SW just is not my cup of "Earl Grey, black" (nor is Picard). I own all the
movies on DVD in their original and remastered forms, own most of the Lego
models, all of the visual encyclopedias, the Micro Machines, the game
versions that had come out through 1995, and like to look at the beautiful
visual realizations. But looking at it all does not trip the circuit in my
brain that says, "the technical and operational details carry through all
of this stuff in a consistent way." Nor should they, for they weren't
intended to.
And my swipes at George Lucas are unkind and miss the point. He did not
intend to create a technically consistent SF universe, and good thing too,
as none of us can. As Roddenberry (another not my cup of tea) said about
Lost in Space, (paraphrase) "It achieves what it sets out to do: it tells
an adventure story." George Lucas has achieved more than I ever will, and
more power to him for having the tenacity to stick to his vision.
> How many times were the mile long ships taken out by a hit to the
bridge?
> I can really only recall the A-wing hitting the Super Star Destroyer
at
> Endor. It wasn't really destroyed, it just veered a bit out of control and
> collided with the Death Star. I chalk the big fireball boiling out of
the
> Death Star as poetic license but imagine the ship itself was still
relatively intact. At least until the Death Star blows up. :D
>
> WRT main battery, maybe that should be qualified as age of steam
pre-Dreadnought conception... if not Age of Sail style. The main
weapons
> definitely aren't enclosed like on a Galleon but I think the
> early-intermediate age of steam would be closer to the mark than most of
the 20th century examples. Novelization treated it much better.
> Conventional wisdom is described as almost Traveller-eque with fighting
> BVR. They went point blank at Endor as an extremely unconventional
tactic
> to avoid the Death Star. Even then Ackbar's inclination is to retreat
and
> only stays with it as going all in on their strategic goal and verbally
concedes the tactical situation.
>
> I think there is a slight difference in tone with Empire, but it's
despite
> Lucas and not as much what he wanted. Incidentally, the situation with
Kirshner led to Lucas' issue with the Writers Guild. The famous
refrain:
>
> "The Hollywood unions have been taken over by the same lawyers and
accountants who took over the studios," Lucas says angrily. "When the
Writers Guild was on strike, I couldn't cross the picket line in my
function as a director in order to take care of American Graffiti when
the
> studio was chopping it up. I quit the Director's Guild because the union
lawyers were locked in a traditional combat with the studio lawyers. The
union doesn't care about it's members. It cares about making fancy rules
that sound good on paper and are totaly impractical. They said Lucasfilm
was a personal credit, not a corporate credit. My name is not George
Lucasfilm any more than William Fox's name was Twentieth Century-Fox. On
that technicality, they sued me for $250,000. You can pollute half the
Great Lakes and not get fined that much. When the DGA threatened to fine
Kershner $25,000, we paid his fine. I consider it extortion. The day
after
> I settled with the Director's Guild, the Writers Guild called up. At
least
> their fine didn't go all into the business agents' pockets. Two-thirds went
> to writers."
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=P2P7pwHeZSkC&pg=PA139
>
movies on DVD in their original and remastered forms, own most of the Lego
models, all of the visual encyclopedias, the Micro Machines, the game
versions that had come out through 1995, and like to look at the beautiful
visual realizations. But looking at it all does not trip the circuit in my
brain that says, "the technical and operational details carry through all
of this stuff in a consistent way." Nor should they, for they weren't
intended to.
And my swipes at George Lucas are unkind and miss the point. He did not
intend to create a technically consistent SF universe, and good thing too,
as none of us can. As Roddenberry (another not my cup of tea) said about
Lost in Space, (paraphrase) "It achieves what it sets out to do: it tells
an adventure story." George Lucas has achieved more than I ever will, and
more power to him for having the tenacity to stick to his vision.
> How many times were the mile long ships taken out by a hit to the
bridge?
> I can really only recall the A-wing hitting the Super Star Destroyer
at
> Endor. It wasn't really destroyed, it just veered a bit out of control and
> collided with the Death Star. I chalk the big fireball boiling out of
the
> Death Star as poetic license but imagine the ship itself was still
relatively intact. At least until the Death Star blows up. :D
>
> WRT main battery, maybe that should be qualified as age of steam
pre-Dreadnought conception... if not Age of Sail style. The main
weapons
> definitely aren't enclosed like on a Galleon but I think the
> early-intermediate age of steam would be closer to the mark than most of
the 20th century examples. Novelization treated it much better.
> Conventional wisdom is described as almost Traveller-eque with fighting
> BVR. They went point blank at Endor as an extremely unconventional
tactic
> to avoid the Death Star. Even then Ackbar's inclination is to retreat
and
> only stays with it as going all in on their strategic goal and verbally
concedes the tactical situation.
>
> I think there is a slight difference in tone with Empire, but it's
despite
> Lucas and not as much what he wanted. Incidentally, the situation with
Kirshner led to Lucas' issue with the Writers Guild. The famous
refrain:
>
> "The Hollywood unions have been taken over by the same lawyers and
accountants who took over the studios," Lucas says angrily. "When the
Writers Guild was on strike, I couldn't cross the picket line in my
function as a director in order to take care of American Graffiti when
the
> studio was chopping it up. I quit the Director's Guild because the union
lawyers were locked in a traditional combat with the studio lawyers. The
union doesn't care about it's members. It cares about making fancy rules
that sound good on paper and are totaly impractical. They said Lucasfilm
was a personal credit, not a corporate credit. My name is not George
Lucasfilm any more than William Fox's name was Twentieth Century-Fox. On
that technicality, they sued me for $250,000. You can pollute half the
Great Lakes and not get fined that much. When the DGA threatened to fine
Kershner $25,000, we paid his fine. I consider it extortion. The day
after
> I settled with the Director's Guild, the Writers Guild called up. At
least
> their fine didn't go all into the business agents' pockets. Two-thirds went
> to writers."
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=P2P7pwHeZSkC&pg=PA139
>