Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Yes, More Star Wars Talk

As long-time readers know, I have many, many opinions about Star Wars. Of course, other people do, too, and since I agree with almost everything he says, go read it!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just watched the original trilogy for the first time in many years. I especially agree with the points made regarding the roles of Leia and Han in Ep. VI. Han always got great lines and scenes in the first two movies, but at the end he really is reduced to a dull, sappy wimp. Both Leia and Han take backstage to Luke, who, for me, is the least interesting of the three characters--particularly in Ep. VI when his boyish enthusiasm of the first and second films disappears after he makes the sudden transformation to weird, unemotional Jedi master manipulator.

That said, Return of the Jedi was always my favorite of the films growing up--probably due to the weirdness of Jabba's court, the cuteness of the Ewoks, and the emotional punch the conclusion delivers. Even in my most recent viewing I found myself getting lumpy-throated as the Emperor taunts Luke in the climactic scenes. And I always liked the concluding music of the Special Edition--the version of this movie we owned.

Frank said...

One of Ep. VI's problems definitely is the weaker characterization for Han and Leia (though they did get to assault an Imperial base and blow up a shield generator, and, you know, Leia killed Jabba whilst in nothing but a metal bikini).

But, that said, I always liked RotJ, too. I loved the Ewoks! And Jabba was just such a great second-tier villain. Also, I think there was a lot of great emotional stuff with Luke and Vader and the Emperor that had a great pay-off.

Anonymous said...

Definitely. Han and Leia do share some memorable moments at the end, too, in addition to blowing up the shield generator. I like the way the scene in the carbon freezing chamber is echoed when Leia produces a blaster after they've been cornered by stormtroopers at the entrance of the base--Han notices and says "I love you." Leia returns "I know."

The scene where Leia tells Han that Luke's her brother is also great--the expressions on Harrison Ford's face are priceless.