The Most "Emotional" Scenes in Star Wars

Man, for me as a kid especially, when those bay doors slam closed and Chewie let's out that moan... just pure anxiety and dread.

 

Yeah, I'm a strange nut.
My most emotional sequence is when the Falcon arrives at Yavin IV's system through to R2 plugging in and showing the map of the Death Star on the little screen.

That sequence is pure awe to me. It's simply flawless. I think it's one of the best sequences ever put down into a movie ever. I mean... just what the he--!?
Consider how grand of a scale it starts and how tiny of a scale it ends. Consider how you never once lost continuity. Consider that you felt a specific directionality to everything and can feel like you know where things are by sense like you do moving around your house by feeling an intuitive sense of directional relationship. Consider that NONE of these images are in any way really intuitively linked to each other logically on their own (it's not like a car shown, then a stop light... they're all completely nearly abstract images).
Consider that you went from looking over the whole screen, to a span of the screen, to a part of the screen, to a path on the screen, to a tiny screen ON the friggin screen!

Consider what you know by this simple one minute of film! You know where everyone is, what the priorities are, where and moved through all of the characters, and that you not only know where the base is, but what people are doing everywhere around it, in it, and that they have a certain level of security screening.

ALL of this that I've typed... ALL of it.

ALL IN A FRIGGIN MINUTE OF FILM!

WHAT THE LIVING HELL?!

I still get "goose bumps" watching it. I have this cut just to watch now and then. I might even get the first frame of each shot compiled together and hang it on my wall. It's just pure genius!

It's probably the single most emotionally important part of anything in all of Star Wars for me (and yes, I realize how strange that makes me - trust me I know. My favorite Lucas film is 1:42.08).

If for some reason anyone has a problem with viewing it via google drive, just use this dropbox link to view it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cibbev1vkhtu1ft/Yavin Sequence.mp4?dl=0

Cheers,
Jayson

 

The part of this sequence that has always grabbed me the most is when the Falcon flies under the red planet, and when Leia delivers her lines... ANH is, and alway will be, my favorite Star Wars film...

I've watched the sequence several times and for some strange reason I noticed something new every time... Luke, Leia, and Han on that same vehicle... something the Sequel Trilogy was unable to do... thanks so much I had to pull myself away...

Cheers,
Rogues1138

 

I remember, when growing up, it took me a long time to notice the main cast was in the bottom right of the exterior shot. And an even longer time to notice Chewie was with them. Ha!

Cheers,
Jayson

 

Cheers,
Jayson

 

By the way, the reason I love this shot (the one I outlined) is because this is CLASSIC Lucas. THIS is what makes his movies feel like HIS movies.
Everyone else would put our heroes in the center or left of the screen, up more towards the middle of the frame because they are who the story is about.

But Lucas doesn't tell stories that way. He populates the heroes into a world first. THEN he brings the heroes into focused framing. At first they are regularly a part of the world. It's like pulling up to a grocery store and seeing your friends "over there".

By consequence, three things happen: 1) You buy the world of his movies as real breathing, living places that have their own life and agenda that our story is happening in. 2) You feel more placed and walked through his movies because the world is given character focus so you can pay attention to it just as well as you can pay attention to the heroes. 3) It humbles our sense of self as humans. We're just inhabitants, not the constant focus of existence.

Almost no one does this. Lucas does it a LOT. Consider that in the Darth Maul trio fight he put in a shot in the middle of the fight where all three characters going at it only occupied about 5% of the frame in the upper right hand corner of the frame!

No one does that! He does. And I love that he does. It's what makes it a Monet and not a Da Vinci.

It's part of why his movies feel like moving (impressionist) paintings. And he did this all the way back in his college films, too. He treats movies like documentaries. He's not scared that you won't notice the main characters. If you don't, fine. If you do, fine.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

This brings to mind the Vader/Obi-Wan duel in ANH when the perspective changes to show the fight as it's being seen from the hanger. It always stood out to me as a unique shot making the main action almost seem to be in the background.

 

I wonder if he also got this style from American Director, John Ford? Also, Jon Favreau stated he wanted to learn all of GLs techniques for the Mandalorian. I wonder if he studied your particular sequence as well.

 

No (though Ford does have an influence, obviously). He didn't get it from Ford.
He got it from the documentarian style. Lucas made documentaries. He watched a lot of them. He liked experimental film. Cinema concrete. Early on he liked how collage film used unrelated bits of documentary footage to tell a story.

He very overtly has spoken that he likes a more documentarian approach.

Arthur Lipsett had a definite impact on him.

Look up Lucas' movies: The Emperor, 6-18-67, and Filmmaker.
Then go watch his movie 1:42.08 afterwards.

A lightbulb will go off and you'll never be able to unsee the Star Wars you suddenly will see when you watch ANH again.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

Thank you, I will get to it, sir.

 

Yes, me too, luckily I have watched the OT so many times I finally noticed it.....

Although I never noticed the stormtrooper whose head was introduced to the descending door until it was revealed on tv....

 

In case you or anyone else has difficulties, here's those movies.

The Emperor

6-18-67

Filmmaker

I highly suggest watching the above three before watching this. The previous are documentaries. The following is technically called a tone poem, but what it is is Lucas telling a story. Watched in isolation, it's a bit obscure and easily dismissed. But piled up the above first and then watch it and suddenly a language emerges. You more easily understand the narrative style he uses in spite of there being no words or music to the story.

In each of the above, note the complete and utter disregard for the "obvious" subject for the "context" subjects. For example, 6-18-67 is what we would call a "behind the scenes featurette" and it's only merely fractionally concerned with the shooting of the movie. Instead, it focuses on the world around it that is experienced there.

Now notice how he uses these kinds of techniques to frame a dedicated subject through a narrative.
Also notice how unafraid of time he is - in all of them. His control of duration and sequence is jaw dropping.

1:42.08

And then when you watch ANH, you see it all. You see this storytelling style at every turn.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

I always think of this scene, and others that perform a similar function in the OT, when watching the prequels and their seemingly interminable departure and arrival sequences.

 

I can't say much, but I can say that they are a heavy influence upon me.

I've dubbed it the "Establishing Panel Sequence" (I've checked, no name for it exists). Or macro-to-micro/micro-to-macro, m&m for shorthand.

They're like establishing shots on steroids.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

-Kessel Run
-Aldhani escape
-Nemik's Manifesto
-Andor to Luthen "kill me, or take me in"
-Transmiting DS plans from Scarif
-Binary Sunset
-Every fly of Millennium Falcon in ESB
-Luke building his lightsaber in the deleted scene
-Luke and Vader in Endor
-Luke vs Vader in ROTJ
-Nien Nunb and Lando leaving the DS
-Luke taking off Vader's mask
-Han and Lando's hug
-Mando and Grogu first appearances
-Tatooine and The Cantina shots in The Mandalorian
-Moff Giddeon with Dark saber
-Luke's Xwing signal in The Mandalorian and the shots from black boots and green saber.
-Rey anf Finn finding Millennium Falcon
-Chewie in all TFA
-Rey and Kylo first mind talk
-Rey Force lightning
-Luke and Leia training
-Kylo and Han in TROS
-Rey "I am all the Jedi"
-Rey in Tatooine, her yellow lightsaber and final sunset

 

Nothing will ever surpass the emotional magnitude of all things Cloud City, with the pinnacle being:



"The force is WITH you; young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi YET."

​

Holy moly, I was hoping Luke wouldn't die. And then, what happened next was somehow worse.​

 

I think 30 Helens will agree, what happened next is top 3 emotional scenes in Cinematic History.