'Star Wars' storm troopers set to invade Rose Parade Hundreds of costumed fans to march along side pair of movie-themed floats By DAVID PIERSON AND ADRIAN G. URIBARRI LOS ANGELES TIMES PASADENA - Jorge Candelas spent eight months perfecting the look of his Imperial biker scout uniform. He watched the "Star Wars" movies over and over, making sure the plastic armor on his uniform sat at just the right angle. He endured teasing from his father, who calls him his "8-year-old who never grew up." But on Thursday, the 30-year-old computer engineer from Durango, Mexico, was marching proud. He joined 200 fellow "Star Wars" fanatics at a Pasadena high school football field, attempting to march in unison on the commands of a U.S. Army Reserve colonel in preparation for the 118th Rose Parade. The scene was surreal - the troupe wore blue jeans, cargo shorts and t-shirts but rested elaborate masks of the Imperial forces on their heads. On the sidelines was the Darth Vader understudy, preparing in case the real one got sidelined. They are all members of the 501st Legion, an international organization of more than 3,000 people devoted to recreating scenes from the "Star Wars" movies. They painstakingly mold, sew and paint costumes to dress up as storm troopers, Royal Guards and other characters, mostly to realize childhood fantasies - but also to appear at charity events and Civil-War-style re-enactments. Brothers Piero and Giancarlo Bockos flew in from Verona, Italy, after they won judges over with a video of them marching and role-playing at a theme park. The brothers were worried that in this post-Sept. 11 age, getting their snow trooper and biker scout uniforms - with the white helmets and plastic armor - through customs might be a problem. So they informed airport officials. "We told them 'We're here for the Rose Parade. We're storm troopers.' They laughed," Piero said. "Customs wanted to see our helmets. One of them was a fan." "Star Wars" isn't as popular in Italy as in the United States, so the brothers said they feel at home in Pasadena among their fellow fanatics. "The most difficult thing was telling my boss I was traveling to the U.S. to dress in a plastic costume," said Giancarlo, 30, who wore a homemade black T-shirt Thursday with the famous silhouette of a woman leaning back popularized by truckers, but with a storm trooper helmet on her head. When the brothers were told by a reporter that their long hair, tattoos and menacing mustaches didn't make them look like typical "Star Wars" fans, they said, "Thank you." A friend from Italy, Luca Masciulo, said being invited to march in the Rose Parade was justice for everyone who laughed at his hobby. "It's our revenge," said Masciulo, 41. The group will march along the 5½-mile parade route alongside two "Star Wars" floats, a 176-member band from Grambling State University, eight flag bearers, eight dancers dressed as Twi'leks and a Jedi Knight drum leader. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas is the Grand Marshal for 2007, which marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the first "Star Wars" film. Executives at Lucasfilm, which produced the movies, selected the 200 marchers from among 700 videos submitted and paid for their travels to Pasadena. The Rose Parade has brought together "Star Wars" re-creators from decidedly different walks of life. Mark Fordham will march as Darth Vader, the "Star Wars" villain who dons an imposing all-black outfit. The Provo, Utah, police officer said he's been "Vadering" - changing his voice to sound like the character - for 10 years. Fordham's Darth Vader backup, Andrew Page, will be driven along the route in a van, ready to replace Fordham if he's injured or dehydrated. Page, who has Vader's signature heavy breathing as a cell phone ring tone, used to be a sand trooper, but was encouraged to try out Vader because of his height. It's definitely not the typical Rose Parade fare. But organizers said "Star Wars" has become such a cultural icon that they could not resist. The following is "across my own generation - I'm in my 60s - my kids in their 30s all the way down," said Tournament President Paul Holman. Pasadena police are taking a more serious stance, worrying about security headaches on parade day if throngs of fans bring light sabers, blasters and other "Star Wars" weapons into the stands (they are strictly forbidden).
STAR WARS?: ALLEGIANCE by Timothy Zahn Hardcover Never before has the incendiary mix of action, politics, and intrigue that has become Timothy Zahn's trademark, been mmore evident that in this new Star Wars epic. On the heels of the stunning events chronicled in Star Wars: A New Hope, the newly minted heroes of the Rebellion-fledgling Jedi Luke Skywalker, smuggler turned reluctant freedom-fighter Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa, a bold leader with a world to avenge-must face the harsh realities of the cataclysmic conflict into which they have so bravely plunged. From this point forward, legends will grow, treachery will abound, and lives will be irrevocably altered, in the long, hard fight to counter the fist of tyranny and restore hope to a galaxy too long in darkness. The destruction of the Death Star by the Rebel Alliance was a decisive blow against the Empire, but Palpatine and his monstrous enforcer, Darth Vader, are no less of a threat. The brutal extermination of Alderaan not only demonstrated the magnitude of their murderous power, but served as a chilling testament to their resolve to crush the Rebel uprising. Standing against them, Skywalker, Solo, and the Princess remain uncertain opponents. Luke is gifted and brave, but unschooled in the power he possesses. Han has doubts about waging someone else's war-and his contentiousness is one more burden for Leia to bear as she struggles to help keep the Rebellion alive. The three have been sent to mediate a dispute between Rebel Alliance factions in Shelsha Sector-agitating matters by forcing Han to deal not only with pirates, but with his more dreaded enemy, politics. At the same time, Mara Jade-all of eighteen and years away from her fateful meeting with Luke-is serving her evil master, Palpatine, well in her role as the Emperor's Hand: tracking suspected treachery in the Empire to what may be high places-while trying to stay out of Darth Vader's way. But the Rebels will prove to be only one of the Empire's concerns. For Imperial Stormtrooper Daric LaRone, his faith in the Empire shaken by the wanton destruction of Alderaan, will commit a sudden and violent act of defiance, and take four other enforcers with him, in a desperate bid to elude their masters' wrath. Each of these fateful actions, whether sanctioned, secret, or scandalous, will expose brutality and corruption, spur upheavals destined to shake the Empire to its core, and shape momentous events yet to come. Read an excerpt.
Animated Star Wars Series Update! Source: Rebelscum February 8, 2007 Mint in Box caught up with Industrial Light & Magic animation supervisor Rob Coleman, who talked about the upcoming animated "Star Wars" series. Rebelscum has posted a rundown of the highlights: -Currently 15 episodes in various stages of production -One, almost two episodes fully completed -Coleman to direct 5 of first 26 episodes -"They're looking fabulous, they're looking great..." -"Our stuff is incredible compared to what's out there..." -Some licensees have viewed footage and the reaction was very positive -Final assembly of shows is done at Skywalker Ranch You can view the video interview here!
I went with Return of the Jedi because Boba Fett(sp?) was my favorite character. Although he died pretty early in the movie, the Bounty Hunter is the baddest guy in the movie, at the end of Empire Strikes Back into Return of the Jedi... The "new" Star Wars I had no interest in at all...
HBO is awesome. In the past few weeks I have watched ep I, II, III, IV, & V at various times. They are all movies I will watch over and over again.
Star Wars exhibition opens its doors Last Updated: 6:10am BST 05/05/2007 Props used in the making of all six Star Wars films will be on display at County Hall in London in the first exhibition of its kind, which opens tomorrow. Actors in the original costumes for the Emperor and Darth Vader walk the corridors of County Hall Roger Christian, the set decorator who 30 years ago made all those familiar sci-fi figures out of scrap and bits of old aircraft engines will be on hand at the opening with the Oscar he won for the first of the films in 1977. "It is like being with old friends again," he said, looking paternally at the original R2-D2, whose birth from an old lampshade and some carefully crafted plywood obviously felt like only a moment ago. "George [Lucas, director and creator of the whole oeuvre] came to us with paintings of all the characters and we just had to make them. It wasn't easy." Few people remember now that R2-D2, C-3PO and all their colleagues were made in Britain, and fewer still recall the Oscar-winning team's return to these shores after scooping six Oscars, mostly for the technical work of the British team involved. advertisementAt the exhibition, would-be Luke Skywalkers will be invited to attend a Jedi training school with an opportunity to fight a Sith lord. Jedi masters will wander the halls to explain the themes of the various rooms, lit and decorated to resemble different planets from the series. The biggest exhibit will be a Naboo fighter, which had to be lifted into the halls of the former Greater London Council by a crane. The star of the show, however, is likely to be Yoda, the Jedi master serenely preserved in a glass bubble and looking like a real-life specimen waiting to be reanimated in a future age.
'Star Wars' tops Men's Most Watched Films list London, May 7 : George Lucas' 'Star Wars' trilogy is the movie that most men just love to watch over and over again, a poll has found. Coming in close on the heels of the epic battle between the Dark forces od Darth Vader and the Good forces of Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo and the Jedi Knights, is the Sigourney Weaver starrer Aliens, which came in at the second spot. Third spot on the Sky Movies Sci-fi & Horror Channel poll was the Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster 'The Terminator', reports the BBC. The top five was rounded off by 1982 cyberpunk, neo noir film directed by Ridley Scott 'Blade Runner' and the three-time Academy Award-winning 1972 crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola 'The Godfather'. The poll was conducted to tie in with the Sci-Fi London film festival. The list for the top five Mens' Most-Watched Films, as per Sky Movies is: 1. Star Wars trilogy 2. Aliens 3. The Terminator 4. Blade Runner 5. The Godfather
STAR WARS IS TURNING 30! Be on the lookout for more shows like the ones listed below that will be on the History Channel http://www.history.com/schedule.do?action=daily&date=20070528&time=1900&timeZone=EST&x=12&y=4 Monday May 28, 2007 08:00 PM Star Wars Tech: Take a look at the technology shown throughout the six Star Wars films and examine their viability through the eyes of cold hard science. Could a Death Star really be built? Can you build an army of clones? What is 3-D imaging, and where the can you get a Light Saber? Travel to a galaxy far, far away to answer all of these questions and more. TVPG 09:00 PM Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed: The story of Anakin Skywalker's descent into darkness and his son Luke's quest to conquer evil has spellbound audiences for 30 years. The reason for this is simple: the saga of Star Wars is universal and firmly rooted in the mythology and the political history of the entire planet. May 2007 will mark the 30th anniversary of George Lucas' space fantasy that grossed billions worldwide. For the first time take a profound look at the serious subtext behind Lucas' six film milestone. The influence of ancient mythology from Greek legends to King Arthur is visible; but also more recent historical influences, from the political rise of Napoleon to the machinations of Adolf Hitler can be seen.
