Boba Fett...

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OK, for those of you who want to know how the original, original hype for Boba Fett really started (and this is no joke):

Back in late 1979 or early 1980, months before "Empire" opened, there was a small 6 page booklet that was sent out from a long forgotten club called "The Star Wars Fan Club" (some of you may remember). In that booklet, there was a full page B/W sketch rendering of Boba Fett, much like the SW Encyclopedias now, which pointed out all of Fett's weaponry. It was awesome -- flamethrower, jetpack, missiles, bombs, etc. He looked to be a villain as awesome as Vader, but with an armory. As a kid, I remember talking to everyone about Fett's arsenal and what a great fight he's going to have in "Empire". It never came. So we quickly hoped for that showdown in "Jedi". By that time though, Fett had a mystique all his own, mostly from anticipation of what might come, but sadly never did.

However, he still remains the only "villainous sidekick" Vader ever had that wasn't Imperial and the respect Vader seemed to have for Fett garnered a certain amount of reverance for the character. He must be cool if he's allowed to talk back to Vader.
 
HighElven said:
Hello all Star Wars fans,
I am posting to ask what peoples like of Boba Fett actually stems from?
I'm watchin ROTJ for the first time right now, and he dies in such a lame way. I dont remember being impressed by him in the Empire Strikes back... Sure his design is cool but I think hes a pretty weak character.
So what makes him so popular?
cheers
ed


No offense.. but you must be young! With a little bit of imagination you will see why people like Boba, Maul, Hammerhead... etc. It's the back stories, the unknown that apeals.. not what happens in the movie.

If everything was based on just what happens in the movies.. I wouldn't even like Vadar.. espeacially after episode 3! "Noooooooo" :banghead
 
Wor-Gar said:
OK, for those of you who want to know how the original, original hype for Boba Fett really started (and this is no joke):

Back in late 1979 or early 1980, months before "Empire" opened, there was a small 6 page booklet that was sent out from a long forgotten club called "The Star Wars Fan Club" (some of you may remember). In that booklet, there was a full page B/W sketch rendering of Boba Fett, much like the SW Encyclopedias now, which pointed out all of Fett's weaponry. It was awesome -- flamethrower, jetpack, missiles, bombs, etc. He looked to be a villain as awesome as Vader, but with an armory.

In all seriousness, I believe this is where the love of Fett began as well. He was really one of the things people couldn't wait to see in Empire. The hype machine went into overdrive on Fett prior to ESB. Of course, his actual debut was on the Holiday special.
 
Well, I got seriously excited when I saw a three page Boba Fett up this morning. Thought I missed an announcement...

When I first saw ESB, I was drawn to Fett because of his mystery. What was under that helmet? Was he human? Also, it was interesting that he was not an Imperial, but a bounty hunter. The Imperial officers looked down on him and called him "scum." So he didn't really seem like a bad guy and I wondered what would have happened if the Rebels had thought to hire him first. He had a cool costume, including a jet pack. He was the one person out of everybody--Vader included--that had the smarts to track the Falcon. I always thought that he must have had a lot in common with Han to catch on to his "float away with the garbage" trick. As a "scoundrel" who was neither commited to the good guys or bad guys, I always saw Fett and Solo as mirror images of each other, only they had managed to become associated with opposite sides of the civil war. What would have happened if these two scoundrels had ended up working together? (And now someone will tell me that this is impossible because of something that happened in the good old EU. To which I will reply, "Eeeeuuuuuuu...") I think that a smuggler and a bounty hunter could have had a mutually beneficial partnership had they not gone their separate ways.

In the end, Fett got the best of the heroes and actually managed to escape with Han as his captive (again--not for personal reasons, just business), leaving us with an honest to goodness cliffhanger. Because of Fett, I had to wait three years to find out what happened to Han. I was honestly surprised that they didn't get Han back in the end, and it was all because of Fett. He was a mysterious and cool character. Plus, he has a jetpack! (Although it betrayed him in the end. Like father, like clone...)
 
Was was first seen as an action figure offer then in animated form in the Star Wars Holiday Special...still in the 70's....then, poof...her ecomes ESB in 1980 and he pops up...in living color....Looking mighty dashing, I might add.
Even more simplistic than some of the responses....
Why is he so popular....Just look at him! Damn! Super Cool visual!
 
Fett has never been a big deal to me. I think he is cool and the whole story of the character is cool but he just hasn't done anything for me. Now Maul on the other hand I really like though the way he goes out and his EU stuff is the same as Fett in a lot of ways. I would love to see Lucas do a movie on just Maul alone.
 
Maul died because of his attitude. His over-inflated self confidence was his undoing.

Fett died because he just wasn't paying attention. He died a sissy's death, screaming all the way. I only wish they had re-recorded his death scream with Temuera Morrison's voice when they replaced his other dialogue. It might have been more of a manly growl than a sissy's yelping screech.
 
I agree Maul went out because he was egotistical. I still think he was a total bad ass though.
 
The climax to any great villain is of course a great death.

In the OT, only Tarkin died a fitting death. The others, Fett, Jabba, even the Emperor, could have been better. I always wondered how little Leia could have enough strength to choke fat old Jabba like that. Jabba should have fallen into the Sarlacc and been digested over 1,000 years.

The PT had much better villain deaths -- Maul's was great, Jango's was good (quick but good), and Grievous probably had the most spectacular death of all.
 
Yeah, that would be cool, right? Big ol' Jabba squirming as he's gulped and gulped down...or maybe face first, so all we see is his tail wriggling painfully. Sick, but cool.
 
First, I thought I'd say the Cyber-Maul tale from Visionaries is stamped as Infinities, meaning that it does not have a true place in the Star Wars continuity. Its merely a neat, slightly goofy little story based off the unused concept of Darth Maul returning in AOTC or ROTS after his initial defeat on Naboo. In the true, overall continutity, other EU sources included, Maul died in Theed.

As for Fett, who I only recently switched from the "dislike" to "indifferent" catagory, Lucas actually mentions his post-ROTJ fate in the commentary for that film if I recall. I believe his words were something similar to: "If we had known Boba would be such a huge character, I probably would have given him a better death, but, if you read the books, you know he really didn't die anyway..." Its been a while since I watched the commentary for ROTJ, so I'll try to go back and check it out tonight or tomorrow.
 
Yeah, he did say that... Funny too, because to his creator he was just a two bit character used to get Han in the situation he was found himself in. No real mystique to it, just a writing tool. He's actually amazed that people took to him so well and he became the icon he is now. I still like to think that he escaped the Sarlacc as well, and as far as the novels are concerned... he did.

I read the books, so to me they fit the continuity. Boba survives!!
 
I don't need something to be "canon" to enjoy it. The novel of Episode III has Anakin noticing Kit Fisto's smiling severed head on Palpatine's desk before he rescues him from Mace. Canon? I don't know. Cool? Oh my, yes.
 
I'm not a big fan of the EU and to be honest, don't recognize half of the names that people are constantly crying for a figure to be made of, but I did read the "Tales from the Cantina", "Tales of the Bounty Hunters" and "Tales from Jabba's Palace" and they are amazing. I love that the stories are written by different authors, using different writing styles but each story interlocks with the others. For example, in "Tales of the Cantina" we get background stories of many of the Cantina aliens and the reasons for their ending up at the cantina when Ben and Luke arrive. Great reading.

As for Fett, it's definitely the mystery as well as the cool outfit and weapons. Too bad we didn't see a full blown fighting scene out of him in the OT. Even Jango's fight against Obi-Wan left me wanting more. (don't even bring up the quick decap by Mace...)
 
Boba Fett is the perfect symbol for the entire Star Wars universe in general... having a life all its own far beyond what was intended.

That's the appeal to all this after all, isn't it?
 
jlcmsu said:
I think he is cool and the whole story of the character is cool

What story of the character? He has no story. The brief bits in Ep. II expand on the character a little bit, but there is still very little known about him.

I really like Fett as well, but he's not one of my favorite characters. As a kid, my favorites were always the Cantina aliens. Greedo, Walrusman, Snaggletooth, Hammerhead, etc. (I refuse to use the EU names like Momaw Nadon- the Kenner toys are the names to me. If it wasn't in the movie or the script, then it doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned. ;) )
 
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