So Much for the Trailer...

I’m back on the bloggers chair after a long hibernation!! Any way, let’s get down to business…

Horror Beyond Imagination

Sorry folks that I have been off the bloggers chair for such a long time. Watching the World Cup has been taking away most of my free time and I haven't had the right motivations to finish my piece on the Jedi Order which will be coming on it's way. Anyway let's cut the meat. 

Of all the rumors that we have seen of Episode VII, their have been some stinky ones, but none that come close to my fears of what I absolutely DO NOT want to see in the upcoming Star Wars Trilogy. This one really came close to terrorize my sanity and at the time of release and made me not want to even care about the future of Star Wars anymore. But how can I divorce myself from that? It would be like ripping a hand or something out of me. Thankfully, a well known guy from a respected Star Wars website debunked the most chilling part of the rumor. 

But anyway, here is why I consider it to be Horror Beyond Imagination, the rumor that the Inquisitors would be the villains of Episode VII, that they would try to resurrect the Sith, and that our heroes are still the Rebel Alliance and have been fighting a war for 30 years: 

1. The Prophecy of the Chosen One: Folks the truth is that whether you like this prophecy or not, it's pretty much the equivalent of Holy Trinity importance in the Star Wars universe. It's what the first six films rotated around and what arguably two of the most important arcs of the Clone Wars one way or another touched upon. This is one of the most important cruxes of the story that very few fans really understand, one which the EU certainly never did and decided to massacre it by bringing back the Emperor as a clone, having another Sith Empire take over the galaxy centuries later and so forth. So please JJ, for the love of Yoda and the Whills, DON'T BRING THEM BACK!!!!! Reducing Anakin's sacrifice to merely saving his son reduces the importance of the hero as a World Redeemer and merely makes it a family drama. It really reduces the weight and the importance of the character's act. 

2. So, Luke isn't very strong in the Force?: Here's the thing. The war between the Rebels and the Empire took about 4 years to be, in which they managed to destroy both Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, two of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. Are you seriously telling me that Luke Skywalker, a fully trained Jedi Knight, couldn't defeat a group of Force users that where probably weaker than Vader? AFTER 30 FREAKIN" YEARS? Talk about a Plot Hole the size of Jabba the Hutt. Talk about lazy and weak storytelling. 

3. What the hell was everyone Celebrating For?: So yeah, we all know that at the end of Episode VI a bunch of planets (including none other than Coruscant!) where celebrating the demise of the Empire, going so far as to bring down the statues of the Emperor and easily get rid of whatever Imperial  security was stopping them at the time. Sure, it's fairly possible the Empire didn't fall entirely, but not even in the EU did they last that long. With the Balance of the Force, it would be nice to think that the galaxy is a more peaceful and enlightened place, where war isn't breaking the toll everywhere and planets aren't getting destroyed and such. Which brings me to my next point...

4. Star Wars IS NOT meant to be a dark and depressing story at the end of the day: So you know, the generation of people in the prequels faced in the end something worse than what they could have imagined. The galaxy was left in a state of despair. But despite the fact that Star Wars deals with complex and dark issues, Star Wars has always been about seeing the goodness in people and having an optimistic outlook on life. It's very telling that when compared to many blockbusters of the last decade, Star Wars is one of the few that is life-affirming and has been for the most part, family friendly entertainment with only one film having a PG-13 rating. And contrary to many people who are so obsessed with violence and darkness, I commend George Lucas for having done that, which is something Steven Speilberg identified as what made Star Wars special, mainly it's "marvelous innocence and naivete". Making Episode VII having an apocalyptic backdrop makes the accomplishments by Luke and the Rebel Alliance worthless, ruins the beautiful ending of Jedi, and most of all isn't in accord with what Star Wars should be about. Having Luke's generation go through something just as bad, if not worse than the previous generation, is such a huge letdown and perhaps the biggest reason why the EU post Jedi was such a massive failure. 

5. OT 2.0 and so much for "Moral and Philosophical Issues": Basically what this argument amounts for is saying that if this rumor would be true, it would be basically another version of the Original films, with little regards to change the story or make it original, or even throw curveballs. It throws into question if Lucas's ideas for the Sequels are even being applied to this new series. Worst of all, it makes you think what exactly JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan have been doing for this past year writing that script, considering the fact that this plot is basically an EU fanfic. I mean, why would I even want to watch another film series about the Rebel Alliance destroying the Empire, when that is literally what we saw previously in the other trilogy?

The good news, as I guess could be said is that Eric Geller from The Force.Net was informed by an unnamed source (probably Pablo Hidalgo or someone at Lucasfilm) that the Inquisitors hell bent on resurrecting the Sith would not be the villains. However, it still leaves the Empire part of the story unknown. Several other rumors have been pointing towards the direction that an Empire, albeit changed stylistically and more modern, might be the villain of the film. This could only work within the context of the story if it is a) a New Empire inspired and created from the previous one or b) a Remnant that went into hiding until the time was right. So you know folks, let's not give up hope yet.

Halloween: Anakin Skywalker

This Halloween I had the chance to be Anakin Skywalker at the end of Return of the Jedi (without being a blue ghost). I've had various Star Wars costumes throughout my life, going back to when I was 6. I remember that year I was a young Anakin with a podracer suit. 

As I grew older, I began to make combinations with different sets of costumes and made up my own costumes along the way. One of those combinations came to be part ninja, part Jedi, and part Jack Sparrow. I also remember the next year I had the chance to be a part Jedi, part farmer with a cape. I friend of mine gave that costume the nickname of "bounty farmer". 

Anyway, I look forward to being Anakin or some other Jedi in the future. 

Heroes and Scoundrels

When Star Wars was first introduced to audiences in 1977, it became a worldwide phenomenon. Many have argued looking back that it's success is largely due to the fact that it came at the right time. The United States had recently come defeated out of the Vietnam War, and was facing a scandal out of its previous president. The country was in a state of despair. Episode IV gave the public a sense of hope, and most importantly, it gave a group of heroes with a strong sense of morality: the Jedi. 

The Jedi ever since first being introduced, have been the central core to the saga, even if their appearance in Episodes IV-VI wasn't as prominent as in I-III. And part of the reason why they remain so iconic and important to the franchise, has to do with the image they represent: that of the moral hero. 

Part of the appeal of characters like James Bond, Boba Fett, Jack Sparrow and Han Solo has to do with the fact that they reflect a broken aspect of ourselves. When Bond was first introduced in the Ian Fleming novels, he was a guy who could sleep with a woman and later murder her and have no remorse over it (I'm talking about the character of the novels). In some ways, Bond was no better than the bad guy he was fighting against. And this is of course, part of why the audience like the character. 

Bond...James Bond

We live in a society in which several young kids are being raised by the television and the Internet, due to the fact that their parents are too busy working a full time job. Most of these times, these kids grow up to idolize the celebrities that were popular at the time. And it's a real shame, because as Joseph Campbell described it very well in The Power of Myth, ''One of the many distinctions between the celebrity and the hero, is that one lives only for self while the other acts to redeem society.'' This isn't to say that Han Solo is a celebrity per say, but that he is more of a selfish character...at least in most of A New Hope.

However, every now and then a hero becomes noticed by the popular culture, and makes us all realize and see the good within us as humans. Gandhi did that in the 40's. Martin Luther King did so in the 60's, and more recently Pope Francis has been receiving high level of appraisal and respect outside of the Catholic Church. In today's popular films, few characters embody the ideal moral hero better than the Jedi.

That isn't to say that the Jedi are perfect, by any means. But in several ways, they serve as great role models to both young boys and girls alike, in a time in which the world's traditional morals are more desperately needed than ever.

And  I'm pretty sure that more than one Star Wars fan has previously or still, wishes to have been mentored by the likes of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Qui-Gon, because ultimately, many of us wish to become wiser and see the best that is within our own potential. In several ways, I find that to be the reason for Obi-Wan's popularity, and one of the reasons why he is my favorite character: We get to see him mature from a young man into a wise old master. Few other film characters get that type of development, and it's one of the things I hope we can get from an old Luke Skywalker in Episode VII.

So, at the end of the day, even if scoundrels like Han Solo and Boba Fett are popular among the fans, their is a reason why the Jedi are the central part of Star Wars. 

In the True Defense of George Lucas

A common ''myth'' that the hateboys have fabricated over the years is about how George Lucas was responsible for absolutely everything in the prequels and how he somehow did nothing in the originals. This is obviously one of the biggest lies manufactured by the Hateboy Nation, and goes to show the level of insanity and immature behavior these haters have. However, it should be clear that not all of them support the same views when it comes to GL and the prequels. One of them being the notorious Mike Ryan from the Huffington Post. 

In his post titled Star Wars Episode VII: In Defense of George Lucas, Ryan starts off with the ''myth'' that it's somehow contrarian to defend GL these days. He further explains below: 

First, let's back up a second. When I say this is "odd," I mean that if we did a smash cut (or, since we're talking about Star Wars, a screen wipe) from 1983 to today, this sort of attitude would seem preposterous. Of course, 30 years have passed, which is quite enough time for a director to erode his relationship with a fanbase -- and, yes, that's exactly what Lucas accomplished with the prequels.

Let's settle down a couple of things here. George Lucas has not eroded his relationship with the fanbase. If I recall correctly from Celebration VI in Orlando, and the various public appearances he's had over the years, George has been very warmly received by the crowds how have seen him. Sure, Lucas's relationship with the hateboys is one that eroded a looong time ago, but that is more related with the lack of decency these people tend to have than anything else.  Not to mention the fact that with Episodes I, II, III  and the Clone Wars, Star Wars has gained a new generation of fans, most of which have a high degree of respect and admiration of GL. Oh, and did I mention the complaints of people who where clearly worried when George wasn't going to be very involved in the upcoming Episode VII? People who asked if it would be Star Wars without George Lucas? Exactly.

Now if you keep reading his article, you notice that Ryan has at least some level of respect for Lucas. He clearly sees him as a ''big ideas man'' responsible for the story that came to happen in Empire and Jedi. His view that George is a great storyteller however, crashes if you remember well something Ryan wrote back in June titled Jedi Are Boring. He ended this article with this outrageous statement:

The original Star Wars movies worked because we related with Han, Luke and Leia. It's impossible to relate with a Jedi. Also, who would even want to relate to a Jedi? They're boring.

So on one hand Mike Ryan says that George is a good storyteller but on the other he pretty much says that the most important characters of the Star Wars saga are boring? Of course, both ideas are completely contradictory to each other. What this illustrates the most is the truth of why the hateboys hate the prequels and in turn, aren't really fans of Star Wars:

The truth is plain and simply, the hateboys had a very different view in mind about what Episodes I, II and III would look like. However, once the films were released and they didn't live up to those expectations, ideas, dreams or whatever, they were disappointed. So in the course of the years, they have ransacked every argument in the book, while not realizing that the real problem is themselves, not a filmmaker who has become one of the most financially successful and most influential in the past 30 years.

So, in The True Defense of the Maker and Master himself, George Lucas, we can say that he has created a very popular space opera that has spanned 6 films, countless books,comics and games, and a very popular TV Show. Not only is he highly influential as a filmmaker and a storyteller, but also he is widely admired by the fans. At least, by the ones who truly love Star Wars.

P.S.: Oh, and by the way, at the end of Mike Ryan's Defense of George Lucas article, I checked to see the comments section, which typically attracts hateboys like how a shark is attracted to blood. However, to my very delightful surprise, Bryan Young stood up for the prequel supporters, and posted this comment:

Thanks Bryan for the support!! We need more of this type of defense in hateboy territory!!

Shadows of the What?

Well friends, something deeply disturbing has emerged from the innermost depths of holy hell. A torturing concept destined to upset and terrorize the very sanity of some of the most well inversed and intelligent Star Wars fans. 

If anybodies fear for what could be the villain of Episode VII has come to an excruciatingly painful realization, it's probably my own. The curious thing is that most Star Wars folks didn't even raise an eyebrow when Rogue Leaders: The Story of Lucas Arts written by Rob Smith and with a foreword by none other than the man himself, GL, was released in November of 2008/ containing in it a page of all the Star Wars cancelled titles for video games included none other than STAR WARS EPISODE VII: SHADOWS OF THE SITH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The folks over at EGM Now.com gave us their theory of the existence behind that very disturbing video game title:

''The book contains logos for 20 Star Wars titles that were in development at the studio, including a tie-in for Episode VII subtitled Shadows of the Sith–I’d guess the original plan was to continue the franchise via games before Disney bought the rights.''

 I'm not buying this. It would be completely moronic to continue the Episodic franchise in a series of video games rather than do them in film. I am 99.99999% certain that George Lucas himself would have never, ever gone this way. Besides, all evidence points out that George Lucas only gave the go-ahead to do Episode VII, after he discussed with Bob Iger the idea of selling his company, meaning it happened AFTER May of 2011. So indeed, this discovery is very strange and in some ways, it could lead to a dark thought.

What surprises me the most is not that this list was published 5 years ago and nobody has been talking about it, but that now that it's been released, nobody close to Lucasfilm is asking for confirmation, of whether or not it is the title of Episode VII.

The only reasonable explanation really is to think that this, along with the other cancelled games from Lucas Arts, were all a bunch of brainstorming ideas for what potentially became The Force Unleashed. And at least, that is what the Darth Maul, Han Solo and Vader games are. So it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the Episode VII game was some sequel to Shadows of the Empire talking place after Jedi, and some dude in Lucas Arts gave it the pretentious title of ''Episode VII'' before GL smashed the project, or someone smashed it, and they went off with The Force Unleashed. It makes absolutely no sense for Lucas Arts to be working on a video game 4 YEARS before the film was even getting created in story treatments and scripts. As far as I'm aware of, that's not how things work in the film industry.

Now, If my theory proves to be wrong, then I have literally no clue as to what future Star Wars faces in the big screen. And if I follow my gut feeling, it tells me it's nasty. 

Episode VII: Five Burning Questions

These are the burning questions that have been raised due to the fact that Episode VII is getting released  in 2015. Mind you, for anyone who isn't a die-hard Star Wars fan, that this film release is a paradigm-shifting act. It will potentially change the way we see Star Wars, forever. 

1. Is their any story worth telling? 

The truth is, the biggest question we all have as Star Wars fans, is, what more can be left to tell after the ending of Return of the Jedi? Anakin was redeemed, Luke had become a Jedi, The Empire was gone, The Sith were destroyed, Han and Leia were in love and the Ewoks were happy. One of the few ties that were left unanswered is how Yoda told Luke ''to pass on what he had learned''. Which brings to the next question...

2. How will Luke's New Jedi Order be? 

Essentially, one of the few things we can be almost certain about Episode VII, is that in the 30-40 years since ROTJ, Luke must have founded a New Jedi Order. He probably restored it at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and went off to train Jedi, possibly Leia being the first. Obviously a couple of questions related to this do come up: How many Jedi will the new Order have? My guess would be that if Luke trains his students the ''rushed'' way he was trained, we might have anywhere from 20-30 Jedi. But who knows? Another question that remains is, how will the new Order be in comparison with the old one, and how will it act in relation with the Republic? Which leads us to...

3. Will Leia be a Jedi or a Senator? 

Luke told Leia in Episode VI that in time she would learn to use the Force like him. One would think that the first student Luke would have trained would have been Leia. At the same time, it raises question to the whole Attachment issue of the Jedi Order, and whether or not it will exist in this New Order. A primal assumption everyone has made is that Leia and Han Solo will be married in Episode VII. If the Celibacy part of the Order is kept, you can guarantee that Leia will be portrayed as a politician. Though if she is a senator, it does raise the question: Senator of what planet? 

4. Will Luke be Married? 

George Lucas stated back in an interview in 2008 that in his vision, Luke never got married. If Lucas didn't change his mind since then, we can assume that the Celibacy part of the Jedi Order was maintained. If however, Lucas changed his mind at some point, then it raises the question: Who will be Miss Skywalker? Will it be Mara Jade, or someone else? And if it is Mara Jade, who will portray her? One thing I know for sure is that, it would be a pretty big change if a Skywalker isn't the protagonist of the next trilogy. 

5. Who Will Be The Main Villain? 

The success or failure of this trilogy rests primarily on this main crux, primarily because if handled wrongly it can lead to horrible decisions. We can't have the Sith back as the villains of the next trilogy: It's too problematic on several fronts. And besides, we already saw them take over the galaxy and be destroyed, so their is little purpose in seeing them again. As I have said before, a third faction of force-users is needed. The spiritual and religious part of Star Wars needs to be respected above all else, and it would be excruciatingly painful to see it slip by. 

These, folks, are perhaps the most important questions I have, and several of you might have, as we move forward. 

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is the epic conclusion to the greatest film franchise of all time. At least, until 2015 comes around. George Lucas had previously planned for Episode VI to be a mere continuation of the saga, having the episode be a bittersweet ending that would lead in to VII, VIII and IX. However, he had a change of heart at one point, which led to Gary Kurtz be kicked out of the producers seat. Kurtz has since then been on a vendetta against George, accusing him of being ''greedy'' and in favor of the marketing of toys instead of the films. In all honesty, over the years George has proven to be anything BUT a greedy man, which only shows that Kurtz accusations and the hateboys efforts have been a colossal waste of time.  

Anyway, going back to Episode VI. At this point, Palpatine is near final victory in his quest to purge the galaxy from adherents of the light side. Now that the second Death Star has been in construction for a few years, and is reaching near completion, he has personally allowed for the Bothan spies to know the location of the Death Star, in order to lure the Rebel fleet in a battle that will destroy them, and seduce Luke Skywalker into the dark side, therefore replacing the ill and robotic Darth Vader. Palpatine has always achieved his evil and diabolical goals in the past, why should it be any different now? 

Darth Vader in the meantime, has every intention of joining with his son in order to defeat the Emperor.  Both of them have the Sith Rule of Two in mind, but the difference is, that while Darth Sidious demonic soul only wants to finally achieve victory for the Sith and the dark side, Vader is beginning to feel conflicted in the inside regarding what he should do. 

On the other side of the galaxy, while Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma are preparing themselves against the decisive fight over the control of the galaxy, Leia, Luke, Lando, Chewie and the droids are over at Tatooine figuring out how to free Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt. Lando entered firstly undercover, and later the droids would follow as a way to see if Jabba would give Han. After he refused and kept the droids, Leia had to enter disguised as a bounty hunter, with Chewbacca as a ''prisoner'', in order to free Han. Leia would later take the droids and Chewie, with the help of Lando. Since that also failed, Luke Skywalker, as a near trained Jedi had to come and bargain by force with Jabba. Luke then falls into a pit and faces the monstrous rancor, only to end up killing him as he chokes with the door. Han, Luke and Chewbacca are all sentenced to death, to be eaten by the Sarlacc.

Once R2-D2 releases Luke's lightsaber, and Luke uses it, we clearly see that in the interim between Empire and Jedi, Luke has gone into training of his own. The EU goes off to reveal that Luke went into Obi-Wan's home in Tatooine and uncovered a journal that allowed Luke to continue his training, and had instructions into the construction of a lightsaber. Boba Fett dies in the most comedic way possible, something undermining for such a serious character. Jabba also dies at the hands of slave Leia.  Leia, Han, Lando and Chewie go to reunite with the rest of the Rebel fleet. Luke meanwhile, goes to Dagobah in order to fulfill his promise to Yoda.

Yoda on the other hand, is very ill at this point, facing death at the age of 900 years. He talks with Luke for one last time, confirming Vader's parentage to Luke, and reminding him that he is the last of the Jedi. After Yoda vanishes, Luke talks to Obi-Wan's Force Ghost. He gives us the famous A Certain Point of View line, reveals that Luke is Leia's sister, and says that he must defeat Vader and the Emperor in order to be a full fledged Jedi. Luke however, believes he can redeem his father.

Luke then arrives and meets with the other Rebels, in order to plan their battle. The Big Three along with Chewie and the droids must go into the Sanctuary Moon of Endor in a stolen Imperial Ship in order to infiltrate the shield that is protecting the Death Star and destroy it. Along the way in Endor, they meet with the Ewoks, a strange group of beings all the size of a 6 year-old. The Rebels ally with the Ewoks in order to infiltrate the shield generator. In the night before the epic battle, Luke must go into the Death Star, and fulfill his destiny as a Jedi. Before he goes however, Luke tells Leia about not only her parentage, but their relation as siblings. Leia is obviously affected by this, as Luke leaves to the unknown.

The Battle of Endor begins the next day. Admiral Ackbar and Lando Calrissian using the Millenium Falcon are ready to lead the Alliance into victory. As they realize that the shield generator is still up, they are forced to attack the Imperial Fleet first. Han, Leia and Chewie lead the fight with the Ewoks to infiltrate the shield generator and destroy it. Neither fight goes well at first, since the Death Star destroys two Rebel cruisers, and the Ewoks have several casualties.

Palpatine meanwhile, is in his tower on top of the Death Star, seeking to turn Luke into the dark side, telling him that the only way to save his friends and family from dying in battle is to join him, much like how his father was turned decades back. Luke faces uncertainty, and despite the fact that he can overpower his father in combat, he isn't sure of what to do. Darth Vader, feels even more conflicted as the story progresses.

Han Solo, then with the help of Chewie, figures out how to trick the Empire and enters the shield generator. After implanting some bombs, the shield gets destroyed, and Lando along with Wedge and other Rebel pilots charge deep into the heart of the Death Star, in order to destroy it. Darth Vader meanwhile, discovers that Leia is Luke's sister after reading his mind. Once Vader threatens to turn Leia to the dark side, Luke reacts violently, defeating his father in confrontation. and caling the attention of Sidious. Sidious orders Luke to kill his father, and finally embrace his apprenticeship to the Order of the Sith Lords. Luke looks in disgust to see that Darth Vader had a robotic hand, much like how he also has one. He realizes in horror, how his vision in the cave of Dagobah of becoming another Darth Vader is becoming more and more real. He then rejects the dark side of the Force and declares himself a Jedi, like his father before him.

Palpatine gets upset to realize that the ultimate apprentice won't turn, so he decides to electrocute him with Force lightning. As Luke Skywalker stands on the door of death, his father realizes that Luke is the only person who ever loved him that has a chance of being saved. That's when Darth Vader returns to being Anakin Skywalker, and throws Emperor Palpatine down a reactor shaft, destroying the Sith Lords once and for all. Of course, Anakin's sacrifice comes at a high cost, having his own lung respirator largely damaged. He tells Luke to take his mask off, in order to look at him with his own eyes. Once that happens, Anakin says his final words to Luke, before he dies.

Luke manages to escape the Death Star on time, as Wedge and Lando blow up the Death Star on time. Han and Leia declare their love for each other, while Luke burns up his father in a Jedi-type funeral. As we see, various planets around the galaxy, including Naboo, Coruscant and Tatooine celebrate the victory of the Rebel Alliance over the Empire, and the restoration of democracy into the galaxy. As the Rebels celebrate on Endor, Luke notices the force ghosts of Yoda, Obi-Wan and a younger Anakin Skywalker. The Jedi have returned.

Return of the Jedi is by far my favorite Star Wars film. It's a great way of ending a mythic saga that tells us in the end that good will prevail over evil, that their is a transcendence beyond the universal tragedy of man, one of redemption and hope, that lives on in many of the worlds mythic traditions. Star Wars brings up that concept, and no better example exists of that than Return of the Jedi.

Finest Moments of the Film:

1. The entire sequence in Jabba's Palace and the Sarlacc pit. It has always been one of my favorites.

2. The arrival of the Emperor, the death of Yoda, and Obi-Wan's conversation with Luke.

3. The Space Battle of Endor, including the ''It's a Trap'' moment.

4. The Fight Between Darth Vader, Luke and the Emperor.

5. Vader's redemption and his death. Makes me tear up every time.

6. The Victory Celebration.

Rating: 10/10

Star Wars, the Road to Hell and Heaven

Friends, this past couple of weeks have been largely insane in terms of the amount of things I have to do in order to graduate (the reason why I haven't written since God-knows when), and the shockwaves that have hit the Star Wars community. They have been in a mix: some have been good others have been bad, and others ugly. Let's take a look folks at what has happened, now that I have the first day off since...well spring break.

For starters, Rumors went on and off about layoffs in Lucasfilm Animaton, Lucas Arts, and about how much ''bonus content'' of the Clone Wars might get released. The pessimistic Star Wars fans basically painted Disney like an evil corporation alla Koch Brothers, Exxon Mobil type of guys, whom we're going to destroy Star Wars and everything left in Lucasfilm. While they have been partially right about it for a couple of things, the ''I Told You So'' type of attitude doesn't really help, and it only fervents the anger of some folks. 

Disney did fire some folks at Lucasfilm Animation, how many we do not know, and well Lucas Arts is now for licensing only. Still that DOES NOT mean that Detours, the remaining Bonus Content of The Clone Wars and the videogame 1313 won't see the light of day. On the contrary, the possibility still remains for all of them to be released in some way, shape or form. 

On another note, Dave Filoni is going to helm the upcoming animated series coming from Lucasfilm Animation, so that should leave fans hopeful. Let's not forget that way back in Celebration VI, Dave Filoni said that he was being prepared in order to continue the creative part of Star Wars once George passes further into retirement. We will have to wait and see if the fate of Darth Maul, and that of other characters is sealed with the remaining bonus content. 

Let's also remember the good things that have come out of Star Wars recently... The original Star Wars story treatment from 1973 will be turned into a comic book, Return of the Jedi will celebrate 30 years on May 25, ''Kenobi'' the novel about Obi-Wan during the dark times recently got a blurb, and JJ Abrams plans on having John Williams score Episode 7!! Exciting friends. 

So, dear readers, please even if you are going through hell, do not loose hope on Star Wars. Because great things are coming right next door. 

And, another thing...a late May the 4th Be With You, and also Happy Revenge of the 5th. ;)

Mark Hamill on Episode VII

Well friends, some of the biggest questions regarding Episode VII, have been at least, to a certain extent revealed, in an interview they did to Mark Hamill. We happen to know certain things which are shown below:

"They're talking to us," he reveals. "George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we'd be interested. He did say that if we didn't want to do it, they wouldn't cast another actor in our parts – they would write us out. … I can tell you right away that we haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed -- on their end, not mine. They're more busy than I am."

Right from those few sentences Hamill said, we already see that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have been in the talks to see if they will reprise their famous roles. And by the looks of things, if they decide not to appear, their characters will be taken off the film and they could potentially move the film even further into the future. The film is going to be set somewhere around 30-40 years after Return of the Jedi, in which the EU will likely be overwritten. The thing that perhaps worries me the most, is that if they decide not to be a part of Episode VII,then things could go potentially bad.

When we do the jump from Revenge of the Sith to A New Hope, we get to see in Episode IV and beyond, many of the familiar faces we saw in the previous films: Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Chewbacca and Tarkin show up in Episode IV while Yoda and Palpatine later make an appearance in Episodes V and VI. So, I don't know. It's too much of a risk if C-3PO and R2D2 are the only familiar characters who will show up in the next episode.

 "I said to George that I wanted to go back to the way it was, in the sense that ours was much more carefree and lighthearted and humorous – in my opinion, anyway. And another thing I'd want to make sure of is are we going to have the whole gang back? Is Carrie and Harrison and Billy Dee and Tony Daniels, everybody that's around from the original [returning]? I want to make sure that everybody's on board here, rather than just one. I guess I'll have to tune into your show to figure out who's on board."

I have to agree with Hamill on this one. While Episodes I-III where telling the tragic story of Anakin Skywalker's generation, Episodes IV-VI show that the generation of Luke Skywalker managed to triumph. This is one of the key points in which the EU failed at magnificently, and one that Hamill will likely assert in Episode VII and beyond being like. Of course, they will tell a different story from the one told in Episodes IV-VI, but it should be more lighthearted than Episode III. Anthony Daniels will more than likely reprise his C-3PO role, and the others have expressed interest in returning. Let's cross our fingers that all of these guys return, people!!!!!!

The Top 100 Greatest Star Wars characters- 100-91

I wanted to create a list of what I personally considered to be the Top 100 Greatest Star Wars Characters. This particularly came to my mind once I saw the Top 100 Star Wars Characters in IGN and I noticed the prevalence that the EU and Episodes IV-VI had over the Clone Wars and Episodes I-III was astonishing. It seemed to me as if they were pleasing the hateboy nation by NOT including Jar Jar, and such. So, in order to bring more justice to this ranking, I decided to create my own, one in which the characters of both trilogies are of equal consideration, and have a level of prevalence to the Clone Wars, due to the fact that well, they ARE the films. One thing you will not see here will be EU characters set in the times of the Old Republic and characters set after Return of the Jedi. I want to concentrate on the time-period close to the films as much as possible.

Anyway, it is very likely that you will not find some characters that maybe you think deserve to be on the list, and others that you think don't deserve to be in it at all. And even though this is a personal list, I in no way tried to be biased by my favorite characters and such when making up this list, but tried to follow them more on story importance and other factors. If you disagree with any ranking, feel free to discuss it here, respectfully of course.

New Star Wars spinoff films announced

Well, my friends, the rumors have finally been debunked. Lawrence Kasdan, the writer of Episodes V and VI in the Star Wars saga and Simon Kilberg will be writing two spinoff films apart from the main saga films announced to be released. As Bob Iger, CEO of Disney said: "We are in development of a few standalone films," he said, "that are not part of the Star Wars saga...there are now creative entities working on developing scripts for what would be those standalone films." 

Know that this is official the question is: On which characters will the films be on? Some rumors over the Internet are saying that it will deal with Boba Fett in one film, and Han Solo in the other. Others say that one spinoff will be based on Yoda, and another on Jabba the Hutt. I have an idea: Wouldn't it be awesome if the next films would be based on say, Clone Wars characters, like Ahsoka and Cad Bane? Wouldn't that be awesome!!

Obviously, the likelihood of either of these happening is anyone's wild guess. It's ultimately the decision of George Lucas, and I sure do hope that the stories come from the man himself.

It would be interesting for a spinoff centering Ahsoka if she survives the Clone Wars, to depict what happens to her after the war and how she survives. A Cad Bane one would be probably the first Star Wars Western film, which would honestly be unbelievably cool. 

But yeah, I said myself, the next spinoffs don't have to center around those characters-but it sure would be fun if they did!!

The Lawless Review

Man, that was some episode. I'm going to have to restate my previous comment from ''Shades of Reason'' because THIS episode was the one closest to Revenge of the Sith in tone and emotion in the entire show.

Darth Maul had quite the plan to enact his ultimate revenge on Obi-Wan. The sad part was that ultimately his plan worked, and he killed Satine right in front of him. I was on the verge of tears when I saw Satine tell Obi-Wan how she had always loved him and the look on his face clearly showed how he felt. I really feel Obi-Wan's pain now and I really hate Darth Maul at this point. Especially due to the fact that Maul has killed both Kenobi's Lover and his Master.

The incredible thing was that Obi-Wan showed no signs of hatred to Maul, and tried to understand why he had become the bad person he was. It clearly highlights how similar Luke Skywalker is to Obi-Wan when he faces a similar situation in Return of the Jedi and faces Palpatine,  contrary to Anakin, who can't control his emotions and acts much more severely when Padme dies.

Once Maul realized that he was feeling the presence of his Master, his look of fear was clearly highlighted. Not only was Sidious shown to be incredibly powerful in the Force, we saw that no matter how sadistic Maul is, Sidious is the incarnation of the devil. I was left wondering if Mother Talzin's magic was just some kind of an illusion after Savage died and he reverted to his original state. That leaves us with the million dollar question: What will Sidious use Maul for now? Help him hunt down Talzin? Have him duel Darth Tyranus/Count Dooku to see who is the most worthy apprentice? I guess we will have to tune in Season 6 to find out.

It also brings to question: what will happen to Bo-Katan after the Republic goes to Mandalore to reorganize the planet? We found out somewhat shockingly that Bo-Katan and Satine were sisters, which I hope their relationship is further addressed in future episodes.

The only thing that I didn't really like was that it was made a bit too obvious in the episode that Sidious and Palpatine are the same persona. I guess some kids who haven't seen Episode III and think that Palpatine is still a good guy might have changed their mind. Otherwise, it was a fantastic episode, one in which made me have more respect for Obi-Wan, my favorite Star Wars character.

Point of No Return Review

Sorry that the review comes in so late friends, but it's been a pretty busy week. Now that their is at least some time to talk about Star Wars, I can now say that the fourth episode of the Droid arc, was probably the best. R2-D2 was the brave hero of the story, which should be no surprise, and their was more action in this episode than anyone would even expect. The explosion of the Republic cruiser was quite a show, and it leaves me wondering why didn't the Death Star explode that nicely in Episodes IV and VI. I guess it's all attributed that neither had the amount of Raydonium Ore the cruiser had when it exploded.

Another important, yet minor part of the show, was the appearance of Wilhuff Tarkin now as an Admiral. Earlier in the show we were aware of the fact that Tarkin was simply a Captain, and now that he is ranking higher in the military, it brings to question how much the role of the Jedi is being reduced in the war, and how much closer we are getting to Episode III.

However, one question does come to mind. Why did the Separatists launch a cruiser to murder Republic officers when both Tarkin and Anakin where at the conference? I think Sidious is going to get angry at Dooku.

And another thing-to all the people who haven't liked a single episode of Clone Wars since ''Revival''- You people need to get out of the fantasy that Star Wars is somehow pure action and dark side plots, because the innocent part of Star Wars is their, and it will be a part of it whether you like it or not.

Romance in the Next Star Wars films

One of the minor, but perhaps important themes that make up part of the Star Wars saga, is the part of romance. Episodes I-III focus on the forbidden romance between Anakin Skywalker and Senator of Naboo, Padme Amidala. It's one of the most unfairly criticized parts of Star Wars, mostly done by some film critics and moronic hateboys, whom apparently don't understand that some people (including myself) connect themselves with the love of Anakin and Padme, more than with Han and Leia. I even remember a few years back, how the stupid Semana magazine of my home country talked in a section of their magazine about how Padme and Anakin had ''little chemistry'' in their relationship. What kind of idiots are these people?

Their love is mostly used as the catalyst that will result in the transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. It ends up in tragedy as pretty much both characters end up dead and their love for each other is never allowed to flourish. By the time we get to Episodes IV-VI, the romance is seen mostly between Han Solo and Princess Leia, which I also like by the way, just not as much as Anakin and Padme. Theirs is meant to protray a love that eventually triumphs with the victory of the Rebel Alliance, on contrary to that of the previous generation.

But, the question is, what kind of love will we see in the next generation?

The obvious answer is that if we see love in the next set of Star Wars films, it will likely involve either the children of Han and Leia, or the children of Luke and someone else (possibly Mara Jade). However, all of that is pretty much anyone's guess. George at one point said that in his vision Luke didn't get married, so that might throw Mara Jade and that part of the EU out the window or into an alternative timeline. As far as Han and Leia are concerned, their children might have different names from the ones they have in the EU, and their fates will be undeniably different. So, besides the fact that the EU will likely soon be cleared out of the way like a bulldozer, we don't really know what romance will happen, or if it will even show up in Episode VII. They might hint it, though. We will have to wait and see, as I have said millions of times on this blog.

Adressing the Hateboy Nation

One of the main reasons I founded this site was due to an inspiration I saw within a series of fellow Star Wars fans, particularly owners of certain Star Wars fan blogs, into defending Star Wars from the hateboy nation, who have done nothing but ruin the fun of Star Wars for the rest of the fans who like it. Their hatred for anything George Lucas has done ever since 1997 is something unparalleled in movie history, which is rather sad considering the fact that the Star Wars Saga is arguably the greatest film saga ever made. It's sad considering the fact that Star Wars was the pursuit of one man's dream into creating a film without the influence of movie corporations thumbing over every decision he made.

Now that where getting a new set of Star Wars films over the next decade, speculation has been gone wild ever since October 30th. One of the most famous hateboys, or hategirls in this case of the Internet,  Alyssa Rosenberg, apparently was pretty dismissive of Steven Spielberg directing the next Star Wars film (which he isn't going to by the way):

 "After George Lucas, Spielberg is probably the most 'Star Wars'-knowledgeable filmmaker out there. I imagine that few others have as much insight into what Lucas originally conceived for 'Star Wars' than Spielberg. That's not good. The most exciting thing about Disney purchasing Lucasfilm is the prospect of evolving the 'Star Wars' franchise with some new creative energy, and Spielberg doesn't bring that."

So, Miss Rosenberg, please tell us what would you consider as ''new creative energy''? Perhaps a peak at her own website will allow us to see what she means:

While this opens up a new chapter in the cinematic development of the Star Wars universe, that doesn’t mean Disney will be flying off into uncharted territory. The Star Wars Expanded Universe includes a huge number of licensed books (not to mention video games, comic books, graphic novels, and animated television series) that lay out the story of the franchise’s main characters, and in some cases, their distant descendants. Given that Disney will need to woo legions of long-term fans who love the larger Star Wars universe and were burned to greater or lesser extents by the awfulness of the prequels, and will certainly want to keep monetizing the expanded universe, I expect they’ll preserve that continuity. The question is just which stories they decide to use as source material.

Oooh, how surprising. So, according to Miss Rosenberg, the ''new creative energy'' should be adapting an EU novel into a film? Tell ya what: IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.Here's the reason(s) why: 

It has been confirmed by Disney and Lucasfilm that Episode VII will be an ''Original Story''.

 ''And now there have been novels about the events after Episode VI, which isn't at all what I would have done with it. The Star Wars story is really the tragedy of Darth Vader. That is the story. Once Vader dies, he doesn't come back to life, the Emperor doesn't get cloned and Luke doesn't get married..."-George Lucas

The good news, is that contrary to what hateboy nation wants, the next set of Star Wars films, will be made according to the vision of George Lucas and his story treatments, and they might not fit into the picture of what everyone thinks it should be. As hategirl Alyssa pointed out, Spielberg knows very well what vision George has for the next film, and sadly he won't be involved. It is only just for the man who created the whole thing to pass on the next set of films to a person(s) who will stay true to his vision, just like how Dave Filoni has stayed true to George's vision of the Clone Wars . Even Timothy Zahn, the writer of much of the bulk of the EU post-ROTJ, has said that if George gets the EU out of the way in order to make the next set of films, he is fine with it. I accept the next treatment of Star Wars films for what they will be, even if I don't agree 100% with everything. 

Oh, and another thing, why do you generalize about how the fans were supposedly ''burned'' by the ''awfullness of the prequels''? If so many people hated those films, then why did Episode I as it got released in 3D, make 103 million dollars? 

Amazing Star Wars Trailer

As I was looking forward to buying the Star Wars Blu-ray, I recently came across a very impressive, yet apparently fan-made trailer. The beauty of the trailer was that it came across using the famous score from Revenge of the Sith, ''Battle of the Heroes'' and manages to tie in the six films in a way I had never seen before. The only backdrop I would say, is that it reveals too much, but it's still a great video for any true Star Wars fan. Unless well, you hate Episodes I-III, I won't argue with you. In that stance I think you should check out Adam's blog, who sums up the complaints of those movies, and well, shows they are pretty ridiculous.

Return of the Jedi: Why it's my favorite

Of all the Star Wars films, which I all absolutely love by the way, none leave me as satisfied and happy when I end watching them as Return of the Jedi does. It's probably one of the most epic, and it undeniably is the most important tipping point of the Star Wars saga. I think that theirs a reason why Ryder Windham's excellent biographies of Luke, Anakin/Darth Vader and Obi-Wan's all start right before Return of the Jedi, and all of the other movies previous to it act as a flashback: It's ultimately the moment when the final fate of the galaxy is decided. And in a lot of ways, I think it has some of the most memorable scenes of all the films. In particular Yoda's death, Obi-Wan's last talk with Luke, Luke revealing to Leia their parentage, and the whole fight with Darth Vader, Luke and the Emperor, are really among the best in Star Wars.

The movie itself acts as the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Chosen One, and in more general terms, an ultimate battle between good and evil, in which eventually good prevails. It acts as the ending of the story, even if we are going to have three other movies told after this one (Which I hope doesn't screw up the ending of Return of the Jedi).

Many fans tend to complain about how the Ewoks ended up defeating the Empire, but the Ewoks didn't  actually win if you come to think of it. They simply needed to penetrate the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor, and make it explode in order for the second Death Star be destroyed, along with  the important members of the Empire. The Ewoks helped the outcome of the war, but they didn't actually win.

Ultimately the fun of Episode VI is to see how the story comes to its epic conclusion. And for some reason, every time I see the Ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin smiling and looking at Luke and the others in the end, while the Victory Celebration plays in the background, is just...wonderful. It's one of those moments that I like to live over and over again, and leaves things so nicely wrapped up it makes me incredibly happy to watch it. That is why Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, is my personal favorite Star Wars film.

Conflict in Episodes VII-IX

Another of the big mysteries that encompass the next trilogy of Star Wars films, is primarily the part of warfare. Even though the story is titled ''Star Wars'' the Wars part of the title seems to be somewhat out of context when you refer to anything post-Return of the Jedi, despite what the EU shows in that time period. Once you brought balance to the Force, even if your own children have to maintain it, it kind of has to symbolize how the battles that follow will not be the same as the ones previous to it. Let me explain myself better:

When we are introduced to the beginning of the story, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the battles were focused on the Gungans fighting off the Trade Federation's droid army. The army was not meant to be a large one, and was mainly used to defend the shipments the federation did. The war here is similar to how in Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks face off against the Empire, in the sense that it's a group of native species to that home planet fighting off a tyrannical regime. By the time we get to Attack of the Clones, Count Dooku has managed to assemble a more powerful and much bigger droid army than the one we saw in Episode I, combining the droids assembled by a series of banks and corporations. At the same time, as part of the Sith Grand Plan, the Jedi become aware of the creation of a Clone Army assembled by the Kaminoans, which had been ordered in secret by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas ten years earlier. Once the Republic feels in serious danger by the increasing threat of the Separatists, the Senate decides to allow for the use of this Clone Army. So, the beginning of the Clone Wars is in a sense the first full scale war we see in the saga.

The war by the time it meets its conclusion in Episode III, moves quickly from the transition phase of Droids vs Clones, to Clones killing the Jedi. It's much more tragic in scope, and it's somewhat overshadowed by the fights that take place at the end of the movie. Once we get to Episode IV,V and VI, we get to see that the Clone Army has been transformed into a Stormtrooper Army, in which they become a racist, imperialist regime similar to how the Nazi's where in World War II. The Rebel Alliance ends up being composed of the groups of Senators, Governors, Military officers, and the few remaining Jedi whom want to overthrow the Empire and bring back the Republic. The Rebel Alliance eventually manages to defeat the Empire, and with the help of the last of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, he defeats the Sith.

What the next conflict will be in Star Wars-what it will be called-and which parties will be involved-is anyone's wild guess. If the next stories are much more ethereal in nature than the previous ones, and if we are talking about a time period in which balance to the Force took place previously, it's difficult to see what could happen next. They would obviously have to be different and have an impact that is much less severe to the galaxy, contrary to what we see in the EU.

Potential Sidekick Villains for Episode 7

Sidekick villains have always been central to Star Wars, in which most of the time they work for the main villain of the first six Star Wars films, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who went by Palpatine in public. Even though he is the main antagonist of Star Wars, he only makes his appearance clear by the time you get to Episode III and that is when you discover that Palpatine and Sidious are the same. He briefly appears in Episode V and makes a final appearance in Episode VI. Besides the Sith apprentices to Palpatine, their are a couple of sidekicks that are known for doing the bidding of the Sith, or of the Empire, be it the Trade Federation or the bounty hunters. So, who do you think will be the sidekick villain for Episode VII? Here are some potential candidates:

1. Bounty Hunters

Bounty Hunters have always been central villains to the Star Wars movies, and to The Clone Wars. Jango Fett was the central bounty hunter villain of Episodes I-III, while his ''son'' Boba Fett was central to Episodes IV-VI. Will Boba Fett's son replace him after he got eaten by the Sarlacc in Episode VII? Or will the next bounty hunter resemble something more ''Western'' like Cad Bane? 

I have to admit, I am a huge fan of this guy. He is the Cowboy of Star Wars.

2. Mandalorians

Now, for those of you who haven't watched The Clone Wars, The Mandalorians are basically a group of super commando warriors who use an armor similar to that of Jango Fett. They act as a terrorist group who intends on reclaiming their Planet Mandalore from the pacifist Duchess Satine-Obi-Wan's former love interest-and bring back Mandalore to it's previous warrior-like ways. So, it should come as no surprise if we get to see these guys in Episode VII. The only problem I might see is that it could potentially create confusion with Jango and Boba.

3. The Hutts

Another Obvious potential ally to the bad guys could be a Hutt. Jabba was one of the prominent sidekick villains to Episodes IV-VI, until his death in the hands of Princess Leia. Another member of the Hutt clan, potentially Gardulla or one of the other guys we have seen in The Clone Wars, could fit in the role of the evil Hutt.

4. Zygerrians

The Zygerrians are a fairly new concept that was introduced in The Clone Wars. They were once a great Slave Empire that thrived until the Jedi managed to destroy it. Once the Sith seeked to have millions of slaves under their command, they tried to reconstruct their Slave Empire. Eventhough the Republic managed to destroy their efforts on time, it's very likely that the Empire ended up having a gigantic number of slaves. Once the Empire collapsed, who knows what happened to these guys. One possible story might have to do with Luke and the rest of the Jedi trying to free the slaves. Who knows.