Tag: star wars

Build Your Own Life-size BB-8 Droid For Just $120 in Parts

We all seek different things in our friends - companionship, encouragement ...or a "bleep-blop" talking robot and intergalactic partner in the fight against the Dark Side of the Force. To have the kind of relationship that Luke Skywalker had with R2-D2 was my ultimate bestie goal so when I saw the first videos for "The Force Awakens" featuring a new droid whose body rolled effortlessly across any terrain while its head remained upright, I was immediately asking "what sorcery is this?" Like many other curious tech enthusiasts, I found myself on the waiting list for one of Sphero's BB-8 toys. But 17-year-old engineering hobbyist, Angelo…

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November 17, 1978: The Notoriously Bad Star Wars Holiday Special Airs

Today in 1978, CBS aired The Star Wars Holiday Special. With a "plot" concerning Chewbacca and his family and a writing staff comprised primarily of variety TV scribes, the special was panned by just about every manner of folk. Star Wars fans hated it. The general public hated it. Critics hated it. George Lucas hated it (and he liked Phantom Menace). Reception was so bad, in fact, that it has never been rebroadcast or made commercially available. Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill have both admitted they'd never even seen it. Carrie Fisher supposedly played it at the end of parties to get everyone to leave.…

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May 19, 1999: A Franchise Reborn

Today in 1999, Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace (1999) was released in theaters. After the original trilogy ended in 1983, director George Lucas waited 14 years for special effects to advance to the point of his vision for a fourth movie. 2 more films were produced as part of this prequel trilogy- Attack of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005). Despite a very mixed reception, the trilogy went on to gross over $2.5 billion. It also gave us one of the most badass movie characters of all time in Mace Windu (and one of the worst in Jar Jar Binks).…

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