Palpatine used the Force in the elevator shaft

I don't think he used the Force. Maybe it was an accident...

 

It has nothing to do with CGI. At all. It's the editing.


Anyway, I believe Palaptine DID use the Force. Why would he want to fall into his death?
Anakin was way too busy getting a grip somewhere AND holding Obi Wan. Also, Palpatine used the Force to cloud that he's a Sith.

 

You don't have to use the Force to reach out and grab someone. Jedi/Sith reflexes aren't dependent on using the Force directly. They just need to see it coming and then reach out.

 

darth-sinister is right.

 

"He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait." (QGJ)

It has to do with having Jedi traits. An "ordinary" chancellor couldn't have done this. Whether this involves using the Force directly or indirectly (how do you use the Force indirectly, btw?) is secondary to me.

 

That's very true. Any sane person would do that.

 

Jedi/Sith reflexes are centered around things like podracing, Lightsaber duels and deflecting blaster bolts. Simply reaching out is not using the Force. That's the beauty in it. Anakin and Obi-wan never suspect that Palpatine had Jedi/Sith reflexes. They just assumed that he managed to grab a hold and leave it at that. They're too arrogant to think that there's anything more to it than that. Had they been more in tune with the Living Force, they would've suspected that it might not have been natural.

Han and Jango prove that Jedi reflexes aren't needed to pilot complex manuvers, such as the asteroid feilds. Han proved that the Falcon wasn't smashed to bits, like Piett and Needa assumed. And Jango kept up with Obi-wan, who would've had the advantage with the Force.

 

You don't need to Force to grab someone's leg.

 

That's just what I meant - I didn't mean that he somehow force-leaped, but that he reacted a lot faster than what one would expect from a 60 year old politician and that they could have suspected something odd going on here. So it seems that apart from semantics on what "using the Force" exactly means, we're actually in agreement for once
I think in attributing their failure to notice it to "arrogance" you are being a bit harsh on the Jedi. They couldn't see it 'coz it all happened below their feet, and they had more important things to worry about. Either way, I thought it was a funny moment in this scene

 

I refer to arrogance in the fact that they never consider it even an issue. Besides, who says that a 63 year old man cannot have sharp reflexes?

 

On average reaction times and reflexes tend to decelerate as people grow older. Of course it's not impossible for a 63 year old man to have very sharp reflexes, but it's not exactly the rule, especially if the person isn't trained in disciplines requiring them.