STAR WARS The Last Jedi *SPOILERS!*

[Totoro Man]

Ya know, it was a cool scene, but my immediate thought right after was 'Why has no one attached missiles to light drives before' or done this exact same thing before. At this rate, you'd think it would be a common tactic.

the same reason nobody in "the Walking Dead" ever bothers to use Phalanx or Tortoise formations with shields and pikes.

Hollywood (and TV) is generally ignorant of even basic military history, strategy, and tactics.

[Jon-El]

To me, this was just a missed opportunity. We have special effects now where we can show pretty much anything. We have an actor in Hamill who's always embraced his part in Star Wars & was interested in returning to the series. I didn't expect this trilogy to focus solely on Luke but I would've liked to have seen him as the confident Jedi Master I assumed he'd become. An amazing opportunity to reunite some of the cast of a 40 year old franchise just kind of wasted. I just expected different I guess. They'll have the freedom to do whatever they want with the next trilogy. Pass the torch but no need to diminish one character to build up others. Just a weird choice to me. Again, I'm more invested in the films because of the original series rather than being a sci fi fan.

[Tazirai]

Yes, but two masses the size of starships impacting isn't enough to make gravity waves strong enough to destroy other ships unless there's some handwavium where the FTL drive causes more powerful gravity waves.

We currently have nothing related to FTL, or Hyper Drives. We can't open a Worm Hole, nor let alone travel through one. I work with NASA, and can tell you we don't have a clue what would happen if you entered and exited Hyperspace over the course of a short distance.

The one thing Robotech did well was determine that you need to be a sufficient distance away from other objects to enter FTL. The Reflex Engines warped a LARGE area of space, it was one of the reasons Macross island was taken when it jumped to FTL.

[Red Robe Jaldari]

And that was portrayed as a bad thing that plunged the galaxy into oppression.

Like i said 50 percent does not follow that narrative. Tragedies are also stories.

[brettc1]

We currently have nothing related to FTL, or Hyper Drives. We can't open a Worm Hole, nor let alone travel through one. I work with NASA, and can tell you we don't have a clue what would happen if you entered and exited Hyperspace over the course of a short distance.

The one thing Robotech did well was determine that you need to be a sufficient distance away from other objects to enter FTL. The Reflex Engines warped a LARGE area of space, it was one of the reasons Macross island was taken when it jumped to FTL.

Ah, Robotech! Such fond memories

Yes, Star Wars vehicles can do all sorts of things beyond our technology, but perhaps not beyond the scope of plausible physics. In order to pull a ship out of hyperspace, the gravity generator on an Interdictor would have to be creating some pretty substantial gravity waves, because there is no way to calculate the exact vector of a ship. Even assuming there are a limited number of courses ships can follow because of naturally occurring gravitational fields [stars, planets etc] space if vast. And of course Star Wars vessels have gravity generators to allow the crew to walk around normally.

So why hasn't anyone light rammed before?

Well basically on reviewing the math is sounds impressive but I'm not sure it would really work as well as we see in the TLJ.

37 quadrillion newtons sounds like a lot of energy, but its actually less than that released by a 50 megaton bomb. Such an explosion [which was tested by the USSR during the cold war and is the largest human made explosion ever] would flatten 100% of the city of Paris and much of the area beyond, but considering how much easier it would be to build such a nuclear weapon than a 40,000 space ship equipped with light speed drive you can see what light speed ramming of large ships becomes rather impractical.

Also, ships are not solid. On impact they are going to rip apart along their natural stress lines, the seams joining the plates together. Ramming an X-wing at near light speed into a Star Destroyer is probably going to just splash the ship and pilot all over the Destroyers shields.

[ChrisIII]

I'm wondering if the main character's failures might've had something to do with the legacy of Vader as well-The novel Bloodline has Leia's reputation in bad shape after her secret is revealed, but I wonder if something like that would've also affected Luke's academy/ Ben as well (The same novel also states that Ben doesn't know his grandfather's identity at that point). Especially if some other students left as TLJ implied. Being the son of a Sith Lord who basically destroyed the order last time would probably lead to a major loss of confidence in his teaching methods!

[Guapo Méndez]

Lucas had a lot of the basic ideas already thought out. Some of the bigger twists no, but once he formulated it, the thing stuck. Like Vader being burned after a fight with Obi Wan on a volcano was something that existed forever. Luke was always going to have a sister, not necessarily Leia, but that solved a potential love triangle.

And the prequels were mapped out pretty much from the start.

What shocks me is that Disney is winging it film to film.

Nope. Episode I was unedited, unfiltered Lucas and Episodes II and III were pretty much roughdrafts that were finished a week before filming started. Lucas was too in-love with his vision that he forgot to actually talk about the important parts of the story. He had to make corrections in Episode II and dump 80% of the characters and conflict for Episode III in order to focus on Vader.

Lucas's greatest trick was convincing us he had the entire universe mapped in his mind in 1975.

[Guapo Méndez]

I think that time will be on TLJ's side. It's not making TFA money because we were thirsty for a good Star Wars movie after the disappointing prequels. TLJ dared to go in a different direction from what we expected, showed feet of clay in every major character and dogma...
I am very eager to see it again and I'm definitely going to be there for Ep. IX.

[RikWriter]

I think that time will be on TLJ's side.

Disagree with that. I think it'll be seen as on a par with the prequels.

[Buried Alien]

To me, this was just a missed opportunity. We have special effects now where we can show pretty much anything. We have an actor in Hamill who's always embraced his part in Star Wars & was interested in returning to the series. I didn't expect this trilogy to focus solely on Luke but I would've liked to have seen him as the confident Jedi Master I assumed he'd become. An amazing opportunity to reunite some of the cast of a 40 year old franchise just kind of wasted. I just expected different I guess. They'll have the freedom to do whatever they want with the next trilogy. Pass the torch but no need to diminish one character to build up others. Just a weird choice to me. Again, I'm more invested in the films because of the original series rather than being a sci fi fan.

As a fan, I sure wanted to see a butt-kicking Jedi Master Luke Skywalker myself. That isn't the direction that Johnson went, which on some level is regrettable, but I do like how thematically, it is consistent with the lessons that Luke had been learning since that first day when he met Obi-Wan Kenobi. When I think back to the most valuable lessons Luke learned from his Jedi Masters ("There are alternatives to fighting," "Wars not make one great," "Unlearn what you have learned," etc.), I think the way he ultimately chose to confront Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was conceptually better than slicing Ren's arms and legs off, which given how the "duel" went, I think Luke could have accomplished if that had been how he chose to play it. The Jedi in him, however, chose to play it the way Obi-Wan and/or Yoda would have.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Buried Alien]

So why hasn't anyone light rammed before?

It's probably due to the cost of lives involved. It was one thing for Admiral Holdo to do that as the only living being on her ship, but I think it would have given her some pause if she had an entire crew aboard with her. It's not something one would want to do every day.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Buried Alien]

Random thought: Adam Driver is REALLY tall. I didn't realize how much he towered over Mark Hamill (and their other costars not pictured here).



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Tazirai]

I think that time will be on TLJ's side. It's not making TFA money because we were thirsty for a good Star Wars movie after the disappointing prequels. TLJ dared to go in a different direction from what we expected, showed feet of clay in every major character and dogma...
I am very eager to see it agsin and I'm definitely going to be there for Ep. IX.

I agree with ya.
Outside of some writing issues. Some legit concerns by some well-spoken folks.

The Anti-SJW SJW's, rightwingers, and such will be ignored over time. Those concerns are for the most part illegitimate. There's enough wrong in those films to critique.

[brettc1]

the same reason nobody in "the Walking Dead" ever bothers to use Phalanx or Tortoise formations with shields and pikes.

Hollywood (and TV) is generally ignorant of even basic military history, strategy, and tactics.

The obvious difference would be making functioning shields is a lost skill [how many people do you know who even know the proper materials required, let alone have the skill to make them] while there is no shortage of people in the Star Wars universe who can build missiles and hyper-engines.

Also - the shield defense wouldn't work against a horde. The walkers don't suffer morale, and would just keep piling up against the shield wall. Their bodies would get impaled on the spears unless you make a head shot and the weight would drag the weapon down. Sheer mass of bodies pushing against the shields would eventually see the line buckle.

[brettc1]

Lucas had a lot of the basic ideas already thought out. Some of the bigger twists no, but once he formulated it, the thing stuck. Like Vader being burned after a fight with Obi Wan on a volcano was something that existed forever. Luke was always going to have a sister, not necessarily Leia, but that solved a potential love triangle.

And the prequels were mapped out pretty much from the start.

What shocks me is that Disney is winging it film to film.

You'd think the prequels were mapped out looking at ROTJ and reading the novelization, but then whatever material Lucas had he largely jettisoned.

Obi-Wan says in ROTJ "I took it upon myself to train [Anakin] in the ways of the Jedi." But Ep1 shows Qui-Gon guilting him into training him with a lame attempt to make the line true in a brief scene with Yoda.

Leia says she remembers her mother, but she actually doesn't.

Obi-Wan says Yoda was his master, but he was Qui-Gon's apprentice.

Nor, in the prequels, did Obi-Wan ever seem to 'serve' Bail Organa during the Clone Wars.

It's all very messed up.