Paul came out this weekend, the latest reunion for Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The duo stars in the comedy that they also wrote, a story about an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) who is marooned on Earth and being pursued by shadowy government operatives. Digital Trends’ own Ryan Fleming enjoyed the movie, and with good cause. While it is especially friendly to geek viewers, director Greg Mottola (Superbad) imbues the story with enough of a heart to please wider audiences.
The geek angle is particularly noteworthy to this post, however. Paul is fairly littered with references to sci-fi and geek culture, everything from the overt (Paul gave Steven Spielberg some important pointers for E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial) to the deep-cut (listen carefully for a “Wilhelm scream”). And while there’s no small number of shout-outs to that most venerable of sci-fi franchises, Star Wars, that didn’t keep Pegg and Frost from participating in a special riff on the classic for College Humor.
Dressing themselves up in primitive cardboard costumes, Pegg and Frost step in front of a camera to reenact a memorable early scene from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. An intertitle informs us that the duo set out in 2009 to create a shot-for-shot remake of the George Lucas classic on the set of Paul, and that this one scene is as far as they got. Obviously not true, but it sets the stage for some geek-friendly hilarity. Check it out right here…
