Finally, Star Wars
Episode VII: The Force Awakens is released this week – what a long wait it’s
been! – and it seems like there’ve been a hundred articles and blog posts doing
Top Ten favourite Star Wars moments. Some were good, and others, I thought,
really didn’t hit the mark, but our enjoyment of the trilogy is entirely
subjective. So, without further ado, here is the first instalment of my Top Ten
original trilogy moments:
10. The first scene
of the entire trilogy (Episode IV: A New
Hope)
When the epic crawling credits faded to black, I wasn't
quite sure what to expect. Then, as the camera panned down, we saw Tatooine and
it’s twin suns, then Princess Leia’s CR90 corvette, the Tantive IV, as it hurtled through space…tracked by the behemoth
Star Destroyer Devastator, on which
Darth Vader has tracked the stolen Death Star plans.
Aside from being the precise moment where an unwitting farm
boy, Luke Skywalker, is drawn into the struggle between the Alliance and the
Empire, it’s our first glimpse of Vader, and – not that you’d assume any
different, given his sinister appearance – it’s quickly known that he’s a bad
guy, after strangling Captain Antilles and ordering his storm trooper units to
tear the ship apart looking for the stolen plans. It’s a dramatic opening
sequence, highlighting the strength of the Empire compared to the Rebels, and
sets the scene for three films’ worth of David vs. Goliath struggle.
9. Alderaan’s
destruction (Episode IV: A New Hope)
Despite Princess Leia – apparently – giving up the location
of the hidden rebel base that Vader and the twisted Grand Moff Tarkin had been
searching for in order to crush the Alliance once and for all, Tarkin still doesn’t
hesitate in giving the order to completely destroy the planet that Princess
Leia knew as home. It’s our first real indication of how evil the Empire really
is, how far they’ll go to send a message to the rest of the galaxy, and,
therefore, how important the crusade of the Rebel Alliance is.
8. Han Solo encased
in carbonite on Cloud City (Episode V:
The Empire Strikes Back)
Finally, Han Solo’s forgetfulness – not paying his dues to
the vindictive gangster Jabba the Hutt – caught up with him on Cloud City,
where the facility’s governor, Lando Calrissian, was forced to hand Solo, his
old friend, over to Darth Vader, who would use the carbonite encasing process
as a way to draw Luke Skywalker to Cloud City.
Of course, Solo’s frozen body is handed to the bounty hunter
Bobba Fett, who presumably collects a nice reward from Jabba on Tatooine. The
entire sequence from the initial reveal that Vader and the Imperials are on
Cloud City (in the dining room) through the moment where Solo admits his love
to Princess Leia and is, seconds later, frozen alive at Vader’s command, is
gripping stuff, and nicely sets up Lando’s chance at redemption later, by
fighting with the Alliance to overturn the Empire.
7. The Battle of Hoth
(Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)
After Imperial probe droids discover the location of yet one
more hidden Rebel Alliance base – is there any other sort? – this one on the
wintry planet of Hoth, Vader, intent on seeking out Luke Skywalker, sends a
taskforce to destroy the rebels, landing AT-AT walkers and infantry for a
ground battle that doesn’t go well for the good guys, despite Luke Skywalker
leading Rogue Squadron – and that’s the first time those ‘Rogue’ call-signs are
used.
Another reason this scene is so notable for me: it’s one of
the first times we see the mammoth Super Star Destroyer that will later plunge
like a knife into the Second Death Star.
I love the dogfighting scenes in all six Star Wars movies,
but some of my favourites are during the Hoth battle, where the somewhat-antiquated
Alliance snow-speeders, none of which have the firepower necessary to really combat
Imperial forces, bravely try to bring down the lumbering machines using
grappling hooks is one of my favourites, and we get our first glimpses of
characters who, whilst having only minor roles in the films, become major
players in the X-wing novels later on: Wes Janson and Derek ‘Hobbie’ Klivian. A
more wizened Wedge Antilles, probably my favourite character of all, gets his
second on-screen appearance during the Battle of Hoth.
As the Alliance pilots fight to delay the Imperials so that
the base can be evacuated, the ion cannon helps the transports escape, and then
Han Solo and Princess Leia, on the Millennium
Falcon, barely escape the clutches of Darth Vader, and, by way of some
slick manoeuvring from Captain Solo, manages to nearly cause two star
destroyers to collide. The Falcon’s efforts to evade the Imperial taskforce is
one of my favourite sequences in any ‘Star Wars’ movie.
6. Rescuing Princess
Leia from the Death Star (Episode IV: A
New Hope)
The holy trinity of the original trilogy is Luke, Han and
Leia, so their initial meeting and subsequent first battle fought together is a
favourite of mine. They’re under siege in the Death Star, facing countless
enemies, not least of whom is Darth Vader, and their return to the docking bay
and the Millennium Falcon takes a few detours – including one via the trash
compactor – before Obi-Wan Kenobi sacrifices his life to allow the others to
escape with the stolen Death Star plans…which come in handy later on.
That madcap scramble through the Death Star is another good
indicator of how many resources the Empire has at it’s disposal as compared to
the Alliance. Just as well the thousands of storm troopers stationed on-board aren’t
very good shots, or our heroes would never have made it out alive! (That could
be said of a dozen different good guy vs. storm trooper entanglements!)
Part Two, my Top 5, is coming tomorrow!
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