“Until the recent Great Rebellion, the Jedi Bendu were the most feared warriors in the universe. For one hundred thousand years, generations of Jedi perfected their art as the personal bodyguards of the emperor. They were the chief architects of the invincible Imperial Space Force which expanded the Empire across the galaxy, from the celestial equator to the farthest reaches of the Great Rift. Now these legendary warriors are all but extinct. One by one they have been hunted down and destroyed as enemies of the New Empire by a ferocious and sinister rival warrior sect, the Knights of Sith.” - The first draft of Star Wars... was awful.
posted by Artw on May 25, 2009 - 149 comments

21-87 is a short film from Arthur Lipsett that has been discussed before.
posted by tellurian on Aug 2, 2007 - 12 comments

Chris Columbus's Indiana Jones and the Monkey King and Jeb Stuart's Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars are just two rejected sequel scripts for the Indiana Jones franchise. Tom Stoppard, Steven Gaghan, Jeffrey Boam, M. Night Shyamalan, and Frank Darabont each submitted treatments and scripts of their own, but Steven Spielberg and George Lucas (or, more probably, just George Lucas) swatted down every idea until finally Jeff Nathanson's concept was greenlighted--and even that's still being reworked by David Koepp. But with Harrison Ford now older than Sean Connery was in Last Crusade and Steven Spielberg still hobbled by other commitments, it's not clear that Indiana Jones 4 won't be just another false start. The only Indy movie that looks at all certain is the one that Daniel Clowes is making.
posted by Iridic on Sep 21, 2006 - 119 comments

"When George saw 21-87, a lightbulb went off".
"21-87" is an experimental film made in 1964 by Canadian avant-garde director Arthur Lipsett ,who committed suicide in 1986. "George" is George Lucas, who was obsessed by underground movies until "a little movie called Star Wars lured him to the dark side". (more inside)
posted by matteo on May 2, 2005 - 25 comments

At last, "THX-1138" with green-glowing, computer-generated robot factories! George Lucas's first movie, the namesake of his sound system, is coming to a theater near you, with a new 3D effects facelift, and a chilly, incomprehensible Flash site. Will his "original vision" of this 1971 dystopia be realized at last, or will his additions clash with the stark San Francisco subway tunnels, like so much Yes music in a "Metropolis" re-release?
posted by inksyndicate on May 22, 2004 - 27 comments

DVDs are bad for business? They are, according to the producer of "Attack of the Clones." Although it seems to me that every week I hear about a new box-office record being shattered, Rick McCallum says such things as: "I don't think there's a single movie that can survive on box office gross alone; it just doesn't exist anymore" and my favorite: "Literally, our very lives are at stake now. George and I are just praying that we can finish 'Episode III' in time, before it's all over." What do you think? Legitimate concern, or more ridiculous whining by millionaires lobbying to place restrictions on technogy?
posted by eas98 on Oct 22, 2002 - 56 comments

"All democracies turn into dictatorships -- but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea... It isn't that the Empire conquered the Republic, it's that the Empire is the Republic." George Lucas talks about the politics of his new Star Wars films.
posted by tranquileye on Apr 23, 2002 - 19 comments

What the in duck? With Episode II coming soon, I'd decided to peruse all sorts of different places in search of as much information as I could and found this online, has anyone else seen it as well? Anyway, it's good to see that folks that work for Lucas have a sense of humor.
posted by SentientAI on Apr 22, 2002 - 9 comments

Seattle Star Wars Society member gets in line for Star Wars tickets. Well, I guess he is the line, for now.He says it's an "art project" and he's trying to set a new world record. Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones opens May 16, 2002.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet on Jan 4, 2002 - 53 comments

With the impending release of Episode 2 this summer, be prepared for an onslaught of new toys, including some that will bring back memories of Return of the Jedi, as well as resurrect old flaps over the not-so-subtle cultural stereotypes in the movie series. On a side note, I like what they've done to Obi-Wan's hair these days.
posted by manero on Dec 28, 2001 - 29 comments

What the f__K?!!!
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones!??? Is this really going to be the title? Apparently it has pissed off many fans.
posted by Sal Amander on Aug 22, 2001 - 52 comments

The wait is over (well, almost) -- Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox are finally going to release Episode I on DVD. This despite the fact that up to now they've been denying that they'll release anything on DVD for "the foreseeable future."
posted by RylandDotNet on Jun 19, 2001 - 28 comments

It's official: Jedi can't, and never could have been, an official religion. There were emails going around New Zealand and the UK claiming if there were enough who listed it as a religion, it could be official, but that's not the case.
posted by paladin on Apr 17, 2001 - 4 comments

A Very Wookie Christmas. I'm speechless in horror. This actually happened? This actually made it to the airwaves? Thank heavens Lucas is keeping it deeply, deeply hidden forever.
posted by dnash on Dec 5, 2000 - 26 comments

Travolta's officially lost his marbles: "George Lucas and Quentin Tarantino and a lot of people saw [Battlefield Earth] and thought it was a great piece of science fiction." In an alternate universe, maybe.
posted by highindustrial on Oct 19, 2000 - 19 comments

Episode II loses the 'humanity' of R2-D2 Artoo to be totally computer-generated? Kenny Baker smells a rat as the Industrial Light and Magic boys wire up a dustbin for motion capture...
posted by blackbeltjones on Aug 31, 2000 - 10 comments

Cyberpal, i couldn't disagree more. ESB is actually the best of the 4 SW movies because the characters aren't encumbered with destroying the Death Star or flying back and forth to Naboo by way of Tatooine and Coruscant. A New Hope and Return end all happy with medals and Ewoks. i like the tougher ending of ESB, especially as i get older. it was a little depressing when i was a kid, but, hey, i'm not one anymore.
posted by Sean Meade on Jul 24, 2000 - 5 comments