Saturday, May 22, 2010

The NPR Strikes Back


After the giant success of the Star Wars films, National Public Radio got on board the Force Train with their own radio adaptations of the films. They did one for each of the films and The Empire Strikes Back got the royal treatment with a full ten episodes containing not just the original film plot but also scenes that the movie never showed you. Such as; The Imperials discover the planetary probe evidence that leads them to the Rebel base; Luke Skywalker and Han Solo await rescue in an emergency shelter on the frozen surface of Hoth; Han Solo and his first mate, Chewbacca, fix the Falcon—and demolish each other's egos; Luke encounters a medical droid that could match See-Threepio for politesse anytime; The Rebel control room on Hoth during the rescue of Han and Luke and the desperate battle against the Imperial walkers; Luke's last-minute rendezvous with his X-wing squadron during the Battle of Hoth—on foot and inside Yoda's cave on Luke's first morning of training in the mysterious ways of the Jedi. Behind-the-scenes details come to light as well in an informative introduction by the script's author, Brian Daley—who wrote the episodes, reworked scenes on the spot in the recording studio, creating the National Public Radio dramatization broadcast on stations nationwide. The story of The Empire Strikes Back comes to life again in these original scripts—this time with more background, more scenes—more Star Wars! Over the next couple of days I will be sharing these episodes with you. Here now are the first two. Enjoy!

The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama Episode 1

The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama Episode 2

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