What are your favorite (and least favorite) Star Wars sequences or scenes?

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[RSIxidor]

Some of my favorite things actually exist outside of the movies, strangely enough. Obi-Wan vs Maul sequence in Star Wars Rebels "Twin Suns" is incredibly good. Also Rebels, "Jedi Night," incredibly good. Vader's flight sequence in "Siege of Lothal" as well. Everything to do with Onderon and Mandalore in both TCW and Rebels.

From the films, I still love the Battle of the Fates fight from TPM and the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight from ROTS. End of Rogue one. The beginning sequence of A New Hope. Death Star trench run (both of them, really, but more the first one).

I'm not as good at hating stuff in Star Wars as I am at liking stuff.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Sacrosanct]

Many of the obvious ones have been mentioned. But I wanted to say possibly the biggest sequence that bugged me the most was Luke’s training on dagobah. Why? Because it was only an afternoon. If that. The time sequence is all off. Look at how far apart dagobah is from Hoth, and how far cloud city is from Hoth. How much time passed between Han leaving Hoth and Luke coming to rescue them? It’s all off. It means, even being generous, Luke spent no time being actually trained by Yoda.

 

[Zaukrie]

I do agree.....the planets are a bit too close together in the movies....

edit: understated for effect.....

 

[Zardnaar]

I have to say the end of Rogue One is what the Sith should be in all the movies......it was a near perfect scene of rage, power, and fear.....

It was kewl top ten along with obi wan and maul duel.

 

[Zardnaar]

Many of the obvious ones have been mentioned. But I wanted to say possibly the biggest sequence that bugged me the most was Luke’s training on dagobah. Why? Because it was only an afternoon. If that. The time sequence is all off. Look at how far apart dagobah is from Hoth, and how far cloud city is from Hoth. How much time passed between Han leaving Hoth and Luke coming to rescue them? It’s all off. It means, even being generous, Luke spent no time being actually trained by Yoda.

They handwave travel times and it's assumed Luke probably spent longer on Both than shown onscreen.

Star Wars also has very quick ftl relative to most other franchises. Hoth and Bespin are fairly close as well. Falcon is very quick as well.

Idk if they have covered travel times in the new canon in the old ones you can get from Alderaan to Tatooinevin 8 hours, falcon can do it in 4 something slow like an ISD is 16 hours.

In the movies they handwave even that away.

Either way the falcon can get from one side of the Galaxy to the other in less than a day on the right hyperspace route.

 

[Morrus]

Five Worst Star Wars Sequences and Scenes

1) Reintroduction of Han Solo in TFA: After a very promising initial sequence marred only by some questionable Cobra Commander style dysfunctionality by the antagonists, the real turning point of 'The Force Awakens' is the reintroduction of Solo beginning with - "Chewie, we're home." and ending with his reunion with Leia. While the sequence itself is OK aside from a couple of digressions, the problem with the sequence is it's implication that Han Solo has since the time we last saw him at the end of RotJ has become a failure, returning to his old dysfunctional selfish criminal behavior and having abandoned all his loves, duties, and responsibilities. This becomes the first of a series of slanders against the characters of the protagonists that of the original trilogy that collectively disestablishes all of their characters and renders the original trilogy meaningless, since now none of the characters has actually had a meaningful character arc or accomplished any of the things that they set out to do. In effect, it resets the story to the place it was at the beginning of 'A New Hope'. It's bad enough when a sequel doesn't live up to the original work, but it's unforgivable when a sequel actually destroys the classic work it is based on.

2) Reintroduction of Leia Organa in TFA: Similar to the reintroduction of Han, the reintroduction of Leia destroys the character who was so beloved in the original trilogy. While the scene itself is marked mainly by how little Leia is given to do in it or the film she appears in, the implications of the scene are appalling both in their blatant sexism and their disrespect to the original source material. The entire context of 'TFA' is a search for the "Galaxy's greatest warrior", Luke Skywalker. But at no point does anyone, villain or hero stop and say, "Wait a minute. What about the girl? Isn't Leia a Skywalker too? Isn't she just as powerful of a force user as Luke? Does Luke himself tell the audience that Leia is his equal and tell her prophetically that she will be? So how it is that Leia doesn't have a light saber at this point? How is it that she isn't perceived as the Galaxy's greatest warrior? I mean, it would make a bit of sense if Luke had run off and abandoned his responsibilities for some reason. But Leia was always stronger than that. So why is Leia just a general in some ragtag army now? Again, this reboots the series back to the place it was at the beginning of a 'A New Hope', and simultaneously slanders her character for no obvious reason other than the character's gender.

It was at this point that watching TFA I became fuming angry with the direction of the series. A lot of people are citing the scene in TLJ where Leia uses force powers to fly through space, but the problem with that scene is rooted in the problems introduced in TFA. Yes, the scene is staged very badly and I could easily describe how to stage this scene in a way that it wouldn't have looked like Mary Poppins, but the main problem with the scene is how unearned it is. If we'd been introduced to Leia the Jedi Master in TFA, even the badly staged version of this scene we got would have not been so jarring. For example, had Leia and not Rey defeated Kylo Ren in TFA, then Leia's prowess as a force user would be both explained prior to this scene AND we wouldn't have the problem of Rey as unearned Mary Sue who as an untrained force user defeats a trained one. Plus, the confrontation between mother and son would have been much more dramatic than the scene we did get.

3) Reintroduction of Luke Skywalker in TLJ: I don't think this one requires much in the way of explanation, as the initial sequence is cringy in a lot of ways and already much derided. But the real problem with this scene is the same as the other ones - this is not the character we left when we finished RotJ and this character is a betrayal of everything he believed at the end of that movie. It resets the story back to the beginning having undermined the classic trilogy. All the problems in TLJ - it's slander of the characters, the lack of logic in the story line, the lack of story focus, the highly telegraphed 'twists', the hoop jumping to obtain unearned plot points - are apparent from the viewing of TFA. There are some that are like TLJ was departure from the good movie that TFA was, and I'm like, "Did you pay attention to TFA?"

4) Introduction of Jar Jar Binks in TPM: Again, I don't think this one requires much in the way of explanation, as the character is one of the most hated in the history of cinema, and the introduction sequence from the collision and "mesa so sorry" all the way to Jar Jar at the dinner table (every scene he is given something to do) is just incredibly cringy and inadvertently low key racist in an old school, "look how funny they talk sort of way". The big problem with the character compared to comparable characters like R2D2, C3P0 or Chewbacca which are frequently comic relief sidekicks, is that unlike those three characters we are never given any indication that Jar Jar is in any fashion useful and not just a bumbling idiot. R2D2, C3P0, and Chewbacca are highly competent characters who contribute to the party success. They have a lot of ranks in something that other members of the party lack. Notably, in addition to his "six million forms of communication" C3P0 has higher ranks in Bluff and Diplomacy than any other party member. R2D2 repeatedly saves the day through clearheaded competent action. Jar Jar is just embarrassing, stays embarrassing, and is so critical to the success of evil that some have proposed he'd make a better twist villain than sidekick. It tells you a lot about a character if people think revealing that they were actually a diabolical mastermind only faking incompetency would improve them.

There are so many other possible choices here that I think I should list some runners up:

Surviving resistance celebrates at the end of TLJ despite having experienced 99% causalities. Normal people would have PTSD at this point, and anyone that isn't a sociopath should be in a state of grief driven shock.

Qui-Gun Jinns negotiations for the star ship part, TPM. What?

Flirtation "falling in love sequence" between Anakin and Padme, AotC. Just so badly written even good actors can do nothing with it.

"I sense much fear in him", Yoda's speech at the end of TPM. What? This kid has never showed the slightest fear of anything the entire movie. Anger issues, sure. But kid's afraid of nothing.

The entire Casino sequence in TLJ.

"Nooooooo."

Yet Another Death Star reveal in TFA. Also the cringe inducing forking planet destroying beam.

The opening sequence of TLJ where they go full blown Cobra Commander with General Hux. Also the ludicrously stupid "Bomber" sequence of that same battle.

The conversation between Leia and Holdo in which they treat an insubordinate commander as if he was just a spoiled willful child. One of many cases in the script where didactic attempts to portray feminine strength results only in far worse sexism on screen than existed in the original movies. Also, Holdo's unexplained refusal to reveal the plan to anyone. Also, the sheer stupidity of that plan she was concealing. Again, all of this has to do with changes to the original script intended to convey one thing, that actually did the opposite of its stated intention.

The jump to hyperspace ramming attack which single handedly undermines all of the conceits of the series fiction in a moment. Again, the worst thing a sequel can do is not be bad. The worst thing a sequel can do is make what was once good bad. (See also 'Ender's Shadow' or Tolkien's attempts to rewrite his cosmology late in life or the Dune sequels, or even Lucas's own tampering with his classics in 'special edition' rereleases).

The extended version of the Max Rebo musical sequence in RotJ special edition.

And I could go on and on, but for #5...

#5: Rose prevents Finn from sacrificing his life to save his friends: Out of context with no other considerations involved, this is the dumbiest sequence in all of Star Wars films and could just about rival the Star Wars Christmas special for cringe inducement. Not only is there again the underlying sexism involved, in as much as Rose seems perfectly willing to let her other fellow soldiers get themselves killed, but not this boy, the entire sequence makes absolutely no sense in terms of Rose's logic, Rose's supposed character, or Finn's character, or the situation at hand. One of the single dumbest scenes in all of cinema, and so bad that it just demands parody but is perhaps so stupid it is beyond parody.

And your best scenes?

 

[Morrus]

They handwave travel times and it's assumed Luke probably spent longer on Both than shown onscreen.

Star Wars also has very quick ftl relative to most other franchises. Both and Bespin are fairly close as well. Falcon is very quick as well.

Idk if they have covered travel times in the new canon in the old ones you can get from Alderaan to Tatooinevin 8 hours, falcon can do it in 4 something slow like an ISD is 16 hours.

In the movies they handwave even that away.

Either way the falcon can get from one side of the Galaxy to the other in less than a day on the right hyperspace route.

Yeah. Star Wars speeds are orders of magnitude faster than Star Trek speeds. Star Wars let’s you cross a galaxy in a day; Trek takes 7 years (or whatever Voyager took).

 

[Zardnaar]

Yeah. Star Wars speeds are orders of magnitude faster than Star Trek speeds. Star Wars let’s you cross a galaxy in a day; Trek takes 7 years (or whatever Voyager took).

Yep. In the old canon sometimes speeds can be slow like a few weeks or a month but it's in area of space with anamolies, nebula or unexplored space and the nav computer doesn't have any data to work with.

The falcons also the equivalent of one of those trucks they've dropped 1500-2000 horsepower in it and it can drag off Italian supercars. It can keep up with X-Wings.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Some of my favorite things actually exist outside of the movies, strangely enough. Obi-Wan vs Maul sequence in Star Wars Rebels "Twin Suns" is incredibly good. Also Rebels, "Jedi Night," incredibly good. Vader's flight sequence in "Siege of Lothal" as well. Everything to do with Onderon and Mandalore in both TCW and Rebels.

TCW and Rebels really did redeem the prequel era in my eyes.

 

[Zardnaar]

TCW and Rebels really did redeem the prequel era in my eyes.

Yeah they were both better than the movies.

 

[Celebrim]

And your best scenes?

Good question. I've been asking myself the same thing for a while.

I have some candidates but I'm not even sure what criteria I should be using just to get down to five.

In no particular order:

"Lock X-Foils in attack position...This is Red 5 I'm going in..." - The battle over the Death Star Trench, A New Hope. One of the most iconic scenes in cinema, and it's really hard to overstate just how big of an impact this scene and the opening Star Destroyer sequence in Star Wars had on film.

"I know a few maneuvers..." - The Millennium Falcon escape sequence, Empire Strikes Back. In particular, the shot where the Millennium Falcon turns and falls into the frame of the screen followed by the pursuing tie fighters sets a very high bar on space combat sequences that has really never been surpassed. We've had this sequence replayed on screen at least 3 times in the films since then trying to recapture the magic.

"Luke, Obi Wan never told you..." - The Temptation of the Hero, Empire Strikes Back. The Gold Standard in movie twists, and probably the most famous mind blowing twist in movie history.

"Battle of Hoth" - Empire Strikes Back. The heroes lose to a terrifying unstoppable enemy. John Williams score is at its most powerful in the first half of Empire, and the refrains as the Rebellion quits the field are so evocative of defeat and grief.

"I am a Jedi, like my father before me...", Return of the Jedi. "Return" gets a lot of criticism from the fans for having at moments a much less dark tone than the prior film, but the entire third act of this third act film is a masterpiece of movie making with the interwoven battles occurring simultaneously in the Throne Room, the Forest of Endor, and in the space around the Death Star are just spectacular in every way a movie can be spectacular. Everything brings everything together in a natural satisfying conclusion that suggests the promise of better things to come. It's the perfect ending to a perfectly told fairy tale.

"Rogue One, There is no Rogue One", Battle of Scariff, Rogue One - If any battle has ever been staged with the clarity of the battle of Endor, it's the masterful battle of Scariff that is the third act of 'Rogue One'. While the middle third of the movie has its moments of fridge logic and hoop jumping, the way it wraps up is just pure genius.

Darth Vader Arrives, Rogue One - A lot of people have already voted for this scene, and while I don't think it will make my top five, it's is well done and so well sets up 'A New Hope' in a way that you never really knew was needed until it did it.

 

[Zardnaar]

Battle Of Scariff is very good.

When I first saw it I thought damn it's almost better than the OT.

I thought RotS had a decent space battle at the start. Scariff beat it.

 

[Tonguez]

Obviously theBattle of Endor

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[Sacrosanct]

They handwave travel times and it's assumed Luke probably spent longer on Both than shown onscreen.

Star Wars also has very quick ftl relative to most other franchises. Hoth and Bespin are fairly close as well. Falcon is very quick as well.

Idk if they have covered travel times in the new canon in the old ones you can get from Alderaan to Tatooinevin 8 hours, falcon can do it in 4 something slow like an ISD is 16 hours.

In the movies they handwave even that away.

Either way the falcon can get from one side of the Galaxy to the other in less than a day on the right hyperspace route.

even if you completely discount travel times, Luke could only have been with yoda for an afternoon. Han and co were not in cloud city more than a day or so. Longer and they would have noticed C3PO was missing since he was dismantled right off the bat (also revealing Vader and storm troopers were there before Han). And Luke arrived just as the falcon was leaving. So even if an x wing can travel instantly, all the events from the escape of Hoth to Luke facing Vader in cloud city were within a day or two at most.

anyway, it’s just one of those things that always bugged me more than others.

funny enough, the battle of Hoth is one of my favorite sequences ever.

 

[Imaculata]

Favorites:

My favorite scene is in The Empire Strikes Back, the first time we see the Executer. That iconic music while we see a shadow slowly pass over a normal Star Destroyer. It is one of those moments where the movie is able to say so much with just music and visuals.

I also really love the Death Star attack in Return of the Jedi.

Least favorites:

My least favorite scene is Palpatine's "Unliiiimitteeeed Powaaah" scene. It was the moment where I remember me and my gf looking at each other in disbelief regarding what was happening on the screen.

I also strongly dislike the ending of Rogue One, with CGI Leia and fan service Vader. The movie should have ended before that whole scene. Give me passive menacing Vader over fan service Vader. Also, that lava castle was stupid.

 

[Mercurius]

^Lots of bad Palpatine scenes in RotS. I have kind of blocked it out, but doesn't he say "yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!"

I also agree whole-heartedly about preferring Vader: The Passive Menace over Vader: Conspicuously Evil for Generations Raised on Films Relying on Special Effects over Nuance.

 

[ccs]

even if you completely discount travel times, Luke could only have been with yoda for an afternoon. Han and co were not in cloud city more than a day or so. Longer and they would have noticed C3PO was missing since he was dismantled right off the bat (also revealing Vader and storm troopers were there before Han). And Luke arrived just as the falcon was leaving. So even if an x wing can travel instantly, all the events from the escape of Hoth to Luke facing Vader in cloud city were within a day or two at most.

anyway, it’s just one of those things that always bugged me more than others.

It's never occurred to you that Luke was on Dagobah for however long it took the Falcon to get from the asteroid belt to Bespin at sub-light speeds (Remember, they didn't have a working hyperdrive.) has it?

I mean, I was 10 at the time & I figured out that there should've been a caption that read: "And time passed...." That I wasn't seeing these two events play out in real time, but rather snippets.