Category Archives: Disney

Star Wars The Last Jedi Review (Contains Spoilers)

Posted on by
Image

First, let me say that I really enjoyed The Last Jedi. I left the theater feeling very happy, and my kids (both girls) were all pumped up about it, they wanted to talk about the film to try and keep the magical feeling alive for just a little longer. Before I get into specifics, I should point out that this review does contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the film yet and you want to see it spoiler free, then stop reading now and come back after you’ve seen the film.

My earlier review of the first trailer for the film now seems a little harsh, but my conclusions were based only on what they showed in the preview. It looked to me like there was going to be an 80’s style training montage on the island with Luke, which of course there wasn’t, and Luke’s line about it being “time for the Jedi to end” just seemed like a cool line that made no real sense. Now I get it, and I’m glad the film was much better than the trailer suggested it might be. read more

Star Wars The Last Jedi

Posted on by

In the new Teaser trailer for The Last Jedi, Luke says “I only know one truth, it’s time for the Jedi to end.” That bothers me. I mean, I get it, he tried to be a great teacher, like Yoda, but ultimately failed just as horribly as Obi Wan did, so he went into hiding and doesn’t want to teach any more people. Perhaps he believes the universe might be better off if nobody knew how to use the Force.

That all makes sense to me. But ask yourself, how can the Jedi ever actually end? The Force is everywhere (“It surrounds us … it binds the universe together”) and, if the prequels are to be believed, Anakin had no father – he just came from the Force itself (sorry, midichlorians). His mother didn’t seem to have any Force abilities, making Anakin “muggle born” if you will. So a family line like the Skywalkers or the Kenobis coming to an end isn’t going to end the Jedi. Similarly, Rey figured out how to use Jedi mind tricks and defeat Ren in battle with a lightsaber all on the first day of her force awakening and without any training at all! So refusing to teach anybody isn’t going to change anything either. read more

Excitement Is Mounting For The Han Solo Origin Story

Posted on by

Although the Han Solo Origin Story isn’t due to hit the big screen until May 2018, as with any new release in the Star Wars series, this movie has already started raising pulses. Solo and his loyal Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca often poll towards the top in the list of most popular characters to feature in the franchise, so expect more spills and thrills as the story explains the early life of Space’s favorite smuggling duo. There’s plenty of speculation mounting over what will feature in the Solo Origin Story, so let’s take a look at the rumors that have already been circulated between fans of the series. read more

Rogue One Review

Posted on by
Image

So I finally went to see Rogue One A Star Wars Story this weekend. Caution, Spoilers ahead!

I’ll admit, I wasn’t all that excited about seeing it, and I certainly wasn’t counting down the days to its release. I thought it would be a rather mediocre entry, just to tide us over until Episode VIII next year. However, I really enjoyed it. I think I liked it more than The Force Awakens. In my opinion Rogue One is probably the best Star Wars film since The Empire Strikes Back.

I liked the fact that it had absolutely nothing to do with the Skywalker family. I liked the way it added to the original film in ways that didn’t undermine it. I’m always impressed by stories like Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead” that take place in the wings of a familiar story. That was what most impressed me about the fan film “Troops”. read more

How is this for a catch 22?

Posted on by

I think most people are aware that the recent Silver Screen Edition of Star Wars created by Team Negative One is technically a breech of copyright. Nobody is disputing that 20th Century Fox holds the legal copyright to the original film. But consider this. That same copyright law which prohibits the public from preserving the original version of the film is designed to last not only beyond the lifetime of people who were around when the work was published,  our lifetimes, but also beyond the life expectancy of the film stock it was created on. In other words, by the time the copyright finally expires and the film enters the public domain, there may be no film stock left with which a preservation like this one can be done. read more

Star Wars The Force Awakens – VII Un Nouvel Empire

Posted on by

The Novemeber issue of the French movie magazine, Premiere, is stuffed full of Star Wars goodness, with over 20 pages of color photos and information about Episode VII The Force Awakens:

EN COUVERTURE STAR WARS

Han, Leia et Chewy s’apprêtent à reprendre du service. Mais sans George Lucas à la barre. Â quoi ressemblera cet Épisode VII? Et que fait Luke Skywalker? Éléments de réponse ici et maintenant.

VII un nouvel empire

Star Wars 007, c’est ici, c’est maintenant, avec ple’in de ‘ gens qu’on ne connaît pas mais aussi Han Solo, R2-D2 et Luke Skywalker en personne. Malgré le retrait de George Lucas, une troisième génération s’apprête à succomber au pouvoir de la Force. Mais de quel côté la toute-puissante Walt Disney Company la fera-t-elle pencher7 Ce n’est pas encore très clair.. read more

Tokyo Disneyland – Complete Guide to Star Tours

Posted on by

English Language Brochure for the Star Tours ride at Disneyland Tokyo.

Tokyo Disneyland Offers Excitement of Star Wars in Popular Attraction

Ultimate thrill adventure from the creative forces of Disney and George Lucas

Star Tours, the ultimate thrill adventure from the creative forces of Disney and George Lucas, takes you into the exciting universe of the Star Wars film trilogy, George Lucas’s world-famous, space-fantasy adventure.

George Lucas has been a long-time Disney fan who grew up with Walt Disney’s classic films and made frequent visits to Disneyland in California. As he had always wanted to do a project with Disney, George Lucas was eager to cooperate in bringing his Star Wars characters to the Disney parks. read more

Star Watch

Posted on by
SFX 'Star Watch' feature on the romours surrounding Star Wars Episode VII

The June 2014 Issue of SFX Magazine reports on the latest flurry of rumors surrounding Star Wars Episode VII…

Tales from the dark side

After months of saying next to nothing, Disney and Lucasfilm have just confirmed that Episode VII will start shooting at Pinewood Studios in May. More excitingly, their release said “it has also been confirmed that Star Wars: Episode.VII is set about 30 years after the events of Return Of The Jedi, and will star a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces. No further details on casting or plot are available at this time.” read more

Will Disney Ever Release the original pre-Special Edition Star Wars Movies?

Posted on by

With the sale of Lucasfilm last year to Disney, came a new hope for a “proper” release of the original, original trilogy – the films generation X grew up watching over and over again. Unless there was some contractual clause we are not aware of (and there certainly could be), Disney does not have any of the emotional hang-ups or concerns about Lucas’ “original vision”, or about trying to tie the original films to the prequels that so concerned Lucas himself. More importantly, Disney has a history of re-releasing classics “for a limited time on Disney DVD and Blu-ray”, simply to make more money. They surely know that releasing a truly high quality Blu-ray of the Original unaltered Trilogy will sell at least a hundred thousand more copies of Star Wars, and could therefore cash in quickly by making a small, but very vocal, section of the Star Wars fan base (myself included) very happy. read more