CLASSIC IMAGE: ROYAL PRISONER

Within her palace in the city of Theed, Queen Amidala watches in silent horror and personal grief as her world and her people are invaded by the Trade Federation. A classic moment from EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE.

CLASSIC IMAGE: TATOOINE TOURISTS!

Awaiting news from their scout team entering the wild confines of Mos Espa, Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and Naboo Captain Panaka patrol the desert environs of Tatooine around their damaged, secretly landed Royal Cruiser in this scene from EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE.

CLASSIC IMAGE: LOVER'S PARADISE!

Senator in hiding Padme Amidala gets to spend a little quality time in the Naboo countryside with her Jedi protector Anakin Skywalker, in a "love haiku" scene filmed in the romantic and beautiful climes of Italy. In this image, actors Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen get ready to be photographed for their 2002 published VANITY FAIR cover shoot taken by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz.

For more detailed info on the EPISODE II location filming in Italy, Tunisia and Spain, check out our current AFICIONADO issue now available- THE BEST OF ISSUES 1-4.

To get it, head over here: BACK ISSUE PDF CATALOG

CLASSIC IMAGE: DUEL AGAINST DARKNESS!

The Sith threat to the Galaxy now confirmed and out in the open, fearless and brave Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, though cut off from his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, continues to take the fight to the savage creature, deep within the bowels of the power complex of the City of Theed. But Darth Maul will soon prove a force with the Dark Side too powerful for even this noble hero to contain, in this terrific action sequence from EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE which we can't wait to see in 3-D...

CLASSIC IMAGE: LOVE AND MARRIAGE!

This lovely and familiar looking couple tied the knot long before William and Kate. Though I think our modern reality Royals will have a lot better time of marriage than Padme and Anakin ever did! Still, Naboo was a lovely place to get secretly wed!

CLASSIC IMAGE: TWO JEDI - ONE ARMY!

One of the very first images released by LUCASFILM in their then 1998/1999 press promotion of EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE, and its still one of my favourites. In this nicely framed shot showing lots of detail and very scene evocative of the Jedi action to come, Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson have never looked better or formidably heroic in the film than as they are here as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, surviving a sneaky assassination attempt on their lives by the the once cowardly Neimoidians and now trying to break through to the bridge of their shield door protected Trade Federation cruiser, though their noble attempts, almost unstoppable, are ultimately interrupted by the notorious Droidekas, soon rolling onto the scene and unleashing their heavy laser artillery against them. Its all a great action packed start to the first chronological movie of the STAR WARS saga, and the invasion of the friendly and beautiful world of Naboo is just one portent of worse things yet to come...

I can't wait to see the epic adventure and grandeur of the Prequel Trilogy films, as well as their Classic counter-parts, back on the big screen again, starting next year, where they belong!

CLASSIC IMAGE: QUEEN TO A CAPTURED WORLD!

Queen Amidala of the Naboo (Natalie Portman) can only look on helplessly as the city of Theed is surrounded and then ruthlessly occupied by the Battle Droids of the unscrupulous Trade Federation, in this hauntingly beautiful frame shot on location at the Caserta Royal Palace in Italy for EPISODE ONE.

JAR JAR BINKS: HESA BACK!!

Love him or hate him, that gangly Gungan is back for more comedy shenanigans in tonight's US episode of THE CLONE WARS, showing on CARTOON NETWORK, working with Bail Organa in an adventure titled SUPPLY LINES. I'm personally rather fond of Jar Jar- he reminds me of my late dog, with his big ears and eyes- and I'm intrigued to see what Filoni and co. will do next with the character. I thought in the Prequel films that Lucas bottled out from using Jar Jar more actively in EPISODEs II and III, after such a large involvement for the creature in EPISODE I, presumably due to his first appearance having caused great dismay and controversy from older fans who hated the Buster Keaton always getting into trouble inspired visual comedy character. In EPISODE II, Lucas did, to his credit, cleverly use Jar Jar to help instigate Palpatine's lifetime Supreme Chancellor-ship, which was very nicely done, and I was hoping he'd have a similarly and equally important sequence like that for EPISODE III-perhaps one act of supreme bravery on his part to help Padme and Obi-Wan, perhaps even sacrificing himself to save his friends, a move that might have been very interesting and added to the darkness of the final film of the Prequel Trilogy. Alas, it was not to be-and we still don't know what happened to him in that twenty year gap between sagas (despite the celebration visit to Naboo showing Gungans en masse in the revised version of RETURN OF THE JEDI on DVD in 2004).

Still, despite his on screen movie controversy, Jar Jar works very well in the animated series-BOMBAD JEDI in THE CLONE WARS first season (one of the earliest to be made in the run) was a fine example of slapstick comedy, and its nice to have Ahmed Best back behind the microphone to provide the characters unique voice. Somebody get Ahmed to be a convention guest at a future Celebration. The Jar Jar furore must have eased down by now, and I'm sure he has lots of great behind the scenes stories on the Prequels to tell that will delight fans of all ages!

CLASSIC IMAGE: RETURN TO NABOO

Here's a nice shot from a partially deleted scene-I like those!! From EPISODE II, its the moment where Anakin and Padme return to Naboo and go to the Royal Palace at Theed for a conference with Queen Jamillia (just what happened to her between II and III. Not re-elected I presume? Thats politics!).

The sequence was filmed in beautiful Spain in the hot summer of 2000, and witnessed by thousands of screaming SW fans wanting cast and crew autographs, towards the end of ATTACK OF THE CLONES main bulk of Principal Photography.