Star Wars Articles

Truly one of the most legendary villains in film history, Darth Vader is the epitome of evil. He is the character over the years we’ve all loved to hate. But from his early beginnings as Anakin Skywalker to his rise to become Darth Lord of the Sith, he’s had many actors play him. Starting with the voice of Darth Vader in all the films, James Earl Jones is the most memorable. Even though he’s never physically seen in any of the films, his deep sinister tone has thrilled audiences for more than 30 years. Still working at 79, he most recently was seen on House on TV, is in the stage adaptation of Driving Miss Daisy. He also has a film coming out in 2012. Back in 1981, National Public Radio (NPR) Playhouse featured radio dramas that relied...

Every fan of the series has wanted one thing besides seeing more of Leia in her slave bikini or Jar Jar hung from the rafters and that is to wield a real life light saber. In this quest, people have tried to use various items as pseudo sabers including things like fluorescent overhead bulbs which are quite dangerous if they break and are not recommended. And of course there have been plenty of toy versions like those sold in the stores and at carnivals that have the plastic that lights up and extends out when you swing it. Those might be durable enough for battle, but they look really hokey.| Truly one of the most legendary villains in film history, Darth Vader is the epitome of evil. He is the character over the years we’ve all loved...

In the original Star Wars: A New Hope, at the time of the filming, there were almost no characters in the film that were not played by humans in costumes. Even in the most alien-centric scene at Mos Eisley SpacePort, it was easy to see that all of the inhabitants were people in various degrees of makeup and prosthetics. This is because it was really the only option available. Later of course, there were creatures added in via computer graphics to complete scenes Lucas had not been able to previously.|attachment.php?attachmentid=11&cid=18|100|57| |on_nl2br|0|0|0 |11|Every fan of the series has wanted one thing besides seeing more of Leia in her slave bikini or Jar Jar hung from the rafters and that is to wield a real life light...

LucasFilm has locked in a whole slew of domain names that all reference the title “Star Wars Identities” which has the internet buzzing on what this could possibly be. A new project, a film, an animated feature or TV show. Who knows, it could be hundreds of things. Or it could be strict speculation on their part. Companies often register domain names for projects that haven’t even gotten off the drawing board, much less to full production, to avoid having to fight for them later should they decide to create something with the moniker. After all, domains are only at most $35 if they get them at Network Solutions, but even cheaper at places like GoDaddy at around $7-10. That is much less expensive than paying a $1000 or more to take...

Ever since the 70’s, the battle between the fans of Star Wars and the fans of the Star Trek have had a constant argument about which is better, but pretty much for the most part, the main principles in these films have stayed out of the fray, leaving it to those that watch to decide. But when Captain Kirk spoke openly about his reasons while Star Trek was superior, Princess Leia couldn’t let that it go without comment, just like when she told Han she wasn’t a committee. [video=youtube;5BYNdTHjstI] William Shatner fired the first shot in this latest volley that sounds like something you’d hear in someone’s basement over chips and Call of Duty plays. He criticized Star Wars for being more about special effects than the personal and...

In a strange turn of events, the city of Odessa in the Ukraine has been giving people who apply free land, up to 1,000 square meters, but they were shocked when an unlikely visitor came to make his claim. In a bold move for any Star Wars fan, he entered the offices where they were accepting applications for the Black Sea plots, in full dark lord garb, but he wasn’t turned away by the guards. In fact, they kind of laughed as he introduced himself as “Darth Vader, right hand to Emperor Palpatine” and they let him proceed to fill out the application. He said that he needed the property to have a place to land his spaceship, no doubt an Imperial Shuttle. Those things do take up a ton of room. Anyway, he also stated that he felt he had...

Lucas finally revealed after a lot of speculation last week about what Star Wars Identities was referring to. The company bought a ton of domain names on the title, even including typos, which sent the fandom into a spin with thoughts of everything from a new series, a new film, toys, etc. But none of us had pegged this one. Course in all fairness, we didn’t have much to go on. In reality, Star Wars: Identities is the moniker chosen to represent a unique museum experience coming to the Montreal Science Center in Summer 2012. It will focus not so much on the film making techniques and science behind the tech, but a focus on the characters and how they developed throughout the movies. Through the use of props, photos, films, etc...

In this video, released this week during the latest in beta testing, the Jedi Consular class is featured and it shows that a fully talented Jedi is certainly a force to be reckoned with. [video=youtube;SdKqKZCU9PY] Not only do they have the unique ability to be able to foresee the blaster shots and deflect them with their light sabers, but they have incredible push powers according to the video. They can push objects defeating their enemy that way or they can simply force opponents out of the way, even at long distances through targeted blasts. And if that wasn’t enough, they now have the power to disappear and reappear whenever they want, making it easy for them to stealthily take out a whole army with a single player. I can’t...

They say that stormtroopers are very dedicated to their causes and such is the case of one particular warrior who is trekking across Australia to raise money for the Starlight Children’s Foundation (the Aussie equivalent of the Make a Wish Foundation). And doing so in full armor, which has been at times an exercise in true willpower to continue on in some of the conditions that he’s had to endure, but according to the 21 year old sales associate, the people have made it all the worth while. Imagine being in the most treacherous places that Australia has to offer, 102 degree heat, dressed in a costume that is already too hot to walk in, bitten by bugs, sometimes alone when cellphone service was non-existent. That is the 3100 mile...

The franchise of Star Wars is obviously very big business and it has provided not only entertainment for the masses, but actual firepower to use on the battlefield of gaming consoles. Could Star Wars: The Old Republic put a serious dent in World of Warcraft, continuing the fight between EA and Activision/Blizzard? The bitter feud is sometimes as interesting to watch as the Star Wars saga itself. But make no mistake. The only one laughing his way to the bank might be Lucas. World of Warcraft has been the staple of the MMORPG arena for a long time, having beaten out a lot of developers who have tried their own MMOs only to fail later on. It’s a vastly expensive process from planning to programming to maintaining the playfield for...

Chewbacca to appear on Glee, Minecraft Player recreates trench scene, and Darth Vader plays the Grinch. All in this week's news. Fans of Chewbacca will either be overjoyed or appalled to see their favorite wookie on Fox’s musical show Glee, but he is going to make an appearance in their Christmas special. We aren’t sure how Han’s number two will be included, but we are thinking it’s some sort of tribute to the Star Wars Holiday special? Matthew Morrison, who plays Will Schuester on the show and doubling as director, said that they had to get permission to use Chewbacca from Lucas, but he gave his blessings for his character’s inclusion. After all, it was 20th Century Fox who distributed Star Wars. The odd thing about Morrison’s...

Debbie Reynolds, actress, dancer and mother of Carrie Fisher, put up many of her Hollywood memorabilia on Saturday at the latest Profiles in History auction, but the one that would make any Star Wars fan drool over was a camera. Not just any camera, but the Panavision PR 35 that Lucas himself used to film Star Wars: The New Hope. The item was certainly a rare piece indeed, a piece that sold for over $625,000. Even in the Star Wars Universe, that bid was extremely high and reserved either for one of the movie’s biggest fans or it’s a collector who is hoping to get more for it as time passes. It did set the record for the highest paid ever for a camera, which is pretty impressive itself. Question is will the person who bought it make...

After a year of hype, the opening of Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG is almost here and for some of us, that date is even closer than others. For those holding pre-order codes, now is the time to redeem those codes at the official Code Redemption Center. How fast you do this will determine how much early access time you’ll have, so you want to do it as quickly as possible if you have one. Once you enter the code, you will be sent an email on how to proceed to the next step, which is downloading and installing a game client that will sit pre-loaded on your computer. Once your time comes, you will be able to access the game and start playing it quicker than you can say “Light speed to Endor…” Okay, maybe not, but still...

In this edition,.we’ll look at the high stakes for Star Wars: The Old Republic, stormtrooper motorcycle gear, and how you can help Princess Leah, a baby who’s won the hearts of Star Wars fans everywhere. Of course, the internet is all abuzz about the imminent opening of Star Wars: The Old Republic, which begins early access on December 13th for the first round of players. And EA and Bioware are betting that their work will finally pay off. It’s a big gamble for all involved, including George Lucas, who for nothing else, has his reputation and the reputation of his franchise on the line. Six years of development went into the world that will tell the story of the Jedi and Sith of a thousand years before Anakin flew a racing pod. But...

Well for some lucky souls, yesterday marked the opening of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s early access, but only if you were the chosen one. But we knew that. EA/Bioware has always said that the pre-opening launch will be a tiered affair. That they would be letting people in slowly so as to ramp up their servers in a more controlled manner to avoid what has plagued some launches, and that is downtime because the servers couldn’t handle the load. The problem is that for some, they will get around 6-7 days of play, while others may only get 1, which is sure to leave a bad taste for those who get the short end of the stick. But not getting a first day look isn’t all that has those who pre-ordered a physical copy of the game upset. In...

Don’t you just hate when you are sitting there minding your own business at a Toys’R’Us, when a guy toting a Rebel Alliance lightsaber comes over and hits you with it? Well that’s exactly what happened in Portland, Oregon when a man attacked three customers, making us wonder if he was really a Sith in disguise. But then we’ve all wanted to secretly smack the lady in front of us for still using checks for her purchases at one time or another. But this guy apparently didn’t have that little Yoda in him telling him how wrong giving into the Dark Side was. After assaulting the inhabitants in the store with plastic, he ran outside, but those inside had already called police during the incident. When cops arrived, the obvious Star Wars...

In this edition, Bioware gives in with two day grace period for registering copies of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Kinect Star Wars gets dancing, and the Jedi Faith is gaining traction worldwide. For those who were upset about the lack of a grace period in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the developers have decided to heed the call and announced a two day period that will extend from the official launch time, 48 hours to December 22, 2011. They feel that this should be enough time for shippers to get the physical game into everyone’s hands on time and allow for delays, especially as we said before, during the holiday rush. We think it’s still a pretty short window for getting your code entered, but I suppose that it is better than...

Just a little less than a month out of the gate, Star Wars: The Old Republic developers are seeing where the cracks are and as we speak are putting the final touches on the January 17, 2012 update that has a ton of new things, some changes in game play, and of course, some bug fixes that will hopefully not fix one thing while breaking something else. The first update to the game since launch is called Rise of the Rakghouls because it adds in a whole new Flashpoint into the game, one that zombie hunters will appreciate. It seems that the planet Kaon has a slight problem. Their people are getting infected and turning into some creepy dudes and if the disease isn’t stopped, it will spread across the galaxy. Since Kaon is a neutral...

One of the forgotten few of WWII were the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American pilots, crew and commanders of the 332nd Airborne Division that fought so bravely, both in the air, at home, and in a military at a time when people were segregated by their color and few believed that those who were not “white” could even fly a plane. History had practically written their bravery right out of the books, which was a real shame as they had fought as hard as any men against Nazi Germany. But George Lucas plans to change all that and give these men the recognition they so rightly deserve. One can say a lot about Lucas, but one thing that has always impressed is that he puts characters first, but with action to keep it from drifting...

In an announcement that will probably be as though thousands of voices suddenly cried out and then were silenced, George Lucas said that he is retiring from making blockbuster films like Star Wars after the Red Tails promotional period was over. News of his comment spread across the internet like wildfire, even though it was a day that had many sites blacked out due to SOPA protests. For some, it was sad news that there would be no more film installments of their beloved Star Wars, many holding onto some glimmer of hope we’d see Episodes 7, 8, and 9. But for others, such as the rabid fanboys, they are probably wringing together their hands, muttering “Excellent” under their breath. Many put Lucas in the same category as Disney and...