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Willow Stuff
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TauntaunScout
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 8:41 am    Post subject: Willow Stuff Reply with quote

Anyone played the Willow game? I got a cheap copy on eBay. Thoughts?

I hear there is a new tv series in talks but I don't believe in such things until I see photos of actors in costumes.
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Pel
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are you talking about the board game, the Nintendo game, or something else?

Always liked that film, even though it was a D&D Star Wars remake.
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TauntaunScout
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
Are you talking about the board game, the Nintendo game, or something else?

Always liked that film, even though it was a D&D Star Wars remake.


It's like an Avalon Hill styled game from what I can tell. It's by WEG's own Greg! This is another listing for the same item. When I found out a WEG author made it, I had to get it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Willow-Game-Tor-Books-Board-Game-1988-Complete/254232017812

I am just about Willow's biggest fan. I wrote a 1200 word fan letter to Warwick Davis about it. I will talk anyone's ear off about the feminist/humanist importance of it, in that regard, SW has nothing on Willow.

Plus the material culture is pretty well done for an 80's sword & sorcery movie. even though some of the objects wouldn't actually work very well, there's an internal consistency to it. Willow's village is Anglo-Saxon, the rebel army is Neo-Classical, etc. The weapons, while fantastical and fake, all riff off of real swords and things, so they at least retain a kernel of verisimilitude. Sorsha's weird serrated sword is based on a real type of naval boarding sword, General Kael's spiky 70's Vallejo lookin' sword is an impractical application of a real design, and so forth.

Plus, collecting MOC Tonka Willow figures is waaaaay cheaper than MOC Kenner Star Wars! I once found 3 at a flea market for 50 cents apiece!
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Pel
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Missed that one. Looks like a good game and we know the designer makes good stuff Smile .

Always enjoyed the film.

Had a friend years ago who was 6' 8". He was waiting to enter our workplace and a 5' 2" coworker was blocking the door with an animated conversation. My pal waited a bit, towering over the chatty obstacle, then leaned over him and said "Out of the way, Peck!"

I just about fell over from laughter. Very Happy
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MrNexx
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 7:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TauntaunScout wrote:

I am just about Willow's biggest fan. I wrote a 1200 word fan letter to Warwick Davis about it. I will talk anyone's ear off about the feminist/humanist importance of it, in that regard, SW has nothing on Willow.


I'd be interested; if Whill wants us to keep the feminist/humanist stuff off the main board (and I suspect he does), feel free to PM me.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Any way you can minimize that link?
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Whill
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PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 10:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Willow stuff Reply with quote

TauntaunScout wrote:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Willow-Game-Tor-Books-Board-Game-1988-Complete/254232017812

CRMcNeill wrote:
Any way you can minimize that link?

Done. Just had to get rid of all the tracking crud after the item #.

TauntaunScout wrote:
Anyone played the Willow game? I got a cheap copy on eBay. Thoughts?

I have no memory of this game's existence prior this thread, but I only bought and played RPGs in the late 80s, not board games (Assault on Hoth was a gift from my players). I hope your cheap copy was less than $60!

TauntaunScout wrote:
I hear there is a new tv series in talks but I don't believe in such things until I see photos of actors in costumes.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/2/18526638/disney-plus-willow-series-ron-howard-jon-kasdan-lucasfilm-discussions-development

A sequel TV series on Disney+ is in development and would involve Ron Howard, Jon Kasdan, a grown up Elora Danan, and Warwick Davis. No, it hasn't been green-lit for production yet, but if it ever is, we'll have official confirmation before there would be any photos of actors in costumes.

TauntaunScout wrote:
I am just about Willow's biggest fan. I wrote a 1200 word fan letter to Warwick Davis about it...

Cool. I saw Willow in the theater. I still like it and have it on DVD. I showed it to my son last year and he liked it. I'd definitely watch a sequel to it.

MrNexx wrote:
TauntaunScout wrote:
I will talk anyone's ear off about the feminist/humanist importance of it, in that regard, SW has nothing on Willow.

I'd be interested; if Whill wants us to keep the feminist/humanist stuff off the main board (and I suspect he does), feel free to PM me.

The best way to keep the opposite of feminism and humanism off the board is to keep it all off the board. TS, please feel free to PM me too. Thanks.
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Dredwulf60
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2019 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read a novel by George Lucas and Chris Claremont that was a sequel to Willow.

Shadow Moon.

It was so bad that I couldn't finish it.
Captured none of the feel of the movie. I got the impression it was trying to be too grim and dark and brooding and serious.

Straight up changing Willow's name to 'Thorn Drumheller' for instance.

But it's been a long time since I tried to read it.
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Whill
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2019 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dredwulf60 wrote:
I read a novel by George Lucas and Chris Claremont that was a sequel to Willow.

Shadow Moon.

It was so bad that I couldn't finish it.
Captured none of the feel of the movie. I got the impression it was trying to be too grim and dark and brooding and serious.

Straight up changing Willow's name to 'Thorn Drumheller' for instance.

But it's been a long time since I tried to read it.

I put it down too. It was story ideas from Lucas but the actual writing was Chris Claremont of The Uncanny X-Men comics fame. I remember that he fancied himself to be Tolkien with extreme detail and description. It was not engaging.
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TauntaunScout
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2019 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dredwulf60 wrote:
Shadow Moon.


It was so bad I couldn't even finish the audio book on a long drive. It was just utterly awful. I assume it was a huge failure and will not even be considered when writing the new tv show if one is actually written.

My Willow game should arrive today.

I am psyched that I also snagged a MOC safety recall Willow Uffgood figure. He came with an Elora Danon toy that was considered a chocking hazard because it's basically a plastic oval the size of a windpipe. Which is too bad because as a kid, I felt she was shockingly missing from the toyline. If only they'd molded her into her wicker basket or something she could've been a part of playtime. Mine came with a double markdown sticker, as it wound it's way through forgotten clearance aisles. So apparently at least some made it to the general public.
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TauntaunScout
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PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2019 9:23 am    Post subject: Re: Willow stuff Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
I hope your cheap copy was less than $60!


I was (maybe stupidly) considering a shrink wrapped copy for $54. I got a used one which is purportedly complete for less than half that.
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TauntaunScout
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2019 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My board game arrived. It was delayed for some reason in Florida. I blame Florida Man. Anyways. I'll report back if/when I play it.
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Desert Kris
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 5:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love this topic, but I feel bad that I missed out on in while it was going on.

I also am a big fan of Willow. Have and love the movie. We used to have the magazine that went with it. I have the novelization, the soundtrack, and my pride and joy the amazing Willow Sourcebook!

I also have the Shadow War novel trilogy, by Chris Claremont. Other folks on here are right to say that they certainly have their problems. From what I gather, the story structure/outline was provided by George Lucas, but Claremont actually fleshed them out into novel format. The story structure of the trilogy actually does feel like they were planned out by George Lucas, in both good and bad ways. There are good aspects that are reminiscent of the original SW trilogy, but they also foreshadowed for me the problems and potential for failure of the prequel trilogies (I read them as they were coming out, a few years before the prequels started).

The major flaw of all the books is overdoing description, and characters seem to talk in a similar style (Chris Claremont's verbose style).

The first book, Shadow Moon, also has a major problem with pacing. Too deliberate during the first half, then a jarring sense of really starting to take off in the narrative much later than it should. I experienced it very differently the two times I read it. The first time, an action sequence on a boat during a storm took me several interminable days, yet oddly I plowed through it the second time in a single day, taking in the lead-in and lead-out. The deaths of a number of characters is also a major risk, but it's one I respected as quite gutsy. I have always gotten the sense that George Lucas is a storyteller who is willing to play rough with his characters. Look at the Ewok movies for an example of that. SW fans freaked out about a novel called Vector Prime for a major shake-up, but I felt like Shadow Moon had prepared me for that sort of thing well in advance.

The second book, Shadow Dawn, is well paced. Elora Danan gets to set out on her own, and figure out for herself what she is going to do with herself. It's her story of setting out and leaving a home behind to brave the dangers of the world, like Luke in the original SW movie, or like Willow in his own movie. Elora is very likeable in Shadow Dawn. Another major positive is that Rool is separated from Franjean, and away from the requisite bickering, is able to shine as a more thoughtful and heartfelt character. More of the larger world is explored, and there are some interesting locations. There's also a major reveal about the nature of the villain that I personally found mindblowing and genuinely compelling.

The third book, Shadow Star, ties things back to the original movie, Willow. I expect that everything that fans of the movie were hoping to find in the first book, Shadow Moon, is in the last book, Shadow Star. Yes, that's a problem because Shadow Moon is hard for many readers to get past. By the time I got to the third book I wasn't expecting pay off that ties back in to the movie, so that stuff was a very pleasant surprise. The distant history of the world is revealed, and Elora's own personal origins are explored. The story also hints at how, after the end of the movie Willow, subsequent events have unfolded in two major different ways.

I'm holding back from spoiling some details, but I honestly think there is good material in the story of the trilogy, even if the writing is hard to get through. I've read some of Claremont's comics, one of the old Marvel SW comics, an annual. I don't understand why he leans in to melodrama and overstatement and hyperbole. His style unfortunately buries a trilogy that I feel still has value, as a collection of stories that feel like they were planned out by George Lucas.
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