Why Is Red Leader Laughing Before He Dies?

Does anyone have any ideas why Red Leader is laughing when he is about to die?, he's all "yaaay!" when he is going down with his X-Wing. I have always found that part a little odd, he must have had a very wierd sense of humor to find his own death amusing.

 

I don't see it as laughing. It was more of a scream but the actor wasn't talented enough to pull it off properly. Either that, or someone on the crew was pulling faces at him all the way through the shot

 

I always thought of it as kind of a "defiance yell"... yelling in the face of death as you know death is reaching for you.

 

Exactly, Indigo.. me as well. I always heard it as "Yaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!" ... *boom*

 

Agreed. It's bravado he's expressing, not laughter.

 

You are probaly right, it sounds more like "yaaah!", but there's some "yeaaah!" there. And it must be a defiance yell, not laughter, as Indigo said.

 

I agree with DarthButt. He doesn't laugh.

 

I always seen it he's like kinda laughing in defiance like Indigo said.

It's kinda like he's laughing in death's face, or it's a victory laugh. In the Empire's face, y'know? 'You may have killed me, but we're about to take down your death star.'

 

I don't see that as laughing. It's just a messed up way of him screaming. The only person who has a smile during that battle is Han when he screams "Yoohoo".

 

It's a defiant scream.

 

He's making that sound because he's "evacuating" into his flight suit.

 

Which is funny. Hence the laughing.

 

He is screaming in defiance because even know he knows that he is about to die he belives that the Rebel Fighters will be successfull and will destroy the Death Star which is correct but only because of Han Solo's simple trick and nonsense attack on Darth Vaders fighter and his two wingmen like that, Red Leader is an older man and knows that they have everything to lose and that it is all or nothing at all,he knows that everyone knows the Death Stars weakness now and knows that they will destroy it or at least go down fighting, he goes down fighting himself and is happy because of it, he screams in pain and joy because even though he is dying he is defiant and fighting and not getting blown up from behind like a fool in combat, he is taken down after a long drawn out attack and cannot stop it but does some dammage before he is killed and that is like a slap in the face to the Empire and he knows that.

 

He's screaming out of fear.

 

I was.

 

I always took his scream to mean that he was saying, "You can kill me, but you can't defeat me."

 

Exactly, his death is meaningless compared to the destruction of the DS and therefore the first steps to defeating the galatic Empire.

 

I always thought he was screaming out of fear.

The thought of him laughing insanely because he finds it funny caused me to laugh out loud in turn.

 

Another aspect of it is the inspirational effect he was trying to have on the remaining pilots - who otherwise might have had very negative morale given the dire state of their mission and the near-annihilation of their squadrons. He was showing defiance for his own sake and for the sake of Luke, Biggs, and Wedge.

The positive spirit, resolve, and sense of purpose that Luke's tone of voice indicates in the very next moment, when he says, "Biggs, Wedge, let's close it up -- we're going in, and we're going in full throttle" is consistent with this.