Your father wanted you to have this....

Is there a reason why the lightsaber that Ben gives Luke is not blue? It looks like it is white.

Anybody know?

It's called special effects from the 70s.

Oxidation

For the same reason that Vader's is white on the Death Star.

I have the SE set, and it looks white.

curious.

They didn't change it.

Kenner even marketed a white lightsaber toy. I have it somewhere.

It appears white because it is interacting with Luke's Force sensitivity. Since Luke is unusually powerful with the Force, yet unattuned to it like the Jedi of old, the lightsaber responded to his pureness with the Force by turning white- the color that contains red, green, and blue within its spectrum. As the trilogy displays, Luke possessed some dark side tendencies, and was on the threshold of the dark side more than once. He used elements of red-saber wielders and blue-/green-saber wielders. The white lightsaber is indicative of Luke's journey as a Jedi-to-be.

Similarly, Vader's saber appears lighter (as he is walking towards the blast door), but not quite white. Having just defeated Obi-Wan, the waning intensity of the red saber mirrors his state of mind as he contemplated Obi-Wan's words and behavior, and his possibly his past. Destroying Obi-Wan possibly triggered some deeply buried emotion, always Anakin's weak point, as he looked upon those who had been traveling with his former Master. Within him, as Luke would sense later on, there was good. The paling of his saber forehshadows his eventual return to the light side.

Well at least I'm not having delusions of grandeur. Let me enjoy my delusions of lightsaber colors will ya.

So its like a mood saber?

Less evil, more white

more good, stronger color
white is the middle ground?


hmmmm.

I think there is some reputable EU stuff that says lightsabers can interact with Force-sensitives. Something about Sith getting stronger by using the red crystal or something like that. Anyway, from the databank: "To a Jedi, a lightsaber is not just a weapon. It is a means of concentrating attention and becoming attuned with the Force." Obviously I was wildly extrapolating. "Moodsaber" or "mindsaber," yeah kinda, in metaphorical terms.

Just a side note here. Note the difference between the light side and the Dark Side and it's effect on force users' syntax and methods:

Light side: "Your father wanted you to have this." White (not blue) lies and half-truths in order to appeal to a higher calling for the greater good.

Dark Side: "You want this, don't you?" Tempation and greed to appeal to a desire for control by, and for, the indidivudal.

i remember when the first star wars action figures came out luke's saber was yellow.

Your father wanted you to have this....

*gives Luke a freeze-dried right arm*

Ho ho ho! Haha haha. Oh.... I kill me.

There is no such thing at the time of the OT as a mood changing saber. It is BLUE, plain and simple.

Mood sabre. HAHAHA. Gimme a break.

It's old special effects people. I'm beating they will fix them in the DVD's. You just wait.

.. or maybe Lucas wanted them white-ish looking. Heck I don't know, but I would suppose that in the PT they are vivid, bright neon-ish for show and Lucas will make up his mind to do more work on the OT by making the sabres look similar to the PT.

Your father wanted you to have this....

*gives Luke a freeze-dried right arm*

lol. that's a good one.

i hope they do fix the look of the sabers on the dvd's. but somehow i doubt they will.

I think GL should fix the white look of the "blue" lightsabers. He will most likely do it in the super special edition or whatever it is.