Star Wars Minute 92: Crying at the Chess Table

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Date

October 8th, 2013.

Summary

Luke, saddened by the loss of Obi-Wan Kenobi, stares off blankly as the robots look on.

Guests

Songe Riddle

Notes

Film

• Starts with Luke grieving at the chess table because Obi-Wan has just been killed; ends with Han and Luke manning the turrets as they're trying to get away from The Death Star and are being pursued by TIE Fighters.

Podcast

• Luke is so sad over someone he only just met.
• Han tells Chewbacca to hold them off while he charges up the guns. Shouldn't the guns always be charged and ready? Perhaps Pol Treidum's guys disabled them.
• Were any Imperial staff still on the Falcon when they took off?
• The hosts really like the scene, complete with music, of Han and Luke climbing in to the turrets.
• The physical relationship between, and location of, the turrets, the ladders, the cockpit, all of the characters, and the cameras is difficult to work out in this sequence. The turrets are at the top and bottom of the Falcon, not on the sides. Also, how does gravity work given this scenario? A lot of this isn't explained in the movie; it just 'is'.
• Han has removed the Stormtrooper belt and has put on his original belt. Luke is still wearing the Stormtrooper belt.
• The item that Leia places over Luke's shoulders is his poncho from Tatooine.
• Han takes the top turret - as a sign of dominance - while Luke gets the bottom turret.
• Songe is a fan of Han's "shooting gloves" (known as "poop gloves" in SWM). They're like the gloves without fingers that tough guys used to wear in the 80s. Han doesn't wear these in the later movies.
• In the radio drama, Leia consoles Luke as Luke wonders why Ben didn't do more to defend himself. Leia answers in mystical Jedi terms (that is, Leia has a 'working knowledge' of Jedi and The Force).
• How well known is The Force within the Star Wars universe generally and the rebellion specifically? Comparisons to real world scenarios.
• Back to the radio drama, Luke still doesn't understand and so Leia says something like "he must have had a reason to let Darth Vader kill him like that". Luke flips out and says "That was Darth Vader?". So, in the radio drama, Luke didn't know a) that it was Darth Vader or b) anything about him. Leia then explains Darth Vader to Luke and they bond over the fact that Vader took everything away from both of them.
• The droids are watching Luke be sad; they seem to have emotional reactions to the situation. This humanizes the droids in the movie but are the emotions genuine or just programmed. If the latter, that's a bit creepy.
• Referenced: Furbies.

Meta Minute

• 18:53 podcast episode length.
• Pete has always had an 8x10 still color photo of Princess Leia comforting Luke at the chess table; framed and hung on the wall. It was purchased by his parents and is taken from a slightly different angle to the same shot in the movie.
• Pete was a manual spotlight operator on a school play, and his route to the spotlight booth - plus the controls in the booth - were similar to how Han and Luke get in to, and operate, the turrets.
• Thoughts on the character voices from, and acting in, the radio drama.
• Plug for http://starwarsminute.com/audible

Quotes

• Songe: I'm Songe Riddle. How you doing?
• Pete: It's nerd fuel.
• Pete: ...crying at the chess table...
• Pete: What an organic plug that was.
• Pete: Master, there is water coming from your face.

Link

http://www.starwarsminute.com/2013/10/08/minute-92-crying-at-the-chess-table/

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