The failure of Disney’s "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser" is under the spotlight thanks to a viral video by YouTuber Jenny Nicholson.

On Friday, May 24, Lucas — who celebrated his 80th birthday on May 14 — appeared at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival ahead of his honorary Palme d'Or ceremony on May 25. During a conversation at the festival, the filmmaking icon spoke to how some critics of his massively successful space opera franchise have pointed out a perceived lack of diversity in the first six Star Wars films, which Lucas either directed or produced himself.

“They would say, ‘It’s all white men.' I'd say, it's not. Most of the people are aliens," he said. "And the idea is you’re supposed to accept people for what they are, whether they’re big and furry or whether they’re green and whatever — the idea is all people are equal.”

Lucas pointed out that in his Star Wars movies, the only characters ever shown on the wrong side of discrimination are robots and droids. “And that was a way of saying, people are always discriminating against something, and sooner or later, that’s what’s going to happen,” he added. “I mean, we’re already starting with AI, saying, ‘Well, we can’t trust those robots.' ”

The filmmaker said that he never shied from hiring actors of color for his Star Wars projects, between Billy Dee Williams' role as Lando Calrissian in the original trilogy and Samuel L. Jackson's Jedi character Mace Windu in the 2000s-era prequel movies.

He even pointed out that each trilogy features strong women leads for protagonists, between Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia and Natalie Portman's Padme Amidala. “Who do you think the heroes are in these stories? What do you think Princess Leia was? She’s the head of the rebellion," Lucas said. "She’s the one that’s taking this young kid who doesn’t know anything and this boisterous, I-know-everything guy who can’t do anything and trying to save the rebellion with these clowns."

Lucas reflected on his life in work in a wide-ranging chat in Cannes, where he received and honorary Palm d'Or.

The first reactions are in for The Acolyte, the newest Star Wars show on Disney Plus – and viewers are loving the series' dark, murder mystery vibes and "Force-fu" fight scenes.

"Star Wars: #TheAcolyte is a DREAM for fans of The High Republic era and a fresh experience for everyone else. 4 eps in and it’s taking its time layering in the dark mystery. RIVETING fight choreography and SUPERB performances from Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae. I’m diggin it," said one fan.

Others also praised the fight scenes, particularly the "Force-fu," which will see characters engage in hand-to-hand martial arts rather than reaching for their lightsabers. "Star Wars: #TheAcolyte is filled with mystery and darkness that delves deep into new and diverse depths of the galaxy. I’ve seen 4 eps and dig the sinister story it’s steadily setting up. BIG potential in this era. Carrie-Anne Moss with a lightsaber doing Force-Fu is PERFECTION," wrote one viewer.

"#TheAcolyte is a blend of murder mystery with Star Wars charm. 4 episodes in, and it’s clear that this new timeline will add to the lore of the galaxy in BIG ways. The Kung Fu force fighting is MAGICAL! JJ as Sol is the COOLEST Jedi since QUI GON! Can’t wait to see where it goes," agreed another.

Audiences have also made comparisons to other titles, from fellow Star Wars series Andor to some more unlikely parallels, which have done nothing but raise our expectations. "THE ACOLYTE Eps 1-4 are superb. A captivating murder mystery that evokes the detective tales of Twin Peaks & Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Mature like Andor while fully embracing & thematically connecting to the prequels. Seeing the High Republic in live-action does not disappoint," a viewer tweeted.

"#TheAcolyte is the force-sensitive version of Andor. The cast is stellar, the writing of each episode is jam packed. Practical sets and amazing costumes, as well as sfx work make every location feel lived in, while having an emotional throughline to keep it focused," wrote another.

Found in my old bookmarks. Some really cool stuff in here.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is historically significant for many reasons: it was the first Star Wars movie in nearly 16 years, the last Star Wars movie shot on film, and a polarizing, pulpy entry in the storied space fantasy franchise. It debuted on May 19, 1999, 25 years ago almost to the day, and earned over $1 billion at the box office, despite mostly mediocre reviews.

Its legacy is an interesting one: One of its characters, Jar-Jar Binks, was so detested that the actor who portrayed him, Ahmed Best, faced what he told The Hollywood Reporter was “the first textbook case of cyberbullying.” Several racially insensitive aliens featured in the film remain a mark on the series to this day. The dialogue is weak and often incredibly grating.

Yet its late-stage lightsaber battle is the stuff of legends, its production and costume design is intricate and beautiful, and the infamous podrace scene is exhilarating. It is a Star Wars movie full of contradictions, so when my partner asked if I wanted to go see The Phantom Menace at our local Alamo Drafthouse, I jumped at the chance.

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But despite all that is cringe and problematic in The Phantom Menace, watching it in theaters instilled in me a newfound sense of respect for the film.

In a recent Acolyte preview clip, we see assassin Mae (Amandla Stenberg) face off against Jedi Master Indara (Carrie-Ann Moss). While Indara resists taking out her saber until her life is threatened, Mae’s daggers and Force skills are a problem she can’t ignore. Just what makes Mae such an even match? The secret may actually lie in the daggers themselves.

In the now non-canon era of the Old Republic, millennia before the events of the Star Wars movies, Sith often fought with bladed weapons over sabers. These weren’t just any blades, but Sith swords imbued with Dark Side energy. They were developed by the ancient Sith (the species, not the Dark Side users) and were later adopted by the Jedi exiles who would become the Sith (the Dark Side users, not the species) and incorporate lightsaber combat elements in their use.

Sith blades occasionally popped up in the old canon, especially in the Old Republic era, but they soon fell out of favor over the more powerful (and more iconic) lightsabers. However, they’re quite powerful in their own right: because of the Force powers involved, Sith swords can fend off lightsabers and deflect blaster bolts, just like Beskar. And when attacked with Force lightning, these blades can store the electric energy and transfer it with a blow.

While Sith swords are usually larger, often ceremonial weapons, there is precedence for Sith daggers. Kowakian monkey-lizard Dark Jedi Picaroon C. Boodle from the video game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II used a Sith dagger to fit his diminutive nature. Yes, that is a real character.

Could Mae’s dagger be imbued with Sith energy? There has been an effort to include more alternatives to lightsabers in modern-day canon; Ahsoka introduced the ominous green Blade of Talzin, given to Morgan Elsbeth by the Great Mothers of the Nightsisters. While not technically a Sith sword, as it’s imbued with a different kind of magic, there’s definitely room for more evil magic weaponry in the Star Wars universe.

Luke Skywalker had a weird wife named Mara Jade who was a femme fatal ex-Sith assassin with a purple lightsaber. Chewbacca died at the age of 225 years old when Star Wars' Aldi brand Borg dropped a moon on him. The Death Star plans were not stolen by a ragtag bunch of rebel soldiers that included beloved martial arts leading man Donnie Yen, but rather a dadish guy in a Henley who looks like he's heading to the last farmer's market of the season on a brisk Sunday in the fall.

Yes, the old Starr Wars Expanded Universe was a bit of an odd duck, and you can maybe see why Disney shunted it to the side in favor of a new continuity. All the same, that astounding (non) canon of books, comics, and especially games still has a stranglehold on my psyche, and it's always heartening to see its more funky outgrowths still get some love. Enter Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith Remastered by a modding team led by General Tantor on ModDB, which recently got a big 3.0 update

For many Star Wars faithful, bringing up the canned Boba Fett 1313 title instantly evokes some painful memories. The game, which was set to start the beloved bounty hunter from the original movie trilogy, was revealed over a decade ago but was canceled quite soon after its reveal, leaving fans of the franchise to wallow and think what if. Now, a new Starfield mod allows players to carry out their dreams of exploring space as the famed bounty hunter, along with his infamous pistol.

However, the best part about Starfield continues to be its hyper-dedicated modding community. Crozzbow uploaded a mod for Starfield, adding arguably the most beloved Star Wars character, Boba Fett, with his armor based on a canceled LucasArts and Disney collaboration.

There’s no doubt that Starfield has experienced one of the more rocky launches for Bethesda Game Studios. However fans have felt about the space game, debating its heavily debated story and RPG elements, Starfield’s public perception has been on the rise recently. The RPG got its biggest patch yet, improving performance and adding a few gameplay updates like planetary maps.

Boba Fett 1313 was initially revealed at E3 2013 when in-person gaming events were all the rage. A trailer for the game dropped, making die-hards of the franchise absolutely lose their minds that Boba Fett was finally getting his (at the time) first stand-alone project. Sadly, the game never saw the light of day and was canceled by the involved parties soon after. However, that hasn’t stopped Crozzbow from fulfilling their dream of roaming space as Boba.

Their mod, available here, adds Boba Fett’s 1313 armor, helmet, jetpack, side cape, long cape, and custom hat, and, of course, his famous blaster weapon can be obtained through the Crimson Fleet questline. The high-quality details of each piece of armor are genuinely incredible and clearly took a long time to polish up.

To this day, nothing makes old-school Star Wars fans angrier than midi-chlorians, which George Lucas added to The Phantom Menace to retroactively (and very disappointingly) explain how The Force works. They made for a terrible addition to our favorite fictional galaxy far, far away, but what most fans don’t realize is that the midi-chlorians (sort of) exist in real life. Back in 2006, scientist and Star Wars nerd Nate Lo discovered a new species of bacteria living inside mitochondria, and he named this new discovery Midichloria mitochondrii in honor of George Lucas and his prequel films.

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Mixing existing scientific knowledge with his own theories, the Star Wars creator once said that “Midi-chlorians are a loose depiction of mitochondria. They probably had something, which will come out someday, to do with the beginnings of life and how one cell decided to become two cells with a little help from this other little creature who came in, without whom life couldn’t exist.”

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With that science lesson out of the way (thank the Maker!), we can get back to the strange way that midi-chlorians kind of became real. In 2006, the researcher Nate Lo discovered that there was a heretofore unknown bacteria living inside mitochondria.

Given the existing connection between mitochondria and The Force, the researcher who discovered this new bacteria decided to name it Midichloria mitochondrii in honor of what George Lucas had created.

If you were curious, this wasn’t something that he unilaterally decided to do. Instead, Lo reached out to Lucas and asked for special permission to name this new discovery after the midi-chlorians. The Star Wars creator granted permission and effectively made his fictional creation that much closer to a reality.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/15552048

The linked video (cinemastix) runs through the ideas (which others had come up with) and how they're actually applicable to Star Wars because Lucas said they were actually more like silent films, based more on their music and visuals than dialogue.

Now no one needs to be told the dialogue in Star Wars isn't the main attraction ... but I'd never thought about them as silent films let alone actually watching them that way. I'd kinda be into trying that out, at least maybe for ESB.

And then there's the idea of a Black and White samurai version of the prequels! Which is a thing (with Japanese dub) ... and well that actually looks legit!

The director of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has said a mural dedicated to him and the film in his hometown is "better than an Oscar".

Gareth Edwards, who hails from Nuneaton, FaceTimed from Los Angeles with the two artists who were making the mural, after his mother spotted it being created.

Nathan Parker, who co-created the mural with an artist called Si W, told the BBC that Edwards' mother, Yvonne, had only seen the mural due to an evacuation caused by a bomb threat in the town centre.

"She saw stormtroopers appearing on the wall so she walked over and introduced herself," Mr Parker said.

"We wanted to do it to celebrate Star Wars Day - May 4 is traditionally Star Wars Day - so we thought we'd paint a nice wall to celebrate the fact that Gareth comes from Nuneaton."

Yvonne had tried to FaceTime her son when she first saw the mural on 3 May, but when he did not answer the phone, she returned on Star Wars Day itself so Mr Edwards could see the mural over FaceTime and speak to the artists.

"He was really pleased with what we'd done so it was really nice, it really made our day," Mr Parker said.

"His friends had told him it was better than getting an award, but he looked at the phone and said that's better than getting an Oscar. He was incredibly humble."

Yvonne also gave the two artists signed copies of the concept art books for the film Rogue One.

Maybe there are a few users here that don't know about this fan-made gem yet. I've seen it plenty of times and never grow tired of it. I always thought Darth Maul was pretty cool.

The original trilogy of Star Wars films, spearheaded by George Lucas were critical and commercial successes. However, in 1997 Lucas released the “Special Edition” of the films for the trilogy’s 20th anniversary, which featured extensive changes to the original theatrical cuts.

The original cuts have since become scarce. However, a group of Star Wars fans, known as Team Negative One have reportedly almost completely digitally restored the original cuts in 4K using 35-millimeter prints of the original trilogy.

The project is headed by Robert Williams, who along with his team have spent almost a decade restoring the films.

“They’re not really upset that he made the changes, because some of them are pretty cool and actually make the films better. They’re really upset that he didn’t also release the original version alongside it. Just put two discs in the box. We’d have been happy.”

Williams made the above statement to The New York Times, explaining the motivation behind preserving the original cuts of the trilogy. However, the publication also noted that Team Negative One’s activities were not authorized as they worked with film reels meant to be destroyed or returned. Hence, the legality of Team Negative One’s restored versions of the original trilogy is questionable.

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Given Lucas’ strong feelings about the Special Editions, it is evident that the filmmaker would be unhappy with fans trying to preserve the original cuts, which he referred to as “rough drafts” in the past.

According to reports, Lucas allegedly voiced his disappointment with fans demanding a high-resolution release of the original cuts in the following words:

“Grow up. These are my movies, not yours.”

Similarly, when the National Film Registry aimed to preserve 1977’s Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope), Lucas reportedly refused to provide them with a copy of the original theatrical release.

Lucas stated that he would no longer authorize the original version’s release, reaffirming that he did not intend for the audience to view the theatrical cuts. After Disney acquired the franchise, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy also stated that Lucas’s changes to the theatrical cuts would remain untouched. Hence, it is safe to say that Lucas would certainly be unhappy with fans still trying to preserve the original cuts.

Blessed hoped to be cast in the original trilogy, but suspects his iconic role in the similarly space- operatic Flash Gordon in 1980 may have gotten in the way. It wasn’t until the late ’90s, with The Phantom Menace entering pre-production, that he finally secured a meeting with George Lucas. “They were keen for me to be in it. They wanted me to be a Jedi called Bibbles,” he says, misremembering the character Sio Bibble, the governor of Naboo, who would ultimately be played by Oliver Ford Davies. It was obvious to all that Blessed’s famously larger-than-life persona could not be contained by the softly spoken administrator. “George said, ‘You’re not remotely right for Bibbles, Brian. You’ve got too much power. You’ve got too much energy.’”

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It was not until filming began, however, that the actor himself established Boss Nass’ idiosyncrasies. During the scene in which the character finally agrees to join the fight with Queen Amidala and the Jedi, Lucas — apparently concerned the moment was “a bit boring” — asked the actor to jazz it up. “George said, ‘Can you do something for me, Brian? Can you do something totally original? A special effect of some kind?’ ‘Yeah, George!’ I remember going [speaking at an incredible volume], ‘MEEEEESAH LIKA DISS!’ And I did this huge, wonderful wobble with my face. George said, ‘You mad bastard, Brian! That’s exactly what I want!’” During the filming of this scene, Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson reportedly struggled to keep straight faces.

A self-described “expert on amphibians”, Blessed drew much of his inspiration for this distinctly alien performance from nature. “I do a tremendous amount of work on various crocodiles,” he says, entirely seriously. “And so therefore, I studied certain reactions.” He also entered into “a study about noises that I felt dinosaurs would make”. As he summarises, as succinctly as he is able to, “You can’t just turn up there and just do a voice. That’s bollocks!”

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After Flash Gordon, Boss Nass remains the role most revered by his fans. There is some similarity, he explains. “The energy that I use as Vultan in Flash Gordon, I bring very much to The Phantom Menace. Not sitting there on your arse and just being meditative and quiet and still. NO! I bring great energy to the whole fucking thing. I love it. I just love science- fiction.” Or, as Boss Nass would say: heesa lika diss.