Our ongoing series reviewing audio adaptations of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
By John J. Joex
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars
Star Wars was a huge phenomena when it came out back in 1977, and it short order it started to appear everywhere including comics (the Marvel movie adaptation and continuing series), television (the best-left-forgotten Star Wars Holiday Special), books (novelizations of the movies and A Splinter of the Mind’s Eye), and in 1981 it showed up on NPR as a thirteen part radio drama serialization of the first movie. The resurgence of interest in the genre that followed the explosion of Star Wars on the big screen had led to a brief renaissance of sci fi radio in the late 70’s/early 80’s and gave us such memorable productions as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (which I had incorrectly thought came after the Star Wars radio series, but my memory must be faulty), the Alien Worlds anthology series, and then this NPR entry that brought Luke, Han, and Leia to the airwaves. The radio series showed up in 1981, a year after Empire Strikes Back hit the theaters, and even though the franchise had already risen to monolithic proportions, there was not a ton of Star Wars material to be found like we have now with the countless book and comic series. So anything that offered a little more exposure to the universe that Lucas had created was eagerly welcomed by fans at that time. And this series did just that, stretching out the story of the first movie to thirteen episodes and around 5 ½ hours (which adjusts out the time for the opening and closing segments).
For the most part, expanding on the story is definitely a good thing (especially at the time) as it adds in some back story, fleshes out a few of the scenes, and fills in a few blanks along the way. However, this extra story actually works against the series early on with the first two episodes dedicated to providing some background for both Luke and Leia (separately), and these installments really drag and could discourage some listeners from sticking around for the full series. It’s not until the third episode that the radio show picks up on the events we actually saw onscreen in the film, and it’s at this point that the series starts to fly. For this and the subsequent ten episodes, the radio series relives the movie while also expanding on the story that the film delivered. It’s been many, many years since I read the novelization of Star Wars, which I know also added to the story, so I can’t remember how much of that made it to radio and vice versa. But the Wikipedia entry for the radio series claims that all of the supplemental story elements are considered canon, so devoted fans may find some added interest in that aspect. Not that it adds too much, though. As I noted above, it’s mostly fill-in-blank with some backstory here and there, but no grand revelations. However, one point of interest is that the series proves that Han Solo did indeed shoot first (which we all knew anyway). In the encounter with him and Greedo, you only hear one shot which means at worst they fired simultaneously which is essentially the same thing, though the implication is that Han fired the only shot. Apparently George Lucas never got around to doctoring up the tapes for this production!
One thing that may set some fans back on this production is the voices, as not all of the original cast reprised their roles for the radio series. In fact, the only two actors from the movie that lend their voices here are Anthony Daniels (who has made a career out of playing C-3PO) and Mark Hamill (who had nothing else major going on in the early 80’s). The other voice talents mostly do a good job of taking over for the better known actors, and if you didn’t know it you would swear that Alec Guiness had reprised his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in this series (it is actually Bernard Behrens) and Keene Curtis also does a great job taking over for Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin. The two least palatable voices are Brock Peters as Lord Darth Vader and Perry King as Han Solo. Not that they are bad, it’s just that they sound very different from what we expect. Peters performance is much removed from James Earl Jones’ resounding Vader voice, though he does grow on you as the series progresses. And King plays Solo too much like a heartless asshole and does not bring out the human side that Ford leant to the character. These are mostly quibbles, but they will impact the listenability of the radio series since we have become so accustomed to the having the voices of the original actors attached to these characters.
But still, the Star Wars radio series ultimately delivers a fun listen, even if it does not add too much of significance to the original story. The additional bits of backstory might be of interest to some fans, but they are not essential and in some cases even contradict what we saw in the movie (the radio series actually suggests that Governor Tarkin wanted to take flight from the Deathstar when the rebels attacked). But for those of us such as myself who love the original movie and consider it the best of the series, it offers a decent enough diversion to pass the time on your daily commute. Radio adaptations were also produced of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Anthony Daniels leant his voice to both of these and Hamill stuck around for Empire. Billy Dee Williams reprised his role as Lando Calrissian in the Empire radio series but not Jedi. John Lithgow voiced Yoda in both of these productions. The prequel trilogy never made it to radio and there are apparently no plans for an adaptation in the works. These can be a bit pricey if you buy them on CD from places like Amazon.com (the set that collects all three series is the best value), but you also have the option of downloading them from Audible.com for one credit each (essentially $15 a pop).
Buy the Star Wars Radio Series on CD from Amazon.com:
