Star Wars Rogue One trailer

Friday saw the release of the new trailer for this year’s Star Wars offering; Rogue One a Star Wars story and needless to say I am excited.

The movie is set just before the events of Episode IV (A New Hope) and is about the theft of the Deathstar’s plans and getting them to Princess Leia who of course is caught carrying them at the beginning of the first Star Wars movie when Vader aboard the ISD Devestator engaged her.

In the old Expanded Universe they were taken from the planet Raltiir whilst the Deathstar was constructed over the Penal prison at Despayrre which was destroyed during the test firing. Of course…. That was then… this is now.

With Disney’s takeover of the Star Wars universe the old lore is gone ( I may have mentioned this every time I have blogged about the new Star Wars developments and I promise I will stop moaning about it!).

So what makes Rogue One an appealing concept. Well for me it is an unknown – these characters are not the main canon characters and they are going up against the Empire’s best in a commando style mission to save the galaxy in the same sort of vein as Where Eagles Dare, Dirty Dozen or Heroes of Telemark which really appeals to the Role Player in me. Also as they are not canon characters it means that there is no guarantee as to who will survive and who will be killed off – there’s not even a guarantee that Jyn Erso, Felicity Jones’ main protagonist will make it to the role of credits. This makes the movie so much more enjoyable the first time you watch it. Let’s be honest, Family guy nailed it when they stated in “Something, something Darkside,” that “Don’t worry we have a ship of four of the main characters, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

There have been complaints about having a female lead in some corners of Youtube which I find as confusing as those who complained about a black Stormtrooper (John Boyega’s Fin in Episode VII). It is good to see a strong female character in the lead in a Galaxy which up until recently was lacking serious female characters within the movie branch of the franchise. Jyn looks to have the edge and combat skills of Han Solo with just as much balls. Ultimately I cannot judge until that great day when I get to watch the movie in full – and review it – but let’s give her a shot. From the trailer’s I don’t think she is going to disappoint.

There are also people who are complaining that this is not Star Wars and there are no Jedi (except Lord Vader) but to be honest – yes it is. The Star Wars universe is vast with a multitude of different species and backgrounds all trying to live their lives and force users were always in the minority and of varying strength. The draw of Luke Skywalker, Vader, Yoda, Palpatine and Obi-Wan was that they were a minority and put them above the other warriors. The prequels almost overdid the Jedi aspect with them pretty much everywhere making them somewhat less special. Rogue One offers us someone else’s story in the same vein as the old “Tales of:” books from the EU. To quote the old Wizards of the Coast advert “What’s this guys story?” I want to see someone else’s struggle against the Empire, their motivations, their perils, loves, losses – it is a huge galaxy let’s see other aspects and explore new worlds and possibilities. Rogue One has vast potential here.

The Imperial hardware is, as always, very impressive looking with the ubiquitous Stormtroopers, a new version of stormcommando(?) and AT-ATs, armoured speeders and TIE/LN fighters with the rebels running around with cobbled together and “appropriated” gear showing the desperation they face against unrelenting Imperial materiel.

I love the piano and slowed down Imperial march building into the Star Wars theme which compliments the cinematic shots and art including the Deathstar eclipse of a sun. It looks really well shot and I’m hoping that it will play out into a two hour movie but I am excited.

US government says No to the Deathstar

It is indeed a dark day for the Empire.

Recently some 35,000 signatories signed a petition to lobby the US government to begin construction of a Deathstar in orbit.

Such a project would arguably create hundreds of thousands of jobs and have epic National defence implications.

The Whitehouse has predictably declined. Their response, laden with Star Wars clichés does have some good points too.

The overall cost to building a Deathstar is fairly astronomical. OK, so you don't have to build a fully functioning hyperdrive (after all if we had hyperdrive technology we would have access to the Galaxy!!!) which will save a vast amount of money but on the flip side the US will be paying its construction teams rather than using Wookie slaves and convicts from the planet Despayre.

Also there is the problem of resources. The Empire were able to strip mine whole planets for resources and leave them dead or heavilly polluted. We've only got one planet and if we were to construct a Deathstar on the scale of the Second Deathstar, which would be preferable, it would have a diameter of 900 km which, although small compared to the moon's 3476.28 km diameter, is still an lot of metal, more than would be attainable from this one planet.

There is of course the problem of the gravitational pull of this new small moon effecting the tides, weathers and seasons on Earth and interfearing with the Moon's own effects. For further details from renowned Star Wars physist Curtis Saxton on a much more detailed level try here.

As for the operational use of the station, the US government are indeed wrong. The Second battle station, perfected by Limelesk's team got rid of the thermal exhaust port that proved so hazardous to the first station and instead vented exhaust through 2cm square vents across the skin of the whole station. Had it been completed the station would have been somewhat indestructable from an external battle fleet and would have only been vulnerable to sabotage from the inside. Should the station explode in high orbit then the results planet side would be horrendous. As Curtis Saxton theorised the Forrest moon of Endor would have been plunged into a Nuclear winter. This may be a risk that religious fundamentalists are willing to take, in the resulting chaos and collapse of Government they could indeed take over. It is however not a risk the US government are willing to take.

As for the ability to destroy a planet, it would be seriously unlikely that any US officer would give the order to fire at full Primary ignition, but then again it only takes one! The weapon also has a powered down setting and can be used for orbnital bombardments or merely used for cutting the crust down to the molten core. A very powerful diplomatic tool yet would attract a lot of protesters and world wide condemnation as the US could hold the rest of us to ransom.

Although painful, I am going to admit the construction of my favoured battle/space station is best put on the backburner for now...

Instead let us commence lobbying the Americans to build a more efficient alternative:

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is a much cheaper station with less high tech gizmos on her. She is only 8kms long built around a spinning hull (or O'neill hull) that creates an artificial gravity.

There are no scary superlasers, wings of TIE fighters and its destruction, although dangerous, would not plunge the Earth into a nuclear winter!

There is also the peaceful applications of the station with a UN style chambers and quarters which could allow ambassadors and delegates to have a better persective of the planet and scale of things. A truly neutral standpoint and one where groups could learn to understand one another.

Star Wars VII - don't do it George!

There are somethings that are more important in life than the political squabbles of a few or the oneupmanship of Gunwharf party politics.

The most important thing? Star Wars.

Following yesterday's announcement I have been shocked to my very core. For those of you who missed it, Disney have splashed $4bn and bought out Lucasfilm - to cap that they've announced the release of Star Wars Episode VII for 2015.

Am I excited that I get to go and watch a new Star Wars in the cinema? Hear the opening music and read the scrawl as it treks over the star-field for the first time and await the inevitable space ship? That I get to take my little girl to share a precious lifetime moment?

No, I'm deeply vexed and hurt. I've not been this hurt since Nick voted for the rise in tuition fees.

But it is only a movie... I hear those of you who don't know me say.

Star Wars is my thing. You might think it was being a Libdem or German aircraft but those are only facets of who I am. For a decade Star Wars defined me. I grew up watching it every Christmas on ITV and the old Betamax recording of Return of the Jedi every weekend until at the age of twelve I rediscovered The Empire Strikes Back. Watching the AT-ATs crossing the Hoth wilderness I fell in love. I've always been an Empire man.

I've got all manner of merchandise, including two lightsabers, models, lego, Darth Vader pen, action figures, computer games, around 4000 of the Decipher CCG cards, Role playing game books (D6 and the controversial D20) - coincidentally I came 2nd in the Star Wars RPG category at the Student Nationals in '06. I've also got a good chunk of the sequels.

Sequels?

After the curtain went down at the end of Jedi in 1983 many thought that was the end and kids like me (aged 3) would only see them on tv. In 1992 an author called Timothy Zahn wrote a trilogy of books, that were sequels to Jedi, often nicknamed the Thrawn trilogy which relit the touch paper. Great series like Mike Stackpole's X-wing books, Kevin J. anderson's Jedi Acadeny series... We've watched the lead characters grow up, get married, have kids, lose loved ones and yes *spoiler* even Chewbacca died.

For two decades now George Lucas has reaped the financial rewards of these books and watched his universe expand and develop and now they will probably deny its very existence.

A Galaxy far far away without Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Jacen & Jania Solo or my favourite Admiral Natasi Daala just doesn't bear thinking about.

Now I've put up a lot of crap from George in the past. Boba Fett a clone, getting rid of the original Emperor scene and subbing in Iain McDiarmid in ESB, Han Solo shooting first and Jake Lloyd as Anakin. It is easy to look down on Episode I but it was a good cinematic film and Jarjar... Well kids like him and at least Ahmed Best's performance was good (and better than Natalie Portman, Ewan MacGregor and Jake Lloyd put together). Episode II was like watching Dawson's Creek in space but Return of the Sith redeemed the lot.

I fear the future... I fear the Galaxy I know and Love will be torn away and ruined.

On behalf of the fans, the geeks, the nerds - my fellows and brethren who have dedicated themselves to this franchise, who have dressed up as a Jedi or Sith, who have stood next to Daala on the burning Knighthammer, who know what a MT-AT is, or who Lt. Tanbris is - Don't do it George. Please leave it be.