Overall, I preferred Gasaraki over Evangelion. Gasaraki has giant robots, political intrigue, interesting characters, a great musical score, better production values, a complicated plot, and bad-ass hardware. Fewer confused teenagers in skin-tight outfits, but, well, everything's a trade-off, I guess.
Evangelion had a slow start, but just kept getting better, until it had me rivited near the end... until the final two episodes. Yes, I understand them. Yes, I "get it". No, I didn't find them to be very good.
Gasaraki, at least, got to finish its story, and it is very similar in certain ways -- most notably the "click your heels three times and think of home to defeat the bad guys" ending many giant mecha animes seem to have. Still, far more satisfying than the interminable idiocy of the final Evangelion.
You make a very good point. I'd just find author's points more compelling and interesting if he lost the superior attitude.
It's a problem I run across constantly when reading Salon. Too often the authors are so universally smug, I find it hard to punch through it to the topic at hand. I keep expecting, one day, to read a book review accusing the (mass-market and highly successful) author of ripping off the first primitive man to scrawl on cave walls at Lascaux. "Committing ideas to a medium is soooo Neolithic."
And a methodical deconstruction of Lucas by an author with a big axe to grind -- that you can get anywhere, and for free.
A good point. I'm sure that's very impressive (I am more than a little jealous). However, only one among my circle of friends has an X-Box, or is in the economic position to own one. So, having a multi-X-Box party sounds great, but it sounds great the same way having a Battletech VR rig in my living room sounds great. "Oh, if only we were rich, Marge, rich as astronauts!"
Whereas GTA III's replay value pays off right here and now. No slam against Halo (again, I really enjoyed it), but you see what I'm getting at.
"Star Wars sure is commercial. Boy, I sure am clever for knowing about E.E. 'Doc' Smith and Lensman, you clueless sheep. Everything good about Star Wars is the responsibility of someone besides George Lucas, because he sucks and stuff. I liked 'Rocky' better."
I think Halo is an absolutely terrific game... once. However, I find its replay value extremely limited. Grand Theft Auto III is the kind of game I can see myself still playing weeks, months, years from now. Halo, however, I can see dragging out of its box every nine months or so, saying, "Wow, I forgot how good this was," finishing it again, and back in the box it goes.
That said, I own a PS2, but would buy an Xbox as well if I had the money. I like both consoles, and I want me some DOA3, dammit.
This may seem like a really naive question (probably because it is), but can someone explain to me in layman's terms why bandwidth is so expensive?
Right and left, I see personal sites dropping like flies or going members-only because they're being hit with multi-thousand dollar bills because they suddenly got popular. Why does it cost so much? What resource is being consumed that justifies these huge amounts of money?
It's an honest question -- I really don't know how it works, and I'm curious to know.
Right, but the Vulcans in the series universe don't know that time travel is possible at the time of "Enterprise." At least, that's the point I think the previous poster was making.
Of course we the viewers know it exists. That's not up for grabs.
Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how long it took me to build up this much karma? Thinking up all this funny, insightful, informative crap ain't easy, you know!
Besides, this karma is going to cure cancer and grant me a seat on the secret spaceship that will be traveling to Mars when the Krulls return to destroy the planet in 2012. And I'm not going to blow it.
I used to watch Street Hawk religiously as a kid -- mostly for the Tangerine Dream soundtrack. It was awful, of course, but I was a kid and didn't know any better.
I often thought they should have combined Knight Rider, Airwolf, and Street Hawk into one big show where everybody drove around black, high-tech vehicles.
All they were missing was a boat. If it had been ten years later, maybe they could have used Knight Boat!
I think innovation and revolution is highly overrated in games. I waited anxiously for Black & White for over a year, because it was going to be hugely revolutionary with its massive world and gesture-based controls and so forth. I played it for one day and took it back to the store, because while it was Innovative and Revolutionary, I didn't find it to be much fun.
Grand Theft Auto III, on the other hand, is the most fun I've ever had with a video game. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but I couldn't care less. It's a lot of fun, and that's what I play games for.
Ultimately, there's only so much revolution you're ever going to see in video games. You're always going to be using the mouse and / or keyboard or controller to control a guy / spaceship / car / abstract cursor to blow things up / build civilizations / complete goals. That's just the way the medium is, I think.
I've seen reruns of Airwolf, A-Team and Knight Rider. Believe me, you're better off sticking with your childhood memories, because seeing them again will rob you of them.
What are you talking about? Even the slightest Star Wars fan knows that the Emperor's name was Palpatine. Are you saying that they are different people!?
No, not at all. What I'm saying is that it isn't mentioned in the movie, and thus the fact that Palpatine == Emperor would not be obvious to people who don't take their Star Wars experience beyond the movies (which, granted, doesn't include many/.ers, but is quite a few people nonetheless).
The above poster was chastising people for not remembering Return of the Jedi well enough to remember that the Emperor's name was Palpatine, when in fact that's not mentioned in the trilogy.
Of course Palpatine is evil, doesn't anyone remember Return of the Jedi anymore? (whas it *that* bad?) Who's that dude zapping Luke with the magic bolts of lightening at the end of the film? Could it be.. "Emperor Palpatine"!?
I'm afraid you're the one who doesn't remember Return of the Jedi anymore. The word "Palpatine" is never uttered in any of the classic trilogy movies. The Emperor is referred to only as "The Emperor."
The novelizations, comics, and RPGs are a different story, however.
What, you think I got all those ideas without reading?:)
Yeah, my apologies. I should have considered that.:)
As well as The Reality Dysfunction (+The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God), I can also heartily recommend Eon (+Eternity and Legacy) and Queen of Angels (+Slant and Moving Mars).
Thanks! I haven't actually heard of any of those. I will put them on the reading list.
And I wish movies were a little more cerebral / epic sometimes too, especially in the sci-fi genre, but nothing much has changed but the technology in the past twenty-five years or so. I'm not too confident it's going to.
Pick up a book. I'm not trying to be snide; I think you're going to find much more of the kind of inventiveness you're looking for in sci-fi novels than you ever will in the movies.
WWII-era space battles and balkanized aliens are just too much of a staple. Farscape has some slightly more interesting aliens, in that they're not all humanoid, but they still adhere to more or less cartoony personality types.
I think it's just a limitation of the television / movie medium. Well, not of the medium, but of the economic circumstances driving the medium.
You're quite right. In fact, Lucas has said many times himself (both in commentary and in interviews) that he considers the Star Wars series to be like variations on a theme. This is why characters end up in the same situations, saying similar things, and why everyone ends up on Tattooine sooner or later:)
The films aren't supposed to be constantly breaking new ground and reinventing the dramatic wheel. Furthermore, I think there's a little hypocrisy in expecting them to. I can only imagine the hubbub that would ensue if Lucas decided "oh, I've done this Force and lightsabers nonsense for five movies... I'm not putting them in the next one."
No, someone throws a stuffed Yoda at the bad guy's head and he holds it to his face, thrashing back and forth, screaming "AHHHHHHHH! GET IT OFFFFF, GET IT OFFFFFFFF!"
Every time I hear about the Yoda fight scenes, that's the only thing I can imagine happening.
But seriously, I didn't think her acting was that bad in TPM--it's just that the script called for a wooned "regal" performance. I can just imagine Lucas directing her into mediocrity
Agreed. There's only so much you can do with the material you're given. Even Harrison Ford used to complain that "no one can say these lines." I think too many Star Wars actors get unfairly criticized when in truth, the dialogue just can't be delivered convincingly.
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Overall, I preferred Gasaraki over Evangelion. Gasaraki has giant robots, political intrigue, interesting characters, a great musical score, better production values, a complicated plot, and bad-ass hardware. Fewer confused teenagers in skin-tight outfits, but, well, everything's a trade-off, I guess.
Evangelion had a slow start, but just kept getting better, until it had me rivited near the end... until the final two episodes. Yes, I understand them. Yes, I "get it". No, I didn't find them to be very good.
Gasaraki, at least, got to finish its story, and it is very similar in certain ways -- most notably the "click your heels three times and think of home to defeat the bad guys" ending many giant mecha animes seem to have. Still, far more satisfying than the interminable idiocy of the final Evangelion.
"Congratulations! Congratulations!"
You make a very good point. I'd just find author's points more compelling and interesting if he lost the superior attitude.
It's a problem I run across constantly when reading Salon. Too often the authors are so universally smug, I find it hard to punch through it to the topic at hand. I keep expecting, one day, to read a book review accusing the (mass-market and highly successful) author of ripping off the first primitive man to scrawl on cave walls at Lascaux. "Committing ideas to a medium is soooo Neolithic."
And a methodical deconstruction of Lucas by an author with a big axe to grind -- that you can get anywhere, and for free.
A good point. I'm sure that's very impressive (I am more than a little jealous). However, only one among my circle of friends has an X-Box, or is in the economic position to own one. So, having a multi-X-Box party sounds great, but it sounds great the same way having a Battletech VR rig in my living room sounds great. "Oh, if only we were rich, Marge, rich as astronauts!"
Whereas GTA III's replay value pays off right here and now. No slam against Halo (again, I really enjoyed it), but you see what I'm getting at.
Distillation of this article:
"Star Wars sure is commercial. Boy, I sure am clever for knowing about E.E. 'Doc' Smith and Lensman, you clueless sheep. Everything good about Star Wars is the responsibility of someone besides George Lucas, because he sucks and stuff. I liked 'Rocky' better."
The Pope: Still Catholic (P.S. Noam Chomsky is a Knob)... by David Horowitz
Don't Look Now, But Bears Are Defecating in the Woods! ...by Amy Reiter
Water: It Sure is Wet... by Garrison Keillor
Special mp3 Audio presentation by Armistead Maupin: "Hail Unto Me, I've Recently Observed That the Sky is Blue."
Jackbooted Republican Thugs Will Have You Shot and Killed in the Dark Future -- Oh, And Today is Wednesday... by Tom Tomorrow
... and they want you to pay $30 a year for this stuff.
I think Halo is an absolutely terrific game... once. However, I find its replay value extremely limited. Grand Theft Auto III is the kind of game I can see myself still playing weeks, months, years from now. Halo, however, I can see dragging out of its box every nine months or so, saying, "Wow, I forgot how good this was," finishing it again, and back in the box it goes.
That said, I own a PS2, but would buy an Xbox as well if I had the money. I like both consoles, and I want me some DOA3, dammit.
Right and left, I see personal sites dropping like flies or going members-only because they're being hit with multi-thousand dollar bills because they suddenly got popular. Why does it cost so much? What resource is being consumed that justifies these huge amounts of money?
It's an honest question -- I really don't know how it works, and I'm curious to know.
Right, but the Vulcans in the series universe don't know that time travel is possible at the time of "Enterprise." At least, that's the point I think the previous poster was making.
Of course we the viewers know it exists. That's not up for grabs.
Enterprise the series takes place long before Star Trek IV.
I remember that show. I thought it was great when I was a kid. I shudder to think what it would look like to me today.
Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how long it took me to build up this much karma? Thinking up all this funny, insightful, informative crap ain't easy, you know!
Besides, this karma is going to cure cancer and grant me a seat on the secret spaceship that will be traveling to Mars when the Krulls return to destroy the planet in 2012. And I'm not going to blow it.
I often thought they should have combined Knight Rider, Airwolf, and Street Hawk into one big show where everybody drove around black, high-tech vehicles.
All they were missing was a boat. If it had been ten years later, maybe they could have used Knight Boat!
I think innovation and revolution is highly overrated in games. I waited anxiously for Black & White for over a year, because it was going to be hugely revolutionary with its massive world and gesture-based controls and so forth. I played it for one day and took it back to the store, because while it was Innovative and Revolutionary, I didn't find it to be much fun.
Grand Theft Auto III, on the other hand, is the most fun I've ever had with a video game. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but I couldn't care less. It's a lot of fun, and that's what I play games for.
Ultimately, there's only so much revolution you're ever going to see in video games. You're always going to be using the mouse and / or keyboard or controller to control a guy / spaceship / car / abstract cursor to blow things up / build civilizations / complete goals. That's just the way the medium is, I think.
I've seen reruns of Airwolf, A-Team and Knight Rider. Believe me, you're better off sticking with your childhood memories, because seeing them again will rob you of them.
I do believe you're talking about Street Hawk.
I'm afraid it isn't.
No, not at all. What I'm saying is that it isn't mentioned in the movie, and thus the fact that Palpatine == Emperor would not be obvious to people who don't take their Star Wars experience beyond the movies (which, granted, doesn't include many /.ers, but is quite a few people nonetheless).
The above poster was chastising people for not remembering Return of the Jedi well enough to remember that the Emperor's name was Palpatine, when in fact that's not mentioned in the trilogy.
Of course Palpatine is evil, doesn't anyone remember Return of the Jedi anymore? (whas it *that* bad?) Who's that dude zapping Luke with the magic bolts of lightening at the end of the film? Could it be.. "Emperor Palpatine"!?
I'm afraid you're the one who doesn't remember Return of the Jedi anymore. The word "Palpatine" is never uttered in any of the classic trilogy movies. The Emperor is referred to only as "The Emperor."
The novelizations, comics, and RPGs are a different story, however.
Why bother naming them? They never come when you call.
What, you think I got all those ideas without reading? :)
:)
Yeah, my apologies. I should have considered that.
As well as The Reality Dysfunction (+The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God), I can also heartily recommend Eon (+Eternity and Legacy) and Queen of Angels (+Slant and Moving Mars).
Thanks! I haven't actually heard of any of those. I will put them on the reading list.
And I wish movies were a little more cerebral / epic sometimes too, especially in the sci-fi genre, but nothing much has changed but the technology in the past twenty-five years or so. I'm not too confident it's going to.
Pick up a book. I'm not trying to be snide; I think you're going to find much more of the kind of inventiveness you're looking for in sci-fi novels than you ever will in the movies.
WWII-era space battles and balkanized aliens are just too much of a staple. Farscape has some slightly more interesting aliens, in that they're not all humanoid, but they still adhere to more or less cartoony personality types.
I think it's just a limitation of the television / movie medium. Well, not of the medium, but of the economic circumstances driving the medium.
I'm sure the people doing the "rebelling" think so.
You're quite right. In fact, Lucas has said many times himself (both in commentary and in interviews) that he considers the Star Wars series to be like variations on a theme. This is why characters end up in the same situations, saying similar things, and why everyone ends up on Tattooine sooner or later :)
The films aren't supposed to be constantly breaking new ground and reinventing the dramatic wheel. Furthermore, I think there's a little hypocrisy in expecting them to. I can only imagine the hubbub that would ensue if Lucas decided "oh, I've done this Force and lightsabers nonsense for five movies... I'm not putting them in the next one."
No, someone throws a stuffed Yoda at the bad guy's head and he holds it to his face, thrashing back and forth, screaming "AHHHHHHHH! GET IT OFFFFF, GET IT OFFFFFFFF!"
Every time I hear about the Yoda fight scenes, that's the only thing I can imagine happening.
But seriously, I didn't think her acting was that bad in TPM--it's just that the script called for a wooned "regal" performance. I can just imagine Lucas directing her into mediocrity
Agreed. There's only so much you can do with the material you're given. Even Harrison Ford used to complain that "no one can say these lines." I think too many Star Wars actors get unfairly criticized when in truth, the dialogue just can't be delivered convincingly.