Giant Freakin Robot

Alderaan, Leia’s native land, was completely destroyed by Darth Vader and his Death Star. Not entirely unlike the way the White Man destroyed the land of the Native Americans, turning their home (eventually) into a Starbucks-laden cesspool. Also, it’s common knowledge that George Lucas‘ first script for Star Wars featured dozens of scalping incidents.

The first entry – and fourth episode – in Lucas’ space saga will be the first Hollywood film to ever be dubbed in the native Navajo language, bridging the massive cultural gap between tribal cinema and science fiction. Manuelito Wheeler, director of the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, AR, has spent part of the last three years translating Star Wars, in collaboration with Lucasfilm and Deluxe. This will be the 40th official translation of the film, and believe it or not, the Navajo language – or Diné – is not equipped with words like “stormtrooper” and “holographic droid message,” so some liberties have been taken.

Because there are generally more English words involved in the translations, there will be probably be some overlay. Being conscious of this Wheeler hopes for something far different from “what people saw in the old Kung Fu movies when the lip movements didn’t coincide with what was said. I don’t want to disparage the Kung Fu movies because I loved watching them.” He continued, “But this can become very distracting and we don’t want to see that happen here.”

It’s safe to say that, love ‘em or hate ‘em, George Lucas’ Star Wars films have had a colossal impact on pop culture over the past few decades. Whether it’s old fogeys like myself who grew up with the originals, or the younger generation who got hooked on The Clone Wars, Star Wars is a topic that inspires passion, devotion, and creativity amongst its fans. That last one is the most important, because it’s the quality that gives birth to things like Casey Pugh’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Uncut, which you can see the trailer for up above.

J.J. Abrams is currently at the center of the geek universe. Abrams directed the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness, his next project is Star Wars: Episode VII, and he’s one of the producers of the hottest sci-fi TV series on television at the moment, NBC’s Revolution. In an interview with Playboy (NSFW), Abrams talks about all of his upcoming projects, with an emphasis on Star Wars: Episode VII. Abrams will be the first director other than George Lucas to helm a Star Wars movie since Richard Marquand on 1983′s Return of the Jedi. Needless to say, there are a lot of expectations hanging on him. Abrams tells Playboy:

It’s so early it would be insane to discuss details or get into plot points about what this unfilmed movie will be. And I’m not going to give my opinion on the original movies or characters… I try to approach a project from what it’s asking. What does it need to be? What is it demanding? With Star Wars, one has to take into account what has preceded it, what worked, what didn’t. There are cautionary tales for anything you take on that has a legacy—things you look at and think, I want to avoid this or that, or I want to do more of something. But even that feels like an outside-in approach, and it’s not how I work. For me, the key is when you have a script; it’s telling you what it wants to be.

When J.J. Abrams was hired to direct Episode VII, some fans thought it was sci-fi blasphemy for the same person to direct both a Star Wars movie and a Star Trek movie. And, let’s face it, there are plenty out there who aren’t fans of his take on Star Trek, and worry what he’ll do to Star Wars. Some fear that Abrams might make each property look too similar to each other. Abrams hopes to put fans’ minds at ease, and says that George Lucas will be a great source of encouragement and direction for the new project.

If there is anything to be learned from the seminal classic Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, it is that whatever killed off Jar Jar Binks and all of his relatives was the greatest achievement the universe has ever contained. Even though that point of view isn’t prevalent in the above video, I think it’s spiritually there. Because nobody likes a Binks.

Anyway, I couldn’t be more happy that 1A4Studio is back at it, whittling science fiction classics down to their essences…and also their fight scenes. Their Speedrun series tells an entire film’s story in just under a minute, and they’ve already covered The Matrix and Back to the Future, going backwards as far as quality and fandom are concerned, ending with the biggest film of them all as their third entry. Where else could they possibly go? Empire? Jedi? Chances are, they’ll be able to do one of these every couple of years to match the Disney Episodes.