Andor _is_ "the best Star Wars product in 40 years." Who'd have thought that we'd get not one, not two, but _three_ world-class monologues in a Star Wars show, let alone have them delivered by Gollum, Baron Harkonnen and Aunt Petunia?
I feel like unlike most of Disney Star Wars hasn't thought of everything, but Andor actually did, like for example they used McLaren's headquarters (which is a very futuristic looking building) to stand-in as a Corasaint space port
I haven't watched this video yet, but just wanted to say that, as somebody who does not enjoy Star Wars in the slightest bit, Andor was an absolute joy to watch. There was so much to enjoy in nearly every scene without being spoon fed a "black hat means bad/white hat means good" narrative. Now, back to your video...
I greatly enjoy that a purple light can make unpainted drywall and a water heater a perfectly reasonable cyberpunk set. Also, everyone go watch Andor. It is ridiculously good and assuming you were a child when the original trilogy came out, is what you have been wanting from the star wars universe for 3-4 decades.
One of my favorite moments from the entire franchise is in The Last Jedi when Yoda burns the Jedi library cackling with glee. It was such a great acknowledgement of how stuffy, boring, and out of touch the Jedi order had become.
Is there anyone who thinks the Jedi in general (I include the Sith in this) are by far the worst thing about Star Wars? Like, in the original trilogy they still feel like this tiny remnant of a bygone era, steeped in mysticism and forgotten history, some people clinging onto a piece of culture that was pretty much genocided a long time ago. A small part of a larger scifi universe that just so happens to affect our main character(s). And now every single character is a Jedi or at least Force sensitive, every show and movie is about Jedis, and all we really learn of them is that they're religious fanatics that turned the Old Republic in what could be called a theocracy. Plus the media all shows them to be incompetent bullies that use only physical violence (Force or lightsaber) to kill anyone they don't like or don't adhere to their strict dogma. And apparently Order 66 killed about 4 Jedi because all the other ones are still alive and show up as a 'reveal'. Andor completely skipping over the Jedi is maybe its biggest boon, and that's without even talking about the excellent writing, etc.
I think the primary issue is how the Jedi were handled in later movies in my opinion-as you've said, it feels like nearly every character is a Jedi or force-sensitive, when in-universe, the Jedi are nearly extinct. If the movies that came _after_ the original trilogy adhered to that scarcity and mysticism of the Jedi, and more importantly, did _not_ rub the existence of the Jedi in our faces, then the Jedi would hold much more power than they do now. As an example, in Rogue One, Darth Vader is genuinely terrifying because in the movie, there's no mention of Jedi, nor is anyone directly involved with a Jedi or any force-sensitive individual, it's just people rebelling against an authoritative and dictorial regime in a sci-fi setting. And then comes a menacing guy all-dressed in black weilding a red saber who shockingly deflects your laser bullets while slicing your comrades in half and _somehow_ attacking people from some unforseen force. And what's _frustrating_ is that there's so many unexplored areas and stories in Star Wars, but hey, at least we got one of the best shows in recent times via Andor!
the jedi kinda went from space wizards to space knights, which is ironic because the whole point of the prequels is the Jedi being manipulated into a war they wanted no part of, causing them to lose their way
Andor is great. The best thing about it is that its Star Wars setting is just window dressing. it doesnt really matter to the story. You could tell exactly the same story set in France in 1942.
When you watch it, pay attention to every single line and event... they're parallel to the one we're living in right now, especially in relation to the conflict in the Middle East. You'd find so many similarities.
The nice thing about star wars is that it is so big, you can find something for everybody. some like the mystic part with jedi and sith, some like the militaristics and i even heard of people getting deep into the politics part. i love the old republic stuff with alle the sith lore and stuff but im not that interested in the clone wars military stuff and not even in the skywalker saga.
Great video, first time I've seen your videos. Loved your attitude, humour and intelligent dissection of the Star Wars genre. Regarding the cyberpunk themes in SW, i can see your point but it's a very subtle nod and for me only came to mind when we see the Blade Runner visuals in the scenes of the prequels and the opening scene in Andor. As you said those aspects meet the criteria via movie tropes of technological societies in dimly lit, rain soaked alleyways but it's more prevalent in the background of SW scenes. For example the tech used on Hoth and the grubby workshops on Tattoine. More specifically the original concept art by Ralph McQuarrie gave the biggest indication that the cyberpunk aesthetic was buried in there
Andor is one of the best shows ever.,its weird that a corporation like disney which supports exploitation and israel yet had anti fascist gems like XMen, Star Wars
That's because with X-Men and Andor, they were projects that didn't have Disney's typically poor corporatist intersectional boot heel on their throats. They were allowed to have the freedom to do their own thing.
@Plxlinixy yup, they should fund invidual crews that have a genuine passion project rather than over police and hover over generic stories, that's why their animations and readaptations are flopping
At first, Disney let Lukas keep the rights to Star Wars. They weren’t as franchise addicted back then, and didn’t see the potential. But oh boy did they regret it. Since then, they’ve made up for it by monopolizing every character and idea that comes from Disney. I like how this series took the world of Star Wars and made something fresh.
Solid as always. I loved rogue one and my friend was just telling me to watch andor earlier today. This 5 bucks is for the combat vest with all the pockets, just in case they don’t take your sweaty return lmao
i have never watched anything star wars because it just looked silly. then I watched andor reluctantly and fell in love. then i watched everything in the star wars time line and mostly found it super boring. nothing holds a candle to andor
Okay my name is the same as a very derided Hollywood producer so I spent this episode getting startled and looking up from my snack like, "What?! What did I do?" Before getting the bit.
It was an overall excellent production in Story Telling, Acting, and Script Writing....that just happened to be set in the Star Wars universe. Looking forward to the next season.
Honestly, besides Andor, Bad Batch, Rebels and Rouge One, in my opinion, the best Star Wars has ironically come from Electronic Arts, with Squadrons and Jedi Fallen Order
I'm an elder millennial and while I agree with most of what you have said, I love all the Star Wars movies and shows. From the down and gritty of Andor to the more mystical and Jedi focused The Acolyte. I just enjoy Star Wars in general. I do agree that Disney hasn't done the best job with Star Wars, but at the same time, it has grown beyond what it was when Lucas had it. As for Rogue One, loved it, and the Vader scene went hard. I loved it.
@@jrojala Life's too short to worry on what others think about things you like. Star Wars has been a part of my life for nearly 30 years, and the toxic braying of a few morons won't change that any time soon.
I am the one in the friend group that constantly points out inconsistencies in story or characters and the poor writing that creates those inconsistencies. I get so frustrated by padded and plodding episodes that are just stringing us along and characters doing whatever some person or persons decide they should do to fit their "cool, (edgy, dark, whatever)...idea". So with trepidation I tiptoed into Andor, as I did like the character in Rogue One. I was so pleasantly surprised. I actually liked it - really liked it. I saw no padding, and the characters stayed true from episode to episode, without the thing that I also hate about most series, the soap opera interpersonal crap. Despite knowing the outcome of the main character, the tension was maintained at a low, background threat level. It was in the atmosphere, everywhere, and increased, through subtlety and nuance. I told everyone I knew that this was a good series. Unfortunately, many of those folks thought it was boring. BORING. WT actual feck? Even a few of the popular media reviewers said it was boring, because there wasn't superfluous, gratuitous fight scenes and space ship flying, while interpersonal crap dialogue supposedly shocks us into wanting to know more about why the person just did several 180s in a row that have nothing to do with the bigger story. I will claim forever that Andor is probably the best dramatic series in the last decade. Maybe that's a bit much. I haven't watched many series that are supposed to be so good. I tried the popular ones, but just really couldn't, so my opinion is likely not as relevant had I watched all of those other things. I'm old enough to remember when the first movie came out. I was a kid not interested in space movies as my step dad was an actual rocket avionics guy at NASA, and I felt like there was too much "space" in my life. I didn't actually see it until about 5 years later on cable. The first watch I didn't care. I did come to like that first trilogy. Then, the 2nd series was so damned awful and I am not even a binks, hater, I hated it for the reasons pointed out here. I remember a bunch of us went to see the 2nd one and that scene where Anakin says "If you're suffering as much as I am, please tell me..."A bunch of folks and myself all shouted out in the theatre "Yes, I am suffering..." Probably why I remember that quote. We all broke out laughing in the theatre.
The lighting totally works. The shadows kept one of your eyes dark the whole time. 16 year old edgy sci-fi nerd that i was, thinks that looks awesome. Oh, Andor is also awesome. Its the only SW series ive actually enjoyed watching
the only reason i watched andor in the first place was a video essay on youtube like ayear ago said it was great anti fascism message. ive watched it a bunch of times and im currently rewatching now! The idea that its cyberpunk never came accross my mind but it males total sense!
i watched the original Star Wars trilogy as a kid but definitely lost interest. i watched The Mandalorian (which was alright i guess) but Andor was one of my favorite scifi series of the last few years. one of my other favorites is Mrs Davis. highly recommend. go into it with as little knowledge as possible. its about a nun trying to shut down an all-powerful AI. Betty Gilpin (from GLOW) stars.
I have mixed feelings about this video. I'm sympathetic with what seems to be the basic intention, but I can't shake the feeling that none of this is "cyberpunk" in any meaningful way. Or at least, it doesn't match my understanding of cyberpunk. The video seems to want to turn this term into a catch-all for any SF that has a dark, edgy quality. But to me, what's distinctive about cyberpunk is its focus on how technological change fundamentally alters human experience in a negative way - hence the dystopian, noirish qualities. So Neuromancer is the foundational text. Star Wars, from the beginning and including Andor, is not interested in those themes. You could remove the high-tech elements of Star Wars and still be able to tell essentially the same stories. But that shouldn't be the case with cyberpunk. To me, Andor is basically a political spy thriller. It's by far my favorite Star Wars property, and it's very dark. But cyberpunk? I just don't see it. It's true there are pieces of tech, and occasionally certain settings, that could be re-purposed into a work of cyberpunk. But Star Wars never does not (though it might be interesting if they tried). For example: Darth Vader is the way he is not because of cyberpunk themes related to the melding of human and tech -- no, he is that way because it makes a very cool villain. It goes no deeper than that. But maybe I'm wrong. Who knows. I'm just trying to articulate my emotional reaction here.
30:20 no. Sorry no. That is not what the force is. The midiclorians allow you to connect to the force, theey are not the force, they do not create the force, they simply allow you to connect with the energy field comnecting all things.
If Andor didn't have Star Wars in the title we wouldn't watch it. How are these nobody characters who all die in Rogue One so important when no one mentioned them until Rogue One? Rogue One is not even that good. Nostalgia isn't enough to just blindly support product. Andor is why Star Wars feels smaller and less significant. The Jedi are more interesting than California man in Star Wars.
Andor _is_ "the best Star Wars product in 40 years." Who'd have thought that we'd get not one, not two, but _three_ world-class monologues in a Star Wars show, let alone have them delivered by Gollum, Baron Harkonnen and Aunt Petunia?
Don't forget Nemik's posthumous screed! That one hit too.
I feel like unlike most of Disney Star Wars hasn't thought of everything, but Andor actually did, like for example they used McLaren's headquarters (which is a very futuristic looking building) to stand-in as a Corasaint space port
I haven't watched this video yet, but just wanted to say that, as somebody who does not enjoy Star Wars in the slightest bit, Andor was an absolute joy to watch.
There was so much to enjoy in nearly every scene without being spoon fed a "black hat means bad/white hat means good" narrative.
Now, back to your video...
I greatly enjoy that a purple light can make unpainted drywall and a water heater a perfectly reasonable cyberpunk set. Also, everyone go watch Andor. It is ridiculously good and assuming you were a child when the original trilogy came out, is what you have been wanting from the star wars universe for 3-4 decades.
One of my favorite moments from the entire franchise is in The Last Jedi when Yoda burns the Jedi library cackling with glee. It was such a great acknowledgement of how stuffy, boring, and out of touch the Jedi order had become.
Cyberpunk- No Magic.
Shadowrun- Hell yeah, Magic!
Star Wars- Our Magic Sounds Scientific.
Rifts- You Want It, We Got It.
Dune - My science IS my magic
Is there anyone who thinks the Jedi in general (I include the Sith in this) are by far the worst thing about Star Wars? Like, in the original trilogy they still feel like this tiny remnant of a bygone era, steeped in mysticism and forgotten history, some people clinging onto a piece of culture that was pretty much genocided a long time ago. A small part of a larger scifi universe that just so happens to affect our main character(s).
And now every single character is a Jedi or at least Force sensitive, every show and movie is about Jedis, and all we really learn of them is that they're religious fanatics that turned the Old Republic in what could be called a theocracy. Plus the media all shows them to be incompetent bullies that use only physical violence (Force or lightsaber) to kill anyone they don't like or don't adhere to their strict dogma. And apparently Order 66 killed about 4 Jedi because all the other ones are still alive and show up as a 'reveal'.
Andor completely skipping over the Jedi is maybe its biggest boon, and that's without even talking about the excellent writing, etc.
I think the primary issue is how the Jedi were handled in later movies in my opinion-as you've said, it feels like nearly every character is a Jedi or force-sensitive, when in-universe, the Jedi are nearly extinct.
If the movies that came _after_ the original trilogy adhered to that scarcity and mysticism of the Jedi, and more importantly, did _not_ rub the existence of the Jedi in our faces, then the Jedi would hold much more power than they do now.
As an example, in Rogue One, Darth Vader is genuinely terrifying because in the movie, there's no mention of Jedi, nor is anyone directly involved with a Jedi or any force-sensitive individual, it's just people rebelling against an authoritative and dictorial regime in a sci-fi setting.
And then comes a menacing guy all-dressed in black weilding a red saber who shockingly deflects your laser bullets while slicing your comrades in half and _somehow_ attacking people from some unforseen force.
And what's _frustrating_ is that there's so many unexplored areas and stories in Star Wars, but hey, at least we got one of the best shows in recent times via Andor!
Jedi becomes overused trope. In the original trilogy, the jedi lore has much more significant functions but displayed sparingly.
the jedi kinda went from space wizards to space knights, which is ironic because the whole point of the prequels is the Jedi being manipulated into a war they wanted no part of, causing them to lose their way
5:40 reminds me of how Han Solo saying “Hell” in ESB had to be explained in the deep lore/wiki as a reference to a hell-like planet.
Whelp. You've comvinced me to watch Andor.
I love a fantastic dystopian future setting that distracts me from the one I live in.
@@EdrickBluebeard You should love it. There's even some mürder, comedy, and *gasp* hope in there.
Andor is great. The best thing about it is that its Star Wars setting is just window dressing. it doesnt really matter to the story. You could tell exactly the same story set in France in 1942.
When you watch it, pay attention to every single line and event... they're parallel to the one we're living in right now, especially in relation to the conflict in the Middle East. You'd find so many similarities.
This is squarely within my interests, literally been burning through Cyberpunk over the past month.
The nice thing about star wars is that it is so big, you can find something for everybody. some like the mystic part with jedi and sith, some like the militaristics and i even heard of people getting deep into the politics part. i love the old republic stuff with alle the sith lore and stuff but im not that interested in the clone wars military stuff and not even in the skywalker saga.
Great video, first time I've seen your videos. Loved your attitude, humour and intelligent dissection of the Star Wars genre. Regarding the cyberpunk themes in SW, i can see your point but it's a very subtle nod and for me only came to mind when we see the Blade Runner visuals in the scenes of the prequels and the opening scene in Andor. As you said those aspects meet the criteria via movie tropes of technological societies in dimly lit, rain soaked alleyways but it's more prevalent in the background of SW scenes. For example the tech used on Hoth and the grubby workshops on Tattoine. More specifically the original concept art by Ralph McQuarrie gave the biggest indication that the cyberpunk aesthetic was buried in there
The bisexual lighting was a good touch 🔮
Andor is one of the best shows ever.,its weird that a corporation like disney which supports exploitation and israel yet had anti fascist gems like XMen, Star Wars
That's because with X-Men and Andor, they were projects that didn't have Disney's typically poor corporatist intersectional boot heel on their throats. They were allowed to have the freedom to do their own thing.
@Plxlinixy yup, they should fund invidual crews that have a genuine passion project rather than over police and hover over generic stories, that's why their animations and readaptations are flopping
At first, Disney let Lukas keep the rights to Star Wars. They weren’t as franchise addicted back then, and didn’t see the potential. But oh boy did they regret it. Since then, they’ve made up for it by monopolizing every character and idea that comes from Disney. I like how this series took the world of Star Wars and made something fresh.
Solid as always. I loved rogue one and my friend was just telling me to watch andor earlier today. This 5 bucks is for the combat vest with all the pockets, just in case they don’t take your sweaty return lmao
Digging that bisexual lighting.
this video should have way more views and likes
I've watched a lot of videos on Andor since it's one of my favorite shows. This take had some new ideas and a refreshing angle.
i have never watched anything star wars because it just looked silly. then I watched andor reluctantly and fell in love. then i watched everything in the star wars time line and mostly found it super boring. nothing holds a candle to andor
I watched the OT, PT, Ep 7 and 8? R1, some series, and none of them are as memorable and stay in my mind as Andor. This show is something else.
Okay my name is the same as a very derided Hollywood producer so I spent this episode getting startled and looking up from my snack like, "What?! What did I do?" Before getting the bit.
It was an overall excellent production in Story Telling, Acting, and Script Writing....that just happened to be set in the Star Wars universe. Looking forward to the next season.
But the bricks and screws! My immersion!
Honestly, besides Andor, Bad Batch, Rebels and Rouge One, in my opinion, the best Star Wars has ironically come from Electronic Arts, with Squadrons and Jedi Fallen Order
Absolutely. I just want season 2 of Obi Wan to be him riding around the desert on that camel and becoming more and more of a hermit.
I'm an elder millennial and while I agree with most of what you have said, I love all the Star Wars movies and shows. From the down and gritty of Andor to the more mystical and Jedi focused The Acolyte. I just enjoy Star Wars in general. I do agree that Disney hasn't done the best job with Star Wars, but at the same time, it has grown beyond what it was when Lucas had it. As for Rogue One, loved it, and the Vader scene went hard. I loved it.
@@jrojala Life's too short to worry on what others think about things you like. Star Wars has been a part of my life for nearly 30 years, and the toxic braying of a few morons won't change that any time soon.
Why aren’t there force vampires?
lighting was def worth it.
The Jedi aren’t incels, since they’re essentially monks, who are _voluntarily_ celibate.
They should have made Obi-wan more like Kung Fu with David Caradine.
Nevermind 2077 - I'll go hang out with Tex Murphy :)
Please don't virus me.
Did you follow the rules?
@@harlandspinks most of them...
I am the one in the friend group that constantly points out inconsistencies in story or characters and the poor writing that creates those inconsistencies. I get so frustrated by padded and plodding episodes that are just stringing us along and characters doing whatever some person or persons decide they should do to fit their "cool, (edgy, dark, whatever)...idea".
So with trepidation I tiptoed into Andor, as I did like the character in Rogue One. I was so pleasantly surprised. I actually liked it - really liked it. I saw no padding, and the characters stayed true from episode to episode, without the thing that I also hate about most series, the soap opera interpersonal crap. Despite knowing the outcome of the main character, the tension was maintained at a low, background threat level. It was in the atmosphere, everywhere, and increased, through subtlety and nuance.
I told everyone I knew that this was a good series.
Unfortunately, many of those folks thought it was boring. BORING. WT actual feck? Even a few of the popular media reviewers said it was boring, because there wasn't superfluous, gratuitous fight scenes and space ship flying, while interpersonal crap dialogue supposedly shocks us into wanting to know more about why the person just did several 180s in a row that have nothing to do with the bigger story.
I will claim forever that Andor is probably the best dramatic series in the last decade. Maybe that's a bit much. I haven't watched many series that are supposed to be so good. I tried the popular ones, but just really couldn't, so my opinion is likely not as relevant had I watched all of those other things.
I'm old enough to remember when the first movie came out. I was a kid not interested in space movies as my step dad was an actual rocket avionics guy at NASA, and I felt like there was too much "space" in my life. I didn't actually see it until about 5 years later on cable. The first watch I didn't care. I did come to like that first trilogy.
Then, the 2nd series was so damned awful and I am not even a binks, hater, I hated it for the reasons pointed out here. I remember a bunch of us went to see the 2nd one and that scene where Anakin says "If you're suffering as much as I am, please tell me..."A bunch of folks and myself all shouted out in the theatre "Yes, I am suffering..." Probably why I remember that quote. We all broke out laughing in the theatre.
I think I'm gonna have to watch that one now...
If not for that lighting…ok let’s face it I’d still watch
Hey I like your videos.
Neo can´t manipulate the real world in the Matrix. There are HEAVY HEAVY hints that the real world is another Matrix layer.
The lighting totally works. The shadows kept one of your eyes dark the whole time. 16 year old edgy sci-fi nerd that i was, thinks that looks awesome.
Oh, Andor is also awesome. Its the only SW series ive actually enjoyed watching
The queer an-Com/Gothicist in me *loves* Andor! Best Star Wars, basically ever! :3
I don’t usually say this but…
Good job.
OOOH this gonna be goood
the only reason i watched andor in the first place was a video essay on youtube like ayear ago said it was great anti fascism message. ive watched it a bunch of times and im currently rewatching now! The idea that its cyberpunk never came accross my mind but it males total sense!
Andor is the Blade Runner sequel that Denis Villeneuve didn't make.
For what its worth im playing jedi survivor rn and im having a great time. Not really much of a SW fan tho..
i watched the original Star Wars trilogy as a kid but definitely lost interest. i watched The Mandalorian (which was alright i guess) but Andor was one of my favorite scifi series of the last few years.
one of my other favorites is Mrs Davis. highly recommend. go into it with as little knowledge as possible. its about a nun trying to shut down an all-powerful AI. Betty Gilpin (from GLOW) stars.
He’s slowly morphing into a “real” TH-camr- the bisexual lighting is the first symptom 😂
Now that I have multiple lights, I gotta use em.
Andor definitely is the best SW
i'm special
I have mixed feelings about this video. I'm sympathetic with what seems to be the basic intention, but I can't shake the feeling that none of this is "cyberpunk" in any meaningful way. Or at least, it doesn't match my understanding of cyberpunk. The video seems to want to turn this term into a catch-all for any SF that has a dark, edgy quality. But to me, what's distinctive about cyberpunk is its focus on how technological change fundamentally alters human experience in a negative way - hence the dystopian, noirish qualities. So Neuromancer is the foundational text. Star Wars, from the beginning and including Andor, is not interested in those themes. You could remove the high-tech elements of Star Wars and still be able to tell essentially the same stories. But that shouldn't be the case with cyberpunk. To me, Andor is basically a political spy thriller. It's by far my favorite Star Wars property, and it's very dark. But cyberpunk? I just don't see it. It's true there are pieces of tech, and occasionally certain settings, that could be re-purposed into a work of cyberpunk. But Star Wars never does not (though it might be interesting if they tried). For example: Darth Vader is the way he is not because of cyberpunk themes related to the melding of human and tech -- no, he is that way because it makes a very cool villain. It goes no deeper than that.
But maybe I'm wrong. Who knows. I'm just trying to articulate my emotional reaction here.
30:20 no. Sorry no. That is not what the force is. The midiclorians allow you to connect to the force, theey are not the force, they do not create the force, they simply allow you to connect with the energy field comnecting all things.
I loved Rogue One….it was so cool
you made me care about Star Wars again.
Off to plate with my plastic lightsabers
If Andor didn't have Star Wars in the title we wouldn't watch it. How are these nobody characters who all die in Rogue One so important when no one mentioned them until Rogue One? Rogue One is not even that good. Nostalgia isn't enough to just blindly support product. Andor is why Star Wars feels smaller and less significant. The Jedi are more interesting than California man in Star Wars.
cyberpunk is a word I'd be very happy with never hearing again.. but Andor was, is, and will be phenomenal.
Oh Dear, this Video is terribly misinformed at parts.