ANH Chapter 3: Imperial Boarding Party DISCUSSION

Due to the success of CBC over on the PT forums, I would like to discuss ANH chapter by chapter on the DVD. There are 47 chapters to discuss over the next eight months, excluding Chapter 1: Opening Logos, Chapter 2: A New Hope and Chapter 50: End Credits.

Each discussion will last 5 days. At the end of 5 days, the following chapter will be posted.

Chapter 3: Imperial Boarding Party
DISCUSSION: October 28, 2004 - November 1, 2004
DVD TIME INDEX: 1:53 - 4:52

Synopsis:
The film starts as the camera pans down to the planet Tatooine. Over camera, the Tantive IV is being pursued by an Imperial Star Destroyer. They exchange fires. The Star Destroyer blows off a piece of the cruiser. In a Tantive IV hallway, the ship shakes, C-3PO and R2-D2 make their way down the corridor. Rebel troops run to the bay door. C-3PO speaks his worries to R2-D2, who beeps in reply. The rebels move in formation awaiting their Imperial intruders. C-3PO and the troops begin to wonder about a strange noise. The ship's being pulled into the Star Destroyer by tractor beam. The noise stops. Everyone's looking around, wondering what's going on. Imperial Stormtroopers blast through the door and come through, shooting at the rebels. More and more troops enter the enemy ship. The rebels fire back. In another corridor, rebels run down the hallway in escape. C-3PO and R2-D2 move across the crossfire. Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, makes his way on to the ship assessing the situation. Vader and the troops march down the hallway. END OF CHAPTER

Opinion:
The start of the entire saga theatrically. Seeing that small space battle at the beginning is still a great way to begin a film. It automatically has that serial feel to it. Also the size of the Star Destroyer compared to the Tantive IV shows who's the cat and who's the mouse in this fight.

The first major characters we see are the droids. After the prequels, C-3PO and R2-D2 have been through a lot and are always going to be the husband and wife bickering back and forth. I like how they're completely avoided when the Imperial take siege of the ship.

Then we have Darth Vader, who this entire saga is about. Seeing him come through that blasted door for the first time is more amazing since the prequels. Since watching the prequels, seeing Vader and the Stormtroopers is so intriguing. The fight in the main bay is a good way to start the film and the saga. The blasters are very Flash Gordon.

Having started the GFFA, the SW saga got off to a great start and some of the most prominent characters have been fleshed out in less than five minutes. Great chapter. So much color imagery in this opener.

 

great posts, man. i love reading the pm and aotc and have been looking forward to the ot for some time from you.
thank you for taking the time to do this. i look forward to them every time they are due out.

 

Well, the Dvd restoration was wonderfully done of course, however to a degree its a double edged sword.

For starters, the 'redone' text crawl set to match the look and color of the prequels was appropriate, -just another example of how Lucasfilm makes the saga timeless.

The intro to the Corvette and Destoryer is cinematic brillance, as noted by many, the almost endless beauty pass of the StarDestroyers underside certainly added to the tenson of the scene.

A minor gripe with this clearer take to me is how the planet and moon have a more distinct 'painting' look. The lasers too seemed almost too trim when compared to the glarish/blarish of the VHS counterpart.

As for the shootout within the corridors of the Tantive IV.

Classic raiding party.

Impressive battle, considering that the entire battle was one take with multiple cameras giving the illusion of diverse fighting amid the ship.

One can apprecaite the color motif of 3P0's intro with the other protocol droid in the backdrop. Note the tell-tale color difference, as if imparting a hint that 3P0 is the definite 'golden boy' of this epic where the droid contingent is concerned.

Vader's intro still can give chills to the most casual viewer. The smoke, the score, the breathing, and of course the tell-tale note of acknowledgement from the Stormtroopers make it clear;

This dark Knight is a major player.

On a humorous side note, back in the late 70's when Ep4 first hit theatres, a much younger Mace Windu, (aka Sam Jackson) had apparently wandered into a NY theatre for a late night screening of this movie. The much younger, -and apparently reckless,- Sam Jackson had apparently administered a narcotic that evening and was only then feeling the 'paranoid' after effects.

Its been a while since I read about this, so I can't give a direct source of the interview, but apparently, Sam Jackson was so 'ripped' that when he saw Vader appear on the screen for the first time the dude had a borderline nervous breakdown, frightened for his life.

Foreshadowing?

 

This scene will mean so much more when the entire saga is complete. I watched it last night and almost forgot how it actually plays out.

 

I never saw the cut in 77, but seeing this for the first time must have been so confusing. Since we didn't know the SW universe and practically everything about it, wouldn't it be mindboggling to see a golden robot with a british accent or a wheezing bad guy in black. The chapter gets right to the point, but for a first timer with no knowledge is it confusing?

 

Sure was for me.

 

Wow the scene that started it all. It shows Vader as the upcoming bad guy and gives a great intro for Star Wars.

 

This scene is great. I love it. End of story.

 

Aren't you going to make chapter discussions for ESB & ROTJ?

 

ANSWER FROM CBC HOST
OT

Anonx, yes I most certainly will be doing ESB, ROTJ and ROTS in the future. I am running 3 discussion series right now. It's very difficult to have three running discussion on the film forum simulatneously.

Although this is a free forum as Oracle_Ye_Prophecy pointed, CBC is my baby and I pride in the work. So enjoy TPM, AOTC and ANH for now. Let's get back to discussing ANH.

END OF OT

 

Something i noticed from watching a couple of the new "BattleStar Galactica" and to an extent in the PT is the lack of beauty passes. Entire scenes are now faster more intense!! So sometimes you're not even sure what just happened and you get little chance to just see the ships that the heroes are aboard.

Something im going to try and comment on is the initial reaction to seeing it the first time, and perhaps contrast it with now PT knowledge and SE changes if applicable.

I dont know anyone who's seen the OT that didnt immediately think star destroyers were hard, simply because of the length of the thing.

On the inside of the ship we have a couple of robots and talk of "the princess" immediately thats like old serials, mythology and i dont know what else.

Swap out the Tantive IV for a merchant ship and the Star Destroyer for some large Battleship of some evil empires navy. Make Threepio and Artoo some of the lowly hands on deck of the merchant. Suddenly its not so amazingly different to a hundred stories from way before 1977.

But in that is one of Star Wars greatest strengths, it doesnt try to make up some new and amazing story. It tells the classics in a stylised and in a sort of future-contemporary way.

Once the door gets blown down we get our ONLY chance to see stormtroopers who have a chance in hell of winning. Any other time they are shooting at one of the big three, so no chance there chum! And as we see the troopers wipe the floor with the shipboard security types some good action shots there. (final note CHINSTRAPS ehhehe)

Vaders entrance, in the pre-PT world this scene wasnt greatly confusing. In any movie when a character makes their initial entrance you havent a clue about them really, the only major difference is instead of a evil drug dealer, or street gang playa we have a mechanical man in black. All i thought at the time was cool!

This is also one of the scenes that is largely untouched since the original release, i cant think of any major changes to the sequence.

OT

To moleman1138, would it be alright if i reproduced your initial posts on a website im putting together for personal use?

/OT

 

Vader coming through the doorway in this movie is probably one of the most powerful, overlooked moments in cinema. When first-time viewers initially see him, they're not sure what to make of him. We are asked the very same question that are metaphorically determined later on - is Vader human, is he some sort of machine, some sort of alien? Is that armor required or just for show? He rouses mystery and question while still providing significant menace to an already intensified scene. Similarly, it leaves no doubt in the mind of the viewer that he is and will continue to be an important character. Vader is not an individual easily forgotten - once you see him, the visage is instantly impressed. Definitely one of the strongest character designs of the movies.

Similarly, within a few lines of dialogue we generally know the plot of the movie. It's Rebellion v.s. Empire, and we can see instantly from the difference in command styles that the empire immediately has a stronger military upper hand. We know Vader's on the case of the Tantive IV because he's aware of espionage. His cunning and cruel handling of the situation spotlights the desperate plight of all involved. The underlying suspense and mystery we feel from the tension created by the Imperial's fervent search for the plans and increasingly unknown nature of the designs installed provides a steady motivation for the viewer to keep watching, to see what exactly has this mighty empire up in arms over one set of plans getting out.

Definitely a great scene if there ever was one. It's amazing how often the droids are the ones who open a scene up for action or suspense through their dialogue or actions.

 

What was the Tantive IV's initial plan, before being pursued by the Empire?

 

The Stomtroopers are doing a fine job in this scene. They did great work cleaning up the films. So far this scene is the only in the SAGA that uses a blend cut (as the Stomtroopers make their way AFTER shooting the first batch of Rebels).

 

"So far this scene is the only in the SAGA that uses a blend cut"

I noticed it (again) when I watched the movie a few days ago.
Is it really the only only one? I never knew... wow

 

What was the Tantive IV's initial plan, before being pursued by the Empire?

Leia was on her way to pick up Ben Kenobi and on the way she intercepted the plans. As she was in a restricted system Vader quickly caught on to the fact that she was there.

I have to admit that the first scene always takes my breath way, it's what started it all and before I was a fan i was absorbed when it came on screen

Love vader's first apprearance even though the breathmask was really to explain how he could survive in vacuum

 

Story wise..this scene is poorly constructed.

The title crawl, explains Princess Leia is racing HOME. People would think Tatooine is her home.

 

No, she's heading home to Alderaan. This is just a side trip to pick up Ben Kenobi on the way home. The holoimage of Leia explains that. And at any rate, this scene (and the ones that follow) is such a blur of speed that one doesn't have time to sit back and think about it UNTIL the holomessage.

 

Great opening shot, of course. The huge, seemingly endless Star Destroyer chasing down the tiny blockade runner shows just how things have changed since the days of the Republic - in the prequels, the good guys were in power, and the bad guys were slowly taking them over. Now, it's completely opposite, and just like with TPM, the ones in power have the upper hand, and are trying to sort out a problem - the Jedi sorting out the Naboo blockade, the Empire trying to get the plans back. And in both movies, those in power essentially fail - here, the Death Star will be destroyed and the Rebellion in will win; in TPM, although the blockade is ended and Naboo freed, Palpatine becomes chancellor and the Sith begin to exact their revenge. Both movies are about things starting to change in the galaxy.

I've always wondered who that silver droid was walking behind Threepio and Artoo - when I was a kid, I thought it was the same droid who says "E chu ta!" to Threepio in ESB - that the droid was taken here by the Empire, and for some reason, ended up with the Imperial party on Bespin in ESB, where Threepio recognised it. Ridiculous, I know, but it was how I explained "Nice to see a familiar face". It's great being introduced to Artoo and Threepio from the start - we know them from the prequels, we know who they are and that they're friends, and off we go with them.

Depending on what happens in RotS, this might be the first time we see an actual gunfight between two groups of humans - so far with either had lightsaber fights or humans fighting droids. Also, watching this after watching the prequels, the stormtroopers are a lot more impressive as they come through the door - we've seen them as very well trained and able clone troopers in the past. It's a shame the stormtroopers end up being rather comical by the end, but that's the fun of it, I guess. In the prequels, they were on the way in - this time they're on the way out. Another parallel with TPM - the "monster coming through the door" joke at the start, with the stormstoopers melting the door. Just like at the start of TPM with Qui-Gon and the Neimoidians, although this time, it's the bad guys melting the door and the good guys in fear - in TPM, it's completely reversed. I also love the way Artoo and Threepio cross the corridor filled with laserbolts - very cheesy and almost impossible that they'd be missed, but hey, not the first time a SW film has been on the cheesy side.

Vader's introduction is still as powerful as it ever was - I love the silence after he walks through the door, the way the stormtoopers stand to attention, and the way he gives a slight glance to the dead soldiers - before remorselessly stepping over them. If anything, the introduction is now even more powerful after seeing the prequels, as we know who's behind that mask - I can't wait to see it having just seen RotS. It's 19 years later, but Anakin still has the same mask and suit, is still doing the Emperor's bidding, and is still every bit as evil as he was at the end of RotS.

 

Ah the opening to ANH, probably my favourite opening to any movie ever. The shot of the Star Destroyer going on and on is just amazing. Certainly the best opening chapter of the saga, although TPM has a great one also.

 

Infinite Space as far as the eye could see...Ziilions upon Zillions of Stars receeding into infinity. This is cleary that Galaxy far far away; We leaned about from the title card before.

Pan down to a distant Moon. Pretty cool.

Pan further down to a larger close moon...Extra cool!

Pan ALL the way down....IT'S A PLANET! Wow!

Suddenly a HUGE space ship emerges from nowhere and fires Lasers OVER the planet!

AND THEN an even BIGGER ship which seems to stretch forever HOVERS into view! OMG! We know who has the upper hand in this one!

A space ship battle over a planet near moons, with the backdrop of Stars, with BRILLANT John Willams music and exotic sounds! Don't forget the incredible detail and excellent special effects!!!! Everything is PERFECT right from the the very begining.

Then BOOM the little ship is damaged..

Inside we cut to an odd pair of bickering Robots.

A plethroa of troops emerge through white tunnels and aim at a door....Strange sounds are heard rumminging through the tunnels..creepy.

The ship is being SUCKED into the bigger ship!

Clich CLih CLICH!

WHat was that? Exclaims the robot!

KABOOM! The door flashes and blasts open! A bunch of white evil machines blast their way in and destroy our human troops!!!

The good robots run away avoding the balster fire like experts!

An EVIL Robot in black robes and a life support system with Ashma enters the ship! OMG THIS IS THE DEVIL!

This one scene is why we are all here. PERIOD.

 

Was that supposed to be your initial experience 89.... Too difficult of a username to remember. Seems like it as you describe DV as a robot. One of the misconceptions of SW as a child.

 

Thank you for all your participation in CBC (Chapter by Chapter). ANH Chapter 4: Artoo's Mission DISCUSSION will be made available 12:00 AM EST. Although the discussion timeframe has passed, you may still discuss this chapter at your convienience. However, we will be moving on to the next chapter.

-Moleman1138