Our Top 10 Star Wars Moments

Hi, this is John Delancey and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. You are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to another special episode of Geekcast Radio

Network in our ongoing Star Wars Top 10 Countdowns

leading up to The Force Awakens. You've already

heard us count down the top 10 Star Wars characters.

And today we are going to be talking about our

favorite moments or scenes in the film franchise.

With me to help out with that daunting task is

Matt Fridley -Sent. Hello. Hello. How are you

doing, Matt? I'm okay. How easy or hard was coming

up with this list for you? Very. Very hard? Yeah.

I like just having just an adjective. Um, yeah,

no, this is infinitely more difficult Well because

it's such a difficult task we need more options

and more moments to talk about so we're bringing

along a third party to this Episode and making

his podcast debut for the geek cast radio network

is none other than my cousin Joe. Hello. Hey,

how's it going? It's not too bad and I've told

the story a couple different times on records

Joe about how Basically you were you and I were

probably the only two people that could compete

in Star Wars trivia pursuit back in high school

And most other people weren't gonna try to try

to take on that challenge if we were both playing

No, in fact, I remember you and I once Cutting

out a chemistry class to play trivia pursuit.

I think we got a game finished in 15 minutes

So at that point, at that point, yeah, at that

point in our, both of our Star Wars knowledge,

it was dangerous to, there was always a chance

that someone was actually gonna run the table.

And that's something that doesn't usually happen

in Trip or Pursuit. So I'm glad that you're along

with us for this ride because you definitely

are very well -versed in the Star Wars lore and

everything. Was it hard for you coming up with

10 moments out of all these films? At first,

I was like, oh, this will be just easy and kind

of fun. And then the more that I started listing

favorite moments, yeah, it really was much more

difficult than I thought it was going to be.

So I don't know. I'm eager to hear what everybody

else's lists are and see how these all compare.

Yeah, I'm interested to see if there is that.

or how much crossover there is. Obviously, when

you're talking about characters, there's a great

deal of crossover, and that's something that's

a little bit easier for me to come up with my

10 favorite characters. Now when we get into

moments and scenes and stuff like that, it becomes

a little bit harder, and we'll have to see what

the other countdowns hold, but I think this is

probably one of the more difficult ones for me

to come up with. Matt, any criteria or anything

that you looked at when you were making this

list that kind of helped you narrow down the

list, or was it just any of your favorite moments?

Don't even know if they're all my favorite necessarily

Looking over the list like I could pull that

one out like I didn't put that other one in it's

like it's in scenes that are worth discussing

at the very least Gotcha, and did you go more

scenes or more individual moments Matt? I went

with the scenes, but I did consider moments for

sure cuz cuz you know like like just consider

Like that that nebulous area in in episode four

where it's where they find those Jawas They burn

the Jawas he finds his family like where is the

scene at there? There's like ten different moments

So I did think about it and consider them, but

I think I ultimately went with just all scenes

And they also like the other one tried to get

at least one from every movie I think with scenes

you can almost use that as a cheat to try to

get multiple moments in there, so I like that

option. I definitely used it a couple times.

Joe, are you going with more overall scenes or

more individual moments on your list or a mixture

of both? Kind of a mixture of both. It's funny,

as I was putting this list together and thinking

about both of those, am I going scenes or moments,

I also had this realization that if I would have

tried to make this list... Five years ago. It

would have been really really different ten years

ago to extraordinary So I really tried to look

at the franchise as a whole and rather than go

just with my favorite moments But definitely

some of those are on here more. What are some

of the top moments? All right, sounds great.

Well without Right. So I think without further

ado, we'll get right into it and we'll see where

everybody goes with their list Joe Why don't

you start us off and what is your number ten

choice? My number ten choice is honestly, from

one of the prequels, which I actually tried to

represent pretty well in the list, from episode

two, the Battle of Geonosis in the arena, towards

the end, kind of the climax of episode two, Attack

of the Clones. I just, I loved the references

to the Ray Harryhausen movies with the reek and

the various other beasts that are running around

there. And I thought this was, you know, This

is the beginning of the Clone Wars. This is when

we're finally seeing what it's like to have a

whole bunch of Jedi in one place doing what Jedi

do best. So it made the list just for me because

I think this is one of those kind of defining

moments in the saga where we kind of get to see

these things that we've been hearing about all

these years. We finally get to see it. I think

another interesting thing about that scene is

how... much they how much of a mixture you get

because you have all those Jedi's you have the

stormtroopers you have the droids you have you

know these three beasts that are running around

so I mean you just have everything thrown together

and it's amazing how how it doesn't get too convoluted

like you can still follow everything and it doesn't

seem like there's a million people but there

really is so definitely interesting to see all

those Jedi's fight fighting at the same time

and Not necessarily all getting mowed down like

happens later on, so. Mm -hmm. And it also wasn't

like, you know, the attempt for me, at least,

at a climax scene in episode one, you know, with

the Gungans versus battle droids. That was, I

kind of felt very underwhelmed with that. With

this one, this was one of the scenes, like, this

is what I've been waiting for. So, in the prequels,

at least. So it was just kind of a neat scene

for a couple of different reasons like that.

Yeah, and and even seeing some actual characters

die not just a stormtrooper number one or clone

right number two or something like that, right?

All right, Matt. What do you think for number

ten? Where are you gonna start your list at for

my number ten? I went with probably probably

the most controversial thing on my list, which

is the pod race in episode one I know a lot of

people didn't like that a lot of people don't

like anything in episode one But I think one

thing that it really adds that people don't really

realize is like like it added sports to Star

Wars Something else interesting about that scene

is Originally when that film came out that was

the scene that everybody was pointing to about

Did you see that Padre scene? Regardless of how

people felt about the rest of the film, that

was the one thing they were going back to. Oh,

this was a great scene, or this was a great sequence,

or that was amazing, regardless of how you felt

about the rest of the movie. And I think as years

have gone on, people are actually lower on that

scene than they were at the beginning. As the

decades have passed now, it seems like there's

a lot more people vocalizing their distaste for

that scene. So it's kind of something that hasn't

done well over time, I guess. I don't know if

I'm the only one that senses that, but in a lot

of conversations I've had with people, I hear

a lot more nowadays of people not liking it than

I ever did way back when it came out. I feel

like it had a lot of hype. Like, it was the scene

we were talking about before the movie came out.

Like, I owned the LEGO pop racing sets, like,

before I ever saw the movie. And I think maybe

after you get to see the entire trilogy, then

you kind of look back and say, you know... could

those minutes have been used in a better fashion

possibly because it is a pretty extended sequence

but i don't know what else people are looking

back at and now all of a sudden disliking it

more than they liked it originally uh... joe

how do you feel about that sequence i i i agree

it's uh... it was an exciting scene sequence

to watch in the theaters especially and i remember

getting on on dvd cranking up the surround sound

and you know for that the the wub wub wub noise

of the pod racers just it was awesome you know

knocking things off the shelves in my living

room but um yeah i think you're right as when

episode two came out now we have other things

to see that are that are new star wars so kind

of everything from episode one that we we justified

liking it for got kind of pushed down a little

bit lower on on the ladder um But yeah, I mean,

I think it has some significance in the franchise.

It's kind of showing Anakin as a kid and what

some of his abilities are that are a little bit

beyond what normal characters have. So there's

some significance there, but yeah, I definitely

agree that it has, for whatever reason, it's

kind of lost a bit over the years, but I think

it is still a pretty neat scene. Yeah. Alright,

I will be the first one then that goes into the

original trilogy I guess because I am gonna go

to the Sarlacc pit sequence scene fight whatever

you want to call it from the final movie that

we we have in sequence sequential order I guess

you want to call it and The reason I picked that

one is because it can let me get a couple different

moments in all at the same time whether it's

Luke doing the force jump off of the walking

the plank and R2 shooting the lightsaber out

or whether it's Jabba meeting his demise with

the famous Princess Leia chain I think there's

just a lot to see there there's a lot of different

things the Sarlacc is definitely something not

to be messed with and outside if you take away

maybe Boba Fett's not so epic Defeat there everything

else about that scene. I think it's pretty cool

and it's just something that you the first time

I remember the first time I saw it as a kid not

being able to predict what was gonna happen and

I wasn't sure how this was all gonna play out

you have a Myriad of characters being involved

and I just have always liked that sequence in

that film Okay for number nine. I went with episode

one Obi -Wan kills Darth Maul This scene that

I just thought it's For this way, it's pretty

significant, especially later on I think in the

franchise What it meant for Obi -Wan to kill

Maul after seeing His Jedi Master his teacher

killed by this character It was you know, we're

seeing Obi -Wan younger age and Showing off some

of his skills. We're introduced to this really

one of the great characters of the prequel trilogy,

which is Darth Maul and It's still probably one

of the best lightsaber duels in the entire series

but But yeah, I think that the significance of

when he strikes down Darth Maul That made it

made my list. Yeah, and I think nobody when we

were watching that film originally expected number

one for Darth Maul to be killed at that point,

or number two, to be cut in half. I don't think

that was something that we were expecting. I

guess the only argument, the only added piece

I would say is I wish that that didn't happen

until episode two or episode three. But I still

like the significance, like you said, of kind

of him seeing Obi -Wan, Obi -Wan seeing Qui -Gon

go down in the same way, obviously, that we will

later see the correlation with Luke and Obi -Wan.

So I think there is a lot to kind of... on that

one, but man, I wish it would have lasted a little

bit longer. They'd have been very useful as a

tool. Yeah, I think they could have benefited,

regardless of if Count Dooku or if General Grievous

are characters you like or not, instead of having

three different villains in that respect, you

could have easily gone with one or two and had

them maybe a little bit more impactful. But I

still think that's a darn good scene. And what

you point out as far as the lightsaber duel,

that is easily one of the best, if not the best

lightsaber sequence in the whole film franchise.

So definitely agree with that. Matt, what do

you go for number nine? For number nine, I go

with episode two, the car chase scene towards

the beginning. I feel like it's a small thing

that people don't really think about. One thing

I really love and really want in my Star Wars

is like other genre things Like in the books

like I loved scoundrels Which was like oceans

11 it was a heist book and then like death troopers

was like a horror book Like I love other elements

that you see in other media Just put into Star

Wars because it's a vast universe and they're

gonna have all the things that we have With their

spin so like having a classic car chase scene

like it's some 80s action movie was great But

then all Coruscanti No, I think that's that's

a scene that somehow sometimes doesn't get mentioned

or kind of gets forgot about but I Enjoy that

scene as well. I'm right with you. That was in

episode two. That's one of the brighter parts

of it Yeah, it also kind of tied in some of the

technology that we were seeing already in episode

one and they're keeping that in episode two.

I'm thinking specifically about when this kind

of flying car chase scene goes through what appears

to be some kind of power station and there are

the bands of electricity going back and forth

and it kind of reminded me of some of the things

from episode one as well. Like, it's a little

bit more exciting. Also, a thing that I just

forgot. Oh, you get more of Anakin and Obi -Wan's

play, like the one thing you really needed more

of in episode two, which is how they're like

best friends and they fill each other's, you

know, emptinesses. But like, you know, you get

one of like the three bits of that. And Matt,

you and I talked about that before, how maybe

They could have done even more of that in episode

two to kind of get the bonds between Obi -Wan

and Anakin to a point where it doesn't seem maybe

as forced in episode three if they would have

used a little bit more time to do stuff like

they did in that sequence. So I kind of agree

with that. And then for my number nine, geez,

I need to get into the prequels at some point,

but I'm gonna stick with the original trilogy.

And this is just a personal favorite from...

my childhood when I was watching it because it

was something that at least the first time did

shock me but shocked me in a way that I still

thought it was cool for some reason and that

is the whole sequence in Cloud City with Vader

being revealed as you know in that room with

the banquet table and Boba Fett standing you

know behind him to the to the side there I just

it's something that I didn't I guess expect at

that moment the first time I watched it and You

know, your question whether Lando's good or bad

and there seems to be something going on here,

but to realize that Boba had planned ahead and

that Darth Vader's somehow already there and

that boom, you have your heroes there a table

length away from Darth Vader and you're like,

well, what in the heck are they gonna do to get

out of this one? So I just always liked that

door opening and Vader standing there and basically

asking them to join him. Alright, yeah, that's

right. Yeah, but no I was just gonna say yeah

that one That is another scene too that Like

you really hit on it with you're not really sure

what to think of Lando in the very beginning

of that and then even after that scene You know

it really makes you question this this kind of

new and rather important character It's really

the first time that we we see Vader interacting

with our main cast directly And it's such a close

proximity. Yeah yeah that's a scene that i still

watch today and it almost freaks me out like

it's right there right exactly all right that

means we're on to our number eight joe where

are you starting battle of oath in empire um

this is the first major ground assault really

that we see uh in the entire franchise uh you

know we've got the the at at walkers We've got

speeders and if we even want to include the deleted

scenes where you've got the very dawn of the

dead style Wampa being kept in underground in

the whole space. Just again, a great, great scene

from a behind the scenes perspective, how they

shot the whole thing pretty much out the back

of a hotel. I've always really loved that. It's

walkers. How can you not like walkers? Yeah,

the the the walkers are probably something I

told My girlfriend when we were watching it here

We just watched that movie a couple days ago,

and I was like, these are my favorite vehicles

in the whole franchise, probably. And another

thing that that relates, and I haven't played

a lot of the Star Wars video games, but I remember

the one that I did play where you get to be the

snow speeders and you're trying to go around

and trip them with the cables. And that was always

a fun little sequence, even though it was somewhat

hard for me, I guess. I think it was World Squadron

or one of those games. But yeah, I just like

that whole ground battle, too. It's something...

Like you already mentioned the one in episode

one and it just puts that one to shame Because

you have these immense vehicles and you're like,

what are these snow speeders gonna be able to

do? How are they gonna? Combat this plus, you

know, you basically have their whole their the

shield generating their whole base getting destroyed

and are they gonna be able to escape and you

don't get the escape pods or the transports away

safely, so it's got a lot going for you get a

little bit of the air stuff with the with the

transports going out, but a lot more of the groundwork,

and I think that was fun to watch as well. It

does a good job of setting up Empire, because

it just, like, from the very beginning, it's

just everything is terrible for the Rebellion.

Like, the Empire is clearly this galactic empire

that's just slowly crushing them, and, like,

it's just the very, from the very beginning to

all the way to the end. Yeah. I definitely agree

with that. Matt, what do you got for number eight?

For my number eight, I have, if you can remember

it, the opera scene in episode three. There's

the one that George Lucas is in? Is he? I don't...

I believe he's on the stairs as you enter. It's

either that or it's another sequence. He's covered

under about 90 pounds of blue makeup. Yeah. Probably,

yeah. Like... Like it's such a weird scene like

like one Like I don't know what's going on. There's

bubbles of water with like mermaids jumping in

and out of them There's weird kind of didgeridoo

music happening like None of it's explained.

It's the weirdest backdrop like it could have

been in in like the Senate it could have been

in Palpatine's office where he and Anakin met

up a million times but for whatever reason they

decide to throw this weird opera in like right

in like you know the last third of episode three

um but like what happens there is so huge for

the story like it's where Palpatine makes his

final move he's like he lets Anakin know like

yeah I'm a Sith Lord it's super intense and great

with this weird nonsensical backdrop Yeah, I

remember just spending half my time trying to

figure out what exactly was going on and try

to interpret what they were seeing or what was

going on, but it's definitely from a visual standpoint

pretty surreal and then obviously the conversations

that are going on at the same time are pretty

important conversations, so I can see that one

making your list as well. I always thought that

the actual opera scene, it just always reminded

me of the opera scene in the fifth element. It

just had a lot of similarities to that, just

in that. Again, this seems really out of place,

but it's interesting. Yeah, Matt, you've gotten

your sports in there, you've gotten your music,

so you're definitely hitting some different elements.

I like it. I also went episode one, two, three.

Oh, man. What am I doing? Method to his madness

for my number eight. I'll stick with the original

I didn't realize how many original trilogies

I was putting in there I thought I was spreading

the love but apparently I'm not for my number

eight. I'm going with the trash compactor scene

and my favorite part of that scene is When they

finally get c3po on the comlink and he hears

them and he thinks they're dying because they're

cheering I just always found that funny. I don't

find everything that c3po does funny but that

was probably for me one of his most funny moments

and I just I just like the whole sequence and

how are they gonna get out of this and you know

he's got the comma link off and R2 is you know

they're trying to get him and I just like a lot

of it plus you know obviously with Luke going

under the water and not knowing what's happening

there obviously a scene that's gonna be more

effective the first time you watch it maybe but

I still find it funny when he's they're dying

they're dying Well, it's also the first time

you see the Dianelga. The only time we see the

Dianelga. It'd be cool to see that brought back

again. Yeah, it'd be cool to see a bunch of these

creatures brought back. Yeah. Another round of

creatures that we get we love. We have no explanation

about them. All right. So that means we're on

to our number sevens. Joe, what do you got? Number

seven for me was... Return of the Jedi when Vader

finally destroys the Emperor When he chucks him

over the edge to me this was just Kind of that

the final redemption is the big redemption of

Vader It's kind of especially just the scene

where you know Luke is just getting the crap

zapped out of them and Invaders are doing that

kind of looking back and forth and it's amazing

how underneath a probably 15 pound chunk of plastic

you can still show some kind of emotion Yeah,

and I think that's one of the hardest things

that and that character that was definitely there

I think it's the it's the one time. Yeah, it's

something you just have to I don't know it It

fulfills the whole prophecy of, you know, he

does bring balance to the Force in the end by

overthrowing the Emperor. Which even, you know,

in Empire, when he's talking to Luke and saying,

you know, together we could overthrow this guy,

his motives are still so we can rule the galaxy.

But in this case, it's, no, I'm going to destroy

this guy because he's hurting my kid. So, yeah,

really finally get to see Vader brought back

again. by doing this uh this one act yeah i definitely

agree with that i'll save some of my thoughts

on that one for a little bit later um matt what

do you have for your number seven for my number

seven i have the opening sequence to episode

three um the giant dog fight above coruscant

um i love i don't i i think that's such a great

moment it like i think One thing that the movies

really failed to capture that was really great

was a lot of, like, the intensity of the books.

Like, I read the novelizations of 1, 2, and 3

before I saw the movies, which really kind of

set me up for disappointment each time, because

the guys they got to write those books did a

really good job. And the opening line of episode

3 book is, like, war raged in the skies of Coruscant.

And, like... Don't know like it opens up and

it's so peaceful and they're just kind of like

zipping over the top of like a Star Destroyer

And then they just drop straight into this massive

dog Just like clones and droids exploding everywhere

And there's you know, I'm not a big fan of like

the buzzer droid that are tearing Obi -Wan ship

apart so much Although you know, it has like

the fun moment of like Anakin bumping and shooting

him and trying to do whatever he can That kind

of adds that silly childish comedicness that

the prequels had a lot of But like they have

like a moment where where Obi -Wan's like I've

got to be the general like nope You don't get

to go help those clones. They're dying so that

we can win. No don't help me go win this war

like He has that like he you know he he's grown

up since the previous two movies Well, it also

is showing a piece of Anakin where that kind

of plagues him throughout the entire prequel

trilogy, which is the fact that he could never

see the bigger picture. He's always more concerned

about the personal relationship between him and

Obi -Wan, between him and Padme, between, you

know, the personal relationships. But, you know,

even right down to the Emperor surviving instead

of being able to see the bigger picture with

Mace Windu and stuff. So I think it lends...

Little bit to both characters and I think just

for that visual shot where they go over the edge

of that And see as you said they get dropped

into that entire fight and when you see that

that's just an awesomely shot Sequence right

there. Yeah, plus also I don't know dogfights

are like my favorite. I love the pilots in Star

Wars so much Well, you should like a film coming

up then if it really lends lives up to its title

fingers crossed For my number seven, I'm going

with a number of moments, but they're not in

one scene. So it's a number of moments spread

out through a couple different films. And that

is every time Darth Vader force chokes somebody.

Even the times where we don't actually get to

see it, but just get to see the person crumbling

off to the wayside and disappearing. But it's

just, you know, everybody has... As far as the

Jedi and the Sith go, I mean, you have the lightsabers,

etc., but when you're at the level of power that

Darth Vader, the Emperor Yoda is at, they all

have their ways of showing it, whether it be

through the lightning of the Emperor or whether

it be through the force choke of Darth Vader,

but it's just something that separates him so

much from most of the characters that we see

in the franchise. And it's just, like, such an

intimidating... tactic that he's using and it's

like he's so somewhat soft -spoken and he's not

in the original trilogy a man of too much action

as far as you know obviously we couldn't do too

much when like Joe said he has this 15 20 pounds

worth of costume on so he's not gonna be doing

somersaults and acrobatics like you're gonna

see in some of the things that we see in the

prequel trilogy But to counter that then with

the force choke and just the idea of that makes

up for all the other stuff You just have this

like slowly walking the quiet You know not not

a man of a lot of words, but bam boom force choking

and you're gonna listen to me now so and I think

it also adds a lot to the elements of Kind of

the little back and forth that you get between

the rest of the Empire that doesn't have faith

in You know this whole Jedi Sith, you know the

force type thing and how? regardless of What

their aims are what their goals are Vader is

not dismissing the power of the force of what

you can do with it, so I Like that which one's

your favorite? Oh, man That's that's tough Probably

the one at the at the table where he doesn't

actually kill He's just kind of proving a point

and someone else has to be like come on Darce

stop it Stop doing that. He's just being stupid

over there But I don't know, they're all pretty

good, but I guess maybe I'll pick that one if

I'm forced to. Do you have a favorite one, Matt?

I think I like the one in Empire where he promotes

the dude to Admiral as the guy is still not finished

falling. That's good, too. I'll have to reserve...

I've got something about those later or something.

Alright, sounds good. Joe, what's your number

six? My number six? The entire Cantina scene

in A New Hope, especially the original Han shooting

Greedo first. But really the whole Cantina scene,

it's something that I know for me and a lot of

other people I've talked to, that was from the

first Star Wars, the first time you see it, that's

a scene that really stands out is you walk into

this bar and... all of these practical effect

creatures and costumes and everybody's just kind

of milling around having a drink and pretty much

every exchange in there from the we don't want

droids in here you've got others galactic racism

against droids for some reason you know you know

maybe going back to episode one and the battle

for okay maybe maybe that's why right and then

just the the characters that are trying to pick

a bar fight with Luke, and you first see Han

and Chewie, and it's really kind of going down

the rabbit hole of Star Wars right away, right

there. I think something else that I really like

about that scene, and something that is symbolic

of what the whole franchise consists of, and

I think one reason why so many people gravitate...

to the level they do to this franchise is you

have your heroes, you have your villains, you

have the people that are, you know, getting the

main screen time, but a scene like this is just,

and there's more than, you know, there's other

scenes like this in the films as well, but a

scene like this really introduces you to all

these characters and as a kid or even, you know,

as a teenager or maybe as a grownup when you're

watching this, you're interested in... at least

some if not all of these characters like you're

like man I wonder what else you know what kind

of race this is or what kind of species this

is or you know this guy's got the death penalty

or whatever and whatever however many systems

like what's the story behind that you're seeing

creatures that you know like the hammerhead or

like whatever and you're just it's like There's

all this other stuff that you're like salivating

for more information about and it makes it cool

and it made it cool as far as you know when the

toys come out you know it's not just toys of

Anakin and you know Luke and Darth Vader and

Obi -Wan and etc. You have you know these figures

of these characters that don't even speak in

the film. Like you have action figures of someone

that gets one shot from a distance at a table.

and you can own that action figure and it was

just like as a kid I was just like blown away

by the number of characters that seemed to be

important regardless of how much screen time

they got. I think you're right and with the action

figures I think that's the only time when it

comes to uh merchandising for a huge film like

this has become that that has never been done

or I think has been done since. I don't think

there's anything outside of Star Wars where you've

got these background characters that you can

you can buy action figures too. I can't think

of anything else that's done that. But also just

in one scene with the Cantina, like you're saying,

all these characters and presumably they all

have a story so it's a great way of showing there's

a whole big universe here and this is the way,

it's almost like the portal to realize that yeah,

there's a huge universe here. We're only focusing

on one story. But without having to go to each

one of these planets, it's like, yeah, they're

all in a bar. If you go to any major metropolitan

city, you go to a bar, you're going to see people

from all over the world. And everybody's got

a story. So it's the same kind of thing. Matt,

any thoughts on the Cantina scene? Yeah, a bunch.

Not only everything you guys have said, just

how many races there are. I think there are more

in just that one cantina than all of the 60s

Star Trek every episode. Like, it's just that

diverse. And it's only just scraping the surface

of Star Wars as a larger entity. But another

thing you guys didn't talk about was just how

wild westy it is. Like, Han Solo guns a dude

down and the band stops for ten seconds? Maybe.

Whips a coin and says sorry for the mess. Yeah,

then they just go, okay, let's start a different

song, huh? Or Obi -Wan cuts somebody's arm off

and just walks away as if nothing happened. And

only like five feet away. Also, it shows though,

the second that someone is connected, you know,

the second that people are like, wait, this is

a Jedi or this guy has a lightsaber. It was like,

oh. We don't see those very often. We're gonna

stop whatever we're doing and let this guy do

his business. Also, is it like the only scene

that has like blood in it? Because Ponda Bomba's

arm bleeds on the ground. Yeah, there's Yeah,

well besides, I don't know if you call it when

when Luke takes the lightsaber to the Yeti. Oh,

the spray there? A little bit maybe, I don't

know. All right. I think the only scene where

a lightsaber doesn't instantly cauterize something.

Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of expanded universe

explanations for that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Interesting.

All right, man. What do you got for number six?

I'm just going to give my six down to five and

say my six is the Cantina. OK, gotcha. So you

are definitely in alignment with Joe on that.

Oh, 100 percent. All right, then my next one

I have a couple in here that are just like individual

moments and they're not big scenes They're not

that meaningful to anything But I really like

what they say about the character and I think

r2d2 is finest moment for me is in the prequel

trilogy when he is alone and the droids are coming

to try to see what he's doing as you know they're

trying to communicate with R2 and he's trying

to shut him up but that moment when he kind of

sets fire to the droids I it was just like R2

is a badass like and flies away yeah just that

whole thing like oh you got a bunch of droids

coming after me I will do this this this and

this and you guys are all done it's just like

man hats off R2 you're here but you're more of

a badass than any other droid in this entire

franchise So I like R2, I had to get a moment

in for him, so setting the droids on fire is

my moment for number 6. In the Expanded Universe,

do they ever explain rocket packs again? In any

of the original trilogy? I haven't encountered

anything that talks about them at all, but...

That's kind of a thing where, in every movie,

he demonstrates a different thing that hasn't

been seen in any previous movie, and they usually

don't go back over him, so it doesn't really

bother me. He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeves.

Alright, Joe, what is your number five? Number

five, Obi -Wan's coup de grace on Anakin slash

Vader towards the end of episode three. This

is the scene that we had all been salivating

for, you know, ever since hearing that, you know,

that Obi -Wan did something to Anakin many, many

years ago. It was, what's actually, what did

he do to him? How did this go down? It's a great

lightsaber duel on Mustafar. And you also get

that great emotional thing, you know, especially

going back to what you were talking about with...

the dogfight scene at the beginning of episode

three, where you're starting to see how not only

each of these characters has matured, but their

relationship has matured almost past Master and

Padawan, but to best friends. We're finally seeing

them as friends, and now we see how painful it

is for Obi -Wan to have to do this. You know,

he warns him, I have the higher ground. Don't

do this. And here comes Anakin with the same

just headstrong stubbornness, and it, you know.

Loses an arm and leg burns up and everything

like that from there. Yeah, and and it's something

too that You have the moment prior to that where

he is asking Yoda not to make him go that direction

You know, he wants to take on the Emperor. He's

like I don't want to do that. I can't do that

and Even though they're having this great lightsaber

duel for the most part You know you're not sure

if he could actually pull the trigger not you're

not sure if you could actually kill Anakin and

That sequence when he tells me he has a higher

ground and then all the lines he has to deliver

after that, I just felt I believed it 100%. You

get the agony that he's facing there. He going

back to his interaction with Qui -Gon telling

him this is the chosen one, you're going to make

sure all this other stuff. So there's layers

to this that Obi -Wan wants to succeed with this

and it's all falling apart. So he's going to

feel like a... He failed, he's gonna feel like

he failed Qui -Gon, he's gonna feel all these

different things, and I just really buy the emotion

behind that. And if you watch these films in

episode order, it actually adds a lot more to...

the conversations that you get from Obi -Wan

in the original trilogy and then obviously the

interaction between him and Darth Vader in episode

four so I mean it adds a whole lot as you watch

it in retrospect that you didn't think of before

so This is one of my favorite, uh, favorite sequences

for dialogue. One of my favorite sequences for

the emotional, you know, connection between the

two characters and something else that I did

not expect when I was watching episode three.

I mean, obviously we know something happens to

Anakin that's going to make him need the Darth

Vader get up. But I did not expect the level

of destruction that Anakin faces in that little

short time period, you know, losing limbs, completely

burning up. It's like, how is this even? possible

that this is going to be somehow an individual

that survives this no matter what the Emperor's

powers are. And I just did not expect the level

of destruction, so that kind of was something

that I was somewhat taken aback and impressed

by. Well, I think, like I said, this is something,

you know, everybody who's into Star Wars, this

is what we've been waiting to see, too. We wanted

to know just how do you take a person and all

of a sudden now have to make it where they're

half -robotic? What's going to happen? There's

a friend of mine in Rockford who we both went

to midnight showings of episode three, except

they were two separate theaters. And during that

scene, Anakin or Obi -Wan says, I have the high

ground, don't do it. The film broke on opening

night and they restored it to you see Anakin

laying there all burned up, armless and legless.

And everybody had to get refunded passes. It's

like of all the scenes. And of all the times

for this to happen, that is the single worst.

That was rough. I'm glad it wasn't me, but it

was rough for them. That is terrible. Wow. Let's

hope nothing like that happens in our next viewing

of the Star Wars film. Oh, man, that is good.

All right, Matt, that means we're back then for

your number five. Flash 6? Yeah, my number 5

-6. I just talked about the episode 3 dogfight.

For the other one, I wanted to go with the episode

4 dogfight, the Death Star. I don't know, like...

It's one of the most classic scenes. It's easily

quotable. It's incredibly brutal. Like, 3? Rebel

Alliance ships go away from it? Like it's Luke

Wedge and then like a crippled Y -Wing? Not a

lot of survivors. You just see a lot of people

die. In the expanded versions of episode 4, like

if you have the deleted scenes or if you did

the radio drama or the novelization, Biggs is

way more important to Luke. And so when Bigz

dies, that's a huge moment. Luke's childhood

friend, the guy who... The only person on Tatooine

who ever believed he was gonna get off that planet

dies. And Luke has the shoulder, the burden of

saving the entire Rebel Alliance and destroying

the Death Star. The dogfight itself is great.

The moment of destroying the Death Star is great.

Han coming back, when you first see that, it's

huge. It's just a I don't know. It's it's a great

fight Yeah, I think it's definitely a great and

iconic moment in the Star Wars franchise for

sure For my number five I am gonna do something

very similar that I did with my number six with

an r2 moment and this one's a Yoda moment and

That is when he walks in to confront Palpatine

and just throws the two guards It's just I get

that we've seen Yoda and you know do a lot of

different things when we've seen them, you know

Nimble with his cane into a room and then all

sudden start doing cartwheels and flips and whatnot

but it's just you know, just how quiet and Unsuspecting

he is when he walks in and it's like oh before

these two guys even think about doing anything

You're done. And it just sets up that sequence

with him and Palpatine pretty well. I mean, obviously

it's followed with some bad moments for him.

But I just like the fact when he throws those

two guys against the wall and gets rid of them.

It was a laugh out loud moment every time. Yeah.

Every time. And just recently watching it, it

had the same effect as the other, however many.

Dozens of times I watched it. So alright Joe.

We're at number four. What do you have? Well

funny you brought up that scene with Yoda Yoda

versus Count Dooku I mean, this is this is the

first time we see Yoda actually uses lightsaber

and again like you were just saying comes just

kind of toddling in with a with a cane and It's

also the fact that he doesn't even grab his lightsaber.

He just it just goes to him I just remember being

in the theater opening night when that happened

and you hear that clacking of his cane and the

entire theater just erupting with a, oh my god,

we're about to see this. That was definitely

one of the most talked about moments and most

of the audience reaction moments that I had in

that film. And it didn't come off looking ridiculous.

I always kind of wondered, you know, watching

Yoda with a lightsaber would be like watching

gremlins fight with lightsabers or something

and it would just be comical. But it was actually

a very well choreographed animated scene, but

it was really well done. And then, yeah, again,

like in episode three when we see him fight Palpatine

too, it's... That the first time we're seeing

it so it's not quite as Is as new but yeah with

with dooku we actually really first time we get

to see Yoda fight He's more than just a wise

old sage Yeah, that's for sure Matt any thoughts

on that scene yeah, I have a friend who's generally

wrong about everything he talks about And I think

I've probably said some some mean things about

him. He's my friend, but he's got a lot of bad

opinions And that's the thing he points to like

being his least favorite moment of all the prequel

trilogies. He's like We all get that Yoda's supposed

to be strong. Like, he's the sage old master.

I didn't need to see him jumping around like

a crazy muppet that, like, it made me lose all

respect for Yoda. I don't know why Lucas would

ever do that. Like, he was supposed to be the

smart guy and now he's just a dumb acrobat. And

I was like, you remember the first scene Yoda's

in where he fights over a flashlight and eats

a Fig Newton? Like, he's always been a joke.

One. Um, and two, that, like... After the the

Anakin obi -wan fight with dooku which has very

like like shitty lighting you can't tell what's

going on It's mostly just faces with flashes

of light for whatever reason like They did the

Yoda fight scene is so much more clear. It's

so much better Like it's great And it did a lot

too to elevate both characters as far as their

their level of power and their abilities and

you instantly It kind of gives you the idea and

legitimizes Count Dooku as someone that isn't

just some random villain we got introduced just

the next apprentice or this, that, and the other,

but this guy is fighting toe -to -toe with Yoda.

So it does a lot for that character. Plus you

get to see that Yoda not just is a man that can't,

or a man, not just a being that has the mind

control and the ability to use the Force to move

things and do things like that. But when it gets

right down to it, he can kick ass too. So I don't

see the problem with that scene at all. So all

right, Matt, what do you got next? My number

four is when Han unfreezes from the carbonite

in Jedi. Like, you have this long stretch at

the beginning of Jedi with R2 -D2 and C -3PO

on Tatooine yet again. You know, and they play

the video from Luke with the Luke hologram. But

like, it's when Han unfreezes, Leia pulls her

helmet off. It's like, hey, there's the cast

of Star Wars, finally. You have all this tension,

this buildup, and it's like, hey, you know, Empire

was so terrible. Things are looking up. Han's

free. He's with Leia. They love each other. They're

kissing. And then all of a sudden Jabba's men

and all that come back from behind the screen.

And it's like, oh no, things aren't great. To

this day, probably the funniest thing in all

of Star Wars, at least for me, is there's a Gamorrean

guard who's got his hand over C -3PO's mouth

hole. Like, it's just a tiny thing, but he's

just like, nope, I got this droid's mouth hole,

because that's where sound would come out. Yeah,

that is a good scene because you're you're right

you finally get the gang back together and you're

like, all right Let this adventure begin and

then it's like, oh, maybe not yet not happening

quite yet Yeah, I definitely agree with that

one for my number four I don't know, I think

this is a scene that maybe doesn't have the same

impact for some people because I don't hear a

lot of people mentioning this and a lot of people

like to hate on episode two and say that there's

nothing good that came out of it and there's

nothing, there's no redeeming qualities, but

I actually really enjoy the first time we see

the storm troopers on Kamino. And when it's not

just... seeing a stormtrooper, but it's when

you see them all in military formation, you know,

in their ranks and their lines, and all of a

sudden you're like, wow, like this is not how

that's gonna, you know, you're left with that

idea that... What the original intention for

these were or how is this gonna play out? They're

on the good side now, but you know They're all

gonna be bad but when you see them all lined

up in that first time and then you have the the

music musical cues that obviously Directly go

back to the stuff you've seen in the original

trilogy It was just like a it was a connective

moment to from the prequel trilogy to the original

trilogy that kind of always Gives me the goosebumps

when when you see them all assembled like that

Also like like doesn't it it shows you like like

a small amount and then I just keep zooming out

and zooming out like right cuts And every time

it cuts there's more and like yeah, like here's

one thousand of them all taking helmets off of

a helmet rack Like it's just it like, you know,

they're the good guys This is the army of the

Republic. But at the same time like you get that

clench in your heart and your stomach drops Yeah,

and you're like man. I don't know what's gonna

happen, but there's somehow these are all gonna

turn bad And I don't like this, but it's it's

just like I said It's just that kind of payback

with the musical cues and everything that was

just brought it brings it all for the first one

of the first times I mean we've been introduced

to characters that we know and this that and

the other but it was one of the first direct

visual connections where it's like this scene

could have been in one of the other films from

an aesthetic standpoint from a visual standpoint,

so Yeah, I think also it's the first time we

see this kind of, well, it was new to us, but

the first time you see the design of an early

Stormtrooper helmet. And I don't think any of

us expected there to be a, I was going to say

genetic, more just meaning similar in time, but

also literally genetic relationship between Stormtroopers

and something like Bulba Fett and Mandalorian.

Battle armor and Django Fett, you know that there's

definitely a similarity with the helmet styles.

So there's just a completely unexpected I remember

seeing that and just thinking well that of all

the origins for stormtroopers and clone troopers

I never thought it would have anything to do

with even remotely with with Bulba Fett this

other famous character right All right, that

means it's our top three started off Joe Well,

going back to something you brought up before,

Vader's choking ability. Vader choking Admiral

Modi in episode 4 while sitting around the table.

That classic, I find your lack of faith disturbing.

I should mention, growing up, watched the original

trilogy, we all did kind of ad nauseum. But when

my wife and I first started dating... She had

never sat down and watched Star Wars. So of course

that had to be corrected and She knew that Vader's

badass. She knew all about the big reveal and

Empire because you know growing up in America

you're going to but The scene when he chokes

him from across the room for simply mocking his

religion And his his and mocking the force she

had me pause the movie. She turned to me She

goes if he seriously could do this a real person

So that's just something that's always stuck

with me, that little experience. There's not

many people that you can show Star Wars to, really,

that have never seen any of it. So that was kind

of exciting for me. But again, going back to

what you were saying before with this, the ability

of somebody that's strong with a force that they

could do this. And they tend to do it a lot.

But the first time that we see it, it's just

always been one of my favorite scenes. And I

think it's the first time we really see that

extent of Vader's abilities on screen. We see

him picking people up and choking them, but earlier

in the film, this is the first time we see him

doing that from across a room. Yeah, and obviously

I'm in agreement with you since it's also on

my list. Matt, what do you have for number three?

I think I already said I had my most controversial,

but I'm gonna see if I can't up myself. My number

three is literally the Ewok battle in Jedi I'm

glad you bring that up because it was on my list

But it didn't it didn't make the final ten because

I I actually enjoy that one, too But I'll let

you go first what why that one like I don't know

I've absorbed a lot of what people said online

and stuff because I mean when people complain

about something It's hard not to take a lot of

it like the heart and to be like well these people

have such strong opinions Maybe they're right

um like people complain about like oh you know

they're they're just teddy bears they're adorable

how are they hurting you know armored trained

troops like why does this happen why does that

happen like it's it's got comical moments and

all that it can't be taken serious but just re

-watching it in the last week or two like it

is such a violent brutal scene like i get that

they're teddy bears but like You drop ten people

even on like a medieval knight armor like they're

gonna get those jabby pointy ends somewhere and

kill you and Like there are thousands of them

dropping from everywhere popping out of everywhere

And it's like that would have been the worst

thing ever like you're just like jamming things

everywhere into you You're not gonna be able

to defend like you're just gonna get murdered

But it's like brutal on both ends because you're

watching these stormtroopers just get massacred

But at the same time you have like that one Ewok

that gets shot and his best friend turns around

like hey you coming buddy? Like it's it's brutal.

It's violent. It has its comical moments But

that does like watching it as an adult that doesn't

like save the sourness of just how violent and

like vitriolic the whole scene is Like I love

it. I think it's great because even the cutest

thing in Star Wars still has that like terrible

violent edge to it And I think a couple things

from from my standpoint number one. Yeah, they

are cute and things like that but let's not forget

that this movie is not aimed at a hundred percent

you know a mature audience I mean this is a at

the time something supposed to appeal to all

ages and I don't think there's anything wrong

with them being in here but at the same time

like you say you take the cutest or the the most

lovable species of characters that we've come

across and they're still dying they're still

fighting. That moment that you're talking about

with that Ewok that gets shot, I'm not someone

that really gets too emotional when it comes

to being sad and that type of stuff in a movie,

but that gets me almost every time. Just the

reaction that his friend has, that's some good

pure emotional place that they go to there. And

I think it does add an element. And then you

also get the fun of Chewbacca being in one of

the walkers and raising up like that. I think

there's a lot to liken in that whole sequence.

So I'm glad you brought it up. Like I said, it

was probably my number 11. So I'm happy that

we're talking about it. Joe, what do you think

about the whole indoor scene? Um, you know, it's

gotten a lot of flack over the last couple of

years, or maybe more than that. Just, you know,

really the entire empire is brought down by muppets

that, you know, with sticks and stuff like that.

And again, how are they hitting these trained

stormtroopers? Yeah, then the same people complain

that stormtroopers can't hit anything with their

blasters. So, it's like, it makes a little more

sense then. I think there's something, I don't

know if it was intentional for George Lucas to

do this when writing that, but I think there's

something interesting about how we're looking

at this, while it is a long time ago, galaxy

far, far away, everything's somewhat futuristic

with lasers and hyperspace and building space

stations that look like planets that can destroy

their planets, and ultimately what brings everything

down is going back to this primitive tribe kind

of thing. I always thought that was interesting.

So I can see where some of the criticism comes

from if you're just looking at it from that perspective,

but I think there's other ways of viewing it,

and I can see why it would make somebody's list.

Alright, for my number three, I'm going back

to the prequel trilogy, and one of my favorite

characters probably in the whole film franchise,

we've already talked about him once, and that's

going back to the first time we see Darth Maul

unveil the double -edged lightsaber. There's

just something about that moment when he's standing

there and the way they have him, you know, the

choreography, I guess, to have him positioned

the way he does, and he lets that lightsaber

out and then you have the pause almost for a

second and then the other, and you're just like,

shit. Like, this is something that, you know,

we've seen, we've all seen the original trilogy

and we haven't seen any of this. We haven't seen

different types of lightsabers and that's obviously

something that happens in the prequel trilogy.

We see a number of different sizes or shapes

or different things and when he all of a sudden,

like he already get the fact that this guy is

red and black with spikes coming out of his head

and, you know, a man of few words and he's already

intimidating as hell. And now you have a lightsaber

going out of both ends and you're just like,

okay, I'm ready for wherever this is about to

go. So that was just kind of, there's a couple

of different sequences with him. It could be

the first time when he's on Tatooine, but for

me it's the first reveal of his lightsaber and

just kind of the elevation of we're dealing with

a badass right here. Yeah. Yeah, and I like that,

too. That's one thing that the whole trilogy

did that the originals didn't, is seeing the

different styles of lightsaber. You know, Count

Dooku's is shaped a little bit more like a fencing

foil, and even on Tatooine, when you first see

Darth Maul use a lightsaber for the first time,

looking back now, he uses it more like a bow

staff rather than a laser sword. So there was

almost a hint of what was to come. Even that

type of style of using it was very unique. Oh

yeah, the first time he hits both buttons, they

both come out though. Crap. All right, so number

two, Joe, what do you got? Obi -Wan dies in front

of Luke, episode four. So kind of going back

to my number nine. Right, so where Obi -Wan kills

Darth Maul, it's when he looks, in episode four,

when he looks at Luke and the stormtroopers that

suddenly crowd around because they're more interested

in seeing what's gonna happen too. I always gotta

kick out of that. It's not the most exciting

lightsaber duel at all in the franchise. It's

probably the least exciting and it's like watching

two old people fight. It's very stiff. It's not

very well choreographed. the dialogue isn't really

the best in it but it's it's the significance

of it that with looking at the franchise as a

whole Obi -Wan knows what seeing his master struck

down did for him and now he sees something in

Luke he knows who Luke is he knows this kid really

is the only hope though there is another um so

i'm he essentially just sacrifices himself and

straight down to it uh... which makes me even

more excited about force awakens to see what

luke is going to do now and see if you know is

is this something we're going to see in this

next trilogy somehow uh... i'm very excited to

see it and you know this is and seeing seeing

your trainer or your mentor or something be struck

down or lose their life. This is something that

is a classic in so many films. It's the basis

of why everybody gets emotional when they watch

the Rocky movies. It's the same kind of thing,

but this is one where we have a franchise and

we see the influence of it throughout generations.

So a really significant scene, in my opinion.

It also is something that even goes back to almost

a throwaway line from episode 3 where Yoda is

telling Obi -Wan about Qui -Gon's mastery of

the Force and the ability to still have a presence

and still be able to speak directly to people

and kind of live on after and you know this is

something that Obi -Wan obviously knows that

he, you know, throughout the time that he was

basically living like a hermit, that he was able

to develop that same power and he knows he has

that power and he knows that he's going to be,

even though it is also the emotional pull of

Luke seeing him struck down, it's also the fact

that he knows it's going to make him me. more

able to help Luke in a way that his old body

wasn't going to be able to do in the first time,

in the first place. So, yeah, I think that's

a great thing. That was something I always wish

that they put into the other prequels, though,

is I would like to have seen Kaigan Jin come

back as the force spirit. I would have liked

to have seen that a little bit more, at all.

But, yeah, always a great thing, though, to see

in the original trilogy. Part of me wonders whether

or not Lucas asked Liam Neeson if he wanted to

get put into like the special special special

edition of the blu -ray edition like when he

when he shooped in Hayden Christensen into Jedi

you should have just added Liam Neeson to Yeah,

yeah All right, Matt your number my number two

the the lightsaber duel the last one between

Luke and Vader um I don't even know if I need

to say anything like like it's it's just an amazing

fight um like it doesn't one thing I really like

about the the original trilogy that's not in

the prequel trilogy um because Lucas has trouble

with consistency. And if you see any old interviews

with Mark Hamill, he talks about it, how the

lightsabers were supposed to be like Excalibur.

They were supposed to be like infinitely heavy,

because they held the weight of the world. So

the jumping around wasn't intended to be a big

thing. it seems slower and clunkier than the

prequels but like it has just that weight and

then there's still moments like when Vader throws

his lightsaber that it's like holy shit um but

I don't know like Luke kicks Vader and he does

like a backflip I don't know I just really love

that fight um And I mean we've talked both in

the previous podcast about the conversation that

precedes it and in this podcast about the the

torture slash murder scene that comes after it

Like the end of Empire is huge and great and

important and awesome The lightsaber duels in

the original trilogy always seem to have a lot

more power and aggression behind them They were,

I want to say, a little more believable. Not

to say that they aren't good in the prequels.

The one with Darth Maul is one of the best. But

for choreography, I always thought that the prequel

duels were always very well choreographed and

they were flashy. They were almost like a dance

and they're really fun to watch. But there's

some emotion lacking there. deep -seated aggression

that we get, especially in the one you're talking

about at the end of Jedi. I mean, Luke's mad.

He's very mad. And it shows. It shows in every

one of his strikes, every single one of them.

All right. For my number two, I am going to something

that I guess we haven't really talked about too

much yet. And that is the whole... first encounter

sequence that we have between Luke and Yoda on

Dagobah and not just for all the knowledge and

the mentoring and the advice and the lessons

that Yoda is presenting to Luke but in that first

sequence when Yoda is intentionally playing the

fool and intentionally putting on a show because

you can definitely see the exact moment where

all of a sudden he switches to regular Yoda but

in that sequence when he's hitting R2 -D2 with

a stick and fighting over things with R2 -D2

and just the stuff that Frank Oz is doing in

that sequence To be backed up right against,

you know, obviously some pretty heavy Dialogue

that's gonna be taking place between Luke and

Yoda. I just I just really liked that sequence

to begin with just the whole Dynamic that you

get between Yoda and Luke and it's another thing

that I think if you watch the films in episodic

order that even Has a better impact because then

you get to see Yoda and you get to see why he's

been isolated and you know living this hermit

life for so long waiting for a moment and it

kind of adds to the element that you know the

reintroduction to the character but i i like

that entire sequence especially when yoda and

r2d2 are going at it it's also great um because

like not only is he like playing the fool and

being like he's pushing Luke like he He's like,

oh, no, no, we'll go see Yoda, but we got to

eat like oh, we'll see Yoda You know, yeah, just

wait like like he's seeing the boys patience

He's seeing what he's going to do, you know,

how angry will he get? What will he do whatever

do this? All right, that means all that's left

is our number one So Joe, what's the best moment

or one of your favorite moments from the Star

Wars film franchise? Well, uh This is probably

pretty predictable. It's the, but I have a caveat

to it. So Vader's big reveal to Luke, I am your

father. It's kind of the most, it's the classic

line and everything, but it's not just that it's,

to me, there's an exact scene or a moment within

the scene. He reveals himself that I'm your father.

Luke does his no thing. When Luke goes to fall,

When he kind of lets himself go and he falls,

Vader looks over the edge. And again, it's very

hard to show emotion in a mask. But there's some

body language of shock there. You almost expect

him to reach out at the last second like a parent

would if their kid were to fall from something.

It's the first moment, I think, where it becomes

apparent that there is somebody human inside

of that suit. But there's still some humanity

left in in Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader There's

still there's still some there's a heart in there

As I've mentioned before you know he makes the

line about you know you and I can overthrow the

Empire and rule the galaxies father and son Yeah,

that's his motive, but there's also you know

let's also remember that everything He was motivated

by with his downfall was really out of love.

It was really out of feel kind of having too

much emotion and not knowing how to handle it.

So that's a scene that every time I go back and

I watch Empire, which is more than the other

ones, to be honest, that moment just has always

stuck with me. That it's not just a, you know,

come fight with me, but it's when Luke, you know,

says no and he falls, it's that kind of, dare

I say, look on Vader's face. Shit this didn't

work out the way. I thought it was going to Yeah,

so that's right So that's that to me has always

been my number one favorite moment in in the

series Definitely a very iconic moment, and you

can't argue with that one Matt What's your number

my number one? He has that moment. I want the

whole scene From the very beginning of the lightsaber

fight which like traverses half of cloud city

Because like they start one place and they go

to the chamber and then they go Through that

window and then they fall down and it comes out

of the bottom like so it moves all over the place

Even though again, it doesn't have the flashy

anime feel of the prequel fights It's still a

slower like more methodical fight, but they still

traverse a huge territory um that moment that

big reveal right at the end of the movie that

just like sets that dour note that finishes the

movie it's like yeah so like that guy's captured

i cut off your arm also the main villain's your

dad credits like and the and the callback too

to the you know the hand being cut off and the

connection there that you get where you know

is this just the beginning of him Possibly going

down a similar path or or you know now we have

even more of a connection to you're more like

your father than you want to Yeah, like it's

his first robotic bit like Anakin had his first

robotic bit But one thing again just pointing

out the silliness that is the Star Wars One thing

that I don't ever hear anyone talking about which

might be the only thing that to me is funnier

than the Gamorrean Guard holding C -3PO's mouth,

is there's a part where Vader's throwing things

at Luke using the Force, which is a great tactic

if you're a Jedi. But really, there's 10 seconds

of Mark Hamill standing on screen and people

throwing boxes at him. They just got stagehands

throwing shit at Mark Hamill. How many takes

did they take? Nah, throw another box. I threw

it too high. Throw a lower box. There had to

be a bunch, because by the time they get to the

final take that's in the movies, it looks like

he's had a hundred things. It looks like he has

no energy left in his body. He definitely looked

exhausted, yeah. It's such a huge emotional scene,

and seeing it a million times, I know the big

reveal's gonna be there, but I still can't stop

from laughing when the boxes start hitting him.

So that's my favorite bit of Star Wars, I guess.

Nice. My number one has already been talked about

in a way by both of you. And that is going to

the end of the end there, where Darth actually

kills the Emperor. I mean, if you've watched

him again... You've been waiting for this dude

to die for six films like you're like somebody

just take this jerk out like please God and and

just the way it goes down and I think it's to

it's something Obviously, we've all seen the

films a hundred times But if you're watching

this film for the first time growing up as a

child, you know, like we did You don't know that

it's gonna be Vader that kills the Emperor you

just You know, you might be able to predict it,

but it's not something that, you know, you have

a fight where Luke is the good guy. Luke has

been the hero for these three films. Luke is

gonna be the one that does, you know, that either

kills Vader or kills the Emperor, etc. And Luke

doesn't kill anybody. Like, honestly, he doesn't

do any of it. He does it only through the fact

that there's an emotional pull there. And he

helps motivate Darth Vader, but everything about

that whole sequence, the fact that the Emperor

finally dies, the fact that Luke You know, you

have that moment where he's getting electrocuted.

You don't know what's gonna happen to him. You

get the Darth Vader turn. You get the taking

off of the mask to actually see what Darth Vader

looks like, which I remember as a kid, I always

wanted to be like, you know, what's under the

mask? What does this guy look like? And then

they finally do that, and you're like, ah, God.

No, put that back on. Like, what happened to

this dude? Because at that point, you don't know,

like, the backstory. You don't know what's happened

to cause him to be Darth Vader. So it's like...

Jeepers what? Cruel thing happened to this individual,

but everything about that sequence obviously

you guys have both had you know different parts

of that sequence on yours as well So I think

it goes without saying that that's probably one

of the one of them more iconic sequences I mean

it I guess it's cheap to use the climactic scene

of the final film that we have but It's there's

a lot there There's and it especially when you

back it up with the fact that you had the whole

set up with the Emperor Just explaining to Luke

how all of this is going to go awfully wrong

for him and how all your friends are going to

die and I've already foreseen this and this is

already going to happen and you're screwed. And

then just for the Emperor not to see it coming

as well was kind of a nice little touch because

it's like you just got killed by the same way

that you as an arrogant little prick talked to

Anakin about how you killed your master. Guess

what, buddy? It happened to you too. Like you

could talk about that scene for forever like

and the guy That plays the Emperor in the four

movies that he plays them Does such an amazing

job of just being this vile human being like

even every like his voice just drips with venom

It's like oh, I hate this guy. He's so evil um

But one thing we haven't talked about even though

we've mentioned that that bit three times now

is When he's shocking him like like is when Luke

has that turn right because he's he's like Luke

has that anger when he's fighting Vader and he

takes Vader down and he beats Vader and it's

like oh shit is Luke gonna go evil is he gonna

kill the Emperor become the new the new Sith

Master and Then he turns he's like no. I'm gonna

be good. He gets shocked his breast pocket or

whatever pops open and you see that he's not

wearing all black he's got white underneath like

it's there's good in him just like there's good

in Vader um yeah there's a lot of symbolism and

stuff in that scene that uh gets overlooked i

think just because of how dense it is and how

great it is yeah i definitely agree with that

I'm actually somewhat surprised at how diverse

we were. We didn't really have too much of crossover

picks, which is impressive. I think we almost

got to like 30 different moments. I mean, maybe

about 26 or 25 or so. That's pretty good. Matt,

did you have any, if you want, like two or three

moments that just missed your cut or do you have

any that you want to throw out there that we

didn't talk about? I've got a list of things

that... should be on my list but aren't because

of caveats. Because as I mentioned, I think I

said on the last one, I've got 10 moments that

aren't even gonna make the list because they

can't for one reason or another. So since I wanted

to mention them, I've got one from Caravan of

Courage, the Ewok Adventure, which is right at

the very beginning. when Sindel's family dies

right this is a made for tv star wars movie it's

star wars it's a movie but it's made for tv and

it's aimed at a younger audience than the actual

movies um and it's going to get prime time airing

so they can't show these people get murdered

but they get murdered hardcore and and the way

they do it is they have like life sensor readings

so she can like she's got a communicator wristwatch

that she can communicate with each one of her

family members and it has like a life sensor

reading and you watch them individually wink

out as she as this like six -year -old girl watches

her family die from afar um that i i love that

that's an amazing scene um in uh the battle for

endor the second ewok adventure i want to mention

the witch lady who turns into a bird because

the force does that somehow. I'm waiting for

the holiday special moment. Oh dude, my favorite

holiday special moment is actually the cooking

moment where It's well, I mean, it's probably

my favorite moment, but not the best scene where

she's like whipping with one thing and she's

like, OK, and now you need to stir while you're

whipping and she gets another arm and now you

need to whisk while you're whipping. And she

gets another arm and she ends up growing like

six arms just to cook one stew. It's great. So

another one episode to the deleted scene. Again,

I said I read the book and this was one of my

favorite scenes from the book was when Anakin

meets Padme's family. And it's just, again, it's

like a rom -com where they're all like, so, this

is the first boyfriend you've brought home. And

it's like, well, we're not dating. And it's,

I don't know, it's one of my favorite scenes

from the book. They shot it, but didn't put it

in the movie. And I think that's an amazing one

worth mentioning. The only one that I guess could

have - And they don't have any problem with the

age difference either. It's only like five years.

I know. It's just so weird at episode one. It

really is. They did an amazing job getting a

second actor to play Anakin. Because otherwise

it would have been really, really weird. Especially

because, like, Natalie Portman's, like, a good

five, ten years older than Padme's supposed to

be. Right. I guess the only one that could have

actually made my list, so I'll say it was my

number 11, was the murder scene in Mustafar,

where Anakin, this Jedi Knight, just fucking

lightsabers down 30 unarmed dudes. Like, and

they just die. Like, he's just like, he's stabbing,

slicing, cutting, it's like, I get they're villains,

but it's like, the head of a trade organization,

the head of a banking clan, like the techno union

dude, they're just... bureaucrats, politicians,

they're nobody, he just murders them. And then

my last two are from, that were, I believe in

the novelizations, but definitely in the radio

dramas. The first one is the Leia torture scene,

which is in episode four, where you only get,

Darth Vader walks in with the interrogator droid

and the door closes and it cuts away. They did

an expanded scene and it just like like one it

shows even more crazy things Darth Vader can

do with the Force. Two, it's so much more humanizing

and like connects you to Leia in ways that I

don't think the movies did a good enough job

with. It just shows you how brutal and violent

Darth Vader is, how much he wants to destroy

this rebellion and bring peace to the galaxy

his way. It's probably the greatest scene in

episode four's radio dramatization. And I really

suggest you guys seek it out. NPR did it 20 years

ago, 30 years ago. And it's great. And then the

final one is from the radio dramatization of

Empire, which is... um when Han Solo finds Luke

um because he doesn't just like stuff Luke in

the tauntaun and then just sit outside in the

winter cold all night um they actually show what

happens like he gets out a um a survivalist tent

and he has to put it up in the wind and cold

and then get Luke into it and then like start

the the early stages of the medical recovery

and then they have like this chat about just

how miserable things are but like they've got

to keep fighting And they still kind of quip

and poke at fun at each other. And it's just

a great moment where those two show their friendship.

So those are all my little bits that didn't quite

make my list. All right. Joe, you got anything

you want to throw out that hasn't been mentioned

yet? Yeah, a couple. Just the scene where we

actually, where Han Solo is put in carbonite.

It's, you know, it's a classic. There's the classic.

one of the most romantic lines, you know, the,

I love you, I know. And just the whole backstory

from the behind the scenes of how that line came

to be, how that wasn't in the script, that was

Harrison Ford, you know, just because the script

wasn't working for him. But just the way that

that all planned out, even the scenery is great.

It's one of the few lines you actually get from

Boba Fett. But the set for that and the whole

idea of this deep freeze and carbonite and it

was one of my favorite things as a kid. I remember

taking my Han Solo action figure and wrapping

it in aluminum foil because it kind of looked

like that. But that was one that almost made

my list. And the other one is also in Empire,

Luke in the Wampa Cave. It's the first time we

see Luke's abilities a little bit as he's learning

the Force. And also the deleted scene that kind

of goes along with that whole opening of Empire,

which I mentioned briefly before, where apparently

Wampas have been a problem for the Hoth base.

So they've got a room that they've just been

stuffing them into alive. And there's a sign

on the door that says, do not enter Wampas. During

the the Empire Raid 3PO tears the sign off the

door As this is tricking and I understand they

deleted it because that's really something 3PO

would never do He's not very cunning to oh this

will lure them on to the wrong place I know it's

behind this door, but just when when you see

the see the stormtroopers the snow within the

snow fatigues Open that door all you see is like

four woppa hands reach out grab them and pull

them in It reminds me of a scene from the original

Dawn of the Dead in the 70s. Just hands coming

out and grabbing people to their doom. So I thought

the introduction of the Wampa and some of the

other creatures like the Tonton was always a

favorite of mine. So those almost made the list,

but just not quite honorable mention more than

anything else. I just have a couple that haven't

been mentioned that I'll bring up. Two of them

which I believe go to really kind of show the

evolution of Anakin Skywalker. Obviously the

first one would be when he takes Dooku's head

and that was just a scene just the way they choreographed

that one too with the lightsabers on either side

you know crossed by his head and Dooku's look

to the Emperor. of, wait a second, what? What

are you going to let happen here? Kill it. And

then partner that with a couple different ones,

like Matt already said, when he takes out all

the diplomats, but the most heart -wrenching

scene in the entire franchise, which is probably

why it didn't make my list, because it's almost

too terrible, which is when he goes to the Jedi

Temple. Yeah. It's just the wrong type of goosebumps,

but man. just to see what level he has gone to

now. And it's just like, wow, there's no turning

back from that. Or at least so you'd think. So

just those kind of progressions of Anakin. I

think Darth Vader's initial appearance in the

original trilogy in episode four, when he comes

through those doors, was always a moment as a

kid that I was like, oh, it's Darth Vader. Walking

and talking and stuff like that. That moment

always got me. and then my last one would be

that moment kind of to go along with what you

were saying joe with that opening uh sequence

there with them out in the cold is the moment

that they decide to shut the blast doors and

chewy lets out that scream i guess for lack of

better term it was just that whole sequence for

me was really showing how deep of a connection

you have between Chewbacca and Han Solo and what

kind of, you know, character Chewbacca is, but

just that idea that you're locking my guy out

there, you know, my best friend or my, you know,

whatever you want to call him, out there, and

then that stream that kind of partnered with

it was just kind of, it always hit home for me

that, you know, that's not just a pilot and a

co -pilot. Oh, and that little kind of... tap

of the head against the wall or whatever it was,

you know that right you're seeing a one depressed

Wookie and We had seen that Yeah, for sure. So

those are a whole bunch of moments for you guys

to get the and get you salivating for episode

seven, a lot of different things to think of.

We had a bunch of fights, we had some emotional

stuff, we had some humor, we had a whole bunch

of different characters. I think we hit every

film, so I think we did a pretty good job there.

If there's moments that we left out that you

would like to talk about, make sure you go to

the website www .geekcastradio .com, find the

episode post, and let us know what your favorite

moments are, which ones you're happy we talked

about, which ones you're mad that we left off.

We definitely will enjoy having the conversation

with you there, and if you're if you haven't

got enough of your Star Wars fix yet Don't worry

We still have some more stuff coming for you

in the next couple of weeks as we head an inch

closer and closer to episode 7's release Joe

I would like to thank you for being on this episode

I've been looking forward to trying to get you

on one of these and what better way than to talk

some Star Wars Thank you for my pleasure. Thank

you very much. It's been a lot of fun absolutely

and Matt As always, it's always great to touch

base with you, another Star Wars aficionado,

so thank you for joining me on this one as well.

And Matt, how can people keep in touch with you

on Twitter? I am at FridleyScent. Excellent.

Joe, do you have a Twitter? I do. It is at jptephonomy

.com. Alright. And mine is? That's so easy to

spell. And mine is at Optimus Solo and obviously

follow the website on Facebook so search out

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doing over here with our top 100 TV show countdown

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so hopefully you are joining the conversation

and reacting and interacting with that as well

so until next week we'll talk some more Star

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