Star Wars - schoolboy errors

[Neil G]

I was thinking about this the other day, and the Admiral Piett thread has prompted me to start a new thread on critical errors made by both sides in the Star Wars saga* that could have been easily avoidable with a bit of basic common sense and attention to detail. I know it's a bit mean-spirited to pull to pieces magical films you love, but fuck it, it's still fun if you're as big a geek as me. Here are a few from the first film for starters.

 

 

1) The Death Star plans. The Empire were worried about the rebels having the plans and were desperately trying to find them, and hey presto, they fall straight into their lap when they capture the Millennium Falcon. Darth Vader susses why the Falcon was trying to get to Alderaan, but the effort to investigate is utterly half-arsed. Why didn't they pull the ship to pieces instead of just wandering through the corridors with a metal detector? Failing that, why didn't they have CCTV in the hangar so that they could see two unidentified droids emerging from the ship? Very lax procedures for a ruthless totalitarian dictatorship.

 

 

2) The escape from the Death Star. Leia knew the Falcon was being tracked, so why didn't she insist that it docked with a rebel ship somewhere out of the way? The ship could bring Han and Chewie's reward, and then take her, Luke and the droids to Yavin after scanning them to make sure that the tracking device wasn't on them. Leia had held out against torture and seen her home planet incinerated in order to keep the location of the main rebel base a secret, and then she goes and gives it away needlessly. Stupid girl.

 

 

3) The Battle of Yavin. Why didn't the Death Star come out of hyperspace on the other side of the planet, so it could have had a clear shot at the rebel moon straight away? And just to make sure the rebels didn't stand a chance, why wasn't it escorted by a shitload of Star Destroyers and Tie Fighters to stop the rebel fighters even getting close to it? A critical military operation badly messed up by the Empire. How did it maintain its iron grip on the galaxy with such a sloppy and casual approach?

 

 

Your suggestions please.

 

 

 

* Original trilogy only please. The prequels don't merit such a level of affectionate pedantry.

[The Chief]

You want pedantry? You're gonna get pedantry.

 

1. If Darth had had his head screwed on, PROPERLY, the film would've lasted about 5 minutes.

 

2. If they'd have been met by a rebel cruiser and Solo had left, well Leia would never have got banged by Solo, which would've fucked the romantic ingredient for the women.

 

3. I the Empire had been on it's game, well it would've been a very short lived epic.

 

There ya go mate, sor'id.

[Section_31]

I was thinking about this the other day, and the Admiral Piett thread has prompted me to start a new thread on critical errors made by both sides in the Star Wars saga* that could have been easily avoidable with a bit of basic common sense and attention to detail. I know it's a bit mean-spirited to pull to pieces magical films you love, but fuck it, it's still fun if you're as big a geek as me. Here are a few from the first film for starters.

 

I'm going to be even more of a nerd and try and answer these instead.

 

1) The Death Star plans. The Empire were worried about the rebels having the plans and were desperately trying to find them, and hey presto, they fall straight into their lap when they capture the Millennium Falcon. Darth Vader susses why the Falcon was trying to get to Alderaan, but the effort to investigate is utterly half-arsed. Why didn't they pull the ship to pieces instead of just wandering through the corridors with a metal detector? Failing that, why didn't they have CCTV in the hangar so that they could see two unidentified droids emerging from the ship? Very lax procedures for a ruthless totalitarian dictatorship.

 

The people running the Empire weren't especially bright, Vader especially was a bit dense if truth be told, easily manipulated and bullshitted around by the Emperor.

Moff Tarkin too, obviously the people at the top were chosen more for their loyalty to the emperor rather than their ability to get the job done.

Afterall, if you've plotted for twenty years to make yourself the top dog, why would you risk surrounding yourself with equally ruthless but intelligent people who might get ideas about doing the same thing to you?

 

Arrogance was also a factor, believing nobody was strong enough to stand up to their brute-force antics.

 

 

2) The escape from the Death Star. Leia knew the Falcon was being tracked, so why didn't she insist that it docked with a rebel ship somewhere out of the way? The ship could bring Han and Chewie's reward, and then take her, Luke and the droids to Yavin after scanning them to make sure that the tracking device wasn't on them. Leia had held out against torture and seen her home planet incinerated in order to keep the location of the main rebel base a secret, and then she goes and gives it away needlessly. Stupid girl.

 

They knew they'd have to engage the Death Star at some point otherwise the game was up, postponing that encounter would've just delayed the innevitable. Either the plans showed a flaw or the rebel alliance was doomed, in the short or medium term at least.

 

 

3) The Battle of Yavin. Why didn't the Death Star come out of hyperspace on the other side of the planet, so it could have had a clear shot at the rebel moon straight away? And just to make sure the rebels didn't stand a chance, why wasn't it escorted by a shitload of Star Destroyers and Tie Fighters to stop the rebel fighters even getting close to it? A critical military operation badly messed up by the Empire. How did it maintain its iron grip on the galaxy with such a sloppy and casual approach?

 

(1) Star Wars hyperdrives aren't that accurate, in fact, in The Thrawm trilogy of books they make use of something called 'interdictor cruisers' - which 'shine' a gravity cone into an area of space designed to bring the Star Destroyers out of Hyperspace at an exact spot.

 

 

(2) Again, the arrogance of The Empire. "Dangerous to your starfleet commander, not to this battle station!" They thought they were untouchable until well into the battle.

 

Sometimes having a strong military makes you ignore the little things, it makes you sloppy because you think your might is so insurmountable. You only have to see how British and Norwegian resistance fighters were able to destroy the Nazis' atomic weapons programme at The Telemark to see that!

 

* Original trilogy only please. The prequels don't merit such a level of affectionate pedantry.

 

Amen.

[Anubis]

* Original trilogy only please. The prequels don't merit such a level of affectionate pedantry.

Prequels? What prequels?

[RedKnight]

The fact that they let the plans get away in the first place shows incompetence. "These blast marks, only imperial troops are this precise" and then for every other movie the closest they come is shooting Leia in the arm.

[Ted]

Virgins.

[The Chief]

I'm going to be even more of a nerd and try and answer these instead.

 

 

 

The people running the Empire weren't especially bright, Vader especially was a bit dense if truth be told, easily manipulated and bullshitted around by the Emperor.

Moff Tarkin too, obviously the people at the top were chosen more for their loyalty to the emperor rather than their ability to get the job done.

Afterall, if you've plotted for twenty years to make yourself the top dog, why would you risk surrounding yourself with equally ruthless but intelligent people who might get ideas about doing the same thing to you?

 

Arrogance was also a factor, believing nobody was strong enough to stand up to their brute-force antics.

 

 

 

 

They knew they'd have to engage the Death Star at some point otherwise the game was up, postponing that encounter would've just delayed the innevitable. Either the plans showed a flaw or the rebel alliance was doomed, in the short or medium term at least.

 

 

 

 

(1) Star Wars hyperdrives aren't that accurate, in fact, in The Thrawm trilogy of books they make use of something called 'interdictor cruisers' - which 'shine' a gravity cone into an area of space designed to bring the Star Destroyers out of Hyperspace at an exact spot.

 

 

(2) Again, the arrogance of The Empire. "Dangerous to your starfleet commander, not to this battle station!" They thought they were untouchable until well into the battle.

 

Sometimes having a strong military makes you ignore the little things, it makes you sloppy because you think your might is so insurmountable. You only have to see how British and Norwegian resistance fighters were able to destroy the Nazis' atomic weapons programme at The Telemark to see that!

 

 

 

Amen.

 

*Sniff* I prefer MY explanation. *sniff*

[Neil G]

I'm going to be even more of a nerd and try and answer these instead.

 

 

 

The people running the Empire weren't especially bright, Vader especially was a bit dense if truth be told, easily manipulated and bullshitted around by the Emperor.

Moff Tarkin too, obviously the people at the top were chosen more for their loyalty to the emperor rather than their ability to get the job done.

Afterall, if you've plotted for twenty years to make yourself the top dog, why would you risk surrounding yourself with equally ruthless but intelligent people who might get ideas about doing the same thing to you?

 

Arrogance was also a factor, believing nobody was strong enough to stand up to their brute-force antics.

 

 

 

 

They knew they'd have to engage the Death Star at some point otherwise the game was up, postponing that encounter would've just delayed the innevitable. Either the plans showed a flaw or the rebel alliance was doomed, in the short or medium term at least.

 

 

 

 

(1) Star Wars hyperdrives aren't that accurate, in fact, in The Thrawm trilogy of books they make use of something called 'interdictor cruisers' - which 'shine' a gravity cone into an area of space designed to bring the Star Destroyers out of Hyperspace at an exact spot.

 

 

(2) Again, the arrogance of The Empire. "Dangerous to your starfleet commander, not to this battle station!" They thought they were untouchable until well into the battle.

 

Sometimes having a strong military makes you ignore the little things, it makes you sloppy because you think your might is so insurmountable. You only have to see how British and Norwegian resistance fighters were able to destroy the Nazis' atomic weapons programme at The Telemark to see that!

 

 

 

Amen.

 

I guess I can buy arrogance and incompetence as the reasons for the Empire's mistakes. I'm not having your answer about Leia though.

 

The rebels were clearly desperate to keep the location of their base secret for as long as possible, so your theory about them wanting to bring the situation to a head doesn't stand up. If they'd done it after they'd analysed the plans and found the weakness then they could have said "bring it on", but you're saying they decided to lure the Death Star in and engage it before they knew about this. No rebel movement worth its salt would have deliberately exposed itself to a potentially fatal blow unless they knew for sure it would give them a chance to turn the tables. The right course of action would have been to assess their chances first before taking such a gamble, and if they'd found the Death Star was invulnerable they'd still have been able to stay on the run, and hope that another opportunity to fight back presented itself.

 

It was a mistake, for sure.

[Ian Sea]

Obi Wan hid Luke and Leia from Vader, as seen in The Revenge of the Sith, but why did he hide Luke with Vader's own family? And why not give him a different name? Pretty crap hiding by Obi Wan there.

[Unrighteous]

Virgins. I love 'em. No diseases, no loose as a goose pussy, no skank. No nothin. Just pure pleasure

 

 

ROFLMAO!!! Dynamite drop-in, Shooter. KIDS is ace.

[Unrighteous]

Obi Wan hid Luke and Leia from Vader, as seen in The Revenge of the Sith, but why did he hide Luke with Vader's own family? And why not give him a different name? Pretty crap hiding by Obi Wan there.

 

Erm... Owen and (I think its spelled) Baru Lars? That's not really the beacon to draw the Skywalker light.

 

Vader doesn't even learn the name LARS until the prequels(which is what added part of your problem to it)

 

Also, Luke stayed undiscovered until Empire Strikes Back.

[Juniper]

Why would Vader look for Luke if he didnt know he was born? he trusted the Emperor when he told him that Padme died before she gave birth didnt he.

 

Vader didn't find out so it doesn't matter. He was a few sandwedges short of a picnic.

[The Chief]

I guess I can buy arrogance and incompetence as the reasons for the Empire's mistakes. I'm not having your answer about Leia though.

 

The rebels were clearly desperate to keep the location of their base secret for as long as possible, so your theory about them wanting to bring the situation to a head doesn't stand up. If they'd done it after they'd analysed the plans and found the weakness then they could have said "bring it on", but you're saying they decided to lure the Death Star in and engage it before they knew about this. No rebel movement worth its salt would have deliberately exposed itself to a potentially fatal blow unless they knew for sure it would give them a chance to turn the tables. The right course of action would have been to assess their chances first before taking such a gamble, and if they'd found the Death Star was invulnerable they'd still have been able to stay on the run, and hope that another opportunity to fight back presented itself.

 

It was a mistake, for sure.

 

But wasn't the plan made because they wanted to try and destroy the Death Star because it was vulnerable, and once it was fully operational they'd be finished cos no one could stop the empire once it was built?

[Hand Shandy]

Apologies if this has already been posted before, but some of these are very funny!

 

Taff Wars

 

This one in particular...

[Neil G]

But wasn't the plan made because they wanted to try and destroy the Death Star because it was vulnerable, and once it was fully operational they'd be finished cos no one could stop the empire once it was built?

 

No, the rebels knew that the Death Star was already fully finished and operational by the time the Falcon escaped from it, so that can't have been the reasoning behind the "plan".