The New Jedi Order

I think Star Wars Uncut may be one of the most ambitious fan projects ever undertaken. The idea was very simple and involved dividing the whole of Episode 4: A New Hope up into 15 second fragments for fans to claim and to film their own contribution for that scene. The end result would then be the whole movie produced by many different fans, all of which can say they've contributed to the Star Wars universe. It's a pretty different idea and it's produced a style of filming very similar to the "sweeded" concept from the movie "Be Kind Rewind".

Star Wars was a natural choice to explore the dynamics of community creation on the web - the response from fans has been overwhelming worldwide and the resulting movie is incredibly fun to watch.

At last their work is complete and the whole video is now available to watch on their site. So you can head over there, sit back, and enjoy!

For a few years now Atom Films have participated in annual Star Wars fan film awards. This year the winner for the 2010 awards was announced at Celebration V - The Notebook Strikes Back. This fan made movie is an animated re-telling of Empire Strikes Back which has been extremely cut down and points out a few questions such as if Luke was such a good pilot why did he crash twice in this movie?

The animation style is quite different and the story is told through scraps of notebook paper that appear periodically to explain what is going on in each scene. Definitely worth heading over to Atom to see the 4 minute film. 

To sum things up, it’s the film that plays in the head of a little kid that is shocked discovering the Star Wars movies. You know, your memory isn’t perfect so you skip scenes, swap characters, and distort some other parts, but you really capture the essence of that story. I visualize that naive feeling with the tools you have at the moment in your house or school: paper, cloth, scissors, glue.

If you head over to StarWars.com's official blog there is an interview with the creator.

We knew the Star Wars saga would be released on Blu-ray sooner or later, and months ago we were told that Lucasfilm were working on it. At Celebration V today in an interview between George Lucas and Jon Stewart it was announced that the Saga would be coming to Blu-ray in the Autumn of 2011 (that's the Fall for you Americans). I think probably the biggest news for the Blu-ray release is not that it will be better quality video and sound but that it will also include many special features such as deleted scenes.

Star Wars fans were treated to a glimpse of bonus material, in the form of a long-lost deleted scene from Return of the Jedi. The scene has long been talked about online -- a sequence that depicts Luke Skywalker assembling his new, green-bladed lightsaber prior to infiltrating Jabba the Hutt's palace. After completing the Jedi weapon, Luke stashes it in R2-D2's dome. What makes the Jedi deleted clip so remarkable is that it made it all the way to postproduction before it was cut, so it is a rare example of a cut scene with completed visual effects and music.

I never realised this particular scene had been filmed so it will be amazing to see this on Blu-ray. I would expect other deleted scenes (which are viewable on YouTube) such as the sandstorm scene would also be available. Hopefully this will also include the deleted scenes from A New Hope such as the scene with Biggs, Camie, and Fixer.

Over the next year we should be provided with more details about these release but I think one of the big questions will be what version of the film will feature on these discs and whether it will include other versions as well. Personally I'd prefer to see a release containing each of the main versions (theatrical, remastered, special edition and DVD versions). 

It's been a long time since Crimson Empire 1 and 2 were released, and there have been many Star Wars titles since then. At Celebration V Dark Horse have announced a number of new titles including Crimson Empire 3.

Series creators Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley will be writing while Dave Dorman will be returning to paint the book covers. The six-issue series will start in March.

The series will start in March 2011. Many people will already know of their next announcement, Boba Fett - Blood Ties. This series will focus on Boba Fett and will likely feature flash-backs to Jango Fett. Another new series is a short one focused on Darth Vader searching the Ghost Nebula - this series will be titled Darth Vader and the Lost Command and will start in January 2011. Other series mentioned as starting soon are:

• Blood of the Empire (starts October 2010) 
  
• Knight Errant - Aflame (starts October 2010 with tie-in novel)
• Omnibus - Droids
• Omnibus - Ewoks

IGN have reported that the planned release of The Force Unleashed II on the PSP has been cancelled. The release for the other consoles remains unchanged and should be released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS and PC on 29th October 2010 in the UK.

Fortunately the major platforms - Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 will also still be getting the special Collector's Editions which in the UK appear to be exclusive to HMV.

It looks like the next Star Wars Omnibus to be released (after the 2nd Marvel comics one) will be titled "Quinlan Vos - Jedi in Darkness" and will collect Republic issues 19 - 26 and 32 - 45.

From his first appearance as a mind--wiped amnesiac to his triumphant passage to the rank of Jedi Master, few Jedi had more brushes with the powers of the dark side and the evil of the underworld than Quinlan Vos. This volume includes over 120 pages of story that have never been collected, plus the introduction of Jedi Aayla Secura--who made the jump from the pages of the comics to appearances in the films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

This 504 page omnibus is scheduled for release on December 24th 2010.

Starwars.com have announced the third season of the hit series Clone Wars will première in the US on Carton Network on 17th September 2010 at 9pm ET. Still waiting to hear when the UK will get the première but I'm sure it won't be too long after!

In this transformative new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, surprises wait at every turn, the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance and the destiny of the "Chosen One" will at long last be uncovered. Thrilling, unpredictable and often humorous, the exciting new adventures of the Star Wars Saga will captivate fans of all ages.

To coincide with the airing of the third season, SOE will be releasing the Clone Wars adventure game on September 15th which will give players the chance to create their own characters and lightsabers.

Clone Wars Adventures is a free-to-play to game, but players who want to take the galactic action to the next level can purchase a monthly Membership subscription for $5.99, while a variety of epic items can also be purchased through Station Cash micro-transactions. The Clone Wars Adventures Galactic Passport is scheduled to be available at thousands of retail locations in North America later this fall and will include a 90 day membership, 500 Station Cash, the ability to unlock the Togruta playable character, a Yoda monitor topper, and more.

I'm sure when the time comes we'll have one or more reviews of the game, or even a discussion in our forum.

If you visit the Sideshow Collectibles website there are so many new products available for pre-order at the minute. Amongst them are items like the Artfx Crosssection 3-D X-Wing Set, a new range of Monster Mash-up Wacky Wobblers, and many new 12" figures including a very cool looking Captain Rex.

Amongst the 12 inch scale figures are also a number of premium format figures that were previously announced and are due to go on sale next month. Amongst these is Aurra Sing who captures every detail of the ruthless alien bounty huntress. Each piece is individually painted and finished to exacting standards, each with its own unique quality and detail that is the trademark of a handcrafted Sideshow Collectibles Premium Format Figure.

Set long after the death of Luke Skywalker and co. the Legacy series has proven to be an incredibly popular one - however as we all know it's coming to an end with issue 50. The series may be over, but it's not going to be the end for the Legacy-era stories.

MTV is pleased to exclusively announce that the great work done by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema in developing these characters will continue in the six-issue miniseries "Star Wars: Legacy—War."

In this new story Darth Krayt returns "from the dead" to try and the bring the galaxy back under his control, sacrificing anyone (friend or foe) to get what he wants.  His new vision for the galaxy is shaped by the events that have changed him and from the sounds of it him "blurring the lines between good and evil" suggests they are going in a similar direction as they did with Darth Caedus. They've not guaranteed who will survive by the end of the mini-series but the success of this will determine whether there are any future visits to the Legacy era.

The new series goes on sale 15th December 2010 and is written by John Ostrander with lines by Jan Duursema.

For those of you lucky enough to be going to Celebration V there is now an application available for iPhone and Android phones to help plan your day. The application includes:

• Directory
• News
• FAQs about Celebration V
• Fan Wall
  
• Photos
• Store
• Tickets
• Mailing List
• Guests List