FBTB

Category: Star Wars

  • The Force Awakens Breaks Box Office Records

    The Force Awakens Breaks Box Office Records


    JJ Abrams reads on his iPad about TFA’s record-breaking box office weekend

    The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the weekend’s final box office tally for The Force Awakens will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $528 million worldwide and of that $247 million was earned domestically, breaking the record for biggest box office weekend of any movie. The previous record-holder was Jurassic World at $524.9 million worldwide and $208.8 million domestic. It should be noted that TFA worldwide number does not include China where the movie has not debuted yet (the film will open on January 9th) whereas JW‘s number does include that market. Had the movie opened in China during the same weekend that worldwide number would have been much higher. Of course, these numbers don’t account for inflation, and if that were taken into account I’m pretty sure Gone With The Wind would still be number one.

    I’ll be seeing it a third time with my kids during the holiday break.

    via THR

  • Review: Star Wars Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

    Review: Star Wars Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

    As a lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, FBTB is going to do something crazy (and likely something that a whole bunch of other sites are going to do too), and review the previous movies. Why? Because shut up, that’s why. We are going to take a slightly different take, other than just eviscerating the PT and fawning love on Empire Strikes back, and actually look at some of the impacts that it has on the toys and stuff we really love. Plus, it gives us an excuse to make fun of Jar Jar. It’s basically win-win. 

    As I’ve said a few times on this site, Return of the Jedi is my favorite Star Wars movie. I’m willing to concede it’s not the best movie (that’d be Empire), but it’s the one I’ll always associate with growing up. Jedi came out in 1983, when I was four years old. I don’t remember seeing it in the theater (the first movies I remember seeing where Disney’s Pinocchio and Supergirl, both of which I saw twice)… but I rented all of the movies more times than I can remember. Along with Tron and some Go-Bots cartoons, the Star Wars trilogy was my go-to, and Jedi most of all.

    Unlike Empire, Jedi focuses on the adventure of the story and bringing a close to the somewhat loosely defined story points. Everything could have ended with Star Wars if it had been a flop, but Jedi left everything up in the air even while it concluded it’s specific story (and should serve as the template on how to close a movie without resolving a series). It’s pretty easy to say that expectations for Return of the Jedi were insanely high… there was the story of how Luke was going to face Vader, the fate of Han Solo, and in general the whole fate of the Rebellion.  In some ways, I’m not sure RotJ could ever meet the expectations set out for it.

    It’s also a movie that served in a lot of ways as a warning sign for what was coming in the prequels, but also probably stands as the most entertaining of the movies by itself, especially across different ages. The problem with being more entertaining is that those movies is that they also tend to be less memorable… though I think this particular film may have missed it. Of course, there’s one last thing about Jedi that will always hold special meaning, and that’s for a throwaway line by Mon Mothma. Which lets me make this joke, something years in the making!

    Many Bothans Died to bring you this review…

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  • Review: Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope

    Review: Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope

    As a lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, FBTB is going to do something crazy (and likely something that a whole bunch of other sites are going to do too), and review the previous movies. Why? Because shut up, that’s why. We are going to take a slightly different take, other than just eviscerating the PT and fawning love on Empire Strikes back, and actually look at some of the impacts that it has on the toys and stuff we really love. Plus, it gives us an excuse to make fun of Jar Jar. It’s basically win-win. 

    When my daughter and I sat down to watch A New Hope, there was a big difference in her reaction compared to any of the previous movies. Sure, she’s only three, so her attention span is not what I would call… “existing.” Still, she was excited just by the crawl, and then by the SPACESHIPS in a scream that would have made Benny Proud. But the real moment that really made me laugh was when the Stormtroopers break through the hatch to get on to the ship, to which she started to yell “oh no, watch out!” to all of the poor Rebel Troopers. To be fair, she reacts the exact same way when watching Frozen, and Elsa and the Ice Monster are trying to get away from the soldiers from Weselton.

    It’s hard to really pin down what makes A New Hope, or just Star Wars if you are old enough, so special. Unless you were alive for the initial release, which I was not (though only barely), it may seem hard to believe that it was so unlike anything else ever seen. It was at one point mystical kung-fu film, another Flash Gordon style space adventure, and the rest a special effects masterpiece before special effects were really even a thing. While Jaws had introduced the idea of blockbuster, Star Wars showed what the idea of a Blockbuster really was.

    More than that, it was the movie that made merchandising more than just an “oh, and this too” to the focus of the whole enterprise. I mean, when you can sell blank cards with the promise of action figures to the world and it actually sell, you’ve made some sort of evil pact with the forces of darkness. That pact had to extend to the sheer luck of George Lucas, because even though Obi-Wan doesn’t think such a thing exists, this movie is like 60% luck, especially when you read about some of the things that happened behind the scenes or in production. When the iconic space battle happens in a trench because the plastic used to make a model shrinks (and the builder had the skill to convince Lucas to just incorporate that into the story instead of, you know, fixing it)… luck certainly exists.

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  • Review: Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

    Review: Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

    As a lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, FBTB is going to do something crazy (and likely something that a whole bunch of other sites are going to do too), and review the previous movies. Why? Because shut up, that’s why. We are going to take a slightly different take, other than just eviscerating the PT and fawning love on Empire Strikes back, and actually look at some of the impacts that it has on the toys and stuff we really love. Plus, it gives us an excuse to make fun of Jar Jar. It’s basically win-win. 

    Given the hate that I enjoy piling on The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, I suppose it’s a little bit surprising that Revenge of the Sith is the Star Wars movie I’ve watched the fewest times. It’s easily the best of the Prequel Trilogy, but I just get so tired of the prequel by the time it gets to Revenge and something in my nerd brain won’t let me watch just one movie. But if I want to watch the good Star Wars movie, I have to get through the bad ones. Those are the rules, as ironclad as needing a flag if you want to have a country.

    Again, thanks to our man Austin for the incredibly poster art, because they should have just marketed the entire movie like pulp 50s Sci-Fi. I mean, this is such a “Revenge of the Creature” kind of movie compared to Episode II, it kind of fits. We don’t have any gill men running around, unless you count Grievous, but it was in black-and… you know, I really don’t know where I was going with that joke. It’s just that MST3K has been in at the forefront of my brain lately.

    As a collector, Episode III came at a pretty interesting time. There was a lot better feeling about Star Wars after Attack of the Clones (as compared to TPM), even if the film hasn’t aged quite as well. However, LEGO was also struggling at this time, and the action figure market was really starting to tumble around Star Wars. The initial wave of Episode III sets are still probably the worst overall lineup that LEGO has ever offered (in my never-ever humble opinion, anyway), and still includes some real stinker sets.

    Of course, for me, some of that is hindsight, as I was towards the tail end of a dark age. I also didn’t see the movie when it came out, waiting a few weeks after the release before I managed to get time to see it. I was busy with something… what was it… oh right, getting married. I didn’t have the heart to drag my wife to another movie like this, so had to find a friend who wanted to go again. So a whole lot of reasons why the best of the PT still doesn’t occupy as many of my opinions as the rest… maybe because it’s harder to hate. Or it could be because it’s the prequel film that lacks depth the most.

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  • New International The Force Awakens Trailer

    New International The Force Awakens Trailer

    I’ve been semi-trying to avoid trailers and commercials for The Force Awakens since the first one that got released. I’ve been successful for the most part but I’d catch a scene or two here and here depending on what commercial is playing while channel surfing. I’ve been told that the above clip has a few new scenes but because I’m trying to remain as ignorant as possible, I really can’t tell. FBTB reader nick sent it in. It was published yesterday and I’m guessing that the intro by Asian pop star Lu Han isn’t what was meant by “new scenes”.

    The movie comes out in a week! One week!

  • Review: Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the Clones

    Review: Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the Clones

    As a lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, FBTB is going to do something crazy (and likely something that a whole bunch of other sites are going to do too), and review the previous movies. Why? Because shut up, that’s why. We are going to take a slightly different take, other than just eviscerating the PT and fawning love on Empire Strikes back, and actually look at some of the impacts that it has on the toys and stuff we really love. Plus, it gives us an excuse to make fun of Jar Jar. It’s basically win-win. 

    I’ve said in a few different reviews that Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the worst of the Star Wars movies. At the very least, it’s my least favorite, and watching it again, while sober, did nothing to change that opinion. Sure, I’m bias as all get out, but most people who’ve known me know that I try to keep an open mind, even on things I disagree with. My daughter had never seen Episode II, and it’s the only Star Wars movie my wife has ever watched all of, so I wanted to give it a chance.

    I should know better, time can’t turn any amount of Bantha Poo into Gold Pressed Latinum. I might be mixing franchises though, unless you buy the theory that the Star Wars setting was created by a time-travel accident where a task force of Federation, Ferengi, Romulan, and Klingon ships were experimenting with faster warp technology, hit Warp 10, and ended up long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Then after arriving, settled planets, eventually evolved, found the Force, and built the Old Republic. A theory which I just made up while writing this paragraph, mostly because I think Sisko: Jedi Knight would be kind of Awesome.

    The lead-up to Episode II was a whole lot different from the lead-up to Episode I, and there was a lot more trepidation with what was coming. By this time, all the adults (and some kids) hated Jar Jar, Jake Lloyds career was dead, and Episode I gave Michael Bay all the inspiration he needed to perfect the “awful movie that makes all the money” formula. I’m willing to bet a lot fewer people remember the Episode II trailer compared to the Episode I. It also represented a time of real uncertainty for LEGO… which is kind of sad, since Episode II has also given us some just awesome sets over the years (and gave us a good decade to yell at LEGO for not making a Padme figure).

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  • LEGO Mashes Up LEGO With TFA Trailer

    LEGO Mashes Up LEGO With TFA Trailer

    Cute.

  • Review: Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace

    Review: Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace

    As a lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, FBTB is going to do something crazy (and likely something that a whole bunch of other sites are going to do too), and review the previous movies. Why? Because shut up, that’s why. We are going to take a slightly different take, other than just eviscerating the PT and fawning love on Empire Strikes back, and actually look at some of the impacts that it has on the toys and stuff we really love. Plus, it gives us an excuse to make fun of Jar Jar. It’s basically win-win. 

    My dislike for the prequels is a matter of record on this site. It’s been the source of many arguments on this site, because when you keep reviewing products born out of something you hate… well, you repeat an argument a whole lot. I’ve also gone on record that The Phantom Menace isn’t the worst Star Wars movie… Attack of the Clones is. That’s also the only movie that my wife has seen, so take that as you will (most here will likely take that as me being a terrible husband… but she just doesn’t care much for Sci-Fi movies; she only went to Episode II because we were still early in the dating process and not willing to admit to each other what we didn’t like).

    The last time I watched all of the prequel movies, I drank so much I was unconscious on my office floor before Dooku gave Anakin the nickname “Lefty.” This time, I’m going to take a much different path, for which my liver says thanks, and take the opportunity to introduce my daughter to the Star Wars movies. She’s already into the toys… in that she likes to grab the LEGO ships and minifigs and play with them, and she’s only three, so the scarring left by the prequels will be healed in time for Episode VIII.

    So, let’s kick off this “adventure” with Episode I. I know a lot of fans are going to just skip Episode I on their marathon lead-up to Force Awakens, but I think that’s a mistake. As bad as this movie is, and it is bad, it’s also a very important reminder of what can happen when the hype machine takes control. Nothing we’ve seen about Episode VII thus far can really match the hype monster that was Episode I.

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  • Chances of an R2-KT Minifig Rise Greatly, more TFA Teasers

    Chances of an R2-KT Minifig Rise Greatly, more TFA Teasers

    One of the unfortunate things about the Yoda Chronicles sets being mostly flops was that we never got a fantastic R2-KT minifig, which was featured in the non-canon cartoon. She of course later became “canon” because of a couple of appearances in the Clone Wars, which is pretty awesome. Well, kind of. That one was called QT-KT, and there’s never been official confirmation that they’re the same astromech, but I want to believe! Albin Johnson, founder of the 501st Legion, confirmed that everyone’s favorite pink astromech is also going to show up in some form in the The Force Awakens.

    While it’s easy to go cynical and dismiss it as pinkification, the story behind KT is actually a lot sadder (and makes the 501st even more awesome). KT is in fact named after Albin’s daughter, Katie, who died shortly after the droid was made from brain cancer. The color was her choice, and the droid was intended to watch over her. She, along with several members of the 501st, still travel to events and children’s hospitals as a way to cheer up sick kids. Big props to Lucasfilm for getting her in the movie. I also look forward to a minifig version in an expensive set, or, if LEGO wants to be awesome… a promo polybag? Please? (via The Mary Sue).

    There’s also news that The Force Awakens has earned a PG-13 rating. Of course, ratings basically mean nothing these days, since it’s straight up arbitrary and random most of the time. Revenge of the Sith is the only Star Wars film to have the same rating, but that ignores that the OT was released before there was a PG-13 rating. Regardless, plenty of kids are going to see this movie. Some of them probably on opening night. And many more times after that without parent supervision, I’m sure.

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  • Another Force Awakens TV Spot, now with 100% more X-Wings

    Another Force Awakens TV Spot, now with 100% more X-Wings

    Less than a month away, and they’re still taunting us with new teasers for The Force Awakens. I’m surprised they had any sort of marketing budget for this film. I mean, at this point, who doesn’t know there’s a movie coming out and who didn’t make up their mind to see it or not see it as soon as it was announced. We get a few bits of new stuff here, including what seems to be astromech for “oh… crap.” Oh, and Poe and the reveal that Red Squadron is still kicking, while Blue Squadron has expanded the rainbow fleet (Blue Squadron also made a very short, explosive, appearance as part of the Rebel Alliance in the new comic Vader Down).

    A couple of weeks ago, I thought we’d reached max Star Wars when I ran across Star Wars Jelly Bellys while out shopping. There was nothing Star Wars about them short of the picture of Vader on the package. Then, yesterday during the Cowboys game (and I presume all other American Football games), we were treated to the new Kay Jeweler’s Star Wars collection. My friends, I fear we haven’t even glimpsed max Star Wars yet… the Teasers are only here to soften the blow when the first Star Wars blood pressure medication hits the market.

    On the other hand, the upcoming movie has also provided an endless source of spoofs, including this one from the crew of the USS Dwight Eisenhower. Look, I’m not saying that I would pay money to watch a movie about F/A-18 Super Hornets fighting a bunch of TIE fighters (complete with flight deck controller’s using lightsabers to bring ships in for landing)… but I would pay good money to watch that exact movie.