Tag Archives: George Lucas

With The Andromeda Strain (1971) director Robert Wise proved that he was still as adept with science fiction themes as he was with the supernatural. A well constructed thriller, it tells of a group of scientists trying to analyse a strange alien spore which comes to earth. Stanley Kubrick, having explored the sterile depths of space in 2001: A Space …

How things have changed. In the forties, for instance, one would find it difficult to name twenty good genre films of the decade but, since the late seventies, Hollywood has learned that their baby-booming audiences could not only handle strong horror and science fiction concepts, they craved them. Filmmakers everywhere went into overdrive. Like television today, there wasn’t a production …

In 1964 a short skinny kid entered film school at the University of Southern California, and fifteen years later he was a multi-millionaire. He was still skinny and shy back then. His name is George Lucas and, for a time, it looked as if his first feature film, THX 1138 (1971) was going to be his last. It was produced …

When I asked Horror News readers and Facebook friends to tell me their favourite cult films, I got a terrific response. The suggestions poured in, and all kinds of weird, wonderful and outlandish films fronted up for selection. So while I can’t deny the quality or appeal of films like Reefer Madness (1938), Citizen Kane (1941), Glen Or Glenda (1953), …

When I asked Horror News readers and Facebook friends to tell me their favourite feature films by first-time directors, I received a fantastic response. The suggestions poured in and all kinds of weird and wonderful titles fronted up for selection. While I can’t deny the quality or appeal of some nominations – Play Misty For Me (1971) by Clint Eastwood, …

Rate This Movie SYNOPSIS: “Ten years after the invasion of Naboo, the Galactic Republic is facing a Separatist movement and the former queen and now Senator Padmé Amidala travels to Coruscant to vote on a project to create an army to help the Jedi to protect the Republic. Upon arrival, she escapes from an attempt to kill her, and Obi-Wan …

Rate This Movie SYNOPSIS: “The evil Trade Federation led by Nute Gunray is planning to take over the peaceful world of Naboo. Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to confront the leaders. But not everything goes to plan. The two Jedi escape, and along with their new Gungan friend, Jar Jar Binks head to Naboo to warn …

SYNOPSIS: “The year is 1936. Archeology professor Indiana Jones narrowly escapes death in a South American temple with a gold idol – by poison dart, fall, and finally a giant boulder that chases him out the front. An old enemy, Rene Belloq, steals the idol and then orders Hovito Indians after Indy. Indy, however, escapes back to the USA, where …

SYNOPSIS: “Howard, a duck the size of a short human, is accidentally brought to Earth through a laser beam in an experiment being performed by a Cleveland physicist Doctor Walter Jenning, and his assistant Phil Blumburtt. Howard ends up in Cleveland, where he rescues singer Beverly Switzer from a group of thugs. Beverly and Phil are friends, and when the …

SYNOPSIS: “The Empire is more than halfway through construction of a new Death Star – almost twice as big, but more than twice as powerful. When completed, it will spell certain doom for Luke Skywalker and the Rebels. Han Solo is a prisoner of crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and Princess Leia soon finds herself in the gangster’s hands. Luke …

SYNOPSIS: “The story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and the others did not end with the destruction of the Death Star – it continues in The Empire Strikes Back. Imperial forces have since driven the Rebels to hide on the ice world Hoth. But even on such an icy, backwater world, they cannot escape the evil Darth Vader’s …

A few months ago, Walt Disney Studios announced that they had acquired the intellectual properties of Lucasfilm Limited, which included franchises like Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Now, I know us film nerds were excited for a potential Marvel Studios produced remake of the classic Howard the Duck movie, but instead Disney announced that several new Star Wars films would …

SYNOPSIS: “Luke Skywalker stays with his foster aunt and uncle on a farm on Tatooine. He is desperate to get off this planet and get to the Academy like his friends, but his uncle needs him for the next harvest. Meanwhile, an evil emperor has taken over the galaxy, and has constructed a formidable ‘Death Star’ capable of destroying whole …

Rate This MovieSYNOPSIS: “George Lucas adapted this, his first film, from a short he made at University. THX 1138, LUH 3417, and SEN 5241 attempt to escape from a futuristic society located beneath the surface of the Earth. The society has outlawed sex, with drugs used to control the people. THX 1138 stops taking the drugs, and gets LUH 3417 …

Rate This MovieSYNOPSIS: “In the dungeons of the castle of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda, a prisoner gives birth to a child who, according to an ancient prophecy, will put an end to the reign of the Queen. A midwife saves the child from the wrath of Bavmorda, but is forced to throw her cradle in a river when reached …