13: A New Hope Radio Drama (1981)

ANH Radio Drama

I've talked before about how the radio drama is my favorite adaptation of the OT. In many ways, it serves the role often played by a novelization by expanding on the original story moreso than the actual novels (particularly ANH). If you haven't listened, bounce over to Youtube:

Or The Internet Archive and have a listen.

George Lucas cut the University of Southern California (his alma mater) a sweetheart dollar deal to license the story, music, and sound effects. Brian Daley (who wrote the Han Solo trilogy earlier) did the scripts.

In the modern era of big budget podcasts and audiobooks, it's a little harder to express how freaking cool these were as a kid into Star Wars in the 90s (though the Jedi adaptation wasn't produced until 1996). I literally wore out my cassettes. Long story short, these are professionally produced, well directed, and make great use of John William's score (with a few additional cues recorded for the occasion) and a full cast. Most audios at the time were produced with a single (usually mediocre) reader and no backing effects.

Mark Hamill reprises Luke, and Anthony Daniels returns as C-3PO. I think AD might have the best record for playing his role outside of the films. He's in these, Droids, and I don't know how many video games and other projects. He also always seems like he's having a great time, unlike say Alec Guinness. The replacements are generally solid. Not always doing the best impersonations, but good performances. Brock Peters's Vader is particularly strong later on when he's interrogating/torturing Leia.

Overall, it's a fairly accurate adaptation. All the "traditional" cut scenes (Biggs returns to Tatooine, extra scenes with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, Han with Jabba/Heater in Docking Bay 94) make appearances. The first two episodes almost entirely precede the traditional opening of A New Hope. Luke goes Skyhopper racing, while Leia finds out about the Death Star. I think this is actually the first appearance of the "Skyhook" codename for the operation to steal the plans. Also, the first attempt to explain the malfunctioning R5 unit at the sandcrawler. In this case, it's sabotaged by R2-D2. I think this is the "consensus" explanation in most later retellings. Obi Wan rescuing Luke years before is also introduced here.

It's interesting to hear what classic lines make it through (That's no moon!) and which wind up edited for some reason (Look, Sir. Droids!).

Daley really leans into the comedy and relationship between R2 and 3PO (having even larger roles in the first few episodes than them movie). It's largely well done. While C-3PO's fussiness is usually played for laughs, I did realize it doesn't really make sense when Luke is telling him the story of meeting Ben in the past. He says he and his friend just wanted to get off on their own for a bit and blow off some steam. 3PO is clueless. You'd think a droid programmed for etiquette and protocol would understand independence/coming of age/puberty.

The characters with the largest changes are Han (much more mercenary, almost abandons Luke and Obi Wan several times, and has an entire sequence haggling with Leia and Commander Willard for his payment on Yavin) and Obi Wan, who clearly knows about the droids and discourages Luke from discussing Vader. Compared to the theatrical version of ANH where there's some room for his "certain point of view" to be played off as crazy/forgetful old man (the Clone Wars were still implied to be further in the past at this point) he's obviously lying to Luke here.

There's a fun little scene where he mind tricks an insectoid speeder dealer into paying more for Luke's speeder for Han's down payment. In addition to seeming more in line with his more roguish later personification, it's also kind of funny in light of the prequels when Watto (a slightly different buggish junk dealer) is immune to mind tricks.

MY MAN Wedge Antilles is played by Meshach Taylor (Anthony from Designing Women) something something racebending. 

Aunt Beru gets one of my favorite EU lines:

You can't begrudge him his dreams! A person has to have their dreams.

I think it pairs nicely with Obi Wan's later response when Luke says he'll take him to Anchorhead but not leave Tatooine: 

You must do what you feel is right, of course.

All of this ties into one of my favorite George Lucas quotes on the making of Star Wars:

 I saw that kids today don’t have any fantasy life the way we had – they don’t have westerns, they don’t have pirate movies, they don’t have that stupid serial fantasy life that we used to believe in. It wasn’t that we really believed in it[…]an incredible adventure. Not a stupid adventure, not a dumb adventure for children and stuff but a real Errol Flynn, John Wayne – gosh – kind of an adventure.

One of the best parts of ANH (and most good Star Wars) is the balance. Star Wars was written in the wake of Vietnam, in a time (much like today) with a lot of pessimism. And it doesn't run away from that. The Empire blows up a whole planet on screen, Han shoots first, everything is rickety, and no one has much to believe in.

But it's not bogged down in that. Luke (and the rest of the cast, in a smaller way) believe in the Force and good and they push through.

Keep your dreams. Do what you feel is right. Go on an adventure. And may the Force be with you.