My Empire cover is (drumroll please)...

The numero uno of the bunch, in my opinion at least: Classic Hero Luke!

No sooner had I posted a blog about this the other night - then the very next day the Empire magazine Star Wars 30th anniversary edition arrived at my bookstore. I had been looking for it ever since about May 25th, and I thought we just weren't getting them in. And there I was getting trigger happy about to order one over the internet.

We didn't have a whole lot to choose from, and my own choice was between Han and Luke, and maybe possibly Chewie (out of what was available). Click here to see the full collection of 30 covers.

I was still considering getting the Han cover, since Han and Luke both are my boys :) But if I did that I know I wouldn't be able to stop, and I would have had to have a larger collection of these collectable covers (yeah, it's the same magazine inside each one). I would have at least wanted one each of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Vader, Anakin, and Obi Wan. But why stop there? I would have also wanted Wicket, the Jawa, Greedo, Boba Fett, Darth Maul. Heck. I want them all now. The Golden Jar Jar cover though... I don't know what to think about that. Ouch. It would have been cool to find it and collect whatever loot you win.






To me though, the big kahuna would be the "Exclusive Cover" shown here. How one gets that I don't know (subscribers only?), but now I can see how collectors can get out of control. I'm happy with my Luke. He really is the classic Star Wars icon to me in many ways. Luke and the exclusive cover, and I'm happy. *Ngh*

Finally! LucasArts acknowledges Wii was made for lightsaber games

Ever since the Wii was released I've been watching blogs on TOS rolling by from fans who have been reveling in the fact that there is finally a console made that is perfect for lightsaber style motion control in gaming. But where that game was, and when it would come, nobody knew (outside the Lucas-dome at least). Until now...

Jim Ward, president of LucasArts and all-around big wig, finally gave it to us straight up. Yes, they know it was meant to be. Yes, it's coming. Yes, they've played with it already. Thanks for rubbing it in Jim.

Star Wars miscellany and Site O' the Week.

I keep finding little tidbits lately, so I figured I should share..

- Arizona residents of the Tempe variety should be proud to host the state's largest movie theater, which will be kicking off it's grand opening with a fund-raiser featuring a special screening of Star Wars. A Cine Capri spokeswoman explains why Star Wars holds sentimental value for the company.


- This week's Star Wars Site O' the Week goes out to the UK periodical Empire Magazine's online locale for Star Wars: http://www.empireonline.com/starwars/

Empire has been covering Star Wars since the very beginning, and now with CE on it's way, they are getting particularly amped up with contests and 30th anniversary features. I have been drooling over the 30 Star Wars covers for awhile now. So if you're headed to London in the next couple of weeks, check out empireonline for all things Star Wars, even custom trooper helmets!


- Thought you were alone in relating everything in life to Star Wars? You've got more company than you think!


- The new sci-fi: A very interesting discussion about the state of sci-fi today from The Guardian Unlimited UK. Not Star Wars specific here, but it still gets mention (of course). New Battlestar Galactica heavy, however, with a dash of Heroes and Lost, a daub of Doctor Who, and a sprinkle of Firefly, Buffy, and X-Files. There's a slight Star Trek aftertaste.


- This last bit is a couple of months old now, but it still deserves mention me thinks, especially since the honor was made official last weekend:

The VES (Visual Effects Society) distinguished what they revere as the top 50 most influential visual effects films of all time, of which Star Wars made it to the very top (grats George and ILM!), and speaking of Blade Runner lately, well they got the second spot! Here's the top 10, and click here for the starwars.com article (and the full list):
1. Star Wars (1977, ILM)
2. Blade Runner (1982)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)*
3. The Matrix (1999)*
5. Jurassic Park (1993, ILM)
6. Tron (1982)
7. King Kong (1933)
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
9. Alien (1979)
10. The Abyss (1989, ILM)


Just for the fun of it, and something visual, here's an original Star Wars trailer :D

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Blade Runner turns 25 - Final Cut DVD and theater release fall 2007

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Blade Runner to theaters. The DVD release I've been waiting for (put it in a REAL DVD case this time, will you Ridley?) is due out this September, and to my and many other fans immense delight, Blade Runner: Final Cut will also get a theater release this fall (as per this SFS report)! W00t?

The trailers are already running rampant around the web:


Thanks again to Club Jade :)

Star Wars zombies unite!

This looks too cool...

image from http://echuta.net

Some fans are gearing up to "cosplay" their favorite Star Wars fatalities revived as zombies and the like for D*C and maybe other cons (?). I'd love to do this for my first con ever, whenever that is.

Check it out here: http://echuta.net/zombies/

And thanks to the ever informative Club Jade for the decomposing heads up!

More than meets the eye

Speaking of Shia LeBeouf [cough]Indy Jr[/cough]


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Indy IV rumors/spoilers from TFN + my iNDY art!

I don't know that I'd call it spoilers just yet, but The Force.Net has been keeping us up to date with absolutely any Indy info they can get their mittens on. It's largely production info, but knowledge of certain actors possibly joining the cast may be considered a spoiler of sorts. This is probably not for the ultra-sensitive, but for the most part, you've probably heard some of this stuff anyway:

Indy 4 Rumors With Possible Spoilers from The Force.Net

aaand...

Something I've been playing around with for awhile, and finally got around to touching up... In the spirit of Indy IV going into production, 9FF4 brings you:

iNDY! (click for larger view, and/or see below for the better version)


For some reason, Indy with the iPod just doesn't do it for me. The design idea with the silhouette and lettering, since Indy begins with the letter I and all, seemed fun. But the iPod itself is just really un-Indy. So, check out the version without the silly little i..thingus:

iNDIANA

Ahh, maybe this will get reworked again. The Indy image comes from the marvelous poster artist for Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and many more; Drew Struzan.

Feel free to use any of those for a desktop or your own Indy fun :)

A couple of other fan Indy sites:

The Raider.net

The Indy Experience (not updated in quite some time, but lots of cool images and other info)

Why snakes? Why did it have to be snakes?

- Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indy sighting...

Just posted: Harrison Ford on the set of Indy IV.

Darth Bane Strikes Back - Sequel in the works!

Just got the official word from Drew Karpyshyn, as well as Random House that Darth Bane's story, which began with Drew's book Path of Destruction, will continue with a yet to be named sequel novel. Even more exciting is that the sequel will be ripping onto and off of bookstore shelves on December 26, 2007! That's only a little over a year since POD was released. Yee haw!

If you haven't read Path of Destruction yet (comes out in paperback on June 26th - next week!), it really is an enjoyable read. The story traces back to the beginning of the rise of the Sith, some 1,000 years before the Battle of Yavin.

Fans of the Bane novel and that era were excited for a sequel from the get-go, and many thought one version of the continuing story of the Sith would be in an announced Plagueis novel to be penned by James Luceno, which was recently cancelled. Looks like Lucasfilm LTD wasn't ready for the mystery of Plagueis to be revealed. We will just have to see where Karpyshyn takes us with Bane.

Check this out for more info on Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.

Mark this day... Indy IV begins!

Starwars.com and Indianajones.com, announced today that Steven Spielberg has begun principal photography on the next installment of Indiana Jones (Indy IV.. no catchy titling as of yet). Today, June 18, 2007, marks the date that I officially feel old as I reflect on the Indiana Jones of my childhood and how long ago that seems, but Harrison Ford will always be older and he just keeps ticking! Still, it's probably better that they got this project going finally. They already missed the window for any chance of pulling Sean Connery out of retirement, and as much as I am eternally in love with Harry, he just ain't getting any younger.

Oh, and today is the day they started actually shooting. Well, on the east coast, it's actually tomorrow now. (The poster shown at right is not an official poster. It's fan-made)

All I know is that I'm pretty MAJORLY bummed out I missed on this opportunity.


To think I could have easily traveled to make it to this, *and* be involved in the production somehow, *and* get the chance to dress up from the 50s era (love early to mid 20th century eras) - see related articles linked to in article...

I read about it all after the fact. Just thinking about it makes me weepy and sick.

Be sure to check out the article linked to Indianajones.com and check out the video interview with the new Indy junior-junior, Shia LeBeouf.

Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son (Happy father's day)

Ha! It's a little after the fact now, but tomorrow I might make a semi-annual pilgrimage to good old Wal-mart for a Star Wars exclusive (pretty much the only reason I'll willingly set foot in Wal-mart).

As announced on starwars.com, a Hasbro toy exclusive for father's day featuring a Vader and Luke figure, and a card to boot, is available only at Wal-mart stores, and "select" stores at that. I already observed father's day with my dad, but if there are any of these left he'll be getting a little something extra in the mail soon. I know he would get a kick out of it. My dad's a fan.

Thanks to Club Jade for the pointer on this, and I agree with Dunc. I want the version with Leia and the torture droid too. Any of you dads get to pick this one up (for yourself)? :)

Come with me. It is the only way... It is your destiny.

*gasps*

For the sake of a post this week... SW Lego videos!

I don't think I could live with myself (okay that's stretching it) if I didn't put a post up here this week... so, I bring you some of youtube's finest (from this week at least) fan made Star Wars Lego videos. That's right. I aimlessly search the web for geeky Star Wars stuff so you don't have to.

A pretty good rendition (considering it's stop-motion Lego) of what was voted as the most epic battle scene of the saga... by some magazine. The Phantom Menace duel to Qui Gon's death:



Ooh! Thanks to Thrawn for this next one! Seems to be a trailer made for ROTS before we even had the title ROTS - ? Excellent photography in this. The end credits said something about this site, so must be a bunch of comics/toy buffs.



Amazingly, Obi Wan and Anakin's duel in ROTS didn't make the top spot in above mentioned vote from whatever magazine or website that was (I'll try and dig it up), but someone did a pretty good Lego version:



This one isn't Lego, but it seemed to flow pretty well from the video above. I don't know where or who this is, but Force FX lightsabers look wicked cool (yeah, I'm from the east coast) at dusk:



Also not Lego, but going with the theme here... who can resist the Simpsons and Star Wars? Click to view this one on the youtube page and check out the related video for a lot more...



Coming soon...

More fun Star Wars stuff, and notable fan interviews. I'm going to try and post video more frequently too, since there's a ton of fan stuff out there.

Kicking someone's ass with the Force...

But that's not the Jedi way. Oh, it's the Sith. Now I get it. Wait... is it?

Anyway, part one of the documentary for the making of the next-gen game The Force Unleashed is now available to view at the Lucas Arts website. The full documentary was shown at C4. Hopefully it wont be too long before the additional segments are posted.

Pretty cool stuff, even if I still haven't figured out exactly what the story of the game is yet.

All I know is the concept art they've been churning out in "Secrets of 07" on Hyperspace have been kicking ass... with the Force.

Digital Molecular Matter by Pixelux

Too cool...(original article)