Answer Key

Here are the explanations of the post title challenge. I am a little disappointed that so few of you chose to participate. But props to Nate and Jen for trying. Jen had more correct anwers, which I guess means she's a bigger nerd than Nate.

Points Available: 22 plus 5 E/C for anyone who pointed out/identifed This is End Game as being left out. I awarded discretionary half-points in situations where I felt it justified.

Ranking:

1. Jen Smith: 10.5 with a few missed points for incorrect characters in Star Wars quotes. I did give you a half point for Dustin Hoffman.
   
2. Nate: 8.5 with missed points for "close but wrong" references in Star Wars.

Answers:

1. It won't work. I have an exceptionally large mind. Marvin the Paranoid Android from H2G2 regarding his inability to be distracted from the mundane tedium of his existence due to the fact that he has a brain the size of a planet. There is no explanation of this, but since Marvin's head is much smaller than a planet, his brain may feature construction similar to Asimov's Positronic Brain, or it may contain Hammerspace.


2. We've got to give him more time... Lando Calrissian to Admiral Akbar regarding Han and Team's delayed success in destroying the Shield Generator station located on the moon of Endor referred to as either the Forest Moon or Sanctuary Moon. Return of the Jedi.


3. Hoover Dam is big. H2G2. Replace Hoover Dam with Space and you have the beginning of the Guide's entry on Space. "Chemist" is your big clue here.


4. Where my nose ends and space begins. Modified version of a quote from Bernard Jaffee, played by Dustin Hoffman in I [heart] Huckabees regarding his Unified Theory of Everything or Theory of Universal Interconnectedness. The philosophy of the film is not ground breaking, but the havoc that the philosophies create in the lives of the characters is quite entertaining.


5. There's something very weak coming through... Rebel Comm officer regarding the transmissions from an Imperial Probe Droid that has discovered the Rebel power generator on Hoth. This triggers the devastating (for the Rebellion) Battle of Hoth when Admiral Ozzel attempts to lead the Imperial Fleet against the Rebels but is "relieved of command" by Vader for his clumsy stupidity. Empire Strikes Back.


6. Fire. F-F-F-Fire. Only Nate got this. The relatively unknown (in the US) Faulty Towers written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth (who also plays Polly). Spoken by the soon-to-be-concussed Basil Faulty trying to clear the hotel due to a kitchen fire which has occurred shortly after a botched fire drill.


7. Be just like Mosaic Canyon back home. Luke regarding the terminal maneuver required in the Trench Run that ultimately destroyed Death Star I at the Battle of Yavin. Specifically, running down the trench at full throttle (a term which actually makes little sense in zero-g piloting, but we aren't talking gaffes here), attempting a Proton Torpedo shot at the Thermal Exhaust Port and pulling up before smashing into the end of the trench. A New Hope.


8. I'll return. I promise. Luke to Yoda when leaving, quite rashly, to attempt rescue of Han and Leia from Cloud City. However, Luke ultimately requiring rescue himself. He does return to finish his training, but not until Return of the Jedi, when he finds his only remaining trial is to confront Darth Vader again.


9. Only an old ghost town... The Muppet Movie. Line by Dr. Teeth. "An old ghost town" is where Kermit and friends finally have a showdown with Doc Hopper before continuing on to Hollywood to become rich and famous.


10. Play back the entire message! Luke to C3-P0 who is translating for R2-D2 after seeing only part of a holographic message recorded by Leia Organa aboard the Tantive IV.


11. I don't see you crying, robot! George Oscar Bluth ("GOB"), amateur Illusionist talking to his brother Michael Bluth. GOB is the one crying. Arrested Development.


12. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Obi Wan to Luke regarding Mos Eisley. Again, we aren't talking gaffes, but I would think Jabba's Palace would qualify. Maybe Obi Wan didn't expect Luke to find it. A New Hope.


13. Where's not going to get another chance at this... Lando Calrissian to Admiral Akbar advising against a retreat Akbar was about to order from the Battle of Endor. The advice, though risky and costly, led to Rebel success at the Battle of Endor when Death Star II was destroyed, though Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader were already dead. This did not end tyranny in the galaxy however, as most of the Imperial Fleet and command officers survived, though the Star Dreadnought (Super Star Destroyer) Executor was also destroyed in the battle. Return of the Jedi


14. What makes you think there will be settlements over there? C3-P0 to R2-D2 in the desert of Tatooine, bickering over which direction to head after escaping the Tantive IV, filmed at the Stovepipe Dunes, Death Valley, CA. A New Hope.


15. If there's a bright center to the universe... Luke, who doesn't like Tatooine much. He feels it is the planet farthest from the bright center to the universe. LIttle does he know the Universe has no center, being infinite, even though it is expanding. Or maybe it isn't infinite and they know more about the universe in Star Wars. It's all very confusing. A New Hope.


16. There's not much to see... Luke to the partially-blind and Carbon-Sick Han Solo aboard one of Jabba's skiffs shortly before they are unsuccessfully executed by Saarlac. Han isn't missing much Luke says, who knows because he was born on Tatooine. Han replies, "You're going to die here, you know. Convenient." Exactly what I would say in that situation. Good old Han. Return of the Jedi.


17. A Day Late and Many Dollars Shorter... Simple play on the "Day late, Dollar short" folk phrase given I was a day late and the cost of equipment and food was many dollars.


18. Hear me baby, hold together. Han to The Falcon after a Tie Fighter patrol squadron knocks out the Falcon's lateral control capacity during their escape from Death Star I in A New Hope. The lateral control appears to be fixed by the Battle of Yavin.


19. Life is like a box of... Forrest Gump. Duh.


20. Tick Tock. No one got this, but it is a pretty generic phrase from an important but obscure character from an obscure sci-fi phenom: Babylon 5. This is Lorien, the first sentient being in the B5 universe, talking to the (mostly?) dead Captain John Sheridan on Z'ha'dum, the homeworld of The Shadows. This is after Sheridan has managed to kill himself in addition to innumerable Shadows through the use of his penchant "suicide nuclear weapon aboard otherwise harmless starship" strategy.


21. I have a baaad feeling about this... Recurring line in the Start Wars universe used by Force-Attuned and Force-Aware characters about the early warning feeling in bad situations. We hear it from Han, Luke, Leia, young Obi Wan, Anakin, and C3-PO.


22. We're in for some Chop. Certainly the geekiest reference. This is an achievement ("medal") in the Halo 3 Universe awarded when you destroy an enemy occupied vehicle using equipment, such as a Trip Mine.

Somehow, I left This is End Game out of the list. When I realized I had done so, I resolved to give Extra Credit if anyone pointed this out or picked it up. However, only someone who recognized Tick Tock would recognize it. It is Ivanova talking "to herself" as narrator in Babylon 5 referring to the fast approaching climax of the Shadow War. It is in desperation though, as Sheridan has gone to Z'ha'dum and not been heard from since. Consequently, the delicate alliance is threatening to dissolve while they are outmatched militarily by both the Vorlons and Shadows.