May the Fourth be with you

How do I love thee, Star Wars? Let me count the ways ….

1. Yoda’s syntax.
2. Han Solo (always).
3. Chewy can put androids back together again with furry paws.
4. Leia takes no crap from anyone, least of all Calrissian.
5. They replaced the face of the original dead Anakin in Return of the Jedi with the teen heartthrob one. I do like narrative consistency, even if he looked like a puppy.
6. Rogue One doesn’t have a happy ending: it has to be that way (narrative consistency).
7. It’s very easy to forget the awfulness of Attack of the Clones.
8. The multi-Jedi fight scene in Revenge of the Sith.
9. Saruman is a Sith Lord: it makes sense.
10. Peter Cushing’s cheekbones.
11. Kylo Ren’s petulant tantrums.
12. The epic scale and grandeur of the starship graveyard scenes in The Force Awakens.
13. Bond is a Storm Trooper: that also makes sense.
14. The elegant impracticality of long flowing white crepe robes in greasy, dirty, snag-cornered metal spaceships.
15. The sheer joy of Admiral Ackbar’s enthusiasm. I also want his floating chair.
16. I was in love with Denis Lawson for years. Wedge!
17. Alec Guinness Shakespeares everyone in A New Hope off the screen.
18. The names: they’re all lovably bonkers, and make no sense linguistically.
19. Every single speeder and spaceship chase.
20. Favourite Jedi: old Obi-Wan (I cannot take Ewan and his plait seriously).
21. Favourite evil villain destined for death: Jabba the Hutt.
22. Favourite planetary setting: Hoth, because the characters have to work with the environment, they can’t ignore it.
23. Favourite return: Mon Mothma (different actresses, but I never noticed).
24. Favourite new face: Diego Luna (but see 6, alas).
25. Most missed: Carrie Fisher.

Kate saw The Empire Strikes Back three times a day for most of the summer of 1983, as a cinema usherette, and loved every one of its continuity bloopers. She does more sf reviewing on katemacdonald.net, and in Foundation, the magazine of the British Scence Fiction Association.

 

 

 

 

About Kate

Blogger, lecturer, podcaster, writer, critic, reviewer, researcher, and publisher (handheldpress.co.uk), in and on British literary history. Preferred occupation while listening to podcasts: cooking or knitting. Preferred soundtrack while reading: the sound of silence.

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