Popular Posts on "In a far away Galaxy".

This little Star Wars blog, has been chugging along since April this year. It’s been great fun – I’ve learned a heck of lot about the Star Wars universe, the films – especially in terms of the production of them and the plot points – some of them are really subtle!

Many fans have sought out facts and trivia about the franchise – here’s the popular posts that they’ve come across as part of their quest to learn more about Darth Vader, Obi Wan and blue milk.

• Everybody Loves Obiwan – well his quotes at least! The General knew a thing or two about fighting in the Clone Wars and had a lot to say.
• Same with Han Solo. Everyone wants to know why he said “I know”.
• The fact that Steven Speilberg’s E.T. made a cameo appearance in the Phantom Menace seems to make people really happy.
• There’s a lot of myth and legend floating around the web about Star Wars. This mythbusters post went some way to getting to the facts, and just the facts ma’am.
• These 11 crazy stories, facts and myths about Darth Vader are quite popular.
• Bikinis. People love Carrie Fisher at the beach in a bikini. I have no idea. Adrianne Curry is nearly as popular….
• Facts about the making of The Empire Strikes Back and Jedi are popular, as are those about the Prequel trilogy.

The lore and legend of Star Wars by way of facts, myth and trivia

There are many cool things about the original Star Wars trilogy.

Han Solo, Chewie and the Millennium Falcon are but three.

The lore and legend of Star Wars goes beyond what you see on the screen as these twenty one pieces of triva and myth show....

1. In a New Hope, Princess Leia was kept captive on the Death Star in cell number 2187. This was a deliberate choice as 2187 is the year that the Lucas directed film THX 1138, was set. 
2. Ewoks were a late addition to the Star Wars mythology in Jedi. Their part in the story was to be played by the Wookiees, but by the time Lucas and his production partners sat down to write Return of The Jedi, they realized that, because Chewbacca could fly the Millennium Falcon, repair the ship and operate pretty much any weapon or machine in the known universe, they'd made the Wookiees too technologically advanced for the plot.
3. Is Wedge Antilles really Obi-Wan Kenobi's Uncle? Yes, from a certain point of view
4. In Jedi, listen very carefully as Darth Vader picks up the Emperor and throws him down the Death Star shaft. This is the only time the Jedi theme music plays over a shot of Vader, reflecting his return to the light side of the Force.
5. Myth - The Wampa was created to allow for Luke's rearranged face after a car accident. Mark Hamill was injured prior to the filming of The Empire Strikes Back. This is fact. The myth is that due to his face being rearranged, Lucas had to re-write the Hoth events to include the Wampa attacking Luke to account for his injury. The truth is that no accommodations were made for Hamill’s face.
6. After appearing in Jedi, Wedge becomes the only X-wing pilot character (apart from Luke) who survives all three major battles in the films.
7. Anakin Skywalker really is the ‘Chosen one’. While Yoda and Obi Wan may have thought a mistake had been made in the reading of the prophecy, Anakin was the one who actually killed Sith Lord Palpatine by throwing him down the Death Star’s reactor shaft in Jedi and thus restored balance to the Force. 
8. The famous reveal of the father and son relationship between Vader and Luke in The Empire Strikes Back is often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father". The line is actually "No, I am your father".
9. "It's a trap," which is arguably the most famous line in the ROTJ, was, incredibly, not in the screenplay. The line was scripted as "Its a trick!" and was later changed post-filming after a test screening because, let's face it, "it's a trick" just doesn't have the same ring to it. And actually the line was first said by Leia to Luke in Empire when he arrived at Cloud City.
10. While Return of the Jedi saw Luke return the favour to Vader and cut his arm off, the idea for it actually came from the expanded universe novel, ‘Splinter of the Mind's Eye’. This book was intended to be turned into a sequel to Star Wars but when that movie became so popular, the idea was abandoned. Vader was actually the only Star Wars film character to lose an arm three times! And both his legs as well. Obi Wan Kenobi got 3 of his limbs in Revenge of the Sith!
11. James Earl Jones is famed for providing the voice for Vader however he didn't do the famous breathing effect. This was done by Ben Burt placing a microphone inside the mouth piece of a breathing apparatus and recording it being used. 
12. Leia's character has her own musical theme titled "Princess Leia's Theme". It is represented by the musical leitmotif method which is famously used across the films. The piece was composed by John Williams and was used several times. It first appeared in A New Hope, heard when Princess Leia is captured by the evil Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Later, it surfaces as R2-D2 plays her holographic message to Obi-Wan Kenobi. 
13. George Lucas at one stage considered using the great Orsen Welles as the voice actor for Darth Vader.
14. Myth - Lucas had 12 films all mapped out before the first Star Wars was released. That’s the legend but the mythology of it has grown over the years. The nutshell is that Lucas wrote a great deal of material when he was developing his little sci-fi adventure. Based around a so called “Journal of Whills”, Lucas script eventually was cut up and Star Wars as we know it was filmed. It was not until Empire Strikes Back came out that the term Episode 5 was mentioned officially. Lucas’s grand vision was actually pieced together over severalyears in very broad strokes. The 12 or 9 films as most people know of were never fully scripted but were largely imaginings of Lucas that were eventually firmly realized well after 1977. The story about the novel, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye effectively confirms this. Well, this hand written vision by George totally proves it (to the right). Indeed he had A New Hope at 6. This is totally random but if you ever need a replacement lint catcher for a LG Dryer, this is for you. 
15. Princess Leia never actually gets to 'meet' Obi Wan Kenobi. She sees him from afar when she's escaping the Death Star and Obi Wan is about to let Darth Vader kill him but that's it. Unless you count Obi Wan being present for her birth in Revenge of the Sith...
16. Jedi was originally going to be called Revenge of the Jedi until Lucas decided that Jedi do not seek revenge. This was quite late in the production so there was a lot of promotional gear with the title already printed on it. 
17. As Adele would say, rumour has it that Carrie Fisher had a massive drug problem during the filming of Return of the Jedi. Cocaine was apparently her powder of choice. Apparently. OK, there is no apparently, in Jedi you can see she wears and extra long finger nail which is just a perfect instrument to assist with the distribution of nose candy up the nose.
18. Darth Vader was referenced in the film Back to the Future by Marty McFly as being from the planet Vulcan. No one was sure who was more upset - Star Wars fans or Trekkies!
19. Princess Leia was subject to one of the most famous ad libs in cinema history - that being Han Solo's response to her declaration of love - "I know". Harrison Ford apparently made it up at Irvine Kershner's suggestion. Leia got to return the line in Jedi during the Battle of Endor.
20. E.T. made a cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith
21. If you asked the average Star Wars fan what was Leia’s home world, they would be correct in answering the planet Alderraan and they could go to the head of the class. If you asked the most hard core fan, they might also quickly add that Leia and Luke were actually born at a medical facility on Polissa Massa – if you’ve seen Revenge of the Sith you might recall that is where Obi Wan Kenobi took the injured Padme for medical assistance.

Did you think this was a good list? Here's 101 facts about Star Wars!

I may have gone full Star Wars nerd lately. Deal with it and read this:

I may have gone full Star Wars nerd lately. Deal with it and read this:

• Here's my rant about why everyone needs to chill out about Star Wars production because there's at least 5 reasons to love that JJ Abrams is the man to direct Ep 7.
• I've put together a piece on how Carrie Fisher made Leia and how Leia made Carrie  Fisher. I also looked at 11 crazy stories, facts and myths about Darth Vader you probably want to know about. It also turns out that he's quite quotable. 
• Then I busted some long believed myths about Star Wars and we did our best to convince readers to read a certain book written by Alan Dean Foster.
• Some secret Ralph McQuarrie concept art work was found that guided how Empire Strikes Back looked. So that got posted.
• I learnt there might be a new Indy movie if the rumours about Han Solo being in Star Wars 7 are true. 
• Finally, I proved that Wedge Antilles really is Obi-Wan Kenobi's Uncle. From a certain point of view, you understand.

Myths about the Star Wars franchise and the reality of the truth behind them!

Myths about the Star Wars franchise and the reality of the truth behind them!

A film franchise with such a long history as Star Wars is sure to have acquired a few myths and urban legends about the development and production of the films. Here's 5 myths that are now forever debunked!

Myth: George Lucas actually directed Return of the Jedi instead of Richard Marquand. 

The reality is that Marquand directed Jedi. Which is not to say it was a smooth process. It was speculated that due to many of the technical elements of product Marquand was out of his depth and this caused several issues.

It has even been whispered that Lucas asked the Director's Guild of America to get himself a directing credit for Jedi. This seems fanciful however as Lucas had a famous falling out with that group! In reality, Marquand was the director of the film and was clearly very crucial to some very successful elements of it!

Myth - George Lucas secretly filmed a horror film Blue Harvest but never released it.

Blue Harvest was the working / filming title of Return of the Jedi. It was so named as to try an put offs who might otherwise have visited the film sets and let some secrets out of the bag. The film production was heavily into the joke and lots of caps and t-shirts were made to put people off.

The 'official' logo, note the Star Wars font!

While it was rumored that Lucas wanted to actually make a horror film with the Blue Harvest name, no filming ever took place. The name has since become the stuff of legend - so much so that the Family Guy Stars Wars spoof was named for it.

Myth - Splinter of the Mind's Eye was the scripted sequel to A New Hope

The book ‘Splinter of the Mind’s Eye’ was commissioned by Lucas as a potential sequel to Star Wars. The myth is that the novel was written based off a script written by George Lucas. There was no written script at all -  Alan Dean Foster was writing the novelisation of Star Wars and also a second book.  He was as simply instructed by Lucas to write the book based off some ideas and film treatments that George threw at him.

Lucas could then turn it into a film script down the line, if he so chose. The reality is that when Star Wars 'went global' Lucas changed gears and the sequel script was first drafted by Leigh Bracket, which after her death from cancer, Lucas refined further with help from Lawrence Kasdan. 

Interesting side note - the novel was interesting in that Luke cuts off Vader's arm with a saber in the climax, an action which became common theme in the Star Wars movies.

Myth - The Wampa was created to allow for Luke's rearranged face after a car accident

Mark Hamill was injured prior to the filming of The Empire Strikes Back. This is fact. The myth is that due to his face being rearranged, Lucas had to re-write the Hoth events to include the Wampa attacking Luke to account for his injury. The truth is that no accommodations were made for Hamill’s face.

He did apparently get a black eye when filming the famous 'Dianoga' attack in the Trash Compactor' scene from A New Hope which meant he was filmed from one side only for the rest shooting that scene.

Myth - Lucas had 12 films all mapped out before the first Star Wars was released.

That’s the legend but the mythology of it has grown over the years. The nutshell is that Lucas wrote a great deal of material when he was developing his little sci-fi adventure. Based around a so called “Journal of Whills”, Lucas script eventually was cut up and Star Wars as we know it was filmed. It was not until Empire Strikes Back came out that the term Episode 5 was mentioned officially. 

Lucas’s grand vision was actually pieced together over severalyears in very broad strokes. The 12 or 9 films as most people know of were never fully scripted but were largely imaginings of Lucas that were eventually firmly realized well after 1977.  The story about the novel, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye effectively confirms this. Well this hand written vision by George totally proves it (to the right). Indeed he had A New Hope at 6. 

So there you have it, some Star Wars myths and the truth behind them. It's amazing how much history Star Wars really has!

Extra for Experts:

• Facts about the making of the Return of the Jedi - including it's original title.
• Quotes from Obi Wan, Han Solo, Vader and the original Starkiller himself, Luke Sykwalker.
• Facts and trivia about The Empire Strikes Back

How many number one songs have U2 had?

Bono

How many number one songs have U2 had?

The short version: UK 7 and US 2

The long version:

U2 have had all kinds of hits on the music charts but at the end of the day it’s the songs that made number one on those charts that are often the ones asked about as questions in pub quizzes. So to help you out, here’s a list or two of U2 songs that have made number one.

There are various kinds of charts that track popularity and they often revolve around rock, country and blues and are used to allow music that would never be mainstream get some air time. There’s even the itunes charts which for some unexplained reason people seem to think matters…

Two my mind there are only two charts that really count. Being ‘Top of the Pops’ in the UK means you are number one and crowning the Billboard 200 means you have the most popular song for the week in America. And we’ll use those charts to show how many number on hits U2 have had.

First up is the America Billboard chart which shows the U2 have had two number one hits. Both hits were from The Joshua Tree and were With or Without You and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. Desire from Rattle and Hum made it as high as 3 and a couple of singles from Achtung Baby and Pop made the top 10 and that’s it.

So, U2 have only had 2 number one American hits.

It’s a better story for the UK chart where U2 have had a bit more success in terms of chart toppers.

Nothing from The Joshua Tree went to number one despite the album’s massive success so it was Desire that became U2’s first UK number one hit It came from Rattle and Hum. In 1991 when The Fly flew off as the lead single from Achtung Baby it landed at number 1. It was a long time between drinks when Discotheque dropped in 1997.

U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind had a string of popular singles but only Beautiful Day in 2000 managed the spot. A debatable number one is Take Me to the Clouds Above" by LMC vs. U2. Debatable as it was a song featuring samples from U2's With or Without You with a health splash of Whitney Houston thrown in. At the end of the day, the song has U2’s name in the space where the artist’s name goes so it counts as a number one.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb offered a notable double with both Vertigo and Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own grabbing their time in the top position.

No Line on the Horizon suffered from a lack of hit singles.

This means U2 have had seven number one hits in the UK and two in the U2. Unsurprisingly U2 are even more popular in their home country of Ireland and owned the number one place an awesome 21 times.

The next most popular country is the enlightened people of Canada with 14 which is twice as many as the UK successes.

List of U2’s UK number one songs:

• Desire
• The Fly
• Discotheque
• Beautiful Day
• Take Me to the Clouds Above
• Vertigo
• Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own

What songs has Bono written about Africa?

What songs have U2 and Bono written about Africa?

Bono has sung many political songs over the years and many of them focus on the struggles of people within certain countries, here's a few songs related to Africa.

Ordinary Love

A non album track by U2, it was used to promote the film which tells the story of Nelson Mandela's A Long Walk to Freedom.

Silver and Gold

An anti-apartheid song written with guitarist Little Steven to protest the oppression of the South African people by the regime that existed at the time.

Don't Give Up (Africa) 

Bono did a cover of this song with Alicia Keys. It was originally recorded by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.

Where the Streets Have No Name

A song inspired by Bono's work in Africa in the early 80s. The song's lyrics are a juxtaposition of the U2's early live in Belfast, Ireland where one could tell another's religion by the area in which they lived.

Crumbs from your table

The  lyrics of this song are a commentary about the relationship between Western countries and developing countries such as Africa. The verses and chorus address the relationship from the perspective of citizens from the developing world, focusing on the disparity between the long-term socioeconomic planning stressed by the West and the developing world's immediate need for sustenance.

Ten sweet "The Empire Strikes Back" pieces of trivia

Hamill, a lovable droid and Kershner on the Degobah swamp set

While A New Hope was a great movie, many people consider The Empire Strikes Back to be the greatest off all 6 movies. It's certainly one of the greatest sequels to a great movie - it's considered to be up there with The Godfather Part II.

Here's some facts and trivia that when added up helped to make Empire a great movie...

• Han Solo’s “I know” line in response to Leia’s declaration of love was adlibbed by Harrison Ford. It’s become an iconic Star Wars quote. 
• Bobba Fett was first seen in The Empire Strikes Back right? Nope, technically his first appearance was in an animated segment of The Star Wars Holiday Special. It is the only good part of that movie. 
• Frank Oz who is the voice for the most famous little green guy in cinema history, Yoda was also the voice of the Muppet’s Miss Piggy. It was because of his talents that he developed with Jim Henson that saw him get the call up. He also did the puppetry. 
• A very early draft of the script saw Han Solo going in search of his Father-In-Law, Ovan Marekal, who has political ties with Lord Vader. Luke Skywalker flies to the 'Bog' Planet where he meets a frog-like Jedi named Minch, who teaches him the ways of the force. That's right, Yoda was frog-like and was going to be called Minch. Can you image it, "But Master Minch, you cannot die!"
• In the same vein instead of the Empire finding the Rebel's hideout on Hoth, there was to be a Wampa Attack. Indeed, a cut scene that was referenced in Empire's trailer featured C3PO removing a sign from a door which he hoped Imperial troops would enter and come face to face with captured Wampa. The Hoth scenes were actually shot in Norway
• Empire was the first movie to have a number by its title in the opening credits - V. The original Star War was not called A New Hope or Episode 4, this came later. 
• That dude to which Han Solo retorts, "Then I'll see you in Hell!"? just before he heads out to find a certain missing Jedi? That's Cliff from Cheers AKA John Ratzenberger.
• The classic "The first transport is away!" line was delivered by Mark Hamill.
• In order to avoid sharing creative rights, George Lucas decided to avoid using a major film studio to finance this film. Instead, he bankrolled the $33 million productions himself.
• Han Solo prequel film trivia
• Three characters lose limbs - the Wampa that attacks Luke, C3PO when shot by the Storm Troopers on Cloud City, and of course Luke lost his hand when Vader sabered it off!

If you liked that, In a faraway galaxy has plenty more bits of Star Wars trivia - check out from what animals the infamous blue milk came from or what was the original title of Return of Jedi.

10 pretty damn sweet facts about the Star Wars movies

Star Wars is the greatest series of movies ever committed to film or digital bits and bytes. Here's ten of the best facts:

• The only characters that appear in all 6 films form the most famous robot pairing in history, R2D2 and C3PO. You could argue Obi Wan Kenobi also appears in all 6 movies albeit with two different actors and two appearances as a ghost. That argument could be rendered moot by the fact the robots also appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special which is technically considered Star Wars cannon!
• The Millenium Falcon has a cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith. In an all too brief shot it is seen landing on Coruscant. 
• Return of the Jedi was originally going to be called Revenge of the Jedi. It was also going to have a really dark ending where Luke Skywalker was going to take over the Empire by himself, presumably after killing the Emperor and Lord Vader. 
• A lot of people cite Mon Mothma as being the only other female in the original Star Wars other than Leia as having a role of any really importance. How everyone forgets Aunt Beru. 
• In early drafts of Star Wars, Luke’s last name was Starkiller and he was a General.
• Bobba Fett was first seen in The Empire Strikes Back right? Nope, technically his first appearance was in an animated segment of The Star Wars Holiday Special. It is the only good part of that movie. We've now seen a lot of Mandalorians in the franchise, The Clone Wars featured them and well as the Mandalorian tv show.
• Frank Oz who is the voice for the most famous little green guy in cinema history, Yoda was also the voice of the Muppet’s Miss Piggy. It was because of his talents that he developed with Jim Henson that saw him get the call up. He also did the puppetry. 
• Return of the Jedi’s Ewoks were originally intended to be a tribe of Wookie, however it was eventually realised that given Chewbacca could fly the Millennium Falcon, Wookie were not so primitive and thus the entire plot of the Ewok attack on the Shield generator would have seemed a nonsense. The Ewoks thus came into play for this reason – and also apparently it was thought a lot of kiddie friendly Ewok teddy bears and associated merchandise could be sold. You saw Caravan of Courage right?
• Alan Tudyk plays Enforcer Robot, K-250 in Rogue One.
• Richard Marquand suggested that Leia should be the one who killed Jabba the Hutt.
• The Phantom Menace's Darth Maul has a grand total of ten horns on his head and says a total of 31 words. 

Star Wars haters gonna hate but do they need to?

There’s a song by The Offspring that’s called Cool To Hate. Offspring hit really really big in the mid 1990’s, just as the internet was really starting to take off all around the world.

So when The Phantom Menace flickered onto the silver screen in 1999, a lot of internet users knew that it was cool to hate and laid down the hate on The Phantom Menace via the net. Any one with a keyboard actually. Venom spilled all over the information superhighway for that movie.

Myself, I really don’t know why. I saw Phantom 3 times at the theatre, it was that good. The only ever other movie I saw 3 times at the theater was Edward Scissor hands.....

But the hate for Star Wars continued over to Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Which is sad because I really really enjoyed these movies! The haters are in a minority though but that’s hardly relevant. What is relevant is why everyone who hates Star Wars prequels should stop hating the Star Wars prequels.

Let’s caveat this – if we can all just agree that Jar Jar Bink’s sucked as a character, that would be great. Oh we can’t? Why not?

Because Star Wars are movies made for kids.  Let me repeat that. Star Wars are movies made for kids. Jar Jar Binks was created by George Lucas with the intention of kids enjoying his bumbling antics.

So if we assume that the Jar Jar haters are not kids, they can’t really complain about a character in film intended to be loved by kids is not their cup of tea. Jar Jar is no Sponge Bob Squarepants for sure, but he does the job he was designed to do. Mostly. 

Don’t believe me about Star Wars being for kids? Even the Emperor himself says so:

“ I’m usually approached by mums and dads of 4-year olds now who’ve been watching the movies, who are completely fascinated by them. And they won’t leave their television screens until they’ve seen the whole lot. So it continues to grip, and it continues to grip kids. And even though, we all know with the prequels some of the adults who’d seen the early films were a bit disappointed, that’s not true of succeeding generations, which sort of means that these films are really going to go on forever, and that’s extraordinary, I think, and great.”

Which captures the feels quite nicely.  

What does this mean? It means any one over the age of 13 who hated the Star Wars prequels is entitled to their opinions but that hate is misdirected. 

But there’s still some real reasons why the hate needs to be dropped. And here's what I think they are:

Yoda turns out to be a total bad ass.

I dunno about you, but in the theatre where I saw Attack of the Clones people began cheering when Yoda and Count Dooku started to battle. Yoda was flipping around and using the Force like he invented it. This was great spectacle and showing Yoda in this light increased his standing in the Star Wars realm amongst fans. The prequels are great because they showed how great a Jedi the little green guy was.

Jango Fett and his young son, Bobby something, or was it Bibba?

Everyone loves Raymond Bobba Fett. He’s become a bit of a cult figure for fans. Attack of the Clones gave us an insight into the character's origin and gave him a bit of life. To learn that the Clones were derived from Jango Fett and that his son was Bobba was great storytelling. 

The prequel also gave us a great fight between Jango and Obi Wan Kenobi. What’s not to love about that? And let's not forget The Mandalorian show!

Revenge of the Sith had the best opening of any Star Wars film.

Yeah, Return of the Jedi was awesome when Luke rescued everyone but it was a slow build. Revenge of the Sith featured a Battle over Coruscant where hundreds of ships were taking part in an epic space battle.

Anakin and Obi-Wan were flying round, dodging missles, crashing ships and droids that were trying to eat their ship while on a frantic mission to rescue the Chancellor from the many clutches of General Grievous. 

Featuring some of the best CGI ever done at the time, great camera work, amusing banter between the leads and some zippy music, this opening Stanza of ROTS was epic Star Wars magic.

It also featured the beheading of Count Dooku – a signal that things were about to get very dark across the Evil Empire due to a wayward Anakin.

Qui Gon

Before Liam Neeson was Taken and Taken again, he was Qui Gon, one of the best Star Wars characters EVER in my honest opinion. Liam had a bloody tough assignment in carrying off such a pivotal character in The Phantom Menace but he managed to pull off “There’s always a bigger fish” with an appropriate grace.

He also featured in one of the greatest light saber battles in the history of Star Wars movies. Which brings us to…

Darth Maul

The red and black face introduction of Darth Maul was an instant classic Star Wars moment. If fan’s aren’t wearing golden bikinis to dress as Princes Leia, they are doing cosplay of Darth Maul. People love him. He was bad ass.

The Pod Race

Family fun at its absolute best. A dastardly Sebula. Fast engines. Amazing sounds. Pot shots from Sand People. Life and death experiences. A slave child beating the odds to win his freedom. Be honest with yourself, if u say you hated The Phantom Menace, you actually loved this bit! 

When Anakin massacres the Jedi  Younglings

This was the first true moment when we knew Anakin had well and truly turned to the Dark Side. Yes, he’d massacred the tribe of Sand People who had beat and mistreated his mother so badly that she died of her injuries but these were children we had actually met in Attack of the Clones.

It was a brilliant set up that actually. Whilst Yoda teased Obi Wan about losing a planet, these Jedi kids were the back drop and were quite cute. For Anakin to come and kill them all in ROTS, it was a chilling, chilling moment and perhaps was one of the darkest moments in all of the saga. How can you hate such great story telling?

You got to see the Clone Wars

We got to see them (and not in cartoon form). Ever since Princess Leia mentioned the Clone Wars in a new hope fans had been wishing, wanting,  waiting to see them – a boy we did!

As I see before the Battle over Coruscant was one of the greatest action pieces Star War fans had seen!

Obi Wan is also a bad ass

Obi Wan Kenobi never lost a one on one saber fight until the fateful day he raised his sword and allowed his Pawadan Learner to send him to be one with the Force. The prequels showed all those saber fights – Darth Maul, General Grevious and Anakin Skywalker.

All great battles and his climatic duel with the the angsty Sith Lord in trading brought it all home for ALL the Star Wars movies. That fight was the climax of the prequels but also gave A New Hope an even greater poignancy.

We now knew just how tragic Anakin’s transformation into Vader was.

The Music by Jon Williams

Listen the Duel of Fates. It’s arguably some of the best music you could listen to from the movies. While it’s not as iconic as The Imperial March, it’s up there in terms of awesomeness. You can’t hate the Star Wars prequels if you agree Duel of Fates is great movie music.

There you have it, these are my reasons why the haters gotta stop - I got a feeling they never will but who cares - if you love Star Wars, you love Star Wars!

As found at In a far away galaxy 

5 totally true, incontrovertable, real deal facts about Episode VII

The Car Wash scene has not yet been confirmed as being in Episode VII

There has been a lot of scuttlebutt, lies, name calling and rumors about what is going to be the name of Episode 7, it's plot and who is going to star in the film.

In a Far Away Galaxy has interviewed its keyboard and found out which rumours are true, which fiction is fact and what colours the light sabres will be.

1. The light sabres will be blue, green, purple, red or some other colour.

2. There will be bad acting. Lucas himself has confirmed this. While the director is famous for getting Oscar-nominated performances out of  card board cutouts of several of his leads over the years, he's confirmed JJ Abrams is going to focus on bad acting as he's tired of producing quality drama.

3. Carrie Fisher has lost weight and had some panel beating done so Lawrence Kasdan, screen writer of Raiders of the Lost Arc, has added in a token gracious bikini shot of princess Leia getting out of a bath that's filled with blue milk. Apparently, Luke Skywalker will hold up a strategically placed towel.

4. The above confirmed fact gives credence to the next rumour the film will feature the children of Leia and Luke. Which makes sense as astute film aficionados will recall Luke and Leica swapped tongue spit in The Empire Strikes back.

5. Episode 7 is going to be called Die Another Day. This was confirmed by Katherine Kennedy at a recent Disney stock call. She cited the James Bond movie of the same name was hugely successfully so they have just lifted it straight thus securing the financial success of the movie.

Bonus confirmation:

6. The Internet was only invented by Jimmy Stewart in 1961 so given Star Warrs is set in a galaxy a far far away, in a long ago time, there will be no internet in Die Another Day

7. It's a proven fact the Darth Vader turned to the Dark Side of the Force as he didn't use a ph Meter to test his water for homebrewing. It made him mad. So very, very mad. 

So there you go folks, finally some truth about what's going to be in Stars Wars VII!

It's the Age of Extinction

What does U2 really know about war?

I've got soul but I'm not a soldier

Here's some songs which suggest U2 have some views about the effect of war...

GNR once asked in a song 'what's so civil about war anyway?'

U2 seem to write songs with lyrics about war in some form or another on just about every album they've released.

Except for Boy, that album was just full of stories....ahem.

U2's lyrical references to war heated up with the release of U2 first truly 'popular' album War. Marking Bono's ascent into a true lyrical monster, War's songs features thoughts on soldiers shooting protesting civilians in Sunday Bloody Sunday. 'Seconds' reflects on terrorist actions in trying to set off atomic bombs (a theme U2 often turn to) in an supposed attempt to to cause nuclear war.
Maybe.

Maybe they just want us all to give peace a chance.

Winter

A song probably taken from the No Line on the Horizon album recording sessions, Winter was used in the soundtrack for the Wim Wenders film. Brothers (U2 have a long association with Wim - he directed their video for Stay and Until the End of the World was used for the film of the same name). Winter is about is a song about the experience of the armed forces in Afghanistan, where Winder's film is set.

The Unforgettable Fire

Inspired by paintings that were about the nuclear bombs that were dropped on the two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to effectively end Japan's involvement in World War II, the Unforgettable Fire is a reflection not on war but the last effect the atomic bombs had on the people of Japan.

Bullet the Blue Sky

Arguably the most political song U2 has ever written, at least it's probably the most popular one! The lyrics are a savage indictment on American foreign policy.

Miss Sarejevo from Original Soundtracks Vol 1.

Please don't let them kill us...

When Bono asks if there's a time for East 17 (a boy band that everyone has now forgotten) during the Bonsnian war, you've gotta ask what he's talking about.

The song's lyrics actually praises the rebellious spirit of the Sarajevan people who refused to surrender their way of life during the conflict.

And what did they do? They staged a beauty contest.

Which clearly inspired the chorus of the song, "Here she comes, heads turn around, here she comes, to take her crown".

Please

If you could consider that the IRA's disgraceful and disgusting campaign against the people of Ireland was a civil war of sorts then Please is U2 exhorting Ireland's Political leaders to stop the civil war they have been waging.

Mothers of the Disappeared 

Is a lyrical expression of the suffering experienced by the mothers and grandmothers of the thousands of children abducted during the conflict in Central America during the late 1970s through to the mid 1980s, particularly during Argentina's so called "Dirty War" (1976-1983).

The Dirty war was a civil-style war that the American government covertly sanctioned in a bid to stop the 'communist threat' that was pervading at the time. Given this song was written in the mid 80s one can see how it's a cousin of sorts to Bullet the Blue Sky - indeed both songs appeared on the Joshua Tree album.

Yes, if you would

Remember Chicago

Report Alien Activity!

Hound from Transformers 4 revealed. Game of Throne fans thoroughly confused

This is Hound's alternative mode for Transformers 4. He looks pretty rugged. I am loving these new looks for our friends from Cybertron!

Cliffy B has a prime new toy to play with

The dude who made Gears of War, Cliff Bleszinski had a custom Optimus Prime made by Frenzyrumbles:

I'm sure you'll agree that's a pretty impressive effort! Autobots roll out!

Prime's alt mode in T4 is a... truck!

Here's what fearless Autobot leader Optimus Prime will look like in truck mode in Transformers 4. It's a slight 'joosh' of his truck mode - it looks a little more fierce oui? One could argue it looks slightly more toy like than real life but that's probably the point.

Autobots roll out!

Update:

Here's Bumblebee going all old school:

A list of songs that U2 have covered

U2 songs cover list

You could be forgiven for thinking  that one of the biggest bands in music history wouldn't need to do covers but history has shown the Beatles did and as did the Rolling Stones (have you heard their version of My Girl?) - so why shouldn't  U2 record the odd cover song? They are a great way to add a bit of colour as a B-side on a single, and ideed they are popular as an artist's public appreciation for what has inspired and influenced them.

Here's the list of songs U2 have covered:

Song Name                        Release  found on                                           Original writer

"Night and Day"	Red Hot + Blue	Written by Cole Porter
"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"	A Very Special Christmas	Written by Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector
"I Believe in Father Christmas"	(RED)Wire Volume 1 Issue 2	Written by Greg Lake and Peter Sinfield
"Beat on the Brat"	We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones	Written by Jeffrey Hyman, John Cummings and Douglas Colvin
"I Remember You"	"Elevation" single	Written by Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, and Tommy Ramone
"Fortunate Son"	"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" single	Written by John Fogerty
"Instant Karma!"	Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur	Written by John Lennon
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun"	"Last Night on Earth" single	Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
"Don't Take Your Guns to Town"	"Elevation" single	Written by Johnny Cash
"Satellite of Love"	"One" single	Written by Lou Reed
"Everlasting Love"	"All I Want Is You" single	Written by Mac Gayden and Buzz Cason
"Paint It Black"	"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" single	Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
"Dancing Barefoot"	"When Love Comes to Town" single	Written by Patti Smith and Ivan Kral
"Springhill Mining Disaster"	The Late Late Show Tribute to The Dubliners	Written by Peggy Seeger
"Neon Lights"	"Vertigo" single	Written by Ralf Hütter, Florian   Schneider, and Karl Bartos
"Pop Muzik"	"Last Night on Earth" single	Written by Robin Scott
"Jesus Christ"	Folkways: A Vision Shared	Written by Woody Guthrie

"Unchained Melody"

"With or without You" single

Written Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret

In a galaxy far far away

Now that Disney has thrown a lot of cash at George Lucas and are going to make a lot of movies that continue the adventures of Luke and Leia, I've started a new Star Wars website, In a Far Away Galaxy to see in the new movies - here's some questions I've started answering....

Who is directing Star Wars?

The director of Episode VII is the very popular JJ Abrams - currently riding a wave of popularity due to Star Trek Into Darkness, JJ is a very successful writer and producer of several films and TV shows - most notably Super 8 and Lost. 

That also sounds nice and grand but does he get Star Wars? Is he fan? If he's doing Star Trek movies why is he doing a Star Wars movie?

When will Star Wars start filming?

Byran Burk is the producer of Star Wars Episode VII along with Katherine Kennedy and JJ Abrams. He was quoted by Collider as saying: “We’re progressing on a schedule to hopefully begin next year, or the beginning of next year, and the location is still kind of floating around in the air all depending on script and a whole bunch of other issues. As I just said, everything is kind of a free-flowing thing, and when we feel like the story level on this script and everything is really coming together and schedules are all working and pieces line up, we prowl ahead, and Star Wars will be no different.” Which basically means there's firm plans to do SOMETHING .....

Is this the best top ten Star Wars quotes list ever? What about this cosplay?

How good a pilot is she really?

How many new Star Wars movies are there going to be?

Starting with Episode VII (being directed by JJ Abrams) in the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2015, it will alternate every summer with a stand -alone film until the trilogy is all sewn up. So that means 5 but you can guarantee Disney is gonna make a boat load of movies.

How did Han Solo and Chewbacca become friends?

Their connection begins when Solo boards a derelict slaving craft to find that its cargo of Wookiee children had escaped and all that was left on board was a severely wounded Wookiee in the pilot’s seat. 

Han was ordered to skin the helpless Chewbacca alive but refused. A court martial and an escape ensued as a result of this insubordination. Chewbacca later swore that he owed a life debt to Han and wouldn’t leave his side.

And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship!