Bunker Talk: Star Wars Edition!
We can talk mini-torpedoes, hovercraft evacuations, geopolitics, war in space—you know, no big whoop.
The biggest news this week was the loss of an F-35A belonging to the Japan Air Self Defense Force, but we had some other interesting topics to write about as well. These included the Navy's work to field mini-torpedoes aboard their submarines, identifying a previously undisclosed Navy hydrofoil, the evacuation of U.S. personnel from Libya via hovercraft, an ominous warning about a looming potential conflict in space, and even how some in Idaho are not pleased with the USAF using their towns for targeting practice, and much more. There were also two updates to the whole India vs Pakistan dogfight saga that hit this week.
We also announced that we are expanding our team and our search for a new writer is now well underway.
Still, there were many subjects we didn't get to, but it's not too late.
Welcome to Bunker Talk!
This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn't get to. In other words, literally an off-topic thread.
We can talk about this sweet HUD camera footage from a Rafale with an F-22 on the defensive:
Or what about this K-9 that seems to defy gravity?:
When your plane turns into a tuning fork it isn't good:
Aren't cruise missiles in flight kinda eerie?:
Or what about this all-star aggressor lineup:
And this angle of the F-35 putting all its thrust to use is noteworthy:
Finally, I want to address the elephant in the room—the new Star Wars trailer.
Bringing back the Emperor may be lazy writing and outright fan service, but Ian McDiarmid makes it all worth it. His turn in Revenge Of The Sith is hideously undervalued. It was truly evil. Literally insidious. And really, Palpatine was the curse of the Skywalker family from day one. In fact, if you follow what is happening in the comics that support the new storyline (I just read about them when they make nerd news), Palpatine appears to be far more than just a manipulative master to Darth Vader.
But still, what the hell were they thinking not having a plan and sticking to it from the start? Rise Of Skywalker? Riiiggghttt. So Rian Johnson's entire movie, The Last Jedi, was a misfire that is now being painted over. He tried to put all the Skywalker stuff and the mystery box Abrams created to bed. Now that is being corrected for in a huge way. Case in point the title of the 9th Star Wars installment alone.
The Last Jedi was really a poor decision, ok. It was. It totally shifted things up to the point that it now seems like fan fiction, a weird rest stop along the way in this new series. Gutting all the mystery from Episode 7 really took the wind out of people's sails. They loved imagining cool theories about how it all fits together. Shitting on that was poison for the franchise. I think Solo got slapped the hardest by The Last Jedi as a result. Many fans felt disappointed and a bit cheated. I know I did. Being simply entertaining isn't enough for an installment in a franchise that is nearly a world-wide religion.
In all, it should make for a very disjointed trilogy unless Abrams really pulls off something of a force miracle (or a Jedi mind trick for that matter!), but that is a big ask for someone who is not known for crafting endings of stories.
I just wonder how we will look back on these films, you know?
And let's be honest, the movie we all want to see is Star Wars: The Tragedy Of Dark Vader. One fan is trying to get that point across in a very creative and elaborate way:
What are your thoughts?
Set blasters on stun!
The Bunker doors are open.
Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com
