Definitely one of my least favorite aspects of them. Everyone must get a backstory, and they must all be interrelated. The galaxy’s a small place apparently.
Story takes place in a whole-ass galaxy. Everyone winds up back on Tatooine for some stupid reason; the planet with barely one ecosystem, practically zero vegetation, no economy that matters, yet populated with two (?) cities. Other planets also have exactly one ecosystem, culture, and one optional urban center1. There’s also only 12 or so planets that matter, yet half of everyone you meet are from all the other ones. You may not like what you see, but this is peak sci-fi writing performance, right here. /s
This story could take place in a diverse corner of a single Earth-like planet and it wouldn’t be all that different.
1 - Meanwhile planet Coruscant is an urban center where the ecosystem can best be described as “traffic” and the culture is “city folk that inexplicably eat at 1950’s-style diners”.
It’s really funny when you think about it. Nearly all movie planets are actually real places on Earth, from Tatooine (Tunisia) to Endor (Washington IIRC).
Even funnier, a lot of low-budget alien planets (especially the rocky sceneries) are found within a 30 mi radius of Hollywood or whatever the actor guild considers a long distance shoot.
Like that sand pit that are basically all planets on SG1, it’s amazing what a little set dressing and different camera positions do to make a new location with the help of an audience willing to suspend their disbelief.
Definitely one of my least favorite aspects of them. Everyone must get a backstory, and they must all be interrelated. The galaxy’s a small place apparently.
Why was Tattooine featured SO MUCH in a galaxy of planets?
Because Star Wars was based on Dune
Even Frank Herbert would have suggested adding more planets.
Story takes place in a whole-ass galaxy. Everyone winds up back on Tatooine for some stupid reason; the planet with barely one ecosystem, practically zero vegetation, no economy that matters, yet populated with two (?) cities. Other planets also have exactly one ecosystem, culture, and one optional urban center1. There’s also only 12 or so planets that matter, yet half of everyone you meet are from all the other ones. You may not like what you see, but this is peak sci-fi writing performance, right here. /s
This story could take place in a diverse corner of a single Earth-like planet and it wouldn’t be all that different.
1 - Meanwhile planet Coruscant is an urban center where the ecosystem can best be described as “traffic” and the culture is “city folk that inexplicably eat at 1950’s-style diners”.
Exactly this.
Single-biome planet is a quite common trope in “science fiction” (tvtropes warning)…
It’s really funny when you think about it. Nearly all movie planets are actually real places on Earth, from Tatooine (Tunisia) to Endor (Washington IIRC).
Even funnier, a lot of low-budget alien planets (especially the rocky sceneries) are found within a 30 mi radius of Hollywood or whatever the actor guild considers a long distance shoot.
Like that sand pit that are basically all planets on SG1, it’s amazing what a little set dressing and different camera positions do to make a new location with the help of an audience willing to suspend their disbelief.