19 July 2002:

Force Monkeys:

There is a new online comic available, Force Monkeys, that... appears... to have some striking similarities to one of our favourite, and original, sites: The Sith Academy.

Sean: Friendly, forgiving, law-abiding, pleasant to be around. None of those terms could be used to describe Sean. He's a vile sith who considers Darth Maul a martyr and Darth Vader his hero (before he went all sissy and threw the Emperor down a long shaft). His hobbies include decapitating lawn gnomes, polishing his dual-lightsaber, playing games and ridiculing Sam.

And now for the Twit Padawan....

Sam, the Jedi, has a poster on his bedroom door that says 'Smiling is fun.' That alone should give you a good idea of his personality. Strange that he always looks so sullen. His hobbies include singing poorly, making the world a better place, playing games and being ridiculed by Sean.

19 July 2002:

TPM DVD Review: Redux!:

Yes... the TPM DVD is old news.... however this review is not! Some of you may have read it before, most of you probably not. Peter M. Bracke reviews the Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD for DVDFile.com and gives a good overview of the technical aspects of the DVD as well as the exciting features found on the DVD discs.

One point he makes is the extended play time of the DVD versus the theater release - about three minutes difference:

new footage has been inserted in a few key scenes - the opening and lap two of the podrace, a short "air taxi" sequence in Corsucant, and a bit of a alteration when Darth Maul bites it. I'm sure Star Wars-ites will be able to spot the changes instantly, though I had some trouble. Watch for them and see if you can figure out what is different...

This bit of information is news to me (MaulMaus) - But it sounds like a good excuse to watch Phantom Menace again!

12 July 2002:

AOTC on DVD!:

Episode-X in EP2 DVD News, reports from Andre at Tatooine.ca, what we can all expect from the Episode II: Attack of the Clones DVD when it is released this November. Here's the breakdown:

• 2-discs, anamorphic widescreen video (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and 2.0 audio, THX-certified with Optimizer.
• A feature-length audio commentary (with writer/director George Lucas, producer Rick McCallum, sound designer Ben Burtt, animation director Rob Coleman and effects supervisors Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow).
• Eight deleted scenes with introduction by George Lucas, Rick McCallum and Ben Burtt.
• Documentaries: From Puppets to Pixels: Digital Characters in Episode II. State of the Art: The Previsualization of Episode II. Films Are Not Released: They Escape.
• Three featurettes (on storyline, action scenes and love story).
• Star Wars.com 12-part web documentary.
• Across the Stars music video.
• Poster art and print campaign gallery.
• Three theatrical trailers, launch trailer and 12 TV spots, R2-D2: Beneath the Dome "mocumentary" trailer, production photo gallery, Visual Effects Breakdown montage.
• DVD-ROM weblinks to special DVD-only website, scene selection (50 chapters)
  
  

Sounds pretty good! Now... if only November would get here and we could verify if Ray Park is in the Geonosian Arena battle scene or not....

08 July 2002:

Sith Witch: How Amidala Pushes Anakin to the Dark Side:

SithWitch.com has an exclusive article regarding the possible reasons why Anakin comes to embrace the Dark Side. In "Not a Jedi Yet," SithWitch takes a different view of how feminism is portrayed in the Star Wars universe.

He tried so hard and did everything he was told. Anakin obeyed his masters, but they would not listen to him. His clairvoyant dreams showed him his that mother was in trouble. But although they acknowledged his powers, the Jedi Council denied him the opportunity to follow his heart. Which brings us to the crux of this argument.

Padme pushed Anakin over the edge!

Visit SithWitch.com for the rest of the commentary at "Not a Jedi Yet."

06 July 2002:

TPM DVD on Your PC:

StarWars.com recently posted a news article - TPM DVD Depth Commentary - about playing The Phantom Menace DVD on a PC computer. With software available from InterActual.com you can see a new text based commentary for TPM.

The information is divided into three color-coded types: "Lore" information is culled from the ever-expanding Star Wars universe of facts, "Behind the Scenes" provides some insights into the filmmaking process, and "Did you Notice" covers the tiny and fun details you may have missed.

You can download the latest version of the InterActual player at InterActual.com.

06 July 2002:

The Prequel Feminism: Part Two:

The second of a two part series on feminism in the Star Wars universe has been posted on Suite101.com. Paul F. McDonald brings into play the events from Episode II in Part Two: The Prequel Feminism.

In A New Hope, the Imperial dream is more or less established. It is to be found in the scene when the Death Star is being discussed among the Empire's elite - basically a bunch of old white men sitting around a table, carving the galaxy up for themselves. Many have noted the lack of women and children in the original trilogy when the Empire is in power, and it now seems deliberate. Cold, sterile technology has reduced the biological galaxy to a wasteland, and as clones and droids take on more of a dominate role, life is no longer being born, but manufactured. It is not implausible to speculate that the end goal of the Empire is to completely eradicate the natural process of procreation itself. Therefore women would have to be subjugated, their essence as vessels of life a constant threat to the Imperial regime.

An interesting read... no matter your own point of view.

Have Darth Maul or Sith news? Send it in to: