Saga Chewbacca & Jar Jar Binks

I still feel Lucas' intention was to have Jar Jar be a side kick character throughout the PT, but the fan reaction to him in Episode 1 was so harsh, that he scaled him back in Episode 2 and wrote him out all together pretty much in Episode 3.

 

He's the silent bad@ss of the saga. A lot of the lure around him revolves around what he's capable of. In A New Hope, Han, who we see is an all around awesome dude, points out that chewy is pretty rad when he's playing that game with R2. Chewy then kicks back and runs his hands through his hair. Then, we finally see how badass he is in Empire, when he SAVES the day in cloud city and gets Lando to spill information that wasn't meant not to be let out--commanded by Darth Vader, which probably means death. I mean, why else is Lando wearing a stupid hat in Jedi, right?

 

Why did the Trade Federation land on the clear opposite side of the planet from the Naboo at Theed? (As we know because Qui, Obi, and Jar had to go through the PLANET CORE to get to Theed). Why didn't they land just outside the city, or in the city? It would save them from having to march half way around the planet.

Why would the Naboo have needed to locate the Gungans in the first place?

All they needed was a diversion to draw the tanks out -- could have been achieved in many other ways. Tanaka says the police and guards have formed an underground resistance movement -- use them. Or, presumably what the TF bad guys want is the Queen so she can sign the treaty -- use her as bait to lure the forces out of the city, instead of having her lead a commando raid to capture the Viceroy (why does capturing the Viceroy end the siege?) I also seem to remember the TF bad guys saying "I thought the battle would take place far away from here." So really all the droid army had to do was realize the Gungans were a diversion and head back into the city -- and fight from fortified positions instead of stupidly fighting in an open field.

Jar Jar, and indeed the entire Gungan population, could be completely removed from the story without chaning the plot.

Really all they needed to do was knock out the droid control ships in orbit and it's over. No need for the Gungans or capturing the Viceroy.

 

Wait, you don't like that strategy? It's in the ART OF WAR right next to the passage saying to knowingly lead an enemy superweapon to your base without even knowing if it can be stopped. (Leia and the Death Star)

Seriously though, landing them there would make sense if they were landing them in multiple areas to sieze the entire planet, but yeah it doesn't make the most sense. But I'm not going to let minor stuff like that ruin a film.

They needed the Gungans because they had a sizable army. The underground resistance was not that large and could only fight the smaller amount of droids left in the city after the bulk of the army was sent to deal with the Gungans. They said that the Resistance was formed by soldiers which they even established at the beginning of the film that they didn't have many of in the first place. Without the Gungans they would've been too vastly outnumbered.

Capturing the Viceroy was not to end the battle. This was addressed in the film. They had to capture him during the battle so that he wouldn't escape if he saw his forces lose/losing and have the possibility to return with another army. The commando raid led by Amidala was supposed to be a surprise as they didn't know that she had returned, and probably also didn't know about the underground Nabooian resistance either. All they thought they had to contend with was an uprising of a rabble of Gungans.

Yeah the Droid's could've retreated into the city, but there was a battle going on there already anyway so it was already breached by the Nabooian resistance and I personally don't think it looked that well fortified anyway except the for the palace.

Already talked about the Viceroy part, but yeah. Sure the Gungans could've been taken out, but personally I thought they made them work for the story (even if Jar Jar himself was way too over the top at times). But I would say the same about the Ewoks in JEDI, or the Wampa in EMPIRE. They could've had the Rebels defeat the Empire on their own or Luke see Obi-Wan in a vision without having the Wampa/Cave excursion. I'm not going to say I hate any of those things particularly but they weren't necessarily needed.

I think the real question is, is why do people who don't like the prequels think they have to turn EVERYTHING people do in them into nonsensical decisions? And why did this particular discussion head back this way?

 

Okay, I'd like to fix a statement I had in my last comment. I decided to go back and re-watch the film and Nute Gunray says that the ship was found and Sidious comments about it being an unexpected move for Amidala meaning that they knew she was there. My mistake. But it does like they figure that she's with Gungans in the large scale stand rather than the sneak attack with the Nabooian Resitance that they don't make a reference to knowing about.

 

Yea its a supreme bias from people who refuse to except that Star Wars saga has been extend by 3 chapters. Hopefully people and stop segregating the films.

 

Dont know if serious?

 

The same could be said for Chewy.

 

Dead serious. Chewy saves the day multiple times in the series.

 

LOL ok

 

You're asking the wrong people. Jar Jar has humor that feels forced, and feels like a forced character in general. I actually think Gungans as a whole are a pretty cool species. But Jar Jar himself is, however popular the opinion, annoying as heck. I get he's supposed to be the Jester archtype, making the mistakes that bring the main characters together and to important moments, but he isn't in any way lovable in that role. And i know why he sounds a bit like a jamaican stereotype (the actor was poking fun at his own relatives), it still kind of disturbs me no one in charge noticed this and asked him to tone it down. Even without that, he never feels nessecary, nor would i want to root for someone so obnoxious.

Chewbacca on the other hand is not a distraction to me. He doesn't even speak understandably, so he can't make stupid comments. He really is far different and uncomparable to Jar Jar even if Jar Jar wasn't annoying, because he's not The Jester, he's The Sidekick or maybe even a mascot character. He's unique in that role in being sapient and not a pet, and this actually makes him more bearable to me.

Basically, they're apples and oranges. C-3PO is a better character to compare him with, in being in many ways that Jester archtype. But personally i find him entertaining. He was a unique take on a robot from the beginning, never stole the show or shot, and had R2 to round him out. If he played the role of both R2 and himself, he would have probably gotten annoying.

Also, notice that while both C-3PO and Jar Jar make bad decisions, C-3PO is actually given consequences, however temporary. Whereas everything seems to just fall into place for Jar Jar (in episode 1, i mean). Another flaw in the character.

So don't let the fact that some people are elitist let you think that all people are, and no one has good reasons to dislike Jar Jar. Because i'm not alone.

 

Chewbacca is just as ANNOYING as Jar Jar if not MORE ANNOYING.....all that noise he makes?? Wish there was an audio track where I could mute him or give him Jar Jars voice.

 

There's a reason no one in charge noticed it: it didn't happen. It's a myth. He sounds nothing like a Jamaican.

 

He did sound West Indian though and there is nothing wrong with that, at least he didn't sound like a the love child of a Lion and a Bear who drunk Gorilla mutagen ooze. Can say the same for Hans stupid sidekick.

 

I like Chewie as much as most people, so I don't see that.

but C3PO annoys me no end.

He is awful. And he is awful in ALL 6 FILMS!! Jar Jar only messes up one movie. He's fine in Clones and has no lines in ROTS. Furthermore the payoff on JJ is great. To see such a childlike innocent clown (yes annoying) reduced to tears at Padme's funeral is very powerful. Nevermind that 3PO doesn't have any moments like that. He has no moments of any kind worth mentioning at all. He's just the clown to R2s straight man.

Blech

 

OKAY. WE GET IT. You don't like the OT. Give it a rest already. Stop making up stuff that isn't even relevant.

If I had to choose between Chewie and Jarhead, I'd choose the one that didn't step in poop.

 

I'm gonna be honest people...

Chewie kind of annoys me in Empire. I don't know...he just has more to say in that movie than the others...and it gets on my nerves after a while.

 

Chewbacca > Jar Jar > C-3PO > Ewoks

 

I think the way the lines are delivered is part of it.

I recently rewatched Empire of Dreams, and found it interesting that Peter Meyhew was delivering lines for Harrison Ford to respond to(in the Death Star control room, Chewey comments on Ben, "That old man's mad", Han replies "You said it Chewey. Boy, where did you dig up that old fossill".

Can you imagine how bad Chewey would've been if speaking with an English accent instead of the bear and lion grunts and growls.

Same with if David Prowse was the final voice for Vader instead of James Earl Jones...that would've taken the coolness away from Vader.

But Meyhew's and Prowse's physical presence and physical acting in combination with the animal growls and James Earl Jones(respectively) made these 2 characters cool as hell.

Jar Jar on the other hand was terrible, IMO. His dialogue and his physical gags didn't cut it for me. What's worse is he's given a bigger role in TPM than Obi Wan. It seemed more like Jar Jar was given more of a leading role, while Obi Wan was supporting(you know, the guy that's the hero of the PT).

Chewey, 3PO, and R2 were all sidekicks that never really steal the story from the main characters. Had JJ been scaled back(and toned down a little) to more of a supporting role(rather than forcibly trying to steal the scenes), I might've liked him more.

 

As others have said I do think a more apt comparison to Jar Jar is C-3PO. In fact Jar Jar feels like an attempt to do the opposite of 3PO.

3PO is intelligent and cultured. Jar Jar is dumb an immature. Though both at times can ge pretty annoying.

Chewbacca's better than either of them.

 

I agree with this. I like C-3PO and Jar Jar, but I like Chewbacca much more. He's strong, brave (unless it involves the dianoga from the garbage room), and extremely loyal.

 

IMO Jar Jar is more clumsy than anything. Naive? Yes. Immature? Yes. Unintelligent? No.

Chewie's still the best over him & 3P0, though.

 

Empire?? What about the wannabe Tarzan madness in Jedi? or how about how he triggered the stupid ewok trap?? or how he did absolutely nothing on the sail barge and Luke did all the work during that scene. Chewbacca is just as worthless as Jar Jar if not more.

 

Simply to illustrate how idiots can sometimes get voted into positions of inappropriate power. Think George W Bush, only more appealing.