When Luke fires on the Death Star in A New Hope...

it appears that the two proton torpedos sink like a hole in one, instead of going in at a straight shot. Anyone know why?

 

The shaft doesn't keep going horizontally. The shaft drops down so, naturally, the torpedoes do as well.

 

I imagine he targeted the reactor shaft, and the torpedoes were able to navigate their way into it with some sort of built in targeting system. Either that, or gravity somehow pulled them in.

 

Makes sense when you think about it. Just looked funny to me at first.

Without starting a new post: If Return of the Jedi is referring to Anakin, how and why should this be apparent to today's viewer as compared to before when the last three films were the only ones in existence?


Okay, maybe I should have started a new post...

 

I think the title "Return of the Jedi" refers to the Jedi Order as a while. Anakin returns to the Jedi, and with Luke, the Jedi Order begins to make it's return.

 

I think the fact the torpedoes had to 'drop' made firing them so difficult. That's probably how Red Leader missed, but Luke guided them with the Force to destroy the battle station.

 

I personally think Kenobi guided the torpedo's into the reactor shaft. I don't see how someone who didn't know a thing about the Force a week earlier could manage to guide 2 torpedo's home.

And I always thought that ROTJ referred to Luke and not Vader.

 

beacause its a stupid movie

 

They were heat seeking torpedos obviously.
If only Vader had thrown a couple of road flares out of the window of his tie fighter, the whole Death Star destruction could have been avoided. That's Vaders big problem. Always thinking himself. Sometimes I think Vader isn't really that smart. I mean, if you got put inside of a robot suit like that, wouldn't you have them make wheels instead of legs? That's just common sense. He should have had tank treads instead of legs installed. Actually Monster truck tires would have been even better. Yeah, monster truck tires would have been pretty sweet! He could crush cars, and have tractor pulls. I'll bet the Empire would give him sponsors. He would have Tide, Skoal and Penzoil stickers all over his suit. Rednecks with mullets, and Coors light shirts would go down to the sports arena every weekend and watch Vader drag race with Bigfoot. Why doesn't Big George ever think of these things? Star Wars would be like 12 times better, if he would only include alternative sports. Remember what Smokey the Bear said: "Only you can prevent forest trolls"

thanks for reading.

 

Philllip please provide something constructive or at least back up your opinion on why the movie is stupid. Just don't come into a thread and say its stupid.

 

Yes, we see Luke coming back into the picture as a wiser, more solemn, and knowing invidiual. That is why I always assumed that ROTJ was about Luke not Anakin/Vader.

 

I always though the entire OT was about Chewbacca's struggle with Illeteracy. Could be wrong though.

 

If they were heat-seeking, homing, etc, the why did everyone else miss?
They also don't seem too terribly affected by gravity (as if they were, they'd be useless, and not flying over the surface).
What looks odd is how they suddenly dip down out of nowhere.

 

Maybe they were set to drop at a certain time after they'd been fired, or when they detected a certain terrain beneath them. If they weren't fired at the correct moment, they wouldn't drop at the right place (of course, given the speeds they're travelling, that really would make the shot impossible). If they weren't fired at the correct trajectory, they wouldn't have the terrain beneath them to detect, and would just slam into the wall behind the port.

 

as Vile HozVeth:

(angrily)
"MR. BURNS IS NOT OFFERING ME ADEQUATE ANSWERS. HE IS FILLING MY HEAD WITH RIDICULOUS IDEAS OF TIME DROPPING TORPEDOES."

"NO THANKS"

 

Real-world bombs work a lot like we saw in ANH. A craft will fire them and they will shoot straight outwards, then their horizontal propulsion dies and they drop. The targeting computers in the X-Wings were supposed to tell the pilots the right moment to fire to make this work. The computer couldn't pull off the split-second timing to make it work, but the Force could. Luke (and Obi-Wan) didn't use the Force to guide the torpodoes in, the Force told Luke exactly when to fire. Just like earlier in the movie, when blinded by the visored helmet, Luke can block the remote's laser beams with his lightsaber.

 

I always thought that Luke used the force to guide the torpedoes into the shaft. They build up to the Death Star battle by making it seem like a near impossible shot, and that the only way Luke could make the shot effectively is by using the force.

 

Real-world bombs work a lot like we saw in ANH. A craft will fire them and they will shoot straight outwards, then their horizontal propulsion dies and they drop.

They seem to whip down pretty quickly, though. The gravity around the Death Star -- even the gravity on earth -- wouldn't result in that.

To me, it looks like another force is acting on them. Whether it's onboard propulsion, deflecting off the ray-shields or some other field around the port, or THE Force.