Two things...
Regarding the Falcon turret: All the way back to the old MPC model kit, the bases of the gun mounts were separate pieces from the main top and bottom hulls, and were made to be mounted in a way that they could rotate, rather than being glued in place. Leaving out the mess that was the Falcon interior set, and the fact that the ladder-to-cockpit-corridor-to-gunwell orientations are 150% incompatible... The only way to have the ladder line up with the accessway and the gun mounts they way it does is to have the turrets rotate 45 degrees to starboard when one wants to get in or out (and then stay that way for the duration of the battle, as the accessway remains in the same position opposite the ladder, and the turrets retain their orientation to each other and don't rotate independently). But someone forgot to tell that to the model shop detailers who were tasked with greebling up the filming miniature. All versions I've seen have at least one connection from the hull to the turret fixing it in place:
That's what happens when you have to almost completely change the main hero spaceship -- inside and out -- late in preproduction. I'm one who has adopted the headcanon of an internal layout that is similar to what we see, but tweaked to actually fit within and work with the exterior of the ship:
That preserves the fixed nature of the turrets as shown through the OT. Now. Granted it's not canon, but all through the EU we had one source after another having the Falcon get upgunned by Han and others. I think it entirely possible -- if not highly likely -- that augmenting the guns themselves would require an independent operator like Lando or Han to have to cobble together power-supply and cooling systems to support them. And I can see such bodges fixing the previously-freely-rotating turrets in place. Similarly, I can see Han, having access to New Republic resources immediately post-Endor, not just replacing the rectenna but also fixing up the guns' power supply and such so the turrets can rotate again (or maybe they did it pre-Endor, so Lando wouldn't be hobbled in the battle).
So, basically, I have no problem with the turrets being meant to rotate, but the OT's filming miniature needs to be retconned to allow for it.
Second thing: I know what all the rumors say about Han dying. I know many things have been borne out through the teasers, trailer, and set photos. I'm sticking with the later analysis of that shot of crying Rey that the person laying in the foreground is a wounded Finn (red stripe on jacket, horizontally-oriented greeble rather than ends of code cylinders, etc.). This is not to say Han doesn't die elsewhere/elsewhen, but... The big reason Harrison wanted Han to die back in the day was because he had no point to be in ROTJ at all. They rescued him, and then he mostly just tagged along for the rest of the film. Nothing he did couldn't have been done by other characters. There was no need for Han in the story, and so Harrison would rather have not been in it. Now, one of the things he said right off at the Celebration panel about why he came back was that it was a wonderful script and a good story. I like to think he means more than just "they're finally letting Han die", and also that he wouldn't feel beholden to come back just to be killed off, no matter how much money they threw at him. As with him maintaining that Han should have died in the carbonite and thus no Harrison in ROTJ even for five minutes, if he still wanted Han dead or written out, it'd be easier (and cheaper) to have had him die somewhere in the intervening thirty years.
All this to say, he may die, he may not. I can see him getting fired up over a good story well-told and wanting to be a part of it for however long it remains such a lot more than I can see him having a good and worthy Star Wars script come along after his disappointment in ROTJ and be fine with Han dying in, essentially, the first act. As with the OT, I'd fully expect him to sign on one movie at a time, and based solely on its merits and whether Han is actually relevant to it. I could even see them filming several death scenes during principle photography for TFA in the event one needs to be used to write out Han for VIII or IX should Harrison be dissatisfied with where the story goes. *heh*
--Jonah
Regarding the Falcon turret: All the way back to the old MPC model kit, the bases of the gun mounts were separate pieces from the main top and bottom hulls, and were made to be mounted in a way that they could rotate, rather than being glued in place. Leaving out the mess that was the Falcon interior set, and the fact that the ladder-to-cockpit-corridor-to-gunwell orientations are 150% incompatible... The only way to have the ladder line up with the accessway and the gun mounts they way it does is to have the turrets rotate 45 degrees to starboard when one wants to get in or out (and then stay that way for the duration of the battle, as the accessway remains in the same position opposite the ladder, and the turrets retain their orientation to each other and don't rotate independently). But someone forgot to tell that to the model shop detailers who were tasked with greebling up the filming miniature. All versions I've seen have at least one connection from the hull to the turret fixing it in place:
That's what happens when you have to almost completely change the main hero spaceship -- inside and out -- late in preproduction. I'm one who has adopted the headcanon of an internal layout that is similar to what we see, but tweaked to actually fit within and work with the exterior of the ship:
That preserves the fixed nature of the turrets as shown through the OT. Now. Granted it's not canon, but all through the EU we had one source after another having the Falcon get upgunned by Han and others. I think it entirely possible -- if not highly likely -- that augmenting the guns themselves would require an independent operator like Lando or Han to have to cobble together power-supply and cooling systems to support them. And I can see such bodges fixing the previously-freely-rotating turrets in place. Similarly, I can see Han, having access to New Republic resources immediately post-Endor, not just replacing the rectenna but also fixing up the guns' power supply and such so the turrets can rotate again (or maybe they did it pre-Endor, so Lando wouldn't be hobbled in the battle).
So, basically, I have no problem with the turrets being meant to rotate, but the OT's filming miniature needs to be retconned to allow for it.
Second thing: I know what all the rumors say about Han dying. I know many things have been borne out through the teasers, trailer, and set photos. I'm sticking with the later analysis of that shot of crying Rey that the person laying in the foreground is a wounded Finn (red stripe on jacket, horizontally-oriented greeble rather than ends of code cylinders, etc.). This is not to say Han doesn't die elsewhere/elsewhen, but... The big reason Harrison wanted Han to die back in the day was because he had no point to be in ROTJ at all. They rescued him, and then he mostly just tagged along for the rest of the film. Nothing he did couldn't have been done by other characters. There was no need for Han in the story, and so Harrison would rather have not been in it. Now, one of the things he said right off at the Celebration panel about why he came back was that it was a wonderful script and a good story. I like to think he means more than just "they're finally letting Han die", and also that he wouldn't feel beholden to come back just to be killed off, no matter how much money they threw at him. As with him maintaining that Han should have died in the carbonite and thus no Harrison in ROTJ even for five minutes, if he still wanted Han dead or written out, it'd be easier (and cheaper) to have had him die somewhere in the intervening thirty years.
All this to say, he may die, he may not. I can see him getting fired up over a good story well-told and wanting to be a part of it for however long it remains such a lot more than I can see him having a good and worthy Star Wars script come along after his disappointment in ROTJ and be fine with Han dying in, essentially, the first act. As with the OT, I'd fully expect him to sign on one movie at a time, and based solely on its merits and whether Han is actually relevant to it. I could even see them filming several death scenes during principle photography for TFA in the event one needs to be used to write out Han for VIII or IX should Harrison be dissatisfied with where the story goes. *heh*
--Jonah
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