Tag: Star Wars

Ball Buster, the Boardgame

One of my favorite blogs, The Booberry Alarm Clock, reminds us that once upon a time (i.e, the 1970s) there were actually TV ads for Ball Buster, the game for the whole family!

The back story on this is that this game was a product of Mego, the action figure company that at that point was at the height of its success. The fact that they chose to pour their money into “Ball Buster” shows the decision making process that led to their decline shortly thereafter (and certainly explains why the action figures were all neutered!)

According to Everything2.Com,

For some reason Mego thought it could get away with the product’s name. When the time came to screen the game’s TV commercial to buyers from toy and game stores, the audience was stunned silent.

Shortly after “Ball Buster”, Mego made another classic well thought out decision when it rejected a licensing deal for some film called “Star Wars” (though it did later snag the “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” license!)

Was “Empire Strikes Back” The Worst Star Wars Film?

I have no idea if George Lucas really said that “The Empire Strikes Back” was the worst Star Wars film. If he really believes that, clearly he hasn’t seen the last three films (which wouldn’t be surprising since they border on unwatchable).

What continues to fascinate me is how many people believe that Darth Vader says “Luke, I’m your father” in “Empire.” Of course, Vader never utters that line anywhere in the movie. Google Luke, I’m your father, however, and the line appears to be approaching Humphrey Bogart’s non-existent “Play it again, Sam” line as the most misquoted movie line.

The thing is, that “Play it again, Sam” is a clever line but “Casablanca” is filled with wonderful dialogue. “Luke, I’m your father” is easily the most memorable line from any Star Wars film other than “Use the force”, and, of course, neither Lucas nor anyone else associated with the films could actually be bothered to write such a memorable line. Its sort of a foreshadowing of the suckiness that is Episodes 1-3.

Personally, I’ve always thought “Empire” was the best of the three Star Wars films.