Star Wars: Andor (September 21st, 2022)

[Wor-Gar]

more better.

That's all you had to say.

 

[GaryPool]

That's all you had to say.

Grammatical syntax I care for not.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Must be brilliant, playing a serious character, in a show with excellent dialogue. Especially after being in those silly superhero movies playing a comic relief character.

Stellan is an incredible actor when given the right material to portray.

I wish he turned down Marvel. Because when you look at Andor, Chernobyl and Good Will Hunting you see what he is capable of.

Same for Mads. I wish he turned down Harry Potter, because when you see him in Another Round, Riders of Justice and Hannibal, you see him put in work that makes you take a step back and realise you're witnessing greatness.

 

[Wor-Gar]

He's done a lot of these "little" roles in some huge franchises -- MCU, Pirates -- smartly to open his name to those kinds of lists. Hell, he would have made an awesome villainous pirate himself to carry a movie like Stranger Tides.

I'm so happy that this role will open him up even further to getting more substantial parts in these kinds of movies.

He'd make a great Bond villain too.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I like to think of his scenes with Daniel Craig in Dragon Tattoo as Bond scenes.

 

[GaryPool]

Stellan is an incredible actor when given the right material to portray.

I wish he turned down Marvel. Because when you look at Andor, Chernobyl and Good Will Hunting you see what he is capable of.

Same for Mads. I wish he turned down Harry Potter, because when you see him in Another Round, Riders of Justice and Hannibal, you see him put in work that makes you take a step back and realise you're witnessing greatness.

Mads best role by far is in The Hunt, if you've not watched it definitely give it a shot, it's heart wrenching.

 

[Sassafras]

I've got one episode left of this and I've gone from why the F is there an Andor show to please let there be more Andor shows. It's really broadening the great aspect of political and personal strife of what the Rebels have to do to take down a Dictatorial Empire and everything is extremely well done for it. Definitely wanting more of this type of Star Wars. The Imperial board meetings are fantastic.

In Comparison Obi-Wan was the biggest steaming pile of freshly ground Bantha maneur. How does a show like Obi-Wan look so awful, be scipted terribly, have nothing of interest in it, and a show like Andor have great tension, scriptings, setting etc.

Oh well.

Had the impression that the Ob-Wan production was messy; that for a long time it was supposed to be a movie; then not, then more floundering around...from that standpoint suppose we're lucky there's anything cohesive at all.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Mads best role by far is in The Hunt, if you've not watched it definitely give it a shot, it's heart wrenching.

I've seen everything he does. He's up there with Christian Bale where I don't miss anything he does.

I do wish I missed Thor 4 though. He was pretty great in it, but DAMN.

 

[choombaz]

Today is link day for some reason …

https://www.ign.com/articles/why-star-wars-andor-wont-use-ilms-volume-digital-sets

 

[GaryPool]

Just watched episode 11. DAMN. What a beautiful shot on the beach, and what an amazing sequence with the tractor beam.

Everyone in this show needs to take a bow. Really looking forward to see how the last episode wraps up. Even more excited to find out 12 more episodes are going to be made leading up to the events of Rogue One.

These two seasons as companion pieces to Rogue One will really heighten and strengthen it. I have to admit, despite it being my second favourite film at the time of watching when it released I wasn't exactly won over by Andor, I actually found him quite grating him being so hell bent and having a chip on his shoulder with everything he does and no compromise. We'd never really seen in Star Wars before the lengths that normal people went to to help the rebellion, though. So getting this back story really alleviates those issues I had.

If we can get more storytelling like this which serves the point of the Star Wars story we're in for a treat. Funnily enough the show seemingly hasn't had any review bombings or negative fan backlash regarding certain characters... hmm, I wonder if it's because if something is well written and acted without being dumb people will like it? :O

 

[jaztermareal]

Just watched episode 11. DAMN. What a beautiful shot on the beach, and what an amazing sequence with the tractor beam.

Everyone in this show needs to take a bow. Really looking forward to see how the last episode wraps up. Even more excited to find out 12 more episodes are going to be made leading up to the events of Rogue One.

These two seasons as companion pieces to Rogue One will really heighten and strengthen it. I have to admit, despite it being my second favourite film at the time of watching when it released I wasn't exactly won over by Andor, I actually found him quite grating him being so hell bent and having a chip on his shoulder with everything he does and no compromise. We'd never really seen in Star Wars before the lengths that normal people went to to help the rebellion, though. So getting this back story really alleviates those issues I had.

If we can get more storytelling like this which serves the point of the Star Wars story we're in for a treat. Funnily enough the show seemingly hasn't had any review bombings or negative fan backlash regarding certain characters... hmm, I wonder if it's because if something is well written and acted without being dumb people will like it? :O

Exactly. A show with a diverse cast full of strong women and even a same sex couple and yet no headlines about how far right manbabies are trying to destroy it.

It proves that actually the fanbase is not toxic but rather it is united in love when shows and movies like Mandalorian, Rogue One and Andor come along.

All the hate for the sequel trilogy, Kenobi and BOBF is almost entirely valid criticism of poor product. Folk do not dislike Rose Tico because "woman" or "Asian", they dislike the writing of the character and the attempts to make a beautiful woman as unattractive as possible with that wardrobe and hair styling. People did not dislike Finn because "black" but because what started out as the most interesting character with so much potential got turned into slapstick comedy relief then was sidelined for the rest of the trilogy.

I said it before and will say it again. I would love for the sequel trilogy cast to return for a complete remake of the trilogy with entirely new story, better writers and an actual outline/plan for where the story goes.

 

[GaryPool]

Exactly. A show with a diverse cast full of strong women and even a same sex couple and yet no headlines about how far right manbabies are trying to destroy it.

It proves that actually the fanbase is not toxic but rather it is united in love when shows and movies like Mandalorian, Rogue One and Andor come along.

All the hate for the sequel trilogy, Kenobi and BOBF is almost entirely valid criticism of poor product. Folk do not dislike Rose Tico because "woman" or "Asian", they dislike the writing of the character and the attempts to make a beautiful woman as unattractive as possible with that wardrobe and hair styling. People did not dislike Finn because "black" but because what started out as the most interesting character with so much potential got turned into slapstick comedy relief then was sidelined for the rest of the trilogy.

I said it before and will say it again. I would love for the sequel trilogy cast to return for a complete remake of the trilogy with entirely new story, better writers and an actual outline/plan for where the story goes.

Agreed.

You know, had the new trilogy been written by someone like Tony Gilroy even if it was the same plot near enough, we would have been in for a treat, because actually there were some great surface level themes of the first film in particular that just weren't explored at all in favour of having modern day politics (read as modern discourse being echoed at an on the nose level within the film) shoved in as well as a whole slew of 'Easter Eggs' and call-backs.

With Kylo Ren and his expectancy to live up to Vader in spite of his turmoil, Finn questioning his role in the Empire and the guilt he bares with what he's done, Rey's isolationism and being called to do something more than where you come from should allow you to etc. There's a lot of great themes to explore with actual interesting characters, I really don't think the premise was the problem it 100% was the way the story was told.

What they did with Finn in ep. 8 in particular was criminal. Then again it's easy for companies to throw fans voices as an 'ism' to downplay their fumblings, and to amplify the few voices that are genuinely awful as a guise to dispel the rest. I doubt the success of Andor will show people in positions this, though.

At the same time I sort of don't care, I in all likelihood will never return to watch Book of Boba or the new trilogy or Obi-Wan again. It's just a shame with what could have been, they had these great chances to expand on some great stories and absolutely chucked them into the dirt and then blames audiences for it all.

 

[ScoutingForToys]

Stellan is an incredible actor when given the right material to portray.

I wish he turned down Marvel. Because when you look at Andor, Chernobyl and Good Will Hunting you see what he is capable of.

Same for Mads. I wish he turned down Harry Potter, because when you see him in Another Round, Riders of Justice and Hannibal, you see him put in work that makes you take a step back and realise you're witnessing greatness.

Stellan and Mads are both terrific actors. I think it's probably fair to say that Mads has typically had better roles or more roles that give him the opportunity to show of his acting skills (thinking more of US roles rather than his Danish roles).
I'd love to see Stellan get more dramatic roles.

He'd make a great Bond villain too.

Very good shout, Stellan would be a stellar Bond villain.

 

[choombaz]

Stellan and Mads are both terrific actors. I think it's probably fair to say that Mads has typically had better roles or more roles that give him the opportunity to show of his acting skills (thinking more of US roles rather than his Danish roles).
I'd love to see Stellan get more dramatic roles.

Oh no, Skarsgard has had a massive varied career working steadily since the seventies, tbh I don’t think I’ve seen any of the films he did with Lars von Trier which I must rectify, but he’s great in the original version of Insomnia (far better than Nolan’s remake), he’s in Ronin and Hunt For Red October plus as someone mentioned he’s amazing in Good Will Hunting.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I think my favourite role of his aside from Luthen is Good Will Hunting. I had lecturers like him in college.

 

[ZE_501]

Gyn wakes up in the cell, water drips on her head, she angrily wipes it off while staring at the alien opposite her. The way that's edited and acted, it feels like she's pissed at the alien because it made the water drop on her head, like it's its salvia or something. It's just weird.

A couple of things: upon first viewing I just assumed she didn't like her snoring cellmate, fair enough and very simple. But in the novelization, the alien in question was lice-ridden and had threatened Jyn's life, so she had even more reason to dislike her. Perhaps something was lost in the reshoots but I was happy enough with my original reading of the scene.

Uncanny Tarkin and AARP Vader were the only major detractors for me.

AARP ... ?

 

[Kebron]

It proves that actually the fanbase is not toxic but rather it is united in love when shows and movies like Mandalorian, Rogue One and Andor come along.

It's not the dislike of the writing that makes them toxic. It's the attacks on actors who portrayed the characters. It's the attacks on people who did like the other shows. The fanbase is still very toxic, but it's not the only fanbase that is that way.

 

[goatchumby]

AARP ... ?

James Earl Jones' VO in Rogue One. Vader's not the spring chicken that he used to be

Didn't derail the film (which was great), it was just...noticeable.

 

[choombaz]

AARP ... ?

This was the first thing that came to my mind …

 

[JAWS]

I stopped watching halfway through the second episode because I wasn't feeling it and thought that HOTD was so much better. Then HOTD jumped the shark with that catastrophic recast five episodes in prompting me to give Andor another chance and thank God I did!

I really enjoyed episode 1. I struggled with the 2nd also. Big reason why I did not return right away. It was really well made but was tired of new shows expanding two episodes worth of material over 5 or 6 episodes. I thought that is where Andor was going.

Anyways I watched 3 and 4 tonight.

I’m back in.

I thought the escape in 3 was better than most any other action scene in any of the SW D+ shows.

I can’t get over the quality of acting, directing, writing, and cinematic feel this show has over all the other SW shows also. Did they cut the budget of all the other shows and give it to this one?

And the imperials with their English accents… I’m in SW heaven