Sunday, December 20, 2015

The Force is back: Viva Star Wars!

HALLIE EPHRON: I love Love LOVED the first Star Wars movie. Liked the second one. And the rest were a complete waste of time designed, as far as I can tell, primarily to sell lunchboxes and action figures. There were special effects galore but it felt s if they'd hired a wookie to write the dialogue. 

I'm thrilled to hear that STAR WARS: The Force Awakens is getting enthusiastic thumbs-up from reviewers. Can't wait to see it!

So for those of you who, like me, are ready for your Star Wars fix, here's a little quiz to take you back to that first Star Wars experience.

For each of these quotes from the movie.
Who is speaking, and about whom (or what)?

Your choices:A. Princess Leia
B. Luke Skywalker
C. Han Solo
D. Obi-Wan Kenobi
E. Darth Vader
F. C-3PO
G. R2D2
H. Chewbacca
I. The Millenium Falcon

1. Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?
A, B

2. This is all your fault.
F, G

3. Will someone get this big walking carpet out of my way?
A, H

C, A

5. I would much rather have gone with Master Luke than stay here with you. I don't know what all this trouble is about, but I'm sure it must be your fault.
F, G

6. Escape is not his plan. I must face him alone.
E, D

A, C

8. Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!
C, H

9. This is some rescue! You came in here, but didn't you have a plan for getting out?
A, C

10. Someone has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, fly boy.
A, C

11. I sense something; a presence I've not felt since...
E, D

12. Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease.
F, G

B, F

14. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.
C, I

15. Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault!
F, G

16. Where did you dig up that old fossil?
C, D

17. I knew there was more to you than money.
A, C

18. Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them.
D, B

My favorite scene in the movie is the one in the garbage compactor. 
"It could be worse." (Princess Leia)
"It is worse." (Han Solo)

Or maybe the one in the bar when Han Solo blows away one of the aliens.
"Pardon the mess."

Did you love it? Or miss it completely and wonder what the fuss is all about?


  1. Star Wars . . . loved the first three, but the next three didn't quite have that same magic. I'm glad to hear that the magic is back in "The Force Awakens" . . . we're planning to see it, too.
    Thanks for the lots-of-fun quiz.

  2. Loved it. I believe the reaction was called burble syndrome, especially to the cantina scene. Until the first Star Wars, there had been nothing on film that captured what science fiction readers had been imagining for years.

  3. Totally out of the loop on Star Wars! I was in the gym yesterday and one of the trainers was complaining that one of her clients (a grown man) was going to see the movie at 10 am. He was so distracted, he couldn't follow simple directions!

    supposing you've seen none of the movies, could you understand the new one?

  4. Oh, Lucy, what are we going to do with you? If you missed the FIRST Star Wars (New Hope) then I am so jealous... because you can watch it for the first time (Imagine being able to watch The Wizard of Oz for the first time!)


  5. I've seen the new Star Wars movie twice already. Both times in 3D. Loved it every bit as much the second time as the first. LOVED it! I can't even say how much I loved it.

    I almost didn't go because I thought the whole magic of Star Wars had been ruined by the last three movies after creating a very special something with the first three.

    But. The magic is back. and I'm a happy girl.

  6. Hallie, you make me feel lucky, since I've only seen the first two.

    But those snippets of dialogue jogged my memory about how good they were, especially the first one. Harrison Ford was so funny, wasn't he?

  7. He was indeed,Karen - and what a lucky guy to get cast in that part AND as Indiana Jones AND as Richard Kimble AND as Rusty Sabich.

  8. TWICE?!? So jealous, Kaye... you know I didn't realize it's in 3D. I'm definitely going to have to spring for whatever exorbitant fee they're charging.

  9. You forgot: "Let the Wookie win!" One of my favorite lines. First three, classics. Second three, didn't bother watching once I saw the casting for the future Darth Vader. This one, can't wait! I read a snarky review that called it a poor imitation of the first one. Ha! If it catches even half the magic of the first one, I'm there! Thrills and chills! Lucy, I can still remember the gasp that filled the theater when Darth Vader appeared on-screen for the first time! And this was an audience mostly of adults.

  10. Let the Wookie win! - RIGHT! The 3-D chess match.

  11. Hallie LOVE this! And I got them all right! Does that mean I pass the NERD exam? LOVED the first three movies (although #3 not as much as the first two. Forget the Ewoks!) Then I actually suffered all the way through The Phantom Menace, which beyond awful. I hear the second two in that trilogy are better, but egads... (Any opinions on that, folks?)

    So of course we are going to see the new movie but we just went to see Spectre last week so must let our movie budget recover. So glad to hear it's fun.

  12. The first three Star Wars movies, episodes IV, V, and VI, I saw with my husband, and the movies rather follow different phases in my live, starting with just married in 1977. I wasn't a science fiction fan, so they were a new type of story for me, and even though I loved the first one, I admit to not being overly excited about the next one, The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, my husband has never let me forget that when we were in Tucson, Arizona visiting a friend and we were picking a movie to attend, I uttered those unforgettable words about The Empire Strikes Back, "It's just another science fiction movie." Yes, I regret those words, and we did pick that movie and loved it. The third movie, Return of the Jedi, marked a new phase in our lives, as I was pregnant with our first child in 1983. It's probably good that it was 16 years until the next Star Wars movie, The Phantom Menace, as I was busy raising two children, and my son, by now in 1999 was twelve-years-old and my new science fiction guru, was my movie companion for the next three Star Wars movies. My son and I shared movies, no matter how old he got, and I miss that with him living elsewhere these days. My daughter was less of a movie goer. But, they both are readers, so I'm happy. Anyway, here we are back to the next phase, where the children are grown, and my husband and I are grandparents. We plan on seeing The Force Awakens over Christmas, back to where it all began.

  13. I remember the first one SO well--fabulous. Life-changing . Remember when no one had heard of the Force?

    Cannot wait to se this one-we re trying to get tickets, but all the times we want to go are sold out. AndI refuse to go in the morning.

  14. I remember our next door neighbor in El Paso talking about a new scifi movie coming out with great special effects. Yup, Star Wars! I was pregnant with my son in 1977. Saw the movie and loved it. He got to come along for the next two. He's one of many kids out there who had an ewok instead of a teddy bear. The prequel movies were such a letdown that I don't think I even saw them all. No loss there. I have hopes for the current rendition since it is bringing back Han and Leia and Luke. Cross my fingers.

  15. I remember watching the original Star Wars movies and enjoying them, but not being crazed about them like many. Then I saw the first prequel and what a disaster. Never saw the other two prequels. Last night I rewatched the first Star Wars, the true Star Wars. I hope to see the newest one in the theaters in the next few weeks.

    But two of the quotes above are mislabeled as Obi-Wan about Darth Vader (D, E)'s the other way around (E, D).
    "Escape is not his plan. I must face him alone."
    "I sense something; a presence I've not felt since..." seen here

  16. Greetings earthlings from another planet. I have never seen a Star Wars movie. My husband is threatening to topple the rock I have apparently lived under all these years and make me watch all of them in a binge before we see the latest, but he confessed the other day that he only liked the first two. So, I'm figuring I've got leverage to make it a two movie binge :)

  17. I enjoyed the new movie. I'm not going to get into my only problem with the movie (and it is a problem) for fear of being shot for spoilers, but on the whole I enjoyed it. Seeing it tomorrow night with a friend and then seeing it with a different friend sometime next month and looking forward to it both times.

  18. Missy, thanks for the corrections! I fixed them.

  19. I guess because I'm just his mother, one of my sons assumed I'd never seen Star Wars. He made fun of my non nerdy state. He laughed out loud. He guffawed. He told me what a treat I was in for. Although I might not understand it. But he would be there to help. He was going to wake me up. Free me from my academic bonds. He gave me the great gift of The Star Wars Trilogy--old and new versions. He unwrapped the next set. Then the interviews. One would explain the Ewok to me. He unpacked a stack of cast and crew interviews followed by a set of producer, writer, director interviews.

    He set the first Star Wars CD on top of my old VCR as he ever so patiently pointed out that the first Star Wars recordings were made on TAPE and opened the cabinet to put the rest of the CDs away...

    "Oh. Right. You are right, Mom. We don't talk enough."

  20. Oh, I forgot to mention one of my favorite toys ever. I could say that it was a Christmas gift for the kids, but I'd be fooling no one in my family. We had and still have the Ewok Family Hut, and to go with it the Ewok Woodland Wagon and the Ewok Fire Cart. They are so adorable, but I've always been more taken with them than the kids and grandkids. My son did enjoy them for a bit. I wish I'd gotten the Ewok Village playset, too. It was all by Kenner. A link to see the family hut is I can't figure out who I bought it for. It must have been my daughter, since the toys came out in 1984, when my daughter was a year old and my son wasn't yet born. But, as I said, I myself was in love with the Ewoks, so I probably didn't need much of an excuse. We have other Star Wars toys, but the Ewoks are my favorite.