Many years before George Lucas decided it was ok to lie to the children of America, convincing them that tree-dwelling teddy bears with bronze age technology could really decimate the most capable military force in the galaxy, he started his directorial career with this short film about, um, freedom?
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Did you know that George Lucas originally wanted Luke Skywalker to become Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi? His last lines were going to be "Now I am Vader. Now I will go and kill the [Rebel] fleet and I will rule the universe." That would have been cool. It’s one of ten unknown facts about the movie.
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Last night, Star Wars: Episode VII cinematographer Dan Mindel announced that the J.J. Abrams-directed movie will be shot on 35mm film, as opposed to digital video. The decision symbolizes the changing of the guard from the reign of George Lucas, and hopefully adds some much-needed vigor to the beloved franchise.
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Before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace came back to the theaters earlier this year converted for 3D, the plan was to bring the other five movies to theaters one at a time each year, but that has apparently changed. At the Star Wars Celebration VI event in Orlando (where we first found out about the Blu-ray release two years ago) Lucasfilm announced that Episodes II and III in 3D will be released in theaters back to back in fall of 2013, arriving September 20th and October 11th, respectively. Missing so far from the announcement? A reason for the back-to-back release or any word on Blu-ray 3D plans. In lieu of more details, although it means Attack of the Clones will come back later in the year than Phantom Menace did, with any luck this accelerated schedule is a good omen for the original trilogy’s return. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what magic can be worked with those older film and special effects elements, however IGN apparently found an early preview of the Episode II 3D footage to be promising.
[Thanks, Rachael]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Star Wars Episode II and III 3D re-releases officially dated for theaters in September and October 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Can we establish a KIRF award for Most Likely to Invite Multiple Lawsuits? If so, Long Xun Software would have to claim the statuette for its Droid X360, at least if it dared set foot in the US. This prime example of keepin’ it real fake is even more of a PS Vita clone than the Yinlips YDPG18, but goes the extra mile with a name that’s likely to irk Microsoft, Motorola, Verizon and George Lucas all at once. That’s even discounting the preloaded emulators for just about every pre-1999 Nintendo, Sega and Sony console. Inside, you’ll at least find a device that’s reasonably up to snuff: the 5-inch handheld is running Android 4.0 on a 1.5GHz single-core Quanzhi A10 processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built-in space, a 2-megapixel camera at the back and a VGA shooter at the front. If the almost gleeful amount of copyright and trademark violation isn’t keeping you from wanting this award-winner, you’ll have to ask Long Xun for pricing and availability.
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds
Droid X360 goes for the KIRF prize, antagonizes Microsoft, Motorola and Sony at the same time (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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As if George Lucas wasn’t already milking his money-printing franchise for all it’s worth, comes this GPS gem out of Japan. To the (presumed) delight of fanboys everywhere, navigation maker Dinos has inked a licensing deal with Lucasfilm that conjures up an all-out, Star Wars-themed car nav system. From the orchestral theme music at startup to the voice guidance performed by the original Japanese VO actors (Darth Vader and C-3P0 only), the 5-inch LCD mount is pretty much the memorabilia stuff of a grown-up, scifi geek’s wet dream. There’s even a mode selection option to let users pledge their allegiance to either the “Empire” or the “Rebels,” in addition to 20 different custom vehicle indicator icons. Sounds fluffy enough, but the unit also does double duty as a OneSeg TV tuner and can even be used as a standalone set. It’s on sale now for 39,800Yen (US$507), but unless you’re living in the Land of the Rising Sun, this import’s just kitsch for kitsch’s sake.
Filed under: GPS, Transportation
Star Wars-themed GPS steers Japanese geeks away from the dark side originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Fans of the Indiana Jones series already got the good news in March that the flicks are finally coming to Blu-ray this year, and now we know when. Paramount has set September 18th as the release date, and also finally revealed cover art for the set, seen above… yeah, that’s really it. No matter how cartoony it is (or how mind-numbing Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was) we’re sure some will still be lining up when it ships. For their trouble, they can expect a “meticulously restored” edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark, after a process supervised by director Steven Spielberg and sound designer Ben Burtt. This has included a 4K scan of the original negatives, as well as a revisiting to the original audio mix, with music tracks and sound effects that had previously only been used in mono upgraded to stereo surround for the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track. Check after the break for a press release with more details on the restoration and a trailer for the boxed set, or head to Amazon where the price is currently sitting at $90 to preorder.
Continue reading Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray set hits shelves September 18th
Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray set hits shelves September 18th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 23:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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