CT Did a lot of people think that The Emperor was a ghost the first time they saw ESB?

My grandparents thought that and Lucas said that he included the scene with Sidious and Maul on a balcony in TPM to prevent people from thinking that Sidious is a ghost.

 

Well he was a real person through all of ROTJ so no.

 

I don't understand.....

Are you saying did I think he was a ghost cause of his hologram appearance in ESB?

Or did I think he was ghost until he appeared in TPM?

 

Lucas said this.

"Introducing Darth Sidious as a hologram was the way he was introduced actually in "Empire Strikes Back", which was the first time we actually saw him in the first three films, so I thought it appropriate to keep that thematic device going so that we only know him as a hologram and not actually deal with him, except in one small scene as a real person, because I did want to make sure you knew that he wasn't just a hologram. Make him sort of flesh and blood."

--George Lucas, TPM DVD Commentary.

What he meant was that Palpatine wasn’t using technology to disguise himself. But no, most everyone understood what a hologram was since we see Vader in Veers AT-AT and we see Vader talking to the other captains.

Your grandparents just didn't understand.

 

The former.

 

To make it simple, no.

 

This

 

To me, it was perfectly clear that he was appearing as a hologram in a long-range communications system, as Vader stated in the dialog. Old Ben was the only ghost.

 

"Lord Vader, the Emperor commands you to make contact with him immediately."
"Move the ship out of the asteroid field so we can send a clear transmission!"

Unless ghosts somehow can't enter asteroid fields, I'd guess it was pretty clear that the Emperor was communicating via hologram.

 

Holograms were introduced in SW as early as ANH, Force ghosts not until early in ESB. To me it was always clear the Emperor was a hologram. We have never seen him die on the screen, so why would he be a ghost? And everyone talks about him in a way that makes it clear he is an actual living person.

 

Assuming the OP's grandparents saw ANH first.

 

They did.

 

To be fair, old Ben appeared as a transparent figure and spoke to Luke; he was clearly (ha!) a ghost. Then Sheev appeared as a transparent figure and spoke to Vader. There are similarities.

 

Which means that the grandparents didn't understand.

PIETT: "Lord Vader."

VADER: "Yes, Admiral. What is it?"

PIETT: "The Emperor commands you to make contact with him."

VADER: "Move the ship out of the asteroid field so that we can send a clear transmission."

PIETT: "Yes, my lord."

 

On the other hand, I've just remembered that in the Star Wars Archives book, there's concept art by Joe Johnston and/or Norman Reynolds for the Emperor entering Vader's meditation chamber through some sort of ethereal door as a giant full-body figure who appears using the Force - something which would have been much more "ghostly" than the hologram in the movie.

A surprising idea, and even more so as there's no whisper of it in JW Rinzler's Making of ESB book. I suspect that idea was maybe considered around the time of Larry Kasdan's third draft script, since the fourth and fifth drafts just describe a scene with a straightforward hologram. Also contrast the Leigh Brackett rough draft, where the Emperor communicates with Vader via 2D viewscreen, since Brackett exactly followed George Lucas' suggestion that the Emperor should contact Vader via a viewscreen "a la Flash Gordon".

 

I still believe he is a ghost. A ghost who's extremely skilled at Force projection

 

Pretty much. These two made it very clear that the Emperor was alive and trying to contact him. The next scene is of Vader talking with him. I never thought he was a ghost.

 

When I first watched TESB in the mid-1990s (pre-special edition), I understood that he was a hologram and that he was somewhere in a palace elsewhere in the galaxy. After all, my Dad had explained that Leia was projected through a hologram in ANH. So, I knew what this was.

Lucas was making TPM for kids, and that's one reason that he decided to show Sidious speaking with Maul in the balcony scene. He wanted to make it clear to younger viewers that he was not just a ghost or a "hologram," as I recall him saying on the commentary. Plus, that scene is important insofar as we see Sidious' balcony...we recognize it later at Palpatine's apartment. Just subtle clues that lead up to the close up on Palpatine's face when Mace and Yoda are talking about the other Sith Lord.

I think Clive Revill did a good job voicing the Emperor. But I do prefer Ian doing it in the reshoot, and he looks great in that scene.

Fun fact: Revill is 92 years old.

 

Very true. My grandma thought that Sebastian Shaw looked like that normally when she saw Luke take the mask off in ROTJ. The scars and pale complexion.

 

My grandad thought K.I.T.T could really talk.

 

I imagine if someone watched the movies out of order, they may think that. Prior to the editing of the special editions, Force ghosts looked more like holograms.

 

Never. I think it is kind of obvious that it is just a hologram.

 

Old people, ammirite? xD

No, that isn't a ghost, and no, Sebastian Shaw doesn't look like a boiler plate exploded inches from his face.

I can only imagine what they must've thought of the end of Revenge of the Sith.

Us: *understands that Hayden is simply wearing a lot of makeup and CGI gloves and leggings to simulate missing limbs*

Them: "That poor man! Was he in a car accident? An explosion? What happened?"