Star Wars Minute 96: The Han-Luke Spectrum

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Pete and Ella at Tikal in Guatemala, the real-life location of Yavin 4

Date

October 14th, 2013.

The battered pirateship drifts into orbit around the planet Yavin and proceeds to one of its tiny green moons.

Starts with Han, Luke and Leia in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon as they fly back to the secret Rebel base and ends with the Falcon coming in for a landing on said Rebel base.
One of the few moments that Luke and Han have together on screen.

Han's posture and other nonchalant 'body acting' in this scene is intense. Is it good acting or completely overdone?
This minute contains Josh's most quoted Star Wars line from Luke: "I care".
The conversation between Han and Luke is interesting. Han is treating Luke as a peer and with a degree of respect.
Did Han think about Leia in 'that way' until Luke mentioned his interest in her? Han's interest in Leia throughout the trilogy is driven entirely by Luke's interest.
Shots of the Millennium Falcon flying through, and past, space are gorgeous. They should be 20 mins long. And they are practical shots. They define what space looks like for a generation.
The rule of sci-fi is adhered to in this sequence: the spaceship is flying the right side up in relation to the planets.
Referenced: Star Trek.
The planet matte paintings are super realistic. And the Millennium Falcon looks cool from every angle.
The guy using his radar gun to check the speed of the Millennium Falcon as it nears the base on Yavin 4.
Yavin 4 is the first time we see somewhere 'Earth-like' in the movie - it has trees.

17:24 podcast episode length.
Lucas is not a good director of actors.
Josh wonders what take of the scene this is. Alex points out that at least it's better than the underacted prequels ("Sorry Pete").
Chemistry between Han / Harrison and Luke / Mark.
In defense of Luke. Most men are a balance or struggle between Han and Luke; a lot of men are whiny like Luke and are not cool like Han. The 'Han-Luke Spectrum' is created and discussed. This is complicated by the fact that Luke and Han change over time.
Referenced: The Beatles; The Rolling Stones; American Graffiti.
This scene is very 'American Graffiti' like. Lucas is clearly able to create these type of scenes. Lucas also got lucky in finding Harrison Ford (note - and vice versa). Harrison Ford doesn't act like this anymore.
Pete has visited the Yavin 4 location in real life. It is in Tikal, Guatemala. It is a tourist location but there is no little tower to stand in. Pete visited Guatemala to see a member of his wife's family, but was primarily there because, you know, Star Wars. It was an awesome place.
Real-life locations are becoming a thing of the past; will we be saving the physical computers that made the current movies?
What do the Guatemalans make of the whole thing?
- Oscar Isaac was born in Guatemala and the fact that Yavin IV was filmed there was a big influence on him [1].