Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

[Drunk Monk]

I got to the ‘that’s no moon’ because I’ve always wanted to see how well it fits if played right after Rogue One. Not very well as it turns out. 

Luke thought his dad was a spice miner on Kessel, which is picked up in Solo. The whole Kessel kerfuffle is redeemed there, and spice mining is more of a thing (more of a Dune rip off).

Why doesn’t Darth sense his daughter? By don’t Kenobi & R2 remember each other? Why doesn’t 3PO know Leia when Kenobi asks? Ive heard fan theories but it seems a gaping oversight that could’ve been more overtly remedied. 

The cgi update still bugs me. It does make the flow better from the prequels but I love the in camera effects of the original. It made the Galaxy far, far away feel more grounded. I wish they could’ve improved the lightsaber effects because they hadn’t mastered turning them on and especially off, so most of that’s off screen. That sticks out now.

Uncle Owen was a prick. No wonder Luke is so whiny.

The soundtrack is so on point. That really deals the deal. 

Alec is amazing as Kenobi, even if he can’t remember R2. It was his role first and despite Ewan playing Kenobi significantly more, he’ll always be in Alec’s shadow. 

I’ll finish it tomorrow probably.

[Drunk Monk]

Finished. Man, I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this film. I still see the flaws, so many flaws, from the stormtrooper who bonks his head on the door to Hamill yelling ‘Carrie’ after blowing up the Death Star. So many plot flaws too. Like if they could scan the escape pod for life forms, why couldn’t they do that for the Falcon? How do the mouse droids clear the step on the blast doors? Why does it take Darth so long to recognize his kids?

But it’s still a perfect film - the pacing, the chemistry, the soundtrack, the vision, the humor, the cheesiness, the awesomeness - it all still works. All those flaws are forgiven. I even get the feels now with the iconic moments. I’m grateful to be of the generation that knew the world before Star Wars, and bore witness to every step of its rise. 

This is the first time I can recall watching it with captions. Chewie says ‘argh argh’ a lot and R2 says ‘beep beep’.

I’m still amused that it ends with two Chewie arghs which I’m sure translate into ‘where’s my goddamn medal, you speciesist rebel scum?!?’

[thatguy]

I think it was the best because it was pre-muppet. Yoda et al never worked for me…

—tg

[Drunk Monk]

I thought you were going to post Hardware Wars.

Remember the SNL muppets? They were my favs after Yoda.

[thatguy]

I thought you were going to post Hardware Wars.

Remember the SNL muppets? They were my favs after Yoda.

I will accept the Wookie Monster...but, as a Star Wars muppet, he just fits naturally. 

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

You underestimate the power of the dark side.

[thatguy]

So bad…I remember it crushing my excitement after the first movie (saw it 4x and “forced” my grandmother to see it with us)



—tg

[Drunk Monk]

Mistakes were made...



I remember seeing it and then taking my dad. My dad and I bonded over movies, mostly Westerns & Kung Fu flicks. He wasn't that into 'sci fi' but he came on my insistance. I remember clearly his excitement with that opening shot of the Star Destroyer chasing Leia's ship. He was all 'how big is this ship?!' It's one of my crystalized movie moments with my dad - that and when we were watching a Kung Fu double feature and the second film was a Catagory III (=R) with a horde of topless women fighters (and no, I didn't remember what the title of that film was...)

[King Bob]

This amused me:
On the Implausibility of the Death Star’s Trash Compactor

[Drunk Monk]

Fair points but must you really overthink Star Wars? That’s Greg’s job.

[King Bob]

He's busy with all that footage so I'm picking up slack.

[thatguy]

Someone once suggested to me that the majority of the plot points in Star Wars revolve around bad industrial design. Why put the tractor beam controller on a tower surrounded by a bottomless pit?

There is a line from Buckaroo Bonzai where one of the black lectroids (the Rasta, good aliens) and Buckaroo commandeer a red lectroid pod. The black lectroid says "It's jus like one of ar termo-pods...but itsa bad deeesign"

--tg

[King Bob]

You know, I've still never seen that movie. I should rectify that.

[Drunk Monk]

I've been meaning to revisit Buckaroo too. I remember enjoying it when it came out and have been wondering if it still holds up.