Characters' Mistakes - "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK".

[CorporalCaptain]

With Fett. A tracking device....or keying into the one the Empire left on it on the Death Star. If Solo managed to do anything besides head for Bespin, Fett would know about it pretty quickly.

Given that Lando said that "they" arrived shortly before Han did, I would guess Fett tracked Solo to the edge of the Bespin system, than he and Vader jumped to the planet and "negotiated" with Calrissian.

Fett could radio the Empire about what planet they're approaching and still follow the Falcon in. Lando said that "they" arrived not "they all" arrived right before Han and company, which could just mean "the Empire" arrived first; "the Empire" would make sense grammatically as the antecedent for "they" since Lando was just talking about the deal he'd just made that (he believed) would keep "the Empire" out forever. 3PO only saw stormtroopers before he was shot.

By this point, the tracker on the Falcon is gone, or else Vader wouldn't have needed all those probe droids.

 

[The Wormhole]

By this point, the tracker on the Falcon is gone, or else Vader wouldn't have needed all those probe droids.

Plus it would have made his conversation with Admiral Ozzel about going to Hoth short.
"The Rebels are there."
"My lord, there are so many unchartered settlements. It could be smugglers."
"The probe droid is detecting the Millennium Falcon's tracking signal. Stop being an idiot before I Force Choke you."
"Yes, my lord. Set course for the Hoth system, Captain Piett."

 

[LJones41]

This thread feels clearly motivated by hate for the prequels, but, for what it’s worth, most people don’t hate the prequels because of tiny plot inconsistencies.

What does this thread have to do with the prequels?

They only need quotes or italics.

I don't care. If I want to highlight the movie titles in bold, I'll do it.

1. How is that a character mistake? How do you know that Slave I wasn't jamming the Millennium Falcon's sensors? The fact that they didn't notice they were being followed is evidence that Fett was doing something to avoid being detected.

Yes, it's possible.

But it's also possible that convinced that they had evaded the Empire, Han and Chewie had failed to realize that the Falcon was being followed by Fett. And how does one excuse that neither Han, Chewie or Leia ever wondered how the Empire had arrived on Bespin before them? Is it really difficult to consider that they may have messed up?

Huh?!? Until they saw Vader, they thought they had escaped the Empire. When they saw Vader, Boba Fett walked out, and it was easy enough to determine that Boba Fett had tracked them. We don't know exactly when Vader arrived. We only know that stormtroopers got there first.

Which means that the Empire (whether Vader was with those stormtroopers or not) had arrived on Bespin first.

I'm not accusing the movie of bad writing. Frankly, I see this as a perfect example of how the main characters made some serious mistakes in this film.

Han chose to sacrifice his relations with Jabba for what he thought was a better cause: the Rebellion and the sake of his new friends. If he had gone to pay Jabba, he might never return, and in that case he would be turning his back on his friends. Luke laid that out to Han in the original film. Han could have gone to pay Jabba, while Vader shot Luke out of the sky over Yavin. The danger remains even after the Death Star is destroyed. Han stayed for the sake of his friends, not his own. What's happening in the opening act of TESB is a continuation of what happened in the last act of the original film.

There was a genuine reason why Han had failed to pay Jabba. But thanks to Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm, it is no longer considered canon.

 

[Ithekro]

They didn't have to wonder for more that a new seconds once Fett stepped in. Boba Fett is well known enough of a bounty hunter that as soon as he appeared, they would know that had been tracked. But also Boba Fett is one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, thus having Han not notice himself being tracked by Fett (whom he didn't know was in the area), when he's been more worried about evading the Empire (who had just jumped to light speed), isn't unreasonable.

 

[fireproof78]

I don't care. If I want to highlight the movie titles in bold, I'll do it.

That's fine and well and good. Just don't be surprised when individuals question it is all.

But it's also possible that convinced that they had evaded the Empire, Han and Chewie had failed to realize that the Falcon was being followed by Fett. And how does one excuse that neither Han, Chewie or Leia ever wondered how the Empire had arrived on Bespin before them? Is it really difficult to consider that they may have messed up?

Fett tracked them. The heroes only mistake (I suppose) is not assuming the hunters would be out for them.

 

[JD]

There's a big difference between a creative choice you don't like and a mistake, and all of the "mistakes" in the first post are the former.

 

[The Wormhole]

And how does one excuse that neither Han, Chewie or Leia ever wondered how the Empire had arrived on Bespin before them?

They had a lot on their minds.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

There was a genuine reason why Han had failed to pay Jabba. But thanks to Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm, it is no longer considered canon.

Not sure what you're referring to, but if, as it sounds, it's a part of the old EU canon, now de-canonized, it wasn't needed. The reasons implied by the films are genuine enough.

The heroes only mistake (I suppose) is not assuming the hunters would be out for them.

Ding ding ding ding. Han should have thought a little harder about what Ord Mantell meant, instead of just using it as something to throw in Leia's face.

 

[LJones41]

Not sure what you're referring to, but if, as it sounds, it's a part of the old EU canon, now de-canonized, it wasn't needed. The reasons implied by the films are genuine enough.

Which is what?

The heroes only mistake (I suppose) is not assuming the hunters would be out for them.

That was their only mistake in the movie? That's it?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Which is what?

Posted upthread.

That was their only mistake in the movie? That's it?

Context: the poster was talking about in relation to being tracked by Fett. He can correct me, if he meant something else.

 

[fireproof78]

That was their only mistake in the movie? That's it?

Nope, not what I meant at all. Only regarding being tracked by a bounty hunter, which @CorporalCaptain stated.


But, please continue to generalize...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Here's something that's been bothering me about TESB:

Why does Luke only slice off the Wampa's arm and then go back out into the blizzard? Why didn't he just KILL the Wampa and remain in the cave? He'd have all the shelter he needed in there.

(and a minor thing: I've heard it suggested that there are two Wampas in the film, the one who initially attacks Luke and kills the tauntaun, and the one in the cave. I always thought they were the same one. Or am I wrong on this?)

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Here's something that's been bothering me about TESB:

Why does Luke only slice off the Wampa's arm and then go back out into the blizzard? Why didn't he just KILL the Wampa and remain in the cave? He'd have all the shelter he needed in there.

(and a minor thing: I've heard it suggested that there are two Wampas in the film, the one who initially attacks Luke and kills the tauntaun, and the one in the cave. I always thought they were the same one. Or am I wrong on this?)

It's the same wampa.

There were dropped scenes involving a wampa attack on the Rebel base and a room full of wampas that C-3PO fools snowtroopers into entering by ripping off the door label (3PO ripping off the door label was in one of the trailers). Leia speaks of the creatures in the plural when the probe droid is detected, and while that line is fine as is, I also think it's a residual trace of the earlier scenes with multiple wampas.

More here: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Wampa

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I suppose Luke could have been afraid that there might be more wampas in the cave, and that if he fell asleep, one of them would kill him. That's about the only reason I can think of, why he'd blunder out into a damn blizzard when the cave would surely be better shelter.

(And since the rebels have obviously been on Hoth for some time, Luke would have some experience by now on how to deal with extreme cold, it's not like he's some farmboy who doesn't know anything about it)

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Maybe Luke didn't feel it, to kill the innocent creature just trying to survive. Maybe Luke felt that his path was outside. We do know that Obi-Wan was watching him, because where Luke collapses is where Ben calls to him through the Force to deliver important information about what he should do next. Moreover, in the cave Luke had just had an important moment with the Force, by displaying outright telekinesis to retrieve his lightsaber. The moment you're questioning is bookended by important Force events, so maybe the Force was guiding Luke not to kill the creature but only to use enough violence to defend himself.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ That makes sense, that the Force was behind it.

Still, though, I'm sure the cave would have been a lot more comfortable than an overnight stay at the Hotel Tauntaun...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

an overnight stay at the Hotel Tauntaun...

 

[Qonundrum]

Why is it that the majority of “STAR WARS” fans rarely discuss the stupid mistakes made by Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo and Chewbacca in “The Empire Strikes Back”?

Because they refuse to believe nothing is 100% perfect, even their precious movies they now say are 100% perfect.

Or because the series has gotten retconned from day one,though at least pasting "episode IV" onto "Star Wars" during its 1980 rerun was the first case of needless revisionism, though it's one of the very few times people won't complain about doing revisions years later because this is the one of the few times something genuinely big came from it.

Or because all the low hanging fruit in TESB has been overpicked. The most obvious one is the kissing cousins bit. Yet that was never removed from any of the special editions. Didn't stop them, even in 1981, from writing into Return of the Jedi that she always knew she was his sister... the prequels and sequels haven't been perfect, but anyone who says the OT was the holy grail is making a holy fail. If the OT was revised or remade today, what would they do differently? And this goes back to two other examples, the first being to take the original "Romeo and Juliet" and turn Romeo into an axe murderer and Juliet into a bank robber instead of innocent hornball teenagers. Even finding out Juliet was 8 months pregnant and someone rescued the babies is enough to bridge a sequel... Or taking the Mona Lisa and penciling in some eyebrows, mustache, and replacing that hideous mountainous backdrop with an artist's conception of a Martian colony because it just seems better that way and everyone will still like it because it's the same. Why not paint something new in a later sequel instead? "Mona Lisa Visits the Oboe Factory". I'd view the composition, palette hues, brush strokes, sly and quirky facial expression, etc...

They're just kid movies that also appeal to adults, because the adults have to sit there bored for 2 hours to helicopter the kids.

 

[Set Harth]

pasting "episode IV" onto "Star Wars" during its 1980 rerun

1981, actually.