A Thousand Stars: Episode V, Part 12
Aug. 14th, 2025 03:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilImperial troops have entered the base. Imperial troops have entered the -- With that chilling cut-off sentence, we can easily imagine the horror. And Han and Leia barely escape getting crushed by a wall collapse. Note how Han has thrown himself over her, as if to shield her. It might not have actually offered much protection against an entire ceiling, but he has noble instincts. He just doesn't voice them very...nobly. With her way to the transport blocked, he yanks her back down the hall to the Falcon. I mean, it makes sense, but he doesn't pause to ask her, and it's hardly a wonder she only accepts his help with bad grace herself.
There's a dread-inspiring image. The halls we've come to associate with the Rebellion, suddenly darkened by the fearsome Sith Lord. Even though the opening crawl referred to his obsession with finding Luke, splicing this image amid Han and Leia's scenes lets us know that he's right on their tail. And their ship isn't cooperating that well. It's fun how little effects like a burst of steam give us the idea that the Falcon isn't running optimally. The starship's mechanisms are entirely fictitious, but somehow a combination of sight gags and clanky whiny noises evoke a suitable sense of disaster.
Of course the actors' responses help a great deal as well. Here's another snappy confrontation between the two stubborn love interests, with Leia's sarcastic quips and Han's snippy defenses. Harrison Ford's trademark gesture shows up as a wordless response to Threepio, and then he storms determinedly for the cockpit, flipping switches and levers with a very convincing depiction of someone in a real ship who knows what all the controls do (even if those controls are not entirely cooperating at the moment).
At last, at last, the ship behaves like it's supposed to and escapes the hanger, literally in the knick of time to escape Vader's grasp. Why is he pursuing them instead of Luke? The answer will be suitably shocking, but for now the chase is enough to keep us on the edge of our seats.
Next, the next stage of the chase...
There's a dread-inspiring image. The halls we've come to associate with the Rebellion, suddenly darkened by the fearsome Sith Lord. Even though the opening crawl referred to his obsession with finding Luke, splicing this image amid Han and Leia's scenes lets us know that he's right on their tail. And their ship isn't cooperating that well. It's fun how little effects like a burst of steam give us the idea that the Falcon isn't running optimally. The starship's mechanisms are entirely fictitious, but somehow a combination of sight gags and clanky whiny noises evoke a suitable sense of disaster.
Of course the actors' responses help a great deal as well. Here's another snappy confrontation between the two stubborn love interests, with Leia's sarcastic quips and Han's snippy defenses. Harrison Ford's trademark gesture shows up as a wordless response to Threepio, and then he storms determinedly for the cockpit, flipping switches and levers with a very convincing depiction of someone in a real ship who knows what all the controls do (even if those controls are not entirely cooperating at the moment).
At last, at last, the ship behaves like it's supposed to and escapes the hanger, literally in the knick of time to escape Vader's grasp. Why is he pursuing them instead of Luke? The answer will be suitably shocking, but for now the chase is enough to keep us on the edge of our seats.
Next, the next stage of the chase...
