Our Motto
Sorry but this news section will not give out too many spoilers. I personally would want to see the movie with out being spoiled. Yet, I want to know about what is going on certain rumors that float around the net. And we all know that Lucas has been hinting that he might sent out fake news to misinform people. So we want to give you enough information to be satisfied yet not enough to leave you disappointed on the film.
On Submitting News
If you have any, submit news on any thing that involves the Star Wars films.
-Submit News-
The Episode 1 games. This morning at around 4 AM. And yes, I stayed up all night to hear this. Several video gaming sites posted up images and previews on the upcoming episode 1 games. I have read several previews, and here are some of main points about the game
Star Wars - Episode 1: the Phantom Menace
It will be for Playstation and the PC, PC version will have Direct 3D high resolution settings.
The game is made by Big Ape, but it will be distributed by Lucasarts
This is an adventure game that fallow very closely to the movie. The only things they added are a few puzzles and mid game missions.
There always different ways to get through puzzles. For example you can buy a part for the hyperdrive from Watto, you can look through the Junk Yard for one, or you can help someone who can fix it for you. Very similar to the Indiana Jones games.
Between each stage you will switch between characters like Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, General Panaka, Anakin and Queen Amidala. No word if you can select between the character like Super Star Wars.
Stay Wars - Episode 1: Racer
It will be for the PC and the Nintendo 64. Of course PC version will have Direct 3D options and force feed back joystick options. And the Nintendo 64 version will have options for the Expansion pack and the Rumble pack.
It's based on the 15 minute Pod Race action sequence we see in the film.
The game has 21 racers to chose from. Eight are available at the start of the game, the rest can be selectable after winning a few harder races. 18 are real racers we see in the film, 3 new racers were added for the game.
Here is the list of racers. Highlight for spoilers.
Anakin Skywalker: This young boy is the only human in the races.
Ebe Endocott: A rather rotund alien with a long tail.
Duo Bolt: Imagine a walking hammerhead shark.
Gasgano: This creature has the advantage of having a set of extra arms and a long neck.
Elan Mak: An insect-like alien.
Ben Quadridaros: A stubby creature with extremely long legs.
Ody Mandrell: A humanoid creature with two arms and two legs.
Sebulba: A podracer's worst nightmare and the undisputed master of the outlaw sports.
Clergg Holdfast "Bullseye" Navior Ark Roose Mawhonic Slide Paramita Teempto Pagalies Fud Sang Boles Roor Toy Dampner Bozzie Baranta Wan Sandage Neva Kee Aldar Beedo
Here is a list of planet you race in, Saddly Tantoonie is the only one that will appear in the film.
Tatooine: Jabba hosts the outlaw race on Anakin's (and later Luke's) desert homeworld.
Ando Prime: This ice planet will blind you with its gleaming white snow fields and wide open frozen lakes.
Aquilaris: This planet is covered with water. Underwater tunnels and ducts make for some good racing.
Ord Ibanna: This pastel-colored world most closely resembles Bespin (Cloud City) in its architecture and general appearance.
Baroonda: Race through ancient cities and brave the planet's stormy weather and torrential rain falls.
Mon Gazza: Race under the bridges of Mon Gazza and gaze in wonder at the bright orange sky.
Oovo VI: A penal colony located on an isolated asteroid.
Malastare: Take part in neck-breaking night races under a Malastare's starry sky.
You can buy new pods, or modify your own pod. You can find pieces for your Pod in the Junk yard or buy them from Watto. Watto usually over prices his parts, but the pieces found in the Junk Yard are usually worn out and could fail in a race. Rumors also have it that Boss Nass might come and help you out as well.
In the game you also have to manage your acceleration and deceleration of your engines. If you over accelerate your engine could blow up and will have to manage a Pod spinning out of control at 600 mph.
In my opinion Racer sounds like the best game out of the 2. That might be because I am a racing fan, but from what I hear Lucasarts want to make the game more of a simulator like Gran Turismo. But other have said that the Nintendo 64 has some choppy frame rate when too many racers are on the field. Don’t worry this can be changed on the final version. I am not to excited for The Phantom Menace game, sure it might be fun but it sound too much like Shadows of the Empire. Which was a decent game but I didn’t enjoy switching from a snow speeder to running though corridors of Hoth. So far I am only impressed with the nice high resolution PC version compared to the Playstation.
Okay this is my little opinion on each of the video gaming sites that posted up information on the games. Gamespot has posted up a long article on their experience at Skywalker ranch with behind the scene research on the game and the movie. They also contain extra conceptual art from the movie that I have not see before. The site only talks about the Nintendo 64 and Playstation version and avoids the PC.
IGN.Com is a complex site that is devoted to all video gaming system. The have written up long previews of the game and some major spoilers about the plot.
On the Racer page they added a little tiny example of the Pod Racers’ flags. And here is my best guess as to what Flag belong to whom from reading the file name of the JPG files.
Aldar Beedo's (flag_ald_sm.jpg)
Anakin Skywalker's (flag_as_sm.jpg)
Ben Quadrinaros' (flag_ben_sm.jpg)
Boles Roor's (flag_boles_sm.jpg)
Dud Bolt's (flag_dud_sm.jpg)
Boz? (flag_boz_sm.jpg)
Bullseye? (flag_bullseye_sm.jpg)
Bumpy Roose's (flag_bum_sm.jpg)
Clegg Holdfast's (flag_clegg_sm.jpg)
Gasgano's (flag_gas_sm.jpg)
Official Word on Advance Tickets and Digital Sound.The official site had release a statement on the two following questions: Digital Theatres and Advance Ticket sales. And I am very positive these are questions that everyone is talking about. Her is what they had to say.
March 24, 1999 - Many fans have been asking questions about the release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, on May 19th 1999. Twentieth Century Fox, responsible for the distribution of the film, is currently hard at work to ensure that moviegoers everywhere will be able to see Episode I in the best possible conditions. Tom Sherak, Chairman of Twentieth Century Fox Domestic Film Group, wanted to address two of the fans' most pressing concerns: digital sound and advance ticket sales.
Digital Sound "Fox will be looking to play the film in digital sound in every market that digital is available," says Tom Sherak. "The film will play all digital formats, Dolby Digital, DTS and SDDS. If a theatre is in a market that has digital theatres but does not have digital sound, it will not play in that theatre. In the markets where theatres compete with each other the selection process is being decided now. Fox will, of course, look for the best presentation and sound available. In markets that do not have digital sound, although we believe digital sound is important, it is more important for our fans to be able to see the movie. Therefore, Fox will choose the best possible theatre to play the movie and it will play non-digital. The film will play wide and it will be available in markets with enough seats to reasonably accommodate audiences during the early weeks of its run."
Advance Ticket Sales "Although this issue is still being discussed, we believe the best way to make tickets available, to be fair to all of you, is on a same day - first come, first serve basis for the first two weeks. Our biggest fear is that if we sell tickets in advance, scalping will take place and you and your families would either not be able to get tickets or would have to pay above face value. We feel this is totally out of line with our concept of the Star Wars experience. Tickets would go on sale each morning for that day's performance. After the first two weeks we would allow advance sales. We understand and regret that waiting in line may cause some inconvenience, but we feel scalping or auctioning off of tickets would create a greater disservice to families and fans. Please stay tuned to the Web site for further updates," Sherak says.
Please note that internationally, advance movie ticket sales are sometimes customary. In those cases, the moviegoers' habits will not be disrupted, and thus advance ticket sales will not be prevented. But in North American theaters, May 19th, 1999, is the first day theaters will sell Episode I tickets.
I only wonder about all the people online who said they got tickets already. Will these tickets be void? We will wait and see. The good news about his is that we will experience Star Wars the way did when we were growing up... in long lines with annoying people.. but still we can learn to cope. I mean after seeing the movie we can walk by the lines and say this alter version of a Simpsons’ joke (major spoiler up a head do not read! It tells the ending of the film), "Wow what an ending! Who would have thought Qui-Gon Jinn would die by Darth Maul. And the trade federation was just a puppet controlled by Darth Sidious and Palpatine."
Vogue images. The issue is finally out, and the Force Net has provided with these great scans. Now in the magazine we do not see the cute Natalie Portman posing with the Queen’s gowns. Instead we find Audrey Marnay a model whom I thought at first was a mannequin.
Lucas on 60 Minutes.The official site just wanted to remind up that Lucas will be on 60 minutes this Sunday. From what I hear they will show us a new clips from the film that we have not seen from the trailers. Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight expect to show off some clips of the interview tonight.
New Celebration Poster.Shop Star Wars Com has added and new poster dedicated to upcoming Star Wars Celebration. The site did not make it clear if this poster was available to purchase, but maybe we will find out as the days go by. The poster is very good but it was based on images found on recent images of the Insider... But who cares it is a good poster.
Official bio on Jedi Lightsaber. Yesterday, it was Maul's saber. Now, it's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn's lightsabers. I have to say that Qui-Gon has the coolest saber handle I have ever seen.
The lightsaber is a distinctive weapon known throughout the Republic as the traditional weapon of the Jedi Knight. Jedi always carry their own lightsabers, which they build themselves as part of their training. A weapon of unusual power and capabilities, the lightsaber can be more dangerous to a novice wielder than to an opponent, and only a highly trained individual can hope to survive with a lightsaber against an onslaught of blaster plasma bolts.
However, for the skilled Jedi, the lightsaber is an amazingly useful weapon which can deflect attacks back at an enemy even as its whirling blade both defends and threatens. The sight of an ignited lightsaber is often enough to end a conflict, since would-be gunmen know that they are likely to find their own deadly shots deflected right back at them
Now it’s May 16th not 19th. Recent reports on the web are saying that Lucas is planning to release the film earlier then expected. But it is not for money, it’s for charity. Yahoo reported on the following this morning.
Star Wars Premieres To Benefit Kids By Bill Higgins
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace'' will premiere May 16 at benefit screenings held in a dozen U.S. cities.
Each event will be a fund-raiser for a children's charity where all costs will be underwritten by corporate sponsors.
The Los Angeles premiere will benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The charity is hoping to raise more than $700,000 from the event. No theater has been chosen for the screening.
Tickets for the L.A. screening and after-party start at $500 each, with packages priced at $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. Some of the opening night tickets will be given to children infected with HIV/AIDS.
It's not known which -- if any -- premiere ``Star Wars'' director George Lucas and his cast will attend. Nor could it be confirmed in what other cities screenings will be held.
New Insider Images.The Force Net was the first to post up these images from the newest issue of the Star Wars Insider... Enough Talk! Let see those images!
Official word on Maul's Light Saber.The official site has posted up a little bio on the master of the Sith's double ended lightsaber. Just check it out.
The lightsaber is intimidating enough, but recent reports describe a variation of this weapon that seems truly formidable. The equivalent of two lightsabers end-to-end, this double-ended energy blade can cut through anything twice. It can be selectively used like an ordinary lightsaber, with only one of the blades ignited, but with both blades activated it becomes an extraordinary weapon requiring extraordinary skill and training. Only the patience and concentration of one truly attuned to the Force can lead to the mastery of such a dangerous martial art.
If such a weapon is actually in the hands of a rumored Dark Lord of the Sith, then a real threat to the Light Side has emerged.
Vogue Preview. In the recent issue of Newsweek there was a small preview from the Vogue issue. The article doesn’t say much that we know or will learn from Vogue. But it does contain an new image, I will replace this image when I get the new issue of Vogue.
NYTimes article on Lucas. Recently Lucas did an interview with the New York Times. If you missed the official site has posted up the whole article, related articles on Lucas and mirror links to the trailers. Don't be alarmed if they ask for a password, passwords are free of charge.
There will be NO TPM game by Square.Next Generation has posted up they reaction to the rumor, and they hunted down quotes from Lucasarts and Square.
Square Star Wars RPG is "Unfounded Rumor" Normally, we don't reporton wild rumors, but we've gotten so many emails...
The Internet has been abuzz lately with rumors of a SquareSoft RPG based on the Star Wars property.
Many reporting the rumor allude to an "internal SquareEA document" that discusses the project.
In our snooping, we've found no evidence that this document exists. We also called our contacts at both LucasArts and SquareEA and other than hearing the rumors, no one had any first hand knowledge of such a project.
Then we talked to spokespersons for both companies. The LucasArts spokesperson told us it was "an unfounded rumor," and SquareEA's spokesperson told us it was "absolutely untrue."
Now there are those who will still insist that it's true. They will also tell you that Chewbacca will appear in the Final Fantasy movie.
I have to say that I was a little bit excited about the thought of a Phantom Menace RPG by Square. Be sure to check up Next Gen later tonight, for they plan to upload a few images of the new Episode 1 games.
Austin VS Anakin!Rolling Stone is conducting a poll on between two certain films which ones do you really want to see this Summer. And those two lucky films are Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Screw Star Wars! I am voting for Austin Powers! "This is my kind of happening and it freaks me out!"
Troops II.The Force Net has also announced that there will be a sequel to Troops. No word weather the same director will be involved, but original member behind the film have said to be devoted to the project. For now check out the original Troops at the Force Net.
Interview Out-takes with Lucas. Lynn Hale manage to sneak in another video diary onto the official site. This time the diary focuses on the day before Lucas starts shooting the film. Here Lucas talks about his opinions on the importance of story, directing actors, and making compromises. In here Lucas compares working on episode 1 with working on Raiders of the Lost Ark... I assume the fans cannot understand what he meant by that, but this is a personally thing that only Lucas would know about.
The Phantom Menace Gaming news. Okay this is a vast variety of news that is devotes to the games of Episode 1.
The first one comes from Next Generation Online, a great site dedicated to video gaming news which I have bookmark and visit everyday. They posted this message yesterday.
This Wednesday at 12:00am (so, technically, Thursday morning at 12:00am) Pacific Time, we will be unveiling the first games based on Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace,
There are two games coming to the world concurrent with the release of Episode 1, and we'll have all the details this week.
The Fastest Gaming News posted up two articles dedicated to The rumors of a Star Wars Role-playing Game. The odd part about this news article is that it will be made by the best RPG company in the world Squaresoft, and it will be on the upcoming Playstation 2. When we all asumed that Nintendo was the only company to make games for the home console.
Square PSX2 Star Wars? Playstation 2: The preliminary existence of a Star Wars RPG for PlayStation 2, to be developed by Square, has been reported by our Japanese source. The news came from a behind-closed-doors showing of the latest Star Wars paraphernalia at a toy fair in Tokyo. "Sega, Nintendo and Sony will all be in on the upcoming Star Wars saga," revealed the contact. "EA Squaresoft was confirmed as doing a Star Wars RPG for PlayStation 2. This is going to be incredible. They outlined all the plans for the new movies and showed off the new range of toys - they're awesome." Although extremely unlikely to ship before the end of next year, the thought of a Square developed Star Wars RPG should have the vast majority of you frothing at the mouth. A virtually photo-realistic title based on the Lucas vision, with Square's experience behind it? Could things get any better? Expect a heap of news from Japan in the coming weeks.
LucasArts On Star Wars RPG Playstation 2: LucasArts has decided not to comment on FGN's exclusive news story yesterday revealing the preliminary existence of a Star Wars RPG for PlayStation 2, to be developed by Square. LucasArts did say that every platform possible would be considered when its Episode 1: The Phantom Menace property was announced. This title realistically could turn out to be the biggest game of all time as it combines the priceless Star Wars franchise with Sony's massively-anticipated PlayStation 2 console and its Emotion Engine, in conjunction with Square's unparalleled RPG-development expertise.
In my opinion Square is the best company to handle Star Wars, in fact they are huge fans of Star Wars. If you have ever played one of their game you will notice that in every game they have two characters named Biggs and Wedge. Just like in the Star Wars universe their games are the heroes journey set in Fantasy worlds with flying airships, dueling word fights and monsters in ever corner. I just hope this is true because Square has also been doing some amazing CG for Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy the movie with the Playstation 2
For more information on the Playstation 2, Next Gen posted up informative pages on their site. In the videos you will see clips of Final Fantasy VIII and the movie.
Jedi Net has posted up a list of games for the Nintendo 64 that will come out when the film is release. Just check out what they said.
Software Etc... 3/20/99: 11:32am EST: Following newsposts and announcements at various sites regarding the games of Episode One, Azeroth, an employee at Software Etc in Northern California chimes in with the following:
We just recieved the official announcement about Nintendos 5-year deal with Lucasarts concerning the Episode one N64 games.
Episode 1: Racer ( I'm assuming this will be called "Pod Racer" when Lucasarts feels more incline to reveal a little more about the game), this game is supposedly a collection of tracks for high speed racing, probably like Nintendo's own F-Zero X.
Episode 1: The official game following the basic plot of the movie for N64.
As well as a PC game called Episode 1: Gungan Frontier, which was the real suprise among the announcements.
New image from Countdown.Countdown recently posted up a new image of Padme and R2 in Anakin's hubble. If the scene looks familiar, you might remember the test screening video diary that Lynn Hale did. I wonder if this is the part where Anakin says, "You know, I won't always be a boy forever." Just check it out.
Two magazines specials on The Phantom Menace. On an upcoming issue of Popular Mechanics they will focus on the machines of Episode 1. They release this information on their official site. I can assume they would do a layout on the N-1 Starfighters, Anakin's Pod, the Trade Federation Battle Tank or STAP vehicles we have already seen and have a good understanding about. But who know if they will give us a sneak peak at Darth Maul's Sith Speeder, or the Gungan Sub?
The force Net has also stated that in an upcoming issue of Vogue they will focus a six page layout on Queen Amidala's outfits. The article will have interviews with Natalie Portman and costume designer Trisha Biggar, rumor has it the issue will be out in a few weeks.
X-Wing Alliance Demo. This is just something to pass the time till we get the news on the Phantom Menace video game. Make sure to read the specs before you download it, and list of mirror links are provided by Download.com.
The size of the demo is 27.8 mb. Below are the minimum requirements for the demo:
200-MHz CPU
Windows 95/98
32MB RAM
2MB PCI or AGP graphics card
16-bit sound card, DirectX Drivers
joystick
We've had 20000 visitors. Although it seems like we have 20000 visitors it turns out we have had about 70000 regular visitors as well. So for this moment I decided to draw a little drawing for this event. I hope you all enjoy it.
Official Site Updates. And these were the news bites that I missed in the last week from the official site.
The official site has added images and bios on Queen Amidala’s psitol, the Battle Droids and their blasters.
Captain Panaka, always mindful of potential dangers, has personally supervised the Queen's training in the martial arts, including regular pistol practice at a secure palace firing range. The royal pistol was specially designed for Amidala and her handmaidens, its size and weight making it a perfect and natural extension of the hand. The Queen's entourage, from the Theed Palace guards to her personal handmaidens, are also trained by Panaka to add to the Queen's safety. But it is paramount to Queen Amidala that she be able to rely on her own marksmanship and her own weaponry to defend herself in a crisis.
In these troubled times of failing politics, many nations and worlds have once again little choice but to resort to military hardware if their voices are to be heard - or at least not quickly silenced. While few will take the bold step of outfitting an army of soldiers, it is now common - if whispered - knowledge that battle-droid armies do exist. Their number remains difficult to ascertain, but there are more active battle-droids than galactic leaders would prefer to admit. Utterly heartless in the performance of their duties, and obeying their orders with the steel-cold loyalty of machines, battle droids are instruments of destruction, anathema to the more civilized peoples of the galaxy. In the present uncertain political climate, security is a scarce commodity.
Battle droids are often given the likeness of their creator species, since they serve as stand-in soldiers, but the actual designs of these robotic creations may be a varying mix of several different factors.
The Battle Droids employed by the Trade Federation are issued a specialized make of blaster rifle. Designed to be held by mechanical hands, the weapon is heavier than an ordinary blaster and uncomfortable for most humanoids to handle. Some combat droids have been built with permanent guns in place of hands, which ensures that their weapons are always ready.
Trade Federation battle droids, in contrast, are built to be generalist troops, capable of setting down their weapon and operating machinery with their hands when necessary. The disadvantage is that the separate rifle of a fallen battle droid can be picked up and used by an adversary.
And these are just press release that they posted on their news section.
Attention Rebel Pilots March 17, 1999 -- A life-size X-wing fighter created for a 1995 video promotion and previously on display in Japan will make its way to the U.S. for this spring's Star Wars Celebration. Although the Official Star Wars fan club reveals that prospective Rebel pilots won't be allowed to take the fighter for a test flight, fans will be able to get close enough to take some very exciting photos. Tickets to the Celebration, which will be held from April 30 - May 2, 1999 in Denver, Colorado, can be purchased through shop.starwars.com.
Star Wars Trailer Attracts Over 3.5 Million Downloads March 16, 1999 -- The popularity of the Star Wars: Episode I trailer has set an Internet record with over 3.5 million downloads since it first premiered on the joint Lucasfilm/Apple web site (reachable through www.starwars.com or www.apple.com) last Thursday, March 11.
Jim Ward, Director of Marketing for Lucasfilm, said, "We're thrilled with the fans' response. Apple's QuickTime software provided us with the highest quality and enabled us to push Internet video to its limits."
Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO stated, "Over three and a half million downloads in five days makes this the biggest Internet download event in history. Apple is proud to have participated in this online experience of the new Star Wars movie."
60 Minutes on George Lucas March 16, 1999 -- 60 Minutes will present a profile of George Lucas, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, March 28th, 1999. As Episode I The Phantom Menace nears completion and races toward its May 19th release date, 60 Minutes takes a look at what occupies Lucas' mind during the final stages of post-production on his latest journey to the heart of the Star Wars universe.
Shop Star Wars.com has been selling the all too cool Lego figures on their site. I just had to report on this because just a few days ago a friend of mine and I were drooling over them. I really suggest you go and buy some of your own.
And a new Lynn Hale Video Diary dedicated to the sand storm that demolished most of the set. You might have also seen some of that on Entertainment Tonight.
More EW images. The official Entertainment Weekly site has posted up their article and images on their site. The have also added a new image of Maul that did not make it on to their Magazine.
Mr.Showbiz reviews the Phantom Menace.Mr.Showbiz has gotten their hands on the script to The Phantom Menace. They gave a short and non-spoiler review on the script. Just read on.
Phantom Prediction I finally scored George Lucas' Phantom Menace script, or at least a draft that was current when shooting began in June of '97. (It's titled The Beginning.) Without making any sweeping calls or spilling any details I have to say it's very craftily written a tight, absorbing story delivered with style. It's fast and economical, and it pays off page after page.
The first 34 pages, which focuses mainly on Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), Obi-Wan (Ewan MacGregor), and Jar-Jar Binks fighting and dodging the evil Federation, fuses high- velocity action, character, and exposition with cunning precision. It calms down for a stretch of about 30 pages, then revs up again for the Tatooine pod race the one said to compare favorably with the chariot race in Ben-Hur then settles in for some political intrigue mixed with character deepenings and philosophical ponderings, only to crank up again 30 pages from the end for more action sequences and then a wham-bam finish. It works Lucas knows what he'd doing.
I've been saying that Phantom Menace may have a hard time living up to everyone's expectations, given all the hopes and prayers that the fans will bring to it. This still could be the case. There's no telling how well it'll play in visual terms, or how the pacing or the performances will kick in. But having now read the script, it's hard to imagine this being seen in any way as a disappointment. It feels like more of a companion piece to the original Star Wars than The Empire Strikes Back it uses similar narrative beats and has a somewhat similar pay-off at the end. All in all, it reads like an efficient, often thrilling piece of entertainment.
A few Unconfirmed images. Now these are images that I did have the time to upload through out last week. The first two come from the always shag-a-delic T’Bone.
The first one is a full version, of an image that the Force.Net posted before. And the second is suppose to be the mask of a Nimoidian that they used while filming Episode 1. So far the Force.Net is not certain if it is true.
The Last two come from CountDown To Star Wars. The first one is a Pepsi poster advertisement, and the second one is an image of Queen Amidala and Senator Palpatine. I am not sure when the last image takes place, but we have seen the dress from SirSteve’s image Princess Liea / Queen Amidala version .01.
An extra Hutt. About last week Virtual Edition posted up an editorial on a blurry image that you can see behind Jabba the Hutt. From this still on the right you might think that I just doctored up a capture from the trailer, but when you see this in slow motion you can tell that the blur has depth and movement to it. Roderick Vonhogen had this to say.
But most important of all: we catch a first glimpse of another Hutt, just visible for a few frames on Jabba's left side. I think that this might very well be the female Hutt I told you about more than a year ago! Could it be Gardulla, the previous owner of Shmi and Anakin? Take a look at these virtual versions of her, the first of which I posted as early as November 27 1997 (!), compared to an enlarged portion of the scene from the trailer:
And Newsdroid is also down, but no word on what the correct address will be. Funny, I just spoke to the editor last Saturday.
Countdown is also going back to their old address instead of what they have now at saber.
Star Wars joke at the Oscars. If you caught the Oscars Sunday night... And who didn’t it was viewed by 2 billion people. At the Oscars host Whoopie Goldberg was salivating all over Liam Neeson. She said she loves all his films and can’t wait to see him this summer in Star Wars - Episode 1: the Phantom Menace.
Some were also surprised to see Spielberg win the Oscar for best directing but now to best film. That has happen 12 times before in the Oscar. For example in 1989 Oliver Stone won best Director for "Born on the Forth of July" but lost to best picture to "Driving Miss Daisy". Other then that I did got misty eyed when Gwyneth Paltrow won best picture.... Hey, I enjoyed "Shakespeare in love".... And, I also find her attractive... There are you happy now! Oh, leave me alone!
Editor’s Note. Sorry, about the lateness of these news articles. I am right now on Spring break and most of my time and energy is focused on changing the Flash intro, some of the bios and on some late homework for school. Just to give you a small sample of the new Flash intro, here is a sketch that I am working for it. And yes, I did draw it myself.
New Entertainment Weekly Images. I come home from a hard day at school, and all I wanted to do was just sleep. What do I find in my mailbox? The newest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which is no surprise since I get an issue every week at around Friday or Saturday. That when I took another glance at the cover, it was Ewan McGergor with a blue lightsaber. I ran as fast I could to start up my PC and scan in these images. As far as I know so far no one has posted these images yet. So it is only a matter time till every other site has these images. I believe this is my first time I have scanned in an image for this site. Because of that I have added a link to this site, and I made the images extra large (for those who want to enjoy the detail of some of these images. I know I am J. I actually cut up magazine just so I could scan these images without the crease from the middle of the magazine. So far I have been unsuccessful in order to get a perfect blending of the two pages. Send me an email if you can do it better job then I can. Just check them out for yourself
A new Trailer section. I decided to remove all the mirror links and create a new section to the mirror links from trailer A and B. Oh well, just check it out.
Editor’s Note. I am sorry that I had to make this update short. I will post up more news later today.
March 14, 1999
5:00 PM
"It Shows everything, yet it tells nothing." Gene Siskle is review of the first trailer. I would have to say that he was my favorite film critic, and it is a shame to hear that anyone will not be able to see the new film. Here are some more mirror links for the trailer provided by Movie List.
Sorry I moved the Mirror links to a separate page.
Last Friday after I updated my site I went to the theater I went to the theaters to see the trailer. And what can I say? It is 17 million times better then what we have on our television and our PC monitors. You must got and see it, you can see all the detail blow the waterfalls in the Royal Theed Palace. I had shivers run down my spine has Maul said, "At last we will have our revenge." And I did duck when the pods went over head. In my opinion stop downloading the trailer and head to you theater, sit at least in the first 5 rows, bring all your friend all applaud when you see Maul, Boss Nass, or The Destroyer Droids. And what ever you do not stay to watch Wing Commander or the Corrupter (that’s for your review on the Corruptor T’Bone :). These movies are just too boring to sit through, right after you just saw a duel between Maul and Obi-Wan.
An Obi-Wan theme. On the official Episode 1 section from the official sit you probably know that when you hit the refresh button you get a new theme. Well, they now added an Obi-Wan Kenobi to their collection of Maul, Mace and Anakin. An here is a capture of the image.
The following is a statement comes from the Force.Net on what scene this is . Highlight the fallowing there is a spoiler.
"The picture appears to be Kenobi looking into the midichlorian reader. "
Digital Projectors for Episode 1.The Official site has issued a press release on this subject. What does this mean to the movie audience, there maybe a raise in ticket prices in certain theater showing this. But we will get to see the film in crystal clear quality, you won’t see scratches, hair and any of those odd things we have become use to seeing on movie screen.
Maul’s shorter Lightsaber. If you notice this scene in the trailer, then you notice that maul’s saber look at lot shorter then how it usually is. To answer this question the Force Net"As you notice, Maul's saber is shorter in this shot. Some have speculated that his saber splits into two sabers, and this is half. Others have speculated that it has been cleanly cut in half by Obi-Wan. I don't recall if any other site has posted this, but if they have, then write me and I'll update this. But in any case, if you speculated that Obi-Wan sliced it, then you'd be right."
While I was gone. Okay these are a few images that I forgot to post up onto my web site.
SirSteve posted up these two images. On of them is a new Flashback card with a young and old Anakin Skywalker. And the other one is of Queen Amidala disguised as Padma Neberrie, I add the text from the back of the doll so you can understand why she is disguise. Warning there are some spoilers. SirSteve Star Wars Guide is one Kick ass site, and I suggest you visit it.
Discover Queen Amidala's Secret!
"In Star Wars: Episode 1, Queen Amidala wears a handmaiden disguise to keep her true identity hidden from the evil Trade Federation forces. When you remove Padme's hood from this realistically styled doll, the Queen, in all he magnificence, is revealed! Enjoy exciting Star Wars adventures as you help Hidden Majesty Queen Amidala surprise her enemies and save the planet!"
Countingdown To Star Wars has posted up these images onto their web site. The image of Jar Jar and Padma must be when their first reaction to Watto the junk dealer. And I assume all you guys are staring at is the Jedi duel between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Maul. I must warn you about that image some will have panic attacks after seeing it.
These are just higher resolution scans of pervious images we have on our site. The Force Net has seen these images floating around the net, but they did not say if they scanned it in themselves.
And this one cam from the current issue of InStyle, and you can see from it the gorgeous art and models we have had images in out unconfirmed image gallery.
These wonderful sketches come from the Jay Shuster an artist at ILM. The Official site did a profile on him and I am very impressed by this kids talent. It make me anxious waiting for Lucasbooks to release "The Art of Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace".
This image of the next issue of the Star Wars Insider came from Diamond Comics and in the new issue of Previews. And here is a highlights of what the next issue will be about.
"This action-packed issue has interviews with The Phantom Menace’s Young Queen (Natalie Portman), Shmi Skywalker (Sweden’s Permilla August), and Jedi Councilman Ki-Adi-Mundi (Silas Carson). Plus, more exclusive behind-the-scenes pictures of Star Wars Episode I, and much more! (CAUT: 3) NOTE: Not available in Puerto Rico or outside North America. (Official Fan Club)
Magazine, FC..........$4.50
On PREVIEWS Page: 288
March 11, 1999
11:00 AM
It’s Here! Yesterday morning the official Star Wars site had a little surprise for us. they have uploaded the trailer before anyone else could. So several other web site have already posted up mirror links to find all the up to date sites who have the trailer. Since we at Eye on Episode 1 are not at all original :) We have a list of mirror links provided by Movie-List (a great site check it out). I will add a more up to day list later as the days go by.
Sorry I moved the Mirror links to a separate page.
Like I have said before on my site, sure this is fun to see it on your monitor or television screen but it looks like nothing compared to what we will see at the movie theater. Speaking of which the official site has made a list of international theaters that will be showing the trailer outside of the U.S..
The Official Theatrical Poster! Who doesn’t love Drew? The official site has released and image of the poster and you can purchase it through their web site (It is no longer Mosespa.com but Shop.starwars.com). I just have to applaud at the magic Drew Struzan made with that one. I wonder what the other posters will look like?
19 not the 21. With the trailer they surprised us yet again by changing the date of the films release. Instead of May 21 like we expected Lucas is bringing the film two days early just for us fan. Awwwww…. J From a clip on Access Hollywood he also announced this last Tuesday at the ShoWest Convention (Is you do now know what ShoWest is, it is a convention where theater owners are shown samples of films or the actual film itself from the major movie studios. With this they can understand how many copies of film they should order for their theater chains.). The official site has also posted up a press release for this date change you can check out here.
Editorial on this date change. Sure I will admit that I would lie, cheat, steal and kill to get an advance copy of the film before it’s release. But I think this could drastically hurt The Phantom Menace’s chances of breaking any box office record. Of course I am a pessimist, I always think the worst of things just so I can act surprised when something good happens. For a while now, The Phantom Menace was called the most anticipated film of this decade in fact that would of help it beat the Lost World: Jurassic Park record for highest gross in one day. You see the Lost World opened on a humble Friday, and the all the theaters were jammed pack of fans of the original and new audience members all waiting to see this film. It was the anticipation, the excellent trailers, and the over crowed theaters that helped it break that record. And the Phantom Menace could have done the same, but with an early opening day I can assume that only the die hard fan would be there first and not your average uniformed theater goers. But then again Lucas is in this not to break records. I think some die hard fans just really want to see Leo, Kate and the ice berg get knocked off the number one spot. Of course I am just a pessimist. Maybe I am wrong about this, and if I am you can all email me and laugh at me.
Audio files of Maul and Sidious. For those who haven’t seen the trailer, and are probably waiting for the net to cool down and find a fast server. Here is something to pass the time away, audio files of Darth Maul and Sidious.
These files are from the Force.Net, whom were planing to post these up sooner but got a warning from Lucasfilm on posting up audio files and video files too soon. If you want to read about their little chat session then head over to the Force.Net’s Jedi Council.
Lucasfilms tells Countdown to stop. I assume you too were up all night constantly hitting the refresh button waiting for Countdown to show off the 15 MB file they were talking about. Well, at around 8:00 PM they posted this up on their site.
ANNOUNCEMENT
MONDAY MAR 8 7:43PM ET Contrary to what other sites have been posting, there will be NO TRAILER B posted here, before STARWARS.COM posts it, according to Lucasfilm's wishes. Even if, hypothetically, we were to put up a version we got from, say, Entertainment Tonight, I have been told that it would still be against Lucasfilm's wishes, unless starwars.com has it posted already. This information can be confirmed on other star wars websites that Lucasfilm also contacted, and I respect their wishes.
The big file that I am going to be putting out instead later tonight is NOT Trailer B and in no way is it aimed against Lucasfilm's wishes to keep the release of STAR WARS material under their control. It is NOT moving STAR WARS FOOTAGE per se. However, I can confirm that new pictures and the trailer WILL be released the minute that the official site releases the trailer.
Trailer B’s TV premiere is Thursday. On today’s episode both Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood said that they will air the trailer Thursday not Friday. The Countdown posted a quote from Mary Heart saying that they will show "Star Wars on Wednesday." But it turns out what they will show is images from the new In Stlye issue on Skywalker Ranch. But still video tape Wednesday in hopes they at least show a clip or two from the trailer.
March 9, 1999
4:51 PM
Yeah! Official info on trailer B release! Just when I was starting to lose hope the official Star Wars site has given me a reason to live again. They posted up a little press release on the trailers release. Just read ahead.
The New Episode I Trailer! March 8, 1999 -- www.starwars.com is pleased to announce that the new trailer for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace will begin showing in theaters across the U.S. and Canada this Friday, March 12th. With all new footage the trailer introduces the characters and conflict of Episode I, and features glimpses of some of the fabulous environments in which the action takes place.
The new trailer will be placed into general release, running on a wide variety of films over the coming weeks. Contrary to speculation, it will not be attached to any particular film, including Wing Commander, and in fact may not even play with Wing Commander. There is no assurance the trailer will play with any particular movie and you will need to contact your local theater for information on where the trailer will run in your area.
So you hear that everyone we have to call be fore we pay a ticket for anything. Wow! We are finally going to see Boss Nass, Dath Sidious, Sio Bibble, Battle Droids in action, the senate, Palpatine, more of the Pod Race, the Oopie attcking the sub… and actual Music and Sound effect from the film! Wow, the Battle droid speak, the sound of the pods, and of course Darth Maul’s voice. Yes this will be the real trailer!!!
Early trailer rumors! Well, even though with the previous statement from the official site there have been rumors on the Internet about Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and E! will be showing it even earlier. Well, after the first trailer everyone from MTV to the local news showed it uncut on their own time. But rumor are flying all over the Internet that the big moment will appear on Wednesday! I guess that maybe they might not show all of the trailer, but just a small clip and inform everyone that the trailer will be release on Friday. So just keep your eyes peeled just in case.
Something going down tonight at Countdown. Countdown has been posting on their site that tonight they will have a 15 MB file that everyone should wait and see. What is it? Is it the upcoming trailer? Is a clip from the film? It seems the webmaster will not say a peep about it. So just visit the site either tomorrow or later tonight. I just hope it is worth all the wait.
When and Where will Trailer 2 be? "March 12, 1999, trailer B will be on Wing Commander." This has been posted by several web sites like The Force.Net, T'Bone, Jedi.Net, Countdown, etc. Even the show Access Hollywood, which has been know to recycle news from the official site, has said that trailer B will be with Wing Commander. But so far the official site has not confirmed yet. several months when the first trailer the official site posted up the movie theater, time and the films that would show it 2 weeks in advance. Now, it seems to be dead silent about it. By now, we should hear from them. Even during Rick McCallium's Yahoo chat session he didn't even say when trailer was going to be release even when everyone said it was a week from now. Well, right now it seems like we are reaching the point of no return. Will the official site announce "March 12, 1999, Wing Commander"? Or will we be disappointed like X-Files, Alien Resurrection, and Godzilla?
Countingdown To Star Wars has posted up these images onto their web site. The image of Jar Jar and Padma must be when their first reaction to Watto the junk dealer. And I assume all you guys are staring at is the Jedi duel between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Maul. I must warn you about that image some will have panic attacks after seeing it.
These wonderful sketches come from the Jay Shuster an artist at ILM. The Official site did a profile on him and I am very impressed by this kids talent. It make me anxious waiting for Lucasbooks to release "The Art of Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace".
