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rebelsofshield · 7 years ago

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From Spark to Flame: Predicting the End of Star Wars Rebels

In just a day the fourth and final season of Star Wars Rebels will be upon us. What began as a spark of rebellion has grown into an odyssey following the journeys of a diverse ensemble of heroes and villains spanning years, battles, generations, and a galaxy. It’s hard to believe that in less than a year’s time this series will conclude and close the book on a unique chapter of the franchise’s history and likely pave the way for the next iteration of this universe on the small screen. What should we expect in the series’ final season? In many ways, this final installment is a mystery, but because I love speculating and critiquing I’m diving in any ways. The following is my long, and I stress long, breakdown of my thoughts, opinions, and predictions going in. Who lives? Who dies? Who shacks up? Who cameos? How gratuitous will the wolves be? All here. Well kinda.

(There are potential spoilers below. Nothing not readily available to the public, but if you want to go in entirely clean, maybe stay out.)

Part I: What We Know

Something that Rebels shares with its parent series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is that it in many ways functions as a prequel to a large chunk of the franchise. While there are certainly climactic events and character arcs that are unique to the series, Rebels takes place in a period of the Star Wars timeline that is bookended by existing media. This has become even more apparent with the release of Rogue One in 2016. As a result, going into season four there are a few concrete facts that can help shape our expectations of how Rebels’ final season may play out.

Hera and Chopper Live

We know that the Ghost crew’s pilot, captain, and resident maternal figure, Hera Syndulla and her cantankerous droid, Chopper, are the only two members of The Ghost crew that are confirmed to survive the events of the series. Hera receives a literal shoutout line in Rogue One and Chopper has a now famous cameo in the background of the Yavin Base. This is not to say that the other members of The Ghost crew may perish, more on that later, but as of The Battle of Scarif, only two members are known for sure to be active members of the rebel alliance. We also can safely assume that at the very least Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus are no longer active Force-users in the Alliance. The dialogue between Mon Mothma and Bail Organa regarding Obi-Wan strongly indicates that there are no Jedi present in the rebellion at the time of the film. Now, there are many ways that Dave Filoni and crew could cheat this, but I would bet against having Ezra and Kanan swinging lightsabers by Hera’s side by the time this season ends.

The Battle of Lothal will most likely be a loss for the Alliance

Rogue One also reaffirms a statement in the opening crawl of the original 1977 Star Wars by stressing that the Battle of Scarif and the theft of the Death Star plans is the first major military victory for the Rebel Alliance in their war against the Galactic Empire. By this logic, it is unlikely that by the time the series closes its narrative Lothal remains under the sway of the Empire. Now, it seems unlikely that the series will end in a complete downer with our heroes failing in their mission, it is possible that Lothal proves a more symbolic victory, but more on that later.

Thrawn’s TIE Defender Plan is a Failure

One of the plot threads we see shown in the final trailer for the fourth season is the internal conflict between the development of Grand Admriral Thrawn’s TIE Defender fighters and Director Orson Krennic’s Death Star. Tarkin begins to suspect that Thrawn’s pet project may not be in the Empire’s best interest moving forward given its expensive cost and lack of proven success. What is presented to us is a scenario where the TIE Defender likely has a short lived life-span with a premature death. While Star Wars has retroactively inserted vehicles, technology, and lore into the Original Trilogy period since the Prequel Trilogy, it seems confirmed here that Tharwn’s attempt to update the Imperial fighter squadron machine is fruitless.

Part II: What We’ve Been Told/Shown

In the months following the end of Star Wars Rebels season three, we have gained quite a few kernels of information from both the cast and crew of the series. Before I jump into full on speculation, I wanted to take a moment to show and extrapolate on other information we’ve gained for the series.

The season will be shorter and more serialized

One of the major complaints leveled at the second and third season of Star Wars Rebels is the focus on anthologized storytelling at times lead to episodes that seemingly did not tie back into the overarching plot or felt like diversions. Season four, intentionally or not, will somewhat address this issue. It runs shorter than the second and third season, clocking in at 16 22 minute segments, several of which form two part 44 minute episodes. Also, according to Dave, the first several episodes wrap up disparate plot threads before converging on one long story that feed into a narrative that covers the thrust of the last chunk of the season. Conventional wisdom seems to hint that we will spend much of this season on Lothal as the liberation of the planet becomes a priority for the rebellion and our cast.

Mandalore is in Civil War

Ever since Ursa Wren slayed Imperial Viceroy Gar Saxon to protect her daughter, Mandalore has broken apart with the various houses and clans vying for control of the planet with the Empire backing the remnants of Saxon’s house. This conflict takes center stage in the season premiere “Heroes of Mandalore,” which was partially screened at Celebration Orlando and then in its entirety at FanExpo. (I saw the first half myself and it’s pretty great. No spoilers, but it left me with a pretty huge cliffhanger that I’ve been anticipating the conclusion to since April.)

Rebels seems to be pulling out all the stops in putting this conflict to screen. Not only do we get a wide variety of Mandalorian characters and factions, numerous characters from this series’ past as well as The Clone Wars are due for an appearance. After teasing her return to Star Wars animation last year, Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame is due for a reprise of her character Bo-Katan and appears to be wielding the legendary Darksaber (perhaps Sabine hands it over to the rightful ruler of the planet?). In addition to the return of Sabine’s mother and brother, the Rebels Season Three Blu-Ray also reveals that Sabine’s father will be making his debut in the premiere. Having seen part of the episode I can confirm that he plays into Sabine’s character in a fun fashion, it’s very apparent about how his and Ursa’s personalities mixed to create their daughter. Shots of Mandalorian soldiers being turned to dust also seem to hint that the terrible weapon developed by Sabine will be deployed by the Empire.

That being said it seems unlikely that the Mandalorian conflict will spill over into the greater galactic conflict with the Empire. While Sabine and some of her close allies may take part in the battle on Lothal (Sabine can be glimpsed in the final shots of the second trailer with the rest of the Ghost Crew), the lack of Mandalorian presence in Rogue One seems to make this an unlikely possibility.

The Clones Are Back

After sitting out season three, Dave Filoni and Pablo Hidalgo confirmed that clones Wolffe and Gregor would be seen on screen once again before the end of the series at Celebration Orlando earlier this year. Similarly, Dave cryptically dropped concept of Captain Rex wearing camouflage armor seemingly hinting at the popular fan theory that an older extra in Return of the Jedi may be the famous clone veteran.

Saw Gerrera and the Partisans

We also have been informed that Forest Whitaker will be reprising his role as Saw Gerrera in the early portions of the season. In addition to confirmation that his alien partner, Edrio Two Tubes (or maybe it’s Benthic. I honestly didn’t even know there were two of them. Did you know that?), will be joining him. The final trailer and Filoni have both hinted that this season widens the gap between Gerrera and the rest of the Alliance and may explain why he is no longer a part of the larger rebellion by the time Rogue One rolls around. He also seems set to butt heads with some key characters in the ensemble. Ezra in particular seems drawn in by Saw’s no nonsense results oriented strategy. Ezra has often been marked equally by both his compassion and his desire to see the Empire and Sith defeated. It seems likely that he will be used as a vantage point for the viewer allowing them to see both the allure and danger of a more dangerous and fanatical battle against The Empire.

Space Married

One of the most widely popular and to many the most consistently playfully frustrating aspects of the Rebels ensemble has been the frequently hinted at but never explicitly shown relationship between Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus. According to clips shown at Fan Expo and the first and second trailer for this season, fans may finally get their wish and see the symbolic mother and father of The Ghost crew commit to some form of romantic relationship. Whether this has a happy ending is a whole other thing, but for a few happy moments we are more than likely to see this couple finally, maybe, kiss…or something. At least an emotional forehead touch.

Rukh

Thrawn’s Noghri bodyguard from Timothy Zahn’s classic trilogy of novels is set to make his first canon appearance this season voiced by the legendary Warwick Davis. While his role appears to have been reshuffled to be more of a special agent/assassin in Thrawn’s employ rather than the almost enslaved bodyguard in his Legends appearance, it is unclear just how much Rukh borrows from his original role. Most importantly, is he the one to place once again place the killing blow on The Empire’s blue skinned Admiral? I’m inclined to think not.

Space Wolves

Dave Filoni loves wolves. Like, he really really likes wolves. What would the final season be without a whole lot of giant magical space wolves? The Loth-Wolves so far have remained a mystery, but their importance and almost mystical presence have been stressed throughout season four’s marketing campaign. While we can rest easy knowing that Ahsoka isn’t pulling a Sirius Black and transforming into a wolf like some fan’s speculated, Filoni has stressed that the large white predators are a Bendu-like creature that border the light and the dark. What connection do they really have to the planet of Lothal and the series as a whole? Who knows, but it will be nice to finally get a sense of how they fit into the planet’s culture.

Ahsoka Lives !(?!)

Oh yeah, Ahsoka is back. How? Why? Where? Who knows, but Dave Filoni has confirmed that we will see Ashley Eckstein’s fan favorite former-Jedi at least one more time before the series ends.

Part III: Rampant Speculation

So what does this all mean? Where are we going? Who is that? Where am I? Before I start jumping into the general end game for the series, let’s get a few more pieces of speculation out of the way. Let’s talk characters. Let’s talk deaths. Let’s talk why Nick keeps using repetition to spice up this segment of his article.

Kallus and the Rebellion

While Alexsandr Kallus (yes, that’s officially his first name now) has been a rebel operative for about a full season now, this season marks the first time that the former Imperial operative is an active participant in the Alliance. Sporting a snazzy new outfit and set to make a change in the galaxy, Kallus is sure to be one of the more intriguing aspects of this season going into its start. I highly doubt that Kallus’s assimilation into the rebellion will make for a clean transition. In particular, Kallus seems primed to be a key source of antagonism with Saw Gerrera. As we learned in “The Honorable Ones,” Saw’s partisans were responsible for the deaths of Kallus’s men on Onderon. Similarly, Saw’s own fanaticism makes it seem likely that he won’t be keen on having a former Imperial Intelligence officer enter the Alliance. The two seem primed for a confrontation and Dave Filoni and the creative team would be smart to capitalize off this. The idea of having David Oyelowo and Forest Whitaker face off is too great an opportunity to pass up.

Thrawn will survive

Grand Admiral Thrawn’s survival is one of the most hotly debated aspects of the series. The iconic Legends turned canon Chiss admiral has been a fan favorite on and off screen. While he more or less came out on top at the conclusion of season three, Thrawn’s fate is a bit more ambiguous this season. Like many iconic Rebels characters, he does not play a role in the original trilogy and for a character of his stature and in-universe importance, it seems unlikely that he is still an active participant in the Imperial war machine at the time the series concludes. We may have actually been given our first clue to the fate of Thrawn at New York Comic Con last weekend. Timothy Zahn, the original creator of the blue skinned villain, announced that he would be writing a sequel to his canon novel, Thrawn, tentatively titled Alliances, which would feature the character teaming up with Darth Vader himself. While this inherently may not seem like a dead giveaway that Thrawn makes it out of the series alive, the original Thrawn novel concluded just before the character’s introduction in the season three premiere episode “Steps into Shadow.” While it is possible that the sequel novel may function as a pseudo-prequel or even a mid-quel, this seems to indicate that Thrawn’s narrative continues past what is seen on screen. Similarly, the final novel in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy appears to hint that Thrawn spent much of his later career stationed in the Unknown Regions, although the language is vague and inconclusive.

Expect Lots of Cameos

With the Ghost Crew now firmly a part of the larger rebellion, it seems inevitable that we will be seeing at the very least cameo appearances from numerous famous characters. Bail Organa, Jan Dodonna, and Mon Mothma all seem like givens for speaking roles, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see various others as well. With the continued attempts to establish creative synergy between Rebels and Rogue One, I think it is highly likely that characters such as Admiral Raddus will appear, especially given that Stephen Stanton is already a regularly employed member of the Rebels voice cast. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we got a few more notable cameos such as Cassian Andor or K-2SO. Having two Fulcrum agents such as Cassian and Kallus interact seems like another relationship that would be key to exploit. I also would be very surprised if we finished the series out without seeing Leia or Darth Vader again. Both characters made a splash in their first appearances in the series’ second season and it seems like both characters still have something to contribute to the narrative, Leia in particular.

Only one Ghost Crew member will die

While Hera and Chopper are proved to make it out of the series, Rebels will not pull a Rogue One and end with the death of the majority of its cast. We may not know what fates may befall Ezra, Sabine, Kanan, and Zeb but a massacre seems off the table. For a simple and almost logistical reason, Rebels is a series that is at its heart tonally optimistic and targeted at a mature but younger audience. It isn’t afraid to kill characters, good or evil, this is true, but Rebels is a series that is most concerned with exploring family and the importance of standing up for a larger cause in difficult times. I do not see Dave Filoni, Lucasfilm, and especially Disney XD, sanctioning an ending for the series that reinforces such a bleak understanding of sacrifice and familial bonds. It may be a good ending, but it’s hardly the best and certainly not the route that Rebels will take. That being said, it seems just as unlikely if the entirety of the Rebels cast is to survive. Heroic sacrifice and the cost of war are a theme of Star Wars and Dave Filoni at times has been all too aware of this. I am willing to go on the record and say only one member of the Ghost Crew will perish and there are two likely candidates.

Sabine seems least likely out of the four non-confirmed survivors of the series to perish. Her fate at this point is almost more connected to the Mandalorian struggle than to the rebellion itself. While it may be a poignant end for her story to have her sacrifice her life to bring liberty to her people and reunite her family, it feels out of place and, again, overly bleak for the series to take this route for her character. Besides, with the media blitz that Sabine has received since her involvement in the Forces of Destiny toyline and animated shorts, I doubt we’ve seen the last of our graffiti inspired Mandalorian warrior.

Ezra is this series’ biggest question mark. Rebels is at the end of the day about him and his journey from street rat to Jedi apprentice to freedom fighter. Does the story end in his death? I’m inclined to think not. Why? Well, again, on a practical level, I cannot recall a single television series aimed at a preteen to teen age demographic that ended with the death of its child protagonist, even if, yes, Ezra is pushing the age boundaries for that term at this point. Rebels has to keep in mind both its adult and child viewers and killing off the hero in the hero’s journey may not be the move that best placates both audiences. That being said, in terms of canon, Ezra does create a problem. He is simply too prominent and powerful a figure to be left around in the universe by the time we reach the events of Rogue One and A New Hope. Well, where is Ezra then? I’m getting to that, I promise.

That leaves our two likely death candidates being Garazeb Orrelios and Kanan Jarrus. Zeb is the character I’ve spoken the least about in this write up and frankly there is a reason for this. While he began the series as one of the show’s more compelling and entertaining characters, season three proved just how stagnant a character the Ghost Crew’s Lasat had become. In two strong episodes in Rebels’ second season, Zeb’s character arcs had effectively resolved themselves. Zeb had not only found out that he was not the last surviving member of the Lasats, in fact there is a whole planet of them, but had also reconciled with his longtime nemesis, Agent Kallus. With Kallus now a willing member of the rebellion, this relationship also seems to have reached its natural conclusion. While there is certainly opportunity to develop this dynamic further, it almost feels as if Zeb’s purpose is to function as an extension of Kallus’s character rather than his own. Unfortunately, this makes Zeb the most dispensable and cleanest death for the Rebels team to pull off. Zeb has been with the viewer long enough for his passing to have an emotional impact both in and out of the series, while at the same time avoiding any long term damage to the series dynamics if he were to be taken off the table. Perhaps he sacrifices himself to save the Ghost Crew or Kallus? Or maybe him and Kallus go out together in a blaze of glory? It could go either way.

And then there’s Kanan. This is the hard one, because Freddie Prinze Jr.’s blind Jedi Knight and resident Ghost father figure has been not only one of the strongest characters in Rebels’ ensemble but also one of its most beloved. There is a genuine affection for Kanan. I’m sure a very large portion of the fanbase would love to see him and Hera happily settle down together and raise some Twi-Lek/Human hybrid babies (I mean we know that can happen thanks to The Clone Wars), but, man, things just don’t look good for him. Like Ezra, Kanan’s continued participation in the Alliance creates a massive problem for the larger lore of Star Wars. A practicing Jedi Knight being a participant in the Alliance would surely be noticed and would have come up in conversation, especially considering the addition of Luke Skywalker to their ranks following the Battle of Yavin. Kanan has to be removed from the playing field somehow. While it is possible he could join Ezra on my big series end theory, it is just as likely if not plausible that he becomes one with the Force. This would undoubtedly be the most emotional route the crew could take and it is a very likely possibility.

Part IV: The Ending

So how does Rebels end? How does this saga conclude in a manner that resolves its various plot points but also moves us towards an emotionally satisfying conclusion that capitalizes off the series’ themes? In all honesty, I’m taking a stab in the dark, but it’s one that I am confident in.

Lothal is the key. Not only is it central to the conflict at the series’ conclusion and is it the home at which Rebels began, but there is something about the planet that is special. Hinted at way back in “The Siege of Lothal” by Minister Tua, there is a secret reason for The Empire’s interest in Lothal as a planet. While this has become lost in the dozens of climactic events that have occurred in the seasons since, the secret for the Empire’s presence on the grassy planet has never been answered.

We know for a fact that this cannot be related to the strip mining of Lothal’s resources as Tua confirms that this isn’t the case. Similarly, Thrawn’s use of the planet as a staging ground for the development of the TIE Defender didn’t come to fruition until after he had been relocated to the planet at the start of the third season. Whatever secret lies buried beneath Lothal has been there for quite sometime and has barely if ever been touched upon.

So what is it? We do know that Lothal is a planet filled with hidden Force secrets. From the lost Jedi Temple seen in the first season to the Lothwolfs, Lothal has a rich secret Force culture. We know from the novels and comics that Emperor Palpatine has been stockpiling Force and Sith artifacts to use in outlook stations to observe some strange threat in the Unknown Regions, which is maybe probably Snoke or something . My theory is that there is some secret Force artifact, temple, or object/place of similar significance that The Empire is actively in search of located on Lothal. Dave Filoni has stressed repeatedly that this season will be delving into a great deal of stranger imagery that is not unlike some work they’ve done in The Clone Wars in the past. While he keeps it vague, it is not hard to call to mind images of the Mortis Trilogy or Yoda’s strange walkabout to learn the secrets of the afterlife.

I believe that while much of the Battle for Lothal will remain a military campaign, Ezra and likely Kanan’s story will take a swerve into the search and discovery of what this Force secret may be, and the Lothwolves are likely the first step to finding this. While we do not know enough regarding this secret to truly learn much about it as of yet, my guess is that this artifact sends Ezra to or leads him into the unknown regions and he is forced to abandon the rest of rebellion to follow his quest. Ezra leaves the rebellion war effort to focus on a task that is possibly even more important and even dangerous.

While I believe that this will occur towards the end of the series, my thinking is that perhaps the Force grants Ezra a brief glimpse into the future. He is able to see key events in the rebellion and will learn that the future, while always in motion, will lead to freedom. I suspect that this is where Rebels will show the fates of most of our cast in how they tie into the original trilogy, such as showing Captain Rex fighting on the moon of Endor. It will be vague and likely not mean much out of context to Ezra, but fans will be able to discern where and what is occurring.

With Ezra out of the picture, we end the series with him a new environment and seemingly unknown. We know for a fact that only a scant few voice actors and production supervisors have worked on the final scene of the series and that it has been top secret. I believe we end the series with a conversation between Ahsoka and Ezra. Dave has hinted for a while that we will see Ahsoka Tano again, but the nature of her reappearance has always been vague. We do know that Ahsoka disappeared into the depths of Malachor following her duel with Darth Vader. The promotional TOPS cards (shown above) released in 2016 seem to hint at this as well, even showing Lothwolves. It seems her fate lead her onto the same path that Ezra now finds himself. It ends with both eras of Star Wars animation joining forces to find a common future.

Well, that’s how I see it anyways. I may be completely wrong, but I feel confident that the end will be something at least slightly similar to this.

We will know soon enough. What are your opinions? Where and how do you think Star Wars Rebels will conclude? I would love to hear your thoughts and critiques and predictions.

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brokehorrorfan · 7 years ago

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24 References You May Have Missed in Kong: Skull Island

Having had a blast with Kong: Skull Island on the big screen, I was eager to delve into the special features that accompanied the home video release. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts' informative audio commentary is a highlight, as he points out a myriad of references that are peppered throughout the film.

Ranging from obvious to quite subtle, the influences stem from films, video games, anime, and manga. Here are 24 references you may have missed in the film:

1. The reveal of Kong in the prologue is inspired by the video game Shadow of the Colossus.

2. The neon lights reflected on the phone booth as Samuel L. Jackson takes a call early in the movie are based on a similar shot in The Conversation.

3. The Athena logo seen on a boat in the Bangkok scene is Vogt-Roberts' "dumb, unnecessary nod" to Alien, because the A's are in the same font as Alien's title.

4. Vogt-Roberts' pays tribute to his fist film, The Kings of Summer. Its stars, Nick Robinson, Moises Arias, and Erin Moriarty, briefly appear in the background of two shots just before Tom Hiddleston's character is introduced in Saigon. Later, the names of soldiers killed on Skull Island are those of The Kings of Summer writer Chris Galletta and producers John Hodges and Peter Saraf.

5. The overhead shot of Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson's characters talking with boxes stacked up alongside them is a "weird homage" to first room you play in Metal Gear Solid.

6. Samuel L. Jackson's character saying "Hold onto your butts" is the film’s most obvious tribute; a call-back to the oft-quoted line Jackson delivers in Jurassic Park. Vogt-Roberts requested it be put in the script, thinking Jackson wouldn't want to say it, but the veteran actor did so without question.

7. The shot of the helicopters entering the storm before reaching Skull Island is inspired by the vibrant landscapes in Mad Max: Fury Road.

8. Vogt-Roberts envisioned the film as "Apocalypse Now mixed with King Kong." Most notably, the helicopters flying in and dropping bombs on Skull Island echoes Apocalypse Now's "Ride of the Valkyries" scene.

9. The mountain visible in the distance as the helicopters approach Skull Island (actually shot in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay) is taken from the video game Journey.

10. The lettering and serial number on top of the record player featured in the film matches the box that houses the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

11. There are several throwbacks to the original 1933 version of King Kong. The first comes when Kong eats a solider out of helicopter. Vogt-Roberts states, "One of the things that I love about the '33 version ... is that Kong ate people."

12. The shot of a solider impaled by the giant spider's leg is, in fact, an homage to the iconic scene from Cannibal Holocaust. Vogt-Roberts admits that he cannot believe it made it into the film.

13. Kong fighting a giant squid is an update of a similar scene in Toho's King Kong vs. Godzilla.

14. Kong slurping the squid tentacles off his face is an homage to a similar shot in Oldboy. Vogt-Roberts showed it to director Park Chan-wook, who thought it was amazing.

15. John C. Reilly's character wears a jacket that prominently features a Lizard Company patch. This is a slick reference to Taxi Driver, in which Travis Bickle dons a King Kong Company patch.

16. The boat that John C. Reilly's character assembled out of plane parts is named Gray Fox after a character in Metal Gear Solid.

17. The name of the Japanese soldier, Gunpei Ikari, derives from Gunpei Yokoi, co-creator of Metroid and original designer of the Game Boy, and Shinji Ikari, the protagonist of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

18. The sword belonging to Gunpei Ikari, which John C. Reilly's character keeps and later uses, features same two-triangle design as the blade in Princess Mononoke.

19. The sequence in which John Ortiz's character is captured and dismembered by prehistoric birds features two references: a first-person-shooter-style viewpoint inspired by Call of Duty, followed by a silhouette in front of the sunset reminiscent of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial's flight in front of the moon.

20. Kong’s standoff against the soldiers toward the end of the film is inspired by Dragon Ball Z and Evangelion, in that Kong looks Saiyan and the size of the moon and skyline are exaggerated. The final fight between Kong and the Skullcrawler is also influenced by the same two sources.

21. The villainous monster known as the Skullcrawler took a long time to design, ultimately culling from the two-legged creature in 1933's King Kong, the inelegance of the monster in The Host, No-Face from Spirited Away, the first angel in Evangelion, and Cubone from Pokemon.

22. The moment of tension between the soldiers and the rest of the humans, all with weapons drawn, after Kong is taken down is inspired by Full Metal Jacket. Vogt-Roberts admits, "Obviously the intensity is probably nowhere near that."

34. The nods even extend to the film's sound design: When Samuel L. Jackson's character is on the radio, the static is a fusion of the probe droid from Empire Strikes Back and the radio static from The Conversation. Similarly, the sound of the boat starting has shades of Star Wars' Millennium Falcon.

24. Although Kong: Skull Island takes a very different approach to the kaiju movie than 2014's Godzilla, Vogt-Roberts does include a nod to that film. When Kong and the Skullcrawler start fighting, it's shown through Brie Larson's character's camera lens until she's swept away just as the action is picking up, similar to how Godzilla teased the audience with monster battles.

Vogt-Roberts confesses that he only points out a faction of the references, teasing that he may one day publish a master list with all of them. How many did you pick up on?

Despite the slew of influences, the young director constantly challenged himself to subvert expectations and do things that hadn't been before. In doing so, he crafted a wildly entertaining, fantastical spectacle. Read my full review of Kong: Skull Island here.

Kong: Skull Island is available now on 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD via Warner Bros.

#kong skull island #kong: skull island #king kong #tom hiddleston #brie larson #article #list

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newstfionline · 7 years ago

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The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond—And Why the British Won’t Give It Back

By Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian.com, August 30, 2017

The diamond came from India’s alluvial mines thousands of years ago, sifted from the sand. According to Hindu belief, it was revered by gods like Krishna--even though it seemed to carry a curse, if the luck of its owners was anything to go by. The gem, which would come to be known as the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, wove its way through Indian court intrigues before eventually ending up in the British Crown Jewels by the mid-1800s. That was when a British amateur geologist interviewed gemologists and historians on the diamond’s origins and wrote the history of the Koh-i-Noor that served as the basis for most future stories of the diamond. But according to historians Anita Anand and William Dalrymple, that geologist got it all wrong.

In their new book Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond, Anand and Dalrymple work their way through more than four centuries of Indian history to learn the truth about the diamond, “panning the old research” like the Indians who sieved river sand for diamonds, Anand says. And the true history has its share of drama. For Dalrymple, “It’s a perfectly scripted Game of Thrones-style epic. All the romance, all the blood, all the gore, all the bling.”

But beneath the drama of the diamond is a more serious question that still has no clear answer: How should modern nations deal with a colonial legacy of looting? With numerous countries (including India, Pakistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan) having claimed ownership of the Koh-i-Noor, it’s a topic under vigorous debate.

To understand where the diamond came from--and whether it could ever go back--requires diving into the murky past, when India was ruled by outsiders: the Mughals.

For centuries, India was the world’s only source of diamonds--all the way until 1725, with the discovery of diamond mines in Brazil. Most of the gemstones were alluvial, meaning they could be sifted out of river sands, and rulers of the subcontinent embraced their role as the first diamond connoisseurs.

“In many ancient Indian courts, jewelry rather than clothing was the principal form of adornment and a visible sign of court hierarchy, with strict rules being laid down to establish which rank of courtier could wear which gem in which setting,” Dalrymple and Anand write in their book. The world’s oldest texts on gemology also come from India, and they include sophisticated classification systems for different kinds of stones.

Turco-Mongol leader Zahir-ud-din Babur came from Central Asia through the Kyber Pass (located between modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) to invade India in 1526, establishing the Islamic Mughal dynasty and a new era of infatuation with gemstones. The Mughals would rule northern India for 330 years, expanding their territory across nearly all of present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and eastern Afghanistan, all the while reveling in the mountains of gemstones they inherited and pillaged.

Although it’s impossible to know exactly where the Koh-i-Noor came from and when it first came into the Mughals’ possession, there is a definite point at which it appears in the written record. In 1628, Mughal ruler Shah Jahan commissioned a magnificent, gemstone-encrusted throne. The bejeweled structure was inspired by the fabled throne of Solomon, the Hebrew king who figures into the histories of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Shah Jahan’s throne took seven years to make, costing four times as much as the Taj Mahal, which was also under construction. As court chronicler Ahmad Shah Lahore writes in his account of the throne:

“The outside of the canopy was to be of enamel work studded with gems, the inside was to be thickly set with rubies, garnets, and other jewels, and it was to be supported by emerald columns. On top of each pillar there were to be two peacocks thick set with gems, and between each of the two peacocks a tree set with rubies and diamonds, emeralds and pearls.”

Among the many precious stones that adorned the throne were two particularly enormous gems that would, in time, become the most valued of all: the Timur Ruby--more highly valued by the Mughals because they preferred colored stones--and the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The diamond was lodged at the very top of the throne, in the head of a glistening gemstone peacock.

For a century after the creation of the Peacock Throne, the Mughal Empire retained its supremacy in India and beyond. It was the wealthiest state in Asia; Delhi, the capital city, was home to 2 million people, more than London and Paris combined. But that prosperity attracted the attention of other rulers in Central Asia, including Persian ruler Nader Shah.

When Nader invaded Delhi in 1739, the ensuing carnage cost tens of thousands of lives and the depletion of the treasury. Nader left the city accompanied by so much gold and so many gems that the looted treasure required 700 elephants, 4,000 camels and 12,000 horses to pull it. Nader took the Peacock Throne as part of his treasure, but removed the Timur Ruby and the Koh-i-Noor diamond to wear on an armband.

The Koh-i-Noor would remain away from India--in a country that would become Afghanistan--for 70 years. It passed between the hands of various rulers in one blood-soaked episode after another. With all the fighting between Central Asian factions, a power vacuum grew in India--and the British soon came to take advantage of it.

At the turn of the 19th century, the British East India Company expanded its territorial control from coastal cities to the interior of the India subcontinent. As Dalrymple and Anand write of the British campaigns, “[they] would ultimately annex more territory than all of Napoleon’s conquests in Europe.” In addition to claiming more natural resources and trading posts, the British also had their eye on a piece of priceless treasure: the Koh-i-Noor.

After decades of fighting, the diamond returned to India and came into the hands of Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh in 1813, whose particular affection for the gem ultimately sealed its aura of prestige and power. “It was not just that Ranjit Singh liked diamonds and respected the stone’s vast monetary value; the gem seems to have held a far greater symbolism for him,” write Anand and Dalrymple. “He had won back from the Afghan Durrani dynasty almost all the Indian lands they had seized since the time of Ahmad Shah [who plundered Delhi in 1761].”

For Anand, Singh’s elevation of the diamond was a major turning point in its history. “The transition is startling when the diamond becomes a symbol of potency rather than beauty,” Anand says. “It becomes this gemstone like the ring in Lord of the Rings, one ring to rule them all.”

For the British, that symbol of prestige and power was irresistible. If they could own the jewel of India as well as the country itself, it would symbolize their power and colonial superiority. It was a diamond worth fighting and killing for, now more than ever. When the British learned of Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839, and his plan to give the diamond and other jewels to a sect of Hindu priests, the British press exploded in outrage. “The richest, the most costly gem in the known world, has been committed to the trust of a profane, idolatrous and mercenary priesthood,” wrote one anonymous editorial. Its author urged the British East India Company to do whatever they could to keep track of the Koh-i-Noor, so that it might ultimately be theirs.

But the colonists were first forced to wait out a chaotic period of changing rulers. After Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839, the Punjabi throne passed between four different rulers over four years. At the end of the violent period, the only people left in line for the throne were a young boy, Duleep Singh, and his mother, Rani Jindan. And in 1849, after imprisoning Jindan, the British forced Duleep to sign a legal document amending the Treaty of Lahore, that required Duleep to give away the Koh-i-Noor and all claim to sovereignty. The boy was only 10 years old.

From there, the diamond became a special possession of Queen Victoria. It was displayed at the 1851 Great Exposition in London, only for the British public to be dismayed at how simple it was. “Many people find a difficulty in bringing themselves to believe, from its external appearance, that it is anything but a piece of common glass,” wrote The Times in June 1851.

Given its disappointing reception, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, had the stone recut and polished--a process that reduced its size by half but made the light refract more brilliantly from its surface.

While Victoria wore the diamond as a brooch, it eventually became part of the Crown Jewels, first in the crown of Queen Alexandra (the wife of Edward VII, Victoria’s oldest son) and then in the crown of Queen Mary (the wife of George V, grandson of Victoria). The diamond came to its current place of honor in 1937, at the front of the crown worn by the Queen Mother, wife of George IV and mother of Elizabeth II. The crown made its last public appearance in 2002, resting atop of the coffin of the Queen Mother for her funeral.

Still shrouded in myth and mystery, one thing is clear when it comes to the Koh-i-Noor: it sparks plenty of controversy.

“If you ask anybody what should happen to Jewish art stolen by the Nazis, everyone would say of course they’ve got to be given back to their owners,” Dalrymple says. “And yet we’ve come to not say the same thing about Indian loot taken hundreds of years earlier, also at the point of a gun. What is the moral distinction between stuff taken by force in colonial times?”

For Anand, the issue is even more personal. Born and raised in the UK, her family is Indian and her relatives regularly visited. When they would tour the Tower of London and see the Koh-i-Noor in the Crown Jewels, Anand remembers them “spending copious amounts of time swearing themselves blue at the glass case with the diamond.”

According to Richard Kurin, Smithsonian’s first Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large as well as the author of Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem, part of the reason these gemstones came to be perceived as “cursed” is because of how they were gained.

“When the powerful take things from the less powerful, the powerless don’t have much to do except curse the powerful,” Kurin says. Like the Koh-i-Noor, the Hope diamond came from India and was displayed at the London Exposition in 1851. It is now displayed at the National Museum of Natural History, having been donated by Harry Winston, who legally purchased it.

And while Kurin says uncovering the line of ownership of a gemstone like the Koh-i-Noor is best practice when it comes to history, it doesn’t necessarily lead to a legal obligation (though other scholars and lawyers disagree). He and Dalrymple both point out that the rulers who once owned these gemstones headed nations that no longer exist.

That’s one of the biggest differences between objects taken during colonial conquest and art and treasure looted by Nazis--the difficulty in ascertaining who has the first and most legitimate claim to anything.

The Koh-i-Noor isn’t the only contested treasure currently residing in the UK. Perhaps equally controversial are the Elgin Marbles, statues carved 2,500 years ago and taken from the Parthenon in Athens by British Lord Elgin in the early 1800s. So far, the UK has retained ownership of the statues and the diamond, regardless of calls for their return.

Anand thinks one solution that doesn’t require removing the Koh-i-Noor from the UK is to make the history of the diamond clearer. “What I would dearly love is for there to be a really clear sign by the exhibit. People are taught this was a gift from India to Britain. I would like the correct history to be put by the diamond.”

The diamond isn’t likely to leave the Crown Jewels anytime soon. Anand and Dalrymple only hope that their work will do some good by clarifying the true path the infamous gemstone followed--and helping leaders come to their own conclusions about what to do with it next.

#Koh-i-Noor Diamond #India #Britain #British crown jewels

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blue-scorpion-king · 4 years ago

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How excactly does purge trooper armor look like for troopers from non-humanoid races (IE races that are non-bipedal at best, are crystalline or gaseous body based at worst.)? Is it custom made for each individual purge trooper and If not and any armor can fit any trooper from any race than what technology does it use to adapt to an individual’s unique physiology?

Hmmmm... That’s an good question actually.

Well, to reference My Hero Academia, those who are partially or fully gaseous might have to have much of their Purge Trooper armor customized to ‘hold’ them in, similar to one of the villains of My Hero Academia, Kurogiri, the one who can make portals with an dark fog. An example of that would be an Djinn. The same idea applies to those who are gelatinous, like Slime people.

As for the non-bipedal Purge Trooper, to a degree, the Purge Trooper would have to get customized, but not too much, and still recognizable Purge Trooper armor, like an Vulpimancer, or ‘Wildmutt’. The same general idea applies to even the Cerebrocrustaceans/’Brainstorms’. The crystalline people might have to settle for their armors being customized to an degree as well, where in the future, possibly, the armor can have something that ‘morphs’ with the crystalline biology of an Purge Trooper, like an Petrosapien, or ‘Diamondhead’, the informal name.

Though, for other sentient, bipedal, humanoid races, the Purge Trooper armor is way less customized, since it is fits an general humanoid that can be tweak to a degree, like some space for two smaller arms for an Tetramand, or ‘Fourarm’, slimmed down for any of the Bagklock elf species, like Night Elves, Drows, Sun Elves, Wood Elves, and Snow Elves, the same to Kinecelerans, or ‘XLR8s’, bulked up for Taurens, Orcs, Orks, Dwarves, but made shorter, Wookies, Vaxasurians/’Humungousaurs’, Arburian Pelaroti/’Cannonbolts’, while the armor for them generally is made to smoothly link up when they roll up into an ball, similar thing for the Pacs (The species of Pac-Man), Giants/’Jotuns’, of course, Locust (Gears of War), Whiphids, Sangheilis (Halo Elites), Jiralhanaes (Halo Brutes), Gimlinopithecus/’Shockquatches’, Talpaedans/’Armodrillos’, Gorons, the Kongou (Kongo Bancho), & the such. Made much, much, Smaller for Tonta-Dwarves, Goblins, Gnomes, Galvans/’Grey Matters’, Yordles, Hobbits, and the such as well. More fitted for races like the Yoshis in an general sense, not customized for each individual Yoshi. Opticoids/’Eye Guys/Girls’ though would have to have their armor to generally have holes for their bodies’ 17 that are not on their heads. The same tricky thing is with the many species of Fishmen and the Pyronites/’Heatblasts’, for another example.

Slits at the back for winged people, like Avariels/Winged Elves, Lepidopterrans/‘Stinkflies’, the Birkans, Skypieans, & Shandorians, Poleepkwa/Prawns, arms that fit the Ritos, & others. More ‘stick like’ for Pivots/Stick People.

The armor being literally another layer for an Bagklock Cybertronian (The Beast Wars kind, not the G1/Prime/Bayformers kind, and much smaller than their larger ancestors). An similar notion to the Matoras (Bionicle), the Segmentasapiens/’Bloxxs’, and the Eosapiens.

More aquatic for Zoras, Exceeds (Fairy Tail’s winged cats), Piscciss Volanns/’Ripjaws’, Fishmen, Merfolk, Atlanteans (DC + Marvel), & others.

You get the picture.

~The Bat~

#blue-scorpion-king #anonymous #anons #ooc #ask #ask reply #ask answered #Bagklock Universe #BLU Factional Empire #BLU Purge Troopers

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cantinacast · 5 years ago

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287 Age of Rebellion, Part 2

Albert and Jonesy are back from having too much summer fun. In this episode, the guys continue their breakdown of the Age of the Rebellion comics series.

Quick Episode Summary:

Del Rey Twitter: Ask us Anything

Blu-Ray Re-Release coming 9/22

Vader "To The Letter"

Vader acting like Anakin?

The Emperor's plan and the lesson

Three Vader Impossible Missions

Yoda "The Trial of Dagobah"

What was this story trying to tell us?

22 years and still grieving

Yoda's health

Luke "Fight Or Flight"

The Lightsaber

The Timeline

Patreon/Shout-Outs

Feedback and Promotion:

Send feedback and comments to [email protected]

Like us on Facebook: The Cantina Cast

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The Latest Episode from the Cantina Cast!

#star wars rey luke skywalker the last jedi the force awakens kylo ren

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violentmusebox · 6 years ago

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I will confess that the 443.2 meter tall Empress of the BLU Factional Empire, within an universe called Bagklock, has Emperor of the Imperium influence all over Her. XD

I’m very confused.

#ooc #mun #reply #blue-scorpion-king

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pointofgeeks · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.pointofgeeks.com/gambit-thieves-assassins-casting-breakdown-for-upcoming-x-men-spin-off/

GAMBIT: Thieves & Assassins Casting Breakdown for Upcoming X-MEN Spin-Off

There has been a lot of movement over at 20th Century Fox in regards to their X-Men cinematic universe that continues to blaze ahead in many surprising and inspired ways. Yet, no project can claim to be as unlikely as the Gambit film, which has managed to find new life over on the studio lot.

youtube

The upcoming X-Men spin-off movie still has Channing Tatum officially signed on as the lead, as well as in the role of producer on the movie. It’s equally encouraging that the film found a new director in Pirates of the Caribbean’s Gore Verbinski, following the musical chair departure of previous directors, Rupert Wyatt and Doug Liman. Last week the studio planted their flag with the announcement of a February 2019 release date, which signals that pre-production is firmly in motion and now we have obtained the latest on the development of Gambit.

A few days ago Omega Underground uncovered audition tapes for the Gambit movie, which is covertly going by its working title of Chess. The tapes seemed to indicate that the producers are looking to cast the female lead and Gambit’s love interest in the upcoming movie, Bella Donna Boudreaux. Back in 2015, the trades had reported that Léa Seydoux (Spectre) had won the role, but with a new director and script in tow, the role is currently being recast for the spin-off film. However, this was a clear indication that the casting process is moving full speed ahead, which was a impetus for further investigation.

Bella Donna isn’t the only role currently being cast and gotten some info that may shed a little more light on the direction of the picture. Casting for Gambit is steaming forward and we have gotten some timely character breakdowns that should give our best indication yet of what direction the production is moving in. As is usual, the true identity of the roles have been obscured with code names, so we simply gave our best guesses on who from the world of Marvel Comics may be joining the upcoming movie. Take a look:

[MARIYA] Female, Caucasian, mid 20s – early 30s. Must be 5’11’+. Tall, stunning and willowy, a Parisian glamour girl. Must speak fluent French or do a perfect French accent. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTIONS.

This is clearly for the role of Bella Donna Boudreaux. She is the love interest and inspiration for Gambit in his younger years and their relationship has enough source material to fuel a trilogy on its own. In the comics, the character goes in some frightening and unexpected directions, which should keep audiences off guard.

[LEWIS] Male, any ethnicity, 40s-50s. Elegant and intelligent. An appealing entrepreneur with an unexpected dark side. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

According to Splash Report the role of Dr. Nathaniel Essex, aka Mr. Sinister, is Daniel Craig’s role to refuse. We haven’t gotten word on who else may be on the shortlist, however the inclusion of the character has the potential to change the entire complexion of the X-Men universe.

[NASH] Male, any ethnicity, mid 20s-early 30s. A potent threat. Heir to his mother’s business. Malevolent.

This role seems pretty straight forward, as it’s most likely Julien Boudreaux. He is the brother to Bella Donna, who comes into direct conflict with Gambit when he challenges the mutant to a deadly duel. During their confrontation, Gambit’s mutant power manifests which leads the future X-Men closer to his destiny.

[MAGNUS/WOLFGANG] Male, authentic French. 40s. A French criminal. Must speak fluent French.

This role could potentially be that of Bella Donna’s father, Marius Boudreaux, the one-time leader of the Assassin’s clan. He helped to engineer the arranged marriage between Remy and Bella Donna, which was meant to spur a truce between the Assassins and Thieves. The character is thinly sketched in the comics and would potentially have a small but pivotal role.

[FRITZ] Male, any ethnicity, 40s-50s. A professional thief. Charismatic con-artist. Warm hearted but untrustworthy. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

This role is a great fit for Gambit’s mentor and adopted father, Jean Luc LeBeau. The master thief found Remy as a young pickpocket on the streets of New Orleans and quickly took him under his wing as his own. Jean Luc is responsible for much of the flair that the future X-Men goes on to be known for, including a proclivity for trench coats, as well as training Remy with his trademark weapon, the bo staff.

[WESLEY] Male, any ethnicity, mid 20s-mid 30s. Aspirational but weak minded. Soulful and sensitive. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

This role seems to be a great fit for Emil Lapin. Lapin is a cousin and lifelong friend of Gambit, who is a master thief and one of the crew’s most capable engineers.

[BORIS] Male, mid-20s-30s, Hispanic. Tough, menacing, with a dangerous, craggy character face. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTIONS.

From the description of the role, the production is seemingly searching for the next Edward James Olmos. If we are following the comic’s origin story, Boris could actually be the Pig, a mutant slave trader who comes into conflict with Gambit as a kid. It would seem that the Pig could also have direct connection to Mr. Sinister as well, judging by his line of work.

[JOE] Male, any ethnicity, 30-50 years old. We are looking for actors 5’6” and under. He’s a gun for hire. He is the black sheep of his family. Not from good breeding but from a working class family. Short. Puck-like, with an interesting character face. REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTIONS.

Could this actually be the infamous Puck from Alpha Flight? It’s unclear how interconnected the spin-off will be and if it will be opening the door to the Canadian superteam, however the description is very “inside baseball” and presumes that the casting director has in-depth comic knowledge. However, there are literally hundreds of characters that could fit that description.

[PIA] Female, Native American, early 20s. Street, tough, punk. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTIONS.

Could this be the first crossover for the New Mutants? It would seem to be a good fit for Dani Moonstar and could also be a signal that the Gambit movie could have an edge to it. Actress Blu Hunt was heavily featured in the recent trailer for The New Mutants and her possible inclusion could help the interconnectivity of the next wave of Fox’s X-Men films. However, this is far from a lock.

[CARISSA]Female, mixed race, 10-12 years old. Ethereal and other-worldly. Very expressive. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

The role of Carissa seems sneakily similar to Candra, a mutant whose powers of telekinesis can actually awaken the mutant gene in individuals. If this is indeed that character, Candra has an important function in helping to realize certain characters’ potential in the storyline from the comics. However, it seems that they are casting young for the role, so she could be a reach.

Next we have a collection of roles that seem to fit directly into the conflict between the Assassin and Thieves’ Guild. Both warring guilds have a variety of supporting characters that are either friends or blood relatives of Gambit or Bella Donna, along with other mutants that weave their way into the narrative in the comics. So it would seem likely that characters such as Jacques LeBeau, Henri LeBeau, Etienne Marceaux, and Mercy LeBeau, all fit the roles being cast below.

[MRS. STANTON] Female, Caucasian, 50s. An elegant older woman with a French accent. Must speak fluent French.

Possibly the mother of Bella Donna and a de facto head of the Assassin’s Guild, who runs her criminal empire with her literal family of killers.

[WILHELM] Male, any ethnicity, 30s. Dangerous street criminal. Protective and loyal to his family. Intensely loyal and violent.

[GARY] Male, any ethnicity, mid 20s-early 30s. A little simple; dim-witted and passive.

[NONA] Female, any ethnicity, mid 20s-30 years old. Uptight, corporate, vicious, sexual. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

[FRANKLIN] Male, any ethnicity, 20s. An appealing street kid. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

[BEN] Male, any ethnicity, 20s. Just reaching adulthood. A street kid, a disaffected outsider, an orphan. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

[HOWARD] Male, Caucasian. 50s. A refined European mobster who speaks fluent French.

[VERA] Female, any ethnicity, mid 20s-early 30s. Beautiful, smart, tough, fiery and unpredictable. ROLE REQUIRES SEQUEL OPTION.

In the comics Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, grew up a master thief in the New Orleans bayou. His origin story is a reworking of Romeo and Juliet, set against the seedy underworld of Assassins and Thieves. LeBeau gets involved with an heir to the Assassin’s Guild in an arranged marriage that sets a bloody war between the factions into motion. Splash Report previously reported that the film’s plot will also involve a huge heist that Gambit is forced to perform, due to the influence of Mr. Sinister. A mutant geneticist who has made his name by experimenting on mutant-kind and whose history intertwines with many popular X-Men.

However, even with all of this casting news, there still isn’t word on the tone or approach to Gambit. The success of Logan and Deadpool, along with the growing buzz for the unorthodox adaptation of The New Mutants has given Fox’s X-Men universe new life. Gambit’s story doesn’t need an Avengers’ level of scale and has the opportunity to operate on an emotional and dramatic level that other X-Men movies might not have lent themselves to in the past. With the film’s release date set just a little over a year away, we will be sure to bring you much more on Gambit.

Gambit is set for release on February 14th, 2019.

What do you think of the latest on Gambit? Let us know on the comment boards, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Share our stories by simply clicking your favorite social media below!

Source: That Hashtag Show

Art by: BossLogic

#Bella Donna #Channing Tatum #Dani Moonstar #Emil Lapin #Gambit #Jean Luc Lebeau #Marius #Marvel #Mr. Sinister #Pig #Puck #Spin-Off #X-men #X-Men Universe #Movies / TV #News/Rumors #PoG EXCLUSIVE Scoops

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natanatus5-blog · 7 years ago

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wesonerdy · 8 years ago

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Rogue One arrives on Digital HD on March 24 and Blu-ray/DVD on April 4. Get details including special retailer exclusives from Target, Best Buy, and Walmart!

Courtesy of Giles Keyte/Walt Disney Studios In-home USA/Canada Copyright: 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd.

Hot on the heels of the news that the Han Solo Star Wars prequel is officially in production, Lucasfilm/Disney have announced that Rogue One will be available for us to bring home very soon!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first of the Star Wars standalone films, has established its place within the Star Wars universe and the hearts of fans.

In this epic adventure (set before Star Wars: A New Hope), at a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

Rogue One is directed by Gareth Edwards and stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, with Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker.

The movie smashed the box office last December, becoming the seventh highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. and is nominated for two Academy Awards.

Now fans can own the epic action-adventure thriller early on Digital HD/Disney Movies Anywhere on March 24, and on Blu-ray Combo Pack/DVD/On-Demand on April 4!

Even better, we’ll have access to never-before-seen Rogue One bonus content, including behind-the-scenes interviews with movie’s diverse, dynamic cast and inspired team of filmmakers.

Check out the box-art and additional details below:

Image Source: StarWars.com

A Rogue Idea – Hear how ILM’s legendary VFX wizard John Knoll came up with the movie’s concept and pitched it to producer Kathleen Kennedy – and why it’s the right film to launch the Star Wars standalone films.

Jyn: The Rebel – Get to know the defiant, resourceful survivor at the heart of Rogue One, and find out what it was like for actor Felicity Jones to bring her to life on-screen.

Cassian: The Spy – Actor Diego Luna shares insights into his complex, driven character, who rises to heroic action through selflessness, perseverance and passion.

K-2SO: The Droid – Explore the development of this reprogrammed Imperial enforcer droid, from initial pitch and character design to the scene-stealing personality and humor that actor Alan Tudyk brings.

Baze & Chirrut: Guardians of the Whills – Go deeper into the relationship between these two very different characters, and examine their essential contribution to the team, with Chinese superstars Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen.

Bodhi & Saw: The Pilot & The Revolutionary – Actors Forest Whitaker and Riz Ahmed reflect on Saw Gerrera, broken leader of the rebellion’s extremist faction, and Bodhi Rook, the Imperial cargo pilot whose defection sets the story in motion.

The Empire – Meet a dangerous new adversary, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military… and cross paths once more with the most iconic villain of all time.

Visions of Hope: The Look of “Rogue One” – The filmmakers describe the challenges and thrills of developing a bold new look for the movie that can fit within the world of the original trilogy.

The Princess & The Governor – See what it took to bring the vibrant young princess of Star Wars: A New Hope – as well as one of her most memorable foes – back to the screen.

Epilogue: The Story Continues – Filmmakers and cast celebrate the premiere of Rogue One and look forward into the future, to the Star Wars stories yet to be told.

Rogue Connections – Uncover Easter eggs and film facts hidden throughout the movie that connect Rogue One to the Star Wars universe.

This comes with the caveat that Digital bonus offerings may vary by retailer… with that said, we do have more information about retailer special editions from Target, Best Buy, and Walmart that have even more exclusives and special packaging (via StarWars.com):

Target

5-disc set includes collectible packaging with interchangeable character covers and exclusive bonus content (Blu-ray 3D + two Blu-ray + DVD + DVD exclusive content – 2 additional bonus features + Digital HD + collectible packaging). Pre-order HERE.

Image Source: StarWars.com

Best Buy

4-disc set with exclusive SteelBook packaging (Blu-ray 3D + two Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD + SteelBook packaging). Pre-order HERE.

Image Source: StarWars.com

Walmart

3-disc set with exclusive K-2SO packaging and two Galactic Connexions trading discs (two Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD + K-2SO packaging + two Galactic Connexions trading discs).

Image Source: StarWars.com

This is so awesome! Which special edition(s) will you pre-order?

Relive Rogue One with some photo stills and DVD trailer, and make sure to share your thoughts in comments!

Courtesy of Giles Keyte/Walt Disney Studios In-home USA/Canada Copyright: 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd.

‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Coming Soon to Digital HD/DVD/Blu-ray Rogue One arrives on Digital HD on March 24 and Blu-ray/DVD on April 4. Get details including special retailer exclusives from Target, Best Buy, and Walmart!

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blue-scorpion-king · 4 years ago

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The US Navy has the SEALs the Army has the rangers/green berets the marines have the scout snipers etc. What are the 14 branches of the BLU military’s special forces?

-The 14 branches of the BLU Factional Empire- 1] Imperial Factional Army {With its U.S. Army-like organization, even with just four divisions: Pluto, Deimos, Phobos, & Behemoth}. 2] Imperial Factional Navy {With its U.S. Navy-like organization, even with its six huge Fleets: Neptune, Davy Jones, Varuna, Imoogi, Leviathan, & Namaka}. 3] Imperial Factional Air Combatants {With its U.S. Air Force-like organization, even with its four Wings: Uranus, Jupiter, Indra, & Ziz}. 4] Purge Troopers. 5] Imperial Factional Blu-A-Guard (National Guard). 6] Imperial Factional Military Police. 7] Imperial Factional Coastal Guard. 8] Imperial Factional Special Operation Shadows. 9] The secretive 'inquisition' {Doubling as an eldritch tech-cult of The Empress, whatever belief depending on the nation/country, to also the Eternal Fire Beast, Ormagodden, heavy metal & rock, plus subgenres, & the factional empire of BLU/Builder League United}. 10] The 'Darkwatch'. 11] Imperial Factional Homebrew Guerrilla. 12] The X-Hunter Association {The least 'military' branch of the 14 branches of BLU}. 13] The Imperatrix'deorumarchy, the official state church for both Empressanity and the pair of religions, Hellenism and Romanuity, with branches reflected on the other religions, but melted together to Empressanity, Hellenism, & Romanuity, to each ‘reli-pillar’, and are the same branches to each one. {Metal of Ormagoden, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Protestant, Restorationism, Nontrinitarism, New Thought, Esoteric, Black Church, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, Smartism, Usulism, Nizari, Ismailism, Alevism, Orthodox Judaism, Conservative, Reform, Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Satanism, which members believe that whoever is from Hell should just stay in Hell and Armageddon is not near at all, Fira-Shinotism, Shintoism, Norse, Egypt-Ntrs, Great Spirit Praising [Native American religion], Digambara, Svetambara, Baha'i Faith, Sikhism, African Rocka [Traditional African religion], Meso-Aztec, Matoraion [Matora religion], Inca-pachas, Maori-lion, Samoa-hee, Hawaii'ive, Dream Time, Confucianism, Esoteric Order of Dagon, Church of Starry Wisdom, Chorazos, Black Sun.} & 14] The Bluth {The dark psychic chainsaw bladed chainhanders/jackhammer spears wielding warriors [Similar to the Sith of Star Wars, but not ‘evil’ per say], loyal to the Empress, even when they very dark in soul and mind, even if an Bluth has actual insanity}.

~The Bat~

#blue-scorpion-king #ask #ask reply #ask answered #anons #anonymous #BLU Factional Empire #BLU #Bagklock Universe

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zayzaycom · 8 years ago

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On Digital HD, and on Blu-ray April 4th

Fans go behind the scenes with filmmakers and cast for a revealing look at the stories behind the first Star Wars standalone film

BURBANK, Calif. (Feb. 22, 2017) — Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” the first of the Star Wars standalone films, has established its place within the Star Wars universe and the hearts of moviegoers, becoming the seventh highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. Fans can own the epic action-adventure thriller — nominated for two Academy Awards® — early on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere on March 24, and on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD and On-Demand on April 4.

Never-before-seen “Rogue One” bonus material will take fans behind the scenes with the movie’s diverse, dynamic cast and inspired team of filmmakers. An intimate collection of stories reveals how the film came to life, as well as hidden Easter Eggs and film facts that audiences may have missed in the theater.

Bonus features include*:

Jyn: The Rebel – Get to know the defiant, resourceful survivor at the heart of “Rogue One,” and find out what it was like for actor Felicity Jones to bring her to life on-screen.

Cassian: The Spy – Actor Diego Luna shares insights into his complex, driven character, who rises to heroic action through selflessness, perseverance and passion.

The Empire – Meet a dangerous new adversary, the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military … and cross paths once more with the most iconic villain of all time.

Visions of Hope: The Look of “Rogue One” – The filmmakers describe the challenges and thrills of developing a bold new look for the movie that can fit within the world of the original trilogy.

The Princess & The Governor – See what it took to bring the vibrant young princess of “Star Wars: A New Hope” – as well as one of her most memorable foes – back to the screen.

Epilogue: The Story Continues – Filmmakers and cast celebrate the premiere of “Rogue One” – and look forward into the future, to the Star Wars stories yet to be told.

Rogue Connections – Uncover Easter eggs and film facts hidden throughout the movie that connect “Rogue One” to the Star Wars universe.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is directed by Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla,” “Monsters”) and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, p.g.a., Allison Shearmur, p.g.a. (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Cinderella”) and Simon Emanuel, p.g.a. (“The Dark Knight Rises”). Veteran ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll, (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) whom shares a long history with the Star Wars films, is executive producer alongside Jason McGatlin (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “War of the Worlds”). The story is by John Knoll and Gary Whitta (“The Book of Eli,” “After Earth”), and the screenplay was written by Chris Weitz (“The Golden Compass,” “About a Boy”) and Tony Gilroy (“The Bourne Legacy,” “Michael Clayton”).

Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything,” “Like Crazy”) heads up the cast and stars opposite Diego Luna (“Milk,” “Elysium”). Joining them are Ben Mendelsohn (“Bloodline,” “Animal Kingdom”), Mads Mikkelsen (“Casino Royale,” TV’s “Hannibal”), Alan Tudyk (“Frozen,” “I, Robot”), Riz Ahmed (“Nightcrawler,” “Jason Bourne”) and Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland,” “The Butler”). The film also welcomes two of China’s biggest stars, Donnie Yen (“Ip Man,” “Blade II”) and Jiang Wen (“Let the Bullets Fly,” “The Sun Also Rises”). In addition, Anthony Daniels (“Star Wars: A New Hope,” “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”) reprises his role of C-3PO, marking his eighth appearance in a Star Wars film.

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To create the distinctive and contemporary look of the film, Edwards chose revered cinematographer Greig Fraser (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Foxcatcher”). Visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Mohen Leo (Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man,” “The Martian”) team up with special effects supervisor Neil Corbould (“Black Hawk Down,” “Saving Private Ryan”) and ILM animation supervisor Hal Hickel (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Iron Man”). Star Wars veteran Doug Chiang (Star Wars Episodes I and II, “Forrest Gump”) and Neil Lamont (supervising art director on “The Force Awakens” and the “Harry Potter” film series) join forces as production designers, and Neal Scanlan (“Prometheus”) returns to do special creature effects, having recently worked on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Additional key crew include costume designers Dave Crossman (costume supervisor on The Force Awakens and the “Harry Potter” film series) and Glyn Dillon (“The Force Awakens” and “Kingsman: The Secret Service” costume concept artist), as well as stunt coordinator Rob Inch (“The Force Awakens,” “World War Z”).

The music is by composer Michael Giacchino (“Star Trek Beyond,” “Zootopia”), with original Star Wars music by John Williams. The editors for the film are John Gilroy, ACE (“Nightcrawler,” “The Bourne Legacy”), Jabez Olssen (“The Hobbit” trilogy) and Colin Goudie (“Monsters”).

Website: http://www.starwars.com/rogue-one Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StarWarsMovies Twitter: https://twitter.com/StarWars Instagram: http://instagram.com/StarWarsMovies YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/starwars

The Mission Comes Home Get “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” Early On March 24th On Digital HD, and on Blu-ray April 4th Fans go behind the scenes with filmmakers and cast for a revealing look…

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