Animated Shorts Visions: The Bandits of Golak - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

This was one felt a bit like a computer game in style. Was that Tera Sinube?

I liked how everything just went nuts. Kind of felt like what it would be like for a kid during order 66 who doesn't know how dangerous powers can be and how an older orphan I guess would try to take care of a younger orphan with special talent.

This was one was also great. Loved the symbolism of the storm approaching.

 

I was a bit distracted while I watched this one, but I'm pretty sure I'm not a fan of the CG animation style. While the vibrant colors were nice, I don't like the effect the CG has on faces. For a supposed style of "animation," the faces don't seem very animated, if you get my drift.

This is a similar problem I've always had with The Clone Wars and Bad Batch.

The story may be better than I think, but it seems pretty straightforward. Requires a rewatch.

 

This one surprises me a lot, very nice story.

 

Visions continues to produce some of the most interesting and imaginative visual content in Star Wars since the Disney acquisition. Space India looked great. And this Hindu demon Inquisitor was a great design. More of this kind of color in Star Wars worldbuilding please.

 

The fight choreography surprised me. Interesting mix of traditional SW sabers and Bollywood action.

 

Thought the same. Even if its a big galaxy he looked too similar for it to be a coincidence.

More of this content please.

 

Loved how they raided the TCW/Rebels asset store and recolored bits and pieces of them to make something new and unique

 

This one had a really successful fusion between Indian and Star Wars aesthetics. The kids were easy to root for, although I guess seeing them just as bystanders in the final confrontation detracted a bit from the outcome. Really rad music for that duel though. I guess I also don't quite know how I feel about one sibling being Force sensitive while the other isn't, but it still made for a touching ending.

7/10

 

A lot of trouble for some sweets for sure. It really did look like season 3 of The Clone Wars. I didn't expect to see a TCW/ Bad Batch style one either with recognizable, preexisting models. Liked the Sabine easter egg. It's easy fanon to think Tera Sinube was there which wouldn't bode well for this Jedi hideout. That door hidden in the water was cool. Makes the ending depressing. Imagine it being part of the Jedi underground railroad shown in Obi-wan Kenobi. Definitely looked like Galaxy's Edge with Indian Aesthetic. I feel like I've seen that set asset before as well. Does fit right into the galaxy. I did feel like it took away from the story to have an old Jedi save the kids. Cool choreography though. 8/10

 

Just out of curiosity, why did the old Jedi saving the kids take away from the story?

 

I simply felt like the story being about them should have allowed them to be more than just bystanders watching. That is all.

 

Ah, OK.

 

This one was weird but I ended up liking it a lot actually. It was weird in a good way. In very Indian way. It was bit bizarre to see them using official animation models from TCW and Bad Batch in this. Especially when many of the models used were very rare alien species like Cosians. And Belugan model was used only in one TCW episode and in this there was almost always one Belugan on screen. But it was nice to see them using many rare aliens from different sources in this like Keredians, Aki-Aki and were those scavengers Gabdorins? Nice alien usage with standard ithorians and ughnaughts as well as many weird costumes for humans, some bit too obviously Indian though. I think it would've been better to tone down that Indian influence a bit while it certainly provided certain charm as well to have that very Indian feel to it. Same issue as with season 1 being bit too Japanese instead of being just inspired by Japanese style. There is difference in inspiration and downright copy-pasting Indian stuff to Star Wars. There is danger of losing the Star Wars feel, this was there on the edge, but it managed to not lose it. Any more and it would've been too much however. I think season 1 at times lost Star Wars feel and became standard historical anime with star wars elements instead of being star wars with japanese inspiration. This managed to stay Star Wars through and through but went dangerously close with adding bit too much India to Star Wars all at once. I don't know if I can explain it better... anyways the point is that it had maximum amount of Indian flavor it possibly could have. I think bit too much for ideal result.

Visually it still worked well IMO, but it's because I am used to this style already due to official animations. It was a bit better with human characters than like Bad Batch actually, more realistic and it worked with me. Inquisitor was also a bit cooler than those guys in Obi-Wan Kenobi and nice how purge troopers also make an appearance. Sure inquisitor didn't match that jedi master, but had more style and was more frightening than live-action inqs IMO.

Story was good and simple yet effective. Connected to this idea of Hidden path saving the force-sensitives from the Empire. Duel was well done and bit Bollywood, but still very Star Wars at the same time. This was overall very good animation and was glad to see it. 8/10

 

It looks like they focused too much on colors and Indian elements as the story was too simple and lacking any interesting points..

 

I think it's fine that story in short film like this is kept simple, but you are right it was extremely straight forward without any real twists or turns, old lady being jedi was not that surprising after all. Other stories had larger twists in general so in that this was generally weaker.

 

I found it more interesting than Fives.

 

Interesting points off the top of my head:
Rani portrayed as so innocent and naive as to be quite endearing. Actually portraying a frightened child that can't just magic hand thing her way out of trouble.
Charuk as a boy (a frightened child in his own right) who has to step up and brave very dangerous situations to protect his little sister.
Stormtroopers more interested in stopping petty theft then pursuing a potential Force user.
Small windows into a larger world around the central events of the story: like the raiders and the people of the Golak Mahal.
Really nice character design on the Inquisitor.
Unique (to Star Wars) fight choreography. It wasn't to my taste, but you couldn't say it wasn't interesting.
The touching moment on the end when Rani gives Charuk the flute.
The whole underground Jedi railroad thing (not new, but still interesting).
The tough choice to let his sister leave for the potential of a better life.

 

I gave it a 8/10. It was a nice story with some great 3D visuals from the Indian studio. And the Indian studio of course included elements of their culture, which was certainly unique to the franchise. Tbh I wasn't completely sold on the main characters; at least compared to other stories in the Visions show. With so much going on immediately, you don't really pick up on the bond that the siblings have together. I think the Inquisitor was the most intriguing character; just because the studio used their cultural influence in his appearance and it reminds you more of a traditional villain in a Saturday morning cartoon than a sinister creep as portrayed in Rebels and even Obi-Wan.

 

I was thinking faster than I was typing, I really meant to include the one man band alien, too.

 

I liked the use of Indian aesthetics and culture. The particular standout was the tavern, which is a secret Jedi hideout, appearing like the gopuram (gatehouse) of a South Indian Hindu temple. For those familiar with South Indian architecture, it’s nice foreshadowing of the tavern’s true nature.


Otherwise, I had some problems with the short. The action scenes weren’t very good IMO; most action done in this style of animation doesn’t really appeal to me. The little sister also seemed a bit too naive for her apparent age. A kid that old should be able to understand that it’s dangerous to use her powers in public IMO.

 

This is easily my favourite episode

Pros
+TCW style animation
+ The inquisitor is nicely designed and feels threatening
+ Belugans and Cosians were used as background species

Cons
- the ending was really cliche with the Inquisitor losing

 

God, I love South Indian architecture.