Rosie's Fantastical Universes: A Fanzine
Genres: Sci-Fi...Super Heroes...Fantasy...Horror. To me they are all...fantastic! And worthy of discussion.
Saturday, March 12, 2022
25 Reasons I Got Goosebumps from the Kenobi Teaser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnlOhdFZSXw
• The familiar imagery of the sandy/rocky terrain of Tatooine's desolate Jundland wastes with the violins and harp notes of Obi-wan's Force Theme from 1977's Star Wars
• The weird Tatooine camel thing from 1999's The Phantom Menace
• Returning to Mos Eisley...a wretched hive of scum and villainy
• Ewan McGregor's voice as Obi-wan Kenobi lamenting his utter defeat.
• The callback music cue to the heartbreaking scene from 2005's Revenge of the Sith, in which Obi-wan cries out, "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you." followed by Obi-wan watching our fallen hero bursting into flames, but now we see Obi-wan watching over young Luke because he refused to give up
• The site of the Lars Homestead, our home..the normal world, the beginning of our heroic journey in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
• Obi-wan using the same space macrobinoculars that he used in The Clone Wars
• Seeing young Luke instinctively mimicking his father's pod racing moves...his mind excitedly filled with adventure and excitement...his mind far from where he was...what he was doing.
• Callback music to The Duel of the Fates from Phantom Menace as the Lucasfilm logo dissolves into sand and blows away...the sand going everywhere. I hate sand.
• The stark angular precision of a dark foreboding vessel traveling to a secluded, imposing outpost.
• The voice of a confident, malevolent hunter, turning his prey's strength, compassion, into a weakness. An image of a pale focused hunter devoid of life or empathy.
• A train across the wastes of the Dune Sea. Our hero, Obi-wan, hidden in plain sight amongst other lost desperate souls.
• The cold, severe inner sanctum of a Dark, Imperial power.
• The dangling limp body of a Jedi. An image of inevitable failure in the face of overwhelming odds.
• An intense new Inquisitor....face to face with the grizzled, steely glare of a worn-down Owen Lars...just trying desperately to not get involved.
• This new Inquisitor on the hunt in the familiar territory of Coruscant...the former home of the traitorous Jedi Order. But now, those traitors are relegated to its dark, seedy criminal Underworld.
• A steely Imperial officer narrowing her sights to a distant, desolate desert planet...the furthest from the bright center of the universe.
• Power and grace unleashed in the cover of darkness in an urban wilderness.
• The image of the spinning blade of the Grand Inquisitor an unholy combination of Dark Forces and Mechanical Might.
• Music growing to crescendo. Images of the unrelenting hunt. Good under the foot of evil. A familiar blaster as a last resort...so uncivilized.
• A burst of colorful birds disbursing over an explosion...goodness and beauty refusing to be destroyed by chaos and madness.
• BETWEEN DARKNESS AND DEFEAT, HOPE SURVIVES.
• The image of Ewan McGregor as aging, steadfast Obi-wan facing whatever comes on the horizon
• The ominous, unforgettable sound of Vader'a unholy, raspy breathing...twisted and evil. And John Williams' theme for Vader...a portent of an ill fate unfolding.
• And finally, the sight and sound of a lightsaber bursting from behind the Disney logo creating Tinkerbell's arc over the logo.
I didn't care that The Grand Inquisitor had puffy cheeks and normal shaped forehead. His four seconds of the trailer were perfectly ominous and imposing, in my opinion.
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie - The Reunion that Wasn't (A Rosie's Revision Essay)
Sunday, January 9, 2022
What if "Resistance" had gotten four seasons to flesh out the story of The Collosus? (A Rosie's Revision Mini-Essay)
SPOILER ALERT! Don't even bother reading unless you've finished this charming, but short-lived show.
Having finally finished watching "Resistance" on Disney+, I have to say that the show had beautiful visuals, energetic action, engaging, charming characters and entertaining stories, but I was a left a bit underwhelmed. Don"t get me wrong. It was perfectly fine, and I did not feel it was a waste of time to watch this enjoyable show. But I got the sense that they had a much longer story in mind, just like "Rebels", which had 4 seasons. I think they took seasons 2, 3 & 4 and compressed them into 1 final season.
At the end of the 1st season before the Starkiller Base massacre, Leia told Kaz she couldn't help The Collosus and they were on their own. I think they could have leanrd into this a bit more and made this a moment where she told him that a Resistance is built by finding others who would fight for their freedom and inspiring them to action. She could have said that he isn't just a spy, but he could be the spark to give others the courage to join together to fight oppression. She could encourage him to make sure others knew they were not alone in their desire for freedom.
I can picture all of Season 2 being Kaz slowly gathering allies on The Collosus to his cause until they all agree to become a Resistance Base. The ship was called The Collosus, but it never seemed all that big. It's sparse population could have been explained by it being out of the way on Catalon, but with its new community mission they could pick up fighters and refugees to fill the station with a growing cast of characters, species and ships. Instead of exiting the pirates, they could have been their own squadrant to add to the battle readiness of the mobile battle station.Tam would begin moving up the ranks justifying herself because of the First Order conditioning.
Aunt Z referenced fleeing to a friend on Takadana. This seemed like a reference to Maz Kanada. I think they were planning on looping her in to Resistance. Season 3 could have had the Collosus jumping from place to place looking for more allies to support and be supported by. We could have seen the other side of that mysterious holocall Maz makes to Poe during TLJ. Season 3 could end with Tam being captured and brought back to the Collosus. Perhaps Dr. Aphra (I'm assuming Mika Grey was an alias) could use a Force Relic to help break Tam's First Order conditioning.
And I think there are underworld connections between Maz and Lando, so they could have built the fouth season fortifying and training the citizens of the Collosus into a roving militia that eventually joins the citizen fleet that Lando and Chewbacca rallies in ROTS at the end of the series. They could have even had the series end just before Lando's rally call and then do a series finale special that ends with them getting the call with the navigation info on how to get to Exaogol and the need for everyone's help and then the final shot is them jumping to light speed for the Final Battle.
It could have feathered in and out of the entire Sequel Trilogy. But what do I know? I'm just a fan.
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
What if Qui-Gon had switched roles with Obi-Wan in Episode 1? (A Rosie's Revision Essay)
Friday, August 13, 2021
Star Wars Titles are Mixed Up
Monday, June 14, 2021
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Order of Release
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
The "Novel" Order of Star Wars (movies only)
- Episode 4 (ANH), then
- Episode 1 (TPM), then
- Episode 2 (AOTC), then
- Rogue One, then
- Episode 5 (ESB), then
- Episode 3 (ROTS), then
- Episode 6 (ROTJ), then
- Episode 7 (TFA), then
- Solo, then
- Episode 8 (TLJ), and finally
- Episode 9 (TROS)
Episode 4 (A New Hope):
We jump right into the action. We immediately get the sense of the state of this Galaxy far, far away with the opening shots of the cool looking spaceships...one that is small and plucky being chased (picked on) by one that is massive and imposing. We meet Vader. Boo!!! We meet Leia...quite the fiery leader! We meet Luke...will this headstrong idealist get caught up in some damn-fool crusade? We meet Obi-wan...hero of The Clone Wars and comrade of Leia's father, Bail Organa. We meet Han...can he escape his past and do the right thing? We learn that Luke's father was a hero killed by Vader. We learn there is a galactic empire that emerged after the Jedi were destroyed.
We already know that the Jedi were wiped out by the Dark Side, so, the first thing we see are Jedi in action. And not just Jedi, but a young Obi-wan and his master. Obi-wan...the only Jedi to survive the Dark Times, as far as we know. This Padme sure is a brave leader, despite being so young. And we meet Anakin Skywalker. Luke's father! Cool! We see him use The Force to help his friends and to escape from slavery. What a great kid. I can totally see why he'll grow up to be a great hero, just like Obi-wan said. Anakin being separated from his mother sure was a touching moment. I sure hope he learns to cope with that loss. We get to see Jedi being Jedi...just keeping the peace throughout the Old Republic. That reminds me...I wonder what Old Ben could have been talking about when he talked about Darth Vader wiping out all the Jedi. I wonder if Darth Vader is connected to this Darth Maul and Darth Sidious. That'll be a tragedy! And that Yoda guy is pretty cool. I wonder who that guy in the dark robe pulling all the strings is. Wonder why that red faced guy is so upset. He was pretty awesome. Maybe Vader will take the place as Darth Sidious' apprentice in the next movie.
The Old Republic shows a bit a tarnish. Whoa...Anakin seems to have gone through a lot. Wow...killing those sandpeople seems pretty dark. Anakin must feel pretty awful knowing that if he had used his power in the first place his mother would be alive. Hmmm. That Yoda guy teaching the younglings was pretty neat. I wonder if he taught Obi-wan when he was that age? We meet Jango Fett and his son Boba. Cool armor. We meet Bail Organa. Isn't he the guy whose planet got demolished in Episode 4? Hmm. The Clone Wars erupt. Wow...Vader must be coming soon. The Seperatists have the Death Star plans. And we know Vader is connected to the Death Star. So, Vader will probably be a Seperatist General. Maybe even the guy who takes over after Dooku. This Clone War must be when all of the other Jedi get killed leaving Obi-Wan as the only surviving Jedi.
We're ready for the next chapter with Luke and friends. Hokie smokes! Yoda survived the Jedi purge!!! Wow...what happened to him? Sure is neat to see him training Luke. Yoda seems so dark and jaded. I wonder how bad it got for him to end up marooned on swampy planet. Oh...we see Boba Fett grown up now working with Vader. Hmm...that Emperor in the hologram looks a lot like Darth Sidious...could it be that they are one and the same? Aww...Han and Leia seem to fallen in love. Luke will be so sad that he'll have to ignore his romantic feelings for her...but clearly there is still quite the strong connection...she can "feel him" when he calls out for help. Vader reveals he's Luke's father! That's not true. That's impossible. Noooo. No. No.(Spoiler Alert)
Vader MUST be introduced in this one.. it's got Sith right in the title. But why would Vader lie and say that he IS Luke's father. We can see from the first shot how close he is with Obi-wan. Uh, oh... Anakin sure is being asked to make lots of compromises. That's could lead to the Dark Side. Oh, no!! Anakin IS Darth Vader! Ben lied! And we get to see the Jedi wiped out. Oh...that's what happened to Yoda! And we FINALLY learn that LEIA is Luke's sister...and has been the whole time! Oh, THAT is why Bail Organa is connected to Obi-wan and how he knows where he is.
Now we know the whole backstory of it all! Time to wrap it all up in a neat bow for an AWESOME CLIMAX!! Yub nub!! Celebrate the Light!!
Episode 7 (The Force Awakens):
And now we're ready for the final chapters. There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The dark side and the light. The Force...it's calling to you. Just let it in. So good to see old friends long gone. The past...the future. Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms. The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. We must face them. Fight them. All of us. Oh, no...Solo! You sacrificed yourself to let your son know how much you love your son. No!!!! And Luke...we finally found you. We know you'll be able to help us get out of this mess.
Episode 8 (The Last Jedi):
Oh, Luke...you can't give up hope. We need you. The galaxy needs you. But a new generation needs to step up to save themselves and their loved ones, too. Interesting lessons. You don't win by killing what you hate, but by saving what you love...that's a very Star Warsy lesson, too. And Rey has no past, but a bright future...what a great ending.