30 Days of Star Wars Recap

Day 1:  Favorite Character

Day 2:  Favorite Lightsaber Duels

Day 3:  Most Overrated Character

Day 4:  My Favorite Part of The Phantom Menace

Day 5:  Favorite Ship

Day 6:  Favorite Part of A New Hope

 Day 7:  Best Star Wars Related Story

Day 8:  Attack of The Creepy Stalker Movie

Day 9:  The Music of Star Wars

Day 10:  All Time Favorite Scene From Any Star Wars Movie

Day 11:  My Favorite Jedi

Day 12:  Star Wars Parodies

Day 13:  Disney Buys Star Wars

Day 14:  Favorite Moment from Revenge of the Sith

Day 15:  Favorite Moment from Return of the Jedi

Day 16:  A Scene That Makes Me Happy

Day 17:  Star Wars Fashion Show

Day 18:  Favorite Movie from the Prequel Trilogy

Day 19: A Character You Didn't Like In The Series 

Day 20:  Favorite Movie From the Original Series

Day 21:  Episode 7 Cast Revealed

Day 22:  Star Wars Quotes

Day 23:  Least Favorite Special Edition Changes

Day 24:  Star Wars Collectibles

Day 25:  Han & Leia

Day 26:  Ways the Prequels Screwed Up The Original Series

Day 27:  YouTube Face-Off

Day 28:  The Expanded Universe

Day 29:  Something You Wish Was Different About The Series

Day 30 :  Why I Love Star Wars

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 30

Why I Love Star Wars

I don't know why I love these movies so much, I just do.  In the early 90s the Expanded Universe books began being published providing new stories about what happened to these famous characters after Return of the Jedi was over.  I became completely hooked on them and they're probably a reason why my obsession grew.     

But I love these movies because of the story.  Good vs. Evil, love, friendship, etc.  I see parallels between Star Wars and being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The concept of the "Force" reminds me a lot of the Holy Ghost, and let's face it:  Darth Vader and the Emperor are like Satan's right hand man and Satan himself!

The music, the humor, the REAL romance, the story....I just love it all.

Below are two fantastic YouTube videos looking back at both the prequels and the original trilogy.  I hope you enjoy them.

I have had such a fun time sharing my thoughts about these movies with you!  I leave you with this final image and then I will be off to watch the original trilogy!

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 29

Something You Wish Was Different In The Series

If I could have 2 wishes, they would be that:

1.  George Lucas NEVER went back through and made changes to the original movies.  They were cinematic gold just the way they were.  There were a few changes for the better, like cleaning up the color, but overall the changes took away from the joy of the originals.

and

2.  George Lucas NEVER made the prequels.  By now you know exactly how I feel about these movies.  They are horrible, plain and simple.

78 Reasons To Hate Episode 1 is the best place I can take you to show you all the things I wish were different.  Not only does this website go through the prequels, but it also goes over the original trilogy as well.  I don't think there is one thing that I disagree with on these multiple lists.

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 28

The Expanded Universe

In the early 1990's, I saw a book titled Heir to The Empire by Timothy Zahn in a book store.  The rest, as they say, is history.  I had always been a Star Wars fan, but this trilogy, titled The Thrawn Trilogy, set 5 years after Return of The Jedi, brought Star Wars back from the dead and introduced this world to millions of fans who never knew about it, while keeping it relevant to those who did know about it.

Every time we would go to Costco, I would see a new Expanded Universe novel.  Soon my room looked something like this:

With news of a new trilogy being made, many fans, myself included, were hoping to have some of the new characters and stories we've come to love over the past 20 years used in these movies, or at least make an appearance.

Unfortunately, this was not to be.  According to an announcement made by Lucasfilm on April 25 (via StarWars.com), the numerous books, video games, comics and other media that have been created over the last three and a half decades as tie-ins to George Lucas’ galaxy — collectively known as the “Star Wars Expanded Universe” — are now officially non-canonical.

In an attempt to streamline everything Star Wars-related, the powers that be have opted to effectively reboot everything outside of Lucas’ six movies and Cartoon Network’s animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” series.

The Star Wars Expanded Universe - or EU for short - is getting cut from Star Wars canon like hands get cut from the Skywalker family. 

This means, for one thing, that beloved storylines like Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy that many theorized could be the basis of the upcoming Star Wars sequels — are now pretty much glorified fan fiction.  But it’s not all bad news for Expanded Universe fans. The press release also stipulates that just because Expanded Universe content is not considered canonical does not mean that it’s going to be whitewashed.

Instead, it will be rebranded as “Star Wars Legends” and continue to be published and made available to fans.  In other words, all the Mara Jade fans out there can keep their fingers crossed that she’ll eventually make it into official continuity.

So, at the very least, this announcement simplifies things by making it clear where the non-movie tie-ins stand in relation to everything else.

I'm very conflicted here.  The story I hold dear is Han and Leia getting married, and having children. Luke meets Mara Jade, they get married and have their own child.  I'm thrilled to hear that these fabulous stories won't simply vanish, but I do understand why they can't be considered cannon anymore.

Here's another look at why this is such a big deal.  This article focuses on how the new movies could work using some of the Expanded Universe characters/story lines.  You can read that article here

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 27

A YouTube Face Off!

Throughout my years blogging, I have spent many hours on YouTube looking for videos for my posts. I always find it entertaining to find the same song used for multiple videos.  So, today we're going to look at a few Star Wars related videos that use the same song.

First up:  Eye of The Tiger, made popular by the Rocky movies.  This song lends itself naturally to the lightsaber fight sequences found throughout the franchise.  The first video focuses on the battles from all 6 movies.





The second video, using the same song, focuses on Luke Skywalker and his development throughout the original trilogy.



Which version do you prefer?

Next song:  Hero by Nickelback.  I'd never heard this song before I found these videos.  It's a great song with lyrics that fit Star Wars very well. This first video is all about Anakin and Luke.




The next video is about the prequels.  I can almost handle the video because the song is so good!




This last video is all about Obi-Wan Kenobi.  You might recognize this video since I used it on day 11 of this challenge.



Which video do you prefer?

Eye of The Tiger:  I liked them both, but the first video that focused on the fights wins for me. Coordinating the lightsabers to the beat of the music is great.

Hero:  No question here.  The video about Obi-Wan Kenobi is the clear favorite for me.  Clearly one of my favorite YouTube videos ever!

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 26

Ways The Prequels Screwed Up The Original Trilogy

I hate how the prequels have screwed up certain elements of the original trilogy.  One MAJOR issue that arises due to the changes is Leia's memory of her mother......her REAL mother.  Once again, the writers from 78 Reasons To Hate Star Wars Episode 1 have said it better than I ever could.

Leia's Award-Winning Memory

One of the most obvious questions that comes up regarding the prequels and how they relate to the original movies is Leia's memory of her mother.  In Return of the Jedi, Leia tells Luke that she only remembers images of her mother, that she was "very beautiful, but sad."  The major question is this: how does Leia remember her mother if she was only alive together with her mother for a total of one minute?  The answer to this may be: "Well, Leia is talking about her adoptive mother, so there!"  The answer to that is, of course, that Luke says, "Tell me about your mother, your real mother."

Another shoddy apologist answer would be: "Well, Leia was an exceptional baby and because of the Force she remembered her mother."  This is an even worse explanation, seeing that Luke was there at the time and was actually born first.  Being born even a mere twenty seconds earlier than Leia means that he spent a considerable percentage more of his life with his mother than Leia did.

At this point, we can only assume that Princess Leia is just really, really stupid and is actually referring to photographs of her mother that Bail Organa showed her.

(On my own personal side note:  Why did Leia passionately kiss Luke in The Empire Strikes Back if she'd always known they were brother and sister?  Remember from the clip, when Luke tells her that they're related, she says, "I know.  Somehow, I've always known".  SAY WHAT?!?  Ewww.  I don't have a brother, and I'm not adopted, but if I were and didn't know all the details about my family history, I wouldn't go around kissing men if I had even the slightest inclination that they were my long-lost brother!!)

Back to the professionals:

Princess Leia? Let's take a look at the possibilities of Princess Leia, movie by movie. Shall we? The Phantom Menace In the first movie of the prequel trilogy, we met Luke and Leia's mother, Queen Amidala. As her name would imply, she was a queen. Moments after being introduced to her character, it was apparent that Princess Leia would be a princess because her mother was a queen. So, that was settled! Attack of the Clones Wait a minute! She was an elected queen? She's not a queen anymore? But that's stupid... queens aren't elected! We thought we had it all figured out. Furthermore, how is Princess Leia a princess? Oh well, I'm sure they'll explain it in the next movie... Revenge of the Sith So, when a senator adopts a baby girl on Alderaan, he reserves the right to call her a princess? Perhaps a better name for Leia in the original trilogy would have been Daddy's little Princess Leia.

Again, thanks George for screwing up one of my favorite scenes from Return of The Jedi.  You're a real peach.

30 Days of Star Wars: Day 25

Han & Leia

Bantering back and forth; constant name calling; chemistry all over the place.  Who else could we be talking about but The Princess and the Scoundrel?  Where Anakin and Padme failed MISERABLY in the romance department (in the opinion of not only me, but thousands of others), Han and Leia's romance was a success.

The romance of Han and Leia was so much fun to watch unfold.  From the moment they met, they irritated each other, and fought incessantly.  As an audience, we loved every single minute of it.  We cheered when Han kissed Leia,  and hoped that this meant they really did have feelings for each other.

Below are two videos about their relationship.  Take note boys:  THIS is how you win a woman's heart.  We love scoundrels with a good heart, not men who stare at us and creep us out with their temper tantrums!