Big news for 3D movies: All six Star Wars films are coming to theaters with full 3D conversions. Only unlike recent films that were filmed in 2D and converted to 3D with less-than-spectacular results (*cough*ClashoftheTitans), this being Star Wars, Lucasfilm is not rushing the conversion process, using painstaking attention to detail to give it the best conversion possible.

“Getting good results on a stereo conversion is a matter of taking the time and getting it right,” says John Knoll of ILM. “It takes a critical and artistic eye along with an incredible attention to detail to be successful. It is not something that you can rush if you want to expect good results. For Star Wars we will take our time, applying everything we know both aesthetically and technically to bring audiences a fantastic new Star Wars experience.”

Sounds good, right? I mean, I love filling George Lucas‘ ultra-deep pockets to see yet another version of the movies we love so much, with ever-higher ticket prices, as much as the next guy.

But sadly, I must temper that enthusiasm with this: Lucas has decided to convert and release the 3D versions to theaters in chronological order. Meaning the first one to return to theaters in 3D will be The Phantom Suck, which will arrive sometime in 2012. If that movie is well received at the box office, Lucasfilm will then proceed to release each film sequentially, one year at a time. (I.E., Attack of the Clones would arrive in 2013, and so on, up to Return of the Jedi in 2017). Lucas will then release the six films in 3D on home video, by which time 3D televisions should be more prevalent.

So. Will you pay a higher ticket price to go see the Star Wars films again, in 3D?

R2-D2 was so small during the making of Star Wars that a little person (Kenny Baker) had to crawl inside to control R2-D2′s every action. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with the original R2-D2 it’s not made for normal sized folks, but now that has changed.

A fan of the Star Wars series created his very own, larger, R2-D2 figure which he is able to crawl inside of and then operate just like the original.

The video below shows the fans creation with working lights and sounds.

I particularly like the “What’s Daddy doing?” question for his kids.

The Empire Strikes Back is the gold standard for the Star Wars saga. Nearly every geek agrees: the saga hits its dramatic and creative peak at Episode V.

Which is why it’s such great news that Lucasfilm (via Del Rey) is finally releasing a “making of” book that details story behind getting Empire made. A Lucasfilm historian named Jonathan Rinzler combed through the archives, unearthing countless materials — script drafts, conceptual art, on-set photos — that haven’t been cracked open since the movie was made. (Rinzler also compiled and wrote 2007′s excellent The Making of Star Wars.)

After watching this trailer, which releases on October 12th, The Making of The Empire Strikes Back has made it onto my wishlist, and will probably jump onto yours as well. But be warned: its suggested retail price is a whopping $85.

I’m all for Star Wars novelty items, but turning the cast into stuffed bears is just a little too much for me. Thankfully these Bears are only available for a limited time.

I have to admit the Han Solo bear is probably the coolest looking build-a-bear i’ve seen to date, but with that said I haven’t seen many build-a-bears.

As you’ll notice from the advertisement you’ll also receive a free exclusive poster (while supplies last) and those supplies will only be around from September 24th-26th.

It’s probably going to be a bit creepy seeing a bunch of adults fighting over the stuffing machine with little kids who are just there trying to make their damn ballerina bear.

If you are a true Star Wars fan and you wonder what it would be like to be on one of the planets like Hoth or Helska surrounded by cold and technology then Norwegian island Spitsbergen is the place for you. Spitsbergen lies in the Arctic circle where the sun is always above the horizon from late April to late August. From mid November till end January it is civil polar night meaning that artificial light must be used at all times as there is no sun during the day.

There are several satellite dishes and radars build on the huge empty landscape with only ice and snow to be seen.

Norwegian photographer Christian Houge is fascinated with the huge contrast between primal landscape and technology. He has traveled at least seven times to Spitsbergen and took photos depicting a huge isolated area with only technology as evidence of human presence.

Spitsbergen would sure make one heck of a different vacation destination. I’m not a fan of Star Wars in the sense that I like the movies but I do not need to own the DVD’s. What I like about sci-fi movies are the unreality of it, with Star Trek it’s the Voyager ship, I always fantasize when watching on how it would be like to live on a spaceship. With Star Wars it was the planets, especially the fact that the environments where so primal but yet with the most advanced technology. I still wonder about that.

The photographs of Christian Houge show that here on earth we are not far away from the fiction, which is logical considering we pour creativity and ideas from our surroundings.

View more photos by Christian Houge

In the event of a dire situation — like, for example, finding out you killed the only woman you’ve ever loved while in the midst of a psychotic rage – press this button.

Wish I had that as a ringtone. It’s pretty much how I feel every time I have to talk on the blasted thing.

I usually cringe at the thought of a fan made animated short for movies I love, typically they are poorly constructed, lack imagination and basically suck all around, however this telling of why Jabba took out a bounty on Han Solo is actually very well produced Star Wars flick.

The short animated flick tells the story of the cargo Han Solo ditched, which in turn caused Jabba The Hut to take out a bounty on his head.

Listen to the voice actor who portrayed Han Solo and you’ll swear you were listening to a young Harrison Ford, while the animation gives great homage to Ford and Chewbacca’s original characters from the trilogy, while lending itself well to the CG based Clone Wars series.

There is just one warning, the movie is in 3D, so while you can watch it normally, a pair of of high tech glasses will definitely hep your experience.

So what do you think? Not to bad for a fan attempt at digital animation in my opinion.

If you’re a fan of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody then you’re in for a treat with this remake of the song based around Star Wars Episodes 1, 2 and 3.

The song, renamed Midichlorian Rhapsody relies on footage from those films with all new words and an actually decent vocal recording, although not quite as good as Queen’s original version.

The song features such brilliant lyrics and by brilliant I mean funny as “Mama Shmi-oh let me go” and covers the span of the prequel films.

Here’s the song synced up to the movies:

What did you think about Midicholrian Rhapsody? It could have done with a unique made from scratch parody video in my opinion, but the lyrics weren’t awful and it actually seemed to fit the editing job that was done for the song.

Notice the lazy Stormtroopers in the background who are doing little more than standing around.

Watch as Darth Vader does his Lift Knee Thrust Upward pose and his Turn Body, Thrust Downward Pose among 40 other moves in the style of Star Wars.

Here’s the video:

It’s all a bit silly, but check out the definition for Tai and it’s use of “the force” as told from the directors point of view:

Featuring Darth Vader. Chi is the Chinese word meaning ‘life force’ – an energy created by all living beings. A Tai Chi master’s strength flows from this FORCE.

Known for its health benefits, Tai Chi is in fact a martial art, evolved for combat over 4,000 years. The secret is inner calm, relaxed concentration and lethal precision.

Perhaps it’s not as silly as I thought.

You can find the step by step build log at Slothfurnace. If you are a DIY-er, I have no doubts that you will be able to follow him – all seven pages of documentation! For the basics…he used aluminum tubes, a light tube, LEDs, AAA batteries, wiring, switches, and a sound board – among many other things. He also made use of machinery such as a lathe – hardcore, methinks.

Here’s his “schematic diagram” if you’re interested.

The final result is breathtakingly beautiful.

For a DIY project, this lightsaber is quite awesome, isn’t it?

Here it is displayed beside the original static Obi lightsaber.

What can you say?

How do you make Indiana Jones fans and Star Wars fans sit down together to watch their favorite movies simultaneously? You create a live action show that mashes the two together based off fan fiction.

The show happened at Disneylands “Star Tours” attraction and follows a fan made collaboration of both Indiana and the Star Wars cast.

Here’s the official Synopsis from YouTube:

This is the Full Show Best Version utilizing three different cameras.

A special Last Tour to Endor event was held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during Star Wars Celebration V. In “Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom – A Fan Film of Epic Proportions”, a writer and a director come together to create a special show where the worlds of Indiana Jones and Star Wars meet for the creation of the world’s greatest fan film.

Seth Green (Robot Chicken) and Anthony Daniels (C3PO) guest star and George Lucas is in the audience. Watch for George’s reaction to the show at the end.

You’ll see Indiana Jones take on Boba Fett, Darth Maul, Darth Vader and more and he tries to save Princess Slave Leia.

Apparently the show is a big deal, guest starring Seth Green, Anthony Daniels and Big Poppa George.

Here’s the video:

What do you think about the mashup, It’s a bit funny, a bit disturbing, but definitely worth a watch for both Star Wars and Indiana Jones Fans

[ToplessRobot]

Okay so here’s the deal, the force can’t protect you from the rain, I know someone can probably argue that my statement isn’t completely true, but let’s just pretend. So what do you need if your a Jedi Master or Jedi in training and want to stay dry in a downpour? How about the Star Wars Lightsaber Umbrella!

For only $20 you can have your very own umbrella that extends out of a lightsaber that actually lights up!

Current only blue and white lightsaber options appear to be available at Dillyeo, but given the novelty of the item that should make most Star Wars fans happy.

What do you think? Are you ready to pony up $20 for your very own novelty item that actually serves a purpose?

Man, I miss Calvin & Hobbes. I actually wrote a college paper on the themes and motifs of that daily comic strip, and it got fairly deep. Earned me an A+. But I digress.

Found this awesome mashup — which recreates Bill Watterson’s art style with absolute perfection — over at 9gag. It manages to be cute, rebellious, and clever all at once. It’s a t-shirt design drawn by professional illustrator Chris Wahl. The shirt will run you about $22.

We’ve seen the works of Pixar Animation Studios mixed with Star Wars before, but never in LEGO. Flickr user okayaraman has brilliantly fused his LEGO Toy Story minifig heads with his LEGO Star Wars minifig bodies together to create hilarious Toy Story-infused Star Wars characters.

His efforts have resulted in mashup minifigure characters sure to make you laugh. My favorites: the “little green man” alien standing in for Yoda, Lots o’ Huggin’ Bear as Chewbacca, and Stinky Pete as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

See close-ups of them all here.

The premises is simple, assign 15-second sections of Star Wars to the ultimate Star Wars fans and have them recreate those scenes from the original series using their Twitter accounts, animation, action figures, live action film-making and pretty much any other means they deem suitable.

The outcome of this project is a weird mixture of eclectic movie making styles fueled by many creative touches and in many cases the need to work on the smallest budgets possible, even  if those budgets only require contributing 15 seconds of footage.

In this first clip we get to see the “magic” of animation being used to recreate some classic Star Wars battle and chase scenes:

Not convinced you need to watch the entire move yet? Here’s a clip using Lego’s and live action:

The entire Star Wars Uncut fans film is available at the Official Star Wars Uncut website.

My wife and I are huge fans of Star Wars. Anytime the movies are replayed on Spike, we all tune in and lose a few hours in the force. I personally don’t hate the first three (I-III) as much as most people, even though they are difficult to follow at times, so I’ll watch them all. One of my favorite characters is the fun little droid, R2-D2.

If you felt a planet-sized disturbance in the Force today… Relax. ForeverGeek is here for you.

This afternoon at Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, George Lucas appeared on stage with Original Trilogy stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to announce that the Star Wars saga is coming to Blu-ray. At an unspecified date next Fall (that’s 2011), you’ll be able to buy the six movies in the most comprehensive set ever.

To make buying the same movies again for the tenth time easier to swallow, Lucasfilm is sweetening the pot by adding “never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives” to the already extensive documentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, interviews, retrospectives, and more. And of course, Blu-ray will deliver all six films in the best possible visual and audio presentation available in current technology. Until those inevitable 3D versions come along, anyway.

Personally, I’d like to see a truly comprehensive Blu-ray set that includes the infamous Christmas Special and all other minutia from the history of the saga and its impact on pop culture. That would be a must-have.

In the trailer promo they say we’ll be taken away to the magical lands of Alderaan, Bespin and Endor, which sounds awesome, except for one teeny tiny fact, on Disney’s blog they specifically state that those destinations may not be included.

Here’s Disney’s official statement:

“We cannot confirm that you will travel to any of the destinations shown in this video …”

Now take a look at the promo:

So what is it Disney, are those the official destinations for the new attraction or are we all going to be dropped off in a parking lot somewhere with a Star Tours t-shirt.

Obi-Won and Yoda really should have let Luke and Leia know that they were brother and sister sooner then they did.

In this spoof of the Star Wars Trilogy, Leia falls for Luke, they have sex and eventually have have a hideous looking in-bred child. So much for the force protecting them against the powers of evil!

Take a look at the cartoon below titled “Gree-Morr: The Inbred Jedi”, produced by a YouTube user who cleverly goes by the name “theinbredjedi”

If this isn’t the best PSA for avoiding procrastination I don’t know what is. What do you think about the video?

Fall 2010 is going to be one of the hottest seasons ever for gamers. Though the economy is still sluggish, the arrival of the new motion controllers — Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move — and a slew of new A-list titles, and we could have ourselves a record quarter for the gaming industry.

Let’s look at the ten hottest titles coming to a console near you in the next two or three months. (And fanboys, start cracking those knuckles: you’re invited to gripe about all of the big games I didn’t include…)

10) Call of Duty: Black Ops

Does this long-lasting franchise still have some life left in it? Especially now that the creators of the series at Infinity Ward have been dumped by Activision? The prognosis looks pretty good. For one thing, Black Ops is an entry from secondary game production team Treyarch, which has a history of turning in solid titles.

The Infinity Ward titles get all of the brio and hype, but Treyarch still produces excellent games that maintain the quality standards the series is known for. Plus, Black Ops throws a whole new dynamic into the mix: setting the game in the throws of the Cold War, and featuring a heavy focus on covert tactics, with new and different kinds of weapons and vehicles. Have gamers finally tired of Call of Duty?

Doubt it.

9) PlayStation Move

This isn’t a game so much as a peripheral (or a whole new platform, depending on who you ask). Regardless, it brings with it a new way of playing on the PS3, and an entire roster of new titles to go with it. Sadly, the most promising of the bunch — SOCOM 4 — has been pushed back to 2010. What’s more, everyone that’s had some hands-on time with the Move controllers are calling it Wii HD. Granted, it’s got super high-def games, and the controllers are more finely tuned than even the Wii Motion Plus. But it’s still beyond obvious that Sony couldn’t come up with anything more original in the motion controller wars than a riff on the Wii.

Are Sony fans itching to Move? We’re all about to be bombarded with ads for the new controllers, so I guess we’ll find out.

8) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

How is Starkiller back from the dead? Is he a clone? Was the original Starkiller a clone, too? Or is something else at work? (After all, if the Empire could clone Jedi so easily… why didn’t they clone a Jedi army instead of all those disposable Stormtroopers?) Story is front and center of the new Force Unleashed title, and that’s A-okay with me.

The original game was a blast for the faithful, offering you the chance to manipulate entire environments and obliterate your enemies just by using the Force. The new game is adding lots of cool new tricks to Starkiller’s arsenal, as well as dual lightsabers for him to wield. And the buzz from people who actually played it at E3 was off the charts.

7) Little Big Planet 2

The first LBP was a revelation to many. Its cardboard aesthetic was clever, and its side-scrolling gameplay dynamic was like Mario designed for three generations from now. What really set the game apart was the ease with which it allowed users to create their own levels and then share them on the PS3.

The second game in the series looks as though it’s being made primarily to serve those amateur game makers by giving them a vast new toolset to play with. Modders can now make virtually any type of game they want — not just side-scrollers — including racing games, RTS, FPS, and more. It remains to be seen if LBP2 will provide enough incentive for noobs to jump on the bandwagon, but what’s exciting about it is getting to see just how innovative gamers will become with the versatile new tools it offers.

6) Super Scribblenauts

Scribblenauts was one of the most original games of all time, giving gamers a virtual playground to think up pretty much anything by writing words on the screen of their Nintendo DS, and then dropping the objects those words create into an environment together to see what happens. Super Scribblenauts improves on the original with lots of player-requested tweaks and an entire dictionary worth of adjectives that you can use to add greater specificity to the words you write.

Overlook this one at your own risk.

5) Fable III

Fable II finally gave the Xbox 360 the genre-defining RPS it deserved, and its addictive gameplay was the source of many a sleepless night. Fable III takes the formula to a new level by offering you the chance to become king over Albion, and see what kind of a ruler you would be. Its “industrial revolution” setting looks like the shot in the arm the franchise needs, and the dozens of other innovations are sure to entice existing fans back for more.

For anyone who played Fable II, Fable III is already at the top of their wish list.

4) Rock Band 3

A real-world six-string guitar. A piano keyboard. Fine-tuned instruments. A gi-normous playlist. Rock Band has defined the rhythmic gaming genre with its past titles.

How can Rock Band 3 not be another mega-hit?

3) Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Brotherhood adds some much-needed multiplayer to the bestselling series, letting you hunt and assassinate those pesky Templars alongside your BFFs. Come on, admit it: that’s just too awesome to resist. Plus, there’s a fantastic-looking single player campaign that continues the story of fan-favorite protagonist Ezzio Auditore, taking him to Rome to build an entire army of assassins. With three enormous new areas of Rome to explore — all three of which are bigger than the three cities we visited in AC2 — and tons of multiplayer goodness, there’s a tremendous bang for your buck.

2) Halo: Reach

There’s a reason Halo is one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world. Well, more than one, actually. First, there’s that honed-to-perfection, frenetic gameplay. Then there’s the legions of fans who spend day and night online in deathmatches and capture-the-flag and all those other wonderful multiplayer game modes.

What Halo: Reach brings to the table that most of the other games have lacked is a powerful story. (Don’t hate me fanboys — I know ODST had a pretty darn awesome story, but it was the exception to the rule.) The fall of the planet Reach is the pivotal event in the games’ history, and Bungie’s not just telling that story — it’s letting you live it. Knowing that no matter how hard you fight to save Reach, it’s still going to fall… This is the elephant in the room. Will it create an unforgettable experience, or it will prove too fatalistic for gamers wanting a fun escape from daily life?

1) Kinect

Like it or not, all eyes are on Microsoft‘s major gamble. Will turning the human body into the controller be a revolution in gaming? Or will its simplicity prove too limiting for hardcore gamers? Kinect‘s reported difficulties with couch-bound gaming is not encouraging. Many gamers simply aren’t interested in standing up all the time. Then there’s the fact that the best and most defining games for Kinect aren’t launching with the hardware itself (aside from perhaps Harmonix’ Dance Central, which has some buzz around it).

But what Kinect represents is more exciting than what it currently is. This could be a landmark moment in not just gaming but computing of all kinds. Used in different ways and different settings, Kinect is just one step away from the gesture-based computing seen in Minority Report. If Microsoft latches onto this as wave of the future, it could affect everything from how future computers are designed, to operating systems like Windows itself.

Until then, the innovations it offers makes Kinect the must-have of the Fall. I can’t wait to see what creative ways game publishers dream up to make use of it.

In 2.5 minutes, here is every single time a lightsaber is ignited and retracted in all six Star Wars movies. The video’s maker says that he only included visual, on-screen actions, and not the times when you merely hear a lightsaber being turned on or off, off-screen.

I’m not sure what the point of the video is, other than to satisfy a certain geeky curiosity.

You may be surprised to find that only a handful of these lightsaber actions come from the original trilogy. The vast majority of them, in fact, seem to come from Episodes II and III.

Robert Burden has not only painted an amazingly awesome 10-foot tall painting of Luke and his Tauntaun from Star Wars, he’s made a time-lapse video of his creation to show the entire delicate process he used to create the geeky artwork (in the styling of an old tapestry).

To gain a full appreciation for his work you really need to watch the video:

If you’re digging Burden’s work, he also has others inspired by toys from his childhood, including Krang, Voltron, Captain America and even Battle Cat in and out of armor.

Take a look at the gallery below for more of Robert Burden’s works:

[via io9]

These two videos showcase Yoda and Darth Vader recording lines for new Star Wars-themed TomTom Voices. (TomTom is a GPS navigator system.) It’s kooky fun to see these two infamous characters acting silly while remaining in-character.

Just watch. You’ll thank me.

1. Marvel Super Hero Comic Characters

Marvel Superheroes, such as Spiderman, swung into McDonald’s stores during the late 90′s.  Figurines and their vehicles including Wolverine, Hulk, Storm, Invisible Woman and various others..

2. Super Hero Mobiles

Drive around in one of these batmobile type cars if you want to celebrate the Batman Returns movie. These toys featured such popular characters as Robin, Joker, Penguin and Cat Woman. Sure they’re just cheap plastic, but still a pretty clever idea and great fun at the dinner table. The cars just needed to be pulled back and released in order to be propelled forward and the Cat Woman mobile even wags it’s tail as it moves across flat surfaces.

3. Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes

This series features not only Superboy, but also the Legion of 8 superheroes which including Brainiac, Bouncing Boy, Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad and others. It’s basically Tiny Toons for the Superman and Legion franchise…definitely no Smallville!

4. Batman Video Game Characters – Happy Meal

Used as a way to cross promote Batman, McDonald’s and the new Lego Batman Game these characters featured all our favorite characters in miniature Lego form.

5. Star Wars Space Craft / Giant Head Action Figures

This happy meal set always freaked me out. Who’s smart idea was it to put characters heads on various ships? With 12 to collect this is the biggest collection on this list. They are strange, but it’s still a pretty cool and unique concept, plus the characters actually look like their movie counterparts.

6. Star Wars Key Chains

I actually know adults who went out and bought happy meals just so they could get one, sometimes even all of these Star Wars key chains. Seriously do children need key chains. They actually had a decent amount of detail for such a small piece of plastic and with 8 to collect there was a reason to eat at McDonald’s everyday for one week and a day.

7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Happy Meal Mutants!

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were featured with two different lines of characters. The first characters had removable cars in their shells, while the others sported their traditional weapons of choice.

8. Super Looney Toons Happy Meal Characters

Okay so the Looney Tunes themselves are not super heroes, but they do dress like them with Bugs as Superman, Ms. Piggy as Wonder Woman, Daffy as Batman and Taz as the Flash. Very cool concept, very cool miniature toys.

9. Spectacular Spiderman Happy Meal

The newest incarnation of the Spiderman animated series, these characters are bigger than the one’s that came before them and they offer a good amount of detail. With firing action or suction cup capabilities these toys offered more than a quick thrill, they actually worked great for covert operations and all out attacks.

10. Astroboy

I wanted to include one modern day toy on this list and the 6 characters from Astro Boy are excellent mini-toys, even if the movie did suck. The toys include (From left to right): the children’s toys are: the Astro Boy Launcher, Trashcan, Astro Boy Puncher, Peacekeeper, Astro Boy Flying, and Zog.

Those are my personal favorite Super Hero, Sci-Fi and Cartoon based Happy Meal toy collections.

Do you have a favorite Happy Meal collection of your own that I didn’t include on this list? Feel free to include your own favorite Happy Meal toys that feature superheroes and sci-fi themes.

There are more of these photos in the blogs of the two guys mentioned above. Click on their names to satisfy your Star Wars appetite!

A pity I have no artistic bone in my body, or I would do something like this with Star Trek, or some other favorite book or series of mine.