Well, since all the Star Wars books are supposed to be canon as well, it makes it hard to have episodes 7, 8, and 9 movies. I've only read a couple of them, but they were the original Timothy Zahn trilogy (I believe they were the first canon Star Wars books to be written) that takes place very near after the end of episode 6. It was a great storyline.

Not that I wouldn't mind seeing it thrown out for a better one on the screen. It would be amazing if they could get the original actors back! Just set the movie 15-20 years after episode 6 so they're all properly aged.

Many will be amazed to read this, but even as a HUGE Star Wars fan, I wouldn't want 7-9. All the actors have aged quite a bit; the films would smack of "money grubbing" (ie doing sequels for the sheer point of making money, nothing more,) and basically, the story ended with "Jedi."

The only caveat I'd throw in there would of been for about 10-15 years ago to do what was the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn. (Granted the books were not written yet, but the actors would of been of appropriate ages.)

Besides, I like the image we'll have forever of Leia, Han, and Luke looking forever young. Would we really want to see Lucasfilm churn out sequels until the actors became the Jedi equivalent of Bill Shatner?



The Frontman

Actually, I would LOVE to see Zahn's "Heir to the empire" trilogy done as an animated series by the crew from Cartoon Network that crafted the "Clone Wars" cartoons.

Totally in agreement on that one. I can't wait for the second set to be released on DVD of the Clone Wars. They totally blew me away with the work that went into them.

delowen, you coming down to "clix for the cure" tomorrow?

The Frontman

Yeah, that's the trilogy I was talking about. That's a great idea though, making the movies as cartoons! Then again, maybe not. Cartoons can be great, but a theatrical Star Wars cartoon....

What about CGI? Like the Final Fantasy movie, except way better. That movie is old hat compared to what we can do nowadays with the technology. I could see the Lucas folks doing a really good job with that kind of movie. Heck, the CGI and special effects are sometimes the best things about the first two Star Wars movies...

I am not a modder but do other crafts... for fine details that you seem to have trouble with, have you thought about decoupage? Find the logo in a cheap comic, and glue it to the figure, using a matte decoupage glue. I've seen one person do this with "circuits and wires" and it worked pretty well. I recommend the matte type of glue ( I believe one of the most trusted brands would be "Mod-Podge") so that the logo isn't too shiney in comparison to the paint finish.

Nope, I'm afraid not. I have a hard time making it to anything that isn't in the immediate Quad-Cities area. And what with work and all, I usually only get to play HC on Wednesday nights anymore anyway.

It would have been really neat to go though partly just for the fact that it sounds like so many other Illinois players from the Realms will be there. *shrug* I have a couple of local friends who have accounts here but never post. QC_Mohawks is the only friend I've met and know outside of the Realms who posts here regularly, at least when he's not trying give himself more warning points.

Part of the reason I'd like to see the animation crew from Cartoon Network do the Thrawn books is because Lucas would have less of a direct hand in it , both in terms of story (since he didn't write them) as well as in terms of directing (since Genndy Tartakovsky is the one who controlled and directed Clone Wars). I was pretty unhappy with the 1st two prequels, and it took the Clone Wars cartoons to hype me up for Star Wars again.

You might get your wish for Star Wars computer animation though, They're currently strongly talking about 2 different Star Wars TV series, and one of them would be supposedly be state of the art computer animation.

I'll have to look into it and try it a few times. It might be difficult to find the logo drawn that small (hence the problems many have with trying to paint it) but I'll give it a try and if the results turn out cool, I'll work it into a future column.

Thanks Vevilaughs.

Oh, I didn't mean having Lucas himself do it. I said Lucas folks. I meant his studios. Industrial Light and Magic, Skywalker Sound, LucasArts, or whatever. Of course, that probably implies that he would have a say, but not neccessarily. They do work for all kinds of things that have nothing to do with Lucas himself.

Lucas is a great story teller, but an average director for emotion. I'd be happy if he gave broad outlines for stories, much like he did for the Clone Wars, but allowed others to "play with his universe."

The Frontman

I'll tell you what was missing from episodes 1&2:

Giant Space Battles. And not that crappy little thing where Anakin flies into that ship and shoots something. I'm talking full on Rebellion vs Empire blow up the Death Star battles.

I agree with you that there wasn't the huge space battles, but Empire Strikes Back was weak in this category as well, with only chase sequences. I still think the lack of a recurring threat that the heroes are aware of was lacking. The audience knew of Darth Sidious, but not until the end of both films is it obvious that there was a Sith Lord waiting for them.

I'LL GO YOU ONE BETTER

I'd like to see an animated feature made out of Shadows of the Empire Directed by Peter Chung.

No offense to Gendy and his team. they are doing an awesome job, and there are more goodies on the way in his career; but it would be good to spread the Star Wars Cartoons around.

Just as a friendly late night reminder.

We are just 12 hours away from the first ever "Clix for the Cure" event. Watch HCRealms.com for updates about the event, possibly during (depending on computer access) and for a special "Activation Click" full recap this Sunday/Monday.

If you'll be in Bloomington IL, I'll see you tomorrow.

Peace to you all,

Tim "Frontman" Scallon

As I understand it, Lucas owns the rights to the digital images of the various Star Wars actors, particularly those who appeared in Eps I-III. What this means is that Lucas can make movies without actually using real actors (which is what he's been seemingly striving for, anyhow) and instead just use their likenesses. You know those creepy commercials with dead celebrities? Star Wars movies starring dead actors (or youthful versions of older ones) are just around the corner....

And as far as Lucas planning to do Eps VII-IX...well, I don't see how anyone believes anything that comes out of that man's mouth. Lucas has changed his tune so many times over the years about sequels, prequels, storylines, canonical books, etc that I think it's obvious that he's making it up as he goes along. (Take, for example, his comments about Star Wars Special Edition--his excuse for making Greedo shoot first was that he was finally able to make the film as he originally intended. Um--hello? When making the original, he had so little studio involvement that 20th Century Fox thought Star Wars was going to bankrupt them. Claiming that corporate fiat made Han shoot first is just pure bunk.)

Lucas killed my love of all things Star Wars when Greedo shot first. And then he further defiled the corpse with Episode I, with toilet humor, virgin births, that podrace announcer, and the Force as a venereal disease.

I'm gonna see Revenge of the Sith, but I'm not excited about it.

PS: Boba Fett stinks on ice. He didn't do a single productive thing in any of the films.