'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The Radio Drama' Episode Review: 'Way of the Jedi'
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| (C) 1983 National Public Radio and Lucasfilm Limited. Art by: Ralph McQuarrie |
Cast:
- Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)
- Artoo Detoo
- Yoda (John Lithgow)
- Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Bernard Behrens)
- Darth Vader (Brock Peters)
- Captain Needa (Nicholas Kepros)
- Admiral Piett (David Rasche)
- Emperor Palpatine (Paul Hecht)
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. Now, it is a dark time for the Rebellion. Their base on the planet Hoth has been destroyed. The surviving Rebel units are scattered among the stars, attempting to elude the Imperial starships that hunt them, and waiting to regroup at a secret rendezvous point.
Sound: Luke's X-wing fighter.
Narrator: But one Rebel must follow his own course. Commander Luke Skywalker obeys the instructions given him by the spectral image of his onetime teacher, Obi-Wan Kenobi. With the aid of his astro-droid Artoo-Detoo. Luke is bringing his X-wing on a landing approach to the mysterious planet Dagobah. There, he is to further his training as a Jedi Knight under the tutelage of the legendary Jedi Master, Yoda.
SCENE 6-1 X-WING COCKPIT
Sound: X-wing cockpit comes up.
Luke: That's Dagobah, Artoo, I'm sure of it.
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| (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) |
Luke: I know it's not on the charts! I'm not even sure how I found it.
Artoo: BURBLES A QUESTION.
Luke: No, Artoo; I'm not going to change my mind about this. Can you detect any breaks in the cloud cover?
Artoo: SAYS NO.
Luke: Neither can I. It's dense, too. Let's check it out with the sensors.
Sound: Sensors hum and beep softly.
Luke: Mm, I'm not picking up any cities or technology, Massive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down there, all right.
Artoo: WHISTLES AN URGENT QUESTION.
Luke: (CHUCKLES) Yes, I'm sure Dagobah's perfectly safe for droids, Artoo! Let's go in a little lower, see if we can pick up some terrain features.
Sound: Fighter swoops lower.
Luke: What the...
Artoo: SIGNALS URGENTLY.
Luke: I know. I know; I hear ya, Artoo! All my scopes just went dead! I can't see a thing through this cloud layer! And I can't tell what's doin' it.
Artoo: BEMOANING HIS FATE.
Luke: Well, we can't turn back now! Just hang on; I'm gonna start the landing cycle.
Way of the Jedi is the sixth episode of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, a radio adaptation written by science fiction novelist Brian Daley. Commissioned by National Public Radio's John Bos and produced by KUSC-FM Los Angeles with the cooperation of Lucasfilm Ltd., the series was based on characters and situations created by George Lucas, as well as the screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan (and the screen story by Lucas).
When we last heard from the small band of freedom fighters struggling to free the galaxy from the oppressive rule of the Empire, the situation was...dire. An Imperial fleet squadron commanded by the evil Darth Vader (Brock Peters) had discovered the Rebels' new hidden base on the remote ice world, Hoth. Vader, obsessed with finding Rebel hero Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), launched a massive ground assault with All-Terrain Armored Transports and especially-trained snowtroopers; although the Rebel ground troops fought a brave rear-guard action to allow their fleet to escape, the Empire emerged victorious, and Luke, Princess Leia Organa, See-Threepio. Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Artoo-Detoo were forced to flee to the far reaches of space.
But, as we learn in The Millennium Falcon Pursuit, the Heroes of the Rebellion have split off. While Han, Chewbacca, Leia and Threepio attempt to fly away from Hoth aboard the damaged Falcon, Luke and Artoo have made their way to the cloud shrouded world known as Dagobah aboard their X-wing fighter. There, following the instructions from the Force-ghost of his Jedi mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Bernard Behrens), Luke hopes to find a Jedi Master named Yoda.
As Way of the Jedi begins, Luke and Artoo arrive at Dagobah, but the quest to seek Yoda begins on a perilous note. What starts as a routine landing approach ends up becoming a crash landing in one of Dagobah's water-logged swamps.
Sound: Ship bucking.
Artoo: SQUEAKS.
Luke: Brace yourself, Artoo, and...have a little faith here....
Sound: Impact of swamp tree branch, rattling the ship.
Artoo: YELPS.
Luke: Watch out for those branches - we're almost down....
Sound: More branches.
Luke: It's a swamp! The whole planet is a swamp! Get ready; this one's gonna be rough!
Sound: More branches, vines, etc., hissing steam.
Artoo: SCREAMS IN FEAR.
Music: Music up.
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| (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Art by Ralph McQuarrie |
SCENE 6-2 STAR DESTROYER BRIDGE
Sound: Sounds of Vader's destroyer bridge come up. Vader's mask-breathing.
Captain Needa: (APPROACHING) Lord Vader, our TIE fighters have been unable to reestablish contact with the Millennium Falcon.
Vader: Well, Captain Needa?
Needa: Considering the number of smaller craft we've lost in the asteroid field and the damage to our Star Destroyers, intelligence has concluded that the Falcon and her crew have been destroyed.
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| Darth Vader's Star Destroyer heads away from the asteroid field. (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) |
Vader: No, Captain Needa; they're alive. I want every ship in the fleet to sweep this asteroid field until they are found and captured.
Admiral Piett: (APPROACHING) Lord Vader, we've had a priority signal.
Vader: What is it, Admiral Piett?
Piett: The Emperor commands you to make contact with him.
Vader: Move my flagship out of the asteroid field at once, so that I may send a clear transmission. Prepare my communications vault.
Piett: At once, Lord Vader!
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| "There is a great disturbance in the Force." (C) 1980 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) |
SCENE 6-3 VADER'S COMMUNICATIONS VAULT
Sound: Brief transition to the echoing quiet of Vader's communications vault. Vader's steps resound, approaching, then stop. Vader's breathing. The low hum of the special commo equipment.
Vader: Thy servant awaits thee on bended knee, my Emperor. What is thy bidding, Master?
Emperor: (DISEMBODIED. SEPULCHRAL) There is a great disturbance in the Force, Vader.
Vader: Yes; I have felt it.
Emperor: We have a new enemy. Luke Skywalker.
Vader: Yes, my Master.
Emperor: He could destroy us.
Vader: He's just a boy. Almost untrained, scarcely tested. And, Obi-Wan can no longer help him.
Emperor: The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi!
Vader: If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.
Emperor: Yes, He could be a great asset. Can it be done?
Vader: He will join us or die, Master!
Emperor: How will you find him?
Vader: I shall tempt him with bait he cannot resist. Once I have the Millennium Falcon in hand, Luke Skywalker is as good as ours.
Emperor: Go forth, then, faithful servant, and work my will!
Sound: Commo vault fades.
Way of the Jedi, of course, covers quite a bit of the Jedi training Luke undergoes under the rather reluctant tutelage of the nearly 900-year-old Jedi Master, Yoda (John Lithgow). As fans of director Irvin Kershner's 1980 motion picture recall, the episode also contains such scenes as:
- Luke's first encounter with a mischievous and not very imposing swamp creature that seems to go out of its way to annoy the aspiring Jedi trainee
- Yoda's "reveal" in his humble hut, complete with the Jedi Master's final argument with the spectral voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi regarding Luke's training as a Jedi
- Luke's training session and his fateful, mystical encounter with a Dark Side-created spirit-form of Darth Vader, in which Luke Skywalker sees a troubling vision that may hint at his destiny
My Take
It is difficult to adapt a successful movie - especially one that is known for its striking visuals, exotic (and alien) locations, and special effects - like Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. However, in Way of the Jedi, author Brian Daley takes material from one medium (film) to another (radio) and makes it look easy.
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| Brian Daley (1947-1996) |
Daley was already a successful science fiction novelist (The Doomfarers of Coramonde, The Han Solo Trilogy) when Carol Titleman, then a Lucasfilm vice president, hired him in 1980 to adapt Star Wars (aka Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) into a 13-part radio drama for NPR. To everyone's pleasant surprise, Star Wars: The Radio Drama was a spectacular success, and in 1982 Daley got the green light to write a 10-part follow-on series based on The Empire Strikes Back.
Like the other episodes in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The Radio Drama, Way of the Jedi showcases Daley's many talents as a storyteller.
The late author (he died of cancer in 1996 just as the recording sessions for the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi were nearing completion) did a good job with the characterizations, particularly John Lithgow's delightful portrayal of the wise-yet-playful Yoda and Mark Hamill's equally impressive rendition of the earnest farmboy-turned-Jedi trainee Luke Skywalker. I like the way that Daley uses the characters' dialog to describe the action as naturally as possible without making it seem too radio-like.
Daley sticks to many techniques used in radio dramas, including "wild lines" and adding small bits of trivial dialog to keep a character in the scene. As he wrote in the 1994 paperback of the Original Radio Drama Script for the first Star Wars series:
[M]ovies and TV can show you who's present even if they're not speaking, but that's a tougher proposition on radio.
Director John Madden, who is best known for his Academy Award-winning film Shakespeare in Love, had considerable experience as a radio director for the British Broadcasting Corporation. He gets great performances from the cast, including actors Brock Peters, who originally played Darth Vader in the Star Wars radio adaptation and Paul Hecht, whose gravelly delivery of Emperor Palpatine's lines make him a suitable substitute for both Clive Revill (the original voice of the hologram in 1980) and Ian McDiarmid, the thespian who played the evil Sith Lord in Return of the Jedi, the Prequel Trilogy, and the re-edited version of The Empire Strikes Back on DVD and Blu-ray.
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