The Bearded Trio

Brad’s April Escape (May Edition) May 21 - The Empire Strikes Back Throughout the month of April, I ran through 20 films of the Steven Spielberg-George Lucas-John Williams Cinematic Universe, listing random items from each film that stood out to me. Rob and I decided to reserve my entry for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) for today, the 40th anniversary of the film's release here in the United States. The Empire Strikes Back - An Introduction There's no way I will do this film justice in one simple blog post. Its impact is well-established. It's the film that turned Star Wars from a blockbuster film into a franchise that is still going strong, 40 years later. Empire is firmly entrenched at the top of many people's favorite films list - beyond Star Wars film rankings. But why? What's the thing that has kept this film so fresh and resonating all these years later? I certainly don't have all the answers, but I will ...

This has been scanned from my personal collection. From 1990 Lucasfilm Club Magazine Number 11. Celebrates the 10th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. Click image for a bigger version The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

25 Facts On The Making Of The Empire Strikes Back 1 - After Star Wars was released, George Lucas stopped doing publicity after a few interviews.  Too many people were bringing scripts to his door and asking for money. 2 - In the very early stages of The Empire Strikes Back it was simply referred to as Star Wars: Chapter II. 3 - On the first page of an early outline for Chapter II, George has notes that said "mention lost sister trained Jedi...Luke learn of main plot: Emperor/Empire must be destroyed; restore the Republic." 4 - In other notes, George refers to Kiber Crystals which was also mentioned in drafts for the first Star Wars movie.  There's also a new character in the rough notes, Bunden Debannen, "Buffy" who was "three or four thousand years old."  Buffy trains Luke and explains that "you can become a physical manifestation of the Force." 5 - Another character called "Mynoc" was described.  He was the bad gu...

Star Wars Music Analysis City in the Clouds - Empire Strikes Back - John Williams - 1980 To this day, my memories of this remarkable cue from The Empire Strikes Back include some of the scratches and miniscule skips that my vinyl record of this film’s soundtrack had when I would listen to it over and over again in my humble bedroom in the early 1980s. City in the Clouds captured my attention and imagination with every listen. Whatever activity I was occupying my 9-year-old self with in suburban Detroit, this track would come up and I would stop, lay back, and allow these ethereal sounds wash over me. This track rarely seems to get mentioned among people’s favorites, which I kind of like. I like that this one feels like “my favorite.” Like, no one else gets to like it but me in the way I do. It plays into one of the most compelling aspects of Star Wars in that it’s open enough for fans to claim parts of it for their own. More on this later. But it wouldn’t be until November 1...

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK U.S. Release Date: May 21, 1980 Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher Music by: John Williams Directed by: Irvin Kershner “IF YOU ONLY KNEW THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE!” - Darth Vader Forty years ago audiences around the world returned to George Lucas’s galaxy far, far away in the second entry of his space opera known as STAR WARS. Not only did the sequel meet everyone’s expectations, it also exceeded them. I, like most in my generation, grew up with the original trilogy on VHS. I owned the movies but didn’t really start to become a fan of them until the special editions came out (more on those later). Lucas literally bet the farm by financing this installment himself with profits from the first film, merchandising, and bank loans. Three months after its release he recovered his entire investment of $33 million. To thank those who worked so hard to make this film more epic in scale than the previous installment, he gave ou...

Take A Ride With The Resistance At Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Strap yourself in and take a ride on the awesome  Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride from Galaxy's Edge.  You ride with a re-programmed R5 astromech droid and be prepared to see Kylo Ren, a Probe Droid and even an At-At that fires at you.  Bek narrates throughout who is voiced by James Arnold Taylor.  The video has some rather interesting behind-the-scenes facts on the ride.  Unfortunately someone decided these would be best right in the middle of the screen obscuring some of the action going on.  Fear not, for although this is an official video we have also included an 18-minute video that a helpful fan recorded on their camera and it's POV too complete with the crowd ambience.  Enjoy! The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

We at The Bearded Trio wish a very happy 76th Birthday to George Lucas! Thank you George, for so many wonderful things.  From Star Wars to Indiana Jones.  From ILM to Lucasfilm.  We all hope you enjoy your Birthday and have the most spectacular day. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

Deepfake video shows Chris Pratt as Indiana Jones Chris Pratt is Indiana Jones.  Well, he is for two minutes and nine seconds in this deepfake video.  The folks over at Shamook have put together various clips from the Indiana Jones movies with Chris Pratt's face instead of the familiar Harrison Ford. What does Chris Pratt think of all this?  Well, he did respond to a Tweet with simply "There’s nothing like the original. But damn. This is pretty cool."  It's not the first time he's been associated with taking over as the man in the hat.  Back in 2015, he said at a press event that playing Indiana Jones would be an "awesome opportunity." There’s nothing like the original. But damn. This is pretty cool. https://t.co/ch8xTeG19d — chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) May 2, 2020 Back last year in an interview for USA Today , Harrison Ford was asked who would he like to see replace him as the role of Indiana Jones. His response was, "Nobody is gon...

BOOK REVIEW: THE ART OF STAR WARS: REBEL Star Wars publishing has  decades-long tradition of Art Of books that cover the films and other projects within the franchise. These books are a treasure trove of insight, background and artwork associated with the 11 Star Wars films as well as animated series, video games and other projects. Monday, the latest entry arrived at my doorstep, the Art of Star Wars Rebels, written by prolific Star Wars author Daniel Wallace, featuring a foreward by show-runner Dave Filoni. The book is published by Dark Horse, the former owner of the Star Wars comics license. Last year, Dark Horse published the Art of Jedi Fallen Order, the most recent Star Wars video game, published by EA to critical and economic success. The style of the Art of Jedi Fallen Order is followed closely by the Art of Star Wars Rebels. The books are the exact same height, which makes for nice placement on a bookshelf, a nice touch for reference book collectors like me. All ...