October 31st, 2007

Family Guy Does Lucas… again

famguy_poster1.jpg     If you saw the Family Guy episode a month or two back in which they recreated the entire movie of Star Wars: Episode IV, you know it was one of the funniest moments on TV in the past few years (at least for me). So I found out today Seth MCfarlane and crew are definitely going to be doing the follow-up: The Empire Strikes Back. Oh Happy (Halloween) Day!

     According to Cinematical, the cast has already done the script read through and McFarlane says it is a go for sure. When IESB talked to McFarlane, they asked which Family Guy character would be playing Boba Fett, McFarlane noted that the “Giant Chicken would fill Fett’s boots.” Fans should know the Giant Chicken from its ridiculously long fight sequences with the character Peter Griffin.

Who knows, maybe they’ll do ROTJedi next? Sounds good to me:

Family Guy does Jedi

     If you’ve never seen the Family Guy Star Wars episode, check out the full episode broken into YouTube length chunks by clicking and unwrapping the text below (it’s worth it)…

 

Read the rest of this entry »

September 14th, 2007

Star Wars Coming to Minneapolis

Star Wars Exhibit


     Thanks to a lady I call Mom, I was sent this news article today from the Mpls. Star Tribune (normally I just rip on this rag they call a paper, but not today). Apparently the Science Museum of Minnesota has won the rights to host “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” next June!

     I went to something similar to this a few years ago where they had the actual filming models of various ships: Star Destroyers, Millenium Falcon, X-Wings and TIE Fighters. I also saw the real Boba-Fett costume. This one though sounds to be much grander.

From the Star Trib article:

     The 12,000-square-foot exhibit features more than 80 costumes, models, and props from all six Star Wars films, including Princess Leia’s famous white dress, Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder from episode IV, a full-size R2-D2, Han Solo’s rogue outfit, and a Yoda puppet.

     Exhibit visitors will be able to climb aboard a full-size replica of the cockpit from Episode IV’s Millennium Falcon and “journey” to a land far away. Guests also can sit inside a real-world hovercraft similar to Saga’s landspeeders and step into a lab where they can build and program robots and engineer droids.

     Apparently this tour has been going on for quite some time already and will have travelled through 8 US cities before heading overseas. Kicking off in Oregon over two years ago, it is actually nearing the end of its journey. Currently in Chicago until Decmeber, it has two more stops: Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, Fort Worth, TX, (February - April 2008) and the The Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, (June - October 2008).

     Admission will be $17 for adults and $14.50 for ages 4 to 12 and 60 and older. Personally, climbing aboard The Falcon will be worth the price of admission alone :)

related links:
Official release from StarWars.com
Wikipedia profile

 

August 30th, 2007

Ewan’s Least Favorite? Star Wars.

cut and paste job from worstpreviews.com:

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi     They are some of the highest-grossing movies of all time, but Ewan McGregor regrets appearing in “Star Wars,” reports The Sun.

     During a recent trip to a Scottish hospice, the father of a young patient suffering from an incurable condition, asked him about his best and worst film. In a very surprising answer, McGregor branded the sci-fi movies the worst work he has ever done.

     Hamish Glasgow, whose three-year-old son Hamish suffers from rare Hoyeraal Hreidarsson, says: “Ewan was really down to earth. He was great with Cameron. He was really relaxed and you could tell he’s a really good dad. He said the favorite movie he’d done was ‘Trainspotting’ and the one he liked least was ‘Star Wars.’”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

     Hmm. Not Down with Love, not Robots and not The Island; but Star Wars. Admittedly, The Phantom Menace was a pretty poor film, but the third installment (Revenge of the Sith) was pretty balls-out fun. Though the article doesn’t specify which Star Wars film he means specifically, I can only assume one of two things: either he means the entire trilogy or just part 1. But still, I’m surprised he doesn’t like it at all compared to some of his other works. Oh well, he was there and I wasn’t. PLus, to each his own I guess.

August 29th, 2007

Original Light Saber Launched into Space

Lightsaber     For the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, Movie Patron contributed by hosting our very own blog-a-thon; which actually turned out to be quite a success. Well, the folks at Southwest Airlines and NASA were thinking a little more grander than myself (of course, they also have the funding for something like this). They’ve managed to secure a spot on the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-120 for Luke Skywalker’s “original” lightsaber.

     Launching October 23rd, the saber will be in its rightful spot aboard the international space station. Once the mission has been completed and the saber has traveled 6 million miles, it will return home to be on display at Houston International before going back to Skywalker Ranch.

     You can see video of the announcement over at CNN.com. It appears Vader, R2-D2, Boba-Fett, R5-D4 and a host of other Star Wars characters were on hand for the event.

     Although the story claims it is Luke’s “original” lightsaber, it technically isn’t. The one in the presentation anyway, is the saber from Return of the Jedi. Luke’s original lightsaber was given to him by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode IV: A New Hope; which he loses when his hand is cut off. Anyway, that saber is not the one going into orbit. Just thought I should clear that up.

July 26th, 2007

Ultimate Star Wars Fanboy Contest

DA!  Da da da.  D d d d dd d d d d da ddaa da da da DAAA DAAA  dddd DA DA!     As big of a SW fan as I am (bigger than anyone I know personally); I know that I am but a padawan compared to some of the crazy-ass fans out there that know everything, and I mean EVERYTHING about Star Wars. On casual Fridays at the office they dress up like Boba-Fett; and they know exactly how many square feet of titanium it takes to plate a Class II Star Destroyer.

     If this describes you, The Weinstein Company is running a contest for the “ultimate Star Wars fanboy” to coincide with the release of their film, “Fanboys”. Which is an adventure/comedy about a bunch of over the top Star Wars junkies trying to see an early screening of Star Wars: Episode 1 back in 1999 - starring Seth Rogan, Sam Huntington and Kristen Bell.

     To enter, all you have to do is uplaod a short video explaining or showing why you are the ultimate SW fan at fanboycontest.com. Dailymotion users will be voting for their favorites throughout the competition; and the producers will choose the winner from the 10 finalists that received the most votes by the users. The winner gets a walk on cameo within the film, plus their uploaded video will appear on the extras portion of the DVD release.

     To read more about this event, click on the contest link above, or check out the source at movieweb.

July 2nd, 2007

Star Wars: Episode 3-D

I can almost FEEL you.     I heard this rumor like a year or two ago and now apparently it is true! From theforce.net comes the news that Rick McCallum will be receiving some sort of lame film community award at the European Digital Cinema and High Definition week in Spain.

     The cool news is this little gem of news from a TFN fan who wrote in about this experience he had while attending the event:

     ”The biggest event of the weekend was today, sunday the 1st, when the audience had the opportunity of watching footage of the 3D version of Star Wars!!! They showed the first few minutes of Episode IV: A New Hope, including the initial text crawl and most of the assault on the tantive. It was followed by a few scenes of the Millenium Falcon and part of the Coruscant speeder chase sequence of Episode II. It was just amazing. It was like being in the corridors of the tantive, with laser beams flying around you, like watching the movie for the first time
again.

     The audience went just crazy, everyone was screaming of [sic] joy and clapping constantly with every sequence. If just a few minutes is like this, watching a whole movie can be absolutely awesome. After the projection, Rick McCallum offered a Q&A session where he talked about the process of “dimensioning” a 2D movie, and revealed some very interesting facts. They are trying to refine the process to make it faster and cheaper, so they can convert to 3D all the 6 Star Wars Movies by 2009. He also said that Peter Jackson wants to convert the Lord of the Rings trilogy and James Cameron wants to do the same with the Terminator trilogy and Titanic. They are doing this to promote the introduction of Digital and 3D technologies to the cinema theatre owners, so they upgrade their systems and make possible the creation of new 3D movies designed as such rather than converting existing 2D flicks.”

     Now, I’m not a huge fan of 3-D art. I saw Superman Returns that way and to be honest, it was more of a distraction and a novelty than it was a positive addition to the film overall. Having said that, I’ve seen Star Wars a million times and to see it in a quality 3-D format would be load of fun. I would definitely see that!

     What do you guys think? Is 3-D cool or lame, and would you pay to see a past movie favorite (like SW or Terminator) redone in 3-D? And beyond that, if the answer is yes, WHAT movies would you like to see converted? Besides SW, I think The 5th Element would be a fun one. So would Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

June 6th, 2007

5-25-77

     Here is something new. A post about Star Wars. Well, not exactly Star Wars. But rather a film about Star Wars. Or even more specifically a movie about a fan trying to get to see Star Wars. Thanks to Todd over at Twitch for posting this little gem. It looks to be fairly independent and also fairly interesting. Take a look at the trailer and see for yourself. Does this look really good or really bad?

     HERE’S another trailer for the same film which has a completely different feel. If you have Quicktime installed on your computer (if not, why?), download this trailer by right clicking THIS LINK and choosing save target as…


     5/25/77 looks very similar to this other film being released next year (that I am REALLY looking forward to) called Fanboys.


     Is anybody looking forward to these as much as I am? Probably not. Except for maybe Kevin Smith.

May 29th, 2007

More Star Wars Posts?

     Just when you thought it was safe to re-enter the blogosphere free from Star Wars news, Celebration IV wraps up with a trailer for its upcoming CGI-animated television series, The Clone Wars.

     To me, this is a re-hash of the animated series they already released a couple years ago (which was surprisingly pretty decent). This one seems much more sophisticated and geared slightly more for the adult fan. It also, going by the trailer uses the voices of Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Frank Oz (Yoda). So if they can get some other original voice actors and keep the action to a maximum, this could actually be quite a bit of fun. Still, I’m looking much more forward to the live-action TV shows Lucas is planning on releasing in the near future.

     Anyway, thanks to Cinema Fusion here’s the trailer for the new show. Could be good, could be horrible. Who knows.


May 28th, 2007

A Success!

     Thanks to everyone who participated in the Star Wars Blog-a-Thon! We got a bunch of great posts and thoughts; as well as some new YouTube videos I’d never seen before. We’re closing down the open enrollment for posting, but feel free to leave comments on already published posts.

For the last Star Wars post, I’ll be submitting to you our top ten Star Wars moments within the next couple of days. Until then, we’ll now be returning to our regularaly scheduled program, but maybe we’ll do this again sometime for something else. It was a lot of fun (and a lot of work). Thanks again everyone. This was great!

May 26th, 2007

Lightsabers

     Haven’t you always wanted your very own lightsaber? Ever since I was a kid, I can’t think of anything I’ve wanted to own more (other than maybe a Milleniunm Falcon or an AT-AT). But if I had a lightsaber, what color would I want it to be? Judging from what is available in all of the films, these are my choices of color (in order from least wanting to most wanting). Yes, I’m a dork…

5) Yellow = I’m lame
4) Purple = I’m unique
3) Blue = I’m old school
2) Red = You talkin’ to ME?
1) Green = I’m the shit

May 26th, 2007

Another YouTube SW Post

     We’re almost done with the Star Wars blog-a-thon. But thanks to Jonathan over at Cinema Fusion, I saw a new YouTube video I’ve never seen. I thought it was pretty well done and inspired me to do my next post (coming soon). Raise your hand if you’re tired of Star Wars yet.

May 26th, 2007

Ryan vs. Dorkman II

     W‘ve posted this before. But it’s still the best SW fan made film I’ve seen yet. Well, next to TROOPS. Anyway, check this film out. Nice job guys. I think you’ve actually outdone Lucas for the best lightsaber duel of all time…


May 25th, 2007

My two bits for the Star Wars Blog-a-majigger…

Lucas is Vader!

[Posted previously over at www.twitchfilm.net. Used with my approval since I wrote them!]

     I haven’t toodled around the web tonight for fear of being inidated with gushing Star Wars posts. Yep, on this day in 1977 that little old movie opened up, set off a tidlewave of fandom and it changed a bunch of lives and most of us haven’t left our parents’ basement since. I read an interesting article from local critic Peter Howell this past Saturday. He’s not as warm and fluffy about the anniversary as I am [I just can’t contain myself you see]. Follow the link… Empire strikes out - Star Wars is turning 30 this week, but is there anything left for fans to celebrate about the once-beloved franchise?

     But prior to this article I had the pleasure of reviewing a great mock-doc called A Great Disturbance. It goes a little something like this… In April 2005, a film crew followed five delusional fans during their preparation, trip, and return from the third Star Wars Celebration in Indianapolis. Phil, a computer repairman who thinks he is the greatest and funniest fan of all time. Lee, debuting his homemade Stormtrooper costume. Doug, a competitive tabletop gamer who trash talks elementary school challengers. Derek and Smitty; two college preps searching for girls among the Jedi and Wookies. See the hilarious and biting satire of us Star Wars fans, the conventions we attend, and all the characters, costumes, long lines, exhibits, games, and fanny packs that come with it. Watch the film evolve from a great documentary into A GREAT DISTURBANCE.

     Imagine we’re sitting in a twelve step recovery group. ‘Hello, my name is Mack and I am a Star Wars fan. Near as I can remember Star Wars has always been a part of my life. My parents say they took me to see the first Star Wars back in 1977 but that would have made me three and half. I think they meant Return of the Jedi. In grade one my best friend was Craig and he had a lot of Star Wars figures so I would go over to his house and look at them. My brother and I had some figures and a Millennium Falcon but not much else. We were war mongers and collected G.I.Joe toys like it was crack, but back to our Star Wars years. Each Christmas we would take empty rolls from wrapping paper and have light saber battles in the living room. Star Wars was my life when I was a child and I remained committed to it throughout the rest of my life. I have toyed with the idea of shooting a fan film; the storyboards still exist. I believe Han Shot First. I have a collection of light sabers on the desk beside my computer desk. But I don’t consider myself to be a hardcore fan any more. I am somewhere in the middle ground, likely two or three steps away from dressing up in a costume and attending a convention like Celebration. I believe that thanks to the prequels that will never happen and I will remain a closet Star Wars fan’.

     Five friends who share common interests in Star Wars and filmmaking make up the creative team behind this film, Aegis Films. They cite shows like The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm as influences on their work and there is certainly that element of comedic style to their approach. Though it doesn’t work some of the time it is still largely successful in soliciting big laughs. This group of friends produced, wrote, filmed, and even acted in their own mockumentary A Great Disturbance about the different types of Star Wars fans. They each adopt an extreme personality from that cross section of fans then interact with other fans at the convention. What you get is that very awkward yet realistic approach of comedic storytelling that is standard in those shows.

     And as a testament to their filmmaking skills though I screened this film without doing any research prior to screening it the first time I caught on pretty early that this was a mockumentary. When you ask someone to act and they have never acted before they are very obvious – case in point, the girl who hands Lee his asthma puffer in line. She gives the camera the ‘I’m not an actor but I am trying to be’ look. But, my roommate, who fancies himself as some sort of actor and filmmaker, didn’t have a clue until I told him otherwise after it ended. Well done guys. You fooled the fine arts high school graduate into thinking it was real.

     The characters are brilliant. Phil is the most hardcore of them all and therefore the most puritan of the lot. Even the sight of something non-Star Wars makes him seethe and soon what he perceives as a lack of true fandom draws him into a downward spiral. The same goes for Doug. An elementary school teacher, Doug is very caught up in tabletop game Star Wars miniatures. Unwilling to leave success in the game to pure chance and luck of the roll Doug has elevated playing the game to exceptional heights, so high that all that is left is the fall, and he does fall very hard. Derek and Smitty are closet Star Wars fans. Content to stand on the outside looking in at Star Wars fandom they come to Celebration out of curiosity and to pick up chicks. Derek spends most of the time looking to ‘get his drink on’ but Smitty approaches the convention with cautious optimism. And then there is Lee Sagowitz. God bless you Lee Sagowitz. The clear hero of the film, Lee loves Star Wars because it just makes him happy. He can hardly wait to put on his homemade Stormtrooper costume [it took him two years to make] and meets other fans. Lee is the heart of this film.

     The success of A Great Disturbance is the honesty in which each character is portrayed. Staying true to their characters, the circumstances create themselves and the actors are confident enough to pull off each incident with the goal for each character still in mind. What is also great about this film is that you don’t need to be Star Wars fan to enjoy it. This is a film that can be enjoyed by all. It is very funny and even heart warming in a sense because a clear hero emerges in this film- perhaps two. Lee, with his gentle and pure heart, wins out in the end and kind of gets the girl [Karen Sarna as the Femtrooper. Very hot and very married. Sorry guys]. Smitty as well comes out of the convention on the winner’s side with a hook up. Both Smitty and Lee, with their humble spirits and true hearts, emerge with their character intact and are both winners in the end.

     It is also interesting to note that the filmmakers openly acknowledge this as well, citing of all things a verse from the Bible at the end of their film. In the Book of Psalm, Chapter 37, Verse 11 reads, ‘But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.’. You go to any good Bible commentary and you will find that the meekness is ‘Partly of outward peace and prosperity, which God in his due time will give them: but principally of inward peace, in the sense of God’s favour and the assurance of endless happiness.’. Lee is the epitome of this verse, though I hardly think he realizes it.

     So what is the greatest disturbance of all? It is not that these fans exist. I’ve stood in three lineups for midnight screenings for the prequels. Believe me, I know the hardcore exist. I think what is most disturbing of all is that inside this kingdom of the geeks there still exists a hierarchy of social standing. That even inside this gathering of the presumably scorned and humiliated Star Wars fans there is the out casting of their own. That even inside a convention, this safe harbor of the Star Wars geek, there is the cool and uncool. The steady flow of mocking looks and sarcasm directed at Lee and his homemade costume is astonishing. For such a great collective to admonish one of their own is a sad testimony to this particular fan base.

     Where do I sit on the scale of Star Wars fans among this cross section? Most likely it would be Smitty but without the frat boy esthetic. The character of Smitty is someone who likes Star Wars but stand mostly on the peripheral of its fan base. Smitty is someone who grew up with Star Wars but he has never taken those final steps to indoctrinate himself into Star Wars fandom and devotion. Would I go to a Celebration? Maybe. Like him I would go mostly out of curiosity. Would I be comfortable at a Celebration? Only if I found comfort in the bosom of someone dressed as Princess Leia in the Return of the Jedi metal bikini.

     I can still admit that is the shit.

DVD Extras: Deleted Scenes [was a bit screwy on my copy. image and sound got out of synch. shame], Lee Sagowitz’s Trilogy Synopsis and Trailers.

Scripture and Commentary pages
Karen Sarna’s MySpace and Rebel Legion pages
Aegis Films and A Great Disturbance Myspace. Buy you copy of A Great Disturbance through the Aegis home page.

May 25th, 2007

Darth Vader is a Jerk

     I‘m having to much fun browsing YouTube right now. :)

May 25th, 2007
May 25th, 2007

Shatner Sings to Lucas

     I don’t have too much to say about this other than its worth a watch.


May 25th, 2007

Yoda

     Our little green friend, as Emperor Palaptine calls him, has become an international icon and hero. With his strange dialect and seemingly backwards talk (that is actually correct English) he always seemed to be the frail old Jedi that is the wisest creature in the universe. If the prequels taught us anything, we know that Yoda is not so frail and actually quite agile and can be dangerous as hell if provoked.

     He’s become such a favorite of so many fans around the world, that he’s actually become part of pop culture. Observe:

     Weird Al Yankovic produced a gold selling album entitled “Dare to Be Stupid.” The album was so popular mostly because of this parody of a popular Kinks song:

icon for podpress  Yoda [3:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Simpons have used him a number of times:


simpsons_yoda.jpg

Even Apple has gotten into the act…


yoda_apple.jpg

     Accurate it is, to say that a hero and an inspirational figure, Yoda has become.

May 25th, 2007

Discovering Star Wars at 15

     You read right. I didn’t discover Star Wars until I was 15 years old. Growing up in a remote village in Europe can have some serious disadvantages.

     My first brush with SW was in highschool when I caught a portion of “Return of the Jedi” on tv. Yeah, I’d heard about the movies but I’d never made an effort to see them.

     And then I met the husband. The single, biggest SW fans I’ve ever met. His quiet demeanor shatters whenever someone even mentions anything remotely related to SW and trust me, that’s a huge deal. In 9 years, this is the only thing I’ve found that really makes him happy. Just don’t mention the words “Star Wars” and “Holiday Special” together in the same sentence.

     For last year’s celebration, a local sci-fi group showed a long lost copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special. The single worst thing ever made in the SW franchise and a project that Lucas has been burying for years. No special edition DVD here. Actually, not even an official release. Just lost to oblivion.

     When hubby refused to go, I knew something was up. Something was seriously wrong. After seeing it, I understood what that fear was. It was fear of pain. Of watching so bad that it killed a little part of your SW loving heart.

     But I’ll admit that it wasn’t all bad, there were a couple of less bad moments. Including this one which I’d like to share with you today.


     I may have discovered SW late and I many not even be as big a fan as most but I can appreciate the greatness of these movies and what they’ve brought to film making and film lovers everywhere. Happy Birthday!

May 25th, 2007
May 25th, 2007

Donny and Marie do Star Wars

     I‘ve copied this from: http://www.timewarptv.com. I’d suggest heading over to it so you can check out some of the other Star Wars stuff they’ve got.

     The Donny & Marie Star Wars skit begins with footage of two Imperial star destroyers and the Millenium Falcon (actual film footage), spliced with cheap matte painting of planets (very non-Star Wars like). The scene fades and an opening crawl (as in the movies) begins;

Tony The Tiger sound-alike - “A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY, THERE WAS AN EVIL FORCE AT WORK TO DESTROY THE VALUES BY WHICH DECENT PEOPLE LIVED. VALUES LIKE PATRIOTISM, CLEANLINESS, THRIFT AND GOOD DENTAL HYGIENE. DID THE EVIL FORCE WIN THE BATTLE? THAT’S FOR US TO KNOW AND YOU TO FIND OUT.”

Luke and Leia, apparently running from something, enter stage-left.

Luke(singing) “Princess Leia our goose is cooked unless we lift off of this star.”

Leia (singing) “Luke I know you’re right, but we’ve got to hang five before they find out where we are.”

Both “Darth will keep searching up and down, until they find our hiding place. Before very long, they’ll know we’re gone. We’ve got to get lost in space. Riders to the stars, we are flying, we are falling and I can see the clouds rolling by, Riders to the stars we are sailing we are soaring. The only thing we can do is try to get the first available flight out of sight… We are Riders to the stars!”

Luke “Oh, look!”

R2-D2 and C-3PO enter from where Luke and Leia had just come running. R2-D2 is beeping wildly and C-3PO does his best to run to Luke and Leia.

Leia(Gasping) “Oh! Oh, You made it!”

Threepio(glaring down at Artoo, who is still beeping insanely) “Certainly not, that would never work!”

Leia(looking at Luke) “Oh, I wish Okey Ben Pinocchi was here!”

Luke “Yeah, he’d tell us what to do.”

Above the quartet of heroes, appears the head of the ghost of Okey Ben Pinocchi. He stares down upon them.

Pinocchi “I’ll tell you what to do! Why don’t you look over there? It’s your chance for escape.”

Leia(turning and pointing) “Oh, look over there! It’s our chance for escape!”

Pinocchi(somewhat annoyed) “I knew I heard it somewhere.”

Luke(walks in the direction in which Leia pointed) “Hey taxi!”

Standing to the far right of the stage is a man who attempts to bear some resemblance to Han Solo, however, he is standing in the doorway of a cardboard rocket ship, complete with fins, a ramp, a helmet that looks like something the original Mercury astronauts wore, and cheap sunglasses.

Artoo(low muttering beeps.)

Threepio(to Luke) “Pardon me sir, but that’s not a taxi. It’s a spaceship. But that’s exactly what we need.”

Luke, Leia, and Threepio approach the spaceship. Han remains motionless, leaning on the doorway of his craft.

Threepio(tapping Han on the arm) “Excuse me, sir.”

Slow to react, he removes his sunglasses as if he just awoke from a nap(or a drunken stupor), and looks down at Threepio.

Han “What can I do for you?”

Threepio(looking over to Luke and Leia) “Perhaps you two can explain?”

Luke and Leia look at each other and nod. Both begin to sing.

Both “Show us the way to get out of this world, for that’s where everything is. If everything is going, I don’t want to stay here. Who want’s to stick around and watch the world disappear?”

Leia(dancing towards Artoo) “His transistors are in trouble and his chips are weak.”

Luke(catching up with Leia) “And if we stay our chances for survival are bleak.”

Both “So show us the way to get out of this world, for that’s where everything is!”

Leia(running back to Han) “Can you help us escape?”

Han “If I can’t, I know someone who can!”

Han attempts a really sad attempt at a whistle, and from behind him, in the darkened spaceship emerges Chewbacca, the Wookie. Leia and Threepio retreat in surprise and fear, hiding behind our fearless R2-D2 unit. Han laughs maniacally as he delights in seeing everyone’s fear.

Han (singing) “Hey, hey, hey, hey!”… what follows is some of the worst, most indiscernible music and lyrics I’ve ever heard. Even after multiple viewing, I still couldn’t make out but a few words. I’ll spare you the gory details. Han, Chewbacca, Threepio, Luke and Leia all climb aboard the cardboard ship.

Everyone(waving) “BYE!”

The door slams shut. The spirit of Okey Ben Pinocchi appears again, over the now empty courtyard.

Pinocchi “You know, things are changing out here in space. I come from a distant planet called Sanford. My planet has it’s own moon, it’s own stars and it’s own galaxy… but this year, Sanford has no SON!”

The scene changes to view of our heroes escaping in their… uh… Saturn 5 rocket. Yeah, they actually used footage of a Saturn 5 rocket. The camera pulls back revealing that the rocket is actually on a view-screen of an Imperial Officer(Paul Lynde). Behind him march Stormtrooper babes(Ice Angel dancers in white nylons and motorcycle helmets… no kidding).

Officer(singing) “Hear my voice, where you are. Hop a plane. Grab a car. On a cloud. On a star. Come back to me! Have you gone to the moon? On a lushly lagoon? On a cosmic monsoon? What’s your course?!? Where the Force, can you be! Come back to me! Come back to me! Come back to me!”

The music ends, and the Imperial Officer is surrounded by twelve stormtrooper babes all laughing and pointing him.

Officer “I didn’t expect a standing ovation, but what’s so funny?”

Darth Vader enters from the left, at a quickened pace.

Vader(pointing at the Imperial officer) “You, you intergalactic fool! You’ll never get them back that way!”

Officer “I suppose you have a better plan?”

Vader “No plan at all, just a little Force.”

The scene cuts to the Imperial Officer and Vader watching the viewscreen. On the screen is footage of a Saturn 5 rocket taking off, run backwards!

Officer “Ah ha! You see, they’ve come back!”

Vader “They had no choice”

The scene cuts to the courtyard. Smoke billows from under the cardboard cutout rocket. The door drops and out walks out heros.

Han (proudly) “How about it? Was that a perfect landing?”

Threepio “That’s not what we need”

Leia “But you landed on the same planet.”

Han “But the landing part was perfect.”

Luke “I knew we should have taken a cab!”

To the left of the courtyard, two doors burst open and quartet of real Stormtroopers enter. They begin to sing and dance and are joined by the Stormtrooper babes, as they all surround our heros in an orgy of bad song and dance.

Stormtroopers(singing) “We’re Darth Vader’s raiders and we can’t believe the things that you do. We never met a troupe that play hide and seek the way that you do. But Fe Fi Foe Fum, look out people cause here we come. We know just what to do with you, so get ready, get ready! Cause you’re though when we’re through with you, so get ready, get ready. Here we come!

Stormtrooper Babes(chorus) “Get ready, cause here we come! Get ready, cause here we come! Get ready, get ready! Get ready, cause here we come! Get ready, cause here we come! Gotcha!”

Our heros are now completely surrounded by Stormtroopers. From the left, Darth Vader and the Imperial Officer stroll in.

Officer “You thought you’d get away? Don’t you know you’ll never escape from The Farce?”

Vader “That’s The Force!”

Officer(to Vader) “Oh, don’t bother me with grammer at a time like this!”

While the Imperial Officer is still scolding Vader, Chewbacca grabs him by the shoulders and neck.

Officer “Get your big ape hands off me!”

Vader raises his hand, as if he plans to choke someone, then retreats.

Vader
“You’ll never capture me! And I vow by the power of my Force, I shall return”

The scene fades back to Okey Ben Pinocchi.

Pinocchi “The Force can’t touch me. I come from a planet 10 million light years away. Uh, shorter if the lights are with you.”

The scene fades back to the courtyard. The Imperial Officer is still held captive my Chewbacca.

Officer(yelling to a departed Vader) “Well, where does that leave me Mr. Ungrateful!”

Chewbacca pulls the Imperial Officer into the cardboard ship.

Everyone(singing, including the reformed stormtroopers) “You’re leaving on a jet plane, Don’t know when you’ll be back again!”

The ship door slams shut and everyone cheers again, including the Stormtroopers and Stormtrooper Babes.

Leia “Thank you all, your princess is safe at last. Your work is finished.”

Artoo (sighs with relief)

Threepio “Yes Artoo…”

Everyone(singing & dancing) “Up we go, into the wild blue yonder, striding high into the sky… Riders to the stars, we are flying, we are falling and I can see the clouds rolling away. Riders to the stars we are sailing we are soaring into a brand new brighter day. We are riders to the stars!”

Pinocchi “Can you imagine trying to find your luggage when this trip ends?”

The screen fades to a star field. The helmet of Darth Vader appears and disolves into a shot of the Millenium Falcon zooming away.

Vader “I vow by the power of my Force, I shall return.”

THE END