It was a shot-for-shot ripoff of the chariot race from ben Hur,according to my film student friends.
it's been a number of years since i've seen Ben Hur, but i'd believe that. and, though i'm a bit ashamed to admit it, i spent many happy hours playing the pod-racing video game (it's the first good Star Wars game LucasArts has made since TIE Fighter, with the possible exception of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight FPS series)
but your point is well taken.
Constantly using the force to hold your saber would, IMO, distract you from fighting.
hrm. one might also argue that constantly remembering to keep my own hand closed would distract me from fighting, but personal experience tells me otherwise.
on the other hand, i notice that Yoda and Mace Windu never seemed to drop THEIR sabers. perhaps the junior Jedi just aren't bad-ass enough. :)
If a saber leaves the user's hands, it shuts off.
you may have bested me on a point of canon here, ari... i thought i remembered Luke throwing his saber around in one of the Timothy Zahn books, and those were supposed to be Lucas-sanctioned, i thought? perhaps i am wrong.
and besides, i'd think that if there were some sort of grip safety mechanism, similar to that of a lawnmower or something, it should be possible to hold it closed using the Force.
mmmm, geeky debate... :) don't get me wrong, though - i thought attack of the clones was phenomenal. it's only because i take it seriously that i'm inclined to nitpick.
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Date: 2002-05-21 09:28 am (UTC)it's been a number of years since i've seen Ben Hur, but i'd believe that. and, though i'm a bit ashamed to admit it, i spent many happy hours playing the pod-racing video game (it's the first good Star Wars game LucasArts has made since TIE Fighter, with the possible exception of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight FPS series)
but your point is well taken.
Constantly using the force to hold your saber would, IMO, distract you from fighting.
hrm. one might also argue that constantly remembering to keep my own hand closed would distract me from fighting, but personal experience tells me otherwise.
on the other hand, i notice that Yoda and Mace Windu never seemed to drop THEIR sabers. perhaps the junior Jedi just aren't bad-ass enough. :)
If a saber leaves the user's hands, it shuts off.
you may have bested me on a point of canon here, ari... i thought i remembered Luke throwing his saber around in one of the Timothy Zahn books, and those were supposed to be Lucas-sanctioned, i thought? perhaps i am wrong.
and besides, i'd think that if there were some sort of grip safety mechanism, similar to that of a lawnmower or something, it should be possible to hold it closed using the Force.
mmmm, geeky debate... :) don't get me wrong, though - i thought attack of the clones was phenomenal. it's only because i take it seriously that i'm inclined to nitpick.
-steve