HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STAR WARS (AGAIN!!)

By Scott Weller

With my total immersion in the production of the upcoming issue of STAR WARS AFICONADO (devoted to the making of RETURN OF THE JEDI and it's 25th Anniversary-yes, twenty five years since Jabba and the Ewoks-double trouble!!- first arrived on our screens!!), and with the US time difference, it wasn't until checking my emails this morning and a message from my buddy Chris in Canada that yesterday-the 17th April- was, according to STARWARS.COM's HOMING BEACON, Luke Skywalker's 35th birthday-that is, the day that Lucas first put pen to paper and later changed the world as we see it for the indefinite future by creating STAR WARS (or as it was known by its then original title: THE STAR WARS or THE JOURNAL OF THE WHILLS, THE STAR WARS, FROM THE ADVENTURES OF THE STARKILLER, etc... Perhaps we should celebrate just that title on its own one day!!). That first ten page outline from Lucas, put down on that writing pad with his favourite writing pencil set, sowed the seeds for everything we fans love over six films-Han, Luke, Leia, Lando, Obi-Wan, Vader, Grievous, old Palpy, even Jar Jar came from that mighty mind beneath that tough curly hair of his.

For that, for eveything we love (and possibly loathe-if you live 24/7 at the ORIGINAL TRILOGY.COM forum site and hate the PREQUELS!!), for everything we'll always love..thank you, George. Thank you LUCASFILM!!  And I'll always love STAR WARS-even when I'm in a wheelchair with a cholostemy bag..I'll finally get a chance to pretend to be an X-wing pilot!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

THE (HIGH-DEF) SPY WHO LOVED ME!!

(now bring on the "WARS"!!)

By Scott Weller

Have just come back from a lovely Sunday afternoon in the West End of London- a visit to the EMPIRE LEICESTER SQUARE cinema, where PARK CIRCUS, a British film distribution company, have selected film screenings of old and modern classics British movies that have undergone fantastic new restoration. Today they have just presented a one off, one day, one screening only theatrical presentation of one of my favourite mid-Seventies Roger Moore James Bond movies-the 1977 adventure: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME-in a glorious digital transfer (this film, at the time, was the most expensive Bond film ever made and it really looks it!!) and ear popping, superb clarity sound. The Movie is a particular favourite to me as it was one of the first James Bond film’s I ever saw at the cinema-the first real Blockbuster I saw (I don’t count WALT DISNEY’s PETE’S DRAGON!!) which got me excited for me like this until I saw THE Blockbuster, the one that changed my life forever, in January 1978!! Mind you, we missed most of the opening action sequence with Bond going over the ice cliff/the Union Jack parachute which I was very disappointed about-London buses were bad even then, and I didn’t get to see the beginning in full until it was on TV in 1983!!  I saw SPY originally at the ODEON STREATHAM, the same place I would see STAR WARS the following year in January 1978 and I tell ya, if only the presentation then was as good as it was today!! SPY also has several significant STAR WARS connections which I have always enjoyed-most notable in its excellent supporting cast who would go on to appear across the course of the Original Trilogy, including Jeremy Bulloch, Jack Klaff, Garrick Hagon (whom, after thirty years, I still can’t actually find in the Submarine/action scenes!!) and, in an excellent large supporting role, Shane (“This Artoo of yours looks a bit beat up!!”) Rimmer.

As I’ve said, the presentation of the film at the EMPIRE-the best cinema venue in London, was superb. The clarity of the picture was beautiful, pin sharp with nice colour and depth, and Maurice Binder's lovely opening titles against Carly Simon's, music, the sumptuous travelogue cinematogaphy, the action sequences and Derek Medding's model work looked and sounded fantastic-and of the action, the epic battle at the end on the villain's oil tanker looked particuarly like it was shot yesterday. The films director, the legendary Brit Lewis Gilbert, introduced the film and was very worried about what the digital treatment of the movie meant, and how it was going to be affected (he was going to see this digital restoration on screen for the first time), as whether it was still going to be any good thirty years on. That the digital transfer might make a negative impact on his work for the Bond films, and that the digital version may have had a makeover he might not have liked. Well, after seeing the film, we hope he was as impressed as the audience was, and that he sees the digital film-making and restoration media in a new light (perhaps he can tell his fellow directors, in the UK and across the rest of the world who are resisting using Digital, that it really is bloody good!!!). This thirty year old film had never been better-if it were made now it would look even better!! And with numerous new films to come on digital over the next few years including the eagerly awaited BATTLE AVATAR from James Cameron, let’s hope that film Directors can take the plunge, experiment more as Lucas has been doing (okay, Steven, we know you like INDY on film, and that’s fine, but do something else on Digital, eh?).

Anyway, apart from the cast, what else has James Bond got to do with STAR WARS, I hear you ask. Well, the film print that PARK CIRCUS used for the theatrical presentation, supplied by MGM/UA, was the one the DVD copies were made from. All of the Bond films re-mastering on DVD were done by the LOWERY film-preservation team, who also worked on the re-mastering of all three INDIANA JONES and THE STAR WARS Original Trilogy, all of which have been released onto DVD and all of which look stunning (well, we’ll forget about the green lightsaber Luke has in one small scene in A NEW HOPE –that was a sloppy mistake by LOWERY/LUCASFILM which we hope will be corrected at some point!!). If the SPY WHO LOVED ME restoration by them looked good on the 70 mm screen, can you imagine just how good the STAR WARS and INDY films would be…

With several generations of mass film fans/the general public who’ve never seen an INDY film on the big screen, and a further generation who haven’t see the STAR WARS original films on the big screen since the SPECIAL EDITION 1997, I think it’s about time someone made a decision to release the films at the cinemas again worldwide-with these amazing transfers so people can really see how good the restoration work is and to show their hard work properly for people like me who don’t have High Def yet-perhaps for special limited engagements that are well publicized after THE CLONE WARS has finished it’s run, or at weekends or perhaps a special type of film festival for LUCASFILM. In fact, the whole STAR WARS Saga could be released theatrically, properly, in order sequence- One to Six- every couple of weeks like the SPECIAL EDITIONS were-or how about another Six film day taking place across Europe/ America? With such a long time to come before both sagas materialize in ultra high definition on BLUE RAY or 3-D, how about it LUCASFILM? Let’s get one more screening/STAR WARS fan communal experience of all the STAR WARS and INDY films before they return to the smaller world of television?? 

EMPIRE'S "ALTERNATE" ENDING

By Scott Weller

I've always loved those STAR WARS: INFINITIES DARK HORSE comics, where one changed important moment can have damaging new implications for the rest of the saga. Head over for something like that-though a lot funnier-related to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and Luke Skywalker at YOUTUBE at www.youtube.com/watch

I bet Mark Hamill would find this well produced little piece wickedly amusing. Short but sweet, when I saw it, my belly ached from laughing...

Enjoy!!

P.S. I'm also quite fond of this one related to STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE-it's a few years old now but I still like it. Again at: www.youtube.com/watch

THE CANTINA CONUNDRUM

By Scott Weller

Looking through the ART OF STAR WARS book the other day, I came across something I hadn’t noticed before. Legendary costume designer John Mollo did a chart of all of the Mos Eisley Cantina characters that would be appearing for the ELSTREE Studios filming in April 1976 (dated 4-3-76-we presume the British date arrangement rather the  US one-Mollo being British), listing all the human and alien characters that were to appear in the sequence at that time-this chart is the basis for discovering which background artist played which character, and has since proved invaluable to official STAR WARS scholars at LUCASFILM, and for researcher fans like me. Some text caught my eye on the bottom right corner of the art spread (pg 60-61 of the revised TITAN BOOKS version) that I hadn’t noticed before. It seems that there was a 4 piece human cantina band, listed as an “orchestra”, for the interior scene which I wasn’t previously aware of-the Modal Nodes aliens obviously being created later on during inset photography filming by Rick Baker and George Lucas in 1977.

Certain creatures from Mollo’s drawing didn’t make the final film, or were adapted differently to the way they finally looked, but it would be logical to think that the human Cantina band made it into the UK filming-every Cantina has a band or music of some kind playing, right?-before being later replaced with their now iconic alien counter-parts-the move made by Lucas, perhaps because the originals looked too human, or the footage just didn’t work (I’ve looked at the black and white footage of the Cantina scene, originally edited by John Jympson, and didn’t see any of them (has anyone else out there got sharper eyes than me?)).

Do any pictures exist of the Human band? Perhaps John Jay or Gary Kurtz may have taken costume reference pictures? We assume they were wearing stock Tatooine type clothes like the ones worn by the Bartender, Wuhrer, or Luke. But what instruments/ props did they have? Could they have been similar to the ones later played by the Modal Nodes, perhaps? Or even the same instruments previously kept in storage? And on the UK set, were there any backing music tracks used or did the Human band just mime to nothing?

If anyone knows more about this intriguing new addition to the world of STAR WARS mysteries, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you and solve this…

COLLECTORMANIA MAY 2008- MILTON KEYNES

Star Wars guests share their memories

by Ian Trussler

The long running Collectormania events have a history of getting many Star Wars cast and crew to attend and do signings. The latest event in Milton Keynes over the May bank holiday weekend was no exception. This time round they had some of the usual suspects (Dave Prowse)

along with some very rare convention attendees.

With a couple of people I had to meet attending for one day only, I duly made the trip north armed with questions, not just of my own but from Aficionado cohorts Scott and Chris as well.

What follows is a write up of the conversations and info gathered from the attending cast I had the pleasure of meeting.

Jasper Jacob - Captain Yorr - Shuttle Pilot - ROTJ

Jasper was very friendly and talkative- very happy to be doing the convention as he has done so few. He hasn't bothered doing shows in the past when offered because he felt that

he had such a small role that nobody would be interested. How wrong can you be?

Jasper told me that he spent two days working on Jedi during March 1982. His scene was directed by Richard Marquand on both days, whom he said was extremely nice to him and very understanding. Jasper found it very difficult to memorise his dialogue and this lead to a large number of takes being done following his fluff ups. Jasper had more dialogue to learn than we see in the film as the scene was cut down in the finished movie. He confirmed that he did film the extended scene where he asked the Death Star controller to deactivate the shield as his passenger (Lord Vader) was getting impatient.

The other co-pilot in the scene, whom Jasper cannot recall his name, was not an actor but a male model who although British made his living from appearing every year in a series of adverts for Italian television, and was fluent in Italian.

Although only on the film for two days he spent some time with Mark Hamill who was filming at the same time. They spent some time together when Mark suggested Jasper share his car to and from the studio each day. He found Mark to be extremely warm and friendly and liked him a great deal.

Also while on the movie he ran into Gillian Gregory whom he already knew and was the choreographer on Jedi,  she worked on the scenes with dancers in Jabbas palace and the Ewok celebration at the films end.

Phillip Herbert - Hermi Odle - ROTJ

Someone I had wanted to meet for a while and had been a fan of since his days as Julian Clarys sidekick, the irrepressible Hugh Jelly, Phillip although perfectly pleasant seemed reluctant, to say the least, to talk about his experience on the film. He said he didn't do conventions much because he never gets asked but is always willing to attend when asked to. He said he'd love to go to Celebration Japan if someone would only invite him.

I did however manage to get some info from him regarding Jedi. He got the part via an audition workshop that had been set up by the Mine and Movement organization that he was involved with. They were looking for someone strong enough to bear the weight of the heavy costume. Before filming he had to attend for costume fittings and vaguely recalls meeting Stuart Freeborn. The costume was indeed very heavy and contained an internal camera and monitor so he could see where he was walking. When inside the costume of Hermi, Phillips head came to just below the chin of the creature meaning there was no other way for him to see except via the camera monitor.

Phillip worked on Jedi for four and a half weeks and remembers Richard Marquand well, saying that he was a very kind and caring director, especially to all the people in the creature costumes, appreciating the difficult time they were having. Marquand was very well liked by the crew for much the same reasons. Phillip also met George Lucas whom he also remembers as friendly and helpful to all the cast and crew.

Phillip is very pleased that an action figure has finally been made of his character, as he knows the fans have wanted it for a while and he now gets them in the post to sign.

Finally on a non Star Wars related topic, Phillip is still friends with Julian Clary and had only seen him last weekend, they plan to work together again and it's possible we haven't seen the last of

Hugh Jelly.

Frank Henson - Stuntman - Star Wars and ROTJ

Frank was very friendly and only to willing to chat and answer questions although he was the first to admit his memory is not what is was now he is advancing in years.

He confirmed that he worked on the first movie as a stuntman and performed as one of many Stormtroopers. His memories of the first movie aren't great and he sadly could not recall much about it. Frank did not work on Empire but played numerous roles in Jedi. He confirmed that he played the human Skiff Guard that challenges Luke on the Sail Barge deck, he was the Biker Scout that Luke throws from the Speeder Bike, he spent many days filming against the bluescreen with Mark and Carrie for this sequence. Frank was also one of the Endor Rebels, the one standing behind Harrisons right shoulder when they are marched out the bunker. One part he said he definitely did not do was that of the Imperial Royal Guard, although he has signed pictures of this many times.

Frank was very honest and said that basically he will sign any picture put before him even it he didn't play the part. He was also one of many Stormtroopers in the Endor battle. Frank said he has no recollection of Lightning Bear working on Jedi and has been asked the question many times.

Frank had a wonderful photo album with him with some great behind the scene pictures from Jedi and his many other films. This album contained great shots of him with Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Harrison and many others. The cast and crew were not allowed to take cameras on set but a friend snuck one on and took some candid pics of him in costume as a Biker Scout and him with two other guys as Stormtroopers. He also has a nice pic of the full size Scout Walker prop on set.

He also notably did stunts on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, acting as stunt double for Amrish Puri (Mola Ram) of which he had a brilliant picture of them both on set, made up and looking like twins.

Frank really enjoyed working on the Star Wars movies and got on well with all the cast and crew he came into contact with.

Jack McKenzie - Lieutenant Cal Alder - TESB

Jack was also very friendly and chatty, saying he had never done a convention before, although he had been asked but had always been busy. He has recently been doing a musical on stage in Germany and enjoyed it very much. He has just auditioned for a major commercial which he is hoping to get the final decision on soon.

Although he only had a small part to play he does recall that he filmed an awful lot more than ended up on screen.

He spent four weeks on set, all on the Hoth Rebel Hanger set which he said was huge and amazing, doing a lot of running around with other Rebels for the battle/invasion sequence. He did have a fair bit more dialogue in this extra footage and is sorry it didn't make the cut.

He doesn't recall ever seeing George Lucas on set but meet the main cast whom were all very nice.

OPPOSITE PICTURE: JACK MCKENZIE-CAL ALDER IN THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK-signs for the fans. Head Over to the Conventions and Fan Area section for more of Ian's pictures from the event. 

TODAY IS THE UNOFFICIAL "STAR WARS" DAY!!!

By Scott Weller

I've never needed a specific reason to not have a good old knees-up, but today, the 4th May 2008, is yet another great celebration of STAR WARS-what the actual significance is of today's "unofficial" date in STAR WARS lore, I don't really know-but who cares. LET'S CELEBRATE!!

Let's all get our DVDs out and start watching!! Let's find our old STAR WARS duvets and hang them high proudly from our bedroom windows, get out your STAR WARS figures and re-create some ADAM AND JOE TV comedy sketch moments, find your deteriorated EMPIRE STRIKES BACK wallpaper and try to stick it back on your wall, find the last scapes of cereal from your old C-3PO's snacks and see if they were just as disgusting as you remember, let's all sing out the Carrie Fisher LIFE DAY song in celebration -or better still, play it at full volume so that your next door neighbours will know what staying power the HOLIDAY SPECIAL still has in our minds!! Knock on people's door wearing a Darth Vader mask and invite yourself in to tea-see if it works!! Perhaps they can try and re-create the neck tensing and spasms that Richard Le Parmentier did back in '77, just for you!! Find those old STAR WARS letrasets and, if you have any spare, add them to the panoramas the way you did when you were seven years old!!

But above all else, have fun celebrating STAR WARS the way you want to!!

"Remember Alderaan!!!"

JOHN BERKEY-REMEMBERING AN ARTISTIC ICON OF STAR WARS

By Scott Weller

My good friend/AFICIONADO contributor Chris Baker has emailed me with the very sad news that another one of STAR WARS visionary architects of dreams has passed away into the Force-the prolific artist John Berkey, whose spectacular art graced all types of media-from posters, movie posters (remember the mighty KING KONG release art from 1976 showing him smashing those jet fighters !!) to stamps, to even working for NASA. But for STAR WARS fans, especially the oldies like me, he will always be remembered for his inspiring and iconic artwork on the first STAR WARS, most notably his unused poster campaign work that would later adorn the 1977 Alan Dean Foster novelization of the film (I have the UK SPHERE books edition!!) and that stunning DEATH STAR space battle artwork (image opposite), with looks both incredibly realistic and hauntingly beautiful in a brutalistic way, that would later go on to be a poster within the original two disc LP of John Williams music for the film from FOX RECORDS (and an image that would grace my bedroom wall for many years). Science Fiction fans will also be aware of his excellent work in that field, providing imagination fuelling covers that exuded exotic heroes, beautiful heroines and evil villains against alien landscapes and distinctively futuristic, but also highly believable, spacecraft for a whole plethora of novels and other pieces, of which his work has always been well regarded (especially by Lucas who, after seeing his book covers and KING KONG work, thought his art style perfect for the youthful dynamism of STAR WARS) and highly collectible amongst his fans.

Chris sent me this biographic information which I'm sure you'll like to read:

 Artist John Berkey of Excelsior had the ability to envision what life in space might be like -- so much so that NASA once wondered how he did it.

Berkey, creator of an iconic Star Wars movie poster, died April 29 at his Excelsior home of complications from several ailments. He was 75 and had been inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2004.

In 2005, he told the Star Tribune that he had never seen "Star Wars," nor was he a science-fiction fan, but he sold "Star Wars" creator George Lucas the painting credited with inspiring the Death Star.

"I have just never been into science fiction," Berkey said. "It isn't literature."

Skip Liepke, longtime New York artist, now of Minneapolis, said Berkey "was able to take the fantasy and make it real."

"He made up his own world and he took you there with him, and you weren't the same," said Liepke, adding that Berkey was a first-rate talent as a painter.

In addition to some of the posters and pre-production designs for the original "Star Wars" and many other Hollywood films, he did paintings that appeared on the covers of National Geographic, Time, Life and hundreds of science fiction paperbacks and at least 15 U.S. postage stamps.

Berkey earned respect from both sci-fi fans and professional artists.

His work is remarkably detailed and scientific-looking -- so much so that Berkey said he once got a call from someone at NASA asking him, "What do you know that we don't?"

Dave Machacek, executive director of ArtOrg in Northfield, said Berkey was disciplined in his work, often working day and night.

"He loved to paint so much, and the other things weren't nearly as interesting," said Machacek. "I think his place is yet to be determined."

Machacek, a longtime friend, recalled stories of Berkey as a teen -- his high school friends passing by in the evening, seeing the light on in his room as he worked at his art

Berkey was largely self-taught, though he attended the Minneapolis School of Art after he graduated from Excelsior High School in 1950.

He got on with art studios in Minneapolis by doing odd jobs, but his talent was soon recognized, said his son Brian, of Wayzata.

Starting in 1955, he worked at calendar maker Brown and Bigelow in the Twin Cities, leaving in 1964 to begin his freelance career.

Among his postage stamps were the Hubert Humphrey stamp in 1991, the so-called Older Elvis stamp, which was never printed, the set of five Santa Claus stamps in 1991 and the Santa Claus stamp in 1993.

Brian Berkey recalled when his father became a freelance artist: he'd dress daily in white shirt, tie and slacks. Even though he worked from his home studio, he dressed as he had when he was an employee of someone else.

"He took it very seriously," said his son.

His daughter, Sharon, died in 1997.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 52 years, Damaris (Demi) of Excelsior; sons Brian of Wayzata, Kevin of Minneapolis and John of Rockford; sister Janice Knapp of Newbury Park, Calif., and seven grandchildren.

Services will be at 2 p.m. May 16 at the Congregational Church of Excelsior, 471 Third St., with visitation beginning at 1 p.m. at the church

Our condolences to John Berkey's family and friends on their sad loss. He, and his unqiue talents, will be missed by art fans and STAR WARS fans across the world.

John Berkey's art inspired the Death Star in 'Star Wars'

The Excelsior artist was acclaimed for his many sci-fi illustrations, but his first love was creating fine art. In the Star Wars community, John was best known for his cover art on the 1977 Star Wars paperback novelization

BACK TO BASICS

By Scott Weller

Well, the new CLONE WARS trailer officially aired in the US and on STARWARS.COM this weekend-though I'm sure many readers probably saw it when it was leaked from Poland several weeks ago. And it's a terrific trailer, too, packed with action and imagination. My favourite moments are still the Anakin on a Stap, and Ahsoka deflecting laser blasts with her lightsaber whilst atop of an AT-AT as it's going uphill into battle. It's also nice to have the story confirmed, which, in an effective saga binding nod to events in JEDI, sees the return of Jabba the Hutt and his den of vice (great to see the Niktos back as well!!). Additonally, there was other great new stuff on display-the Clone Tropers in action, Asaj Ventress once more fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi, a small bit of Artoo and Threepio, Sam Jackson as Mace Windu (yes, I was right. It WAS Sam the Man!!) and a return to the wonderous vistas that only a STAR WARS film can evoke-no other film or TV series does planets and empires the way STAR WARS uniquely does.

Also launched with the trailer was the theatrical poster proper, and I really like it's simplicity. It's a return to the past, and very reminscent, to me anyway, of the first STAR WARS art poster done by Howard Chaykin back in 1976/77. It's dynamic and exciting, and I love the Republic Destroyers almost blasting outwards above our four Jedi heroes. You may think I'm wrong to say this, but I also like the fact that this film doesn't have an EPISODE number in it's title- like the orignal first STAR WARS it has a unique one off look to it (though, whether that really will be the case is unknown-if it takes off at the box office, I can't believe there won't be more CLONES WARS animated films).

August isn't too far off, people....

"BRING BACK STAR WARS"- IT'S FINALLY ON!!

By Scott Weller

Yep, after much schedule changing by the UK's CHANNEL 4, what looks set to be another excellent edition of the enormously successful BRING BACK series, starring Bristol comedy star of THE FRIDAY NIGHT PROJECT, Justin Lee Collins, finally arrives on Sunday September 14th at 9pm. Just how many of the original cast from RETURN OF THE JEDI will Collins be able to re-unite, and will their memories of working on the saga prove happy or sad?  Acting almost like a comedy pretender to Boba Fett, will Collins be able to bounty hunt and corner Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill for a chat and participation? We doubt it, but it should be hilarious watching him using all the tricks at his disposal in trying to get hold of them. If this BRING BACK is as funny and charming as the edition devoted to THE A-TEAM, which was pretty successful in getting a surviving cast reunion together, then STAR WARS fans should be in for a treat.

In the meantime, the British TV listings magazine, TV AND SATELLITE WEEK, has done an excellent feature on the programme in its current issue out now, and its inside spread bears an excellent, hilarious exclusive photo shoot of Justin Lee Collins dressed as Chewbacca (he really didn't need the costume or make-up-his resemblance to the Wookiee is uncanny!!) and brandishing a lightsaber!! Sadly, due to photographers/magazine copyright, we can't show you the inside pictures, but one of the photo shoot images can be glimpsed on the new issues cover (presented opposite). Sadly, perhaps because their Editorial team aren't really STAR WARS fans (in this instance, Justin Lee Collins is the big drawer for them, he's the new "in thing" at the moment on TV)-they've never bothered promoting FAMILY GUY: BLUE HARVEST, ROBOT CHICKEN or the upcoming CLONE WARS animated series, either- and for such a fun shoot, TV AND SAT WEEK aren't really plugging it on their website yet (http://whatsontv.co.uk/blogs/tvspy/) -perhaps saving it as a highlight for Sunday? You'd think that they'd want to sell more magazines-especially when you've got such a nice inside section that STAR WARS fans would lap up and enjoy!!

Let's hope someone at the UK TV listings magazines watches the CLONE WARS animated series trailer and goes for some good coverage next year...