RIP clumsy stormtrooper Michael Leader

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/26/rip-clumsy-stormtrooper-michae.html

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Died? It didn’t even look like he hit it very hard.

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That was footage from the original movie. The remake is much more extreme, door takes his head right off.

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It was one of those slow, festering wounds. Expect a lawsuit against the Empire from his family any day now.

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Curse you Two Thousand Sixteen!

Why do you keep taking from us!

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In the new special edition, they replaced the door with a walkie-talkie.

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Jeez. He seems awfully old for a Storm Trooper. No wonder they couldn’t hit anything.

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I let out a Wilhelm scream in lament!

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Wasn’t he a little tall for a stormtrooper?

Hail and farewell Michael Leader.

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Wonder if he had a red shirt on underneath that armor.

R.I.P Michael Leader.

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I will miss him. He brought more humanity to the stormtrooper in one gesture than a half dozen screenplays ever did.

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Uhhh. . . so he survived the Death Star getting blown up?

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As many times as I watched episode 4, I never noticed that. Maybe there’s hope for me yet…

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I believe the sound F/X of the helmet hitting the door was adding later in the Special Edition so it was very difficult to notice in the original theatrical or VHS/Laser Disk versions.

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That would explain it. I don’t really grok the fandom of those who didn’t see the original release. It’s a generational thing, I guess. Now, if the special edition had corrected the continuity problem with the death star in the briefing room, I’d totally have supported that.

Emphasizing an extra’s error after the fact? (further eroding the menace of the dullshooting stormtrooper?) Not a fan.

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Obligs:

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Yeah, the guidance and direction behind the Special Editions was full of a ton of terrible ideas and additions that made timeless movies look extremely dated through terrible CG.

One exception: adding windows to Cloud City.

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Even though this saddens me a bit (even though I am completely unfamiliar with his other work), it’s kind of cool that sites will mark the passing of those who play minor/bit/unvoiced, even characters in famous movies.

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Well put. A man died, with a family missing him- fine for it to be mentioned because of his job, but not a great time for jokes.

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The sound effect of him hitting his head is one of the very few improvements the Special Editions made.