Star Wars radio dramas

[RandyS]

I thought that at least the first two radio dramas were great, particularly the first one (which I own), which had LOTS of "deleted scenes" and expanded the overall story. I don't even think that the *beginning* of ANH started until the third episode of the RD. Another plus for the first two, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams all reprised their original roles, which made them particularly special. The third one was IMHO awful, mostly because it seemed rushed, had strange casting (Arye Gross as Lando??? WTF???), and didn't add anything extra to the story like the first two.

I'd be interested in some radio dramas for the PT but it's somewhat unclear whether that might ever actually happen since the PT is nowhere near as popular as the OT was. But, of course, if there's some more money to squeeze out of the Star Wars franchise, Lucas will definitely find a way to do it. ;-)

Agreed on all points. You're right about AHN not starting till halfway through episode 3. That's one of the reasons I like the radio series better than the movies. The first two added so much to the storyline.

Jedi, while good, WAS very rushed. I think It had something to do with the fact that Brian Daley was dying while they were recording, and they wanted to finish so he could hear it. I may be wrong about that, but even in the "quiet" scenes, such as where Luke tells Leia he's her brother, there was an urgency in the dialouge that just shouldn't have been there. And take episode six of Jedi, where they had all three storylines going at once. If they had put some thought into it, they could have spread those storylines into three half hours, one for the Endor Battle, one for the Death Star battle, and one for the fight between Vader, Luke and Palpatine. Hell, they did it in the ANH series. Remember episode seven where the entire 30 minutes came out of a scene that lasted roughly two minutes in the movie? Same with episodes eight and nine.

And finally the casting. I have to say, Perry King was a MUCH better Han Solo than Harrison Ford ever was. In fact, King originally tried out for the part in 1976. Too bad he didn't get it, since Ford hates Star Wars anyway. And Ann Sachs was also better than Carrie Fisher. Okay, Fisher was better looking (then, anyway), but Sachs was better in the role.

I too, wish they would make radio shows out of the prequels, but I don't see it happening.

The radio series of the OT is one of the gems of my CD collection.

 

[Turtletrekker]

One good thing about the RotJ adaptation was that the Ewok battle at the end was substatially cut down in length (probably due to the fact that it had to be described through dialogue instead of visuals).

I somewhat agree with the above about Perry King and Ann Sachs. They did an excellent job with the roles.

Steve Mollmann and Lonemagpie commented on Brock Peters Darth Vader, who provided a top-notch, passionate performance in all three productions. I think his performance benefitted from the fact that Lucas wasn't directing or taking a direct hand in the production. I remember reading once that James Earl Jones wanted to put more passion into his performance of Vader, but GL nixed it, wanting Vader to be "more machine than man" as Obi-Wan put it.

 

[JediKnightButler]

And finally the casting. I have to say, Perry King was a MUCH better Han Solo than Harrison Ford ever was. In fact, King originally tried out for the part in 1976. Too bad he didn't get it, since Ford hates Star Wars anyway.

I didn't know about Perry King trying out for the role of Han Solo although he would've been a fine replacement for Harrison Ford. One thing I've never understand is the puzzling amount of hate that Harrison Ford and Alec Guinness seemed to later develop for the movies. I know some of the fans can probably be obnoxious but it's kind of sad that they disassociated themselves from the films later in their careers. I listened to an old 1977 interview with them and they both seemed to have enjoyed doing the movies (or at least the first one anyway).

I enjoyed Perry King as Han Solo and Ann Sachs as Leia (although Leia was probably not as difficult a character to play). I also thought that John Lithgow (of all people) did an excellent job as Yoda in ESB. I thought Brock Peters did a pretty decent job as Vader but IMHO James Earl Jones will always "be" Darth Vader for me. I didn't know the story about them rushing to finish the radio drama for ROTJ because of Brian Daley but that helps me understand the precipitous drop off in quality in the last installment. I still enjoyed all of the Radio Dramas however and consider them to be real collector's items.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Harrison Ford doesn't actually hate SW. He just prefers that people think he does, because he feels that if he was willing to talk to people about it then very quickly it would be *all* he was ever asked to talk about.

 

[JediKnightButler]

Harrison Ford doesn't actually hate SW. He just prefers that people think he does, because he feels that if he was willing to talk to people about it then very quickly it would be *all* he was ever asked to talk about.

I didn't think about it like that but I suppose it makes sense.
What was the story with Alec Guinness? I heard some anecdote about getting so fed up with the fan worship that he reportedly told one fan to promise him never to watch them again.
I'm thinking that the Star Trek actors/actresses must be psychotic at the level of fan worship and adulation that I'm sure they have received over the years.

 

[Mike Farley]

Alec Guinness had a decades long, distinguished career before SW. Afterward, as far as the general public seemed to be concerned, SW was the only thing of note he worked on. It's understandable that he would be annoyed at going from one of the worlds most famous and respected actors to that guy who played Obi-wan is STAR WARS.

 

[Kryton]

See the Academy Award-winning "The Bridge on the River Kwai" to see Guinness at his peak. AWESOME movie all around.

 

[Stevil2001]

Really, any David Lean-directed flick will contain a fantastic Guinness performance: River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago...

 

[JediKnightButler]

Alec Guinness had a decades long, distinguished career before SW. Afterward, as far as the general public seemed to be concerned, SW was the only thing of note he worked on. It's understandable that he would be annoyed at going from one of the worlds most famous and respected actors to that guy who played Obi-wan is STAR WARS.

Well, if I were in a famous actor/writer/musician/whatever, I personally wouldn't care WHAT it was that made me the most famous. But that's just me I suppose.

 

[DarthPipes]

Perry King and Ann Sachs were very good as Han and Leia. I liked Peters too as Vader. He took some getting used to but he was very good. An interesting part is when he tells the Imperial officers to search Tatooine. He sounds increasingly angry and talks about the planet being an insignificant rock. This was in 1981 but knowing now that it was Anakin's home adds a little something to that scene. Another good bit was when Palpatine screams at Vader to put him down (you obviously have to describe what's happening on a radio show) because he's his master but Vader responds "Darth Vader's master...but not Anakin skywalker's!"

-John Lithgow is truly annoying as Yoda. He sounds like a cracked out junkie trying to take a dump.

-Ed Asner is listed as Jabba in ROTJ, which is odd since his dialogue is in a completely foreign tongue. The ANH scene doesn't have Han talking to Jabba but to a Jabba henchman named Heater or something.

-Really good scene in the ANH radio drama is Luke and Han having an argument about Luke joining up for the Death Star raid. -

-Biggs has a much bigger role in the radio drama too.

-Tarkin has a small subplot too.

Sorry, just rambling...

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

^ Rebel Mission To Ord Mantell was a pretty good story as well. I could've seen it being used as the first episode of TESB adaptation.

I still have that one on vinyl.

 

[Christopher]

Well, if I were in a famous actor/writer/musician/whatever, I personally wouldn't care WHAT it was that made me the most famous. But that's just me I suppose.

If you were a successful actor/writer/musician/whatever, you probably wouldn't consider fame to be the only significant measure of your work. People who are only interested in fame generally aren't very good actors/writers/musicians/whatever. It's about the work itself, not how many people know your name. If you're proud of the wide body of work that you've done over most of your lifetime, you'd be unhappy if people ignored 99 percent of it and fixated only on one recent thing. Not because of personal "fame," but because you valued that past work and feel it's just as worthy of acknowledgment.

-Ed Asner is listed as Jabba in ROTJ, which is odd since his dialogue is in a completely foreign tongue. The ANH scene doesn't have Han talking to Jabba but to a Jabba henchman named Heater or something.

Why would it be odd that he was credited? Credits are about money. What credit you get is a function of how much you get paid, and that's a function of the kind and amount of work you do (and how good your agent is). Whatever language the lines were in, it was still Asner's voice, and he did just as much work to record those lines as he would have if they'd been in English -- possibly more work, since he would've needed to practice how to pronounce it right. He deserved credit for that work, the same as any other work.

 

[DarthPipes]

Well, if I were in a famous actor/writer/musician/whatever, I personally wouldn't care WHAT it was that made me the most famous. But that's just me I suppose.

If you were a successful actor/writer/musician/whatever, you probably wouldn't consider fame to be the only significant measure of your work. People who are only interested in fame generally aren't very good actors/writers/musicians/whatever. It's about the work itself, not how many people know your name. If you're proud of the wide body of work that you've done over most of your lifetime, you'd be unhappy if people ignored 99 percent of it and fixated only on one recent thing. Not because of personal "fame," but because you valued that past work and feel it's just as worthy of acknowledgment.

-Ed Asner is listed as Jabba in ROTJ, which is odd since his dialogue is in a completely foreign tongue. The ANH scene doesn't have Han talking to Jabba but to a Jabba henchman named Heater or something.

Why would it be odd that he was credited? Credits are about money. What credit you get is a function of how much you get paid, and that's a function of the kind and amount of work you do (and how good your agent is). Whatever language the lines were in, it was still Asner's voice, and he did just as much work to record those lines as he would have if they'd been in English -- possibly more work, since he would've needed to practice how to pronounce it right. He deserved credit for that work, the same as any other work.

I'm sorry, I meant it was odd that he took that role, as he was just rambling nonsenseically.

 

[Christopher]

^A lot of the lines that actors get paid to deliver are nonsensical ramblings. A gig's a gig.

 

[Marc]

^A lot of the lines that actors get paid to deliver are nonsensical ramblings. A gig's a gig.

"you might write this shit George, but you can't say it"