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RSS feedsSITE OF THE MONTH
It's no surprise that the official Star Wars site is also the best, since it's the only one with an insider's view on the whole franchise.
Episode I naturally dominates proceedings at the moment and the site was first (obviously) with the trailers, but Episodes IV, V and VI get plenty of coverage too.
If you're expecting reams of marketing pap though, you're in for a gentle surprise. The site has long contained original material including a regularly updated diary on the making of Episode I (complete with RealVideo footage) and sneak peeks at the set designs.
THEFORCE.NET
The Force.net is the best unofficial Star Wars site around and again, TPM dominates at the moment. The site recently offered a South Park-style spoof of The Phantom Menace trailer though, and last year had the first unofficial Star Wars spin-off movie, Troops.
COUNTDOWN TO STAR WARS
Countdown to Star Wars' purpose has been realised, since it was counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the opening of the film, but that's not to say the site isn't still worth a look. There are Webcams pointed at various cinemas showing the film, together with the telephone numbers of payphones placed outside them, just so you can call to mock the poor fools who are still queuing.
CLASSIC GAMING
For many people, the crowning moment of Star Wars history was the release of the eponymous arcade game. That was a long time ago but it's still possible to relive the experience of destroying an entire artificial planet with thousands of inhabitants by downloading an arcade machine emulator from the Classic Gaming site. A note for would-be gamers though: the Star Wars 'ROM' is only 53Kb but downloading it is technically illegal.
I HATE STAR WARS
Well, it had to happen. I Hate Star Wars is one person's vendetta against the worldwide craziness spawned by George Lucas's babies. But rather than just spout moronic anti-fan vitriol, the site actually manages to come up with some intelligent points. There's also plenty of bizarre nonsense and the e-mail complaints are amusing.
LIGHTSABERS
The Lightsaber, favoured weapon of the Jedi Knight. Unfortunately, light has no mass and this creates problems for something designed to be used as a sword - have you ever tried fencing with a torch beam? Now while most of us are prepared to shrug our shoulders with a mumbled 'Movies, eh?', other people are compelled by unknown forces to seek feasible explanations for such mysteries. Try to remember, they're not mad, just different.
- www.synicon.com.au/sw/ls/sabres.htm
STAR WARS TRILOGY BLOOPERS
On the face of it, this seemingly endless guide to gaffes in the Star Wars films looks like friendly, Dennis Norden territory but dig a little deeper and the truth becomes all too obvious. Now just think, someone must have watched the films countless times before coming up with such hilarious observations as 'Vader strikes at Luke and you can notice the shadow of a lightsaber on the stairs leading to the Emperor's chair'.
Of course, light doesn't have a shadow. But lightsabers ... Doh, it's all so confusing.
- www.egosystem.com/starwars/bloopers.html
STAR WARS: THE MAGIC OF MYTH
Star Wars: The Magic of Myth was an exhibition at the US National Air and Space Museum that deconstructed the first three films but although the physical exhibition closed in January, the virtual one is still open.
So, fire up your browser and take a Web tour through props and costumes from the films while listening to an audio commentary from Darth Vader himself.
STAR WARS - THE RELIGION
And finally, the inevitable outcome of the most successful film of all time. We'd like to think that the author of this site is having a bit of a laugh but the sad thing is, it appears he or she is serious. Scary.
- hamp.hampshire.edu/~elwF94/s_w_religion.html
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