Didn't think this would be necessary but just quickly wanted to clarify: I've heard "cult classics" used in two ways. 1. When referring to films/shows that initially bombed and then garnered a cult following. 2. Films/shows that became so big they basically acquired a life of it's own. In this case I was referring to it within the context of 2. Hope that clears things up.
Yeah it’s common to call out the second def as not being what cult classic means, but actually that’s all it means. Being small when it came out isn’t any part of the def. The phrase just means its fans have formed a cult. So basically everything today, like Taylor swift. Taylor swift is what you would call a cult classic.
Cult literally refers to a group "outside the norms of society". A cult classic is typically something that has a relatively small group of devoted fans, but does not enjoy main stream popularity. The phrase she was looking for is simply "classic", which Star Wars certainly is. You can't get much more mainstream than Star Wars.
@@Ranger1PresentsVirtualRealms No, that’s not the definition being used. The one being used is “a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing”.
... "this feels like a complete story." IT WAS!!! When released in 1977, it was simply a stand-alone movie called "Star Wars" ... no episode name or number ... just "Star Wars". George Lucas had no idea that the movie would be a hit, but in case it was, and a sequel could be made, they allowed Darth Vader to escape so that there would be an antagonist and plot point for the sequel. The episode number and name, "Episode IV - A New Hope" were added when the movie was re-released in 1981, which was a year after the sequel, "Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" was released in 1980. Yes.... we had to wait 3 years between each movie.
The lack of grieving you'll also see in Star Trek TOS and other properties of this period. It is a reflection of that generation of writers who had been through WWII and the Korean War where they had developed a reflex of just setting death aside to focus on the job at hand.
Actually, in Star Trek TOS a lot of what people like to claim is Shatner/Kirk "overacting" is his grief over the loss of his crew, other ships' crew, or the inhabitants of planets.
If you look at the Officer uniforms, the name of the Imperial Troops "Storm Troopers" and even the shape of Vader's helmet reminds us of the German troops from WWII. A great way to paint who the bad guys are.
I was 13 years old in 1977 when I saw Star Wars in the Movie theatre. The special effects were ahead of its time. It was originally just called Star Wars. George Lucas did not know if he would be allowed to make more Star Wars Movies. It was renumbered Episode IV when Episode V The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. George Lucas Started with the first movie of his Middle Trilogy. Thats why the order was IV V VI in the Original Trilogy and then the Prequels Episodes I II III. Harrison Ford adlibbed the dialogue in the Prison Detention scene when he is talking to the Storm Troopers on the Microphone.
For many years it was chapter 4 rather than episode. As an 87 baby that's how I knew it. Episode seems like a pointless downgrade, same thing with less flavor
The most significant difference between the original trilogy and the prequels is that during the originals George was surrounded by people who constantly told him no, whereas during the prequels he was surrounded by people who constantly told him, "whatever you want, sir."
As CGI progressed, George re-mastered "A new hope" a couple of times, mostly adding more Aliens and animals to the Background and showing us a "Young Jabba".
When I saw these new versions with the gratuitous CGI aliens I realized that George Lucas was actually an idiot and he had just gotten lucky the first time around. Ironically, watching now nearly 30 years after the re-release the CGI additions are the most dated looking effects in the film.
44:02 You are correct. this is the first Willhelm Scream of the movie. It could be argued that this is the first Willhelm Scream over all. the sound effect (From the Paramount archives I believe) has been in older movies, but it was labeled under a different name (Man eaten by a crocodile). Ben Burtt, the sound designer for this movie digged it out and he and his colleague started competing on how many times they could sneak the sound in without the other one noticing. the rest is history, without that competition, we wouldn't know the sound as it is today, and it can all be traced back to this first use.
@@petercollingwood522 Once you're familiar with the "Wilhelm scream", you notice it everywhere. Lucas and Spielberg's movies use it often. It appears in many other places. The prologue of The Last of Us video game, for example.
The knobs the Jawa attach to the droids are called restraining bolts which apparently restrain them, somehow. It's not explained, just part of the implied background lore. It does not hurt them; a few times it used as a symbol of their status as slaves.
Yeah, the basic concept is that if forces them to "obey" whoever owns them (but like lots of tech in Star Wars, it's not explained in detail). It's why Luke can use the "remote" (or whatever it was) to force C3PO out of hiding after R2D2 has left. R2 tricked Luke into removing it so he could continue on his mission.
"Star Wars" is an homage to the Flash Gordon" & "Buck Rogers" serials of the 1930's & 1940's. R2D2 is an homage to Drones 1, 2 & 3 (AKA Huey, Dewey & Louie) from "Silent Running" 1972. C3PO is an homage to Maria from "Metropolis" 1927. The way they interact is an homage to comedy duo Laurel & Hardy. While the three main characters Luke (Mark Hamill), Leia (Carrie Fisher) & Han (Harrison Ford) were relative unknowns, Supporting actors Obi Wan (Sir Alec Guinness), Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) & Darth Vader (Voiced by James Earl Jones) were all very accomplished actors.
I am not sure that "Silent Running" was an influence, but Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" (1958) definitely was. It's quite interesting to compare the two, in particular, there are two peasants who a clearly the inspiration behind R2-D2 and C-3PO. They flee a battle, get lost in a desert, argue about which way to go, go separate ways, get captured and are reunited. There is also a hero (no separate mentor, though) and a princess to rescue.
@@Yngvarfo "Design. George Lucas's creation of R2-D2 was influenced by the peasant Matashichi from Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film The Hidden Fortress. Lucas and artist Ralph McQuarrie also drew inspiration from the robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Douglas Trumbull's 1972 film Silent Running."
I love how smart R2 is. He knows he can't go anywhere with a restraining bolt on, so he tricks Luke into removing it by dangling a bit of a message in front of him but withholding the rest of it to make him want the whole thing - even though he won't play the whole thing for him because it's not meant for him and is full of critical information. "You want to see the rest of the pretty girl message? Then remove my chains."
Great reaction to an icon of film making and the genesis of almost all modern special effects, practical and computer generated. May I suggest two things of import: 1) these films were designed to trick/fool the eye/brain system in certain ways. One is their effects were designed for a screen that is 45 feet wide (15 meters) for a reason. Your eyes can only resolve high resolution for a very small area in the center of vision. So watching it on a very small screen means this trickery is lost and you can "see" things(tricks) you did not see on the big screen. If at all possible get a larger screen to watch movies. 2) ear buds can be harmful and permanently cause hearing loss. And they cannot be faithful to actual acoustic spectrum. Better choice is actual headphones of studio quality.
It was a "restraining bolt" that Luke removed from Artoo. It's a remote immobiliser for droids. Artoo played the clip on purpose, then lied about the interference. So Luke would remove the thing stopping him completing his mission. 1st rule of Star Wars, never underestimate a droid...most especially R2D2 😀 The deck compartments only hide things/people from exterior ship to ship scans. Like the one that determined there were "no lifeforms" aboard the pod at the beginning. The scanning crew would have found them. Same reason Han had to dump his cargo, when he was boarded. Causing the issue with Jabba in the first place. Speaking personally, if it was much of a drive back to meet Obi Wan and the droids. My initial grieving would be done by the time I got there. More of a burning rage and determination by that point. For Leia, well she's nails, so I suspect the rage came first, more the icy cold variety though. I like to think even Vader thought Tarkin had gone, done and effed up with that one. Second rule don't piss of Princess Leia 😂.
I agree with most of this, but we differ on Leia’s message in R2. My read is that The Force caused a ‘freakish glitch’ in R2 that caused a portion of the message to play in a loop. R2 is VERY sharp, but only The Force could have known that Luke would stop in his tracks when seeing Leia’s image for the first time. Then, R2 thought quickly and lied to Luke so that Luke would remove the restraining bolt. The Force also caused the red R2 unit to blow a fuse at just the right moment, so that our R2 would be sold to Owen Lars instead. Finally, The Force intervened so that the Sandperson merely knocked Luke out w/o really hurting him. “The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant, next to the power of the Force.” :)
@tranya327 a lonely short on female company lad, full of wanderlust, stuck on a backwoods world would sit up and take notice at the idea of rescuing a brave and beautiful woman....Artoo knew exactly what he was doing. The droid that had the force was the R5 unit that had seen a force premonition of Artoos future importance and sacrificed it's chance to escape Tattoine by blowing its own motivator unit. Sandpeople grab humans to work as slave labour, especially healthy young ones. We've seen this with Anakins mum and Boba Fett. The force doesn't impose it's will or act on its own, it's not a sapient intelligence. It's has currents and these follow the balance. Too much good, evil gets all the "luck" and vica versa.
@@davidb1565 “Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff. But I’ve never seen ANYTHING to make me believe that there’s one all powerful Force controlling EVERYTHING. Ain’t no mystical energy field controls MY destiny. It’s all a lota simple tricks and nonsense.” "Finding him was the Will of the Force. I have no doubt of that."
It’s really hard to under-describe just how massive Star Wars was when it came out. It was fricking EVERYWHERE, you couldn’t escape it. All over tv, clothing, restaurants, magazines, newspapers, even knock off clone stuff, it was nearly all we talked about and played as kids. It must have driven my mom nuts, every birthday & Xmas HAD to be Star Wars. Like, all of it. It was more than a movie really, it was a sea change in film, nothing would be the same. Hopefully you’ll continue on in your journey in this universe.
The death star was just a single weapon... a superweapon to be sure, but the empire has thousands of huge warships at their disposal. This was a setback for them, but in the grand scheme of things it was by no means an end to their hold on power across the galaxy.
The Empire had spread itself too thin, and while the Imperial Fleet could handle ANY local defense fleet it couldn't handle ALL of them at once. The Deathstar was meant to be so terrifying that every system would willing comply so as not to get their home planet destroyed. It made the Empire so cocky that the Emperor disbanded the senate, since with the senate systems could at least feel like they had some representation. Essentially the Emperor completely abandoned pretending that he gave a crap what anybody thought and was just going to openly rule over everyone and there's nothing they can do about it. ...And then Luke blew up the Deathstar, which really did make things a lot harder for him. He would have probably kept the senate around if he knew that was going to happen. Also the death of Tarkin was a big deal as well. Tarkin was so important to the Emperor that when both were in the field together even Vader was subordinate to Tarkin!
I didn't remember that. Cool. I was 5 when I saw it in theaters in '77 and my little brain was probably too blown away by the movie to remember anything else. 😉
my friends and i went to see it when it first came out, we sat in front row, when i went outside had to remind myself i was back on earth, for the time, the graphics were mind blowing. i was 17
If someone else hasn't already mentioned it, that narrow-looking equatorial "belt" of the Death Star with all the landing bays is one kilometer wide, or "tall" from our POV as the Millennium Falcon is seen entering one of the smaller landing bays. The entire thing is about 160 kilometers in diameter. While the majority of the Death Star interior is dedicated to power generation and the main weapon capable of blowing up planets, the living space still rivals the living space of the largest cities in the world.
26:43 There ARE subtitles to this scene. Actually, there’s a lot of cgi added to this release. Until the special editions were released in 1997, this scene was left out. A human actor walked with Han Solo. George Lucas has said he decided that this would not enable a creature image to replace the human actor. I suspect there was no plan to add a creature, thus Han’s line at the end. Anyway, during various editions of this movie, the Jabba creature has been altered slightly. You should be able to see the subtitles. Perhaps something is turned off or it was another change.
The device that Luke removed from R2 is called a restraining bolt. C-3PO had one also. It was installed by the jawas when they got captured. It's a device that prevents droids from escaping or being stolen or otherwise acting out of control against the owner's wishes. R2 used the partial message to trick Luke into removing it so that he could escape to track down Obi Wan.
EVERYBODY loves R2. Ewoks are annoying to a lot of fans, but R2 is the lowkey hero of so many Star Wars moments in the films. After almost 50 years of watching Star Wars, I half believe he's the only droid who is Force-sensitive, he's pulled the heroes fat out of the fire so many times...
Just a matter of your terms, a "Cult Classic" is a movie that FAILED at the box office, but developed a loyal following in the secondary market (VHS/DVD, rentals, books, games, etc.). Sta Wars was a world wide phenomenon. The movie was playing in some theaters for over a YEAR. Today, it's notable to make it past 13 weeks.
So a bit of background on this version of the movie... It's based on the 1997 re-edit commonly called the 'Special Edition' (it's been modified a few times since coming out). A number of 'enhancements' were made using CGI of the time, and some deleted scenes from the original 1977 version were re-added. Unfortunately it's the only version of the movie available (...officially. You can still find the older versions elsewhere.) Some examples: Mos Eisley city is made much bigger and more lively with CGI. Ironically, the smaller purely practical sets of the original arguably look better than the now very dated, obvious looking CGI. The shootout between Han and Greedo was much more one sided... which is to say that Han is the only one who even fired his blaster. Greedo never got beyond the threats. And the scene with Jabba was deleted in earlier versions of the movie, and Jabba was originally a human. The tail stepping was a necessary bit of CGI trickery because... Jabba had no tail to step on, Han just walked around him, and the 'you're a wonderful human being' line was a bit more literal (but still sarcastic). The scene with Biggs before the Death Star attack was added cut in the original (there were other cut scenes with Biggs, so I actually like that this one was added back in to better establish that Luke and Biggs had been friends before finding their way to the Rebels) Anyway, it's always fun to watch someone start their Star Wars journey, so thanks for sharing.
In a discussion with others, apparently there's like 4 or 5 documented 'edits' from the original in the theaters. The one they don't know about is late 70's or early 80's (my mind says 1979 before Return of the Jedi) where it was announced that the film had been edited, hard to fathom that this became the 'first edit'; announced on the news short blurb. Anyway - the original theater cut had 'pixilation' around one star destroyer (most people probably wouldn't have noticed it but I did) and that was thee only notifiable 'issue' within the entire film! I saw it 4 times in 1977.
@@waltw9818 Yeah, there were a bunch of minor variations and edits prior to the 1997 'Special Edition's. Most were fairly minor/non-substantive, and many actually came with the early home media releases. Corrections, colour changes, updates to the opening crawl etc. If you look up the very unofficial 'Project 4k77', that's the closest you'll get to the original theatrical release currently available.
There exist DVD:s (all three movies) with both enhanced version and theater version together in a Limited Edition. I think it was released in 2006, at least in Europe.
@@leine8999 Those aren't the theatrical release, actually. They're the last pre-special edition versions of the movies, but they have (very minor) changes. Audio changes, colour corrections, text crawl changes (like including 'A New Hope' - it wasn't called that in the theatrical release). The 4k77 version is special because it comes from an actual vintage 35mm print from 1977, so has none of the changes that came after.
22:25 "Guys, you're trying to start a fight with someone who doesn't know how this works." 😆That has to be the funniest (and most accurate) ways to explain what is happening there.
I saw this at a drive in theatre when it originally came out in the 1970's so it is nice to see another young human discover the series.You've taken your first step into a larger world
I went to see John Williams play in Boston during his last show with the POPs. He played Jurrassic Park, Indiana Jones, and the Star Wars throne room music.
I can’t imagine watching this for the first time on an iPad or laptop with one ear. Luckily I saw this in a 800 seat theater opening weekend on a 70 ft high cinerama screen where the Star Destroyer felt like it came in right over your head. I remember actually ducking.
Great reaction, intelligent and thoughtful. You have a lot of good ideas and theories about why things happened I had never heard and fans love to consider explanations that aren't explicitly spelled out.
This was Lucas's latest reworking of the film. He cleaned up some of the original effect shots and added others, but the majority of the film does look much as it did in 1977. If you know someone who has a copy of the original theatrical release it might be fun to compare the two.
you're literally watching a sci-fi western World War II dogfight Arthurian legend. George Lucas took all of the classic films from his childhood, and tied them together with the *heroes journey* to create an epic masterpiece, where the son redeems the father.
13:28 "What If That Thing He Took Off R2-D2 Was Somehow Blocking The Empire From Finding Them?" The restraining bolt that Luke took off of R2-D2 was only intended to prevent Droids from running away from their owners. It doesn't, in any way, block any energy signatures that would lead someone to the location of the Droid that the device was on
Luci went back and added CGI. The original was don with practical effects, film compositing, and motion control camera effects. Also, Greedo never shot. Han straight up executed him.
A bit on the evolution of this classic film. George Lucas loved '50s serials in his childhood, like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, and much of the film homages these serials. He would return to this with the "Indiana Jones" series. Various screenwriters such as Lawrence Kasden, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck contributed, and brought more homages into play. Much of the film copies The New Gods, an obscure series of comics for DC written by Jack Kirby in 1970, including characters like "Mark Moonrider" and "Darkseid." The final battle over the Death Star quotes an aerial battle featured in British film The Dam Busters. Similarly the score by John Williams deliberately evokes Wagner's Ring Cycle with its use of themes (I understand leitmotifs is the musical term) and neoclassical works such as Holst's The Planets, just as Williams' prior score for Jaws quoted Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Veteran actors Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing were hired to lend credence to a cast that was then largely unknown. But Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher went on to very successful careers, and Harrison Ford grew into a bona fide movie star thanks to this film. Star Wars was the second "summer blockbuster" film after Jaws, and an even larger cultural phenomenon, spurring American film studios to make more sci-fi films like Alien and ET the Extraterrestrial. The summer "tentpole" film like the Marvel movies continued to be the studios' dominant business model right up 'til the COVID epidemic and streaming services took the wind out of cinema's sails. Please consider watching sequels Rogue One, The Empire Strikes Back, Revenge of the Sith, and Return of the Jedi. Most do not recommend the recent sequel trilogy, though I have a soft spot in my heart for The Last Jedi.
When Han Solo says "Jabba, You're a wonderful human being" it's because he was talking to a human being, early in the production Jabba was just a fat dude in a shaggy outfit That is the Wilhelm scream, there's one in every Star Wars movie. The music (by John William, the soundtrack to my youth) IS excellent, did you notice every character has their own theme? If you watch the other movies you probably will notice that better.
That thing He removed from R2-D2 is called restraining bolt. And Yes C-3PO has one too. It limits what droids can do. So R2 tricked Luke so He could escape and find Kenobi.
32:05 "...as if they own the place?" Nah, Han said they're "caught in a tractor beam"... i.e., to help ships land or to grab and tow things. Han wasnt trying to land, in fact he had the ship "in full reverse" trying to escape. It was out of his hands.
After the droids lost the clone wars, droids were typically fitted with what was called a restraining bolt. This device prevented droids fitted with them from the more independent actions attributed to, uh, freedom. To remove a restraining bolt from a droid is not unlike removing the chain from a slave.
About using a lightsaber the first time it's handed to you: be prepared for a few continuity problems as the series progresses. George Lucas hadn't quite fleshed out all the details when he made this first ones, so there's a few inconsistencies in the series that are explained away to varying degrees of satisfaction. For me it adds to the charm, seeing how the Star Wars Universe developed in the minds of its creator(s) over these three very special movies. And this trilogy excelled at not taking itself too seriously. It's hard to top this one for pure fun.
20:49 "Wow, You're Bouncing Back Really Quickly" Keep in mind that Luke wanted to get off of Tattooine for quite a while already. And what Owen said in response to Beru's statement "Luke's Just Not A Farmer" He'd said, "That's What I'm Afraid Of"
I recently married a Brit. Wow you guys like to say "to be fair" a lot. The way Obi Wan is just strolling around the death star is not the force. How often would the death star inhabitants see a rebel onboard? Never. It's assumed all on board are part of team dark side. That's also why the Stormtroopers listened to C3P0. BTW, a younger Obi wan won an Academy Award in a classic Brit movie called Bridge On the River Kwai. The movie garnered 7 Academy Awards.
14:00 "I Was Convinced That He Was Going To Go After R2-D2, Despite His Uncle's Shutting Down The Power" As Luke told C3PO, it was too dangerous to go looking for R2-D2 at that particular time due to the sandpeople running around and that they'd have to wait until morning, thus waiting until it was safer to go looking for R2-D2 and less likely to get ambushed by the sandpeople
As a 13 year year old kid, can you imagine how this movie blew me away? Of course, the character of Luke was created to appeal to a boy of my age, completely ready to escape the boring life we all though we were living, at 13. BTW I seen probably 20 reactors watch this. When Luke hops on his Speeder to look for R2 everyone says, "that's cool". *Everyone*.
@gonnaneedapillowclub Has to be Luke I was a young lad, under 10 raised on Arthurian legend, Robin Hood and Greek myth. Questing off to rescue the world/galaxy and/or a beautiful princess was right in my wheelhouse.
22:25 "It's Interesting How Robots Are Treated As A Sort Of Subspecies" Well, whenever you watch the prequel trilogy, especially episode II, you'll have some idea of why they're treated like that
Talking and commenting on reaction videos is great and I’m really glad to hear that you pause the film while you comment. Nothing is more annoying when reactors make very long comments or talk during a film WHILE the film is playing and therefore miss key moments because they are too busy talking.
@@aldunlop4622 i know. I wrote the comment in the beginning when she was saying how she pauses it and then she started the movie and proceeded to talk over most a lot of important scenes/dialogue.
I recommend that when your watch Return of the Jedi you have subtitles turned on because there will be much alien language, mostly Huttese to bring the story forward.
Thank you for doing this reaction! Welcome to the fan base of Episode 4. I saw this movie opening week. I remember being impressed by the "used" looking set pieces. Everything looks lived in, unlike previous science fiction movies.
Saw this in theaters when I was 7. My dad had the score on vinyl and it sounded amazing. I have heard it countless times in the last 47 years. Star Wars Galaxy online apparently had the right to it somehow? Such a fun game, but the music set it apart.
G'day Jeanette , I've only recently discovered your Channel , I must admit that new eyes 👀 on an oldish film is quiet refreshing , Oh 1 more thing may i ask where your accent comes from I'm usually fairly adept at working out accents , Thank you very much Jeanette 💐
@@gonnaneedapillowclub Ah cool 😎 I'm from one of the other Colonies Australia , and yep I enjoyed rewatching Star Wars , another good film is Mad Max the original I think it came out 1979 it has pretty much all practical affects . If you get the time please have a look at that film .
This movie is the first "Blockbuster"of all time. It grossed over 1/4 of a billion dollars in it's 1st domestic run in '77. That's not including international grosses. It also set the standard for movie production. All movies after this in some way,shape or form were influenced by it. This flick is why you have mega box office proceeds in movies period. Also it's not a cult classic by any definition. When you finish watching this trilogy you must watch the "Empire Of Dreams"documentary It will explain all you need to know right from the people who made them.
In the old novels the destruction of alderaan made leia richer. Alderaan was rich and had stock in many things on other planets. When it was destroyed the holdings of 95% of its population was inherited by the rest.
Saw this in the theater. The 70s were full of a lot of disappointing movies. When this hit, the public was amazed. The rest, is history. Have a great day.
17:46 anybody can hold a Lightsaber but yes the Lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi night and it is used more accurately with use of the force lust only being used by Jedi because only a Jedi is for sensitive and therefore with the use of skill learns how to wield a light sabre correctly
What is this, a youngster is boarding the "Tantive IV"? What will this " I know something about the series" viewer make of this "old, long, slow-moving, jargon-filled, character-centered, no-DFX" movie? 6:20 A Krayt Dragon skeleton. 7:09 Jawas collecting scrap. 8:33 You are watching the George Lucre version, with DFX not seen in 1977. Imperial Storm Troopers are riding Dewbacks. 13:00 I always took this scene as Luke wondering, "Is this all there is, stuck on Tatooine as a moisture farmer.?" 15:09 He bellows out the call of a Krayt dragon.
In the OG Star Wars no " New Hope" the Dewbacks did not move. Han shot first them driving into Mos Elsely did not exist. First was stop at the check point. Han chased did not end with the formation of stormtroopers. The shot of the X wings leaving the moon of Yavin 4 did not exist. The ring effects of the explosions of Death Star and Alderan was not there.
42:50 Refreshing to hear a reactor attempt the perspective of the Stormtroopers. They are indeed just people who think they are doing some good in the galaxy. Obviously, them being people means that some are good, some are evil and some inbetween. Their leaders are rarely good though. But a writer could definitely decide to make a Stormtrooper the protagonist, fighting a bunch of "evil rebels" with his squad. Imagine a series that humanized them, that would certainly be something new and interesting. Tony Gilroy has showed us a couple of grey zones within Star Wars, it doesn't have to be black and white. Which is why I would recommend Rogue One after Episode 3. But by all means, get this trilogy done first, that seems to be the most proper order for first time viewers. Even if I prefer chronological order myself.
The gulley that R2D2 foes down and they all meet up, is the same gully in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy threatens to blow up the Ark of the Covenant
You are not the first reactor to watch Star Wars and comment on sympathy for Stormtroopers. The late Brian Daley wrote the VERY FIRST SWEU novel trilogy in 1978-1980. In the first book of the series, Han Solo at Stars' End, he described Han wondering just what type of person it takes to voluntarily choose an occupation that helps keep the government's boot on the collective necks of its own people.
Princess Leia's wealth would be in e-currency and space bucks so it would all be electronically monitored and controlled so she wouldn't 'lose' her wealth just because her home planet got destroyed lol.
It's currently in canon that a lightsaber can be used by anyone but that they are too heavy to be used as an effective weapon without lots of spiritual training.
Which is one of many nonesensical, post-fact addendums to this story that clash in all kinds of ways with the approach of these original movies. George (or whoever) thought it would make the Jedi "cooler" and more "mysterious" to exaggerate the supernaturalness of all the "Jedi stuff". It's one of my biggest criticisms of the prequels, all that pseudo-cool space-wizard BS. Obiwan and Yoda in the OT presented the Jedi as quite pragmatic and down-to-earth. It was a big mistake to overly mystefy them from the prequels onward.
Lucas didn't think of a sequel or sequels because Star Wars became hugely successful at the box office. No. His story idea from the beginning consisted of six stories so he fully wrote the first one and fleshed out the ideas for rest in a shorter, less detailed forms...deciding that if the first film was successful, he would then work out the details of the following 5 episodes.
RE: Star Wars as Classic Film; Full Disclosure, this is probably the first movie I ever saw more than once because, Fun Fact, it was the hottest shit on the planet in 1981 when it was available on VHS tape and the sequel... But I digress. George Lucas has made it clear several times that much of what is Epic in this narrative is due to the influence of specific genres of storytelling which date back to the 1930s and 40s, but also the work of Akira Kurosawa. There's 2 films which deserve a Follow Up if you go down this Star Wars path: the first is "Yojimbo" (1961), a film which has the distinction of also being rebooted by Sergio Leone and called "A Fistful of Dollars" (starring Clint Eastwood). The title character has a series of scenes in the opening of the film which are remarkably similar to Obi-Wan's brief fight in the cantina. The second, though, is far more significant, "The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress" (1958). Both are in black and white and I am trying very, very hard not to spoil anything about the second film. Watch it carefully, watch it more than once, and try to figure out which character is which. One Hint: the two peasants at the beginning are matched a heck of a lot like 3PO and R2.
I'm not sure the idea that Darth Vader was Luke's father had even occurred to George Lucas at the time when the first Star Wars movie was made. IMHO knowing that makes it nearly impossible to experience Star Wars the way we did back in 1977. For the closest to the 1977 experience, watch the 4K77 version with mono soundtrack. The version you are watching has CGI which did not exist in the 1977 version. The Jabba the Hut scene was added.
Didn't think this would be necessary but just quickly wanted to clarify: I've heard "cult classics" used in two ways. 1. When referring to films/shows that initially bombed and then garnered a cult following. 2. Films/shows that became so big they basically acquired a life of it's own. In this case I was referring to it within the context of 2. Hope that clears things up.
Yeah it’s common to call out the second def as not being what cult classic means, but actually that’s all it means. Being small when it came out isn’t any part of the def. The phrase just means its fans have formed a cult. So basically everything today, like Taylor swift. Taylor swift is what you would call a cult classic.
Cult literally refers to a group "outside the norms of society". A cult classic is typically something that has a relatively small group of devoted fans, but does not enjoy main stream popularity. The phrase she was looking for is simply "classic", which Star Wars certainly is. You can't get much more mainstream than Star Wars.
@@Ranger1PresentsVirtualRealms No, that’s not the definition being used. The one being used is “a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing”.
... "this feels like a complete story."
IT WAS!!! When released in 1977, it was simply a stand-alone movie called "Star Wars" ... no episode name or number ... just "Star Wars". George Lucas had no idea that the movie would be a hit, but in case it was, and a sequel could be made, they allowed Darth Vader to escape so that there would be an antagonist and plot point for the sequel. The episode number and name, "Episode IV - A New Hope" were added when the movie was re-released in 1981, which was a year after the sequel, "Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" was released in 1980. Yes.... we had to wait 3 years between each movie.
Jeanet: (watches Star Wars for the first time)
Obi-Wan: "Hello there!"
The lack of grieving you'll also see in Star Trek TOS and other properties of this period.
It is a reflection of that generation of writers who had been through WWII and the Korean War where they had developed a reflex of just setting death aside to focus on the job at hand.
Actually, in Star Trek TOS a lot of what people like to claim is Shatner/Kirk "overacting" is his grief over the loss of his crew, other ships' crew, or the inhabitants of planets.
Similar to after WW I.
Also the Vietnam conflict.
If you look at the Officer uniforms, the name of the Imperial Troops "Storm Troopers" and even the shape of Vader's helmet reminds us of the German troops from WWII. A great way to paint who the bad guys are.
what a load of shit
Always fun seeing the reactor *completely* hooked in the first 60 secomds, and they don't even realize it.
I was 13 years old in 1977 when I saw Star Wars in the Movie theatre. The special effects were ahead of its time. It was originally just called Star Wars. George Lucas did not know if he would be allowed to make more Star Wars Movies. It was renumbered Episode IV when Episode V The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. George Lucas Started with the first movie of his Middle Trilogy. Thats why the order was IV V VI in the Original Trilogy and then the Prequels Episodes I II III.
Harrison Ford adlibbed the dialogue in the Prison Detention scene when he is talking to the Storm Troopers on the Microphone.
The 11 year old me was hooked when the ships went over, it felt like the theatre was going to vibrate apart lol.
For many years it was chapter 4 rather than episode. As an 87 baby that's how I knew it. Episode seems like a pointless downgrade, same thing with less flavor
The most significant difference between the original trilogy and the prequels is that during the originals George was surrounded by people who constantly told him no, whereas during the prequels he was surrounded by people who constantly told him, "whatever you want, sir."
31:40 In EVERY Star Wars movie someone will says “ I have a bad feeling about this.”
Not every
@@briansview2886 Or some variation of the phrase.
It’s a trap!
@@briansview2886it was said by bb8
As CGI progressed, George re-mastered "A new hope" a couple of times, mostly adding more Aliens and animals to the Background and showing us a "Young Jabba".
Han shoots first 🔫
Thats why its uncool. And more you guys repeat it, more uncool it is
When I saw these new versions with the gratuitous CGI aliens I realized that George Lucas was actually an idiot and he had just gotten lucky the first time around.
Ironically, watching now nearly 30 years after the re-release the CGI additions are the most dated looking effects in the film.
And reactors watching for the first time dont care.
Saw this in the theater in 77 and never really understood why the later addition CGI elements upset some people.
RIP James Earl Jones! Best voice ever.
44:02 You are correct. this is the first Willhelm Scream of the movie.
It could be argued that this is the first Willhelm Scream over all. the sound effect (From the Paramount archives I believe) has been in older movies, but it was labeled under a different name (Man eaten by a crocodile). Ben Burtt, the sound designer for this movie digged it out and he and his colleague started competing on how many times they could sneak the sound in without the other one noticing. the rest is history, without that competition, we wouldn't know the sound as it is today, and it can all be traced back to this first use.
What is a Willhelm scream?
@@petercollingwood522 I timestamped it, The sound bite is called "the willhelm scream"
@@petercollingwood522
Once you're familiar with the "Wilhelm scream", you notice it everywhere. Lucas and Spielberg's movies use it often. It appears in many other places. The prologue of The Last of Us video game, for example.
The knobs the Jawa attach to the droids are called restraining bolts which apparently restrain them, somehow. It's not explained, just part of the implied background lore. It does not hurt them; a few times it used as a symbol of their status as slaves.
Yeah, the basic concept is that if forces them to "obey" whoever owns them (but like lots of tech in Star Wars, it's not explained in detail). It's why Luke can use the "remote" (or whatever it was) to force C3PO out of hiding after R2D2 has left. R2 tricked Luke into removing it so he could continue on his mission.
I think it means the Jawas can basically turn the droid off with a remote. I’m certain they stop a droid at some point.
Yes, they zapped R2D2!
"Star Wars" is an homage to the Flash Gordon" & "Buck Rogers" serials of the 1930's & 1940's.
R2D2 is an homage to Drones 1, 2 & 3 (AKA Huey, Dewey & Louie) from "Silent Running" 1972.
C3PO is an homage to Maria from "Metropolis" 1927.
The way they interact is an homage to comedy duo Laurel & Hardy.
While the three main characters Luke (Mark Hamill), Leia (Carrie Fisher) & Han (Harrison Ford) were relative unknowns, Supporting actors Obi Wan (Sir Alec Guinness), Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) & Darth Vader (Voiced by James Earl Jones) were all very accomplished actors.
And Chewy was an homage to Lucas' dog.
@@tuffs4itIndiana, George's faithful companion and co pilot of many adventures
I am not sure that "Silent Running" was an influence, but Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" (1958) definitely was. It's quite interesting to compare the two, in particular, there are two peasants who a clearly the inspiration behind R2-D2 and C-3PO. They flee a battle, get lost in a desert, argue about which way to go, go separate ways, get captured and are reunited. There is also a hero (no separate mentor, though) and a princess to rescue.
@@Yngvarfoyou are correct
@@Yngvarfo "Design. George Lucas's creation of R2-D2 was influenced by the peasant Matashichi from Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film The Hidden Fortress. Lucas and artist Ralph McQuarrie also drew inspiration from the robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Douglas Trumbull's 1972 film Silent Running."
I love how smart R2 is. He knows he can't go anywhere with a restraining bolt on, so he tricks Luke into removing it by dangling a bit of a message in front of him but withholding the rest of it to make him want the whole thing - even though he won't play the whole thing for him because it's not meant for him and is full of critical information. "You want to see the rest of the pretty girl message? Then remove my chains."
Great reaction to an icon of film making and the genesis of almost all modern special effects, practical and computer generated. May I suggest two things of import:
1) these films were designed to trick/fool the eye/brain system in certain ways. One is their effects were designed for a screen that is 45 feet wide (15 meters) for a reason. Your eyes can only resolve high resolution for a very small area in the center of vision. So watching it on a very small screen means this trickery is lost and you can "see" things(tricks) you did not see on the big screen. If at all possible get a larger screen to watch movies.
2) ear buds can be harmful and permanently cause hearing loss. And they cannot be faithful to actual acoustic spectrum. Better choice is actual headphones of studio quality.
The soundtrack to this movie is iconic.
Yes then she listens with one ear in...
It was a "restraining bolt" that Luke removed from Artoo. It's a remote immobiliser for droids. Artoo played the clip on purpose, then lied about the interference. So Luke would remove the thing stopping him completing his mission. 1st rule of Star Wars, never underestimate a droid...most especially R2D2 😀
The deck compartments only hide things/people from exterior ship to ship scans. Like the one that determined there were "no lifeforms" aboard the pod at the beginning. The scanning crew would have found them. Same reason Han had to dump his cargo, when he was boarded. Causing the issue with Jabba in the first place.
Speaking personally, if it was much of a drive back to meet Obi Wan and the droids. My initial grieving would be done by the time I got there. More of a burning rage and determination by that point. For Leia, well she's nails, so I suspect the rage came first, more the icy cold variety though. I like to think even Vader thought Tarkin had gone, done and effed up with that one. Second rule don't piss of Princess Leia 😂.
I agree with most of this, but we differ on Leia’s message in R2. My read is that The Force caused a ‘freakish glitch’ in R2 that caused a portion of the message to play in a loop. R2 is VERY sharp, but only The Force could have known that Luke would stop in his tracks when seeing Leia’s image for the first time. Then, R2 thought quickly and lied to Luke so that Luke would remove the restraining bolt. The Force also caused the red R2 unit to blow a fuse at just the right moment, so that our R2 would be sold to Owen Lars instead. Finally, The Force intervened so that the Sandperson merely knocked Luke out w/o really hurting him. “The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant, next to the power of the Force.” :)
@tranya327 a lonely short on female company lad, full of wanderlust, stuck on a backwoods world would sit up and take notice at the idea of rescuing a brave and beautiful woman....Artoo knew exactly what he was doing. The droid that had the force was the R5 unit that had seen a force premonition of Artoos future importance and sacrificed it's chance to escape Tattoine by blowing its own motivator unit.
Sandpeople grab humans to work as slave labour, especially healthy young ones. We've seen this with Anakins mum and Boba Fett.
The force doesn't impose it's will or act on its own, it's not a sapient intelligence. It's has currents and these follow the balance. Too much good, evil gets all the "luck" and vica versa.
@@davidb1565 “Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff. But I’ve never seen ANYTHING to make me believe that there’s one all powerful Force controlling EVERYTHING. Ain’t no mystical energy field controls MY destiny. It’s all a lota simple tricks and nonsense.”
"Finding him was the Will of the Force. I have no doubt of that."
I was 9 years old when I saw this on opening night of its release in the movie theater
I was 4 in 1977 Star Wars was the very first film I saw at the cinema my mother took me and my sister it was in Brighton England.
It’s really hard to under-describe just how massive Star Wars was when it came out. It was fricking EVERYWHERE, you couldn’t escape it. All over tv, clothing, restaurants, magazines, newspapers, even knock off clone stuff, it was nearly all we talked about and played as kids. It must have driven my mom nuts, every birthday & Xmas HAD to be Star Wars. Like, all of it. It was more than a movie really, it was a sea change in film, nothing would be the same.
Hopefully you’ll continue on in your journey in this universe.
The death star was just a single weapon... a superweapon to be sure, but the empire has thousands of huge warships at their disposal. This was a setback for them, but in the grand scheme of things it was by no means an end to their hold on power across the galaxy.
Like the atomic bombs on Japan at the end of WW2.
The Empire had spread itself too thin, and while the Imperial Fleet could handle ANY local defense fleet it couldn't handle ALL of them at once. The Deathstar was meant to be so terrifying that every system would willing comply so as not to get their home planet destroyed. It made the Empire so cocky that the Emperor disbanded the senate, since with the senate systems could at least feel like they had some representation. Essentially the Emperor completely abandoned pretending that he gave a crap what anybody thought and was just going to openly rule over everyone and there's nothing they can do about it. ...And then Luke blew up the Deathstar, which really did make things a lot harder for him. He would have probably kept the senate around if he knew that was going to happen.
Also the death of Tarkin was a big deal as well. Tarkin was so important to the Emperor that when both were in the field together even Vader was subordinate to Tarkin!
Watched the first 3 films as a kid and the Empire Strikes Back (2nd film) has always been my favorite.
" Duck Dogers in the 24th and a half Century " was the cartoon shown before Star Wars at the theaters.
Now THAT would have been awesome!
Either that one or Marvin the Martian and his Immudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator.
@@VadersRage Marvin the Martian is in that cartoon. Duck Dogers fights him for control of Planet X.
Parody of Buck Rogers of course.
I didn't remember that. Cool. I was 5 when I saw it in theaters in '77 and my little brain was probably too blown away by the movie to remember anything else. 😉
Ah Mr. Garibaldi I presume...
It's a great pleasure to finally see some sincere and intelligent reactions to this franchise. Many thanks to you.
my friends and i went to see it when it first came out, we sat in front row, when i went outside had to remind myself i was back on earth, for the time, the graphics were mind blowing. i was 17
Imagine moviegoers in Tunisia, at the time... they walked out, like you, and it was exactly the same as Tatooine! ;-]
If someone else hasn't already mentioned it, that narrow-looking equatorial "belt" of the Death Star with all the landing bays is one kilometer wide, or "tall" from our POV as the Millennium Falcon is seen entering one of the smaller landing bays. The entire thing is about 160 kilometers in diameter. While the majority of the Death Star interior is dedicated to power generation and the main weapon capable of blowing up planets, the living space still rivals the living space of the largest cities in the world.
26:43 There ARE subtitles to this scene. Actually, there’s a lot of cgi added to this release. Until the special editions were released in 1997, this scene was left out. A human actor walked with Han Solo. George Lucas has said he decided that this would not enable a creature image to replace the human actor. I suspect there was no plan to add a creature, thus Han’s line at the end. Anyway, during various editions of this movie, the Jabba creature has been altered slightly. You should be able to see the subtitles. Perhaps something is turned off or it was another change.
The device that Luke removed from R2 is called a restraining bolt. C-3PO had one also. It was installed by the jawas when they got captured. It's a device that prevents droids from escaping or being stolen or otherwise acting out of control against the owner's wishes. R2 used the partial message to trick Luke into removing it so that he could escape to track down Obi Wan.
EVERYBODY loves R2. Ewoks are annoying to a lot of fans, but R2 is the lowkey hero of so many Star Wars moments in the films. After almost 50 years of watching Star Wars, I half believe he's the only droid who is Force-sensitive, he's pulled the heroes fat out of the fire so many times...
Just a matter of your terms, a "Cult Classic" is a movie that FAILED at the box office, but developed a loyal following in the secondary market (VHS/DVD, rentals, books, games, etc.).
Sta Wars was a world wide phenomenon. The movie was playing in some theaters for over a YEAR. Today, it's notable to make it past 13 weeks.
So a bit of background on this version of the movie... It's based on the 1997 re-edit commonly called the 'Special Edition' (it's been modified a few times since coming out). A number of 'enhancements' were made using CGI of the time, and some deleted scenes from the original 1977 version were re-added. Unfortunately it's the only version of the movie available (...officially. You can still find the older versions elsewhere.)
Some examples:
Mos Eisley city is made much bigger and more lively with CGI. Ironically, the smaller purely practical sets of the original arguably look better than the now very dated, obvious looking CGI.
The shootout between Han and Greedo was much more one sided... which is to say that Han is the only one who even fired his blaster. Greedo never got beyond the threats.
And the scene with Jabba was deleted in earlier versions of the movie, and Jabba was originally a human. The tail stepping was a necessary bit of CGI trickery because... Jabba had no tail to step on, Han just walked around him, and the 'you're a wonderful human being' line was a bit more literal (but still sarcastic).
The scene with Biggs before the Death Star attack was added cut in the original (there were other cut scenes with Biggs, so I actually like that this one was added back in to better establish that Luke and Biggs had been friends before finding their way to the Rebels)
Anyway, it's always fun to watch someone start their Star Wars journey, so thanks for sharing.
In a discussion with others, apparently there's like 4 or 5 documented 'edits' from the original in the theaters. The one they don't know about is late 70's or early 80's (my mind says 1979 before Return of the Jedi) where it was announced that the film had been edited, hard to fathom that this became the 'first edit'; announced on the news short blurb. Anyway - the original theater cut had 'pixilation' around one star destroyer (most people probably wouldn't have noticed it but I did) and that was thee only notifiable 'issue' within the entire film! I saw it 4 times in 1977.
@@waltw9818 Yeah, there were a bunch of minor variations and edits prior to the 1997 'Special Edition's. Most were fairly minor/non-substantive, and many actually came with the early home media releases. Corrections, colour changes, updates to the opening crawl etc. If you look up the very unofficial 'Project 4k77', that's the closest you'll get to the original theatrical release currently available.
There exist DVD:s (all three movies) with both enhanced version and theater version together in a Limited Edition. I think it was released in 2006, at least in Europe.
@@leine8999 Don't know the specifics but there is also 'the fabled red label VHS' lol
@@leine8999 Those aren't the theatrical release, actually. They're the last pre-special edition versions of the movies, but they have (very minor) changes. Audio changes, colour corrections, text crawl changes (like including 'A New Hope' - it wasn't called that in the theatrical release). The 4k77 version is special because it comes from an actual vintage 35mm print from 1977, so has none of the changes that came after.
22:25 "Guys, you're trying to start a fight with someone who doesn't know how this works." 😆That has to be the funniest (and most accurate) ways to explain what is happening there.
Welcome to Star Wars. We shall watch your career with great interest.
I saw this at a drive in theatre when it originally came out in the 1970's so it is nice to see another young human discover the series.You've taken your first step into a larger world
It does bug me sometimes seeing reactors watching movies like Star Wars for the first time on a laptop (and in this case with one ear bud in).
You are watching the remastered version where they changed a few things.
In the bar Hand Solo fired first.
I went to see John Williams play in Boston during his last show with the POPs. He played Jurrassic Park, Indiana Jones, and the Star Wars throne room music.
I can’t imagine watching this for the first time on an iPad or laptop with one ear. Luckily I saw this in a 800 seat theater opening weekend on a 70 ft high cinerama screen where the Star Destroyer felt like it came in right over your head. I remember actually ducking.
"the costume is so good!" The R2-D2 costume? I agree. 😊
I mean, there was a guy inside of it for many of the shots, so it counts...
@@ArmouredPhalanx RIP Kenny Baker.
@@ArmouredPhalanxI second that statement RIP
Kenny Baker was inside the R2-D2 costume for the closeup shots.
44:15. Yep, that was the Whilhelm scream.
That Wilhelm Scream bloke is in many movies.
@@WinstonSmith19847apparently, it's been used in over 400 films.
@@joshuah9109 Yes it's funny how people notice it but it's not obvious at the same time.
Great reaction, intelligent and thoughtful. You have a lot of good ideas and theories about why things happened I had never heard and fans love to consider explanations that aren't explicitly spelled out.
The first couple of scenes is why men of my age can be heard going "Pew, pew" when we think no-one is watching...
This was Lucas's latest reworking of the film. He cleaned up some of the original effect shots and added others, but the majority of the film does look much as it did in 1977. If you know someone who has a copy of the original theatrical release it might be fun to compare the two.
you're literally watching a sci-fi western World War II dogfight Arthurian legend.
George Lucas took all of the classic films from his childhood, and tied them together with the *heroes journey* to create an epic masterpiece, where the son redeems the father.
"That's no moon.... It's a Playstation!"
It will be destroyed by an Xbox squadron.
That thing Luke took off R2 is a restraining bolt. It keeps droids from wandering off and force them to obey commands.
You can hold a lightsaber and use it if you want, but using it in combat requires training so you don't accidentally cut off your own arm.
13:28
"What If That Thing He Took Off R2-D2 Was Somehow Blocking The Empire From Finding Them?"
The restraining bolt that Luke took off of R2-D2 was only intended to prevent Droids from running away from their owners.
It doesn't, in any way, block any energy signatures that would lead someone to the location of the Droid that the device was on
Luci went back and added CGI. The original was don with practical effects, film compositing, and motion control camera effects. Also, Greedo never shot. Han straight up executed him.
A bit on the evolution of this classic film.
George Lucas loved '50s serials in his childhood, like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, and much of the film homages these serials. He would return to this with the "Indiana Jones" series.
Various screenwriters such as Lawrence Kasden, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck contributed, and brought more homages into play. Much of the film copies The New Gods, an obscure series of comics for DC written by Jack Kirby in 1970, including characters like "Mark Moonrider" and "Darkseid." The final battle over the Death Star quotes an aerial battle featured in British film The Dam Busters.
Similarly the score by John Williams deliberately evokes Wagner's Ring Cycle with its use of themes (I understand leitmotifs is the musical term) and neoclassical works such as Holst's The Planets, just as Williams' prior score for Jaws quoted Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
Veteran actors Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing were hired to lend credence to a cast that was then largely unknown. But Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher went on to very successful careers, and Harrison Ford grew into a bona fide movie star thanks to this film.
Star Wars was the second "summer blockbuster" film after Jaws, and an even larger cultural phenomenon, spurring American film studios to make more sci-fi films like Alien and ET the Extraterrestrial. The summer "tentpole" film like the Marvel movies continued to be the studios' dominant business model right up 'til the COVID epidemic and streaming services took the wind out of cinema's sails.
Please consider watching sequels Rogue One, The Empire Strikes Back, Revenge of the Sith, and Return of the Jedi. Most do not recommend the recent sequel trilogy, though I have a soft spot in my heart for The Last Jedi.
When Han Solo says "Jabba, You're a wonderful human being" it's because he was talking to a human being, early in the production Jabba was just a fat dude in a shaggy outfit
That is the Wilhelm scream, there's one in every Star Wars movie.
The music (by John William, the soundtrack to my youth) IS excellent, did you notice every character has their own theme? If you watch the other movies you probably will notice that better.
Thanks, Jeanet! 🌌 Keep watching all eleven movies and the numerous live-action tv series. There are many things to love in all of them.
That thing He removed from R2-D2 is called restraining bolt. And Yes C-3PO has one too. It limits what droids can do. So R2 tricked Luke so He could escape and find Kenobi.
The jokes about the Millennium Falcon are because it's the equivalent of taking a semi, equipping it with a jet engine and bolting machine.gums to it.
32:05
"...as if they own the place?"
Nah, Han said they're "caught in a tractor beam"... i.e., to help ships land or to grab and tow things. Han wasnt trying to land, in fact he had the ship "in full reverse" trying to escape. It was out of his hands.
30:21 it isn’t easy to learn, but once learned, it’s easy to do
Deadpool and wolverine will spoil Logan quite a bit
After the droids lost the clone wars, droids were typically fitted with what was called a restraining bolt. This device prevented droids fitted with them from the more independent actions attributed to, uh, freedom. To remove a restraining bolt from a droid is not unlike removing the chain from a slave.
About using a lightsaber the first time it's handed to you: be prepared for a few continuity problems as the series progresses. George Lucas hadn't quite fleshed out all the details when he made this first ones, so there's a few inconsistencies in the series that are explained away to varying degrees of satisfaction. For me it adds to the charm, seeing how the Star Wars Universe developed in the minds of its creator(s) over these three very special movies. And this trilogy excelled at not taking itself too seriously. It's hard to top this one for pure fun.
Unfortunately they won't show the original anymore. There was no CGI in the original because it hadn't been invented (as you know it) yet.
32:35 in the same way there is no “luck” where the Force is involved, there are also no accidents, only synchronicity
Ah yes, finding a certain someone was the will of the Force. I have no doubt of that.
Can't wait to see your reaction to the next installment.
Your reaction is perfect. Just as it should be. Thank you. (The nature of light sabres means that limb-loss is not unusual.)
Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it😊
20:49
"Wow, You're Bouncing Back Really Quickly"
Keep in mind that Luke wanted to get off of Tattooine for quite a while already.
And what Owen said in response to Beru's statement "Luke's Just Not A Farmer"
He'd said, "That's What I'm Afraid Of"
I recently married a Brit. Wow you guys like to say "to be fair" a lot. The way Obi Wan is just strolling around the death star is not the force. How often would the death star inhabitants see a rebel onboard? Never. It's assumed all on board are part of team dark side. That's also why the Stormtroopers listened to C3P0. BTW, a younger Obi wan won an Academy Award in a classic Brit movie called Bridge On the River Kwai. The movie garnered 7 Academy Awards.
To be fair; Jeanet is South African and not British. 😅
Thanks. I’ve watched several of Jeanet’s videos and I’ve been like British… but not. 😁
The Skeleton in the desert was a Krayt Dragon - you get to see one in Season 2 of the Mandalorian.
Thank you for sharing. Hope you enjoy your journey. My mom got me into SW when i was 5, taking me to the theater to watch Episode I.
Oh my goodness please listen in THX surround sound. At the LEAST both headphones in stereo!
14:00
"I Was Convinced That He Was Going To Go After R2-D2, Despite His Uncle's Shutting Down The Power"
As Luke told C3PO, it was too dangerous to go looking for R2-D2 at that particular time due to the sandpeople running around and that they'd have to wait until morning, thus waiting until it was safer to go looking for R2-D2 and less likely to get ambushed by the sandpeople
If you can remember, which character did you connect with most during your first viewing of the movie?
Definitely Luke Skywalker as a kid. The need for more and the sense of awe and wonder at all the new things he sees.
Han Solo for sure. Empire Strikes Back was the first movie I had ever seen in theaters and it changed my life.
Obiwan! Space wizard for the win!
As a 13 year year old kid, can you imagine how this movie blew me away? Of course, the character of Luke was created to appeal to a boy of my age, completely ready to escape the boring life we all though we were living, at 13. BTW I seen probably 20 reactors watch this. When Luke hops on his Speeder to look for R2 everyone says, "that's cool". *Everyone*.
@gonnaneedapillowclub Has to be Luke I was a young lad, under 10 raised on Arthurian legend, Robin Hood and Greek myth. Questing off to rescue the world/galaxy and/or a beautiful princess was right in my wheelhouse.
22:25
"It's Interesting How Robots Are Treated As A Sort Of Subspecies"
Well, whenever you watch the prequel trilogy, especially episode II, you'll have some idea of why they're treated like that
Talking and commenting on reaction videos is great and I’m really glad to hear that you pause the film while you comment. Nothing is more annoying when reactors make very long comments or talk during a film WHILE the film is playing and therefore miss key moments because they are too busy talking.
She talked over the whole conversation at Obi-Wan's house, annoyed me greatly.
@@aldunlop4622 i know. I wrote the comment in the beginning when she was saying how she pauses it and then she started the movie and proceeded to talk over most a lot of important scenes/dialogue.
You ask really intelligent questions!!
I recommend that when your watch Return of the Jedi you have subtitles turned on because there will be much alien language, mostly Huttese to bring the story forward.
The double sunset is an actual real illusion of where the desert shots were taken, Tunisia.
Thank you for doing this reaction! Welcome to the fan base of Episode 4. I saw this movie opening week. I remember being impressed by the "used" looking set pieces. Everything looks lived in, unlike previous science fiction movies.
The restraining bolt Luke removed from R2 is just a tool to keep droids in line, like a leash for pets. Not much more.
Saw this in theaters when I was 7. My dad had the score on vinyl and it sounded amazing. I have heard it countless times in the last 47 years. Star Wars Galaxy online apparently had the right to it somehow? Such a fun game, but the music set it apart.
Earned another sub. Can't wait to watch the rest on your channel.
44:30 my favorite scene from a new hope.
It is not just a science fiction movie but a western too.
I was 17 when I watched this in the theatre and I remember staying in to watch the 2nd show because it was so groundbreaking at the time.
G'day Jeanette , I've only recently discovered your Channel , I must admit that new eyes 👀 on an oldish film is quiet refreshing , Oh 1 more thing may i ask where your accent comes from I'm usually fairly adept at working out accents , Thank you very much Jeanette 💐
Hope you enjoyed it. I'm from South Africa.
@@gonnaneedapillowclub Ah cool 😎 I'm from one of the other Colonies Australia , and yep I enjoyed rewatching Star Wars , another good film is Mad Max the original I think it came out 1979 it has pretty much all practical affects . If you get the time please have a look at that film .
This movie is the first "Blockbuster"of all time. It grossed over 1/4 of a billion dollars in it's 1st domestic run in '77. That's not including international grosses. It also set the standard for movie production. All movies after this in some way,shape or form were influenced by it. This flick is why you have mega box office proceeds in movies period. Also it's not a cult classic by any definition. When you finish watching this trilogy you must watch the "Empire Of Dreams"documentary It will explain all you need to know right from the people who made them.
In the old novels the destruction of alderaan made leia richer. Alderaan was rich and had stock in many things on other planets. When it was destroyed the holdings of 95% of its population was inherited by the rest.
Lol, I just noticed that Peter Cushing would make a great Lannister.
some of what you see here was not in the 1977 version. They added in cartoon bits here and there
Saw this in the theater. The 70s were full of a lot of disappointing movies. When this hit, the public was amazed. The rest, is history. Have a great day.
17:46 anybody can hold a Lightsaber but yes the Lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi night and it is used more accurately with use of the force lust only being used by Jedi because only a Jedi is for sensitive and therefore with the use of skill learns how to wield a light sabre correctly
What is this, a youngster is boarding the "Tantive IV"? What will this " I know something about the series" viewer make of this "old, long, slow-moving, jargon-filled, character-centered, no-DFX" movie? 6:20 A Krayt Dragon skeleton. 7:09 Jawas collecting scrap. 8:33 You are watching the George Lucre version, with DFX not seen in 1977. Imperial Storm Troopers are riding Dewbacks. 13:00 I always took this scene as Luke wondering, "Is this all there is, stuck on Tatooine as a moisture farmer.?" 15:09 He bellows out the call of a Krayt dragon.
In the OG Star Wars no " New Hope" the Dewbacks did not move. Han shot first them driving into Mos Elsely did not exist. First was stop at the check point. Han chased did not end with the formation of stormtroopers. The shot of the X wings leaving the moon of Yavin 4 did not exist. The ring effects of the explosions of Death Star and Alderan was not there.
42:50 Refreshing to hear a reactor attempt the perspective of the Stormtroopers. They are indeed just people who think they are doing some good in the galaxy. Obviously, them being people means that some are good, some are evil and some inbetween. Their leaders are rarely good though.
But a writer could definitely decide to make a Stormtrooper the protagonist, fighting a bunch of "evil rebels" with his squad. Imagine a series that humanized them, that would certainly be something new and interesting.
Tony Gilroy has showed us a couple of grey zones within Star Wars, it doesn't have to be black and white. Which is why I would recommend Rogue One after Episode 3. But by all means, get this trilogy done first, that seems to be the most proper order for first time viewers. Even if I prefer chronological order myself.
The gulley that R2D2 foes down and they all meet up, is the same gully in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy threatens to blow up the Ark of the Covenant
You are not the first reactor to watch Star Wars and comment on sympathy for Stormtroopers.
The late Brian Daley wrote the VERY FIRST SWEU novel trilogy in 1978-1980. In the first book of the series, Han Solo at Stars' End, he described Han wondering just what type of person it takes to voluntarily choose an occupation that helps keep the government's boot on the collective necks of its own people.
Princess Leia's wealth would be in e-currency and space bucks so it would all be electronically monitored and controlled so she wouldn't 'lose' her wealth just because her home planet got destroyed lol.
It's currently in canon that a lightsaber can be used by anyone but that they are too heavy to be used as an effective weapon without lots of spiritual training.
Which is one of many nonesensical, post-fact addendums to this story that clash in all kinds of ways with the approach of these original movies. George (or whoever) thought it would make the Jedi "cooler" and more "mysterious" to exaggerate the supernaturalness of all the "Jedi stuff". It's one of my biggest criticisms of the prequels, all that pseudo-cool space-wizard BS. Obiwan and Yoda in the OT presented the Jedi as quite pragmatic and down-to-earth. It was a big mistake to overly mystefy them from the prequels onward.
Lucas didn't think of a sequel or sequels because Star Wars became hugely successful at the box office. No. His story idea from the beginning consisted of six stories so he fully wrote the first one and fleshed out the ideas for rest in a shorter, less detailed forms...deciding that if the first film was successful, he would then work out the details of the following 5 episodes.
RE: Star Wars as Classic Film; Full Disclosure, this is probably the first movie I ever saw more than once because, Fun Fact, it was the hottest shit on the planet in 1981 when it was available on VHS tape and the sequel... But I digress.
George Lucas has made it clear several times that much of what is Epic in this narrative is due to the influence of specific genres of storytelling which date back to the 1930s and 40s, but also the work of Akira Kurosawa. There's 2 films which deserve a Follow Up if you go down this Star Wars path: the first is "Yojimbo" (1961), a film which has the distinction of also being rebooted by Sergio Leone and called "A Fistful of Dollars" (starring Clint Eastwood). The title character has a series of scenes in the opening of the film which are remarkably similar to Obi-Wan's brief fight in the cantina. The second, though, is far more significant, "The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress" (1958). Both are in black and white and I am trying very, very hard not to spoil anything about the second film. Watch it carefully, watch it more than once, and try to figure out which character is which. One Hint: the two peasants at the beginning are matched a heck of a lot like 3PO and R2.
You are correct. It’s the only movie with a beginning middle and end. It’s genuine art. I like empire but it is not a complete movie. Thx
16:50 Fun Fact: It _was_ just a torso.
I'm not sure the idea that Darth Vader was Luke's father had even occurred to George Lucas at the time when the first Star Wars movie was made. IMHO knowing that makes it nearly impossible to experience Star Wars the way we did back in 1977. For the closest to the 1977 experience, watch the 4K77 version with mono soundtrack. The version you are watching has CGI which did not exist in the 1977 version. The Jabba the Hut scene was added.
Your always worried R2D2 is going to slow, Kenny Baker was going as fast as he could in that contraction.