It was 41 years ago today that one of the greatest sci-fi epics of all time was released in theaters. We’re talking, of course, about the sequel to Star Wars, then known simply as The Empire Strikes Back. But it wouldn’t be simple for long.
When Empire was released it instantly blew up and ushered in a more mature version of the Star Wars universe complete with bigger stakes, more action, romance, drama, suspense, improved visual effects and quite a twist ending, to put it mildly.
That twist, still often misquoted to this day, was one of the seminal events in many a young sci-fi fans life and marked a turning point in sci-fi movies that endures to this day. Sure, Empire didn’t invent the “twist” ending, but it damn sure brought it to millions of new fans around the world.
In short, we love this movie. And 41 years later it’s still one of our favorites of all time, especially for our Editor and podcast co-host Chris Ullrich. To him, there’s pretty much nothing better.
So, happy 41 Empire Strikes Back and thank you for being great then, and still being great today. We love you and we know you know. We also promise never to tell you the odds.
The Empire Strikes Back stars Mark Hammill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, David Drowse, Kenny Baker and Billy Dee Williams. It’s written by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett, produced by George Lucas and directed by Irvin Kirshner.
It’s a brand new episode of The Flickcast and on this one Chris and Joe move into a different dimension: time. That’s right, time. As in they go back in time . . . back to the beginning.
If you’ve ever wondered how it all started and what shaped and created our intrepid hosts, then you’re in for a treat. This is that story.
But don’t worry. There’s no radioactive spiders, fleeing far away planets right before they explode or parents being killed in an alley next to a movie theater. And absolutely no pearl necklaces falling to the ground in excruciating slo-mo. Not this time, anyway.
Instead, the boys take it all the way back and talk about the things that made them they way they are today. Movies, television, music, games, comics and many of the other influences that shaped their impressionable young minds. In other words: This is their origin story.
It’s pretty epic. Thanks for listening.
WARNING: This episode may contain discussions about COVID-19, mental health and quarantine. We understand not everyone is in a place to talk about or hear discussions surrounding these issues. Please do what’s best for you. Stay safe everyone.
As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, Instagram or, yes, even Facebook. Or shoot us an email. We don’t mind.
You’ve waited and you’ve waited. Now, it’s finally here. A new episode of The Flickcast! But wait, that’s not all. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is also here!
As promised, Chris and Joe get neck deep into the new Star Wars movie and talk about it for pretty much the entire show. And yes, they do discuss some spoilers, so beware.
They also talk about a couple other things. But for the most part, this episode is all Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars!
Picks this week are again unanimous: Star Wars: The Force Awakens! Did you expect anything else?
As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship, or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook, Google+ or via email.
Chris and Joe are back once again this week with a brand new episode of The Flickcast. That’s right, three in a row! Amazing again, right? Speaking of amazing, this week’s episode (as they often do) includes lots of amazing topics covering all things geek.
Some of these include the new, awesome trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the next Avengers movie, Thor: The Dark World, Marvel movies in general, Lawrence Kasdan joining the new Star Wars writing team, The Walking Dead and a whole lot more. Plus, the boys again talk about their appreciation for Idris Elba, how The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie and Chris says something nice about George Lucas. Yeah, we don’t believe it either.
Picks this week include Joe’s pick of the ongoing comic book series Iron Man, which delves into the origins of Tony Stark, and Chris’ pick of Apple’s new free OS called Mavericks. That’s right, free — as in free beer.
As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook, Google+ or via email.
Normally, we like to present videos of this kind with a bit of commentary and whatnot to explain them and provide, if possible, a bit of context. In the case of this particular video, I kinda think it speaks for itself.
So, we’re going to present it right here without much in the way of comment. However, I should point out that it is a video consisting of many of the greatest unscripted scenes ever to appear in movies.
It is also potentially NSFW so you may want to wait until you get home to watch. Or, if you’re feeling particularly rebellious, go ahead and watch at work and if your boss happens to walk by and give you trouble, tell him/her to go straight to Hell.
Actually, you probably don’t really want to do that. In fact, don’t. We don’t want to be responsible for anyone getting fired. Just forget I said anything.
Instead, check out the video after the break, courtesy of the YouTube’s own Mewlists.
In case you missed it, yesterday was International Star Wars Day. To commemorate the event or, in some cases, dash the hopes of nerds everywhere, Lucasfilm took the opportunity to announce the full details of the Strar Wars Saga’s impending release on Blu-ray.
Before you bother to read on hoping for some good news, I will save you the suspense. The original, unmodified original trilogy will NOT be in this collection.
Yes, that’s right, if we want to watch Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in their original, non-Lucas tinkered with versions, we will just have to keep watching those “Definitive Collection” THX Laserdiscs. I’ve got mine, how about you?
However, if you don’t care about how things should be and, instead, want to keep rewarding George Lucas with money for fucking up his own movies, feel free to read on and get all the details.
The six films of the Saga are accompanied by three discs of extras totaling over 40 hours of material – some new, some old. Here’s the full press release from Lucasfilm.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment just made every geek’s day by finally announcing the Star Wars Blu-Ray box set. Set to release in September of 2011, the studio plans 3 distinct high-def sets which will hopefully suit the needs of different fans.
A nine-disc box set called ‘The Complete Saga’ will contain all 6 flicks plus 30+ hours of special features, deleted scenes, alternate scenes and a in-depth exploration of the Star Wars archives. MSRP on this puppy is $139.99, however Amazon.com already has it on pre-order for just short of $90.
For fans of the original trilogy, an aptly titled ‘Star Wars: Original Trilogy’ contains the 3 original flicks only (episodes IV-VI) and will be listed at $69.99 MSRP. For fans of only the prequel movies (a rare breed, for certain), the ‘Star Wars: Prequel Trilogy’ will suit their preferences with the 3 prequel flicks (episodes I-III) and priced at $69.99 MSRP as well.
While the official Star Wars press release is rather skimpy on details, one question I can’t help asking: Will the sets contain the original theatrical cuts of the trilogy or the 90’s-era re-release cuts? I think you can surmise my preference and I’m sure Lucas will experience an Internet-backlash of epic proportions if that decision doesn’t go the way I hope it goes.
So there you have it. Can you wait until September 2011? I know I can’t.
After some time off for the Thanksgiving holiday to consume copious amounts of food and drink, Chris and Matt are back with an all-new episode of The Flickcast. On this week’s show the boys discuss all sorts of new topics and touch on a few recurring ones as well.
Some of those topics include the new Harry Potter film, the tragic passing of both Leslie Nielsen and Irvin Kershner, James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosting the next Oscars, The Hobbit not in 3D, the future on the Internet and services like Netflix and a whole lot more. They also made some great picks this week including Matt’s pick of the animated series Young Justice and Chris’ pick of the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Blu-ray.
Want more Chris and Matt? Be sure to check out this week’s episode of This Week in Walking Dead, which stars Matt, guest stars Chris, and series star Andy Rothenberg even stops by.
As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.
At the recent Comic-Con in San Diego Mimoco, creators of the Mimbots custom collectors USB drives, revealed their latest exclusive addition to the Star Wars line with Lobot. Now, our friends over at Mimoco have given us one to give away to you the loyal Flickcast readers.
Lobot, for those of you who don’t know, was Lando Calrissian’s cyborg aide in The Empire Strikes Back. Now, he comes in USB form to celebrate the film’s 30th Anniversary in both 2GB and 16 GB varieties. Chosen as a throwback to the hardcore Star Wars fans, Lobot is meant to be fan service from a group of people who are watching Star Wars in the office at least once a week.
At Comic-Con we got the chance to talk with one of Mimoco’s representatives. They told us that the original concepts behind the Mimobots was using them as a way to merge art and technology. Lobot, in addition to being an anniversary piece for The Empire Strikes Back is also a fifth anniversary piece for Mimoco who started at Comic-Con five years ago. With well over 75 total designs, Lobot is another great example of the Star Wars line of Mimobots.
How To Win:
1. Follow us on Twitter @TheFlickcast
2. Tweet Out “I Want To Win A Lobot Mimobot @TheFlickcast!”
3. Sit back and wait as we pick a winner form among those who tweeted the phrase!
As we’ve probably said in the past we get sent a lot of videos here at The Flickcast. Many of them are, shall we say, not worthy of sharing with you. Some, however, demand attention and need to be shared. Blackstar Warrior is one of those.
The video, which comes to us from YouTube user bobbymarsh2010 via a friend, may contain characters and situations that are slightly familiar to you. In fact, this “fake” trailer has a who’s who of characters from one of the most popular movie franchises of all time: the Star Wars trilogy. You’ve hear of that, right?
It features action, romance, decent visual effects, comedy and, yes, even Darth Vader makes an appearance. Plus, Lando Calrissian is pretty much a badass. In short, this is some pretty great stuff.
Check out the Blackstar Warrior trailer after the jump.
