Latest news with #Stormtroopers
Western Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
Star Wars Stormtroopers add firepower to Pembroke Dock
The Stormtroopers were among many re-enactors at the Heritage Centre's Falcon Fun Day on Bank Holiday Monday – an annual event which again brought Star Wars fans flocking to Pembroke Dock. The dance, featuring The Phil Dando Big Band and Forties tribute singer Peri Lynn - who as Peri Thomas was brought up locally - takes place on Saturday, June 21, in a marquee in the former Royal Dockyard. Tickets are available, at £25, from the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre (Tel 01646 684220); Pembroke Dock Town Council offices in Dimond Street (Tel 01646 684110) or online via Eventbrite. Street food vendors will be supporting the dance.
Tom's Guide
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
‘Andor' ending, explained — how the series finale leads up to ‘Rogue One'
Did you stay up late like me to watch the final three episodes of "Andor" season 2? I get if you didn't — like my colleague Malcolm McMillan, I wasn't a fan of Andor's release schedule — but I did get to see all the pieces finally put in place for "Star Wars: Rogue One." In some ways, the writers of "Andor" were sort of painted into a corner, as we already know what happens to some of the main characters. But "Andor's" ending is more "Breaking Bad" than it is "How I Met Your Mother." Of course, "Andor," has to explain why we don't see some of the main characters in "Rogue One." Spoiler alert: it usually doesn't mean anything good. Diego Luna's Cassian Andor isn't anywhere to be seen in Episode 10; rather, it's a look at Luthen Rael's (Stellan Skarsgard) backstory and how he became a revolutionary. It also reveals how he adopted a young Kleya and schooled her in the ways of rebellion. This is the last real bit of character building in the series, as most of what happens from here on out is a lot of action — necessary perhaps, but it's not what made this series so great. Episode 10 also starts the real endgame, as Luthen is able to finally piece together the Empire's seemingly disparate activities — strip-mining Ghorman and Kyber crystals from Jedha — and unmasking the "energy independence" plan as the cover story for the Death Star. Luthen gets this intel from ISB spy Lonni Jung (Robert Emms), but instead of spiriting Jung (and his family) away to a safehouse, Luthen simply kills him. It's the sort of cold calculus he's employed throughout the series, and a lesson Cassian Andor will carry with him into "Rogue One." Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. After passing the info to Kleya, Luthen goes back to the antique shop to destroy all evidence of their activities. No sooner does he do that than he's paid a visit by Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), who's finally unmasked him as a rebel. Not one to go quietly, Luthen stabs himself with one of his antique knives. But he doesn't finish the job and is rushed off to the hospital — Dedra needs him alive to interrogate him, after all. Kleya's even more pragmatic than Luthen, and knows that he has to be killed before the Imperials can nurse him back to health. In a sequence that's nearly as good as any "Bourne" movie, she sneaks into the hospital where he's being kept, blows up stuff to cause a distraction, shoots a bunch of Stormtroopers and breaks into Luthen's room, where she takes him off life support. Kleya herself then needs rescuing from Coruscant, so Andor, along with K-2SO and pal Melshi, hop in their U-Wing to make the extraction. We get another pretty great action setpiece, which sees K-2SO come to the rescue for the first time, tossing aside Imperial soldiers with ease while dispensing quips highlighting its sardonic personality. Back on Yavin, we also see the messiness of the rebellion. Even though we're less than a year out from the destruction of the Death Star, there's a lot of squabbling between Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Saw Gerrera and Andor. Organa and others aren't convinced of the intel about the Empire's super weapon, while Mothma yells at Gerrera that his overly aggressive actions are messing with the greater strategy. It's the same argument that was leveled at Luthen earlier in the series; everyone has their own ideas of just how best to accomplish their goals. As for the Imperials? Dedra gets thrown in the brig and interrogated by Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn lays it on a bit thick, but whatevs), where it's revealed that not only did she rifle through some documents she wasn't supposed to have seen, but that those files were also seen by Lonni, who had stolen her security codes. Dedra's also overstepped her bounds by raiding Luthen's shop, and, because it went so badly, she's also on the hook for that. She tries to redeem herself by giving some advice on how to capture Kleya, but it's too little, too late. She ends up in an Imperial prison, in the same garb we saw Cassian wearing in the first season, where he was making parts for the Death Star. Her commanding officer, Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) also sees the writing on the wall. In a conversation with one of his colleagues, he tacitly acknowledges the futility of trying to crush the rebellion. After two of his officers are killed — and Dedra in jail — he's ordered to explain himself to the Emperor. Instead, he turns his blaster on himself. The final scenes of Andor seem to take place just days before "Rogue One." Cassian jets off again with K-2SO to look for a contact named Tivik, who will confirm Luthen's intel on the Death Star. Meanwhile, Krennic can be seen looking out on the nearly complete battle station. The last image, though, is of Bix cradling a baby — likely Cassian's — among the fields of wheat and looking up at the sky. It's a beautifully staged shot, and also an echo of the final scene of "Revenge of the Sith," where Aunt Beru holds baby Luke Skywalker and gazes at the twin suns of Tatooine. As both mothers smile, it conveys a message of hope. After all, that's what rebellions are built on.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stormtroopers descend on Oxfordshire town for Make-A-Wish
Jez Allinson with his Star War character assistants at the Wallingford event (Image: Jez Allinson) An Oxfordshire town got a visit from Star Wars' Darth Vader, Stormtroopers and more this weekend in a hugely successful charity event. The Running stormtrooper, also known as Jez Allinson, visited The George Hotel in Wallingford on Sunday for an event raising money for children's charity Make-A-Wish. It's the latest on the beloved character's exploits around the UK, which has so far raised more than £83,000 for children's charities. READ MORE: Oxfordshire racing stable assistant found dead at home With the sell-out event in Wallingford, including ticket sales, a raffle and three auctions, Mr Allinson thinks that an additional £2,300 has been raised, bringing the total up to more than £85K. ADVERTISEMENT He said: "The George Hotel were brilliant, they donated the function room and we had all the tables and everything laid out. Stay connected to the heart of Oxford for less! 🚨 Our flash sale is ON: get trusted local news for just £5 for 5 months or 40 per cent off an annual subscription. Don't miss out — subscribe now! 🗞️👇 — Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) April 29, 2025 "It pretty much looked like a Make-A-Wish wedding by the time I was finished with it! "I'm really, really pleased with the money raised. The whole evening went so well." He thanked the "brilliant and generous" businesses who donated prizes for the raffle held at the family-friendly event. ADVERTISEMENT READ MORE: Oxford University receives share of £1.1m for new project Described as a "wonderfully unique event," Jez shared the Running Stormtrooper Story, "one of the most positive and inspirational Star Wars fan stories in the Galaxy. In the past, he's run the London Marathon, Ultra Runs at Pinewood Studios, and took on a 1000-mile challenge in 2020. In Wallingford, Jez was supported by several Star Wars characters, and auctioned off must-have prizes for franchise fans, including a framed Return of the Jedi 1982 storyboard donated by PropStore.
Washington Post
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
D.C. celebrates Star Wars: Kids swing lightsabers, parents consider ‘how liberty dies'
Here comes those first notes of soundtrack maestro John Williams's iconic strut, blasting off mounted speakers into the growing crowd at Eastern Market Metro Park: duh-duh-duh-dun-da-duh-dun-da-duh. Eyes shoot to the corner of Pennsylvania Ave and 7th Street SE, where a quartet of white-armored Stormtroopers stomp into the park on this bright Saturday in Capitol Hill. Within moments, two of these evil Empire denizens from the 'Star Wars' universe are bump-and-grinding to techno music in a PG-13-rated performance. More than 50 kids wave plastic lightsabers to the beat while they watch, confused but happy as parents in Jedi costumes and Han Solo vests bake in the midday heat. The sacrifice is worth it, on this eve of May 4th, a high holy day for Star Wars fandom (May the Force be with you — get it?) Fans, from obsessed to the casual follower, use the date as an opportunity to celebrate a franchise that crash-landed into pop culture in 1977 with creator George Lucas's 'Star Wars: A New Hope,' and has only gotten bigger generation after generation. Events, costume parades, academic panels, social media posts, think-pieces, Facebook love letters — in early May, they all pop up. This year has more resonance for some fans who see echoes of Lucas's scrutiny of power in the warp-speed changes to government coming from the Trump administration. 'The lesson from Star Wars is you have to fight fascism when you can,' said Pete Musto, 39, a Hyattsville resident who came to the third annual District's Barracks Row neighborhood event with his wife and 4-year-old daughter. The basic plot of Lucas's original trilogy — how a farm boy from a nowheresville planet joins the scrappy insurgency battling the evil totalitarian Galactic Empire — pulled heavily from both the iconography of 1940s fascist regimes and the political cynicism of the Watergate years in America, Lucas has said in interviews. When Lucas returned to the Star Wars universe with 1999′s prequel 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,' the creator drilled into the political and moral circumstances that midwife a democracy's willing slide into a more repressive form of government. That first prequel film begins with — of all things — a trade dispute. The trilogy ends with a representative body, poisoned by misinformation and manipulated by crisis, voting for a dictatorship. This cues up actress Natalie Portman's famous line: 'So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.' 'The second trilogy is more aligned to the mechanics of democratic decline,' said Cass R. Sunstein, a former Obama administration official and current Harvard Law School professor who in 2016 published the book-length study 'The World According to Star Wars.' 'I think it's fair to say Lucas captured the patterns by which democracies have historically unraveled. He studied the 193os and he studied the fall of the Roman Republic. I think he hasn't been given enough credit for capturing that.' In 2012, Lucas sold 'Star Wars' to Disney, which has since unleashed a regular bumper crop of new movies, cartoons and prestige live-action shows. Although those new stories are scattered among different time periods, before and after the original movies, they all thematically orbit the fall of democracy and the struggle to topple a repressive regime. The franchise has seen an upswing in interest and activity in recent years, including the release in April of a second season of 'Andor' — the 'Star Wars' product that most directly addresses the terror and fear of totalitarianism. For Musto, the show's message is more important now than ever. 'I know that the writer of Andor has a very specific political message.' Where some fans see an event to bring the kids or an occasion to consider deeper trends, Brian Ready sees opportunity. 'This is going to be our big thing,' Ready, Barracks Row Main Street's executive director and the main architect of the May 4th festivities, said in an interview. 'We want to be ground zero going ahead for Star Wars events.' The events spread over the weekend include staged lightsaber battle, film screenings, pop-up bars, costume contests, and more. On Saturday, as costumed actors dueled with plastic lightsabers and children chased around Chewbacca, some parents didn't care to address the politics. Clinton Lin, 36, who came with his 4-year-old son, said his interest was in the characters: 'He loves robots right now. All about R2D2 and C3PO.' But because Star Wars has been a pop culture fixture of nearly 50 years, there are generations of fans who grew up as kids loving space battles and Han Solo's swagger, and now are adults watching 'Andor' and zeroing in on a different message. A resident of D.C.'s Bloomingdale neighborhood soaking through a Han Solo costume Saturday said he grew up a fan. Back then, the Empire — with its shiny uniforms — was cool. Now he had two sons, 5 and 8, both transfixed by boogying Stormtroopers, His boys recently became fans, the man said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the political climate. He was happy to share the world with them. But his read of Lucas's message has deepened with time. These days, he said, he thinks about the darker shades of Star Wars. 'We don't have the Jedi to come save us,' he said.
Buzz Feed
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
I Went To The Star Wars Celebration In Japan – This Is What It Was Like
There's nothing quite like being at Star Wars Celebration. Hundreds of thousands of Star Wars fans of all ages, races, and genders from across the galaxy descending on one location (in this case, Japan) – many of them cosplaying as Stormtroopers, Jedi, Sith Lords, Mandalorians, and other notable figures from the universe – can feel overwhelming at times. But the overall atmosphere is one of positive and immersive joy. It's a place where you're as likely to bump into a lightsaber-carrying fan as you are to start up a conversation about John Williams' best Star Wars score with someone you've never met before. In that way, it's a welcome and healing contrast to the annoying loud minority on social media who have bullied and harassed Star Wars actors – particularly people of colour like John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Moses Ingram, and Amandla Stenberg – in recent years. It's still a great time to be a Star Wars fan. While the 2023 edition of the bi-annual convention (held in London) was defined by a slew of announcements that charted the next half decade of Star Wars, SWC 2025 put most of its focus on the present and the near-ish future. Day 1 The Mandalorian and Grogu (currently due out in May 2026) were the highlights of Day 1, showcasing a sequence in which Pedro Pascal's Beskar-clad hero blasts, stabs, and flamethrowers his way through a horde of stormtroopers in an AT-AT. Even in this early sizzle reel, the jump from the small to the big screen seems to suit Mando, and Jon Favreau – who was onstage with Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy – made note of the IMAX cameras that were utilised for certain action sequences. The film will also star Sigourney Weaver as a stern New Republic commander. We also got confirmation that Ryan Gosling will be making his Star Wars debut in Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter, due out in 2027. Details are still scarce – Levy said it's a 'standalone adventure set a few years after events of Episode IX' – but securing the talents of one of Hollywood's most likeable stars is a big win. One of the more exciting reveals of the day was in Lucasfilm's animation panel, as Maul: Shadow Lord was announced. Set after the events of The Clone Wars, the series sees Sam Witwer reprise the role of the fan-favourite Dathomiri Sith Lord as he rises in the criminal underworld. The sizzle reel was bold and generous, with plenty of bounty hunters and fierce lightsaber action along with the reveal that Maul has taken on an apprentice. Coming May 2026! BuzzFeed Day 2 Day 2 brought Tony Gilroy and the cast of Andor to hype up the now streaming second season of Star Wars' critically lauded show. The fandom's love for actors like Diego Luna, Adria Arjona, and Alan Tudyk felt especially palpable. In a change from season 1, the episodes will be dropping three at a time. 'We're essentially dropping a new movie every week,' Gilroy noted. 'And we're focusing on the most important three or four days of every year.' Hayden Christensen – aka Anakin Skywalker – got a hero's welcome when he was introduced to the stage for the season two panel of Ahsoka, which is notable for being the first Star Wars series that's led by a Black woman; Rosario Dawson. Christensen's Star Wars journey has been a bumpy one; the initial reaction to the prequel trilogy that he starred in was intensely negative. But a reappraisal of those films in recent years has brought him back into the Star Wars limelight, and the appreciative love he's repeatedly shown by the fandom is heartwarming. And most surprisingly, he'll be back for season 2! Day 3 This year, Star Wars Celebration's final panel was dedicated to Star Wars: Visions, the endlessly creative anthology animated series that features work from multiple studios all over the world. Volume 3 is due out in October of this year and features work from Kinema Citrus, David Production, Kamikaze Douga, Project Studio Q, Trigger, Polygon Pictures, Production I.G, and Wit Studio. In addition to new non-canon stories, it was announced that the new season would feature the expansion of beloved shorts from earlier in its run, including 'The Duel', 'The Village Bride', and 'The Lost Ones'. We can't wait for this one!
