I just can't quit you, Star Wars!
George Lucas once said something about special effects without story being a pretty boring thing.
I wonder what Mr. Lucas thought about the recent episode of Book of Boba Fett, where (spoilers!) Luke Skywalker shows up in his Return of the Jedi-era glory and trains and talks to little Grogu, before presenting him with a choice.
It's an incredible achievement in technology in my opinion - of course, I've seen some of the deepfake work online where people from Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr to Harrison Ford and George Lucas himself (which is hilarious; you must watch it if you haven't) have been able to give us extended improv-comedy routines and pop culture commentary, courtesy of the very funny actors who are actually doing the performing.
It's great, and the youtuber Shamook was hired by Lucasfilm after his work improving the appearance of Luke Skywalker from the Mandalorian finale last year. I don't know if Shamook was involved with the new Luke appearance, but one could imagine so.
This process was different than Luke's last appearance - that one involved Mark Hamill in an “egg” filled with cameras, which filmed him and then assembled a 3d head of Luke's younger self. It turned out to be an incredible scene, but the movement of the character was limited. I think the whole thing was shot very quickly (in one day), probably to make sure the whole thing could be kept as a surprise that wouldn't leak. And it was!
In any case, this new Luke in the Boba Fett episode could walk around, look at other characters, and could be expressive. I mostly forgot I was looking at a technological creation. Mostly…there is a feeling of warmth from Mark Hamill's Luke that isn't quite there. I don't know how that's created…something in the eyes? A subtle smile here and there? I think it will get there. I wondered about when – and I think it's “when”, not “if”– when we see young Luke and young Han Solo interacting, will a sense of emotion, of the familiarity of their friendship be possible to recreate? 
Return of the Jedi Luke, Mandalorian-Luke, and Boba Fett-Luke
We'll see - regardless of those nitpicks, it was an incredible technological achievement in my opinion. I was quite blown away.
But that's the technology. That's the effect. What about the story?
The story was amazing in that episode (and in the previous episode, where we caught up with the Mandalorian again). We saw the training of little Grogu, in sequences that called to mind the scenes in The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke was trained by Yoda. In the end, like I said, Luke presents Grogu with a choice of what path he wants to follow.
This was powerful, iconic storytelling, based on the bones of Star Wars: The spiritual, sort of Eastern martial arts/philosopher type stuff that's always been one half of the franchise (the other half being the fun, pulpy sci fi adventure. Beautifully shot, directed by Dave Filoni (and written by Filoni and John Favreau)
Even with the season finale of Boba Fett, which was fun but lost some of the power of the two episodes before, I was left with my head spinning from the possibilities for the future.
The technology will only get better. If the stories can keep up, the possibilities are incredible.
This tech suggests some scary things for our future too, but kind of amazing things for our entertainment at least.
Okay, that's it for me today.
take care,
Banes
Technology and Story
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 17, 2022
4 likes!
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Dave Mire at 2:46PM, Feb. 18, 2022
Deepfake technology, although fascinating for Movies and tv, scares the hell out of me. Even the synthesised voice of Mark Hamil, (which was also used in that Val Kilmer documentary, Val)is technology that shouldn't exist. If Deepfake and Deepvoice technology gets into the wrong hands, the potential for nefarious usage will be disasterous. Anyone can be made to do or say anything for the mainstream media propaganda machine and no one will be able to tell the difference. Let's just hope and pray that this stuff stays in Hollywood.
kawaiidaigakusei at 10:34PM, Feb. 17, 2022
I have not ventured into The Book of Boba Fett, yet. I am looking forward to the first full-length movie (besides the Irishman) starring CG actors from the height of their prime.
EssayBee at 7:39AM, Feb. 17, 2022
theRedDeath--Rebels is my favorite post-OT Star Wars, and I think Episode 3.5 (what I call Ahsoka's Revenge of the Sith arc that ended Clone Wars) my 3rd or 4th favorite Star Wars movie. I'd certainly be all for an animated post-Jedi series with Luke and co., but with so many animated characters transitioning to live action, I have a feeling that's the way Filoni and Favreau want to take things. And the Thrawn trilogy seems a natural fit. The books started with Thrawn emerging from the outskirts and rallying Imperial forces; Rebels ended with him getting whisked off to who-knows-where, so it seems a natural fit for his reemergence.
theRedDeath at 7:16AM, Feb. 17, 2022
I did a deep dive into "Clone Wars" and "Rebels" during quarantine and now I'm loving the Disney+ Filoni-verse. I thought Luke's CGI appearances are fine, and I'm glad that we're getting Luke appearances in places where he'd logically be involved (as opposed to him always being referenced off-screen). But what I really want is a new cartoon that covers that era, and get animated versions of Han, Luke, Leia and all the rest. Call it "Skywalker Academy" and the story writes itself.
EssayBee at 7:15AM, Feb. 17, 2022
Banes--From my experience with the EU, that original Thrawn trilogy was the only thing worthwhile. All the other EU stuff I read was mediocre to horrible.
Banes at 6:40AM, Feb. 17, 2022
@ozoneocean - thanks oz! @EssayBee - I haven't seen the animated shows or read the books, but I've heard great things about the Thrawn Trilogy. I have the books now and just started the first one. I was thinking the same, that an animated series following Luke, Han and Leia would be the way to go. But now we see the live action possibilities! I guess the one thing I quibble with is the dialogue. Personally I'd rather have an imperfect imitation (or current day Mark Hamill) performing the dialogue. I mean, it's an amazing job but still sounds a little stiff to me. Why not just have an actor perform the lines I wonder?
EssayBee at 5:43AM, Feb. 17, 2022
Since the end of Rebels, I've wanted an animated update of the original Thrawn trilogy that'd combine Thrawn's return with the search for Ezra. I thought animated would be the only way to go to get young Luke, Leia, and Han. Seeing how quickly they're advancing this tech and the fact that Luke's voice was AI generated from a 1983-period collection of Mark Hamill dialogue (movies, TV, books on tape, radio dramas) makes me wonder if this could all be prelude to Lucasfilm doing the same for Leia and Han and giving us a live-action search for Ezra/return of Thrawn series.
Ozoneocean at 4:44AM, Feb. 17, 2022
Nice one :D