Sure, Mark 4:9 and Matthew 11:5, but Luke is oddly silent on the issue

February 21, 2017 10:52 AM

Those edit boys at Auralnauts (of whom previously, previously, pre— oh just do a bloody search) are at it again, with an edited dub of Star Wars: A New Hope in which R2-D2 has a speaking voice. (Specifically, that of voice actor Scheiffer Bates.)
posted by cortex (17 comments total)

I thought I wasn't going to like it, because one of the things I like about Star Wars is that there are all these languages and you have to intuit what the characters are saying and use your imagination. But by the end, I was hooked. Totally adorbs.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:14 AM on February 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

No.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:15 AM on February 21, 2017

Way too earnest and literal. In my mind, R2-D2 swears like a space-sailor and C-3PO is the translator who cleans up the interpretation.
posted by supercres at 11:24 AM on February 21, 2017 [17 favorites]

I agree with supercres, I would like R2 voiced as Yosemite Sam. The voice they chose sounds like a slightly lower version of C3P0, which lacks the emotional contrast of R2's beeps and trills against C3P0's English butler prim properness.
posted by doctor_negative at 11:30 AM on February 21, 2017 [3 favorites]

Might have spoked too soon. I lol'ed at 10:30.
posted by supercres at 11:32 AM on February 21, 2017

Yeah, I should say that in comparison to their main Star Wars outings this one plays things fairly subtle, something I found I enjoyed about it a great deal as it progressed even if it made the start a bit low-key vs. my expectations. I like that R2 has a chance to establish himself as this close-to-the-vest, subdued guy off whom 3PO reads as just a fussbudget rather than as an As You Know, Bob translator/expositor.

And establishing R2 as pretty even-keeled makes his later moments of confusion and outrage and dramatics a lot more effective.

Compare that with the psychosis of the main videos' 3PO as a scenery-chewing agent of death, which is also pretty fantastic but operating on a different wavelength than this.
posted by cortex at 11:39 AM on February 21, 2017

This is more along the lines of what I was expecting. Warning: covers prequels.
posted by supercres at 11:41 AM on February 21, 2017 [3 favorites]

I found it freaking brilliant, truthfully.
posted by Samizdata at 11:45 AM on February 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

Nice effort, but yeah, I think this falls a little short of Auralnaut's usual efforts.

R2D2 worked so well because his beeps and bloops and whistles are easily interpreted by human audiences. He doesn't have to be literal to be understood, sort of like that old Harpo Marx bit where he talks on the phone with his horn. Substituting voice has to be novel enough to make the effort worthwhile. So I think voicing R2D2 is a pretty tough job.

I felt this can't quite decide to be earnest or all-out funny. Much of R2's dialogue is more or less what we assumed he'd say, if he could. The parts where context is added, such as his bellyache, or the locked door ploy, I think work quite well. The part about Obi Wan not remembering might have worked, except there seemed to be no existing reaction shots of human actors that dovetail well with it, so it's kind of left hanging.

I also thought the voice was not quite contrasty enough with C3P0. This could be a tough call. Too contrasty, it gets too far into wacky territory, and subtlety is sacrificed. However, there were a few times where I momentarily got the characters mixed up. Interesting how this happens when there are no moving lips to cue off.
posted by 2N2222 at 12:07 PM on February 21, 2017

The only quibble I have is with the technical audio production. The new recordings lack a presence that the old ones have. Different mics, different recording media, all of it really does make a difference.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:34 PM on February 21, 2017

He doesn't have to be literal to be understood,...

There are people producing TV shows right now, who would disagree with that in every single instance.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:48 PM on February 21, 2017

I enjoyed this, though I agree largely with 2N2222's assessment. If I had to cast a voice actor to play him I'd want a gruff non-british voice, because originally his beeps are unique among the languages of Star Wars and he deserves a unique voice in this version. I don't know if I'd go with a particularly exotic accent, but something you don't see a lot of in Star Wars.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:58 PM on February 21, 2017

What's that you say 3po? Luke fell down a well?
posted by sjswitzer at 6:55 PM on February 21, 2017

R2D2 should have a gruff Northern-English working class accent. He'd swear a bit. He's an engineer! He's practical! He gets stuff done. He tuts at shoddy repairs by other astromechs. Think Fred Dibnah.
posted by BinaryApe at 12:34 AM on February 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Although a very strong Geordie accent might fit even better, we'd then be back to square one.
posted by BinaryApe at 12:35 AM on February 22, 2017

Mr.Encyclopedia: "I enjoyed this, though I agree largely with 2N2222's assessment. If I had to cast a voice actor to play him I'd want a gruff non-british voice, because originally his beeps are unique among the languages of Star Wars and he deserves a unique voice in this version. I don't know if I'd go with a particularly exotic accent, but something you don't see a lot of in Star Wars."

BinaryApe: "Although a very strong Geordie accent might fit even better, we'd then be back to square one."

Well, then you have the problem of people not being able to wade through the accent. And, if they are anything like me, they have really bad tinnitus.
posted by Samizdata at 6:38 AM on February 22, 2017

"Yes, I'm ready. Just stick it in my face, right below my eyeball."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:13 AM on February 22, 2017 [1 favorite]