Tales from The Star Wars Original Trilogy with ILM's Stuart Ziff

As Star Wars was being developed back in the mid-70s, the maverick special effects crew at ILM were pioneering new filmmaking technologies in often unconventional ways. In the early days, machinist Stuart Ziff found himself thrust into the action on day one. In the years that followed, Stuart used his skills in a variety of ways at ILM including working on Return of the Jedi creature costumes like Admiral Ackbar, Nein Nunb and Ree Yees, and on many projects from Dragonslayer to Ghostbusters to Jurassic Park. This week on RFR, Stuart joins us In The Cantina to share fascinating stories about working on the Star Wars Original Trilogy and beyond. Plus, our review of Star Wars Visions season 3 and Jimmy Mac had the opportunity to see a Star Wars Holiday Special legend perform live in Chicago. Listen to find out who it was!

More info has emerged regarding Adam Driver's rejected script for "The Hunt for Ben Solo" and we take a look at all the newest details, including more fan reaction. With The Mandalorian and Grogu hitting theaters next year, we review the latest production updates along with interview highlights from stars Jeremy Allen White and Sigourney Weaver. Plus, be sure to stick around to the end of the show as we reveal some hot rumors regarding the animated series Darth Maul: Shadow Lord, Ahsoka season two, the resurrection of Rogue Squadron, and behind-the-scenes info about James Mangold's involvement in the franchise. In the wake of massive increases to the MSRP for new Hasbro Star Wars action figures, we put the state of collecting under the microscope and review all of the price hikes throughout the history of the hobby. Is it mere inflation, or is it blatant price gouging? Our research may surprise you.  

In an interview this week, Oscar-nominated actor Adam Driver revealed that he, along with Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh developed a script for a new Star Wars movie called "The Hunt For Ben Solo", which was ultimately rejected by Disney's top brass. So what gives? We look at every angle of this story to break it all down, along with listener  reactions and fired-up opinions. We pay tribute to legendary artist Drew Struzan with Erik Sharkey, director of the documentary "Drew: The Man Behind The Poster" and discuss some of his iconic Star Wars movie posters. Will we see the original 1977 version of Star Wars back in theaters for its upcoming 50th anniversary? We analyze some leaked info and imagery that may suggest the answer is yes. Plus, George Lucas and Mellody Hobson recently were interviewed about the soon-to-open Lucas Museum in LA. We review the highlights along with some comments from George about life after Star Wars.           

The legendary book "Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays" features the complete shooting scripts for all three of the Original Trilogy films, along with notations revealing information about how each scene evolved throughout George Lucas's writing process, from the rough draft to the final revised fourth script. The book also included new interview quotes from Lucas and other key creatives, pulling the curtain back even further. Join us for this special RFR Q&A discussion, previously only available to members of the RFR Patreon community, featuring actor Matt Rashid as we discuss the screenplay to A NEW HOPE and act out a couple scenes. Plus, we have a ton of laughs along the way.

Ashley Eckstein is back on RFR! As the voice of Ahsoka Tano, Ashley developed the character from the ground up alongside George Lucas himself. We dig deep into the evolution of Ahsoka from The Clone Wars to Rebels and Ashley bravely opens up about being denied the opportunity to bring the character to life in live-action. In this must-hear conversation, Ashley gets deep about her connection to Ahsoka and the Star Wars fanbase. Plus, we listen to the first public comments from Mia Goth about joining the cast of Star Wars: Starfighter, we review Haslab's Mos Eisley Cantina, listener feedback and more! Get full show video, ad-free shows, bonus exclusive podcasts, early bird releases and more with RFR on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/RebelForceRadio OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.rebelforceradio.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/rebelforceradio FACEBOOK - Like RFR!: https://www.facebook.com/rebelforceradio X - Follow RFR!: https://x.com/RFRRebelForce INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/rebelforceradio THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@rebelforceradio BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/rebelforceradio.bsky.social Become a member and support RANCHO OBI-WAN! www.ranchoobiwan.org  

With STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER currently in front of cameras, the rumor mill is heating up with potential info about the plot of the film, the characters and more. Is it possible we will see Daisy Ridley's Rey Skywalker appear in Starfighter? We've heard all the rumors and we break them all down. With STAR WARS: VISIONS season three debuting later this month, we study the new trailer and anticipate what the anime series will bring us. We go through the RFR Voicemail in-box to listen to what you had to say about the new trailer for THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU, and we show appreciation for Billy Dee Williams' appearance as "The Landolorian" in LEGO STAR WARS: REBUILD THE GALAXY season 2. Plus, we listen to recent comments by Bryce Dallas Howard who's directing episodes of AHSOKA season 2, and we continue to ask "Where the F is the Play-doh?"

Join us for a full breakdown and analysis of the brand new Mandalorian & Grogu trailer and key art. We're going frame-by-frame to uncover hidden details, big reveals, and everything you need to know. Following our breakdown, we opened the phone lines for listener feedback conversation featuring your thoughts, reactions, predictions and theories about this next Star Wars film hitting screens in May 2026. Get full show video, ad-free shows, bonus exclusive podcasts, early bird releases and more with RFR on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/RebelForceRadio OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.rebelforceradio.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/rebelforceradio FACEBOOK - Like RFR!: https://www.facebook.com/rebelforceradio X - Follow RFR!: https://x.com/RFRRebelForce INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/rebelforceradio THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@rebelforceradio BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/rebelforceradio.bsky.social Become a member and support RANCHO OBI-WAN! www.ranchoobiwan.org

STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER is coming to theaters in 2027 and is currently in front of cameras as we speak, and this week, fans were surprised by the first image from location was shared online by director Shawn Levy. We look closely at the photo for insight and clues about the upcoming Ryan Gosling film. We're still recovering from RFR at Rancho Obi-Wan and we're sharing our accounts of the weekend, from behind-the-scenes to travel horror stories.We also feature listener feedback about the epic event and we show off all the swag. ANDOR won for best writing in a drama at the Emmy awards last weekend and writer Dan Gilroy was there. We listen to his acceptance speech and the interviews that took place following his well-deserved win. Plus, we have recent Mark Hamill interview comments covering all aspects of his career and more!

An event years in the making finally happened last weekend as Rebel Force Radio descended upon Steve Sansweet's Rancho Obi-Wan, the Guinness Book of World Records largest Star Wars memorabilia collection, for a live podcast fundraiser with an audience of the greatest Star Wars fans in the galaxy. Join us, Steve, Anne Neumann, Billy Mac, Baby Belushi and more for an evening under the stars in California. Plus, Puppet Lando stopped by for an epic performance and many other surprises happened throughout the night. And we did it to raise funds for a great cause - Rancho Obi-Wan and The Saga Museum. Become a member and support this amazing and magical place!      

LUCAS WARS is a new graphic novel that showcases George Lucas's rise from auteur filmmaker to Star Wars superstar as it goes behind-the-scenes of the original Star Wars film. Lucas Wars writer Laurent Hopman joins us In The Cantina to provide insight into his amazing illustrated story. But did George Lucas actually read it? You need to listen to find out!  In news headlines, we feature recent interview highlights from Mark Hamill and exclusive clips of The Acolyte's Manny Jacinto onstage at Chicago Fan Expo. Plus, we take a close look at the fallout from The Phantom Menace with highlights from the creators via ILM Light and Magic season 2, and that isn't enough, we got an Outrageous Unthinkable Story of the Week and Star Wars on Pop Culture for the cherry on top of an awesome show! Get full show video, ad-free shows, bonus exclusive podcasts, early bird releases and more with RFR on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/RebelForceRadio OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.rebelforceradio.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/rebelforceradio FACEBOOK - Like RFR!: https://www.facebook.com/rebelforceradio X - Follow RFR!: https://x.com/RFRRebelForce INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/rebelforceradio THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@rebelforceradio BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/rebelforceradio.bsky.social