"EVERY SAGA HAS A BEGINNING..."

Friday 29 July 2022

'ATTACK' AT 20: THE LOVERS OF NABOO...

Two posed publicity images of the young lovers, especially shot to capture the interest of the Italian SW fan/audience market.

Their secret arrival on Naboo has started off in a tense fashion, but the love that Jedi bodyguard Anakin has for Padme, bordering on obsession, is soon declared to the young senator, whose response to him is at first wary, then enjoying, of the boy's company whilst she is under his keen protection. Soon enough, their building liaison will become dangerous...

George Lucas was thrilled by the on-screen pairing of Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman- two beautiful young people being filmed at an equally beautiful and romantic location in Sasson San Martin/Lake Como, Italy during September 2002, heightened further in EPISODE II's post production by some exotic effects work by ILM.




At the Varykino safe house.

Filming the early romance scenes.

Hayden takes a break in this continuity polaroid taken during filming at Lake Como.

Anakin and Padme share a kiss.




Thursday 28 July 2022

NOW AIRING ON DISNEY+: 'LIGHT AND MAGIC'


Full of terrific interviews and superb HD remastered behind the scenes/deleted footage you truly won't want to miss, the Disney+ exclusive six-part documentary series charting the rise and rise of ILM, from Lawrence Kasdan and the Imagine team, is now here: Light and Magic.


Monday 25 July 2022

CLASSIC ART: WALKER WARS!


It's the David vs Goliath confrontation of the Star Wars saga, and one of the series greatest battle sequences -a blaze of action and superb stop-motion animation/model filming: The Empire Strikes Back's Battle of Hoth between the fast-moving Rebel Snowspeeder vehicles and the slow-marching, death-bringing Imperial AT-AT Walkers. A conflict nicely captured in this fine art created for the leaflet accompanying the 1980 release of the Kenner-produced Walker large toy action-figures model.

If anyone knows the artist of this original piece, please get in touch...

Friday 22 July 2022

EPISODE I: 'WOBBED AND CWUNCHED'!


Having explored the seedy locale of Tatooine's Mos Espa spaceport and encountered its denizens, lovable coward Jar Jar Binks is unwilling to take another foray into the busy landscape, but he will soon have no choice as the rest of Qui-Gon Jinn's small group continue their search for a new hyperdrive.

Wednesday 20 July 2022

'STAR WARS' AT 45: SMUGGLING SWAGGER!


One of the classic images from the original Star Wars that appeared on all manner of merchandise worldwide from 1977-79, from TOPPS cards to poster magazines, and more. Han Solo gets ready to shoot at an unknown opponent, as the cool, street-smart-esque style of Harrison Ford's superstardom status in playing the role is quickly cemented (having also been a prior self-taught carpenter to fellow actors during lean work periods, and, according to actress/ singer Michelle Phillips, becoming a 'pot dealer' on the side!).

Other images from the shoot...




Image: via STAR WARS ARCHIVES website.

Ford reminisces on the making of the film in 1976:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7GrizpZmjc

Monday 18 July 2022

THE CLONE WARS: THAT OUTLAW CAD BANE!


His fury unleashed, fully-armed Bounty Hunter Cad Bane is all-out aggressive in this terrific The Clone Wars art parody on the classic movie poster for Clint Eastwood's trailblazing seventies Western genre classic, The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Superb work from Daz Tibbles at Deviant Art.

Friday 15 July 2022

FALLEN EVIL!


Amongst the colorful sunset beauty of Bespin and its iconic Cloud City, a First Order Cruiser falls to its doom in this memorable scene from the near-end to The Rise of Skywalker, as first captured in conceptual art by James Clyne.

Wednesday 13 July 2022

'SOLO': THE KESSEL PLAN...


It's an audacious plan they have to steal the unrefined coaxium from the dangerous Pyke Syndicate ensconced on the legendary, brutal world of Kessel. Nonetheless, the disguised Qi'ra is ready to help the reckless Han Solo and Chewbacca in their madness, during this deleted Falcon corridor scene moment from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Monday 11 July 2022

ROGUE ONE: COMETH THE HEROES...


Unlikely heroes from a diverse universe now locked in tyranny and oppression gather on one of the beaches of the jungle realm of Scarif, ready, despite all the odds stacked against them, to take on the Galactic Empire and steal the plans for their ultimate apocalyptic weapon, in this great international poster art for Rogue One - A Star Wars Story.


Friday 8 July 2022

EPISODE VII: DESERT RETURN!


Crash-landed on Jakku and out of his element now that he has defected from the First Order, Finn searches for his new friend Poe Dameron. But did the top Resistance pilot survive the desert impact? A memorable sequence from The Force Awakens.


Wednesday 6 July 2022

EPISODE III: A TIME OF CRISIS AND BETRAYAL!


The time has come for the Republic to fall and for the Jedi Order to witness the shocking betrayal from Order 66, in this great showcase for the film's apocalyptic middle, with Mace Windu in action, as well as the Sith villains and Wookiee heroes, on one of the effective Dave Dorman art covers for the Dark Horse comics acclaimed Revenge of the Sith comic adaptation.

Monday 4 July 2022

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: B-WING BLITZKRIEG!


Barely seen in Return of the Jedi due to Visual Effects problems, the B-wing fighters of the Rebellion nonetheless remain an intriguing and beloved fighter craft, seen in the above storyboard as a vital part of the Battle of Endor.