Josh Reviews Maclunkey Treasure Island: A Live Reading of Star Wars: Episode IV!

Yes! It’s another comedic live reading of a Star Wars movie script!  I’m in love with these, organized and hosted by the folks behind Star Wars Minute and the George Lucas Talk Show — Alex Robinson, Pete the Retailer, and Connor Ratliff.  They began with The Naboo Movie, a live staged reading of the script for Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.  I thought it was brilliant, the funniest thing I’d seen in forever.  (Click here for my review, and a link to watch it on YouTube!)  That was a hit, so they continued with The Great Kamino Kaper, a live-reading of the script for Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones.  (Click here for my review.)  They wrapped up the Prequel Trilogy with Mustafar Takes Los Angeles.  (Click here to watch it on YouTube.)  I didn’t review that one, because I didn’t have much new to say, and also because I’ll admit that I thought the concept might have petered out somewhat by then.  Though that live reading of the script for Revenge of the Sith was highlighted by an incredibly hilarious performance by Paul F. Tompkins as The Emperor!

But they’re back with a mostly new cast of terrific performers for a live reading of the script for the original Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope), and it is magnificent!!  This is a brilliant return to form and a must-watch for any Star Wars fan out there.

You can watch it right now!

I laughed all the way through this.  I think they found a perfect balance between a deep love of Star Wars (there are some very nerdy deep-cut jokes in this thing) with a willingness to poke a lot of fun at George Lucas’ sometimes clunky script.  (Or should I say, Maclunkey??)

But all the fun comes from a joyous place, a place of love for Star Wars, which makes this performance so endearing.

The script they used includes a number of deleted scenes that didn’t make it into the finished film, lots of stuff with Luke and Biggs and their buddies on Tattooine early in the story.  I think anyone who has seen those deleted scenes agrees they were cut from the movie for a reason, but it’s fun to have them included here.  (If you’re interested, check out the original footage from those deleted scenes here!)

Rich Sommer (Mad Men) absolutely steals the show as Luke!  Holy cow — I thought Mr. Sommer was great on Mad Men, but I am now a forever fan!!  He’s amazing here as Luke!  I was so impressed by how he was able to be both hilarious, and also heartfelt.  Mr. Sommer is so funny playing up Luke’s whiny kid nature early in the proceedings (his line reading of the classic line “but I was going to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!” is amazing), and then he’s great as the more heroic Luke later on.  And he layers tons of funny business throughout (for example, he makes quite a meal out of Luke’s stumbling to get past some Stormtroopers in Mos Eisley, before Obi-Wan uses the Force on them).  And he also brings emotion to moments such as Luke’s looking out onto the binary suns, or when he finds his murdered aunt and uncle.   What a performance!  (He even dressed the part — including wearing the goofy bucket hat Luke sports in those deleted scenes linked to above!!  Wow!)

Mr. Sommer is matched by the luminous Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) as Leia.  Ms. Maslany bursts into the show when Luke first sees the recording of Leia saying “help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi”, and Ms. Maslany turns that tiny moment into a show-stoppingly hilarious sequence.  Whenever she was on stage, I couldn’t help watching her.  She was so completely invested in each scene, always doing something funny or interesting with her face and expression, even when she wasn’t speaking.  She’s fantastic!!

Fred Melamed (WandaVision, In a World…) is wonderful as Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Mr. Melamed is so quiet and dignified as Obi-Wan — I loved his interpretation.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Richard Kind (A Serious Man, Inside Out, Only Murders in the Building) as Darth Vader!!  What a weird choice!!  But Mr. Kind is so much fun as this very strange, Richard Kind version of Darth Vader!!  I loved it.

Andy Daly (Silicon Valley, Unfrosted) is tremendous, playing multiple roles.  He’s note-perfect as Greedo (I laughed when Mr. Daly shouted “Maclunkey!!” as Han shoots him — that’s a reference to one of George Lucas’ weirdest re-release changes to this movie), and extremely funny as an overly gruff, angry Uncle Owen.  He’s also hilarious as the Imperial named Motti who (very stupidly) mocks Vader at the Death Star staff meeting (and then gets Force choked for it!).  Shaun Diston is also fantastic as another Imperial, Tagge, at this meeting.  (Mr. Diston adds great comedy to this moment, acting horrified at what Motti is doing!)  Mr. Diston is also great in the Cantina scene, playing Evazan, along with Hal Lublin, who plays Ponda Baba.  (This is the “I don’t like you either!” duo who pick a fight with Luke at the bar.)  Mr. Diston and Mr. Lublin make this scene so funny!!  I loved it!

Another highlight of this amazing ensemble for me is James Urbaniak (American Splendor) as Grand Moff Tarkin.  Mr. Urbaniak takes the role very seriously, but is also super-funny delivering his lines in a looking-down-my-nose-at-you British accent, in beautiful emulation of Peter Cushing (who played Tarkin in the original film).  The way Mr. Urbaniak also rolls his “R”s is amazing.

Zac Oyama is very funny as C-3PO.  I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure about him at first.  He’s putting on a funny voice, but he doesn’t sound anything like Anthony Daniels.  But his performance quickly grew on me, and I loved how funny he made C-3PO!

Eric Edelstein does a tremendous Chewbacca impression, and the Fozzy Bear puppet he wears is a delightful choice to visualize ol’ Chewie!  (These guys sure do love the Muppets, judging by how they’ve named each of their Star Wars live readings after a different Muppets movie!)

I also want to highlight Laraine Newman (SNL), who is very funny in a variety of minor roles.  I particularly loved her portrayal of the Storm Trooper who gets his mind controlled by Obi-Wan at Mos Eisley (“We don’t need to see your identification”).

This performance was a pleasure for me, from start to finish!  If you have’t yet seen it, kick back and enjoy!

This is also a great excuse to remind you about my “Maclunkey” t-shirt — a Star Wars and Highlander mash-up — which is available for purchase right now at Woot.com!!