A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

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 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation  Star Wars  (as the film originally was titled) underwent many story changes from 1973 (when George Lucas first had to come up with his own space fantasy after Universal Pictures denied him permission to make a film version of  Flash Gordon ) all the way to 1976 (which is when principal photography began). Lucas went through four drafts of the  Star Wars  script before filming began, and in most of them, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi survived and escaped from the Death Star with Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. Up until the fourth unrevised draft, Ben lived on and stood by Leia’s side in the Rebel base during the climactic Battle of Yavin. However, Lucas (and perhaps even Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the writers of the  American Graffiti  screenplay and uncredited script doctors for  Star Wars ) ,  realized that after having established that Obi-Wan was not onl...

Photo Credit: 2DayDelivery.com Pros:  Very nicely detailed, pose looks very dynamic. Cons:  Not recommended for very young children. Hasbro's third Star Wars 25th Anniversary Deluxe Boxed Set , Final Duel , captures a pivotal moment in the film A New Hope -- the turning point, perhaps, of the entire Star Wars saga: the legendary Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi facing off against his former Padawan apprentice and now Sith Lord, Darth Vader. His simple Jedi robes and blue lightsaber blade contrast starkly against the Death Star hangar interior and his former apprentice's menacing armored visage and red Sith saber blade. I have been collecting Star Wars figures almost since Kenner (now Hasbro) started selling them in the wake of the success of Star Wars (now known as Episode IV: A New Hope ). I own several variations of both Darth Vader and Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, including the original 1978 figures with telescoping lightsabers and plastic cloaks, but I was impress...

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...