Thursday, July 26, 2007

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: The Original Radio Drama

It's that time again! Here's the Return of the Jedi radio drama, available this time all at once and in just 3 easy downloads! Though, unfortunately, each time I try to import the last bonus track, the program freezes, so if anybody has that file and would like to donate it, as it were, that would be great. I'll keep trying, however. Terribly sorry about that.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this Star Wars run and all are getting maximum listening pleasure from these outstanding productions. Have fun with this last installment, and may the Force be with you :] If you're craving more Star Wars all the time, I heartily recommend Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, widely considered to be the sort of default Episodes VII, VIII, and IX that Lucas will never give us (and that we probably don't want from him- *Indy IV. . .*)
Fifteen years after the dramatic success of National Public Radio's adaptation of Star Wars, the production team re-formed to create Return of the Jedi: The Original Radio Drama. Though the running time is scaled down to three hours, listeners are still treated to an expanded story line and new scenes. Another fine cast is assembled, with radio series veterans Perry King and Ann Sachs as Han Solo and Leia Organa, and newcomer Joshua Fardon as an excellent Luke Skywalker. While Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) is the only actor from the film, Ed Begley Jr. contributes a gravely voiced Boba Fett, John Lithgow adds a rather somber Yoda, and Edward Asner, hopefully not being typecast, makes a believable Jabba the Hutt--though only an expert would be able to tell if his Huttese pronunciation is correct. The characters of this radio production inhabit a stereo soundscape created by careful blending of sound effects and John Williams's music from the original films. As with the two previous productions--Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Jedi is a treat for the ears--and the mind's eye. Any Star Wars fan will enjoy this production, even though it does mean imagining rather than seeing Anakin with his mask and helmet off or Luke defeating the Rancor. Besides, the Ewoks are much less annoying when you can't see them. (Running time: 3 hours, 3 cassettes) --C.B. Delaney
*Star Wars geeks should keep an ear out for "Arica" in the Jabba's palace scenes.

[Buy]
[Picture source]

I really appreciated the feedback on the Godfather question, so I'm gonna give it a go with another easy question and see if we get more comments.

Q: In what order do you rank the 6 Star Wars films? And by what criteria? Quality? Enjoyment? Presence of annoying alien races, by percentage? :]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would rank them in the following order:

THe Empire Strikes Back
A New Hope
Return of the Jedi (yeah, third. I understand the whole many seemingly weak individuals combining together against a common enemy crap, but damn it Ewoks are annoying.)
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith

Please note the I didn't even rank The Phantom Menace. This movie should not have even existed. What little storyline it gave us could have been incorporated in the first ten to twenty minutes of Attack of the Clones.

Revenge of the Sith is last because it was rushed and seemed very very "fake". Anakin's decent into darkness was a sudden one. He didn't at all seem that close to his mother. At least it was never shown on film. Give us a reason (a better one) for him to take it out on the Jedi. Maybe the Jedi accidently killed his mother...

Yeah, don't get me started, I could be here awhile.

~Comrade Anonymous

Anonymous said...

this may be boring, but I rank them in the order they were released - I completely enjoyed the whole experience, but I think they started sliding downhill following A New Hope . . . I'm looking forward to your update on comic-con . . . thanks for Return of the Jedi!!
ken

b said...

Please note the I didn't even rank The Phantom Menace.

Haha! Very nice, comrade. Ep I came out when I was in 6th grade, so I'm afraid I have some residual fondness for it. Please on't kill me people :p

I definitely agree that Anakin's change was far too abrupt. And most of all, I swear, those films would have been just a little better if they had cast someone who could actually act rather than Natalie Portman, who did a terrible job and made Hayden's wooden acting seem decent compared to her.

I can't decided if I put Empire or New Hope first (I know, I'm terribly wishy washy), but after that, I think I go: Return of the Jedi, Attack of the Clones (Obi-wan gets some Classic Trilogy-esque lines in + the hardcore excitement when Yoda started fighting), Revenge of the Sith, and then the Jar-Jar movie :p I used to rank them in a kinda reverse-thing-that-Ken-does, with the Classic Trilogy by the way they were ordered, then the new episodes in the reserve release order, but I've been changing my mind.

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone!

b said...

Sorry, forgot to add this- I do agree Phanton Menace has no plot. You can tell George was way too excited about a ginormous budget and his own amazing technology to worry about that. Things got better as he started to sorta figure that out.

 

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