A Load of old Tosche

 When I was a nipper and watched that Star Wars the character I identified with most readily was Luke Skywalker. He had blonde hair like me (at the time) and a strong sense of moral justice. "It's not fair" he'd plead, pleasingly for a hero destined to be The One. As years went by I finally switched onto his brunette mate, who had the lines, the charm, the spaceship, the gun-slinging skills, the bravado, the hairier friend and got the girl in the end - although knowing how that turned out you can forgive young "Wormy" for dodging that particular competition.

Where I did still identify with young Master Luke is in his interest in Tosche Station, where the power converters come from. My eye was always drawn to the background. The sky, the liver-coloured mountains of Tatooine, the strange fluting and Morse Code-like lighting or whatever they were behind  Moff Tarkin's meeting on the Death Star, the grimy walls of the trash compactor, the endless stars, and the sky again. That blue, seemingly endless expanse that promised so much but hemmed Luke in. Against that the promise of Anchorhead and Tosche Station did sound exotic and interesting. Whatever could it be like?

Turns out, much more of the same. Another set in Tunisia (I knew that much about the location even back in the day, despite me calling Luke's home planet "Tattoonie" for probably a good year). We get to see the location, meet some of Luke's friends (well, Biggs we meet again later, the rest are perhaps more fairweather chums) and learn that young Skywalker has a nickname! That didn't last

Perhaps the scene is too long and in the wrong place, but I love it for its blue sky, new scenery, worldbuilding (we finally meet those friends Uncle Owen griped about!) and a bit more of gauche Luke before the whole Rebellion and later Jedi-dom proves such a buzzkill. And Biggs has a sweet space-cape. 

So far, no reinstatement, despite upwards of four revisions of the original by Lucasfilm. Nor any clean-ups or restorations - this scene is D.E.D ded, I guess. Except for fans; so among the considerable number of remounts, remakes and repairs, here's something that blends the missing from the might-have-been to bide us over. Now, about those power converters...

Minty Fresh!

Well, it's finally here - Judge Minty, the not-for-profit Dreddverse fan film, all 27 minutes of it which you can view on a lot of blogs, YouTube, and through the embed here:

I'm mightily impressed. For a low budget film it looks very slick (if a little loose towards the end), and its dedication to the world of Dredd and Wagner and McMahon's vision is absolutely second to none. Here's the comic strip Judge costume done in a believable way, with a modernised Lawgiver and, once again, the Lawmaster bike true to the comic original.

There's lots here for the die-hard fan - cameos and shout-outs to such Dredd legends as Otto Sump, Skysurfers, Judge Anderson, Judge Pal, the Aggro-Dome, not to mention a not-too bad realisation of the Gila Munja, humanoid reptile assassins who changed their appearance a few times over the lifetime of the comic. I loved the visual nods to the strip, too - the 'No Law' sign of course, but also a stricken Land Raider - very nice CG, all told.

A Kickstarter for a sequel is, as I understand it, not in the offing due to the rights to the character and universe being in the hands of Rebellion and the strip's creators, but that aside it's really very very cool that the same people have rallied behind the film, put in a lot of good words and promotion for it and generally given it the thumbs up. After the disappointment of Dredd 3D's reception it's nice to now the faith is still strong.

So, lads. How about a Helltrekker story next time, eh?

Judge Dredd Movies: A return trip to Resyk?

Just when you think you've done away with the Law, it threatens a comeback. The Box-Office failure of Dredd last year is a matter of historical record, and despite really healthy UK BluRay sales (it topped the charts quite emphatically on the day of release), for now it seem that its main problem was not the dedication of its small but significant fanbase, or the large budget, but possibly a bungled promotional effort. Maybe. What I do know is that the 'Dredd Deserved Better' meme is still with us (recent typical comment on Ain't It Cool News' boards: "Drok (sic) anyone that didn't see Dredd in 3D in the theater. You never get to complain about anything ever again. It's now my prerequisite question if I catch any of you bitching about movies. Did you see Dredd in 3D at the theater? No? Well then you can just fuck off because you are part of the problem. They made a perfect movie that is everything you have ever asked for and you didn't show up.")

 All is not lost, however. Executive Producer Adi Shankar confirmed recently on Reddit that he is planning a small scale short along the lines of the well-received Punisher short Dirty Laundry. The fact that Shankar named Dirty Laundry and that said short starred the most recent cinematic Punisher Thomas Jane has a lot of Dredd fanboys (myself among them) hoping that we might see Karl Urban in the helmet once more. But it's a long road, and nothing's certain - well, apart from this version probably not being in 3D (Shankar wasn't mad about '3D' even being in the title). There's also a precedent from before Dirty Laundry: Batman fans made convention favourite Batman : Dead End on a modest location and budget, and recently Morgue linked to a Wonder Woman short made by an aspiring action film director, but the difference here is of course who's behind the story and who has the rights. With a sequel being reliably out of contention, a ten-minute mini budget Dredd on YouTube might be the best we get, and a decent hope for any interest in the movie outside of video shops and the torrents. I hope it get made, and I really hope it will feature at least Urban once more - but I'm expecting this to be small, and hoping for some wit this time. And no Dark Judges, because... just no. There's over thirty years of one-shot Dredd stories that could make fun shorts, and no end of talented writers who know the character, plus fans who'd lap this up. Bring it on.

And in the mean-time of course, next month sees the online release of Judge Minty, a new trailer for which is hosted on 2000ADonline.com, and while it's not strictly Dedd's story, it is a Dredd adaptation, and a classic, too. From the looks of it it should be well worth waiting for.

The Corellian Job

More than likely this is everywhere at the moment, and thanks to Dave for sharing it with me, but if you haven't already, you must check this out:



It's an animated Star Wars that is true to the originals! The colour palette, the sounds, the music and even the dialogue just sing Seventies Star Wars - and it's a beautiful thing.

I'm not a big Star Wars fan. I'm really not. But aged seven it was the biggest thing in my world, and even this many years later I can see and hear the in-jokes and visual references to the original trilogy and in particular the first movie here. It's not overdone, no-one's trying to push an agenda (the last shot is a bit of fun, and why the hell not?), and you can see how easy it would have been to have taken all the talent here and ruined it by going too far, too fannish. But they didn't, and that's really cool.

Lando has to appear in the next one though, guys!

Putting the Fan Film into Fantasy Films

Not quite in the wake of Judge Minty, here's an earlier stab at the 2000AD-based fan trailer; a mock trailer this time, and in French. I'm sure its writer would approve nonetheless given his work in French press.

Voici Pat Mills' Slaine the Horned God, based on the book of the same name by Mills and Bisley, and reproducing the latter's work with admirable devotion!



I didn't think it too many, etc.

Judge Minty fan trailer

Courtesy of Dave who also sent me a Fleetway reprint of the original strip a while back, it's the Judge Minty teaser for the forthcoming fan film:



I am really impressed with this. particularly for its devotion to the look of the story - all very faithful to the comic's design with Lawmasters (bike cannon!), the Grand Hall of Justice, Mega City One's Gherkin-like buildings (a Mick McMahon innovation) and of course Carlos Ezquerra's iconic design of the judge uniform. Oh and Dredd of course, played by Dredd artist Greg Staples with nary a smile or removal of helmet - as it should be. So much of this deserves further explanation - it would have been easy for the makers to stage this on an industrial site or warehouse interior with official Termight replica helmets and hardware, but they didn't . It might have been obvious to some to include as Dredd's cameo a strapping 'roid-fuelled stand-in for Old Stony face, but the slighter, leaner Staples is truer to the original, and to McMahon's version as well. I do wonder about the palette and 'look', particularly after seeing similar and less-impressive stuff on Spartacus recently; the digital stage and bleached screen has dated since the likes of 300 and Sin City, but it's not enough to put me off at all. More information here of course, in the mean-time, messrs Garland, Travis and Urban - take note...