Lucasfilm postpones Episodes II and III release date in 3D

Well my friends. Some fans in the internet are angry, myself worried. See for yourself.

FOCUSING ON STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, LUCASFILM POSTPONES EPISODES II AND III 3D

January 28, 2013

Lucasfilm has decided to postpone this fall's scheduled release of Star Wars Episodes II and III in 3D. Given the recent development that we are moving forward with a new Star Wars trilogy, we will now focus 100 percent of our efforts on Star Wars: Episode VII in order to ensure the best possible experience for our fans. We will post further information about our 3D release plans at a later date.

The question rages on: are they trying to ignore Ep. I-III now that Disney bought Star Wars? I sure hope not. I sure hope that George Lucas has protected his art sufficiently well to prevent that from happening. And I really hope that it is postponement, NOT cancellation. 

JJ Abrams will direct Episode VII

Well, my friends. The wait is finally over. Lightning has struck. 

After months of speculation, Lucasfilm has announced that JJ Abrams will be the director of the 7th episode of Star Wars. 

I think I need to know more about what exactly is going on, in terms of story development and such, to know for sure if this was a good move. Besides the fact that I absolutely hated Cloverfield, according to our friend Lazy Padawan from the Star Wars Prequel Appreciation Society, Abrams has said before that he didn't like the prequels. Of course, I am not sure of the legitimacy of such claims, for two reasons. First, it doesn't make sense that George Lucas would hire a director to run his beloved Star Wars, if he has no respect at all for half of the franchise. Second, according to a recent interview from Grantland, his relationship to Episodes I-III isn't neccessarily that he hates them: 

''Abrams’s life spans Star Wars’ originals-prequels divide. Born in 1966, Abrams grew up “basically relating to Luke Skywalker,” and thought of Darth Vader as “evil incarnate.” His kids, however, grew up with the prequels. They related to Anakin. “If you had said during Christmas of ‘77 that when I had kids they’re going to be raised by Darth Vader,” Abrams said, “I would never have believed you.”

“The lessons I’ve learned from George, as a filmgoer, that have informed how I approach movies, as a filmmaker, are legion,” he continued.''

This clearly shows that Abrams has not only great respect for George but also has some understanding of the fact that their is a generation of people (including myself and Abrams kids) how grew up with the prequels and realizes how important both are to the franchise. He may not like certain aspects of the films, which is perfectly understandable, but saying that he ''doesn't like them'' is a bit of a stretch. 

On the other hand, he realizes he is going to have to deal with the hateboy nation's rage at some point: 

''What were the lessons of the Lucas vs. fanboydom? I asked.

“I think that you can’t always please everyone,” Abrams said. “And it is for me a heartening lesson to see that George has had his battles before, during, and after making films. When you see that you can’t please everyone, that includes studios, actors, the audience ... You’re always trying to do the best you can.”

The Star Wars people were pretty brutal, I said.

“It’s like, please,” Abrams said. “You’re having this conversation because the Force is with you.” Now — allegedly — it’s with him.''

The good thing about all of this, is that not only does Kathleen Kennedy have the support for Abrams, but also the support of Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood and Dennis Muren, all of whom have worked on previous Star Wars films, whom apparently will work in the next Star Wars film as well. This gives me optimism in the sense that the next Star Wars films will be worked by the guys who made the previous 3-6, although I would like more guys to return for the next film(s) such as John Knoll. 

More importantly however, than who will direct the next film, is the plot. And as far as that goes, the  future remains impossible to see. The dark side of the force clouds everything. 

Hopefully, if they start casting soon, we will get an idea of who is coming back, who is new, the time period it will take place, and somewhere along the way, we have to know how it will adhere to the next six films, and whether or not it will continue the established Expanded Universe (highly unlikely). 

Shades of Reason Review

The plan is now sprung into action. Black Sun, the Pykes and Savage attack the ports of Mandalore in  a plot to make Death Watch look as the heroes of Mandalore, and poor Duchess Satine be seen as a weak one. And it worked. Brilliantly. 

Ultimately I guess that one of the reasons George wanted to set this episode up in the first place, was to use the conquest of Mandalore by Death Watch as a foreshadowing element to what will take place in Revenge of the Sith. Pre Vizsla is seen by the people as some type of hero, similar to how Palpatine was seen as a hero after he had supposedly been ''scared and deformed'' by the Jedi. At the end of the day, however, Vizsla's rule comes to an end, thanks in part for his foolish pride, and for not killing Maul when he had the chance. 

Savage acted less like an idiot, as he had in the previous episode, and did more impressive things this time. Maul on the other hand, did the predictable thing: He realizes that he can't rule Mandalore, in great part because he looks too much like the devil, and is going to scare everyone else, so he needed someone to act as his puppet ruler, in this case, the corrupt Prime Minister Almec. And now that Darth Maul is the current Mandalorian, his character has risen to an even more ''cool'' state. 

The fight between Pre Vizsla and Maul proved to be one of the best we have seen so far, and despite the fact that Vizsla is a great warrior and sword fighter, he simply is no match for a Sith Lord. He died somewhat honorably to be honest, and what let to his downfall was his pride. Bo-Katan comes to her senses and realizes that she doesn't want to be ruled by a monster like Maul, and decides to rebel against the Maul Mandalorians. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that Bo-Katan is becoming too much like Ventress, in the sense that they are both female characters how are changing for better. 

Duchess Satine's wish to have Mandalore free of corruption and war ultimately led to the fall of her own government. As much as I like the character, she simply should have foreshadowed the takeover of Death Watch, and should have armed herself when she had time. However, I don't want to be too bad with the Duchess, and we do have to recognize that she was smart in not underestimating Maul's power, unlike Bo-Katan. 

As far as tone and emotion is concerned, this episode has been by far the closest we have been to Episode III. It's only a sign that this war and this show, are coming to a close. 

The Expanded Universe: alternative universe on the way?

Adi Gallia was killed by Savage Opress. Even Piell died in the Clone Wars. Asajj Ventress left Count Dooku. The Mandalorians are different now.

What do all of these events that have taken place in The Clone Wars have in common? They all have overwritten events that had previously taken place in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The fans have revolted over such minor things, that have perhaps declared a comic or two as ''non-canon'' and created some inconsistencies with other previously established works. Now, a new trilogy of Star Wars lies on the horizon, in a time period which is heavily convoluted with so many things it's not even worth tracking what has transpired since Return of the Jedi. With the story treatments coming from George Lucas himself, that entire time period faces the near-certain inevitability of being no longer part of the Star Wars canon. We are talking about nearly 200 comic books and novels combined. If the fans get upset because Adi Gallia was killed by Savage Opress and not General Grievous, imagine what will happen now? 

The problem ultimately doesn't lie with George, even if many will be and are angry at him because he ''allowed so many novels and comic books to be written and now wants to make movies that will render those irrelevant.'' George has every right to do what he wants with his own universe, whether you like it or not. The writers of the EU have the privilege to be playing in George's playground, not the other way around. Perhaps the opening crawl of Episode VII will say something like ''The galaxy has been at peace since the Battle of Endor'' and will render that part of the EU as non-canon, or it will throw it into an alternative timeline. Who knows. It's not my universe to decide. 

The important thing to point out is that many fans have moved on from the films and have established the EU as something as sacred or even more important, than the movies. They have delved themselves so badly into the EU to the point in which they no longer read or watch something for fun, but are instead preoccupied that it won't adhere to the continuity. 

Star Wars used to be about having fun for these fans, but now that they have immersed themselves so badly into this fictitious universe that they take everything that happens in it too seriously, as if they were Christian fundamentalists who take everything from the Bible as literal. They are literally stabbing themselves in the back for being too immersed into every single product that comes out of Lucasfilm. 

That is a great part of the reason why I have only read 2 novels of the Expanded Universe: Labyrinth of Evil and Star Wars: Darth Plageuis. I like to read things that have some sense of relevance to the films, or watch a show that also has some sense of relevance to it. That's a great part of the reason of why I have little to no interest about what the novels depict happens after Return of the Jedi. 

I guess that also one of the main reasons why it seemed to make some sense to continue making books and comics depicting the events after Jedi was because well, back in 1983, the ending with Yub-Nub didn't exactly give sense to what had transpired in the galaxy as a whole, nor with the main characters. The stories of Luke, Han and Leia, could have continued with Thrawn as the bad guy. But ever since 1997, 2004 and the release of Episodes I-III, you get the sense that Darth Vader's redemption becomes the act of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Chosen One, and that the Sith should have never returned. You also get the sense that if even in the most backwater and criminal planet of the galaxy, Tatooine, they are celebrating the death of the Empire, then that means that almost every planet in the galaxy manage to liberate themselves from the Empire. Besides, the simple fact that both the Jedi Temple and the Galactic Senate are present when Coruscant is shown, must imply the fact that democracy has returned to the galaxy. So ultimately at the end of the day, the stories that take place after Jedi are basically a complete contradiction to everything settled down here. 

The EU after Jedi is written by so many different authors, that the direction of the story goes off in a strange sense. By the time you get to New Jedi Order you are beating on a dead horse, and by the time you get to the Legacy comics, the formula of the films is so xeroxed and repeated it's not worth even paying attention. It's better to see things the George Lucas way and think that none of that ever happened. 

But now that the long speculated sequel trilogy is lying their, to be released in 2015, you go back to look at the EU post ROTJ, floating around, contemplating whether the hateboy's wet dream, and my worst nightmare, might have a chance of coming true. The good thing is that George hasn't given the bastion yet, and the next film is on the way of being an original story taken from his story treatments. So if you add up that with the fact that in his universe, non of the post-ROTJ EU ever happened, then, we have the likely chance of seeing a film that will not only stay true to what was previously established in the Star Wars films, but also take the story of Star Wars into a place we haven't seen from George Lucas's universe. 

An alternative universe might be helpfull in getting both George's film into the screen, while at the same time controlling some of the rage of the hateboys. What do you guys think? Share your thoughts below. 

Eminence Review

Play time is over, friends. The shroud of the dark side has fallen.

Seriously, though, besides the fact that I just quoted Yoda, this episode came down to be one of the darkest in the Clone Wars. The allegiance between Darth Maul and Pre Vizsla comes down to be one of mistrust and betrayal, since their only common goal is to exact vengeance on the Jedi, in particular Obi-Wan. Vizsla doesn't understand exactly what Maul's plans are. And why should he? He only cares about taking back Mandalore, and a Sith would be useful in order to get him rid of the Jedi who could prevent his wish from coming true, in particular Obi-Wan. On the other hand, Maul is a Sith- a villain who is always unhappy and only wants to get more and more stuff because he can never be satiated. He wants to not only kill Kenobi, but also create an army of the criminal underworld and take control of Mandalore in order to have himself control of the Neutral Council of Systems, in order to have a third party that can rival the Republic and the Separatists, and compete with his old Master in the game of galactic domination. Brilliant plan, isn't it?

One thing that does come to mind is, how and why did Death Watch find Maul's escape pod and decide to open it to see what was in their? The only logical explanation(s) are the following: 1, it was pure coincidence., or 2 the much more logical one, this was a setup by Mother Talzin. How she managed to trace the Death Watch into Darth Maul is anyone's guess, but it would make sense given the interest Talzin has with the Sith Lord.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that Savage acts too much like a moron. I mean, seriously. At least Darth Maul can control his anger and not beat up and destroy the droids that are repairing you in the first place!!!

Jabba was also kind of laughing when he was forced to join with Maul (like he always does). Bo-Katan is pretty skeptical about the Sith, and the fight between Embo and Savage was freakin awesome. I wonder how many times the Black Sun will be forced to replace its own members. It was also interesting to see the new concept of the Pykes.

Duchess Satine is in for an unpleasant surprise.

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.

ABC considering a Star Wars live-action series

Well, my friends, now that Disney owns Star Wars, the prospects of the live-action show have moved from HBO to ABC. ABC is apparently interested in making a Star Wars show, whether it's the live-action show currently on hold because of budget costs or another live-action show involving the Star Wars universe.

The show is undeniably going to get a bigger audience now that it's going to be possibly broadcasted on ABC, but still, I'm not sure what those 50 scripts that are already written will be exactly about. The show is meant to portray the Star Wars Underworld, since I believe that is even the title of the show, and is set to take place between Episodes III and IV. The only character confirmed to be on the show for now will be Boba Fett, and apparently the Main characters won't be the focus of the show. They might go on and explore characters like Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Hondo or even Bossk in this show, so it might turn out to be quite interesting. For that we will have to wait and see.

Missing in Action Review

The hatedom from hateboy nation and some casual Star Wars fans managed to lower down once we got to see the episode of the Clone Commando, Gregor.

The episode was great in its dynamic effort to bring a clone who had suffered from amnesia and was working as a dishwasher, into eventually, with the help of R2 and Colonel Gascon, bring back his memory and make him a fantastic soldier. I mean, the guy did the work of like 14 soldiers and managed to help the D-Squad escape from Abafar.

Dave Filoni hinted in the commentary of the episode that Gregor might have survived, so we will have to wait and see for tomorrow's episode to find out what exactly happened. Still, even if he didn't survive, Gregor will come down as one of my favorite clone troopers from this season, and this episode will come down as one of the best in the season.

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? 

The Clone Wars: 100 Episodes

I honestly don't think that anybody even imagined- let alone dreamed off.-the kinds of things we have seen in the 100 Episodes of the Clone Wars,way back in August of 2008, when the Clone Wars film was released. The movie received mostly negative reviews from movie critics, for mostly unfair reasons, and few people thought the show would be much of anything or that it would ever take off. Ahsoka's character was hated by a lot people, (something the actress who portrayed her, Ashley Eckstein was aware off) and the hateboy nation criticized George Lucas for supposedly, exploiting the franchise. It was a dark time for Star Wars, indeed. But I kept my faith in George. I was one of the few who thought the movie had been great, and was looking forward to when the series would air.

After seeing the past four seasons, and the first half of the second season, I can honestly say that I have seen one of the best shows on TV that I have seen in my life.Every season has gotten better and better in visuals, in storytelling, in the inclusion of new characters that are now fan favorites, etc. Dave Filoni has done a tremendous job at portraying Star Wars for a whole new generation of kids, while at the same time staying true to the vision of the man himself, George Lucas. I look forward to seeing the rest of the show, and to see how this will eventually fit in to the events of Revenge of the Sith.

On an ending note, besides the fact that I want to congratulate everyone who has made the show possible: From George, Dave, the amazing crew of actors, the designers, and everyone else in Lucasfilm involved in the story, I also want to share a quote said by Dave Filoni a couple of days ago:

"These characters are meant to go along with these movies … who knows if it will show up in future movies" 

A couple of things we can infer from this statement: 1. The next set of Star Wars films probably won't be directed by Dave Filoni, which, saddens me. 2. He isn't aware of the story, so almost no one knows it. 3.Ahsoka might show up in the next Star Wars film, or some other Star Wars character introduced in TCW. Keep your fingers crossed people!!!!!