How to get your Mando fix from non-Mando media.

Unfortunately, I don't really have a nice, big list to provide, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of suggestions made once y'all find this thread. Hell, if I'm not too lazy, I might even edit this post and keep a nice, organized-ish list of everything that gets suggested (especially if titles and such are posted in bright, shiny colors that are easy to spot).

Anyway, on to my point. I just watched the movie Taken for the first time earlier--well, I guess it'd count as yesterday by now--over at Kyr'ika's house. I was expecting it to be a relatively boring-ish movie with nothing special that I hadn't already seen in Bond and Bourne movies that'd give me time to work on a picture I had been subtly suggested to draw (which I will eventually post here)...but boy, was I wrong! I'm pretty sure the main character's name is Brian, but I've forgotten 'cause I was too busy calling him Kal'buir the whole time. This guy is seriously amazing, and reacted with the determination and skill I'd expect any Mando parent to do should the same thing happen to them. I definitely think everyone should make the effort to see the movie if they haven't. When it ended, I felt as if I had just had my "Mando fix" for the day (or week, since I've been gone about that long), and that appears to be an indulgence we fans seem to be lacking.

Now, as for the discussion topic for the rest of the thread: What movies, books, etc., have you found that are not, in fact, Mandalorian in any way shape or form, but have parallels that made you feel as though it may very well have been anyway?

*UNINTELLIGIBLE GIBBERISH CLAIMING HOW AWESOME THIS TOPIC IS IN MANDO'A*

I saw Taken last year and it left me with the same feeling regardless of the fact that it stars Liam Neeson (who has proved to be sweet in Batman Begins) and this leading me to my list of mando-fix flicks:

- The new Batman movies starring Christian Bale. I know it's incredibly cliché but the character has all the "mando goodness": armor, technology, darkness, anonymity, a code of honor...

- 3:10 to Yuma, again starring Christian Bale (association of thought) but in this one Russel Crowe is the fearless anti-hero. I'm not usually a fan of westerns but the cast is just too awesome to let this one pass. Russel Crowe plays an infamous outlaw - with a big heart, and a deep sense of honor and what's right, despite all the horrible stuff he did/does. It really reminded me of the western aspects of Star Wars, where anything goes and the most ruthless survive. Still, this movie contains so much humanity it got me hooked from beginning to end.

There are lots of other things I want to mention that'll have to wait since I got no free time left!

Playing certain video games really fulfills that mando need, at least for me.

Specifically, playing Mass Effect.
You take the role of Commander Shepard in an epic futuristic story. Space Opera. Military Scifi. Epic space exploration. Innovative dialogue. Real alignment choices (not the obvious such as SAVE PUPPIES or BURN DOWN THE ORPHANAGE, but convoluted and somewhat difficult to really know what is or isn't right).

And kick ass aliens.

It's really... well. It certainly hits the spot, for me.

Playing KotOR II (with a lot of community mods), but I happen to really, really love that game in particular. (And, coincidentally, I only decided that I really loved it once I got to the part with the mandalorians on Dxun.)

Games like Splinter Cell, with the stealth and the neck snapping? Also pretty awesome, pretty mando.

Reading some older hard scifi my father has lying around the house is also pretty much a good fix. I'll recommend some books once I finish reading through them.

I have to say, though, I agree with the opinions on Taken. That movie really hit some spots I didn't know needed to be touched on, at least for me. (The critics didn't really seem to appreciate the movie though.)

My favorite movie of all time, The Fifth Element, is also another movie I'd like to rec. (Chaotic) Good versus (seriously) EVIL. Space Opera. Chris Tucker as a metrosexual. Gary Oldman as one of the baddest villains in existence. Bruce Willis is ex-military and now drives a taxi cab in NYC. Milla is the genetically engineered Perfect Being.

Lots of cool aliens, explosions, fight scenes, and Bruce Willis doing what he does best.

I can't help but love the movie every time I watch it.

Actually, anything with Jovovich or Willis is a good movie for your mando needs lol. They both seem to star in some action-packed movies and, in my mind, they're both relatively mando anyway.

EDIT:: Oh, and Transformers. Both of them. Yeah, I know, they butchered the storyline, they sucked, their plots are flimsy at best, etc etc etc. However, the explosions, the action, and the military men all make up for in, imho. But then, I guess I've always generally equated Mandalorians to action. Hmmm.

Arguably there's a lot more to the 5th Element than action (it's a love story, as far as I'm concerned), the one-man-HERO plays a huge role in some of the movies I'd recommend. In general, it's kind of hard to find movies focused on a squad rather than one person. (SWAT was all right, as far as movies go.)

I generally get most of my Mando inspiration from music. (:

Can't think of any specific movies atm, but those you guys said were pretty good examples.

Rescue Me is another show I'd like to recommend, and here's a quick rundown of why:

It's a show about firefighters in the FDNY, a job that faces some horrific things that most of us can't even really imagine, and these guys go through it daily. There's a group of them, and we see how they all deal with these things differently. (And I really, really want people to watch this show. lol.)

Fire Fighters

• Tommy Gavin - Irish alcoholic going through a divorce, part of a highly dysfunctional family. He's the guy everyone looks up to, looks to when things go to hell. (WWTD - What Would Tommy Do?) Problem is, he sees ghosts. Ghosts of the people he couldn't save. Dead kids. Dead fire fighters. His dead cousin/best friend. It's on and off, and it's clear that even though he might be the most screwed up of the crew, he's still the guy everyone trusts most.
  
  
• Sean Leslie Garrity - Dim-witted yet kind hearted, he's what you might call the Nice Guy. He's sometimes mistaken as gay, but often picks up many a lady. Eventually, he ends up marrying Tommy's sister, despite the entire Gavin family being made up of dysfunctional alcoholics. Develops serious health issues in later seasons, as a long-term result of 9/11.
  
  
• Mike Siletti - At the beginning of the series he just began his probationary period, so everyone calls him Proby. He's a good guy, the really nice guy (even more than Sean), but exceedingly slow. He runs into some... weird identity problems, and eventually realizes he's bisexual, preference towards women. The way he deals with problems is sometimes kinda heartbreaking, because he seems like the most child-like of the bunch.
  
  
• Franco Rivera - Womanizer. Single, and painfully exceedingly reluctant, father. He's... more complicated than he appears, and has constant intimacy issues, despite the womanizing behavior. He gives up his daughter, Keela, to adoption, only to steal her back from the foster family. None of his relationships ever seem to work out right, more like they just crash and burn.

Bosses

• Battalion Chief Jerry Reilly - He's the Chief of the 15th Battalion, the boss of the firehouse where Ladder 62 and Engine 99 are stationed. Has a gambling addiction, a wife deteriorating due to Alzheimer's disease, and has problems accepting that his son is a homosexual.
  
• Lieutenant Kenneth Shea - Affectionately called "Lou" by everyone in the house. He's of the smartest on the crew, and acts as a sort of philosopher for the guys. He's cheated on and divorced by his wife, conned out of his life savings, and goes through a period of alcoholism. Eventually comes through with the help of Tommy.

I know that Mandalorians are all about family and such, and this show seems to be the polar opposite due to the purse dysnfunctionality of it, but yet... this show hits all the right spots for me. There's a lot of drama, some action, but another important thing this show deals with, and deals with well, is death.

Death, in Rescue Me, happens so suddenly and quickly that it leaves you reeling. Which is, imho, the best way to present it. In life, there isn't usually the magical foreshadowing that seems to happen before your favorite character gets shot three times in the back and falls dead on the pavement. There are no hints that the floor is suddenly going to shoot up with fire and blow out from under the firefighters. There's no warning when a drunk driver turns a corner and flattens a kid.

It's very real.

Aaaand. I'm done rambling.

It came back to me last night... Blood Diamond! because of the character Danny Archer, played by DiCaprio who has become a lot more interesting now that he's old. Also Jennifer Connelly is always a pleasure to have in a good movie.

I'm going to look that up, Anecdote. That series seems interesting and I'm coming back here to whine if I'm not entertained after 2 episodes!

Loved Taken and could you believe it took them almost a year to release it in the US?

Death Sentence (2007) with Kevin Bacon is also a similar tale, albeit less geared towards martial arts. It just goes to show how far someone will go to protect someone/something he/she loves.

In an older vein Wanted: Dead or Alive the old series from 1958 with Steve McQueen was also an all time favorite, just for the bounty hunting aspect of it. If I'm not mistaken, Josh Randall, his character in the series was the first to use a chopped-down version of a winchester rifle as his side arm (strapped to his thigh). That alone, just oozes of awesomeness.

Otherwise, here's a list of movies I draw inspiration from when I want to doodle or even write anything mandalorian.

Blackhawk Down excellent military tac-talk and soldier action.
Rules of Engagement Extraction of a diplomatic family and the legal drama that ensues.
Tears of the Sun Weak plot, plenty of military action (was planning on doing a redux SW style with an all female squad.)
Executive Decision older story of a hijacked airliner into which spec-ops infiltrates via a stealth fighter (Steven Seagal dies early in the movie)
The first clone wars cartoons Vol 1 and 2 ARC troopers galore
All 6 Star Wars movies skip to the interesting parts to find what you need for inspiration
Gladiator Epic field battles and awesome armor designs
Final Fantasy The Spirits Within armor design mostly
Appleseed both CG versions. Cyberpunk does it for me
Bubblegum crisis/crash Another older Cyberpunk series

All these movies do not necessarily contain anything remotely mandalorian, but they inspire me enough to come up with my own mando art/writing. Hope they do the same for you.

Two words:

The Unit

My husband made me tape the first episode, after he caught part of it in between runs while he was waiting at a medical facility during his time as a transport EMT. When he came home that night, he insisted he watch it then, and I found myself instantly hooked.

There's military action...mostly the covert kind of stuff that made me instantly think of the Commandos and the ARCs.

There's the familly drama...I couldn't help but think of Mandalorians and the protective nature these soldiers have for their families.

As for characters, Snake Doc makes me think of Skirata. He's the Unit's leader, and he just has this manner about him. He's protective of his Unit, his family, and is determined to get the job done.

Colonel Ryan has the role I would associate with Arlington Zey. He's the overseer of the Unit and their missions, reporting to the president directly when necessary. In the first season, he really showed a deep concern for the Unit. However, towards the end of the series, he began to drift further from them and more on his own career.

I just couldn't help watching this show every week and thinking...Wow! Someone put into VISUAL form these Republic Commando novels I've been reading. Now, I can understand and REALLY visualize better these books!

New addition from this morning:

Tomb Raider I & II: The Cradle of Life (the movies). Both of them. I know they're terribly corny and horrible CGI, but goddamn Angelina Jolie is HOT. And BADASS.

And well, she's very mando, Ms. Jolie. I admire her.

I watched those out of curiosity and was only disappointed by the second (because she teams up with a dude...) otherwise the first one was enjoyable.

The movies may be exaggerated but they took me back to the times when I played the first Tomb Raider and it was countless hours of fun.

Oh, why hasn't anyone said this yet?

IRONMAN!

I like the recent movie a lot. Tony Stark is clearly a troubled, and real character, something that's very important to me. Plus the movie in general is very enjoyable.

Speaking of RDJ... Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is another I recommend. It's a fun movie. I'm not sure if it's very mandokarla, per se, but there are rare moments where Downey's character is suddenly a man with PERFECT AIM, and that one scene made the whole movie for me.

Tropic Thunder was pretty fun too. Not mandokarla, but lots of action irregardless. Silly, violent, and worth watching, imo. If anything, it's good for a "what-if" scenario, maybe somewhat inspiring in its crazy.

Anecdote wrote:

Speaking of RDJ... Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is another I recommend. It's a fun movie. I'm not sure if it's very mandokarla, per se, but there are rare moments where Downey's character is suddenly a man with PERFECT AIM, and that one scene made the whole movie for me.

Kyr'ika and I happened upon that movie for the first time the same night we happened to catch the last half-ish of From Dusk Till Dawn. Bear in mind, this was all in the early a.m. hours, and while we weren't much tired or anything...I have many a time fondly described it as "the night of crack-head movies." XD

Melyc'inya wrote:

Kyr'ika and I happened upon that movie for the first time the same night we happened to catch the last half-ish of From Dusk Till Dawn. Bear in mind, this was all in the early a.m. hours, and while we weren't much tired or anything...I have many a time fondly described it as "the night of crack-head movies." XD

I loved From Dusk Til Dawn! Somehow Clowney was badass in that movie and I wouldn't mind watch it again (even though I usually dislike that actor... well, he was pretty funny in Burn After Reading) one of my favorite horror movies of all time.

About the "mando" characters I forgot to mention the movie adaptation of Max Payne. I know, Mark Wahlberg is like a clone of Matt Damon but the way it was edited, the special effects and the story made it a really awesome movie if you like mystery crime and stuff.

And did I mention that Max Payne is also a male version of Lara Croft?

Now this may surprise you (or not...) but I love the Hellboy movies, including the animated. Everything about them is entertaining and the characters work really well together, their interactions make all the fun in the stories (my favorite being Abe ) and it's just fun to see these aliens/demons use large caliber handguns to kill monsters. No superpowers, just technology and that's kinda mando.

Okay, here are the titles that get my Mando blood pumping:

The Punisher (the original with Tom Jane)
Shoot 'em Up (great action flick with Clive Owen doing all sorts of outlandish gunplay)
Mad Max/The Road Warrior
Escape From New York
Burn Notice (lot of cool espionage stuff)
The Dollars Trilogy
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Cowboy Bebop (bounty hunters!)

And I definitely have to agree with Taken.

Just thought of another one:

NCIS

My husband and a couple of our friends were talking about this show the other day, and we were discussing the character of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon). We all agreed that he's practically the father of his team, and my husband and I instantly likened him to Kal Skirata....with a Marine Corps background and sniper skills. He's just very Mandalorian in my eyes. He more or less has adopted the likes of McGee, DiNozzo, Ziva, and Abby.

Gibbs is a force not to be reckoned with, and if anyone messes with his clan, they have just earned themselves a deathmark...one which Gibbs will handle personally.

Yeah, he's a Mandalorian in Earthen form.

Bumping this thread to share my current enthusiasm for Sons of Anarchy. It's a bad ass biker gang who run a gun business and protect their town like a bunch of vigilantes. They use dirty cops to cover their backs and help authorities deal with mexican gangs and other criminals.

What makes these guys mando? They're thugs, they use violence, they're not hesitant to kill or torture and yet... they're very much the good guys because of a strong set of ideals they live by. People come to them when they know the cops won't do much to bring justice.

So if you haven't heard about it, please please check it out Sons of Anarchy IMDb page

Mulan It's Mando because Mulan is just an ordinary girl but becasue she works hard she is able to become a warrior and save her country. Her motivation is also very Mando because she really does it all for her family (specifically her father.) It's also a musical... which has nothing to do with being Mando, I'm just mentioning it because I can.

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight This is basically Power Rangers but not as famous. Without going too much into the craziness of the plot, there are Kamen Kiders who have to save these two worlds from destruction by aliens. The episodes get more Mando when the Riders team up with eachother. Today's episode was full of mando like quotes. The alien leader mentor (that I call Kamen Rider Kal) said that a warrior must listen as well as fight and sometimes listening is the hard part. And Siren had two about how the people who wait at home are just as important as the people out fighting.

he he, I watch too many kids shows

mando-mantis wrote:

Mulan It's Mando because Mulan is just an ordinary girl but becasue she works hard she is able to become a warrior and save her country. Her motivation is also very Mando because she really does it all for her family (specifically her father.) It's also a musical... which has nothing to do with being Mando, I'm just mentioning it because I can.

Saw it, enjoyed it and it's one of the rare depictions of a badass female you can find these days. And yes, all Disneys happen to be musicals as well

Quote :

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight This is basically Power Rangers but not as famous. Without going too much into the craziness of the plot, there are Kamen Kiders who have to save these two worlds from destruction by aliens. The episodes get more Mando when the Riders team up with eachother. Today's episode was full of mando like quotes. The alien leader mentor (that I call Kamen Rider Kal) said that a warrior must listen as well as fight and sometimes listening is the hard part. And Siren had two about how the people who wait at home are just as important as the people out fighting.

he he, I watch too many kids shows

Sounds interesting, would it be far-fetched to hope for TCW to take a turn for something similar?

Quote :

Sounds interesting, would it be far-fetched to hope for TCW to take a turn for something similar?

That would be pretty nifty, I think it could happen.

By the way, you can find almost all the English episodes online... if you feel like watching a couple of guys in plastic armour ninja-fight eachother.

Okay, so I just went out and saw Avatar last night and I have to say, it was a damn good movie. Perhaps it was the tribal/warrior culture theme surrounding the film, but I was continuously reminded of Mandos.

Sure, there was no armor on the natives' side, and they did have their whole nature-loving bit, but many aspects struck me as particularly Mandokarla. They were split into clans, and called each other brother and sister. Also, one phrase they repeated several times throughout the movie was "I see you," which, is like saying "I acknowledge your existence within my heart," or "I accept you." It seemed very like the Mando'a phrase for "I love you," since "Ni kartayli gar darasuum" actually translates to "I know you forever." Both seem to go deeper than the English version.

The plot itself is very "this is our land" oriented, and the movie somewhat predictably preaches the lesson about how power and money corrupt, etc., but the universally "Mandalorian" thing recognizable would have to be the way the tribes of Pandora (the planet) fight back against their oppressors.

Overall, some things just seemed to scream Mando to me, for one reason or another, and some things didn't. But it was a great movie and I would definitely recommend going to see it or at least renting it at some point. [Plenty of explosions/helicopters/weapons/fighting scenes, if you need more incentive.]

I'm right with you Meshla!

During the war speech I had my big eye opener revelation and thought "mandokarla"!

The Na'vi definitely got some mando in them

Especially how they seem to hate aruetiise ( = outsiders )

I saw the A-Team yesterday, and it just kind of made me think about the whole Mandalorian culture.

There was definitely a strong tie between Hannibal and his "boys," Hannibal even referring to the rest of the team as such. The way they just stuck up for each other, especially the scene in which they were before the military judges was very reminiscent of how Mandos stay together. The chemistry between the characters (and the way the actors pulled it off) was just so strong. I got the impression that these guys really did spent eight years of their lives together (as the movie noted) and developed their own sense of brotherhood, with Hannibal as their buir.

Off topic slightly, I grew up watching the A-Team TV series, and the movie did a fantastic job of capturing the show's essence. If you get a chance, I say check it out. I laughed the entire movie, and it's not one of those gory, suspenseful action flicks. It's rather tongue-in-cheek and just overall fun. Liam Neeson was awesome as Hannibal, and every one of the actors respectfully played the roles previously established in the series. The movie was worth the many years' wait to finally get made.

I came across this "Motivational" poster the other day, and to me it just screams of Mando. (Of course, anything Firefly screams of Mando...)

MJ - HA. Love it.

Ok. Just thought of one. Predator - 1987, with my governor...err...former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Its not meant to be intelligent, so skipping debates, really - the squad chemistry reminds me a whole lot of our favorite Commandos.

Plus, one of the subplots involved one of their former team mates George Dillon, now a CIA handler, duping the entire team. He's the aruetiise outsider now, a government pawn using them as pawns (a subplot I could just as well liken to Solid Snake and Grey Fox's relationship from the Metal Gear Solid series).