MovieChat Forums > Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) Discussion > Couldn't Dooku and Obi Wan defeat Anakin...

Couldn't Dooku and Obi Wan defeat Anakin/Vader by turning off his prostetic arm with the force?

posted 5 years ago by [deleted]
37 replies | jump to latest

Seems he would be an easy target to defeat if he had to fight one handed. Was this considered an act of cowardness or something?

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[–] Ace_Spade (9576) 5 years ago

I've never understood why they don't force flick their opponent's lightsabre switch. Big overhead swing, and just as they raise their sabre to block, you just go "click", their blade no longer exists, and you bisect them.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Yeah. Force users can see a bit into the future though so they might avoid the blow. Would be funny if this happened to both opponents and they had to just fight with their fists instead :-D

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[–] Karl Aksel (1487) 4 years ago

That'd be like a TV with two remotes, and two brothers battling over what to watch.

"Hey, stop that!"
"You stop that!"
"I'm serious, cut it out!"
"Make me."
"I'm telling!"

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[–] Ace_Spade (9576) 4 years ago

It could be a unique and interesting duel in Star Wars flick. Jedi using their powers to mess around with each other's weapons.

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[–] Ace_Spade (9576) 5 years ago

But maybe robot limbs are similar to human limbs? They don't marionette each other around either...

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

How similar they might be they are still devices with technology. When Vader is struck down by Luke it's just normal wires and crap inside. Doesn't look to complicated. Neither does Luke's replacement hand. They don't marionette around each other because you would need to control the opponents whole brain which is probably extremely hard to do to another force user.

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[–] Ace_Spade (9576) 5 years ago

Yeah...maybe the circuits and gears are integrated somehow, like a real cyborgy thing? So, maybe shutting down an electric limb is no easier or harder than shutting down a regular limb...?

At the end of the day, it's space wizard tech. It's just workin' for the story.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

They could've probably explained away this easily with a few simple lines about how those mechanical limbs works. At least that would be better then just leaving this potential weakness ignored by everyone.

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[–] Costumer (1824) 5 years ago

I'm not sure why everyone seems to want every minor detail explicitly explained to them. That is generally a mark of poor writing. Letting the audience deduce their own reasons and filling in any blanks engages the audience in the story.

As for this question, an answer is easily implied.

It is just as easy for Vader to keep his parts going with the force as it is for Dooku or Obi-Wan to turn them off.

Another easy answer: it is far too difficult to focus on small, intricate parts while in a fight. Brute force telekinesis while fighting is easy. Fine tuning is not.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Sometimes you should explain things and sometimes you should not. If leaving out an explanation makes the characters seem stupid then you should bring it up.

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[–] Costumer (1824) 5 years ago

Since I don't think not saying anything makes them look stupid, nothing should be said. Indeed, I would consider them telling us "why" would be implying that we, the audience, are stupid for not being able to interpret a simple explanation.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I don't think they wanted us to think about it ourselves, i think they were just lazy and didn't care, why would they explain the midichlorians and have all this endless political nonsense and other exposition in there but suddenly they can't offer 10 seconds to talk about his arm. I think to believe they left out these details on purpose is to give George Lucas too much credit in his writing.

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[–] Costumer (1824) 5 years ago

You are speculating. The issue of "turning off" Vader's artificial parts can be said to be an issue since the very first film. It was never addressed. Why would it suddenly become an issue in Revenge of the Sith?

I never liked the midichlorians. I do believe it was an unnecessary explanation that cheapens the entire concept of the force.

The politics is not nonsense. Politics is always going to be an issue in any situation. The entire arc of the prequel sequels encompass both the origin of Vader and the fall of the Republic into the Empire. You cannot address the latter without politics.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Vader never fought any exceptionally skilled fighters in the OT except Obi Wan who didn't even intend to win. Luke might have had the ability in ROTJ but neither wanted to kill the other at that point. Most of the politics wasn't needed. It could've just been happening in the backgrund while telling the story of Anakin and Vader. Instead it was drawn out over all the films and overshadowed everything. What they actually talk about could be narrowed down to a few minutes of dialogue. It's even in the opening crawl. The worst example of exposition in cinema history.

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[–] Costumer (1824) 5 years ago

We will have to agree to disagree. Certainly by Return of the Jedi Luke would have been skilled enough. I'm sorry, your complaint simply doesn't, in my view, rise to even needing a minor comment.

As for the politics, I liked the politics. Saying it just should happen in the background indicates you prefer stories without subtlety, complexity or completeness.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I don't like to have things done more complicated then they have to be. As RedLetterMedia said in their reviews: "Dont' waste my time." If it isn't absolutely necessary for the story then remove it. Story telling 101. Also don't leave things out if it makes things seem illogical. Completely ignoring a huge weakness in your opponent does that in my opinion.

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[–] Costumer (1824) 5 years ago

As I said, we will have to agree to disagree. In my view the politics are absolutely necessary. A republic falling into an empire is far more complex than a rebellion. The OT could get away with most of the politics being off screen. This trilogy cannot.

Again, the weakness issue, which I've never seen anyone bring up before (which is not a blanket statement that it hasn't been addressed by others) is so simply addressed that it IS unnecessary.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I would have liked to see it adressed at least briefly, but i agree we have to agree to disagree.

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[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

Yeah, but he's just Force-strangle you if you did!

Or bite your leg off, like Monty Python's Black Knight...

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I'm not sure force strangle works on other force users. It would be hilarious if he started biting in the legs though XD

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[–] TheDuke007 (17) 5 years ago

Where's the honor in that?

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Yeah, i was thinking it might be an honor kind of thing, i'm not sure Dooku cared about honor when he was about to be decapitated though.

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[–] TheDuke007 (17) 5 years ago

Sith despise honor. Jedi ARE honored

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[–] arflexit (2376) 5 years ago

My interpretation, it seems to make extremely fine movements with the force required a lot of focus and attention; too much to do in the middle of fight when someone is coming at you with a lightsaber. I think it is that simple. It is not like moving a large object and just doing a quick blast or pull with the force. The larger the object or the finer the movement being made required greater strength concentration and ability. ObiWan and Anakin seemed to be more combat oriented jedi.

It would be interesting if the Emperor or Yoda could do stuff like that. I personally do not like what they did with Yoda and the Emperor having them lightsaber battle. It would be much cooler if they did more stuff like when Yoda knocks out the 2 imperial guards with a wave of his hand. That is how i saw yoda in the OT, not flipping around like a monkey, I thought that was so dumb.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

They sometimes stop and stare or talk when fighting so you could do it then i guess.

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[–] arflexit (2376) 5 years ago

They could try I guess; but usually they are caught up in the heat of the moment. If you think about most lightsaber battles; there is not a lot of talking, and if there is they are not in the middle of attacking. Think about Vader vs Luke in ROTJ; there is the part were Luke turns of his lightsaber and Vader walks up the stairs and tries attacking. Luke gets his defense up very quickly. I think that pulling a trick like switching off the lightsaber in the middle of fight is possible; but difficult and risky so they wouldn't normally try. Just my take on it though.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Yeah, it might be difficult, but it would pretty much guarantee you to win if you pulled it off. When you feel your enemy is too powerful to defeat in straight dueling it could save your life.

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[–] arflexit (2376) 5 years ago

I am enjoying this conversation. :)

Yes but it is a pretty risky "if". If you don't pull it off it pretty much guarantees you'd die (or at least lose). Fights of life and death are not like taking chances in a sports game or jousting (or paint balling). People are much more reserved on their actions when their life is on the line. This is why paint balling does not resemble real combat. If the risk is getting a painful shot of paint, you are more willing to risk exposure to get a better shot or position. in a real firefight your keep you ass down or it gets blown off. lol Same thing is being simulated in the lightsaber battles, they are real fights to the death (or dismemberment ;))

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

True, but if you are in a situation where you pretty much know you're gonna lose anyway you might as well try XD I'm sure Dooku regret not giving it a chance in his last moments. I'm sure he knew how to do it and he knew about his arm since he was the one to cut it off.

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[–] JlawsANormlHuman (847) 5 years ago

by that logic any sort of force choke or force attack would be an "easy target" against say organs

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Organs are a real part of the body and might be protected by the force. On a normal person it would obviously work since they can be choked but not on a force sensitive person.

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[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

This and the turning off the light saber are great questions almost to the point of being annoying.

Here is an observation: it appears you can't force choke or crush internal organs of a Force User. So, perhaps a Force Field is around a force user? That would stop you from dropping their pants, etc LOL

I think it's a plot hole for real but one that is needed, or my explanation about a force field is good. For real, you could make someone's pants come down, shoes untie, helmet spin around, eyelids close, etc and it would be a comedy not an adventure.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I never thought about the pants thing. That would throw anyone off no matter how skilled they might be :-D

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[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

It's too much!!!

I thought of the light saber switch thing after seeing this movie, and that's why the thread got my attention. But, the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it got, lol.

Pants, your hood, your eyelids, etc. It is too much and way to stupid, but fits the logic of the powers.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I see what you mean, it would be like a cartoon.

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[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

I was laughing to myself imagining it the other day.

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[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 5 years ago

Because he too has the force and can protect himself from such an attack.

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