Quick Teaser of the Trio of Praetorian Guards Sixth Scale Figure by Hot Toys

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THE LAST JEDI – PRACTICAL EFFECTS SCENES

Via Ign.com:

These days it’s generally assumed that anything in movies beyond the norm of reality — and even then, some of the humdrum stuff too — is achieved via CG. But that’s certainly not the case, as Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s special effects supervisor Chris Corbould could tell you. From Force-destroyed huts to scores of falling bombs and beyond, many of the effects in The Last Jedi were created the good old-fashioned practical way.

On the occasion of The Last Jedi’s release on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital, I spoke to Corbould — who has worked on everything from The Dark Knight to a bunch of James Bond movies to The Who’s rock opera Tommy. He broke down some of the secrets of his trade…

Attack of the Hut
No, not Jabba the Hutt. We’re talking about the hut on Ahch-To that is decimated by Luke when he interrupts Rey and Kylo Ren’s Force-convo. Corbould explained that, amazingly, the disintegration of the hut was accomplished through practical effects in camera.

“I think what we did do, which you’ll probably think was visual effects — there’s a scene where Luke Skywalker comes into his hut while Rey is having the big talk with Kylo Ren, and all of a sudden the whole hut blows backwards away from him,” he said. “We did that practically. So I was very, very pleased with that. We put the whole hut together like a big jigsaw, and then we attached a wire to every single individual piece. And then, on a cue, on a button, all those individual pieces were connected to pneumatic jerk rams, which jerked them all out in different directions.”

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WHAT IS THE BEST SCENE IN STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI?

Via Starwars.com:

TWO STARWARS.COM WRITERS DEBATE WHICH SCENE SPEAKS TO THEM MOST.

One of the great things about Star Wars is that it inspires endless debates and opinions on a wide array of topics. Best bounty hunter? Most powerful Jedi? Does Salacious Crumb have the best haircut in the saga? In that spirit, StarWars.com presents From a Certain Point of View: a series of point-counterpoints on some of the biggest — and most fun — Star Wars issues. In this installment, two StarWars.com writers discuss which scene from Star Wars: The Last Jedi stands above the rest.

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7 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM RIAN JOHNSON’S THE LAST JEDI COMMENTARY

Via Starwars.com:

THE DIRECTOR OFFERS INSIGHTS ON EVERYTHING FROM PORGS TO “PEW!”

Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrived on Digital and Movies Anywhere last week and is coming to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and On-Demand on March 27, and one of the many features packed onto this release is a director’s commentary from Rian Johnson. In the commentary, he reveals quite a bit about what went into the making of the film. Here are seven things we learned — though you’re really going to watch the whole thing, because you’ll find more gold than Snoke’s robe in there.

Click below to read the full article.

Interview With The Last Jedi Production Designer Rick Heinrichs

Via Screenrant.com:

The Star Wars franchise is perhaps best known for its plethora of memorable characters, but part of the magic of watching the movies is getting transported to the galaxy far, far away. Over 40 years, the films have taken viewers to the deserts of Tatooine, the swamps of Dagobah, and the forests of Endor. The Last Jedi features some of the most stunning locations the saga has seen, with Ahch-To and Canto Bight standing apart from anything else in the series. It was a Herculean task to bring director Rian Johnson’s vision to life, but the incredible crew made it work and delivered something the fans have never seen.

Screen Rant got an opportunity to interview Episode VIII production designer Rick Heinrichs about how the earlier movies influenced his designs and what it was like working with Johnson.

Screen Rant: Following The Force Awakens with this one, how did the production design on Episode VII influence your work on Episode VIII?

Rick Heinrichs: That’s a good question. I think both Rick Carter and Darren Gilford on Episode VII, as well as myself on VIII, we were really trying to look back to the original trilogy for inspiration. I spent several days up at Skywalker Ranch going through all their folders of Ralph McQuarrie’s original drawings and Joe Johnston drawings – all of that. And, it was just so humbling to see the mountain of work that had been done. Now, on 7, Doug Chiang was very much involved with, I think a lot of the development of that as well. And, he’s got the DNA in him. So, really we were kind of drawing from similar sources for a lot of this, and trying to make sure that it felt organic to the series and that people were going to see familiar elements, but also that they’re gonna feel they’re in a new story and that the design was evolving. And that it felt exciting and current for them, too.

The big handoff from number 7 for us was the island of Skellig off the coast of Ireland, which is Ahch-To. Rick had found that. And it was just barely reachable for us. They went there for a couple of days when they were shooting there, and we found it likewise to be a challenge. It’s one of those places where you approach it with a boat and the boat is rising and falling eight feet at the docks and you have to sort of time your drop off – your hop off onto the deck. But I’d already seen a lot of photographs of it, and felt like I’d already been there. So, actually seeing it in person was both familiar and an awesome experience. What we did was essentially develop and evolve the look and feel of Ahch-To, both using Skellig and then a number of locations on the west coast of Ireland to augment and develop what that island was – all of the different environments. There was the Temple, the village, there’s the library tree. There’s a Caretaker village that you never see in the film, but I think you might see it on the DVD.

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Last Jedi Novel Explains Movie’s Timeline More Clear

Via Screenrant.com:

The events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi are a mixture of Rey’s training with Luke on Ahch-To and the First Order’s pursuit of the Resistance’s fleet, with a short jaunt to Canto Bight added in for good measure (or bad measure, opinions on the subplot do vary). And while the merits of these plots have certainly received their fair share of criticism, it’s the timeline of events which often comes under the most scrutiny.

The Last Jedi’s timeline seemingly suggests that the film’s story takes place over a couple days, but when considering just how much happens in the film, this seems like too little time for such a massive story. The confusion stems from the fact that the film provides a clearly defined timeline for some plots while keeping others more vague. For example, the fleeing Resistance ships are said to have only 18 hours of fuel remaining by the time Finn and Rose leave for Canto Bight, and when they return, only six hours remain; this clocks the Canto Bight adventure in at 12 hours. Meanwhile, these scenes are inter-cut with Luke’s training of Rey, creating an assumption that the two plots are happening over roughly the same amount of time – a ludicrous suggestion given just how much happens on Ahch-To.

The Last Jedi is certainly not the first film (or even the first Star Wars film) to fudge with its timeline for the sake of building tension or combining characters’ arcs for a bigger climax, but with the film already coming under fire from fans, picking apart the improbability of The Last Jedi‘s timeline becomes an easy target. However, though the film may have done a poor job at communicating the actual length of time for each of its plots, The Last Jedi novelization clears up this confusion by providing more detail about the story’s sequence of events.

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi Hidden Music-Only Version

Via Polygon.com:

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is available digitally in the U.S. as of today, and writer/director Rian Johnson used the occasion as an opportunity to reveal a previously unannounced hidden feature: a music-only version of the movie.

To be specific, when Johnson refers to a “music only cut” of The Last Jedi, he’s not talking about John Williams’ original score by itself. He means the visuals plus the music — and nothing else.

“This is the full movie, but with no dialogue, [sound effects] or backgrounds… just John’s score,” Johnson said on Twitter. “I really wanted to put this out, it’s really something to see John’s music play with the movie, like a silent film.”

The Last Jedi comes with a long list of bonus features, including a feature-length behind-the-scenes documentary about Johnson called The Director and the Jedi. But this unique cut of the movie is “my favorite” of all the special features, he said.

The music-only version of The Last Jedi is available to anybody who owns a digital copy of the film. (Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray copies of the movie, which will be released March 27 in the U.S., come with a code that can be redeemed for a digital version.) Johnson noted that people will have to jump through one hoop to get it: the Movies Anywhere app.

Customers must link the app, which aggregates virtual movie collections from across four sellers — Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu — to their account for the service on which they purchased (or redeemed) their copy of The Last Jedi.

“Kinda a pain I know, but I think it’s worth it to get this version,” said Johnson.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi On Vudu – Win a 4K UHD Copy Today with Yodasnews!

UPDATE 1: 8:34pm EST – All Codes have been claimed, Thank You to all who entered. (The answer we were looking for is Dexter Jettster)

UPDATE 2 : 8:45pm EST – Congrats to Matt, Kyle, Joel, Travis, Larry, Greg, Kevin, Stacey, Adam and Sophia – Our 10 winners! Thanks again to all who entered! 

Today, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out on Vudu and thanks to them, we have 10 free 4K UHD copies of Star Wars: The Last Jedi available for our readers! The Last Jedi in the very best quality (4K UHD/HDR with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos) where available.  If you don’t have a 4K TV or Device, the code will still work for the next best quality your device can handle. 

The codes can be redeemed at www.vudu.com/vuducodes at any time. A credit card may be required to complete account setup but users will only be charged for additional content they rent or purchase. There will be no charge associated with redemption of the free copy of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  Vudu is a US only service so unfortunately we can not offer these to international fans.

HUGE Thanks to VUDU for this great opportunity, please follow them on Twitter at  – And if you win a code tonight and use Facebook or Twitter, please tag us, @Yodasnews and @VuduFans, in a picture or video of you enjoying the show! 

Okay, so how do you win a code?  It’s simple, The first 10 people (in the US) to e-mail us at YODASNEWSGIVEAWAY@GMAIL.COM with the correct answer, will get the code replied back to them via e-mail by 10pm EST tonight. 

The question is:  Which Star Wars character is partially named after George Lucas’s son?

Good Luck, and if you win a code tonight,  we look forward to seeing your picture or video enjoying The Last Jedi! (tag on social media to @Yodasnews and @VuduFans)

Andy Serkis Brings Snoke To Life In Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Via Ew.com:

Pay some attention to the man behind the curtain.

As part of the digital and Blu-ray debut of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, EW presents this clip of Andy Serkis as Snoke, with the computer-generated mask of the battle-scarred First Order ruler removed.

Instead of the towering alien humanoid in a golden robe, we see Serkis in his black performance-capture gear, face speckled with dots so that his halo of cameras can record every subtle expression.

The man behind The Lord of the Rings’ Gollum, Planet of the Apes’ Caesar, and the director of the upcoming Jungle Book adaptation Mowgli (debuting in October), walked us through what we’re seeing now that the veil of Snoke is stripped away.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What surprises people when they see you as you, performing a motion capture character?
ANDY SERKIS: I think a lot of people think that you have to almost pantomime the performance or heighten it in some way. What’s illustrated is, in fact, the opposite. And it would be the same if you were playing Caesar or Gollum for that matter, or any character. You don’t exaggerate facial expressions. You’re not pushing through any false artifact.

As opposed to prosthetics?
It’s the opposite of something like the original Planet of the Apes. They had layers of prosthetic makeup on their face that they had to fight through. I can remember seeing a documentary that Kim Hunter was explaining how she literally had to keep her face moving at all times just to create some sense of life in the character.

Tell me about finding the emotions and physicality of this creature.
I’ve always approached him as someone who is obviously in a position of supreme power, but actually, there is a level of vulnerability about the character. The way that his face is caved in, he has those deep scarifications. His skull’s almost been crushed.

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Daisy Ridley In New Behind the Scenes of Star Wars: The Last Jedi Footage

Via Eonline.com:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be available digitally March 13, and only E! News has an exclusive first look at Daisy Ridley taking fans behind the scenes of the $1.3 billion blockbuster.

In never-before-seen footage, Rey (Ridley) harnesses the Force on the deserted island of Ahch-To, where she struggles to find the balance between the Dark and the Light. “Something inside me has always been there,” she says, “and now it’s awake.” Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) offers little help, due to his issues with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), leaving Rey to her own devices.

As Ridley explains in one of the bonus features (available on Blu-ray March 27), “She doesn’t see herself as this thing. People talk about her potential and all this stuff, and she says, you know, ‘I’m scared about what I’m feeling.’ What I’ve always loved about her is that she tries to see the good in things and she’s hopeful, and she hopes that what she thinks is there is there.” Watch the clip to see what writer/director Rian Johnson has to say about Rey’s internal conflict.

The Blu-ray and digital release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi features over two hours of bonus footage—including a feature-length documentary called The Director and the Jedi, which promises an “intimate and personal journey” that follows Johnson during the film’s production.

The releases also feature 14 deleted scenes, with optional commentary from Johnson.

Click below to see the full article and BTS video.

The Last Jedi Comes Home: 3/13 Digital and 3/27 Everywhere Else!

Via StarWars.com:

The latest film in the Star Wars saga is coming home. Star Wars: The Last Jedi will arrive, it was announced today, on Digital (in HD and 4K Ultra HD) and via Movies Anywhere on March 13, and on Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and On-Demand on March 27. And along with the number one movie of 2017 comes a galaxy of bonus features, including The Director and the Jedi — an intimate journey into the creation of Star WarsThe Last Jedi with writer-director Rian Johnson — as well as an audio commentary and much more. The full list includes*:

  • The Director and the Jedi – Go deep behind the scenes with writer-director Rian Johnson on an intimate and personal journey through the production of the movie—and experience what it’s like to helm a global franchise and cultural phenomenon.
  • Balance of the Force – Explore the mythology of the Force and why Rian Johnson chose to interpret its role in such a unique way.
  • Scene Breakdowns
    • Lighting the Spark: Creating the Space Battle – Get a close-up look at the epic space battle, from the sounds that help propel the action, through the practical and visual effects, to the characters who bring it all to life.
    • Snoke and Mirrors – Motion capture and Star Wars collide as the filmmakers take us through the detailed process of creating the movie’s malevolent master villain.
    • Showdown on Crait – Break down everything that went into creating the stunning world seen in the movie’s final confrontation, including the interplay between real-word locations and visual effects, reimagining the walkers, designing the crystal foxes, and much more.
  • Andy Serkis Live! (One Night Only) – Writer-director Rian Johnson presents two exclusive sequences from the movie featuring Andy Serkis’ riveting, raw on-set performance before his digital makeover into Snoke.
  • Deleted Scenes – With an introduction and optional commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
  • Audio Commentary – View the movie with in-depth feature audio commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.

Digital bonus offerings may vary by retailer.

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Sound Designers Explain The Big Silent Moment

Via Variety.com:

The ninth installment of Hollywood’s most successful space saga features one of its most unusual and compelling moments when “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson tries something that none of the previous films attempted: silence.

For the film’s release, some movie theaters even posted signs warning audiences that approximately one hour and 52 minutes into the movie, all sound stops for 10 seconds and to not be alarmed, as the effect is intentional.

“When we heard about this, we got a big kick out of it,” says sound designer Ren Klyce, who served as a co-sound supervisor alongside supervising sound editor Matthew Wood, with both collecting a recent Oscar nomination for sound editing. Klyce also shares an Oscar nom on the film for sound mixing with Stuart Wilson, David Parker and Michael Semanick.

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Domhnall Gleeson Clarifies Rian Johnson Wrote Hux’s Big ‘The Last Jedi’ Moment

Via Comicbook.com:

Actors can’t always anticipate how their comments will be interpreted during press interviews in support of a film, as evidenced by The Last Jedi’s Domhnall Gleeson wanting to clarify recent remarks. The actor gave the impression that he had created a moment for his character Hux in the film, yet wanted to assure fans that the moment was, in fact, crafted by writer/director Rian Johnson.

“It’s funny, Kevin Smith was asking me that yesterday. And it was funny, I was saying that was something I talked to Rian about, that we added in to the thing,” Gleeson clarified to Uproxx. “And I realized it sounded like I was saying it was my idea, like that actor who’s always like, ‘That was all me.’ Rian wrote that, but after we’d had a conversation about making the change.”

The moment in question saw Hux enter Snoke’s throne room after Kylo confronted his master, with Hux drawing the conclusion that Kylo was an even bigger threat than he imagined. Instinctively, Hux goes for his blaster, only to remember that the weapon would be virtually useless against the Sith.

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Rian Johnson Explains One Of Luke’s Skywalker’s Big Scenes

Via Digitalspy.com:

If you’re really into picking into the nitty gritty details of Star Wars – as many fans are – then you may have noticed this anomaly in The Last Jedi.

At the end of the movie, we sadly had to say goodbye to Luke Skywalker as he became one with the Force and faded into the air.

That was because he used all his Force energy to create a projection of himself on Crait to distract Kylo Ren and the First Order while our heroes escaped.

However, as we see Luke disappear from his perch on Ahch-To and his cloak fall, one artificial aspect we don’t see fall to the ground is his fake hand.

Surely it didn’t transition to the afterlife with his body given that it’s made of metal?

Well, that question was posed to star Mark Hamill, who seemed to be just as confused as everyone else.

Click below to read the full article.