Star Wars (1977) ft. Shane Rogers and Jesse Sertle

Guests:

• Shane Rogers

  • Comedian and Host of Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

  • Previously on Broadcast News (1987), The Big Lebowski (1998), Superman: The Movie (1978), There's Something About Mary (1998), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Ex Machina (2015)

• Jesse Sertle

  • fellow group member of CineMadison

  • previously on Rounders (1998), Easy Rider (1969), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

  • @jsertle on IG

Cast:

• George Lucas, Writer/Director

• Gilbert Taylor, Cinematography

• John Williams, Music

• Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker

• Harrison Ford as Han Solo

• Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa

• Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin

• Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi

• Anthony Daniels as See Threepio (C3PO)

• Kenny Baker as Artoo Detoo (R2-D2)

• Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca

• David Prowse / James Earl Jones (voice) as Lord Darth Vader

Background:

• Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977.

• On a budget of $11 million, the film would gross $410 million worldwide becoming only the 6th film (since 1915) to become the highest-grossing movie all-time, and by far the #1 film domestically and worldwide in 1977.

• Critics were effusive in their praise for the film at the time, and it would garner 10 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Director (Lucas), Supporting Actor (Guinness), and Original Screenplay (Lucas). Star Wars would win for Art Direction, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score (John Williams), Sound and Visual Effects as well as two Honorary Achievement Oscars.

• Star Wars quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, launching an industry of tie-in products, including novels, comics, video games, amusement park attractions and merchandise such as toys, games, and clothing.

• The release of the Special Edition in 1997 was the highest-grossing reissue of all-time with a gross of $138.3 million, bringing its total gross in the United States and Canada to $460,998,007, reclaiming the all-time number one spot.

• Adjusted for inflation, it had earned over $2.5 billion worldwide at 2011 prices, which saw it ranked as the third-highest-grossing film at the time, according to Guinness World Records. At the North American box office, it ranks second behind Gone with the Wind on the inflation-adjusted list.

• Star Wars has been recognized on the following lists:

  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (1998) – #15

  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills (2001) – #27

  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains (2003)

    • Han Solo – #14 Hero

    • Obi-Wan Kenobi – #37 Hero

  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes (2004)

    • "May the Force be with you." – #8

  • AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores (2005) – #1

  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers (2006) – #39

  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) (2007) – #13

  • AFI's 10 Top 10 (2008) – #2 Sci-Fi Film

• Star Wars was voted the second most popular film by Americans in a 2008 nationwide poll conducted by the market research firm Harris Interactive.

• In 1997, it ranked as the 10th Greatest American Film on the Los Angeles Daily News Readers' Poll.

• In 2002, Star Wars and its sequel The Empire Strikes Back were voted the greatest films ever made in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Films poll.

• In 2008, Empire magazine ranked Star Wars at 22nd on its list of the "500 Greatest Movies of All Time".

• In 2010, the film ranked among the "All-Time 100" list of the greatest films as chosen by Time film critic Richard Schickel.

• In 2011, it ranked as Best Sci-Fi Film on Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.

• In 2014, the film placed 11th in a poll undertaken by The Hollywood Reporter.

• In 1989, the United States Library of Congress named Star Wars among its first selections to the National Film Registry. At the time, it was the most recent film to be selected and it was the only film from the 1970s to be chosen.

• In 1991, Star Wars was one of the first 25 films inducted into the Producers Guild of America's Hall of Fame for setting "an enduring standard for American entertainment."

• The soundtrack was added to the United States National Recording Registry 15 years later (in 2004).

• Star Wars currently holds a 93% on RT, a 90 score on Metacritic, and a 4.2/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: Star Wars is set in a galaxy far, far away under the oppressive rule of the Galactic Empire. The story follows a young farm boy, Luke Skywalker, who discovers his destiny when he comes across a pair of droids carrying secret plans for the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star. With the guidance of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi as well as the help of a roguish pilot, Han Solo, his co-pilot Chewbacca, and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, Luke embarks on a daring mission to rescue Princess Leia from the clutches of Darth Vader and to aid the Rebel Alliance in their fight for freedom. The film is a tale of heroism, hope, and the battle between good and evil.

Did You Know:

• George Lucas was so sure this movie would flop that instead of attending the premiere, he went on vacation to Hawaii with his good friend Steven Spielberg. It was on that vacation that they came up with the idea for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

• In early drafts of the script, R2-D2 could speak standard English, and he had a rather foul vocabulary. Although all of R2's English speech was removed, many of C-3PO's reactions to it were left in.

• Harrison Ford didn't learn his lines for the intercom conversation in the cell block so that it would sound spontaneous.

• James Earl Jones and David Prowse, who play the voice and body of Darth Vader respectively, didn't meet until 2012, 35 years after the film's release.

• The actors found George Lucas to be very uncommunicative towards them, with his only directions generally being either "faster" or "more intense." At one point, when he temporarily lost his voice, the crew provided him with a board with just those two phrases written on it.

• Due to the limited budget, the American cast members and crew (including George Lucas) all decided to fly coach class to England, rather than first class. When Carrie Fisher's mother, Debbie Reynolds, heard about this, she called Lucas, complaining about how insulting it was for her daughter to be flying coach. Fisher was in the room with Lucas when he took the call, and after a few minutes, asked if she could talk to her mother. When Lucas handed her the phone, she simply said, "Mother, I want to fly coach, will you fuck off?!" and hung up.

Best Performance: George Lucas (Writer/Director)

Best Secondary Performance: Harrison Ford (Han Solo)/John Williams (Music)

Most Charismatic Award: James Earl Jones (Voice of Darth Vader)/Harrison Ford (Han Solo)/John Williams (Music)

Best Scene:

• Diplomatic Mission Takeover

• Council Meeting

• Mos Eisley Cantina

• Jedi Training

• Detention Block and Trash Compactor

• Defeating the Death Star

Favorite Scene: Defeating the Death Star/Stormtrooper Helmet/Trash Compactor/Detention Block

Most Indelible Moment: Defeating the Death Star

In Memorium:

• Ruth Buzzi, 88, American comedienne (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) and actress (Sesame Street, That Girl), Golden Globe winner and 5x Emmy nominee

• Charley Scalies, 84, American actor (tv: The Wire, The Sopranos, movies: Liberty Heights)

• Andrew Karpen, 59, American independent film studio executive (Bleecker Street, Focus Features)

• Cora Sue Collins, 98, American actress (movies: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Anna Karenina, The Unexpected Father)

• Peter McIan, American record producer (Business as Usual, Cargo), musician (The City), and songwriter (producer for Men at Work)

• Jill Sobule, 66, American singer-songwriter (song: I Kissed a Girl, Supermodel)

• Priscilla Pointer, 100, American actress (movies: Carrie, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Blue Velvet, tv: Dallas)

Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Han Solo: May the Force Be With You.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: These aren't the droids you're looking for.

Han Solo: Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Darth Vader: I find your lack of faith, disturbing.

Darth Vader: The Force is strong with this one.

Han Solo: Wonderful girl. Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: Use the Force, Luke.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.

Princess Leia Organa: Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?

Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

Han Solo: It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: That's no moon. It's a space station.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: In my experience, there's no such thing as luck.

Princess Leia: Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope.

Han Solo: Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but, uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine, we're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?

Princess Leia: Someone has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, fly boy.

Luke Skywalker: I have a very bad feeling about this.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Force will be with you, always.

Title card/crawl: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Luke Skywalker: [griping about Tatooine] If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.

Luke Skywalker: Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now... It's all such a long way from here.

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 9.5

Impact/Significance: 10

Novelty: 8.5

Classic-ness: 9

Rewatchability: 7.75

Audience Score: 9.3 (90% Google, 96% RT)

Total: 54.05

Remaining Questions:

• What is in the trash compactor and how did it get there?

• If Luke is short for a stormtrooper, how does the armor fit?

• If Vader can feel Obi-Wan, how come he doesn't feel the force in Leia or Luke?

• How does a ship go into hyperspace without a pilot then arrive out of hyperspace and get sucked in by a tractor beam?

• What position is Grand Moff Tarkin that he can order around Darth Vader?

• Can the Death Star jump to hyperspace?

• How does the Millennium Falcon shoot the tie fighter at the end?

• How does Vader survive the encounter at the end?

• What is Uncle Owen farming?