Then I’ll See You In Hell
Thursday, July 20th, 2006 at 7:39 am
How much would we love Han Solo had he not been played by Harrison Ford?
I wonder that when I think of the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back. While the book gives great insight to the story, the dialogue differs in certain popular scenes. The most notable changes are where Harrison Ford supposedly improvised. (It’s documented that Ford was annoyed by the films’ dialogue and even told Star Wars creator George Lucas, “You can type this shit, George, but you sure can’t say it.”)
If I refer to my beloved blue paperback copy of the book, which upon opening goes right to p. 107 — Han and Princess Leia’s first kiss — we can review the biggest difference. The book has Han and Leia kiss twice in this scene. The first time is after she tells him she likes nice men, to which he replies, “And I’m not nice?” (In the movie he says, “I’m nice men” then kisses her.)
After the kiss, Leia tries to scold him with a “Okay, hot shot, I–” but he leans in and kisses her again, but this time she not only responds to him in kind, but also takes a moment to glaze into his eyes as he holds her tightly afterward. (This scene is not in the movie.)
When Leia finally gently pulls away, Han watches as she slowly walks away, then he notices that Chewbacca has been silently standing nearby, so he calls to the Wookie, “Okay, Chewie, give me a hand with this valve.”
In the movie, the romantic moment is interrupted by C3PO, who barges in on them to announce that he’s isolated the reverse power flux coupling. For once, Han doesn’t scream at C3P, but instead calmly tells the droid, “Thank you. Thank you very much” though we all know how frustrated Han really is. Chewie does not appear in this scene in the film.
The other place the book immediately opens to is on p. 179 where Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite. This is the famous scene where Leia tells Han she loves him. In the book, Han’s response is, “Just remember that, because I’ll be back.” The line in the movie script was originally, “I love you, too,” but Ford thought there was no way someone like Han would respond like that, so he changed it to “I know.” Classic Han Solo.
But even with these dialogue differences, the book is still a great read, especially since Empire was the “thinking” movie (as opposed to the others which rely a lot on special effects and big space battles) and the book gives you the characters’ thoughts during scenes like Luke’s training with Yoda, Han and Leia in Cloud City, and Luke and Vadar’s lightsaber duel.
And one of my favorite lines in the movie? Another Han Solo gem that’s not in the book:
Then I’ll see you in hell!
Check out the banner I made a while back dedicated to my favorite line:
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From what I’ve read, Ford ad-libbed a bunch of his lines. He would tell the director he had an idea for a change but I’m not sure if he actually told the director what he would say. They tried it and the director kept it.
However, the new SW films with all their CGI and green screening could never allow for the acting freedom that the originals did. I think that’s why Ewan came off so stiff in the first two of them. Up to that point, he had been so accustomed to life as an indie actor where you could just drown yourself in the acting and do whatever and still make it work because there were no special effects, really. Then he winds up on this big dollar actioner and suddenly has his freedom taken away. By the third film, he became used to what he could and could not do and his acting was better as a result.
The Original Trilogy = actor-driven movies
The Prequel Trilogy = effects-driven movies
Just my two Lincolns. But I do still enjoy the PT and will fight side-by-side with you against those who call them crap. Not the best, admittedly. But still enjoyable.
Kevin: Dude, I LOVE that you left this enormous comment. It’s filled with Star Wars-y goodness. Your two Lincolns are noted.
With that said, Harrison Ford rules!!!!!
I totally agree with you about how CGI gets in the way of real acting. I mean, yes, it’s hard to act when you can’t see what you’re acting with, but at the same time, it’s harder to really get into character.
And woo hoo, we’re going to fight side-by-side!!!
I’ll go so far as to say this- Without the charisma and humanity evident in Harrison Ford’s performance throughout Star Wars, there was a good chance it might have never gone beyond cult status. The way he totally owned the being of Han Solo added a level stability and believability to a plot that could have easily come off as hokey (much like his view of the Jedi religion). He allowed you to believe that he really was that guy who’d been pegged as a scoundrel, but was trying to get his act together and go straight.
When it snowed and we ran out to the schoolyard to play ‘Hoth,’ I was always Han. And I’m sure you know why.
The Empire Strikes Back will always be my favorite movie of the original trilogy. I haven’t seen the latest three - after the reviews I was afraid to. I remember braving the huge line and seeing Star Wars here in BFE land the first night it was here as one of the last people in the theater, and I was blown away.
I tend to agree with Kevin and Eve — CGI really takes a toll on actor. Instead of putting actors on a stage set where they can use the surroundings as a tool to immerse themselves in a role, CGI forces actors to perform in soundstages that are (wholly or partly) large blank green spaces. That doesn’t leave you with much but your own imagination to drive a performance. I tend to see this as the downfall of Hayden Christiansen. I thought he showed a reasonable degree of talent in Life As A House… but he just seemed to come off as wooden through much of his performance in the hands of George Lucas.
As for Dave’s assertation that Harrison Ford took Star Wars beyond cult status… I don’t know. I think it’s easy to say that now when we look at Harrison Ford, megastar. We look back and go “aha! that’s where first saw it!” Certainly the character of Han Solo stands out in stark contrast to Obiwan, Luke, or Leia, in that he is the only character not clearly fighting for the cause. Luke is, of course, the central character of the first movie — he’s sort of the central thread woven through everything. Luke really isn’t a horribly interesting character though. He’s just a country farmboy off to the bright lights of the big city… or really, that displaced fairy tale prince living as a lowly farmhand until events conspire to allow him to save a princess. No, Luke doesn’t become a truly interesting character until Empire, when he acquires a dark side with that whole Freudian conflict of killing the Father.
For me, that leaves Alec Guiness. I think his was the performance that appealed to me the most when I originally saw the film, and after… when the movie finally came to HBO in the early 80’s. (Imagine that… letting a film wait for 3-5 years before bringing it to cable… those days are gone!) It was Guiness who weilded the light saber against Darth Vader and who really provided any insight into the Force.
I happened to pick up a biography of Alec Guiness not long ago, and it discussed his experiences with the first Star Wars Trilogy. I was saddened to see that his view was more than a little apathetic. Filming Episode IV was hard, especially the part in Tunisia, which evidently didn’t generate much enthusiasm for him… and you get the sense that while he may have found George Lucas pleasant or charming, he really wasn’t that impressed with George Lucas as a maker of films that interested him. His involvement in the subsequent two movies boiled down to George Lucas coming to London, buying him an expensive lunch or dinner, and offering him comparatively large amounts of money for one to two days work.
CGI is a mixed bag. For movies like the original Matrix, it’s an astounding tool that helps bring forth a vision that would otherwise be impossible. In movies like Episode 1, it’s a horrible distraction that makes a bad story absolutely miserable.
In the end, it’s all in how you use it.
My opinion on the Star Wars films are as follows…
Star Wars: Groundbreaking sci-fi art-house brilliance.
Empire: One of the best films ever, and all the things sci-fi aspires to be.
Most of Jedi and EVERYTHING that followed: Utter shit which has the sole purpose of selling toys so George Lucas can rake in billions on his lucrative (and unprecedented) merchandising rights.
What started as one of the most amazing stories to ever hit the silver screen eventually generated into burp and fart jokes to sell toys to kids. Nothing like flushing a franchise down the toilet to sell a bunch of crap. Lucas sucks ass.