I'm watching the original "Star Wars", and something has bothered me for years:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

When R2D2 and C3P0 escape Leia's ship in the escape pod, the Imperial flunkies "hold their fire" because the escape pod has no life forms.

This is an empire that builds a Death Star the size of a freaking MOON, and blasts PLANETS to smithereens just to show everyone they can, and what badasses they are.

And they're going to risk the plans for their Death Star getting out over the price of a laser bolt? Give me a break. Those gunners could have saved everyone a LOT of trouble.

I'm still pissed over the lame Lucas DVD edit where Greedo shoots at Han first in the cantina. The edited in CGI animation scenes in the DVD also add basically nothing to the film IMHO.

[NamVetsWeeLass]

1. sorry, i have to say this....

That's not a MOON it's a SPACESTATION!!!

Also, I have a magnet on my car that says, "Come to the darkside... WE HAVE COOKIES!"

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

4. The more I watch this the more sympathetic to Moff Tarkin I get.

We don't give enough credit to what a difficult job he had, squashing a rebellion and managing the bureaucratic squabbling among the various Empire factions. I actually think he was a pretty capable administrator, aside from the whole "losing the Death Star" thing.

[unpossibles]

19. hilarious n/t

[stuntcat]

30. omg SCREW HIM

he's so DARK.. it's like, Whatever, talk to the hand, Grand Moff Asshole..

That "hold your fire" is totally something I have to suspend my disbelief for in that film. It's still so Sweet to watch though :loveya:

[dysfunctional press]

2. and why does ben kenobi say: " i don't recall ever owning a droid"...?

according to the prequels- r2d2 served as his droid.

maybe it was early onset of alzheimer's?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Alzheimer's?

You mean George Lucas? That would certainly explain several continuity errors.

[texas1928]

7. R2 belonged to Anikin. He was placed under Senator Organa's care.

I still think that the 6 movies together make one hell of a story. And the prequels give a new light to Darth Vader. I know a lot of people hate them, but I loved them.

[dysfunctional press]

13. c3po belonged to aniken...r2d2 was part of queen amadala's forces.

didn't she give him some kind of a medal in the first one? aniken ended up using r2d2 as well- but obi-wan did interact with r2 too, and clearly, ben should have recognized him- it was the droids who had their minds wiped, not him.

which brings up anpther issue- uncle owen should have recognized c3po when he bought him- he had been working there when owen was much younger.

[texas1928]

17. But with out the gold skin.

Plus they probably go through so many droids, over time you forget. It is possible.


R2 in a New Hope kind of know Obi Wan.

[hippiechick]

42. I thought Ani built R2D2 when he was still a youngster ...

:shrug: when he was still working for that junkyard pimp on "Tatooween" ...

[texas1928]

46. He built C3P0

He built as a protocol droid to help his mother.

R2D2 worked as an astro droid on Queen Amidala's star ship.

[DerekG]

53. Nice to hear from a prequel aficionado

For me, the two trilogies were wedded the moment Vader asked for Padme. It was surreal as all hell, and I can't watch his ESB meditation chamber scenes without conjuring his wife's pall.

[NewJeffCT]

18. He's trying to be defensive

In case Luke is a clone working as an Empire spy. So, he plays dumb and pretends he knows nothing about R2D2.

well, it's just a guess.

[Downtown Hound]

32. I actually read an interview with Lucas where he brought up this point

He says that Obi Wan is covering. He doesn't want Luke to know too much of the truth yet, and since R2 was very close to his father, he's pretending not to know R2.

Remember how Obi Wan says to Luke in Return of the Jedi how many of the truths people cling to depend on their own point of view to justify the earlier explanation he gave him for how his father died? Well, Obi Wan is doing the same thing here. He never actually did own R2, so in a way he was telling the truth when he said he didn't remember ever owning him. But he's leaving out a lot of information intentionally, because he doesn't want Luke to know too much yet. If he had said yes, he knew R2 from long ago, not only would Luke have pestered him with lots of questions, but he would have pestered poor R2 about it as well. Better off that Luke learn on his own, or so Obi Wan figured.

[JVS]

34. because he is a liar

[mduffy31]

57. No...R4D2

was Kenobi's R2D2 was Anakin's.

[skygazer]

5. That always bugged me

How easy would it have been to hide the plans in the escape pod? Duh! But bad guys are always idiots surrounded by inept flunkies. It's a Hollywood rule.

[Deep13]

6. If something illogical happens in Star Wars, ...

...it is because of the Force.

[myrna minx]

8. Why didn't Chewy get a medal too!?

Han and Luke both received a medals but why not Chewey? How speciest. :rofl:

[Robb]

25. Too tall

at least that's what my old comic book said. He got his later, with a stepstool. :D

[DS1]

9. It's just not as fun if you're not killing anyone. and we all know how ratio-obsessed

StormTroopers are

Anything under 5,000 shots per Rebel kill and you're promoted to Sniper. That Captain was just looking out for his men.

[pokerfan]

10. Parsec is unit of distance, not time!

When Han brags to Ben and Luke that the MF "made the 'Kessel' run in less than 12 parsecs."

I also hate the Greedo/Han re-edit. Totally changes Han's character as a bit of a rogue. Han needed to shoot first to establish that. Letting Greedo shoot first (and miss) makes Han look like an idiot. Oh well, Greedo was a pretty pathetic bounty hunter what with not getting both of Han's hands where he could see them. Guess he must have missed Boba Fett's seminar on ass kicking.

Wow, almost thirty years since its US release: 25 May 1977

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

11. Not only is the edit crappy for changing the nature of the Han Solo character, but

it's a crappy shot anyway, it LOOKS stupid and doesn't clearly establish that Greedo shot first unless you're looking for it or watching on slo-mo. Just an idiotic way for Lucas to assuage his guilt or whatever because some 8 year old might have looked up to a morally ambiguous character.

Like Spielberg editing E.T. so the government henchmen were pointing phone/walkie talkies instead of guns at the kids.

[pokerfan]

14. You've got to be kidding me

Like Spielberg editing E.T. so the government henchmen were pointing phone/walkie talkies instead of guns at the kids.

Keep this guy away from Wizard of Oz!

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. The 12 parsec thing was explained in the books

The Kessel Run was a path through a lot of stars and other high-gravity-generating masses, which can be used to good effect in plotting hyperspace course. I can't remember how long the standard path was, maybe 14 parsecs or something, but daredevils who wanted to get through it quicker and with, apparently, more an adrenaline surge, could plot shorter courses if they were willing to risk getting nearer to the gravity wells, and risk pulling their ships apart, and not take the more roundabout standard way.

[pokerfan]

21. Fanfic retcon nonsense

I'm sure that's exactly what Lucas was thinking when he wrote tha line. Face it, he just liked the way it sounded.

[Robb]

26. Or he liked the idea

...than Han would just try spouting nonsense at people who might not know better. :shrug:

[pokerfan]

31. I'll apply Occam's razor

...than Han would just try spouting nonsense at people who might not know better.

and go with George Lucas spouting nonsense and he didn't know any better himself.

[blondeatlast]

12. My big gripe: Why didn't they edit the shot in the trash compactor

when Harrisin Ford's makeup was very obviously smeared onto his Stormtrooper getup?

I've seen it hundreds of times since then, Mr. BAL and son adore watching it together, and it still drives me just a bit up the wall!

[cobalt1999]

16. I always bothered by the poor recording quality of their holograms.

Jeez, you can build all these spaceships and floating cities and androids, but record a message or phone someone and the sound/picture quality comes across like a 1950's TV broadcast during a thunderstorm. What R2D2 doesn't have digital recording capabilities?

[unpossibles]

20. perhaps this explains it all

one of the funnier things I've seen in a while:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A0rwG39Jzk

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

22. THAT is the funniest damn thing I've seen in a long time. I had to give it a 5 and post

a comment there. That is mandatory viewing.

Sadly I haven't seen a lot of the movies the dialogue clips came from like "Bingo Long" but I recognize where the clips must have come from by the context.

[benEzra]

23. The Emperor gets a collect call from Darth Vader...

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/3775/

[Robb]

27. LOL!

"What the hell is an aluminum falcon?!?" :rofl:

[eyepaddle]

40. Oh wow, that was PRICELESS!

:rofl:

[Lautremont]

24. I saw that, "for a limited time only," the DVDs included extra discs

with the un-fucked-up versions on them. So I snapped the bastads up! Now, whenever I want, I can re-live that glorious day when I was six and saw the movie for the first time.

But yeah, that "don't shoot the pod" thing has always bugged me too.

[baldguy]

28. They probably wouldn't have been able to hit it anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormtrooper_effect

[pokerfan]

37. Ebert's Principle of Evil Marksmanship

:rofl:

[nytemare]

29. Chad Vader can answer all your questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wGR4-SeuJ0

These are great!

Plus, I agree, Greedo was never meant to shoot first, even though he had crappy aim anyway.

[JVS]

33. Yeah. I am sure the Empire had a shoot first ask questions later policy

[Bombtrack]

35. I think if the escape could survive an asteroid like crash onto a planet, it would take more effort

than locking one of their turrets on it and blasting it out of the sky, atleast not without a great deal of luck. They were on a regular Star Destroyer, not the Death Star.

[Withywindle]

36. Here's the thing that bugs me that no one has explained to me:

How come Darth Vader can recognize his son through the Force but not his daughter? Even when he's torturing her personally?

[LostinVA]

48. Maybe because she hasn't tapped into the Force yet?

[LostinVA]

49. Maybe because she hasn't tapped into the Force yet?

Or maybe not.

[dysfunctional press]

56. Darth didn't even know that he had kids-

it was the emperor who told him that luke was his son.

[DerekG]

60. No, Vader found out between IV and V

The opening crawl to ESB states that Vader was obsessed with finding Skywalker--with the intent of establishing a Skywalker dynasty, as we find out at film's end. His shock during the Palpatine conversation was feigned.

[phrenzy]

38. Ignore All Prequels

First of all, don't try to reconcile the internal logic of the originals with the abominations that are the prequels.

Second, the 'Hold your fire' thing - Didn't they say "It must have malfunctioned"? Maybe the empire grunts just didn't want to 'rock the boat' by firing off at some malfunctioning piece of metal. Also, if they did fire at it - they would suddenly have to explain themselves to Vader and we all know what happens to those who fuck up when Vader finds out about it. It's also highly likely that the grunts had no idea that there was any 'smuggling' going on since it was a very sensitive subject - having lost the plans.

But, yeah - the reality is that it was just a convenient plot device - of which there are others along the way in the OT. Still, not nearly as many as there are in most movies.

In any case, they DID figure it out eventually since they DID make it to Tatooine to find the escape pod. :)

[DerekG]

51. The prequels were not abominations

They're far more intricate and provocative than the comparatively streamlined OT, and perhaps the most subversive "popcorn" pictures released in decades.

[Frank Cannon]

39. Why does the Death Star have to "clear the planet"...

in order to reach the rebel base? Couldn't they have just blown it to pieces? Couldn't they have just come in another way?

I understand why the stormtroopers also sound like they have the same voice (they're clones, supposedly), but why do a couple of guys on the radio for the rebels have that SAME VOICE?

The Empire supposedly has the technology to determine whether life forms are on board an escape pod, but they can't detect Han, Luke and the gang hiding out under a metal plate in the Millenium Falcon?

If Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are hiding out on Darth Vader's home planet, shouldn't they have at least changed their names? Are they just not listed in the Tattoine phone book?

So many questions. This is a complicated film.

[NewJeffCT]

52. some answers

Some attempts at answers, I should say:

1) It can't just blow through every planet it comes across right in succession because its primary weapon needs to be majorly recharged each time it is set to the "planet destroying" level.

2) Maybe they're clones that got reprogrammed by the rebels (like Arnold in Terminator 2?)

3) special scan-proof smuggler's hatches.

4) None of the bad guys knows that Luke is alive, so Luke is so far out of the loop on Tattoine that "Ben" Kenobi isn't worried about somebody finding out he lives there. And, for all we know, Kenobi could be as popular a name in a galaxy far far away as "Smith" is here.

[Frank Cannon]

54. Thanks for that, Jeff

These are things I've pondered for the last 30 years.

[NewJeffCT]

55. and

those were all just guesses on my part.

[Frank Cannon]

58. Works for me

You did a great job. I don't think you'd ever get me past the "Greedo shoots first" thing, which I didn't even mention. But as much of a fan of this movie as I suspect you are (and as I am), you don't even want to go there.

:hi:

[LynneSin]

41. Ok, you are so fricking of base

Remember it was some low level lackey that made the comment that there were no life-forms on the pod but they said something to higher-ups who realized someone made a dumbass mistake!!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

50. "But YOU TOLD ME to hold my fire!"

"No I didn't, you're remembering it all wrong"

Vader: (Force-strangles both of them from across the room)

[PVnRT]

43. ...and why does Ben seem to not know about Leia in Empire?

He says "That boy is our last hope" as Luke takes off to go lay the smackdown on Vader, and Yoda says "No. There is another." They were both there when Leia was born, and if Yoda had a good idea she was like Luke, why not Ben?

And fuck "midichlorians." Dumbest addition to the entire series. The Force is much cooler as just a mystical energy field without explanation.

[NewJeffCT]

62. The midichlorians thing was stupid

I thought. It ruined the whole image of the Force as a mysterious mystical thing - heck, I'm sure some people could have interpreted it as the hand of God - to something that was just genetic.

[Beer Snob-50]

44. My one complaint of the movies

is that the rebel allaince in 4-6, and the jedi's in 1-3 couldn't beat the imperial forces and yet the ewoks could beat them with slingshots and bone clubs.

[edbermac]

45. I was bothered by Luke having the hots for his sister.

[Lautremont]

47. I was more bothered by having the hots myself for someone who looked like

Eddie Fisher.

[Frank Cannon]

59. Well, come on, she was undeniably hot...

particularly in that gold snake bikini she was wearing on Jabba's barge. Dumbass Luke--Force and all--didn't know that she was his sister.

Did you know that of all the main characters in episodes four through six, Leia is the best shot with a blaster? Apparently she hits every target she aims at.

That makes her even hotter.

[Zomby Woof]

61. Since Lucas was a student of myth

It makes sense there would be some unintentional incest, not quite on the level of Oedipus, but still a recurring theme in mythology.