The Mandalorian Spoiler Thread

[FifthView]

Looks like it. I wonder/hope this will set something else up later. But...doubt it.

I think that Cara Dune is supposed to show up again in a couple later episodes, so ....

I'm wondering if we'll get some more episodes pairing Mando up with various people, then having them all come together near the end of the season.

 

[Devor]

I feel as if that could have been done without devoting a whole episode to the familiar trope of stranger riding into town to save the helpless folk from local baddies.

Who would you pick as an enemy? If the enemy were bounty hunters, then the character would know at the start of the episode that he couldn't leave the child, and we wouldn't have time to explore the character's growth moment. I get the impression we'll be seeing more storm troopers soon. The audience would need more time to set up rebellion soldiers as an enemy. I think a local group makes the most sense, although I suppose it could've been a planet he already had ties to, but they really want to play it slow on this character's reveal.

 

[Steerpike]

I feel as if that could have been done without devoting a whole episode to the familiar trope of stranger riding into town to save the helpless folk from local baddies.

I knew right away it was going to be a "Seven Samurai" sort of episode. Seems fine, considering Kurosawa's impact on Star Wars.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I’m reminded of old westerns, something like Paladin. Insert any roaming hero, really.

 

[Steerpike]

I’m reminded of old westerns, something like Paladin. Insert any roaming hero, really.

I think Seven Samurai predates that show as well. The basic plot is villagers beset by a group of thugs from the mountains near the village. They send some of their fellow villagers out to hire people to help. The seven samurai are hired, come back, teach the villagers to fight so they can defend themselves when the next attack comes (and of course the samurai help too). It's basically the exact same plot. Seven Samurai was adapted as the western The Magnificent Seven for U.S. audiences.

Kurosawa, who directed Seven Samurai, was an influence on George Lucas. Lucas has talked about the influence The Hidden Fortress had on him. That starred Toshiro Mifune, who was also in Seven Samurai.

Given all of the above, I figured the Mandalorian episode was probably a conscious nod to Kurosawa and his influence on Star Wars.

 

[Steerpike]

Just after I posted, I found this article: 'The Mandalorian' star Pedro Pascal channeled Han Solo and Clint Eastwood for Disney+

The guy playing the Mandalorian talks about the influence:

“The character is very much built on the iconic presence of the Man With No Name in the Sergio Leone movies, played by Clint Eastwood, [and] the lone samurai in Akira Kurosawa,” he said. “It’s aesthetically and very, very much narratively built in that kind of iconic lone gunslinger/sword-wielder.”

He mentions Sergio Leone's movies, as well as Kurosawa, but it is worth noting that Leone's "Man with No Name" films were directly taken from Kurosawa. "Fistfull of Dollars" is a remake (that can be tracked scene by scene) of Kurosawa's film "Yojimbo" (incidentally, starring Mifune again). Kurosawa actually sued over Yojimbo/Fistfull of Dollars and won.

Not that this is a critique of any of the films--I like them all, and everything has inspiration (though Leone walked too close to the line between inspiration and ripoff). Kurosawa himself pointed to American writer Dashiell Hammett as an inspiration for Yojimbo.

It does, however, make it seem likely to me that the writers on The Mandalorian were going with a Kurosawa homage.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

The whole thing is a nod to westerns as well, which Star Wars borrowed from, there is no one influence here. The lone gunfighter image along with bounty hunting goes back to the 1860’s and early 1900’s dime novels. Kurosawa himself was influenced by westerns and vice versa. But then I’ve never been a fan of Seven Samurai nor the Magnificent Seven, for whatever that’s worth. Nor Fistfull of Dollars, for that matter. I put that damned near at the bottom of Eastwood cowboy flicks.

I should also note the orc attack on humans to start episode 4, heh heh. The Mandalorian is a mashup of lots of things, and so far, it’s adequately done but it’s not impressing me. Standard stuff, the only thing which keeps me watching is the “cool” factor and hope for something more.

I think Seven Samurai predates that show as well. The basic plot is villagers beset by a group of thugs from the mountains near the village. They send some of their fellow villagers out to hire people to help. The seven samurai are hired, come back, teach the villagers to fight so they can defend themselves when the next attack comes (and of course the samurai help too). It's basically the exact same plot. Seven Samurai was adapted as the western The Magnificent Seven for U.S. audiences.

Kurosawa, who directed Seven Samurai, was an influence on George Lucas. Lucas has talked about the influence The Hidden Fortress had on him. That starred Toshiro Mifune, who was also in Seven Samurai.

Given all of the above, I figured the Mandalorian episode was probably a conscious nod to Kurosawa and his influence on Star Wars.

 

[FifthView]

For me, whether the choices are explainable is not the point. Influences can be mapped but...so what? Heh. Nothing new under the sun; so, everything will have influences. The good, the bad, and the merely eh?

I put off watching episode 5, until tomorrow probably, so here's fingers crossed.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

Spoiler

 

[Demesnedenoir]

OK, I don’t love the series, but it’s good and shows potential, but the short format and episodic feel leaves me a bit flat.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

Mando has killed two people with doors, and I love it.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Yes, but how do the doors feel about this? I mean, lawsuits for PTSD could be incoming and he might have to pay off the doors’ lawyers by selling his armor...

Mando has killed two people with doors, and I love it.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

Yes, but how do the doors feel about this? I mean, lawsuits for PTSD could be incoming and he might have to pay off the doors’ lawyers by selling his armor...

They like it. They like being portals to the afterlife. Doors are dicks.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

All and all the season was good, better than most crap available on tv for sure. It doesn't hurt having Oberyn Martell and John Wayne's Grandson in the suit of armor, heh heh.

 

[Pemry Janes]

I very much enjoyed the series, though there was one moment where I was left scratching my head. It's when the bad guy has them in a dead to rights, and he gives them until nightfall?

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Yeah, that is a standout moment no matter how the writing tries to brush it off, LOL. I have additional eye rolling issues, but it was a fun show.

I very much enjoyed the series, though there was one moment where I was left scratching my head. It's when the bad guy has them in a dead to rights, and he gives them until nightfall?

 

[FifthView]

Oddly for me, I never finished watching it. Stopped after ep. 4 I think. Dunno. Became distracted, watching other things, and never felt much desire to complete Mandalorian. I'll finish it some day maybe.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I enjoyed it, but kind of like the Witcher, it just isn’t compelling me to keep watching. But then, I finished watching Sons of Anarchy many years after the show was over, heh heh.

Oddly for me, I never finished watching it. Stopped after ep. 4 I think. Dunno. Became distracted, watching other things, and never felt much desire to complete Mandalorian. I'll finish it some day maybe.

 

[skip.knox]

Just binged the whole thing off a free week from Disney and am baffled by the great reviews. I thought the characters were limp stereotypes, with inconsistencies trotted out whenever the plot needed it. And hoo boy did the plot need it. Holes big enough to ride a bantha through. Stuff the writers don't even bother to pretend to justify, like a gigantic walker that just hangs around a bunch of small-time crooks. Who the heck was driving that thing? Why did it pause short of the trap? Who knows? Who cares? Bam! Bam! The river of lava was silly enough, but then our heroes are surprised when the boat keeps moving. Hey guys, it's a river; it moves; gravity; you may have heard of it. And who connects a sewage system big enough to serve all Paris to *lava*?

Most of the acting was wooden and the writing was ... well, to quote a certain someone, you can type this stuff but you can't say it. Pacing was weird, the orchestration in the earlier episodes sounded like it was from a 50s pirate movie and it was mixed low. I just, I can't figure it. Highlight of all eight episodes was those two speeder storm troopers. The dialog was snappy, delivery was good, and for once it didn't sound like someone was writing something out of the Scarlet Pimpernel (all proper props to the baroness).

Anyway, I'm glad other folks enjoyed it. The sets were good.

Me, I'm glad I didn't pay retail.

 

[Yora]

Do you like Star Wars?