Last summer, while doing a lot of research and prep work for our coverage of Star Wars Celebration V, we stumbled upon a very strange, and totally cool collection of videos. They tell an absolutely unbelievable story about a supposed lost chapter in motion picture history. This collection of videos that is currently located at the Blackstarwarrior's page on YouTube, lays out a story where the greatest Sci-Fi Fantasy film of all time intersected with the 'Blacksploitation' films of the '70's.
In three separate documentary episodes, the story of independent black film maker Fredrick Jackson is explored. As the story goes, Jackson managed to convince George Lucas & 20th Century Fox to capitalize on the success of the film by make a version of Star Wars that was geared specifically towards the urban African American audiences of the late 1970's. Jackson was eager to create a Shaft in space so that black audiences could see themselves in this Galaxy far far, away. However, the filming of the project was ill-fated and 'BlackStar Warrior' was never completed.
However, as utterly fascinating as the story of Fredrick Jackson is, none of it is true. It turns out, all three episodes were simply to set up this absolutely stunning tribute. The BlackStar Warrior 'trailer' has the characters of Star Wars and the over the top action and bravado of films like Dolemite & Blackbelt Jones(and yes, we include that because, Blackbelt Jones himself, Jim Kelly will be at ACE). Hallmarks of both are purely evident in this masterfully crafted viral video.
I was so enamored with BlackStar Warrior that we featured it and the documentary episodes in our coverage leading up to Star Wars Celebration V. In fact it was the first thing I talked to people about during SWCV. I was stunned that a vast majority of people had never heard of it. So, I made it my personal mission to trumpet the cause of this amazing fan made saga, within a saga.
So, you can imagine my excitement when I found out that the creator of BlackStar Warrior, Matt Haley would be screening his creation at Albuquerque Comic Expo! The screening will be Friday at 3pm followed by a Q&A sessions. We have no idea if elements of the documentary will be shown as well, but the BlackStar Warrior experience is not to be missed.
-Admiral Duke
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