Hot Toys The Comedian from "Watchmen"

The first Watchmen movie figure from Hot Toys MMS line was announced as Silk Spectre II (preview pictures HERE) and now pictures of their next Watchmen figure have surfaced on the internet. He's none other than Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian, a superhero who is commissioned by the US government.

Johnny Depp Tom Hanks Sean Connery

"Public Enemies" opens in theatres here tomorrow, July 23, 2009 starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, the bank robber whose exploits dominated the press during what is sometimes referred to as the public enemy era, between 1931 and 1934. Going by reviews so far, this promises to be a good movie. And why shouldn't it be? It stars one of my all-time favourite actors.







Man, I would love to get my hands on a 1/6 scale Johnny Depp John Dillinger to stand next to my other Prohibition era figures (post HERE)

UPDATE March 27, 2010: Good things come to those who wait :) Heroic 1/6 scale Bank Robber REVIEW - Johnny Depp as John Dillinger figure

Then I remembered Tom Hanks (another one of my favourite actors) acted in the film "Road to Perdition (2002)" as Michael Sullivan, Sr, a mob enforcer for John Rooney, an Irish American organized crime boss in Illinois, also set during the Great Depression and the Al Capone mob-rule era



Let's not forget "The Untouchables (1987)" which was based on Eliot Ness's autobiographical account of his efforts to bring Italian-American gangster Al Capone to justice during the Prohibition era. It was directed by Brian De Palma and starred Kevin Costner as Ness, Sean Connery as Irish-American beat cop Jim Malone, and Robert De Niro as Capone. Connery received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film. I watched the movie for Sir Sean Connery (yet another favourite actor)



And then there's "Dick Tracy (1990)" a pulp action film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. Warren Beatty produced, directed and starred in the film, which featured supporting roles from Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly and Charlie Korsmo.

Sideshow Darth Vader Review II

Continued from previous post

Now for some close-up pictures of Sideshow Star Wars Darth Vader (also called ANH Darth Vader after "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope").



Here's a picture of Darth Vader without his helmet! I don't think Sideshow Darth Vader's helmet is removable but when I got mine, the helmet came off - no big deal really, now we see him as if he was bald. You can see where they had applied the glue.



And here's how he should appear, with helmet. Darth Vader's mask, with his tinted Visual Enhancement Sensors or Receptors (eyes), Speech Projector and Respiratory Intake (the grill like radiator looking thingie he has for a mouth) and other details are very well realized in 1/6 scale









Question: Is Sideshow Darth Vader's helmet too small? I was able to find some screen shots / movie stills from "Star Wars (1977)" and it does show that Darth Vader's helmet is a tad small. In the first picture, you can also see Vader's height difference compared to Princess Leia's and the Stormtroopers, another point of contention among collectors - Is Sideshow Darth Vader too tall? David Prowse (the actor who portrayed Darth Vader) was 6' 6.5" tall without the costume. Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) was 5' 1" tall. With full costume and armor plus helmet and boots, David Prowse as Darth Vader would have cut quite an imposing figure, as you can see from the picture! A little too tall is better than too short, as was the case with Medicom's puny puny Vader (SIGH!)



More movie stills of Star Wars Episode IV Darth Vader. These are to show how Sideshow stuck very closely to screen accuracy (which I wish they hadn't). If you examine all the pictures closely (movie stills and my close-up shots), you will notice that the Atmosphere Sensors (as it is called in the "Star Wars Technical Journal" by Shane Johnson) - located at the corners of his "mouth" (Speech Projector and Respiratory Intake) are not consistent. One is silver tipped and the other is just left as black. The right tip isn't painted silver. Just because it appears so in the movie. In the later film versions, this would be corrected and I think it was purely overlooked by everyone on the set and not intentional. I am so tempted to take some silver paint and paint the black tip silver myself.





Even Darth Vader's Respiratory Vent is reproduced in fine 1/6 detail, along with the chain that holds his outer robe (cape) over his shoulders



For "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope", Darth Vader's inner robes go over his armored breastplate. The breastplate was moved on top of the inner robes in "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back", emphasizing the armor and giving him a slightly more robotic look. His control box was also significantly overhauled. In "Star Wars" it was merely a device to control his respirator, and was fastened with straps similar to the ones the Rebel pilots use on themselves for similar space-travel related matters. For "Empire Strikes Back", the box was instead more integrated into Vader's body, and the "coin slots" were re-designed so as to look more high-tech. Finally, blinking lights and LEDs were added. The same facelift was given to the electronic devices on his belt.



In "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope", the Visual Enhancement Sensors or Receptors (eyes) were tinted a dark red and became translucent when viewed at certain angles. For the sequel, "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back", Darth Vader was given a very subtle make-over to reflect the cyborg angle George Lucas wanted. The eyes were coloured pitch dark.



Darth Vader's lightsaber hangs on a hook on his belt



Sideshow ANH 1/6 scale 14-inch Darth Vader with lit lightsaber. The chestpiece or chest box is Darth Vader's Life Support Systems Control Computer



Another view of his insulated bodysuit, belt with (from left to right) temperature regulation system, audio enhancement unit and respiratory sensor matrix, codpiece, shin armor and boots







In "Revenge of the Jedi", the hand-sculpted mask of the original films was remade using a robotic tool to ensure the mask was perfectly symmetrical. The main changes were the widened back, neck flare, flat lenses as opposed to curved for the eyes, sharpened cheeks and the neck piece and face plate were one piece. The main changes that are immediately apparent to look at are the neck flare and the lenses. Finally, the helmet was made to connect underneath the breastplate, instead of overlapping on top as it did in the original films - this subtle but effective re-design gave Vader a more robotic look. The chestbox was now made to be fully integrated into Vader's torso, creating a cyborg look.



Unfortunately, the helmet looks way too big!! And unlike David Prowse who was a body builder and a big man, Hayden Christensen's body type just cannot carry off the menacing look. Instead, the big helmet on a small body makes Darth Vader look like a super-deformed Humpty Dumpty. Remember the Star Wars spoof "Spaceballs" and Lord Dark Helmet? George Lucas must have had visions of "Howard the Duck".

NEXT: Sideshow Darth Vader vs Sideshow Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Final Duel (post HERE)

One small step for man...

One small step for man, one MAJOR COCK-UP for Nasa. Okay, the newspaper article titled it as "one giant blunder" but cock-up sounds better :) Today, July 20, 2009 is the 40th Anniversary of Man's Landing on the moon. That's right, 40 years ago on July 20, 1969 Man landed on the moon.



According to the newspaper, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) admitted that it had erased the Apollo 11 moon footage years ago so that it could reuse the videotape. Now studio wizards of Hollywood are digitally sharpening and cleaning up the ghostly, grainy footage of the moon landing, making it even better than what viewers saw on TV. Because there isn't any original footage, they are using four copies of the moon landing footage that Nasa scrounged from around the world and enhancing it.

The first batch of restored footage was released just in time for the 40th anniversary of the "one giant leap for mankind", and some of the details seem new because of the sharpness. Originally, astronaut Neil Armstrong's face visor was too fuzzy to be seen clearly. The upgraded video of Earth's first moon-walker shows the visor and the reflection on it.



A huge search that began three years ago for the old moon tapes led to the inescapable conclusion that the 45 tapes of Apollo 11 video had been erased and reused. The original videos beamed to Earth were stored on giant reels of tape that each contained 15 minutes of video.

Dragon 1/6 scale 12-inch NASA Astronaut (very detailed and IMHO the ultimate 1/6 scale astronaut out there) covered in an earlier post HERE



Remembering the Apollo moon landing

Sideshow Star Wars Darth Vader Review

Since we've been on the subject of Star Wars (see previous post), we cannot leave out the most iconic villain of all time IMHO - Darth Vader. Since I posted about it almost a year ago (link HERE), Sideshow Star Wars Episode IV 1/6 scale 14-inch Darth Vader, the Sith Lord has finally made his presence felt in my home.

The box itself already beats Medicom's version. Without opening it, from its size you can sense that it is going to be good. "I sense something, a presence I've not felt since......." Since forever lah! There hasn't been a properly made 1/6 scale Darth Vader!! Medicom Darth Vader (pictures HERE) is nice BUT certainly NOT 1/6 scale - its puny size is a joke and I've got pictures to prove it (that'll be in a later post, now let's drool)



Accessories include lit and unlit lightsabers and three extra interchangeable hands. Does Darth Vader really need any other accessory? "I find your lack of faith disturbing."



Sideshow chose to produce Darth Vader as he FIRST appeared in "Star Wars (1977)". Once "Star Wars" became a success and sequels were realized, Lucas numbered the initial film as "Episode IV" and gave it the subtitle "A New Hope" when the film was re-released in 1981.



At 14 inches tall, this 1/6 scale Darth Vader by Sideshow certainly cuts an imposing figure and is a joy to behold, after wanting a properly scaled and proportioned Darth Vader for so long. "The force is strong with this one."



No loose joints or monkey limbs here. Everything is tight and 14-inch tall Darth has no problems standing on his own two feet, even though Sidehsow has included a display stand.



Darth Vader comes with a fully detailed Episode IV helmet, full body suit, armored breast plate, control box chestplate, inner robe, outer cape with chin clasp, detailed belt with lightsaber clasp and armored boots. "Impressive. Most impressive. Obi-Wan has taught you well. You have controlled your fear. Now, release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me."



"You are unwise to lower your defenses!" There are some issues which I will bring up in the next post but needless to say, overall I think Sidehsow did a really good job to give us a 1/6 realization of Darth Vader.



"The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force."



"You should not have come back!"



"You don't know the power of the dark side!"



In my next post, I'll post close-up pictures of Darth Vader with and without his helmet plus chestplate and belt details.

I've already covered 1/6 Anakin Skywalker as he grew from boy slave in Episode I (see my post HERE) to Jedi Knight (link HERE) to Sith Apprentice (nicely done by Sideshow - pictures HERE) to Ultimate Villain (Hasbro's interpretation HERE) and finally, his redemption (Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker in Episode VI, before George Lucas changed it to Hayden Christensen in the Special Edition - posted HERE)

Star Wars Han Solo and Chewbacca

Having already taken pictures of a 1/6 scale Medicom Han Solo and Chewbacca (post HERE), I decided to post more pictures of the pair as a continuity, although not in 1/6 scale.

First - Hasbro's Star Wars Silver Anniversary (1977 - 2002) pair of Han Solo and Chewbacca's "Death Star Escape". 1/6 scale clothed figures are more my thing because I really like the details they can achieve of the uniforms or costumes and accessories, as well as weapons. Articulation is also a big PLUS which is totally non-existent with those exorbitantly priced "Nice to look at and hold but once broken, considered sold" statues. 1/4 is just too big and anything smaller than 1/6 loses details. Having said that, once in a while, some figures do get my attention and this is one of those moments. I didn't collect Luke and Leia's "Swing to Freedom" nor Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader's "Final Duel" but this pair I liked instantly.











And then there's Kubrick Star Wars Han Solo and Chewbacca











Let's not forget Lego. I still have boxes of Lego Star Wars vehicles in their boxes, waiting to be assembled.



And then there's the ultimate Millennium Falcon (pictures HERE), Han Solo and Chewie's ride.