I have always been a Han Solo fan myself.    Harrison Ford played it perfectly.

[Algore]

I have always been a Han Solo fan myself.    Harrison Ford played it perfectly.

Ford definitely got the best role in this movie. Now Solo is dead, Ford doesn't have to appear in the sequels. 

[Algore]

Episode VII is NOTHING like previous Star Wars movies. It is the most fast paced out of all of them, the adventure is so captivating you don't have time to focus on the characters and which one(s) is/are your favorite.

Oh really?


http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Study-Shows-Just-How-Similar-Force-Awakens-Hope-116617.html


https://www.yahoo.com/movies/watch-a-stunning-side-by-side-comparison-of-star-154726328.html

[SoftGameHunter]

So a while back an RU member mentioned the novel for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, so I decided to dig it out and start reading it again.
And it got me thinking. Considering what a powerful Sith Darth Vader was, did you realize how stupid he actually was?
For starters, at one point in the novel Darth Vader says "This will be a day long remembered. It already has been witness to the final extinction of the Jedi."
Really? That is one of the stupidest thing someone who wields the Force could possible say! He supposedly know how to use the Force, and supposedly is greater than the Jedi. But Jedi like Yoda sensed things in the Force, and if Darth Vader was truly as powerful as he claimed to be, he'd have sensed three things:

1) Declaring the final extinction of the Jedi was premature. VERY premature.

2) He was SO close to Princess Leia. Why didn't he realize she was his daughter?

3) On the Death Star he sensed Obi-Wan Kenobi. Why didn't he sense his own son who was also on board the Death Star?

1. The novel might have contained that Darth Vader quote, but in the movie he says something to the effect of "It has already seen the death of Obi Wan Kenobi, and soon it will see the final destruction of the Republic." Both were essentially accurate.

2. Even Sith have blind spots. He couldn't sense his offspring were alive after they were born, he didn't know how many he almost had. He had no real connection to either of them except in a vague, painfully nostalgic 'what might have been' sense.

3. Unlike his kids, he knew Obi-Wan quite well, and had a huge grudge against him over that whole limb chopping and left to burn business. The real question is why didn't he sense Obi-Wan from orbit above Tatooine?

[Algore]

3. Unlike his kids, he knew Obi-Wan quite well, and had a huge grudge against him over that whole limb chopping and left to burn business. The real question is why didn't he sense Obi-Wan from orbit above Tatooine?

 Maybe the Force has limits?

I'm going to suggest that Obi-Wan was keeping a low profile - both literally and force-wise. By keeping to himself and not using his powers he avoided detection. As did Yoda - the most powerful Jedi we have seen. They stayed hidden in remote locations - waiting for the next generation of Jedi (Luke and Leia) to reach maturity. Had they revealed themselves earlier they would have been hunted down and killed.

 It is clear even in Ep1 that Kenobi knew about Luke and his heritage. But he made no contact with him - Kenobi waited for the right moment. Tatooine had a significant Empire presence and it would have been foolhardy to attract attention.

 So why did Vader detect Kenobi once he was aboard the Death Star? Probably because Kenobi was using force ability - in subtle ways. How lucky did Luke and friends get? How many times should they have been blasted/captured etc?

 Kenobi himself (on observing the damage done to the Jawa's sandcrawler) says "only Imperial storm troopers are so precise!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

"Storm trooper aim" is now a standing joke in movie legend - but why? Surely the empire had some kind of training program? Weren't these their crack troops?

I submit that the storm troopers were actually very good - but Kenobi was using his Jedi power to throw their aim off. We saw how he directly influenced a troopper ("These aren't the droids you are looking for") - and tells Luke "simple minds are easily manipulated". Remember how R2D2 and C3p0 walked across a corridor that was filled with blaster fire without getting a scratch?

 The whole rescue-the hot-chick/escape-from-the-Death-Star was so utterly implausible that it could only happen if a powerful Jedi Master was tipping the scales - not by direct combat but by subtle influence. Kenobi was not seen to use any Force powers while aboard the Death Star - but Vader sensed him anyway. Kenobi WAS using his power - but trying to sneak under the radar.

 

[vile8r]

Of course Kenobi knew about Luke and his heritage! At the end of Ep.3, Revenge Of The Sith, the infant Luke is taken to live with Owen and Beru Lars on Tatooine, and Obi-Wan says, "I will go there and watch over him!" Ben/Obi-wan was keeping an eye on Luke Skywalker the whole time he was growing up. It was not mere fortuitness that Ben Kenobi happened to come along and rescue Luke from the Tusken Raiders. It was something that was destined to happen eventually.

And yes the Force does have limitations. If you remember in Return Of The Jedi, Jabba the Hutt tells Luke, "Your Jedi mind tricks do not work on me," and I  can't remember where, if it's in Revenge Of The Sith, or maybe it's in the novelization, it's mentioned somewhere that the reason Yoda picks Dagobah as his personal exile, is that the planet is like a dead zone for the Force. He couldn't be detected there. Otherwise I'm sure over the years, either the Emperor or Darth Vader would have been able to detect his presence too.

[OhioSteve]

It is known that Vader had a soft spot for his son Luke.
Maybe this caused a subconscious blind spot at times, causing Luke to go unnoticed.

Why did the Princess never show signs of having the force?
Even untrained you would think something would manifest.
Especially after she became aware that she should have it.

[SoftGameHunter]

It is known that Vader had a soft spot for his son Luke.
Maybe this caused a subconscious blind spot at times, causing Luke to go unnoticed.

Why did the Princess never show signs of having the force?
Even untrained you would think something would manifest.
Especially after she became aware that she should have it.

I got the impression that Leia was not nearly as force sensitive as Luke. The Force Awakens seems to confirm this, as it is Luke that everyone is seeking in order to put things right with the force. Leia is right there, but no one cares.

As for Vader, clearly his feelings for his family are what ruled his destiny. It was his emotions for them that made him a Sith, and later made him turn away from the Sith. Darth Vader is the ultimate defender of family values. And speaking of blind spots, if the emperor wasn't having so much fun torturing Luke, he might have noticed that his supreme Sith apprentice was about to go Medieval 180 on his ass. Foresee that, Palpatine!

[OhioSteve]

It is known that Vader had a soft spot for his son Luke.
Maybe this caused a subconscious blind spot at times, causing Luke to go unnoticed.

Why did the Princess never show signs of having the force?
Even untrained you would think something would manifest.
Especially after she became aware that she should have it.

I got the impression that Leia was not nearly as force sensitive as Luke. The Force Awakens seems to confirm this, as it is Luke that everyone is seeking in order to put things right with the force. Leia is right there, but no one cares.

As for Vader, clearly his feelings for his family are what ruled his destiny. It was his emotions for them that made him a Sith, and later made him turn away from the Sith. Darth Vader is the ultimate defender of family values. And speaking of blind spots, if the emperor wasn't having so much fun torturing Luke, he might have noticed that his supreme Sith apprentice was about to go Medieval 180 on his ass. Foresee that, Palpatine!

Thus fulfilling the original prophecy.

[GEMINIGUY]

Of course Vader didn't actually KNOW about Luke. He KNEW Padme had been pregnant, but didn't even know it was with twins.
Of course Palpatine wanted Anakin all to himself, to isolate him, making his rage, anguish & hate complete. So when Luke showed up on the Death Star to rescue Leia, Vader hadn't been looking for his son all those years, nor expected him to show up there, but with the Force he SHOULD have sensed something still...
Anyway, once he got the lowdown on the young man training to be a Jedi, of course he was going to keep a closer eye on him. At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, they were both able to sense each other through the Force. In Return Of The Jedi Luke could sense Vader's nearness on the moon of Endor.
Jumping ahead to The Force Awakens, you can see that Leia WAS Force sensitive, she FELT Han's death, it hit her hard. Like when all the younglings were murdered by Anakin as Jedi all over the galaxy were being killed by the clone troopers, Yoda sensed it & was hit very hard.

[vile8r]

A couple other things not mentioned:

1) In Ep. 4, during the Battle of the Death Star, Vader makes the remark, "The Force is strong in this one," as he pursues Luke down the Death Star trench. That was because, Luke was trying to use the Force! Therefore, it opened a channel to Vader's own Force perceptions. "Hmmm, what is this? Some simple X-Wing pilot trying to use the Force! What's up with that?"

2) In Ep. 5, as Luke hangs on for dear life at the bottom of Cloud City, he calls for Leia. Princess Leia, in the Millenium Falcon, suddenly senses Luke is in danger, and she tells Lando to turn the Falcon around, they have to go get Luke. Now how did she get that feeling? That was an early foreshadowing, that there was something more between Luke and Leia than met the eye, and was not simply a woman's intuition!

[SoftGameHunter]

2) In Ep. 5, as Luke hangs on for dear life at the bottom of Cloud City, he calls for Leia. Princess Leia, in the Millenium Falcon, suddenly senses Luke is in danger, and she tells Lando to turn the Falcon around, they have to go get Luke. Now how did she get that feeling? That was an early foreshadowing, that there was something more between Luke and Leia than met the eye, and was not simply a woman's intuition!

There was more foreshadowing in Empire. When Luke took off to rescue the gang, the Obi-Wan ghost says something like "That boy is our last hope." Yoda replied, as the scene faded to black, "No, there is another." Obviously he meant Leia. Probably once Lucas and all decided to make Vader Luke's father, they came up with another twist to be revealed later. At the time, I figured it was the strength of Luke's power over the force that allowed him to contact Leia, particularly as reaching out to the Obi-Wan force ghost wasn't working at all.

[vile8r]

2) In Ep. 5, as Luke hangs on for dear life at the bottom of Cloud City, he calls for Leia. Princess Leia, in the Millenium Falcon, suddenly senses Luke is in danger, and she tells Lando to turn the Falcon around, they have to go get Luke. Now how did she get that feeling? That was an early foreshadowing, that there was something more between Luke and Leia than met the eye, and was not simply a woman's intuition!

There was more foreshadowing in Empire. When Luke took off to rescue the gang, the Obi-Wan ghost says something like "That boy is our last hope." Yoda replied, as the scene faded to black, "No, there is another." Obviously he meant Leia. Probably once Lucas and all decided to make Vader Luke's father, they came up with another twist to be revealed later. At the time, I figured it was the strength of Luke's power over the force that allowed him to contact Leia, particularly as reaching out to the Obi-Wan force ghost wasn't working at all.

Yes there was that part too, when Yoda alludes to there being "another". And you're right, Luke could have simply used the power of the Force to send a help message to Leia, but I think that Leia's dormant Force powers, enabled her to receive that message easier than someone who wouldn't have had them.

[SoftGameHunter]

2) In Ep. 5, as Luke hangs on for dear life at the bottom of Cloud City, he calls for Leia. Princess Leia, in the Millenium Falcon, suddenly senses Luke is in danger, and she tells Lando to turn the Falcon around, they have to go get Luke. Now how did she get that feeling? That was an early foreshadowing, that there was something more between Luke and Leia than met the eye, and was not simply a woman's intuition!

There was more foreshadowing in Empire. When Luke took off to rescue the gang, the Obi-Wan ghost says something like "That boy is our last hope." Yoda replied, as the scene faded to black, "No, there is another." Obviously he meant Leia. Probably once Lucas and all decided to make Vader Luke's father, they came up with another twist to be revealed later. At the time, I figured it was the strength of Luke's power over the force that allowed him to contact Leia, particularly as reaching out to the Obi-Wan force ghost wasn't working at all.

Yes there was that part too, when Yoda alludes to there being "another". And you're right, Luke could have simply used the power of the Force to send a help message to Leia, but I think that Leia's dormant Force powers, enabled her to receive that message easier than someone who wouldn't have had them.

Left field question here: Is Yoda's line about "There is another?" original to the film, or was it one of Lucas's later add-ons? I don't remember it from my younger viewings, but as I was quite young, I may have just missed it.

[vile8r]

It was in the original Empire Strikes Back.