Part 1 of our Old v. Gold Season 2 finale smackdown spectacular takes on a movie that’s as old yet still omnipresent as The Force: 1977’s Star Wars. (And if you think the movie should be called anything else, your opinions on it are as suspect as … something involving wookiees, whom it’s apparently totally OK to denigrate in the Star Wars universe.)
This edition of the podcast comes in two flavors: the usual audio and our first video version. Joining us for this momentous light-being-recorded-as-well-as-sound occasion are returning podcast panelists H.P. Mendoza and Mark Del Lima of Ersatz Film.
Star Wars is a particular challenge for the film archaeologist, since it’s next to impossible as a movie consumer to see it as it was first seen. But we try our best to look past the extra banthas, the useless new Jabba scene, the Greedo controversy, and the perplexing sound effect changes to see if there’s really a good film underneath our voracious nostalgic appetite for this sci-fi landmark.
The audio version of the podcast extends the discussion to include the lovability of stormtroopers, more on the film’s avoidance of emotion, and, as required, a reference to the dreaded Holiday Special.
He’s like, “A million voices screaming in terror, then suddenly silenced. No matter, what’s for dinner?”
Podcasters: Robert, Tim, H.P., Mark
Video Index
- 00:00 Intro and Memories
- 08:34 The Score
- 11:31 The Changes
- 17:28 “Star Wars” as Cinema
- 23:53 Accents in Media Res
- 27:32 The Vote
Audio Index
- 00:00 Intro and Memories
- 16:14 Second First Impressions
- 22:08 The Score
- 25:46 The Changes
- 34:27 “Star Wars” as Cinema
- 41:58 Accents in Media Res
- 46:36 Stormtroopers and Avoidance
- 53:36 The Vote
Next Week’s Assignment
We wrap up this Old v. Gold two-parter and the season as H.P., Mark, and our video cameras rejoin us to evaluate Star Wars’ successor, The Empire Strikes Back. Then we whip out our light sabers (figuratively) and try to settle which of the two is the better film.
Comments? Questions?
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