Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/textfile/swfaq.zip/SWFAQ.LST

File List | 1993-08-27 | 47KB | 962 lines

This is the Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQL) for the
Fidonet Star Wars Echo.  I would like to thank the many folks
(Gallandro, Christopher Wolf, etc) from the Star Wars Internet
newsgroup (rec.arts.sf.starwars.) who put the majority of this
list together.  I've only edited and added some info from the
SW Echo to supplement the already detailed information on the
list.  The purpose of the FAQL is to compile answers to many
commonly asked questions so that the Echo will not be cluttered
with repetitive requests for the same info.  This list will be
posted on a bi-monthly basis.  Please read it before posting to
see if your question has already been answered!

If you have any suggestions for corrections, modifications or
additions to the list please post them to me (Skip Shayotovich)
here in the Echo. If you have a question which you think should
be added to the list it would be appreciated if you could also
provide the answer and source references.

Thanks and May the Force be With You... Always.


Commonly Used Abbreviations
================================================================

Some of these abbreviations are used within this document;  the
rest show up on the Echo fairly regularly.

ANH:  A New Hope, the subtitle of the original movie, Star Wars.
CLV, CAV:  Constant Linear Velocity and Constant Angular Velocity.
These are laserdisc formats.  CAV contains more information,
allowing you do things like freeze-frame and slow-motion with
better clarity, but limits you to half an hour of playing time per
disc side.  CLV, lacking this extra information, can hold an
hour's worth of video on each side.
DE:  Dark Empire, the SW comic series fromm DHC by Tom Veitch.
DH, DHC:  Dark Horse Comics
DFR:  Dark Force Rising, the 2nd book in Zahn's trilogy.
ESB, TESB: The Empire Strikes Back
HTTE:  Heir to the Empire, the 1st book in Zahn's trilogy.
MTFBWY:  May the Force be with you
QVC:  Quality Value Channel
ROJ, ROTJ:  Return of the Jedi
RPG:  Role-playing games
SPFX, FX:  Special effects
SW:  Star Wars (I hope that's fairly obvious...)
THX:  The name of the sound system for movie theatres that
Lucas helped to develop.  The name THX comes from the name of
his first feature film, THX-1138, and also from the initials of
the system's creator, Tomlinson Holman.
TIE:  Twin Ion Engine
TLC:  The Last Command, the 3rd book in Zahn's trilogy.
YIJ, YIJC:  Young Indiana Jones Chronicles


Directory of FAQs
=================================================================

001               What is the latest on the new SW films?
002               Why is SW titled Episode IV?
003               What were the cut scenes from the films?
004               Was ROTJ originally titled REVENGE of the Jedi?
005               Do scripts exist for the other trilogies?
006               Did Lucas "borrow" ideas from other films?
007               What is the "Fall of the Republic" script?
008               What other SW novels exist?
009               What about adaptations to other media?
010               What sources are canon in the SW universe?
011               Are the SW toys/action figures valuable?
012               What is Hardware Wars?
013               How can I contact the LucasFilm fan club?
014               Where is the infamous tennis shoe in ROTJ?
015               Why are there yellow boxes surrounding TIEs?
016               What other FX-mistakes/bloopers are there?
017               Why did Han Solo say parsecs?
018               How did the Falcon get to Bespin?
019               What are the Clone Wars?
020               How old is Yoda?
021               Why is Vader's TIE fighter different in SW?
022               What is the Journal of the Whills?
023               Was Mark Hamill in a severe auto accident?
024               Who played the Emperor in TESB and ROTJ?
025               What is the "C-3PO X-Rated card"?
026               What is the Sith?
027               Is the Death Star capable of hyperspace travel?
028               Who was in the Y-wing that survived the attack?
029               Why doesn't C-3PO recognize Leia in the hologram?
030               Is Captain Antilles related to Wedge?
031               Why did Darth Vader die?
032               Who was Uncle Owen?
033               Was that "Cliff" I saw in TESB?
034               Why did Ben tell Luke it was "your father's
                  lightsaber"?
035               Why aren't there more women in the SW Trilogy?



Q 001:  What is the latest info concerning the new SW movies?

ANSWER:  According to an interview with George Lucas in issue
#17 of the Lucasfilm Fan Club mag, the next three films would
be released between 1995 and the year 2000.  They are going to
be filmed back to back and be released about a year apart from
each other.  They will be about the adventures of a young Ben
Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.  That is ALL that is offical at
this time.

UPDATE:  Although I did not see the interview with Lucas on
one of the morning news shows last week (6/28/93), it's been
reported by someone who did that Lucas says the next SW film
will be out by the end of 1994.  This has yet to be confirmed,
so don't take my word for it at this time.


Q 002:  Did the Episode IV sub-title appear in the original
theatrical release or was it added at a later date?

ANSWER:  The SW saga as originally conceived by Lucas was much
too large to be made into a single film or even a single
trilogy, so Lucas structured his ideas into three sets of
trilogies.  He decided to make the middle trilogy (Episodes IV,
V and VI) first because he believed it had the greatest chance
of being a theatrical success.

After speaking with several individuals, not least of which
were reps at Lucasfilm, it was verified that the "Chapter IV:
A New Hope" sub-title did NOT appear in the original theatrical
release of Star Wars (SW - 1976).  It was not added until its
re-release in late 1978/early 1979.

The Empire Strikes Back (TESB - 1980) was always sub-titled
"Chapter V" and Return of the Jedi (ROTJ - 1983) was always
sub-titled "Chapter VI."

The name of the first FILM is Star Wars - the name of the
CHAPTER is "A New Hope."  In The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi, the film name and chapter names just
happen to be the same.  All the films collectively are
referred to as the Star Wars saga.)


Q 003:  Were there scenes cut from SW after its original
theatrical release?  I seem to remember a reunion scene on
Tatooine between Luke and his friend Biggs on leave from the
academy?

ANSWER:  This scene never appeared in any theatrical release
of SW.  The scene is described in the film novelization and
apparently was even filmed since images from it appear in the
SW picture-book adaptation.  Perhaps this is why so many
people (me included) swore that they remember seeing the
scene at one time.  Also, there was apparently a scene in the
Rebel hangar which was filmed but not included where Red
Leader speaks to Luke about having met Anakin Skywalker and
what a great pilot he was.  Another scene that was originally
intended for SW was an encounter between Han Solo and Jabba
the Hutt at the spaceport on Tatooine.  The scene was partially
filmed but never finished because Lucas was disatisfied with
his options for portraying Jabba due to budget, FX technology
and story constraints.  Partial, unfinished footage of this
scene can be found on the VHS video titled "From Star Wars to
Jedi: The Making of a Saga."

The only visual difference between any current print of SW
and the original theatrical release is the aforementioned
addition of the "Episode IV" title in the roll-up.  There
are, however, minor differences in the soundtrack;  in fact,
because Lucas had more time to work on the sound before SW
was released internationally, the sound in non-U.S. releases
are of slightly better quality.

Some of the differences in the audio between the original
release and currently available ones:  1) When the Storm-
troopers are chasing Han & Chewie through the Death Star
corridors in the original release they first say "Close the
blast doors, close the blast doors!" and when they get
trapped on the wrong side of the door they then say "Open
the blast doors, open the blast doors!"  In the VHS version
the "Close the blast doors" line is not audible.  2) Aunt
Beru's voice is distinctly different (lower in pitch) in
the original movie.  3) The line spoken by the Stormtrooper
who finds the door locked, behind which R2-D2  and C-3PO
are hiding outside the cantina, in the original version is
"The door is locked; move on to the next one."  In recent
versions, the line is "It's secure; move on to the next
one."  Deborah Padgett ([e-mail]) adds two
others: 4) Some of Chewbacca's "lines" as he leaves the
Cantina are deleted in the later versions.  5) The little
chess critters on board the Falcon make more cute noises
in the original.  Another is contributed by Joe Stremick
([e-mail]):  6) The echo during the
chasm fight/rope-swing scene is in some prints and not in
others.  The echo, which is on Luke and Leia's dialogue,
is *really* cool.

Elaborates Douglas Quale ([e-mail]):  Things
are confusing because there were in fact two soundtracks,
mono and Dolby surround stereo.  The differences in the
soundtracks are fairly minor, the most prominent changes
being Aunt Beru's voice (so different sounding that it may
have been dubbed by a different actor), the ``Close the
blastdoors!'' line, and the bit with the droids hiding
behind the door in Mos Eisly.

Finally, a line spoken by C-3PO was added in later VHS and
laserdisc releases.  As R2-D2 is bringing up the plans of
the Death Star to

Also there may have been some additional minor dialog in the
original release of SW.  When the StormTroopers are chasing
Han & Chewie through the Death Star corridors in the original
release, they first say "Close the blast doors, close the blast
doors!" and when they get trapped on the wrong side of the door
they then say "Open the blast doors, open the blast doors!"  In
the VHS version the "Close the blast door" line is not audible.

There are no complete versions in circulation with all of the
cut scenes intact.


Q 004:  Wasn't Return of the Jedi originally titled Revenge of
the Jedi?  Why was it changed?

ANSWER:  Up until shortly before it was released, ROTJ was
indeed titled "Revenge of the Jedi" and even some promotional
materials (movie posters, patches, etc.) were printed with
that title.   Materials saying "Revenge of the Jedi" are now
highly sought after collector's items.

There are two explanations commonly given for why the title was
changed:  1) Revenge isn't very Jedi-like, and 2) the studio
wanted to avoid confusion with Star Trek II which was due to be
released at about the same time and was originally titled
Vengeance of Kahn.


Q 005:  Does Lucas have scripts/stories already written for the
other episodes in the saga?  Will he ever make them into films?

ANSWER:  No one knows for sure how much development Lucas had
done on the plots/scripts for the other trilogies at the time
SW was released.  Some people believe that Lucas has scripts
for ALL the films locked away in a vault someplace.  Most people
believe that he has lots of story ideas and possibly preliminary
treatments for the films but not complete scripts.

After ROTJ, Lucas stated he would not make any more SW films -
he needed a creative break and had other projects going he
wanted to concentrate on.  Recently, however, Lucas has changed
his mind and has publically stated that he will soon be
starting work on new SW films.  The next films to be produced
will be Episodes I to III of the saga.  They will all be filmed
simultaneously and will be released in consecutive years some-
time before the year 2000.  The plot of the films will revolve
around the adventures of a young Ben Kenobi and Anakin.
Episodes I to III are expected to take place about 20 years
before the events in SW.

No one is sure of the exact release dates but all my contacts
have been told by Lucasfilm that the Episode 1 will be in May
of 1997, which will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the
release of Star Wars.  Word is that pre-production and script
revisions are underway.  More recently, it has been stated
that Lucas has all but thrown out all previous ideas and is
now going in a completely different direction. Why?  Unknown,
but he probably get tired of all of the fan speculation over
the years and decided to throw us a curveball.

No plans are currently being made to produce Episodes VII to
IX.  Apparently these episodes as conceived by Lucas take
place about 20 years after ROTJ and would also involve a new
set of actors and characters (the descendants of the original
heros?).  Lucas has stated many times that the only characters
which would appear in all 9 episodes are the droids R2-D2 and
C-3PO.


Q 006:  Isn't Star Wars a rip-off of a Japanese film called
"The Hidden Fortress" or <insert your favorite film here>?

ANSWER:  Lee Campbell (on Internet) writes:  It's pretty clear
there is a connection between SW and a Japanese film called
"The Hidden Fortress" made by Akira Kurosawa.  Not that SW is
a copy of THF, just that it was one of the inspirations for SW.
In this Japanese epic, a lord has been defeated, his empire
overrun, but his daughter the princess is still free.  Some
samurai and retainers are trying to bring her back across a
hostile land to another lord's domain where she will be safe.
If it is true that "The Hidden Fortress" was an inspiration for
"Star Wars," then all Lucas borrowed was the idea of a princess,
loyal retainers, and a hostile land.  Also, some people who have
seen both films say that there are also similarities in the
dialog, film-making techniques, camera angles, etc.

To answer the more general question about parallels between SW
and other films (in this case Wizard of Oz), Teri (on Internet)
writes:  I think it is not so much that plots were ripped off
but that both movies express the ancient archetype of the hero
who goes on a quest.  In this sense they are very similar.  The
"plot" is really an old, old one that goes back to the first
storytelling days of man.  The hero is usually aided by super-
natural forces against perilous dangers and ultimateevils.
Joseph Campbell (comparative religion/mythology) has a lot to
say about archetypes like this.  See "The Hero of a Thousand
Faces," or some such.  This theme appears across many cultures
and many different times.  You might argue that the Indiana
Jones series partook of this as well.  Or "Clash of the Titans,"
a greek myth brought to the screen.

Steve (on Internet) adds:  I would add that one of George
Lucas's original plots for SW is even more remarkably similar
to Hidden Fortress than is Star Wars as it was released.  For
a complete synopsis of this original story see Dale Pollock's
1983 biography of George Lucas, "Skywalking."  SW, if made
using this plot, might well have been open to a lawsuit by the
authors of "The Hidden Fortress;" the only point of divergence
is that SW occurs in outer space.


Q 007:  I've heard of a movie script that is supposedly for
Episode III of the Star Wars saga?  Is it real?

ANSWER:  It is entitled "Fall of the Republic" and is not a
complete script but more of a plot outline.  While John Flynn is
registered with the Screenwriters Guild in Hollywood, it is
generallly agreed that he had no inside knowledge or information
and therefore should be treated purely as speculative fiction.
When Lucasfilm reps have been asked about this "script," they
have said it is nothing more then a clever "fake."


Q 008:  What novels have been written that are set in the Star
Wars universe?  Are these official (canon) or not?

ANSWER:  The official novelizations of the movies are Star Wars
by George Lucas (ghost written by Alan Dean Foster), Empire
Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut, and Return of the Jedi by James
Kahn.  There are three books on Han Solo (HS)by Brian Daley:
HS at Star's End, HS's Revenge, HS and the Lost Legacy.  L.
Neil Smith wrote three books on Lando Calrissian (LC):  LC and
the Flamewinds of Osceon, LC and the Mindharp of Sharu, and LC
and the Starcave of Thonboka.  Alan Dean Foster wrote another
"alternative novel" that came out between the release of SW
and TESB called Splinter of the Mind's Eye.  The most recent
are the cycle of three novels by Timothy Zahn which are set
five years after ROTJ:  Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising,
and The Last Command.  While all of these novels are considered
authorized, none are to be considered actual episodes from Lucas'
nine part movie saga.


Q 009:  Has the Star Wars series been adapted to any other form
of media?

ANSWER:  There are two comic book series.  The first series was
by Marvel Comics and started with an adaptation of SW and
continued on past the end of ROTJ for a total of 107 issues.  A
new limited series (6 issues) was recently released by Dark
Horse Comics and written by Tom Veitch, called "Dark Empire."
The storyline in this series takes place a year after the events
in Zahn's last book, TLC.  These also are NOT Episodes VII to IX
of the SW saga.  Dark Horse Comics is also publishing "Classic
Star Wars," which reprints the newspaper strip in a color format
with some new artwork.  There are plans to produce additional
series set in the SW Universe.

In addition to the 107 issues of the Marvel comic, Marvel
published 3 Annuals and at least two paperbacks (the paperbacks
may have been reprints of UK SW comics or from the newspaper
strip, but they were not part of the 107 issue run).  Of the 107
issues, numbers 1-6 adapted SW, and numbers 39-42 adapted TESB.
ROTJ was a 4 issue mini-series.  The SW newspaper strip has been
reprinted in a 3-volume hardbound set by Russ Cochran Publishing.

There is also a Star Wars Role-playing game produced by West End
Games (WEG).  They produce a lot of supplemental sourcebooks,
galaxy guides and other manuals for the game containing tons of
interesting info about the characters/history/technology of the
SW Universe.  These sourcebooks are not just for gamers... they
offer any SW fan tons of in-depth info on that galaxy far, far
away.  The materials in this game have been declared canon by
LucasArts.  WEG can be reached at:  RD 3  Box 2345,  Honesdale,
PA 18431,  [phone].

National Public Radio also did radio broadcast adaptations of
Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.  These have just been
released on cassette and CD.   Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels,
and Billy Dee Williams portrayed their respective characters
for for the radio adaptation, while the voices of the other
characters were portrayed by the likes of Perry King, Ann Sachs,
and Bernard Barrons.  The radio adaptations are filled with
sound effects, original music score, and a ton of extra
"scenes" not shown in the films.  Highbridge Audio is producing
the SW/TESB radio dramas.  Copies of each are or will be
available on tape and CD.  You can contact Highbridge Audio at
1-800-775-3175.

There were a couple of made for TV specials including The Star
Wars Holiday Special (involving Chewie visitting his family on
the Wookie home planet of Kashyyk) and two shows about the Ewoks:
Caravan of Courage, and Battle for Endor.  There were two
Saturday morning cartoon series featuring the Ewoks and R2 and
3PO, entitled "Ewoks" and "Droids" respectively.

Several SW computer games also exist.  There were several coin-
operated arcade games and ports of these games to various
computers and consoles.  Most recently, the flight sim/game by
LucasArst entitled X-Wing.  It uses realistic 3d-graphics to
allow the player to simulate flying X-Wing, Y-Wing and A-Wing
fighters in missions against the Empire.  A new mission disk,
Imperial Pursuit, was just released as well.  More mission
disks, and other SW-oriented games are coming soon.


Q 010:  What sources are considered "canon" (official) in the
Star Wars universe?

ANSWER:  Of course the movies produced by LucasFilm and the
novelizations of the movies are "canon".  There is a debate over
which other sources are considered cannon.  What I've heard is
that the RPG stuff from WEG is canon, but none of the fiction is.
All of the fiction should be considered as "alternative" or
"possible."  However, LucasArts has also stated that future Star
Wars films may validate/invalidate material contained in the
novels, comics, and other sources.   My advice is to ignore the
entire debate over what is "canon" and what is not... form your
own interpration of the SW universe based on the source material
YOU enjoy, and don't worry about what is "official" and what
isn't.


Q 011:  Are the figures/toys worth anything as collectors items?

ANSWER:  Chris Georgoulias ([e-mail]), a USENET
guru on SW collectibles, writes the following long-winded
response:

Because the toys were produced in such vast numbers, collectors
generally like to acquire toys that are in the best possible
condition, with the most to offer.  Usually this entails toys
that have surpassed their purpose of play and have kept their
original store appearance by remaining mint in their packaging.
The action figures were the strongest point of the entire toy
line and were produced for more than 8 years. As a result, the
number of "common" figures outnumbers the rarer ones by 20:1.
In general, the average loose figure isn't considered
"collectible" because it is widely available.  But the in-
clusion of the original package, "card," causes the value to
increase significantly.  The price can further increase depend-
ing on the particular card the figure is packaged on, with some
mint carded figures worth up to $400 nowadays.  Loose playsets
seem to fare better in the collectors market, but again with
more loose toys available, the boxed toys still command higher
respect for the simple fact that kids, who were the target
consumers, usually threw out all the packaging.  In fact, if
one thinks about it, it's actually the package that is the
rarity and not the toy.  The line of 12" dolls seems to have
the best value of all the loose toys, with values of up to
$250 with all the accessories.  There were also special sets
that were available only at major retailers such as Sears and
JCPenny.  These sets, even loose, command high prices because
of their limited availability.

Kenner produced many different toys for the Star Wars saga
and it is difficult to account for each one in a format such
as this.  It is recommended that a anyone who is interested in
the current values of the toys seek out "Toy Shop" magazine.
This magazine exists as the toy collector's marketplace and is
the very best place to see the current retail (selling) values
of toys.  Price guides are a great way to see all of the toys
that were made, but the values are only guides and not selling
prices.  Attending toy shows is also another great way to find
out the current values of the toys.  But, like anything else,
it pays to check out many dealers and do some comparative
shopping.  You WILL find large fluxuations in prices from
dealer to dealer and city to city.  Do yourself a favor and get
as informed as possible before you journey into the world of
toy collecting.  You have to be alert so you won't get burned,
but you'll have a blast while you're amassing a collection.
Speaking from experience I can say that it is truly a joy to
participate in, and when 1997 rolls around we can all watch the
market for Star Wars toys hit the roof!


Q 012:   What is Hardware Wars?  How can I view a copy?

ANSWER:  Hardware Wars is a thirteen-minute, very funny, very
low budget parody of Star Wars.  It has been spotted for rent
at some Blockbuster Video stores, on a tape called "Hardware
Wars and other film farces," which also contains three other
short films.


Q 013:   How can I contact the LucasFilm fan club?

ANSWER:  The Lucasfilm Fan Club puts out a quarterly newsletter,
and offers assorted memorabilia from SW and other Lucasfilm
projects (Indiana, Jones, Young Indy, etc).  Membership in the
Fan Club costs $9.95 a year.  You can contact them at:  The
Lucasfilm Fan Club, PO Box 111000, Aurora, CO, 80042, USA, or
call them at 1-800-TRUE-FAN.


Q 014:  Is it true that a tennis shoe appears in one of the
space battle scenes in ROTJ?  If so where?

ANSWER:  From the Smithsonian Magazine, Oct. 1990 issue:
"Sometimes the ILM tricksters are shameless.  When Ken
Ralston, who later presided over the wrecking of the 'Back to
the Future III' train, was choreographing armadas of model
spaceships for an epic battle in ROTJ, he got so frustrated
that he added his tennis shoe to the rebel fleet.  It whizzes
by so fast that nobody notices it."

Page 120 of the book "Industrial Light and Magic: The Art of
Special Effects," by Tom Smith, says:  "In ROTJ, there were
some shots where scores of ships were seen at the same time.
Needless to say, it was very complicated and painstaking work.
Once Ken [Ralston] got so frustrated by all of the ships in
ROTJ that he took off his tennis shoe and put it in the film
as part of the Rebel fleet.  The shoe actually ended up in the
final film, though you have to know exactly where to look in
order to see it.

I myself have not been able to find it yet, but it's supposed
to be located somewhere near the end of ROTJ during the final
space battle.  Apparently, you can see the shoe in a shot
from the Falcon's cockpit.  It's possible that the shoe is not
identifiable as such from whatever part of it is on the screen.

Addendum from Adam Tembreull:  Everyone I've talked to that says
they've seen it say it's visible right after someone in the
Millennium Falcon says 'pressure steady,' Lando looks out the
viewport and you see a glimpse of the shoe, it has blue engine
lights.  You can also see it right after that in the external
view of the Falcon, it still has the blue engines.  It DOES kind
of look like a shoe, you can sort of see treads.  I know this is
where it is though because I remember reading an interview of
one of the special effects guys and this is where he said it was.


Q 015:  Why do the TIE fighters in the VHS versions of ROTJ
have very faint hazy yellow boxes surrounding them?

ANSWER:  It's an artifact of the special effects process used
to matte the space-ships.  This happens to be more visible on
home VHS-TV set-ups than it is in the movie theatre.
Here  with more info is Dan Goldman ([e-mail]):
The answer given to me by employees of both ILM and Home THX
(which does video transfer quality assurance nowadays, too) was
that these artifacts were due to poor video transfer.  Had the
light levels been correctly set during the transfer process,
the garbage matte lines would be truly invisible.  The THX
folks also mentioned that the artifacts appeared because the
dynamic range of a videotape was so much smaller than that of
film (20:1 vs. 2000:1, with LaserDisc around 200:1), but that
is a pretty weak answer to me.  After doing some work in color
correction myself, my hunch is that the transfer process does
not adequately compensate for the different response
characteristics of film vs. video.  Darkening your TV screen
can compensate to a certain extent, but not very accurately.


Q 016:  What other editting/special-fx bloopers appear in the
films?

ANSWER:  Lots.  In Star Wars, when Uncle Owen is purchasing
the droids after the red R2 unit blows its motivator they
decide to purchase R2D2.  When the camera pans back to R2D2
you can still see the red unit standing behind R2D2 although
this shouldn't be since the red unit is supposed to be next
to Luke.  Later, on Tattoine during dinner with his aunt and
uncle, Luke picks up a glass in one hand.  A few frames later
it has magically switched to his other hand.  Later, when
Vader and Tarkin are having a discussion in the conference
room Vader's voice and hand-gestures are obviously out of
synch (He talks and THEN the gestures follow about 2 seconds
later).  Also, when the Stormtroopers are raiding the comm-
unications post overlooking the landing bay where Artoo and
Threepio are hiding, the trooper on the right hits his head
in the door as he enters.  During the saber duel between Vader
and Kenobi, in some frames they forgot to colorize Kenobi's
saber (use single frame advance to see this clearly).  In
TESB, on Hoth, when the speeders are out looking for Han and
Luke you can see through the ships in several scenes.  Anytime
they are shown from above skimming along the ground at low
altitudes, the terrain below can be seen with the image of the
speeder imposed over it.  [Thanks to [e-mail],
David Blezard for this contribution.]

A persistent, but erroneous, "blooper" that just will not
get dispelled is this one:  as Luke is climbing out of his
X-Wing at the end of SW, some believe he is heard yelling
the name "Carrie" instead of "Leia."  I have NEVER heard the
word "Carrie" uttered from Luke's mouth... to me, and many
others, it sounds like he's merely yelling "Heeeey!"

And David Stewart ([e-mail]) writes:  One thing I
notice is that Darth Vader's noisy breathing is often out of
synch with his speaking (ie, he sounds like he is breathing
in and out in the middle of continuous speaches without a
break).  An example which comes to mind is in TESB when Han
is being tortured in Cloud City by the Imperials, Vader's
dialog with Lando is totally out of synch with his breathing.

In ROTJ during the scene in Jabba's palace, the dancer with
the twin head-tails falls out of her costume for several
frames right before Jabba opens the trap door dropping her
into the pit (You probably need a single frame VCR to see
this).  During the space battle at the end when all those TIE
fighters swoop past the Falcon two can actually be seen to fly
through(!) the Falcon and can still be seen as translucent
images even after they should have been obscured by the Falcon.
Also, the star-field imagery visible behind the Emperor in the
throne room is not logically consistent from shot to shot - the
stars get reset back to their original positions at the start
of every shot it seems.  In the throne room scenes there is a
dark-blotch that looks like bad touch-up work consistently
visible on the left of the Emperor's face near the shadows of
his hood.


Q 017:  Why does Han Solo say that the Millenium Falcon made
the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs when parsecs are a unit of
distance instead of time?

ANSWER:  The following letter and response appeared in issue
#6 of the Marvel Comic series:   "...someone made an astro-
nomical error.  On page 16, panel 5 [of issue #2], Han Solo
says his ship "made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs."
I'll bet he can run the mile in less than 100 yards, too.  A
parsec is a measure of distance, approximately 3.26 light
years.  (A light year is about six trillion miles.) I expect
my goofy, gilded no-prize by earliest mail."  Michael Blue,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Here was Roy Thomas', the writer and editor of the comic at
the time, response:  "We'd love to present you one, Mike,
since you're right on target.  However, we asked George about
it, and he says he wrote that line for the movie on purpose,
partly as an in-joke and partly to show that Han Solo was
something of a bull artist who didn't always know precisely
what he was talking about.  So, we're afraid you'll have to
take it up with Mr. Lucas himself!"

I've seen this explanation elsewhere too, but for the life of
me I can't find the source.  I'm thinking it might have been
one of the "Making of" videos from one of the films...

Some choose not to believe this explanation, feeling instead
that Lucas screwed up and came up with that explanation later
to cover it up.  While this doesn't sound like something he
would be likely to do, only Lucas himself knows for sure.

If you want an explanation that makes sense in context of the
movie, the following have been proposed:  1) During the
oddities of hyperspace travel time and distance are inter-
changeable.  2) Han was boasting that he had discovered a new
physically shorter route to make the Kessel Run.  3) The word
parsecs means something entirely different to the inhabitants
of the galaxy far, far away.

Also note that the novelization uses "standard timeparts"
instead of "parsecs."


Q 018:  In TESB, after their escape from the Star Destroyer
Fleet the Falcon's hyperdrive is still not working.  How do
they make it to Bespin and how long does it take?

ANSWER:  There are two possible answers: 1) According to the
Star Wars role-playing game most ships have a back-up hyper-
drive which can be used in emergencies.  It is slower than
normal hyperdrives, has a shorter range, is more easily
tracked and is only good for a few uses.  It takes a while to
switch to back-up which is why Han couldn't use it escape the
Star Destroyers.  2) The time interval between the Falcon's
escape from the Imperial fleet and its arrival at Bespin is a
lot longer than it originally appears to be.  (1 & 2 are not
necessarily mutually exclusive)  This also allows sufficient
time for Luke's training on Dagobah to occur.

According to someone who's name I accidentally deleted:  I
figure it takes at least one year for Luke's training and for
the Falcon to get to Bespin.  In SW, Han says that the
Millennium Falcon can "make it to point five past lightspeed."
I take this to mean that the Falcon has a top speed of 1.5c
without using hyperdrive.  Interstellar distances are usually
between 2 and 5 lightyears (Alpha Centauri is 4.3 lyrs away
from the sun).  That could mean it would take anywhere from
one to three years assuming a galactic star density similar to
ours.

It's also possible that travel at near-light speeds in real-
space produces relativistic effects, slowing down time for
those on board the Falcon.  So, for example, to those aboard
the Falcon, the trip may seem to have lasted for a couple of
weeks, while Luke spent a year on Dagobah training with Yoda.


Q 019:  What are the Clone Wars?

ANSWER:  No one knows for sure.  All that is known is that they
were fought around the time of the fall of the Old Republic
and that Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker fought in them.  It
is generally believed that these wars had something to do with
the Emperor's ascendancy to power and extermination of the
Jedi.  A common (but unsubstantiated) claim is that the war
was between the Jedi and genetically cloned soldiers created
by the Emperor - who later became known as Stormtroopers.


Q 020:  How old is Yoda?  As I recall, he stated he was 800
in The Empire Strikes Back but 900 in Return of the Jedi.

ANSWER:  In Empire, his actual words are "For 800 years have I
trained Jedi."  The only thing this tells us about his age is
that he is over 800 years old.  In Jedi he has a line that
says "When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not."

Some trading cards released after Empire list Yoda's age as
973.  While this is not an official source, note that it is not
inconsistent with what is said in the movie, since he never
comes right out and says he is EXACTLY 900 years old.


Q 021:  Why does Darth Vader's TIE fighter look different from
the others?  What are those other TIE fighters that look like
his in Empire and Jedi?

ANSWER:  While this is never discussed in the films, various
other sources, such as the MPC model kits and the rolepaying
game sourcebooks, tell us that Darth Vader's TIE fighter was
a prototype model, the bent-wing design providing better
solar collection capabilities than the regular straight-wing
design.  Two other types of TIE fighters appear in the last
two movies using the bent-wing design.  In the asteriod
sequence in Empire, there are vessels called TIE bombers,
which look very similar to Vader's TIE except that they have
two pods between the solar panels. In the final space battle
in Jedi, vessels known as TIE interceptors appear.  These
have the bent wings and a single pod, but the wings have
large cut-outs down the front to provide greater visibility.


Q 022:  What is the Journal of the Whills?

ANSWER:  The Journal of the Whills is a fiction book that
exists ONLY within the Star Wars Universe.  According to Lisa
Cowan, who writes for the Lucasfilm Fan Club magazine, at one
point within the films, there was to be a scene showing a
mother Wookiee reading from the Journal the adventures of
the Skywalkers to her children.  Needless to say, that scene
was never filmed.  There is NO single book or books in
existence that contain ALL 9 episodes of Lucas' saga.   The
closest thing to this might have been his personal note
books which were used in the making of the NPR dramas...
unfortunately, these were stolen many years ago.


Q 023:  Was Mark Hamill in a severe auto accident?

ANSWER:   According to an interview with Mark Hamill, he was
in an automobile accident.  However, the rumors that extended
from this incident range from near-fatal to having his face
smashed through the windshield.  These are all false according
to Mr. Hamill.  The crash only resulted in the breaking of his
nose and nothing more.


Q024:  Who played the Emperor in TESB and ROTJ?

ANSWER:  Two different people played the role of Emperor in
these two films.  An elderly woman played the actual physical
role of the Emperor in TESB.  Superimposed over her eyes to
further disguise/disfigure her were the eyes of an Indian
Rhesus monkey.  To top it off, his voice was supplied by Clive
Revill.  The Emperor was then played by Ian McDiarmid in ROTJ,
Why the difference?  Only Lucas seems to know...


Q 025:   What is the "C-3PO X-Rated card"?  Is it valuable?

ANSWER:  Card #207 of the green Topps series is a picture of
C-3PO, modified by a prankster at Topps to give the droid an
extra appendage.  This was corrected in later prints of the
cards.  The original card generally sells for about $15, and
the corrected one, while actually rarer, is much less sought
after and not worth much more than any other card in the series.


Q 026:   I've seen Darth Vader referred to as "Dark Lord of the
Sith."  What does that mean?

ANSWER:  Again, only Lucas knows for sure.  The novel implies that
he was only one of several Dark Lords of the Sith.  This phrase is
rarely used to describe Vader in anything written after TESB.  For
what I'm sure will be a "complete" description of the Sith and
their Dark Lords, look for Tom Veitch and Kevin Anderson's 13
issue comic series entitled, DARK LORDS OF THE SITH, coming in
March or April of '94.


Q 027:  Is the Death Star capable of travelling through hyper-
space?

ANSWER:  It would have had to be to be of any use to the Empire.
If it were restricted to sublight travel (or no travel) it could
hardly be considered a threat to anything but a very small part
of the galaxy.

No specific mention is made of its hyperspace capabilites in the
movies,  but the role-playing game source material discusses this
more.  As far as the lack of engines, there are two possibilities:
1) It doesn't have conventional engines for propulsion; it merely
has the necessary hardware to enter hyperspace, which could
possibly require no exterior engines.  2) Since we only see it
from one view (facing the disk containing the planet-buster), we
don't know what's on the back, and it actually does have engines
there.  West End Games' "Death Star Technical Companion" ...

So why didn't the Death Star just come out of hyperspace on the
other side of the planet, where the moon was?

ANSWER:  This is almost certainly dramatic license, but there are
some other possibilities:  1) The homing beacon wasn't that
accurate and couldn't pinpoint the Rebel Base's location with
enough precision.  2) It would have taken too much time, because
they would have had to take an indirect route.  This borrows from
the RPG's idea of hyperspace shadows of realspace objects. 3) They
thought they could sneak up on the moon this way.

Solution #1 above leaves the question about why they didn't
reenter hyperspace when they realized their mistake, but that can
be answered by #2 or by ideas from the previous question (too
great a cost, too long to reactivate hyperdrive, etc.)


Q 028:   After the attack on the first Death Star, four ships fly
away... two X-wings (Luke and Wedge), The Millennium Falcon, and a
Y-wing.  Who was in the Y-wing?

ANSWER:  It could have been anyone who we didn't see die in the
battle.  If you watch carefully you'll notice that most of the
action presented on-screen is carried out by X-wing pilots.  An
Imperial officer states at one point that thirty ships are
attacking the Death Star.  Thus, a squadron of Y-wings may have
been drawing the Imperials' fire or attention away from where
their goal really was.


Q 029:   At the very opening if Star Wars, C-3PO utters "There'll
be no escape for the Princess this time."  Later, when Luke asks
who is in the hologram R2-D2 plays, 3PO says "I'm not quite sure."
Why didn't he know who she was?

ANSWER:  The obvious answer is that he knew the Princess was
aboard the ship but had no idea what she looked like.  Another
explanation is offered by the SW radio series (Episode 3), where
C-3PO and R2-D2 are instructed to "restrict and protect all
references to Leia Organa's identity and presence aboard this
vessel."


Q 030:   Still regarding the same scene in the garage, C-3PO
tells Luke that his and R2's last master was Captain Antilles.
Who is this person, and is he related to Wedge Antilles?

ANSWER:  According to one of WEG's sourcebooks, Wedge Antilles'
parents died on the fuel depot they owned and managed when a
freighter pulled out while it was still attached to the fueling
pumps.  The explosion that ensued blew up the entire station.
Now, whether or not Captian Antilles and Wedge Antilles are
related is not known to us common folk. Perhaps he was an uncle,
cousin, or brother.

In the novelization, C-3PO tells Luke that their last master was
Captain Colton.  It is my belief, although no hard proof exists
of this, that they changed the name to MAKE a connection between
the the Captain and Wedge.


Q 031:   What was the cause of Vader's death at the end of Jedi?
He wasn't critically wounded in the lightsaber duel.

ANSWER:  Possibilities: 1) It was the Emperor's lightning that
did him in;  it may have interfered with his mechanical life
support systems.  It didn't kill Luke immediately, but as Vader
picked the Emperor up, he may have turned up the juice.  Also,
just before Vader makes his move, the Emperor says, "Now, young
Skywalker, you will die."  This is after he has already been
zapping Luke for a few minutes, implying he didn't have his
electricity at death-intensity until that moment.  2) The turn
from the Dark Side of the Force back to the good side was too
much for him.  He is the only being known to have accomplished
this.


Q 032:  Who was Uncle Owen?

ANSWER:  Both the novelization and script for ROTJ reveal Owen
to be Ben Kenobi's brother but say anything about Owen being
related by blood to Luke or Anakin.  "Uncle Owen" was probably
NOT related to Luke by blood... but I'm an "uncle" to my good
friend's child, and I'm not related to them by blood either.
The novelization and various other sources tell us that Owen's
last name is Lars.  Perhaps Owen changed his last name so he
wouldn't be associated with Ben.  Perhaps, according to the
customs of their galaxy, Owen took Beru's last name when he
married her.   Owen might be Force-sensative and just chose to
ignore that part of his life, associating it with "damned-fool
idealistic crusades."  Perhaps being related to a Jedi or other
Force-sensitive does not guarantee that one will be Force-
sensitive (recessive genes and the like).  Perhaps he realized
that with the Empire in power, it was wise to hide any Force
abilities he might have.


Q 033:  Was that "Cliff the Mailman" I saw in TESB?

ANSWER:  Sure was.  John Ratzenberger, who made the roll of
"Cliff Claven, Mailman," on Cheers a household name, played
the roll of Lt. Derlin.

Other scenes to check out:  (from Iain Twolan)  In TESB, check
out the scene where the Star Destroyers are in the asteroid
belt.  In the shot just before Vader sees the Emperor, we're
shown a shot of an asteroid impacting into one SD's bridge
area, then we cut to Vader talking to the admirals when the
hologram of one of them suddenly stiffens, grimaces, and
disappears.  Guess who was on the bridge?  Another one I
noticed, again in TESB, was a scene where Lando was tinkering
with the settings on the side of Han's carbonite casing.  He
handled the switches like he was trying to hide it from Vader
and when he changed them some of the lights changes.  I always
figured that Lando's tampering meant that Han would wake-up
early and possibly take on Fett in his ship, but when Jedi
came out nothing came of this.  I just assumed that Lucas
changed his mind.  Anyway, when I saw the recent broadcast of
TESB on ABC I found the scene had been cut!


Q 034:  When Ben gave Luke his first lightsaber, he said "Your
father wanted you to have this when you were old enough."  Why
would Vader have wanted his son to have a lightsaber?

ANSWER:  Many believe that at the time of the filming of Star
Wars, Lucas hadn't decided to make Darth Vader Luke's father.
In that context, the statement makes sense.  Some ideas for a
reason that fits in the context of the rest of the trilogy:
1) what Ben said to Luke was only true "from a certain point
of view."  2) Ben was extrapolating what Anakin would have
wanted, had he not turned to the Dark Side (a variation on the
first idea).  3)  Before Anakin became Darth Vader, he told
Ben that if he ever had a son, he would want his son to have
the lightsaber.


Q 035:  Huh?

ANSWER:  To worry is not a Jedi's way... a short, green Jedi would
say.  Half the fun of SW fandom is learning all this stuff!