Saga Why the Difference?

For all the brilliant CGI shots in RotS (which easily had the best CGI of the Saga), somehow the practical effects fall incredibly short. How is it that whoever was the prop master for RotS could not be capable of matching up the RotS saber hilts to their ANH counterparts?



There is only a superficial resemblance. The shape of the handgrips are wrong, the activator matrices are completely wrong (the Skywalker RotS hilt having closer resemblance to the circuit board that Luke would replace the bubble tape with), the rims around the activator matrices are wrong, and the blade emitter on the Skywalker are two entirely different shapes. From a distance, they (like most lightsabers) look the same, but on closer inspection they are nearly entirely different in design. In all honesty here, Kit Fisto's lightsaber looks closer to Eeth Koth's than Anakin's RotS hilt does to Luke's ANH one. Frankly, if a prop master brought me the Anakin saber we see on screen in RotS, I would have told him to go back and try again. For things like the color differences between the top of the hilt in Obi-Wan's lightsaber, and the faded metal VS the shiny new chrome metal I can understand as an aging thing, but the design of the hilts are so different it looks like that during the twenty years Ben spent in that hut, he took the two lightsabers, stripped them down, then rebuilt them from scratch. So, is there an explanation for these discrepancies? Is there any canonical record (even EU) of Obi-Wan modifying the two hilts between RotS and ANH?

 

How? Or are you just speaking about the lightsaber prop accuracy when compared to the OT? A bit exaggerated if the latter.

Also, both in the OT and PT there were two different versions of each lightsaber and even those two vary from movie to movie (e.g: Luke's RotJ main saber vs stunt version). All they did in the PT was a more ergonomic design while keeping the same layout.

 

Because they had the potential to make them look better.
Also, lightsabers can be customised throughout the years. They don't have to stay the same forever.
As well as that, you barely see the hilts when they're covered by the wielder's hand. Another reason to make the change.

 

Mature answers / speculation from all concerned.

The hilts really don't have to precisely match. In fact, I'm struggling to think of compelling reasons as to why they should.

The above speculation, from my POV, is valid. As is the simple proposition that the two trilogies actually depict parallel universes / tweaked propaganda.

In Lucas' own words -- lifted, once again, from J.W. Rinzler's excellent "The Making Of ROTS":

"There are these little threads running through things that are constantly turning events on their head. You see two people confronting the same things, with different ends. It's a rhythm. I like the idea of seeing something from different perspectives."

You might as well complain that Boss Nass and Jar Jar Binks are different species. Or grumble that Obi-Wan's padawan braid falls a different way from one shot to the next. Or ask why all clone troopers are digital while all stormtroopers are physical?

There are TONS of these things inter-movie, intra-trilogy. It's kind of fun noticing new ones.

If the Bible -- the most widely-printed manuscript in all of literature -- can have two accounts of Creation, why not Star Wars, eh?


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Anyway, any -- true / false -- accusations of facetiousness aside...

A conspicuous difference -- as above -- between Obi-Wan's ROTS saber and the one he carries in ANH is that the copper bit near the projector tip has turned to gold and the gold has turned to black. To me, it sorta suggests that Obi-Wan has become a bit more adept with the Dark Side by ANH: e.g., his seduction of Luke. You may further notice that gold was a colour somewhat doing the rounds in lightsaber design back during the era of the Old Republic (e.g., Palpatine's saber, Mace's saber (AOTC, ROTS); and Anakin's mechanical arm for what it's worth). Things took on a slightly more monochromatic, industrial look after that.

And are you aware that Luke, for example, wields two different lightsabers in ROTJ? One was used for close-ups, the other for stunt work. They vary about as widely as in the examples above (maybe not quite as much, but the point remains). There is no "one" look that is quite correct, metaphorically speaking, now. It's more a dance between two alternates with close similitude. Think: binary sunset. Or for that matter: Sith / Jedi.

 

We're talking about lightsaber hilts. Why does it matter if the hilts for the two different trilogies are different?

 

I don't want to be rude... but why does this matter? You can't tell in the movies.

 

If this bothers you, wait 'till you see what they did to Darth Vader's lightsaber in Return of the Jedi.

Anyways, it's an interesting topic, if one of trivial importance. Yes, I too am curious as to why these changes occurred; they definitely had the means to duplicate the original sabers, but for some reason, chose not to. If I were to guess, I'd say that since the originals mainly utilized recycled parts, they saw this as their opportunity to add more originality to them.

EDIT:
Also, for a more fair comparison, compare the ROTS hilt to the ESB one:


(The screws are the only noticeable change, but they weren't there in the ANH hilt anyways).

 

The differences have to do with a conscious decision on the part of Lucas and the prop team, to make the sabers in the PT different. The OT sabers were almost all taken from existing items and converted into the hilts. For the PT, it was all done from scratch. I think even with Obi-wan and Anakin's sabers in ROTS. Lucas liked the clip over the D ring and he liked the PT activation buttons a bit better. In the film itself, it is barely noticeable save for the clip.

 

Well I've wondered why the Light Sabers are different as well because I'm pretty sure Obi-Wan just stored Anakins away until he gave it to Luke so why would he alter it???

I know a few people have replied with 'why does it matter' well if you look around the boards people pick apart nearly every aspect of every film so why shouldn't it.

 

Yeah, I think they just wanted the lightsabers to look better, since they had the resources to make them look better. Although I would have rather them been more accurate, I don't think some of the creators are as worried as the fans are about having each detail of the items perfectly accurate with previous films, especially ones made with a huge time gap. But hey, they aren't that different. At least they look fairly similar.

 

We're not supposed to think, "Why was this altered by the characters?" when watching the Saga. We're just excepted to take note of the Lightsabers basic design and not the fine details. The more obsessive fan will always find something to pick apart. It's what lead William Shatner to say, "Get a life".

 

But it's just like the 'Han shot first argument' isn't it....some people just might really like light sabre hilts, doesn't mean you're obsessive??

 

Not really. Han or Greedo shooting first arguments center around the characters strengths and weaknesses. Prop designs are just cosmetic. Obi-wan is wearing the same set of robes between ROTS and ANH, including the same damage from the fight on Mustafar, but there are subtle differences between the two costumes. Likewise with Yoda having a belt on in the OT, but in the PT, he doesn't. Or Vader's helmet being different from film to film.

 

Was speaking on the latter. A bit exaggerated, true, but meh.

Because I'm curious and am wondering on fan speculation as to why the differences between the hilts, primarily the Skywalker saber. I can understand things like the Jedi robes not matching (who wants to live on a desert or swamp planet without at least one extra change of clothes. Blech!). Heck, I can even understand modifications Obi-Wan made to his lightsaber between RotS and ANH, but some of the changes are purely aesthetic and make little sense from either in-universe or production standards.

That's exactly my point!