The Man, the myth, the TARKIN

[C. Lee]

I have been a fan of Peter Cushing since the early 60's. It started because of his HAMMER FILMS movies. He was the heroic Professor Van Helsing fighting Count Dracula....and he was the evil Baron Von Frankenstein committing murder and mayhem across Europe in his mad pursuit of science.

I remember how cool it was in the late 70's to hear that he would be associated with this new sci fi movie coming out called STAR WARS. He was known for historical dramas and horror films, but not so much for science fiction (he had done two theatrical versions of DOCTOR WHO, but they were almost completely unknown of here in the United States).

I feel there needs to be an appreciation thread for the actor and the character he portrayed....so i give you Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin -

I've been a fan of STAR WARS since it first came out, and have seen many pics of Cushing from it....but I found the picture below just this morning and had never seen if before...

 

[ThePhantasm]

I love Peter Cushing, especially his roles as Van Helsing. He's a terrific actor. In the movies, his was the only character besides the Emperor who could order Vader around... and you never once disbelieved that he had the authority and power to do so. Great actor, great villain.

 

[Bim]

I love Tarkin. One of the joys of CW was seeing him in a few episodes. He's definitely a character i would have loved to have seen more of pre ANH. And in the movie, i just love this distinguished air he has, while being ruthless. He's definitely someone you dont want to mess with.

I havent seen Peter in many movies beside Star Wars though.

 

[C. Lee]

There's a funny motivational type picture of peter Cushing out there that I won't post at this time because it has cursing in it....but it basicly goes -

PETER CUSHING

Killed Dracula with a pair of candle stick holders
Blew up Alderan
Fought Daleks
Has been at the earth's core
Killed more vampires than Buffy
Outsmarted Moriarity
Verbally slapped Darth Vader

I beg your pardon, but do you really think Chuck Norris can top that?

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

"We will crush the rebellion with one swift stroke!"

 

[ThePhantasm]

"We will crush the rebellion with one swift stroke!"

I can hear him say it in my head when I read this.

 

[Gianakin_]

One of my favorite villains. Fascist, militaristic to boot, ruthless. His death was one of the most appropriate ones I've seen in cinema.

 

[C. Lee]

Cushing would have turned 100 this year...FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine is planning a special issue about him http://theblackboxclub.blogspot.com/2013/03/famous-monsters-celebrate-peter-cushing.html

A link to the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society http://petercushingblog.blogspot.com/

 

[Duke]

One of my favorite scenes of Tarkin was when he was basically pressuring Leia to reveal the location of the Rebel Base, then when Leia "reveals" the location, he casually order the destruction of Alderaan.


Princess Leia: No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can't possibly...
Governor Tarkin: [impatiently] You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: *Where* is the rebel base?
Princess Leia: ...Dantooine. They're on Dantooine.
Governor Tarkin: There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable. Continue with the operation; you may fire when ready.
Princess Leia: WHAT?
Governor Tarkin: You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration - but don't worry; we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough.

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Moff Tarkin. The Coldest Man in the Galaxy.

 

[DarthDaveBanner]

Such an underrated villain, Cushing is the man!

Apparently to avoid his footsteps making too much noise on the set he had to wear ladies slippers. Make of that what you will.

 

[C. Lee]

Such an underrated villain, Cushing is the man!

Apparently to avoid his footsteps making too much noise on the set he had to wear ladies slippers. Make of that what you will.

Actually...the boots they gave him hurt his feet...so he wore house slippers whenever they weren't showing his feet.

http://petercushingblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/star-wars-peter-cushing-and-grand-moff.html

 

[NewYorkSpider]

Yesterday marked 19 years since Peter had passed away.

I was reading up on Cushing and I found out he was good friends with Christopher Lee, who played Count Dooku in AOTC and ROTS.

 

[YavinIV]

Cushing is the man, indeed! How come I never knew about his slippers though

Grand Moff Tarkin is one of my favourite SW characters. Despite all the cruelty, including the destruction of Alderaan of course, his actions always seemed surprisingly logical and reasonable. Straight forward, not afraid of Vader, a true Imperial leader. Perfect villain.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Yesterday marked 19 years since Peter had passed away.

I was reading up on Cushing and I found out he was good friends with Christopher Lee, who played Count Dooku in AOTC and ROTS.

You should watch his old Hammer films in which he acts as Van Helsing opposite Lee's Dracula. They are quite fun.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Cushing's Dr. Frankenstein created Lee's Monster in The Curse of Frankenstein and they battled once again in The Mummy.

 

[Lord]

I found him an average villain, to be honest. For those interested, there's going to be a new Tarkin novel, which is part of the new Canon

 

[Duke]

Nice find, Lord. I'm going to pre-order it on Amazon!

 

[Young Superman]

Moff Tarkin. The Coldest Man in the Galaxy.

Yes...Yes he was.t:

 

[GothamAlleys]

I found him an average villain, to be honest. For those interested, there's going to be a new Tarkin novel, which is part of the new Canon

Well, its an appreciation thread so i didnt want to rain on the parade, but while Cushing is a great actor I never liked the Tarkin character. I was always fascinated with Vader, Palpatine, Sith, all the Force aspects of the saga, Tarkin for me was just a character who was taking away screentime and focus from Vader, and quite frankly I just never found him interesting. Plus I think the latter Vader that we see in Empire, Return and prequels is inconsistent with Hope because he takes a lot of flack from Tarkin and I think Vader just wouldnt do that, hes too much of an egomaniac (in the prequels) and commanding figure (V and VI) to be just pushed around by officers

 

[Lord]

I think that he's kinda forgetable unless you're a big Star Wars or Cushing fan. About why he pushed Vader around, well, he was one of the Empire's most important individuals, and had a long history working with Darth Vader from what the film showed. It also explains why they would both be the ones in such a big weapon as the Death Star.

While it's not in the movie, The Clone Wars went a step further and had a younger Tarkin sharing a similar point of view with Anakin Skywalker. I'm cerain both of them had respect for each other.

 

[Young Superman]

I'd love too see Tarkin in one of the spin off films, and/or the Star Wars: Rebels cartoon.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I think Vader was more an enforcer in IV. After the Death Star blowing up and Tarkin, along with who knows how many high ranking officials dieing, the emperor decided to make his apprentice second in command of the whole empire.