Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Random Stuff You Didn't Notice About Star Wars Until You'd Already Seen it a Bunch

Things have been kind of quiet. Or at least here, they have been. I think maybe we could use a random, light-hearted discussion. I think it's safe to say that most of us who read here have watched these movies multiple times. For some of us it has been a lifelong thing. For others the movies didn't even come out until they were a little older. For some maybe they didn't even discover it until they were older, or until much recently. One of the most fascinating things to me is that no matter how many times I've seen these movies, I often still notice new things for the first time. Or maybe I just forget that I've seen them, because also it's totally possible I've done this topic before and I just forgot. I've been watching these movies since as far back as I can remember watching movies, and still, sometimes, I'm surprised to notice certain things. And some of you will probably be surprised/appalled at some of the stuff that I didn't notice until more recent viewings. These things include:

-The fact that the lower half of one of Threepio's legs is silver, not gold. Ok, this one I didn't exactly only discover recently. But still probably didn't notice until a good 15 years into my Star Wars watching. I don't remember exactly why I noticed it for the first time, but I do remember my brother and my cousins thinking it was crazy that I had never noticed that.

-Leia spins Han around to talk to Jabba because he is facing the wrong way. How could I not notice a Han and Leia thing? I don't know. Seriously, I didn't notice that not only did she spin him around, but she ducked under his arm. It's so adorable and subtle and funny, and I watched that movie for years before noticing. Again, not super recently did I first notice this, but more recently than I'd have thought.

-Han grabs Leia's hand as he tries to shoot Vader. This is another one of those subtle things, and in fairness his non-shooting hand is mostly hidden and it is so subtle it kind of makes sense for me to not have noticed that at first. Of course now I think it is just another one of those wonderful, subtle little things, that even though Han is focused on killing Darth Vader, he still makes the conscious decision to reach back and grab Leia's hand. (ok, wrist, but whatever)

-Leia in the background talking to random Rebels when Han is talking to Lando just before Mon Mothma's briefing in ROTJ. This isn't really that big of a deal, but this one I only first noticed REALLY recently. Like within the last two years, probably. Han and Lando are talking, and Leia is hanging behind them talking to some other guys. It's just kind of funny to me to see her basically appearing more like a background extra.

-Luke in ESB when he jumps down off a ledge during the Vader fight, bounces back into the frame since clearly Mark jumped down onto a trampoline. That one I didn't even notice until I was reading bloopers. And really, how did that go unnoticed for so long? It's not even subtle, he bounces right on back up into the frame. And yet of all the ridiculous things they "fixed" on subsequent re-releases, that moment remains.

-Harrison mouths Carrie's lines along with her when she says, "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited." This is another one I don't think I noticed on my own until someone told me about it. Also another one that I have known about for a while, but still probably watched the movie over and over for about 15 years before seeing it, and now I can't unsee it.

-Leia's blood on Han's fingertips when he puts his hand up after briefly tending to Leia's wound in ROTJ. I know, this is really minor. For movies that do contain a fair bit of violence, they are very much lacking in blood. There is blood in ANH when Obi Wan cuts that walrus man's arm off. Luke bleeds a bit after the Wampa attack and also after his fight with Vader. (Although, weirdly, not from where his hand was cut off.) Of course Han never bleeds. Like I said, very small thing but for some reason it took me a lot of views to notice that.

-Chewie makes a Tarzan noise when he swings on the vine with the Ewoks to the AT-ST in ROTJ. Another one that was pointed out to me by my brother and cousins, a while ago but still after we had watched the movies dozens of times. It's not even subtle, but for some reason I didn't notice. It's pretty dumb and really doesn't make sense, but whatever.

That's all I can think of for now. What about you guys, anything you didn't notice until much later? Big or small, doesn't really matter. I'm sure there are others because I feel like very time I watch I notice some little thing, maybe a brief line or action from Threepio, or something in the background. Stuff that should've been totally obvious but somehow you missed.

76 comments:

  1. After reading this, I had to watch the 'being held by you' scene of course and now I know that I will never un-see it either. But I think that is so adorable! That is one of my favorite HL scenes and now I love it even more.

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  2. I love this! And now I have to go watch the scene again to see him mouthing the words! Where is the ledge moment with Luke? Is it in the carbon freezing chamber? Or when he gets blown through the window?

    Some things I notice - some I only noticed because of GIF sets on Tumblr:

    -- The end of Jedi, in the original version and sort of in the Special Editions. When Luke comes back, they switch to a view of Luke coming up to Leia and you see Han in the background. Han is holding his breath until they hug and then he busts out the widest smile - it's so lovely. Also, watch Luke's hand around Leia's waist - he moves to hold her and then curls up his hand - not sure why.... Then in the original version where it's one long scene not intercut with Chewie and Lando you see it better but in both it's the same progression as the original hugs at the end of New Hope - Luke and Leia hug, then she basically throws him bodily at Han (watch Carrie shove Mark both in New Hope and in Jedi).

    Then as the scene goes on, Luke goes away to see the ghosts. Watch Han in the background. He's holding Leia under his arm, turns his head and sees Luke by himself, sort of nudges Leia and she goes to get Luke. It's out of focus but you can see it...

    --Not only does Leia turn Han to face Jabba, so does Luke. When they do the "how we doin'/same as always" run of dialogue and end up in front of Jabba to be told about the sarlacc, both of them are bound at the hands, but Luke moves his elbow inside Han's and turns him to face Jabba and Leia. It's really fast but such a lovely touch.

    --In the making of book, Harrison is quoted as asking how Han should be reacting when Luke's doing all his super cool Jedi stuff on the sail barge and Mark jokes back that he should look at him with awe. Watch Harrison - he does.

    --Harrison bounces on the carbon freeze platform - watch in the shot from behind after they shove him out on it.

    --Not a blooper but I have seen that duel in Empire more than 15 times and EVERY TIME I jump when Vader comes back in in the corridor.

    -- I still wonder how the hell Han and Luke fit their clothes under the stormtrooper outfits.

    --Two cockpit shots from New Hope - Chewie puts his bowcaster down in the cockpit as they come in originally, and it just sits there. Also, when they come back in from the Death Star, outrunning the stormtroopers, Han takes the time to put his gunbelt on - he's wearing it when he comes out to get Luke to get to the guns, and I think he's wearing it when he hops into his seat to fly them out of the docking bay.


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    1. It's in the carbon freezing chamber. When he deliberately jumps down, not when he falls.

      I'll have to watch for Luke's elbow nudge, I missed that.

      I had always noticed Han bouncing a bit on the platform when they put him on it. I always wondered whether it was the platform itself or maybe his knee buckling a bit.

      I also noticed out of focus Han and Leia being Luke.

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    2. I taped all 3 on DVR from TNT because it would be handy and I saw Luke bop back up! I like the knee buckling idea on the platform!

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    3. Oh, and I actually laughed out loud at Lincoln Center yesterday when I saw Luke's head pop back up in the frame. At first I was like "they're out of their minds, he doesn't pop back up" but then I noticed he popped up further to the outside of the frame than you'd expect. It was pretty funny.

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    4. I always noticed the bouncing on the platform, I thought it was the platform was made to drop so it wasn't all that steady? anyway I always thought it was on purpose

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  3. Oh one more! When Leia does her "I don't know who you are...but from now on, you do as I tell you" after the garbage compactor - I love Han looking back at Luke like "the hell" and Luke just looking away like "I know, I know"

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  4. Oh ho ho! I have one!

    Watch the Han/Leia kisses. They tilt their heads to the left every single time, with the exception of the deleted Bespin kiss. Someone pointed this out to me forever ago and it's been a running refrain ever since. I don't know about you, but I definitely tilt right and studies show most people do, too. I have no idea if it's because one or both of them are/were left-handed or ambidextrous or if it was just .... how they did it (To be fair, the Luke/Leia medcenter kiss in ESB tilts to the left, too).

    I like to be a little more mushy with it and say that they're just uniquely good at kissing and can switch sides with ease. :D

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    1. I knew that, but I think again it was because someone pointed it out. It is interesting, isn't it? First I think it's weird that there have been studies and most people are right side tilters. As I am, and interestingly when I first heard this I hadn't actually kissed anyone yet and felt like of course I would also tilt left, but later learned that I don't. Oh, well. They're both right handed, so that's not it. I mean, in all honesty they probably were told which way to tilt their heads for camera reasons, lol.

      I prefer your other reason, they're just uniquely good at kissing, and very in tune with each other, and switch sides seamlessly.

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    2. Is it tilting toward the camera instead of away from the camera in every instance, so it might be blocked that way? Just wondering (from a fellow right-tilter).

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    3. Well one is tilting toward, and one away. Harrison is usually the one tilting toward, except I think for the kiss right when he comes out of carbonite. Then she is tilting toward.

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    4. I'm just wondering if the actor closer to the camera is tilting toward or away from it, although now that I think of the kiss scenes, the only ones with the actors arguably on different planes in the shot (instead of straight on, like in the background here) is the one right after the carbonite. Maybe the one prior to the carbonite too.

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    5. Ha! Oh, this whole post is fun. As for the kissing, well, this totally called for a google search! Camera angles and lighting may play a part...
      https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/magazine/a-brief-history-of-kissing-in-movies.html?mcubz=0

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    6. once I listened to the commentary on ESB I could never stop analyzing every scene Harrison and Carrie are in together to see how they handled the height differences. and like, when you can see how short she is and when you can't. and how one scene their faces are at the same height and the next she's a foot shorter. have you ever noticed how many scenes are shot from an angle so that she is ABOVE him?

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  5. Oh, this is fun. I never noticed Luke bouncing into the frame shot again. That's hilarious.
    But I have a couple: Luke not only does a good eye roll where cv3 said, but also in Empire, when Han starts to taunt Leia about the South Passage.
    One more: in Empire, when Leia is briefing the pilots for the Hoth battle, she does it in front of the Falcon. You can see Han on top, in his great coat, with some blue-flame tool, straightening to listen. The first time I noticed that I about dropped on the floor

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    1. Oh, Han on top of the Falcon! That's another thing I JUST noticed, on my own, really recently. It's so cute, too. He's totally paying attention.

      Go watch him bounce back up. I think in college I saw that one for the first time, and you'll be like, HOW did I not notice that before?!?

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    2. Wait, Han on top of the Falcon in that scene? I have never noticed that. Well, I'll be seeing Empire at the NY Phil tonight, so I will have to look.

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    3. Wow! I don't think I really noticed the Falcon was in that scene at all.

      (Kels: NY Phil... aw man, that's awesome. Enjoy!)

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    4. I saw that bit with Han in GIF sets, I need to go watch the scene.

      How was Empire, Kels? I'm going to see New Hope with the Orlando Symphony in a week or so - so excited!!

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    5. I described it to a friend today as "breathtaking." I think that film is extraordinary on pretty much every level - from design, to story, to editing, to acting, to direction, to music -- and having one of the world's great orchestras play it live-to-film just reinforced how beautiful and nearly perfect that film is, even if Mark Hamill's head pops back into frame and Harrison Ford reads Carrie Fisher's line. A bunch of great artists at the top of game, really.

      It also reinforced for me that there is just absolutely no reason to even talk about TFA and how it relates to the OT. They are just on absolutely different planes of existence and quality, so it made me feel a little better, oddly, about the whole thing, as in "there's really no reason to even talk about these films as if they're related." Seriously, if Hollywood wants to save movies, they really need to have their computers and CGI design teams taken away so they can focus on what really goes into making a good movie. Because the comparison between what I saw last night and what passes for franchise filmmaking today (not just talking about SW here) could not be more stark.

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    6. I can't wait to see New Hope like this...

      You're right, there is no substitute. Even on my DVR copy, even in the GIF sets we have on Tumblr, it looks like nothing else, especially today, and especially in any franchise I can name. Cloud City is beautiful, you can feel how damn Dagobah is and how cold Hoth is.

      For me, carbon freeze will still make me wince, that duel with Luke and Vader is still amazing, no matter how much I've seen since. Empire made me a Star Wars fan.

      Nothing will be as heartrending as Luke asking "will they die?" or "I love you/I know" or Luke losing his hand or "I am your father." What franchise now would beat the hell out of its hero and have it mean something, not just one more CGI enhanced fight to be shrugged off?





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  6. Ahhhh, this is cool. JustineGraham and I can use this list to guide us in a rewatch of some of these moments tomorrow night when she returns from her Highland adventures for one last night at my house. Yay!

    I've never noticed most of what you guys have listed. I'm dying to see HF mouthing Leia's dialogue, though. How funny that I could watch a movie umpteen times (and pay special attention to their interactions) and never notice that....

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    1. Wow, I'm surprised so many of you never saw or heard about how he mouths her dialog there! It's subtle, but definitely unmistakable once you see it. And also kind of adorable.

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    2. I didn't notice that until someone told me. And now I can't unnotice it. I will never, ever understand why they chose that take, because I would think that after 900 views in the editing bay, someone would have noticed. They must not have had a lot of takes to choose from...but, then again, I've probably seen it 900 times and not noticed...

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  7. These are really interesting observations. I don't think I noticed any of them. One thing for me was in ESB, when watching a clip on youtube, where Han tells Riekkan that he has to leave, when Han finally turns around to look at Leia you can see Riekkan eyes move over towards Leia (where Han's attention has already shifted) and see his expression fall ever so slightly in dismay, as if he knows there's going to be some kind of fall out. It's not really something you'll see unless you slow the footage down, and also not something you'll see unless you're viewing where you can really see up close to the screen because Han is in focus in the foreground, but with what little we ever do see of Riekkan in the movies I thought it was really interesting. It reminded me of the scene where the two Rebels are discussing the fact that nobody has seen Solo or Skywalker before telling Leia that they need to close the blast doors and the more senior Rebel shushes the other one because Leia is within hearing distance. The movie shows a tacit acknowledgement that both Han and Luke are very important to her and that other people on the base are aware of, and know that, enough to be sensitive to interactions between the OT3.

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    1. Oh wait, I did notice:
      - "Han grabs Leia's hand as he tries to shoot Vader"
      - "Leia spins Han around to talk to Jabba because he is facing the wrong way"

      and the top two items in @cv73's list, at the end of ROTJ. Those are both lovely moments.

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    2. I did notice the Han grabbing Leia's hand bit long ago, I always thought it was so sweet that his instincts were a) shoot something and b) protect Leia.

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  8. Ahhh, LoveThis, I adore both of those tiny details. That Rieekan moment is such a subtle thing, but I'm sure it has spawned many a fic about his tacit support of H/L getting together. Now I want to write one!!

    I'm itching to rewatch these scenes now. (JG, what are we gonna do with the hubbies??? Something tells me they're not going to be down with us freeze-framing our way through the OT,no matter how much wine and/or cake we ply them with!)

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  9. A few things I did not notice for the longest time:

    1. That Darth does a little Force choke on Lando on Bespin and that's why his hand goes to his collar. I always thought Lando was just getting annoyed and tugging at his collar (gimme a break, I was nine when it came out :) until much, much later.

    2. Never realized that Luke was actually force-choking the guard when he arrives at Jabba's Palace and there was symbolism in that until someone pointed it out to me sometime in the last decade.

    3. Han's "cop a feel" moment in ROTJ after Leia is shot. Never noticed until someone pointed it out to me. Still not convinced it's an intentional feel cop or even a joking feel cop instead of just an actor trying to make a character look like he's fumbling and concerned. But after the revelations of the last year, I'm all "no reason for him to bother to cop a feel, he already felt that quite a few times, without he camo gear."

    4. Probably didn't notice until the last decade or so the really extraordinary acting Harrison Ford does with his eyes/face while he's on the carbon freezing platform. Lots of different emotions visible there and I never really noticed that it's kind of a little master class until recently. It's some seriously good acting without words.

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    1. Oh I forgot to comment on the "cop a feel" moment. That is definitely not something I noticed for a while. Especially because I was so young when I first saw it that I wouldn't have even known that was weird. I don't think it was intentional. It's still funny though because it's pretty blatant, lol.

      Harrison is great at silent acting. I don't mind when he talks either, but he is good at that. He barely gets to talk in The Fugitive and yet it's great.

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    2. LOL I can't remember when we first spotted that one but now we have to mention it every time at our house, there goes Solo, copping a feel in the middle of the battle.

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  10. Here's another one - in the very last shot of Star Wars, never noticed until this year that Carrie Fisher had just started to move her hands from her side, likely to clasp them in front of her, when they freeze and go to credits. Another one of those things I didn't notice for 40 years and now can't stop noticing.

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    1. Ooh. I've never noticed that one, either. Look at that!

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  11. Here's one(sorry if it's been mentioned already and I missed it somehow!) When Leia is giving her speech to the Rebels in ESB on Hoth, Han is standing on the Falcon watching her (no doubt in admiration). Reminds me of Kershner's comments that you didn't need to spend a lot of the time on the Han/Leia love story because she was always looking at him and he was always looking at her and you could tell they were in love.

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    1. Yeah, I'd like to lob that at the younger fan I saw today saying "oh, well, if you watch ESB, you'll see that they would never stay together..." What a lovely way to start the day!

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    2. Anyone who would say that after watching TESB is an Absolute Zero, and I mean zero-degrees-Kelvin, frozen- colder-than-carbonite, when it comes to story and character analysis. Hope that younger fan isn't an English or Theatre major.

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  12. It wasn't until reading it in somewhere online (either a blog post or a fic) that I noticed Han's reaction to Leia when he's telling her he needs to leave right at the start of ESB. I'd always seen the anger/frustration right before he gets sarcastic about not getting mushy, but I'd never seen the hurt that preceeded it. That little chin jerk--oh, how he's trying to cover up how much that hurt.

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    1. This is true. There's a lot of emotions that run by quickly on him right there.

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    2. Oh, I love that little bit! One of my favorites. Yes, he's totally hurt by her response! And it's what triggers his defensive anger! Delightful scene.

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  13. Most of these I've never noticed before! Wish I'd read this post before watching ANH & ESB in their entirety again in the past few days.

    Can anyone explain why, near the beginning of ANH, when R2 is projecting the holo of Leia and Luke asks Threepio who she is, Threepio replies that he doesn't know? Earlier, before the Tantive IV is boarded, Threepio says to R2: "I'm afraid they'll be no escape for the princess this time," so he clearly knew who she was then. Did he have his memory wiped at some point?

    I've also wondered for a while who the "Captain Antilles" is that Threepio refers to as being his former owner. (I think I read a fic rather recently where this was actually Bail, who changed his last name from Antilles to Organa. ??) This used to confuse me so much bc I thought Threepio meant Wedge!

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    1. I can't believe I never thought about how it doesn't make sense that Threepio is confused about who Leia is on the hologram. That really, really doesn't make sense. I mean unless maybe he knew she existed but not what she looked like? That's also weird though.

      I remember it being a Bail Antilles. Why or how I knew that, I don't remember. I also remember it was Wedge's cousin. I don't believe that was a fanfic thing, I think it was canon. But again I don't know why I know that. Or why they would make things extra confusing by having a character like that share names with other people, when there is no reason for him to.

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    2. I have vague memories that match up to this, too. Bail Antilles. Perhaps it's just a case of the writing being done on-the-fly in ANH. "Bail" and "Antilles" were names GL liked and wanted to use (so he did), but then later had opportunities to use them on more fully fleshed-out characters? But why have a "Captain Antilles" and Wedge in ANH if they aren't related? Unless Wedge's surname wasn't decided at the time of release (maybe that was a later change)? idk! But you're right; it makes no sense.

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    3. Well now I had to go and check. Bail Antilles goes ALL the way back to the first draft of Star Wars where he was some galactic trader. And then at one point he was even going to be Leia's father, so Leia was going to be an Antilles from Organa Major. But then they changed her planet name, and Bail Organa was her father.

      Apparently he wasn't really utilized until they brought him out in TPM as an Alderaanian senator. I guess he wasn't related to Wedge. That must've been one of those random things that was going around, or perhaps I invented that in my head. Wookieepedia says that Antilles is like the GFFA equivalent of Smith or Jones.

      Which is really pretty pointless. I mean, is it even mentioned in the actual movies that Wedge's last name is Antilles? Why make that his last name when they didn't have to?

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    4. This is one of those cases where I really wish GL were more like GRRM in terms of pinning down all the elements of characters and their relationships to one another BEFORE he publishes!

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    5. I should know this as a droid expert but I'm still confused too. Wookieepedia says Raymus Antilles is captain of Tantive III as seen in Episode III and Tantive IV as seen in Rogue One and Episode IV. He's the guy that Bail Organa tells to wipe C-3PO's memory and who gives CGI Leia the disc/tape in Rogue One and who Darth Vader chokes and throws up against the wall. There is a story about him in the new Certain Points of View book which I got in the mail today but haven't looked at other than the table of contents.

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    6. Point taken. In fact, iirc, because GRRM wrote for television and often felt the pinch of such restraints, he wrote GoT just to please himself. He included all the characters and elements he wanted in it (elements that would have been nixed by editors or producers if he'd been writing it for production, such as characters with the same first name, and expensive-to-render-in-CGI dragons, etc.)

      And you're right; most writers don't have that sort of luxury.

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    7. I think it's in maybe the books where he's Wedge Antilles? It's not onscreen. Sort of like he became Corellian as did Han, so Corellia has a Scottish Highlands for Dennis Lawson and a Chicago for Harrison ::g::

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  14. Two things that bother me now that I've been back and seen the GIF sets over and over...

    How does Leia know Han is the pilot? "Into the garbage chute, flyboy" - does Luke as they're running to join them say "I'm here with Han, who flew us here, and Chewie, this Wookie" - I guess so but...

    When does Luke get told it's Princess Leia? It's not onscreen that I remember, but when they get to the control room, Threepio says "He keeps saying she's here" "Who?" "Princess Leia, sir"

    (But y'know, not big things like pretty much anything in TFA)

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    1. I like to think that Han just *looks* like a flyboy. Haha. She happens to make a (correct) assumption.

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    2. You guys are blowing my mind right now. You're right, nobody ever tells Luke that's Princess Leia. I guess we can assume that Obi Wan told him at some point on their way there, because obviously he knew who she was.

      I'm with LoveThis though, I think Leia just thought Han looked like a flyboy :)

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    3. Well, also if she's assuming they're with the Alliance maybe Leia also assumed they were both pilots?

      I admit I kind of like 'flyboy' being a generalized derogatory slang term when used the way Leia used it, kind of like 'frat boy' or these days, 'brogrammer'. Yeah, Han just *looks* like a flyboy. Haha.

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    4. Saw it again with the symphony last night - and if you get a chance to see it like this, do, it was so fantastic. People sang the Fox fanfare! Applauded when Han came onscreen and Leia too and Luke (and laughed at power converters)....

      I like the idea he looks like a "flyboy"!

      Yeah, Luke says "she's the one in the message" like Han's seen it but Han says "what are you talking about" so Ben must have told Luke on the way to Mos Eisley.

      Here's ANOTHER. Okay - Leia knows Ben as "Obi Wan" but Luke bursts into the cell with "I'm here with Ben Kenobi!" "Ben Kenobi, where is he?" Whereas twenty minutes before, big deal that Ben is Obi Wan...

      I do have to say that I still don't like that Jabba scene BUT Jabba says Han is "the best" so...heh.

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    5. Watching with the live score being performed is great, isn't it! I watched episodes 4-7. (TFA... I know... boo...) But it was interesting watching the OT and then TFA with an audience like that. I mean, all three OT episodes the audience went WILD when the OT3 appeared. And in TFA same thing. But... no cheering at all for any of the new characters. It really drove home how much the ST needed to exploit the OT3 to have any traction with audiences.

      Also, John Willam's best work in scoring these films is very clearly the OT, with ANH and ESB being the best of the two. TFA had a decent score, but it really doesn't compare to the OT.

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    6. I can't even remember the music from TFA and seeing that trailer last night, don't remember any of its music either....I couldn't watch TFA again, even to hear the symphony...

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    7. I do love Rey's theme/The Scavenger and The Falcon is kind of cool but I agree with LoveThis!. In the TLJ trailer, I actually thought while watching it that the score was really lacking.

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  15. Despite the age of this fandom, I think there are still little pockets of opportunity for fic exploring all the missing moments. Just thinking about "who know what when" (and how they found out) will expose those nooks and crannies.

    I mean... when does Leia learn Han's name? As far as I recall, there's a lot of shouting of Luke's name (in the trash compactor), but does he ever say Han's name aloud? Leia never sees Kenobi, so she never hears him referred to as "Captain Solo", either. Later on, she speaks to him but only addresses him as "fly boy" and refers to him (to Luke) as "your friend".

    Looking back at it now, she must have learned his name just before the "Not a bad bit of rescuing" scene in the cockpit. It's just weird to think she never says his name at all in the first movie.... (unless I've missed something)!

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    1. You're right! I don't think Leia ever uses Han's name in ANH!

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    2. No she doesn't. She obviously at least knows it by the time Luke says "It's Han" just before he gets on his X-wing to blow up the Death Star. Because she seems to know who he's talking about, hah. I mean, she may not even know his name by the time they have their conversation in the cockpit. The only time they would've had a chance really would've been maybe when they were cleaning up after the trash compactor. But the fact that she refers to him as "Your friend" to Luke later, maybe she really didn't know yet!

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    3. I can definitely see some cursory introductions happening after they've escaped.

      I imagine Leia instigating that; her business is information and relations, and it would behoove her to know the identities of her rescuers. As LT says, she would probably just assume that ANY rescue must have been organised by her Alliance colleagues, so to learn the full story of how Luke became involved would have meant finding out the names of the pilots Kenobi hired (and realising that the Alliance never organised a rescue at all).

      Not that she would expect them to send people into that situation. I think she was very much resigned to dying aboard the DS (or at least in Imperial custody). Her final act as a free woman was to try to find a way to get the plans to the Rebels. She may even have expected to die as a consequence of handing those plans over; that she would be aboard the DS when the Alliance figured out a way to destroy it.... There's a fic in there, somewhere! =D

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  16. I have to a few questions and I hope it's ok to ask them here. One is kind of related to the post.

    On Cloud City, when Lando asks if there's something wrong with their droid, why does Han say there's no problem and then make that weird motion with his eyes? What is his intent? That gesture has always confused me but it got a big laugh when i saw it during the original release and then again on the reissue.

    Also, I hope its ok to ask this here because I don't have any Han/Leia friends online so I'm not sure where to ask. I'm looking for two fan fictions. One, Leia has married Isolder and regrets it. She and Luke go on a cruise owned by Lando and Han is the captain. Eventually, they resume their love affair. Does anyone know the name and where I could find it?

    Also, there was another one that's pretty recent. It was really long and follos Han and Leia from ANH thru TFA (yuck). In the story, Han takes Leia on a honeymoon to Naboo, Han has a sister who is a prostitute, and I think H/L reunite before Han dies.

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    1. Hey there. You can ask questions here, not a problem.

      For Han on Bespin, I think it's just him being sarcastic and funny, obviously there is something wrong with the droid but he doesn't want Lando or his people touching Threepio. It's sort of combined with the fact that Han is being slightly possessive of Leia when Lando is around, always wanting to make sure that he knows who she is with. So as he is saying it he comes up around Leia's side and holds his arm out for her to take. I don't think there is more to it than that.

      For the second one, I am pretty sure that is a GreatOne fanfic. And sadly, she took ALL of her stories down from ff.net. BUT, there is still a link to her personal page with her stories: http://www.geocities.ws/marysuefanfic/ I think the story you are referring to is Separate Lives. But I'd encourage you to read almost any of her stories, I always enjoyed her work.

      The last one doesn't sound familiar to me at all, but maybe someone else will be able to help.

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    2. I'm so glad you told us that! I really loved GreatOne's fics. Is she still active I wonder, or should I read them before she purges that site?

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    3. Aw, GreatOne has some, well great ones! Stories, that is.

      I don't think I've read the second story mentioned by aturkeyismurky. But then I tend to avoid most fic that goes on to the TFA time period. Post-traumatic TFA syndrome. It's just too hard for me to read stories set in that time period sometimes.

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    4. @aturkeyismurky - That recent TFA fic you mention sounds SO familiar. I just can't remember anything useful, like the name of it or its author! =( Sorry

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    5. She was active enough to not so long ago remove all her stories and change her username on ff.net. I always really liked a lot of her stuff. She's fairly unique I think as far as fanfic writers go, in a way I'm not sure I can even pinpoint or describe. And not even just her straight up humor stuff, which there is very little of in the fandom, but her more dramatic work as well. I really wish she hadn't taken her stuff down, but at least most of it we can still see. I really have no idea if she would or even could take her stories down from the site I linked. Might not be a bad idea to copy and paste some stories to read for later if you don't have time to read them right away.

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  17. anyone notice when C3PO's hand gets caught in Chewy's chin hair as the Falcon is leaving Hoth in a hurry? Threepio tries to point something out on the Falcon's console, but gets his metal hand stuck in Chewie's beard. Chewie is growling and annoyed.

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    1. I don't know why I am just remembering this, because it always bothers me: Han's wardrobe is inconsistent. When he comes in in the tauntaun he's got khaki pants on, but when he goes to talk to Rieekan he's in blue. Oh and the jacket is off then on during the carbonite scene.

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    2. I think the khakis are snow pants over his "regular" pants and the jacket disappears before he gets to carbonite (I guess Chewie has it? They strip it off, but what's the thing around his upper arms because I think that doesn't show up when he comes out of carbonite in Jedi?) (apparently his shirt under the jacket had no sleeves because Harrison brings this up with Kersh in that recording done the day of that scene that everyone quotes - that he needs a shirt with sleeves).

      My thing is...what the hell color is his snow coat? I've seen it black, blue, brown and I think it's actually brown but shows up as blue with the lighting... And for everyone who said "oh, Leia kept it and that's why he has it in TFA." I love the story but...it's not the same coat. Just like he never wore leather until TFA and where are the damn stripes on his pants???

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    3. Never noticed the beard thing. I'll have to look for that.

      Yeah I think the pants he is wearing coming off the tauntaun are over the regular pants, keeping him extra warm.

      I have heard this thing about him supposedly wearing a vest during the carbonite scene but my eyes have never seen that. I think it's just shadows, although even looking at pictures that supposedly "prove" it, I don't see it. It's like that black/blue vs. white/gold dress! Really that all just would've been better if he'd gone into carbonite without a shirt. One of the only true tragedies of the OT is that Han Solo keeps his shirt on for all 3 movies.

      And yeah, my mind was blown when someone told me that jacket is brown. Because like most people, I always thought it was blue. But it totally IS brown. Really. The lighting just makes it look blue.

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    4. No vest in the carbonite scene - I saw it 16 times on a big screen ::g:: He has on his shirt and pants and there's this contraption on his upper arms, maybe some sort of life sign monitor? It's gone when they get him out in Jedi (but hell, Mark had to remind them he'd lost his old saber so continuity...). He's manacled and then they take off the manacles. Apparently there was an earlier version of the carbonite box but he didn't look distressed so they redid it so he looks like he's in pain (I've seen a BTS picture of Harrison getting the plaster put all over his face, just like there's one with Mark getting the plaster on his arm).

      I'll have to watch for the thing with Chewie and 3PO too!

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    5. there is an entire section in the Making of ESB about continuity and the blue/brown coat thing. there were stills released of him in one color but then they used a different coat or something? and then the Kenner figures used the stills to make the toys and the Han in the wrong color coat is really rare because they pulled it? will have to go re-read. anyway it's a thing.

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  18. I know this is unrelated, but saw this and thought it was great - https://www.buzzfeed.com/alliehayes/carrie-fisher-once-sent-a-cow-tongue-to-a-producer-who?utm_term=.yx6DKpOzk#.hwm34O0XQ. Geez I miss her. Too many good people gone.

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    1. I was JUST thinking about that story! I listened to the radio interview yesterday and felt the loss of Carrie so keenly. She was so gutsy. One of a kind.

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    2. Just when I thought it wasn't possible to love and miss Carrie any more than I already did... What a good friend she was.

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    3. Just when you think she couldn't have been more amazing.... Ugh, I miss her.

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