1/6 Hot Toys 1/6 Boba Fett ESB Version

[Khev]

As long as some here are already rolling their eyes at interpreting Fett's characterization via context (I see it the same way you do), I'll take it to the next level by trying to justify those ROTJ moments.

In ESB, Fett learned that Luke Skywalker was the guy who Vader (and thereby the Empire) was obsessed enough with to go to great lengths to capture him alive. In ROTJ, Fett suddenly has Luke walk right in to where he was hanging out. Taking Luke alive and bringing him to Vader would have to be the greatest bounty of his career. I can see that being on his mind during the ROTJ events.

When Fett lands on the skiff, it doesn't look like he's even aiming at Luke (seriously, watch the aim placement). He might've been trying to clear out the others behind him and off to the side. And when Luke is distracted and not even looking, Fett uses a lasso rather than the wrist rockets. That lasso tells me he's trying to wrangle him rather than kill him the whole time.

Then come those very errant wrist rocket shots. This is tougher. But maybe he was simply trying to put distance between Luke and Jabba's goons. Maybe he was aiming for the lightsaber (a tough moving target) to merely disarm his potential quarry. (I know, I know )

Or forget all that and just assume Fett was totally wasted on whatever Jabba had coming out of those hookah pipes. I'm good with either explanation. Better than accepting complete and total incompetence, right?

It would have been nice if when George was updating ROTJ he added some sparks to Fett's wrist rocket launcher to indicate that it was damaged and that maybe the targeting was off or something. But no add some silly new cables around Han Solo's feet instead, lol.

 

[jye4ever]

It would have been nice if when George was updating ROTJ he added some sparks to Fett's wrist rocket launcher to indicate that it was damaged and that maybe the targeting was off or something. But no add some silly new cables around Han Solo's feet instead, lol.

He added sparks to Jango

 

[jye4ever]

Fett showed major intelligence by not engaging Luke because he knew that prize belonged to Vader and alive not dead.

He could have got greedy and decided to double cross Vader and take Luke.

But he knew had he done that he would be stuck with Luke no one would pay him and he would have Vader on his ass as well.

I love it that he knows when to be greedy and not lol

If anything I would’ve lost respect for him had he tried to take Luke.

 

[Khev]

He added sparks to Jango

Yep.

Fett showed major intelligence by not engaging Luke because he knew that prize belonged to Vader.

He could have got greedy and decided to double cross Vader and take Luke.

But he knew had he done that he would be stuck with Luke no one would pay him and he would have Vader on his ass as well.

I love it that he knows when to be greedy and not lol

If anything I would’ve lost respect for him had he tried to take Luke.

I'm totally gonna go with you and ajp's take that Fett wanted to capture Luke alive. Hell I'm even fine with him missing Luke by a mile because he was aiming for the saber. As far as Fett was concerned Luke was a nobody. Powerful Jedi? His two Force tricks in front of Jabba (Mind Trick and having the blaster fling to his hand) utterly failed.

 

[TaliBane]

As long as some here are already rolling their eyes at interpreting Fett's characterization via context (I see it the same way you do), I'll take it to the next level by trying to justify those ROTJ moments.

In ESB, Fett learned that Luke Skywalker was the guy who Vader (and thereby the Empire) was obsessed enough with to go to great lengths to capture him alive. In ROTJ, Fett suddenly has Luke walk right in to where he was hanging out. Taking Luke alive and bringing him to Vader would have to be the greatest bounty of his career. I can see that being on his mind during the ROTJ events.

When Fett lands on the skiff, it doesn't look like he's even aiming at Luke (seriously, watch the aim placement). He might've been trying to clear out the others behind him and off to the side. And when Luke is distracted and not even looking, Fett uses a lasso rather than the wrist rockets. That lasso tells me he's trying to wrangle him rather than kill him the whole time.

Then come those very errant wrist rocket shots. This is tougher. But maybe he was simply trying to put distance between Luke and Jabba's goons. Maybe he was aiming for the lightsaber (a tough moving target) to merely disarm his potential quarry. (I know, I know )

Or forget all that and just assume Fett was totally wasted on whatever Jabba had coming out of those hookah pipes. I'm good with either explanation. Better than accepting complete and total incompetence, right?

A few things about Fett in ROTJ hint there was more planned for him but they just didn't see value in it in the end for whatever reason (they clearly majorly underestimated Fett's appeal.)

Stuff like Fett turning to notice R2 heading out of Jabba's chamber on the sail barge (getting up into position to fire Luke's saber) seems to be setting up Fett suspecting something's up ahead of time, but nothing comes of it.

And yeah - you'd think as soon as Luke chops his rifle, Fett would blast him with the same gauntlet blaster he uses a little later or even the flamethrower (odd that was featured in 1979 Fett posters yet we never saw it deployed,) but he chooses to use the lasso/cable instead.

Even though the OT is lousy with hand/arm chopping, I do wish they'd included the moment from the ROTJ storyboards where Luke cuts off Fett's right arm at the elbow then slashes his jetpack - Fett in the old Super Nintendo game would take off and circle around above while raining fire downward and it is cool to think that Luke thought of that possibility and so took out the jetpack.

But by and large ROTJ fumbled so much about Fett - like why is he just a background goon when Han is unfrozen from the carbonite after all the experience Fett has with Han being placed there? That's almost worse than Han accidentally taking him out later.

Ah, great stuff. I swear if I was still a mod I'd sticky that post to the top of the page to just reference every time someone claims to read the minds of why everybody else likes a character that they don't understand.

"You think Vader was an awesome villain? Hallucinations! All he did was walk around, speak words, and move his arm from time to time while holding a lightsaber. All anyone cares about is his costume."

There was a discussion here following RO where a few people were like "Meh, Vader did nothing in the OT, finally RO has made him cool" and I was like...

 

[ridetofight]

This has been covered many times in recent days. ESB and ROTJ showed plenty of his character and how he operated. Did Boushh "honor the code" of the posted 25,000 credit bounty on Chewie? No, she threatened to murder an entire room full of random musicians and dancers if Jabba didn't give her more than what was promised and Fett gave her a nod of respect! Why? Because he was an amoral badass, that's why.

You may have simply liked him only because of the costume and that's fine but don't think that that you speak for the rest of us.

i approve this message. Maybe it's because i was a huge predator mark before discovering SW (i still am), but the need to reinvent a character to be a hero with a code of honor seems like cheap, pandering money grubbing. The predator is a noble samurai? Who knew? Fett's actually an agreeable super hero? Who knew! I will toss some coins in the pot that he pulls a holiday special, grabs grogu, blasters din in his t-visor and gets the galaxy's biggest payday. Great point on whoever said WTH about fett running with a partner. Has the whole world gone mad? I guess fett started out as a way to grab interest and dollars and lucas got bored with him after that (but thought jar-jar... We've been over this),so who are we to judge? We're the maniacs who pledge allegiance to bulloch and johnston, that's who. Forget lazy lucas and fanfic filoni. No, seriously, this is a great read so far.

 

[ZedBelkon]

Fett partners up more than once in Clone Wars.

I can see the hardcore contingent here who refuse to believe that certain actions in the original films are capable of being interpreted, but like it or not, it's possible. Clearly it is possible or other people (who's opinion is as valid as your own) would not see it a different way.

 

[TaliBane]

Fett partners up more than once in Clone Wars.

I can see the hardcore contingent here who refuse to believe that certain actions in the original films are capable of being interpreted, but like it or not, it's possible. Clearly it is possible or other people (who's opinion is as valid as your own) would not see it a different way.

It's a bit like Tuskens - brutal desert savages or marginalized, misunderstood indigenous people? Capable of being interpreted, like it or not.

Embrace it, don't embrace it - the retcons have begun regardless. And trust me, the ones who embrace it are far more hardcore than those who don't - and no, other opinions are not as valid as their own.

 

[ZedBelkon]

And trust me, the ones who embrace it are far more hardcore than those who don't.

Or perhaps they are just a little more easy going?

I've really enjoyed it, its been a lot of fun after several years of me having no fun with Star Wars.

As for whether it contradicts OT, well, nothing that I have seen in the Mandalorian directly contradicts any Fett lore from the first 6 films or from Clone Wars ( the booby trapped Jango helmet could be very easily explained), maybe it will if you believe that you have some special insight into the characters personality, but that would firmly be personal opinion. The fact that some see it one way and others don't is evidence enough of that.

The biggest problem is that there are always people in any fandom that believe that they know everything about their chosen subject and that they are the bible, absolute, infallible. I get that when it comes to some specifics, but not on a judgement call on the perceived personality of a character based on interpretations of their behaviour in a couple of scenes. That is entirely in the area of personal opinion and conjecture.

Anyway, i had no intention of getting sucked into one of these "fan-debates" that invariably go nowhere or worse still just end up with people name calling. I came here to check out and assess the Empire Boba figure!

 

[Star-Crunch]

I’ve found that I enjoy SW more when I don’t overthink things. I’m all on board with Honorable dad bod Boba Fat

 

[jye4ever]

It's a bit like Tuskens - brutal desert savages or marginalized, misunderstood indigenous people? Capable of being interpreted, like it or not.

Embrace it, don't embrace it - the retcons have begun regardless. And trust me, the ones who embrace it are far more hardcore than those who don't - and no, other opinions are not as valid as their own.

In S1 the bounty hunter did call them filth. So you are in saying that in 2 years they will replace filth with unreasonable lol

 

[ridetofight]

Fett showed major intelligence by not engaging Luke because he knew that prize belonged to Vader and alive not dead.

He could have got greedy and decided to double cross Vader and take Luke.

But he knew had he done that he would be stuck with Luke no one would pay him and he would have Vader on his ass as well.

I love it that he knows when to be greedy and not lol

If anything I would?ve lost respect for him had he tried to take Luke.

I had never thought about their quick "meeting" on bespin through this lens. That is great. That was an awfully quick couple shots fett took, seemed more to warn than to kill. He glances off the landing pad and even partly backs up slave 1's ramp. He's wary, but not worried. The fact that he COULD have ambushed luke at a much closer range but chose not to *i* think makes a good case for your theory. That and the fact he didn't hang back at the sarlacc - he's not "afraid" of luke, he's "afraid" of mucking up his employers plan that he seems awfully passionate about.

I love stuff like this - it's like trying to solve a puzzle - i think these decisions were intentionally made by keirshner or bulloch or morton or wingreen for that matter. All these little nuances. I think there are aspects up to interpretation, but all of the decisions need to be made by the artists that perform them. How does he say that line? What is he trying to invoke? He could have said it hundreds of different ways through cadence or inflection. Why does he shoulder his blaster when firing, why doesn't he shoot from the hip? What is the performer/director describing about them? If someone makes an evidence based case that makes sense, and it's something i didn't notice or consider in my interpretation, i gobble it up. And i'm grateful to do so, because it's another puzzle piece to decode what the intentions were without it being explicitly explained in the film (clunky and obvious exposition hurts me). That's my (meta-?) interpretation of this whole conversation. All these little informing details and why the mandalorian (favreau, or filoni or rodriguez or morisson) was so quick to dismiss them. And why do i find it so jarring and betraying? Am i seeing things others do or don't see? Am i crazy? Yes. But i'm in the nut house, it seems. Well, one ward.

 

[Ramatuelle]

Im finding that a lot of people seem to have hallucinated who Boba Fett was in ESB and RotJ. We only know a few lines of dialogue, and what his costume looked like. All this stuff about him being the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, and being this ruthless calculated amoral badass. None of that was in the movies. Hes smart to have thought Solo would hide the Falcon in the garbage purge, that was clever. Most the other stuff we know is from merchandising. I think a lot of it came from **** they made up for the Topps trading cards.

To be honest we are actually learning about Boba Fett right now for the first time on The Mandalorian. He was always more of a plot device that a character.

Whenever I mention Boba Fett and his popularity my wife just says ?who? to be a jerk.

At the end of the day we really just like Boba Fett because ILM spent an inordinate amount of time developing his costume, and It worked, we all love him

No, no no no!!! Hey, I was one of those oldsters who first saw both ESB and RotJ in the theatres. Fett was interesting, but really kind of a footnote/plot device to me. Not someone I spent tons of time thinking about.

I did NOT start really caring about him until I started reading about him in the now-despised EU. And not only him, but really all of the bounty hunters became people with personalities in the books and comics. All of them have different motivations. Who woulda thunk 4-LOM is a sophisticated jewel thief, for instance? 4-LOM *loves* sparkly rocks! Can relate.

Who would have known that Dengar hates Han Solo so much that he puts his face on everyone he kills who even remotely matches Solo's body type? You didnt find that out in any movie.

The books and comics are where you really, truly get to know the SW universe.

Fett is an amoral badass. I have a feeling Djaren is gonna find that out sooner or later, at least the former part. But I am willing to accept the show's characterization of him, which adds depth to his character.

 

[ridetofight]

No, no no no!!! Hey, I was one of those oldsters who first saw both ESB and RotJ in the theatres. Fett was interesting, but really kind of a footnote/plot device to me. Not someone I spent tons of time thinking about.

I did NOT start really caring about him until I started reading about him in the now-despised EU. And not only him, but really all of the bounty hunters became people with personalities in the books and comics. All of them have different motivations. Who woulda thunk 4-LOM is a sophisticated jewel thief, for instance? 4-LOM *loves* sparkly rocks! Can relate.

Who would have known that Dengar hates Han Solo so much that he puts his face on everyone he kills who even remotely matches Solo's body type? You didnt find that out in any movie.

The books and comics are where you really, truly get to know the SW universe.

Fett is an amoral badass. I have a feeling Djaren is gonna find that out sooner or later, at least the former part. But I am willing to accept the show's characterization of him, which adds depth to his character.

I'm i correct in remembering that they threw out the previous dark horse-era EU to grant some creative elbow room for the sequel trilogy? Cus that's a double kick in the pants for (most?) of the EU fans... Who hung in there all through the 90's...

 

[ZedBelkon]

Ramatuelle, So.......your version of boba fett is the version in non-canonical expanded universe. You know that doesn't make it the "accurate" interpretation though right? Those stories are null and void now.

Filoni and Favreaus isn't based in detail on that, neither does it specifically contradict anything that actually still IS canon.

Now the Mandalorian version of Fett is the canon character. People can choose to dwell on a version of Fett that no longer exists (it's a free world), or a perceived Fett that was based on personal opinion, but the Fett on screen is THE official version of the character.

I can understand wanting to ignore a new iteration of characters, in my mind the sequel trilogy definitely doesn't exist.

 

[Khev]

Fett partners up more than once in Clone Wars.

I can see the hardcore contingent here who refuse to believe that certain actions in the original films are capable of being interpreted, but like it or not, it's possible. Clearly it is possible or other people (who's opinion is as valid as your own) would not see it a different way.

Just going by what is shown on screen in the OT Fett does not appear to play well with others. He certainly doesn't "team up" with any of the other bounty hunters on the Executor bridge and the re-use of IG-88 and Zuckuss props in the Cloud City junk pile can even be interpreted as Fett killing any competitors who get in his way...

 

[Khev]

I'm i correct in remembering that they threw out the previous dark horse-era EU to grant some creative elbow room for the sequel trilogy? Cus that's a double kick in the pants for (most?) of the EU fans... Who hung in there all through the 90's...

That is correct, though it was also confirmed that George himself was going to throw out the established post-ROTJ EU to make way for his own ST as well.

 

[ZedBelkon]

Just going by what is shown on screen in the OT Fett does not appear to play well with others. He certainly doesn't "team up" with any of the other bounty hunters on the Executor bridge and the re-use of IG-88 and Zuckuss props in the Cloud City junk pile can even be interpreted as Fett killing any competitors who get in his way...

You use the terms "does not appear" and "can even be interpreted as".....which is what you perceive, not what actually is. Maybe he loves hanging around in gangs and just didnt like those other 5 guys on the Executor? Maybe he was having a bad day? Perhaps they are parts of other similar model droids on Cloud City? Maybe Lando shot them?

This is exactly my point, in case I am not making it very well, there seems to be a heavy dose of interpreting scenes backed up by non-film eu stories that are not canon. It's the EU that made all of that up, not the star wars films.

Clone Wars is certainly canon, with heavy Lucas involvement, so I would take that character portrayal over eu stories. He did play as part of a team in that series.

 

[Khev]

there seems to be a heavy dose of interpreting scenes backed up by non-film eu stories that are not canon.

Actually no. I've never leaned on the EU for any interpretation of what appears on screen, ever. Most EU I've never even read (Legends or current). And I literally opened my post with "just going by what is shown on screen."

But your statement of "maybe he loves hanging around in gangs" is a prime example of making something up out of thin air that has no on-screen correlation as opposed to what those of us are piecing together to the contrary.

For the record, as much as I recognize that TM's Fett in Mando is a reinterpretation of the character (especially if he turns out to truly be "good" or "honorable") I'm not saying that he can't be appreciated just as much or more than how he was originally portrayed, or that he can't be accepted as a valid reinterpretation. I also get that if anyone was introduced to the character *after* ROTJ that just his performance in that movie alone could have easily prompted them to write him off as a dope that you don't think too much about until AOTC/ESB SE and TCW reinvented him and that that latter would then be the basis for all interpretations from that point on. That's certainly what George would prefer at least.

 

[ZedBelkon]

My assertion that maybe he likes working in teams is not made up at all, it is referencing his storylines in the Clone Wars series where he does so more than once. In one set of episodes he is working alongside Aurra Sing and Bossk for example. It is therefore much more of a stretch to describe him as a loner based on the screen depictions of Fett. Only EU backs up that interpretation of Fett's character. Nothing in the OT explicitly shows that.

Do people here not watch and accept the fleshing out of Boba in the Clone Wars series? He does not read like the character many are describing here.

When I saw him in Mando his behaviour didn't strike me as odd at all, so I'm just wondering if most commenting are not as familiar with his other storylines and his greater character development in Clone Wars?