The first stand alone Star Wars movie. Will it be about Han Solo?

A happy new year to all you Star Wars fans out there. I hope you all had a good one!  With February drawing near the filming of the first of the standalone Star Wars films will begin. If rumours are correct the film will be about, as Boba Fett calls him “That old space bum” Han Solo. There has been a lot of speculation on what part of his life the film will focus on.  My thoughts are that the film will focus on how Han Solo became the Han Solo we all have become to love.  Hopefully we will get to see him as a young man and the events that led him to become a smuggler and on how he met his best friend Chewbacca and how he got his hands on the Millennium Falcon. Of course the following is from the Star Wars extended universe which is no longer canon, so how much of his life’s history will change we wont know until the film comes out on 2016

Han Solo was born on Corellia and was orphaned at an early age.  Found at a space port by Garris Shirke, a Fagan type of character Han wan was taught the arts of the pick pocket.  As he got older he was used in a number of schemes and cons.  Han was befriended by Shirke’s ships cook a wookie called Dewlanna who taught him the wookie language of Shyriiwook and started his long time love of the wookies.  After many years Han was able to leave Shirkes gang and ended up at the imperial academy on Coruscant where Han went into imperial training to become a fighter pilot.  Han finished top of his class and left the academy as a Lieutenant, but his career was short lived when he stunned his commanding officer who was beating the wookie Chewbacca.  For saving his life Chewbacca owed Han a life debt and together they went on the run becoming smugglers.  Han Solo would eventually become the owner of the Millennium Falcon which he won at a game of sabacc of Lando Calrissian who would become a life long friend.  The rest Of Hans life is well known after he accepts to take an old wizard, a young man and two droids to the Alderaan system.

So hopefully when Star Wars episode VII The Force Awakens comes out we might be seeing the first trailer for the first of the Star Wars standalone films.

 

May the Force be with you…….

Its a wrap!!!!!

  Its official, the filming for Star Wars episode VII has finally finished!  An article was published showing a letter that was given to everyone who worked on the film as well as a cleanly shaven Mark Hamill!  Hopefully it wont be long till we get our first trailer and some information on what the plot is.  So what have we learned so far….. Not a lot really, rather a lot of rumour and hardly no actual hard facts.  So hears what we have learnt so far……

In a galaxy far far away……..

It has been 30 years since the destruction of the 2nd Death Star and the Empire has been beaten back to a couple of loyal galaxies.  The Galactic Republic has now taken its rightful place and Princess Leia Organa Solo is now in charge.  Han Solo and Chewbacca have both retired from service with the Alliance.  The Sith have risen from the ashes and have sent out their inquisitors to search and destroy Luke Skywalker.  For the last ten years Luke has gone into hiding on the Sith home world to try to find a way to destroy the Sith once and for all.  Mean while on a desert planet the daughter of Leia and Han comes upon a downed TIE fighter and it pilot.  She rescues the pilot who is having second thoughts about serving the Empire.  On their travels they discover a lightsaber that once belonged to Luke Skywalker.  With the help of Leia, Han, Chewbacca, Lando and some friends along the way they go looking for Luke Skywalker so they can defeat the Empire and their new weapon of mass destruction forever……..

I’m looking forward to this film for several reasons.  One I`m a massive Star Wars geek and Two most of the filming has been done on location.  Its going to be good to see all the old characters back together again and the introduction of the next lot of star wars heroes and villains. Thou I was a little disappointed that Lucas and Disney have changed what’s Star Wars cannon and what’s Star Wars legends I don’t think we will be disappointed.  Other great news that nearly had me wetting my self is the talk of a trilogy of my favourite Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi with Ewan McGregor once again reprising the role!

So with nearly a year to go till we get to see Star Wars Episode VII here’s the Library Jedi signing off for now and May the Force be with you….Always.

Welcome to the Library, I`m your Library Jedi

A massive welcome to all our new and returning students!  I hope you have all had a most excellent summer!  As the Rolling Stones once said “Please allow me to introduce my self”.  My name is Tim Harris and have been working at Brunel University Library now for well over 14 years.  I work in the library as an Information Assistant, as well as the university Mace Bearer, musician, Singer song writer and Jedi.  That’s right you eyes did not deceive you I am Brunel’s very own Jedi Knight or as most people know me “The Library Jedi”  That’s me in the picture above fending off a vicious Viking from the Norwegian Society during Human Book Day.  I write blogs for the library as well as on my own star wars site where you can follow-up the latest of rumours about the up and coming Star Wars Episode VII as well as anything else of interest from the Star Wars universe.

There has been this week some interesting news about the new film.  There has been some new pictures leaked from the location filming at Greenham common and there has been new plot information.  The Greenham common pictures show what looks like a new base for the republic showing several of the new design X-Wings plus a snazzy looking black and bronze X-wing as well as the Millennium Falcon.  We also had an update on what Luke Skywalker has been up to and his role in the film.  Looks like he is even more powerful than his father and that he has been hounded my the inquisitors.  The first lot of rumours about the new film made me a bit nervous as they were quite far-fetched even for the Star Wars universe but the rumours that are now appearing are making me feel much better.  If JJ Abrams does mess it up he better watch his back as Boba Fett will be hunting him down!!!!!  Also news has just come out that one of the stand alone films will be about my favourite Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi will be getting his own stand alone film!!!!!

If you want to be kept updated on the latest Star Wars news just book mark my link https://lbsrtch.wordpress.com.  Finishing on a non Star Wars note click on the following link for the Library Song video.  Written and performed by yours truly and featuring many of the staff from the library.  Have a good first week at Brunel University and May the Force Be With You!!!!!

Do you need a hand?

   At the time of writing this piece a  recent article came out and we were shown what could be possibly Luke Skywalker‘s new cybernetic hand.  This has now turned out to possible be the arm of one of the main Inquisitors.  All through the Star Wars universe there are characters with various cybernetic replacements and enhancements.

Luke Skywalker

Luke’s lost his right hand during the duel with his father Darth Vader on Bespin.  After his rescue by Lando, Leia and Chewbacca Luke had a cybernetic hand fitted to replace it on board the rebel ship Redemption.  During their escape from Jabba the Hutt Luke’s cybernetic hand was damaged by a shot from Taym Dren-garen.

Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader

During the first battle of Geonosis Anakin and Obi-Wan followed Count Dooku to his secret hanger.  During the dual there Anakin lost his right arm just below his elbow.  He soon received a cybernetic replacement but decided not to cover it with synthflesh instead wearing a black gauntlet over it.  As Darth Vader during his dual with Obi-Wan Kenobi on the planet Mustafar Obi-Wan bested him and in one blow chopped off Darth Vader’s surviving arm and both of his legs.  Leaving Darth Vader to die on a laver bank the resulting to him being burned alive.  It was only his strength in the Force that kept Darth Vader alive.  Darth Vader was rescued by Darth Sidous and was taken to the Surgical Reconstruction Centre on Coruscant and was rebuilt and a life support unit built into his suit to keep him alive.

General Grievous

Grievous nearly lost his life in a shuttle crash orchestrated by Count Dooku.  His whole body was replaced with cybernetics just leaving his brain, eye’s, heart and stomach.  The technology used to rebuilt Grievous would later be used on Darth Vader.

Clone Commander Wolffe (CC-3636)

During the Battle of Khorm Clone Commander Wolffe lost his right eye to Asajj Ventress.  It would later on be replaced by a silver cybernetic one.

Sith Lady Lumiya

During a dog fight her fighter was shot down by Luke Skywalker.  Her barely alive body was discovered by Darth Vader who had her rebuilt using advanced cybernetics which left her more machine then woman.

Lobot

Lobot was the chief administrative aide to Baron Administrator Lando Calrissian on Cloud City over the planet Bespin.  As a young man Lobot was arrested and convicted for stealing.  Lobot was sentenced for 15 years involuntary service to the citizens of Cloud City.  He had a Biotech Aj^6 Cyborg head band fitted to his skull and connected to his brain.  This made him connected to the main computer of cloud city making him very intelligent and able to communicate with the city computer and all its systems.

 

 

 

The Jedi code

  As may of you know I`m a follower of the Force.  I try to use the lessons and quotes from the Star Wars universe to help me in everyday life.  Jedism has many roots in Buddhism and if you read into a lot of the Jedi mysticism you can usually find something that will solve any problems that you come up against.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no death, there is the Force.

There is no emotion, there is peace

Emotions are a part of us.  Even powerful Jedi were not immune to showing their feelings.  Young Jedi leaners are taught to explore their feelings and understand them.  If a Jedi cannot confront their feelings that Jedi will never know peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge

A Jedi should try to understand the world around them.  ignorance is a part of life but should never be feared.  The Jedi archives contains one of the biggest collections of knowledge in the Star Wars universe.  A Jedi must use not only their rational mind but also their intuitive mind to ascertain the truth of a situation.

There is no passion, there is serenity

Be for a Jedi acts he must be one with the Force.  A Jedi must only draw their weapon in defence only.  A Jedi must be calm and clear-headed in all situations.  Passionate use of power will lead to that Jedi to head down the path to the dark side.

There is no death, there is the Force

The sense of loss is often greater for a Jedi.  However death in not a tragedy but a part of life.  The Force in us continues even in death.

 

Jedi quotes

“Do or do not… there is no try.” — Yoda

“Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter.” — Yoda

“Your eyes can deceive you, don’t trust them.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi

“You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi

“Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don’t think. Trust your instincts.” — Qui Gon Jinn

“Be mindful of your feelings.” — Mace Windu

” His heart was in the right place, but he tried to answer Grievouses power with his own.” — Kit Fisto

“The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the force. The force is the blade of the heart. All are intertwined.” — Luminara Unduli

 

Am I the only one getting put off the new film by all these plot details?

Sitting out in the back garden yesterday having a coffee and a cigarette I come across the new plot details for episode VII and a near animal growl animates from my mouth!!!!!  If you haven’t heard the news the latest plot is as follows

After the opening crawl updating us on what’s been happening since Return of the Jedi the camera pans down not to a space ship but a severed hand holding a lightsaber.  This hand and lightsaber some how survives re entry to a desert planet and are found by Daisy Ridleys and John Boyega charcters.  They know the lightsaber is a relic of the past and decide to try and find the owner.  In their travels they come across Han Solo and Chewbacca who are no longer piloting the Falcon????  Han recognises the lightsaber as the one Obi Wan Kenobi gave to Luke Skywalker.  Han has not seen Luke since the battle of Endor so they all go on a hunt to find Luke.  Meanwhile what’s left of the Empire are building a new secret super weapon on some ice planet.

 

Ive got one or two problems with this!!!!  How does a hand survive re entry through a planets atmosphere???  If the lightsaber Han recognises is the one originally built by Anakin Skywalker then how did it survive the fall through the planet Bespins core????  and then reach outer space.  Also a Jedi’s lightsaber is not indestructible and again that begs the differ on how it survived re entry in a planets atmosphere?  Also what’s been happening since Endor?  At the end of Return of the Jedi everyone from Bespin to Coruscant to Naboo were celebrating the fall of the Empire! so its sounds like everything did not go quite to plan for the Rebellion.  Then there the new superweapon that’s being built.  Its much smaller then the Death Star but it can destroy whole solar systems not just planets.  This smacks of the Sun Crusher which was not a very large ship but could take out whole solar systems just by making the systems sun go super nova.  The story also smells like a revamp of episode VI with very similar characters on a very similar quest.

But again all these rumours could be false just a red herring to taste the waters of all us Star Wars fans out there.  I`m gonna keep reading the rumours as they come up even if they make me mad and want to send Boba Fett after JJ Abrams.  We will just have to sit tight and wait for when the movie hits the cinema and probably all these worries will be for nothing.

On other news yesterday we got to see the new design for the X-Wing which many of us (even my good self) mistook for a Z-95 Head Hunter!

Till next time. May The Force Be With You!!!!!

 

 

My top five favourite Star Wars characters…. Whats yours? Number 2 Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

At number two of my favourite Star Wars charterers in the former slave boy turned podracer champion later Jedi knight and then Dark Lord of the Sith Anakin Skywalker.  When we first met Anakin he was the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader way back in Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope.  Back then we didn’t know his true identity only that he had supposedly betrayed and killed Anakin Skywalker and then the shocking truth revealed its self in Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker!!!!!

Darth Vader: “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.”

Luke Skywalker: “He told me enough! He told me you killed him!”

Darth Vader: “No, I am your father.”

I don’t know about you but those three lines had me on the edge of my seat when I was a kid and even now I get goose bumps!  At the end of Star Wars Episode VI The Return of the Jedi Anakin redeems him self and brings the prophecy of the chosen one to an end when he saves his son Luke and sacrificing him self when he killed the Emperor.  Later on when George Lucas returned to the Star Wars universe with Episodes I, II and III we get to meet the young Anakin Skywalker and watch his full to the Dark Side.

Luke: No, my father didn’t fight in the Clone Wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter.

Obi-Wan: That’s what your uncle told you. He didn’t hold with your father’s ideals; he felt he should’ve stayed here and not gotten involved.

Luke: You fought in the Clone Wars?

Obi-Wan: Yes. I was once a Jedi knight, the same as your father.

Luke: I wish I’d known him.

Obi-Wan: He was the best star pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. I understand that you’ve become quite a good pilot yourself.

Obi-Wan: And he was a good friend.

In Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace we meet a young Anakin, a slave for the junk dealer Watto.  He helps out Qui-Gon Jinn and Queen Amidala winning the parts for their space ship as well as being freed from slavery.  After the death of Qui-Gon, the Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi takes him on as his apprentice against the wishes of the Jedi council.  Its not an easy partner ship for the pair but always in the back ground is Darth Sidious manipulating him with lies and dark Sith magic..  Its Sidious who arranges and pushes Anakin and Padame in to a forbidden romance and its Sidous who tells Anakin to use his emotions.  And in the end Darth Sidious gets his way, turning Anakin to the dark side and giving him the Sith name of Darth Vader.  We learn in the book that Anakins birth by the midi-chlorians was caused by Darth Sidious’s master Darth Plagueis.  And it was both Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious who realized that if Anakin was trained by Qui-Gon  then Anakin would be lost to them as a possible Sith Lord.  How different would of Anakins life had been if he was trained by Qui-Gon.  It would have been a wholly different story if he had.

Anakins story is a sad story full of lose and hurting partly caused by Darth Sidious.  Even when he is Darth Vader he knows his whole life was manipulated by Sidious to become his apprentice and it takes sacrificing his own life to save his son to bring him back to the light.

My top five favourite Star Wars characters…. Whats yours? Number 3 is Luke Skywalker

My top five favourite Star Wars characters…. Whats yours? Number 3 is Luke Skywalker.

My top five favourite Star Wars characters…. Whats yours? Number 3 is Luke Skywalker

At number 3 of my all time favourite Star Wars characters is that young farm boy from Tattoine Luke Skywalker.  My favourite scene with Luke in it will always be the shot of him staring out into the setting suns of Tattoine with Binary Sunsets written by John Williams playing in the background.  The first time we see Luke he is with his uncle Owen buying droids off the local Jawas.  The purchase of those two droids leads Luke on his path to becoming one of the greatest Jedi of all time!!!!!  The young Luke was very much like his father, an excellent pilot and a desire to see the stars!  In the films we see Luke grow up quite a bit, from a young farm boy rushing head on with danger to help his friends and then we see the more grown up mature Luke who will still rush in to help his friends but this time he has more confidence in his powers and all ways has a plan first!  Luke finally creates the New Jedi Order learning from the past mistakes that the old Jedi order made which made them easy pray to be culled by the Sith.  He also marries Mara Jade, an ex Emperors hand who originally wanted to kill Luke and together they have a son Ben.  As the years go on Luke becomes one of the most powerful Jedi ever, even more powerful then his father but see’s little peace in the galaxy as he fights in one war after the other!  If the rumours are true in the next movie we will see Luke Skywalker hiding out on Tatooine after 30 years of fighting off Jedi hunters.  I was hoping that the story line would be more in line with the expanded universe but alas that does not seem too be.  I am hoping  that they explain what Luke has been doing over the last 30 years to expand his Jedi powers and if he has been training up new Jedi.  The rumours that he are hearing about the new film makes it sound like a reboot of Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope but we will just have to wait and see.

Luke facts

When Luke was dragged under by the a Dianoga in the trash compacter Mark Hamill had to hold his breath for so long that he ended up blowing a blood vessel in his face.  After that he was filmed from one side till it cleared up.

Mark Hamel did all his own stunts in Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi except in two scenes.  First scene was when Luke jumps of the plank at the Sarlacc pit and the second scene is when he is fighting Darth Vader on the Death Star and Vader hurls his light saber cutting the supports of the the catwalk that Luke is standing on.  Both of these stunts were performed by Colin Skeaping who was Mark’s stunt double.

Mark Hamill kept Luke’s boots from the first Star Wars film

When the first Rebel ships escapes Hoth the voice on the PA that says “The first transport is away” was actually Mark Hamill’s voice.

Mark Hamill has played Luke Skywalker in The Muppet Show, Family Guy and Robot Chicken

Mark had to bang his head 16 times in Yoda’s hut until the director was satisfied.

Just before Star Wars was released Mark Hamill was nearly killed in a car crash.  He had to have re constructive surgery on his face.  The scene when Luke was attacked by the Wampa was used to disguise his injuries.

When on Dagobah when Luke is just about to leave and Yoda and Obi Wan are trying to purswade Luke to stay and complete his training, Luke pulls a snake from one of the X Wing engines which ended up biting him on the hand even after being ensured that none of the snakes would bite

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