TV Discussion LACWAC Member Interviews (★☆★ SpecialOpsUnit & Fives_Says_No_To_Sixes ★☆★)

#3. What are your 10 favorite movies QuangoFett?

 

Seerow

In no particular order:

Casino Royale
Dances with Wolves
Last of the Mohicans
Finding Nemo
Gladiator
Kingdom of Heaven
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight Rises
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

 

#4. @QuangoFettWhen you're watching the live-action Saga, what is the first thing from The Clone Wars that pops up in your head?
Which moment/ character/ scenario from the animated series does your mind instantly link to while you're seeing in the films?

 

#4 (For realz). List the Star Wars movies from greatest to least in your opinion and tell us why you listed them so QuangoFett?

 

Billy_Dee_Binks

My mind links Darth Vader's armour to that worn by Anakin in the first two and a half seasons of TCW. This was almost certainly a deliberate evocation of the Vader design on the TCW artists' part, and they succeeded. Vader and Anakin each look like they belong in their respective armours.

Seerow

1. Revenge of the Sith
2. A New Hope
3. The Empire Strikes Back
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Attack of the Clones
6. The Phantom Menace

None of these are bad films. They're all purposeful and slick. However, ROTS has the winning combination of elements that appealed to me - space combat, lightsabre duels, epic battle scenes, engaging characters, drama, a bit of philosophy, a bit of gore and the feeling of being dropped into a setting filled with fascinating, spectacular events.

ANH was sublime in every way, but ROTS was just a bit smoother and more packed. Unlike the PT and ANH, TESB and ROTJ lack compelling deuteragonists. Han, Leia and the droids became a sideshow, quite frankly. Luke, however, just became much so more than the all-American farmboy he was in ANH. The dynamic between Luke and Yoda is one of SW's highlights. Lando was a great addition who compensated for the lack of interest I had in the story of Han and Leia. TESB is superb overall. It often swaps positions with ANH whenever I think about what my favourite SW film is. ROTJ had the Ewoks, Boba Fett's ignominious death and the tedious Tatooine segment.

AOTC and TPM could have ranked higher. They have my favourite characters. They have politics. They have proper war. Their story is fundamentally compelling. However, they're just so damn clunky. There's wooden dialogue aplenty. There's so much dodgy "humour" from the likes of Jar Jar Binks and C-3PO. The visual effects were revolutionary at the time, but they are often poorly integrated (I'm thinking of the ponderous, unsoldierly motion of many clone troopers in AOTC). It took ROTS to fulfil their potential.

The bottom three will probably swap places by the time this gets posted.

 

#5. Will you ever see the TCW movie QuangoFett?

 

Seerow

I doubt it. I've already read the novelisation of the TCW movie, and while I know there are fewer PoVs in that book than there are in the film, I think it gave enough to get by on. Such are the perks of an episodic format.

 

#6. Which planet from Star Wars would you most like to visit and what would you do there QuangoFett?

 

You learn the most random facts in LACWAC....

 

I..I actually understand all of that.

 

Seerow

Visiting only? Mustafar. Riding the lava waves sounds amusing.

 

Brings new meaning to the term **** happens and then you die.

#7. What would your dream occupation in the SW Galaxy be QuangoFett?

 

Seerow



Politician.



Or perhaps banker.

 

#8. If you were a Jedi how would you have survived Order 66 QuangoFett?

 

Seerow

First of all, I'd avoid or fight off the clones coming at me with intent to kill and then either:

A) Fall to the Dark Side and become an inquisitor for the Empire (maybe), or:

B) Hide on a remote Outer Rim or Wild Space planet far from the centre of Imperial power, disguised as a crazy man in a hut. It worked for Obi-Wan, after all. I'd then chill until either I or the Empire died.

 

Apparently how business is conducted in a GFFA

 

#9. Who are your 10 favorite SW characters and why QuangoFett?

 

Seerow

1. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Just such a fundamentally human character who, despite his dogmatism, tries his best to live up to Qui-Gon and fails. He ultimately gets his happy ending with Luke Skywalker being the student he always deserved. He's very relatable.​

2. Qui-Gon Jinn

He only appeared in one film, but he left a great impression. While he is not perfect by any means, he's enigmatic and one of the more genuinely admirable characters in SW from the get-go.​

3. Darth Plagueis

A Muunificent bankster. I get the sense that he's something of an idealist for a Sith. He thinks beyond the established convention, something which I can empathise with.​

4. Fives

From his squad's failure to pass through training to witnessing his brothers fall in some of the most unglorious ways, Fives is an easy character to empathise with. He makes me think of people in the armed forces and in other institutions.​

5. Captain Rex

He finely straddles the line between rogue individualist and dogmatic executor of orders, and is one of the TCW characters whose ultimate destiny greatly interests me. After a few prominent stories in TCW, he became one of my favourite characters in all of SW.​

6. Luke Skywalker

His journey over the course of the OT was something to behold. He becomes so much more than what he was at the start. His experiences straddle much of the common human experience.​

7. Duchess Satine Kryze

A character who got me to think about the precariousness of political reform. Does she go too far? Is she the Mandalorian Shah Reza Pahlavi or the Mandalorian Kemal Pasha? Is there a dangerous streak within her personality that's making her job harder than it needs to be? Like most of these characters, she's easy to empathise with.​

8. Admiral Firmus Piett

He typifies the "banality of evil", despite not being particularly evil himself. The Empire is all he knows. A decent guy trying to make his way up the hierarchy of a system which is causing incredible damage to the Galaxy at large. Many people nowadays find themselves in similar situations to Piett without realising it (albeit not usually enabling a system as grotesque as the Empire while they're at it).​

9. Savage Oppress

A victim who sees every faction in the galaxy turn against him. Far more than the majority of tragic stories in SW, Savage's story always makes me feel for him. Even when he's serving as Maul's dumb muscle man, he's still far more sympathetic than many of the good guys.​

10. Jango Fett

A hitman with a heart. He's a cold, merciless killer who sells his DNA to producers of clone slaves, all for profit, but still has enough of a heart for his favoured son. The comic miniseries Jango Fett: Open Seasons was a particular favourite of mine.​

An honourable mention to ARC Captain Maze, the lone voice of sanity in his environment.

 

Is Quango the first one to side with the Empire after Order 66?

 

#10. QuangoFett if all the characters in your list were put in a death match who do you think would win?

 

Seerow

I echo CT's question. Am I the first Imperial turncoat of this thread?

On the deathmatch:

Piett and Satine would die first. Piett probably had some combat training before entering the Imperial Navy, and Satine might have some vestigial proud warrior race attributes. However, neither are honed warriors. They'd be casually killed by one of the armoured Fett/clones, though Plagueis would kill Satine slowly to make a point to Obi-Wan.

Next to die would be Jango, Rex, Fives and Maze. The latter two are ARCs and Rex is known to be handy in a fight, but none of them are a match for an experienced Force-sensitive warrior. They'd get decapitated within the first few minutes.

Luke as of ANH would be the very first to die. Luke as of ROTJ would hold his own. Qui-Gon is capable, but he is certainly getting on a bit in TPM. If he loses when fighting against Maul, he'd lose when up against the likes of Obi-Wan or even the older, more experienced Luke.

Before his debilitating injuries, Plagueis would have dominated almost everyone. Afterwards, he'd have been vulnerable to one of the Muggles. Assuming Plagueis is in his later, weakened state for fairness' sake, he'd lose to all Force-sensitives except for perhaps the crude, undisciplined Savage.

Savage would be able to take a tremendous beating, but he'd fall victim to his own lack of discipline and long-term thinking as he does in Revival. He could lose all his limbs and still stay alive, but he's nothing without his head. Obi-Wan or Luke would take that from him. He might give Qui-Gon and the injured Plagueis a fair fight, but they'd probably take him down.

In a duel between ROTJ Luke and ROTS Obi-Wan, the latter would win. My favourite character reigns supreme.

 

I... my memory is shot today. Couldn't tell ya.

11. List your 5 favorite TCW episodes and tell us why you like them so much QuangoFett.

 

Just checked the entire thread. Quango is indeed the first person to say they'd join the Empire.

Senator Kelberry said she might fall to the dark side after years of isolation, but did not mention the Empire.

Fascinating.

 

Seerow

1. Carnage of Krell

This was a superb episode. It raised questions about the nature of a clone trooper and the role of the 501st Legion in ROTS. Its plot twist was appreciable. Its casualties were shocking. The concept of a Jedi joining the CIS or falling to the Dark Side during the Clone Wars was not an original one, but it was handled well here primarily because of how the focus remained almost exclusively on Rex, Fives and the clones. It is possible to do a better story about a Jedi turncoat or a morally dubious Republic officer, but this was the highlight of TCW's balanced portrayal of the clone troopers. I haven't read/seen/played a better SW clone story than Carnage of Krell.​

2. Rookies

If Carnage of Krell was the highlight, then Rookies was the beginning of it. Like many, I had been sceptical of TCW and its portrayal of the clones in the early few episodes of S1. DBB's voice acting and the general writing of the clones was a little too upbeat and cartoonish for my liking, like the show in general. Rookies changed this, with a look at the underbelly of the clone army: a squad of green troopers who are tasked with a menial duty. I like my characters nicely beaten, and the script obliged here. It pulled no punches and the weight of every clone's loss was felt. It was mature, and it was what hooked me onto TCW, since it started the balanced clone portrayal that has kept me rooting for TCW even when the show is in the dumps.​

3. Heroes on Both Sides

This was by far one of the best looks into the politics of the Clone Wars. It showed Padme as she was meant to be: a proud, principled stateswoman who has a sincere belief in the unity and vision of the Republic but is saddened (as any empathetic person would be) by the blood shed over this. The Separatists are humanised in this episode. We see Raxus, which looks like the Washington D.C. to Coruscant's London. We see ordinary CIS citizens of many species, and we see Mina Bonteri, who rings true to real life as an idealist supporting plutocratic dissidents. Nix Card was a great addition to the rogues gallery. Grievous is unambiguously successful for once. Dooku is shown in all his two-faced glory. This episode shows the complexity and embellishment which TCW should be engaging in on a regular basis.​

4. Crisis on Naboo

Unlike many arc finales, this one actually felt like a grand conclusion. All the developments of the previous episodes came to a head in a thrilling brawl across Naboo's diverse environs, though this was just an anticlimax. The arc finished with another Anakin vs. Dooku duel, only this time it was a great one that I wouldn't mind being the last we see before ROTS. More than any other episode than perhaps Carnage of Krell, this one linked directly to ROTS, with complications regarding the Anakin/Obi-Wan, Anakin/JC, Anakin/Palpatine, Palpatine/Dooku and even Anakin/Padme relationships. It deftly tied into the Darth Plagueis novel with the allusion to plasma mines. More than most other episodes, this one felt like it was meant to be part of the broader SW story.​

5. Duchess of Mandalore

This episode continued the Mandalorian plot introduced two episodes earlier. It was a bit of a disappointment that we didn't see the clone versus Mandalorian action that would have resulted from the Senate passing the Republic occupation legislation, but that's from the OOU perspective. From Satine's IU perspective, the notion of violence on Mandalore is horrific and so is the thought of Death Watch seizing power. It called to mind real-world situations in which reactionary forces are empowered by a superpower's overreach, which made me empathise greatly with Satine. We start to see the Republic in a less-than-favourable light in this episode, something which TCW continued in some later episodes but then regrettably dropped.​

 

12. List the season premieres from Greatest to least QuangoFett?