Back in 2003, my friend Nathan Butler penned quite a few guest reviews for this site including a complete, episode by episode review of The Clone Wars mirco-series by Genndy Tartakovsky that aired on Cartoon Network. Lucasfilm had ventured into animation before with the likes of Ewoks and Droids, not to mention the Star Wars Holiday Special, but this series of shorts was different. Nathan’s reviews were posted as individual articles dated November 2003 to March 2005, but I’m going to compile them all here into one big retro-review. Here’s Nathan…
Tag: review
Retro-Reviews: Star Wars Gamer Magazine by Nathan Butler (2001-2003)
From 2001-2003, Nathan P. Butler penned reviews of all ten issues of the then-new magazine Star Wars Gamer for this site. After years of moving the site around, much of the old content was lost but as I come across old files, I like to repost them as “retro” articles. Nathan’s reviews were fun, entertaining, and truthful. They also bring us back to a time when the Prequels were still being created and give us a different snapshot in time of Star Wars fandom. If you like old magazines or gaming, these reviews might interest you enough to go find some old copies on eBay for nostalgia’s sake. These reviews were originally posted individually as the issues were released, but I’m going to compile them all here into one big review for readability. Unfortunately, due to a technical error, the review for Issue #2 was lost. All apologies. Here’s Nathan…
Review: Star Wars – Aftermath
Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath is a fun romp through the post-Return of the Jedi time frame. Read More
ThinkGeek Product Reviews: Darth Vader Toaster, Droid Salt/Pepper Shakers, Lightsaber Tongs, and the Death Star iHome
It’s time for another round of ThinkGeek product reviews!
Every once in a while, the good folks at ThinkGeek send over a package of Star Wars branded items for review. I’m always happy to oblige, of course. Everything they’ve sent so far has been quite fun and this batch is certainly no exception, so let’s get right down to it. Read More
ThinkGeek Product Reviews: Light-Up ChopSabers, R2-D2 Measuring Cup Set, Vader Stress Toy, and Moleskin Notebooks
ThinkGeek.com is a glorious shopping site you’ve probably heard of before. They offer fully-licensed merchandise from geeky franchise favories like Star Trek, Doctor Who, Marvel, Game of Thrones, and of course Star Wars. Once in a while they send me a few items to check out and review on the site and I’m happy to oblige. Today’s bundle includes four items.
Book Review: In A Galaxy Not So Far Away… The Star Wars Filming Locations of the United States
Back in 1999, Lucasfilm decided it was time to explore yet another money-making venture – the official convention. The hype surrounding the first Star Wars Prequel was at a fever pitch and fans all over the world were reveling in it all. Fansite traffic was through the roof and I met a lot of people simply by having this website up and running.
One of those people was a guy named Adam Parr. We stayed in touch, with the internet making it very easy to do so. Another of these guys was Carl Cunningham. I know Carl a little better because we’ve met numerous times and collaborated a little more on website efforts and so on. John Klinger was yet another guy I met with, but only a few times and usually he was there with Carl at conventions. So the planets aligned and these three personalities decided they were going to write a book, and write one they did! It’s called: In a Galaxy Not So Far Away… The Star Wars Filming Locations of the United States.
Being avid fans and big collectors of merchandise, it was only natural that these guys would put their heads together and come up with a book that’s a virtual road map to the Star Wars filming locations here in the USA.
You may have seen articles before (not to mention tons of photos) from places like Death Valley or Yuma, where they filmed a lot of the Tatooine footage. But let’s say you wanted to take a Star Wars themed vacation or make a Star Wars-style pilgrimage of sorts. How much research would you have to do to find all the filming locations? How would you know what to bring or when it’s best to go?
This book tells you everything you need to know and more. Inside you’ll find background information on every location, checklists of what you should know and bring with you, exact directions to each specific location with maps, weather information, and lots of photos. You’ll also get great comparison photos of the actual film frames compared to the authors’ pictures taken years later. You’ll be surprised at how similar they still look.
Like the back jacket says, this is a book you can actually use as a guide and it covers places you can actually visit, even on a modest budget. The tips and personal experiences from the locations are all icing on the cake.
Reading through, you can tell that Adam and the boys have put their hearts into this guide, leaving no stone unturned. This was truly a labor of love and it should be on any fan’s bookshelf. It could not have been an easy feat to compile all this information.
I’m really proud that my friends have put this together and hope you’ll find time to grab yourself a copy and perhaps take a little Star Wars road trip yourself.
You can get your copy at AMAZON.COM
P.S. Rumor has it that there’s more to come from this crew… so make sure you follow them, fan them, and all that jazz. You can find them at http://starwarsroadtrips.com/
Enjoy!
Book Review: Droidmaker
There are countless books out there about George Lucas and his rise from film school know-it-all to cultural icon, and even more books about how Lucasfilm came to be and how it changed the world of filmmaking. I’ve read a good number of these books and then stopped reading them because they seemed to paint the same picture with a slightly different brush. All the main points were there and while some of the small details were different, something was always missing from these books. I could never quite figure out what it was, but they left me with more questions than answers more times than not. I think it might have been the fact that they focused so much on Lucas himself and that all the bit players who made things happen never got the recognition they deserved. Their importance cannot be understated. Without each and every Lucasfilm employee, especially in the early days, the company would not be where it is today. Read More
Review/Commentary: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
It’s what long time Star Wars fans like myself have looked forward to since the 1980s. It’s what younger fans have looked forward to since experiencing the first two prequels. It’s the culmination of nearly 30 years of hard work and dedication by George Lucas and his various crews and companies. It’s the end of an era and the bittersweet farewell to Star Wars on the silver screen (as far as we know). It is Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and it is good. In this review/commentary I will tell you my thoughts on the film but I will also address some of the common concerns about Episode III based on reviews I’ve seen and fan gripes I’ve heard. Some are understandable but there are some with which I disagree.
Review: Revenge of the Sith Novelization
It’s become clear that Star Wars has almost become a genre unto itself. There’s drama, romance, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, non-fiction—and then there’s Star Wars. It’s hard to just drop it under Sci-Fi because it’s more of a dramatic space opera than a futuristic fantasy book. That said, the Star Wars brand demands its own classification and one has to embrace a certain stylistic approach to write within that universe. This approach was created by George Lucas but ultimately expanded to include outside influences. All these styles combined make up this Star Wars genre and Matthew Stover’s adaptation of Revenge of the Sith quite handsomely takes them all and puts forth a cohesive and compelling novel which bridges many gaps in the saga’s timelines.
Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno
I’m not a huge follower of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which consists largely of printed publications. Very few Star Wars stories that were not concocted by George Lucas himself pique my interest anymore. I liked a few in the beginning, like Tim Zahn’s first trilogy and a few others, but it takes something a bit more epic to make me me to go out and buy a Star Wars book these days. A book that directly leads into one of the films would be a good example, and that’s what Labyrinth of Evil is—so I picked it up.
Review/Commentary: Episode II: Attack of the Clones
We’ve all waited patiently for three years for the follow-up to The Phantom Menace, and now it’s here. Yes it’s good, yes it’s an improvement, and yes people still care. I guess being a longtime fan can sway your opinions a little, but I really loved this film. Even people who aren’t that into Star Wars are telling me it’s really cool. Everyone loved Yoda, and that seems to be all they’re talking about—that and how his big fight scene was too short. Everyone wanted more Yoda kicking Sith booty.
Attack of the Clones Novelization by R.A. Salvatore
I’ll just come right out and say it—I liked this adaptation. It seemed right to me. It wasn’t overdone, yet it wasn’t underdone. It wasn’t filled with long-winded descriptions of the tiniest minutiae. It moved at a good pace, never leaving me bored at any point. It read like a movie, and that’s what makes a good adaptation work.
Review/Commentary: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
It’s what we’ve been waiting for for 16 years. It will no doubt reel in fans of all ages once again just like it did to me when I was seven years old. It will break all kinds of records and make all kinds of news. It will be torn apart by critics who refuse to open their minds. It is Episode One: The Phantom Menace and it is good.
The Phantom Menace Novelization by Terry Brooks
I was pleasantly surprised after reading the Episode I novelization by Terry Brooks. He’s done a fine job with making this book easy enough to read for kids yet interesting and well-paced enough for adults. I was never bored. The chapters did not drag on. The dialogue was reworded just enough so as to not interfere with the characters’ personalities. I found it hard to put down.