Star Wars Minute 115: The Actual Blowing Up

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Date

November 8th, 2013

Summary

The Death Star bursts into a supernova, creating a spectacular heavenly display.

Guests

Tim Kreider

Notes

Film

  • What a minute this is!
  • Starts with Darth Vader spinning off into space after being clipped by Tag or Bink and ends with Luke Skywalker arriving safely back at the Rebel base on Yavin 4 after blowing up the Death Star.

Podcast

Note - The hosts misspeak in this podcast episode and confuse Yavin, Yavin 4 and the moons of Yavin / Yavin 4. The various points have been amended in the notes below.

  • There is a shot of Chewbacca in this sequence, although he does look like he's just woken up - maybe he had a nap after they left Yavin 4. Or he knew that he wasn't going to get a medal if they won.
  • The proton torpedoes and how they work.
    • They make a 90 degree turn into an exhaust port.
    • The gravity on the Death Star plays a role in this.
    • In the pilot briefing before the attack the torpedoes are shown taking this path so it was certainly part of the plan.
    • Are the torpedoes heat seeking?
    • There is no real consensus on this matter in Star Wars fandom.
    • The targeting computers may be linked to the torpedoes and the distance they travel before turning "south".
    • If so, does this mean that Luke is controlling them with his mind (using The Force) when he turns off his targeting computer?
    • Or is it just to do with when he (or Ben) fires / releases them?
    • They're certainly very cool and are not seen very often in Star Wars.
  • Luke's face when he fires the torpedoes reflects someone that has just had a 'welcome release'. There are a lot of connotations in this scene.
  • The Rebel spaceships then flee the Death Star. the Millennium Falcon, Luke, Wedge and the mysterious Brown Squadron Y-wing. There was terrible attrition for the Rebels in the battle of Yavin (90%).
  • A nice detail would have been seeing multiple Imperial spaceships fleeing the Death Star as well. However they didn't know what had happened, even though the Rebel ships had plenty of time to fly away.
  • The last shot before the Death Star blows up is Tarkin with a very pensive look on his face.
  • The Death Star explosions in Star Wars and Return of the Jedi are very different processes; the ROTJ process is much slower. Or maybe Tarkin is the last person left on the Death Star.
  • Presumably there are still Imperial Officers on the Death Star pulling levers and getting ready to fire the laser.
  • Referenced: O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi. the Death Star blowing up Yavin 4 just before the Death Star itself exploded, or the explosion of the Death Star somehow destroying Yavin 4 at the same time.
  • Luke is mouthing something to himself just before Ben speaks to him for the last time. "Please, don't let me hear any more Ben Kenobi."
  • Luke's X-wing is bouncing gently up and down as he flies away.
  • Ben's line is used in the Star Wars arcade game when (if) you blow up the Death Star.
  • Darth Vader's TIE fighter zooms off and we see the back of his spaceship. What does Darth Vader do from that point on, given that TIE fighters are short-range fighters. However Vader's TIE fighter is 'souped-up' and has extra capabilities.
  • The Star Wars conspiracy theory that Darth Vader let Luke (his son!) blow up the Death Star (possibly as a Secret Rebel Agent). Although it is noted that they probably don't know that each other are flying the respective spaceships, or their relationship, at this time.
  • Han's "one in a million" shot re-enforces that it wasn't The Force - it was just luck.
  • Luke blowing up the Death Star and all its occupants is morally ambiguous at best.
  • Plus the Dianoga dies. The poor Dianoga. Maybe the Dianoga wasn't trying to kill Luke - maybe it was just trying to mate with Luke. Will Luke give birth to baby Dianoga at some point?

Meta Minute

  • 26:34 podcast episode length.
  • We will learn the identity of the mysterious Y-wing pilot in an upcoming minute.
  • Along with Joe Viskocil, Bruce Logan, who worked on second unit photography for Star Wars was responsible for the explosions in the movie. He has a fantastic blog entry on how they actually blew up the Death Star and the technique of "zero-g" explosions.
  • Reminder about 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' live event. Visit the SWM website for details.

Quotes

  • Tim: This is the minute I signed on for!
  • Pete: <Impersonates the Death Star blowing up>.
  • Alex: It's not a suck port.
  • Alex: As Darth Vader "I don;t understand these computers, I am 42 years old" Pete: Also as Darth Vader "I am on the leader; wait, which one of these buttons is Fire? How do I hit Shoot?"
  • Tim: As Darth Vader "Star Wars Minute!" Pete: "Oh, that's beautiful" Alex: Nice! Tim: "Thanks."

Link

http://www.starwarsminute.com/2013/11/08/minute-115-the-actual-blowing-up/

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