Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: The 'Star Wars' cantina scene – 'one of the best scenes of the entire 70s.' Monster with testicles on his chin, 'we don't serve droids here,' the negotiation with Han for 17K, and the Han/Greedo shootout. Also: Vader's conference room chokeout, Vader vs. Obi-Wan, the ceremony at the end, and the Millennium Falcon comeback to save Luke.
• CR: The trench run – the entire 20-minute Death Star attack sequence. Porkins, the TIE fighters, the one that spins out. 'One of the most amazing aerial sequences ever committed to film.' Also: Tarkin making Leia watch him blow up Alderaan while Darth puts his 'dad hands' on her.
• Van: The trench run – the most recreated, most signature scene from 'Star Wars'. Also: the entire Stormtrooper disguise/Princess Leia rescue sequence.
• Sean: Made the case for the cantina as most rewatchable – Obi-Wan wielding a lightsaber for the first time, the first limb getting cut off, Han and Greedo, the jazz score, the creatures. But ultimately sided with the trench run.

• CR: Some of the laser beam special effects and explosions that look like sparklers going off – incredible stuff overall but certain things they 'just couldn't catch up with yet.'
• Sean: The overwhelming amount of practical effects – hand-drawn imagery, matte paintings, models, optical effects. 'All stuff that you just don't see nearly as much in movies.' Also: a lot of white people in this movie.
• Van: The creatures not being CGI – guys in suits, practical effects.
• Bill: Mark Hamill's Shaun Cassidy/Andy Gibb haircut. Very 1977 – he could have been on 20 TV shows. He was actually in the pilot of 8 Is Enough and got out to do 'Star Wars'.

• Sean: Interconnected galactic universes as a storytelling model (now the dominant Hollywood approach). ILM as the first effects-focused studio. Princess Leia as a fearless hero, not just a damsel in distress. Sword fighting reimagined through lightsabers. Fast spaceships – Lucas saw the Rebel Alliance as hot rods and the Empire as factory cars, like Fast and Furious in space. Harrison Ford.
• CR: The Force as a forgotten religion that only three zealots still practice – much more interesting than the prequels making it the central preoccupation. Little world-building details that have lived in people's brains for 40 years: the two Stormtroopers talking about the 'new BT-16,' the squadron check-ins ('Red 5 standing by').
• Van: Darth Vader going from cool mysterious villain to cultural icon. ILM, Death Stars, lightsabers. 'Darth Vader has become so important not just as a villain but as a flawed hero.'
• Bill: The greatest movie secret ever kept – the Vader/Luke father revelation. The foreshadowing: when Uncle Owen says Luke has 'too much of his father in him' and then 'that's what I'm afraid of.' The 'Star Wars' bar, lightsabers, opening credit scroll co-written by Brian De Palma. The Carrie Fisher/Harrison Ford affair (she was 19, he was 33 and married) – nobody knew until she wrote her book in 2016. The stormtrooper hitting his head, which Lucas added a sound effect to. All the 'Star Wars' parodies. The wrestler Vader as 'one of the greatest fat guy athletes of all time.'

• CR: The binary sunset – Luke staring at the two suns on Tatooine. 'This is a kid looking for a purpose, looking off at the sunset, imagining himself getting off the planet that's the farthest from the center of the universe.' Also: the wide shot of Luke standing in disbelief after Obi-Wan gets cut down, blaster battle raging around him.
• Sean: Obi-Wan on the control panel inside the Death Star with the bottomless corridor behind him – a painting by Harrison Ellenshaw that looks like vast bottomless construction. Also the escape pod ejection with the 'sprinkle of Stardust' – the first digital effect created for the movie.
• Van: Luke looking up at the two suns. Also the destruction of Alderaan – 'the first time we see the Death Star in action. So high stakes, really rendered well.'

• Bill: 'Star Wars' cantina music (Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes).
• CR: Main title theme, or the 'Return Home' cue during the binary sunset.

• Bill and Sean: Mark Hamill. Bill: 'Not that good of an actor.' Sean acknowledged Hamill's later career renaissance as a voice actor and character actor but said you wouldn't leave this movie thinking 'the awesome thing about 'Star Wars' was Mark Hamill.' Lucas probably saw him as the system quarterback: 'I don't need a lot from this character, I have so much other stuff going on.'
• CR: Porkins – the pilot with 'a really tough name' who gets killed instantly. Raises questions about pilot quality if they're counting on Luke this much.
• Van: Couldn't think of one. Defended Hamill: Luke's bratty performance is off-kilter because he never feels like he's where he wants to be, and that tension works against the supremely confident Han and Leia. 'By the time Jedi comes around, he has got a full grasp on Luke.'

• Bill: The title change from 'Star Wars' to 'Star Wars: A New Hope' – 'this was 'Star Wars', like 'Jaws', 'Rocky', Godfather.' 20th Century Fox only released 7 movies in 1978 after 'Star Wars' dominated. Luke and Leia's vaguely flirtatious dynamic knowing they're siblings. Every scene with just R2-D2 and C3PO is 'like watching Jalen Green try to run the Rockets offense.' Aunt Beru could have been 'a little Milfy' – the only two women in the movie are Aunt Beru and 19-year-old Princess Leia. Laser blasters: what do they actually do when they hit you?
• CR: Only two women in the movie – 'big sausage party out in that Galaxy.' The Luke/Leia near-incest. Disney rejecting the screenplay and then buying Lucasfilm for $4 billion.
• Sean: The movie thinks it's clear that fascism is bad, and 'I'm not sure that that's aged well' – 'the movie can be read a different way in 2025.'
• Van: Not that much Vader in the film – only 12 minutes (Lecter: 16 minutes). 'I could have used some more Vader.'
• Bill: Carl Sagan in 1978 on Johnny Carson noted 'the overwhelming whiteness of the film.' A writer for the African American newspaper New Journal and Guide said Darth Vader 'reinforces a stereotype that black is evil.'

• CR: Chewbacca.
• Bill: Mark Hamill getting whiny and loud in a couple scenes. 'There's a couple of scenes where Alec Guinness is like, God damn it, why did I take this movie?'
• Van: Luke's 'I'm not such a bad pilot myself' – 'shut the fuck up, kid.'

• Van: The trilogy is better if Luke and Leia mistakenly have sex in this movie. Luke banishes himself out of guilt, becomes more susceptible to the dark side, makes the whole trilogy darker and more compelling. 'Obi-Wan is in the back going no... the dark side of the Dick is too strong.'
• CR: Han Solo is 'the coolest character in movie history but a real cock-blocking dickhead.' As soon as Luke gets interested in Leia, Han's like 'no, no, I'm interested in Leia.' Luke gets his first TIE fighter kill and Han says 'don't get cocky.' 'Let him pump his chest a little bit!'
• Sean: Already used his in Part 1 – the correlation between the decrease in organized religion and the rise of 'Star Wars'. Also: 'Star Wars' is one of the best movies ever made and one of the worst things that ever happened to Hollywood.

• De Palma was casting Carrie at the same time as Lucas was casting 'Star Wars' – they looked at 30-40 actors a day together. William Katt, Amy Irving, and Travolta ended up in Carrie.
• Hamill was cast over Robbie Benson, William Katt, Kurt Russell, and Charles Martin Smith (the geeky guy from American Graffiti, which gives insight into how Lucas saw Luke).
• Carrie Fisher cast over Karen Allen (who later starred in Raiders), Amy Irving, Cindy Williams (from Laverne & Shirley and American Graffiti), and Linda Purl. Jodie Foster was reportedly offered the role but had other movie commitments.
• Kurt Russell auditioned for both Luke and Han Solo.
• James Caan claimed he turned it down. Pacino claimed he turned it down – 'Pacino as Han Solo, that movie just sucks.'
• Toshiro Mifune (who started the characters that 'Star Wars' borrows from) was asked to be Obi-Wan and said no – he thought it would sully the legacy of samurai films.
• Orson Welles was considered for Vader's voice but deemed too recognizable from his commercials.
• Peter Mayhew and David Prowse were both tall actors asked which they wanted – Mayhew wanted the good guy (Chewbacca), Prowse wanted the bad guy (Vader).

• CR: Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) – lead in 15 consecutive Hammer horror films, legitimately famous in England. Movie may be too old for the classic 'that guy' treatment.
• Bill: Could do the uncle or Cushing. Most supporting players are just 'British guys who were nearby.'

• Bill: Darth Vader – in the movie for only 12 minutes but dominates everything. Has to win this category.
• CR: The collective of creatures in the cantina – 'racist bartender, butt face, all those guys.'
• Van: CGI Jabba added in the reissue – 'I hate it, hate it, hate it' but it's such a big deal to have that character appear. If Vader is eligible, it's Vader.
• Sean: The guy who plays Admiral Motti getting choked – 'he is really trying to cook in front of Vader' with his 'this station is now the ultimate power in the universe' speech.

• Bill: Mark Harmon as Luke Skywalker – coming off playing at UCLA, mid-20s, athletic, handsome. 'A little less handsome, athletic, kind of on Solo's corner a little bit.'
• Consensus: Kurt Russell circa 1974 is probably the answer for Luke, but might be 'too cool.'

• Han Solo was originally written as a large green-skinned monster with gills in early script drafts.
• Lucas gave very little direction on set – would just say 'faster' or 'more intense.'
• The English crew disliked Lucas so much they would call quitting time mid-shot rather than give him the grace to finish.
• Luke actually couldn't see in the Stormtrooper helmet; they just kept that in the movie.
• The trash compactor water stank so badly it affected the rest of the shoot.
• The original rough cut was about 3 hours with much more Luke on Tatooine hanging out with Wedge – 'American Graffiti in space.' Paul Hirsch and other editors cut it way down.
• Studio executives were unhappy that Chewbacca had no clothes and kept insisting he should wear shorts.
• Mark Hamill said Alec Guinness negotiated points on the film that became enormously lucrative.

• George Lucas: Consensus after Empire and Raiders in the '81 range – 'has anybody ever gotten to Apex Mountain and then just sat there forever.' Could also be selling to Disney for $4 billion. He's had a deal with Howard the Duck that hasn't ruined things yet at this point.
• Mark Hamill: Definitely this movie.
• Carrie Fisher: This, Blues Brothers (1980), or Empire (1980) – her non-'Star Wars', non-Blues Brothers movies were all flops. Sean noted 'she's on a lot of cocaine.'
• John Williams: 'Almost impossible to say' – he just shatters it every time. Superman's three years later. 'Jaws' before this. The consensus is 'Star Wars' is his most recognized work.
• Harrison Ford: Not this movie – it's either Han Solo across the trilogy or Indiana Jones.
• James Earl Jones: Bill says 'Field of Dreams', when he became a beloved American treasure. Van: 'Coming to America'. Sean: Mufasa.
• 20th Century Fox: Profits went from $39M to $70M.
• Nerds: The seed for nerd culture takeover, though nerds didn't have the most power in 1977. Led to Revenge of the Nerds.
• Movie sound effects: Academy created a special award for Ben Burtt – Droid sounds, Vader's breathing, TIE fighter screeching, lightsaber hum.
• Van: Absentee fathers as a movie premise – 'the greatest absentee dads story ever.'
• Dropping 'the' from a title: 'Star Wars' vs. The Facebook. Consensus: 'Star Wars'.
• Sci-fi movies: Apex Mountain.
• Fictional mythologies: Ahead of Terminator, The Matrix, and everything else.

Unanimous: Spielberg. (He released 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' the same year.)

• CR: Any situation where he could say 'Luke, how's the peeping?'
• Bill: Vader's lead counsel.

• Bill: R2-D2 and C3PO randomly ejecting from their pod and landing near Luke's house on Tatooine. Also: how bad the Stormtroopers' aim is – '130 people miss him from right here.' How do you give away locations to secret rebel bases in outer space? Princess Leia's outfit is perfectly white even after the garbage compactor.
• Sean: Obi-Wan's dodgy memory about R2-D2 ('I don't recall ever owning a droid'). Characters experience the most traumatic events imaginable and bounce back one scene later – Leia watches her planet destroyed, Luke sees his aunt and uncle charred, Obi-Wan is killed, and everybody's fine immediately.
• CR: Luke bets the entire Galaxy on a spiritual force he learned about a week ago – turns off his targeting computer on the Death Star run. Also: how much time did Luke have on the X-wing equipment?
• Sean's flex: Grand Moff Tarkin should have been fired – informed of a flaw in the Death Star, insists on continuing, loses the entire battle station. '28-3 at halftime in the history of movies.' Also: are we sure the Death Star is an effective way to run the Empire?
• Van: Did Obi-Wan sacrifice himself or just tank the fight? He's 2-0 against Vader, finishes 2-1. 'Still unclear why Kenobi did it after all these years.'

This movie did all of them eventually – sequel, prequel, prestige TV (Andor, Mandalorian), and untouchable. Van: the only frontier they haven't gone to is an All-Black 'Star Wars' movie.

• Bill: Sound – 'this movie sounds awesome even now.'
• Van: John Williams / Best Score.
• CR: George Lucas / Best Picture.
• The movie actually won five Oscars (score, sound, visual effects, special achievement, and art direction) but lost Best Picture to Annie Hall.

Bill: Did they intentionally make C3PO look like an Oscar? (Sean: No, he's modeled after the robot in Metropolis.) Why didn't Chewbacca have genitalia? Does he go to the bathroom? Halloween 1978: was this the year with the most people in the exact same costume?

• CR: A lightsaber – Darth's, because 'it's the one that works, the one that takes down Obi-Wan.'
• Sean: Han's blaster.
• Van: Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber (the one Luke uses).
• Bill: Luke's landspeeder. Also the Darth Vader mask.

• Bill: May the Force be with you.
• Van: Raise your kids. 'Don't let Uncle Owen raise your kids. Your kids will come back and they'll take over your empire.'

• CR: Rogue One.
• Van: Denis Villeneuve's Dune (Part One) – 'sand planet, kind of the same thing.'
• Sean: American Graffiti (for Lucas).
• Bill: 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.

• Consensus: George Lucas. Sean: 'He created the most indelible franchise in Hollywood history and made fucking bank on it too.' Van: 'I don't know that anyone in this industry has won any single movie as much as George Lucas has won this movie.'
• CR argued for Harrison Ford: 'He keeps this movie attached to humanity. It's a robot and a twerp acting against each other' without him. But acknowledged Lucas won.

Craig didn't have 'Star Wars' capture him the same way as the hosts – closer to Bill's relationship with the franchise. Appreciates it more now than when he first saw it around age 15. The originality is 'kind of staggering' – closest comp for that level of brand-new world-building working now is 'John Wick'. Lucas just wanted to make a movie that was fun. Also observed 'Star Wars' may be the 'Apex Mountain of Apex Mountains' – the most individual Apex Mountains in any single movie.