![]() ![]() Ewan McGregor’s light saber sounds: While shooting “The Phantom Menace,” the actor was so thrilled to slip into his childhood dreams he habitually made the familiar light saber hum while swinging his prop around on set (sounds that had to be replaced later with the actual sound effect). Star Destroyers: The Empire’s flying-V battleships, elegantly imposing.ġ9. It’s feather-light fluff that recaptures the sense of humor, and casual zippiness, of the 1970s.ġ8. ![]() “Star Wars Rebels” on Disney XD: Arguably the most enjoyable, underrated “Star Wars” series since the original trilogy. The Han Solo freezing scene in “Empire”: Princess Leia says: “I love you.” Han says: “I know.”ġ7. The packaging design for Kenner’s “Star Wars” toy line: For a handful of years, those simple stark black backgrounds and silver racing lines became so ubiquitous - and remain so, in retro form, in many a toy store - the aesthetic can still be found online as a meme, with a transporting, madeleine-like impact.ġ6. Grievous, a kind of cyborg praying mantis with a touch of Snidely Whiplash, was inspired fun.ġ5. General Grievous: The prequel trilogy was not entirely the creative bust that conventional wisdom assumes. John Barry’s sets in the original trilogy: From the cool hallways of the Death Star to the cavernous hangars to the griminess of the Millennium Falcon, his vision was a mixture of the cobbled-together and the crassly sleek, telegraphing a sense of social order to the universe.ġ4. Cleverly disguised any Irish Setter as an Imperial Walker or any corgi as an Ewok.ġ3. “Star Wars” pet costumes: Created by venerable New York costume company Rubie’s. “Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga”: Best “Star Wars” video game ever? Certainly the most sardonic, a Lego re-working of iconic moments that doesn’t insult the puzzle-solving skills of kids or adults, and plays almost like a piece of found art, a radical interpretation of one pop-culture material by another.ġ2. The concept paintings of Ralph McQuarrie: Commissioned by Lucas in the mid-’70s to give some flesh to his conceptually questionable script, McQuarrie, a former tech illustrator for Boeing originally from Gary, Ind., gave the universe a shape, and deserves a lot of credit for the design of Darth Vader, C-3PO, etc.ġ1. ![]() Carrie Fisher: The cinnamon-bun hair provides the iconography but the actress herself, on screen and off, with a strong sense of irony, remains a study in how to play a smart, tough woman in a largely male galaxy.ġ0. The 501st Legion: You know those intensely detailed, Stormtrooper-suited devotees who attend every “Star Wars” movie opening (and toy release, and flank “Weird Al” Yankovic in concert)? That’s an 18-year-old service organization, with several thousands of members worldwide, whose charity work has become legend.ĩ. The brass blast of John Williams’ main theme: An invigorating trumpet fanfare that segues into a surge of London Symphony Orchestra strings and, in roughly two seconds, creates a shorthand for the series.Ĩ. Chewbacca’s growl: The indelible work of sound designer Ben Burtt, who recorded bears, badgers, lions, sea lions, camels and walruses, mixing the vocal performance of each animal with an ear for pain, anger or joy.ħ. ![]() One caveat: Without his helmet, did he have to look like Uncle Fester?Ħ. The franchise itself is actually his story. Darth Vader: Tall, dark and intimidating, the Darth Lord of the Sith, a.k.a. As Mark Hamill once sang on “The Simpsons”: “Luke be a Jedi tonight.”ĥ. Mel Brooks (“Spaceballs”), MAD magazine, “Friends,” “South Park,” “Family Guy,” “Robot Chicken,” even Woody Allen (“Deconstructing Harry”) mined the innate silliness of the material. “Star Wars” parodies: A vein so delightful it is its own genre. Regardless if you were tucked under a “Phantom Menace” comforter or rested your head on “Return of the Jedi” painterly designs, repeated wallpaper-style across a plush canvas, remain a dream, for your dreams.Ĥ. “Star Wars” bedsheets:Of all the “Star Wars” merchandise in the universe, maybe the most personal. “The Empire Strikes Back”: A franchise gains gravitas, all of the good guys get their butts kicked endlessly and a series that had been as fizzy as a matinee serial turned compelling. Everything that first captured the audience is contained in the unhurried, borderline uninvested performance of Harrison Ford, who, like the character itself, regards everything going on around him as sometimes silly, sometimes serious, but generally kind of fun.Ģ. Han Solo: Scoundrel, wise-cracker, audience surrogate. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |