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Kill All Robots If you want better Star Wars prequels

#1 User is offline   snaithbert Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 02:46 PM

Okay, I think I've figured out what really takes the prequels from merely irritating to downright painful and wince-inducing.

It's the robots.

Throughout the prequel films, the robots are mostly unbearable.

It started in Phantom Menace, when they had that award ceremony for R2D2, which is basically like having an award ceremony for your toaster when it toasts your bread really well.

Then in Attack of the Clones, C3PO stunk up the joint with his stupid one liners ("this is such a drag") and clowny antics.

Now in Revenge of the Sith, there are robots all over the GD place and they're all utterly annoying. From the insulted robot who goes "you're welcome!" when General Coughbot grabs the lightsaber out of his hand, to the baby delivery robot who doesn't even speak the same language as his patient, to the doctor robot who is somehow able to diagnose a case of "broken heart" in the case of Padme.

Not to mention R2D2, who is now somehow as agile as a gymnast, capable of jumping around, catching things, flying, etc. And also he screams a lot, which frankly, is something I might not program my robot to do.

Then there's the battle droids who use binoculars and actually moan when they're destroyed. I'm no robot designer, but why would you bother adding a moaning function to your robot when it gets killed? Doesn't that seem like a rather pointless waste of the Republic's tax credits?

I saw the Revenge movie the other day and I think it's safe to say that I cringed almost every time a robot was onscreen. Even during the final battle, when Anakin and Obi wan were fighting, and now and then a robot would look up with a "HUH??" type exp​ression like it couldn't believe what it was seeing. Seems like if you design a robot, you pretty much design it to keep working no matter what, you don't add a "stop and look at interesting stuff" function. A minor point I grant you, but still- annoying.

Of course robots aren't the only problem of the prequels (far from it actually) but after thinking about it, I've come to realize that the robots of the prequel trilogy really drag the movies down. They're clowns, idiots, totally impractical and very much serve to remind you that you're in a theater, watching a bad movie.

Frankly I'm surprise Lucas didn't toss in a breakdancing robot, just for good measure.
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#2 User is offline   Grand Moff Lebowski Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 02:50 PM

Absolutely.

Robots be-gone!
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#3 User is offline   jariten Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 03:59 PM

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It started in Phantom Menace, when they had that award ceremony for R2D2, which is basically like having an award ceremony for your toaster when it toasts your bread really well...


...and then saved your life.
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#4 User is offline   snaithbert Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 04:32 PM

QUOTE (jariten @ May 22 2005, 03:59 PM)
...and then saved your life.


I've never understood that arguement.

R2D2 just did what he was programmed to do, fix broken stuff.

He didn't save anyone's life on purpose, he was just doing his job.

In the star wars universe, people seem to treat robots like tools for the most part, disregarding them, brushing them off, etc.

Except in this case a robot gets an award for doing what it was programmed for.

Saving lives or not- that doesn't deserve an award.

Certainly the machine will never know the difference.

It's just yet another lame Lucas plot device, to give R2D2 a little screen time.

Frankly I'm amazed he didn't include a scene where C3PO takes a bullet for Anakin and they put him in the robot hall of fame.

This post has been edited by snaithbert: 22 May 2005 - 04:32 PM

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#5 User is offline   Lord Melkor Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 04:40 PM

But robots in Star Wars have personalities!

Just look at Threepio!
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#6 User is offline   jariten Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 04:47 PM

I think thats it. Lucas looks for opportunites to make these pieces of tin seem as warm as possible. While I think you've got a valid complaint snaithbert, I do like that scene and it helps to establish R2 as being a droid in a special emotional league of his own.
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#7 User is offline   SPQR Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 05:25 PM

They have become Wyle E. Coyotesque cartoonish villains. They are the crutch of comic relief that have been leaned upon too often. The droids and robots are pure camp pop culture crap...
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#8 User is offline   snaithbert Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 05:35 PM

QUOTE (Lord Melkor @ May 22 2005, 04:40 PM)
But robots in Star Wars have personalities!

Just look at Threepio!


True, but Threepio and Artoo are really the ONLY robots in the whole saga that have personalities.

I mean beyond going "roger roger" and moaning when you get chopped in half, etc.

In any case I'm not against giving a robot an award per se.

But in this case it was done with Lucas' typical "bull in a china shop" approach.

The words "HEY LOOK EVERYONE IT'S R2D2" might as well have been flashing on the screen.
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#9 User is offline   SPQR Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 05:45 PM

R2 got jet packs, and a MacGuyver sense of resourcefulness when getting out of hairy situations. Yoda became a snarling pinball ninja.

They were both upgraded to suit kids' desire for blatant video game style heroics.
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#10 User is offline   jariten Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 05:51 PM

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True, but Threepio and Artoo are really the ONLY robots in the whole saga that have personalities


well yes but, isnt that the idea?
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Posted 22 May 2005 - 06:04 PM

IG-88 was a robot with potential, instead they create Grievous the robot with black lung (must have been contracted during his slave labor deep digs in the spice mines)
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#12 User is offline   BadKarma Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 06:12 PM

QUOTE (snaithbert @ May 22 2005, 11:35 PM)
The words "HEY LOOK EVERYONE IT'S R2D2" might as well have been flashing on the screen.


Wasn't that true of nearly everything in the prequels though? Shoe-horn in as much OT stuff as we can to make the link, cos we sure aren't going to match the storylines or emotion or feeling of the originals, so visuals is all we got left!!
I'd have been quite happy if R2 and 3PO didn't feature in the PT at all.. and don't even start me on Chewie's inclusion in RotS, no matter how small. How F'ing tiny is this galaxy anyway that all these people keep bumping into each other? I bet it's that damn blood disease causing it all!

My suggestion for the next DVD release using some CGI to insert a made up Ewan over all Alec Guiness' scenes...
OWK - "I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid before... *pause* this one however saved mine and my friends lives and I stood by and watched him get an award, and then he turns up here 30 years later with you Luke. How's that for F'ing luck?!!! *Alec Guiness eye glint moment*"
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#13 User is offline   SPQR Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 06:21 PM

Sir Alec caught Alzheimer's on the salt mines of Kessel...
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#14 User is offline   snaithbert Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 06:53 PM

QUOTE (jariten @ May 22 2005, 05:51 PM)
well yes but, isnt that the idea?


I take back what I said.

R2D2 and C3PO are NOT the only robots with personalities in the entire saga.

That may have been the idea back in 1977, but by 2005 every single robot in the Star Wars universe makes jokes, funny noises, can do amazing acrobatics, etc.

Guess how special that makes R2D2 and C3PO seem by comparison.

Answer: not too much.

The robots of star wars are now like the animals on the flintstones.

They makes wisecracks and provide comic relief.

Except unlike the flintstones- it's not funny.

In any case my point here was to say that Lucas has gone too far and made every single robot totally over the top. As such, the robots who are SUPPOSED to be over the top just seem like more of the same.

In the OT, R2D2 and C3PO stood out.

In the PT, they're as obnoxious as all the other robots.
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#15 User is offline   floppydisk Icon

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Posted 22 May 2005 - 07:06 PM

QUOTE (Lord Melkor @ May 22 2005, 04:40 PM)
But robots in Star Wars have personalities!

Just look at Threepio!

True, and that's what I like about them. But if you look in the PT compared to the OT, they're given far too little screen time, and when they're there, they're not showing off they're personalities, just doing 3 stooges style comedy. I say that because the 3 stooges aren't funny, and neither are the robots in the PT.
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