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Star Wars Radio Drama - *update in 1st post* - completed review — Page 2

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I actually found Obi-wan to be much less interesting than he was in the film. In the drama, he sounds like he is a bit tired, whereas in the film he had an energy that is really hard to put into words.

Also I really didn't like the extended training scene on the Falcon. The use of hypnotic suggestion by both Vader and Obi-wan drag down the mystical element of the story for me, and the idea that the Jedi don't use money on principle makes little sense, and comes across as very Star Trek: TNG (though that came later, I know).

Overall, though, it was a fun journey, especially the bits about Leia and the Rebellion.

By the way, where is the search function on this forum? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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NeverarGreat said:

 

By the way, where is the search function on this forum? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Not really. Just google with "site:Originaltrilogy.com"

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 (Edited)

It is always weird reading old posts from a young C3PX, I think I kind of liked that guy.

Since this thread I managed to upgrade many of my various old tapes and mp3 discs of radio dramas to CDs. Wooo!! Except for Star Wars... Kind of want the full trilogy set, which is pretty pricey for used sets. Suppose I could settle for just Star Wars, it is the only one I really ever listen too anyway.

 

EDIT: Whoa, last time I looked for them it seemed they were out of print and very expensive, looks like there are new copies being pressed again and the prices have plummeted. Thinking about it...

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TheBoost said:

NeverarGreat said:

 

By the way, where is the search function on this forum? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Not really. Just google with "site:Originaltrilogy.com"

Blast. Well, it would be good to have, what with all of these good threads getting buried and repeated years later.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Be warned, the sequel radio dramas aren't nearly as good. But only in the way that ROTJ wasn't as good as ESB.

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Hey zombie, out of curiosity how's the blade runner edit going?  Thought I'd try here since you won't reply to your own thread.

 

 

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I still dislike that Jabba was replaced by Heater who delivers his lines from the deleted scene.

Not sure if this was Daley's idea or if it was a change forced upon him by LFL.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I have a feeling it had to do with the time of release, since ANH came out in '81, I have a feeling that Daley had the inside scoop on some details of ROTJ, such as the fact that Jabba would appear.  He wanted to include the scene, but didn't want it to conflict with ROTJ's portrayal of Jabba, so he changed the character instead.  That's my theory anyway.

@Neverarthegreat, I first found the new Ben to be boring when I first listened, but he really grew on me.  The hypnotic suggestion that bugs you confuses me...like when Ben tells the stormtrooper, "Move along"?  If that's it, I didn't have a problem with that.  The only suggestion Vader did that I can remember was when torturing Leia, and he had the torture droid inject drugs into her that would weaken her understanding of her situation.

Like I said, there are a couple of parts that do feel unnecessary to me as well, but like you said, it was a fun journey.

Something that stood out to me as substantially improved was the interaction between Admiral Motti and Tarkin, where Motti subtly encourages Tarkin to use the Death Star as a bargaining chip and essentially stage a coup against the Emperor, which ultimately leads to Tarkin's unwillingness to evacuate the Death Star in spite of the known danger.  Sure, it's fun to see Tarkin as just the arrogant evil man in the film, but to see that there was a more sinister game afoot with the help of Motti...I found it very interesting.

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Ben's use of the Force against the Stormtroopers (and then Luke's use against Jabba and co) always seemed to me to be more on the Dark Side than anything else. I couldn't imagine Yoda using the Force to manipulate someone with a weaker mind, as it seems like a "might makes right" ability.

So when Ben basically steals money from the shopkeeper, and then acts all holier-than-thou by claiming that he is above the use of money, it seems horribly wrong. Could he really think of no better way to get some money?

When Ben uses this suggestion to guide Luke's movements on the Falcon, this suggests that Luke is weak minded, otherwise it wouldn't have worked. It also raises an interesting question: If Luke was guided by Ben in his use of the Force, instead of drawing on it of his own volition, does that mean that Ben was guiding him when he made the Death Star shot?

As a side note, the RedLetterMedia commentary of ANH had Han getting a bunch of awkward to use semi-precious metals from the Rebels in return for his services. Turns out that this is exactly what happened in the radio drama. I thought that was funny.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Finished ESB and ROTJ.  Man I love the radio dramas.  They're not perfect, but they're really a fun take, and I can enjoy the stories while I drive.

I will confess there are difficulties during scenes that in the films used little dialogue and a lot of visual.  They were obviously difficult to reproduce for a purely audible story.  I think most efforts were quite good, and even those that fall short don't bug me, but I tried to imagine the story if I'd never actually seen the films and was simply hearing the story for the first time through the radio dramas, and there were a few parts that would have been hard to understand in that frame of mind.

But I wish to end on the same good not that I started with: the radio dramas are simply awesome!

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I wish Mark Hamill was in the radio version of Jedi.  I also wish Brian Daley had not died, and had expanded the material a bit more.  But is there a lot of material in Jedi to expand upon?

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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There obviously isn't much expansion in ROTJ, though there is a bit that was kind of fun.  I thought it was kind of clever that one scene was described in a conversation between C-3PO and Arika, aka Mara Jade undercover.  There are only six episodes, compared to 13 in ANH and 10 in ESB, but to the credit of ROTJ, the episodes are a bit longer.  Also, considering there were many scenes without much dialogue (the battles in particular), it's kind of hard to make that into a purely audio experience of any significant length.  But I do agree, I wish it had been longer.  But I also agree with fishmanlee, I was surprised at how well I liked it, and in some ways I liked it better than the film!

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I remember trying to glue this together :

...on a green onyx and glass coffee table while Dave Lee Travis introduced the show by saying, "The Death Star is coming!!".

I alway imagine the flight simulator scenes looking something like this :

 

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The Radio Dramas (especially ANH) work well in making the galaxy seem bigger. It feels like there's more stories going on here and there that we're getting little glimpses of. 

Vader's characterization is pretty interesting to compare with the films. There's been more overt ruthlessness and anger that verges into almost being over the top. His threats towards Han at Cloud City in ESB definitely ring of that. His scene with Veers is almost in inverse from the movie with the General calmly explaining Hoth/Ozzel's plan and Vader getting much more overtly pissed than he does on film. 

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I found my old audiocassettes of the original broadcasts and found to my surprise that there was an additional scene in the first episode between Luke and Camie that I vaguely remembered but isn't in the Highbridge version.

Are there any resources outlining the differences between the broadcast and Highbridge versions?

They also edited Ken Hiller's intro “Star Wars. An adaptation for radio in thirteen parts, based on characters and situations created by George Lucas. Episode____” to just “Star Wars. Episode____.” The original introduction was more theatrical.

“That’s impossible, even for a computer!”

“You don't do ‘Star Wars’ in Dobly.”

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Not sure how many scenes are longer, or why, but in the published script (I show it on the previous page) there are some scenes that are more than what is on my CD version.  

That's why the script is so fun for me to read.  It's the most comprehensive telling of the original story. One scene that comes to mind right away is the chapter where Leia is back visiting her father on Alderaan. There is a lot more of her spending time alone and contemplating the dangers of her situation.

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Wish I had known about the differences when I spotted what appeared to be off air reel to reel tapes on Ebay a long time back.

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Where were you in '77?

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Jeez! $30 dollars for an mp3 CD?  That's basically a data disc!  I don't even know if that would play in my car.  

That's like buying a CD-R copy of an album on Amazon.  Although, I do wonder if perhaps they're less abridged... one can hope.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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bkev said:

Jeez! $30 dollars for an mp3 CD?  That's basically a data disc!  I don't even know if that would play in my car. 

 The original 7-CD set is available from them for only $15.

http://www.highbridgeaudio.com/starwars.html

This sentence on their site describing it sums up my thoughts perfectly; 

a realm of imagination that is beyond the reach of cinema.

I ripped them into MP3s and keep them on my iPad and phone for when I'm traveling.  Copies of the CDs are in my car.

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You'd think there would be a market for putting these out on DVD or Blu Ray with some bonus content. There are already some "audio only" Blu Ray titles on the market.

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Where were you in '77?

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jediracer said:

 

What the hell is up with Luke's mascara and blush? I thought he only wore makeup in the Holiday Special.