Detention Level

A New Hope

Cliche dodging against impossible odds. If I told you that the first entry in my favourite movie franchise involves one lovable rouge, one scruffy looking underdog and a wookie breaking into a detention block to save a captive princess from a tyrannical empire, I’d forgive you for eye-rolling. It’s a pretty well-trodden premise – well, at least barring the inclusion of a wookie.

But instead of being lame, this somewhat incidental rescue mission turns into one of the best sequences in A New Hope, largely as a result of the sharp dialogue that tells us so much about the characters at the centre of the story.

Quipping hard from the outset is Leia. She circumvents typical princess form from the moment Luke Skywalker storms her cell. “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper” is literally the first thing she says to the disguised Luke – and that’s before she’s even established that she’s mocking one of our good guys.

Then when Han and Chewie join the pair having just fought off the first wave of stormtroopers looking to reclaim the detention block and flush out the rebels, she slams Han with a “looks like you’ve cut off our only escape route.” Han’s response; “maybe you’d like it better back in your cell, your Highness.”

Love at first sight.

This isn’t even Han’s first quip of the scene either. Even before the first wave of stormtroopers entered the party, Han is trying to throw the Imperial agents off the ruse with an explanation so weak, he ends up spluttering small talk before shooting the comms unit.

“Boring conversation anyway.” That line alone could have taken the #40 slot on the list. It’s classic Solo.

With Leia out of her cell, the four soon find themselves in the detention corridor pinned by the second wave of stormtroopers. This is when Leia turns from princess to action star, nabbing Luke’s E11 blaster and firing back down the corridor. “Somebody has to save our skins.”

Shooting open a vent to the garbage masher, she delivers “into the garbage chute, flyboy,” demonstrating that Han Solo had met his match. I guess she’s his equal in the force. Both as stubborn as each other, as daring as each other, and as intolerant to nonsense as each other.

This is how you script an action scene. Sharp dialogue, witty and purposeful. The big four heroes of the Original Trilogy are together for the first time and they have instant chemistry even though their backs are, quite literally, against the wall.