Topic: Star Wars: The Power of Memory (Read 1,608 times)
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Star Wars: The Power of Memory « Thread Started on Aug 14, 2010, 2:13pm »
My recent discussion with Finn regarding Star Wars and its sequels highlights something that's been in the back of my mind lately.
The power of memory. There is a scene in Star Wars (later renamed "A New Hope") that I remember in great detail, complete with dialog and background music. Unfortunately, it never happened.*
I've had others describe similar memory fabrications. To each of us, the false memory is so powerful that, even in the face of overwhelming evidence it never occurred, our mind tries to trick us into believing the shadow memory over the substantive one.
I've sometimes chimed in here with comments along the lines of "I was around back then and here is the way I remember it". Though I've tried to stress my game group was far removed from the "hot zone" of gaming in the early days of the hobby, I've sometimes forgotten to remind folks the memory is a tricky thing.
So, in conclusion, let me restate. I, along with others here, may have been around when the TLBBs were available in a fancy woodgrain box at the local FLGS but that in no way means our recollection of certain events is infallible.
My two coppers for the day. May you always roll 20's.
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*If you're curious, it occurred when the stormtroopers are chasing our heroes during the "escape from death star" sequence and one of them yells "open the blast doors!". I remember several lines of dialogue with the troopers arguing with each other and perhaps a commanding officer somewhere about those damned doors.
Another friend swears that when Chewie growls at the mouse droid on the death star, that there was a puddle of liquid underneath it when it squeaked in alarm and ran away. Even after being shown otherwise he swears he saw it in the theatre.
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Re: The Power of Memory « Reply #1 on Aug 14, 2010, 2:35pm »
I have a false memory of the Marvel Comics adaptation of Star Wars. I could have sworn that, in the comic, Luke misses the first time he tries to hook his rope (or whatever it is) on the ceiling so he and Leia can swing across the chasm in the Death Star. I can "see" in my mind the panel depicting the missed throw.
The power of memory. There is a scene in Star Wars (later renamed "A New Hope") that I remember in great detail, complete with dialog and background music. Unfortunately, it never happened.*
*If you're curious, it occurred when the stormtroopers are chasing our heroes during the "escape from death star" sequence and one of them yells "open the blast doors!". I remember several lines of dialogue with the troopers arguing with each other and perhaps a commanding officer somewhere about those damned doors.
Interesting, because I have a similar hallucination of the same scene. I distinctly remember: Trooper Voice: "Close the blast doors! Close the blast doors!" (Heroes duck through and doors close) Trooper Voice: "Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!"
This sticks in my mind quite vividly and it was one of my favorite parts of the movie, but no version I've seen recently has this exact sequence. I was starting to doubt my memory, but now I wonder if George Lucas was trying to get into our heads even back then. It's possible that later theatre releases weren't exactly the same as early ones. George might have said "oh, that's kind of cheezy" and cut out the extra lines. He's sneaky like that.
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
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Re: The Power of Memory « Reply #3 on Aug 14, 2010, 3:12pm »
The way I remember it was the same, except just one "Close the blast doors!" Still two "Open"s, though.
Memory's a funny thing.
And if George did think that was cheesy, then he's truly lost touch with what he got into making movies for: Entertaining people. We all had a good laugh at that bit; it should have been left in.
(And not the same derisive snort of laughter we had whenever Anakin "the idiot midget" Skywalker bellowed "yippee!" in any of the prequels.)
Dieter the Deathless, anger-fueled fighting machine.
Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is offline
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Re: The Power of Memory « Reply #4 on Aug 14, 2010, 3:18pm »
I may move this to SciFi General, simply because I have this feeling that it may focus on the quirks of Star Wars instead of memory in general.
Part of the problem is that GL has changed things several times and it makes us all question what we "know" about Star Wars. My son and I saw the reimagined SW movies in the theatre, then later bought the DVDs. When we watched the DVD of Return of the Jedi I noticed that at the end they had switched a ghostly Hayden Christenson image in for the guy who originally played Luke's pappy. (The end scene where Ben and Yoda and Pappy are all standing there looking smug and dead.) If I hadn't commmented on the switch to him, my son might have been having a "Star Wars Moment" years from now where he would swear that it was as different actor when he saw it at the cinema. Because it was!
And what about the fact that Return of the Jedi was actually Revenge of the Jedi until shortly before it hit the theatres, and posters with the "wrong" title had been up for people to see.
In orther words, how much of this memory "innacuracy" is actually faulty memory, versus GL pulling the old shell game on us without anyone being the wiser? (I can't explain Geoffrey's comic book mis-recall, unless the conspiracy is even bigger than we imagine.)
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
themattjon Level 5 Thaumaturgist member is offline
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Re: The Power of Memory « Reply #5 on Aug 14, 2010, 4:00pm »
The way I remember it was the same, except just one "Close the blast doors!" Still two "Open"s, though.
+1 It TOTALLY happened! No chat between Luke and Biggs on Tatooine though, I operated under that hallucinatory memory for a LONG time, before realizing it was a scene from a picture book, not the movie.
Re: The Power of Memory « Reply #6 on Aug 14, 2010, 4:35pm »
Hmm ... well, my that one ISN'T a false memory then. I, too, chuckled at the close the blast doors ... open the blast doors thing; but I've never seen it on any VCR or DVD version.
Of course, this just all makes it worse! False memory, Lucas changing the film, or what? ARGH!
And each mix had differences from the others. While we all SAW the exact same movie in 1977, we HEARD a different movie!
Towards the end of the article is the following: "Knowing that multiple mixes were made that contained subtle yet detectable differences may help explain any conflicting or confusing memories of moviegoers who remember hearing a certain sound effect or line of dialogue in one presentation but not in another (a Stormtrooper calling out "Close the blast doors" while chasing Han Solo and Chewbacca through a Death Star corridor, for example). "
So if you remember hearing (or not hearing) "Open the blast doors!" in 1977, you are right either way because of the minor differences in the various audio mixes used back in 1977.
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Re: The Power of Memory « Reply #8 on Aug 14, 2010, 5:58pm »
What Lucas should do is release on both DVD and Blu-ray (highest possible quality on both) the Star Wars film exactly as it was shown back in 1977. On the menu screen should be four different choices of audio:
(1) 35mm two-track (four-channel) Dolby Stereo (2) 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo (3) 35mm Academy mono. (4) 35mm four-track magnetic stereo (for international release)
In spite of the fact that I do not make much money, I would pay serious money for that.
Hmm ... well, my that one ISN'T a false memory then. I, too, chuckled at the close the blast doors ... open the blast doors thing; but I've never seen it on any VCR or DVD version.
Remembered from first time around, but it was reinserted in on the Special Edition apparently...
False memories are bad enough to have to make allowances for without people messing around with the source material.
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Re: Star Wars: The Power of Memory « Reply #10 on Aug 15, 2010, 3:53am »
I remember the blast doors lines, too, and actually wasn't aware there is a version without them.
Another one was in Return of the Jedi... I could have sworn we saw an X-Wing smash into the Death Star shield and explode when it couldn't pull up in time. Probably just my imagination at what might happen if they didn't pull up (although I think it probably *should* have been shown!)
There's a great site I found that explains in detail a lot of things "from back then" regarding the Star Wars films. I'm guessing the crowd that posts here would really enjoy it, as it fills in a lot of details we may have wondered about, being old school fans of these movies.
Take a look at the "Articles" section... I found the information there to be quite interesting and revealing. Hopefully we get a properly restored version of the trilogy someday!
I remember the blast doors lines, too, and actually wasn't aware there is a version without them.
I wasn't aware there were multiple audio versions of the original film till now, but it makes sense, since it explains my weird experiences regarding the blast doors line. For years, I'd remembered that line as having been said -- I could even "hear" it in my head -- but I always had doubts as to whether it was real, because I'd met people who vehemently denied that it was really in the film. In fact, I'd periodically go back to watch Star Wars on DVD (I have the special edition version -- yeah, yeah) just to see if I wasn't crazy.
Of course, with Lucas, who knows? He's changed, altered, and "improved" the original films so many times over the years, not to mention being very disingenuous about his having done so that it's difficult to know what to believe.
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Re: Star Wars: The Power of Memory « Reply #12 on Sept 8, 2010, 12:09pm »
There were other subtle alterations long before the Special Editons. Lucas also toned down the violence in video releases (possibly later theatrical releases as well - remember Star Wars was re-released into theaters several times). In particular, scenes where imperials are blasted are cut short so as not to linger on the smoking blast hole left in their bodies.
Thanks for that... or should I say how am I ever going to read all THAT stuff? Although I'd sooner do that than read a story about a bounty hunter/pirate/jedi that uses death sticks...
The power of memory. There is a scene in Star Wars (later renamed "A New Hope") that I remember in great detail, complete with dialog and background music. Unfortunately, it never happened.*
*If you're curious, it occurred when the stormtroopers are chasing our heroes during the "escape from death star" sequence and one of them yells "open the blast doors!". I remember several lines of dialogue with the troopers arguing with each other and perhaps a commanding officer somewhere about those damned doors.
Interesting, because I have a similar hallucination of the same scene. I distinctly remember: Trooper Voice: "Close the blast doors! Close the blast doors!" (Heroes duck through and doors close) Trooper Voice: "Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!"
This sticks in my mind quite vividly and it was one of my favorite parts of the movie, but no version I've seen recently has this exact sequence. I was starting to doubt my memory, but now I wonder if George Lucas was trying to get into our heads even back then. It's possible that later theatre releases weren't exactly the same as early ones. George might have said "oh, that's kind of cheezy" and cut out the extra lines. He's sneaky like that.
Just to assuage your memory, this scene and dialogue does exist. It's clear as day in the most recent DVD release; you can hear the stormtrooper say "Open the blast doors!"
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