Lord Vader; Rise

I've managed to get myself a reasonably priced version of a Darth Vader costume on eBay. It's by Rubies and is listed as being the 'Supreme Edition'. Based around the Episode III version of the costume it has good and bad points, not the least of which is that it arrived damaged, with postage seriously over-charged and is now the subject of a Paypal dispute because the spanner who sold it doesn't think he's responsible for selling damaged goods. That, however, is a whole other entry. This one's about the costume. It's far from perfect, but most of my issues with the it stem from the fact that it's based on the Episode III incarnation and there were changes made to that I just don't like.

I've had a Vader costume for years having bought one from the marvelous Marco Enterprises (ME version) during the time when no-one was bothering to do stuff for fans. You know; back when collecting was fun, involved some effort and wasn't about how much money you could scalp for your items on eBay. It's not the best thing Marco made, but it did the job and looked good enough that I got a few personal appearance jobs out of it which paid for the costume. What I never got for it was a body-suit making do with leather trousers and a polo-neck. So when this came out I thought it might be nice to upgrade, especially as I had used the Don Post Studios version of the mask & helmet which were made far too small.

Helmet & Mask
That's the first good thing about the costume: the helmet is excellent. True, there's an odd mould shape on the top which undermines its quality and it is based on the Episode III version which has some issues of definition on the band which goes over the head. It still looks like Vader in ways that my old helmet just never managed.

There is an electronic breathing device built into the helmet. It has a very long wire to run down the sleeve and be stuck in the glove allowing the wearer to press the button and switch it on. You can't leave it on as it's a press-stud and stops the moment pressure is released which is a really bad idea. Finding a smooth button through a glove is going to be pretty hard but to have to hold it throughout the time it's worn is stupid as is mounting the speaker in the helmet. Why? Two reasons:

1. Your hearing is impaired enough as it is in there, having a sound effect running inside with you will effectively render the wearer deaf.

2. The wire from the helmet has to be run down the sleeve meaning that you're then attached to the helmet the entire time you're trying to don the outfit. The helmet has to be the last piece and the suit the 1st. To spend the whole time with the two connected is absurd. The sound unit should have been put inside the chest plate with one of the actual switches there used to activate it. This is how it's done on the ME unit.

Chest Armour/Shoulder Pauldrons
Thankfully, Rubies have now begun to articulate the shoulders rather than being a solid piece with the chest armour which is how it appears in the film and is how the ME version is made. That was fine for Hayden who wasn't moving much in it and didn't have to raise his arms. He also needed to be made broader which is why the armour sticks out about 2" past his shoulders on either side. It also means that the end pieces are silver rather than black as they appeared in all other films and have no sculpted detail on them. This is my biggest issue with this iteration of the costume. I know Hayden pleaded with George to be allowed to play the part, but they really should have done as they did originally and got someone to fill the suit rather than make a suit to fit the man. That decision meant that the armour had to be made wide and sadly all images appearing these days are based upon that suit.

All the rest of my problems with the suit are about build quality, or rather about the quality of materials used.

Rubies claim the following for the suit:

1. Heavy twill cloak.
2. Moulded leather codpiece.
3. Leather belt.

None of these are true.

The cloaks are lightweight cotton. A little back-lighting and they'll be see through. The main one also lacks the leather collar, but this may also be the case with the Episode III original. The chain is actually attached not to the cloak but to the chest armour with the cloak hooked to either end of that. This is a great idea as the cloak will not be able to slip around out of place. Sadly, the chain used is nothing like the original which isn't actually chain at all. It's rigid and hooks onto the chest in the centre.

Both belt and codpiece are made of synthetic materials stretched over a rigid foam base. In the case of the belt this doesn't even go all the way around as it becomes a thin, nylon belt half-way around. My ME costume came with a great heavy leather belt and a metal (Rubies' is plastic) buckle. Guess which I'll be using!

The shin-guards have been given a slip-on Lycra sock to hold them in place. Pretty rubbish if you've bought leather boots to wear with the costume. I'll make some other method up unless I decide to stick with the heavier fibreglass ones that came with the ME version.

The gloves stink. They're really lightweight synthetic leather and after only a few minutes in them I noticed that the gauntlet had folded down around my wrist.

Chest & Belt Boxes

They're not bad as such just not good. Again, much of the problem is being the RotS version. The chest panel is held in place with straps which run inside the suit rather than outside as they did in all other films. The writing on the panel (originally the phrase His Deeds shall not be forgiven until he merits in Hebrew, I believe) is missing, though likely that's the case from the original. Earlier versions had this in place. The bars down either side are plastic in this version and don't look quite right as they should be metal. The ME version has these in metal, but the rest of the mouldings aren't quite so hot. The belt boxes are also slightly better on the ME version for having metal fittings.



I mainly bought this costume for the helmet, the suit and the codpiece as my old one had deteriorated badly over the years. Searching eBay I found I could get the whole thing for about the same amount as these parts. In the long term the suit and the cloaks will have to be replaced with better-made versions, the gloves and belt have been scrapped and the shoulder pauldrons will require re-painting and detailing to make them look like the ESB version which is my preferred incarnation. The SFX module will be removed an put somewhere more sensible, if not replaced entirely.

Had I paid the full $1000 for which this suit originally retailed I'd be furious. It's not worth anywhere near that. I'm not sure it's even worth the £250 I paid for it. I'm not saying it's bad, and it'll impress the hell out of most casual onlookers, but it is certainly not 'Supreme'.

Episodes I-III

So I finally got around to buying the 'first' three Star Wars films on DVD. Quite a difference from how keen I was to get my hands on the original saga.

I was waiting for them to release a box-set of all six, but having bought the recent releases of the original trilogy to get the original release versions I thought I might as well take advantage of HMV's 3 for £20 offer. Let's be honest, there was no way I was going to pay £20 each for them, especially not the Flatulent Menace.

I'll find time over the next few weeks to see if my opinions change on them, but I can't see it really. I do believe they got a bit better as they went along. I still hate the end of Revenge of the Sith. Jar Jar Binks should be excised from history forever. What I did see in the extras I've watched on Sith is that most of the stuff that made Anakin & Padme's estrangement believable ended up on the cutting room floor.

George really hates all that story & character development crap, doesn't he?

What Goes Around Comes Around

Wonder how the fanatics who complain about the likes of Jerry Springer: The Opera will react to this:

Bible targeted in Hong Kong obscenity row - Yahoo! News UK

The story just goes to show that anyone can find offence in anything if they look hard enough.

Review: Zodiac

Following the events surrounding the pursuit of the notorious 'Zodiac' killer in 1970s California this film concentrates as much on the lives of those involved as it does on the hunt itself.
As such this means that it is not sensationalist, voyeuristic or insensitive. Of the murders shown onscreen they are cold, brutal and very realistic. Human beings are rather tough creatures and being stabbed or shot once or twice rarely kills them as it does in most movies. This creep's victims suffer and many survive and that makes them more disturbing to watch than any gore-splattered slasher flick.

Actually, this is closer to a drama-documentary than it is to most run-of-the-mill cinema and has much in common with the likes of United 93 in look and tone. The main difference being a stellar cast giving credible, if all-too familiar performances throughout. Robert Downey jr reprises the kooky, alcoholic junkie once more and one wonders if it's his masochism or the crass insensitivity of the casting system that considers it wise to put a recovering addict in this role. A thought; are they just banking on it not mattering if he falls off the wagon again by casting him in roles where he could turn up as pissed as a fart and just be thought to be acting his ass off?

Even if the latter is the case then one wonders what Jake Gyllenhaal's excuse is for playing Peter Parker? Hell, apart from the lack of red jammies and being a cartoonist rather than a photographer there's not much light shining through the gap between these characters. Or is he auditioning to be Tobey Maguire's replacement?

Oh, and what's with the wig on Anthony Green? He's the spitting image of Kevin Costner in it and that can't be at all helpful for his career these days!

As for the film itself, it's far too long, too waffly and suffers badly from having no central protagonist. It's meant to be Jake Gyllenhall, but as he spends the initial 2/3rds of the film bumbling around in the background, it's hard to relate to him. Characters bow out of the story with hardly a mention and are not really noticed once they've gone. With no resolution, no threat and no tension the film suffers badly and, quite frankly, should have been a made-for-telly drama/documentary. Without the 'character development' it would have been 40 minutes quicker and all the better for it. It doesn't help that this is a story whose main impact outside of the US was in being used as the loose basis for the first Dirty Harry film. It, at least, had tension and pace.

This is getting rave reviews. God knows why as by the final reel you'll be begging for the Zodiac Killer to just get them all so you can get up and get some feeling back into your ass.

Soon to be Seen

Having been passed over for the most recent Rebus, I've just been cast by the Comedy Unit in the next series of Legit. No script as yet, but as it's only one day & the character doesn't have an actual name I'm not betting on its being a great part. Still looking forward to it, though.

Work's getting really hard to come by up here and BBC Scotland filming Scotland-based series in London, Manchester and Liverpool doesn't help one little bit. There's already less money put into regional production than is paid in licence fees, so to see them take what money they have and spend it out of Scotland is disgusting.

If Jane Tranter, who defended the practice to Equity, or anyone responsible for the decision at BBC Scotland might be reading let me reveal a wee secret to you:

Nobody was watching Sea of Souls because Bill Patterson was in it. That's why they got through the preceding series with almost no input from him.

So when the miserable little shit refused, again, to come and work in Scotland it was not necessary to pander to him and move the production South thus costing Scots actors and technicians work which is becoming as rare as hen's teeth.

Election Mumblings

So, Labour have lost their stranglehold on Scotland at long last. Or have they?

The farce that was the voting system and a number of spoiled ballots that make the 'hanging chads' controversy seem insignificant in terms of scale rather than consequences have still managed to leave the Nats as the biggest single party in the parly. Sadly it doesn't give them power. The lingering effects of the hereditary vote saw to that. "My Da' voted Labour & that's good enough for me." So there's no one party with enough seats to hold full majority. The Socialists wiped themselves out in a fit of pique about who was shagging whom and who said what about it, which was a real shame.

Wee McConnell, whilst admitting that the Nats hold the moral right to form our next administration, is essentially refusing to step down as First Meenister. You can see in his piggy wee eyes that he's hoping he'll get to keep the ba' and find a way to hold onto the job. I reckon Labour are hoping that a minority administration will be hamstrung and that they can mess with its head throughout its tenure. No doubt they reckon they can make the Nats look incompetent to govern by buggering up the real changes they want to make.

The posturing that came out of Quisling Brown's mouth in the run up to the vote was amazing. How dare the smug git say that he'd refuse to work with a democratically elected government? Doesn't he know he has to let Dubya bum him before he can make those kind of threats? Even then, he has to wait for the real bully to start the trouble before he can run in and kick the victim on the ground. Pick a fight without his consent and you're likely to be left to deal with it alone.

Nicol's Lib-Dems surprised me rather more than anything else that happened. Their blank refusal to work with the Nats to form an administration unless the Nats abandoned their whole raison d'etre opened my eyes to just how similar their view of Scotland is to Labour's. To wit; they have bugger all chance of gaining power in Westminster without a solid vote up here, therefore they cannot afford to have Scotland leave the Union. Hence, despite the clear vote for the Nationalists, they refuse to countenance asking the people of Scotland if they want to go it alone. There's a whole load of prevarication about how we didn't really want a nationalist government and how it was all just about tactical voting to give Labour a smacked botty. Because, apparently, we can't actually decide that we want to have a mature and reasoned debate on the matter, without the scaremongering and lies of New Labour, and then vote to make a decision. That's not why we voted for a party for whom that is the central policy. According to the Lib-Dems, anyway.

I often thought that I might vote Liberal once we actually had Independence.

Not now.