Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "star wars"

First Star Wars spoof now on DVD

2010-02-12T07:24:17Z

Elsewhere in the galaxy, different heroes had their mission. Released just seven months after Star Wars in 1977, Hardware Wars is the original science fiction spoof.

Tuesday, Feb. 16, Hardware Wars will be available to fans all over the world. Local company Apprehensive Films will release it for the first time on DVD.

Hardware Wars centers around the hero, Fluke Starbucker and his fight against evil and Darph Nader. Piloting a giant cassette tape, Starbucker leads the heroes away from evil. Ham Salad and Chewchilla join Starbucker and his fight against evil. From a basketball planet, Starbuckers flashlight (lightsaber) and flying bottle openers, Hardware Wars surprises viewers in every scene.

"I watched the film and I loved it," Apprehensive Films president Jonathan Morken said. "It was hugely popular in the late 70's and early 80's and I thought it could do well as an Anniversary package. The film is rebellious enough to fit on the Apprehensive Films label."

The Star Wars franchise has produced six feature-length movies, hundreds of books, countless merchandise and spoofs. San Francisco native Ernie Fosselius wrote and directed Hardware Wars by pooling friends' and family's money. The original version was only 13 minutes and cost $8,000 to make.

"Who doesn't love Star Wars?" asked Star Wars fan Jace Reed. "I grew up watching all of the movies. Hardware Wars is really funny. The low budget and cheap movie tricks make the movie so much better."

There is no hiding the small budget aspect of Hardware Wars. Shaky backdrops, '70s costumes and visible wires make the movie a fun watch. With characters like Fluke Starbucker to Augie Ben Doggie, the movie follows the real Star Wars plot lines.

Included on the 30th-anniversary release by Apprehensive Films are extra bonus features like Hardware Wars foreign spoofs and Fosselius' original cut.

Hardware Wars has won many awards all over the world, including Most Popular Short Film at the Chicago Film Festival.

The future of Apprehensive Films seems bright in the new year. Next up is, Orlok The Vampire in 3D, released in March.

Star Wars in Concert dazzles ARCO fans

2009-10-10T18:08:09Z

Star Wars fans will be thrilled; non-fans will be amazed.

I fall into the latter camp. I saw the first film in 1977, on the day it came out, and enjoyed it. Since then, I’ve caught most of the other films, but remain underwhelmed. I just didn’t get it.

Friday night at ARCO Arena, I got it. “Star Wars in Concert,” a multimedia spectacular that aims to extend the life of the Star Wars franchise into live performance, delivered a dazzling spectacle that beautifully summarized the entire Star Wars saga for those of us who didn’t connect with the epic on film.

The show will be reprised this afternoon at 3 p.m. at ARCO.

The hook of the show is John WIlliams’ grandiose music for all six Star Wars films, and it was well-served by an 86-piece symphony orchestra and choir, spread out on the biggest stage this reviewer has ever seen at ARCO. Conducted by Dirk Brossé, the enormous ensemble tackled Williams’ music and synched it perfectly with the huge projections of newly-edited scenes from the six live-action movies in the franchise.

Williams’ music - memorable to this reviewer only for Star Wars’ oft-heard theme piece - gained new life in this expansive concert hall, and was well-served by the production’s technical crew, which delivered theatre-quality surround sound that was neither too loud nor subject to the inadequacies of a basketball arena. French horns, violins and vocalists all sounded clear and clean in the notoriously echo-prone arena.

With good sound and excellent players, the music revealed itself in a sequence of thematic segments built around different ideas, plotlines and characters from the films, whether detailing the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of his evil dark side, Darth Vader, or celebrating the high-speed chases and races of various space vehicles, or whimsically offering the comic relief of the droids R2-D2 and his pal, C-3PO.

The British actor who played C-3PO, Anthony Daniels, served as the evening’s host and narrator, his voice still redolent of the fussy droid character 32 years after he debuted in the first movie, a much younger actor of 31. Though he traded his gold droid costume for a black tux, Daniels’ charm and presence, as well as his familiar voice, made for a wonderful connection to the movies.

And it is the movies, not Williams’ music or Daniel’s stage presence, that are the draw. Friday night’s show, despite the huge orchestra and stage, featured no live actors cavorting as Ewoks or Wookies or Storm Troopers. Instead, the production was built around a very big, very clear video screen that organizers say is one of the largest ever built. On it, scenes from the six Star Wars films were re-edited to tell the epic story from the beginning to the end, instead of the broken-up, convoluted sequence in which the films were released theatrically.

Seeing the whole story laid out in order gave this reviewer a new perspective on the story, illuminated the characters and underlined the mythical arcs that have long been touted by Star Wars fans. This is indeed an epic story, with Biblical dimensions. Yes, I get it. Hardcore fans may find it lacking, but for a non-believer, the show was a revelation.

Given all that, it was surprising that the crowd for Friday’s show was so small. With the upper deck almost entirely empty and even the main level less than half-full, the crowd at the arena on Friday couldn’t have been more than 6,000 people. Some attributed it to the cost of tickets, though they weren’t extraordinary ($32.50-72.50) given the size and sophistication of the production. When the economy hits even Star Wars this hard, you know it’s bad.

Stars Wars: In Concert to Come to Arco Arena

2009-10-08T03:40:36Z

"Star Wars" fans will be in for a treat on Oct. 9 and 10 when "Star Wars: In Concert" will make its Sacramento debut at Arco Arena.

"[The show] is a fully multimedia, full-evening concert that takes two hours, which includes a 20 minute intermission," said David Barber, the North American press representative for the tour.

Clips from each movie will be used to tell an abridged version of the story, effectively summing up the entire adventure in roughly one-sixth of its actual length.

"Lucasfilm cut the montages to fit John Williams' cut-downs of the music made for the event especially by Williams — all custom work," said Barber.

Narrating the entire show will be none other than Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO and will be on stage to guide the audience through the entire show.

"[The] audience will experience the music played live by an 86-piece orchestra and sung by an 80-person chorus, the Star Wars Symphony Orchestra and Choir, to specially edited scenes from all six 'Star Wars' films — including special effects such as laser displays and other surprise effects," said Barber.

Barber also said there will be an exhibit featuring "over 70 items including original concept art, music manuscripts, costumes, props and other archival items," some of which will be shown to the public for the first time ever.

"[The exhibit] is in the concourse lobby areas of the arena — the corridors that go around the outside of the arena seating areas in a circular fashion," said Barber. Each piece of the exhibit travels in its own self-contained box on one of 12 trucks.

The tour started on Oct. 2 and is currently in L.A. at the Nokia Theatre before making the trek to Sacramento. Friday’s show starts at 7 p.m. and Saturday’s at 3 p.m. Doors open two hours before. Tickets are $75, $55 and $35. Pricing determines where the seats are, meaning the most expensive tickets are the closest to the stage.

Costumed characters promote California Museum's 'Out of this World' exhibit

2009-10-01T03:49:15Z

Halloween came to Sacramento early Wednesday morning as a group of six local science fiction lovers marched downtown dressed in Klingon, Death Star Trooper and Sith Lord costumes. Dozens of children and sci-fi fans flocked to take photographs and speak with the costumed characters.

Others gawked, laughed and one child even cried as they meandered from the California Museum down K Street and past the Capitol to Cesar Chavez Plaza.

The march was organized to promote The California Museum's new sci-fi exhibit "Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television," which will run from Oct. 3 to Jan. 10. It will feature more than 50 props and costumes from some of Hollywood's most memorable sci-fi films.

Among some of the exhibit's main attractions are the Darth Vader robe and cape from Star Wars, the leather jacket worn by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the hat worn by the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

Besides viewing these items, visitors will also learn how clothing designers and artists came up with ideas for the costumes and props, according to Ashley Robinson, the California Museum's communications manager.

Mark Lin, normally a business analyst in Elk Grove, was dressed as a death star trooper from Star Wars. He and another costumed storm trooper represent part of a group called the 501st Legion, a group of friends who dress up as villains from the Star Wars movies, Lin said.

Besides comic book and sci-fi conventions, the 501st Legion attends the Rose Parade and even visits children at Shriner's Hospital and the Salvation Army. Lin mentioned that he is looking forward to some of the older sci-fi costumes at the upcoming exhibit, especially the jumpsuit, proton pack and utility belt from Ghostbusters.

Three other costumed sci-fi fans were part of a Sacramento Klingon Assault Group (KAG) called "Ikvnomhegh," which means "swift death," said Chris Mumma, a KAG officer. Mumma wore a Klingon warrior costume from Star Trek complete with a plastic "bat'leth" or "sword of honor."

KAG "Ikvnomhegh" member Julio Alcala was also dressed as a Klingon, but in a plainer costume from the original Star Trek series. He mentioned that sometimes locals must travel as far as Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas to attend sci-fi or comic conventions.

After displaying an uncanny vocal impression of a Wookie from Star Wars, Alcala added that he was looking forward viewing the black leather jacket that Arnold Schwarzenneger wore in The Terminator at the exhibit.

Another KAG members, Von Bean, dressed as a female Sith Lord from Star Wars. Unlike others, she sewed the costume herself, she said.

David Mello, not affiliated with any costume group, dressed up as Fourth Who, which he explained was the fourth incarnation of Dr. Who from the BBC series "Dr. Who." Recently back from San Diego's Comic-Con, Mello blogs about movies under the pen name Impaler General.

Mello said he is excited about the variety at the Out of this World exhibit. "Even if one person is a drawn to a [specific] genre, they will look at others," he said.

"[By] putting sci-fi costumes in the same gallery space as the Lincoln exhibit, the museum will be able to reach people with different interests," Robinson added. Besides being for sci-fi fans, it's also for people who love movies or costume design in general, she said.

California Museum members will get a sneak preview of the exhibit this Thursday at 6 p.m. during a members-only preview reception. In addition to being able to party in the Star Wars cantina and eat from a table based on the monkey brains scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the gatherers will also participate in a costume competition.

Prizes include a round-trip ticket from United Airlines, a resort package from Le Rivage and Scott's Seafood Grill and Bar and four tickets to see "Star Wars: In Concert" which takes place Oct. 9 and 10 at Arco Arena. Non-members can attend the preview by signing up at the door, calling (916)-653-1752 or visiting Californiamuseum.org/membership.

The California Museum is located at 1020 O St.