A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

In Star Wars could the “Chosen One” apply to all Skywalkers? No. The “Chosen One” that the old Jedi prophecy from  The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones,  and  Revenge of the Sith  refers to was, is, and always will be Anakin Skywalker. The messianic figure who we met as a young slave on Tatooine, saw grow up into a conflicted Jedi Knight, then turned to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith was the realization of the Jedi Prophecy: " A Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimate balance in the Force be restored. " That’s per the creator of the  Star Wars  Saga, writer-director George Lucas. In many interviews and - most importantly - the behind-the-scenes materials (featurettes, audio commentary tracks, making-of documentaries) in the DVDs and Blu-rays, Lucas does not veer away from this through-line:  Anakin, even after becoming Darth Vader, was still officially the Chosen One and not Lu...

In the classic Hildenbrandt Bros. Star Wars poster, Luke's lightsaber is yellow. © 20th Century Fox Film Corp.  In Quora, Sam Lee asks: I f Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber was green, how did it turn blue in Star Wars: The Force Awakens? My reply: It seems, my friend, that you need a little refresher course in  Star Wars  History 101. Recall, please, that Luke Skywalker used two lightsabers as a young Jedi-to-be in the Original  Star Wars  Trilogy ( Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back,  and  Return of the Jedi. The first lightsaber Luke possessed was originally his father Anakin’s; it was retrieved from the ashy ground of Mustafar by Obi-Wan Kenobi after his fateful first duel with the newly minted “Darth Vader,” the Sith identity Skywalker  pere  adopted when he was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. Obi-Wan kept his former Padawan’s “laser sword” hidden away for 19 years during his exile on Tatooine, waiting till Fate - or th...

© 1977 20th Century Fox Film Corporation In the Star Wars series, how many people knew (in-universe) that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker prior to the revelation in The Empire Strikes Back? In-universe, you say? Well, it goes without saying that Emperor Palpatine knew, since it was he - as Darth Sidious - who dubbed Anakin as “Darth Vader” some 19 years before the events of Star Wars -Episode IV: A New Hope. As for the rest of the Imperial hierarchy, it’s possible that Vizier Mas Amedda might have known since he was Sheev Palpatine’s trusted confidante and next in line to rule the Empire. However, I can’t be 100% sure, since - from the Sith perspective, the smaller the number of people in the know that both the Emperor and his chief enforcers were Sith Lords, the lesser the chances that the galaxy at large would find out. Wilhuff Tarkin may have known, or at least suspected, that the Jedi general he had met during the Clone Wars was now “Lord Vader.” In at least two...

Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker. Photo Credit and © 1999 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) I am not normally in the habit of second-guessing the storytelling abilities of writers or filmmakers whose work I admire. This is partly because I usually enjoy most of the books or movies that I consume, even though my many years of writing reviews have taught me that you can like, even love, a book, a musical work, a television series, or a film and yet be able to see imperfections in them. For the most part, I enjoy  Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace  and the rest of the Prequel Trilogy. Not as much as I do the Original Trilogy that introduced my generation of fans to that great adventure that took place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” but enough to sit through all three films and not feel like I could have spent my time something more worthwhile, such as working on a novel or a screenplay or playing  Order of Battle: World War II.  I am, after all, a ...

Photo Credit: collector-actionfigures.com  Although the Star Wars saga is perhaps associated with dazzling set-piece action sequences replete with lightsaber duels and dogfights in space, the series is replete with small moments that are in themselves fateful or revelatory. In filmmaking, no scene is -- or should be, anyway -- extraneous or tossed in just because it looks "cool." Every tiny bit of dialogue, every single shot has to move the story forward, even something that seems irrelevant.  In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, everything is set up to propel Anakin Skywalker from his life as a slave to the start of his training as a Jedi Knight, a seemingly straight path that will, of course, zig and zag to Anakin's ultimate destiny…his deviation from the true path of the JedI, his forbidden romance with Padme Amidala, and his turning to the dark side of the Force.  Hasbro's Mos Espa Encounter scene pack beautifully recreates the face-off between y...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, an evil legacy long believed dead is stirring. Now the dark side of the Force threatens to overwhelm the light, and only an ancient Jedi prophecy stands between hope and doom for the entire galaxy. On the green, unspoiled world of Naboo, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, arrive to protect the realm’s young queen as she seeks a diplomatic solution to end the siege of her planet by Trade Federation warships. At the same time, on desert-swept Tatooine, a slave boy named Anakin Skywalker, who possesses a strange ability for understanding the “rightness” of things, toils by day and dreams by night—of becoming  a Jedi Knight and finding a way to win freedom for himself and his beloved mother. It will be the unexpected meeting of Jedi, Queen, and a gifted boy that will mark the start of a drama that will become legend. - Jacket blurb, Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace For nearly 40 years, Ballantin...