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Starwars Bloopers
*** rec.arts.sf.starwars ***
"Hey! Isn't that a blooper?"
Version 1.0 - 01/20/94
Introduction =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This is the rec.arts.sf.starwars "Hey! Isn't that a blooper?" list.
The purpose of this list is to catalogue items in the Star Wars
storyline that may appear to be bloopers, but that have reasonable
explanations. Many of these items are brought up on the net fairly
frequently; the hope is that by having a readily-accessible list of
this type to r.a.s.s readers, repetitive traffic on the net will be
reduced so that more meaningful conversations can be carried out.
The "Hey! Isn't that a blooper?" list is currently being maintained by
me - Gallandro. Many others have also contributed to the information
contained in this list. If you have any suggestions for corrections,
modifications or additions to the list, please e-mail them to me at
[email protected].
For the most part, these are listed in the order in which they appear
in the trilogy. Some of the entries involve inconsistencies between
two widely separated scenes, in which case the first relevant scene is
used for sorting purposes.
A number of books and other non-film material are used as references
in some of these explanations. Instead of including a bibliography
for this document, interested readers are referred to the FAQ for a
complete list of books and other related materials.
This document does not attempt to claim that there are no bloopers in
the trilogy--indeed, there are a fair number of them. They are
catalogued in a separate document known as the "Bad Guide to Star
Wars." The Bad Guide is maintained by Brandon Gillespie
([email protected]) and is available at the r.a.s.s Archive.
Table of Contents =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
0. Changes for this revision
1. C-3PO knows/doesn't know who Princess Leia is.
2. C-3PO claims not to be a good storyteller, but apparently he is.
3. No sand person is visible when Luke claims to see one.
4. Han uses the word "parsecs" incorrectly.
5. Stormtrooper armor is undamaged after blaster fire is heard.
6. Tauntauns can't survive the Hoth nights.
7. Spontaneously-exploding asteroids
8. Han's hands are tied but they end up in front of him.
9. Luke's lightsaber disappears and reappears in the Bespin duel.
10. The thing that looks like a galaxy can't be a galaxy.
Changes for this revision =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Obviously, this being the first edition of this list, everything here
is changed (or nothing, I guess, depending on your viewpoint). Those
of you who are familiar with the old FAQ for r.a.s.s will notice that
this one is formatted substantially differently. Let me know what you
think. I've tried to come up with something that is as easy to read
as the FAQ was, but that's easier for me to edit. I hope this is a
good compromise. If it works I will use it when I revise the FAQ
itself.
Also, as with any first edition, there are bound to be typos and
things that I've left out. As always, email to the address at the top
is welcome if you find something amiss.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Those aren't bloopers! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=--------------------------------- 1 ------------------------------------=
= =
= At the very opening of Star Wars, C-3PO utters "There'll be no =
= escape for the Princess this time." Later, when Luke asks who is =
= in the hologram R2-D2 plays, 3PO says "I'm not quite sure." =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
The obvious explanation is that he knew the Princess was
aboard the ship but had no idea what she looked like. This completely
explains both quotes without using any material outside the movie.
However, _Skywalking_ (page 183) gives us a different view:
-> Lucas had a mental dossier on C-3PO too: The robot is 112 years old
-> and Luke is his forty-third master (most of his previous employers
-> were diplomats like Princess Leia). His logic system is located in
-> his head, and his storage systems are in his heart and chest area. As
-> a protocol robot, C-3PO is programmed not to reveal classified
-> information, which explains his apparent ignorance of Princess Leia's
-> hologram message.
This idea is echoed in the Star Wars radio drama (episode 3), where
Captain Antilles specifically instructs C-3PO and R2-D2 to "restrict
and protect all references to Leia Organa's identity and presence
aboard this vessel."
=--------------------------------- 2 ------------------------------------=
= =
= Earlier in the garage scene mentioned above, C-3PO claims he's "not =
= very good at telling stories." In ROTJ, on Endor, however, he =
= certainly seems like quite a good storyteller, when he tells the story =
= of the Rebellion to the Ewoks. =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
The most logical answer is that this isn't really a discrepancy at
all. If you listen carefully to the story he tells the Ewoks, you can
pick out enough English words and sound effects to follow it, and
you'll discover that he sums up everything that happened between the
beginning of Star Wars until the end of TESB in less than thirty
seconds. By most standards this would hardly be considered good
storytelling. Sure, the Ewoks were fascinated, but then again most
people on earth probably would be too if a robot came down and began
telling stories of a galactic-scale conflict. Threepio was pretty
much forced into the role of storyteller by virtue of the fact that no
one else spoke the language, not because he had in skill in telling
stories.
Some people still believe that this is a blooper. Still others offer
alternative explanations: 1) 3PO downplayed his storytelling ability
to Luke because he didn't want to tell a bunch of stories. 2) 3PO was
not aware of his storytelling ability until he was actually required
to use it. 3) His storytelling ability improved between when he first
spoke with Luke and when he addressed the Ewoks.
=--------------------------------- 3 ------------------------------------=
= =
= Looking through the macrobinoculars, Luke comments "They're sand =
= people, all right. I can see one of them now." But no sand person is =
= visible at the time he says that. =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
You're apparently watching the Pan&Scan version of the film. This
means that the right and left sides of the picture were cut off in
order to make it fit onto the television screen. What you need is a
letterbox edition of the film. This means that the entire picture is
shown (black bands are put at the top and bottom of the screen to
preserve the aspect ratio of the picture). In letterbox format, the
sand person Luke refers to is visible.
=--------------------------------- 4 ------------------------------------=
= =
= In Star Wars, Han says that the Millennium Falcon "made the Kessel =
= Run in less than 12 parsecs," but parsecs are a unit of distance =
= (equal to about 3.26 light years). =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
The following letter and response appeared in issue #6 of the Marvel
Comic series:
-> ...someone made an astronomical error. On page 16, panel 5 [of issue
-> #2], Han Solo says his ship "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve
-> parsecs." I'll bet he can run the mile in less than 100 yards, too.
-> A parsec is a measure of distance, approximately 3.26 light years. (A
-> light year is about six trillion miles.) I expect my goofy, gilded
-> no-prize by earliest mail.
-> Michael Blue
-> Calgary, Alberta, Canada
->
-> We'd love to present you one, Mike, since you're right on target.
-> However, we asked George about it, and he says he wrote that line for
-> the movie on purpose, partly as an in-joke and partly to show that Han
-> Solo was something of a bull artist who didn't always know precisely
-> what he was talking about. So, we're afraid you'll have to take it up
-> with Mr. Lucas himself! --Roy [Roy Thomas, writer and editor
-> for the comic at the time]
I've seen this explanation elsewhere too, but for the life of me
I can't find the source.
Some choose not to believe this explanation, feeling instead that
Lucas screwed up and came up with that explanation later to cover
it up. While this doesn't sound like something he would be likely
to do, only Lucas himself knows for sure.
If you want an explanation that makes sense in context of the movie,
one is offered by the _Star Wars Technical Journal #1_, published by
Starlog magazine. Daywin Patel ([email protected]) provides a
summary:
-> The Kessel Run is a race against time and distance. The ships making
-> the run are loaded with specific cargos to be delivered to specific
-> ships, which are moving from free trade lanes into Imperial Space.
-> Speed is important because the smuggler ships must cover the distance
-> between the ships, deliver the cargo and go on to the next ship and
-> deliver its cargo. All cargos must be delivered before the recipient
-> ships cross over into Imperial Space.
-> Thus, when Han says "It the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than
-> 12 parsecs.", he means that he made all of the deliveries before the
-> recipient ships could travel a distance of 12 parsecs.
The forthcoming novel _Jedi Academy_, by Kevin Anderson, offers yet
another interpretation of this statement, but we won't know what it is
until the book comes out.
A couple of other ideas have been proposed on the net: (1) Due to the
oddities of hyperspace travel time and distance are interchangeable.
(2) Han was boasting that he had discovered a new physically shorter
route to make the Kessel Run.
Also note that the novelization uses "standard timeparts" instead of
"parsecs."
=--------------------------------- 5 ------------------------------------=
= =
= When the Falcon is aboard the Death Star, a scanning crew goes aboard, =
= then someone calls down to the two stormtrooper guards for help. The =
= troopers board the Falcon, and we hear blaster fire. Later we see Han =
= and Luke wearing the stolen stormtrooper uniforms, but they are =
= undamaged. =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
There are a couple of possibilities here. (1) Han or Luke may have
merely fired stun blasts at the troopers, which would leave the armor
undamaged. They didn't sound much like the one stun shot we've heard
in the trilogy, but different weapons may make different sounds.
Also, they also didn't really sound like regular blaster shots either
(though it sounded closer to those than the stun shot that took out
Leia), but that might simply have been acoustics. (2) The shots heard
may have been the troopers firing at (and missing) the Falcon's crew.
=--------------------------------- 6 ------------------------------------=
= =
= Luke's tauntaun froze to death in the Hoth night. Tauntauns would =
= have to be able to survive the night temperatures on Hoth, though, if =
= they were native to the planet. And it is unreasonable to think the =
= Rebels brought them there. =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
It's quite possible that the tauntauns were native to Hoth, but
normally found shelter or clustered together at night to survive the
cold. After all, even in our Arctic regions, you don't find polar
bears out in the open at night. It's also been suggested that perhaps
wild tauntauns lived in a different, warmer region of Hoth.
=--------------------------------- 7 ------------------------------------=
= =
= This "blooper" was pointed out by Robert Alan Danforth =
= ([email protected]): =
= =
= -> In the asteroid battle scene, there's a part where the camera =
= -> angle cuts to a wide shot of all the asteroids, and on one of the =
= -> asteroids there is something clearly exploding (it even makes a =
= -> sound), but nothing actually hits the asteroid. (There are two =
= -> tie's chasing the falcon at this point, but both are visible =
= -> during this part, and neither of them is the cause of the =
= -> explosion.) =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
The anti-blooperization is provided by Joe Stremick ([email protected]):
-> Watch carefully; a very tiny asteroid impacts on the larger asteroid
-> (inside a crater) and there is a small explosion (not much more than a
-> flare) and a barely audible "whumph." I do not know if this is
-> scientifically possible, but that's what happens on film. This scene
-> puzzled me for awhile before I saw the tiny asteroid.
=--------------------------------- 8 ------------------------------------=
= =
= When Han is lowered into the carbon freezing chamber, his hands are =
= tied together. Yet the frozen block of carbonite that comes out has =
= Han's hands up at about shoulder level, a couple of feet apart. =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
If you'll watch carefully, an Ugnaught comes and unties his hands
before he is lowered into the freezing chamber.
A related quasi-blooper is that he also has a strap around his
upper arms when he is frozen, which is NOT removed, but is missing when
Boushh thaws him out again in ROTJ. This is fairly simply explained
away, however, by assuming that either the strap is made of carbonite,
and thus melds with the carbonite in which Han is encased, or that it
is shattered by the freezing process itself. The strap is not visible
in the relief of Han's frontside that emerges, and either of these
explanations explains this as well.
=--------------------------------- 9 ------------------------------------=
= =
= During the lightsaber duel in TESB, Luke's lightsaber isn't in either =
= of his hands as he falls through the window that the Dark Lord breaks. =
= He certainly wouldn't have had time to clip it to his belt. Yet he =
= has it ready when next confronted by Vader. =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
This "blooper" is also a product of the cropping that occurs in
Pan&Scan. (See what you're missing by not getting a letterboxed
version?) If you watch the letterboxed version of the trilogy, you
can see the deactivated saber near the edge of the screen, lying on
the catwalk as Luke is struggling to climb back up. You can decide
whether it was guided there by luck or by the Force.
=--------------------------------- 10 -----------------------------------=
= =
= At the end of TESB, Luke looks out of a window in the Rebels' medical =
= center, and he sees what appears to be a galaxy. This could not be =
= the galaxy in which Star Wars takes place, because they could not =
= have reasonably traveled that distance outside of it, yet it is too =
= close to be a neighboring galaxy. =
=------------------------------------------------------------------------=
Astronomy major Eric Hartwell ([email protected])
theorizes:
-> Might be a sister galaxy such as Andromeda's companion galaxy.
-> Also, galaxies have been known to collide. I tend to believe my first
-> sentence. The Star Wars galaxy might be a companion galaxy.
Perhaps the most aesthetically satisfying explanation is given by Ernie
Oporto ([email protected]), who says:
-> It looks like a new star to me. The end of the movie seemed to be a
-> new beginning, a new hope if you will, for our heroes. The alliance
-> must renew its battle against the Empire, instead of running away
-> from them. C-3PO and R2-D2 are shiny, Luke has his new hand. So why
-> not look at the serene image of a newborn star? I doubt that is a
-> galaxy. It certainly could be, but I like the idea of something new,
-> as in a new star, to go along with the ending of the movie.
The actual script for TESB, however, is not so accommodating. It says:
-> Together they stand at the large window of the medical center looking
-> out on the Rebel Star Cruiser and a dense, luminous galaxy swirling in
-> space.
One could easily argue, then, that since the intent was for it to be a
galaxy, that this is indeed a blooper. However, it is not completely
out of the question that it could be their own galaxy. Recall,
earlier in the movie, when the Falcon latched onto the side of the
_Avenger_. Captain Needa was told "The ship no longer appears on our
scopes." Later, Admiral Piett makes the comment "If the Millennium
Falcon went into light-speed, it'll be on the other side of the galaxy
by now." If we take this comment literally, it implies that ships can
travel the length of the galaxy in a matter of hours. It would
therefore be possible that they were looking at their own galaxy.
They could have travelled that distance outside of it in a matter of
days.
The novelization sidesteps the issue altogether in its closing
sentence:
-> Slowly he put his arm around Leia and together with Threepio and
-> Artoo, they faced the heavens bravely, each of them gazing at the same
-> crimson star.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- End of File -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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