The Lightsaber Problem
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2023
- #starwars #jedi #lightsaber
Sorry if this is a bit slapdash guys, have to nip away for a few days but I wanted to get this out to you before I went. Apologies if there are mistakes, I may re-edit and reupload when I return. It's a short ramble on a current problem in action cinema.
Thanks so much for watching!
patreon.com/novum - Фільми й анімація
The amount of knowledge, insight and passion you have for all things literature, filmmaking, mythology and culture merits you a lot more than a million subs Novum. I discovered your channel in August and have been watching all your videos on repeat, especially the ones on The Light House and Hereditary.
Congrats on finishing your novel and best of luck with the publishing process.
And for the love of God, keep making videos here on UA-cam. If you ever stopped this platform would be much poorer for it.
This is the reason I always found X-men appealing: the shear variety of powers created unique fights and there was always different chemistry going on.
Yes! That's also one of my main attractions to a fight scene, along with does it tell a story, have a message, will something I can't predict happen? Star Wars fight scenes aren't especially clever. Just two evenly matched characters swinging lights at each other.
Absolutely chuffed to have another Novum video! Thank you for all the time you put into these. Looking forward to seeing more!
Far too kind!
@@Novum_YTyour hereditary video is the best YT video of all time
I think the fight between Darth and Luke in Empire Strikes Back is the most dramatic of the series.
The hero not only isn't as good as the bad guy, but is easily defeated in the fight while setting up the entire familial line in the plot of the Skywalkers, and drives Luke to become a real jedi.
Of course, the character development is postponed til ROTJ , but as a whole story this fight seems to be the most dramatic and important plot wise. Suprised it didn't make the top 4.
Fun vids friend, well done.
But that's the key! ESB is a great fight scene because something I couldn't predict happened in the middle of the fight. The best fight scenes have a story structure, contribute to the structure, or have a certain level of unpredictability. Or the hero isnt powerful, but instead really clever (in movies like Prey and Kung Fu Hustle.)
You've really woke me up to the wild views of masculine and feminine tropes in media. It gives me some semblance of hope for the future in media as we deviate from these notions.
Yes. This is a huge problem, Hollywood can't get out of the hero vs clone of hero trope. I grew up on Batman Beyond and stuff where figuring out this weird villains tactics are part of the fun
Very interesting breakdown, agree with your point. Another great example I can think of is in Kill Bill Volume 1, where Beatrix first fights the 100 Yakuza guys and then Gogo, both very assymetrical. And even the showdown afterwards is pretty well done through focus on style, but the actual fighting sequence is indeed less memorable than the vibe and style of the shot.
That's one of the thing that make Anime so compelling, even something like Dragon Ball maintained a lot of assymetrical combat until the last saga that devolved into mirror duels but it's very hard to find this lightsaber problem into this media while most shonen action anime do focus on battle fought by special people with somewhat matching abilities ('cause they're ninjas, sorcerer, stand user or whatever) the intricacies of power systems and range of ability granted make for A LOT of assymetrical action like "Oh my god this guy can make a shark appear in any puddle of water" you can add to this the love of the medium for mind battles that stop the action so we're privy to the thought process and strategies of the fighters where they play chess with their abilities so you really get what's going on.
The other category being specal humans fighting monsters brings even more opportunities for very unfair battles even if the "superpowered human/mecha fighting a gigantic beast" trope can also devolve into a colorful mess where you just wait for the sakuga to end so the winner is revealed it still feels more satisfying than mirror matches.
In special humans vs special humans, it's not as much combat as developping a game system with very precise rules where it's about understanding the rules of the game and each player playing with very different hands. Much more like a game of Magic The Gathering with each player playing very different decks than a fist fight.
I would absolutely love it if you did a complete guide to The Thing. Love your content!
It will 100% happen. Probably after the Midsommar vid.
The saving grace of original Star Wars lightsaber duels until the postlogy is that nobody leave a lightsaber duel without damage, the only lightsaber fight without any death or mutilation by the end in the original six movies is the brief fight between Qi-Gon and Maul in the Phantom Menace on Tatooine, always having consequences in your fight scenes either death or Luke losing his hand really elevated it to something that felt important. The fact that Luke can have a perfectly functional new hand by episode VI kind of make it less consequential but Return of the jedi made a very good job of making the loss of his hand feel real. Today a lot of movies go this route where there seem to have consequences but they're overall insignificants 'cause they don't do such a good job of demonstrating it and never dwell on it to the point it becomes just a matter of pride like Kylo's scar, it just doesn't work if you don't go all in.
my fav literary (trope/movie?) analysis for the uninitiated! definitely top tier work being done here. can't wait for the next one, thank you for this enrichment!
This video essay was so well put together, I'm definitely subbing
8:10 -- RE: And Meanwhile, in the East...; Personally, I think Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro" were the best of the bunch. Yojimbo throws off the balance by pitting a ronin swordsman against a gunslinger; and Sanjuro has a shockingly brief katana duel at the end. :D
Scott Pilgrim handled this pretty well.. they even joke about having to fight your shadow self.
The finale to Episode 3 is most definitely an asymmetrical fight.
Obi-Wan had the high ground.
I'd like to throw a bone to Finn v.s Kylo Ren too. I thought that had some excellent asymmetry to it, as Finn spent the entire movie trying to run away, but eventually faces his old boss, knowing full well that he might not survive. He wanted to protect his friend, and nearly gave his life doing so. It's too bad he became a buffoon after that but that's aside the point.
I love the way you think and how you make connections between things. On top of that you lay them in front of us so eloquently. Really well done!
If you want to see asymmetrical action I strongly recommend checking out that Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime. Things get REALLY crazy in the last few episodes and it genuinely has some of the most memorable combat scenes I've ever come across, full stop.
Well now i wanna know how the beam in the sky ties in to what you said
loving all of your videos, please keep it up
Watched your Hereditary video twice now-at .75 speed.
Looking forward to Midsommar.
I'm hard at work on it! This week I'm trying to get a plane ticket to Sweden sorted and I've even hired a folksinger. Very excited to show everyone and I'm looking at a January release date. Thanks so much for your support.
Another phenomenal vid!
Great assessment 🙏🙏
Is this why the fights in the first Pacific Rim are so fun?
I'm a storyboard artist in the animation industry and I gotta say, youre videos are some of my absolute favorites on UA-cam!
@Novum_YT
I don't know if you remember me but, I found your channel two years back through a sub-reddit that had your vedio in one of its posts. The vedio was "the complete companion guide to aliens" Well, something along the lines of this Cant remember anymore
my memory is a bit fuzzy now
Well, it's been a pleasure to see you grow so much. I hope for the best for you.
Regards
An old acquaintance
I actually love Kylo's saber. It looks like an actual sword, with weigh, and not just a toy that sever limbs.
I hope one of these messages reaches this creator. I absolutely love your channel... i've been binging your content for a few days now. With the way you covered Hereditary and The Green Knight, I would love to get your take on The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky. It's not an A24 film but its subject matter and the way it's filmed is perfect for you to cover. Critics basically killed this movie and it's not for everyone. I personally love it especially Hugh Jackman's performance and the soundtrack. But I would love to see your review and outlook on it and what you take away from it. Thanks
Love from Austin TX
fantastic video. i like the hulk vs abomination but you really made a great case of how unmemorable CGI fights are these days. also fascinating comparison to the western saturation and capeshit saturation.
Ehhh I’ll stick to my Lamborghini for now.. gotta see how reliable these new powertrains are.
I seriously enjoy your media analysis infinitely more than I do most video essayists on this platform, It is very evident that you care about the stuff you put out and I'm so looking forward to the midsommar video!
What’s up with the curved dagger?? That character and trait honestly made me think bc damn it’s so true… wow you don’t here about it but that feminine but manly, vaguely brown, eye makeup suave, charming figure is really popular. Also got me thinking about the eyeliner aspect; in Asia and the Middle East, men wore and still do surma, it’s basically eyeliner called kohl in English. it’s actually a traditional thing for men to do.
Actually Dooku vs the Jedi is great because of the way Dooku dances around the entire time. He so overmatches the Jedi that in episode 2 both Obi-wan and Anakin go against him and lose, while Episode 3 has Anakin literally need to beat him down with his strength rather than using speed or skill to win, but I agree with a lot of what you said here
Can we appreciate why the subtle subversion of this is one of the reasons why Black Panther is so subtly good. It appears to be following this very formula exactly, while in reality having the actual hero (who is trying to over come an evil empire and arm and free oppressed peoples) defeated by the status quo defending imperial, "Vader-like" character with matching power set.... EVEN THOUGH WE SEE HIM BLESSED BY LITERAL GODS. It's pretty impressively well done, honestly.
There is quite a lot to it quietly painting the main character as the actual villain. Too much for a comment section.
Wish they could have had a slightly better budget for sets and CGI, but what's done is done, I suppose.
Either way, thanks for the consistently amazing content
I just wanted to say thank you for making such content and thank you specifically for your videos on hereditary. They are absolutely riveting and I thank you for doing the justice that film deserves.
Cheers mate, that was a lovely text to wake up to!
you should check out Signalis, i think you'll love all about it
Gnags of London was so good. It's a shame it didn't continue. There was such scope in that show.
There is a season 2, not sure if you’ve seen that!
@@Novum_YT Brilliant! I'll get on that like it's pie'n'mash!
I think the classic the better philosophy is why x wins over y is always good in writing. But this can be defiled and rendered mundane when it is one, purely a fair fight where clever wits hardly impacts it, or two the character who is supposed to win has hardly developed and is a static character. It becomes stale as you mentioned. The equal fight should be not truly equal, but one person who has changed for the better versus one who has not, or chose a negative path. But a static good and bad is terrible.
RE: The Joker's "Third Way" of Pyrrhic Victory; See also the Family Tree of Pyrrhus of Epirus. You mentioned Paris already.
Yes sirrrr! Very nerdy but my gaming clan used to call ourselves ‘Pyrrhus Sicarii’!
I am lagging a bit here and haven't perused your entire catalog but was curious if you take a look at doing a psychoanalysis of The Bad Batch (not the star wars anomalous in having the same name version) but the rather occulted movie with the star studded cast by Lily Amiripour 2016. If you haven't heard of it then the ride will begin when you quickly review cast along this fact.
I want to compare my own analysis regarding this iceberg of easter eggs.
Talking about the fight in Infinity War sort of sounded like someone explaining a very involved game of Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock 😂
Ahah, I can see that! You know Peter’s throwing up Spock everytime
Novum were you actually working on the hereditary video for over a year?? I saw in the description of your promising young woman video that hereditary was next- so was that when you started it?
Another novum banger dropping on a Thursday morning
LFG!! 🙏
Yes, but what if we had cowboys…fight ALIENS
This is why I love Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and Baki. In the first one, fights are long, exausting battles of wit and endurance that are won by the most vicious. In the second, the hero loses almost every fight, and we love him because he cares more about fighting than winning.
Please do Midsommar
Working on it right now my dude :)
6:40 The western was never comparable to the superhero pandemic of today, there's a whole video on it
You mean a video comparing the two?
I think what fascinates me most about this heroic/dishonorable masculinity dichotomy is that the hero Cú Chulainn, especially in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, doesn't fit neatly into either. He stands alone in the defense of Ulster and is known for his martial prowess, picking off hordes of enemies head on like it's nothing (the sickle chariot is especially brutal) but he is also notably beautiful and beardless, his promiscuity causes him to abandon his post, and the way he regards his childhood friend turned opponent is what you'd expect from a spurned lover (reminding him of when they shared a bed, scolding him for agreeing to fight him for the promise of a princess for his wife, mourning his handsome face and hair and beautiful eyes when he's dead, etc).
That could be another exception to the matching powers make boring battles rule: when the equally matched opponents don't want to hurt or kill each other but have to. In the Táin, Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad's combat is described fairly repetetively, the damage is done in equal parts for three days and neither has advantage over the other, but it's still the most emotionally compelling battle i've ever read about
titled "lightsaber problem"
'bout 1/6th of the vid is about lightsabers
rest is a good analysis of action scenes thematics and philosophy
good stuff!
(Trying to academia-pill some Star Wars kids, glad you enjoyed! :p)
HEY NOVUM - WHAT HAPPENED??!?
you have not posted a video ( analysis ) on this YT CH for almost 6 mos..... did you start a new channel??
are you taking "time off", a "break"?? do you plan to mkae more videos??
(you seemed to have put in alot of time, work, and effort on all previous videos posted, would really appreciate and enjoy more - SOON !!)
Complete guide to Midsommar and my book dropping in next few weeks my man LFG
@@Novum_YT - AWESOME, dude!! great to hear about your current projects and future work cont on this channel.
look forward to buying a copy of your book - keep up the great work! (and thanks for quick response..... !)
LETS F- GO!!!
😎🙏💯
Just realized the dishonorable masculanity archetype fits Griffith from Berserk to a T (curved blade, traitor, feminine, sexually promiscuous)
If I had more time there would have been a section on Griffith specifically. I’ve never been into anime (I don’t even know if that’s the right term) but I have recently been getting into Beserk. I’d say guts/Griffith fit the archetype perfectly! Guts is straight forward, straight blade, straight ideals. I didn’t end up including it because ultimately I was very pushed for time and because it’s so rough obviously guts does some things that make him veer from the clear binary. But overall I think you’re spot on and something I’m really enjoying in anime/manga is how they give you this crystalline depiction of western tropes they’re looking to ape. Really fascinating to see the mainstream of these stereotypes/tropes projected back. Thanks so much for commenting!
14:00 -- RE: Rogue One steps away from the binary the series depending upon of Good Wins, Bad Loses; I don't think this is accurate. Rogue One won't be as popular in the long run as it has been in its first 10 years, that's my guess. The main reason why I feel this way is because it is a film for fanatics in all the Bad ways, too. Good *DID* win, but only by committing suicide like kamikaze pilots (or mindless drone insects), and that might not be honorable. In other words, if the only way the producers and writers can make me feel anything is by killing practically everyone off by the end? Yeah, then its certainly no better than "Hamlet" and might not rate that high, either.
Look at "Seven Samurai" again. *Some* of them were going to die, and the cost for their victory, is it worth it? #SpoilerAlert
^^ I have to say something else about this, too; Vader's hallway scene in Rogue One is *NOT* better than Vader v. Luke in ROTJ, so.... why pick that, again? Oh, because irrational fan service is irrational, Gotcha.
^^ And one other thing, "Holdo Maneuver". Suicide Solves Nothing, but potentially saves face.
@jamespfp yeah and Rey and kylos scene is trash when it gets analyzed. A guys dagger had to be removed because he could and should have killed Rey with it.
12:51 watch this slowed down lol it sucks
Star Wars, my guilty pleasure. Cool video, very interesting but I thought you might of liked The Last Jedi (I'd love to see a video of why you don't) as it's my favourite of the new ones.
Looking forward to the Midsommar video, original or directors cut?
Cheers 👍
Hey dude! Hope you’re well! What I will say about TLJ is that I both love it and hate it. I love how daring it is visually, I love the courage of doing a main-arc Star Wars film in a closed/tight timeline. I don’t even hate the bold decisions made by Rian Johnson re: Luke etc. what I can’t stand is how clear a u-turn it is on The Force Awakens and then u-turned on again by the third film. It’s not so much a failing of what’s on screen, it’s the clawing disappointment that despite the four phase success of Marvel, Disney weren’t able to clearly plan a trilogy ahead of time.
Midsommar I actually haven’t decided fully but I’m leaning towards directors cut. Do you have a preference?
@Novum_YT can't argue anything you said there, spot on.
Regarding Midsommar, it's one of the rare times I like both the theatrical & the directors cut of the film (the other being Alien), so I'm excited to see what you're cooking either way 👍
Have you seen Beau is Afraid yet?
James Bond doesn't parkour? You just showed him running up a crane, most people can do that. He literally did so many clever shit to get around parkouring like ripping through dry wall and standing on that winch. And bond was chosen for that mission on his poker ability, that's bond. he was meeting his match.
Disney for kids no kill.
What does the curve in the dagger means? I couldn't do the math
Consider that another way to say "curved" might be... bent
@@dicepudding we are talking about morals right? Like a straight sword represent a straight mind and a curved one that their morals are bent? Or something like that?
@@jpf338 Yeah, or a different version of "not straight"
@@dicepudding oh... I get it. Don't really think that's the simbolic meaning tho, but thx for explaining it to my dumb mind .
when midsommar guide?
Currently editing the audio for it now so hopefully a couple of weeks, maybe slightly longer. Sorry for the delay!
This is why I love Jujutsu Kaisen. Someone is always getting jumped and there’s no such thing as a fair fight. There’s cheating, misdirection, and cunning planning that’s always going on during battle. There’s only one rule, SURVIVE
3:04 you CAN NOT be more incorrect. That blade isn't a curved blade OR recurve blade. It's a Kris blade. A curved blade is like one a Scimitar has, a recurve blade is like a Kukri style blade. Now, I know this seems like splitting hairs, but Kris blades like Oberons have special meaning to it. And that meaning shits ALL OVER your premise. What does Kris sword symbolize you ask? It symbolizes power, authority and heroism, literally the opposite of what you're saying.
The "ackchually" meme embodied in a comment, smelly fat dork energy and all
It's mf doom 20:52
do you watch anime? Hunter x hunter has a great power system that is assymatrical and innovative. Jojo's too
Pretty sure iron man 3 is considered the worst of the trilogy in general.
14:15 how on earth a duel against a MARY SUE will be asymetrical? Well......because those guards had no chance against a Mary Sue....It could be 4000 guards, and they still will get defeated (nothing from the Disney trilogy could be saved, not only because the movies are horrible, but because we know all was born out of a board of directors just wanting more money, inserting all the cliches they could, plus adding the diversity spice which made it unwatchable)..............The BEST lightsaber duel was Empire Strikes Back's........because it had NOTHING to do with the duel itself. EVERYONE knew Vader was overpowerful and he will win....... Luke loses the duel, but Vader loses the CONFLICT, because Luke refuses to give up even in defeat, which actually turns Vader's world upside down.
I agree with a lot of your work and appreciate this video but don’t agree with anything here other than you’ve noted a trope exists.
Your repeated referencing of low quality media like Disney Star Wars, MCU and things like Transformers leads me to believe as supporting documentation without analysis on quality works like Seven Samurai, the original Star Wars trilogy etc. leads me to believe you’ve noticed a trope but haven’t really assessed why the worst incarnations of it bother you.
You’ve stated the significance of the concept yourself but pigeonholed it as good vs evil. The matching power dynamic serves to provide a metaphor for the clashing of ideas and wills, rather than the fight itself being significant. The fight is an extension of this dynamic and punctuates the subject of what would be just argument topology with a scene appealing to viewers on a conscious and subconscious level. It may be a character arc, emotion, sacrifice, it may not even be about who they’re fighting but why they’re fighting.
Gandalf vs the Balrog, thoughts? Fly, you fools!
Math*S*.
Yeah lol, I do say ‘maths’ in general but I feel like the phrase ‘you do the math’ is distinctly American so it’s the one time I’m willing to drop the S!
I've been watching and enjoying your videos, but I must say I do not enjoy the editing style in this one. I prefer your previous, academic takes on subjects, and don't need sound effects and "rewinding tape" edits.
Yeah for sure, I’m not really happy with the editing here either, and certainly the complete guide videos will be staying as they are entirely, I was just extremely pushed for time here and wanted to get it out. Duly noted though, thanks for the feedback! 🙏 🙏