Tag: the phantom menace

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New Star Tours to feature 3-D and podracing in 2011

So I guess the only question I have is… Why didn’t they do this back in 2001?!? (Waiting on better 3-D? Possible competition from Universal’s upcoming Harry Potter project?)

The DisneylandNews Twitter says: “Disney Parks is going to do things with “Star Tours” that have never been done before in theme park attractions.” I’m also hearing on Twitter that it won’t JUST be pod racing, but not from any of the official sources yet. The OC Register blog is now reporting:

In a press conference after the presentation, Rasulo said new destinations, like the one shown, would be part of the new Star Tours. Rasulo said the ride would undergo physical changes, but the simulator carriages would remain. Riders will don 3D glasses for the new experience.

ETA: More on StarWars.com and video of the presentation.

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The truth about Jar Jar Binks, or, George as an evil genius

What, messa worry?

Geekdad Matt Blum has proof that George Lucas is an evil genius. It makes as much sense as anything else these days:

My kids are pretty smart — I don’t like to brag, it’s just the truth. …So why, then, are they so drawn to a character that causes near-universal revulsion in those past puberty? Yes, exactly: Because George Lucas cleverly designed Jar Jar Binks so that kids would love him but adults would hate him. Why would he do that? Because it’s part of an evil scheme to take over the world, of course.

Of course! It’s so obvious!

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The fourth is with Spike TV this week

“Contrary to what you’ve just seen, war is neither glamorous nor fun. There are no winners; only losers. There are no good wars, with the following exceptions: the American Revolution, World War II, and the Star Wars Trilogy. If you’d like to learn more about war, there’s lots of books in your local library, many of them with cool gory pictures.”

I doubt this Bart Simpson quote is what they had in mind, but Spike TV is celebrating the ultimate result of the first with an airing of the third next weekend. Which is to say, look for a Star Wars movie to air each night leading up to July 4 – beginning tonight at 6pm with The Phantom Menace.

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The Star Wars prequels vs. The Matrix sequels

The Oregonian’s Shawn Levy ponders which highly anticipated set of -quels let viewers down the most. His conclusion is… Not really all that surprising, actually.

Well, with both trilogies complete and behind us, I’m not sure that those people would have been correct in the least. Lucas improved on quite a bit of “SWEP1” in the subsequent prequels, while the Wachowskis absolutely crash-landed “The Matrix” in their sequels to it. (Let’s leave off “Speed Racer,” shall we, so as not to be overly cruel….) Especially given a decade of reassessment, I’d call Lucas’ three-film enterprise by far the more successful.

(Via io9, where they are polling, and Star Wars is ‘winning.’ Frustrated childhood dreams rear their ugly heads again!)

And can I just say randomly that The Fifth Element beats them all in capturing the madcap cheesy fun aspect of Star Wars? Or will you stone me?

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MTV takes the saga out for Memorial weekend

IMAGE: Episode IV

In their ongoing quest to air anything but actual music, MTV will be showing all six Star Wars movies throughout the holiday weekend. (Hey, at least it’s not The Hills!) According to StarWars.com, it will go thusly:

  • Saturday, May 23: The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
  • Sunday, May 24: Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
  • Memorial Day, Monday, May 25: The Empires Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Check MTV’s schedule (in EST) or your local listings for times.

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Ten years of The Phantom Menace

Tuesday marks ten years of The Phantom Menace… Ten years! It seems like much longer… Or shorter, I suppose. I’m ‘celebrating’ by finally reading Darths & Droids, which is actually a lot more fascinating that I thought it would be. (Just got to the AOTC parts and it’s hilarious.) Those looking for a less time-consuming memory tweaker can enjoy Popcorn Monster’s Top 10 Memories of Anticipating The Phantom Menace.

Anyway, the question of the week, how did you see the movie?

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The fandom minute: TPM documentry, PT defense, AT-STs in the park, plus cake

gffa-docContinuing adventures in TPM nostalgia. Everyone’s talking about the documentary A Galaxy Far Far Away, which has a 10th anniversary edition out. (Hey, it was news to me!) The reviews are not all so good, though.

And on that note… Somewhere on the internet, someone is always defending the prequels.

Pro art: Colleen Doran shares the original sketch for her Anakin/Padme card from the Galaxy 4 set.

Gathering: A Geekdad spotted a Star Wars event in in London, Ontario a few weeks back.

There must be cake. Perhaps the most amazing AT-AT cake you’ve ever seen.

Fun fact: Darth Vader’s reveal to Luke is the most misquoted phrase in film.

What? I can’t believe GalacticBinder found even one, let alone ten Star Wars surfing crossovers.