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Archived News-May 2005
Week 4
| Saturday May 28, 2005 | |
| EXECUTE ORDER 66 | |
The events of the Prequels leads me to wonder just how long the Sith had planned their revenge. Was it all Sidious's doing? Or had he slain his master, Plagues, to take over and fulfill his own wicked plans for the take over of the Senate and the destruction of the Jedi?? Whatever it may be, it was a brilliant plot that had to be many, many years in the making. It leads me to believe that this Master Syfo-Dyas may have been killed by the Dark Lord, or at least his death having been facilitated by the Sith. Obviously Dooku and Palpatine both conspired to have the Kaminoans create the Clone army for the Republic. A brilliant and intricate plan it was for Palpatine to play on the Senators and to create such problems as to have the Separatists formed and created for the purpose of cementing his power and having in place millions of soldiers who were genetically trained and programmed to become obedient to Palpatine! The Jedi had been their generals, and with one dark command, Sidious had control of Clones throughout the galaxy to dispatch with the Jedi and have loyal forces on guard within most systems...sidiously ingenious! |
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| Saturday May 28, 2005 | |
| EPISODE III SCENE REVIEWS: PART 1 | |
WOW! So EP3 looks to hit the 400Million mark just in the US alone. This doesn't take into account that Revenge of the Sith has done nearly as much abroad! Fans around the world have been flocking to theaters to watch the epic end of a saga! And what an end it has been! One of my favorite and more dramatic scenes was the Jedi confrontation of Supreme Chancellor after Anakin told Mace Windu that Palpatine was none other than Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith they had been searching for since the events of Phantom Menace. That whole scene was chaulk full of great drama! We have four powerful and well favored Jedi Masters who confron the wretched Sith Lord, only to meet a tragic demise!  Palpatine really shows his evil nature when he single handedly attacks the four Jedi Masters led by Mace Windu; first stabbing Agen Kolar, then Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto! In the novelization Kit Fisto had his head cut off, but in the movie we see that Palpatine slashes him in half! And as if that wasn't enough for the Jedi, Master Windu is left alone to battle and defend against the pure evil of Sidious's Dark Force lightning...and that was when young Anakin truly fell to the Darkness as he slashed Maces lightsaber hand allowing the Dark Sith lord to dispatch with Windu...poor guy flew right out the Chancellors window and out into the dark, rainy abyss from the upper most levels of Coruscant. What a dramatic scene it was!  We all know that the Jedi of the Old Republic never survived...aside from Obi and Yoda. But you really feel a losss for these great heroes, and such a shock at the malice of Palpatine and the unfortunate hand that Anakin played in the Jedi's destruction... |
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| Saturday May 28, 2005 | |
| STAR WARS BLOGS | |
As reported before, starwars.com announced it was going to open up a BLOG section to members, since blogs have become so famous and widely used. Well now they are up and ready to grab for members of starwars.com Hyperspace! It is a great way to express your SW enthusiasm and interests. I have created one myself to help showcase the talented writing of members to my fan-fiction/sim site, Tales From Across the Stars. So whether you want to tell the galaxy and fellow fans about your book, toy or comic collection, write your own reviews about SW movies and books or whatever and where-ever your SW interests lie, an official Star Wars Blog is a cool way to go! STAR WARS BLOGS |
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| Saturday May 28, 2005 | |
| Homing Beacon #137 | |
The latest homing Beacon has arrived and today we get to talk about Palpatine! Evil presents itself in many forms, and sometimes well-intended actions can twist even the greatest of heroes into the very monsters they've sworn to destroy, as seen with Anakin Skywalker's emotional fall in Revenge of the Sith, now in theaters. Actor Ian McDiarmid recently commented on his complex character as Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, who has an impressive talent for turning hopeful, young Jedi like Anakin into tormented souls dominated by their own fears. "He has a black irredeemable heart," McDiarmid says of Palpatine. "There's nothing that can be said about him that's good. When we first saw Vader in the original trilogy we thought he was the heart of darkness, and nobody could be darker. But now we understand what happened to him. And one of the exciting things about seeing this movie is that you can follow Vader through Anakin's journey every step of the way even if you don't agree with the choices he's making. In partm his decisions stem from his traumatic childhood, and his impatient lust for power. And it's that which my character takes and then uses again him." "When you're playing a character of solid blackness, that in itself is very interesting, in the sense that you have no other motivation other than the accumulation of power," McDiarmid continues. "It's not so much about not having a moral center, it's just that the only thing that mattered is increasing power." Yet even though Palpatine represents a truly evil character, McDiarmid still attempted to seek out his human side, however faint it may have been. "I've been trying to find a redeeming feature to Palpatine, and the only one I've got so far is that he's clearly a patron of the arts because he goes to the opera," McDiarmid laughs. "Originally, that was a scene in the office and George [Lucas] thought a change of location would be better, so he decided on the theater, and Hayden and I agreed immediately. Watching a play while talking to each other quietly in a box is a terrific additional bonus. Because you can always take your face away quite naturally and appear to be watching the play while other things are going on in your head. Hayden had hoped the play would be Hamlet, and we'd be watching a play within a play within a play." As he prepared for a larger role in Revenge of the Sith, McDiarmid noticed comparable references in not only other films and literature, but also historical moments where the lure of extreme political domination wreaked havoc across nations. "The interesting thing about these movies is that they refer back to lots of cinematic influences," McDiarmid explains. "When my face changes in the film, my mind went back to the early silent movie of The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin makes a Faustian pact with the devil, and I do everything I can to use him as raw material in every sense to become the best apprentice yet. So even when he's horribly savaged from the fight and it's not clear if he'll live, he's reborn as this Frankenstein monster. Sidious then realizes Vader will be an even greater asset because his humanity has been mechanized, which is exactly what happens to people when they are seduced by Fascism." |
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| Friday May 27, 2005 | |
| The Jedi Song | |
This isn't very new new...but it's not old. This is a cool song called The Jedi Song, I think you might enjoy it: Your can download The Jedi Song here The Jedi Song.mp3 or watch the animation of it here. Thats it for now, I hope you all enjoy the song! |
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| Friday May 27, 2005 | |
| Star Wars Battlefront II for PSP | |
I was on IGN and found some Star Wars news for the PSP, check it out...announced at E3 5: May 18, 2005 Star Wars Battlefront II for PSP is similar to its recently announced console counterpart with space combat, playable Jedi, and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith content, yet it still boasts several distinct features meant to embrace the "on-the-go" nature of a handheld system. The game includes several unique mini-campaigns as opposed to the much longer campaign seen on consoles. Players can join the Rebellion as a smuggler, work for themselves as a mercenary for hire, or use their Imperial sniping skills to rid the galaxy of pesky species like Jawas, Ewoks and Gungans. Wi-Fi compatibility permits up to four players to join in at once, either cooperatively or competitively, and they can also partake in classic Instant Action mode to fight their favorite Star Wars battles any way they want to. |
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| Friday May 27, 2005 | |
| More New Fan Art | |
David Owens, sent in two more new fan art pieces! Thanks again David! These pieces and others can be found over at the Fan Art section. Enjoy!
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| Friday May 27, 2005 | |
| Fan Fiction-Finding Elysium | |
Today we have added a fan fiction story from AsianScaper to the Fan Fiction section. Here are the facts: Title: "Finding
Elysium" If you have a fan fiction story and would like for the world to read it, be sure to visit the Submit Fan Fiction page! |
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| Friday May 27, 2005 | |
| Star Wars Animation | |
While looking at the Front Page of Newgrounds.com(home of the Numa Numa Dance), I found a cool and funny Star Wars animation: Star Wars Transitions Thats it for now, more news later. |
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| Thursday May 26, 2005 | |
| Fan made films | |
Star wars The greatest space epic there is...But check out these Fan made films: TheForce.net So many to chose from, With many excellent mixes of genes all rolled into one...Enjoy! |
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| Thursday May 26, 2005 | |
| Ok...something about this is just wrong | |
 Image from Target.com Ok....some people out there may like this...but take a good hard look at this dvd cover. I know theres nothing secretly going on...but just look at it. To me...and maybe some of you out there, this looks odd. But in other news, heres a screenshot(they were to big and I'd fill up way too much space of the News Page) of the new Star Wars Game, Star Wars Battlefront II:  There you go for now...I'll report back later with more Star Wars news. |
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| Thursday May 26, 2005 | |
| New News Poster | |
I'm a brand-spanking new news poster....whoopie. Over the next couple of weeks or so....or even longer, I'll be posting news and other stuff, but to start off I thought this was sort of cool:  I guess someone edited this or something...I'll be posting some stuff later on. See ya. |
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| Thursday May 26, 2005 | |
| New Wallpaper | |
Today I have posted five new wallpapers. The contributors are Ivanhoe, Jedi Jin Su, Matthew Walters, and yours truly Jedi Power. Thanks everyone for your great contributions! This was my first attempt at a wallpaper, and I think I need to keep my day job. These great pieces and others can be found over at the Wallpaper section!
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| Thursday May 26, 2005 | |
| Lead For New Star Wars TV Show? | |
Australian actor Matthew Newton could portray the lead hero in an upcoming Star Wars television series, according to SciFi Wire. Apparently not content to end the franchise with a record-breaking opening for the last of the feature films, George Lucas has reportedly checked on Newton's availability to see if he's free to join the cast of Star Wars to return to the small screen. As reported in the Oz Sunday Herald Sun Newspaper, Lucas first met the young actor who appeared in the movie "Queen of the Damned" when he auditioned to play a young adult Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones." Newton, now 28, is believed to be the runner-up to Hayden Christensen, who concluded the evolution of the character into Darth Vader. In fact, Newton was even flown to Skywalker Ranch to test for the role. Speculation centers around Newton being considered to play the lead hero in the show, which is expected to follow the lives of all-new characters. |
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| Wednesday May 25, 2005 | |
| Dual of the Dopey Duo | |
SOURCE: Yahoo!News Two "Star Wars" fans were critically injured when they tried to replicate the light sabers used in the movie by filling glass fluorescent light tubes with fuel, police and a news report said Tuesday. The pair, Mark Webb, 20, and an unidentified 17-year-old girl, were planning to make a video recording of a duel like those in the just-released blockbuster film "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," Britain's Press Association news agency said. They were injured when one of the makeshift sabers exploded Sunday evening in the woods in Hemel Hempstead, north of London. Hertfordshire Police said a third person present when the explosion happened had been questioned. The department said the two who were injured were in critical condition at a burns unit in Chelmsford, Essex. "At this stage we are unable to confirm the exact circumstances, but glass tubes and traces of accelerant (flammable substance) were found at the scene," police said. SO unless the Force is really with you, don't try this at home and leave the special effects to the experts at ILM! |
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| Wednesday May 25, 2005 | |
| Real Life Star Wars Pirates | |
Well, it wasn't a scene from The Empire Strikes Back, with a black clad Lord Vader leading white armored Imperial shock troops into the Rebel base on Hoth...but it was pretty close! U.S. law enforcers said on Wednesday that they have shut down a computer network that distributed illegal copies of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" before it appeared in movie theaters. Federal agents executed 10 search warrants and seized the main server computer in a network that allowed people to download nearly 18,000 movies and software programs, including many current releases, the FBI and Homeland Security Department said. The Elite Torrents network, found online at www.elitetorrents.org, relied on a technology called BitTorrent that allows users to quickly download digital movies and other large files by copying them from many computers at once. The network signed up 133,000 members who collectively downloaded 2.1 million files, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department. Elite Torrents offered a "virtually unlimited" selection of material, ICE said. The latest Star Wars movie was available on the network more than six hours before it was first shown in theaters, and within 24 hours it was copied more than 10,000 times. The Motion Picture Association, an industry group, helped with the investigation, ICE said. Movie studios are trying to avoid the fate of the music industry, which claims it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales due to online file sharing. Visitors to the Web site on Wednesday saw a notice that read, "This site has been permanently shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement." |
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| Wednesday May 25, 2005 | |
| Banking Clan Communications Frigate added to the Ships Section | |
Today I have added the Banking Clan Communications Frigate to the ships section. This is our first Episode III ship! You can get a listing of ships using their picture by type at the Ships Section. Or, if you would like to see an alphabetical listing of all of our ships, you can check out the Ship Index. Enjoy! |
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| Wednesday May 25, 2005 | |
| Kevin Graham's Rune Haako | |
Kevin Graham, one of our staff members and featured artists has submitted a new fan art piece featuring Rune Haako. Thanks Kevin! The rest of his work can be found here and other great artists over in the Featured Artists section. Enjoy!
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| Wednesday May 25, 2005 | |
| Fan Fiction-At Any Price | |
Today we have added a fan fiction story from Spaz to the Fan Fiction section. Here are the facts: Title: At
Any Price If you have a fan fiction story and would like for the world to read it, be sure to visit the Submit Fan Fiction page! |
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| Tuesday May 24, 2005 | |
| New Fan Art | |
David Owens, sent in two new fan art pieces! Thanks David! These pieces and others can be found over at the Fan Art section. Enjoy!
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| Monday May 23, 2005 | |
| Revenge of the Sith Estimated $158.5M in Four Days | |
How did Revenge of the Sith do this weekend? Box Office Mojo has the story! This is how records die, with thunderous applause. Giving into anger, hate and all that the Dark Side entails has made Star Wars stronger, at least out of the gate. Destined to be one of the biggest blockbusters, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith blasted off with an estimated $158.5 million since Thursday. The $113 million space opera shattered the four-day record once held by The Matrix Reloaded's $134.3 million after notching new milestones for midnight showing, opening and single day, two-day and three-day grosses. For the weekend, Revenge of the Sith ruled with an estimated $108.5 million, landing in the same range as Spider-Man's $114.8 million and Shrek 2's $108.0 million but not a record breaker. Sith was never expected to take the crown on this front—its $50 million Thursday burning off too much demand—though it would have had it debuted a day later. "We blew the doors down," Fox's head of domestic distribution, Bruce Snyder, told Box Office Mojo. "It's the culmination of the series, it's the hook that everyone's looking for, and, on top of that, it completes the circle." Snyder said that the studio's exit polling on Friday indicated that 52 percent of the audience was over 25 years old and 58 percent was male. All bets were off for this final installment as creator George Lucas and company, calculated downplaying to the contrary, gave Revenge of the Sith one of the most ubiquitous releases ever, instead of the controlled roll-outs of the previous prequels, Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace. In addition to licensing the characters to hock everything from soda to cell phones, Sith played on an estimated 9,400 screens at 3,661 theaters, while Clones was on 6,100 screens at 3,161 theaters and Phantom on 5,500 screens at 2,970 theaters. Overseas, Revenge of the Sith opened wider than any other movie in history, in 105 countries, amassing $144.7 million. All told, the $303.2 million worldwide start after five days stands as an all time high, eclipsing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's $250.1 million, though the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy's finale played in a much smaller number of countries. To many, it's no surprise that the most popular movie series would yield records with its finale. However, industry expectations were cooler based, in part, on the lagging market of the past few months, mixed audience reactions to Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace, and the performance of Clones. In the shadow of Spider-Man's historic run in 2002, Clones made $310.7 million and was by far the least popular Star Wars movie. Its four predecessors each rank in the top 20 of all time adjusted for ticket price inflation. Clones came in at No. 80. Revenge of the Sith was in no one's shadow, marking the first true event picture of the year. What's more, the hype on Sith promised a superior movie to the other prequels, and Mr. Lucas added luster to Sith with the DVD premiere of the original trilogy last September. The Phantom Menace had 16 years of pent-up demand behind it since Return of the Jedi, and that led to a $431.1 million gross. Attack of the Clones lacked any of those enticements. Many of the biggest blockbusters of all time, including Gone with the Wind, Titanic and The Lord of the Rings, have sad or bittersweet endings. Knowing all the events that transpire in Revenge of the Sith didn't abate audiences' desire to see it. Such knowledge didn't deter people from seeing The Passion of the Christ, either. If anything, the impending doom made them more excited. Few blockbusters close with complete tragedy, though, making Revenge of the Sith's popularity unique with corruption of the hero as its focus. The descent into darkness gave the series its first PG-13 Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating after years of ostensibly family-friendly PG ratings. |
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