Does anyone have any stories as to how Empire of Dying Suns has affected them personally?
According to the DVD commentary Sins of a Solar Empire was almost shot down by Pinewood Studios executives when it was first proposed. It was apparently the success of Season 5 of Empire of Dying Suns that convinced people to consider production....If my all time favorite TV show never aired then my all time favorite movie, Sins of a Solar Empire, would never air as well![]()
What effect did Empire of Dying Suns (BBC-TV) have on the prequel trilogy of the Star Wars franchise?
None. Seriously, the people who write those articles - have they actually watched the prequels? Or Dying Suns, for that matter? I really don't see the comparisons. Hero, Crisis and Sith form a rather personal story, telling the story of the fall of Anakin, with the Clone Wars mostly in the background; Dying Suns is intensely political, intensely focused on its commentaries on empire.
People read too much into KOTOR - that's not where Lucas is focused, these days. He's much more closely involved with the Star Wars: Scoundrels cartoon.
Incidentally, e of pi, I'd recommend that show - it's fun, in a way that too much televised sci-fi isn't.
No, if there's a film franchise that is influenced by Dying Suns, it's the Trek films. Insurrection, with the climactic battle between Nechayev's fleet and Picard's rag-tag civilian allies, certainly takes inspiration from Suns; Revolution, of course, goes without saying.
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The point I am trying to make is that Anakin never saw the Jedi as "protectors of order" but rather just another set of masters willing to crack the whip if they suspected that he had a true inkling of his plans. It is part of the reason that Anakin trusts Palpatine so readily. Anakin sees Palpatine as someone who only trusts people based on their contribution in efforts and duty, as a former slave, these are things that he can relate and understand....First point - was it really framed as Machiavellian? On rewatching the scene where Anakin gets purchased, the emphasis seems to be on how strange the Jedi seem to Anakin, on how powerful they are, and on the potential that Anakin himself has. I suppose it's the closest we get to a parallel to Suns; it does look a lot like the origin of Captain Singh.
Second point - you're focusing too much on the stuff Lucas rightfully left in the background. Besides, the rise of Palpatine is pretty clearly based on that of Julius Caesar - the war hero who uses his popularity to subvert democracy. I don't think that two sources riffing on the same historical events means that the first was influenced by the second; further, the twist in the prequels - that Palpatine manipulated events to start the Clone Wars in the first place, and defeats the assassins [the Jedi] sent against him - isn't the one in 'March on Rome' - that Collingwood actually intended to preserve and reform the Senate, and that his assassins were the ones to champion an end to democracy.
Third point - What's this about Anakin being a child? Why would he have been? Luke wasn't a prepubescent when A New Hope begins, and neither is Anakin when Destiny's Hero begins. Anakin's fall seems to be pretty closely linked to Luke's development as a Jedi. Both have their family die, both leave behind their old lives, both are thrown into a war. Palpatine comes off as a clear foil for Yoda. It's pretty clear where Lucas gets his influence for Anakin's fall - it's in Luke's avoiding his own fall.
I won't deny that the prequels are dark... but I think it's a darkness that's in keeping with the tone of the Star Wars universe, not one drawing on Dying Suns. Look at what Lucas has done since then - in particular at Scoundrels - he's doing what he always has, riffing on Westerns and Samurai films while showing off an exotic, pulpy universe. The Star Wars galaxy is not corrupt at its core, its heroes are not inherently doomed to failure.
OOC: And here I was going to suggest a radically different series - one where Anakin starts out a Jedi in the first film, for instance, while the Jedi themselves are entirely different from how they were portrayed in the OTL prequels.
I still think you'd need more changes to the prequels for them to be legitimately compared to the Godfather films. The focus would have to be tightly on Anakin's character, in my opinion; the political scenes that came in the prequels in OTL could and should have been winnowed down significantly. It's probably also easier to have the Clone Wars be happening in the background, right from the start; the clones could be on either side of the war (or both, perhaps). Finally, I'd suggest that Palpatine is a Senator, but also a military leader, and that we see him influencing Anakin directly as early as the second film, if not also in the first.
I'd like to see someone run with my thoughts on the alternate Trek films.
the Jedi Council is a benign theocracy, with a propensity to act like the clerics of Iran or the Taliban in Afghanistan...
Speaking of the Taliban.
I've heard that the real reason that the latest season was so jarring and that several writers quit was because of the controversy caused by the pro Taliban al Qaeda slant.
The plot involved a flawed corrupt society invading weak systems on the behalf of corporations.
At several points suicide bombers were positively portrayed. Naturally the BBC made the writers rewrite it several times and even then every American channel refused to air it. In the end they dropped it and made a whole new storyline.
Personally I think the idiot who wrote the 911 parallel should have been fired I mean the details were changed but if you saw the draft one of the pilots face’s was meant to and I quote “light up with a glow of peace and victory”.
The BCC never released the name of the particular writer who wrote that ignorant bull shit, any ideas?
I think that Empire for the first time overplayed it's hand.
Am I alone in hating the "grimdark" feel that every major scifi show seems it needs to ape these days because of EoDS? Especially since a good part of the original "Empire" feel was rooted in the mid-80s backlash to Thatcher and coming to terms with the final decline of the British empire in (for instance) the Falkans. But no, they thought Americans wouldn't get that, so when it started catching on in the US they started doing away with that in favor of more just generic grimdark...
The point I am trying to make is that Anakin never saw the Jedi as "protectors of order" but rather just another set of masters willing to crack the whip if they suspected that he had a true inkling of his plans. It is part of the reason that Anakin trusts Palpatine so readily. Anakin sees Palpatine as someone who only trusts people based on their contribution in efforts and duty, as a former slave, these are things that he can relate and understand....
As for the issue of the Jedi Council, consider the scenes in Crisis and Sith wherein the Council members readily speak of the need to "reign in the Senate, for the good of the Republic...". When you also add Master Mace Windu's speech, about "the need for absolutes", the Jedi Council is a benign theocracy, with a propensity to act like the clerics of Iran or the Taliban in Afghanistan...
I changed my earlier post.
the BBC agianst the writers wishs wanted a reboot in 2006 and they figured that Iraq and Afganistan would mean more to the audience than 18th centuary and ealy 20th centuary Colonial history.
They let the new writers go totally overboard on the reboot and the series never got off the ground in the USA and it was believed that the origional fans in the UK would feel that the concept was betrayed.
The project was dropped in late 2007- early 2008.
I have to agree with you. One of the reasons I love Mass Effect so much is that the fact there are genuinely well meaning people (Shepard*, Liara, Ashley Tali, Garrus, Wrex e.t.c...) who can also make a difference, makes the apperance of total monsters like Saren, the Illusive Man and Balak**+ so shocking.
+Does anyone else feel their blood boiling when that guy turns up on screen, often more powerful and more successful than before?He tried to destroy Terra Nova, he was possibly responsible for destroying Mindoir*** twice and is now working with the Reapers. Who would have thought that a merely nasty piece of work who appeared in just two episodes (the Bring Down the Sky two-parter) in season 1 would turn out to be such a bloody monster?
teg
It's probably as dead as the Stargate MMO that hasn't been heard from since 2006. With a property like EoDs, the best bet would be to do a "prequel" RPG like Black Isle did for Dune. (The Jihad trilogy.) Set it in 'the early days' of the Empire, say the Heresy or the Crusade, where things are sort of ill-defined, and then tell a story where any of the outcomes could fit the established canon. Black Isle could do it, but they are in the middle of developing the third (and concluding) game in their popular Jihad trilogy (The Last Full Measure) and not to mention that EA owns the license. (And they don't own Black Isle...) Bioware could also do it, but they only do fantasy. Sure, Dragon Age and Jade Empire show how they are, but sci-fi, even that with fantasy elements like EoDS, is not their cup of tea. (Not to mention that EA doesn't own them either. Activison got them first.)On the topic of the EoDS, does anyone know if that EoDS RTS is still on or has it gone into development hell (again). Admittedly EoDS isn't the easiest IP to develop a good game for (kind of like Doctor Who) that would sell in the US, but its been four years since they showed the thing at E3....
OOC: It was already established that Shepard was male, though him being a colonist makes for an "interesting" background.OOC:
*Shepard ITTL is a female colonist/Sole Survivor called Cara.
**Balak appears in the equivalent of Mass Effect 2 as a minor villain as well Season 1. In Season 3 (sometimes called 2.5), which is set after the Collector Base raid and until Arrival, he becomes the de facto Big Bad with it becoming increasingly clear that he has been indoctrinated.
***At the end of Season 3 of Mass Effect, Shepard learns that Mindoir has been razed again, this time by Batarians who have been indoctrinated. It is strongly implied that Balak was in command.
Yeah who thought rebooting such a classic was a good idea???