Saga Time Count Down of Star Wars Moments

Hello, I have lurked here a few times. About time I finally joined. In case anyone missed Time's latest Star Wars Edition 40 greatest star wars moments, here it is. According to the magazine, they compiled this list from their Time team and a "sundry of star wars fans." They don't explain what quantity a sundry is. All these may or may not be on my personal list, but here it is......

TIME MAGAZINE'S 40 GREATEST STAR WARS MOMENTS
From Yoda's Wisdom to Vader's Rage
Source:Time Special Edition Star Wars Magazine

40: The trash compactor
39: Yoda declares the start of the Clone Wars
38: Obi-Wan vs. Anakin on Mustafar
37: Republican liberty dies
36: "Use the Force, Luke"
35: Binary sunset
34: "Chewie, we're home"
33: Yoda visits an exiled Luke
32: Yoda teaches the younglings
31: The speeder bike chase

30: Vader Force-chokes Motti
29: Yoda battles Count Dooku
28: Ewoks celebrate Rebel victory
27: Kylo Ren kills Han
26: Luke's Tauntaun
25: Yoda explains anger
24: The Mos Eisley Cantina
23: Yoda fights Darth Sidious
22: Leia strangles Jabba
21: Solo solves the Kessel Run problem
20: Kylo Ren throws a fit

19: Vader's first breath
18: "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope"
17: The Imperial March
16: BB-8's thumbs-up
15: Han flies in to save the day
14: The Battle of Hoth
13: Rey summons Luke's lightsaber with the Force
12: Vader rescues Luke from the Emperor
11: Admiral Ackbar yells, "It's a trap!"

10: Vader unmasked
9: Luke and Vader's first lightsaber duel
8: Obi-Wan mind-tricks the Stormtroopers
7: "May the Force be with you" (every episode)
6: Yoda schools Luke in the ways of the Force
5: The opening crawl (every episode)
4: Yoda lifts Luke's X-wing
3: Vader's ruthless massacre (Rogue One)
2: Leia and Han saying "I love you," "I know"
1: Darth Vader reveals Luke's lineage

 

welcome to the forums,

really like the username one of my favourites I've seen.

 

Thanks all for the welcome and offer of help! I will transcribe Time's explanation why they picked these moments. Give me some time to chip away at it........I'll start with a few here.....


40: The trash compactor

TIME: "A New Hope. This is the first time Leia, Luke, Han and Chewie work together. When they start exchanging barbs, you know they have something special. It's the perfect mix of terror and humor, at which Star Wars excels. (The scene has one unanswered question: If the trash compactor compacts every few hours, how does the trash monster not get crushed?)"



39: Yoda declares the start of the Clone Wars

TIME: "Attack of the Clones. Sensing the Jedi victory on Geonosis was really no victory at all. Yoda is quick to shut down Obi-Wan's gratitude for the arrival of the clones. "The shroud of the dark side has fallen, begun the Clone War has, " he muses as the scene pans to Chancellor Palpatine overlooking the massing of an army to the ominous tune of "The Imperial March." The scene effectively sets the stage for the furor to come."



38: Obi-Wan vs. Anakin on Mustafar

TIME: "Revenge of the Sith. A key moment fans slogged through three prequels for: Anakin breaking bad. And boy, does Lucas milk it. This may be the longest Star Wars fight scene ever, chock-full of risible dialogue. Most memorable, though, is Anakin's limbless body rolling around on the ground ... before catching fire."



37: Republican liberty dies

TIME: "Revenge of the Sith. Lucas' preoccupation with intergalactic governance is at times distracting and, as commentary on the George W. Bush era, a little on the nose. But Padme's "So this is how liberty dies - with thunderous applause" is one of the few truly great lines from the prequel trilogy."

I'll transcribe more shortly.

 

Not sure how the Vader massacre scene in R1 is top 3 among all SW moments, but to each, their own.

 

I can't say it wouldn't be on my list at all, but I don't know if I would have it in the top 3 on my list. Time does make a good point about this moment, so I will transcribe it now......



3. Vader's ruthless massacre

TIME: "Rogue One. The first true demonstration of the extent of Vader's power doesn't come until the closing sequence of the most recent Star Wars film. As a group of Rebel soldiers attempt to evade pursuing Imperial forces, Vader finds his way on board their ship. The merciless slaughter that ensues gives credence to his standing as the most feared monster in the galaxy."

 

Thank you, Bazinga, I was planning to eventually transcribe all of Time's reasons why they picked these SW moments, so I'm fine with you moving this thread to the appropriate forum.

 

36: "Use the Force, Luke"

TIME: "A New Hope. Luke Skywalker is flying in the Death Star's trenches when he gets a call from beyond: Obi-Wan tells him to turn off his targeting computer. Luke obliges, using the Force to guide his fighter's torpedoes, which sets off a chain reaction, destroying the Empire's planet-killer. This wins the day, but it also shows that the Force is powerful far beyond mere parlor trickery."



35: Binary sunset

TIME: "A New Hope. Luke is pretty much just like any another teen -- impatient, whiny and desperate to leave home. What sets him apart is illustrated in a powerful moment: Luke is taking in the Tatooine sunset, except there are two suns. Kansas? Not anymore."



34: "Chewie, we're home"

TIME: "The Force Awakens. Star Wars fans have had to put up with many a disappointment over the years, from the lackluster prequels to dubious spinoffs. Needless to say, there was a lot of anxiety about the series's return to the big screen with The Force Awakens. When Han Solo and Chewbacca find their way back to the Millennium Falcon after years apart, uttering those words, Han might as well have been speaking for the entire audience."

 

Thank you Adalia. I'm not sure what you mean if I plan to count down. I'm transcribing Time's reasons for selecting the above SW moments.

 

Thank you for moving it to the appropriate thread. My apologies for combining topics, poor planning on my part.

 

IMO, there are some good choices for GOAT in that list, and some... less good choices. The top 10 are all solid, even if I'd number them differently.

 

Great topic. My choices would be vastly different.

No Story of Darth Plagueis The Wise?
No Duel Of The Fates?
No Battle Of Geonosis?
No Mace Windu VS Darth Sidious & Anakin's turn?

Regardless of whether someone likes or dislikes the prequels movies, these 4 scenes (at least) are classic and majectic in my opinion.

PS. I have absolutely zero problems with Vader's scene in Rogue One being included and at top 3 for that matter. It's probably somewhere there for me too.

 

33: Yoda visits an exiled Luke

TIME: "The Last Jedi. After Rey leaves Ahch-To, a frustrated Luke decides to burn down the first Jedi temple along with the ancient texts inside of it. It's then that Yoda shows up to remind his former apprentice of the ways of the Force. Yoda sends a bolt of lightning crashing into the Jedi temple to set it on fire on his own. Then, in typical Yoda-speak, he reminds Luke whay a true understanding of the Force can't be gleaned from a bunch of old books."



32: Yoda teaches the younglings

TIME: "Attack of the Clones. Before the prequels, we only got to see how Yoda taught the ways of the Force to the adult Luke. Here we get a fun look at what it's like to grow up in training to become a Jedi warrior. Turns out it's a lot like preschool, but with lightsabers."



31: The speeder bike chase

TIME: "Return of the Jedi. Packed with seat-gripping first-person shots, Luke and Leia's 310-mph pursuit of Imperial Scout troopers through the dense forest of Endor is one of the saga's most thrilling sequences."



30: Vader Force-chokes Motti

TIME: "A New Hope. Admiral Motti attempts to give Vader a dressing-down over his belief in the power of the Force. Big misstep. Motti realizes it before he can even finish his tirade as Vader suffocates him from several feet away. "I find your lack of faith disturbing." Vader forebodingly croons as the Imperials cower."

 

By my count..

TPM: 1
AOTC: 3
ROTS: 4
S: 1
R1: 1
ANH: 8
TESB: 8
ROTJ: 6
TFA: 5
TLJ: 1
All films: 2

Prequels are under represented (especially TPM), but not surprising since there are jabs at them in a few of the scene comments above. Maul igniting his double bladed lightsaber should be there for TPM, probably the pod race too.

I can't say any of their choices are "bad", other than maybe "It's a trap!" since that's more of a meme than an actual great star wars moment.

 

Sorry I haven't posted them faster, been trying to knock out a few before heading to work or after work. Also, I should add..... these images are not the images the magazine used. In fact many on the list didn't even have an image associated with it.



29: Yoda battles Count Dooku

TIME: "Attack of the Clones. Epidsode II gives fans little to love. But it is the first movie in which Yoda is digitally animated. The CGI allows for this ridiculously fun (and flexy) lightsaber battle between the Jedi Master and Count Dooku."



28: Ewoks celebrate Rebel victory

TIME: "Return of the Jedi. Although the Ewoks remain polarizing creatures among Star Wars fans, it's hard to deny that seeing the teddy-bear-esque warriors dance around to the "Yub Nub" song in joyful celebration of the defeat of the Empire is amazingly adorable. Because it clearly is amazingly adorable.



27: Kylo Ren kills Han

TIME: "The Force Awakens. The only person who saw this twist coming was Harrison Ford, who apparently wanted Han killed off way back in the original trilogy. It took major guts for director J.J. Abrams to ax one of the series' most iconic characters. But it gave an often-playful movie emotional heft."



26: Luke's Tauntaun

TIME: "The Empire Strikes Back. Han, a scrappy pirate, turns a corner when he risks his life to save Luke from exposure on the ice world Hoth. Han keeps Luke warm by slicing open his Tauntaun and delivers this classic: "I thought they smelled bad on the outside."

(MovieDoctor: Luke warm? Was that a pun?)



25: Yoda explains anger

TIME: "The Phantom Menace. One of the best pieces of Yoda wisdom actually comes in the much-maligned Phantom Menace when he explains Anakin's imminent downfall -- and the theme of the prequels: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." "



24: The Mos Eisley Cantina

TIME: "A New Hope. One of the biggest faults of the Star Wars saga arguably is that it focuses so much on its human (and human-like) characters even while building a rich universe of bizarre aliens. Except, that is, for A New Hope's classic cantina scene, which takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of Star Wars extraterrestrials. And that song is just so catchy!"

 

It's really sad and pathetic that almost every prequel entry you've listed so far has had a jab at the movies inserted into the description by TIME.

 

Yea I noticed that also. I'm transcribing it word for word. No editorial added on my part.

I'll try to add some more in the morning.