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I wonder if anyone will really mod this up as 'interesting'? :)
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The official Star Wars site has news on the upcoming Episode V, tentatively titled "The Empire Strikes Back". There's a still of the new movie, but these things are just so gosh darn hard to make out on these monochrome monitors.

Oh, also, Lucas announced that he WILL make episodes 7, 8, and 9. CNN has the story. Like a friend of mine found out, you should probably read ALL of this article before you start celebrating.

Some scenes were from previous Star Wars episodes, the blowing up of the "adobe-looking" wall was from Dune. You can check that out at sci-fi.com. The lightsaber scene was from Braveheart. I must admit they did a good job.

As a matter of fact at starwars.com they are actively requesting people to submit trailers. Just recently there was some legal dispute over this, which resulted in this.

Perhaps those of you who don't get it should look at what you have for an imagination and what you have for an attention span. This is a thinking person's movie, not a movie that will whack you over the head with "get it, moron!". Further, until you've made a movie and dealt with all the problems that come with one, ponder what you say. This was a spectacular thing that we're still talking about 32 years later.

The Technology. My bigger bitch is with the people here that bitch about the technology. Perhaps you've been standing behind the door, but it is you and I that make the technology happen. If we want video phones then we should get off our collective asses and code the damn things up.

And, if we want the things this movie guessed would happen, they're not beyond the edge of our technology. All it takes is a political will to do these things and it will happen. What happened to the US space program, post Apollo 11, can only be considered a travesty. There was a viable team of very smart, can-do people that attained a spectacular goal. What did we did to the team? We laid most of them off and said, 'thanks guys'. That NASA was capable of all sorts of cool things but instead the press and hence the country looked at Vietnam instead.

So if you want the BIG technology this vision of the future offers, argue for it with your government critters. They will listen if you will take the time to clearly state the case. They're actually there to do the right thing, if only they can figure out what that is.

--Multics

P.S. don't whine at me about the Space Shuttle either. They went from an Apollo command module (think row-boat) to a reusable space truck (think modern cargo ship) in one step. They're allowed to have made (and continue to make) some blunders along the way -- after all this is rocket science.

Here's the denouncement of said rumor; I've already sent Mr. Somerson an email asking him to correct his disinformation.
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hmm.. now if you have very good surveillance of the battle field (can we say satelight, ground camera's, radar, etc, etc) you could fly a bomber with no one way commands. Hell, if you can make a cruise missile that has a remote detonator, why can't you have an automated plane to do dogfights. Personally I'd just like to see a war plane controlled by a pilot on the ground in a simulator. Although I think a more interesting idea is a Battle Droid controlled with a halflife like interface from a remote location. Now that is war.

The trend these days seems to treat your fans as your enemies.

There's another silly unresearched comment inspired by the general /. attitude.

Lucas' baby has actually ran contests for the best fan sites and regularely features one of them on his site.

You people just keep on freakin' out when due red tape is applied.

And, if that isn't enough, fans can actually have their fan site hosted by Luca's!

(There goes more Karma)

That poor bastard...

Episode II: Tracers, the Final Frontier

But seriously, I think this is going to be better than Episode I for two reasons.

I KNOW it will for one reason.

The return of Boba Fett.

Hey, he's the only character in the Star Wars universe that *I* identify with...

this is strange though, when this story first ran on /., according to the cast list for episode 2, Kenny Baker was NOT on it. now after they announce that he will return, he is added? that's just odd. it could very well be that they didn't need kenny for the shooting in australia, but he will be shot at one or all of the other locations. either that, or lucas reads /.



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1. Release Part 1, an incomplete and unusable product for a reasonable price.
2. Release Part 2 a year later, which gets much closer to being an actual solution, charge a little bit more.
3. Release the final Part 3 four years later. Give the reader a solution to a problem they had not been thinking about for years. Make it contrived enough to be all things to all people, include parts 1 & 2, then charge 10 times as much as Part 1.

You might know someone named Bill, who happens to do that, but there's another guy named George that does the same thing...

Here it is. It's a funny choice for a mug shot, if you ask me....

Nate

> Bail Organa? Is it me or does that sound like some kind of warped pseudonym for pot?

The pic at the link does look a bit like a cloud of smoke.

Powerful stuff, I might add.

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Hahahaha... You just have to look at the character page for Bail Organa.

I mean, this was the only time we've seen the old chap.

Laugh yourself silly.

The full list of cast (which is quite full) can be found here.

Some interesting notes: Jimmy Smits (of NYPD Blue and others) has been cast as Senator Bail Organa, with more lines to follow in Episode III. Unle Owen and Aunt Beru, have also been cast, along with several bounty hunters. This piece details that one of the bounty hunters will be a woman -- and the absence of Boba Fett, who will be in Episode II, leads to the inevitable question: will Boba Fett be a woman (a la Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi?)

The full list of cast (which is quite full) can be found here.

Some interesting notes: Jimmy Smits (of NYPD Blue and others) has been cast as Senator Bail Organa, with more lines to follow in Episode III. Unle Owen and Aunt Beru, have also been cast, along with several bounty hunters. This piece details that one of the bounty hunters will be a woman -- and the absence of Boba Fett, who will be in Episode II, leads to the inevitable question: will Boba Fett be a woman (a la Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi?)

The full list of cast (which is quite full) can be found here.

Some interesting notes: Jimmy Smits (of NYPD Blue and others) has been cast as Senator Bail Organa, with more lines to follow in Episode III. Unle Owen and Aunt Beru, have also been cast, along with several bounty hunters. This piece details that one of the bounty hunters will be a woman -- and the absence of Boba Fett, who will be in Episode II, leads to the inevitable question: will Boba Fett be a woman (a la Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi?)

What I liked most about the pre-movie hype is that there wasn't much unlike that other movie that we all saw that didn't live up to it.

I've got one of those Intellimouse Explorers (the huge silver ones with the superfluous tail light and like three extra buttons; well, what the hell, here's a http://www.microsoft.com/Mouse/explorer.htm link) and sites that won't let you back out are an incredible annoyance. See, two of the buttons on there serve as Forward/Back (respectively) while browsing the web, and after about 20 minutes of using them, I was hooked. You wouldn't believe how simple (and remarkably intuitive) to navigate with your thumb. Now if I could just find a good use for those buttons in Half-Life... I mean, sure, it's easy enough to hold down the back button and select the page before the offending site, but that would require moving my cursor over six or so linear inches of desktop space. Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable? No? Ah well.

I've got one of those Intellimouse Explorers (the huge silver ones with the superfluous tail light and like three extra buttons; well, what the hell, here's a http://www.microsoft.com/Mouse/explorer.htm link) and sites that won't let you back out are an incredible annoyance. See, two of the buttons on there serve as Forward/Back (respectively) while browsing the web, and after about 20 minutes of using them, I was hooked. You wouldn't believe how simple (and remarkably intuitive) to navigate with your thumb. Now if I could just find a good use for those buttons in Half-Life... I mean, sure, it's easy enough to hold down the back button and select the page before the offending site, but that would require moving my cursor over six or so linear inches of desktop space. Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable? No? Ah well.

"... Aussie Leeanna Walsman, who'll take on the physically-demanding role of a new highly-killed bounty hunter."

I wonder if they're talking about Dengar? He looks highly-killed.

From the Yahoo article:
A casting team is also searching for pint-sized preschoolers needed to fill some extra shoes in Episode II--Ewoks or Jawas, anyone?

I wouldn't be placing any bets on Ewoks or Jawas, actually. According to this article on StarWars.com, they're looking for kids that look alike, twins, triplets, etc...

Now, they say it's to overcome the limited hours that children can work. I, however, have a different reading on it. Say it with me now, people... clones.
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What is wrong with xanim ?? It plays quicktime movies

Except any new ones. Remember Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings?

I have been told that Quicktime is a wonderful open standard. The reality is opposite; the sorenson codec, which is now the defacto standard, just won't decode on my linux box. Practically all new quicktime movies are unplayable. Any supposed openness of Quicktime has been de-commoditized by apple.

I sent a pretty-please email to apple a while back. So should everybody.

I would like to think that Lucas don't relase the PM DVD because he wants to fight a holy war against the stupid DVD encryption/zoning fiasco. But I know his reasons are more economic than anything else.

Well, of course. In fact, I would think that, of all people, Lucas would like the DVD "regions" and encryption. Scratch that. He loves it.

I remember reading a news bulletin from LucasFilm about the delay of the DVD release. Apart from the usual party line about "Lucas [wanting] to do something special with the DVD release," the bulletin (which was also a press release, AFAIK) contained a large paragraph denouncing video bootlegging of Episode 1. Wow. Lucas really has copyright and control on the brain, doesn't he?

I thought when I first saw Episode 1 I would have sworn that it would win best costume (or at least one oscar). I think the Matrix deserved all the oscars it got, and I think it should have been a nominee for best picture. Oh well. Also, all the awards that American Beauty won makes me want to go out and watch the movie. Did you know that it took the screenplay person 50 rewrites of the script to get it right. True.

Who mourns for Q? I do, he was a great actor and it was sad to see him go. (car accident)

If you don't want to order The Phantom Menace from Amazon, go to Starwars.com and order it there. I am sure there are plenty of other places to get it as well, but that's where I ordered mine.

Natalie is the troll's pregnant teenage daughter who's dating an unemployed dork distributing microserf warez. Quite sad.

Oh, Natalie Portman! Oh, you might want to check out the Star Wars site.

Of course Senator Palpatine == Emperor Palpatine == Darth Sidious. Just check out his entry at starwars.com.

Of course Senator Palpatine == Emperor Palpatine == Darth Sidious. Just check out his entry at starwars.com.

"For Lloyd, their management strategy has, thus far, paid off with a three picture deal with 20th Century Fox."

If Jake's going to be in all three movies, what other character would he be playing then?!

Seb.

Use www.starwars.com, Luuke!

A random thought: the folks that wanted to see it a bunch of days in a row are gonna be in for quite a few times. It only says that you can prepurchase tickets for the same day only (then I'll buy 3 tickets: 7pm, 9:30pm, 12am). Seeing it the next day will require waiting in a similarily long line as the day before...*sigh*. Wonder if work will let me off a few days in a row?

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If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed...

1) There's a well-known and very easy workaround for the annoyance dialog--set your system's clock ahead a year. Launch MoviePlayer. Click OK. Set your clock back to normal. QuickTime won't bother you again for a year. Adjust as necessary.

2) The Sorenson codec is simply awesome, and worth the free download to install QT3. It's better than any .mpg I've seen yet. The old "teaser trailer" is now available in Sorenson. Download it again and compare it to the old version. Trust me. It's worth it.

Why noy MPEG? Because Quicktime is available for Mac and Windows, which is pretty much the vast majority of desktop users. Also some pressuring by Mr. Jobs obviously played no small role. If you follow this link, you can see that Apple sent its boys over to help digitize the trailer. Who could the MPEG send? If Apple is going to put this work in, it should get some of the credit, right?

Anyway, whatddya think they cut this movie on, Windows boxes? Probably just repaying the favor to Apple for making such splendid computers.

Heh heh heh...

http://www.starwars.com/e pisode-i/news/1999/10/apple.html

"George Lucas wanted to create the highest quality Internet viewing experience for our new trailer, so we turned to QuickTime because it sets the standard for Internet video quality," said Ward. "Our collaboration with Apple is enabling us to push Internet video to its limits, capturing the experience of Episode I for Star Wars fans everywhere."
"Where can you view the new Star Wars trailer? Not on Real Networks' Real Player. Not on Microsoft's Media Player. It's only available on Apple's QuickTime," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. "When you care about quality, there is only one digital media platform capable of delivering today, and that's QuickTime."

There is some info about the trailer being in theatres at
starwars.com

Nothing, about it being on the web though...

Also, it would seem that the Wing Commander thing is a myth...

Ewan McGregor is Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Liam Neeson is listed as "A Venerable Jedi Knight"

More information (with no spoilers) can be found on the Star Wars: Episode I - Cast page.

Actually, This is Chewbacca. :-)

Microsoft will be using the Chewbacca defense. "Ladies and gentleman of the 'Supposed' jury, this is Chewbacca."

"Chewbacca's a wookie, he's from the planet keskik.

"Now why would a wookie who is 8 feet tall choose to live on the planet endor with a bunch of ewoks who are only 2 feet tall?

"That does not make sense!

"So you are probably asking yourself why am I , a highly paid attourney for a major software company talking about a wookie in from of a federal judge in a restrait of trade case? That does not make sense.

"So why would a simple homegrown sweet os like Windows, which is even now being threated by the big bad linux be simultaneously attacked by the government when it is clear that the Linux os holds the true monopoly. It does not make sense

"So , remember, ladies and gentlemen of the 'supposed' jury, if Chewbacca lives with penguins on endor you must aquit.

"Look at the happy monkey!