EPISODE IX: THE D23 TEASER TRAILER OFFICIALLY DEBUTS

The beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning, beckons...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n1T3HxHd7Y&feature=youtu.be

THE CLONE WARS: WHO'S WATCHING THE WATCHERS?

Unseen in the Prequel Trilogy movies, the creation of Jedi Guards patrolling the Temple proved an interesting idea for realisation during the later seasons of THE CLONE WARS animated series, giving us another indication of how life and structure within the order was changing, and not for the good.

CLASSIC IMAGE: RED IS DEAD!

Still making waves today as one of STAR WARS greatest villains, Ray Park, as the fearless and lethal Darth Maul, poses for an early EPISODE I promotional image.

“It wasn’t until I had the contact lenses in and I was in the costume that people became a bit funny towards me. You could tell they couldn’t focus on me, and it wasn’t so much because they were scared of me, but because it was just really strange.

“I gave George a certain look for the character and he loved it, and that gave me a basis to how the character should behave. I basically tried not to show any feelings, and just tried to project a sense of terror.”

RAY PARK- STAR WARS UK FAN CLUB JEDI JOURNAL MAGAZINE ISSUE 2.2 - SUMMER 2001

“I think the voice (by Peter Serafinowicz) is excellent. Peter did a great job. His voice really suits the part. My voice may not have been right. I’m not bothered about it. It’s not a big speaking part anyway. It would have felt really good to do everything, but I acted the role, and I did the physical action, so it’s me.”

RAY PARK - STARLOG ISSUE 269 - DECEMBER 1999

CLASSIC BLOG: HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY, EPISODE ONE!

STAR WARS: CELEBRATION fan art adaptation by Adriano Ticiano.

From May 19th 2009, and another "day long remembered..."

By Scott Weller

Yep, it's the premiere epic milestone for the first film of the Prequel Trilogy.

Today was the day millions of STAR WARS fans dreams were realized. After so long in absence from our cinema screens, a new film, and a new and bold launcher for the Prequel universe, was finally released- nay, unleashed- to the world, and fan excitement and enthusiasm would surely never reach such tall volcanic peaks ever again. Ten years on, peoples opinions on THE PHANTOM MENACE seem to be as divided as ever, but, on this special day, lets celebrate everything that was sooo good about this movie-the scenes we all dreamed about witnessing finally in living breathing richness (the Jedi/Darth Maul duel, the epic ground and space battles that were to come across not only in this adventure but the next two following, and the first steps in the takeover of the galaxy by the Sith Lord to be named Darth Sidious), the evocative new locales (Naboo, Coruscant-the later Imperial homeland- finally witnessed in all its living, breathing spectacle!), amazing, all defining and ground breaking special effects (the pod race is still superb after all these years, and Jar Jar Binks-well, whatever you think of him, he was still the effects revolution that came before Gollum!), the intriguing new characters added to the universe (Padme Amidala-the “Queen” and mother of the Skywalker children, no more shrouded in enigmatic mystery-and now a major player in the new STAR WARS universe, Darth Maul-badass Sith Lord who, to this day, is still unequalled in nastiness by his many legions of beloved fans, the emergence of Senator Palpatine-played with a relish to admire by Ian McDiarmid, Qui-Gon Jinn-the doomed and noble Jedi brought to life with such warmth and bedrock strength by Liam Neeson, and, of course, the brave, loyal, adventurous but ultimately afraid Anakin Skywalker as personified by perky Jake Lloyd and, later, to doom laden tragedy by Hayden Christensen). Finally, there's the Lucas masterplan - to show what happens when a universe becomes too big and too corrupt to sustain itself as a Republic for good-ultimately manipulated and devouring itself into an Empire of fear and control, and what happens when an innocent, loving child turned hero to the people, with no prior sense of greed, ultimately falls prey to the dark.

Brave storytelling, and an epic new saga for a new epic time…

A fun, lively story that fans of all ages could sit together and enjoy, alongside the subtle foreshadowing of doom and menace to come, and against a STAR WARS universe that seemed even bigger than we'd ever seen before. But then, we should have expected all that, shouldn’t we! That’s the unique beauty, wonder and excitement of the STAR WARS SAGA, and one of the reasons why it will continue to endure into the next generation of fans, and the next, and the next…

Thank you, George Lucas, for re-igniting the creative fire we almost thought would never come back, and for once more catching all that magic in a bottle just for us!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EPISODE ONE!!

For more on Adriano Ticiano's great STAR WARS work, check out his site here: Brasil Império - Rio de Janeiro - Adriano T. Ticiano Ilustrador - Terra Fotolog

BEHIND THE SCENES: BLUE SCREEN MENACE!

Not yet wearing the fierce contact lenses, Ray Park gets ready to inflict more mayhem and all-round nastiness against his Jedi enemies as Darth Maul, in this behind the scenes image from EPISODE I.