Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Rebels - S1E1 - "Spark of Rebellion"

Part I

2:06 - Commandant Aresko (to stormtroopers, referring to a merchant):  "Take him away."  In The Phantom Menace, Nute Gunray commands, "Take him away," to a pair of battle droids, referring to Sio Bibble [1:18:19], and in Attack of the Clone, Jango Fett says, "Take him away" to battle droids, referring to Anakin [1:42:30].

2:18 - Taskmaster Grint (to Ezra):  "Move along, Loth-rat."  In A New Hope, a sandtrooper says the same thing when, prompted by Obi-Wan's influence through the Force, he directs Luke into Mos Eisley:  "Move along.  Move along." [43:51].

5:30 - Sabine (to Ezra):  "Good luck!"  In The Empire Strikes Back, an unidentified Rebel pilot wishes Luke good luck [36:02] and Luke wishes Lando good luck [2:00:09], and in Return of the Jedi, Han and Lando wish each other good luck [Han to Lando at 50:33 and Lando to Han at 52:21].

5:54 - Screenshots don't do justice to the dynamics here, but this shot has the same basic composition as a shot in Return of the Jedi [59:34].  The camera pans with the rebels' speeders (Ezra, Kanan, and Zeb in this episode; Luke and Leia in the movie) and then stops to reveal two Imperial troopers already mounted on speeder bikes who take off in pursuit.



6:21 - Zeb suddenly slows his speeder bike so that the Imperial troops who were chasing him pass him, which is what Luke does in Return of the Jedi [59:47].

6:27 - Imperial trooper (after Kanan feigns giving up):  "What the?"  In Attack of the Clones, an alien on Coruscant makes this same exclamation as he sees Obi-Wan flying through traffic while hanging from a droid [15:08]; Han Solo says it in A New Hope after emerging from hyperspace into a meteor shower [1:03:15], and in Return of the Jedi, a scout trooper says this after being hit by Wicket [1:05:38].

Part II

0:49 - The symbol on the door in the Imperial cruiser also appears in Echo Base in The Empire Strikes Back [33:36], and these particular shots even have a similar composition:



1:05 - Ezra (to Kanan and Zeb):  "It's a trap!  We gotta get out of here; it's a trap!"  Admiral Ackbar says, "It's a trap!" in Return of the Jedi [1:35:03], and Leia says it twice in The Empire Strikes Back [1:39:50].

1:42 - Stormtrooper (after the artificial gravity is turned off):  "What the?"  See above, 6:27.

4:43 - Agent Kallus (to Ezra):  "You're here to be used as bait upon our return to Lothal."  Obi-Wan uses the same expression in Attack of the Clones (speaking to Anakin, referring to Padmé):  "You're using her as bait" [11:22].

7:56 - Ezra (after hearing that the Rebel ship has returned):  "They came back!  I don't believe it."  The context is quite different, but Luke also says, "I don't, I don't believe it" in The Empire Strikes Back, after Yoda uses the Force to get his X-wing out of the swamp [1:13:10].

15:42 - Wilhelm scream (stormtrooper)

16:14 - Ezra (to Kallus):  "I don't know where you get your delusions, buckethead; I work alone."  Leia has a similar line in The Empire Strikes Back, talking to Han:  "I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain" [17:20].

19:00 - The color palette is simpler, but in Ezra's home there are a few hexagonal panels like those seen in the homestead garage in Attack of the Clones and A New Hope:



19:10 - Kanan (to Ezra):  "The Force is everywhere.  It surrounds us and penetrates us.  It binds the galaxy together."  Obi-Wan similarly describes the Force in A New Hope:  "It's an energy field created by all living things.  It surrounds us and penetrates us.  It binds the galaxy together." [34:41].

20:35 - Obi-Wan (in a holocron recording):  "And in time a new hope will emerge."  This is obvious, but I'll note it anyway:  "a new hope" is also the title of the first movie.