5d ago

Opinions of the New Hope radio drama?

Mark Hamill voices Luke himself, the rest are mostly replacements. The guy who plays Han Solo sounds like a ProZD character.

Very cozy and you get tons of “slice of life” Mark Hamill being a naïve teenage Luke goofing off with his friends. It’s clearly before our favorite Maury moment, so you get a little bit of disconcerting Luke/Leia romance, but she sounds so different you can just pretend she’s an entirely different person.

Also - this was produced by NPR. Fucking awesome, we need to throw more money at them.

6 comments

No joke, these three radio dramas are some of my favorite Star Wars media out there and they have been since I discovered them. I love pretty much everything that comes out, but the OT holds a very special place in my heart and these feel like extended cuts of those movies in a way. ANH is my favorite just because there's SO MUCH added context/story, but the other two are fantastic as well. Seeing bits and pieces from George's original ideas/earlier versions of the film scripts is one of my favorite things about them. I shout my love for these productions from the rooftops basically every chance I get.
I saw a panel at Celebration... Chicago I think? that was kind of an oral history of these put on by two college professors. One of the best fan panels I've ever seen.
Also ESB gives us John Lithgow as Yoda? Incredible.

I enjoyed it a lot when I got it a few years ago. It's quite a gem, actually, either as a standalone story or as an expansion to A New Hope.
There are some nuanced differences. Han Solo came across as more ruthless than the easygoing version of the movies, which made his change of heart more meaningful. The interludes on Alderaan give more background to the rebellion as well as amplify Leia's loss. Darth Vader's torture scene with Leia was intense.
Overall, it has the feel of an old time Flash Gordon serial.

I haven't heard it since it aired. I remember enjoying it. My parents thought it was the greatest because they grew up with radio plays.

Couldn't care less. Didn't even know this was a thing.
Disney ruined Star Wars for me. There are way too many films and shows now, and none of them are particularly interesting.
I enjoyed Rogue One. Refuse to see Solo (they didn't need to explain the Kessel run). Gave The Mandalorian, Boba Fett, and Obi Wan a chance. None of them were particularly interesting so I gave up on all of them by the 3rd episode. (The girl who played young Leia was particularly insufferable.) Couldn't care less about Star Wars anymore.
Maybe when the Knights of the Old Republic remake comes out I'll play that. But other than that, the franchise is dead to me.
- It’s was released in the middle of the era when Disney was doing shit like Pete the Dragon and The Black Cauldron - none of the Mouse’s touch. Luke and Leia are not at all acting like siblings.
  I think it’s a great counter to what the series is now, almost like an extended cut of a New Hope.
  
  They probably never read your response and will miss out on something they would probably enjoy quite a bit ...
  Hell, they obviously didn't even read your post.

6 comments