it. For me though, my standards for Star Wars have been set incredibly low since the prequels, all the way up to the Disney sequels. So I went in to The Mandalorian thinking it was going to be crap, despite all the hype for it. I mean, the same people I knew also were gushing about TROS. But I ended up enjoying it, and I'll explain in a minute.

I don't think being "simple" is what makes it good, or that that's necessarily something that Star Wars should aspire to. I think it's simple because it's aimed at being even more kid-friendly in some ways, as this was the show that was supposed to sell people on getting Disney+. There's one throwaway episode where the Mandalorian teaches a random village to defend themselves before he takes off again. Then there's a portion of an episode where they waist time showing the main character learning to ride a space camel. It's like watching someone play a video game and completely mini-missions like learning hitting the right buttons in a certain order so your character can complete a skateboard trick to earn the trust of the neighborhood leader.

The story is pretty weak. It's a Saturday Morning version of Lonewolf and Cub. One episode kind of lifted the ending of T2. Baby Yoda is a cheap gimmick, and pretty much Star Wars Gizmo. The Man with No Name and No Face shows his face half way through the show, and we find out his cliched origin story.

But instead of expecting this to be a sci-fi/fantasy story on par with Westworld and MadMen or even feeling it was attempting that, it came across more like a live-action Saturday Morning kids show. It reminded me of The Adventures of Superboy and Captain Power, but with a much better budget. And those shows still hold up for me so that's not a bad thing.
Additionally, this show's entire tone and look feels like it could have came out in 1985. It's not ambitious, but it does recapture that feeling of being transported somewhere long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Since it's not breaking much canon nor is it completely recycling the main Star Wars story, I can enjoy it more as a fun little diversion.

Originally Posted by brayzie

No, I totally get why you don't like it. For me though, my standards for Star Wars have been set incredibly low since the prequels, all the way up to the Disney sequels. So I went in to The Mandalorian thinking it was going to be crap, despite all the hype for it. I mean, the same people I knew also were gushing about TROS. But I ended up enjoying it, and I'll explain in a minute.

I don't think being "simple" is what makes it good, or that that's necessarily something that Star Wars should aspire to. I think it's simple because it's aimed at being even more kid-friendly in some ways, as this was the show that was supposed to sell people on getting Disney+. There's one throwaway episode where the Mandalorian teaches a random village to defend themselves before he takes off again. Then there's a portion of an episode where they waist time showing the main character learning to ride a space camel. It's like watching someone play a video game and completely mini-missions like learning hitting the right buttons in a certain order so your character can complete a skateboard trick to earn the trust of the neighborhood leader.

The story is pretty weak. It's a Saturday Morning version of Lonewolf and Cub. One episode kind of lifted the ending of T2. Baby Yoda is a cheap gimmick, and pretty much Star Wars Gizmo. The Man with No Name and No Face shows his face half way through the show, and we find out his cliched origin story.

But instead of expecting this to be a sci-fi/fantasy story on par with Westworld and MadMen or even feeling it was attempting that, it came across more like a live-action Saturday Morning kids show. It reminded me of The Adventures of Superboy and Captain Power, but with a much better budget. And those shows still hold up for me so that's not a bad thing.
Additionally, this show's entire tone and look feels like it could have came out in 1985. It's not ambitious, but it does recapture that feeling of being transported somewhere long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Since it's not breaking much canon nor is it completely recycling the main Star Wars story, I can enjoy it more as a fun little diversion.

Originally Posted by Joe Schmoe

This show is something I've wanted since I was a kid (a live-action SW TV show), so that's the main reason I watched it. Could the writing have been better? Absolutely, but I was still happy to spend some time in that galaxy far, far away, especially since the creatures, costumes, sets and effects were on par with the films.

Originally Posted by milo bloom

I think what we’re getting at here is that show isn’t under any illusions about it being an amazing epic that would shake up the SW universe. It knows it’s a goofy remake of Babycart samurai and it runs with it. When a show knows what it’s about and doesn’t force itself any further than that, it works better than something that tries to be too big and falls on its face (cough TLJ cough).

Originally Posted by mcnabb

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Maybe I'll give it a rewatch as I went in with these crazy expectations since everyone was glowing about it, as I thought the franchise finally found their ESB sequel in terms of quality. But as The Red Letter Media guys said, "The more simplistic, the better Star Wars is".

Originally Posted by mcnabb

Maybe I'll give it a rewatch as I went in with these crazy expectations since everyone was glowing about it, as I thought the franchise finally found their ESB sequel in terms of quality. But as The Red Letter Media guys said, "The more simplistic, the better Star Wars is".

Originally Posted by brayzie

I do think there’s SOME truth to not making Star Wars overly complex. I wouldn’t want it to be overly convoluted like Westworld. I think ANH and ESB are successful, partly because they’re accessible for roughly all ages. I think they’re also needs to be some degree of light hearted moments and that can be a serious challenge but doable.

But more simple the better? No way. Once they introduced the Vader/father reveal and hinted at this more questionable past for Anakin Skywalker, had Han getting frozen, and Leia choosing him over the hero, we were being promised a more complex story that never materialized with ROTJ.

Originally Posted by mcnabb

Thanks for the answers guys as it's alot clearer to me now what fans liked about this. You guys answered me in a way where you made your point without calling me out, so I was more apt to read and understand your POV. I actually watched the Red Letter Media review of the show and those guys pretty much said the same thing you guys did, as they have pretty much hated everything in a GFFA since 1999.

Maybe I'll give it a rewatch as I went in with these crazy expectations since everyone was glowing about it, as I thought the franchise finally found their ESB sequel in terms of quality. But as The Red Letter Media guys said, "The more simplistic, the better Star Wars is".

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man

You can sit down and explain the plots of ANH, ESB, and ROTJ in a few sentences. It's much harder to do that with the PT, especially AOTC and ROTS. This is one of the ways that the PT failed.

Originally Posted by Jason

This was my biggest problem with The Last Jedi. The storyline simply did not make sense. Bad writing and poor character design aside, The Phantom Menace actually has a decent, straightorward plot that can be explained. Hell, if you didn't know a single thing about the movie (having just woken from a few decades in a coma) you'd probably be excited to see it.

Originally Posted by Jason

Do those guys like anything? Their belittlement of literally everything is indicitive of the toxic fandom ruining everything.

Originally Posted by Neil M.

I liked the show but there wasn't much to it. Kinda surprised about the nomination for outstanding series.

Originally Posted by candyrocket786

So Taika gets a VO nomination, but nothing for Nick Nolte?

Originally Posted by candyrocket786

So Taika gets a VO nomination, but nothing for Nick Nolte?

Originally Posted by Deftones

https://twitter.com/ManaByte/status/1290749898313220096

@ManaByte: The Mandalorian Season 2 is still coming in October.

Originally Posted by Goldberg74

60.5M subscribers times an average of $7/mo for 12/mos is around $508.2M annually. That's a nice chunk of change.

So stoked for Season 2!

Originally Posted by Deftones

Math is off. 5 billion annually.

Originally Posted by OldBoy

Thought the last ep was great. All the way around to last scene. What is Giancarlo Esposito? He seemed like a sith with that lightsaberish sword and his cape of course.

Originally Posted by Deftones

Math is off. 5 billion annually.