Hey everyone. This is Billy and Angela, and we’re just a couple of geeks. On our first broadcast on Fandible.com, we’re talking about the Avengers before moving to some other summer blockbuster. We ask our listeners what they think the next ‘Star Wars’ of this generation is and close out with discussing what we look for in an RPG system. We look forward to hearing your comments.
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Saying that Avengers is “the same” as Star Wars (a movie that just came out versus a movie series that has had decades to creep it’s way into American culture), i agree, would be wrong. But remember the first time when you were young and you saw Star Wars (any of them, really). I think that’s what the comment meant, saying that the Avengers is “the next” Star Wars. It was the first movie that my kids were reciting several statements from and they wanted to see it again and they asked if we can buy it as soon as it comes out. I can definitely see someone thinking that The Avengers has created the same feeling for today’s youth that Star Wars did in the 70s. That’s just my thought. There are other movies, lik the Matrix, that has had a big impact on culture, but I even see that as less impactful than the Avengers, but it could be because we are in the middle of it all (as it is still the new and shiny).
Hm. I have heard the Transformers series been called the Star Wars of our generation, not simply for making a ton of money but for influencing how other movies are made and what they’re based on. Look at Battleship, which Billy is forcing poor Angela to go and see. Look at the parallels. Big, overblown special effects. Based on a toy. No plot. Explosions. Terrible characters. Aliens are attacking. If there’s racist caricatures and sexism everywhere then the movie will have completed the cycle.
Granted, I haven’t seen Battleship myself, because I didn’t want to feed the monster and because I have a pretty good idea of what to expect, but everything I’ve heard vindicates my opinion.
Anyway, the thing is, the Avengers changed the equation. It has essentially proven Michael Bay to be wrong. Superficially, yes, there are many similarities between the Avengers and Transformers. However, the Avengers makes you care about the characters involved and what they’re doing. The heroes are noble in their own way but don’t all get along, and the villain… well, that Loki is one vicious bastard. Compare that to Transformers, where the main characters are sidelined in favor of terrible comic relief characters, the villain is an afterthought, and as for why they’re having a big fight in the city… uh… I dunno! Explosions!
My point is, the Avengers isn’t the next Star Wars, but it may have done something even better if I’m right and it ends this horrible trend of Bayified blockbusters. We can have our ridiculously extravagant, big budget movie WITHOUT turning off our brains. Funny thing is, for a while, the movie that did that was the Matrix, but the sequels utterly squandered the gains that movie made by being overly pretentious.
Wouldn’t a TV show like X-files be a lot closer to having the cultural impact of the original Star Wars films, rather than *^&%ing Titanic or Avatar? Of course, I’m not looking at this from the US point of view but to me the success of Titanic and Avatar seemed to consist mainly of short term and superficial hype over the special effects.
I agree that HEX is a great game, especially the way it handles its setting, but I do find the system needlessly fiddly at times, especially considering it’s supposed to emulate pulp action. So 10/10 seems a bit overrated.
Of course, it’s no where near as overrated as Dread. I mean WTF, your character dies each time the jenga tower falls…? That has to be the most retarded hip diceless resolution mechanic I’ve seen yet. If with every action you risk the chance of having to create yet another character that’s going to be tiresome rather than to emulate tension, let alone be immersive.
Don’t have much in the way of opinions not already expressed here. Night quote Dark Knight as a mover for forcibly dragging comic book cinema out of dumb blockbuster and legitimately solid movies. Will note that the first season of Star Trek already had a devout fan following before Star Wars, new Star Wars movie assumption is accurate though. Also going to note that with Star Trek overseas Dr. Who was getting its own devout following. I have no doubt Star Wars was an important cultural benchmark, but wouldn’t call it the reason Sci-fi took off. Particularly since it is Sci-fan. Still enjoyed the talk, definitely the most podcasty podcast so far.