# Han Shot First - Wear It Proud!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 31, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452 "2004-03-31T02:31:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452/21 "2004-04-01T20:33:28Z")

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> [@Weirddave](#):
>
> You ordered the thong, didn’t you?

I realise it’s almost impossible to derail matters once you get to the ‘thong reading’ stage, but this seems to provoke (1) Ew! Geek!; or (2) You’re right, Lucas was completely misguided. And what about those midichlorians? [lecture]…

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**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452/22 "2004-04-01T20:49:00Z")

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> [@Gorgon Heap](#):
>
> In fact, maybe they should make them in different languages.

Or a different font. I made my own “Han Shot First” T-Shirt, but I used the actual Star Wars font. I yike it better.

Now if I can just think of a good midichlorians saying…

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452/23 "2004-04-02T01:21:55Z")

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It’s nice to know I’ve brought some joy to people’s lives.

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**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452/24 "2004-04-02T03:53:35Z")

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Definitely the cap, the coffee mug, and either a T-shirt or a sweatshirt.

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**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452/25 "2004-04-02T21:52:57Z")

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That shirt is _soooo_ lame! It really needs some kind of image-that-Lucas-would-sue-over to make the point good, like something from the cover of one of the old four-colour Marvel _Star Wars_ comic books.

Believe it or not, I actually have a particular issue in mind!

> [@Master Wang-Ka](#):
>
> To this day, I wonder if Lucas will ever get around to reediting _Raiders Of The Lost Ark_ the same way, to include a segment about how those natives actually \*stole \* the gold idol from an American museum (which justifies Indy’s stealing it back) and a digital recreation of the scene with the giant Arab scimitar guy, in which – instead of his giant swords – he’s given a Maxim gun, with which he blasts away at Indy, thus justifying Indy’s slow, weary drawing of his revolver and shooting the poor bastard…
> 
> (You remember, the scene where the giant Arab scimitar guy yells at Indy, then starts doing giant scimitar tricks with this “I will slice and dice you and giggle while I do it” look on his face? And Indy just wearily draws his revolver and shoots the guy, from several yards away, giving him no chance to defend himself at all? And we all laughed, back in '79, when we saw that movie?)

The scene was shot this way for a reason.

The script had originally called for Indy to get into a bare-knuckle brawl with the sword-guy and eventually defeat him. During filming on location, however, it was _unbearably_ hot; to top it off, star Harrison Ford had developed a bad case of dysentery, making shooting long “Indy-centric” scenes difficult.

He made a suggestion: rather than spend hours or perhaps even days in the blazing Tunisian sun filming a fight scene which would only last a few minutes at most, why not just have Indy shoot the guy? It was funny, and, as **Master Wang-Ka** attests, one of the most memorable moments in the film.

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**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452/26 "2004-04-03T06:59:03Z")

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> [@Draelin](#):
>
> This is a total hijack, but my absolute favorite moment of Episode II (I know, a favorite??) is when Obi-Wan does the lightsaber trick and knocks the gun out of the assassin’s hand–because I always saw it as an implication that he’s a little rusty by the time we get to Episode IV, and hence he took the whole arm, rather than just the blaster.
> 
> [/hijack]

Dude, he does cut her arm off, at the elbow.

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**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/han-shot-first-wear-it-proud/237452/27 "2004-04-03T07:05:40Z")

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> [@psiekier](#):
>
> The script had originally called for Indy to get into a bare-knuckle brawl with the sword-guy and eventually defeat him. During filming on location, however, it was _unbearably_ hot; to top it off, star Harrison Ford had developed a bad case of dysentery, making shooting long “Indy-centric” scenes difficult.
> 
> He made a suggestion: rather than spend hours or perhaps even days in the blazing Tunisian sun filming a fight scene which would only last a few minutes at most, why not just have Indy shoot the guy? It was funny, and, as **Master Wang-Ka** attests, one of the most memorable moments in the film.

I thought Ford did the shooting impromptu, and the guy with the sword just played along? And then Spielberg liked it so much he left it in instead or reshooting the scene.

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