Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[Skywalker]

And I don't believe any Star Wars fan who can say with a strait face he didn't lurch a bit in orgasmic glee the first time he saw Yoda fling himself across the room.

I didn't.
I cringed when I first saw it because it turns wise, dignified Yoda into a comic book character. I hated it.

Me, too. I felt the same way when they did it again with Palpatine in Episode III.

 

[Ithekro]

I see no reason why Yoda cannot be both dignified and be able to fly with fury in a lightsaber duel due to his stature verse most humanoids.

"Wars not make one great", said Yoda. From experience. That doesn't mean he can't fight, nor that Luke was wrong when he said he was looked for a 'Great Warrior'. The Force can do that. It also visibly took a lot out of him and later Palpatine. When the fights are over, they both look exhausted and somewhat weary. Being the two most powerful Force users in the Galaxy affords them those abilities.

In the theater, there was a laugh/giggling in the audience when Yoda walked in on Dooku. The Force battle, while impressive, didn't get a reaction...until Yoda pulled back his cloak and Force drew his saber. Then giggling stopped and the cheering started. In the aftermath the talk was 'yeah that this thing was good, but DID YOU SEE YODA!?' The excitement was definitely there after the movie ended for that scene.

 

[Gepard]

I felt the same way when they did it again with Palpatine in Episode III.

That one hurt me more than Yoda. Yoda I kind of get; he was a different person in the prequels, not so disillusioned from losing a war and living in hiding for thirty years. But Palpatine? That utterly missed the point of the character. He's a manipulator, the kind of guy who gets other people to do his dirty work for him. That was his MO in Episodes I, II, V, and IV. He wouldn't deign to touch a lightsaber, let alone own one, because he'd already have some flunky lined up to die on his behalf.

Man I hated Episode III.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I thought Yoda's frog-leaping in AOTC was unnecessarily unsubtle. It didn't really do anything for me. As far as the duel between him and Palpatine in ROTS, it was heavy on the symbolism whacking you over the head but short on any emotional engagement or visceral impact, things that the duels in the OT possessed. The PT duels as a rule were too refined and over the top.

 

[RoJoHen]

I felt the same way when they did it again with Palpatine in Episode III.

That one hurt me more than Yoda. Yoda I kind of get; he was a different person in the prequels, not so disillusioned from losing a war and living in hiding for thirty years. But Palpatine? That utterly missed the point of the character. He's a manipulator, the kind of guy who gets other people to do his dirty work for him. That was his MO in Episodes I, II, V, and IV. He wouldn't deign to touch a lightsaber, let alone own one, because he'd already have some flunky lined up to die on his behalf.

Maybe, but that doesn't mean the guy shoudn't know how to defend himself. Presumably lightsabering and force-using go hand-in-hand.

 

[beamMe]

I thought Yoda's frog-leaping in AOTC was unnecessarily unsubtle. It didn't really do anything for me. As far as the duel between him and Palpatine in ROTS, it was heavy on the symbolism whacking you over the head but short on any emotional engagement or visceral impact, things that the duels in the OT possessed. The PT duels as a rule were too refined and over the top.

I think that's a bit of a problem generally with fight-scenes at the moment; they are over-choreographed. More often than not you can see that the actors are going through the motions.
And that was very apparent in the lightsaber-fights in Episode III.

 

[DWF]

I felt the same way when they did it again with Palpatine in Episode III.

That one hurt me more than Yoda. Yoda I kind of get; he was a different person in the prequels, not so disillusioned from losing a war and living in hiding for thirty years. But Palpatine? That utterly missed the point of the character. He's a manipulator, the kind of guy who gets other people to do his dirty work for him. That was his MO in Episodes I, II, V, and IV. He wouldn't deign to touch a lightsaber, let alone own one, because he'd already have some flunky lined up to die on his behalf.

Man I hated Episode III.

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

 

[Gepard]

And you completely missed that I have no problem with Yoda using a lightsaber. Read the quoted text again.

 

[beamMe]

I felt the same way when they did it again with Palpatine in Episode III.

That one hurt me more than Yoda. Yoda I kind of get; he was a different person in the prequels, not so disillusioned from losing a war and living in hiding for thirty years. But Palpatine? That utterly missed the point of the character. He's a manipulator, the kind of guy who gets other people to do his dirty work for him. That was his MO in Episodes I, II, V, and IV. He wouldn't deign to touch a lightsaber, let alone own one, because he'd already have some flunky lined up to die on his behalf.

Man I hated Episode III.

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

But it's silly to have Yoda limping along with his cane only to then have him turn into a Gummi Bear, jumping around fit as a fiddle.

 

[RoJoHen]

That one hurt me more than Yoda. Yoda I kind of get; he was a different person in the prequels, not so disillusioned from losing a war and living in hiding for thirty years. But Palpatine? That utterly missed the point of the character. He's a manipulator, the kind of guy who gets other people to do his dirty work for him. That was his MO in Episodes I, II, V, and IV. He wouldn't deign to touch a lightsaber, let alone own one, because he'd already have some flunky lined up to die on his behalf.

Man I hated Episode III.

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

But it's silly to have Yoda limping along with his cane only to then have him turn into a Gummi Bear, jumping around fit as a fiddle.

I think there should be a deleted scene after that fight where Yoda complains about his bad knee.

 

[DWF]

That one hurt me more than Yoda. Yoda I kind of get; he was a different person in the prequels, not so disillusioned from losing a war and living in hiding for thirty years. But Palpatine? That utterly missed the point of the character. He's a manipulator, the kind of guy who gets other people to do his dirty work for him. That was his MO in Episodes I, II, V, and IV. He wouldn't deign to touch a lightsaber, let alone own one, because he'd already have some flunky lined up to die on his behalf.

Man I hated Episode III.

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

But it's silly to have Yoda limping along with his cane only to then have him turn into a Gummi Bear, jumping around fit as a fiddle.

Yoda used the Force to free Luke's X-Wing, using the Force to defend himself is pretty simple compared to that feat.

 

[beamMe]

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

But it's silly to have Yoda limping along with his cane only to then have him turn into a Gummi Bear, jumping around fit as a fiddle.

I think there should be a deleted scene after that fight where Yoda complains about his bad knee.

"Too old for this shit I am."

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

But it's silly to have Yoda limping along with his cane only to then have him turn into a Gummi Bear, jumping around fit as a fiddle.

Yoda used the Force to free Luke's X-Wing, using the Force to defend himself is pretty simple compared to that feat.

Wouldn't it have been easier to just control the lightsaber then instead of his body?
Yoda jumping around just looks silly.

 

[Ithekro]

For Palpatine, it is the best con possible. No one suspected he would even have a lightsaber, then he just rips the unsuspecting Jedi apart. Being the manipulator also means he could manipulate people into thinking he was defenseless. While the Force lightning is something, killing the Jedi with a lightsaber must have some special irony to it for the Sith Lord.

Yoda jumping around is fine. It keeps the fight from being at Dooku or anyone else's knee caps while also making him unpredictable as an opponent. He could come from any angle with lightning speed. Also a demonstration of the power of the Force on an old body.

Much later Obi-wan doesn't do that sort of stuff against Vader because he knows it won't help. They fought before and now its a matter of defense and brute power.

 

[beamMe]

Yoda jumping around is fine. It keeps the fight from being at Dooku or anyone else's knee caps while also making him unpredictable as an opponent. He could come from any angle with lightning speed. Also a demonstration of the power of the Force on an old body.

Much later Obi-wan doesn't do that sort of stuff against Vader because he knows it won't help. They fought before and now its a matter of defense and brute power.

This... makes no sense.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Although it's the EU (and strictly non-canon now), Revenge of the Sith is not the first Star Wars product to show Palpatine using a lightsaber-that was 1991's Dark Empire, although the Palpatine in question was a clone in his 20's.

 

[Mage]

That one hurt me more than Yoda. Yoda I kind of get; he was a different person in the prequels, not so disillusioned from losing a war and living in hiding for thirty years. But Palpatine? That utterly missed the point of the character. He's a manipulator, the kind of guy who gets other people to do his dirty work for him. That was his MO in Episodes I, II, V, and IV. He wouldn't deign to touch a lightsaber, let alone own one, because he'd already have some flunky lined up to die on his behalf.

Man I hated Episode III.

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

But it's silly to have Yoda limping along with his cane only to then have him turn into a Gummi Bear, jumping around fit as a fiddle.

Yoda himself said that you should never judge a person by their appereance. Judge me by my size, do you? He always downplayed himself, never gave anyone the impression he was powerful. So why not hid that side aswell?
That, and Yoda never saw fighting as something good. An necessary evil yes, but not something to be glorified. He hid his saber, and only a few people knew how good he really was.

War does not make someone great, he said in Empire. Just because his skill with a saber were impressive, didn't mean he wanted to be judged by it.

So yeah, I see him purposefully hiding that side of him by appearing as an elderly in need of a cain for support.

Or, perhaps.... He is that much in need of a cain, his body is that old. But he can use the Force to sustain him for a while. It wears him out, he can't do it for long. But he can let the Force flow through him and strengthen him, perhaps?

 

[Hound of UIster]

Although it's the EU (and strictly non-canon now), Revenge of the Sith is not the first Star Wars product to show Palpatine using a lightsaber-that was 1991's Dark Empire, although the Palpatine in question was a clone in his 20's.

Lucas himself (at least during the production of ROTJ) has said that Yoda and Palpatine did not (and could not ) fight, but rather served the roles of spiritual mentors to Jedi. It seemed a lot of the backtracking occurred during AOTC-ROTS, which included revising what happened to Padme.

 

[BillJ]

Lucas himself (at least during the production of ROTJ) has said that Yoda and Palpatine did not (and could not ) fight, but rather served the roles of spiritual mentors to Jedi. It seemed a lot of the backtracking occurred during AOTC-ROTS, which included revising what happened to Padme.

I think he was referring to the characters as they were during the original trilogy. Lots can change in thirty years.

 

[Corran Horn]

I think if you're going to parse through the OT to find things that make little to no sense because of the prequels you're going to be quite busy.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

Yoda failed in facing Palpatine directly so he had to play a long game with Luke in the OT. His lightsaber skills was telegraphed in AOTC by Obi-Wan himself.

But it's silly to have Yoda limping along with his cane only to then have him turn into a Gummi Bear, jumping around fit as a fiddle.

I think there should be a deleted scene after that fight where Yoda complains about his bad knee.

This would have been good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-wjJzqA_fc