CT Noticed something for the first time last night (RotJ)

Han Solo has Leia's blood on his hands during the bunker scene. Kind of strange to see in a relatively bloodless SW universe.

han's bloody hands by dskywalker01, on Flickr

 

Oh wow. That's a nice catch
Hm.... makes little sense though. Blasters cauterize wounds immediately upon impact (the blood from Ponda Baba's arm is of course a simple continuity error due to the idea not being concrete at the time)
Strange....

 

I noticed that recently as well. I wonder if it was a Blu-ray specific change or if it had already existed before.

 

Probably one of those details that have become much clearer in HD.

 

A blaster isn't a lightsaber - Ponda was injured by a lightsaber. I would guess that the cauterization process (if it applies to energy weapons in general) isn't 100% certain.

I also recall people suggesting Leia was not hit properly by the bolt itself - maybe it hit the wall right next to her arm and shrapnel from the wall cut her arm? Still, if you look at the impact, you can see burning fabric (from the squib explosive that was used for the special effect, I would guess).

 

I would guess that cauterisation of major blood vessels isn't instantaneous. With the adrenaline and elevated heart rate of a combat situation, the blood pressure pushes out faster than the heat completely seals the wound or causes the blood itself to coagulate. (Hence also the spray of blood from Maul -- seemed relatively pressurised!)

 

In addition, Aqualish might have higher blood pressure.

Cases where there was a distinct lack of blood, tend to be humans (Anakin and Jango in AoTC, Anakin and Dooku in RoTS, Ben in ANH (assuming he disappeared immediately after his injury), Luke in TESB, and I can't recall anybody getting major lightsaber injuries in RoTJ - Vader took a hit to a cybernetic arm, and Jabba's skiff guards generally didn't look like they were taking massive damage.

 

Don't forget the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. Anakin cut them fairly deep (and they apparently died instantaneously).

 

Fair enough - maybe most aliens have comparable blood pressure - with a few notable exceptions.

Or it's just an artifact of "what one could get away with at the time" - with Lucas "getting away with" ANH but having to cut back on blood for others.

 

IRL, it's probably that, but I think your deduction has merits in-universe

 

I've always had a big problem with this particular arm-removal in ANH, as it seems to be a continuity error, but this is the best explanation I've seen for it, really fantastic.
In the past I've seen fans try to explain it as Obi-Wan being out of practice with a lightsaber and incorrectly (or sloppily) cutting off Ponda Baba's arm, causing it to not cauterize, but that's always seemed to me to be a really bad defense.

 

Obi-Wan is an interesting case. I actually doubt it was the lightsaber wound that killed him -- because of how instantaneous it was. His body looks like it disappears literally the instant Vader's blade makes contact with his robe, which immediately crumples to the floor empty. (I know this has obvious OOU explanations, but I'm not really interested in those.) You'd expect at least some lag time -- it's almost the same strike Obi-Wan did on Maul, who obviously doesn't die immediately. So I think he actually voluntarily surrendered himself to the Force at that instant, which would explain the total lack of any blood. The blade struck no body.

 

In response to the OP's comment, I too was surprised by a GIF someone made of the wampa knocking Luke's lights out in ESB - I'd never caught the spray of blood onto the snow before. I was like, "Oh...whoa. Ouch."

This screenshot doesn't capture it quite as well, but I can't find the original GIF:

 

Nice find, never noticed that before either, even on the Blu-Ray.

 

Plot twist...

I was watching the unaltered version of Jedi.