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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

A Host Of Star Wars Bits 182

Posted by timothy from the my-name-is-legion-for-we-are-many dept.
BIGJIMSLATE writes: "Maybe these should be considered quickies due to the number of them, but they're all Star Wars. *Warning* There may be spoilers here for some of you, so read at your own risk. Anyways, here I go." Read on below for an interesting, eclectic (not to say, oh, I dunno, "obsessive") pile of links. Sheesh, the next one won't even be out for a while!

"First off, I'm sure many of you noticed that the Official Star Wars site has been completely redesigned. In addition to the Episode II Select picture number #40 (finally) being released, there's also some new pictures of some of the characters, specifically Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan, Hayden Christensen (as Anakin), and (yowza!) Natalie Portman (as Padme Amidala). There are also small pics for Christopher Lee (as Count Dooku) and Temuera Morrison as "a bounty hunter" (read: Jango Fett).

"The official site has the first (of what appars to be many) "Making of Episode II" shorts. Although it mainly shows George, Rick, and some others talking about minor stuff, as well as "the camera" and the "Courscant street set".

"TheForce.net has some nice concept pictures of what the Clone troopers look like with a doctored pic, a fan-made rendering, and painting that looks almost like one of Ralph McQuarrie's.

" Also, The Criterion Collection is releasing Akira Kurosawa's classic, The Hidden Fortress (also known as Kakushi toride no san akunin) on May 22nd, with an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer. What does this have to do with Star Wars? This IS Star Wars. George Lucas has (admitidly) taken this film, added some touches of Flash Gordon and WWII dogfighting films, world religions, and *bam*, Star Wars: A New Hope. It also contains an interview with George Lucas (or as I like to call him, "The Plaid One") describing the influence of The Hidden Fortress on Star Wars.

"One final bit is still a rumor at this point, but its by far the best rumor, from the most reliable sources. The Episode I DVD rumors have been kicked around for a while, but we finally have unofficial confirmation from the top "spies", as well as Rick McCallum himself!. I usually wait for the official press release myself, but these rumors are coming from the best of the best, and even Rick himself implied that they've been completed. Still no word on the "classic trilogy" or Special Editions though...

"Hope that'll keep you busy until the trailer is released (estimated by November)."

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A Host Of Star Wars Bits More

A Host Of Star Wars Bits

Comments Filter:

  • Re:Heresy, but Natalie Portman is too thin (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Anna Paquin in a penguin suit.

    Carrying a PIII Dell laptop, loaded with SuSE.

  • Re:Genetics of breasts? (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @12:30PM (#281830)
    Your manboobs are nobody's fault but your own.

  • Starwars sends the wrong message, I'm afraid (Score:4)

    by alewando ( 854 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:42AM (#281831)
    Let's overlook the racism and the poor acting, for a moment. (True fans are busy awaiting Episode2 and aren't still making excuses for TPM.) On a much deeper level, StarWars sends a shocking, frightening, and sickening message to America's youth.

    StarWars portrays space as a site of warfare between different species and even between rival human factions.

    When A New Hope was released to theaters thirteen years ago, America was at peace. The Vietnam War had recently been brought to a close, and Americans were looking forward to a new era of prosperity and at friendly relations with their neighbors.

    But within a few short years, America invaded Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Iraq, and Haiti. What had happened? What had become of our message of peace? What could have transpired in the interim to bring about this cruel turn of events?

    I'll tell you what: StarWars was released to thronging masses of American youths. In their orgiastic rush to imbibe their new-found cultural icons, they discarded all the wisdom we had acquired through the blood and sweat of our recent military conquests.

    It's no surprise, of course. Even the name "StarWars" itself conveys a message of conflict and carnage. A New Hope is, at bottom, a story about armed rebellion by rabble against a benevolent legal order, precisely the sort of communistic message we had come so close to defeating in Vietnam.

    Perhaps it would've been different if we had won the Vietnam War. Perhaps then we would've witnessed the fall and destruction of communism and all its bastard progeny (socialism, yuppyism, the Home Shopping Network, etc.). Unfortunately, the world will never know.

    George Lucas, I think I can speak for everyone here on slashdot, and indeed with the entire breath of humanity: you should be ashamed of yourself for what you have wrought.

    Disgraceful.

  • Re:Heresy, but Natalie Portman is too thin (Score:5)

    by Geoff ( 968 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:59AM (#281832) Homepage
    Perhaps if she should eat the hot grits instead of pouring them down her pants.
  • In New Zealond, a bunch of fans are claiming "Jedi" as their religion on the census! If enough people do it, it must be declared as a viable religion... Food for thought, young Jedi.
  • After 2 years most people figured out by now that the DVD rumers are just to get kids to shut up. I doubt George has any intention of releasing anything on such a high quality format which can be copied so easily.
  • In my observation, those Star Wars Lego Technics sets have been selling like hotcakes. From where I sit in my cubicle, I see at least 4 displays of Lego Technics Star Wars sets built by my coworkers.

    If you ask me, any person who can dedicate space on their desk (not covered with papers and books) for Legos is a SLACKER!
  • It was called "Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope".
  • Slashdot has since it's inception limited fruntpage stories to a single paragraph. Usualy with only a few sentences. In other words, not longer than the 1st paragraph of this story.

    Why the suden shift and when will Rob corect it by moving that extra gunk to a side page.

  • Re:Ask Slashdot: Best Star Wars costume to get gir (Score:5)

    by Glytch ( 4881 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @11:03AM (#281838)
    Wear Princess Leia's metal bikini. The girls will see that you're a sensitive new age guy who isn't afraid to be himself in public.

    Either that, or dress up as Admiral Ackbar and start singing "Fish Heads".
  • > make the evil twin pick up the name of his slain brother) to make it work, but that seems like an ugly kludge.

    I know of at least one book where something similar is done _very_ well, but naming it would probably be too much of a spoiler for anyone who hasn't read it yet. I don't think the construction of that book could work for a movie though.

    --
  • movies about peace are boring. what the hell do you want a love story in space. jeeze. explosions are inhernetly cooler in zero g.
  • Anyone else get a Javascript error when they go to the new starwars main page? Hmmm.....

    ---

  • Star Wars is NOT a remake of Hidden Fortress! (Score:5)

    by Thag ( 8436 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @10:39AM (#281842) Homepage
    The Hidden Fortress was mainly the inspiration for the two droids and their bickering comedy-relief relationship. That's just about it.

    The Hidden Fortress largely follows the misadventures of two camp followers, who are basically scavengers, scumbags, and comic relief. They encounter the hero, a lone samurai general (Toshiro Mifune) travelling incognito, and get pulled along with him out of greed as they try and find a stash of gold in a (dum-dum-dum!) hidden fortress, really a kind of hole-in-the-wall hideout located in a rugged wasteland. There is also a bunch of bad guys, and a princess. There are a lot of twists and turns and treachery, and some nice sword and spear fighting at the end.

    The two movies just don't fit together as neatly as people seem to believe. Star Wars has a lot of plot threads going: saving the princess, saving the rebellion from the Death Star, Luke losing his old life and becoming a hero and proto-Jedi, Han Solo demonstrating that he's not just a mercenary, Obi-wan coming out of seclusion and moving towards his final confrontation with Vader. In contrast, The Hidden Fortress is just about Toshiro Mifune's character accomplishing his quest, and, to a much lesser extent, the two camp followers trying to reap a reward through treachery and survive the results of their own actions.

    Lastly, the tone of the two movies is very different. Star Wars is a saturday matinee romp, whereas The Hidden Fortress was a straightforward samurai flick with two offbeat characters for comic relief.

    In short, you can see the influences, but they're really two different movies.

    Jon Acheson

  • Re:Starwars sends the wrong message, I'm afraid (Score:3)

    by artdodge ( 9053 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @10:38AM (#281843) Homepage
    StarWars portrays space as a site of warfare between different species and even between rival human factions.
    Which sounds a lot more realistic to me than the crackpot utopianism of ST's vision for "The Federation".

    Hate to have to say it, but we are still talking about humans here... and whatever you believe about alien species, it seems unlikely to me that most of them would be thoroughly benevolent.

  • A New Hope is, at bottom, a story about armed rebellion by rabble against a benevolent legal order

    Um, are you sure you saw the same movie I did? Lessee, blowing Alderaan to smithereens because one of its Senators wouldn't give up the location of the Rebel base. And I wonder why the Imperial Senate was no longer a "concern" to the Emperor. Just the way Tarkin said it brought to mind Palpatine having all of the Senators summarily executed.

    Yup. Sounds real benevolent to me....

    (I know, I know, this is probably a troll, but sometimes a cat just can't resist having something like this dangled in front of him.)

    Meow. Puurr.

  • I feel your pain. Growing up, it was always "Star Wars", followed by "the Empire Strikes Back", followed by "Return of the Jedi". The whole "you can't call it just 'Star Wars' now, it's 'A New Hope'" strikes me as a bit over-revisionist. If I say to anyone I know, "I'm gonna watch 'Star Wars' now", they'll know I mean the original - whereas saying "I'm gonna turn on 'A New Hope'" will draw confusion.

    So, I'm gonna keep calling it "Star Wars" until Lucas' troops force me to call it otherwise.

  • You're thinking of the Seven Samurai(akira kurosawa, 1954) and The Magnificent Seven(John Sturges, 1960).

    It's no secret that The Magnificent Seven is a derivitave work.

    Now go ahead and watch Battle Beyond the Stars (Jimmy T. Murakami, 1980)

    _
  • is it just me or does that look like a hand-me-down from Cassiopia from Battlestar Galactica
  • It's no surprise, of course. Even the name "StarWars" itself conveys a message of conflict and carnage. A New Hope is, at bottom, a story about armed rebellion by rabble against a benevolent legal order, precisely the sort of communistic message we had come so close to defeating in Vietnam.
    *LOL* Good one. And The Phantom Menace is, of course, a story about a heroic rebellion by desperate patriots against a decadent oligarchic regime, precisely the sort of fascistic message we came so close to achieving at Munich [freecampus.co.uk], right?

    Maybe this is a good time to bring up David Brin's Star Wars despots vs. Star Trek populists [salon.com] again.

  • George Lucas, I think I can speak for everyone here on slashdot, and indeed with the entire breath of humanity: you should be ashamed of yourself for what you have wrought.
    Mod +1, Funny.
  • Following this logic, they would probably put out the barebones DVD, then come out with a 'collectors edition' 6 months later, ala American Beauty and so many other DVDs. It's almost a standard practice.

    Then again, George already got us, releasing the trilogy on video when the remastered versions were in the theater, then releasing the remastered in letterbox VHS 8 months later...

    Kevin Fox
    --

  • Forthcoming DVD options... (Score:5)

    by KFury ( 19522 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:33AM (#281852) Homepage
    George has said they waited on the DVDs so they could put time into them and add the special features they deserve.

    Some of the features I'm looking forward to:
    • Anamorphic wide aspect-ratio non-Jarjar edition.
    • 5.1 remastered Home-THX with Grover voiceovers for Yoda.
    • Deleted Natalie Portman scenes in multi-angle.

    Kevin Fox
    --
  • That was an excellent film. I loved the use of the multiple panes so you can see concept art, the blue screen, and then the final product. Very well done. They should seek parts in an upcoming movie ;-)

    -- DuckWing
  • > I remember seeing another japanese samuri film, and recognizing that it was identical with an early Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. Camera angles and all, just transplanted from Japan to the Italian version of the American west.

    And interestingly enough, Italy is half-way between China and the American West.

    I'm sure there's some deep meaning in there somewhere, though I haven't quite pinned it down yet.

    --
  • > True fans are busy awaiting Episode2

    I'm no longer a True Fan after E1, but I'm eagerly awaiting E2 anyway, 'cause I heard that it will include a graphic depiction of the slow dismemberment of Jar Jar Binks.

    --
  • > Here's a picture of Cassiopa and Sheba (from Battlestar Galactica)

    > Here's a picture of Athena (from Battlestar Galactica)

    > Here's a picture of colonel Wilma Deering (from Buck Rogers)

    Your catalogue sure has a lot of nice stuff in it, but I don't see the prices anywhere. How much for three (3) of the brunette in white and one (1) of the older blonde?

    > Compare the Buck Rogers one with this photo of Natalie (on the right)

    Ah, thanks for pointing her out. I thought the one on the left [dsuper.net] was Natalie, and I couldn't understand why the kiddies were in such a froth over her!

    --
  • More on SW variants can be found at the IMDB [imdb.com]

    --

  • I hate to agree with Bill Waterson (Score:4)

    by the_tsi ( 19767 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:46AM (#281858)
    Since I hate his stand on merchandising, but I definately think that the overwhelming wave of *crap* being put out for Episode I has destroyed (as if the movie didn't do it alone) my faith in Star Wars.

    I used to be a theforce.net junkie, I used to get all the action figures (you know, when you had to fight other kids at Toys R Us to get your hands into the first shipment of Boba Fett and Lando Calrissian), and I used to watch at least one of the videos roughly weekly. Yeah, I'd just put it on in the background while I wrote reports, played Quake or brushed the dog.

    But ever since the flood of sub-par Episode 1 merchandise (I mean, Lucas used to only allow COOL stuff that was fun to have and looked nice both on the shelf and on the battle scene in the middle of the floor), my interest has waned.

    While I did join a team of people to take turns camping out for Phantom Menace tickets, I wasn't one of the folks who was expecting it to be a life changing event -- I wanted to be pleasantly surprised when I got there instead of disappointed. But I guess I had a bad experience or something, because when I saw this list of quickies I thought "Oh great, stuff about that next star wars movie. Where's the technology news?" And then I thought, "what the hell? This used to be a religious thing for me, why don't I care." And then I realized it. And then I realized I could post about it for lots of karma. :)

    Anyway, here's to hoping that Episode II delights more than I did. Maybe I'll see it in the first week. Probably not.

    -Chris
    ...More Powerful than Otto Preminger...
  • Actually, I heard he wanted to turn it into DivX and host it on Gnutella...

    [snort]
    _______________________________________ __________
  • You've got it backwards. The spaghetti westerns (Magnificent Seven &c) lifted EVERYTHING from Kurosawa (Seven Samurai &c). I believe Kurosawa returned the favor with some of his movies.

    I like the Japanese versions MUCH better than the Italian ones...regardless of which came first.
  • If you are impatient, get the LaserDisc version.

    I am still basking in the THX glow and the Dolby Digital 6.1 soundtrack for the Phantom Menace! :-)

    The original THX editions and the "Special Editions" of 4, 5, and 6 look and sound (DD again but 5.1) quite nice too on LaserDisc.

    DVD's are cool, but I take what I can get! :-)
  • Actually, I thought the aim was to rebuke the government for asking about matters that are none if its business.

    In the UK, the religious question on the census form is quite clearly marked as "optional"

  • Slowly, across the world... allowing for folks on the dark side of the planet to wake up and check /.

  • It is strangely coincidental, though, that the Hidden Fortress has the word "akunin" in the Japanese title, and probably the most influential and important character of all six movies is named "Anakin".

  • But ever since the flood of sub-par Episode 1 merchandise...

    What the heck are you talking about? The Phantom Menace gave us some of the best movie merchandise ever! I mean, how can you top products like "Talkin' Hungry Hero Jar Jar", a plush doll with a retractable tongue that not only comes with little frog things with velcro that sticks to said tongue, but that also talks when you squeeze his hand? And I'm talking great lines like "Meesa wuvs you" and "Maxi big...da Force"!

    There's also the Jar Jar Binks tongue candy (push a plunger, Jar Jar's mouth opens, and a candy tongue pokes out for children to eat), and the Queen Amidala inflatable chair! And don't forget the horde of merchandise that was released for the original trilogy to create interest for the new movie - without Episode I, we might never have received such bounty as "Jabba Glob", the Jabba doll that pukes slime when you push on his head!

    I, for one, am praying that George Lucas will grace us with another merchandise bonanza when the next movie is due to be released. His merchandising creativity far surpasses anything I could ever hope to achieve - there's no way I could make this stuff up. Even better, you can pick up most of the really cool Episode I merchandise dirt cheap at toy stores right now - there's no better feeling than finding "Jabba Glob" for 3 bucks.

  • A New Hope is, at bottom, a story about armed rebellion by rabble against a benevolent legal order, precisely the sort of communistic message we had come so close to defeating in Vietnam.

    Yeah, this is America. We would never encourage people to rebell against the legal order. Unless theyre King George III. Moron, read some history before you troll.
  • I mod down named crap flooders whenever I get the chance. I don't touch an AC unless it's something really offensive, like racist slurs or goatse.cx ascii art.
  • Actually some of us do read at 0 threshhold to catch the rare insightful AC post. I mod down some of the worst stuff at 0, like racist slurs or obscense ascii art, but I typically just ignore the three word nonsense. I don't read at 0 because I think trolls are funny. I read at 0 to catch the people who can't or don't want to use a login to post good stuff.
  • "You will give me access to the Quicktime video"
    "I will give you access to the Quicktime video".

    "It is not necessary to gather demographics to let me view the video"
    "It's okay, you don't have to register to view the video."

    But seriously, any mirrors for that making-of video? Akamai perhaps?
    ---

  • Seems will look "cooler" and more modern than ep4-6 troopers. Even thought they're supposed to be earlier models in the Star Wars universe timeline.
  • I just want to quickly point out that when I responded to it, this was moderated up, not as funny, but as insightful. The fact that it is now moderated as funny makes me re-think. There was no indication that the original was intended to be funny, but if it was, I applaud the dry and deceptively sly humor of it, and appologize for not "getting it". Perhaps in the future a couple of smileys would go a long way.....
  • However, few can argue that the startling Japanese portrayal of the Trade Federation

    The accent seemed vaguely asian (Japanese, I don't think so, I'd say Korean or Vietnamese). Certainly the behavior was a mix of cartoony cowardice and a sort of European attitude (German, Itallian, perhaps Portugese) toward imperialism. The ships were very odd, probably something I'd expect to see come out of South America, if anywhere. Not exactly the "startling Japanese portrayal" that you saw. I guess you just walked into it with some baggage....

    or the Black Face commedy that characterized Jar Jar

    Jar Jar was a ploy to draw kids by having someone speak "funny". I never saw anything particularly "black" about him. I suppose every culture will see the class that has traditionally had the most fun made of them.

    Many of us have preexisting notions of what a ruthless capitalist empire should look and act like. Many who remember the booming Japanese economy of the 1980s equate the Japenese with this.

    Hence the baggage comment. I don't think anything in that movie was so clearly hurtful or pointed as to be called racism. If you see a butterfly in the Rorshach, cool.

    Similarly, slapstick commedy has its roots in the racist black face commedy of the old south.

    So, all slapstick is racist? I'm missing something.

    Jar Jar's bizarre accent sounds just southern enough to make his strange humor seem racist.

    Funny, I've heard him refered to as "Carribian" and "South American", but never "Southern". Ok, glad to hear that they did such a good job of creating a new accent that it can't be classified.

    Did Lucas intend it? I doubt it... nonetheless, the message is there.

    So, whose message is it? Personally, I think it's yours. Look for racism where people deny basic human rights and freedoms based on race. Look for racism where race is portrayed unevenly. Don't look for racism in a popular movie because it's popular.
  • Let's overlook the racism and the poor acting, for a moment.

    Let's not. What racism and poor acting? Granted, I will never claim that ANH, TESB, RotJ or TPM have the best acting that hollywood has ever seen, but TESB was, IMHO, one of Ford's best roles. TPM featured some excellent acting on the parts of McGregor (who, I will readily concede has done even more accomplished work elsewhere) and many others. I'm not going to go into child actors like Portman or the boy, because they're children. They were both better than Shirley temple, but you just don't expect an adult's range of skill from a child.

    As for racism, I think you're grasping for straws. There are racial stereotypes certainly, but it's hard to establish a never before heard of race and not stereotype it as "agressive" or "funny" or "ill tempered". It's one of the limitations of the medium. However, in order to classify as "racism", I think you would have to actually introduce an *existing* racial stereotype or clearly attempt to sway the audience to hatred on the basis of race alone. SW never does this, AFAICR.

    StarWars portrays space as a site of warfare between different species and even between rival human factions.

    Please cite a period of human history that suggests that warfare is likely to ever stop being a part of our lives. Once you come up with that example, you can tell me why we should portray it, the exception, instead of the other 99.9999999 percent of human history as the rule.

    Of course, we're not talking about humans here (it being a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away), but I'll give you that much as a rhertorical point of common ground.

    George Lucas, I think I can speak for everyone here on slashdot, and indeed with the entire breath of humanity: you should be ashamed of yourself for what you have wrought.

    Don't go speaking for me. I'm not just a fan of the Star Wars movies (though, I am that), I'm a fan of the genre made up of hero-epic stories. Joseph Campbell has it right, we tell stories in order to explore our nature, and the hero quest is the aspect of our nature which we portray the most universally (though, you could argue that it's a particularly male point of view). Star Wars helps a new generation of viewers to explore that story in a time when Beowulf, Greek myth, Exodus, Robin Hood and the other classic Hero tales are considered pase. I applaud George Lucas and all of the others who have helped to bring Star Wars to fruition, and deeply urge anyone with the talent to try to further the quest in new stories about humanity's quest for enlightenment.

    Disgraceful.

    No, what's disgraceful is that such a poorly thought out post would be moderated up to a 5 just because it was cranked out before there was much to moderate.
  • If the aim is really to establish a Jedi religion

    Actually, I thought the aim was to rebuke the government for asking about matters that are none if its business.
    /.

  • That's kinda the way I feel. More so since I saw the uncut version of said film
  • Why does that shot of Natalie Portman look like
    she's wearing a costume I used in a Star Wars
    home move I made when I was 12? Comeon George,
    when the CGI clothing looks better than the actual
    stuff, your in trouble.
  • In New Zealond, a bunch of fans are claiming "Jedi" as their religion on the census! If enough people do it, it must be declared as a viable religion... Food for thought, young Jedi.

    It's a hoax, read this story [yahoo.com] regarding the same thing when it was tried in Britain. (note the author of the story, I don't know if this is a coincidence, or part of the hoax).

    If the aim is really to establish a Jedi religion, then why not go about it through the normal channels, have regular meetings of the followers, write some authoritative tome, then begin hating and warring with practicioners of other religions. That's how all the other 'great' religions started: Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Linux, etc.

  • You forgot one of the most copied scenes *ever*. The bandits in seven samuari that come cresting over a hillside at the start of the attack. That whole scene of them pouring over the hill was INVENTED by Akira Kurosawa and copied by just about every battle film ever since.
  • The first run lasted considerably longer than 8 weeks. I can recall watching "Star Wars" at the Raintree Cinemas during the last week of the first run more than a year after it opened.
  • Funny, but I seem to remember a lot of Christians being persecuted [persecution.org] and hated, both now and in the first centuries of their existence.
  • First of all its Troops not Troopers and I think duality is very well made but if you can't figure out the ending I can see why you'd think it had a bad plot.

    Seriously, these are very short films, you can't have character development and a long script in 2 minutes.
  • I don't know if it's true, but an old war movie I remember called 633 Squadron had Mosquito aricraft flying down a valley to hit a hidden target.
  • I'm not too sure but it could have been "The Dam Busters"
  • The blockbuster i shop at has quitea few kurosawa flicks.
  • Go ahead and mod down, but StarWars seems to me to be another one of those sacred cows. I loved the original movie as a kid, and the sequels were entertaining, but as I got older I began to realize that the acting, storyline, writing, directing, etc, really were nothing special. Clearly, the original StarWars will stand out as a groundbreaking special effects piece as well as cultural filmpiece. Reinforcing my erroding faith, Lucas with his renovated re-releases of the first trilogy, insults us with the Jaba scene in episode IV. Also, to be blunt, Episode I completly sucked as a movie. I mean, the light sabres were cool and the darth mul guy was pretty cool, but the rest sucked (except that big fish, that was neat). Midocondrians? What the hell? Explaining the force? That is like when stupid fantasy books try and explain magic. What a stupid premiss. And as for JarJar, enough said. Of course JarJar is no worse than the Ewoks or Yoda. The Episode I script has less depth than one of Bill Shattner's tech war books. The "political" dramma is oversimplified rediculousness. The bad guys are too bad and the good guys are too good. Look, I am not saying these movies are terrible, they are very entertaining, but they aren't worth all of this iconification.

  • C-3P0 (Score:1)

    by Shook ( 75517 )
    if you remember, there are several protocol droids in the SW movies that look exactly like threepio. In Empire Strikes Back, there is even a scene where he says "Oh look! Another protocol droid! How nice to see a familiar face." or something like that.
  • A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (to coin a phrase), I read that the death star battle scene, specifically the "flying down a trench to hit a target" part, was inspired by an old war movie.

    Anyone know if this is true, and which movie?

  • What'd be best part (for the distributors of the DVD's) is that there would be no difference between the grover voice over and they regular Yoda. ;-)
  • or maybe, 'instantly acccross the nation'.
  • The pod race scene was an almost shot-for-shot ripoff of the chariot race from 1959's "Ben-Hur". Fun to watch, but hardly original.
  • is also quite funny for the true story on how some of the charcters in Star Wars: A New Hope evolved ;)

  • Remember, she *is* supposed to be the mother of Princess Leia. Carrie Fisher's portrayal didn't necessarily make her look buxom, nor voluptuous.

  • Have you guys (and gals :) had a look at "Troops"? It's available here (http://www.accessdenied.net/troops.htm). Blurb:

    "This is a spoof of the Fox show COPS, but set in the Star Wars universe. Hillarious and well done. Made with less than $2,000, a video camera and a home computer."

    View it. It's worth it.

  • Lords of the Sith (Score:5)

    by kevinank ( 87560 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:38AM (#281895) Homepage
    One master, one apprentice, no less.

    I was just about to submit this as a news article, but since my submissions never get accepted anyway...

    Fanfilms.com [fanfilms.com] has several very good amateur short films set in the starwars universe. The one that really caught my eye though is the six and a half minute long film Duality [theforce.net] about the final test of a new apprentice Lord of the Sith. The film makers put up some very good information about amateur film-making at their site [crewoftwo.com], including modelling hints, costuming, storyboards, and script notes.

    I'm really impressed with the quality of this amateur film; and if there are any more out there like this, I'd like to see them.

  • i noticed that myself, but after a quick refresh, it's not there, you have to click on the link to see the whole story...(one of the hazards of being on the cutting edge, is that you're on the cutting edge...;-)

  • when it was first posted, the whole story was on the front page. After aprox 5-10 min, only the synopsis was on the front page.

  • The full title is

    Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope



  • but that seems like an ugly kludge.

    Would that be uglier than the kludge where Darth Vadar constructs a robot and fails to recognize same robot from that point onward?

    Lest it be forgotten... Starwars SUCKS. [slashdot.org]

  • don't you mean:

    I feel a great disturbance in the Work Force...
  • The Kurosawa film you're thinking of is Yojimbo. The Eastwood film is 'a Fistful of Dollars'. It was also done by Bruce Willis as 'Last Man Standing'.
  • I can't believe I'm replying to this troll but with moderators on CRACK today I feel I must.

    Let's overlook the racism and the poor acting, for a moment.

    Acting is your opinion but where did you get racism? If you are refering too the whole trade federation is the Japanese thing that was said when Episode 1 came out well maybe George Lucas is a genius and wanted to make an evil trade federation empire and people assumed that he was making a statement about the Japanese because thats how they see them. The statement was made that various aliens look "obviously" look like various races well OBVIOUSLY no one has ever seen an alien and our human minds relate to what is unfamiliar to what is familiar.

    On a much deeper level, StarWars sends a shocking, frightening, and sickening message to America's youth. StarWars portrays space as a site of warfare between different species and even between rival human factions.

    1. What's different about that description of space and an accurate description of the way the world/society is? 2. Who's to say that space isn't that way?

    . . .But within a few short years, America invaded Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Iraq, and Haiti. What had happened? What had become of our message of peace? What could have transpired in the interim to bring about this cruel turn of events?

    In other news the government has also built the matrix and we are keeping another race of humans subject to us in a virutual world ... come-on this is a very very poor example of life immitating art. These actions were brought on because of America's insistance on policing the world. Korea, Cuba, Vietnam happened before this movie came out and the gov is still doing it today.

    I'll tell you what: StarWars was released to thronging masses of American youths. In their orgiastic rush to imbibe their new-found cultural icons, they discarded all the wisdom we had acquired through the blood and sweat of our recent military conquests.

    Ummm maybe news to you but America got their butts kicked in Vietnam. And you contridicted yourself, you said war was bad now you are saying conquests are good? Troll troll troll

    I can't believe this was modded up.


    "One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad

  • Anyone know? Is this an x linked trait, or just a regular one? Are larger sizes dominant, recessive, or co-dominant?

    Inquiring minds need to know.

    The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.

  • err, thats where you're wrong. Only just however; let me explain.

    1977: Star Wars released. As suggested, no sign of 'A New Hope'.

    1978: Work starts on Empire and to some extent Jedi, thanks to the amazing success of the film.

    1979: Star Wars re-released to cinemas, with 'A New Hope' added to the title scroll, in anticipation of...

    1980: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back hits the cinemas.

    So while its true that 'A New Hope' was only added once Empire was a definite go, the release was out there before we actually got to see the film. I don't doubt that there are plenty who didn't see the re-release, since they had already seen the film, however.

  • Re:Starwars sends the wrong message, I'm afraid (Score:4)

    by seanmeister ( 156224 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:48AM (#281929)
    Or maybe it's just a movie.

    --
  • "Fist Full of Dollars" with Clint Eastwood was a shot-for-shot remake of Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo". That was the movie that really started the Spaghetti Western movement.

    "Last Standing Man" with Bruce Willis was also a remake of "Yojimbo", but not shot-for-shot.

    "The Magnificent Seven" was a remake of Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai".

    And finally Kurosawa's "Ran" was a remake of Shakespear's "King Lear".

    The irony in all of this is that Akira took Western ideas and used them to make samurai movies, which then got remade into Westerns.

    And to add one more interesting thought. Lots of classic shots in anime fights are taken from Kurosawa's work. Like the striken enemy not falling over until a delayed few seconds after the blow a.k.a. "Seven Samurai", and the great gyser of blood a.k.a. "Sanjuro"
  • Har - The toy companies also paid Lucus a ridiclous amount of up-front money to get licence this crap. Since the movie turned out to be not as titanically popular as everyone assumed (especially among kids, who were supposedly the target audience), merchandise sales were actually pretty poor and the toy companies took a huge bath on all that crap. The only thing that really sold was the little dolls for the "adult collector" (aka stupid loser) market.

    So, expect to see less Episode II junk on the shelves.
  • Unless, of course, you are like myself and think George Lucas is the biggest candy stealer from young children in the history of modern cinema. In that case you don't give two shits on a monkey's ass that a new Star Wars movie is going to come out.
  • So now we get to all go out and rent Japanese movies, and then criticise SWII when it comes out, because it is not as good as the original.

    I remember seeing another japanese samuri film, and recognizing that it was identical with an early Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. Camera angles and all, just transplanted from Japan to the Italian version of the American west. You could almost run them side by side.

    I hope SWII doesn't turn out like that. I still think it would have worked out better writing if young Darth had turned out to be identical twins. The possible plot twists would have been wonderful. (For example - who turns to the dark side - the one who goes for training, or the one who does not?) Audiences would have been second guessing all along.

    Now it feels less like genius and more like a marketing machine. [shrug]

    Check out the Vinny the Vampire [eplugz.com] comic strip

  • I still think it would have worked out better writing if young Darth had turned out to be identical twins. The possible plot twists would have been wonderful. (For example - who turns to the dark side - the one who goes for training, or the one who does not?)

    That's a little too easy to answer -- obviously, it would be the one named "Anakin". I suppose you could then add some contrived situations (either twins named "Annakin" and "Anakkin" or make "Anakin Skywalker" yet another alias that he's gone through or make the evil twin pick up the name of his slain brother) to make it work, but that seems like an ugly kludge.

    On the other hand, it would've been neat if they went on to draw parallels between this set of twins and Luke/Leia.

  • As far as I can remember, the closest they ever came was in the sky city -- but 3po was disassembled early in that sequence, and they never met face to face.

    I heard from a friend that in one of the recent non-movie adaptations of this (comic book, maybe?), they actually attempted to add some tie-in to Episode 1 by having Vader notice the disassembled c3po and instructing one of his subordinates to give the parts to the wookiee.

  • Second, the first Star Wars was a cult classic. Meaning it bombed in the theater, but became a classic on video...
    What the Hell are you smoking? The original Star Wars release was the highest grossing film of all time. It was passed by E.T. in 1982. When the Special Edition was rereleased in 1997 it regained the top spot.
  • It was while reading that article that I first realized what a loser Brin is. I think there was just a little bit of jealousy going on there, or perhaps he is a determined troll... (His Uplift War books are still just as good of course.)
    I lost a lot of respect for Brin after that outburst.

  • Re:The first movie was just Star Wars. (Score:4)

    by Ereth ( 194013 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @10:43AM (#281955) Homepage
    Actually, the Episode IV: A New Hope title was not added until the re-release AFTER Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, there was much confusion when Empire opened with Episode V and many casual moviegoers wandering around wondering where episodes 2,3, and 4 had gone (assuming Star Wars to be episode 1). Lucas had explained that he always wanted it to be part of a trilogy, but that he had had so much trouble getting financing and had no idea how successful it would be (there were articles announcing it would be the greatest dud of all time), that he had left the subtitle off, in case he could only make the one. As we all know, it turned out bigger than anyone expected, and he was able to make the sequels and add the Episode IV: A New Hope title when re-released. There were other subtle changes. Obi-wan, when first meeting Luke and being told that R2-D2 claimed to belong to him originally said "I don't recall ever owning a droid. Leastways not one of these modern ones." The "modern" line was removed for the first re-release after Lucas had decided the entire storyline would be told from the perspective of the droids, and so R2-D2 couldn't be a modern droid, if he were to be in Episodes 1, 2 and 3. And in case you wonder what my source is: it's me. I saw these films on their first run release, over and over and over. The interviews with Lucas were mostly taken from Starlog magazine, which we devoured for any information about the upcoming movie, long before we had a World Wide Web. I knew "The Empire Strikes Back" was Episode V when I went to the first showing in town, but most of the other people who were there did not, and there was a loud outcy of confusion when the opening scroll went by. It was several YEARS after "Star Wars" premiered that the film contained "Episode IV: A New Hope", though Lucas had always wanted it to be part of a serial (like the Saturday afternoon serials of his youth).

  • Slashdot posts news on Star Wars! (Score:4)

    by KurdtX ( 207196 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:31AM (#281961)
    And slowly, across the nation, work grinds to a halt for all Slashdot'ers...

    Kurdt
  • Are larger sizes dominant, recessive, or co-dominant?
    Not recessive... but rather impressive.


    Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
  • I'm waiting for Spaceballs 2!

    --

  • Yogurt: Merchandising, merchandising, where the real
    money from the movie is made. Spaceballs the T-shirt.
    Spaceballs the lunchbox. Spaceballs the coloring book.
    Spaceballs... the flame thrower! Kids love it. And my
    favorite, Spaceballs the Doll -- me!
    [Pulls string]
    Doll: May the schwartz be with you!

    Classic Brooks, absolutely what you said.

    --

  • Re:Portman's Coustume (Score:5)

    by eclectro ( 227083 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @12:25PM (#281969)
    Here's a picture [battlestarfanclub.com] of Cassiopa and Sheba (from Battlestar Galactica)

    Here's a picture [battlestarfanclub.com] of Athena (from Battlestar Galactica)

    Here's a picture [eringray.com] of colonel Wilma Deering (from Buck Rogers)

    Compare the Buck Rogers one with this photo [dsuper.net] of Natalie (on the right) and this one [theforce.net] from above.

    The similarities have not been lost on a lot of people;
    http://www.chud.com/board/ubbhtml/Forum1/HTML/0015 45.html [chud.com]

    IMHO - Natalie still seems much like a girl, compared to the others above that seem like women. Maybe it's because I grew up with them ;-))

    Also it seems Battlestar Galactica is making a comeback;
    http://www.kobol.com/revival/index.html [kobol.com]

  • How about a 'Theforce.net' Slashbox? (Score:3)

    by Bonker ( 243350 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @11:04AM (#281973)
    Hmm? As an average geek who plans to enjoy Ep2 when it comes out, but is not obsessing about it, or particularly horny for Natalie Portman, can we get a slashbox for Theforce.net to get some of the more pointless SW news off the main page? Huh? It can't be that hard to set up, guys, espcially if you've got one for Sluggy Freelence.

    That's right, Mod me down, karma-boy.
  • I don't like to rain on anyone's parade, but Lucasfilm is a big media corporation, and you can't just go assuming they are good guys because they make cool movies. Read the terms of use of their website. After all, you've already accepted them. Even worse, there isn't so much as a splash box asking me to accept them or leave; come on, even Microsoft says these are the terms, take them or leave them, BEFORE installing Office XP.

    Anyway, for anyone who is too lazy, or doesn't want to accept them before reading them, here are a few key points:

    "By using this site, you signify that you agree to these Terms of Use." By the time you've read them, you've already agreed.

    "The sale, auction, lease, loan, gift, trade or barter, or use of any of the text, graphics, photographs, audio and/or video material or stills from audiovisual material or any other materials contained herein, for any other purpose, in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed, including the use of any of the aforementioned materials on any other Web site or networked computer environment, without a prior written consent from Lucasfilm, is expressly prohibited." You can't give the pics to your friend, in fact, you can't even email them to yourself, should you be so inclined.

    "The creation of derivative works based on the materials contained herein including, but not limited to, products, services, fonts, icons, link buttons, wallpaper, desktop themes, on-line postcards and greeting cards and unlicensed merchandise (whether sold, bartered or given away) is expressly prohibited. You may download one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices." Hmm, one copy only (I hope my browser's cache doesn't count as a second copy!), and I'm not allowed to create a derivative work, like a desktop wallpaper. God forbid anyone should actually like Star Wars, apparently Lucasfilm doesn't allow it.

    "If at our request you send certain specific submissions (e.g., postings to chats, surveys, message boards, contests, or similar items) or, despite our request that you not send us any other creative materials, you send us creative suggestions, ideas, notes, drawings, concepts, or other information (collectively the "Submissions") shall be deemed and shall remain the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. in perpetuity. By making any Submission, the sender automatically grants, or warrants that the owner of such material expressly grants, Lucasfilm the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, and distribute such material (in whole or in part) throughout the universe and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed, for the full term of any copyright, trademark or patent that may exist in such material for any purpose that Lucasfilm chooses, whether internal, public, commercial, or otherwise, without any compensation, credit or notice to the sender whatsoever. " Two sentences of leglaese. I think it says that anything you say to them, or on their site, belongs to them. Sounds good to me; if episode III is as bad as episode I, they can just steal some fan fics and use them. They've already said they own them and can do whatever they want without giving you credit, or even telling you.

    "We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time. ... Your continued use of this site after the posting of changes to these terms will mean you agree to abide by those changes." And best of all, they can change them without telling you. That makes me especially confident in their privacy policy.

    I have my doubts that this policy would be worth the bits it was sent with in court, but I sure hope it isn't. I'm pretty sure I violated it just by viewing the site in my browser. What a load of crap.

  • Heresy, but Natalie Portman is too thin (Score:5)

    by typical geek ( 261980 ) on Wednesday April 18, 2001 @09:39AM (#281981) Homepage
    It may be troll heresy to admit, but I think Nat's a little too thin. [theforce.net]
    I prefer woman with a few more curves, maybe Tiffany Amber-Theissen, or even Rene Zellweger (as Bridget Jones).
  • >>Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso

    Pablo never programmed one.

    --Blair
  • And slowly, across the nation, work grinds to a halt for all Slashdot'ers...

    Slashdot has been Starwarsed.

    --Blair
  • Fist Full of Dollars and Last Man Standing from Yojimbo; The Magnificent Seven and Battle Beyond the Stars from Seven Samurai.
    Kurosawa based Ran on King Lear.
    The quality of the work (Ran, Magnificent Seven) just goes to prove the old adage: "Good artists copy, great artists steal".
    -----------------
  • Thin is good. There's less of her to petrify!
  • I guess I'll take George's word for it, but I've always suspected that they waited on the DVD so that the real fans would buy the VHS first. If they released the DVD right away, folks who have DVD would just buy the DVD. If they wait a year then the fans who don't want to wait will buy the VHS immediately and then buy the DVD also (for the higher quality and extra features) when it finally releases.

    Maybe I'm a cynic. :)

    -Coach-

  • If he releases the DVD immediately how many VHS copies does he sell? The real fans will buy the VHS because they can't wait and then buy the DVD when it finally releases. More money for George.

    -Coach-

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