Written by Mr. Mouseburger 15th Nov 2006
Han has just struck a deal with Obi-Wan Kenobi (q.v.) and Luke to take them to the Rebel base on a planet called Alderan. He met the pair of them in the cantina as Mos Eisley, which seems to be a haven for a cornucopia of aliens, whose prosthetic appearances stretch believability to the extreme (my particular favourite has to be the wolfman who looks like he escaped from the lot of a rather unconvincing horror movie!).
Mos Eisley cantina serves a menagerie of weirdos, not unlike most British clubs
Anyway, Han is rightly relieved about taking these passengers, as it means he can now pay off a debt he owes to the local gastropod, Jabba the Hutt; the resident gangster on Tattooine.
As Han prepares to leave the cantina to tell Jabba the good news, he is stopped at gunpoint by Greedo, a bounty hunter who has been hired by Jabba to bring Han before him. It appears he has grown tired of waiting for Han to repay him, and so has sent out bounty hunters to reclaim the money, or his corpse.
Greedo makes Han sit back down at the table where he was seated, and we see a camera shot under the table where Han is slowly unclipping the holster of his blaster.
with fingers like that, it is no wonder Greedo is a crap shot
Han tries at first to negotiate with Greedo, saying that he has the money to pay Jabba now, but when pressed he has to admit he does not have the money at the moment. At which point Greedo tires of the banter and decides to execute Solo in cold blood. However, his aim is woefully poor and he manages, from no more than three feet away, to miss Solo who, quick as a flash, returns fire from under the table, and blasts Greedo's guts out. Needless to say, this kills Greedo instantly, and his smouldering corpse slumps with a resounding thud onto the cantina table.
Conclusive proof that Greedo shot first, quashing all the conspiracy theories that he never fired a shot
Murder is commonplace in this bar, and so after a moments staring, the patrons soon all return to their drinks, minding their own business. Han casually gets up at this point, walks out and throws a coin at the barkeep saying “sorry about the mess”
Han pays for the bar's upholstery to be cleaned
This death is ruined in the Special Edition.
Hence why the Theatrical Version (among reasons) is always the disc out of the Limited Edition I choose.
"I've been waiting for this a long time..."
"Yeah, I bet you have!"
*BANG!*
Actually, Mouseburger, you are transcribing the special edition version of the death. The one in the theatrical version has Han shooting Greedo before he has a chance to think about executing Han.
"Mexican Standoff"?
Yup, it's true. Han shot first!
How did Lucas think shooting first didn't fit his character and change it to "self-defense"? I'd say it already was self-defense. You have a guy holding you at gunpoint, shooting him before he can shoot you at any given time during the situation is still self-defense.
On the risk of the comments for this getting way out of hand, I think (in the least) an annotation about the difference between SE and regular might be a good idea.
Perhaps we need that "alternate death scene" category now?
I don't know how many of you read the expanded universe books, but in the Legacy of the Force series - which is the latest series this whole Han / Greedo thing has been turned into a running joke of sorts.
First in Betrayal, an old friend asks Princess Leia if Han was ok, to which she replied, "He's fine. Han shot first." Then in Bloodlines Boba Fett told Han that, "You should learn to shoot first Solo."
The wolfman was replaced with a CGI creature in the Special Editions.
What about Gunfight? It is two people shooting at each other (in the SE at least).
The wolfman can be seen in the background of the first picture!!
have added gunpoint
Obviously his legacy lives on - however, in the 1977 version, there were actually close-ups of him, rather than just being in the background.
Plus my computer appears to be set too dark - I can hardly see him. Then again, I can't see the pictures of Joker falling at all either.
Just had a thought - Contrived Self-Defence?
In the Special Edition? Yes. In the original version? I dunno. Greedo made it painfully obvious he intended to kill Han, without actually coming right out and saying it.
Han: Over my dead body.
Greedo: That's the idea. I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
Sounds to me like he was going to kill Han unless Han acted first.
Well MB is basing off the SE, even if it is an abomination. Look how fast those gunshots are!
I agree with the preceding comments. The summary describes Greedo shooting first, as he does in the 90's re-release, but gives the date of the film as 1978. I think this is confusing and should be revised.
[quote Pyro]Yup, it's true. Han shot first![/quote]I knew that was coming somewhere in this thread, Han shot poor Greedo first to the sound of crispy burnt smouldering from the back of him!
Yup, I've seen the original versions, and I know for a fact Han did in fact shoot first. Changing it to having Greedo shoot (and miss at point-blank range) was as visually ludicris and unnecessary as changing what Anakin's ghost looked like at the end of Return of the Jedi.