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AVERY KAPLAN: Happy May the Fourth!!
GREG SILBER: And May the Fourth be with you, Avery. Thank you for joining me for this special screening of Star Wars Episodes 1-6, LEGOfied.
KAPLAN: For those reading along at home, this is Greg striking back because I subjected him to the Star Wars Holiday Special. “Happy” memories, eh Greg?
SILBER: I mean, I don’t think this will be an actively bad piece of Star Wars media, so I wouldn’t call it “striking back.” But I guess it’s similar in that I had never seen the Holiday Special before, and you didn’t have the experience I did playing the LEGO Star Wars games as a kid in the Playstation 2 era.
KAPLAN: Aside from the Star Wars LEGO Holiday Special that came out last year, I have relatively little experience with the Star Wars LEGO series, so I’m not sure what to expect! I did play LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2, which had a lot of excellent deep comics cuts (and frankly, probably raised my expectations way too high).
SILBER: Well, there’s a reason I wanted you to watch this specific supercut of all the LEGO Star Wars cutscenes from the original game and it’s sequel, LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy. Those games had these adorable recreations of iconic Star Wars scenes that not only were told with LEGO animation, but with gibberish dialogue. I lost interest in the LEGO video games, including subsequent LEGO Star Wars games, after the LEGO started speaking in complete, English sentences. Where’s the fun in that?!
KAPLAN: Shall we begin?? Wait, the kid is supposed to be the pilot of the red ship!
SILBER: It’s LEGO Star Wars, Avery! Open your mind! I like to think this is its own alternative SW universe.
KAPLAN: Can’t replace that John Williams score, though!
SILBER: It’s like a Saturday Morning Cartoon version of it. Familiar, but similar.
KAPLAN: Oh no, minifig Padmé needs a dress! She’s just got those little LEGO legs. By contrast, Battle Droids… are not that different in LEGO.
SILBER: Things are happening VERY quickly when you take out the actual gameplay. Are you able to follow along?
KAPLAN: Sure am, but then… I know this story by heart. I do like the use of sound effects rather than visuals to convey that the Nubian ship is reflective… Now THIS is podracing!!
SILBER: I like to think that this game was a precursor to how The LEGO Movie approached its bringing LEGO to life.
KAPLAN: Even without dialogue it has that same “we seriously get the material but we won’t take ourselves too seriously” vibe.
SILBER: Totally. It’s affectionate but it’s also unashamed of being a LEGO game for 6 year olds.
KAPLAN: Oh no, that droid got vaporized… Where’s “Duel of the Fates,” guys??
SILBER: It really does prove how iconic even the weakest Star Wars moments, right? You can reduce these scenes to their most basic (brick) components, and take out all the dialogue, and we still remember exactly what’s going on.
KAPLAN: Totally accurate. Those Gungan eyes aren’t leaving my nightmares anytime soon.
SILBER: I love that dead Qui Gon has those little Xs over his eyes. And we’re in episode 2!
KAPLAN: I love the “happy ending” to Episode I, A.K.A., Palpy’s plans are goin’ fine. For some reason this scene always gives me a craving for Death Sticks…
SILBER: Don’t do drugs kids.
KAPLAN: This is Dex’s Diner erasure! I hope you visit in-gameplay…
SILBER: I barely remember 15+ years later but I’m almost sure of it!
KAPLAN: Oh lord, the Kamino alien design in LEGO… FINALLY, the Baby Yoda backstory you’ve all been waiting for!
SILBER: I guess all of this stuff was available at some point as physical LEGO sets right?
KAPLAN: If not yet, then eventually… they still release new sets based on the older properties.
SILBER: We’re you into LEGO as a kid Avery?
KAPLAN: Totally, especially the mummy ones, for some reason.
SILBER: I didn’t know there were mummy LEGO!
KAPLAN: Sorry, hold on — this coliseum isn’t LEGO!!
SILBER: Hell yeah! It’s hilarious to me how they depict the most tragic scenes—like baby Boba Fett holding his father’s severed head—in LEGO gibberish form.
KAPLAN: The Jango decapitation… yikes!! Poor kids. Do they leave the burned-up Uncle Owen & Aunt Beru, too??
SILBER: We’ll get there I’m sure!
KAPLAN: That Yoda model is…
SILBER: Adorable?
KAPLAN: Sure, let’s say that. Actually, here we go: he’s no Grogu!
SILBER: LEGOfied old people, including Yoda and especially Palpatine, are pretty creepy looking.
KAPLAN: There’s also some hair-piece issues here. How dare they do that to Anakin’s luscious locks!
SILBER: Sadly when you’re a LEGO you’re stuck with one, non-flowing hairstyle the rest of your life.
KAPLAN: Wooo Cody minifig!! OK, now we’re on Kashyyk, so where is Itchy?
SILBER: Oh no! Flashbacks.
KAPLAN: Dead baby minifig time, eh? I feel like this is all going to boil down to who has the high ground.
SILBER: Somehow I had the same sneaking suspicion.
KAPLAN: Hahahaha being bisected when you’re made of LEGO just hits different.
SILBER: In it’s own way the cuteness makes this darker than the movies ever were.
KAPLAN: The infant with Leia’s hair buns, amazing.
SILBER: I love that all the destruction is depicted with taken apart LEGO.
KAPLAN: 17 Years Later… Man I hope that one kid didn’t grow up into a whiny farmboy…
SILBER: We just experienced the whole prequel trilogy in 20 minutes! On to the good stuff.
KAPLAN: Whoa hey, who’s this gold character? Must have been cut out of LEGO Episodes 1 – 3.
SILBER: I should say there’s a different YouTube supercut that includes gameplay footage, but ones patience can only go so far. It’s also twice as long.
KAPLAN: Yeah I am comfortable with this one!! I love it when they use a “microkit” model to show that the characters have moved further away from a ship.
SILBER: It’s a fun effect! Lots of Easter eggs not just for Star Wars fans, but LEGO fans.
KAPLAN: Hahaha the Jawas stealing the droids!! Hey, Obi-Wan was hiding in the bushes of love!
SILBER: He’s a sneaky one.
KAPLAN: They should present Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ in LEGO.
SILBER: YES.
KAPLAN: AHAHAHA I literally laughed out loud at R2 falling out of the speeder.
SILBER: Some great slapstick here!
KAPLAN: The stars for Jedi Mind Tricks! WOO Cantina song!! Goodnight but not goodbye!
SILBER: Is that what the cantina song means?
KAPLAN: That’s what Ackmena sang in the Holiday Special, anyway!
SILBER: This right here is my favorite part: the LEGO destruction of Alderaan.
KAPLAN: It feels like Episode 4 is more liberal with the comedy. I sound like a monster. “A million souls cried out & were silenced, LMFAO!”
SILBER: Different game at this point! Although it was all eventually collected in one disk as LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga.
KAPLAN: Somebody’s gotta save their skins…
SILBER: Or plastic.
KAPLAN: Excited for LEGO Dianoga. Wait! Where is she? Hopefully in the gameplay, I guess.
SILBER: Lol @ Vader and Kenobi waving at Luke mid-fight. What do you think of the gibberish?
KAPLAN: I feel like it works best when used sparingly. It’s way funnier as a single grunt to me than the “whole line” in gibberish.
SILBER: Oh I’m the opposite, I would watch a whole LEGO silent film. LEGO Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times. LEGO Nosferatu.
KAPLAN: Oh, I’d be down, I just think they should keep the “lines” (gibberish) brief. Like how Han “woohoos” instead of “mumbling” his whole line. Chewie in this scene: “I’ll be back for my medal in 5 movies.”
SILBER: Not to be confused with what “woohoo” means in Simlish.
KAPLAN: Ooooo on to the best movie! He got Wampa Stompa’d.
SILBER: Love the LEGO skeletons.
KAPLAN: Han’s LEGO winter coat, it’s incredible!
SILBER: Very stylish. Fashion-wise, Empire is unbeatable.
KAPLAN: Leia’s Hoth outfit is the original trilogy’s biggest fashion flex for sure.
SILBER: I love the LEGOfied version of the battle too.
KAPLAN: Veers! What a jerk that guy is! Jeez Han, save it for the asteroid belt.
SILBER: Very Pepe Le Pew. Somehow LEGO Han is way hornier?
KAPLAN: Uh, did they add an extra space battle…? Ah, the Boba reaction shot.
SILBER: Well it’s a video game and I guess Empire’s dramatic stretches don’t translate…
KAPLAN: I’m still holding out for the dinner ambush in LEGO.
SILBER: Oh you know that’s gotta be a thing.
KAPLAN: OH NO, Yoda’s eyes now, too?
SILBER: LEGO Yoda continues to be…upsetting. I think that might have more to do with the graphical limitations of the PS2 though.
KAPLAN: Maybe LEGO Yoda was recently assaulted by a seagull or something. WOW that translucent Obi-Wan is actually really cool looking!
SILBER: It’s a neat effect in LEGO form!
KAPLAN: By contrast, without the headgear, Lobot is just a bald white minifig.
SILBER: Aww they kind glossed over the dinner scene.
KAPLAN: It’s okay, I’m busy being transfixed & disgusted by the LEGO Ugnaughts.
SILBER: LEGO Lando is pretty stylish.
KAPLAN: Oh Lobot DOES have a little headset, huh? OK, this gibberish is fantastic.
SILBER: The little picture of Anakin and Leia as proof of parentage!
KAPLAN: Good thing Luke & Leia are a dyad in the Force or this would get real messy here at the end…
SILBER: Oh god don’t make me remember Rise of Skywalker please. “Somehow, Palpatine has returned” would’ve made more sense in gibberish.
KAPLAN: That reminds me, they should have included the LEGO version of the “Darth Plageius” story in the prequel trilogy.
SILBER: Yes!
KAPLAN: Hey, it’s the construction workers they talked about in Clerks!!
SILBER: PITCH: LEGO Clerks.
KAPLAN: Oh man. Kevin Smith, please. Hahaha the carbonite thaw is hilarious in LEGO!
SILBER: I’m not certain but I’m pretty sure LEGO Kevin Smith exists in one of the latter day Lego games.
KAPLAN: Jay & LEGO Bob Strike Back!!
SILBER: LEGO slave Leia is… weird.
KAPLAN: Let’s just… move along, shall we.
SILBER: Yes please!
KAPLAN: Can’t wait to see my hero Boba Fett get out of this one!
SILBER: I already forgot The Mandolorian’s justification for how he survived.
KAPLAN: Oh no… OH NO!
SILBER: You ok?
KAPLAN: Good thing death means even less in Star Wars than it does in Marvel, somehow.
SILBER: And that’s saying a LOT.
KAPLAN: LEGO Poe Dameron: “Somehow, LEGO Boba Fett… has returned.”
SILBER: I do like the LEGO Ewoks.
KAPLAN: So the Ewoks definitely ate a bunch of stormtroopers, right?
SILBER: Oh 10000%.
KAPLAN: The LEGO Ewok eyes are actually very accurate. OK the LEGO version of C-3PO’s meta story is really leaning on the 4th wall pretty hard…
…I think my nose is bleeding? Oh, NIEN NUNB! Look out, it’s a LEGO Trap!!!
SILBER: The worst kind! The Empire would’ve been defeated way quicker I’d the rebels laid out loose LEGO for Palpatine to step on at night.
KAPLAN: Palps actually looks better in 6 than 3, in LEGO… Oh never mind, he’s dead.
SILBER: I love the way LEGO characters die. Just lying flat on their backs.
KAPLAN: WOW the tonal step really is something. “Looks like Imperial’s back on the menu!” YUB NUB!! The original ending song!! Bonus points.
SILBER: Yes! LEGO dance a little like Peanuts characters.
KAPLAN: Nooo imagine having that lame haircut for all eternity! Poor Anakin!
SILBER: A fate worse than death.
KAPLAN: That was ridiculous!!
SILBER: And that’s it! We just experienced the entire prequel trilogy and original trilogy in 53 minutes. What are your overall impressions?
KAPLAN: That emotional beats become horrifying when presented in LEGO, and that Gungans were not meant to be minifigs! Also, “Yub Nub” is still one of the best songs of the whole nerf-herding franchise.
SILBER: Somehow I was familiar with that song despite growing up at a time when the special editions were the only versions widely available. Which is still the case now! Beyond a trip down memory lane as a fan of the games, I feel a bit of whiplash from how quickly we went through all 6 of these movies.
KAPLAN: I wonder if they had the original Jabba’s Palace song in the gameplay… “Lapti Nek” is another song that really holds up!
SILBER: I definitely remember more than one musical number from the gameplay.
KAPLAN: It is wild to think that, what, 12+ hours of movie can be more or less condensed to less than 60 minutes!
SILBER: To be fair, that’s probably only if you’re a Star Wars super fan like you or me. I wonder how someone who never saw these movies, or even only saw them once or twice, would respond. The thought makes my brain hurt.
KAPLAN: That’s a very fair point… I mean, I have the dialogue for a lot of these movies essentially memorized! But if you don’t know Anakin from Obi-Wan, I wonder if this might quickly become inscrutable.
SILBER: Did this make you interested in playing the games themselves?
KAPLAN: I wouldn’t say it didn’t really make me MORE interested, but that’s just because I was pre-sold… if the gameplay is anything like the more recent LEGO games, it’ll be a TON of breezy fun
SILBER: These games were the start of that kind of LEGO game. Recreations of a popular franchise, with extremely low-stakes gameplay where even death doesn’t impede your progress because you’ll immediately respawn, like the rebuilt LEGO you are.
KAPLAN: I guess that’s part of what’s so jarring about the character deaths. The internal logic of this world makes dying kind of irrelevant!
SILBER: We’ve since had everything from LEGO Marvel to LEGO Batman, LEGO Lord of the Rings, LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Jurassic Park… the list goes on.
KAPLAN: In my opinion you just can’t beat LEGO Portal. It even had a third GlaDos song! This was a YT-frieghter full of fun. Until next time… We’ll meet again, friend!
SILBER: And may the Fourth be with you all!