Empire Minute 66: Space Killers

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Yes Dengar, I heard you're taller in person.

Date

April 14th, 2014

Summary

Vader stands in the back control area of his ship’s bridge with a motley group of men and creatures. Admiral Piett and two controllers stand at the front of the bridge and watch the group with scorn.

Guests

Chris Radtke

Notes

Film

  • Starts with Luke being afraid as Yoda prophesises; ends with Admiral Piett about to relay the message from the Star Destroyer Avenger to Vader.

Podcast

  • We are executing Minute 66 of the movie and podcast.
  • Yoda is very smug and basically says "I told you so".
  • Piett is about to tell Vader a) that he resigns b) to jive turkey.
  • Does Yoda know what Luke saw in the cave?
    • Yoda set the whole thing up as a prank the night before; like an advanced Halloween presentation or pop-up display in the mall.
    • Yoda should therefore be excited by the result but he wanted Luke to be more scared than he was.
    • If you turn the lights on in the cave then the whole thing looks really fake.
    • This is why he told Luke not to take any weapons into the cave with him; Yoda didn't want his display ruined.
    • Also, there were more things for Luke to experience in the cave - such as teenagers wearing scary Tusken Raider masks.
  • R2-D2 is covered in filth by this point.
    • Luke should have hosed him down and taken a chamois to him.
    • R2 is a hundred years old by this point. Robots should always be taken care of. This is a lesson to kids - always keep your robots clean.

The Bounty Hunters

  • The bounty hunter scene is the Cantina of ESB.
    • It is the coolest scene in all of Star Wars.
    • Never have so many separate stories been launched from one scene
    • The cantina is just a room full of messy aliens getting drunk on Ackmena's (Bea Arthur) special brew.
    • However these characters are awesome space killers.
    • The term bounty hunter was not in the public consciousness before this scene.
      • The Star Wars universe overuses the term "bounty hunter". They generally mean "mercenary".
      • A Star Wars trait is to heavy handedly use anything that connects with the audience.
  • Why wasn't Aurra Sing in the line up?
    • She should have been added in the special edition.
    • She was probably too old - although she is an alien and can be any age they want.
    • Aurra probably built R2-D2 a hundred years ago.
  • Chris thanks Pete and Alex for having him on for this minute of the movie.
  • There a lots of new things in Star Wars but this is not the case in ESB.
    • This is why the scene made such an impact.
      • Also, they needed more characters for action figures.
      • The movie-makers should have added three hundred bounty hunters and had the camera pan along the line for twenty minutes.
  • Vader is personally supervising the hiring of the bounty hunters.
    • Did did he ask for these ones specifically? Or did he call an agency?
  • The bounty hunters looked like a bunch of bad-asses to kids at the time.
Robots
  • For Chris, the IG-88 action figure was the coolest robot he had ever seen.
  • Also, IG-88 was the first Star Wars robot that definitely did not have a person inside.
    • There is an actor listed as playing IG-88. It's not Anthony Daniels and is probably the "puppeteer".
  • ESB upped the ante with cool robots. There was:
  • These are all bad-ass robots.
  • Chris would watch a movie with these four robots in it.
    • Something like "Robot Bachelor Party".
    • Somebody make that.
    • The robots would want to invite R2-D2 but not C-3PO and that would be awkward.
    • And then TC-14 would show up.
  • The IG-88 action figure came with two long, big, giant guns that he held in his claw pincher hands.
    • Six months after having IG-88 Chris realised that it was a cruddy action figure that was not a good "bad guy" stand-in.
    • IG-88 is no Boba Fett.
Creatures
  • Bossk is the first creature we see.
  • The line "we don't need those scum" is spoken by Admiral Piett. The word scum is used in all three of the Original Trilogy movies.
  • Lieutenant Venka quietly agrees with Piett.
 At this point Venka is annoyed at Piett for not promoting him to the Captain position on the Execucisor.
 Venka was next on the "choking order of succesion" or the "choke chart" as it was known.
 Piett hadn't actually promoted anyone to the captain position as he was in over his head.
 This was resolved later as, after Piett had watched Venka during this sequence, promoted him to captain.
  • Piett and Venka look up to see Bossk's clawed feet (not the actor "Claude Feet"). Bossk makes a range of guttural sounds at this moment.
    • Bossk is waiting for instructions from Vader and decides to stand on the very edge of the platform. Chris asks - who stands on the edge of things like that?
      • It's easier for Trandoshans to stand on edges due to their feet. Their home planet has edges everywhere.
    • Vader might have walked up behind Bossk and pushed him off the edge into the Imperial Officer pit.
    • Bossk is saying words in this scene. He is speaking Trandoshan (which is also the name of his species.) He's actually very well-educated / spoken.
  • (The hosts note that, at this rate, this episode is going to take an hour - there will be at least twenty minutes talking about 4-LOM.)
 Chris shares the following story:
  Before ESB was released, Bossk was a mail order action figure.
  Nobody knew what he was or looked like.
  Chris's mum and his mum's friends both ordered one for him so he received two Bossks.
  Bossk brothers if you will.
  One was Bossk and Chris called the other Peanut Butter Head because his head looked like a dollop of peanut butter.
  It turns out that in the Star Wars universe the Bossk brothers' mother let Bossk name his brother when he was old enough.
   Bossk also called his brother Peanut Butter Head.
   The Bossk brothers lived next door to Prune Face and Walrus Man.
   The term Peanut Butter actually means something embarrassing in another Star Wars language.
   (Like when an English speaker gets an embarrassing Japanese term tattooed on them.)
   Bossk and his mother didn't know that at the time.
  • Bossk has the most unique gun in all of Star Wars.
    • The gun handle (grip) is at the front of the gun.
    • His "Rebel-like" flight suit is also cool.
    • And he walks around bare-foot (because of the claws).
      • It's very hard to buy shoes due to the claws. This is actually what he's saying in this scene.
      • He needs the bounty money to purchase custom-made shoes.
 At this point, Alex suggests that - as is true for all of Star Wars - the truth about something is never as good as you imagined or hoped.
  Chris - This is the coolest scene in all the Star Wars movies and has spawned many cool things.
  Alex and Pete - Bossk might be the Sio Bibble or Ric Olié of the Original t

Trilogy.

  Chris - Even though his time on screen is limited he has a major impact on our stories and imagination.
  Alex - That's the point. Bossk is cool because of what we imagine - not because of what he actually does.
  Chris - This is just a collection of guys that are going to kick ass and one of them is the great Boba Fett.
  Pete - The Bounty Hunters would all have suffered from more exposure in the movies (as proven for some in the prequels).
  • Other Bossk ventures, names and items:
    • The music album "Teenage Bossk".
    • The music group "The Mighty Mighty Bossk Tones".
    • The TV show "Who's the Bossk?".
    • The wrestler "Big Bossk Man",
    • Bossk's favorite fruit - the "Bossk pear".
    • Bossk likes "tobossko sauce".
    • Bossk drinks from a "juice bossk".
    • His character in the Alpha Flight comic "Bossk (a.k.a. Roger Bossk)".
  • In Trandoshan Bossk's name means "devours his prey".
 Bossk is played by Alan Harris who has an amazing Star Wars pedigree:
  Double for Anthony Daniels in the C-3PO costume.
  Double for Chancellor Valorum
  Rebel trooper in the Massasay Temple (Leia is talking him just before she talks to Luke).
  Body mold for Boba Fett's armor AND Han Solo in carbonite.
  Bespin guard
  Alan Harris clearly had a good working relationship with Goerge Lucas.
  He was not in Superman but was in other non Star Wars movies.
  He played Bossk in Ghandi - he was a young law student.
  • Bossk appears in Jabba's Palace in ROTJ.
    • However he is not played by Alan Harris and looks visibly different.
    • It might actaully be Peanut Butter Head in Jabba's Palace.
  • Dengar is also in Jabba's Palace.
  • IG-88 is apparently IG-88b - something about his brain chip.
  • On to Dengar a.k.a. Payback (but not Dengar the Horrible).
 Dengar was in a swoop bike accident caused by Han Solo.
  This was described in the EU book Tales of the Bounty Hunters.
  Chris - The Timothy Zahn EU books are not great.
  The Han Solo (old and new) and Lando trilogies are the only good EU books.
  • Dengar's helmet didn't fit so they put socks and bandages on his head to make it fit.
    • This means that we have Peanut Butter Head and now Sock Head.
 Chris got the Dengar action figure in Sears exclusive Bespin playset.
  It was a cardboard carbon freezing chamber.
  It had Han Solo, Dengar, Lobot and an Ugnaught.
  Dengar was included as a guy that was in ESB.
  • The Dengar action figure was much shorter than all the others.
    • This was due to his backpack - they only had so much plastic for each figure.
  • Dengar also had a big gun.
  • Alex used a Buck Rogers action figure to make Dengar. He wrapped Buck's head in bandages.
    • Buck Rogers characters are discussed.
  • Dengar is the most famous but least visible bounty hunter.
    • He is a punchline that we see for a few seconds.
    • He is going to talk to Darth Vader but is drunk, messy and unprepared.
    • Ironically, Harrison Ford could now play Dengar.
    • Episode 7 of Star Wars must include Dengar.
    • Dengar will get his payback as Han Solo will die at his hands. (Note - Not a bad prediction.)
  • Other Dengar ventures, names and items:
    • "Dengar the Screamer".
    • "Bob Dengar" from the cast of Gilligan's Island.
    • Young Frankstein's "Terry Dengar".
    • US President "James Dengarfield".
    • "Wayne and Dengarth". First there's Wayne and "den Garth".
  • Zuckuss and 4-LOM - we're moving on to the lesser bounty hunters now.
    • Is Zuckuss the robot or the bug?
    • As kids, Zuckuss was the droid and 4-LOM was the Gand "seeker" with the dual-barelled laser gun.
    • Pete says 4-LOM as 4 L O M (i.e. each letter separately as opposed to just saying lom).
    • 4-LOM stands for "For Love Of Money".
    • Pete sings The BulletBoys when he refers to 4-LOM.
    • 4-LOM is played by "4-LOM Chaney".
    • 4-LOM is supposed to stand for "For Love OR Money" but when Kenner was making the action figure of a character that was only in the movie for a few seconds the in-joke was that they were doing it just for the love of money - and the name stuck.
    • George Lucas named everything personally and would walk around the set naming and blessing things.
    • Officially 4-LOM is the droid and Zuckuss is the Gand - although this has been swapped a few times in various publications.
    • 4-LOM has protocol droid body with a bug head.
      • Chris thought 4-LOM was an organic creature / alien that moved into a droid body - much like a hermit crab moving into a new shell.
      • Officially, 4-LOM is a protocol droid that went bad and reprogrammed itself.
    • 4-LOM's head and Zuckuss's head look very similar.
      • 4-LOM was probably a protocol droid for the Gands.
      • 4-LOM and Zuckuss were partner bounty hunters.
      • The actors that played the characters were, and still are, friends.
  • There is no record of who played Dengar.
    • He is like the "Three Men and a Baby ghost" that just showed up on the print.
    • He was a former boxer or bouncer. They got him because he was a big guy - like Gerry Clooney (from ER).
  • 4-LOM was the only original run ESB action figure that Chris didn't own as a kid.
    • Other franchises took over his action figure collecting by the time ROTJ came around (e.g. G.I. Joe and Eagle Force).
    • Not owning 4-LOM drove Chris nuts.
  • 4-LOM would be a terrible bounty hunter given that he walks like C-3PO.
    • 4-LOM was actually played by the same actor that played K-3PO (from Echo Base on Hoth) - so he walks that way.
  • Zuckuss is played by a lady actor.
    • "Dame Zuckuss".
    • Zuckuss fails to get Han Solo but, because he's an excellent programmer - he helped to reprogram 4-LOM after all - he went on to create Spacebook. He is "Mark Zuckussberg".
    • He created Spacebook for the love of money but then he was sued by the twin Bossk brothers because he stole the idea from them. Dengar was the only one that got paid out from Spacebook.
  • Chris did have a Zuckuss action figure with a nice foam cape and cool gun. When you took off Zuckuss's cape he had on billowy pants and shirt. Like M.C. Hammer.
  • The real Zuckuss mask is very detailed and cool although we hardly see it on film.
  • The moviemakers put a lot of attention on, and detail into, the bounty hunters because there weren't that many of them - as opposed to the cantina scene where there were lots of aliens that were created quickly.
    • For example, Dengar appears to have an air-conditioner in a backpack strapped to him.
    • Dengar wasn't a bounty hunter he was just a delivery guy.
    • Chris says that Dengar spoke with a rastafarian accent - as seen in a deleted scene on the ESB laser disk in which Dengar speaks to Boba Fett.
    • Dengar and Boba Fett arrived on the Star Destroyer first. They drank coffee together, chatted, and talked about poor fried Greedo.
  • Which bounty hunter would the hosts hire? Who is their "speed dial" bounty hunter?
    • Pete - Zuckuss and 4-LOM (two for one).
    • Chris - Bossk (without hesitation).
    • Alex - IG-88.
    • Not Boba Fett. He's far too busy and expensive. Plus you need to make reservations.
  • Which bounty hunter would the hosts hang out with? Who is the most fun?
    • Alex - Dengar (although he may be sad all the time).
    • Alex (change) - IG-88 - can keep sodas cool, recharge iPhones and dispense Red Bull.
    • IG-88's head is a drink decanter in the cantina so he does dispense drinks.
    • Every bar in the Star Wars universe has one of these decanters.
  • On to Boba Fett.
    • Definitely not the first time we've seen Boba Fett in Star Wars.
    • Darth Vader says something to Boba Fett that was very important to Chris as a young boy in the 80's - no disintegration.
    • Disintegration quickly became a major part of Chris's vocabulary. He was disintegrating everything.
    • How does a bounty hunter prove that they got their target if they disintegrate them?
      • Claiming disintegration is the oldest trick in the bounty hunter's book. They just turn up with a pile of dust and say "See, I got him!".
      • Boba Fett probably has a Go-Pro camera in his helmet to prove all disintegrations.
      • Or there must be a way of proving it in the Star Wars universe.
  • Thanks to the audience from Chris for joining us on the Star Wars Minute.
  • Support the Show - Twitter, Facebook, 8-DAY-GREEDO.

Meta Minute

  • 40:30 podcast episode length. At the time this episode premiered, it had the longest runtime by a good 8 minutes or so. It was eventually surpassed by minute 124, another Radtke episode. See Star Wars Minute Minutia for more info.
  • Cold-open - 8-DAY-GREEDO call - IG-88 is a robot. So who owns him? Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, some guy in a Starbucks waiting for his robot to bring him the bounty? Or, does IG-88 have his own free will. This aspect of the story should be explored.
  • Chris is a three-peater on the podcast. He is the Star Wars trilogy of the Star Wars Minute.
  • According to IMDb, Dengar was played by Morris Bush.

Quotes

  • Chris: If I was George Lucas then I'd make my own landspeeder.
  • Chris: <As the bounty hunter recruiter> You want Jodo Kast? <As Vader> No, he's terrible.
  • Chris: <On finding out, for the first time, that Bossk and Dengar are in Jabba's Place in ROTJ> That's not true; that's impossible. Alex: You know it's true. Pete: Search your feelings.
  • Chris: <As George Lucas speaking quietly> And you...<pause>...are 4-LOM.
  • Alex: <Also as George Lucas speaking quietly> I dub you 5...No!...4 L O M.
  • Pete: <In regards to Zuckuss> Or Z u c k u s s as I call him.
  • Chris: <4-LOM impersonation that sounds like actor Harvey Weinstein.>
  • Chris: <As Dengar speaking in a rastafarian accent in a deleted scene> Ah, Boba Fett - it's good to see you - again.
  • Alex: I sure could go for some fried Greedo.
  • Chris: <Multiple weird bounty hunter impersonations - Dengar, IG-88 etc.>

Link

http://www.starwarsminute.com/2014/04/14/empire-minute-66-space-killers/


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