First time you saw Owen and Beru's corpses burning

Do you remember the first time you saw the corpses of Owen and Beru after they were ablaze?

I was 8 years old and it was kind of gross yet I was fascinated. I remember wanting to see how the stormtroopers did it. In SW if someone dies they usually get shot and drop (disappear if you're a Jedi) or get blown up. This is probably one of the most graphic scenes in SW IMO. I remember going back and watching it and I used to think the bodies were impaled by the staff like thing the sandtroopers carry on the Dewback but I was wrong. I was just remembered that time as I was thinking of SW.

Anyways hopefully someone with sick humor or something will stumble upon this so enjoy.

 

I first watched it when I was 5 and I didn't really understand what was going on...SO I can't even remember what I thought. I know I wasn't scared though.

 

First time I saw it I was 15 and i thought it was pretty graphic for a STAR WARS movie.

 

First time I saw it...I didn't.

The first few times I watched ANH I just thought that the farm had been set ablaze and that Owen and Beru were dead somewhere. I didn't even see the skeletons.

When I finally did notice, I was kinda shocked, not at the scene, but shocked that such an image would appear in a Star Wars movie.

 

When I finally did notice, I was kinda shocked, not at the scene, but shocked that such an image would appear in a Star Wars movie.

Sorry, but how can anyone be surprised to see something like that in a Star Wars movie when ANH was the FIRST SW movie? Its like watching a random movie and seeing dead bodies and thinking: Huh? How could there be dead bodies in this movie?

Drop your pre-conceptions. You should watch a movie, follow the narrative and just accept what's happening on screen. It dosen't matter if its a STAR WARS movie or not..what is on-screen is on-screen. If it dosen't fit your conception of what SW really is, well tough love.

Star Wars is not a children's film. Never was.

It can be enjoyed by children, but its not a children's movie. Go to a video store and ask for SW, you'll find it in the sci-fi section, not the children's section.


Butt Edit: A bit too much.

 

I was trying to guess what was going through Luke's mind. I just remember thinking "Man I'd be so ticked off right about now at the Empire. Now he'll probably go with Ben just to get even with them." I knew he'd be very sad for the loss of his family, but his anger would probably overshadow the saddness by a long shot. I also remember thinking "What is he going to do about it, take on a giant army all by himself? Yeah right!" because I had pictured in my mind the giant Star Destroyer pictured at the beginning of the movie. Like one guy was going to be able to take on that much firepower...

 

Strangely enough I wasn't too scared....if they were bloody and not just charred bones that would be a different story.

 

I was very young when I first saw the film so I really only noticed lot's of smoke pouring out of the entrance to the home more than what was on the ground outside. It's only now that I notice the corpses on the ground.

 

I was pretty young so I thought it was gross.

 

The first couple of times I saw ANH, that scene went by so fast I didnt realize they were corpses.

 

The first time I actually noticed the two skeletons, I was pretty shocked by it. It creeped me out a little bit.

 

Actually it is a children's movie...and it's an aduls movie, it's supposed to be a family film. But anyways, read my previous post again. I hadn't noticed the corpses the first time I saw the film, so I'd seen Empire and Jedi as well before I'd actually seen the burning skeletons...and in those movies, even though there were some really dark moments...how do I put it...

Ok in Empire, Luke gets his hand cut off...but it's ok because he get's a new hand that looks pretty much the same.Stromtroopers get shot, but that's ok because they're "faceless" villains. Han gets frozen in carbonite but that's ok because he is freed later on.

Anakin dies...but that's ok because he died saving his son. The point I'm making is that throughout the OT, you have events that happen that may seem dark but ultimately get resolved. No matter what happens, by the end the good guys are all ok, and that'simportant in a family film.

However in ANH, Owen and Beru are killed and when you look at it in the context of the entire OT, it's a shocking moment. It's a bad thing that happens, but it doesn't get resolved the way everything else does.

Yes it's true, ANH was the first film, and taken that way, then you can't really see it as a shock, but in terms of the OT it is a shocking moment.

 

I first saw ANH when I was five, so I have vague memories of it, but I wasn't scared of it. I actually thought it was really cool. Since that time I've always played with gory ideas on how it happened. Yeah, it could've been a fire, but I like to play with the thought that the Stormtroopers just had a field day with their blasters and shot them to such a point that they were scorched. Because blaster fire would have to be heat, the burn marks prove it's hot, so if troops were to go all out then they could burn a body to the bone.... maybe.

I know there's something in canon that will ruin this theory, but who gives a damn.

 

I see what you mean, but a story is not only for children just because it has a happy ending.

Its the whole discussion of optimism and pragmatism.

Star Wars just happens to be a hopeful optimistic story, a guard against despair. It tells us, yes life is dark, depressing, scary and dangerous but if you keep your faith, and fight for what is right, maybe things will turn out alright.

A children's story would be if everything turns out wonderful, without any sacrifices, without any deaths or dark things.

Just good guys fight bad guys and win. Star Wars, the saga as a whole is much much more complex.

 

Oh I agree, and in terms of the saga from 1-6, it's not really shocking, especially compared to the close ups of Anakin's smouldering flesh in ROTS.

But in terms of the OT, I can't think of another scene that has the same impact in showing how evil the Empire is...yes you have the destruction of Alderaan...but they're faceless deaths...you don't see Bail Organa looking up to the sky as the Death Star fires, you don't see dead bodies..you see the planet explode and you see Leia react.

In that one scene at the homestead, you see the remains of Luke's family...we've seen their faces, we've sat with them as they talked...in the few scenes they were in, we got to know the Lars family...and then there they are, dead.

Yes, Star Wars is complex, but at its most basic level, it's about good vs evil and in that one scene, you see just how horrific that evil is.

 

Yes. I think we can agree to a point that Star Wars is a film for everyone. Children can watch it and enjoy it, but adults can watch it too and understand the deeper parts and the depth.

Its kind of like the Harry Potter books in terms of being for kids and adults alike.

Also, the OT is more subtle. There are truly horrific events, like a father trying to kill his son, then a son nearly murdering his father. A loving couple being separated. An entire planet blowing up. Really dark stuff.

BUT, it is the way it is portrayed that makes it suitable for children and this is what makes it a film for everyone, and not just a children's film.

The darkness is there for those who want to see it, but our perception of it is not as intense.

I hope you see where I'm coming from.

 

Maybe it's something for Lucas to digitally replace in another release?

Seriously, I remember thinking it was pretty graphic. I was nine years old and hadn't really seen much in the way of graphic horror movies and stuff so I was kind of surprised by it.

 

I thought "geez, this Empire is evil!".

... Which is the whole point of it, eh?

 

I was pretty horrified by it
It seemed really graphic to me back then, and still kind of does
It always made me tear up too and get a sinking feeling in my stomach
I really feel for their family in that scene

I think it helped ANH considerably because of the amount of more tame violence/killing in most of the rest of the movie

I think the corpses, and the bloody severred arm in the cantina aided in keeping the film intimidating, serious, a bit scary, and more realistic and adult in addition to the fun, humorous, light-hearted vibe that is present through the majority of the movie

 

I didn't notice the bodies till way later in my life. I had seen the film many, many times but I didn't notice it till around the time Episode 1 came out. I was watching the movies with a family member and I was like "whoa, burned bodies, have those always been there?!?" I just never paid that much attention before. *shrug*

 

I was very young, but i remember thinking that they had been set on fire and they had a very painful death ...needless to say i thought the Empire was really evil and they should pay for killing these nice ppl

 

That's my story. It was more of a big deal that I had actually never noticed it, than what I had noticed.

 

Exactly my same story. It goes by so fast, especially the first time I viewed it, as did the rest of the movie, I mistook the corpses for other burning refuse.

 

When I first saw it, it didn't bother me, but I knew what had happened to them.

 

I don't remember my initial reaction since I was so young... I was probably thinking how I wanted a Landspeeder toy to accompany my Luke action figure or something. Now days when I see it I get a craving for Bar-B-Que ribs.