Star Wars (1977) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

It’s either the greatest thing ever or the destroyer of worlds. Hasn’t been allowed to be just a movie in quite some time... which is a shame, since it’s actually a fun one.

 

[TravisR]

It’s either the greatest thing ever or the destroyer of worlds. Hasn’t been allowed to be just a movie in quite some time... which is a shame, since it’s actually a fun one.

From the days when it was just a fun movie, here's a recording (synced with the footage) of an audience seeing it in 1977. Beware, Reggie, there's spoilers for a 42 year old movie.

 

[RobertR]

In reality, it's not the best move but I think the idea in the movie is that Princess Leia didn't mind if they did track the Falcon because she felt that the Death Star needed to be defeated as soon as possible. Waiting a few days or weeks or months would have lost the Alliance support because many of the rebellious systems would have fallen in line with the Empire after seeing what happened to Alderaan (and Jedha if you want to bring Rogue One into it) so if they immediately fought the Death Star and lost, the outcome likely would have been the same if they waited to challenge the Death Star with even less support.

The importance and urgency of making use of the plans is emphasized before there's even any dialogue . It's clearly stated in the opening crawl ("Leia RACES home...."). To call that urgency "hilarious" seems rather dismissive of the movie from the get go.

 

[SamT]

I've never heard of this Star Wars movie, is it any good?

Watch only the Director's Cut. The theatrical cut was forced on the director by the studio and is not what the director intended.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I completely disagree. Luke has a look of utter shock and horror at the sight of their burned bodies, certainly not "way less" than his "No!" when he sees Ben disappear. And when he says to Ben with great sadness "there's nothing here for me now", it's certainly not "way less" than him saying "can't believe he's gone".

I'm talking about what we see on screen. There's a sad, weary resignation when he returns to Obi-Wan and the droids after finding the moisture farm destroyed, but then Owen and Beru never get mentioned again. Luke mourns Obi-Wan's death over and over again in the second half of the picture. That was my point.

Nothing the least bit hilarious about any of it.

That assumes there was another base capable of analyzing the plans AND being able to act on the results, and it also assumes that the Falcon could have transferred R2D2 to another "not wanted" vehicle while being tracked. I very much doubt that the Empire wouldn't bother to track the other vehicle after such a rendezvous, or allow the rendezvous in the first place.

The tracking beacon was physically embedded in the Falcon. Literally all they needed to do was schedule a rendezvous with another Rebel ship that didn't have a tracking beacon, and then transfer R2D2 (with the stolen plans still inside) to the other ship.

 

[RobertR]

I'm talking about what we see on screen. There's a sad, weary resignation when he returns to Obi-Wan and the droids after finding the moisture farm destroyed, but then Owen and Beru never get mentioned again. Luke mourns Obi-Wan's death over and over again in the second half of the picture. That was my point.

"Over and over"? He expresses a similar degree of sad weariness on the Falcon (not "much more" as you implied). Later on he says he wishes Ben was there when the big battle is about to begin, as much for his advice as anything, advice which his aunt and uncle couldn't give him. Quite understandable.

The tracking beacon was physically embedded in the Falcon. Literally all they needed to do was schedule a rendezvous with another Rebel ship that didn't have a tracking beacon, and then transfer R2D2 (with the stolen plans still inside) to the other ship.

And what would the Empire be doing while all this scheduling and rendezvousing was going on? Ignoring what the Falcon was doing?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

And what would the Empire be doing while all this scheduling and rendezvousing was going on? Ignoring what the Falcon was doing?

It's like switching cars at a Thruway rest stop. Once both vehicles have arrived, it takes only a minute or two to hop out.

Yes, the the Falcon would still have the Empire after it once the droids (and presumably Luke and Leia) had gotten handed over. But in the grand scheme of things, a smarter plan for the Rebellion.

The obvious real world answer for why they didn't go that route is that such an exchange would have bogged down the movie right when the pace needed to be ramping up, and it's more exciting when the fate of all of the good guys are at stake with the climactic mission. At the end of the day, it was the smarter decision dramatically. But it just stood out to me this time around as strange decision making from the characters.

 

[RobertR]

It's like switching cars at a Thruway rest stop. Once both vehicles have arrived, it takes only a minute or two to hop out.

So you think the Empire would say "oh look, the Falcon is rendezvousing with another vehicle. That couldn't possibly mean anything. Let's completely ignore the other vehicle".

 

[Josh Dial]

Although no longer canon (and really it never was), the homing beacon was "explained" in a comic series. The homing beacon was actually a small droid (I think it was smaller than a mouse droid, but I'm really stretching my memory here...), so presumably the droid would have moved to whatever ship R2D2 was moved to if the Rebels tried to move the plans to a new ship en route to Yavin Four.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

So you think the Empire would say "oh look, the Falcon is rendezvousing with another vehicle. That couldn't possibly mean anything. Let's completely ignore the other vehicle".

Based on the fact that the Rebels had time to analyze the Death Star plans and develop a battle plan before the Empire arrived, I was assuming that there would be enough time for the droids to switch ships before the Empire caught up with them.

Although no longer canon (and really it never was), the homing beacon was "explained" in a comic series. The homing beacon was actually a small droid (I think it was smaller than a mouse droid, but I'm really stretching my memory here...), so presumably the droid would have moved to whatever ship R2D2 was moved to if the Rebels tried to move the plans to a new ship en route to Yavin Four.

This works satisfactorily for my head canon as a reason that avoiding the Empire was not possible. I assumed that the tracking device was similar to the one Boba Fett used in Empire.

 

[TravisR]

I assumed that the tracking device was similar to the one Boba Fett used in Empire.

I don't know if anything has been established to say otherwise but I always thought that Boba Fett literally followed the Falcon until he knew their destination was going to Bespin and Cloud City. The Falcon was traveling without its hyperdrive (or rearview mirrors apparently) so there was enough time for Fett to alert the Empire allowing the Imperials to "arrive just before you did".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I don't know if anything has been established to say otherwise but I always thought that Boba Fett literally followed the Falcon until he knew their destination was going to Bespin and Cloud City. The Falcon was traveling without its hyperdrive (or rearview mirrors apparently) so there was enough time for Fett to alert the Empire allowing the Imperials to "arrive just before you did".

Rewatched Empire tonight, and -- at least based on the additional shot added for the Special Edition -- I believe you are correct.

 

[Tino]

. (I watched the 2015 Blu-ray, after hearing complaints about even more changes in the 4K streaming version on Disney+. I don't know if some of my complaints in this paragraph have been addressed in that version.)

Why would an additional minor change stop you from watching the superior 4K/Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos stream on Disney +?
It’s far superior to the Blu Ray imo.