I still DO like Star Wars - Page 22

Favorite:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qJELFPGIwv...troyer_web.jpg

Hehehe, yeah. When I was scrolling through them, that one struck me as well. IT HAS PRETTY GIRL!

So Family Guy: It's a Trap isn't half bad. The opening scroll says we didn't want to do this, but FOX threw a bunch of money our way, so we said yes. It shows. Quite a few chuckles, but only a couple of laughs. The animation is still top notch though.

One funny note, Lucasfilm sent a few notes on the amount of blood used, but I guess had no problem with the dozen or so f-bombs. Also, Anne Hathaway is listed in the credits, but I have no idea who she voiced.

Are you sure that isn't Admiral Motti?

Family Guy is herpes.

I like how The Clone Wars is a children's television show that is making me genuinely root for a future genocidal, child-killer and an army of clones that will slaughter a bunch of Jedi just because they were "following orders."

Just thought I'd chime in about the Sounds of Star Wars book I received as a gift from my girlfriend at Christmas.

I'd never normally buy or even pick up something like this as I always think these types of books with buttons to press are for kids and I always have the underlying feeling that Lucasfilm is trying to hawk more substandard shit with the SW logo slapped on - but I've got to say it's a really really fantastic book.

The sounds of the movies are something that I normally take for granted and whereas I know them by heart and can place them in the movies, the book actually deconstructs them and lets you know where each and every one came from - hardly any of the sounds were from libraries and most were made from scratch, tying in so many different elements.

Like I said, I'd never normally go for this book - the soundboard added to the side of the book looks a bit tacky and cheap and aimed at kids, but if you're slightly temped to get this then do so - it's brilliant. Theres a fair few behind the scenes/pre-production shots that I've never seen before and weren't included in the recent Making of Star Wars or Making of The Empire Strikes Back coffee table books that can out recently.

I'm only half way through the Star Wars section at the moment - biggest revelation so far? The Imperial spy that follows Ben & Luke in Mos Eisley - his insect-like voice was a highly modulated John Wayne soundbite!

Holy shit.

I don't want to even think about the case of carpal tunnel he got doing those.

<insert usual rant about preferring the other Star Wars logo>

Are those in the new Visions book? Sigh, guess I'll have to pick it up...

No, those are the new posters available from Mondo starting on New Year's Eve.

Ah yes, just backtracked the article. Tempting.

What's with the new rash of Star Wars posters all of a sudden?

Well, I don't know about other places but Austin's Mondo Tees got a license from Lucasfilm to have their artists tackle the Original Trilogy with their artwork. Some of the posters have been a below-scaffold view of the Luke/Vader father moment, R20D2 schematics, the inside of Vader's mask, these posters by Tyler Stout, and amazing posters by Olly Moss. They really are truly beautiful and have really invigorated my SW love (at least for the OT).

My theory is that boutique limited run posters for old movies have become hot these past few years, so, like anything, you gotta mix it with Star Wars. See: the Family Guy Star Wars specials. Or, even better, don't see them.

Which reminds me: I pray to Buddha-Christ that Community never does a Star Wars episode. No amount of inevitable ragging on the prequels would justify that lazy move.

Agreed. Although Annie or Britta in Leia slave girl outfit.........

Don't give in to the dark side!

After playing the demo for Bioware's MASS EFFECT 2 for PS3 it really showed how far they've come since the days of KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC.

It got me wondering why they're not doing THE OLD REPUBLIC MMO as a cross platform thing. From what I've seen the PS3/360 can easily handle the graphics end of it and they're being published by EA (who love to publish everything on every system) so it's kind of a weird move not to do a cross platform release. Especially with a brand with the name recognition that STAR WARS has.

Nothing against the FORCE UNLEASHED games but I really enjoy Bioware's take on the SW universe and I hope that the OLD REPUBLIC does well enough for them to put it on consoles.

Microsoft's insistence that any MMO that requires a monthly fee also require an Xbox Live Gold account keeps a lot of MMO games from hitting the console. It's why DC Universe Online is on the PS3 and not the 360.

Before I came home for Christmas, I bought that zombie book Death Troopers to read on the plane. I finished it, but I couldn't really get into it, even with Han Solo and Chewbacca showing up. I should've known better and went ahead and read the second part of the The Red Riding Quartet by David Peace -- 1977, the only one not adapted in the movie trilogy. I shall rectify that error on the plane ride back.

Previously, I've only read Kevin J. Anderson's Dark Apprentice back when it came out in paperback; my only memory of it is thinking -- rightly or not -- "I don't think Luke would act like this" and having no interest in finding out what happened before or after. I was tempted to try out Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, but I just don't think I'm cut out for Star Wars novels. I'd rather catch up on the classics or read a detective novel. I would like to try out Splinter of the Mind's Eye someday just for kicks though.

It won't change your mind, trust me.

You're probably right. It ain't at the top of my list.

Splinter is more an interesting artifact of a time when it was clear Lucas had no real idea where the story was going.

The Dark Horse comic adaptation of Splinter was nicely done. But yes, it's best to treat it in the same light as the Marvel Comics series-- for good or ill, they have a lot less canon to reckon with.

I've heard that Han Solo at Star's End is fun. May have to track down a copy someday.

That whole Brian Daley trilogy is a fun read.

Seconded. Daley did some outstanding stuff on those Han Solo stories as well as those entertaining NPR radio adaptations of the OT.

Kind of makes me wish Lucas had turned to Daley to reignite the literary side of Star Wars rather than Timothy Zahn. Daley really seemed to get it.

Wasn't Daley already dead by then?

Daley died in 1996 so who knows why Zahn got the gig instead. I have to say that Zahn's trilogy of books are still pretty entertaining after all these years.

Let's not forget the X-Wing series of books by Michael Stackpole. Corran Horn is one of my favorite EU characters. I've just started reading the NEW JEDI ORDER series (I know, I know) and Stackpole's DARK TIDE duology was pretty great. Horn's dual phase lightsaber is a thing of beauty.

The combination of Lando Calrissian and Rogue Squadron was what drove me away from Star Wars novels forever. Just absolute crap two steps above fan fiction.

The Daley and Zahn stuff was fun, though.

If anyone hasn't got it yet Amazon.co.uk are selling The Making of 'The Empire Strikes Back' for £15 (about $23) at the moment.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-%2522...3991501&sr=1-1

I almost pulled the trigger on that deal, but I held back. I think I'll wait for the paperback version of the book to come out. I'm in no rush to read it yet. That, and I have an irrational hatred of waiting for shipping. But thanks for the info anyway, Spike! It's a great deal.

You can pick up the Hon Solo Trilogy, it has it in there. Great books I'll love to see an animated series made from. I stopped reading the EU books after the whole Yuuzhan Vong series ended. Well, I picked up the first book in the Fate of the Jedi series, it seemed interesting and hell, I had a huge Borders gift card.

I've been kicking around the idea of re-reading the Zahn series again...

That Making of Empire book is a great deal! if they mail to the US it's a hell of a deal for anyone! I picked it up after getting a Borders 50% off coupon and it's a fun read.

Well, I ordered that MAKING OF EMPIRE book from Amazon UK because that's an awesome deal and after enjoying the hell out of the MAKING OF STAR WARS book I know I'm in for a good read.

The paperbacks of these are TERRIBLE, really. Its so much better to get the coffee table edition, you get about a fifth of the concept art and storyboards and photos of all sorts of interesting bits, early script meeting things. It really helps the narrative of the book, from those little scraps and hand written drafts to the full colour behind the scenes photos of the film. Waiting will make you regret it hugely. I think the first one of these are kicking around now for like 70 quid in the UK.

I was under the impression that the paperback versions are identical to the hardback versions, aside from the cover. The INDIANA JONES paperback definitely has sections that include all that stuff you mentioned.

I'm going by what I know about the 'making of star wars' paperback, which was just woeful in comparison. It has all the facts and the writing, but its just presented in such a dry and unfun format. Theres something really fun about these books. The way the information is laid out in the hardbacks, you sort of feel like you're literally digging through cinema history, discovering. But the paperbacks feel like the kind of companion textbooks you'd get in a film studies class. It just isn't as fun.

I have the paperback of Making of Star Wars and it seems fairly packed with pics and such, with nothing obviously missing.

Yep, mine has all the content as well.

I have STAR WARS in paperback and EMPIRE in hardback. The pages are the exact same size, the books are roughly the same thickness and the layout is generally the same. I'm pretty sure nothing is missing from the STAR WARS book. I don't think themykra has the proper paperback version; I think he has something else. Was there an abridged version released? Maybe somewhere outside the U.S. got a shorter version or something?

UPDATE: Okay, according to this guy on Amazon, the STAR WARS hardback does have 48 pages of bonus material over the paperback (which includes some extra storyboards and stuff). But apparently the rest of the 300+ page book is completely the same. I still feel like themykra is describing something else.

UPDATE #2: I was on the right track. Any chance you're from Britain, themykra? Because their paperback edition apparently sucks womp rat balls.

I am indeed and thats the version I was talking about. Apparently its sorted now, I looked on Amazon UK and the new paperback is really nice. I do have both hardbacks now though, but holy shit, what a disappointing arrival that paperback was when I got it.

At this point I have the paperback version of the first book and the hardcover of Empire. How I wish that I bought the first in hardcover.

The hardcover Empire book is now £10 on Amazon UK. Get on it.

But wouldn't shipping to the US and the currency exchange pretty much knock out that savings?

I just ordered a copy, and it came out to be $27.29 shipped. A 50% savings, so well worth it to me.

Wow, thought shipping would bite a lot more than that.

What is a good book with some of the original concept art? I always liked the look of those.

I was surprised as well. Shipping ended up being £6.98...almost the price of the book, but still a great deal for the hardcover.

The Art of ... books were good for that, but they're out of print. I see some used copies on Amazon for cheap, but of course, no idea of the condition. And they're going for collectible prices new -- starting at $79. Can't imagine eBay is much better.