Why Do Blaster Fights in Andor Feel Different

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[marco]

It feels different because they're treating blasters like they should be, they're treated like actual firearms. In reality, single shot is the way to go and firing a gun accurately (especially rapid fire/full auto) is a lot harder than movies and games typically showcase. Again and again Andor shows us that they're going for a more realistic take on Star Wars, and that is why this is hands down the best show to come out of Disney in the last few years.

[Chelios__]

Underwhelming!? This is one of the best blaster fights sequences we've gotten in Star Wars. In my opinion.

[sentrysapper]

Skeen's misuse of the heavy repeating blaster during the Aldhani raid is why I place the blame squarely at his feet for Taramyn's death. Taramyn charged out of cover to aid Vel because he assumed that Skeen would provide sustained fire to keep the Imperials' heads down like a good soldier would. Instead Skeen took a few single shots and ducked back behind cover, failing to provide sufficient covering fire and allowing the Imperials to gun Taramyn down. It's an early indication that Skeen was an unreliable opportunist who only cared about himself.

[GreyLion]

Perhaps underwhelming to a certain crowd of viewers, but I’m loving the realism and depth in Andor. The blaster fights are tense because of the vulnerability of the characters, this is no power fantasy.

[xuttuh]

The actors in Andor handle blasters like weapons, not like toys/waterguns. That's why.

[storiesofbike]

The difference is rhythm vs. noise. In lots of other SW movies and shows there tends to be a LOT of blaster fire going on and it makes a lot of noise and feels overwhelming. Andor uses blaster fire as part of the rhythm and flow of a scene. The single shots feel heavy and potent and ad really well to the pacing of the action.

[maxeisenhardt]

Far from underwhelming. The shootout scenes feel raw and visceral. They don't look like a videogame where you shoot rapidly and endlessly, killing tons of enemies who just stand there wating to be killed. Remember that abysmal scene in TROS in which Finn, Poe, and Chewie kill a hell lot of Stormtroopers in a corridor?
In Andor you can see the characters are actually having a tough time aiming and taking cover. The raid on Ferrix in Episode 3 is seriously among the most intense and best-directed shootouts in the franchise.

[masterqui-gonjinn]

My only complaint is that the DLT19 wasn’t used as a SAW when that’s literally the purpose of the weapon. There’s some legends books where it’s actually used to supplement the EWEB as a SAW

[celebrim]

This is some of the best blaster combat sequences we've ever seen (outside of Rogue One). There is a lot of attention to detail and in trying to make the combats feel realistic and potentially lethal. Too often we see blaster fights in Star Wars where bad guys are taking no action or are firing without any accuracy.

My only complaint is that black guy always dies first and without his proper glory. Like, I'm about as far from "woke" as you can get, but they've done it so many times in Andor I can't help but notice.

[tqlla]

IMO, the reason the blaster fights feel different is because the people getting hit have faces. Most of the time its faceless stormtroopers getting hit.

[Johannes_Piotr]

I thought this would be a quick video discussing why the blaster fights feel so good.

[shaderunner]

It's slow yes, but it's far from underwhelming. Enjoyed them all to this point because they actually feel stressful, like a gunfight should.

[Lankythepyro]

I thought this video was going to be about how the blaster fights have been uncharacteristically good. Because they have been. Rather than the usual blur of fire with shots being effectively meaningless, each shot has been planned. Perhaps in a few of the scenes a burst of full-auto would have been fitting, but for the mostpart I've really enjoyed the battles personally

[juhall]

Good video, as a former infantryman, I can tell you that fully automatic fire weapons are, in the real world, typically used in a suppression role. As you noted, firing a weapon on full auto tends to be rather inaccurate due to recoil, and firing excessively long bursts will cause the weapon to overheat and potentially destroying the barrel. Further, such belt fed support weapons tend to be rather large/heavy and require large amounts of ammunition to stay in the fight once employed. This means such weapons are typically suitable for infantry-type units where the extra firepower is worth the added weight and bulkiness. People in Luthen/Andor's business, or in the business of Corpos/Imperial prison guards need lighter, smaller, more concealable weapons. Bur I don't think the blaster fights in Andor are "underwhelming, " you don't need an E-Web or an M249 SAW spitting fire for a gunfight to be dramatic---see the end of Open Range or 3:10 to Yuma.

[Hawk-]

I think the big thing is that we're seeing more small unit tactics. Normally in Star wars we see 1-4 people vs 20-30. Blaster fire aplenty because of saturation. Whereas the first fight on Ferrix 1-2 vs 3-5 at a time. Aldahni was 5-6 vs maybe 7-8. Everyone is fighting for cover/concealment and only taking shots when they see an opportunity because they're not there in numbers. Which is pretty damn realistic IMO. It made each hit, each miss, feel good.

[ProdCritic]

Andor: *Every single blaster shot is considered and purposeful to the story*
Rest of Star Wars: BLASTER SHOTS EVERYWHERE NONSTOP BECAUSE GO BOOM IS GOOD ON TIKTOK

[xantho]

Whoever is saying that blaster fights are underwhelming must be smoking something wild lmfao, everything feels very real, with a stake and danger in every fight. Genuinely feels like a western or action film that takes itself more seriously.

[Germán-Enzo]

IMO the blaster fights on Andor feels real. It dont seems like digital rows.

[kirkdarling]

Chirric's ability to walk through blaster fire makes me wonder if the Force hasn't always been involved in slightly deflecting blaster fire from certain people.

[Kjleed]

Someone should do an analysis on the hit/miss ratio between Andor and the various sequels.