Revenge of the Jedi Kittens

More light-saber cat fights, courtesy of FinalCutKing:

Lost Sandstorm Scene from Return of the Jedi

It's not video, but it's recreated from stills of a lost scene from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It involves a sandstorm that takes place after Luke rescues Han and his friends from Jabba the Hutt.

Watch the video below; then check out some background.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #93, April 1985: The Return of the Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is back, featuring another cover and two articles inside. On a more technical side, the magazine reverts this issue to a stabled spine; it had been mostly (but not always) perfect-bound (also called square-bound or just plain old glued) ever since issue #77. Not a very interesting point to make, I guess, but it's a welcome change from the purely selfish p.o.v. of this Starlog Project: Stapled issues are easier to scan for page spreads.

Starlog #93
70 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.95

This issue includes the final two-page foldout poster (#24 in the series, collect 'em all): Star Wars: A New Hope. Starting next issue, there would be no more posters, no more foldout inside front covers of any sort, thanks to a reformatting of the magazine that would result in more pages and new features.

The rundown: Kerry' O'Quinn's From the Bridge column touts the "New and Improved" Starlog coming down the pike, as well as some improvements to the Starlog Festivals; Communications letters include extensive reader responses to the special review issue, #88; short news items in Log Entries include David McDonnell on the special guests at the Starlog Festivals, Chris Henderson on the latest science-fiction and fantasy books, Brick Thornshaw on the appearance by Fangoria co-editor "Uncle Bob" Martin in Day of the Dead, David Hutchison on Disneland's 30th anniversary, and more.

Lee Goldberg interviews director Richard Donner about his latest filme, Ladyhawke; Robert Greenberger talks with British actor Simon Jones about the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who, and more; Janet Fielding, a former Doctor Who companion, is interviewed by Patrick Daniel O'Neill; Lee Goldberg interviews actor John Lithgow (2010, Buckaroo Banzai, Twilight Zone movie, and much more); Goldberg also talks with actor Robert Englund about his role in V, as well as a recent little film of his called Nightmare on Elm Street; Adam Pirani interviews 1984 star John Hurt; David Gerrold serves up "Glop II" in his column, a collection of notes on various topics; Monty Python expert Kim Howard Johnson provides the second of his two-part article on SF in the Python oeuvre; Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier interview Bill Norton, director of Disney's li'l dinosaur movie, Baby; the Lofficier's also interview Denis Lawson, the Scottish actor who played Luke's pal Wedge in the Star Wars films; speaking of the Wars, David Hutchison continues his multi-multi-part examination of the special effects of Return of the Jedi, this time looking at the speeder bike chase; and Howard Zimmerman uses his Lastword column to give us his final Zimmerman Awards (such as, "Best Performance By Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Terminator").

"The [V] mini-series was done from the point-of-view of a modern Anne Frank; it was as if the entire occupation was seen through this teenage girl's eyes. Dominique was playing it shy and homely. ... When they recast, Blair [Tefkin] lightened it up and they made her an LA-Valley girl which painted them into a corner, too, because there was really nowhere to go with that idea after the intergalactic abortion."

–Robert Englund, actor, interviewed by Lee Goldberg: "Robert Englund: He's Willie, Lost Earthboy and Good Guy Alien"

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent home.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #71, June 1983: The Year of the Jedi Continues

The cover date of this issue is June, but because magazines traditionally use a cover date one month ahead of the actual date the issue is on sale (the magazine seems fresher, see), this June issue of Starlog was actually on sale in May, when Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi debuted. Ewoks and all, the movie would be another smash hit for George Lucas and his team. It would also help Starlog feed its audience and circulation.

A number of changes this issue, each of which would have big effects on the magazine's future. First, the cover price is hiked 45 cents. That no doubt helped deal with rising costs, but it also helped the magazine get some fuel as the economy pulled out of the deep early 1980s recession. Second, W.R. Mohalley takes over as the new art director. Mohalley joins Starlog from the now-defunct Warren magazine house (Famous Monsters of Filmland, Creepy, et.al.), and he remains, well, forever -- he's still at Fangoria., the only surviving Starlog publication. Third (though less momentous), Lenny Kaye takes over Bob Martin's duties writing the Space Age Games column.

Starlog #71
74 pages (including covers and unnumbered inside front cover fold-out)
Cover price: $2.95

While describing an issue published two years before #71, I noted in this compendium that we had seen the last 74-page issue for a while, and soon after that, the publishers drastically reduced the amount of color in the magazine. Well, aided by an improving economy and a sharp increase in the cover price, Starlog #71 begins a slow but steady rise; in this year and for a number of years following, we'll see the magazine add pages, color, and features. It's an almost unmitigated rise from here on in, until the magazine hits major turbulence in 2001. But we've got a while before we get there. For now, enjoy this issue, with four extra pages of color, and another two added color pages in the fold-out inside front cover (which is where the two-page posters now go).

The rundown: The editors are probably annoyed at themselves for calling their poster series "Starlog Science Fiction Classics," because it looks weird when they feature the brand-new film Return of the Jedi, as they do this issue. Can't really be a classic if it hasn't even been delivered to most theaters yet. Nonetheless, it's a cool poster (and arguably would have made a better cover photo than the one they used). In his From the Bridge column, publisher Kerry O'Quinn shares a letter from a fan who gets inspiration from science fiction; Communications letters include a correction from William F. Nolan, reader reaction to the double-Bond coverage, an angry letter writer goes after L.Q. Jones and Harlan Ellison, and more; short news items in Log Entries include an update on the third Star Trek movie (to be directed by Leonard Nimoy), three Scandinavian countries bar children from seeing E.T., Strange Invaders producer Walter Coblenz continues his chat from issue #67, and more; and Martha Bonds profiles actor Judson Scott in a two-page Spotlight column.

Steve Swires interviews Jack Schwartzman, producer of the Bond remake Never Say Never Again; Lee Goldberg interviews actor Michael Billington (UFO); James Duward profiles the busy movie prop makers at Modern Props, Inc.; Lenny Kaye kicks off his Space Age Games era with a defense of video game players; Lee Goldberg interviews Dan O'Bannon, who discusses his displeasure with Hollywood's treatment of his work (and, proving that the Starlog editors can identify a great pullquote when they see one, this O'Bannon morsel is highlighted in the article: "It was a perversion to my mother that someone should make money off science fiction and movies. I think she sees me as the equivalent of a successful hitman."); Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier preview NBC's V; Robert Greenberger interviews Carrie Fisher about the latest -- and her final -- Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi; Lee Goldberg interviews Jedi producer Richard Marquand; in his Soaring column, David Gerrold discusses the choices that make people heroes;  Chris Henderson previews Ray Bradbury's Dinosaur Tales, published by Byron Preiss Visual Publications (the company to which Starlog editor Howard Zimmerman would move in a couple years); Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier talk with director Jack Clayton about his film adaptation of Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes; Richard Holliss visits the set of the James Bond film Octopussy; Ed Naha's L.A. Offbeat column recounts his talk with Roger Corman; and Howard Zimmerman's Lastword column reviews Isaac Asimov's Foundation's Edge and Arthur C. Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two (he liked them both, though Asimov's moreso).

"I'm so excited about all the aspects of production and I feel so good about the help and input I'm getting from the people surrounding me. ... We have a very general image of this motion picture -- just a general curve on the canvas on which we're going to paint. ... And I feel totally creative, excited and alive."

--Leonard Nimoy, director, Log Entries: "Leonard Nimoy Takes Command of Star Trek III"

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent home.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #69, April 1983: Multiple Jedis

A few magazine insider notes on this issue: Starlog either switched printers or at least changed the paper stock it uses. Either way, the issue plumps up a bit more (that might sound strange; I mean it looks a bit less skinny, though the page count is the same as the previous month) and the uncoated (non-glossy) paper used for the black-and-white pages seems ... silkier. A bit smoother. Unfortunately, some of the black-and-white photos print very dark on this new paper.

Okay, so that doesn't interest you. How about this: The Return of the Jedi cover photo once again is not sufficiently tall to fill the entire cover, so black bands are added at the top of the image and at the very bottom of the image, as the magazine has done a few times in the past.

Still not interested? Okay, then there's this: This issue, Starlog announces the release of the first edition of the Starlog Poster Magazine. "10 GIANT POSTERS" shouts the ad on page 25. There are many exclamation points in the ad, too. But it was a science-fiction geek-out moment for many of us back then, because it did deliver a ton of cool posters in one package. Starlog would go on to publish quite a few editions of the poster magazines, including a series of poster magazines for its horror movie sister mag, Fangoria. This month Starlog also releases the second volume of its Starlog Scrapbook photo magazine, featuring E.T. on the cover.

Starlog #69
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.50

Now that the Star Wars sequel has finally been definitely named Return -- not Revenge -- of the Jedi, the fun can begin, as can Starlog's coverage of the movie, in earnest.

The rundown: Kerry O'Quinn probably was very pleased with the title for his From the Bridge column this month: "Out of My Drawers ...". But it's not what it sounds like; he instead is reaching into his drawers -- stop that line of thought right now! -- and sharing some of the newspaper clippings he's had stored in his desk drawers. Communications letters include Tron director Steven Lisberger, who takes the time to respond to reader reaction to his film, and other letters include support for a teacher facing censorship, thoughts on The Dark Crystal, and more; short news items in Log Entries include news of upcoming 3-D movies (Jaws 3-D, Space Hunter, and more), a peek at Blue Thunder, a profile of Matthew DeMeritt (who helped perform inside the E.T. suit for some later-discarded footage), Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta are teaming up to make the fantasy film Fire and Ice, Famous Monsters of Filmland (and Creepy, Eerie, Vampiralla, and 1994) have ceased publication, and more.

Jill Bauman provides a photo display from the Eighth Annual World Fantasy Convention; Ed Naha interviews Anthony Daniels about Return of the Jedi; Lee Goldberg interviews Tom Mankiewicz, about scripting Bond films, working on Superman, and involvement in an upcoming Batman movie; Ed Naha explores the controversy over the nuclear holocaust telefilm The Day After; Susan Adamo returns to the pages of Starlog to visit the studio where The Empire Strikes Back is being recorded for public radio; James Van Hise interviews James Kahn about his work in E.T. and on Poltergeist; Robert Greenberger interviews Jedi producer Howard Kazanjian; David Houston contributes "A Walking Tour: Part Two -- Welcome to EPCOT Center"; in her final Fan Scene column, Bjo Trimble says good-bye, her column a victim of her burgeoning interests elsewhere and O'Quinn's concern that the magazine had too many columnists; a three-page photo spread (in black-and-white) goes behind the scenes of the making of The Dark Crystal; David Gerrold announces an essay contest for Starlog readers to write his column; John Dods follows up his interview with Tim Hildebrandt by profiling estranged brother Greg Hildebrandt this issue; Bob Martin's Space Age Games throws some red meat to the SF crowd, looking at space war games; and editor Howard Zimmerman wraps it all up in his Lastword column with a farewell to Bjo Trimble.

"Nobody gets an easy ride in this picture. 3PO has moments of almost psychological tension in this film, moments where he's not sure what's happening or why. He also gets to be something that he always wanted to be. You know the way some people dream of becoming movie stars? Well, 3PO has a goal like that as well. In this movie, he finally achieves it."

--Anthony Daniels, interviewed by Ed Naha: "Anthony Daniels: The Man in the Golden Mask"

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent home.