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The allure of the speeder bike sequence
Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi
Writers: George Lucas & Lawrence Kasdan
Director: Richard Marquand
George Lucas loves fast moving things. In real life and in films. An aspiring race car driver in his youth, he survived a near-fatal car accident at eighteen years of age and turned to filmmaking as a career choice. George, though, never left his need for speed behind. Whether it was drag races in American Graffiti, Death Star trench runs, podraces, and, the favorite of a generation, the speeder bike sequence in Return of the Jedi.
The 74-Z speeder bike itself is such a sublime design. It’s a space motorcycle. It takes two seconds for even the youngest of fans to get that. So, once you grasp what it is, particularly if you’re a seven-year-old kid sitting in a theater, on, say, random date, May 25, 1983, you want to see it in action. And, whoa, see it in action we do. The Rebels land on Endor and our heroes immediately steal some speeder bikes to chase after the bad guys, and so begins one of the best sequences in Star Wars.
The legacy of the speeder bike chase extends to many different categories. The look and feel of the sequence are the first thing that grabs you. It’s different than the higher intensity moments that came before it. The action in A New Hope is mostly focused in space. Sure, there are blaster fights and a lightsaber battle among the halls of the Death Star, but the lumps in our throat are generally the biggest when we’re flying among the stars. The Empire Strikes Back had the up close and personal tension of Vader and Luke and an epic sprawling battle in the snow. But in Return of the Jedi, here we are, on a forest planet for the first time, and the chase through the forest floor is fresh and rife with high-stakes tension. One false move and you’re dead, smashed into exploding pieces against a redwood tree. You feel this chase.
On the technical side, it was pretty ingenious. By now, it’s common behind-the-scenes Star Wars knowledge, but none of this should be forgotten. In April 1982, camera operator Garrett Brown walked with a VistaVision camera on a Steadicam through the forest floor in the very real Red Woods. Visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and assistant cameraman Michael Owens are at his side as Brown slowly and painstakingly walks while filming at ¾ speed. One slight move off course and they would have to do it again and again. The rig was heavy. The gear cumbersome. The film process was almost as intense as the sped up, hair-raising sequence it became. (You can read Brown’s personal account of this on the American Society of Cinematographers website.) This footage was then mixed with real shots of the performers, green screens, matte paintings, and some good old-fashioned model making to create a technological masterpiece of its time.
The final presentation was a masterstroke of modern, blockbuster filmmaking. You are completely transported into the moment, which is probably the most important impact of the sequence. It enraptured its audience. The design of the bikes, the editing, and the unique sound the bikes (who hasn’t made that screaming echo of the bikes zipping past you) and chase created make for a most memorable four minutes of film. It doesn’t hurt that the chase ends when Luke Skywalker, combat poncho and all, jumps off his bike mere seconds before it explodes against a tree and faces down a charging speeder bike-riding biker scout with his lightsaber. Deflecting three laser blasts and slicing the bike in two, Skywalker sends the final speeder bike, and the sequence, to a blinding, fiery end.
Now catch your breath.
We could talk often and write much about the deeper meanings and greater lessons found inside Star Wars. The franchise is, fortunately, bursting at the seams with them. Yet, we can never forget (because George never did) that this saga is also meant to entertain and delight us. This is why the speeder bike sequence reigns supreme. Whenever you first saw it, you couldn’t get it out of your mind. You took it home with you.
There was a small palm tree in my backyard growing up. One of the branches leaned out at near ninety-degree angle, making it accessible for the tiny version of me. I could easily hop on and off the wayward branch. Who needed a fancy bike, expensive skateboard, or tree house? I had this branch and I used it for one thing—as a speeder bike. I’d climb on up, take my place on the “seat,” and I was off. Some days I was chasing down Imperial biker scouts as a Rebel helping Han, Luke, and Leia defeat the Empire. Other days I was one of the biker scouts—one of my favorite style of troopers in the whole damn Empire—chasing down Rebels and, dare I say, Ewoks. The sounds, the look, the feel, and, of course, the speed. In a franchise that brought us great space battles and electric lightsaber fights and a world of toys to help transport us to almost wherever you want to go in this galaxy, I wanted to zoom around the forest moon of Endor. Star Wars is about a lot of important, meaningful themes and lessons, but, sometimes, it’s just about being dazzled. First, when you see it, and, for the rest of your life, when you dream about it. Speed and tension: key ingredients to Star Wars. As George Lucas was known for saying on set, “Faster, more intense.”