Star Wars Radio Dramatizations Resurface In The Latest Humble Bundle

Via Theverge.com:

In case the slew of Star Wars books, comics, video games, and toys on the horizon won’t fulfil your appetite for things from a galaxy far far away, the newest Humble Bundle offers a way to hear Star Wars as you probably haven’t before. The pay-what-you-want deal is offering the radio dramatization of Episode IV, along with audiobook retellings of some of the more successful expanded universe comics, for a few cents. Pay more than the average donation price and you’ll also get the radio dramatization of The Empire Strikes Back. Increase that spend a little further, to $15, and you’ll get radio Return of the Jedi too.

The audio version of A New Hope was produced and broadcast in 1981 by National Public Radio. The network followed up with radio versions of The Empire Strikes Back in 1983, and Return of the Jedi in 1996, after the latter was put on hold when NPR’s funding was cut. Each of the dramatizations starred several of the movie’s key actors, including Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and Anthony Daniels, who returned to reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, and C3PO respectively. Other big-name actors were also called on to inhabit the movie’s roles — it’s worth spending the $15 just to hear John Lithgow’s Yoda.

The radio dramatizations generally follow the plot of their corresponding movies, but each runs much longer. Episode IV is the weightiest, reaching almost six hours with extra scenes on Tatooine, and a segment set on the unseen planet of Ralltiir. The Empire Strikes Back clocks in at just over four hours, while Return of the Jedi — put on hold after NPR’s funding was cut in the ’80s — is the shortest at three-and-a-half hours. None of the plays were truly lost in the same way as the infamous Holiday Special — they were last released on audio CD in 2013 — but at $15, this newest Humble Bundle offers a way to hear them in high quality without needing to sell your X-34 landspeeder.

2015-08-27 11_59_47-Star Wars radio dramatizations resurface in the latest Humble Bundle _ The Verge