Not an April Fools joke! Ryan Daly and guest Kyle Benning actually came up with lists of Five Good Things from the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (admittedly, there are a ton of caveats with each). Also, some brief thoughts on the bonus features on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray/digital release, some upcoming comic books, and the passing of Admiral Ackbar voice actor, Erik Bauersfeld.
- Introduction begins at 0:00:40
- Star Wars Current Events (potential spoilers) begins at 0:05:43
- Five Best Parts of the Prequel Trilogy begins at 0:20:42
- Galactic Questionnaire with Kyle Benning begins at 0:46:47
Check out "Kylo" Benning on King-Size Comics, Giant-Size Fun at: http://kingsizecomicsgiantsizefun.blogspot.com and the Superman Captain Marvel Power Hour at: http://supermancaptainmarvel.blogspot.com
Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.
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Music: "Star Wars Main Theme" and “End Title” by The Evil Genius Orchestra (with Ryan and Shag).
Thanks for listening, and May the Force Be With You!
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Great episode fellas!
I enjoyed, but was also troubled by, Kyle’s hedging when it came to how many people you could kill in a day and still be considered on the Light Side. If I were the local authorities, I would look into any unsolved murder cases. I’m just saying.
Angling a show about the prequels aimed just at the stuff you liked was a good idea–keeps the show from being too negative (and we know how THAT can go) but also doesn’t ignore a whole swath of SW material. Made for a very fun episode!
Huh, I’m actually really intrigued by Shag’s latest theory and not just immediately rolling my eyes. This is an odd sensation.
I first want to thank Kyle Benning for the kind words, and I apologize for ruining the First Order stormtroopers for anyone.
I’ve gone on record so many times about my problems with the prequels, but I can say that I completely agree about how good the casting of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi was. I too wish he could get the chance to talk another crack at it with better material.
What about a small scale story about Obi-Wan on Tatooine being pulled between his need to stay under the radar, and his desire to help people as a Jedi. Maybe a story where he is pulled out of retirement — briefly — to protect a small community of farmers and merchants from a roving gang or a mobster shaking them down? It could be fun,
Also, I’ve been thinking more and more about IG-88 and the status quo of droids in the Star Wars universe.
The sad unspoken truth is that droids are basically slaves. They’re bought and sold, destroyed without consequence, and few characters ever seem to treat them like people. Han Solo talks to Threepio like a piece of equipment and even the normally suave Lando just walks away in the middle of Threepio’s polite greeting.
Even Luke, who eventually treats them like friends, ends the first movie by casually walking away from R2-D2 who had been shot in the head during the Death Star run. While everyone is cheering their victory, Threepio is clearly upset about his friend’s apparent death and offers to donate parts to save him. Luke just throws him a dismissive, “Eh.. he’ll be fine” and just walks off smiling with Han and Leia.
Droids clearly have feelings and opinions, and thanks to that poor droid getting his feet branded in Jabba’s Palace, we know that they can feel pain.
All of this puts IG-88 in a whole new light. IG-88 is nobody’s slave or property. He is a free droid and a bounty hunter, and he will *mess you up.*
IG-88 is basically Jaime Foxx in Django Unchained. And that makes him awesome.
One of the few things I really enjoyed in the prequels was Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine. In a trilogy where the characters seem so cold and robotic, he’s one of the few characters who seems to be enjoying himself and acts with any sort of passion.
He chews scenery and everything he says drips with fun, over the top evil and gravitas. He’s one of the few actors who makes George Lucas’ dialogue work, and his wicked cackling is some of my favorite in any movie.
Highlights are any moment where he revels in feeling someone else’s anger or his croaky voiced, “No….no…..no….YOU WILL DIE!!!” right before he blasts Mace Windu with force lightning.
In contrast to the other characters being so boring and unlikeable, it’s kind of hard to not root for Palpatine.
You did well, young Jedis. I’m not sure I could name 5 things, considering my #1 is the interviews with George Lucas on the DVD extras. Hey, sometimes you just want to watch the world burn.
I think you did well to mostly stick to actors or characters you liked, since those can be compartmentalized from the plot, effects, etc. which are the true problems of the prequels. Ryan’s right, Attack of the Clones is watchable pretty much only if Obi-Wan is on screen and Anakin is not, which makes it half a decent film. So I would put him in my top 5 as well. But don’t ask me to name the other three.
Catching up, I’m going to say that you missed the actual best thing from the prequels, and that was Duel of the Fates. (I’d also have accepted launching the lego videogame metafranchise and the musical sting a the end of TPM where Anakin’s theme transforms itself into the imperial march.)
I don’t like Shag’s theory one little bit, but mostly because I’m fully against Kylo having any kind of redemption arc (I’d rather his story commented on how amoral the idea that Vader had one than repeat it) and even more strongly against any hint of Rey/Kylo shipping, which that theory gives far too much aid and comfort to.
Great episode! I love the idea of a solo Obi Wan movie, or McGregor appearing as Force Ghost Obi Wan in the next few “main” films. I’m with Mike Gillis in really liking McDiarmid as Paplatine in the sequels. His presence made the mind-numbingly boring politcal mumbo-jumbo palatable whenever he was on screen. He also sold the fall of Anakin as best he could, given Christansen’s wooden and unbelievable delivery.
One reason I could never get into The Clone Wars animated series was due to how dark they went with Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. I believe it’s the best of the prequels, despite many, many shortcomings. But, I don’t think we needed to see Anakin plastered all over every conceivable pre-school to pre-teen object as if he were Superman, given what we now knew of him. Yes, you can argue we already saw him kill tons of people and go along with blowing up a whole freaking planet in the original trilogy, but the Younglings scene was really that bridge too far. I’m not sure why, it just was.
Darth Maul was totally wasted. No question. Especially after all the merchandise build up. I wish they’d given Dooku more to do as well, because, hey…it’s Christopher Lee! As a Hammer guy, I was very glad to see him play a “count” again!
I like parts of Shag’s theory. I still think Rey may have been one of Luke’s students, and sensitivity to the Force may be the reason whoever dropped her off picked such a questionable place. Who would ever think to look there? It’s certainly a better hiding place than dropping Luke off with his step-family on Tattoine.
I now feel bad for Kyle. Kylo Benning is the perfect nickname…as long as you aren’t the recipient!
Chris
I know I’m incredibly late to this particular party, but being in Covid 19 isolation, I have time on my hands to dig through the Fire and Water back catalogue. I thought it might be fun to list another 5 things to praise about the prequels. I composed my own top five while playing this episode, that suprisingly didn’t overlap (much) with yours:
Honorable Mention: Gendy Tartokovsky’s Clone Wars cartoon shorts. Parallel to the movies, but so good it deserves a mention.
5) The juxtaposition of Padme’s giving birth with Darth Vader’s prosthetic surgery. Birth, death, and rebirth. Powerful stuff.
4) General Grievous. Dumb name, but a fascinating design, (love the split arms!) and yet another bad guy with so much more potential than the movie actually presented.
3) Ewan McGregor, but for a reason not mentioned on the show! He deserves praise for all of those reasons too, but I was particularly impressed with how closely his performance mirrors the vocal delivery and mannerisms of Sir Alec Guiness. Most impressive.
2) Ian McDiarmid’s gloriously evil Senator Palpatine. He appears game for anything and the unbridled fun he appears to be having is infectious and endlessly watchable.
1) The score for all three movies. John Williams just crushed it and the music (especially Duel of the Fates) stands toe-to-toe with the music of the original trilogy.
Thanks for listening and sharing your list!