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Forums - Movies & TV - The Walrus Presents: A Star Wars, Star Trek, Star Gate Review Thread *Lots of Star Wars Updates

 

What Star Wars thing are you looking forward to the most?

Solo Movie 1 5.56%
 
Johnson's new trilogy 1 5.56%
 
Episode 9 1 5.56%
 
Potential Yoda movie 1 5.56%
 
Potential Obi Wan movie 7 38.89%
 
New digital show 7 38.89%
 
New live action show 0 0%
 
Total:18

Comprehensive Series Reviews:

Star Gate - 0/0     - 0%

Star Wars - 45/55 - 81.8%

Star Trek - 65/85  - 76%


This is a thread I am creating after months/years of thinking about this concept. The concept I speak of is watching and reviewing every movie and every show that takes place in the respective universes of each of these three syfy series that feel very similar in many respects (especially in the name ;). This will take a LONG time to complete (especially considering by the time I get through all of their current shows/movies, there will probably be sequels out lol), but I think part of the fun of it will be that the more I add, the more each series "Walrus Score" will increase/decrease.

Unlike when I review games in my "Reviews by The Walrus" threads, I will not be using an extremely in depth scoring system. I feel that movies and shows and how well they do are based more on gut instincts and instant emotions than they are about having a standard. I could get as much pleasure out of a low budget independent film as I do out of a $200 million summer blockbuster, depending on the execution. Anyway, I will review these three series in a more typical fasion; a simple summary of my opinions of each show/movie. All movies will be scored out of 10 and all tv shows will be scored out of 25 (since they last a whole lot longer and contain a lot more depth). I won't review each episode/season of a show because I have a life. I will post up polls from time to time and record the final data in comment section 4 (if it's still reserved by this time).

Look below for specific reviews from each series! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I will!!!

Last edited by Dulfite - on 15 April 2018

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This is the Star Wars section.

Shows

Star Wars: Clone Wars (The show)

What a delightful show! I LOVE the Star Wars expanded universe (books, video games, movies). When I found out there was going to be a digital Star Wars show, I was disappointed. I was even more disappointed when they started releasing those 1-5 minute “commercial” action sequences, because it was all fighting and no dialogue. If you know me, you know I LOVE stories, dialogue, and character development. Then the show came out and I watched it on Netflix. My goodness what a great experience! Yes, there were cheesy moments and moments that were clearly aimed at children. Yes, those moments lowered the quality of the show. But man, did the show get serious at times. I LOVED everything about Darth Maul, all the Darth Sidieos scenes (the BEST part of the prequel trilogy was seeing the behind the scenes stuff being done by the dark side), and all the Jedi and political scenes. These are the things that make star wars UNIQUE and FASCINATING to me. What I did NOT enjoy about the show were the episodes dedicated to side characters that I and, based on the internet, hardly anybody else cared about (as opposed to the ones I did like). When the show focused on the lore of the light/dark side and all the political/ritual/training/back stabbings that had to do with that, it was on it’s A game. Towards the end of the show, it was on it’s game. I am PUMPED for Rebels now! For a first star wars show, I expected a lot worse (especially being digital), but man was I stupid to assume that!

22/25

Star Wars: Rebels (Show)

Alas, where the Clone Wars was consistently good, Rebels was either great or horrible. I loved that it continued characters and subplots from Clone Wars and how it focused some episodes on massive, series altering plot points, the return of Ahsoka, the true revelation of what Sidious' plan was (also potentially what Darth Plagueis was referring to), and so on. However, for just as many big scale episodes as there were, there were far more random episodes with unimportant sub plots, bad dialogue, and sub par characters that were either unoriginal or were not captivating at all. Oh look, another sarcastic R2 style robot. Oh, you want a furry and grouchy warriors figure who shouts random things as he charges into battle? Got that. I did begin to appreciate Ezra more over time, especially in the end (and I'm REALLY excited to figure out what happened to him and Thrawn), but man was he a winy brat for a large portion of the show. Still, I'm still reeling from that last major story arc and it's implications (I don't want to spoil anything major, but I'm referencing that place that Sidious and Ezra went to) and I applaud this show for being gutsy in addressing something that could easily have been covered in a feature film.

18/25

Movies

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Movie)

What was once a wonderful movie from my youthful days has not aged well. One could argue that would throw the validity of my review out the window, because of my age bias, but I would argue that my age hasn't prevented me from enjoying other things from my youth (such as School House Rock, Hey Arnold, or Jurassic Park) so, therefore, my opinion is validated. Indeed, this movie has changed in my eyes primarily due to my own ignorance of quality being shattered. Gone are the days where I enjoy accidental cheese in a movie (as in, cheesy lines) and this movie is stock full of them. The overall atmosphere is lightearted, nothing seems like it is going to be too doom or gloomy, the acting is pretty bad (except for Qui Gon and Obi Won) across the board (including Yoda), and the overall plot of this movie is so small it's ridiculous (it's about ONE planet fighting back against an extremely small fraction of the rising tide against the Empire). Yes, you could argue that this was the Fort Sumpter of the Clone Wars, but it doesn't really feel like that. It is saying something that the sequel takes places roughly 10 years later as to how "important" the events that take place in this first movie are. Indeed, the book "Darth Plagueis" is probably 10x the quality, detail, and scope that this movie was and does Darth Maul a lot more justice too (and it isn't even canon anymore). In fact, I would argue most of the expanded universe and, certainly, the newer books are far superior to that of this movie's story and scope. When we were used to intergalactic battles and planets being destroyed in the first trilogy, this movie is much, much smaller and far, far less important. At least the Naboo ships looked nice, though!

6/10

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

This movie has aged slightly better than the first movie because it isn't as lighthearted. Even when it gets mushy gushy at points, it is also usually when Anakin is about to get all rage mode which, thankfully, keeps the viewer mindful that this guy eventually becomes one of the best tragic villians ever. Still, the biggest problem with this movie is that it focuses on one thing too much. The original focused too much on one planet and this one focuses way too much on a relationship. Yes, that relationship ultimately pushes Anakin towards the dark side, and introduces, in the second trilogy, the twins, but that does not disregard the fact that this movie would have been a whole lot better if they had just skipped over at least SOME of this stuff and focused more on intergalactic politics in the Senate, Jedi/Sith moments, and battles. People don't watch star wars for mushy gushy. Obviously, the actor who portrayed Anakin has received hate ever since it. As a child, I thought he was good, but as an adult I disagree with my youth. You can tell Natalie Portman has become a better actor, and I really like how they had CGI Yoda in this one (In my opinion far better looking and sounding than muppet Yoda), and most of the actors are good but it hurts your movie a lot when your main actor in almost all of the scenes acts like this. I used to hate this movie the most, but honestly it was better than Episode 1 now that I've seen it again after all these years.

7/10

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Wow, what an emotional experience. Still, after all these years, this movie hits me hard. It is absolutely STUNNING how good this movie is in comparison to the other prequel movies. Where they focus on single topics, on cheezy dialogue/emotional displays, and on the more lighthearted topics altogether, Episode 3 turns that table over; it covers a huge amount of issues going on and doesn't specifically obsess over any of them, it replaces the cheese with freaking awesome internal struggle sequences (there was still a scene or two where the acting on Anakin could have been better, but overall he was much improved in my opinion), and practically avoids lighthearted topics. The music in this movie is constantly pushing you towards not being comfortable. It felt like something was going to go very, very wrong at any moment and it made that apparent from the beginning with the first fight. My goodness did they go dark with this one, and how fitting it was considering it was the height of the sith power over the galaxy. This movie was a masterpiece.

Score - 10/10

Star Wars: A New Hope

The movie that launched a new era of films. Every modern movie that has laser beams, explosions in space, and magical powers has been influenced in some, if not many, ways by this movie. I remember my dad describing what it was like to see this movie when it came out (and he typically hates most movies) and how amazing it was for its time. Looking at the movie specifics and, in retrospect, it introduces us to some of the most iconic protagonists and antagonists in movie cinematic history; Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, to begin, but so many others that are amazing as well. The visuals introduced in this movie were probably the best leap forward in movie visuals history in proportion to the time. Honestly, the movie was so well complete that you didn't even need to have a sequel to it to have a good story. We didn't need to know, at the time, that Vader was Luke's father, or anything else that was later explored in the rest of the movies and show. Obviously, I'm glad we got the sequels and other movies/shows now, but the first movie had everything it needed to be a complete experience. Still, despite it's lack holes, it wasn't the best movie in the series. Indeed, both Empire and Return of the Jedi were better movies due to one thing; character development.

8/10

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

What a weird and drastic difference this movie was from the first! We go from massive space battles to snow battles, from massive ships and a Death Star to fights on Hoth against large Walkers, from a movie about attacking to a movie about defending. All of that mixed together with the revelation that Vader is Luke's father and a decent leap forward in character development makes this a good amount better than the original film. Of the now 9 main feature films, this and The Last Jedi were the most different, in my opinion, and that gives them creativity points. Episodes 1-4, 6, Rogue One, and 7 are similar in many ways (I know there are differences, but not like 5 and 8 have). I was shocked, disgusted, delighted, and every other emotions that indicates surpise when watching this film for the first time, and none of those are a bad thing at all.

9/10

Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi

Perfection. Back to the roots of the original film (large scale, big implications on the galactic level), except bolder and bigger than ever. Ask people from the 80's and they may argue about which was a bigger revelation; Vader being Luke's father or Leia and Luke being twins (which means not only that, but also that Vader had two kids, not just one). Add to the fact that Leia is the other in the quote, "there is another," especially in seeing her role in the new trilogy and not knowing where episode 9 is going to go only adds to the value of her being Vader's daughter. My favorite part of any Star Wars movie show, movie, or book (whether canon or legends), is the ongoing scene with The Emperor, Vader, and Luke in the Death Star. I absolutely love the character development that happens and how it all ends with Anakin coming back and Vader dying by showing his love for his son (and daughter). This is the ultimate villain redeemed story line and it is absolutely beautiful. Watching this scene, especially after seeing Episode 3, only adds to the value; knowing the pain Anakin went through with Padme's death and how he was suppressed by Vader only for him to be resurrected from his long slumber by the revelation that his children were alive is emotionally overwhelming.

10/10

Star Wars: Rogue One

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Total Star Wars Score - 90/110

Last edited by Dulfite - on 15 April 2018

The following will be the section for reviews of all things Star Trek...

Star Trek: The Original Series Review

What a massive surprise this was. I was expecting a show based on (at the time) unknown actors, a VERY weird story concept, and a horribly low budget to fail big time. I had no idea that I was in store for something this remarkable. Yes, sure, the visual effects were horrible (even for the time), as were the costumes, but my goodness did they make up for it in character development and actually incorporating UNIQUE and INTERESTING story concepts. I can’t tell you how many times I was stunned by were the story went. To discovering Apollo really existed (granted, as a multi thousand year old super intelligent robot), to the characters obtaining super powers, to alternative dimensions where Spock has facial hair and is evil, the show just didn’t stop delivering ideas. Some were quirky to the point that they failed hard (the ridiculous energy ball that was attacking the ship, in one episode), but the overall idea of having something drastically different and unique in every episode was extremely refreshing and shocking, giving its low budget. Overall, this show surprised me and was an excellent experience.

20/25

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Review

This movie feels leaps and bounds improved over the show in most respects. While the show was ahead of its time for character development, it was incredibly low budget in special effects. This movie was clearly trying to give Star Trek the "Star Wars" feel and, for the most part, succeeded in doing so. The movie was suspenseful (I honestly had no idea where it was going), and this feeling of imminent doom was always there (the "bad guy" was like 20+ something AU's in diameter, I believe, which is massive) heading closer and closer to Earth. The movie had an older cast (years and  years after the show) and with that, some internal ship stress and politics came with it (I won't spoil too much), which made for an interesting setting and plot. The ending, though, was truly phenomenal. I did NOT see that coming what the "villian" ultimately was, nor did I predict what the solution would be, and I still have no clue what the heck the new entity is and means. Maybe those things will be revealed in the sequel? Or maybe not? Regardless, it was a good movie, though I found it to not be as groundbreaking as the original Star Wars movie.

8/10

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn Review

Holy cow people. I LOVED that they brought back a seemingly random villian from the show (a incredibly small portion of the show) and made a sequel story about him that was just awesome. This movie, more than the first movie, reminded me of the quality of character development found in the show. You could really feel the hatred from Kahn towards Kirk and, eventually, from Kirk towards Kahn. They started to be reckless in their fight against each other, going against all logic, and that was what was amazing; to see main characters engage in a battle of passions and not with a great deal of coordination was amazing. This movie had more "winging it" moments than your likely to find in most sci fi stories (this one doesn't have the force in it to guide you through those moments, either) and it made for an incredibly fun and engaging story. The first movie established the basis for what Star Trek can be like given the movie quality treatement, and this movie blew it out of the water. Absolutely fantastic experience!

10/10

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Review

This movie leads right where the second movie ended (which is different from the first two movies, which had quite some time in between themselves and the show), continuing the emotional turmoil in Jim for Spock dying and discovering that he has a son. Also continuing is the looming breaking point that Jim has with being an Admiral yet, naturally feeling the urge to do things that aren't very Admiral-like. Eventually, without spoiling too much, he goes rogue, in a manner, and has to save the day again. Compared to the first movie and the second one, this movie feels smaller in size and impact. It is clear that the enemy in this movie seek the genesis "torpedo" to have as a weapon, to what end is never explored due to a personal hatred that blinds logic on the Klingon's part. At the end of it, with Spock's revival, the movie ended on an incredibly powerful note with him remembering who he was and who his friends are. This movie was more focused, less "big picture" than the first too, and yet more emotionally involved because of it. If the first movie was the response to Star Wars, and the second movie was a return to character development focus that made the original series so wonderful, this was the movie to focus on the emotions of fellowship and brotherhood, regardless of where you come from or what kind of person you are, and in that respect it hit the nail on the head. Notwithstanding, this was, in my opinion, a drop off from the quality seen in the first two movies and particularly in Kahn.

6/10

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Review

Ok, what a weird movie! This movie definently stands out (a LOT) compared to the first three movies. It, once again, leads off right after the third movie, with the Enterprise crew ready to go back to Earth and accept the consequences for their actions. You think, based on the opening diplomatic scene, that this movie is going to have to deal with the looming political fallout between the Klingons and the Federation (which would be fascinating), only to discover that some random ship like structure is coming towards Earth destroying anything in it's past to find... you guessed it... whale noises. If that isn't left field enough for you, they go back to a "primitive" time, capture the whales (while rescuing them at the same time), bring a lady back with them (which seems like it would have significant time altering impacts, but the movie doesn't seem to care), save the day, and all basically get pardoned and Jim gets "demoted" to a position that he really loves anyway, being a Captain. So... basically this movie leaves the crew off to where they were at the end of the first movie (and it appears that Spock is now also Kirk's first officer again and not a Captain, because why have two Captain's on one ship?). There are a lot of questions after watching this movie that I'm sure won't be answered in the next ones (What is the origin of that space ship? What are the Klingon ramifications? Did anything get altered by going back in time, changing things, then bringing someone back? And why was the Federation building a new Enterprise in the first place and how did they have time to do that if this movie takes place right after the 3rd movie?). The plot of this one was overall garbage compared to it's predecessors and clearly focused on animal rights leftist agenda, yet it had something the first three movies lacked in comparison; humor. This movie was filled with moments where I was just cracking up, so great job there!

4/10

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Review

This series is interesting. Every movie touches on different themes and this one, unlike the previous four movies, hits on the religious/heavier note (which is fascinating in a universe that primarily has non religious figures). You never knew where this was going until they finally mention the Great Barrier, then you really don't know where it's going since no one has gone there before (at least in recorded history). When they finally do arrive, they find this very "wizard of Oz" like creature that claims to be an all powerful god (though very clearly is not, even in this universe). Once again, this movie leaves me with questions that will no doubt NOT be answered by following movies, not the least of which is where did this being come from, who put him there for "all eternity," and did he really get destroyed by a measly laser attack from a ship? Despite the questions, this was a much better story than the fourth movie and just felt like a better movie altogether (there was actually a main antagonist with a personality, ermagosh!).

8/10

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Review

Unlike the previous movies other than the original, this one does not take place right after the last movie. Indeed, this movie has more similarities (I find) with the original than the other ones. The whole tone of it has the lonesome, old dog feel that you felt for the protagonists in the original movie; one where it feels sad because you know the end of their careers is coming. In fact, knowing full well this is the last movie with these guys and despite that, I could tell this was the last rodeo with this crew the entire movie because they kept hinting at it in kind of a sad, romanticized way, which was beautiful to watch. The quality of this movie was great, and being someone who deeply appreciates intensive political ramifications in movies for seemingly important events, I was glad to see that finally, after multiple movies of political absence, this one was going to focus on the consequences of recent galactic events as well as how the galaxy can push forward with peace. I found the sudden and imminent threat of extinction for the Klingon's to be kind of a shock out of no where that made the political atmosphere even more interesting; a proud race reduced to either going out in a blaze of glory or sucking up their pride and admitting the need to assimilate and dismantle their power. This movie felt almost like a political thriller, a "Hunt for Red October" of the Star Trek Universe, if you will, with multiple people from various races having secret or open pledges with each other. This movie isn't the first time I've seen a story where groups that hate each other team up with beings from another group in order to sabotage peace talks so they can keep fighting, but it may be the oldest movie I've seen it in, and I really appreciate what this movie did there because of it.

9/10

Comprehensive Star Trek Review Scores: 65/85



The following will be the section for reviews of all things Star Gate...

Movies

Stargate
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: Continuum

Shows

Stargate SG1
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Universe
Stargate Origin

Last edited by Dulfite - on 22 April 2018

This is where all past polls will be located. Enjoy!

 

Which series is better, in your opinion?

Star Trek 11 30.56%
 
Star Gate 8 22.22%
 
Star Wars 11 30.56%
 
I hate them all 0 0.00%
 
I love them all 6 16.67%
 
Total: 36

Is J.J. Abrams good for syfy?

 
Yes for Star Wars, no for Star Trek. 0 0.00%
 
Yes for Star Trek, no for Star Wars. 0 0.00%
 
He should stick to shows ... 5 38.46%
 
He is horrible at everything. 1 7.69%
 
He is GOOD AT EVERYTHING!!! 7 53.85%
 
Total: 13

Did you enjoy Star Wars: Episode 1?

Loved it! 1 12.50%
 
Liked it... 2 25.00%
 
Meh... 2 25.00%
 
Disliked it... 2 25.00%
 
Hated it. 0 0.00%
 
I would rather marry Jar ... 1 12.50%
 
Total: 8


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Stargate is easily the most underrated of the three.

Obviously it has never garnered the same notoriety. I recently re-watched all of Atlantis, great stuff.



starcraft - Playing Games = FUN, Talking about Games = SERIOUS

starcraft said:
Stargate is easily the most underrated of the three.

Obviously it has never garnered the same notoriety. I recently re-watched all of Atlantis, great stuff.


this is so true



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starcraft said:
Stargate is easily the most underrated of the three.

Obviously it has never garnered the same notoriety. I recently re-watched all of Atlantis, great stuff.


I watched the series so many times. The funniest part about Star Gate was the thing that started it with the original movie was the worst part of the series and that is saying something lol.



Dulfite said:
starcraft said:
Stargate is easily the most underrated of the three.

Obviously it has never garnered the same notoriety. I recently re-watched all of Atlantis, great stuff

I watched the series so many times. The funniest part about Star Gate was the thing that started it with the original movie was the worst part of the series and that is saying something lol.

Hahaha I didn't mind it, I am a James Spader fan! But it has definitely been usurped by the series.

In theory they are going to reboot with a new trilogy once the Director is done making Independence Day 2, but I doubt it.



starcraft - Playing Games = FUN, Talking about Games = SERIOUS

shikamaru317 said:
starcraft said:
Stargate is easily the most underrated of the three.

Obviously it has never garnered the same notoriety. I recently re-watched all of Atlantis, great stuff.

I wish that Netflix hadn't let Amazon get the rights to Stargate, I was just about to rewatch Atlantis when they lost the rights 2 or 3 years ago.

That sucks, I honestly couldn't say which of the three TV series is my favourite.



starcraft - Playing Games = FUN, Talking about Games = SERIOUS