Daily Dialogue — August 4, 2017

Han Solo: Han Solo. I’m captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie here tells me you’re lookin’ for passage to the Alderaan system?
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: Yes indeed, if it’s a fast ship.
Han Solo: Fast ship? You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon?
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: Should I have?
Han Solo: It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. I’ve outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I’m talking about the big Corellian ships now. She’s fast enough for you old man. What’s the cargo?
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: Only passengers. Myself, the boy, two droids… and no questions asked.
Han Solo: [chuckles] What is it? Some kind of local trouble?
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: Let’s just say we’d like to avoid any Imperial entanglements.

— Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977), written by George Lucas

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Transaction, suggested by Gisela Wehrl.

Trivia: The shootout between Han Solo and Greedo inside the Cantina was the subject for a lot of controversy and debate among Star Wars fans as to who shot first. Many fans debated that Greedo actually shot first a split second before Solo did, but with careful examination of the scene, it was obvious that Greedo never fired his shot at all. For the 1997 special edition release of this movie, George Lucas had edited the scene to include Greedo shooting first at Solo at point blank range, with Solo moving his head slightly to the right to dodge the shot before firing back at Greedo. This caused perhaps the worst backlash of all the alterations made to the original trilogy from outraged fans. The shooting scene was therefore edited for a third time for the 2004 DVD release, so that both Greedo and Han Solo fired their guns more or less at the same time.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Probably one of the most famous transaction scenes in modern movie history. It establishes Han’s ‘out for himself’ character directly upon his introduction and sets up immediate conflict between he and Luke. Great example of a scene which accomplishes it primary point — negotiate the deal for the Millennium Falcon — while setting other plot elements into motion. And, of course… Greedo!