Like a prequel movie, the Starkiller series is back. Although there's no floppy, loud, computer generated main character in this, you still have to forgive for any lack in quality due to the long absence

PART 7: SENSORY OVERLOAD

Scene 97-Scene 110

Last time we left our band of heroes and Han, they were blasting out of Imperial City on Alderaan after saving Deak Starkiller. And just like in the final version the Empire gives them a chase, except that this time they are not just going to let them get away.

Imperial fighters buzz about everywhere.

Kind of reminds me of the swarm of TIE-fighters the Falcon flies into during the space battle in Return of the Jedi or more recently, the opening scenes of Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately, there's none of the banter between Luke and Han that is so great in the final version, instead it's just Montross giving out instructions. I guess this exemplifies that George Lucas drew the storytelling aspect heavily from the old Space Operas, which I've heard was very straightforward just like this script is. However, I am glad that he did humanise it a bit and put in some casual banter here and there.

The pirate ship (still no name. Why Mr. Lucas?) gets severely hit and:

everything that isn't bolted down is sucked into outer space. Threepio and Artoo struggle to push a large cabinet in front of the hole.

Had this been in the final version, the ship would be doomed. And a cabinet is enough to cover the hole? Hmmm...

Interestingly enough, the ship is hit by a "weakened port antennae" which, if I know my starship structures (which I don't) is the same place where the Tantive IV gets hit in A New Hope's opening scene. At the end of everything there's a Hyperspace dogfight (!), or at least close to Hyperspace:

Montross pulls back on several of the levers before him, and the ship surges away from the tiny fighters. The pirate starship races through the galaxy at an incredible speed; but it isn't long before the Imperial fighters catch up.

Again, with the cheesiness factor. And they do get away, but this is what irks this most is that this is another useless action sequence. One could argue that it's the same in the final cut, but at least that had some good banter and its purpose was to instil the heroes with a false sense of security. In this draft they actually try to stop them, but fail. It's really just action upon action just like I pointed out in the last Starkiller entry. It's too much of the good stuff in the end.

The scene fades to Luke standing over Deaks body when Han comes in and acts in his usual scumbag manner

Well, whatever it is, he'd better re[gain] consciousness 'cause I'm due my share...and I'm going to be very unhappy if he joins THE FORCE OF OTHERS before I get it...

I know that this is something that I've said over and over again, but Han is too much of a scumbag. I mean, the man is unconscious, almost dead because of the torture he's had to endure and Han is still going about his payment. If this had been the final version of Star Wars, I wonder how many fans would like this Han Solo?

Han leaves Luke and Luke laments the state of his brother when he remembers the Kiber Crystal. Luke pulls it out and puts it in Deaks hand. Suddenly he gets a vision and runs out and tells the rest to go to the fourth moon of Yavin.

It's an interesting item, this Kiber Crystal. It essentially makes the Jedi special. In the final versions they've got their lightsabers that makes them special (out of a viewers point of view), but in this drafts galaxy everyone's got a saber to spare. The only ones I've seen in the draft that have somehow used the Force is the Sith. Does this mean that the good guys can't use the Force (or Ashla) without the Kiber Crystal or that the dark side of the Force (Bogan) is more powerful? We've seen several examples where the Bogan has overcome some of the characters. This puts the Kiber Crystal in a place where it's essentially the Ring, put for the good guys. They're helpless without it. It kinda makes you depressed to see the good guys in such a bad state...

Anyhoo, the pirates don't like the thought of going to Yavin and start to argue. However, the argument is interrupted when a large ship approaches them. But Montross says:

I don't think that's a ship, although it moves like one...it's much too large. It's as big as a small moon.

To which Han replies:

A station of some kind?

And thus the Death Star makes an unmotivated entrance. It feels very random, doesn't it? I'm glad that the Death Star and Imperial City merged together later one, because this is kind of confusing for the none-fan.

Anyhoo, they are now over Yavin and Han, Luke, Chewie, the droids and Deak descend to the planet in life-pods whilst Montross stays with the ship. They crash kind of violently into the surface but everyone makes it fine. Luke gets attacked by a giant bug, but makes quick work of it. Again, too much action. They wander off towards the base where they meet three Aquillian Rangers. Now, I'm not really sure what they are supposed to be. Are they some kind of Jedi? Because one of them, called Bail Antilles, says:

I am Bail Antilles...I serve THE FORCE OF OTHERS...We are agents of the Starkiller...He has been expecting you...

What is what in this galaxy? Everyone is Force sensitive and uses sabres, so are the Jedi any special? If the Starkiller is the last of the Jedi, doesn't that mean that the Aquillian Rangers are also Jedi then? This really confuses me.

There is an exchange of words and then Antilles says:

The Death Star has found us once again, and a deadly battle lies before us. There is little time. Hurry!

Again, there is stuff happening all the time. You rarely get a moment to sit back, take a breath and think about what's happening, and I'm just talking about reading the draft. This would've been hard to watch if it had been a movie. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing slow about the pacing of A New Hope but it doesn't go into hyperspace like this version and this version also assumes that you know the whole backstory. There's a lot to take in and you could call it a sensory overload, but if anything, this shows the amazing imagination of George Lucas. You can see here that he tried to get every idea down on paper and make it work. You can see when reading this that he enjoyed getting all of his ideas onto something. It is a sensory overload, but a good one.