Another Star Wars Fan Film

Whew! I apologize for the extended hiatus, readers, but it has been a wild year! Life has hit us all between the eyes since March, and this author has been no exception to that rule. I have been busy, busy, busy these last few months. Unfortunately, that left me with too little time and mental energy to write posts here at Thoughts.

Although things haven’t calmed down entirely, I think I have enough motivation to get back to some semblance of posting regularity. It’s been difficult to keep up with the calendar or even look at it on some occasions, so there have been several major holidays which have passed me by. Hopefully, those will be the last ones to do so this year. Cross your fingers and say your prayers that will be the case!

So let’s see – there are a couple of Spotlight! posts which this author must attend to before the year is up, and there is a certain film she has to review as well. That particular movie required a lot of mulling over, so this author didn’t get to it as quickly as she wished. Now that she has had (more than enough!) time to consider it, however, perhaps she can do it due diligence.

There are also some books that need reviewing here at Thoughts. They have been shaking their metaphorical fingers at the Mithril Guardian for ages, telling her to write about them already so they can go back to sleep on the shelves. I shall endeavor to accommodate them and move on to other subjects in the near future.

In the meantime, I wish to leave you with this fantastic Star Wars fan film. As stated in this post here, your hostess usually eschews fan films. But some friends have recently managed to convince her to give more than a few a viewing, which has led to some experimental prodding on her part.

Admittedly, not all of my forays into the fan film scene have been – er, fun. Some of these films are downright terrible. But more than a few are good enough to fit into the canon of one or more franchise, if the owners were willing to give them official credence. This is especially true of Star Wars fan films, some of which are so good one could wish that they had appeared in theaters.

Hoshino is one such fan film. While it has some gaps in the narrative that make it difficult to pin down in the Star Wars timeline, it feels like it could have been set in either the Old Republic or at some point in the future of Luke Skywalker’s new Jedi Order. The story is short but not terribly so, and it can be viewed in one sitting.

The first thing about Hoshino that one notices is the CGI, and for good reason. Although the filmmakers did not have a big budget, they had more than enough money to pay for some impressive computer generated effects. This is above-SyFy film grade CG, and it deserves some recognition for being done on what was probably a shoe-string budget.

The actors are also quite capable and know their material well. You can feel the titular Hoshino’s impatience with her training and desire to do more, as well as her teacher’s grief when she pushes past her limits too early. And, whatever part of the Star Wars timeline the film is set in, the undercurrents of subtle menace and fear which tie the whole story together are masterfully conveyed through music and editing.

Since they spared so few expenses making this seven minute movie, I thought it best to link to the Making of Hoshino video. The filmmakers hired an orchestra to make the soundtrack for this movie, so they were willing to go as far as they could stretch their pocketbooks on this story. And while it is not perfect, the results are more than worth it!

I hope you enjoy Hoshino, readers. There may be some more Star Wars fan films that appear at Thoughts in the future. But for now, this one will do.

May the Force be with you!

The Mithril Guardian

 

Hoshino

 

Making of Hoshino

Book Review – Star Wars: Revan by Drew Karpyshyn

If you are thinking that this blogger is on a bit of a Star Wars kick, readers, you would not be far wrong. The main reason for this is that I have had time to explore both SW timelines further recently. With all of this new information and entertainment in front of her, this blogger has had little else on her mind except for a galaxy far, far away.

And before you ask, no, I have not seen Rise of Skywalker. Nor do I intend to see it. The film was never on my radar, in no small part due to the fact that the sequel trilogy lost me with The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson insulted this writer and at least half the fan base for Star Wars with that film, leaving J.J. Abrams to make the best of a bad situation – one which, arguably, began with the poor treatment of the original characters in The Force Awakens.

There were plenty of good stories from the original EU that Disney could have adapted for film. Most will automatically think of the Thrawn trilogy, and while that would have been a great animated movie series, I personally think Disney should have done damage control on the Yuuzhan Vong story line and following arcs. As stated elsewhere here at Thoughts, doing this wouldn’t have been terribly difficult. Rather than take that tack, however, Disney chose to do what they have done. The results speak for themselves, so this author will say nothing more about them.

With that less-than-positive introduction, we turn to today’s subject. Revan is a book based on the sequel to Lucasfilm/Bioware’s runaway video game success, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. At least, I believe the novel is based on the script for Knights of the Old Republic II. It may have left some details out, but that is not necessarily a demerit. Both KOTOR games could be played for hours on end, even when the gamer knew the story so well they could skip certain sections with ease.

The book is set two years after Revan saved the Republic from his former friend and Dark Side apprentice, Darth Malak. Now married to Bastila Shan, he and she are living quietly in an apartment on Coruscant, well out of the public eye. On a city world of millions it is easy for two people – even two powerful Jedi – to disappear and stay out of sight.

But while he is enjoying his hard-won peace and happiness, Revan is troubled. For the last three nights he has awoken in a cold sweat after dreaming of a world covered in perpetual lightning storms. Getting out of bed, he rinses his face in the refresher sink before stepping out onto the balcony.

The Capture of Revan 

He is not out there long when Bastila joins him, having awoken despite his best efforts to let her sleep. The two discuss the past, with the young wife reminding her husband that he is no longer a Dark Lord of the Sith. She also laments her part in his mind wipe, realizing now that it was not a good thing to do. However, Revan is grateful for the mindwipe. If it hadn’t been for that, he reminds her, then they would never have met or married.

With the problem seemingly settled, the two go back to bed. But only one falls asleep. While Bastila gets some rest her husband remains awake, trying to figure out what the dreams mean. So far, all that is clear is that a storm is coming, one borne on the wings of his past actions. And even though it is still far off, it threatens to wipe out the Republic, the Jedi, and everyone for whom the Prodigal Knight cares.

Meanwhile, on the storm world of Dromuund Kaas, Lord Scourge steps out of his shuttle. Dromuund Kaas is the heart of the Sith Empire, and Scourge has not been to the planet since his academy days. He has only returned now because a member of the Dark Council, Darth Nyriss, has requested his help ferreting out assassins who have attempted to kill her several times.

He quickly learns that he was not, in fact, summoned by the Dark witch of her own volition. The Sith Emperor has implied that members of her retinue are responsible for the assassination attempts. In order to quell the trouble, he “suggested” she employ Scourge to investigate the people of her house. And any “suggestion” from the Emperor of the Sith practically counts as an order.

Should the young Sith Lord discover that the Councilor has engaged in treasonous behavior, he will of course make that report to the Emperor, at which time Nyriss’ life will be immediately forfeit. The only problem with that plan, naturally enough, is that Nyriss might catch him before he makes his report – or even after he does make it – and kill him. If he wants to live, let alone advance into the upper echelons of the Imperial court, Scourge must tread carefully.

Between the two of them, Revan and Scourge grope their way to a horrifying realization. As one searches for answers from his past and the other is drawn into a present conspiracy, they each discover the same terrifying solution to the puzzle. For the Emperor is not only powerful; he is stark, raving mad. And that madness will sweep away all life in the galaxy if he isn’t stopped.

As other reviewers have noted, the prose in this book is not the best. I suppose, though, that since the target audience for this novel is not the general Star Wars fan base. It is mainly meant for the people who played Knights of the Old Republic one and two.

Scourge receives more character development and “screen time” than Revan, which is a bit of a bummer. The writer may have also been told that he didn’t have to focus on the Prodigal Knight much. Still, the scenes we get with Revan are fun and give gamers who played KOTOR more time with the protagonist they pretended to be for the duration of the story.

We also get a nice look at Mandalorian culture in this book, along with some quality time given to Canderous Ordo, everyone’s favorite barbarian warrior. Although he is given too much of the limelight in my opinion, Scourge makes up for it by being an interesting guy. He is ruthless and horrible, as the Sith usually are, but he also has a twisted sense of honor that can’t help but win a reader’s affection.

There are no explicit or extreme content Warnings for Younger Readers that I noticed. Nothing the married couples in the book do is dwelt on, while the evil perpetrated by the villains remains at acceptable levels. To be perfectly honest, this blogger believes that Revan probably qualifies more as a novel for younger Star Wars fans than it does for the adult members of the fandom.

For that reason, I have no reservations about recommending it to them and suggesting more mature fans avoid the book. It’s not bad if you know what you are getting into and don’t care, but if you pick it up believing it will match the more adult entries in the Expanded Universe, you will be disappointed. This was a book designed for youngsters and die-hard fans of a video game, not experienced readers looking to spend some quality time in a galaxy far, far away.

May the Force be with you, readers!

The Mithril Guardian

Blast from the Past: A Star Wars Fan Film

Normally, this blogger does not view fan films. This is not because she has a particular animus against fan films in general or in particular; for the most part, these stories simply are not my thing. Same for fan fiction – although I occasionally stumble upon some pieces that I enjoy, this blogger does not seek them out. Fan stories find me, not the other way around.

So when a friend recommended The Old Republic: Rescue Mission to this author, she agreed to take a look at it out of respect for and trust in her compadre. The fact that the film’s story is set in the time of Knights of the Old Republic made settling in to watch it easier, since I was already familiar with two of the main characters and some of the storyline.

Rescue Mission is a fan fiction piece set in the years following the events of the first Knights of the Old Republic video game. Mission, the young Twi’lek street thief, has been captured by Mandalorian bounty hunters on Alderaan. The three hope to use her to draw Revan, the Prodigal Knight, out into the open. Pursuing the Mandos are a group of Alderaanian special forces, who are joined by a pair of Jedi who were already in the system and sensed their need for help.

Some might think the inclusion of Alderaanian warriors is odd. Wasn’t Alderaan a pacifist world? By the time of the Battle of Yavin, it was. Four thousand years earlier, however, Alderaanians still had weapons, as well as standing army and navy. Three hundred years after this story takes place, the Sith tried to take Alderaan, only to be repulsed by Republic and Alderaanian forces.

Three members of one of Australia’s Mandalorain Mercs, a group of fans who make their own Mandalorian armor, play the bounty hunters in this film. Having learned about the Mercs a little while ago, this blogger was able to easily identify them by the high quality of their armor and their fluency with Mando’a. I would almost recommend this video based on their performances alone.

Luckily, there are other reasons to suggest giving it a watch. The film’s director does a stunning job portraying Revan, and the voice actor who speaks the Prodigal Knight’s lines also deserves major kudos. He really captures the charismatic power of the former Sith Lord turned Jedi Knight, delivering his lines without the slightest hitch. I can also say that the fan film is well-choreographed. The effects aren’t bad, despite the fact that the production is definitely low budget, and the lightsaber work is very believable.

Oh, before I forget, there is a mild content warning for this film. The production crew does not shy away from blood and death in this video. While it isn’t particularly graphic, younger viewers might have a bit of a problem with the scenes where characters cough up gobs of blood. Since this is Star Wars and there are lightsabers, we do watch someone get decapitated, too. It isn’t an explicit scene, but a particularly youthful audience may want to be aware of it all the same.

Other than these minor items, I highly recommend giving Rescue Mission a viewing. The story is good, the acting is great, and the Star Wars vibe is strong. What more could a fan ask for?

May the Force be with you, readers!

The Mithril Guardian

The Old Republic: Rescue Mission – (2015) Short Film

More Star Wars Trivia from the Original Expanded Universe!

Hello, Readers! As you know, my conversations with the girls at The Elven Padawan led me to check youtube to see if there were any videos about Star Wars‘ original timeline. Having found several valuable videos there, I thought I would to post them here at Thoughts, along with links to information about the original Star Wars Expanded Universe.

This should fill in the gaps in my own knowledge of this field, since I know a fair bit about the original Expanded Universe, but not as much as I’d like. Below you will find a number of links to Wookieepedia articles on the Jedi, smugglers, and bounty hunters mentioned in these videos. Anything not covered in the videos should be in the articles.

Enjoy discovering more about the original Star Wars universe, readers! Remember –

“The Force will be with you, always.”

 

(Sorry for the language at the start of this video!)

Revan Part 1 (Legends) – Star Wars Explained

 

Darth Revan: Part 2 (Legends) – Star Wars Minute

 

The Legend of Bastila Shan – Star Wars Minute

 

Exar Kun (Legends) – Star Wars Minute

 

Dash Rendar (Legends) – Star Wars Minute

 

The Legend of Rahm Kota – Star Wars Minute

The Legend Boba Fett – Star Wars Explained

 

The Legends Story of Dengar – Star Wars Explained

 

Rukh and the Noghri in Star Wars Rebels – Canon vs Legends

 

Every Grand Master of the Jedi Order (This Video mentions Nomi Sunrider)

 

Star Wars All Lightsaber Colors And Meanings

 

10 Jedi Who Were The Only Ones Of Their Species – Star Wars Explained

 

7 Jedi That Survived Order 66 and How They Did It

 

All Jedi That Survived The Great Jedi Purge

 

The Jedi who Defied Death – How They Survived Order 66 (Dass Jennir)

Videos of Kyle Katarn

Hey, Readers! After several discussions with the girls over at The Elven Padawan, I was inspired to look up a number of videos about the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. Most of those videos will appear in later posts, but I thought these deserved to be shown first.

These videos are all “live-action cut scenes” from the video game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. They’re not entirely up to modern standards, I suppose, but they are nonetheless fascinating viewing. Someone on youtube collected them and put them together as a film, but I thought it would be easier on everyone to post the three different videos filled with cut scenes here today. That way you can stop and come back whenever you want to, readers. 😉

Based on these videos alone, I can see why Dark Forces II was such a big hit. Who wouldn’t want to play a game AND watch a film at the same time? It’s one of the reasons why I enjoyed playing Knights of the Old Republic so much – and that game was entirely CGI! It’s too bad Disney or some other company hasn’t refurbished or reshot Dark Forces. This game was a real gem.

But enough talk – you came here to see Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors face down the High Inquisitor Jerec over the power of the Valley of the Jedi. Have fun watching these videos, readers!

May the Force be with you!

The Mithril Guardian

Star Wars – Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Live Action Cutscenes Part 1

 

Star Wars – Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Live Action Cutscenes Part 2

 

Star Wars – Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Live Action Cutscenes Part 3