logo Sign In

my memory isn't that bad, is it? (in SW '77 - Luke misses with the grappling hook?) — Page 2

Author
Time
Post link
The first time I saw SW was at Christmas time. It was playing on ch5, at about 11pm you could tell that it wasn't a very good copy (kind fuzzy).
A few things I remember about it were that it played to just past the trash compactor scene the falcon is flying away...
Restart
A LONG TIME AGO IN A

Well the neat thing was that they played that same tape with the restart 4 times in 2 weeks.
Then next year at Christmas time what should be on TV but STAR WARS it played to just past the trash compactor scene the falcon is flying away...
Restart
A LONG TIME AGO IN A

I got to enjoy watching SW four Christmas's in a row.


Back on topic in that version of Episode IV

I remember Luke misses the grappling hook.

Now before you say I read it in a book; that was the FIRST time I had ever heard of SW



P.S.
I finaly read the book 2 years ago.
Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: boris
... but then... what do you know... it was never their in the movie to begin with. The mind plays tricks!


But I read on Wookieepedia that a shot of Chewie growling at a mouse droid wasn't in the original.
Author
Time
Post link
Hmmm. From what I remember, I saw something that resembled the scene mentioned in the topic. I will swear on my life that after Leia kisses Luke "for luck", the door behind them goes up slightly. He throws the grappling hook, which misses, and he pulls it back up, and the door slowly goes up again. It's only then that he swings and it catches. I will swear on my life that I saw it, though it might have been in a broadcast version.
Author
Time
Post link
I remember him missing once and then trying again too. I believe it was from a tv broadcast, and I've never read the ANH novel so that's not why I have memory of it.

He big in nothing important in good elephant.

"Miss you, I will, Original Trilogy..."

"Your midichlorians are weak, Old man." -Darth Vader 2007 super deluxe extra special dipped in chocolate sauce edition.

http://prequelsstink.ytmnd.com/
Author
Time
Post link
Evidence, people, evidence!

Otherwise it doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
Post link
What crazyrabbits says is exactly how I remember the scene as well:
Originally posted by: crazyrabbits
Hmmm. From what I remember, I saw something that resembled the scene mentioned in the topic. I will swear on my life that after Leia kisses Luke "for luck", the door behind them goes up slightly. He throws the grappling hook, which misses, and he pulls it back up, and the door slowly goes up again. It's only then that he swings and it catches. I will swear on my life that I saw it, though it might have been in a broadcast version.

Unfortunately, I never had a chance to record it, as I was watching in the basement on a black and white TV.
Author
Time
Post link
Here's an idea. Take a CD of the complete score and try to figure out whether the extra time needed to throw the cable twice would be accomodated by the amount of music. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't exist.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: SKot
Evidence, people, evidence!

Otherwise it doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

--SKot


I'd say testimony from different eyewitnesses of the event is substantial enough evidence to permit further investigation.
He big in nothing important in good elephant.

"Miss you, I will, Original Trilogy..."

"Your midichlorians are weak, Old man." -Darth Vader 2007 super deluxe extra special dipped in chocolate sauce edition.

http://prequelsstink.ytmnd.com/
Author
Time
Post link
I saw the film at the cinemas from 77 onwards and then whenever on TV then on VHS etc etc, and I side with Skot on this one Ive never seen this scene of Luke missing and then throwing again and I must have seen the original Star Wars hundreds and hundreds of times.
Author
Time
Post link
Ditto, about 70 times in theaters during '77 and '78. Never seen such a thing. Sorry.
Author
Time
Post link
Maybe it was a special edition change or something but I do remember this happening on a tv broadcast during the 90s. It was on WPIX channel 11 here in New York and I remember it was during the summer and I was cleaning my room while watching star wars... *shrug* as we all know, movies are edited differently for broadcast so maybe somebody slipped it in there... who knows...
He big in nothing important in good elephant.

"Miss you, I will, Original Trilogy..."

"Your midichlorians are weak, Old man." -Darth Vader 2007 super deluxe extra special dipped in chocolate sauce edition.

http://prequelsstink.ytmnd.com/
Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
Here's an idea. Take a CD of the complete score and try to figure out whether the extra time needed to throw the cable twice would be accomodated by the amount of music. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't exist.


Well, I also certainly seem to remember Luke missing when I saw Star Wars in 1977. This certainly does not mean that it really happened. But looking at the music and timing, I can see where it would be possible.

Time from new OOT DVD.

01:26:09 Luke begins to unreel the hook from his utility belt.

01:26:17 Luke looks at his target, as if he's ready to throw, with an immediate cut to Leia shooting.

01:26:23 It now appears that Luke is just starting to unreel the rope for the grappling hook.

01:26:32 Luke starts his successful throw.

So imagine the time between 01:26:17 and 01:26:23 replaced with Luke throwing, missing, and retracting the rope into his utility belt.

That makes 8 seconds to unreel; 6 seconds to throw, miss and reel back in; and 9 seconds before he throws again, rather than taking 22 seconds to unreel the rope. It fits the music beautifully, with no extra time required. And that is the way I seem to remember it.

I saw Star Wars, to the best of my memory, 7 times in the Glenwood Theater in Overland Park, KS in 1977 and 78. I'm just wondering where others that have this memory (false or not) saw the movie.

Author
Time
Post link
Sadly, the only release of the OOT I own is the Faces set, and having seen the original numerous times, I can almost assure you that the shot wasn't in that release. I'm fairly certain this was on a television broadcast, and I think it was one of the first times I saw the film on television. I haven't read the adaptation, listened to the radio drama or anything else like that. For one person to state something odd is one thing, but when numerous unrelated individuals are coming up with the same story, that's more than just chance. And, as I recall, movies have been released before with numerous or minor changes for television (Halloween, The Thing, etc.). Wasn't there some sort of "Lost Cut" that has apparently a large percentage of added or changed footage?
Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: crazyrabbits
...Wasn't there some sort of "Lost Cut" that has apparently a large percentage of added or changed footage?
Wouldn't that just be the perfect icing on everyone's cake? Somebody somewhere has to own a VHS copy of the broadcast, no? Now that is a copy of the film that I would pay premium money for. Are you hearing me, George? Premium money.
Author
Time
Post link
WOW, I didn't know Luke's missed throw was such a rare scene... I wish I taped it
He big in nothing important in good elephant.

"Miss you, I will, Original Trilogy..."

"Your midichlorians are weak, Old man." -Darth Vader 2007 super deluxe extra special dipped in chocolate sauce edition.

http://prequelsstink.ytmnd.com/
Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: WesyeedI'd say testimony from different eyewitnesses of the event is substantial enough evidence to permit further investigation.
Further investigation is always welcome. However, other than hearsay we have no other leads. Nobody has a recording of it, it seems.

Remember, many "eyewitnesses" claim to have seen the Anchorhead scenes in the film as well... which wasn't possible, since it never even had finished sound.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
Post link
I also saw the missed throw. This would have been 1977 at the River Hills theater in Des Moines, IA.

Does anybody remember the tv show That's Hollywood? It was a documentary series about movies narrated by Tom Bosley. They used to show tons of clips from Star Wars. I'm thinking the missed throw was shown in a clip on this show.
Arcadayn
Author
Time
Post link
I remember it. Or think I do. I did read the novelization, once, as a little kid, but my mother also remembers the missed throw, and she never touched the books. The one piece I can add to the puzzle is that I'm too young to have seen it in theaters in '77. So I'm convinced it must have been a TV broadcast. We actually had a VHS copied from a network broadcast - in the 80s I think. That's the version of the movies I grew up on. In fact, the moment I saw this board, I drove over to my parent's house to grab it, but they finally threw it out to make room for the DVD collection. DAHH!!!

But SOMEBODY in the world must have a tape of that broadcast. It'll be a bitch to find... I don't even know how many TV edits there might be. Our tape had all three movies, though I don't recall if they were back-to-back or over consecutive nights. The only difference I'm certain of was missing material in Jedi - this cut didn't include the droid's "job interview" scene at Jabba's palace (which, to this day, feels out of place to me, since I never saw it as a kid). Also, it was definitely on one of the big three networks - it was taped well before we got cable. It's probably a lost cause, but I can't feel this matter is closed until I've seen that broadcast again.
Author
Time
Post link
Never heard of this luke missing the hook scene untill visiting here. None of my O-OT versions have it.
Author
Time
Post link
Nor will any of the OOT versions have it. It just doesn't exist on any of the tapes of the TV broadcasts. IF it exists in some form or another in a TV special, that would be worth exploring. I'd love to see it verified existing there as an edit or a blooper, but I'm not holding my breath.
Author
Time
Post link
This reminds me, someone with more knowledge on the subject than me ought to start a thread on the General SW page documenting all the TV broadcasts and extra information on the broadcasts, such as air dates and bumpers, etc. It could be a valuable resource to see when all these old tapes we might have lying around actually aired.
Author
Time
Post link
Originally posted by: bigmonkey20
Never heard of this luke missing the hook scene untill visiting here. None of my O-OT versions have it.


There isn't any version that has it. Its an urban legend. As said before, people also claim to have seen the Bigg's scenes in the theatres.
Author
Time
Post link
oh come on. I saw it with my own eyes, twice when it aired on tv.

It's a common thing. Superman when broadcast on tv had deleted scenes and stuff put back in to extend its length for whatever reason. Maybe it's the same with star wars... I don't know. But this is no urban legend... someone out there must have this on tape.
He big in nothing important in good elephant.

"Miss you, I will, Original Trilogy..."

"Your midichlorians are weak, Old man." -Darth Vader 2007 super deluxe extra special dipped in chocolate sauce edition.

http://prequelsstink.ytmnd.com/
Author
Time
Post link
I'm starting to think this may actually exist somewhere. There are so many memories of this from so many different places.

True, Luke missing DID appear in the novelization, but how many people have REALLY read that? Not enough, I think, to account for all these memories. People must have SEEN this somewhere.

I think we can all agree it was never shown in theaters. But a TV special or airing may be the culprit.

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?

Author
Time
Post link
My father has an old cine-film copy of a 'short version' of star was (complete with an anamorphic lens adaptor) which is edited down to about 20 minutes long. It's from the late 70s but not sure exactly when or where it's from (anyone help with that?). By way of a straw poll - how many people who remember the missed throw have seen this?