ST C-3PO and R2-D2 in Episode VII

I never minded Threepio having been built by Anakin, but that's an interesting idea and I like it.

 

Can't wait to see their antics this time around.

 

I really hope their comedy relies in the fact that they are droids without 100% knowledge of complex human emotions and behaviors. This was just gold in the good ole days. I wouldn't want to see an elaborate physical comedy scene involving the droids. We had that in AOTC and it was one of the worst things I have ever witnessed on the big screen.

 

The C-3PO, Battle Droid was stupid. R2 in ROTS was pretty funny though.

 

Let's just agree to disagree. Flying R2 is something I'm really not OK with.

 

If such a quote exists, I have no doubt that someone somewhere put it on the internet verbatim.

 

R2 oiling the SBD's, setting them on fire and flying away, running into that wall and then zapping the SBD and then getting kicked over will be some of my most favorite moments from the movie.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed that.

 

I doubt they will ever meet. They really don't need Kenny Baker at all now, it's just that on the PT Lucas was kind enough to give him a credit (and presumably some money?) for nothing, basically.

Kenny will probably show up for half an hour, do one shot, and that will be the sum of his involvement.

I'm actually very surprised Lucasfilm have announced Kenny Baker's name at all this time around, but I suppose it's tradition and I suspect the public does like to think there's an actor inside R2, even if we fan's know that for 99.99% of the time they can do R2 without needing to put Kenny inside.

 

Yeah, that was one of the more unfortunate decisions made in the PT. It makes no sense at all for Anakin to build a protocol droid to help his mom. He doesn't move very fast, is stiff, has exposed joints and places for the sand to get in (and we all know how much Anakin hates sand... ), and has little use beyond being a translator, which is something a slave shouldn't need.

Of course, I hated seeing child Anakin at all, and thought that his entire backstory was largely unnecessary and poorly told.

Regarding the ST, I kinda hope that C-3PO has a nanny role in the young Solo/Skywalker's life/lives. He's perfect for a mother hen role. I know he had something like that going for him in the EU, in Kevin J. Anderson's atrocious New Jedi Academy trilogy (I reflexively roll my eyes when I think of that three book train wreck) I believe, but it can be done much, much better than it was there.

Idly, I wonder if Luke will ever learn that R2-D2 was Anakin's droid as well. That would make for an interesting "Why didn't you tell me?" moment.

 

I don't know... I think Baker's contributions are pretty palpable, and I hope they can use him for more than just one shot. Obviously he's only needed for the occasional shot when they need to impart a little more personality into Artoo, but it does make a difference, and I felt his absence when he wasn't used enough. You can really tell the difference when you go from Episode III to IV and Kenny is there a lot making Artoo shake and quiver. It adds a lot IMO. That said, I'm sure Baker's contribution will be fairly minimal, but I'm glad he's back.

 

Yes.

Do we really want R2 to move fast and smoothly? Of course not. It sucks the life out of him.

 

I've always thought that if you look at the Star Wars Saga as starting with Star Wars (1977) then it is indeed odd to have Anakin build C3PO, but if your starting from scratch with The Phantom Menace (which is what Lucas was aiming for for future generations when he made the PT) then it's actually not that strange for Anakin to have made 3PO and actually, the way C3PO slowly becomes more and more involved in the story, finally ending up on the Blockade Runner and all set to take us into Episode IV, is rather clever.

 

I've never noticed the difference to be honest. Perhaps I'm just not very observant....

 

I agree with all your points. Also, 3PO being home-made by *anyone* let alone Anakin just doesn't sit well for me. I would prefer him to be mass-produced machine like one of countless thousands of others, albeit one that just happened to be swept up in adventure due to the will of the Force that singled him out for some reason. maybe protocol droids are meant to be like PCs with an open architecture so that anyone can clip one together from generic parts.

Probably more jarring for me than the fact Anakin built him, especially if I watch the films in sequential order now, is the fact that Owen and Beru couldn't remember him. I know some people argue that a droid is just an appliance like a toaster to the characters and could be forgotten but 3PO was living with the Lars family for some years before Anakin returned. Owen would not have known 3PO's memory had been wiped either so he should have very quickly passed over 3PO when the droid introduced himself to him at the Jawa travelling market.

Anyway, the other point I neglected to make was that if 3PO was introduced very early in The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar would not be needed at all, as you would have your primary comic relief character already established.

 

Eh, I'm not a fan of fate, or in this case, the will of the Force unless it's something that characters try to fight against, like in Terminator and countless other works of fiction. Otherwise, it merely takes agency away from the characters themselves. And that's one of the reasons why I deeply dislike just about everything regarding PT Anakin.

I mean, we're never told the prophecy, which is a huge, huge problem. We're never really given any indication if Anakin knows he's been branded the Chosen One, what his thoughts are on it (if he has any), and if his actions line up with the prophecy, or if parts of the prophecy can be read/misread in different ways. Plus, what little we do know of the prophecy doesn't add to his character. He was born of the Force, but that never comes into play. He doesn't have any special insight or abilities. He's supposed to bring 'balance' to the Force, but no one questions what that balance actually means or entails. It's just a bunch of pseudo-religious stuff that has no real meaning to the story, and seems like a replacement for actual characterization.

And that's where GL's mirroring fails. Contrast Luke's attack on the Death Star with Anakin's attack on the droid control ship. Luke is a talented pilot, and naturally gifted in the Force (even though he doesn't realize it yet), but it never feels like the Force is in control. It's just giving a minor boost in luck and his skills, the rest appears to be all him. There's still a sense of danger because Luke is just a young man with potential, some piloting skills, and not much else. Anakin, on the other hand, literally blunders his way into saving the day. He just presses every button until things work, crashes into the hangar, and luckily presses the right button to shoot torpedoes. The implication is that since he's the Chosen One, things will just work out for him in the end. The Force will take over and everything will be okay. It's horrible, because it's less about Anakin using his abilities than an unseen guiding hand making this happen.

I also greatly dislike the idea of the Force having a will or some other form of consciousness in general. I'm much more in favor of it merely being a natural phenomenon that certain people can tap into in various ways. It's too easy to rely on "the Force did it/willed it" crutch, and I find that completely boring.

It gets better for him on that front in the next two movies where the prophecy is largely ignored, but it's just an atrocious thing that was added to the series because it doesn't actually add meaning to the tale.

I do think, like you said, that C-3PO should just be another mass produced droid. Like you say, it makes no sense for Owen and Beru to not recognize the droid that lived with them for, what, 5-10 years or so? That said, I don't think 3PO's presence is necessary in the PT at all. He doesn't do anything. He's just there, in the background, and the time wasted on him in AotC is a tragic misuse of screen time. Artoo makes some sense, but even his presence begs the question, "Why didn't he tell Luke?" No, for my money, I'd rather see a new, non-Jar Jar character brought in for humor, but not solely humor. IMO, there simply doesn't need to be a connection to the OT everywhere.

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I'm curious to see if Artoo will have a different or expanded role in the ST. He's basically the group's spunky door opener/computer hacker, and Luke's co-pilot. Is there anything else he can add to the story?

 

Here is an article from yahoo.co.uk about Kenny baker and Anthony Daniels.

It is entitled: "Star Wars: Why R2-D2 and C-3PO Secretely Hate Each Other".

I'm just linking for people to read it if they are interested because it is related to the recent casting and nothing else.


https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/star-wars-why-r2-d2-and-c-3po-secretly-hate-each-other-130354852.html

 

KevinM1

I actually agree. TCW did a good job showing how powerful Anakin was and Mortis goes a long way to explain what he truly thought about the prophecy. Yet, this should've been included in Episode II or III. Of course, Dooku looks exhausted and shocked after his duel with Anakin, but it's not enough. The OT does a better job in showing the progression of Luke than Anakin in the PT.

TCW helps to justify Yoda telling Luke his father was "Awww...father, powerful jedi was he" but the PT do a very poor job in showing it.

But, as we all know, George Lucas said Luke was the most powerful Jedi ever.

 

He's definitely camped it up since the original performance, but I don't think anyone would have the guts to tell him he's voicing the character (read: HIS character) wrong. Expect more of the same.

 

Don't the droids have to be in all the numbered films, because it was the droids that informed the whills about the story of the Skywalker family, which the book of whills came from? I know the book isn't real but George always seemed to say that's where the stories came from.

 

I think R2 was definitely annoyed by C3PO at times but he loved him like a brother if that's possible for a robot. But C3PO always acted like a know it all. Well that was his programming at least. Love these guys. They've been to hell and back its seems throughout this whole saga. Going to be interesting to see them 30 years into the future:

 

It might be a nice touch or a plot point if Artoo backed up Threepio's memory before it was erased.

 

I always thought it was odd that you never saw the two of them together in the various convention photos you see posted around the web. That's too bad. Not childhood destroying bad, but bad none the less.

Have any of the other cast members made similar complaints about Daniels? I've never met him, but he always seems pleasant when discussing Star Wars in interviews and comes across as a good ambassador for it.

 

Just as long as there's no R2 flying and no 3PO as a battle droid