Stamen0083

Yes, the calculator LED bubbles on Luke's ANH saber were swapped out in favor of a circuit's 13-pin connector. And I guess Anakin didn't get a saber in A Phantom Menace. My bad, I was thinking of the youngling Jedi in Attack of the Clones. Anyway, for the curious, Anakin's AotC saber: http://www.xscapesprops.com/star%20wars%20...walkersaber.jpg Anakin's RotS saber. I think it may have been a Graflex replica, after all. Some details just don't match Luke's saber: http://www.bigtimecomics.com/images/Master...0LE%20-%201.jpg Compare the previous to Luke's ANH saber: http://www.trainerdiego.com/4_sale/lightsaber_3.jpg And Luke's ESB saber. Notice the circuit board on the box and the different button: http://www.starwars-tw.com/replica/saber/m...b-se/luke04.jpg I am officially a Star Wars geek. >_<

Anakin has several sabers. There was the one he used as a youngling Jedi padawan in Phantom Menace. I'm not sure what it looks like, but I'm sure it's just a standard saber issued to young padawan. It's low powered and is not lethal, but still hurts when you touch the blade. There was the one he used in Attack of the Clones. It was destroyed in the Geonosis factory. It had the emitter shroud from an MPP flashgun, only chromed. There was the one he was given at the end of Attack of the Clones by the Jedi who came to assist them. I don't remember what happened to it. I think it was Obi-Wan's that was destroyed when he battled Dooku. The one Anakin used in Revenge of the Sith is based on a Graflex flash gun. Whether it came from an authentic one is not relevant. The activation box and grips are a little different, but it's essentially the same saber as Luke's in A New Hope, since Anakin's saber was taken by Obi-Wan after the battle on Mustafar. Darth Vader's saber at the end of Revenge of the Sith is different from the ones in the original trilogy. It resembles them, but it's still very different. Vader's saber in A New Hope was an MPP flash gun with grips. For Empire Strikes Back, the grips were replaced and some wires added to the holes on the outside. Vader's saber in Return of the Jedi used to be one of Luke's Graflex based saber. A shroud was built from the shop and attached to the tip to resemble the MPP shroud, and the chrome tip was painted black, but it's not an MPP. So actually, Anakin had quite a few sabers. Personally, I like the A New Hope MPP best, and my custom saber resembled it loosely.

Well they did that in Russia, so they would surely do it here. Do you believe that what they did is right?

Anakin was a war hero, the greatest of all of them. All the kids wanted to be like him. He has glory. He didn't want power for himself. Remember, he wanted to become a Jedi Master so he can access the restricted information held in the Archives about Darth Plagueis. After he cut off Windu's hand, though, all bets are off. He resented the Jedi code because he was not allowed to publicly love Padme. I don't think he had a problem with anything else. He was stubborn and acted on impulse many times, but he was just passionate. We're not talking about sacrificing his family willy nilly for no reason here. We're talking about sacrificing your family to save millions, billions of lives. Without putting anyone at risk, who would not want to save his family?

You really should invest in some decent plastic cement. Gunze welds the arms on my pilots solidly, and unless you force it on purpose, the arms are not going to fall off from day to day handling.

Use Tamiya clear red. No need to thin, and keep the transparency.

By sheer looks alone and not judging on technical qualities, the PG Strike Gundam is the best of them all. The PG Wing Zero Custom is a fat bastard. It's ugly. It's not posable (anyone here managed to get its ankles to bend with the armor on?) It's so uninspired that it is sitting in its box ever since I got it. It is a piece of expensive, ugly crap. It has rubber body cover, for crying out loud! The MG kit is better in every way.

You maintained the aspect ratio when you resized that image, right, because it looks horribly squished?

I think Quigon vs. Maul and Obi-Wan vs. Maul should be separate. Quigon was rather slow. The intensity really switched on when Obi-Wan came in. But Anakin vs. Obi-Wan is the best duel, ever. There were blades EVERYWHERE! I like the way Grievous handles his sabers with his mech hands, though, as he was saying "Engage, Kenobi." Plus he has FOUR arms! The Ho battle is cool, but I deducted points because they used Hasbro sabers.

Of course not. These things must always be taken into consideration. I was talking about the situation where no one is more important than anyone else. Strictly speaking, my friend is important to me only because he/she is my friend, and would otherwise not be worth more or less than anyone else. Given that everyone is equal, would you save the one you love or the billions of strangers you don't?

Whether the whole world may or may not turn against me does not factor into my decision to sacrifice one to save many. Besides, I don't think it is selfish for me to grieve a little to save millions of others from grief. One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic. Of course, this conveniently forgets the fact that each of those deaths is a tragedy in itself. If adhering to my morals is wrong, I don't want to be right. Of course, when it comes down to one on one, selfishness will prevail and I will choose to save my friend. However, when knowing that saving ONE friend means sacrificing millions, I simply cannot do it. You are right. It is also selfish in wanting to save those millions over one friend because I do not want to live with the guilt that my inaction caused millions to die and their loved ones to grieve.

You are so cruel for bringing up such a torturous possibility.

So even if those billions of others died, leaving behind grieving loved ones, just so you are happy, that is not selfish?

No, it's not selfish to keep your loved ones alive. It's not selfish to prevent something disastrous from happening to someone you love. It IS selfish when doing so results in the death of someone else. Given a choice to save an entire star system or your loved one, what is your decision?

How big is Yoda's saber meant to be, anyway? From what I've seen, standard sabers (including that ridiculously clunky "activation box") are too big for my use. When I build a Vader replica, it will be 1.5" diameter, but I won't be able to swing it around like I would my current 1.25" diameter saber. And Yoda's saber is incredibly nice. I can't wait for an FX.

I saw that page but I couldn't make heads or tails of the information presented to me. Now I see. Thanks.

The needs of many outweigh the needs of one. While it would be extremely difficult to sacrifice a mate to save a billion people, it would still be the right thing to do. The billion dead people will leave behind a billion mourning mates. I would rather mourn whom I've lost than make each of a billion people mourn one of the billions they've lost. When Yoda was talking to Anakin about losing Padme, Yoda does NOT know about life after death yet. If you've read the gunship segment I posted, you will see that Obi-Wan did not teach him poorly, and that he did not turn his back on Anakin. Anakin has always been negligent of the way of the Jedi, sometimes even going out of his way to subvert the rules completely. The Jedi are not completely faultless, however. Communications is always the biggest cause of tragedy, I think (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, anyone?), and in this case, the Jedi failed to make it painfully clear to Anakin that not willing to give up the one you love can make one fall to the Dark Side, even though it is one of the most important tenet of the Jedi Order.

How do I find out if the subtitled version is going to air in or near the San Jose Bay Area? I HAVE to see this on the big screen.

Is there a higher resolution version of that picture readily available on someone's hard drive? I would very much like to make this the first non-naked woman desktop wallpaper for my computer in a year.

According to IMDB, Ratner made Red Dragon, that Hannibal Lecter prequel (?), and the Rush Hour series. Rush Hour 3 is in production. Whee.

Obi-Wan accepted this with a nod, but still when he thought of Anakin, dread began to curdle below his heart. "I should have argued more strongly in Council today." "You think Skywalker won't be able to handle this?" Mace Windu said. "I thought you had more confidence in his abilities." "I trust him with my life," Obi-Wan said simply. "And that is precisely the problem." The other two Jedi Masters watched him silently while he tried to summon the proper words. "For Anakin," Obi-Wan said at length, "there is nothing more important than friendship. He is the most loyal man I have ever met—loyal beyond reason, in fact. Despite all I have tried to teach him about the sacrifices that are the heart of being a Jedi he—he will never, I think, truly understand." He looked over at Yoda. "Master Yoda, you and I have been close since I was a boy. An infant. Yet if ending this war one week sooner—one day sooner—were to require that I sacrifice your life, you know I would." "As you should," Yoda said. "As I would yours, young Obi-Wan. As any Jedi would any other, in the cause of peace." "Any Jedi," Obi-Wan said, "except Anakin." Yoda and Mace exchanged glances, both thoughtfully grim. Obi-Wan guessed they were remembering the times Anakin had violated orders—the times he had put at risk entire operations, the lives of thousands, the control of whole planetary systems— to save a friend. More than once, in fact, to save Obi-Wan. "I think," Obi-Wan said carefully, "that abstractions like peace don't mean much to him. He's loyal to people, not to prin¬ciples. And he expects loyalty in return. He will stop at nothing to save me, for example, because he thinks I would do the same for him." Mace and Yoda gazed at him steadily, and Obi-Wan had to lower his head. "Because," he admitted reluctantly, "he knows I would do the same for him." "Understand exactly where your concern lies, I do not. Yoda's green eyes had gone softly sympathetic. "Named must your fear be, before banish it you can. Do you fear that perform his task, he cannot?" "Oh, no. That's not it at all. I am firmly convinced that Anakin can do anything. Except betray a friend. What we have done to him today..." "But that is what Jedi are," Mace Windu said. "That is what we have pledged ourselves to: selfless service—" Obi-Wan turned to stare once more toward the assault ship that would carry Yoda and the clone battalions to Kashyyyk, but he could see only Anakin's face. If he asked me to spy on you, do you think I would do it? "Yes," he said slowly. "That's why I don't think he will ever trust us again." He found his eyes turning unaccountably hot, and his vision swam with unshed tears. "And I'm not entirely sure he should." PS: Anyone have reviews on the novelizations of the other movies? I'm looking to read up on the nuances that the films missed.

The gunship streaked through the capital's sky. Obi-Wan stared past Yoda and Mace Windu, out through the gunship's window at the vast deployment platform and the swarm of clones who were loading the assault cruiser at the far end. "You weren't there," he said. "You didn't see his face. I think we have done a terrible thing." "We don't always have the right answer," Mace Windu said. "Sometimes there isn't a right answer." "Know how important your friendship with young Anakin is to you, I do." Yoda, too, stared out toward the stark angles of the assault cruiser being loaded for the counterinvasion of Kashyyyk; he stood leaning on his gimer stick as though he did not trust his legs. "Allow such attachments to pass out of one's life, a Jedi must." Another man—even another Jedi—might have resented the rebuke, but Obi-Wan only sighed. "I suppose—he is the chosen one, after all. The prophecy says he was born to bring balance to the Force, but..." The words trailed off. He couldn't remember what he'd been about to say. All he could remember was the look on Anakin's face. "Yes. Always in motion, the future is." Yoda lifted his head and his eyes narrowed to thoughtful slits. "And the prophecy, misread it could have been." Mace looked even grimmer than usual. "Since the fall of Darth Bane more than a millennium ago, there have been hun¬dreds of thousands of Jedi—hundreds of thousands of Jedi feed¬ing the light with each work of their hands, with each breath, with every beat of their hearts, bringing justice, building civil society, radiating peace, acting out of selfless love for all living things—and in all these thousand years, there have been only two Sith at any time. Only two. Jedi create light, but the Sith do not create darkness. They merely use the darkness that is always there. That has always been there. Greed and jealousy, aggression and lust and fear—these are all natural to sentient beings. The legacy of the jungle. Our inheritance from the dark." "I'm sorry, Master Windu, but I'm not sure I follow you. Are you saying—to follow your metaphor—that the Jedi have cast too much light? From what I have seen these past years, the galaxy has not become all that bright a place." "All I am saying is that we don't know. We don't even truly understand what it means to bring balance to the Force. We have no way of anticipating what this may involve." "An infinite mystery is the Force," Yoda said softly. "The more we learn, the more we discover how much we do not know." "So you both feel it, too," Obi-Wan said. The words hurt him. "You both can feel that we have turned some invisible corner." "In motion, are the events of our time. Approach, the crisis does." "Yes." Mace interlaced his fingers and squeezed until his knuckles popped. "But we're in a spice mine without a glow rod. If we stop walking, we'll never reach the light." "And what if the light just isn't there?" Obi-Wan asked. "What if we get to the end of this tunnel and find only night?" "Faith must we have. Trust in the will of the Force. What other choice is there?"

The movie does not show Anakin's struggles before succumbing to the dark side. In the book, Anakin did not make the decision lightly. Was it here that I mentioned that he was physically sick when he reported to Mace Windu and company that Palpatine is Sidious? The movie did not pull that off very well. The book also made it very clear that Anakin had only saving Padme in mind. The movie did not pull that off very well either. The book also made it clear that as Jedi, they are to not get too attached to anyone, so that they will not be overcome with grief and fall to the dark side. The movie did not pull that off very well either. Finally, Obi-Wan left Anakin there to be taken care of by the Force's will. Besides, Ewan McGregor made it obvious how pained Obi-Wan felt when he had to turn his back on Anakin, and how hurt he was that Anakin betrayed him. The previously mentioned gunship scene would have been crucial to making more sense to these scenes, though. Too bad it didn't make it. PS: Anyone interested in the segment of text of the gunship scene?

Pheh. Shipping fees to an island would be a bitch. Island living is overrated. Nice review, Jesse. It's just too bad that I find the face sculpt inaccurate, and the hands and feet just look awful. I'm sure the modeller's next sculpt will be incredible though.

Have they EVER bothered to do that with any of their originally non-chrome kits?