Next up... Episode 7 Star Wars: The Return of Jar-Jar and the Ewoks

[Stella]

I love the novels, it's one of the reasons I loathe the Prequels so much because they ignored some canon that the books had established, namely, Boba Fett's history. His was so awesome until the Prequels got hold of him. Anyway, I seriously doubt any of the EU material will make it to film. Lucas himself has stated (no link to back up, sorry) that the only EU book he considers canon is Shadows of the Empire. The SW official site has a list of 'canon tiers', which basically gives him the ability to rewrite anything he wants, however he wants.

I absolutely hate that. I think if he gave license for these people to write stories in his world he should respect them enough to give better credibility. I get that it's his baby, but his determination to ne the very last word in SW lore drives me nuts, especially when there are so many better writers. Zahn and Michael A Stackpole, et all, (except you KJA with your weird Jedi Academy shit).

There was always rumours about 7  8 and 9 being about Leia becoming a Jedi, god help us if that's so.

I just wish they'd leave it alone. Clearly, they learned nothing from the Prequels. The only saving grace here is that someone else is producing and at least for the moment, Lucas is only on in an advisory capacity, which gives hope that they may hire someone with talent to handle the screenplay.

[Chris Brady]

Boba Fett did nothing of note in any of the original films.  Except die ingloriously in Return of The Jedi.

Also, Lucas has always said that everything can be canon unless it contradicts the movies.  And sadly, Zahn's wonderful books (Although they kept a few things, like the Chiss race) are now invalid.

[Stella]

No, but according to the books, he doesn't die, and the story of his escape is really exciting! Book!Fett is a serious bamf.

Lucas has stated he's never read any of the books.  Except SOTE, I presume. Shame. He could learn something.

Here's a good off site link which compiles some quotes of what he thinks of canon.

This quote pretty much seals any hope of getting any book canon to screen:

LUCAS:  And now there have been novels about the events after Episode VI, which isn't at all what I would have done with it. The Star Wars story is really the tragedy of Darth Vader. That is the story. Once Vader dies, he doesn't come back to life, the Emperor doesn't get cloned and Luke doesn't get married..."

lol, in that same quote he also swears there will be no more films .. 

[Silverfyre]

Boba Fett did nothing of note in any of the original films.  Except die ingloriously in Return of The Jedi.

Also, Lucas has always said that everything can be canon unless it contradicts the movies.  And sadly, Zahn's wonderful books (Although they kept a few things, like the Chiss race) are now invalid.

Boba Fett did nothing of note in the original films?  Did you watch the same films I did?  There is the whole tracking down Solo and crew for the Empire and turning him in to Jabba the Hutt.  He proved to be an intriguing character who showed just how cunning the bounty hunters were in the original trilogy.  I love me some Fett.

[LunarSage]

He did get taken out like a punk in a comic relief scene on Tattooine.  I think what it was is that fans were expecting Boba to be really badass in that fight.  Instead he got owned by a half blind Han Solo who didn't even realize he was there.  It's hard to live that down.

I did like the Robot Chicken scenes where they joked about that stuff, though.

[Stella]

Robot chicken. <3

[LunarSage]

Genuinely... no offense intended to Fett fans.  This is funny stuff.

Robot Chicken: Going Out Like a Punk

[Stella]

I think the only thing I love more than Star Wars is a good SW parody. My favourite Robot Chicken moment has to be the little mouse living inside the Death Star droid. I laugh so hard I cry whenever I see that.

[Silverfyre]

I love a good parody myself. That scene makes me laugh every time.  I always felt bad for that poor janitor who was always cleaning up the corpses that plummeted from above...

[Stella]

I forgot about him! Oh, I so need to see these again...!

[Chris Brady]

Boba Fett did nothing of note in the original films?  Did you watch the same films I did?  There is the whole tracking down Solo and crew for the Empire and turning him in to Jabba the Hutt.  He proved to be an intriguing character who showed just how cunning the bounty hunters were in the original trilogy.  I love me some Fett.

Don't get me wrong I love Boba Fett, I happen to think he's awesome (more so than Darth Vader, especially after the wussification of the prequels inflicted on him.)  But really what did he do on screen?  He was better in the comics.

[TheGlyphstone]

He was ominous. Fett didn't do a whole lot on-screen except deliver Han and get kicked into the Sarlaac pit, but he still became a fan favorite character. When Vader is briefing the bounty hunters in ESB, he stops to specifically tell Fett 'No Disintegrations'. This is a great way to subtly tell the audience a few things about Boba Fett...he's a successful bounty hunter who's done work for the Empire before, and he's so ruthless Darth Vader has to warn him to hold back. When the Falcon+Co. make their daring escape by pretending to be space trash and gluing themselves to the hull of the Star Destroyer (do the Empire seriously not install windows?), Fett is smart enough to figure out their plan and follow them to Bespin. He never removes his helmet, earning a bit of the same 'faceless evil' cred that Vader himself got...and then he gets taken out like a punk during the desert fight scene.

[Stella]

^ Well put. And it's another reason why seeing what he looks like beneath his helmet was so disappointing in the Prequels. It was so much better when he was a faceless mystery. It made him more dangerous and enigmatic ... plus, you could imagine what he looked like yourself and indulge your own fantasties. :p

[Oniya]

There was fanfic written about how he was bad-ass enough to escape the Sarlaac.

[TheGlyphstone]

There was fanfic written about how he was bad-ass enough to escape the Sarlaac.

There's canon material written about how he was bad-ass enough to escape the Sarlaac.

[Callie Del Noire]

There's canon material written about how he was bad-ass enough to escape the Sarlaac.

'

That is the one where he comes back to put Slave 1 over the pit and gives it a tan huh?

[ReijiTabibito]

I always thought he blew up his jetpack to escape.

To be fair, though, Fett once managed to, through wit and will and his armor, battle Vader and survive.

[TheGlyphstone]

'

That is the one where he comes back to put Slave 1 over the pit and gives it a tan huh?

Never heard about that story, but if I remember right, it involved using his jetpack and weapons to build a bomb of some sort that catapulted him out of the pit and killed the Sarlaac in the process.

[Will]

Don't get me wrong I love Boba Fett, I happen to think he's awesome (more so than Darth Vader, especially after the wussification of the prequels inflicted on him.)  But really what did he do on screen?  He was better in the comics.

He hid in the trash after the Imperial fleet left Hoth, figuring that Han would do something similar, and then followed him to Bespin.  I guess that might not be impressive in terms of fighting, or talking, or whatever, but it's pretty crucial to the plot, and it shows that he's incredibly competent and not someone you want looking for you.  And it did happen on screen.

[Stella]

Never heard about that story, but if I remember right, it involved using his jetpack and weapons to build a bomb of some sort that catapulted him out of the pit and killed the Sarlaac in the process.

Pretty much. He was secured against the walls and the jetpack wasn't supposed to be used in such close quarters, so when he flexed down and hit the switch to activate ... kaboom. And then he was picked up on the surface by Dengar by happy coincidence.

That story is so fucking well written though. Fett has these psychological debates with Sarlacci consciousnesses ... It's very cool.

[LunarSage]

He hid in the trash after the Imperial fleet left Hoth, figuring that Han would do something similar, and then followed him to Bespin.  I guess that might not be impressive in terms of fighting, or talking, or whatever, but it's pretty crucial to the plot, and it shows that he's incredibly competent and not someone you want looking for you.  And it did happen on screen.

Most folks seem to equate 'badass' with being very proficient in combat, though... so I can see why some people are mystified by Boba's popularity if based solely on his movie appearances.

[TheGlyphstone]

Most folks seem to equate 'badass' with being very proficient in combat, though... so I can see why some people are mystified by Boba's popularity if based solely on his movie appearances.

Yeah, being beaten by a flailing blind guy with a stick doesn't do much to build your badass combat cred.

[Chris Brady]

He hid in the trash after the Imperial fleet left Hoth, figuring that Han would do something similar, and then followed him to Bespin.  I guess that might not be impressive in terms of fighting, or talking, or whatever, but it's pretty crucial to the plot, and it shows that he's incredibly competent and not someone you want looking for you.  And it did happen on screen.

It is, and it was one of the things that I picked up on, when I saw ESB in the late 80's.  (I was late to the SW party, what can I say?)

Yeah, being beaten by a flailing blind guy with a stick doesn't do much to build your badass combat cred.

This pissed me off in ROTJ.  Such a cool character removed from the movie.

In the old WEG RPG books, they brought out a Bounty Hunter book, detailing all sorts of things about the rules and life style, and in one of the little short story blurbs they recemented the badassness of Mr. Fett.  It went something like this, and told by adjunct or aide:

Boba Fett walks into a Moff's office dragging a bloody and bleeding body of a space pirate (I think) and demands the bounty of a million credits.  The Moff blusters about how the body is ruining his carpet and how this pirate isn't worth that much.

Boba pulls out a Thermal Detonator, and activates, placing it on the desk.  Then says, "Two Million."

Again, the Moff tries to bluster his way out of it, but everyone, except the Bounty Hunter is too scared to do anything.  Boba counters with, "Four million."

By now the little green light on the most dangerous explosive in the SW has changed from a slow pulsing to a slightly faster yellow, and everyone is watching, waiting, terrified that it'll change from yellow to red, seconds before they're all blown up.  The Moff finally breaks and gives Boba the 4 million credits he demanded, who then picks up the detonator, casually switches it off and walks out.  The body left behind in the office.

The Moff's Aide who was recanting this story, immediately requested a transfer to a battle cruiser, because getting shot at in space was safer than having to deal with Fett again.

[TheGlyphstone]

A neat story, though it is rather obviously a retread of the "My Kind of Scum' scene from RotJ in a different wrapper.

My favorite rendition/depiction of Boba Fett is the one from Tales of the Bounty Hunters. The way he hates spice (and by extension, Han for being willing to smuggle it), and his rigidly Lawful attitude when he's arguing with Leia, up to the bit at the end where he's old and decrepit and staring down his arch-enemy in a Mexican Standoff, was the best look inside Boba's head I'd ever read. It made him a lot more complex without spoiling his ominous mystique, the way the prequel trilogies did by making him Inigo Montoya IN SPAAAACE.

[Moraline]

I really enjoyed the story line from the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. While I didn't like the game itself very much. It was all rather just sort of okay. I did very much enjoy the story and the time period. I would like to see some movies made around that. Too bad the game is completely dead now. ((Biggest MMO crash I have seen in the last several years by the way.))