bstempleton@watmath.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (06/03/83)
Well, it's time to start the roaring discussions going. ROTJ was a fine film, but not as good as the other two. First, it was too busy getting all the things done it had to, and second, it was not nearly as imaginative. There were no surprises. So it's Leia - whoopdedo. So Vader told the truth - tralala! I may not have predicted these things, but the reason I didn't was because they were too obvious, and from TESB I got the impression Lucas liked the "Big Surprise". So here are some questions/comments 1) Was it really the way of a Jedi to do what Luke did to the lovable Jabba the Hut? There are many other ways he could have rescued Han, the simplest being going in at night with his Jedi mind powers, taking Han and leaving a suitable ransom. Instead, he confronted Jabba directly, knowing this would very probably lead to a battle to the death. Instead of destroying his ships and killing Jabba personally, Luke could have had a ship ready to take them out, or just flown them out with the force. Regardless, what he did smacked of revenge, and revenge is not the way of a Jedi, or else the movie would have had a different title. 2) Until you get to their city, the Ewoks are pure, 100% Fuzzy. They even look like the fuzzies on the cover of my copy of Little Fuzzy. They carry the same weapons, and the only difference is that their voices are not high enough in pitch. Somebody suggested they were the characters from "Earthman's Burden", but I don't agree. 3) Why does a standard Imperial Throne Room include a conveniently located reactor shaft? 4) What extra power does the Emporor have that he can shoot blue bolts from his fingers? We have never seen the force ever do anything like that before. Just who is the emporor anyway? Is the force strong in his family? Is he a member of the Skywalker Clan? Are the Skywalkers like the Amber family? What about Obiwan's family. I guess that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were not truly related to Luke. 5) It's not hard to see how Vader killed the Emporor. Young those he was, Luke was no spring chicken with the force, and he was able to beat Vader in a fair fight. Thus it probably was quite an effort for the old emp to put the blue bolts into Luke. It sure took him long enough to kill him. Some might say he was doing this for drama, but I doubt it. I bet a normal man would be dead instantly with one blue bolt. The emporor thus became weak enough that his iron control over Vader broke. Vader was then able to cast him into the convenient reactor shaft. 6) Why did vader die? what killed him? Surely not the lost of his mechanical hand. (Like father, like son!) Nothing else visibly was done. Perhaps the emporor was truly struggling with Vader as he carried him. 7) Of course if Vader had not died, then all kinds of neat things could have happened. Now good, and with the Emporor gone, he would be the acting emporor. He could have managed the rebellion single-handedly, turning the great power of the empire and the death star over to the Jedi for peaceful use. Instead, they blew up the death star, which was quite a waste of equipment and otherwise innocent lives. 8) Where was Leia at her pappy's funeral? 9) Will Han and Leia have a kid, and will that kid be the new top Jedi? I bet the force is with Han to some degree, he's such good pilot and shot. -- Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ont. (519) 886-7304
bch@unc.UUCP (06/05/83)
Vader died because his life support system got zorched by The Emperor. I thought this was one of the weakest moments of the film. His normally stentorious automatic breathing apperatus developed a definite hitch and a squeak which almost made me laugh out loud. Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill
heliotis@rochester.UUCP (06/13/83)
Vader died in the end because some of those blue bolts went into him as he carried the Emperor. You can even see his skull glowing sometimes.