If you missed Force Friday last week, don’t worry. That was just the big reveal but there’s still time to get all of the awesome new merchandise. Last week, Disney unveiled toys from the upcoming film in various store locations around the world to coincide with Force Friday, when consumers can purchase the items. We headed out to our local WalMart where we saw some fun items, including a Darth Vader bigger than my 3-year-old and we also picked up some posters for Droid Tales. Check out these goodies from LEGO: One of the most iconic starships of the Star Wars saga is back, and it’s leaner and meaner than ever before! Complete… Posted by LEGO on Thursday, September 3, 2015 There’s also some cool stuff from Hot Wheels: #HotWheelsForceFriday gets an early start with the reveal of Kylo Ren’s sleek, ominous race car and the lively & loyal hot rod of…
star wars
The New Star Wars Canon, Explained
![](https://swtorstrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/star-wars-canon.png)
When Disney took over LucasFilm and decided to make another Star Wars movie, all of the Expanded Universe works became “un-canon.” They would no longer be recognized in the official Star Wars universe. OuterPlaces has released an infographic that puts all of the canon works in an easy-to-read image. Check it out here, or view the original on OuterPlaces: With all of the books and comics between the Battle of Endor and The Force Awakens, it looks like we’re going to get a very clear picture of what happened after the destruction of the second Death Star before the new movie comes out. It’s also cool to see the two new Star Wars games coming out this year on the infographic as well, suggesting that we might actually learn more about the universe in those games. If you want to get up-to-speed on the Star Wars universe, you’re going to have a lot of…
Jar Jar Binks Inspired by Goofy, According to George Lucas
Jar Jar Binks just might be one of the most hated Star Wars characters ever. Honestly, I’m not sure why. I really didn’t think he was that bad. Unlike many who seem to have been annoyed greatly by the character, I found him a bit charming. (I know, I know… don’t shoot me.) When George Lucas was making Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), he famously said, “Jar Jar’s the key to all this, if we get Jar Jar working. ‘Cause he’s a funnier character than we’ve ever had in the movies.” That really didn’t work out so well for him since Binks ended up becoming one of the most hated movie characters ever. That doesn’t seem to sway Lucas very much, as he still loves Jar Jar At the recent Disney D3 Expo, Lucas explained how he feels about Binks, why he loves the character and how he was inspired by…
President of Lucasfilm talks Han Solo Movie
Are you worried about the upcoming Han Solo spinoff that is planned as a standalone film? Many fans are concerned that they will ruin one of the best characters from Star Wars ever. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy talked a great deal about the spinoff (still untitled) and what we can expect. It’s written by Jon and Lawrence Kasdan, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and scheduled for release May 25, 2018. So we have quite awhile to wait for it but that doesn’t stop people from being interested in it. A big question from the start is in regards to the timeline. How old will Solo be in this film? “He’ll definitely be probably in the high teens, low 20s,” Kennedy said to the magazine. “We’re not introducing you to a 10-year-old Han Solo.” That does make sense and we’ll have to wait awhile to know…
Cover Girl Star Wars Campaign
With the upcoming movie, we can expect to see a lot more Star Wars merchandise but one thing you probably don’t think about when you think Star Wars is makeup. Cover Girl is out to change all of that. They have a new, exclusive, limited-edition Star Wars collection that features shiny, metallic lipsticks, deep nail polishes and more. Allure tells us more about the special edition makeup that releases in early September: A long time ago, in a galaxy not so far, far away, a movie was made that inspired an epic hairstyle—the Princess Leia. Two trilogies and almost four decades later, we’re still getting beauty inspo from the women of Star Wars. In celebration of the new film The Force Awakens, out this December, CoverGirl is releasing a limited-edition collection of makeup that begs the question: Are you on the light side or the dark side? Check out the whole collection…
Michael Jackson Wanted to Play Jar Jar Binks in ‘Star Wars’
Michael Jackson wanted to play the Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks, however George Lucas denied him the part. His reason for denying the pop star was because he “wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like ‘Thriller’”. Michael Jackson was known as the “King of Pop” and he reportedly told George Lucas that he wanted to play the goofy Gungan Jar Jar Binks, which is one of the most despised characters in film history. The character appeared in the 1999 blockbuster hit, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menance. Ahmed Best voiced and provided the motion capture for Jar Jar Binks’ character, explained the interest that Michael Jackson had during an interview with Vice. “Me, Natalie Portman and George [Lucas]’s kids – we were at Wembley arena at Michael Jackson’s concert,” Best said. “We were taken backstage, and we met Michael. There was Michael and Lisa Marie [Presley]….
Star Wars as 17th-century Japanese Prints
Maybe it’s because I am such a huge fan of art and Star Wars (of course) but I really love this project I came across from a Japanese crowdfunding site, Makuake. The project is for traditional woodblock prints of the original George Lucas Star Wars characters and the project far exceeded its goal. While they do not come cheap (a single print costs 54,000 yen/$434, with a set of three going for 162,000 yen/$1,303) they are worth every penny. The craftsmanship, art and patience that goes into each beautiful piece is amazing. Most Star Wars fans will know that George Lucas was influenced by the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and that Kurosawa’s 1958 period adventure The Hidden Fortress often cited as a direct inspiration for Lucas’ first Star Wars film so it makes sense that Star Wars could then be so easily and beautiful adapted to its Japanese roots. These are…
STAR WARS History & Lore – THE GREAT GALACTIC WAR (Part 1)
This is a Part 1 of a 3 episodes miniseries by Vulkk, explaining everything there is to know about The Great Galactic War, one of the most significant events in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The war is seriously embedded also into Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). For the narrations Jason or as everyone knows him Teo from OotiniCast has made yet another appearance on a Lore video by Vulkk to do the narrations. Here’s the intro in a written form. The rest you can hear and see in the video, attached in the bottom. The Great Galactic War, known as the Great War during the conflict and in the years afterward, was a war between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic between 3681 BBY and 3653 BBY, lasting for a total of 28 years. Also known as the Republic–Sith War, the conflict was ultimately the culmination of a…
Star Wars: The Holiday Special Review
The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television film set in the Star Wars galaxy. If you have never heard of it, don’t worry. You are not alone. This “holiday special” was (probably deliberately) buried after it aired back in ’78 and finding a copy of it today is no easy task. While some may call it a “Christmas special”, it was actually about the Wookiee holiday of Life Day. The premise was good but the actual execution… well, we will leave you to form your own opinions on it but since it’s not so easy to just see the film, I want to share with you a great review done by the Nostalgia Critic. If you’re not familiar with NC, well… that’s just an additional treat for you. Check out the video to see all you need to know about this holiday special and find some movie…
Star Wars is ‘Unbelievably Racist’, Says Hoaxer on BBC Radio
We’ve heard and reported on a lot of crazy things about Star Wars and funny enough, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard it called racist. However, this IS the funniest way we’ve ever heard it called racist, among other things. BBC World News explains: The BBC fell victim to a hoaxer in a phone-in discussion of the new Star Warsmovie, describing the films as “rooted in homophobia and casual racist stereotypes” in which “the only female ends up in a space bikini chained to a horny space slug”. The World Service item on its discussion show, World Have Your Say, took an unexpected turn after it invited Godfrey Elfwick to talk about Star Wars’ return after a producer spotted him talking about the film on Twitter. Godfrey tweets: I’ve never actually seen #StarWars but the fact that the bad guy was all black and ate watermelons was unbelievably racist…
Star Wars Movies Release on iTunes and other Digitial Platforms this Week
Great news for fans who have been waiting for the Star Wars movies to finally release on digital platforms. They’re coming to iTunes as well as Xbox and Playstation this Friday. There are also supposed to be some new special features for each movie with these new digital releases. For example, the theatrical cut of the podrace from The Phantom Menace is available. The first six movies will all be available on iTunes for $19.99 each starting on Friday, April 10th. You can only buy them, and they’re the same editions as on the Blu-ray versions of the movies. They are also coming to Xbox and the Playstation. CinemaBlend explains: Sony kept its Star Wars announcement brief, limited to a single tweet that simply reads: “All six Star Wars films are coming to PlayStation Video April 10! You’re overdue for a marathon anyway.” The folks over in the Xbox camp, however,…
Japanese Star Wars Toys: Darth Vader and Boba Fett Look Awesome
Square Enix, the Japanese video game publisher behind the Final Fantasy series, has developed a range of Star Wars toys. Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and the generic Imperial stormtrooper look amazing! They’ve been given a bit of a makeover and have been shrunk down to action figure size. We have to admit, they look pretty darn fierce! They’ve been released as “Variant Playarts” models and they look awesome. Realistic, detailed… they have everything you would want. They are quite impressive. The figures are retailing at around $108 which honestly is a good deal for the impressive amount of detail that has gone into them. TheVerge tells us more: Boba Fett and the stormtrooper are set to be released in July, but Vader comes earlier, hitting otaku shop shelves in May. The Variants might be called “Playarts,” but they’re not toys so much as expensive collector’s editions — the detailed figures are set to retail for 12,960…
New Star Wars comic is set to fill the gap between Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Return of the Jedi.
A new comic book series by Marvel is going to make Star Wars fans very happy. This fall Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens – Shattered Empire is set to release to fill the gap between Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Return of the Jedi. The news came not long ago on StarWars.com, however, there are not many more details for fans to read right now. The first image has been released and it was illustrated by Phil Noto. The image shows festive heroes in the Rebel Alliance during the Ewok celebration that closed off the original trilogy. We don’t know when more information will be released on Shattered Empire but you do need to know that the Star Wars Celebration is less than a month away. StarWars.com is calling Shattered Empire Marvel’s very first entry into Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Could this mean that…
Release Dates for Rogue One and Episode VIII Revealed
Disney CEO Bob Iger addressed a shareholder meeting this past Thursday and shared some interesting news with those invited. First, the news about the first standalone film (some of which we already knew): Titled Rogue One Planned release date: 16 December, 2016 Directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) Written by Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz) Includes Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) Idea for the story from John Knoll, award-winning visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic Knoll will also executive produce alongside Simon Emanuel (The Dark Knights Rises, Fast & Furious 6) Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds), Kathleen Kennedy, and Tony To (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) will produce John Swartz (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will co-produce This is a lot of information, and some big names that are involved. Although the filming hasn’t even started—and won’t until this summer—there’s plenty to be excited…
Star Wars Humble Bundle is a Deal You Don’t Want to Miss
I will admit, I am a big fan of Humble Bundle. Not only have I used it to get some pretty sweet deals on games for myself, but we also use it often in a gaming community I am part of to get great game prizes for our members. It’s a good idea for gifts, too. Humble Bundle works by allowing you to choose your price. The number of games you get from a bundle is based around the average price donated so far. If you get in early, you can usually get the lowest pricing. Of course, if you really like what they’re doing and you want to support the developers, Humble Bundle and charity, you can donate more. So you name your price and you can pay with credit card or Paypal and you get the games included in that bundle. I like that nearly all the games…
Star Wars TV: A tribute to Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie is a name that doesn’t need any introduction to any Star Wars (SW) fans. He was the concept artist responsible for designing beloved characters of the franchise, such as Darth Vader, Chewbacca, C3-PO and R2D2. In addition, he designed a lot of Star Wars concept paintings like the arrival of R2D2 and C3PO on Tatooine. Aside from Star Wars, McQuarrie has worked on E.T, Close Encounters of the 3rd kind, Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future and Star Trek IV. To celebrate his contributions to Star Wars, the official SW website has posted an extremely interesting 40 minute tribute on Ralph McQuarrie’s that’s definitely worth of your attention.
Did the Force Awakens trailer reveal its link with Star Wars Rebels?
Like all Star Wars fans we watched in amazement today the new teaser trailer for Star Wars the Force Awakens. The 88 second trailer offered a first glimpse on what J.J.Abrams has in store for the beloved franchise. Reading through the comments posted in various social media, it appears that the general reaction is very positive while the excitement is certainly very high. The trailer lit up twitter, reddit,facebook and many other social media the moment it was posted online. Dissecting the trailer one can find a lot of hints that were rumored to be true in the past but obviously there was no official confirmation. One that really got my attention however, was during the very first scene of the trailer. Spoilers below from Star Wars Rebels and the teaser trailer if you haven’t seen it. The trailer opens up with a view of a desert which one would assume that’s…
Rediscovering Boba Fett’s coolness in Star Wars Episode V
Boba Fett is one of the most talked about and beloved characters of the Star Wars universe. Since his appearance in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, he has fascinated fans with his persona and overall coolness factor. Youtube user “Cyborgcommando” recently discovered an additional element that adds to Boba’s mythos; an ‘easter egg” that was hiding in plain sight for many years and very few people have noticed.
10 hours of walking in New York as Princess Leia
If you’re following the news, then one of the stories that probably caught your eye is the video of a woman walking the streets of New York and getting harassed by random people. The video was well-made, got the point across and went viral pretty fast. It didn’t take long before the story was picked up by a number of different media outlets. At the same time, the before-mentioned effort also gave genesis to a number of different efforts with lighter context as compared to the original such as “10 hours of walking in NY as a Jets fan” and others. On top of that a Star Wars version recently surfaced titled “10 hours of walking in NY as Princess Leia” , showing what it’s like walking NY as Princess Leia.
Rumor control: Bioware working on a separate Star Wars title featuring Chewbacca?
JunkieMonkeys.com posted a very interesting story about Bioware recently. As you might remember, Electronic Arts announced earlier this year that it had acquired the rights to developing Star Wars games. EA has also announced the developers working on these titles – Visceral (Developers of Dead Space series), DICE (developer of Battlefield series) and Bioware. While we have heard a lot about DICE’s efforts on Star Wars Battlefront, very little information has been released about Bioware’s separate title….until now. The good people of Junkiemonkey noticed the Craigslist ad posted below: We are a talent search team partnering with Bioware games and recruiting video game talent for new Star Wars game launching next year! We are inquiring for a Chewbacca growl and grunts for a small video game role. Offering $150 for 30 minutes of your time. Please call show contact info and leave your name, number and your best impersonation of Chewbacca. We will…
Star Wars Episode VII gets a title and more plot rumors emerge
The people behind the official Twitter account of Star Wars had a surprise for fans today; they announced that “The Force Awakens” is the title of Star Wars Episode VII. In addition, they revealed that the J.J.Abrams crew has finished principal photography. While the title doesn’t reveal much, a lot of websites are already speculating about the story behind Episode VII. – Possible Spoiler alert- According to Joblo.com : I’m told that in the back story for the film, Luke Skywalker does something amazing with the Force. He’s really powerful, more of “wizard than lightsaber wielding warrior.” Basically, Luke Skywalker has a “Force Unleashed” moment and realizes he might be bad for the universe. The aftermath of that event is difficult for Luke. Luke Skywalker has become the most powerful Jedi ever, but he doesn’t believe he’s the wisest. He doesn’t want to make the mistake his father made by thinking…
Read or listen to a excerpt from “Star Wars: Tarkin” by James Luceno
StarWars.com is offering a unique opportunity for all fans of Star Wars science fiction books. The website is previewing the second book released since Disney took over Lucas’ franchise, titled “Tarkin” in an audiobook form. The latest publication is set to be released today (November 4,2014) so if you’re on the fence about it you can either listen or read a 50 page excerpt that was also made available. The book’s back cover reads: He’s the scion of an honorable and revered family. A dedicated soldier and distinguished legislator. Loyal proponent of the Republic and trusted ally of the Jedi Order. Groomed by the ruthless politician and Sith Lord who would be Emperor, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin rises through the Imperial ranks, enforcing his authority ever more mercilessly . . . and zealously pursuing his destiny as the architect of absolute dominion. Rule through the fear of force rather than force itself, he advises…
Star Wars: Galactic Defence is now available for iOS, Android and Amazon
The acquisition of the Star Wars franchise by Disney recently, also brought us a number of different gaming announcements for PC, consoles and more lately mobile devices. The latest one is Star Wars: Galactic Defense by DeNA, a free-to-play tower defense game based on the Star Wars Universe. The game is now available for download for most mobile platforms and covers both original and prequel trilogies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5-SJP85djA While tower defense games are not something new, I have to admit that most Star Wars games tend to get special attention because of that element. The inclusion of special characters from both trilogies definitely adds to the game and incorporates a special twist to a game genre that we have seen in many different forms. You can get Star Wars Galactic defense from Apple Store, Google Play or Amazon Store.
Blast from the past! X-Wing, Tie-Fighter to be re-released for modern PCs
For those of us who are of a certain age, there was a period where using your computer required using MS Dos, floppy disks and in some cases dial-up modems. Gaming in that period introduced us to some legendary Star Wars titles from Lucasarts such as X-Wing and Tie-Fighter – two amazing space combat simulators that are still being talked about today. While many DOS emulators exist, one of their main drawbacks is that they’re not very intuitive and difficult to use. At the same time though since most of these games run on either 5¼-inch or 3½-inch floppy disks (remember those?), few people have held on to their games from 20 years ago. A screenshot from X-Wing in a all its Super VGA glory! Good Old Games (GOG) decided to address these issues by re-releasing both X-Wing and Tie Fighter as downloadable content for $10 each. The former also includes the Imperial Pursuit and…