'Star Wars: The Radio Drama' Episode Review: 'Force and Counterforce'
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| "Look at the size of that battle station!" (C) 1977 20th Century Fox Film Corporation |
Cast:
- Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)
- See Threepio (Anthony Daniels)
- Princess Leia Organa (Ann Sachs)
- Han Solo (Perry King)
- Artoo Detoo
- Chewbacca
- Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Bernard Behrens)
- Lord Darth Vader (Brock Peters)
- Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Keene Curtis)
- Admiral Conan Antonio Motti (David Clennon)
- Biggs Darklighter (Kale Brown)
- General Dodonna
- Commander Willard
- Wedge Antilles
- Crew Chief
- PA Voice
- Red Leader
- Controller
- Gold Leader
- Red Four
- Red Six
- Gold Five
- Gold Two
- Officer
- Red Ten
- Red Twelve
- Rebel
- Narrator (Ken Hiller)
Announcer: OPENING CREDITS
Music: Opening theme.
Narrator: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there came a time of revolution, when Rebels united to challenge a tyrannical Empire.
Sound: Death Star up in background.
Narrator: Now that struggle has come to a decisive moment, as the Empire's huge spacegoing fortress, the Death Star, approaches the Rebel base on the fourth moon of the planet Yavin. The Rebels have elected to stand fast and engage the Death Star in a desperate battle in which they'll either triumph and save the galaxy from cruel Imperial domination or be utterly destroyed by the terrible power of the battle station's Prime Weapon. As the Rebels rush to scramble their tiny fleet of fighter craft for the assault, the Imperial lords prepare to wipe them out of existence.
Sound: Death Star observation deck up, with instrumentation, etc., and Vader's respirator.
PA: (OFF) The Death Star is now orbiting the planet at maximum velocity. The moon with the Rebel base will be in range in thirty minutes.
Vader: This will be a day long remembered, Lord Tarkin. It has seen the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi and will soon see the end of the Rebellion.
Tarkin: Yes, the Emperor will be pleased, Vader.
Sound: Portal opens and closes under:
Motti: (APPROACHING) The Prime Weapon is fully prepared, Governor Tarkin. We'll be able to obliterate the Rebel moon the moment we're in range.
Tarkin: Very good, Motti. Are all our people at their battle stations?
Motti: We're on full alert status, sir.
Vader: With your permission, Governor Tarkin, I'll make a personal tour of inspection. Nothing must be left to chance.
Tarkin: As you wish, Lord Vader.
Written by the late science fiction novelist Brian Daley and directed by John Madden, Force and Counterforce is the thirteenth and final episode of Star Wars: The Radio Drama. Commissioned by National Public Radio in 1980 for its NPR Playhouse program, Star Wars is an expanded version of George Lucas's 1977 film, Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope. Except for the exposition created by Daley for the first two episodes (A Wind to Shake the Stars and Points of Origin), the radio series is based on the characters and situations created in the movie by Lucas.
Narrator: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there came a time of revolution, when Rebels united to challenge a tyrannical Empire.
Sound: Death Star up in background.
Narrator: Now that struggle has come to a decisive moment, as the Empire's huge spacegoing fortress, the Death Star, approaches the Rebel base on the fourth moon of the planet Yavin. The Rebels have elected to stand fast and engage the Death Star in a desperate battle in which they'll either triumph and save the galaxy from cruel Imperial domination or be utterly destroyed by the terrible power of the battle station's Prime Weapon. As the Rebels rush to scramble their tiny fleet of fighter craft for the assault, the Imperial lords prepare to wipe them out of existence.
Sound: Death Star observation deck up, with instrumentation, etc., and Vader's respirator.
PA: (OFF) The Death Star is now orbiting the planet at maximum velocity. The moon with the Rebel base will be in range in thirty minutes.
Vader: This will be a day long remembered, Lord Tarkin. It has seen the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi and will soon see the end of the Rebellion.
Tarkin: Yes, the Emperor will be pleased, Vader.
Sound: Portal opens and closes under:
Motti: (APPROACHING) The Prime Weapon is fully prepared, Governor Tarkin. We'll be able to obliterate the Rebel moon the moment we're in range.
Tarkin: Very good, Motti. Are all our people at their battle stations?
Motti: We're on full alert status, sir.
Vader: With your permission, Governor Tarkin, I'll make a personal tour of inspection. Nothing must be left to chance.
Tarkin: As you wish, Lord Vader.
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| "In destroying the Rebellion as you destroyed Alderaan, you'll prove that you hold the ultimate power in the galaxy" (C) 1977 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. |
Written by the late science fiction novelist Brian Daley and directed by John Madden, Force and Counterforce is the thirteenth and final episode of Star Wars: The Radio Drama. Commissioned by National Public Radio in 1980 for its NPR Playhouse program, Star Wars is an expanded version of George Lucas's 1977 film, Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope. Except for the exposition created by Daley for the first two episodes (A Wind to Shake the Stars and Points of Origin), the radio series is based on the characters and situations created in the movie by Lucas.
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Brian Daley (1947-1996)
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Force and Counterforce begins, like the previous two episodes, aboard the Death Star. Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Keene Curtis) and Lord Darth Vader (Brock Peters) congratulate themselves on the apparent success of the Dark Lord's plan to let the Rebels "escape" so the Death Star can track a homing beacon hidden aboard their ship and follow them to the Alliance base on Yavin IV. As Vader says, "This will be a day long remembered, Lord Tarkin. It has seen the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi and will soon see the end of the Rebellion."
The aloof but confident Tarkin exults quietly, perhaps because he doesn't want to seem more ambitious than he already appears to the Emperor's personal agent. Nevertheless, when the Dark Lord of the Sith takes his leave to make a final inspection tour of the battle station, Admiral Motti (David Clennon) approaches the Death Star's commander and plants the seeds of possible sedition in Tarkin's mind.
Motti: Lord Tarkin, may I compliment you on this achievement?
Tarkin: Thank you, Motti, although others contributed to it. Vader's efforts to find this base, for example.
Motti: But you supervised construction of the Death Star, sir. And you command it. In destroying the Rebellion as you destroyed Alderaan, you'll prove that you hold the ultimate power in the galaxy.
Tarkin: In the name of the Emperor. of course.
Motti: Of course, Lord Tarkin. But the Emperor is far from here, and you are in actual command.
Tarkin: This isn't the first time you've spoken in this fashion, Motti. Say what it is that's on your mind.
Motti: If you command it, Governor Tarkin.
Tarkin: I do.
Motti: Very well. This battle station has become the very source of the Empire's power. Not even the Imperial Starfleet could stand against us. And all that power lies at your command.
Tarkin: You are close to treason, Motti.
Motti: Is it treason to point out that you could demand a position of authority second only to that of the Emperor?
Tarkin: I would not care to have the Emperor as my enemy.
Motti: But command of the Death Star makes you his equal. You could share dominion of the galaxy.
Tarkin is too wily to embrace Motti's suggestions fully, but he promises to think the matter through after the destruction of the Rebel base.
Meanwhile, on the fourth moon of Yavin, the Death Star's approach kicks up a hornet's nest of activity. As two Rebel fighter units - Gold Squadron's Y-wing fighter bombers and Red Squadron's X-wing starfighters -prepare to launch, Han Solo (Perry King) and his Wookiee copilot, Chewbacca, load crates full of precious metals aboard their starship, the Millennium Falcon. The outwardly cynical Solo urges Chewie to hurry up and finish the task; he wants to be "long gone when that Death Star starts firing."
But as Han expresses his disbelief at the notion of the Rebels' attempt to attack the battle station with battered snub fighters, he and his Wookiee friend hear a familiar voice:
Luke: (APPROACHING) Han! Chewbacca!
Chewie: BARKS.
Luke: So, you've got your reward.
Han: You guessed it.
Sound: He sets another box down.
Han: I see they found you a flight suit. You look like an old hand, kid.
Luke: You're just going to leave, Han?
Han: Yeah, that's right. We found that homing beacon the Imperials hid aboard the Falcon. So, we've got some old debts we've got and pay with this stuff. Right, Chewie?
Chewie: GRUNTS.
Sound: Han sets another box down.
Han: Even if we didn't, you don't think we'd be fools to stick around here, do you?
Luke: I was hoping you would.
Han: Why don't you come with us, Luke? You're pretty good in a fight...I could use you.
Luke: Come on, Han! Why don't you look around you? You know what the Rebels are up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You're turning your back on them.
Han: What good's a reward if you're not around to use it? Besides, attacking that station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide.
Sound: Han sets another box down.
Luke: Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it? (MOVING OFF) So long...
Han: Hey, Luke!
Sound: Luke pauses.
Luke: What?
Han: May the Force be with you.
Luke: (MOVING OFF) Sure, Han.
Chewie: GROWLS.
Han: What're you lookin' at, Chewie? I know what I'm doin'! C'mon, let's finish up and raise ship.
My Take
Force and Counterforce is perhaps the most complicated of Star Wars: The Radio Drama's thirteen parts, partly because it tells the story of the Battle of Yavin from the points of view of the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Like the final reel of the 1977 film that it is based on, Force and Counterforce takes listeners on a suspenseful and exciting adventure that takes place aboard the Death Star, in the cockpits of Red and Gold Squadron, and the Rebel base on Yavin Four.
As Brian Daley wrote in the 1994 Del Rey paperback edition of Star Wars: The National Public Radio Dramatization:
Postproduction demanded months of intensive labor from (sound mixer) Tom (Voegeli) and his assistants; it sometimes took an entire month to produce a thirty-second portion of a scene - three days just to edit the music for the final battle sequence.
If you look at the cast list at the beginning of this review, you'll notice how big this episode is. The entire major cast - including Bernard Behrens as the Force ghost voice of the "dead" Obi-Wan Kenobi - is featured in Force and Counterforce. It is to Voegeli's credit, as well as the fine performances director John Madden got from Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Perry King, Ann Sachs, Brock Peters, the aforementioned "Bunny" Behrens, Keene Curtis, David Clennon, and other actors who provided their voice talents, that the episode has an authentic Star Wars vibe.
I'll let Brian Daley, the young novelist who adapted George Lucas's space-fantasy classic into one of National Public Radio's biggest successes, and series director John Madden, have the last words here.
"Star Wars was broadcast in Dolby stereo, and reaction to it lived up to our expectations. It became National Public Radio's most popular dramatic series. Among my favorite responses to it was a column by Los Angeles Times writer Wayne Warga, who described listening to the first episode with his somewhat dubious eight-year-old son. The boy, raised on TV, said he 'had a little trouble making pictures' in his head, but used his own action figures to show his dad what the characters, aliens, beasts, and machines looked like. Father and son were looking forward to hearing the next chapter together."
And in the behind the scenes material that comes with HighBridge Audio's seven-CD box set, John Madden has this to say.
"Anybody who's ever listened to a radio drama will testify to the fact that a play you hear will [remain] in your mind - twelve years later you'll remember it vividly. And the reason you'll remember it vividly is because you've done the work, is because it lives in your imagination.
"A phrase has come to mind in working on this project: You may think you've seen the movie; wait till you hear it."
The aloof but confident Tarkin exults quietly, perhaps because he doesn't want to seem more ambitious than he already appears to the Emperor's personal agent. Nevertheless, when the Dark Lord of the Sith takes his leave to make a final inspection tour of the battle station, Admiral Motti (David Clennon) approaches the Death Star's commander and plants the seeds of possible sedition in Tarkin's mind.
Motti: Lord Tarkin, may I compliment you on this achievement?
Tarkin: Thank you, Motti, although others contributed to it. Vader's efforts to find this base, for example.
Motti: But you supervised construction of the Death Star, sir. And you command it. In destroying the Rebellion as you destroyed Alderaan, you'll prove that you hold the ultimate power in the galaxy.
Tarkin: In the name of the Emperor. of course.
Motti: Of course, Lord Tarkin. But the Emperor is far from here, and you are in actual command.
Tarkin: This isn't the first time you've spoken in this fashion, Motti. Say what it is that's on your mind.
Motti: If you command it, Governor Tarkin.
Tarkin: I do.
Motti: Very well. This battle station has become the very source of the Empire's power. Not even the Imperial Starfleet could stand against us. And all that power lies at your command.
Tarkin: You are close to treason, Motti.
Motti: Is it treason to point out that you could demand a position of authority second only to that of the Emperor?
Tarkin: I would not care to have the Emperor as my enemy.
Motti: But command of the Death Star makes you his equal. You could share dominion of the galaxy.
Tarkin is too wily to embrace Motti's suggestions fully, but he promises to think the matter through after the destruction of the Rebel base.
 |
| "Besides, attacking that battle station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide." (C) 20th Century Fox Film Corporation |
Meanwhile, on the fourth moon of Yavin, the Death Star's approach kicks up a hornet's nest of activity. As two Rebel fighter units - Gold Squadron's Y-wing fighter bombers and Red Squadron's X-wing starfighters -prepare to launch, Han Solo (Perry King) and his Wookiee copilot, Chewbacca, load crates full of precious metals aboard their starship, the Millennium Falcon. The outwardly cynical Solo urges Chewie to hurry up and finish the task; he wants to be "long gone when that Death Star starts firing."
But as Han expresses his disbelief at the notion of the Rebels' attempt to attack the battle station with battered snub fighters, he and his Wookiee friend hear a familiar voice:
Luke: (APPROACHING) Han! Chewbacca!
Chewie: BARKS.
Luke: So, you've got your reward.
Han: You guessed it.
Sound: He sets another box down.
Han: I see they found you a flight suit. You look like an old hand, kid.
Luke: You're just going to leave, Han?
Han: Yeah, that's right. We found that homing beacon the Imperials hid aboard the Falcon. So, we've got some old debts we've got and pay with this stuff. Right, Chewie?
Chewie: GRUNTS.
Sound: Han sets another box down.
Han: Even if we didn't, you don't think we'd be fools to stick around here, do you?
Luke: I was hoping you would.
Han: Why don't you come with us, Luke? You're pretty good in a fight...I could use you.
Luke: Come on, Han! Why don't you look around you? You know what the Rebels are up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You're turning your back on them.
Han: What good's a reward if you're not around to use it? Besides, attacking that station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide.
Sound: Han sets another box down.
Luke: Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it? (MOVING OFF) So long...
Han: Hey, Luke!
Sound: Luke pauses.
Luke: What?
Han: May the Force be with you.
Luke: (MOVING OFF) Sure, Han.
Chewie: GROWLS.
Han: What're you lookin' at, Chewie? I know what I'm doin'! C'mon, let's finish up and raise ship.
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| (C) 1977 20th Century Fox Film Corporation |
My Take
Force and Counterforce is perhaps the most complicated of Star Wars: The Radio Drama's thirteen parts, partly because it tells the story of the Battle of Yavin from the points of view of the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Like the final reel of the 1977 film that it is based on, Force and Counterforce takes listeners on a suspenseful and exciting adventure that takes place aboard the Death Star, in the cockpits of Red and Gold Squadron, and the Rebel base on Yavin Four.
As Brian Daley wrote in the 1994 Del Rey paperback edition of Star Wars: The National Public Radio Dramatization:
Postproduction demanded months of intensive labor from (sound mixer) Tom (Voegeli) and his assistants; it sometimes took an entire month to produce a thirty-second portion of a scene - three days just to edit the music for the final battle sequence.
If you look at the cast list at the beginning of this review, you'll notice how big this episode is. The entire major cast - including Bernard Behrens as the Force ghost voice of the "dead" Obi-Wan Kenobi - is featured in Force and Counterforce. It is to Voegeli's credit, as well as the fine performances director John Madden got from Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Perry King, Ann Sachs, Brock Peters, the aforementioned "Bunny" Behrens, Keene Curtis, David Clennon, and other actors who provided their voice talents, that the episode has an authentic Star Wars vibe.
I'll let Brian Daley, the young novelist who adapted George Lucas's space-fantasy classic into one of National Public Radio's biggest successes, and series director John Madden, have the last words here.
"Star Wars was broadcast in Dolby stereo, and reaction to it lived up to our expectations. It became National Public Radio's most popular dramatic series. Among my favorite responses to it was a column by Los Angeles Times writer Wayne Warga, who described listening to the first episode with his somewhat dubious eight-year-old son. The boy, raised on TV, said he 'had a little trouble making pictures' in his head, but used his own action figures to show his dad what the characters, aliens, beasts, and machines looked like. Father and son were looking forward to hearing the next chapter together."
And in the behind the scenes material that comes with HighBridge Audio's seven-CD box set, John Madden has this to say.
"Anybody who's ever listened to a radio drama will testify to the fact that a play you hear will [remain] in your mind - twelve years later you'll remember it vividly. And the reason you'll remember it vividly is because you've done the work, is because it lives in your imagination.
"A phrase has come to mind in working on this project: You may think you've seen the movie; wait till you hear it."
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