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History of a Famous Star Wars Scream
An anonymous reader writes "There is a very famous scream in Star Wars (Episode IV) that occurs when one of the stormtroopers falls into the Death Star chasm. No doubt all geeks are familiar with this scream, but may not know that it has been used in dozens of other movies and even has a name - "The Wilhelm". There is a fascinating interview (transcript and audio) from NPRs "On The Media" that discusses the now cult-like following and history of this scream."
Was Luke's scream that was added to the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, when he falls down the shaft on Bespin after fighting Vader and losing his arm. First of all, it sounds nothing like Luke. Second of all, it changed the entire meaning of the scene where the scream meant Luke's fall was accidental rather than intentional. A guess Lucas never heard of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
When I read the title of this article, only one scream came to mind, and I'm sure many of you will remember it. I have heard it used in many places, but the two most notable are these video games:
Dark Forces: Whenever you knock a Storm Trooper off a ledge to his death.
Starcraft: Whenever you select the Academy structure.
From Wherever to Whenever.
I was at a Christmas party for a sound studio here in LA, and they had a 20-30 minute video filled with clips of people using that screeam.
It was hilarious and strange - everything from gladiators to aliens, and they were all screaming exactly the same. I really commend the guy who did the research to put it all together.
Dang, I wish I had a copy of that tape.