Fans note inconsistencies among Lucas films
Source: Canadian Press
TORONTO (CP) - While George Lucas and company have obviously struggled mightily to keep consistency in the many plot threads that wind through the six Star Wars films, inevitably picky fans will find certain timeline anomalies as Revenge of the Sith faces its ultimate docking with the original Episode IV.
On the Internet, Star Wars geeks debate endlessly over the finer points of the Lucas storyline, often invoking the vagaries of The Force to explain the unexplainable.
Here is an arbitrary Top 10 list of plot turn peculiarities that, if nothing else, can generate healthy debate amongst the uber-fans:
- Obi-Wan Kenobi's age. The Jedi master goes from young action hero as played by Ewan McGregor to the distinctly elderly Old Ben Kenobi that young Luke meets at the outset of A New Hope. Alec Guinness was 63 at the time and Luke goes from birth to just a teenager between the two films.
- Forgetting the robots. Conveniently, R2-D2 and C-3PO have their memories wiped at the end of Revenge of the Sith. But isn't it curious that Darth Vader doesn't seem to notice Threepio, especially since as the child Anakin, he personally built the fussy golden robot? And when we meet Kenobi in the original film, he looks at R2 and declares: "I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid." This, though they had plenty of adventures together.
- Luke and Leia discuss their real mother in Return of the Jedi. Luke cannot remember her but Leia says that she died when Leia was very young (Duh! Like at birth!) and that all she remembers are images, feelings.
"She was very beautiful, kind, but sad." Hmm, must be The Force within her that allows such memories for a newborn.
- It was common knowledge that Obi-Wan would be no match for his former padawan Anakin in a light sabre duel and yet he manages to nearly finish the future Darth Vader off in their climactic face-off in Revenge of the Sith, leaving him sans face and legs and one arm.
- In the original trilogy, Darth Vader reveals to Luke that he is Luke's father and invites the lad to join him in ruling the galaxy. Fine, but even at the end of Sith, Anakin makes the same offer to Padme, to join him as his queen when he overthrows the Emperor. But he has just converted to the dark side and it seems awfully premature for Anakin to be having such dreams of power when he supposedly is still so loyal to Palpatine.
- Didn't the Jedi give up rather easily? Despite their 1,000-year code of honour, at the end of Sith they scatter to the far reaches of the galaxy in exile - Yoda on the swamp planet Dagobah and Obi-Wan on Tattooine - and take nearly 20 years before they are lured back into action by young Luke Skywalker. Some knights.
- The biggest credibility gap between the two trilogies will undoubtedly be the plummet in film technology between episodes III and IV. Obviously there is also a budget gap since Lucas shot the first film on a relative shoestring. Admittedly when the saga opened in 1977 the galaxy was in a depression and everything was rusted and clunky. But check out R2-D2 in the original and how cheesy this hand-painted tin can looks compared to the slick piece of technology he ended up as in the prequels.
- In Sith, Natalie Portman's Padme Amidala briefly sports the much-mocked cinnamon-bun hairstyle first worn by Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie. Like mother, like daughter, perhaps, but everyone knows that, even a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, no woman would ever wear a 20-year-old hairdo.
-I t's interesting that despite the interstellar sophistication of the Star Wars era, obstetrics is still so primitive. Padme has no idea she is carrying twins until they are born. And Bail Organa agrees to adopt Leia because he and his Queen are unable to conceive themselves.
- And last but certainly not least, those troubling midi-chlorians and their messiah. Not mentioned at all in the original trilogy but in The Phantom Menace Qui-Gon Jinn notes that young Anakin Skywalker's bloodstream has the highest count of midi-chlorians he's ever seen. He explains that they are tiny microbes that live in the blood in a symbiotic relationship with human hosts, allowing them to connect to The Force. Also, young Anakin had no father, his mother declaring him to be the result of an immaculate conception of sorts.
So Anakin is seen to be "the chosen one," created by the midi-chlorian organisms to bring balance to the power of The Force. So what went wrong with this "divine" intervention?
© The Canadian Press, 2005
Vader suit made awkward on purpose
Source: World Entertainment News Network
STAR WARS mastermind GEORGE LUCAS cleverly made sure HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN's DARTH VADER costume was restrictive in EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH, because he wanted the character to seem awkward.
The filmmaker made the famous black outfit and mask extra heavy, so that Christensen would have difficulty walking in it.
The Canadian actor says, "There is almost an awkwardness to his (Vader's) movements. He's not very well oriented in the costume yet or the mechanical suit, so it's not like when he's striving in Episodes IV, V and VI.
"I thought that was kind of neat. I told George that the costume didn't move quite right and it's a little rigid and it was difficult to walk because I had big lifts in the heels that compensates for the height difference.
"I was concerned how that was going to look and he said, 'It'll look like you've never done it before - and that's what I want.'" (KL&RXM/WN/GES)
(c) 2004 World Entertainment News Network
'Star Wars' costs U.S. employers big time
Source: United Press International
CHICAGO (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A Chicago outplacement consultancy says "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" will cost U.S. employers up to $627 million in absenteeism.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Monday the film's first two days, this Thursday and Friday, will reduce productivity because so many employees will take off to watch the final installment of the hugely popular science-fiction series.
Using the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Challenger researchers estimated that about 51 percent of the 9.4 million attending opening days' viewings would be full-time workers.
Based on the 51 percent full-time employment rate, it is estimated that 4.8 million of the 9.4 million opening days' attendees are employed at least 35 hours per week.
With full-time workers earning an average of $130.60 per day, according to the BLS, the two-day cost in terms of lost wages and productivity resulting from 4.8 million absences would be $626.88 million.
Why the Force is still with him
By Gloria Goodale
Source: Christian Science Monitor
NICASIO, CALIF. - For those who never tossed out their toy light saber or put a stuffed Yoda in a yard sale, May 19 is a red-letter day.
Thursday's release of "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" marks the onscreen arrival of pop culture's most familiar villain, Darth Vader, at the same time as it formally drops the curtain on the "Star Wars" feature-film franchise that began in 1977. The final installment of the six-part saga, which began with episodes IV to VI and then continued with two prequels, links two generations of Skywalkers, Jedis, and a host of other familiar figures such as the Wookies.
The sheer size and longevity of director George Lucas's vision alone rank "Star Wars" as unique in movie history. To date, the franchise has grossed nearly $3.5 billion worldwide at the box office. But the impact of Lucas's story about a distant galaxy of princesses, knights, and evil lords cannot be measured solely in monetary terms. Even the (numerous) critics of the series acknowledge that "Star Wars" has redefined entertainment with an impact as keenly felt today as when it debuted back in the era when John Travolta was king of the disco floor.
"'Star Wars' legacy is almost too extensive to grasp," says Richard Dorment, editor at Giant Magazine, which covers popular culture. "It ushered in a new age of special effects and digital sorcery that brought moviegoers to theaters in droves."
During the '70s, films took on a grittier, harder-edged realism that often featured complex antiheroes. With Lucas's vision, Mr. Dorment says, "audiences saw an out-of-this-world creation that was unlike anything anyone had ever seen."
Lucas reintroduced broadly drawn myths into the public consciousness with a focus on good versus evil and unambiguous heroes. It's a mark of the film's prominence that even politicians tried to tap into "the Force."
"When President Reagan branded the Soviet Union an 'evil empire,' I don't believe his word choice was coincidental," says Dorment. "For most Americans, 'empire' had no context outside of 'Star Wars' and it helped cast the cold war in terms that young people could understand."
To some, the films are guilty of recycling a watered-down version of the same subjects one finds in, say, The Iliad. But this "dumbing down" of literature's great themes has been a double edged, well, light saber for the world of sci-fi, says Bob Madison, president of Dinoship, a science-fiction publishing house. "It's been good in that science-fiction films were finally made respectable, to a degree," he says. "But bad, because it turned science-fiction films into popcorn movies for adolescents."
Ever since "Star Wars" pioneered the blockbuster - big box-office movies dominated by special effects - Hollywood has built its business on "event" pictures. That's led the industry down a perilous path to the dark side of modern consumerism, says Mr. Madison. "It's in this respect that 'Star Wars' has probably had the most influence over American moviemaking," he says. "Films are now package deals, involving restaurant tie-ins, toys figurines, and knickknacks. It's almost as if the film is an afterthought."
A now gray-haired Lucas, who began his career making low-budget experimental films, is unapologetic about the massive reach his films have had. "Movies started as special effects," he says, sitting in a soundstage at Skywalker Ranch, in the town of Nicasio in Marin County. "That's what wowed an audience. It was like a big magic act for early audiences."
In the early years, filmmakers focused on giant spectacles, with as many props and costumes as they could afford. But by the 1950s, special effects had become prohibitively expensive. By the '70s, says Lucas, the major studios still had no special effects departments. When Lucas embarked on the first "Star Wars" films, he had a limited arsenal of special effects at his disposal. The budget was a paltry $13 million, hardly an ideal sum to help him bring his complex vision to life.
"I barely scraped by," he says. "Everything was designed to be on a very limited set of one or two spots, either the desert and the Death Star, or [the planet] Hoth and the Death Star, or the redwoods and the Death Star."
Nevertheless, the filmmaker persevered in developing cutting-edge visuals through his own Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) special-effects division for episodes 4-6. After he finished those films, he decided to take a break, raise his three children, and then perhaps return to directing with his own more experimental works. But then ILM helped create "Jurassic Park," and its digital world of living, breathing dinosaurs changed his mind.
"We were able to create a completely digital character that looked completely photorealistic," says Lucas. "I said, 'I bet I could take that and make that act, other than just open its mouth and growl.' " He realized he could finally create the complicated backstory of the first three films of the series, filling out a story that he says was always meant to be bigger than the tale of Luke and Leia. The advance in special effects made it easier for the filmmaker to create alien worlds. But he stresses that technology was never more important than the story of political maneuvering in a vast galaxy.
The movies are informed by the lessons of history, says Lucas. The point of the "Star Wars" mythology is "that you start out in a democracy, [which] turns into a dictatorship, and rebels make it back into a democracy," he says. "That's the ber-issue everyone is dealing with."
The director developed the story during the post-Watergate years. Stories about way power corrupts, often due to a lack of public vigilance, repeat themselves throughout history, Lucas adds, citing Caesar and Napoleon. "You have the personal issue of Anakin [Skywalker, aka Darth Vader] and his turn to the dark side and his children bringing him back to being a human being, but the larger issue is the fact that you've given up your democracy. It was never a thing where the bad guys just take over. It was a always a thing where it was given to them," he adds.
The final movie was shot and edited in an entirely digital environment, says Rick McCallum, producer of the final three episodes. He says despite criticism of the films, including the oft-repeated claim that the dialogue and actors are wooden, Lucas can be proud of his achievements. By pushing the boundaries of the special-effects world, Lucas brought back the ability to realize all sorts of new ideas, says Mr. McCallum, not just space movies, but "all kinds of movies that didn't exist before." Meet the fans who dress as Vader
It's "Star Wars" weekend here at Legoland, just north of San Diego, and 8-year-old Rhett Lauman is dressed to the hilt of his plastic light saber. "I'm a Jedi," he says, turning proudly to display his young Anakin outfit: a tan monk's tunic with a leather belt.
Rhett, who is eagerly waiting to be photographed with Darth Vader, is one of the thousands of "Star Wars" fans across the world who love to don costumes in homage to their favorite onscreen heroes and villains. It's not just kids, though. Plenty of adults dress up as the characters - not just on Halloween, but throughout the year as a way to express their fandom for the series.
Today, dozens of those "reenactors" from the 501st Legion Costuming Group, a fan-based volunteer corps, are roaming the park, which is showing off its new line of "Star Wars" themed Legos.
Their costumes are all considered "canon," meaning the owners have spent hundreds of their own dollars to dress themselves "correctly." The garb can range from storm trooper outfits to masks of aliens that have appeared in background scenes. The 501st group numbers more than 3,100 members in more than 220 countries, including men and women ages 18 to 60, says Michael Washko, the legion's membership officer.
Mr. Washko's own outfits include an Imperial Storm trooper, a Tusken Raider, and a Royal Guard. He points out that because the costumes are accurate replicas, Lucasfilm frequently taps the group to represent the films at places as varied as hospital charity events and theme parks.
Mike Senna, a member of the 501st, is a self-described "techie." He has constructed a fully operational R2D2 droid, which he controls remotely, that is posing for photos alongside Darth Vader.
Mr. Senna says his favorite "Star Wars" moment in the park had happened a moment earlier, when another young park guest arrived dressed as the adult Anakin. "Someone mentioned to him the fact that the grown-up Anakin is actually Darth Vader," says Senna. He had already considered that fact, he said, and was ready for the transformation. He figured he would dress as Anakin up until May 19. "Then," says Senna with a laugh, "once the last movie actually opens, he would dress as Darth Vader from that point on."
Big knots of families and movie characters will gather over the park all weekend. It's not just kids posing for the pictures. "Star Wars" reaches across the generations, says Mark Lauman, Rhett's dad. "I like that whole good and evil thing," he says, although he's already decided his son will have to wait to see the PG-13 rated "Sith."
Rhett says he can wait. "I just like the Force, because it's really about power that's more than just weapons," he says.
Mike Senna stands under a tree watching as Rhett and his father get closer in line. "Everyone likes this story," he says. " 'Star Wars' is everybody's space myth."
Source: Canadian Press
TORONTO (CP) - While George Lucas and company have obviously struggled mightily to keep consistency in the many plot threads that wind through the six Star Wars films, inevitably picky fans will find certain timeline anomalies as Revenge of the Sith faces its ultimate docking with the original Episode IV.
On the Internet, Star Wars geeks debate endlessly over the finer points of the Lucas storyline, often invoking the vagaries of The Force to explain the unexplainable.
Here is an arbitrary Top 10 list of plot turn peculiarities that, if nothing else, can generate healthy debate amongst the uber-fans:
- Obi-Wan Kenobi's age. The Jedi master goes from young action hero as played by Ewan McGregor to the distinctly elderly Old Ben Kenobi that young Luke meets at the outset of A New Hope. Alec Guinness was 63 at the time and Luke goes from birth to just a teenager between the two films.
- Forgetting the robots. Conveniently, R2-D2 and C-3PO have their memories wiped at the end of Revenge of the Sith. But isn't it curious that Darth Vader doesn't seem to notice Threepio, especially since as the child Anakin, he personally built the fussy golden robot? And when we meet Kenobi in the original film, he looks at R2 and declares: "I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid." This, though they had plenty of adventures together.
- Luke and Leia discuss their real mother in Return of the Jedi. Luke cannot remember her but Leia says that she died when Leia was very young (Duh! Like at birth!) and that all she remembers are images, feelings.
"She was very beautiful, kind, but sad." Hmm, must be The Force within her that allows such memories for a newborn.
- It was common knowledge that Obi-Wan would be no match for his former padawan Anakin in a light sabre duel and yet he manages to nearly finish the future Darth Vader off in their climactic face-off in Revenge of the Sith, leaving him sans face and legs and one arm.
- In the original trilogy, Darth Vader reveals to Luke that he is Luke's father and invites the lad to join him in ruling the galaxy. Fine, but even at the end of Sith, Anakin makes the same offer to Padme, to join him as his queen when he overthrows the Emperor. But he has just converted to the dark side and it seems awfully premature for Anakin to be having such dreams of power when he supposedly is still so loyal to Palpatine.
- Didn't the Jedi give up rather easily? Despite their 1,000-year code of honour, at the end of Sith they scatter to the far reaches of the galaxy in exile - Yoda on the swamp planet Dagobah and Obi-Wan on Tattooine - and take nearly 20 years before they are lured back into action by young Luke Skywalker. Some knights.
- The biggest credibility gap between the two trilogies will undoubtedly be the plummet in film technology between episodes III and IV. Obviously there is also a budget gap since Lucas shot the first film on a relative shoestring. Admittedly when the saga opened in 1977 the galaxy was in a depression and everything was rusted and clunky. But check out R2-D2 in the original and how cheesy this hand-painted tin can looks compared to the slick piece of technology he ended up as in the prequels.
- In Sith, Natalie Portman's Padme Amidala briefly sports the much-mocked cinnamon-bun hairstyle first worn by Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie. Like mother, like daughter, perhaps, but everyone knows that, even a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, no woman would ever wear a 20-year-old hairdo.
-I t's interesting that despite the interstellar sophistication of the Star Wars era, obstetrics is still so primitive. Padme has no idea she is carrying twins until they are born. And Bail Organa agrees to adopt Leia because he and his Queen are unable to conceive themselves.
- And last but certainly not least, those troubling midi-chlorians and their messiah. Not mentioned at all in the original trilogy but in The Phantom Menace Qui-Gon Jinn notes that young Anakin Skywalker's bloodstream has the highest count of midi-chlorians he's ever seen. He explains that they are tiny microbes that live in the blood in a symbiotic relationship with human hosts, allowing them to connect to The Force. Also, young Anakin had no father, his mother declaring him to be the result of an immaculate conception of sorts.
So Anakin is seen to be "the chosen one," created by the midi-chlorian organisms to bring balance to the power of The Force. So what went wrong with this "divine" intervention?
© The Canadian Press, 2005
Vader suit made awkward on purpose
Source: World Entertainment News Network
STAR WARS mastermind GEORGE LUCAS cleverly made sure HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN's DARTH VADER costume was restrictive in EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH, because he wanted the character to seem awkward.
The filmmaker made the famous black outfit and mask extra heavy, so that Christensen would have difficulty walking in it.
The Canadian actor says, "There is almost an awkwardness to his (Vader's) movements. He's not very well oriented in the costume yet or the mechanical suit, so it's not like when he's striving in Episodes IV, V and VI.
"I thought that was kind of neat. I told George that the costume didn't move quite right and it's a little rigid and it was difficult to walk because I had big lifts in the heels that compensates for the height difference.
"I was concerned how that was going to look and he said, 'It'll look like you've never done it before - and that's what I want.'" (KL&RXM/WN/GES)
(c) 2004 World Entertainment News Network
'Star Wars' costs U.S. employers big time
Source: United Press International
CHICAGO (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A Chicago outplacement consultancy says "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" will cost U.S. employers up to $627 million in absenteeism.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Monday the film's first two days, this Thursday and Friday, will reduce productivity because so many employees will take off to watch the final installment of the hugely popular science-fiction series.
Using the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Challenger researchers estimated that about 51 percent of the 9.4 million attending opening days' viewings would be full-time workers.
Based on the 51 percent full-time employment rate, it is estimated that 4.8 million of the 9.4 million opening days' attendees are employed at least 35 hours per week.
With full-time workers earning an average of $130.60 per day, according to the BLS, the two-day cost in terms of lost wages and productivity resulting from 4.8 million absences would be $626.88 million.
Why the Force is still with him
By Gloria Goodale
Source: Christian Science Monitor
NICASIO, CALIF. - For those who never tossed out their toy light saber or put a stuffed Yoda in a yard sale, May 19 is a red-letter day.
Thursday's release of "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" marks the onscreen arrival of pop culture's most familiar villain, Darth Vader, at the same time as it formally drops the curtain on the "Star Wars" feature-film franchise that began in 1977. The final installment of the six-part saga, which began with episodes IV to VI and then continued with two prequels, links two generations of Skywalkers, Jedis, and a host of other familiar figures such as the Wookies.
The sheer size and longevity of director George Lucas's vision alone rank "Star Wars" as unique in movie history. To date, the franchise has grossed nearly $3.5 billion worldwide at the box office. But the impact of Lucas's story about a distant galaxy of princesses, knights, and evil lords cannot be measured solely in monetary terms. Even the (numerous) critics of the series acknowledge that "Star Wars" has redefined entertainment with an impact as keenly felt today as when it debuted back in the era when John Travolta was king of the disco floor.
"'Star Wars' legacy is almost too extensive to grasp," says Richard Dorment, editor at Giant Magazine, which covers popular culture. "It ushered in a new age of special effects and digital sorcery that brought moviegoers to theaters in droves."
During the '70s, films took on a grittier, harder-edged realism that often featured complex antiheroes. With Lucas's vision, Mr. Dorment says, "audiences saw an out-of-this-world creation that was unlike anything anyone had ever seen."
Lucas reintroduced broadly drawn myths into the public consciousness with a focus on good versus evil and unambiguous heroes. It's a mark of the film's prominence that even politicians tried to tap into "the Force."
"When President Reagan branded the Soviet Union an 'evil empire,' I don't believe his word choice was coincidental," says Dorment. "For most Americans, 'empire' had no context outside of 'Star Wars' and it helped cast the cold war in terms that young people could understand."
To some, the films are guilty of recycling a watered-down version of the same subjects one finds in, say, The Iliad. But this "dumbing down" of literature's great themes has been a double edged, well, light saber for the world of sci-fi, says Bob Madison, president of Dinoship, a science-fiction publishing house. "It's been good in that science-fiction films were finally made respectable, to a degree," he says. "But bad, because it turned science-fiction films into popcorn movies for adolescents."
Ever since "Star Wars" pioneered the blockbuster - big box-office movies dominated by special effects - Hollywood has built its business on "event" pictures. That's led the industry down a perilous path to the dark side of modern consumerism, says Mr. Madison. "It's in this respect that 'Star Wars' has probably had the most influence over American moviemaking," he says. "Films are now package deals, involving restaurant tie-ins, toys figurines, and knickknacks. It's almost as if the film is an afterthought."
A now gray-haired Lucas, who began his career making low-budget experimental films, is unapologetic about the massive reach his films have had. "Movies started as special effects," he says, sitting in a soundstage at Skywalker Ranch, in the town of Nicasio in Marin County. "That's what wowed an audience. It was like a big magic act for early audiences."
In the early years, filmmakers focused on giant spectacles, with as many props and costumes as they could afford. But by the 1950s, special effects had become prohibitively expensive. By the '70s, says Lucas, the major studios still had no special effects departments. When Lucas embarked on the first "Star Wars" films, he had a limited arsenal of special effects at his disposal. The budget was a paltry $13 million, hardly an ideal sum to help him bring his complex vision to life.
"I barely scraped by," he says. "Everything was designed to be on a very limited set of one or two spots, either the desert and the Death Star, or [the planet] Hoth and the Death Star, or the redwoods and the Death Star."
Nevertheless, the filmmaker persevered in developing cutting-edge visuals through his own Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) special-effects division for episodes 4-6. After he finished those films, he decided to take a break, raise his three children, and then perhaps return to directing with his own more experimental works. But then ILM helped create "Jurassic Park," and its digital world of living, breathing dinosaurs changed his mind.
"We were able to create a completely digital character that looked completely photorealistic," says Lucas. "I said, 'I bet I could take that and make that act, other than just open its mouth and growl.' " He realized he could finally create the complicated backstory of the first three films of the series, filling out a story that he says was always meant to be bigger than the tale of Luke and Leia. The advance in special effects made it easier for the filmmaker to create alien worlds. But he stresses that technology was never more important than the story of political maneuvering in a vast galaxy.
The movies are informed by the lessons of history, says Lucas. The point of the "Star Wars" mythology is "that you start out in a democracy, [which] turns into a dictatorship, and rebels make it back into a democracy," he says. "That's the ber-issue everyone is dealing with."
The director developed the story during the post-Watergate years. Stories about way power corrupts, often due to a lack of public vigilance, repeat themselves throughout history, Lucas adds, citing Caesar and Napoleon. "You have the personal issue of Anakin [Skywalker, aka Darth Vader] and his turn to the dark side and his children bringing him back to being a human being, but the larger issue is the fact that you've given up your democracy. It was never a thing where the bad guys just take over. It was a always a thing where it was given to them," he adds.
The final movie was shot and edited in an entirely digital environment, says Rick McCallum, producer of the final three episodes. He says despite criticism of the films, including the oft-repeated claim that the dialogue and actors are wooden, Lucas can be proud of his achievements. By pushing the boundaries of the special-effects world, Lucas brought back the ability to realize all sorts of new ideas, says Mr. McCallum, not just space movies, but "all kinds of movies that didn't exist before." Meet the fans who dress as Vader
It's "Star Wars" weekend here at Legoland, just north of San Diego, and 8-year-old Rhett Lauman is dressed to the hilt of his plastic light saber. "I'm a Jedi," he says, turning proudly to display his young Anakin outfit: a tan monk's tunic with a leather belt.
Rhett, who is eagerly waiting to be photographed with Darth Vader, is one of the thousands of "Star Wars" fans across the world who love to don costumes in homage to their favorite onscreen heroes and villains. It's not just kids, though. Plenty of adults dress up as the characters - not just on Halloween, but throughout the year as a way to express their fandom for the series.
Today, dozens of those "reenactors" from the 501st Legion Costuming Group, a fan-based volunteer corps, are roaming the park, which is showing off its new line of "Star Wars" themed Legos.
Their costumes are all considered "canon," meaning the owners have spent hundreds of their own dollars to dress themselves "correctly." The garb can range from storm trooper outfits to masks of aliens that have appeared in background scenes. The 501st group numbers more than 3,100 members in more than 220 countries, including men and women ages 18 to 60, says Michael Washko, the legion's membership officer.
Mr. Washko's own outfits include an Imperial Storm trooper, a Tusken Raider, and a Royal Guard. He points out that because the costumes are accurate replicas, Lucasfilm frequently taps the group to represent the films at places as varied as hospital charity events and theme parks.
Mike Senna, a member of the 501st, is a self-described "techie." He has constructed a fully operational R2D2 droid, which he controls remotely, that is posing for photos alongside Darth Vader.
Mr. Senna says his favorite "Star Wars" moment in the park had happened a moment earlier, when another young park guest arrived dressed as the adult Anakin. "Someone mentioned to him the fact that the grown-up Anakin is actually Darth Vader," says Senna. He had already considered that fact, he said, and was ready for the transformation. He figured he would dress as Anakin up until May 19. "Then," says Senna with a laugh, "once the last movie actually opens, he would dress as Darth Vader from that point on."
Big knots of families and movie characters will gather over the park all weekend. It's not just kids posing for the pictures. "Star Wars" reaches across the generations, says Mark Lauman, Rhett's dad. "I like that whole good and evil thing," he says, although he's already decided his son will have to wait to see the PG-13 rated "Sith."
Rhett says he can wait. "I just like the Force, because it's really about power that's more than just weapons," he says.
Mike Senna stands under a tree watching as Rhett and his father get closer in line. "Everyone likes this story," he says. " 'Star Wars' is everybody's space myth."
