The Mandalorian (TV series)

[firesprite]

I think this review is a perfect example of how the term “general audience” means nothing anymore, which is why even franchise movies have trouble pulling in crowds. Everyone is a critic, and everyone has their incredibly niche and personal view of everything. To this reviewer, the show is terrible because it either “has to show us a character we know, or come up with something entirely new”. Whereas I think that a show based around a Mandalorian, yet not Boba Fett, is a perfect way to balance telling a new story with a new character, but having that nostalgia factor for those who want it. I mean, if we follow his logic all the way down the line, does that mean there are only two types of films? Sequels that do the exact same thing or entirely original stories? Yes, buying Star Wars and making more Star Wars content was a corporate business decision by Disney. But all films and TV shows have to have some business involved in order to get made. Having this binary, reductive view of the film and TV industry is why so many corporate execs just want to play it safe and not do anything risky, which is how we get terrible live-action remakes from Disney, and horrible flops like the Tom Cruise Mummy.

Furthermore, I don’t think the reviewer really gets the whole point of doing the Mandalorian. First of all, he keeps complaining about how “everything that comes out of America is a damn Western”. Western films have in fact been pretty dead for more than twenty years for general audiences, with a few exceptions, so while there might be a few shows, it’s because there are niche audiences that want to see Westerns and can’t get their fix from movies. On top of that, anyone who’s seen the OT knows that the Western genre influenced a lot of Star Wars. It might not be the only influence, but it’s a big one. And that’s the point of doing a show. They want to focus on one side of the universe. You want a space fantasy? You claim that “Disney says that’s too hard”? Well, I guess the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies don’t exist, and there actually won’t be a Rogue One show or a Kenobi show. The entire point of doing several shows is to focus on aspects of the movies that the movies don’t have time to delve into. Were the first two episodes of the Mandalorian perfect? No, nothing is. But they’re entertaining and they promise a smaller scale story about a type of protagonist that feels very refreshing when compared to his peers in the modern blockbuster world.

I don’t know who I’m kidding with this rant, though. Trying to change a SW fan’s mind is like trying to get someone to change their political affiliation. Everyone has their own, unique, non-overlapping reasons why they like Star Wars and that’s why there will never be any entry in the series that people agree on. I just thought I’d address some flimsy arguments/bad logic in the review. I try not to be an apologist—some of the decisions made don’t sit right with me, like where the soundtrack dips a little too Blade Runner, or how each episode is less than half an hour long. But to come up with such an intense review of the show one episode in just seems like he’s either pumping out videos for that sweet sweet YouTube money a la Mike Zeroh, or he got super pissed after the first episode that Disney didn’t ask him his personal opinion on how the show should be. If anyone of you watch RedLetterMedia and have seen the most recent Half in the Bag, I think we’re really getting closer to that “Tailor Made” cinema they joked about.

Once again, I'm glad I followed my instincts and didn't give that video the click... Thanks for saving me the risk of hurting myself with my eye-rolling.

 

[Jaitea]

I agree, you can't please everyone, & there are wee things that I think that were weak, but overall I'm very glad that LFL/Disney are moving in the right direction

Another thing I forgot to mention in my last post, at this point I feel that the series could be something I could re-watch over & over,....I loved GOT & Breaking Bad etc, but once I got through them that was it, move on

J

 

[Paul Andrew]

After the second episode I'm definitely sold. My thoughts, in no particular order:

The music fits the show and really started to come into it's own in this second episode. I dig it.

Like TLJ, this show seems to not be afraid to get weird on us. The egg? Vaporized Jawas? Sandcrawler action scene? IG-11 is a murder machine? Yes. Keep giving me the weird. Show me the things I haven't seen before.

In a world where there's too damn much media to consume, I kinda dig the slightly shorter than typical genre show run-times. These two episodes have felt pretty tight, and eschewed meandering.

Excited for next week!

 

[Egon Spengler]

I really like it so far.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I keep coming back to two nits from the first episode... Herzog's character says the Mandalorian is the best in the parsec. That's... not impressive. A parsec is 3.26 light-years. It is more than a parsec to the nearest star. A parsec is about enough to contain a single star system. Maybe two if they're bizarrely close, like Hoth and Anoat and Bespin. But given the scope of known space in the GFFA, that's faint praise indeed.

Second, when the smith melted the beskar... *sigh* Assuming "Mandalorian iron" isn't hyperbole or poetic license, and it really is some form of iron or iron-based composite, it ain't gonna look like that when it melts. That there was pewter, which you can melt on your average cooktop. I would not want pewter armor. You don't even have to be a metallurgist to know this. The image of molten iron is something most people know:

We've even seen this in Star Wars, in AOTC. So that didn't land with me.

 

[Jaitea]

But thats it, we don't know what alloy the Mandalorian use,....it could be something that melts like butter under the right circumstances & sets like diamond,.... we don't live in that universe of fantasy,....The droid factory melts the metal like in our world maybe because its a mass production plant using old cheeper technology,....the Mando's are something different

J

 

[ZeroSum]

This is SPACE FICTION man! They have a fricken green elf baby that can levitate big beasts with it's MIND! Come ON!

 

[Psab keel]

I saw the clip of that and the shot of its little hand raised and then him laying back down in the crib in exhaustion.

I laughed hysterically. It was just so goofy looking.

 

[Scarecrow Joe]

This is SPACE FICTION man! They have a fricken green elf baby that can levitate big beasts with it's MIND! Come ON!

I agree. Getting worried because some fictional metal didn't melt and looked like its SUPPOSED to look. Really? A fictional metal? From a space fiction film? In a world where little green cute babies, who are 50 years old, move big wild animals with their MIND??? Please....

 

[Potroclo]

Herzog's character says the Mandalorian is the best in the parsec. That's... not impressive.

Well it is if that particular parsec happens to contain what looks like the headquarters of a very well manned bounty hunting guild.

The forging thing yeah, there's a whole thread about it already. Must show metal in liquid state so your average viewer understands what's happening. It's nice they included some "real" forging (as in hammer and anvil forging) afterwards though, goes to show they thought it through a bit. And the unnecessarily huge gas stove is a nice touch, that beskar must be really valuable to support a permanently open fire lol. In any case, as others have pointed out: space fantasy... But it's nice those are the only things that irk you.

Hell it's nice to see so many post passionately defending a new SW product, instead of passionately bashing one, for once

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Off to a great start. Love it, nothing for me to nit pick, though I admit, I hardly ever pay attention to a score in a film. It’s just background music to me.

 

[Dontdissthefett]

People nitpicking about the color of fictional molten metal are really reaching for things to complain about..

 

[NakedMoleRat]

And so far, all of this has been done without the obligatory lightsaber activated somewhere to prove this is Star Wars.

 

[Snowtrooper]

Saw the first two episodes and loved them. I was laughing hysterically when he gets back to his ship and the Jawas tore it apart. Then he starts picking em off. Good stuff. Looking forward to more.

 

[Indy Magnoli]

Ok this is the part of the score that is giving me so many problems. It sounds as if it was written by Bill Conti and part of a “training montage” from Rocky IV...

Funny, I thought the EXACT same thing. For the most part, I like that the soundtrack is going spaghetti western but yeah... a little too much Rocky at times.

I was laughing hysterically when he gets back to his ship and the Jawas tore it apart. Then he starts picking em off. Good stuff.

This was a great nod to "No disintegrations."

 

[squirk]

I think I need to eat my words.

When I saw that the second ep was only 32 min. (including recap and credits), I really thought it was going to be poorly paced and “rushed” like the first ep was. I was wrong.

While I still wish the episodes were longer, this second one told its story tightly and efficiently. I really can’t think of a scene that was any longer than it needed to be to tell the story well. And it didn’t feel hurried as we entered the third act.

A few things:

1.) Why was Mando walking back to the Razor’s Crest with the baby? What happened to his blurrg?

2.) Are we really supposed to believe that one shank with the knife was enough to stop the enraged Mudhorn in her tracks?

3.) As for the Jawas being found off Tatooine - if Dex’s Diner on Coruscant is serving a drink named after them some 30-odd years in the past, it’s a fair bet they aren’t found just on a single desolate backwater planet in the Outer Rim, yes? Also, weren’t there Jawas mixed into the crowd at the Ring of Kafrene in “Rogue One”?

 

[Toadmeister]

I think I need to eat my words.

When I saw that the second ep was only 32 min. (including recap and credits), I really thought it was going to be poorly paced and “rushed” like the first ep was. I was wrong.

While I still wish the episodes were longer, this second one told its story tightly and efficiently. I really can’t think of a scene that was any longer than it needed to be to tell the story well. And it didn’t feel hurried as we entered the third act.

A few things:

1.) Why was Mando walking back to the Razor’s Crest with the baby? What happened to his blurrg?

2.) Are we really supposed to believe that one shank with the knife was enough to stop the enraged Mudhorn in her tracks?

3.) As for the Jawas being found off Tatooine - if Dex’s Diner on Coruscant is serving a drink named after them, it’s a fair bet they aren’t found just on a a single desolate backwater planet in the Outer Rim, yes? Also, weren’t there Jawas mixed into the crowd at the Ring of Kafrene in “Rogue One”?

1) I wondered the same.

2) I figured it was either poisoned or a vital spot. Knife may have extended like a baton also one it peirces the flesh.

3) yeah, they've migrated off Tatooine in different clans. Notice the red eyes too?

 

[Toadmeister]

I keep coming back to two nits from the first episode... Herzog's character says the Mandalorian is the best in the parsec. That's... not impressive. A parsec is 3.26 light-years. It is more than a parsec to the nearest star. A parsec is about enough to contain a single star system. Maybe two if they're bizarrely close, like Hoth and Anoat and Bespin. But given the scope of known space in the GFFA, that's faint praise indeed.

Second, when the smith melted the beskar... *sigh* Assuming "Mandalorian iron" isn't hyperbole or poetic license, and it really is some form of iron or iron-based composite, it ain't gonna look like that when it melts. That there was pewter, which you can melt on your average cooktop. I would not want pewter armor. You don't even have to be a metallurgist to know this. The image of molten iron is something most people know:

View attachment 1084462

We've even seen this in Star Wars, in AOTC. So that didn't land with me.

I suppose you can't enjoy Superman because of Kryptonite either?

Or can't watch Avatar because Unubtanium isn't for real?

Or maybe you don't like Yoda because he's a puppet?

It's a movie/TV show/entertainment. Expand your horizons a little; sit back, have some popcorn and enjoy the show.

 

[squirk]

1) I wondered the same.

2) I figured it was either poisoned or a vital spot. Knife may have extended like a baton also one it peirces the flesh.

3) yeah, they've migrated off Tatooine in different clans. Notice the red eyes too?

2.) Maybe. That’s a stretch, though, especially considering when he pulled it out, it was the same size.

3.) Plenty of old EU (Legends) material about them migrating off Tatooine. I don’t read the new EU comics - are they shown on other planets in that stuff, too? And I did catch the redder eyes.

 

[Stormy320]

IG11’s head spinning in different directions was way cool.