A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

1976-era paperback book cover. (C) 1976 Bantam Books It is November 1943. The Second World War is in its fourth year. Adolf Hitler's Third Reich is fending off Allied advances in the Eastern Front and in Italy. German cities are being bombed "around the clock" by the American and British air forces. Across the English Channel, the Anglo-American forces are marshaling troops and making plans for history's greatest amphibious operation, which is tentatively scheduled for May of 1944. But even though Germany has suffered great defeats in North Africa and the vast territories of the Soviet Union, Hitler still hopes to win the war. Desperately seeking a significant propaganda victory and inspired by the rescue of fellow dictator Benito Mussolini by a team of German special forces, the Fuhrer (egged on by SS chief Heinrich Himmler) orders the head of Military Intelligence ( Abwehr ) to carry out an even more daring special forces mission: to capture British Pri...

Cover art by Phil Noto. (C) 2017, 2018 Marvel Comics Group and Lucasfilm Ltd.  On July 11, 2018, Marvel Comics published the hardcover edition of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a 176-page volume that collects issues 1-6 of writer Jody Houser’s adaptation of the 2016 Star Wars Anthology film and the standalone Star Wars: Rogue One – Cassian & K-2SO Special #1. Scripted by Houser ( Star Wars: Thrawn ) and illustrated by Emilio Laiso (issues 1-2, 4-6), Paolo Villanelli (issue #3), and Oscar Bazaldua, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story follows reluctant Rebel Jyn Erso’s perilous mission to redeem her father, Imperial scientist Galen Erso, by helping a small group of freedom fighters, an Imperial defector and two acolytes of the extinct Jedi Order steal the plans to a planet-killing superweapon – the Death Star. Th e Rebellion is here! The Rogue One crew makes the leap from the big screen to the comic-book page in this action-packed adaptation! All looks lost for the gal...

(C) 1979 Ballantine Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  In   November of 1979, Ballantine Books (then the sole licensed publisher of Star Wars novels and most of the literary tie-ins) published two versions of Carol Titleman’s The Art of Star Wars . One was a limited-edition hardcover, which I have never seen, the other was one of those "trade paperback" editions (coffee table size but in softcover). What made The Art of Star Wars a must-get for me in those days was that it contained the entire fourth revised draft of the screenplay for A New Hope (it was the first time I had seen the Episode IV subtitle, even though I bought this after seeing The Empire Strikes Back ). The screenplay included scenes that were later edited out of the final film (mainly scenes on Tatooine focusing a bit on Luke's life there and introducing Biggs Darklighter early in the film’s first act. Another deleted scene – which was restored for the Special Edition 20 years later – intro...

Author's Note: This review first appeared in an issue of Catalyst, Miami-Dade Community College, South Campus' student newspaper in  November of 1986.  Star Trek IV - a treat you will enjoy this holiday season Alex Diaz-Granados Copy Editor Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, actor-director Leonard Nimoy's second entry in the continuing saga of Admiral Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the crew, is the best film of the series to date. It's a holiday present sure to please. The Voyage Home takes up the story three months after the rescue of Spock from the doomed Genesis planet. Self-exiled on Vulcan with his officers, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) has saved his friend, but at great cost - his son is dead, his beloved Enterprise destroyed and his career is in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the Klingons are demanding the Federation Council extradite Kirk for his "crimes against galactic peace,"(if stopping a Klingon plot to take Genesis can be called ...

Cover art by Paul Renaud. (C) 2017 Marvel Comics Group and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On April 18, 2017, Marvel Comics published Star Wars: A New Hope: The 40 th Anniversary, a slim volume that collects 48 illustrations created for various Star Wars comic book titles ( Doctor Aphra, Poe Dameron, Darth Maul, and Yoda’s Secret War , just to name a few) in honor of the franchise’s 40 th year. Written by Jess Harrold and edited by Heather Antos, this 168-page book presents artwork by some of Marvel Comics’ best illustrators, including Juan Gimenez, Stuart Immonen, Adi Granov, Michael Walsh, Paul Renaud, Terry and Rachel Dotson, Mike Mayhew, Will Robson, Jordan Boyd, and Pepe Larraz. To celebrate the 40 th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, a galaxy of comic-book stars – from David Acuna to Chip Zdarsky – come together to present the legendary saga as you’ve never seen it before, across 48 stunning covers. The works of talents including Mark Brooks, Terry Dotson, Adi...

Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is one of the most biting and hard-hitting commentaries about the U.S.-Soviet arms race, overdependence on technology, the can-do philosophy of the Air Force, and the sheer lunacy of MAD, the apt acronym for the term Mutual Assured Destruction, the Cold War diplo-speak that meant "you nuke our country, we'll nuke yours." Normally one wouldn't think the possibility of nuclear annihilation would be the wellspring for a comedy, just as most people today wouldn't think the Holocaust is fodder for satire. Yet when Stanley Kubrick set out to do a straightforward dramatic film based on novelist Peter George's Red Alert, a novel about an "accidental" nuclear attack on the Soviet Union by the United States, the more research and contemplation the director and co-screenwriter did on the subject of nuclear deterrence and all the nitty gritty of nuclear warfare, the more insane t...

Photo Credit: Gofigureactionfigures.com. (C) 2008 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  In 2008, three years after the premiere of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Hasbro released a series of multi-figure sets called Battle Packs. Similar in concept to the Cinema Scenes from Kenner/Hasbro’s The Power of the Force 2 and Star Wars: Episode I lines and the later Star Wars Saga collection’s Screen Scenes, the Battle Packs in the Star Wars Legacy line blended multiple figures and a photorealistic backdrop to recreate scenes from the Star Wars movie series, The   major difference between the Star Wars Legacy sets and their precursors from older product lines is that they featured more than three action figures per set.   The average number of figures per set was four, although some, including Clone Attack on Coruscant, came with five action figures and their accessories. Hasbro produced 16 “wide release” Battle Packs and two “exclusive” sets between 2...

Cover Art by: Drew Struzan. (C) 1996 Penguin Random House Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  Steve Perry's Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire , first published in 1996, is the centerpiece of a Lucasfilm multi-media marketing campaign that could be summed up with the tag line "Everything but the movie."   Not only was Perry assigned to write the novel, but Kenner (now Hasbro) rolled out a line of action figures, Dark Horse Comics published a multi-issue series, Nintendo released a console-based game for its Nintendo 64 system, and Joel McNeeley ( The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ) composed an original score. In short, all that was missing was a feature film. And what a film (animated, of course) Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire would have been!   Although the novel is part of the Expanded Universe/Legends series that started with Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, it's the first of the 1990s-era novels to explore the six-month or so time span betw...

(C) 1996 RCA Victor When John Williams stepped down as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1993 after 13 successful seasons, a young but experienced conductor and pianist, Keith Lockhart, was chosen as his replacement. Looking more like a college freshman than music director of one of America's most famous orchestras, Lockhart has proved to be just as adept and popular as Williams and the late Arthur Fiedler. Song of the Volga Boatmen RCA Victor’s 1996 album The Boston Pops Orchestra: Runnin' Wild: Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Play Glenn Miller is a collection of songs made famous by Big Band era orchestra leader Glenn Miller, whose civilian and later Army Air Force bands provided audiences with music to dance to (and love to) before and during World War II. Before his mysterious death in December 1944, Miller's band and featured vocalists gave the world such beloved swing standards as " In The Mood," "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," ...

Photo Credit: www.rebelscum.com (C) 2003 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) In 2003, Hasbro, Inc. produced and released a series of die-cast metal-and-plastic replicas of some of the most famous space-faring vessels and land vehicles featured in the first two trilogies of George Lucas's Star Wars saga. Sold as part of Hasbro's Micro-Machines product line and with the Star Wars Saga livery, the 2003 Action Fleet collection consisted of 15 space vessels or multi-vehicle and creatures sets.  The Republic Assault Ship (aka the Acclamator- class transport) is one of the six space vessels and land vehicles that represent the Prequel Trilogy. It is an N-scale metal-and-plastic replica of a Republic military transport vessel that was tasked to carry 16,000 clone troopers and their equipment to trouble spots all over the galaxy during the Clone Wars. Like the Venator- class Republic attack cruiser/Star Destroyer, the Acclamator- class is wedge-shaped, heavily armed, and desig...