1. The entire opening of Star Wars: the scrolling text and the unbelievably massive ship passing by overhead. My entire life changed when I saw that in 1977. I don’t even know HOW, but I know it did.
2. The asteroid belt sequence in Empire. I like it cause of the kiss, of course. I had some of my first sensations of “Hmmm, maybe boys aren’t so gross after all” as a result of watching that kiss. But also – the suspense is fantastic in that sequence.
3. Han’s first appearance in Star Wars. Where HE SHOOTS FIRST, DAMMIT. As a matter of fact, that entire scene in the bar … I still can never get over it.
4. Luke’s time with Yoda during Empire. I loved those scenes. The blue palate, the mossy landscape … I loved Yoda, frankly.
5. Hmmm, nothing from Return of the Jedi is coming up. Am I insane? Missing something? The Ewoks have blotted out the rest at the moment … Please help me fill in the blanks.
Well, if you’re looking for a Return moment, how about when Vader finally succeeds in getting Luke to give into his anger and hate.
“If you will not be turned, then perhaps she will…”
I’ve also always liked Alec Guinness’ performance at the moment when Luke first mentions the name “Obi Wan Kenobi”.
Ooh, just got a chill! I remember that Alex Guinness moment
The one thing I find memorable about Jedi, that is seared–SEARED, I tell you!–in memory back to when I first saw it, is at the very beginning when Vader first arrives at the Death Star, and tells Commander Jerjerrod that “the Emperor is not as forgiving as I am.”
The look on his face is priceless. “The Emperor is coming here?”
There is also the moment of redemption, when Vader grabs the Emperor and casts him down the non-OSHA approved bottomless shaft right in the middle of the room.
When Darth makes that underling officer suffocate in Empire. When Luke gets his hand cut off and is dangling from the cloud city. I also loved it when the first AT-AT fell down in Empire. That was SO COOL.
For Jedi, the speeders were cool. Lando Calrissian piloting the Millenium Falcon.
To this day, I am baffled by the kudos that flow to Ford instead of Hamill. To my 11 year-old brain back when it was released, Luke Skywalker was The Hero; Han Solo was just a side-show.
Huh.
a sister…you have a sister!
david:
About the kudos flowing to Ford … It has to do with sex. 11 year old boys probably wouldn’t pick up on that … but as an 11 year old girl, I did!! :)
luke had that wussy shawn(shaun?) cassidy look about him. harrison is a lust-bunny (according to Mrs. Bingley)
Great moments in Jedi – my personal favorite is when Leia, Han and some others are outside the bunker. Han is getting ready to sneak up on the sentries when Leia warns him to be careful. Han’s response? ‘Hey…it’s me!’ Still cracks me up.
In STAR WARS (the first one, none of this “episode 4: a new hope” bullshit):
Leia kisses Luke for good luck before the Tarzan swing over the gorge, and “My name is Luke Skywalker. We’re here to rescue you.”
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK:
“I love you.”
“I know.”
ROTJ:
When Han reaches a prostrate, possibly wounded Leai…and she reveals her blaster. The knowning smile and the “that’s my girl” look on Han’s face.
Late as usual….
Cool things in Jedi
– The assloads of ships swarming around the new Death Star.
– Jabba. Nuff said.
– Admiral Ackbar. A Fark cliche is born.
– C3PO retelling the story of the movies in Ewokese.
– Lightsaber duels are always the shiz-nit.
– The even more assloads of ships in the final battle.
– “So be it…Jedi.”
– The unmasking with the subtle Vader’s Theme on harps and pianos underneath.
Original Star Wars – The opening scene with the Rebel blockade runner and the Imperial destroyer. Completely revolutionary. Still gives me chills.
Empire Strikes Back – Asteroid field. “Never tell me the odds.”
Return of the Jedi – Well…… I guess you don’t have the genes to appreciate Leia in the slave-girl rig.
Someone mentioned Alec Guiness. Throughout the series his acting was as subtle and perfect as you would expect. Alas, his diary from his later years is full of snippy entries about how sick of the whole Star Wars fame thing he got. I can understand how he felt, but I think it was a bit mean of him to publish such thoughts. Really not playing the game.
I remember clearly:
Summer 1980, 13 years old, sitting in the movie theatre seat with my legs up in the chair and my arms around my knees….heart THUMPING in my chest at the end of the lightsaber duel on the gantry.. Luke and Vader trade blows in silence – no music at that moment – and Luke connects with Vader’s shoulder. Vader groans in pain. Heart THUMPS harder. Luke’s hand cut off, he climbs out onto the end of the ledge. Vader tells him the fateful truth….and my jaw literally drops to the floor.
LUKE: No….that’s not true….that’s impossible!
VADER: Search your feelings – you know what I say to be true.
(Luke scrunches up his face in utter anguish)
LUKE: No!!!!!!
That’s my Star Wars moment :)
Hey! I’m not the only one severly offended by Lucas’ Han Solo revision! People look at me funny when I rant about how that scene screws with characterization.
The light saber duel was always my favorite part of Jedi.
My Gawd, I can’t believe it took me this long to reply to this. I actually AM nearing deadline on my projects! You’ve mentioned many of the good points, already, so I’ll DO my best, as ‘there is no try’.
1. A New Hope – On the Death Star, when the cover is blown, and Han blasts a Stormtrooper in the chest stealing the initiative, then like a Madman, chases the troopers down the hall howling, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!…..” then he gets to the end of the hallway, and he’s actually outnumbered. And before he hauls ass, he blasts another one right in the chest. Actually, my favorite line from that is his apaplectic, “GET BACK TO THE SHIP!” right before he gives chase.
2. A New Hope – “Everything under control, situation normal…”, said in a manner that implies. “Please don’t come up here”.
3. A New Hope – The walk that the two pilot Stormtroopers did when vader whirled about and followed him to the Tie Fighters right before the trench scene. I SWEAR, they were bopping up the hallway like, “Yeah. We the baddest Muthasuckas in the fleet, baby!” (Please note, that had no implication by the color of their armor, just my speculation) :)
4. ROTJ – When they caught the biker scout by the front of his bike, and it coiled against a tree, and finally blew up. I just thought it was the most fucked up thing that could have happened to someone going that fast. Next to the one that hit that nasty-looking treestump.
5. Empire – The trap was sprung…Vader was at the conference table, and he force-snatched Han’s blaster out of his hand…and the group realized they were trapped…if I were Lando, I’d have screamed, “Ha-HAAA! Just like we planned, Lord Vader. We got ’em!”
“It’s a Trap!” (preceded earlier by “How could they be jamming our signal if they… don’t know we’re coming?”)
Oh hey, where was I when this post went up, red?
In Jedi, my favorite bit is when Vader finally comes back. He looks back and forth between the emperor and his own dying son and he throws the son of a bitch down a shaft. Then he collapses. There is an overhead Pieta style shot of Luke cradling Vader after that. Awesome.
In Empire, I love the Falcon’s approach to Cloud City. And the snow battle. That whole movie is IT.
In Star Wars, it is the coolest when the Stormtroopers are mopping up in the overtaken Rebel ship, and they snap to attention and we see Vader for the first time, EVER.
Good lord, this could last forever.. two quick points:
Your number 3-Han shoots first…. isn’t in the movie anymore. In the upcoming DVD release Greedo and Han shoot at the same time. Why Lucas wanted to change this, I’ll never know.
I do have a favorite moment from ROTJ. It’s at the end of the fight between Luke and Vader, Vader is down, his hand cut off and Luke is standing over him about ready to strike… and he stops, throws his lightsaber away and says “Never, I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” Gave me chills. Best work by Hamill in the entire trilogy.
Oh, and Whatzizname is right.. the scene with in ANH, when Han is on the radio is priceless.
Frinklin – I inadvertently started a socialist revolution because Han and Gredo now shoot at the same time.
Popskull (who commented above) wrote a hilarious and enraged poem about it in one of my comments – I’ll have to track it down.
The whole POINT of Han Solo’s character (er – SOLO?? HIS LAST NAME IS SOLO…) was introduced in the moment when he shoots first. You never knew what this guy was gonna do.
grrrrr
Frinklin – Here, for your reading pleasure, are the 2 posts where we all expressed our outrage at George Lucas’ “improvements”:
Here
and
here
Re: the kudos going to Ford and not Hamill: if you can accept that there is anything worthwhile about Strauss & Howes’ “Generations” stuff, then some of this may be just that Gen-X-ers unconsciously recognized the Han Solo character as one of them.
==== Subject change
Re: the first Yoda scene: I LOVE that scene. What I like so much about is is how Yoda is PULLING LUKE’S LEG the whole time, pretending to be this silly little guy, fighting with R2-D2 over a flashlight, “mine! mine!”. Yoda is TESTING Luke, to see how observent Luke is. Yoda is PLAYING THE FOOL, yet dropping little hints at the same time. “Great warrior? Wars don’t make one great… aw, you can’t get you ship out, hmm??” while rifling through Luke’s stuff like a little moocher. It’s great.
ROTJ:
When Han reaches a prostrate, possibly wounded Leai…and she reveals her blaster. The knowning smile and the “that’s my girl” look on Han’s face.
actually, my favorite part of that scene is when han grabs leia to get her out of the way of a laser blast: he grabs her full on the boob and you can see she’s laughing…
Han is My Co-Pilot
Last week, Sheila was musing on the top five moments in the original Star Wars trilogy. Her post garnered some interesting responses, as usual. I got thinking about this because there is one moment in the original Star Wars movie…