YOU’VE probably seen this by now but I love it so much I couldn’t let it go by without putting it up here.
Using a massive range of footage from old films and adventure seriels, Ivan Guerrero – aka whoiseyevan on You Tube – has created this trailer for The Empire Strikes Back, if it were a 1950s sci-fi film, made in amazing 3D.
AT the time it must have seemed like an odd choice, when George Lucas asked Irvin Kershner to direct The Empire Strikes Back.
After all, Star Wars had just redefined what sci-fi movies could be on a scale no-one could have predicted or even seen before, and given the number of hot-shot directors who must have been desperate for the gig, why go for the quietly spoken guy in his mid-50s?
Kershner goes some way to answering that in these videos below, interviews he did with the Colorado Film School which went up six months ago.
The answer is vision – with Lucas realising Kershner’s emphasis on character and emotion, that he had first seen as a young student during film-making classes back in the 1960s, would lend his creation real depth and weight.
It was an inspired decision, with Empire being the greatest Star Wars film and quite possibly the greatest sequel of all time, as well as being a massively influential measuring post against which all future sequels are now measured.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT, when it came, was more of whisper than a dramatic crescendo, made in an English seaside holiday camp – but one that will resonate around the world for all that.
On the social networking site Twitter at 8.40pm on Saturday night, SFX Magazine tweeted:
Neil Gaiman writing an episode of Doctor Who announced at #SFXweekender
New sonic screwdriver
THIS is a part of a new 11th Doctor Matt Smith publicity picture from Doctor Who Magazine and the website which shows, I believe, his new sonic screwdriver.
Admittedly not in perfect detail, but much closer than previous paparazzi pictures – what do you think?
I’VE been away over Christmas for a getaway, which means no blogs, but this video of the USS Enterprise as a submarine will get us going again.
It looks just like space, as it floats gracefully around what I guess is fluidic space. It was created by Yokusuka dry docks, who are obviously huge Star Trek fans.
AFTER a month where I have not been able to find a spare minute to update the blog, it had to be something big to bring me back – and this was it.
Putting aside my concerns about said bag I had a look and she was right – inside was a large collection of Starburst magazines, from the 1980s.
Looking back now – where full colour production on glossy paper is the norm – it is amazing how shoddy they looked, with only the occasional colour page and very basic design.
However what they lacked in looks they made up for in content, with great access to the shows and films of the day. I have picked out a few highlights to share with you.
1. The earliest one
The more things change, the more they stay the same, as shown by this 1978 mag (issue nine, just 50p) trumpeting the new Lord of the Rings film – in this case a cartoon instead of the Peter Jackson Oscarfest.
Remember the original Gladiators? If you do, then you must remember Jet, the fantastically attractive one who made a whole generation of men feel a bit funny, like they were climbing the ropes in PE.
Still, Diane’s time in the spotlight would come, on TV and in numerous adolescent boys’ sexual fantasies.
Gladiators … ready!! And all hail Starburst!!
IT seems almost sacriligious to write those words, but I feel I have to ask the question (so I did, on Ask500, as you can see below. Click here to vote).
Time was, anything to do with Star Wars would have me reaching for my lightsabre (not in THAT way, double entendre fans). I still love the original films, enjoy the expanded universe novels and games like KOTOR, and loved Charles Ross’s one man show when it came to Liverpool.
I mean, come on – what sci-fi fan hasn’t dreamed of flying the Millennium Falcon with Han and Chewie, or being a Jedi Knight?
But for all the good stuff, we have had the prequel trilogy, the Clone Wars films and the latest offering, the Force Unleashed.
The films all bombed and early reviews of the game are not great – certainly not as great as they should be given its premise is kicking people’s ass with the force.
On top of that, when I watched Star Wars for the first time with my 8-yr-old son, his reaction was a distracted ‘meh’.
So, is it over? Answer the question and we will try to find out.
STOP PRESS: It appear people are still bothered about Star Wars – by a margin of two to one on my Ask500 poll. For me, the jury is still out – I think they have to produce something special to win me back.
It is a fact that the best Star Wars stuff in recent years has been produced away from the Skywalker Ranch, like Robot Chicken and KOTOR. Go to it Lucasarts!!
