Episode 11 << Click to Listen

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The People vs. George Lucas director Alexandre Philippe joins us to talk about the film and the love/hate relationship between Star Wars fans and its creator.

Panel Topic: Star Wars

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Introduction

0:00 Introduction by Tor.com

0:37 Dave and John introduce the show

Interview: Alexandre Philippe

02:46 Interview begins

02:58 Alexandre ranks the films for us

04:19 The origin of The People vs. George Lucas, and fan contributions to the cause

07:15 Some of the recognizable names in the film and Alexandre’s experience collecting the opinions of professional sci fi writers

09:22 Star Wars fandom around the world

10:36 The angriest and strangest interviews

12:03 Handling death threats from Star Wars fans

13:43 Kids and French scholars: people who prefer the prequels over the originals

15:37 The relationship between fans and their merchandise

20:07 What went wrong in the prequels?

22:10 Will Lucas ever do anything other than Star Wars?

26:19 The Star Wars expanded universe

27:00 Alexandre weighs in on rebooting Star Wars

28:17 Where can we see the documentary?

29:29 Past and upcoming projects from Alexandre Philippe, including Earthlings, a documentary about the Klingon language phenomenon

30:39 End of interview

Dave and John crush Podtern’s innocent love for Star Wars under the jackboot of heartless criticism, demonstrating their utter soullessness and total lack of perspective. Dave and John have a spirited and balanced discussion regarding the films. [Note: Podtern has been placed on administrative leave.]

30:57 Dave and John talk about their early Star Wars experiences

34:49 The infallibility of Star Wars when we’re kids

42:05 John and Dave rank the films

46:10 Dave posits that Phantom Menace acts as a vaccine

47:32 The stuff that works, and why

50:37 Regarding Ewoks

54:02 “Wait, they have a werewolf, too?” Watching the original films with someone who hasn’t seen them before

59:41 About David Brin’s Star Wars On Trial, and Dave and John answer some of the charges

01:02:20 The guys take apart the science in the films

01:04:21 Jeanne Cavelos brings a damning charge that may apply to science fiction movies in general

01:05:35 Does Star Wars portray any admirable ethical beliefs?

01:08:57 Plot holes and logical gaps

01:11:32 John weighs in on the expanded universe, including the novels by Timothy Zahn and Kevin J. Anderson, and the Dark Horse Comics series

01:15:48 Regarding the video games

01:19:43 John and Dave geek out properly on the sheer awesomeness of lightsabers

01:25:18 Show wrap-up

Next week: Corey Olsen, host of the podcast The Tolkien Professor

Thanks for listening!

Show notes compiled by podtern Christie Yant. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.