Star Wars: A New Hope Radio Drama

[Deleted]

Not new by any means but new to me! This excellent radio drama from 1981 has been cleaned up, compiled and slightly edited by Youtuber Nige L. 

I enjoy the additional fleshing out of the story and the voice cast, despite some changes. Vader here is more aristocratic and sophisticated, for one, but Luke and Threepio sound familiar for a reason. Listen closely for the climax when Alderaan is destroyed. The actress for Leia delivers a heart wrenching performance. 

[geoffrey]

Aug 16, 2020 10:32:42 GMT -6 @ampleframework said:

Not new by any means but new to me! This excellent radio drama from 1981 has been cleaned up, compiled and slightly edited by Youtuber Nige L. 

I enjoy the additional fleshing out of the story and the voice cast, despite some changes. Vader here is more aristocratic and sophisticated, for one, but Luke and Threepio sound familiar for a reason. Listen closely for the climax when Alderaan is destroyed. The actress for Leia delivers a heart wrenching performance. 

I remember listening to that with my wife years ago on the 5-hour drive to Santa Fe. On another trip there, we listened to the Dark Empire stories. Good times.

[asaki]

I was listening to these at work earlier this year. Not this particular edit though. Pretty good stuff, love the "deleted scenes"...just takes a while to get used to some of the voices, like Han.

Also cool that David Alan Grier was involved.

I love John Lithgow, but his Yoda??? Ehhh...needs some work

There's another story by the same script writer, was released on vinyl, but IMO it's not that great: Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell.

Aug 16, 2020 10:32:42 GMT -6 @ampleframework said:

Listen closely for the climax when Alderaan is destroyed. The actress for Leia delivers a heart wrenching performance. 

That part always bugged me in the movie...your whole PLANET is being destroyed, and all you can muster is a half-hearted "no, please don't"?? Much better in the radio drama.

[Falconer]

Yes yes, to the 4 radio dramas you listen!

[Deleted]

I actually listened to all of ANH and ESB yesterday and have started on ROTJ today. I'm impressed with the fleshed out scripts and voices overall. Yoda was weak in ESB but better in ROTJ. The guys who play Vader and Palpatine are not like the movie versions but I can totally believe these voices going with those roles. They both sound more aristocratic and to be frank more Imperial than the movie actors, iconic as they are. I'll have to check out the Ord Mantell one. That's the junk planet, right?

[asaki]

Something like that, yeah.

ROTJ is fine, but it's the shortest one, and has the least amount of "deleted scenes". The guy who's supposed to be Mark/Luke does a pretty good job.

I have I think part 2 of the Dark Empire on CD, but never listened to it...obviously I would want to get a hold of part 1 first.

[Falconer]

There is a fan edit of the Dark Empire Audio Drama which adds a ton of music; it is a huge improvement, IMO. I rarely revisit it (I massively prefer the unabridged Heir to the Empire audiobook), but when I do, it’s the way to go.

[Deleted]

Dark Empire is the OG clone Palpatine saga, right? Not my favorite of the EU. I'm a big Thrawn fan. But if the audio book is good I'll check it out.

[Falconer]

This is my usual listening order. This is the version of Star Wars which aspires to greatness, IMO. (Of course you can read them, too… even the radio drama scripts as such are available in book form.)

Brian Daley	Star Wars	radio drama
Brian Daley	Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell	audio drama
Brian Daley	The Empire Strikes Back	radio drama
Brian Daley	Return of the Jedi	radio drama
Timothy Zahn	Heir to the Empire	read by Marc Thompson
Timothy Zahn	Dark Force Rising	read by Marc Thompson
Timothy Zahn	The Last Command	read by Marc Thompson
Timothy Zahn	Hammertong	read by Laura Esterman
Timothy Zahn	Specter of the Past	read by Marc Thompson
Timothy Zahn	Vision of the Future	read by Marc Thompson

[Deleted]

That's a pretty good personal canon you've got going there, sir. (I maintain that despite what Disney labels canon, the wealth of Star Wars timelines and material out there leaves the storyline very much up to personal interpretation, with the only hard and fast constant being episodes 4-6)