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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

CT The original Radio Dramas

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by ObiAlKenobi, Sep 23, 2012.

  1. ObiAlKenobi

    ObiAlKenobi Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2012
    I have to say, the original Radio Dramas is the most enjoyment I've gotten from the SW Universe in awhile. I bought it at Barnes and Noble. It included all three movies, a small booklet for each and was $100. They were great to listen to. I finished A New Hope (just known as Star Wars back then) and there were a lot of extra scenes and subplots. I started on Empire a few days ago. It's a great way to pass the time on road trips and avoid the radio (and the same songs over and over). Check it out.
     
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  2. CaptainHamYoyo

    CaptainHamYoyo Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2011
    I got all 3 on itunes about a year ago(I think they added up to be about the same price as what you got them for), and have been relistening to them every few months. I love them all, but Star Wars is my favorite(love the expanded material it had).

    I kinda have mixed feelings about ROTJ, mainly because Mark Hamill and BDW not returning to it(as well as John Lithgow reading his lines in his own voice, instead of trying to sound like Yoda, like he did in ESB). The guy they got for Luke did sound pretty close to Mark at least, and I'm glad they got the rest of the radio cast back. It was still a great adaptation written by Brian Dailey, and I'm glad he was able to finish the Trilogy before he passed away.

    I highly recommend these to everyone. While it may seem pricey, it's worth it for the 17.5 hours of enjoyment you'd get out of it(not to mention its replay factor)
     
  3. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Apr 26, 2009
    They take a bit of getting used to with the different voices, but you eventually accept them, and yeah, perfect for long car trips. The heavily expanded scenes just make the SW universe that much bigger. Great to hear that they're available on iTunes - I originally listened to them on good old fashioned audio cassettes while driving around Ireland.

    Perry King's still bloody awful as Han Solo, though. Never got used to him, still makes me cringe.

    I'd love to see Dark Horse commission a new comic adaptation of the OT which includes everything from the novelisations, the shooting scripts and the radio dramas.
     
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  4. Silas Tri

    Silas Tri Jedi Knight star 1

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    Sep 6, 2012
    The original SW Radio Drama provides some of my favorite early memories. I remember listening to it on the radio when it aired. My best friend and I would make cassette tape recordings of the episodes and listen to them over and over again until the next episode aired.
     
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  5. Kenneth Morgan

    Kenneth Morgan Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    May 27, 1999
    I've never gotten around to the ROTJ series, but I felt like a latter-day version of those kids running home to listen to "Jack Armstrong" when it came to ANH and TESB. I eagerly awaited each new episode and really enjoyed them.

    And, as for the different voices, I didn't mind. In fact, to this day, whenever I read the Brian Daley books, I hear Perry King doing Han's dialogue rather than Harrison Ford. King's voice just seems to suit the material better, in this case.
     
  6. ShaneP

    ShaneP Ex-Mod Officio star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    The SW one is really great at fleshing things out with the characters and their motivation with the additional scenes and subplots.

    ESB one is great too.

    ROTJ I'm not as much a fan of. And it has the most bizarre depiction of Jabba's voice ever.
     
  7. OldSchoolFan

    OldSchoolFan Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2013
    I've got the boxset too and I love the interpretation of ANH with it's extra characterizations, scenes, subplots like Leia's aquisition of the Death Star plans, Luke's skyhopper race, Vader's interrogation of Leia etc. It was good to hear Mark Hamill reprise Luke in both ANH & TESB while Perry King and Ann Sachs are really entertaining as Han & Leia. Too much time passed before ROTJ was recorded though and I think it shows, only 6 episodes compared to ANH's 13 and TESB's 10 with Mark and Billy Dee no longer part of the cast. One thing though, why does John Lithgow not try to sound a little bit like Yoda instead of sounding like a bored John Lithgow??

    But if you get the chance to get the set, go for it!! It's really entertaining and great way to while away the hours on a flight, bus trip, long car drive etc.
     
  8. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    I need to listen to these.
     
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  9. MRCynical

    MRCynical Jedi Knight star 1

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    Oct 7, 2008
    I got the set a couple of years ago but with various things happening only listened to Star Wars. I started The Empire Strikes Back a few days ago and it's fantastic. Completely different experience from an audiobook (which I also love, the Harry Potter ones sustained me on university commutes!), and definitely one of the better parts of the expanded universe.
     
  10. Endor_Commando

    Endor_Commando Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2007
    Agree. I just listened to the Star Wars adaptation again and the worst part is his Han Solo.
     
  11. Star Wars age 9

    Star Wars age 9 Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 29, 2012
  12. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009
    There's some real gems in there (one of which I've decided to use as my new sig), these two are somewhat prophetic, even though they're not intentionally so:



     
  13. sith_rhino

    sith_rhino Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 2007
    I got all 3 on amazon in cassette form a few years ago. They are great. Unfortunately, my new car doesn't have a cassette player. :( I did get the book versions of the radio dramas recently, though, and they were great too.
     
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  14. Son of a Bith

    Son of a Bith Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 28, 2013
    Nice to see the Radio Drama's getting some love. I wore those cassette's out! Got the CD versions of ANH and ESB a while ago and made digital copies for myself - I'll have to throw them on my phone and give them a re-listen. Lots of fun - I'd like to see a revival of radio dramas (podcast dramas?). There's something about listening to a story in that way that really stimulates the imagination.

    This post reminds me that I still don't have the ROTJ radio drama. Shame on me! Gotta give that a try.
     
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  15. sith_rhino

    sith_rhino Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 2007
    It would be cool if they used the actual radio dramas, and made animated movies to them. Not that they ever wil, but it would be neat.
     
  16. Star Wars age 9

    Star Wars age 9 Jedi Padawan star 1

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    Nov 29, 2012
    I have to admit that I never liked 'Jedi' - but for what it's worth I do like the Radio version of it. That for me, really speaks volumes.
     
  17. Granger

    Granger Jedi Knight star 2

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    Nov 1, 2012
    My dad and I recorded the original off the radio and that along with the scholastic picture books, the marvel comics, the soundtrack record and the read alongs were my Star Wars until home video came to my neighborhood. I think that experience is the reason there have always been so many people who swear they saw a version of ANH with deleted scenes. I like to break out the original for a road trip every now and then.
     
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  18. MRCynical

    MRCynical Jedi Knight star 1

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    Oct 7, 2008
    The BBC still do quite a few (not Star Wars obviously!). I actually prefer unabridged audiobooks (so long as the reader is decent) to radio dramas in most cases though. The Star Wars ones are just uniquely awesome.
     
  19. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Yeah, I know what you mean, radio dramas are a bit of a lost art form - the one of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas was a bit of fun, but really just an excuse for a bunch of actors to enjoy themselves, rather than convey something new about the book.

    The audio novels of Irvine Welsh read by Tam Dean Burn are utterly brilliant, particularly Filth - if anything, it's better than the print version.
     
  20. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    The only radio drama of any kind I have ever heard was a recording of the War of the Worlds. I would like to hear the Star Wars ones
     
  21. Pensivia

    Pensivia Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 24, 2013
    I remember listening to at least one of the three on NPR when I was a kid. This thread inspired me to look for them on YouTube. I've only looked for ANH so far and did find a Youtube playlist with most of the episodes: A few of the ANH episodes are missing (with erorr messages about having been removed due to copyright issues) and a couple more don't play in the playlist for some reason but are there if you go outside the playlist and search for them individually. Each episode is divided into 3 separate YouTube segments. I haven't looked for ESB and ROTJ yet.

    I've recently listened to most of the available ANH epsisodes and really like all getting all the "extra" content. I agree with those above who don't like the performance of the actor used for Han Solo, but I'm willing to tolerate him for the sake of the rest of it! Although I think the Princess Leia torture scene is a little overdone (when compared to the overall "tone" of ANH), I really liked the part where Vader starts referring to Leia's father when he's trying to get her to tell him what she did with the Death Star plans while she's under the influence of the "truth drug" or whatever. Since (according to Wikipedia), the ANH radio drama came out one year _after_ the ESB film, I'm assuming the parts where the radio Vader says "Your father commands you to answer" etc. were intentionally meant to resonate with audiences who are aware of Vader's identity as Luke and Leia's father. It's pretty cool!

    My husband and I will be taking a road trip in a couple of weeks and are looking into borrowing the complete set from our local public library for the trip. Should make for a fun drive!

    Definitely agree with Bith's comment here and the availability of current digital podcasting technology makes the medium that much more convenient and accessible. Wish they would do a set for the PT as well, though I guess that's not very likely...
     
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  22. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Apr 26, 2009
    That scene's pretty hysterical, but like a lot of the radio drama, you get used to the somewhat naff dialogue & performances.

    Leia wasn't meant to be Luke's sister at that point, and even if it was being considered by GL, it hadn't been even hinted at in any media. Plus, audiences weren't 'aware' that Vader was Luke's father after seeing ESB, merely that he'd claimed he was. Still up in the air.
    So no. Vader was just messing with Leia's mind.
     
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  23. Pensivia

    Pensivia Force Ghost star 5

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    Apr 24, 2013
    Oh, right...I guess I was jumping the gun there as I forgot Leia being Luke's sister wasn't mentioned until ROTJ. And I had totally forgotten that 1981 audiences would have been uncertain as to whether Vader had been telling the truth in ESB (I was only 10 when ESB came out). I was just digging all of Vader's references to "Leia's father" in that scene and my enthusiasm got the better of my memory! So it falls into the category of "unintentionally resonant" like Vader's Tatooine lines that you mentioned above. Thanks for the clarification.

    Actually, Darth_Nub, that raises a question I had when listening to the show--do we know how much coordination there was between the writer of the radio scripts and GL? I looked up the Wookieepedia page on the ANH radio drama, and it mentions that "The series fleshes out the storyline by adding a great deal of back story that had probably been created but not used by Lucas." [emphasis added]. It also mentions that the radio dramas were "made with the full co-operation of George Lucas," and that they are considered "canon" (I read up on the canon entry too as I have always been a fan just of the movies and have never ventured into the EU).

    Do you (or anyone else reading this thread) know anything more about this--does it mean that the radio writer came up with the "extra" material on his own and then GL just had to "approve" it to make sure that it didn't actively conflict with his vision of the story, or does it mean that the radio writer had access to other (draft/unused) portions of the ANH script or other written materials by George and that he used those in coming up with the extra lines and scenes? (Or both?)
     
  24. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Apr 26, 2009
    I don't know the exact details, but almost definitely both. There's material in there that's based on deleted scenes from the shooting script, plus there's plenty in there that was clearly brand new (the skyhopper race, the early stuff with Princess Leia, the torture scene etc).

    GL would have had to approve the scripts, but I doubt he was involved in actually writing them.
     
  25. Pensivia

    Pensivia Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 24, 2013