Original artwork, not a still
Would it help if I got out and pushed?
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is Leia's way of being useful and cutting at the same time: a princess who has been shot at and dragged through ice corridors and is too busy surviving to be polite about a ship that will not start. Han's flat answer is half the joke. The Falcon's habit of breaking at the worst possible moment became its character, and the line is shorthand for any stalled machine, car or laptop.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes BackShow the scene
While Imperial troops storm Echo Base on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Han Solo and Chewbacca are scrambling to get the Millennium Falcon off the ground. Han flips switches at the control panel in the Falcon's hold as Chewie reports a bad gauge, and Princess Leia, watching their efforts, asks with dry sarcasm whether it would help if she got out and pushed. Han agrees that it might. In the cockpit she tells him the ship will never get them past the blockade.
Sources (1)
- Script: The Empire Strikes Back (IMSDb)Main hangar, Millennium Falcon main hold, before takeoffReference checked
Context reviewed
