I have just seen the FUTURE of Star Wars and it's name is SAVAGE OPRESS!

Hi guys, Mitchell Hallock (your faithful IndyCast and TheRaider.net reporter) here and I have just seen the most AMAZING Star Wars EVER! And trust me - I have seen it all since I was 11 waaaaay back in May, 1977! I just came back from a special screening of The Clone Wars "SAVAGE OPRESS" episodes/movies at the Loews on 34th Street in New York City!

How great was it?

Well, it's 4:00 AM and I can't sleep because of all the cool images and story-lines that were "revealed" in the film and especially the preview of what lies ahead in Season 3!

No Spoilers here, I just want to scream "OMG" from every rooftop (or computer screen) on the planet and tell fans they haven't seen nothing yet - when it comes to The Clone Wars! What Dave Filoni and crew have done is nothing more than pure magic - maybe Nightsister Magic - would be more appropriate. The three episodes that were shown last night had sorcery, Sith and sabers on a level that was never before seen in any of the films or expanded universe materials and it really lifted the veil on a whole new arena of Star Wars.

As we trained down from Connecticut to New York City, I was joined by my fellow Star Wars fans Glen Nelson (of "High Adventure" SW fan band fame), Erik Yacko (my partner in ComiCONN) and Glen's 8 year old son Fox. Though this was a school night, and since Glen is the coolest Star Wars Dad (next to me), Fox was jumping for joy the whole way because of this special treat he was going to see - his first ever STAR WARS on the big screen!

Being older, and more respectable fanboys, Erik and I kept our cool - (hey we can't go around giggling like kids about Star Wars - people would talk), as we have seen, heard and read every piece of Star Wars lore from Hoojibs to Jaxxon and were going to hold off on our judgment until we saw this latest "movie".

As the cab dropped us off, on a cold December night in the Big Apple, we watched fans begin to gather, I was delighted to see Jedi Justin, former poster for TheForce.net in person, after he and I have talked for years via email and snail mail - he was a huge fan of both Star Wars and Indiana Jones (yay!) it was nice to meet him (and his wife) in the flesh. Though he was wearing a New York Jets hat - and Erik and I were wearing our New York Giants sweatshirts - we put off our rivalries as we all shared a common love for STAR WARS (heck we were going to see a SW movie made by a guy from Steelers country - YIKES).

We munched on popcorn and washed it down with soda - compliments of our hosts - and then answered a round of SW Trivia before the film started - winning Fox a General Grievous double lightsaber, and Clone Wars encyclopedia (thanks to Glen knowing Ashoka was a Togruta) and then the screen went darlk and the voice of Captain Rex told us to turn off our cellphones! - how cool was that!

The next hour and a half flew by at lightspeed as we saw Dathimor, Dooku and droids like never before. When you see the amazing animation on the big screen, you wish every episode of The Clone Wars was on the big screen. It sounded amazing as well, and the crowd loved every second of it as it sat in awe watching this latest chapter in the continuing Star Wars saga unfold before our eyes!

When it was over, I must admit, I was more thrilled at what I had just seen than I thought I would be, heck, even more than 8 year old Fox Nelson, as the story I had just seen had reawakened the kid in me! I was full of questions and my mind raced at the possibilities of "what would happen next", then it got even better - as the huge grinning face of Filoni (say that three times fast) came on the screen and showed some scenes from what lies ahead on season 3. In one word - AMAZING!

We left the theatre a buzz, talking about what we had just seen and exchanged ideas of what it could mean - yes even jaded, old coots like Erik and I -(in our 40s) were talking like fanboys again. The Star Wars magic was back - then again had it ever really left?

If seeing these great episodes written by Katie Lucas was not enough, we were given Savage Opress T-Shirts and movie posters - more presents from Uncle George and company. I managed talked to thank the folks at Lucasfilm, Josh and Chris, whom I have met at NY Comic Con in the past, and via email in lining up great guests like J.W. Rinzler for interviews on the IndyCast and TheRaider.net, over the years as part of my quest to keep Indyfandom alive and well. We were all bubbling like a kids as we told them what was great about the Savage Opress episodes, and yes, even some nit-picky fanboy elements that could be easily explained (or fixed, Dave Filoni if you are reading this email me). We thanked them for giving us a sneak peak at the future of The Clone Wars, and if Christmas had not already come early for us, I sheepishly asked if I could ever get a tour of the fabled Skywalker Ranch (you have to dream, right). The Lucasfilm PR guys said "sure", just let them know when I would be coming to the West Coast and we could arrange something for me and my family to see it in person. If you heard a loud bang on the east coast of the United States on December 7th, it was my head exploding! I guess dreams do come true, now I have to start packing, before I wake up from this dream!

This was a night that will be long remembered, and I cannot wait until these episodes air on The Cartoon Network so Star Wars fans everywhere (and not just a small group from the screening) can start talking about the latest "magic" that is coming from a galaxy far, far away!