Aniron wrote:Are you stupid, Oni? Without that pod race, they wouldn't have gotten the part for the ship and Anakin would have remained a slave. POINTLESS OMG! That's advancing the plot and setting up Anakin's eventual murder of those holding his mother captive: she stayed behind, remaining a slave.
Awesome, which leads perfectly into another point: Plot-driven stupidity. It was not necessary in any way because there were plenty of other more reasonable, less costly (in terms of the viewers' patience) solutions that could have been done. They could have used their mind-controlling powers to get someone else to distract whatshisface while they stole the part. They could have found a place that would exchange their credits for something of value (and if nothing on Mos Eisley or Tatooine has any exchange rates for Galactic Credits, then the universe is set up in an unbelievably retarded fashion). They could have revealed that they were Jedi working on behalf of the Republic, and gotten the part in exchange for government favours. I can't wait to see the backflips that occur when you try to explain how all this is impossible while at the same time making the characters and universe look ever more retarded to justify it.
And as for 'setting up' Anakin's little death rage... again, plot-driven stupidity of a whole different sort: This begs the question of why, in the decade+ between rescuing Anakin and him finding his dead mommy, did they never once think to go back to Tatooine and rescue her? Why did Anakin never once go up to Obi or any other Jedi and go, "Hey guys, you have some massive power and influence with the government. You managed to rescue me while at the same time giving up nothing of value and laying low on the desert shithole I was raised... exactly how difficult and resource-consuming would it be for you guys to take a minor side-trip over there and rescue/buy my mother so I can stop worrying about her being a slave on a desert shithole? Hell, just give me a few credits and lend me a ship and I'll do it myself. Fuck, I'll take a hit out of my Jedi paycheck for it."
This isn't character motivation. This is plot-driven stupidity: The characters are morons because the plot demands they do, or fail to do, certain things. This is a basic no-no for fiction: The characters and motivations should drive the plot, not the other way around.
I am beginning to think Wong is correct: people MUST say that TPM is shit, they MUST show their hatred for it. It's a goddamned fashion statement now. But I do kick a kick out of TPM having a "fanboy following," when it's pretty much universally loathed by the Star Wars fandom and people rarely defend it.
Except TPM does have a fanboy following, as evidenced in this very thread. It's not big, but it is amusing to see a few neckbeards spaz out and become contortionists while trying to defend it.
Jim Raynor wrote:Nice exaggeration. The pod-race is about 9.5 minutes long, from start to finish. Reminds me of how Stoklasa claimed that the Anakin/Obi-Wan duel in ROTS was "45 minutes" when it was really 12, and one of the shorter climatic battles in all of SW.
Well it sure felt like thirty minutes, and not a fun thirty minutes at that. *nods authoritatively*
Wow, it's like you telepathically downloaded your thoughts straight out of Stoklasa's review. The Trade Federation with a trade franchise has a problem with taxes on trade routes. Not that complicated. And people throughout history have resorted to force, or threat of force, to protest things like taxes.
The amusing thing here is that I've never even seen the RLM reviews. I tried, but I really just don't like their style at all, and I could never get more than a minute or two in. I came to these questions all on my own, and from what I've seen, so have others. On to the point: They have a problem? What is it? Are the taxes too high? Do they get a cut of the taxes and thus see them as too low? Are they the good guys or bad guys in regards to the tax-dispute? How does Naboo figure into this, are they a major trade-hub or tax donator? Again, even in the 'explanation', nothing is explained.
You're seriously asking "how it would be bad" to be blockaded...please don't tell me next that there was no problem unless a specific, critical supply was explicitly said to be denied. Because most people can see that being blockaded period is a problem.
Except Naboo is a planet, not just a country or state. And from the looks of it, a pretty damn self-sufficient planet. Food shipments blocked? You've got a planet's worth of wildlife to help.
Tourism has dropped to zero? Well in that case I'm pretty damn certain the rest of the Republic would immediately notice, and thus render the whole 'are they really blockaded?' sub-plot moot. It's quickly seen that the blockade did nothing to hurt Naboo, and it was the invasion/occupation that was the source of, *le gasp*, a throwaway line about suffering and oppression never seen on screen.
The Trade Fed clearly had Senate representation.
Conceded.
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There's really nothing here to address. You clearly lack even a basic understanding of plot and character development, and seem to revel in that ignorance. I've already well made my point: The prequals are an exercise in sub-mediocrity that fail on multiple fronts. What makes them special in their sub-mediocrity is the small yet religiously devoted group of fatties who engage in mental gymnastics to defend concepts they don't understand in fields of study they have no qualification to address, for a greater audience who mostly doesn't care except for amusement purposes.
Why is Han a smuggler?
Because it's a job that turns a good profit, something that obviously fits well with his character, and is shown to be true by the main characters being desperate for a lift and willing to part with a large number of credits to do so.
Why is he friends with Chewie?
Because they get along, have similar interests, and help each other out a lot, as the movies show quite in depth.
What is the Kessel Run?
Something whose rapid completion gives a pilot bragging rights, as implied in some of Han's very first lines. Wow!
What exactly happened between him and Jabba?
He failed some job, and owes Jabba money. Jabba's obviously a big figure in the criminal underground and is not someone to cross, the former evidenced by the first lines exchanged between Han and Greedo, the latter evidenced by the hired bounty-hunter attempting to murder Han in the first part of the movie. Wow!
Who's Leia's father?
A ruler of Aldaraan, wow!
How is she a member of the Imperial Senate AND the Rebels?
Because she's a spy, as Vader said in the first five minutes of the film. Wow!
Why does a princess act so tough?
I'm not going to accuse you of being misogynist... but goddamn that's a borderline-misogynist statement.
Why does Luke want to leave the farm?
Because he's not happy there and wants to be a space jockey, as evidenced by statements between him, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in their first scenes in the movie. Wow!
How is there even a farm in the middle of a desert?
Because it's explicitly stated to be a 'moisture farm', which, and I'm going out on a limb here, is something designed to collect water in a desert environment... which would be a very helpful thing on a desert planet. Wow!
I repeat: You are very ignorant on even the basics of media analysis, and all the fanboy-nerdrage backflips you do cannot cover that fact.