ST The "Bad Science" of Star Wars & TFA

I don't know if this has been explained or discussed already, but ever since I first saw TFA, I've wondered why everyone on Takodana seemed to be able to see the destruction of the Hosnian System.

If that were true, wouldn't Takodana have to be in the Hosnian System? If it was, then why was it spared. And also, wouldn't there be no day light there if Starkiller Base absorbed it's sun?!

I really don't understand this and it's been bothering me.

 

I think we have a thread for this.....Don't we?

 

Don't... think... about... it... just accept it

 

I think the explanation was given in a tweet, somewhere in the Starkiller Base thread.

It can be summed up as "Hyperspace rift allows it to be seen real-time"

 

LOL...

 

INB4 LOCK

 

How does the Force work? How did Shmi have a virgin baby? Why doesn't Chewie's hair grow?

Who cares?

 

People who don't care for irrational gaps in internal logic?

 

In a fantasy universe?

 

They didn't bother running a game to test that theory out!

What they should have done is have the First Order advertise the attack on the capital on the Holonet rather than take potshots from the other side of the galaxy since there would have been no way to attack SKB since they would have no base to go back to!

Put it down to plot, exceptionally stupid but still just plot... no I don't understand why they did that either!

 

You will be informed and your concerns shall be silenced by assurances from (1) persons of responsibility and (2) sheer numbers of persons that you are not to perceive the Star Wars universe as participating in rules of consistency, nor are you to perceive that Star Wars, a story based on a fantasy chassis, participates or incorporates real-world physics that are sensible and perceivable to honest consumers of fantasy.

 

I think even fantasy films have to adhere to a modicum of internal logic.

 

Of course that's what you think for this case. I wonder why that is?

 

I'm generally going to defend TFA from the haters, but this little detail, I grant you, is simply indefensible.

They could have achieved the same effect, dramatically speaking, if everyone in the bar (and, elsewhere, Finn helping the pirates load their stuff onto the ship) suddenly looked up at a TV screen placed in the bar (or, in Finn's case, a screen on board the pirates' ship) showing the exact same view of the system being destroyed on the news. That way the image of the Hosnian system blowing up, being seen by someone standing under a clear blue sky, could be justified by saying it's the GFFA equivalent of someone getting cell phone camera footage of the event from wherever they're standing and sending the footage in to the news network. All the news guy would have to say is "We just received this footage from a planet on the outskirts of the Hosnian system."

 

Are you stating that a film shouldn't have to adhere to a modicum of internal logic?

 

Like I'm going to let this pass.

Furthermore, Kenobi113, It is Entirely Irrelevant which portion of the entire Star Wars film franchise you elect to examine along the lines of scientific inquiry, or common sense, or ordinary everyday high school physics literacy, and you will be roundly processed, and handled, and told, and made, to pull your cold dead fingers of rationality off this innocent, harmless, unassuming majority-facing diversion.

If that event transpires during films of yesteryear you'll get a certain standardized treatment.

If that event transpires during films post-yesteryear you'll get a certain standardized treatment, amplified under the powerful majority sourced lens that what you do not approve of, and cannot wrap your mind around, and find inexcusable, constitutes HATE. The problem is YOU, don't you see.

 

If it's a fantasy universe and where other instances don't bother me either, no.

 

some of the power the technology uses in the weapon defies the laws of physics and the hyperspace gate it uses allows the visibility.

Quintessence - Wookieepedia - Wikia

 

And then there's the rest of us that says why not just have the darn thing jump into that system draw off energy from its sun to recharge its hyper drive thereby causing the necessary destruction before it heads off to rendezvous with Kylo Ren at Takodana?

Han & co are chasing after Kylo because he's got Rey, SKB jumps in causing a panic as Poe in charge of the limited number of fighters on Takodana because the First Order just attacked a pub with pirates and various other mercenaries and smugglers who don't take kindly to that kind of stupidity!

Leia is assisting with the evacuation since they've seen what that darn thing does BUT it can't start recharging whilst Kylo is in the way and thanks to Han they both crash land and being out of contact is when Finn mentions he knows the area and an ideal means to insure SKB doesn't start wiping out the entire system.

Sorry I really don't like how they handled SKB there are plenty of ways it could have been handled but this makes Man of Steel look almost benign in comparison!

I liked the movie just not this.

 

That seems an odd sentiment, that in a fantastical fictional universe it doesn't have to make sense, but that at least explains why it's not an issue for you. I like my fiction to have a robust internal logic.

 

Deep within the bowels of the TFA forum one will find this has been debated in several different threads. I am a huge proponent of TFA. I can come up with some pseudo scientific rationalization for this that is probably as good as any other, and also Pablo Hidalgo has gone through fielding this (sorry Pablo, but really?).

It is one of the things I just tell myself that all Star Wars movies have their serious issues with physics, and move on. Referencing the other thread where we are discussing how we debate the merits of any Star Wars film, this is one of those where I could jump in and defend TFA and make up as much science gobbledy-gook as I could, feeling the movie I loved was being attacked ... but I have no heart for it, because that was just stupid.

 

there are things in the gffa that are beyond our science.

 

For the sake of the visuals and the mythic quality: yeah, the explosion is visible, don't think about physics and remember it's a space fantasy film that has always been hokey.

If you're worried about physics; it's an extremely advanced technology that causes a rip in hyperspace that is visible across the galaxy.

The fact that some on here think that it'd be better if it was viewed on a tv screen, as if they're all in a branch of wetherspoons or something shows why these debates are weird. Suspend disbelief or don't. There's no internal logic that has been compromised, because light speed/hyperspace has a;ways been completely illogical in Star Wars. The vastness of space is just a "skin", like it or not. We're all adults here, we all know that Star Wars ain't hard sci-fi. The fudging of this is worthy or a wry smile. If it bothers you more, then you've outgrown Star Wars.

 

Sometimes suspension of disbelief is harder than other times, depending on the event. The instantaneous visibility of the beam and destruction is one that was a bit harder for me than most. However, I have a litany of things from the previous saga films that I chaffed on but simply need to accept, because they are there. There certainly are much greater offenses in other Star Wars films than TFA. The question is whether this is debate worthy for me, and it is not.

 

As discussed in the other thread, it was poorly explained in the movie and needed additional material to fully understand.

It was clear the weapon was a hyperspace weapon (we didn't need Snap Wexley's 1-liner confirming that fact). But the group on Takodana watching it take place in real time makes it seem like it was taking place in the same system, especially since the exploding points of light were clearly distinct and separated by a few degrees of sky.

No big deal, but certainly made me think "huh? is all this happening in the same system??" the first time I saw the movie.

The "fudging" of the physics doesn't bother me one bit, but you have to explain to the viewer what in the heck is actually going on.