Redshirt Cinema Club

It's the concluding chapter of the original Star Wars trilogy this week, as we tackle Return of the Jedi. If you're over 35 this was probably your favourite Star Wars movie as a kid - an action-filled romp across a forest moon, Tatooine and a brand new Death Star. It's got speeder bike chases, Leia in that outfit, and Luke facing off against Darth Vader and the Emperor.What's not to like? The ewoks. The ewoks are not to like, right? We're all agreed? Right?Join us again on the 5th January as we begin our journey through the prequel trilogy with The Phantom Menace.Join the Redshirt Cinema Club! Support us at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub to receive two bonus episodes every month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.You can also follow us at x.com/redshirtcinema, and get in touch at redshirtcinemaclub@gmail.com.

Welcome to an end of year mailbag special looking back over Redshirt Cinema Club's 2025.What a year it's been! David Lynch, The Matrix, Jurassic Park, 1991, Indiana Jones, [Alien Earth I guess], John CarpeNNter - we have been on a cinematic tour and you have kept us company on the way. Now we go through the best of your emails and take a moment to reflect before breaking up for the Christmas period. Yes this would normally be a bonus episode, and yes we've made it available to everyone on purpose. And yes we don't really understand very much about Australia, sorry about that. Star Wars continues with The Return of The Jedi on Monday 29th December. Join the Redshirt Cinema Club! Support us at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub to receive two bonus episodes every month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.You can also follow us at x.com/redshirtcinema, and get in touch at redshirtcinemaclub@gmail.com.

This week we're all enjoying The Empire Strikes Back - Dave's favourite Star Wars film. Rob's favourite Star Wars film. Not Nath's though, but he does still like it. You could describe Empire as the beginning of Star Wars as a 'franchise' - it's a film brimming with confidence, with characters hitting their stride (Darth Vader is definitely evil now and C3PO is a bit nicer) and with ships and set-pieces that would make excellent toys. Then there's that bit - one of the most famous twists in cinema history, a moment that ignited spoiler culture as we know it. Let's dive in!We'll be watching the original Star Wars trilogy followed by the prequel trilogy, all through December and January. Dates are below!Star Wars: An Intro - 8/12/25Bonus - Star Wars Games - 10/12/25A New Hope - 15/12/25Empire Strikes Back - 22/12/25Mail Bag End 2 - 24/12/25

A long time ago in an office in Bath... we said we'd do a series on Star Wars. Finally, here it is. We start where it all began, with 1977's A New Hope (or simply 'Star Wars' as it was known back then). An un-assuming sci-fi adventure with a cast full of unknowns that director George Lucas thought was going to bomb - so much so that he went on holiday to avoid the noise around its release.What follows is movie history - the biggest film franchise of all time was born. But how does the original measure up to what's come since? How did a simple post production decision transform the entire finale? And is Harrison Ford actually handsome in this one? We discuss all this and more as we move scene-by-scene through the film that started it all.We'll be watching the original Star Wars trilogy followed by the prequel trilogy, all through December and January. Dates are below!Star Wars: An Intro - 8/12/25Bonus - Star Wars Games - 10/12/25A New Hope - 15/12/25Empire Strikes Back - 22/12/25Mail Bag End 2 - 24/12/25Return Of The Jedi - 29/12/25

We conclude our 1985 season with Nath's pick, Terry Gilliam's absurdist dark comedy Brazil, a disturbing vision of what the world might be like if capitalism squeezed every last shred of humanity out of society. Brazil tells us that world would have lots of ducts, and heroic vigilante plumbers played by Robert DeNiro.A wonderfully unique, hilarious and harrowing film with a stacked cast, Brazil is a step away from anything we've watched before on the podcast.Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at redshirtcinemaclub@gmail.com and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

We're continuing our 1985 season this week with Walt Disney oddity, The Black Cauldron. Caught between the classic early decades of Disney animation and the studio's 1990s resurgence, The Black Cauldron is an unusually dark (and unusually British) adventure, with moments of dread and horror mixed in with the odd and unfathomable (magic pigs, hairy little thieves, gruesome self-sacrifice). Clearly, it struck a chord with young Rob, who grew up loving fantasy stories, and who picked this for our 1985 season. Enjoy, let us know what you think of the film, and join us next week for more 1985 oddness with Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at redshirtcinemaclub@gmail.com and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

Back To The Future! Our 1985 season begins in earnest this week with Dave's pick of the year, Robert Zemeckis' layered, heartfelt time-travelling adventure (although do go and listen to our Goonies bonus episode if you can...)BTTF is a perfect fit with several films the pod has already absorbed, a "Spielberg-ing" of early 1980s life that like ET (and The Goonies) presents a world beset by adult problems to which only children have the answers. Dense with physical gags and cultural references, and tightly plotted around its time travel premise, we are in the presence of another absolute classic. Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at redshirtcinemaclub@gmail.com and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

We're taking a long overdue look inside the Redshirt Cinema Club mailbag this week (please keep emailing us, we do read them, promise) before kicking off our new mini season by each selecting our favourite movie of 1985, in celebration of the year Dave was born. This has caused alarm for a couple of reasons: firstly it's made us realise a number of our favourite movies are now, like Dave, 40 years old and secondly it turns out Rob has only seen two movies released in this year. Time to fix that stat.Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at redshirtcinemaclub@gmail.com and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.