The Power of The Force Was Found in My In-Law’s Basement

The power of The Force was found in my in-law’s basement where my brother-in-law made room for everyone to team-assemble his latest LEGO set – the Mos Eisley Cantina:

“I’m a collector,” he said as he opened the gigantic box and dumped the bagged 3,187 pieces on to the table.

In the background on three different screens was the showing of the original Star Wars (1977).

The sights, sounds, construction, and even tastes of Star Wars came to life as my brother-in-law also mixed authentic cocktails and mocktails with names like Wookie Fuzzball, Tatooine Sunrise, and Mai Tie Fighter.

What was once a dormant, “back-in-the-day-I-liked-Star–Wars” recollection in my soul suddenly erupted to full blown nostalgia and a yearning to go back and forward into what is considered “Star Wars” today.

As a child of the ’80s, the “first three” will always be Star Wars, Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983). George Lucas’s CGI-infested and soulless prequels are still like middle school memories to me: I don’t want to remember them.

The “last three” are decent attempts at recapturing that old-school buoyancy felt in the belly but fell flat in character development and the pendulum pull of internal good vs. evil.

The so-called “spinoffs” – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) – provide fun origin material but just don’t have the same humanistic flare as the “first three.”

My evening piecing together the LEGO-blocked Tattooine bar (“He doesn’t like you…I don’t like you either.”) had me yearning for more “anything Star Wars.”

So, I ended up purchasing the recent release of a LEGO AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) and invited my brother-in-law to my place to build with me while The Empire Strikes Back played in the background.

One of my favorite LEGO builds of my lifetime 🙂

He brought along his newly purchased Razor Crest, and that triggered my new obsession with The Mandalorian on the Disney+ Channel.

My wife and I are all caught up (Season 2, Episode 4). She calls “Baby Yoda” “Yoda Juns” (short for Yoda Junior), and whether or not you’re also a fan of the show, the fun is in knowing that no matter what name you want to give this cute, fuzzy creature, it is all colloquial.

How can you ever say “no” to this face?

There are still so many exciting Star Wars origin stories unfolding, Easter Eggs in the background and dialogue, and, yes, I do get that old-school buoyancy in my belly when I observe planet settings from the past, blaster duels, and a more empathetic interpretation of bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

Are you watching “Mando?” Are you a fan? Has The Force entered your household during these trying times? Let me know!

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there,

Reely Bernie

18 thoughts on “The Power of The Force Was Found in My In-Law’s Basement”

Add yours

    1. Jealous. I didn’t take good care of mine. I had Chewy, two versions of Luke, Solo, the C-3PO that you could take apart to recapture Return of the Jedi, and so many more, but they are probably still buried in my childhood sandbox…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

          1. He’s still on display, kind of trans-Vader. Yes, he had a lightsabre fight with Luke, but too close to the lightbulb that was meant to represent a nuclear reactor core in my carboard scenario…got a bit singed. Loved The Mandalorian, series 1, waiting to catch up with series 2….

            Liked by 2 people

            Reply

    1. Oh, definitely the sequels over the prequels. I honestly think George Lucas let the new technology of CGI possess him over the fundamentals of character development and empathy. I cared very little for ANY of the characters in those sequels because all they had to fight against was a trade war (and that stiff, exposition-laced dialogue). Plus, Hayden Christensen’s acting was appalling, Jar Jar Binks was annoying enough to stop watching, and CGI Yoda was a sin!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I can see your points here, but I’m going to stand up for the prequels. They’re definitely not perfect, giving some of the lowest lulls in the franchise ever. However, I did enjoy Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan, I both genuinely and unironically have a good time with Revenge of the Sith, it has some great lightsaber battles in all three movies, the podracing scene, and a clear vision. The sequels to me felt very disconnected, also had little to no character development (Finn was basically useless in Rise of Skywalker), it includes some of the series’s worst scenes, and Palpatine’s return from the grave made no sense and came with zero foreshadowing or buildup. Those are just my thoughts. Stay stellar out there!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        1. Excellent points on both sides of what I call “the first three.” I was extremely disappointed in Rise of Skywalker – so much running, chasing, hiding, and very little substance. Also, I agree about Ewan McGregor. He is – as always – magnificent! And, yes – so not a fan of Palpatine. “You are a Palpatine” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as “I am your father.” 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  3. I’m a total fan of The Mandalorian! 😀 That’s Star Wars as it should be 😀
    I feel like watching The Rebels actually enhances one’s experience of The Mandalorian – there’s quite a lot of overlap, especially in these new episodes – clan Kryze, Bo Katan, etc. I’ve been wondering how close to this new horrible Disney movies The Mandalorian will go – I’d much prefer it to be separate, and the new trilogy turned into an alternate universe “what if” story, but I have certain fears that we’ve seen the origins of Snoke in E04S02…

    Btw, if you want a really cool LEGO set, go for the Razor Crest – we’ve got one at home and it’s amazing 😀 Mos Eisley looks great too, but what I really would want to lay my hands on is the Cloud City on Bespin – this set is absolute tops!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Yes, I was surprised by how much larger to scale the Razor Crest was, and, wow, that Bespin Cloud City looks like fun!

      My bro-in-law is trying to get me to watch The Rebels to better understand these clan/tribe connections. As of now, I’m just refreshed in nostalgia and the newness of adventure to “Star Wars” through “Mando.” It had been a while. I was so disappointed in the The Rise of Skywalker that I kind of followed a boycott.

      That is why we have family, I guess. He still prefers the CGI Yoda to my beloved Frank Oz puppetry memory, but I forgive him 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. I’ve never seen it on the Disney Channel but I do love the old ones.

    I made a post early on…why I was pissed at Lucas for “enhancing” the originals. I don’t mind CGI enhancing but when you mess with the story? No just no…with Hans shooting. I have the 1st three movies in their original format and I love it.

    I was 10 when it came out so I was at the perfect age…I did buy some of the toys that came out…oh how I wish I would have kept them.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. I had all the plastic action figurines to count, but we buried them in the backyard during a water hose experiment gone wrong. Whoever lives there now is on a goldmine!

      I agree about the CGI decorations, but, yeah, Solo shot first, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that! He was being proactive!

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

        1. Haha! It was a gigantic sandbox, and we built caves and holes and placed the Star Wars action figurines around the perimeter and just let the hose go at full blast. In the end, we only dug up a few survivors. (Luke is still in there somewhere with Chewy.)

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
  5. Pingback: The Power of The Force Was Found in My In-Law’s Basement – Kisafilms.com

Leave a comment

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑