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 Starlog magazine ran from 1976-2009. It featured all the latest gossip in sci-fi and asked everyone's burning questions. Lucky for us Internet Archive has scanned a massive collection of Starlog available for us to collectively gawk at. Let's take a random look at Issue 31 from February 1980: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-031  Here are a but a few of the "rampant and not-so-rampant, consistent and inconsistent rumors" from the article "Stalking THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with Ear and Typewriter" by David Houston: ------------------------------------------------ ...Near the climax, Han Solo crosses light sabers with Darth Vader. Although Han doesn't really know how to use the weapon, he's doing fairly well when suddenly the light beams are "fused" together and Han's and Vader's "life forces" are intermingled. Luke has a chance to come to the rescue — but if he kills Vader, might he not kill his friend too? ...Word has gotten around that the Emperor will make an appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Equally persistent are the rumors that he will be played by Orson Welles. . . and by Christopher Lee. ...And more than once we've heard that it turns out that Vader is really Luke's father! Of course, we've also heard, from reliable sources, that Ben Kenobi is really Luke's father, and, from still other sources that Ben killed Luke's father. ...Admittedly this next story doesn't sound too likely, but according to one report: Luke and C-3PO are captured by a horren- dous alien (stop-motion animated, the story goes) who dumps them into a tank-like prison filled with a breathable liquid. The only way the alien can be killed (shades of Dracula) is to drive a metal stake through his heart. The only metal around, unfortunately, is C-3PO; and Luke melts the 'droid down to fabricate the weapon.  ------------------------------------------------ SidneyIsTheKiller fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Feb 24, 2021 |
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Feb 24, 2021 21:58
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i'll have to try and look it up when i get home but in the collection of xeroxed production memos i bought off rick sternbach a few years ago, there's an angry email from mike okuda to someone at starlog wanting to know where they got some sketches or designs or whatever because they never got officially released so they must have come from someone who stole them out of the office
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Feb 24, 2021 22:18
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Issue 27, Oct 1979: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-027 From an article called "The Model Makers at Magicam: How they survived Star Trek— The Motion Picture" -------------------------- From our scouting around, it seems that the only Star Trek contributor (aside from Roddenberry and many of the actors) to have stayed with the project — without being fired, hired midstream or shunted from one depart- ment to another — is Magicam Corp., the Paramount subsidiary responsible for sup- plying miniatures for the film. "Our involvement with Star Trek has been a political nightmare, but we've tried to ignore it," says Carey Melcher, vice president of Magicam. "I can't think of anyone in special effects — except maybe Howard Anderson and Frank Van der Veer — who has not worked on Star Trek — The Motion Picture at some time or other," says Jim Dow, creative head and chief model builder at Magicam. --------------------------
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Feb 24, 2021 23:40
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Issue 39, Oct 1980: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-039 ----------------------------------------------------  FOX'S NON-PROFIT ALIEN Although ALIEN has grossed over $100 million in box-office receipts, 20th Century-Fox is claiming it still hasn't made a profit on the film. In fact, the film company says it is out over $2 million. Consequently, the producers, writers and director haven't received a dime of residual money. And some of them are hopping mad. Executive producer and co-writer of the original story, Ron Shusett, angrily says: "If this isn't a successful film, what is? It scares me and concerns me because I can't expect to have a bigger success than ALIEN. Here I hit the jackpot and haven't seen any money." David Giler, one of the producers of the movie, also is fuming. "I don't know what to say about it," he says, "it's so outrageous. I think it's flagrant. I can't imagine where all the money went." ...Tom Pollock, the lawyer for producers Giler and Hill, as well as for director Scott, contends: "You can't win under the rules [the studio] are playing with here. I'm not prepared to say yet whether this is a mistake or whether it is outright fraud. One can't say that until one audits. But I will say this is the worst case of its kind I have ever seen. Ever." Until these men begin to see some money and the auditing problems are ironed out, the much-talked-about sequel to ALIEN, it seems, is very much in jeopardy. ----------------------------------------------------
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Feb 24, 2021 23:59
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More from Issue 39, Oct 1980: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-039 Let's hear what some readers have to say!  ---------------------------------------------------- WHO'S THE OTHER? ... I suggest Princess Leia. She is young enough for the training; she withstood Darth Vader's tor- tures; she is dedicated to the cause; Princess Leia, not Lando, "heard" Luke's cries for help; Han Solo is not in shape to be going anywhere for a while and he is too old. I wouldn't be surprised if in the third film, Leia, instead of Luke, destroys the Emperor. Of course, it will be the year 2000 before we find out. Keith Hoffman 1221 Campbell Ave. New Carlisle, OH 45344 . . . Could it be Vader himself? Considering that there was an equilibrium of power between the good and dark sides of the Force, it would not be impossible to turn Vader into the antithesis of what he is now, especially if Luke (who, except for Yoda may be the most powerful member of the good side of the Force) is truly his son. Bill Smith Rt. 1 Box 66 BIythewood.SC 29016 ----------------------------------------------------
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Feb 25, 2021 00:07
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Sar Trek VI: The hosed Just Totally hosed Bad Wrong Country
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Feb 25, 2021 00:11
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Same issue!
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Feb 25, 2021 00:13
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Issue 69, April 1983: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-069 Allow 2-6 weeks for delivery 
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Feb 25, 2021 00:18
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Beginning to think I should get into sports gambling
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Feb 25, 2021 00:28
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Issue 109, August 1986: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-109 You guys I'm concerned about the Star Wars fandom I hope they're alright 
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Feb 25, 2021 00:39
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SidneyIsTheKiller posted:...And more than once we've heard that it turns out that Vader is really Luke's father! Of course, we've also heard, from reliable sources, that Ben Kenobi is really Luke's father, and, from still other sources that [/I]Ben[I] killed Luke's father. There is kind of a story behind this one. Lucas and Kershner had the in script say "Obi-Wan killed your father" and they kept it a secret from everyone until right before they filmed the scene. When they did the scene they sat down with Mark Hamil and said "Were changing the line in post, Vader's actually going to say I am your father, don't tell anyone, you're the only person we're telling so if word gets out we'll know who to blame."
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Feb 25, 2021 01:17
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Issue 32, March 1980: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-032/ . . . Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are planning to team up for a top-secret project entitled Raiders of the Lost Ark for Paramount. If the deal goes through, the script, written by Larry Kasdam , will be directed by Spielberg produced by, Lucas and Frank Marshall
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Feb 25, 2021 02:51
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Issue 69, April 1983: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-069 . . .HENRY THOMAS, the young Elliott of E. T. , says that Steven Spielberg is working on the hit film's sequel. According to Thomas, it will reunite him with co-stars Drew Barrymore and Robert McNaughton. . . .RAIDERS OF THE TEMPLE OF DEATH is the "tentative" working title for Indy 2, the next screen adventure of Indiana Jones . . . LARRY COHEN, whose genre films include Q and It's Alive, is scripting the fifth Airport thriller, Airport 2000. Described as "science fact," not science fiction, this new flick could almost be termed a "straight" version of Airplane II— The Sequel since it combines computer and space technology with yet another in-air disaster. 
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Feb 25, 2021 03:07
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I like how it says "Will they kill off Denise Crosby?" not Tasha Yar. Like they're saying Paramount is going to send a hit squad to assassinate the actress herself
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Feb 25, 2021 04:47
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Maybe that is exactly what they were trying to say 
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Feb 25, 2021 09:48
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David D. Davidson posted:There is kind of a story behind this one. Lucas and Kershner had the in script say "Obi-Wan killed your father" and they kept it a secret from everyone until right before they filmed the scene. When they did the scene they sat down with Mark Hamil and said "Were changing the line in post, Vader's actually going to say I am your father, don't tell anyone, you're the only person we're telling so if word gets out we'll know who to blame." I love Mark Hamill's telling of this story because he then talks about how at the premier the line comes up, and Hamill does a hilarious impression* of Harrison Ford leaning over and saying "you never told me that" *they're all hilarious
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Feb 26, 2021 00:01
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I don't give a single gently caress about Space Wars but Big Mark seems chill
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Feb 26, 2021 00:21
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Mark Hamill is a national treasure and I will forever be grateful to Void Battles or w/e for giving the man a platform he could operate from. SidneyIsTheKiller posted:Same issue!  SidneyIsTheKiller posted:Issue 39, Oct 1980: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-039 I don't really feel bad for these guys. I mean I feel bad but it's like in the same sense you feel bad for a dude that dies in the polar bear enclosure at the zoo. Like yeah no one should have to go through that, but no one forced you into that enclosure my dudes.
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Feb 26, 2021 02:41
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That bit about an E.T. sequel had me googling and getting re-acquainted with E.T. 2: Nocturnal Fears which I am very sorry never got made. (Tangentially it's also another reminder there are a lot of things I learned about 10-ish years ago that I'd completely forgotten about and i don't know if it's because I'm getting old or if ten years is a longer time than I remember it being...) Edit: Reading through the treatment, all the "omg can you believe they almost made a horror E.T. sequel" sentiment from the blogosphere seems way overblown to me, and I think people are letting their imaginations get a little carried away. Basically the movie would introduce some villainous E.T.s that capture the kids. They are "interrogated" and the treatment is very vague about what that means exactly but I reeeeaallly doubt Spielberg had anything quite so harrowing as others seemed to interpret it (my impression is it's something of a mind probe). It sounds for sure darker than the first E.T. but there's no particular reason this story wouldn't have been family-friendly. SidneyIsTheKiller fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Feb 26, 2021 |
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Feb 26, 2021 11:35
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I like the theory that Spielberg (correctly) realized a sequel to ET would be a net negative on his own brand as an auteur in the long run and purposefully gave a treatment the studio would reject on-sight. It's a little but it makes a certain sense. Also looking this up I found out about the ET Earth Center which sounds... strange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Pofe8HTYs
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Feb 26, 2021 19:22
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From Issue 95, June 1985: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-095  Money was apparently the main reason that Kirstie (Runaway) Alley did not return to reprise her role as Saavik in Star Trek III. Paramount Pictures reportedly balked at the actress' salary demands and began looking for a new Saavik. Butrick supported Alley's stand, but didn't sit out the new Trek. Still, he doesn't feel exactly overpaid for his Starfleet contribution, but then again he never expected to appear in Star Trek III. "I made squat on the first film," Butrick confesses. "And then they offered us a $500-a-week raise to do Star Trek III. Kirstie reacted by making an outrageous request. As you know, she's very outspoken. Kirstie didn't need to do another Star Trek. I reacted by going down and saying that the role is worth this much money, regardless of what I'm worth. It was only three weeks work. I never ask for more than I think I'm worth, although their original price was a little un- called for." ...Butrick reveals that the Paramount brass screened Star Trek: The Motion Picture dur- ing the shoot of Star Trek II as a "scare tac- tic" for Meyer and cast. "That was the only moment of doubt I had about doing it," Butrick said. "They had really done a bad picture the first time and I wondered what I had gotten myself into."
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Feb 26, 2021 22:16
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mind the walrus posted:I like the theory that Spielberg (correctly) realized a sequel to ET would be a net negative on his own brand as an auteur in the long run and purposefully gave a treatment the studio would reject on-sight. It's a little It's an amusing idea but I doubt there's any validity to it. Spielberg absolutely had the clout to just say 'no'. And I honestly just don't think the script treatment is all that outrageous. Folks hear the bad guys are "evil and carnivorous with sharp teeth" and are thinking they must be full-on monsters, but that also describes, like, the Ferengi. People might also have been presuming Spielberg was trying to revive the original "Night Skies" concept here, but the more I hear about it I get the impression even that project was a little closer in tone to something like Gremlins than The Thing or whatever. 
SidneyIsTheKiller fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Feb 26, 2021 |
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Feb 26, 2021 22:31
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Yeah I said I liked the theory, not that I truly believed it. When you lay out the history with the benefit of hindsight, the treatment for ET 2 and of course the Night Skies stuff are very obviously the primordial elements that would form a gestalt in Poltergeist and Gremlins under his associates. SidneyIsTheKiller posted:From Issue 95, June 1985: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-095
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Feb 26, 2021 22:41
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SidneyIsTheKiller posted:More from Issue 39, Oct 1980: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-039 This is easily my favorite piece of speculation from star wars fandom. It just rules so much to look back on this, since I cannot remember a time when I didn't know the broad plot beats for the originals.
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Feb 28, 2021 23:34
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SidneyIsTheKiller posted:
Mods, PLEASE change my name to Dedicated Baldophile
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Mar 1, 2021 00:12
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This is a good thread.SidneyIsTheKiller posted:Let's hear what some readers have to say! Before the anonymity of the internet, when the only way to talk about your fetish in public involved publishing your real name and home address. EDIT: Just found this gem in issue 126: quote:I'm pleased that you had an article on ALF (STARLOG #1 13). He's better than Spock. I used to be a Star Trek fan until ALF came along. I love the little fellow. He's much cuter than most aliens; in fact, he's the cutest little fellow I've ever seen in my whole life in any fiction, anywhere.
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Mar 1, 2021 21:58
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SidneyIsTheKiller posted:
I like this one because it is obvious someone saw something from Empire and then just kind of made up a bunch of extra stuff around it.
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Mar 2, 2021 19:14
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All I can think about now is the kid who went to see Empire on opening weekend and spent the whole movie waiting for Space Dracula to show up.
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Mar 5, 2021 16:02
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JethroMcB posted:This is a good thread. Thanks for sharing, JethroMcB! I definitely encourage anyone and everyone to share any interesting deets and hot goss they come across in the Starlog archives. There's a treasure trove to behold: https://archive.org/details/starlogmagazine?tab=collection
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Mar 6, 2021 00:53
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Starlog has your highly anticipated surefire smash hits covered! Issue 111, Oct 1986: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-111  STARLOG: How do you think the public at large will respond to a three-foot tall, cigar- smoking, wise-cracking duck trapped in a world he never made? GERBER: This picture is either going to make a fortune beyond all reason, or it's go- ing to go straight from release to videocassette, bypassing theaters. It will become a $30 million cult classic that they show at midnight at the Fifth Street Mission. I don't know which it will be, but it's going to be one or the other. Personally, I hope it's an enormous hit. ---------------------------------------------------- Issue 19, February 1979: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-019  The special, geared for a family audience, had to pre- sent its alien horde as realistically as possi- ble, and dramatically as well. The show's first director, David Acomba, left in the middle of production because of "artistic differences." He was replaced by veteran TV director Steve Binder. Also in this issue: ALERT. Please be advised that the following companies that have advertised in starlog magazine have proved to be negligent in providing the services they have promised: Starfleet Com- mand, Movie Poster Place, Anshell Minia- tures, Andromedia Foundation.
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Mar 14, 2021 04:53
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"Bashki defends Lord of the Rings" sounds so much better than whatever the actual article must be. Was his version hated on release?
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Mar 14, 2021 05:01
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mind the walrus posted:Yeah I said I liked the theory, not that I truly believed it. When you lay out the history with the benefit of hindsight, the treatment for ET 2 and of course the Night Skies stuff are very obviously the primordial elements that would form a gestalt in Poltergeist and Gremlins under his associates. Speaking of Poltergeist and projects leading to other projects, I recently re-watched it and am I crazy or did that film almost certainly had to have been a more-or-less direct inspiration for Ghostbusters? The latter plays like a quasi- sequel/parody whose concept extends naturally from the former (Poltergeist: "What if a modern middle-class family became haunted in a normal neighborhood...?" Ghostbusters: "...Who ya gonna call?!") and the timing is suspiciously perfect. Moreover, both movies share that same semi-organic, ectoplasmic concept of the paranormal, as well as turning mundane parts of your household into portals to another dimension for hapless victims to get sucked into. (I admit I only made the connection when I noticed one of the paranormal researchers in Poltergeist looked a lot like Ray Parker Jr...)
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Mar 14, 2021 05:53
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I think that was more of a general trend thing. You've got stuff like The Exorcist and Amityville Horror in the 70s leading directly into Poltergeist. Ghostbusters was kind-of the logical capstone where that trend intersected with the SNL/National Lampoon comedy boom of the same era. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPoILjs6BYI&t=563s This video essay touches on some of that stuff here at the 9:30 mark as an outgrowth of why Winston is deceptively important at tying that whole movie together.
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Mar 14, 2021 06:23
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mind the walrus posted:I think that was more of a general trend thing. You've got stuff like The Exorcist and Amityville Horror in the 70s leading directly into Poltergeist. Ghostbusters was kind-of the logical capstone where that trend intersected with the SNL/National Lampoon comedy boom of the same era. Uh oh. I feel a shitstorm coming on...
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Mar 14, 2021 07:13
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Not my intent. The vid just has categories of examples there that I felt was pertinent.
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Mar 14, 2021 07:18
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mind the walrus posted:Not my intent. The vid just has categories of examples there that I felt was pertinent. For the record I watch most of Film Roberts videos, I think he makes good content regardless of the fact that he has said and continues to say astoundingly stupid poo poo on social media
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Mar 14, 2021 07:38
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Oh yeah I always forget his social media is like, genuinely atrocious. I keep out of the loop of that poo poo on purpose. Probably not wise then to share his poo poo, which sucks because when he says in his extremely narrow Gen X circlejerk lane he's ok.
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Mar 14, 2021 07:41
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Issue 23, June 1979: https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-023 "Full-Color Preview" of some "New SF Thriller" called Alien, but with conspicuously zero shots of the titular creature...  Despite Fox's "conspiracy of silence" re- garding the nature and appearance of the alien, enough information has filtered through the celluloid curtain to suggest that it will be one of the strangest creatures ever seen on film. Rumors say that it changes shape throughout the picture. ...H. R. Giger, the Swiss surrealist artist who designed the beast... says of the alien, "...Once seen, it will never be forgotten. It will remain with peo- ple who have seen it, perhaps in their dreams or nightmares, for a long, long time. Perhaps for all time. I even dream about the alien myself— so much that I'm often frightened of going to sleep." Before Giger's awesome statements can be dis- missed as exaggeration, it would be wise to view his previous work. ...Dan O'Bannon, the screenwriter who conceived the creature, is especially cautious when discussing the alien. "Frankly," says O'Bannon, "I think Fox is doing the right thing by playing their cards so close to the vest with this. People are go- ing to pay their $4.50, come in, sit down and say 'Show me'— and boy, are we gonna show them! "I will tell you this, though— it is scary. In fact, Fox is planning previews in several cities to determine if it's too scary, before they make the final cut." SidneyIsTheKiller fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Mar 14, 2021 |
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Mar 14, 2021 08:19
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mind the walrus posted:I think that was more of a general trend thing. You've got stuff like The Exorcist and Amityville Horror in the 70s leading directly into Poltergeist. Ghostbusters was kind-of the logical capstone where that trend intersected with the SNL/National Lampoon comedy boom of the same era. Hmm, maaaaybee they were both just following the same trends, but regardless Hollywood hosed up by not giving us Polterghost Busters: Geistbustin' Makes Me Feel Good in 1986!  
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Mar 14, 2021 09:23
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Btw one of my favorite random useless trivia bits about Poltergeist is that Richard Lawson, the aforementioned Ray Parker, Jr.-looking dude in the trio of proto-ghostbusters, got married to Beyonce's mom just a few years ago, which always makes me think "Way to go, man!" even though I don't know anything about Beyonce's mom!
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Mar 14, 2021 09:49
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