The Bearded Trio

Retro Sci-Fi Trivia Time!  ​Take a look at this snippet from Starburst Vol. 1, No. 3 which appropriately features Close Encounters on the cover.  The segment in the news section explains just how much George Lucas and Steven Spielberg loved Chuck Jones’ legendary cartoon, Duck Dodgers in the 24½ Century.  ​According to the article: ​George Lucas loved it so much he opened his initial Hollywood cast and crew screening of Star Wars with it, eventually getting it to play before the main feature in a San Francisco cinema. ​Steven Spielberg gave it a shoutout in Close Encounters, where it plays on the TV in the playroom scene ("H'h'h'happy birthday, you thing from another world, you!"). ​​I love finding little stories like this in old mags. The hype for a movie or the industry back then seemed more exciting and more innocent, but at the same time, more cosy.  But rose tinted glasses and all that as they say - Rob The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, Geo...

A look back at the Welsh filmmaker whose work on Return of the Jedi deserves far more recognition. Every now and then I like to shine a light on the filmmakers who helped shape the movies that meant so much to us growing up. Today I’m revisiting one of them: Richard Marquand, the Welsh director of Return of the Jedi . I’m sharing a video tribute I made to him more than ten years ago. The quality is a little rough because it was created long before modern editing tools were easily available, but the heart behind it is still very much there. Marquand is one of those names that often slips through the cracks when people talk about Star Wars. Ask many fans who directed Jedi and you’ll hear the same line repeated again and again: “George Lucas basically took over.” It’s a comment that has been repeated so often it has become part of the mythology. But if you’ve ever read The Making of Return of the Jedi , you’ll know that Marquand’s involvement was far deeper and far more hands‑on than he’...

Brian Johnson, the Oscar‑winning special effects maestro behind some of the greatest sci‑fi films and TV shows ever made, has sadly passed away. His work helped define the look and feel of modern science fiction. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Alien , from Thunderbirds and Space: 1999 to The Empire Strikes Back , Brian’s craftsmanship shaped entire generations of storytelling. His Oscar for The Empire Strikes Back remains one of the most deserved honours in the history of the Special Achievement category. I was fortunate enough to interview Brian back in 2016 at Showmasters’ Cardiff Film & Comic Con. He was warm, funny, and wonderfully candid, the kind of person who could talk about groundbreaking visual effects with the same ease as sharing a quiet memory from a frozen location shoot. One story that always stayed with me was his time filming The Empire Strikes Back in Norway. While most of us imagine the epic Hoth battle, Brian remembered something far less glamorous: the tiny...

If you love Indiana Jones as much as we do here at The Bearded Trio, this is one to mark on your calendar. Marvel is re‑releasing their entire 1980s run of Indy comics in two gorgeous hardcovers this September and they’ve gone all‑out with the presentation. Leatherette binding, debossed covers, ribbon bookmarks.… these things look like artifacts straight out of Indy’s office. Each volume collects the classic comic adaptations of Raiders , Temple of Doom , and Last Crusade , plus the full Further Adventures series that expanded Indy’s world with brand‑new quests. These stories were created by some absolute giants of the era — Michelinie, Simonson, Byrne, Buscema, Ditko — the list goes on. For anyone who remembers these comics from the 80s, or for fans discovering them for the first time, this is a brilliant way to experience Indy’s adventures beyond the films. Both books land on 30 September , and preorders are open now.

Thank you for creating a galaxy for us to play in — and for changing cinema in ways most people don’t even realise. Lucas didn’t just give us Star Wars. He reshaped the entire filmmaking landscape behind the camera: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) — founded because the effects Lucas needed simply didn’t exist. ILM went on to pioneer motion control photography, digital compositing, CGI characters, and the modern VFX pipeline. Almost every blockbuster today owes something to ILM’s breakthroughs. THX — created to standardise and improve cinema sound. Lucas wanted audiences to hear films the way filmmakers intended, so he built a system that revolutionised audio quality in theatres worldwide. Non‑linear editing — Lucas pushed for digital editing long before it was mainstream. His work with EditDroid paved the way for Avid and the entire digital editing revolution. Digital cinematography — The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were key stepping stones in moving Hollywood from film...

The Documentary That Led To The Bearded Trio The documentary The Beginning: The Making of Star Wars Episode I is more than just a behind‑the‑scenes look at The Phantom Menace — it’s the reason this page and our website exist at all. I’ve been a fan of Spielberg, Lucas and Williams since the 70s. Their films, their music, and especially the behind‑the‑scenes magic have always grabbed me. This documentary is one of the best windows into filmmaking I’ve ever seen. No commentary, no narration — just the feeling that you’re standing in the room with the incredible people who brought the film to life. I first watched it around the time The Phantom Menace came out, but when I revisited it in 2009 something clicked. It sparked the urge to create a place that celebrated the work of these three legends. A way to say thank you for the decades of movie magic they’ve given us. That spark became The Bearded Trio. So yes — this documentary is partly responsible for everything we’ve built here togethe...

"I've seen enough, you're fantastic!" - Steven Spielberg One of the great stories from E.T. the Extra‑Terrestrial is how a young C. Thomas Howell ended up playing Tyler, one of the boys in Michael's friend group. According to Howell, the role originally belonged to “a Mormon kid” but when the parents discovered the character had to smoke a cigarette on screen, they pulled him from the production. Suddenly, the door opened for Howell who wasn’t a smoker at all to step into a Spielberg film no less. “I learned to smoke cigarettes on the ride to the audition.” said Howell. In one retelling, Howell says that when he arrived at Steven Spielberg’s office, the director asked him straight out whether he could smoke. Howell, determined to prove he could handle the scene, pulled out a pack of Marlboros and put one between his lips. Before he could even strike a match, Spielberg stopped him. “I’ve seen enough, you’re fantastic.” The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spie...

As we get older, I often wonder if nostalgia loses its effect on us, or becomes more powerful. On one hand, as we age, we gain wisdom about the people and world around us; a normal thought is “Why couldn’t I have this understanding when I was younger?” On the other hand, in the modern world it can often be a challenge to find positive things about said world. Our parents age and depart. Our political leaders fail us. Everything is worse than it was, which naturally gives rise to wishing for a time when things weren’t so bad. Hence, nostalgia. I don’t think any single thing stirs nostalgia in me quite like Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983). I am often amazed at how I look back on my life and see how significant Star Wars events coincide with inflection points within my life. Friday, May 27, 1983, my dad picked me up after completing his work week and we drove to the local theater in Farmington Hills, Michigan, not long before the 6 p.m. showing. But he had a plan, due to the lines a...

£30,000 Alien To Be Sold To Highest Bidder, Shock Horror! Prop Store are holding another impressive auction and as usual there are a load of original props from the world of Star Wars and Star Trek but it's nice to see a unique prop from the world of Steven Spielberg movies and one of the best at that.  Close Encounters of the Third Kind is represented in the auction with this Alien Creature Display which the estimate comes in at an eye-watering £20,000 - £30,000! ($23,000 - $46,000) If you're in a fortunate position that you feel you can bid for this wonderful piece of classic movie history then this link will mean something to you:  www.propstore.com Rob (Lend us a fiver...TURKEY!) The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

The special one-shot that sets the stage for what’s to come to the galaxy far, far away returns this December. Announced earlier this week at StarWars.com , STAR WARS: REVELATIONS, the can’t miss issue that offers readers a startling glimpse at what’s to come next year in Star Wars comics, is back with more surprises than ever this December! Last year’s Star Wars: Revelations prepared fans for a dramatic year of Star Wars sagas including putting the pieces in place for the current crossover event, Star Wars: Dark Droids. This year will be no different with a giant-sized installment packed with the first appearances of major players, and new twists and turns across all of Marvel’s STAR WARS line! Crafted by an army of current and upcoming Star Wars talent including writers Marc Guggenheim (Star Wars: Dark Droids - D-Squad), Charles Soule (Star Wars, Star Wars: Dark Droids, Star Wars: The High Republic - Shadows of Starlight), Greg Pak (Star Wars: Darth Vader), Alyssa Wong (Star Wars: Do...

© 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. Gareth Edwards Preferred Real Locations And New Camera Technology Brought Freedom With The Shoot The eagerly anticipated sci-fi movie  The Creator, from director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) will hit the cinemas on 28th September and we were lucky enough to attend a press conference for the movie where the director was in attendance.  During the event I wanted to ask about the shooting process.  In the production notes for the movie, Edwards explains how they used new lightweight cameras that gave more freedom when it came to shooting, especially on real-life locations which he preferred to use rather than making sets from scratch. L-R): John David Washington as Joshua and Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie on the set of 20th Century Studios' THE CREATOR. Photo by Oren Soffer. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. The filming of The Creator led the production team to travel over 10,000 miles an...

This January, experience a new chapter in Takashi Okazaki’s Ronin saga in Star Wars: Visions, the series of one-shots that see visionary creators boldly explore new territory for Star Wars comic book storytelling! Announced last month, some of the most inventive creators in the world are bringing their unique comic book artistry to the galaxy far, far away in Marvel’s STAR WARS: VISIONS! Inspired by the animated anthology series of the same name, this new line of one-shots gives artists the chance to infuse Star Wars storytelling with their individual styles as well as elements from their cultures and backgrounds. After Marvel superstar Peach Momoko kicks things off in November, masterful manga artist Takashi Okazaki will unleash his imagination on the Star Wars mythos once again in STAR WARS: VISIONS – TAKASHI OKAZAKI #1! Revealed earlier today at StarWars.com , the creator of Afro Samurai and frequent Marvel cover artist will return with another tale of the mysterious Ronin, a charac...

Getting old isn’t all that much fun, for the most part. Nothing works like it did or is supposed to. We yearn for the days of our youth while cursing the sudden and stubborn limitations of age, even if, during one of those days of youth, we fancied ourselves as old. However, with age comes an ever-expanding memory and well of experience. The filing cabinets of our minds are continuously getting filled with new people, events and things we bear witness to.  One part of aging I have come to embrace is watching public figures - in this case, actors - move from relative obscurity to front-of-line in the public consciousness. We see these actors go from “how do you pronounce that Matthew guy’s last name again?” to seeing them win Academy Awards for their work.  In the case of director Steven Spielberg, his films have had a knack for casting actors at the early stages of their careers, just before major breakthroughs. In each of these roles, you can see the talent, charisma and craf...

STARRING JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON, GEMMA CHAN, KEN WATANABE, STURGILL SIMPSON, MADELEINE YUNA VOYLES & ALLISON JANNEY DIRECTED BY GARETH EDWARDS From writer/director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One, Godzilla) comes an epic sci-fi action thriller set amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence. Joshua (Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war... and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory... only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child (Voyles). With Industrial Light & Magic onboard to provide the special effects, one thing is for sure the visuals are going to be stunning. I'm getting hug...

Let's Go On A Movie Location Journey We are honoured to have a wonderful guest post from Justin Wilkinson from the excellent MovieLocationHunter website. Justin shares with us some of the iconic movie locations that we will be familiar with from being Lucas and Spielberg fans. Take it away, Justin! My fascination with movie locations all started when I was a young boy, awe struck by the outer-space settings of Star Wars, the time travelling in Back to the Future, the gadgets and glamour of 007 – ‘Bond, James Bond’ (Roger Moore was my childhood Bond) and the swashbuckling adventures of Indiana Jones. I never imagined as a child that these places were accessible – they were magical, mysterious all part of the alluring movie going experience. As I grew up my love of movies became stronger and my curiosity in what was involved in the process of movie making deepened. I would wait expectantly to watch the movies I had seen at the cinema again when they came out on different media – f...