Jedi Minute 57: Polo
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Date
March 24th, 2015
Summary
Leia motions for the squad to stay put, then she, Han, Luke and Chewie start quietly down.
Guests
Notes
Film
- Starts with the shuttle going to land of the forest Moon of Endor.
- Ends with Han announcing that its him. Ta-da!
Podcast
- Cartoonist all-star week continues.
- Once you are cleared you can land wherever you want.
- Vader does an almost double-take in front of a Death Star matte painting. It's similar to his double-take in The Empire Strikes Back.
- This scene is where the Original Trilogy goes off the rails for Chris:
- The bad airbrushed camo gear. The design of the outfits is very 70s and Star-Warsy but the camo effect is not. A solid color should have been used, especially on Han's coat.
- Mentioned: Other 80s "camo-based" franchises - The A-Team; Rambo. Predator later.
- The camo on Han's coat makes it look like he cares about the Rebellion, which he does not.
- Other weird Han Solo choices in this sequence (ie introducing himself).
- Speaking of camouflage - C-3PO really stands out in the forest. Large, gold, immobile, shouting, non-sneaking.
- Why is C-3PO even there?
- Should they have painted him or put clothes on him?
- Putting clothes on C-3PO and/or Chewbacca would be very troubling and disconcerting. It would humanise them.
- Chris makes the interesting point that all characters in Star Wars align to their pre-specified cultural roles, which in itself is very "70s". Mixing this up would have all sorts of undertones and make the movies much more confusing.
- Are the biker scouts peeing in the woods? If not, what are they doing?
- What is the purpose of the biker scouts? In fact, what is everyone doing in this section of the movie?
- What the biker scouts are patrolling.
- Being a biker scout is a pretty cool job. Hang out in the forest on a flying motorcycle with your buddy.
- Does General Han Solo outrank Leia and Luke at this point?
- Generals should not leave the group and launch an attack personally.
- Han Solo is just wise-cracking at this point and it's pretty clear that no-one knows what Han Solo is supposed to be doing in the story narratively.
- He's just riding around trying to play polo or something.
- Tauntaun polo.
- Han Solo is also a C-3PO type character at this point. Similar to Captain Jack Sparrow by the 4th Pirates movie.
Chris didn't see any of the original trilogy movies in the theater. He was born at the end of 1980 so was too young. He saw them all on VHS and vividly remembers seeing the beginning of all three movies. He was very young so probably lost interest in them beyond the start. His daughter now watched Star Wars (A New Hope) when she was five and really dug it. Although she already knew who all the characters were. The pacing of A New Hope is very non-traditional and almost experimental in sections. The pacing of the start of the movie bothered Chris as a kid; it always felt like something scary was about to happen. Once Obi-Wan shows up it becomes more traditional in all aspects. He loved the opening sequences of the other two movies. The opening of Return of the Jedi was his favorite although he always had to ask his Dad how Han Solo got frozen in that thing. His Dad would say "Remember, Darth Vader froze him in the second movie?" and Chris would say "What, on the ice planet?" (which actually makes sense). Chris would play Star Wars all the time and would re-enact the Luke / diving board sequence anytime he was at a pool (never successfully).
- Flashlights as the go-to lightsabers for kids.
Chris now makes lightsabers for kids in his extended family out of PVC pipes and fun noodles. They cause less bruises.
- Variants of toy lightsabers.
- Playing with inflatable lightsabers.
- The color of Luke's lightsaber.
Chris's rankings of the movies: He simply does not recognize the Prequels as legitimate canon. So, Jedi is his third favorite (although the opening sequence is pure Star Wars). Leia being Luke's sister is also dumb in his view. The hosts share their theory that Leia is not actually Luke's sister and Chris loves this. Star Wars is his first favorite.
- Thanks to and from Chris for the episode.
Meta Minute
- 24:26 podcast episode length.
Quotes
- Alex: <In relation to Han Solo> Even amongst the Rebels he's a rebel.
- Alex: Ugh, it's infuriating. You're right, this minute is when it is they jump the shark.
- Alex: I don't know why C-3PO wearing pants would be so funny.
- Chris: Especially Luke and that diving board bit of business.
Link
http://www.starwarsminute.com/2015/03/24/jedi-minute-57-polo/