What exactly happened in the cantina fight between Obi-wan, Dr. Evazan, and Ponda Baba (Walrus Man)?

Hey, I was just watching ANH for the umpteenth time the other night, and am still confused by what exactly happened in the fight between Obi-wan, Dr. Evazan, and Ponda Baba (Walrus Man) - thought the fight is only about a second, Obi-wan seems to only swing his lighsaber once, resulting in:

- An arm (not Walrus Man's) lying on the floor - this doesn't seem to be Walrus Man's, since he has flippers for hands (as seen when Luke goes to the bar earlier in the scene - this can only really be seen in the widescreen format).

Anyway, though I'll buy that this is supposed to be Walrus Man's arm, the fight seems to suggest that Obi-wan eliminated both Dr. Evazan AND Walrus Man. However, there is no evidence that Dr. Evazan was taken out.

Any insight on this? I guess I'm reading too much into this, since it seems obvious that Obi-wan took them both out with his lightsaber.

As a side note, I know the ANH novelization mentions this fight in much more detail, but I don't know how accurate this is as a lot of scenes were changed from the novel to the film (I think the novel was published about six months before the film came out).

 

I have no idea what to tell you. It has always been so simple to me, then this thread made me think about it. My head hurts. I'll watch ANH tonight and get back to you.

 

The arm on the floor is Ponda Baba's (Walrus Man). It is a known "blooper" that his hands are shown to be flippers when attached but furry in the shot on the floor (together with the "blooper" about blood being present despite the more common cauterizing effect of lightsabers and blood). I'm not sure that Obi-Wan actually does anything to Dr. Evazan, but I don't think he does... I always took it that Dr. Evazan is taken aback at what happened to Ponda Baba and just doesn't do anything beyond that point.

 

Thanks for the input (I knew about the blooper re: the mistake on the arm, but what's interesting is that for years I never picked up on it since I was only seeing ANH in Pan-and-scan VHS format as a child. When I saw ANH in Widescreen for the first time in 1995 (on a laser disc), I then noticed the arm mistake).

The novelization of the fight scene in the ANH novel involves a third protagonist, I think (in addition to Dr. Evazan and Walrus Man), though I can't confirm that now since the book isn't in front of me. However, in the novel Obi-wan takes them all out.

I guess I always assumed Dr. Evazan was eliminated in this fight scene because he seemed very aggressive prior to the fight, and I wouldn't think he would just give up after seeing what happened to Walrus Man. However, since there's no proof to back this up I may very well be mistaken.

 

Evazan took a minor wound to the chest, and Ponda Baba lost his arm. Both survived and fled the cantina after the incident.

 

What exactly happened in the cantina fight between Obi-wan, Dr. Evazan, and Ponda Baba (Walrus Man)?

Luke's jamming by himself, "Walrus Man" says something unknown, Dr.Evazan [what kinda doctor is he, anyway?] tells Luke pretty much that he's a n00b.

Luke says sorry and keeps going about his business up until Dr.Evazan flips out. Obi Wan takes one of their arms off [I'm guessing Walrus Man seeing as it matched his outfit], and they decided the young farmer boy wasn't worth their time.

I mean, if it happened today. If some guy tries to bully another guy at a bar, and someone backing up the guy has a gun, well what would you do?

 

It's pretty simple. To make more out of the sceen is not needed. Obi-Wan cut his arm off. Watch again when he walks up to the bar. It's his arm.

 

The arm is Ponda Babba's. In the novel, Dr. Evazan (who is a very bad doctor; if you're that interested, go visit Adam_Bertocci's website The chopped-off hands of Star Wars to find out what happened to them next.) is bisected from head to groin and peels apart.

 

You can see Baba's real flipper arm in Behind The Magic CD.

Besides the ANH novel, in the EU, Evazan's chest or stomach was injured by Ben's lightsaber.

 

Heh heh..the look on Ben's face after he cuts em up is priceless.

[image=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y137/Chrlsgain/vlcsnap-6332609.png]

"Anyone else want to try?"

 

As it was originally shot, the severing of Ponda Baba's arm was done in a single take. However, it didn't look as good that way so they did an insert shot of a different arm as a cutaway. That arm was different from the flippers that Baba should have had though. You can see some shots from the first cut here, including an image of Baba's original severed arm.

 

^ ^ ^ Awesome. Thanks for the link.