Spoilers The Controversial Star Wars Opinion Thread

[fireproof78]

So getting killed in an unimportant personal mission that can be done later (the guy's frozen; he's not going anywhere) is a better use of their time than helping to organize and practice for the Death Star II assault?

No, no it's not. The rescue mission is a weird detour.

But, that's what side quests are for.

 

[Set Harth]

Oh, and about dark in Star Wars, I imagine anyone would say just because the Rebels had a victory at the end, it did not ease very dark/sad moments such as Luke discovering the charred remains of his aunt and uncle, the destruction of Alderaan (not to mention Leia being forced to watch it), and Obi-Wan's sacrifice, which, from Luke's perspective was crushing, as he already lost his aunt and uncle, now he had to watch his mentor cut down by Vader. SW '77 was not some happy romp across the board.

And even the Rebel victory celebration is based on a Nazi propaganda film.

Not that I understood that at the age of five, mind you.

 

[cooleddie74]

You're not wrong. When come in the hangar doors to walk down the aisle and get their medals it is very....Riefenstahlish.

 

[The Wormhole]

So getting killed in an unimportant personal mission that can be done later (the guy's frozen; he's not going anywhere) is a better use of their time than helping to organize and practice for the Death Star II assault?

Writer: I mean, he is a main character in this series and Harrison Ford is already under contract.
Producer: Oh yeah, that's a good point.

 

[Xerxes82]

So getting killed in an unimportant personal mission that can be done later (the guy's frozen; he's not going anywhere) is a better use of their time than helping to organize and practice for the Death Star II assault?

Maybe they just want the band back together for the big fight.

This one is ridiculously easy to justify, if a writer really wanted to. Luke simply has to to have an instinct in the Force that they need Han for what's coming. And once that's decided, who else is going to get Han than the people to whom he matters most? Good luck trying to keep Luke, Leia and Chewie away from that one once it's a thing.

Boom, sidequest resolved.

 

[Set Harth]

Imagine even thinking it needed to be justified.

 

[fireproof78]

So getting killed in an unimportant personal mission that can be done later (the guy's frozen; he's not going anywhere) is a better use of their time than helping to organize and practice for the Death Star II assault?

No, it's not

It's a side quest. We know the Rebels are in preparation mode but how much they could do is unknown.

I don't like the rescue mission but I'm sure people can find some measure of justification.

 

[Gaith]

We're off on a tangent here, but basically, Lucas had three good options:

1) keep Han frozen, and make Luke, Leia and Lando the new trio, and maybe end the movie on the promise they'll recover him next,
2) do the Han rescue, but start it in medias res and get it done in 5-10 action-packed minutes, much like a James Bond opening sequence, or
3) contrive some reason why they need to infiltrate Jabba's Palace anyway. Random brainstorm example: maybe there's some space pirate willing to join the Rebel attack on the Death Star, but the pirate chief's daughter was just captured by Jabba, and he won't devote his forces until she's rescued. So, if our heroes have to raid the Palace for the greater good, they can get Han back while they're at it. This could also perhaps lead to some fun and games where the pirate's daughter gets the hots for Han, and now Leia's on the tough side of a romantic triangle. May Han likes this new woman's devil-may-care spirit, but finds she's only against the Empire for revenge for their part in her capture, and ultimately only interested in herself. She would have been perfect for the Old Han, but the New Han believes in being a part of something greater, and therefore chooses Leia. Like I said, random brainstorm example.

In any case, spending 25% of the movie* on Han's rescue, without any other plot benefit, was not a great move.


* I just checked. The whole action on Tatooine takes up pretty much exactly 25% of the movie, not counting the end credits.

 

[Xerxes82]

In any case, spending 25% of the movie* on Han's rescue, without any other plot benefit, was not a great move.

Disagree. It gives us a nice little action, adventure piece where we get to see Jedi Luke in action AND get Han back, resolving the ESB cliffhanger. It reiterates the emotional connections between the characters on the fly, all of which will be dreadfully important come the climax. And it conveniently leaves the Empire out of things, so we can see that Luke and Co don't just fight stormtroopers all day.

I've always found the sequence quite effective, overall.

 

[Gaith]

It reiterates the emotional connections between the characters on the fly, all of which will be dreadfully important come the climax.

LOL, wut? Neither Leia nor Han do anything important, plot-wise, after Tatooine, nor do they really do anything dramatically interesting, apart from Leia giving Luke some emotional support, which she could have done equally well were Han still frozen. They serve as generic grunts, then smooch at the end.

 

[Set Harth]

LOL, wut? Neither Leia nor Han do anything important, plot-wise, after Tatooine

 

[fireproof78]

In any case, spending 25% of the movie* on Han's rescue, without any other plot benefit, was not a great move.

It feels like a completely different movie.

LOL, wut? Neither Leia nor Han do anything important, plot-wise, after Tatooine, nor do they really do anything dramatically interesting, apart from Leia giving Luke some emotional support, which she could have done equally well were Han still frozen. They serve as generic grunts, then smooch at the end.

You think the Endor bunker battle would be as dramatically effective with other Rebels? Because, the repeat of " I love you." "I know." works quite well from a drama standpoint.

 

[JD]

So getting killed in an unimportant personal mission that can be done later (the guy's frozen; he's not going anywhere) is a better use of their time than helping to organize and practice for the Death Star II assault?

I never really thought about, but nobody seemed bothered by them going off to rescue Han. They didn't seem overly rushed, and nobody was mad they left when they rejoined the fleet. I had just assumed they had plenty of time while the rest of the fleet was starting to gather.
As for why they went then, I had just assumed they were anxious to get Han back because he was their friend and an important Rebel leader and they were anxious to get him back. And that maybe something had happened with Jabba that meant that was the first chance that they'd gotten to infiltrate his gang and get to Han.

 

[Gaith]

I never really thought about, but nobody seemed bothered by them going off to rescue Han. They didn't seem overly rushed, and nobody was mad they left when they rejoined the fleet.

This is meaningless speculation, because we don't see any strategy meetings whatsoever in RotJ. (No, Mon Mothma's presentation/briefing is not a strategy meeting; it's a presentation of a strategy already formulated.)

they were anxious to get Han back because he was their friend and an important Rebel leader

LOL, wut? Days before he got frozen, Han was about to leave the Rebels to pay off Jabba again. The only Rebel he was leading was Chewie. And he's not much of a leader on Endor, either; he's basically just a grunt.

 

[Ithekro]

Sounds like the Heroes of Yavin had a window of opportunity to get Han Solo while the Alliance Fleet was gathering from all corners of the Galaxy.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

So getting killed in an unimportant personal mission that can be done later (the guy's frozen; he's not going anywhere) is a better use of their time than helping to organize and practice for the Death Star II assault?

Luke's actions in that "unimportant personal mission" were guided by the Force. Coming into his own as a Jedi Knight was a very important preparatory step for Luke to take before confronting Vader and the Emperor. When Luke returned to Dagobah, Yoda acknowledged that Luke needed no more training, something that was explicitly not the case when he had left to rush to Bespin.

Additionally, Han's initiative and improvising were critical to tricking the Imperials into opening their back door and brining down the deflector shield. Han's ability to pose as an Imperial turned out to be essential for the Rebel commandos to complete their mission on the forest moon. Would any of the other commandos have pulled that off? We'll never know how a mission without Han would have unfolded, but we do know that none of the other commandos managed to do it during the events that actually transpired. We also know that the commandos were on the path to fail on their mission before Han went aboard the scout walker.

 

[Turtletrekker]

And Chewie was the one who turned the tide, when he and the Ewoks commandeered the Scout Walker.

 

[JD]

This is meaningless speculation, because we don't see any strategy meetings whatsoever in RotJ. (No, Mon Mothma's presentation/briefing is not a strategy meeting; it's a presentation of a strategy already formulated.)

No, but you'd still think if there had been a problem with them going to rescue Han we would have seen some kind of evidence of it once they joined up with the fleet.

LOL, wut? Days before he got frozen, Han was about to leave the Rebels to pay off Jabba again. The only Rebel he was leading was Chewie. And he's not much of a leader on Endor, either; he's basically just a grunt.

He had been a major figure in The Rebel Alliance for three years by the time we get to Empire, and had played a role in some of it's biggest missions in that time. And he was definitely a leader on Endor, he was General and lead what was probably the most important team involved in the ground battle.

 

[Ithekro]

General Rieekan (of Echo Base) considered Han Solo a good fighter and he'd hate to lose him. So there is that.

 

[Reverend]

One factor could easily have been that the extraction mission involved knocking off the last surviving Hutt Cartel boss; that's a boon for the Alliance since the Hutts were secretly allied with the Empire, and an unconsolidated underworld would make establishing a new government much easier.
Also they waited a whole year to even make the attempt; clearly they were busy with other things, and this was a "now or never" situation. Wait until after the Empire is knocked over and suddenly Han becomes a very valuable bargaining token, and Jabba would likely move him from public display in his backwater palace with very casual security, to a hidden fortified vault on Nar Shaddaa.