The Blockade Runner

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George Lucas’s Microbiotic Sequels and the Role of Canon in Star Wars – The Blockade Runner Podcast #68

BR 68 Cover 3

First up, Ryan and John discussing some recent Star Wars news including the Battlefront II and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order games news from E3 and recent George Lucas comments that are reminding us why we love him so much (even if his comments are sometimes a little wild!).

In the second half of Blockade Runner Podcast #68, Ryan discusses his reactions to the Rebels series finale (he just caught up). We end up spending a significant amount of time debating the importance and meaning of the concept of canon to Star Wars and how that influences our feelings regarding Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars storytelling outside of the films in general.

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Solo Reactions #3 and The Official Guide – The Blockade Runner Podcast – June 2nd, 2018

BR 67 Cover

John and Ryan discuss their evolving opinions of Solo after each saw it for a third time this weekend. Then share our favorite parts of Pablo Hidalgo’s Solo: A Star Wars Story – The Official Guide book.

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Solo Reactions Podcasts!

Solo Shows

We’ve posted two Solo reactions shows this week, both linked below.

Solo: Immediate First Reactions:

The first features our immediate reactions after seeing the movie on opening night. All of the Blockade Runners located here in Illinois headed out to a local bar after seeing the movie and recorded our first impressions.

Listen:

Listen on iTunes

Listen on Anchor & Other Platforms

Watch (Audio Only):

Highs & Lows: Solo Reactions #2

Ryan joins John to discuss his feelings about Solo after two viewings. We go through Ryan’s highs and lows and find some common ground between our two pretty different takes on the movie. Ryan also shares his Alamo Drafthouse screening of Solo and his run through the Millennium Falcon Experience.

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Goodbye Ghost Crew – The Blockade Runner Podcast – March 10th, 2018

Goodbye Ghost CrewIn this latest episode of the Blockade Runner Podcast, John and Dan bid farewell to Star Wars Rebels as the show’s four season run comes to a close. We look specifically at Rebels’s final three weeks (in a detailed, SPOILER FILLED discussion) and weigh in on some of the more controversial choices made by Dave Filoni and the rest of the creatives at Lucasfilm.

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The Last Jedi Trailer – The Blockade Runner Podcast Reacts! – October 9th, 2017

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Join Kevin and John as we breakdown the trailer for The Last Jedi frame by frame. We discuss our favorite images, plot implications, and our hopes for Episode VIII. This discussion took place just minutes after The Last Jedi trailer went live, so our impressions are immediate and, as Snoke would say, “RAW!”

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The Last Jedi Trailer

Blockade Runner Links:

Email=blockaderunnerpodcast@gmail.com

Twitter=@blockaderun

Instagram=theblockaderunner

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Battlefront 2 Beta & Recent Books/News – The Blockade Runner Podcast – October 7th, 2017

EW Last Jedi CoverRyan and John discuss the Battlefront 2 beta in the latest episode of The Blockade Runner. We chat about all of the content in this week’s beta release, including the playable maps, modes, classes, and characters. We also lament how terrible we are at the game but share our hopes for improving through the experience of playing the single player mode.

After we wrap up the Battlefront 2 discussion, we move on to covering the latest Star Wars books releases as well as touch on our feelings toward J.J. Abrams directing Episode IX and speculate about the now confirmed Last Jedi trailer release on Monday night.

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Part One (Battlefront 2 Beta)

Battlefront 2 Small

Part Two (Recent Books & News)

Leia Small

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MoviePass

Blockade Runner Links:

Email=blockaderunnerpodcast@gmail.com

Twitter=@blockaderun

Instagram=theblockaderunner

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The Power of the 90s – The Blockade Runner Plays Super Star Wars (SNES, 1992)

Power of the 90s Super Star Wars Cover Art

The Super Star Wars games were super popular upon their release and they played a significant role in bringing a new generation of kids into Star Wars at the time, so I’m thrilled to be playing them for our Power of the 90s series. The games are known for their sometimes brutal difficulty, and that’s certainly part of what I remember about them, but after revisiting Super Star Wars with my copy of Volume 42 of Nintendo Power by my side and exploiting a secret free life-farming area, I had a surprisingly smooth experience playing through the game. And it’s absolutely worth tracking down Super Star Wars (even if you don’t have nostalgic memories of playing as a kid) for it’s bright, colorful visual interpretation of the Star Wars universe, it’s 16-bit renditions of classic Star Wars themes, and its giant green womp rats! Check out the videos below to watch my recent playthrough of the game with Star Wars in the 90s-focused commentary.

The Blockade Runner Plays Super Star Wars – Part One:

The Blockade Runner Plays Super Star Wars – Part Two:

The Blockade Runner Plays Super Star Wars – Part Three:

The Story of A New Hope As Told By Super Star Wars SNES (1992):

It occurred to me while recording my playthrough of Super Star Wars that the story screens are so impressive that they would be fun to break out and cut together as their own video. It actually reminds me of reading a children’s picture book version of A New Hope, only with excellent 16-bit visuals and sound!

Nintendo Power:

 

Super Star Wars TV Commercial:  

In case you were wondering if you want this game or not (you do), check out this sweet television ad from the time of the game’s release!

We’ll be back later this month with our Power of the 90s episode cover all things Star Wars in 1993, and we’ll definitely be posting our playthrough for Super The Empire Strikes Back too! Whether or not we can beat the game remains to be seen…


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Colin Trevorrow Leaves Episode IX – The Blockade Runner Podcast – September 10th, 2017

Trevorrow Cover

Ryan and John discuss our reactions to Colin Trevorrow leaving Star Wars: Episode IX, our thoughts on who should replace him, and what this may mean for the movie itself.

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Listen: Click on the image or link below.

Trevorrow Play Button

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The Hollywood Reporter: Colin Tervorrow Out as Episode IX Director

Vulture: Colin Trevorrow’s Firing From Star Wars Is Another Reminder That No Director Will Ever Be Bigger Than the Franchise

Steele Wars Patreon

Blockade Runner Links:

Email=blockaderunnerpodcast@gmail.com

Twitter=@blockaderun

Instagram=theblockaderunner

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The Power of the 90s – The Blockade Runner Plays Star Wars (NES, 1991)

Check out the first 30 minutes or so of Star Wars on the NES in our second (and last) Blockade Runner Plays video for our Power of the 90s series covering 1990/1991. I play from the start of the game up through the first part of the Death Star, so the video provides a pretty solid look at the first third or so of the game.

I’m also including Nintendo Power’s coverage from its September 1991 issue (Volume 28, the rest of which you can read here on archive.org). It’s a fun look at what games coverage, Star Wars or otherwise, was like in 1991 and it’s also super helpful if you want to play some NES Star Wars yourself!

The game’s manual also includes some helpful info as well as some fun graphics and character write ups (Star Wars’s manual can be found at Digital Press’s site which also includes a ton of other game manual scans for numerous consoles). You can also click on the image below to view the entire manual as a pdf.
NES Star Wars ManualYou can also find some information about the hint book mentioned in the video here, or check out this eBay listing for the hint book (which includes a couple of pictures).

I just recently learned that there is a totally sweet tv commercial for the game too. Check out a dastardly Darth Vader taking on a super-heroic mom in this fantastic ad for the game:

While you’re at it, why not check out comedian Mario Cantone (for some reason) shilling for the game on some sort of video game-related tv show:

Finally, check out the Moby Games page for NES Star Wars for more info on the games development and release as well as screenshots from this and other versions of the game if you’re interested in the differences between them that I briefly mentioned in the video.


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Star Wars at San Diego Comic Con 2017 – The Blockade Runner Podcast – July 22nd, 2017

Comic Con 2017 Cover

Ryan and John discuss the toy and book announcements coming out of San Diego Comic Con 2017. We weren’t planning on recording this show ahead of time, but the news from Hasbro and Lucasfilm publishing was too exciting not to talk about! Highlights and links below:

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Toys:

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