On LEGO Star Wars II

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy came out today. You pick your system, it’s available for it. Xbox. 360. PlayStation 2. GameCube. GameBoy Advance. Nintendo DS. Sony PSP. You want it, you can play it. True, multi-platform goodness. Star Wars and LEGOs, the two universals. I picked one up today for the XBox. It’sContinue reading “On LEGO Star Wars II”

On Snoopy and the Death Star Run

Prompted by my friend Todd‘s exhortation to download a Star Wars fan film, last night I downloaded “Beagle,” a two-minute long animated short following Snoopy and Woodstock in the Rebel attack on the original Death Star over Yavin IV. I’ve watched it five times now, and each time I’ve been disappointed. First, “Beagle” doesn’t recreateContinue reading “On Snoopy and the Death Star Run”

On Brock Peters

The other voice of Darth Vader, Brock Peters, has passed away. He was 78. Many will associate Peters with To Kill a Mockingbird or his two Star Trek roles–as Admiral Cartwright in films IV and VI and as Joseph Sisko in Deep Space Nine–but I will always associate Peters with the voice of Darth VaderContinue reading “On Brock Peters”

On Talking about Star Wars

I wasn’t impressed with Revenge of the Sith. Indeed, I was bored out of my skull by the film. I generally don’t tell people that, though. I manage a video game store. My customers have seen the film multiple times, and it’s not unusual for three or four each day to rave about how awesomeContinue reading “On Talking about Star Wars”

On the Ewok Extinction Event

Hitler. Stalin. Pol Pot. Dictators who murdered millions of innocents. May we now add Mon Mothma, leader of the Rebel Alliance, to the list? The things fans will work out. Curtis Saxton has worked out an ecological analysis on the destruction of the Death Star II in Return of the Jedi. His conclusion? The forestContinue reading “On the Ewok Extinction Event”

On Dagobah's Dark Side tree

In The Empire Strikes Back Luke has a run-in with the Dark Side tree where he confronts his fears and has a vision of Darth Vader. In the Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy it’s explained that Yoda killed a Dark Jedi during the Clone Wars on that spot, and his evil infected the area making itContinue reading “On Dagobah's Dark Side tree”

On Revenge of the Sith

I finally found the time to see the film this afternoon. I was bored out of my skull. I think that the film could be edited down to an hour, tops, and be the stronger for it. Political posturing, the Kashyyyk interlude, the pitched battle between the Clone Army and Grievous’s forces on some godforsakenContinue reading “On Revenge of the Sith”

On Rewatching Attack of the Clones

I watched Attack of the Clones tonight on FOX. Random thoughts. Damn, that was terrible. What was the story again? Obi-Wan looked positively stupid with longish hair. Has Frank Oz forgotten how to do his Yoda voice? CGI Yoda looked kinda fake. Why the frell didn’t anyone realize that Dooku escaped to Coruscant? Don’t theyContinue reading “On Rewatching Attack of the Clones”

On Anakin Skywalker's Parentage

My gut feeling, ever since 1999, is that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is Anakin Skywalker’s father. It’s based on two things–Lucas’s long-ago declaration that the six-film Star Wars saga would be about “a father, son, and twins.” The twins are Luke and Leia, the son is Anakin, so who is the father? What pointed meContinue reading “On Anakin Skywalker's Parentage”