Daily Archives: December 20, 2015

BQB Explains Star Wars – Episode 4 – A New Hope

Hey nerds. Do you know once in awhile I actually bump into someone who has never seen any of the Star Wars movies? That’s not even a joke. I always assume they are a communist spy or something.

For those of you who want to see The Force Awakens but have yet to see the previous films, here’s a brief synopsis.

Episode 4 was made first because George Lucas didn’t know how to count. Luke Skywalker, a farm boy from the desert (how that works I don’t know) is recruited by an elderly shut-in, Obi Wan Kenobi, to overthrow the government, “the Empire” in the name of ancient religion practiced by an order of monk-ninjas known as “the Jedi.”

Obi Wan is a master of “the Force” which sounds very mystical but really just means he can throw shit around in the air and pull it to him as needed. He teaches Luke how to throw shit around in the air and pull it to him as needed as well.

Luke and Obi Wan, without conveyance of their own, secure transportation from a space criminal, Han Solo and his dog man sidekick, Chewbacca. Together, they run a contraband smuggling operation, though they are not very good at it, because they had to dump some shit to avoid detection, costing their client, an obese space slug/gangster, Jabba the Hutt, a lot of money.

Darth Vader is a handicapped man who despite his debilitating injuries, refuses to allow his ill health to get in the way of getting up in the morning and doing his job. He puts on his full body respirator suit every day then goes about his business, looking for no special treatment. Truly, he is an inspiration to all.

Vader is second in command to the Emperor. They are Sith Lords, practitioners of the Dark Side of the Force, which basically means they throw shit around in the air and pull it to them as needed, but they do it for evil purposes.

The old man, the farm boy, the space criminal and dog side kick free Princess Leia, a key supporter of the Rebel Alliance, a group that has sworn to free the galaxy from the clutches of the Empire, though honestly, will they rule any better?  Sometimes these rebels grab hold of power and are worse than the regime they replaced, you know.

Luke then teams up a squadron of X-Wing fighters, essentially outer space fighter pilots. The Empire has a weapon called the Death Star.  It’s an enormous star sized base that has the ability to blow up a planet. It works. Ask Leia’s adopted family back on Alderaan. Oh wait. You can’t. They’ve been blown up.

Luke fires some proton torpedoes through a poorly secured vent, most likely installed by a sub par contractor who assured Vader, “Ahhh fahgeddaboudit, of course all this shit’s secure. Stop worrying and pay me already, will ya?”

And then everyone celebrates and gets medals and shit.

Next time, I will explain Episode 5 – The Empire Strikes Back.

 

 

 

 

 

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Short, Spoilerish review

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Hey geeks, nerds, dweebs, and assorted poindexters totaling 3.5.

BQB here, freshly returned from seeing Episode 7.

This is a short review. There will be some light spoilers. I’m going to give it awhile  before I get around to a full, in-depth review, what with everyone trying to avoid spoilers and all.

But, I will give some stuff away so if you’re super into no spoilers then be warned of SPOILERS!!!

In short…I loved it. JJ and Co. did a great job. In many ways, it felt like the Star Wars of old circa 1977-1983, but updated with modern graphics and tech. Homage paid to those films in a believable way, not a jokey, silly way.

I missed A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back in theaters, but did see Return of the Jedi in the theater as a tiny tot. As a young man, I loved the prequels mostly because it just seemed awesome to see Jedis on screen again.

As I got older, I realized that the prequels were more or less excellently rendered cartoons with people in them. CGI graphics were at the height of their popularity so Lucas and Co. tossed as much on the screen as possible.

CGI is awesome but when overused, the movie becomes less live action and more cartoon. I think JJ and friends got that and gave us a perfect blend of CGI and reality.

It was true to plot, characters…it did make me feel old.  Those actors who played the heroes I loved and admired as that tiny tot watching Return of the Jedi in the movie theater are getting up there and are on their way to becoming one with the Force.

I suppose that’s just the “circle of life” to quote the Lion King, but I swear I feel like it was just yesterday that I was that little kid watching Luke as the Jedi in black and Leia strangling the shit out of Jabba in her slave outfit.

Come to think of it, maybe that’s why I’m so weird. My parents took me to see a movie in which a scantily clad woman strangled an obese space slug with a chain.

Anyway…I’m not sure I understand the political workings of the Resistance vs. The First Order and how the Republic acts as a government in the middle. If someone wants to explain that, I’m all ears.

Though I appreciate JJ understood viewers weren’t looking for a big explanation of the politics, unlike George Lucas, who turned half of those prequels into CGI alien C-Span what with them debating in the galactic senate and all.

One weird thing had nothing to do with the movie. I went to see it at my local theater. Its a pretty decent theater. Its not a run down dump or anything, fairly new but not like a really awesome theater with mega screens and stadium seating, recliners and gourmet popcorn and crap.

Oddly, there was barely anyone in the theater. I actually went out this afternoon to buy my ticket for an evening showing so I’d be sure to get a ticket and I got there early to get a good seat and it was weird – there were plenty of seats. I never had to do anything special. Could have walked right in.

I wonder about that. I doubt it has anything to do with the movie. I’m wondering a) maybe everyone loved it so much they made the trek to bigger, badasser theaters nearby or b) maybe everyone bought into the “buy your tickets online or you’ll never get into the madhouse opening weekend!” and stayed away. I hope it wasn’t the latter.

Good stuff. Enjoyable. A+

Go see it and when I get a chance to gather my thoughts I’ll write more.

May the force be with you, nerds.

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