Was Luke’s ROTJ Saber INTENDED To Be A GRAFLEX?
- Thread starter Captain Dunsel
- Start date
A very random and unwarranted statement.
It’s also illogical and inaccurate.
On the original topic of this thread:
I have this gut feeling that what Brandon wrote in the book is correct, it was initially supposed to be used.
I don’t remember if I’ve said this but not only did the merchandising make sure everyone knew whose lightsaber was whose, but the storyline itself was very romantic. The heirloom item being handed down, one that was custom made by the owner. A decent amount of the audience would’ve had a question imo
I have this gut feeling that what Brandon wrote in the book is correct, it was initially supposed to be used.
I don’t remember if I’ve said this but not only did the merchandising make sure everyone knew whose lightsaber was whose, but the storyline itself was very romantic. The heirloom item being handed down, one that was custom made by the owner. A decent amount of the audience would’ve had a question imo
amnesia0287
Active Member
I had never considered it before seeing the picture below, but it’s totally possible Luke’s saber is what is supposed to be inside the top of the graflex, as far as I know it’s not like we ever see one disassemble.
It only dawned on me when I saw the inside of the parks kylo hilt:
Not saying it’s a good answer, but it’s at least plausible.
I’ve always assumed he was just saying it was “a Jedi weapon“ like his father used “a jedi weapon” and a sign of the Jedi, but he corrupted them all the same. Plus let’s also not forget, OT emperor never used a saber and he kept trying to taunt Luke to use his ”Jedi weapon” to kill him. And as the prequels established he really hates the Jedi and loves nothing more than to spit in their faces. Even when they gave him sabers, they were pretentious/austentatious with fancy precious metals. The real question to me has always been, why did he hate the Jedi so much. It wasn’t like they stopped him from doing anything.
To be honest if any character in Star Wars really needs a prequel, it’s Palpatine. How did he hide from the Jedi but find a Sith master? Was he a politician or a Sith first? How did he get to his position without anyone noticing? It’s not as if people just ignore politicians. Not only did he find a master, get trained and then kill them, he even had time to take and raise an apprentice, and even recruited a Jedi master all the while no one ever noticed anything fishy at all. Where did he find all the time. In fact, how old was he even supposed to be in the prequels? Was he raised as a Jedi then turned and erased that identity? Or was he like Luke and Rey and only gained power later on?
Most importantly though, why does he hate the Jedi soooooo much? Cause he clearly hates them far more than Vader or Maul ever did. He had no issues doing whatever he wanted with the Jedi around, so why even bother getting rid of them, he already had them fighting a war for him. Then he made the inquisitors and purged every force sensitive person he could find. It certainly seems like it’s personal for him for some reason. it took a ton of time and planning, but his goal couldn’t have just been to wipe out the Jedi so he can chill on fully operational battlestations and blow up planets for reasons unknown. He seems to have wiped out the Jedi and created the empire all so he could retire? Did blowing up planets and wiping out the Jedi somehow make him stronger like, doing more evil or having fewer people to share the force with?
Oh, and how did he turn into a ghoul in just like 20-30 years?
It only dawned on me when I saw the inside of the parks kylo hilt:
Not saying it’s a good answer, but it’s at least plausible.
I’ve always assumed he was just saying it was “a Jedi weapon“ like his father used “a jedi weapon” and a sign of the Jedi, but he corrupted them all the same. Plus let’s also not forget, OT emperor never used a saber and he kept trying to taunt Luke to use his ”Jedi weapon” to kill him. And as the prequels established he really hates the Jedi and loves nothing more than to spit in their faces. Even when they gave him sabers, they were pretentious/austentatious with fancy precious metals. The real question to me has always been, why did he hate the Jedi so much. It wasn’t like they stopped him from doing anything.
To be honest if any character in Star Wars really needs a prequel, it’s Palpatine. How did he hide from the Jedi but find a Sith master? Was he a politician or a Sith first? How did he get to his position without anyone noticing? It’s not as if people just ignore politicians. Not only did he find a master, get trained and then kill them, he even had time to take and raise an apprentice, and even recruited a Jedi master all the while no one ever noticed anything fishy at all. Where did he find all the time. In fact, how old was he even supposed to be in the prequels? Was he raised as a Jedi then turned and erased that identity? Or was he like Luke and Rey and only gained power later on?
Most importantly though, why does he hate the Jedi soooooo much? Cause he clearly hates them far more than Vader or Maul ever did. He had no issues doing whatever he wanted with the Jedi around, so why even bother getting rid of them, he already had them fighting a war for him. Then he made the inquisitors and purged every force sensitive person he could find. It certainly seems like it’s personal for him for some reason. it took a ton of time and planning, but his goal couldn’t have just been to wipe out the Jedi so he can chill on fully operational battlestations and blow up planets for reasons unknown. He seems to have wiped out the Jedi and created the empire all so he could retire? Did blowing up planets and wiping out the Jedi somehow make him stronger like, doing more evil or having fewer people to share the force with?
Oh, and how did he turn into a ghoul in just like 20-30 years?
amnesia0287
Active Member
But why? The original movie established there were at least 3 distinct styles of lightsabers. It’s not that hard to believe there would be more. I actually like that lightsaber design seems to slowly degenerate from the old republic on. The old weapons were elegant and elaborate and expressive. Eventually reaching its peak in the high republic. Then in the prequel era, there seem to be many distinct styles of sabers, but only so many, and very few people with really unique sabers. But they still seemed like something carefully designed and precision machined. But following the fall of the republic, everything became very like military surplus slapped together macgyver sabers all the way up to Rey making her quarterstaff into a saber, though she did still seemingly do more engineering than any OT saber had lol.
Evolution of Luke's ROTJ saber -
Don't think like SW fans, think like filmmakers. Here's my guess:
1. Lucas & Marquand & Kazanjian during pre-production: "Luke is using his laser sword again in this new movie because of course he is. We'll give him another one somehow. Hey, maybe he builds himself another one for character & Jedi growth? Yeah, that works."
2. The production & marketing departments all proceed as if Luke is gonna have a Graflex again. That's Luke's lightsaber, right? Just like Han is gonna have his usual blaster even though Darth Vader bogarted the last one in Cloud City. Don't overthink this stuff.
3. Lucas & Marquand & Kazanjian consider the filmmaking problem: "How do we explain Luke having a lightsaber again so the audience doesn't get distracted when he whips it out? Umm, let's make the new one look different so there's no confusion." Lucas's comment in the Rinzler book doesn't indicate anything about the blade color. IMO he might have only been thinking about the metal hilt. Up to that time lightsabers only had two colors, blue or red. Good or evil.
4. Eventually it's time to shoot the sandstorm scene. The lightsaber problem finally reaches the front burner and has to be dealt with. (Lucas didn't think it all through earlier because he's busy with 46,000 other issues including his wife leaving him.) They end up grabbing one of the old ANH Obi-Wan hilts because it's convenient. Maybe Lucas has a passing thought: "Yeah, that's not bad. Luke's new saber is inspired by Obi-Wan's." Or maybe Lucas decided to give him the Obi-Wan style hilt before they started shooting but the prop department didn't get the message.
This explains the hilt change.
5. Finally, late in the game, they are cutting the preview trailer and they realize the blue saber blade is hard to follow against the Yuma sky. (They've been seeing concept art & marketing images for months. But this is the first time Lucas has actually been confronted with moving footage of the Yuma battle with the blue saber blade rotoscoped in. There was never a lightsaber scene in bright daylight during ANH or ESB.)
6. Lucas (or somebody else) finally has the brainstorm to change the blade color, and that kills two birds with one stone. Now the scene of Luke assembling the new saber isn't needed. The green color makes it obvious that it's not the Anakin saber. Everything is solved from a filmmaking POV and that's what matters. They probably spent 10 minutes thinking of in-universe explanations for the saber changes, and 10 hours making sure all the merchandise companies were alerted.
This might also explain the ROTJ poster image of the hands holding up an Obi-Wan hilt with a blue blade. In my timeline the hilt change happened several months before the blade color changed.
Don't think like SW fans, think like filmmakers. Here's my guess:
1. Lucas & Marquand & Kazanjian during pre-production: "Luke is using his laser sword again in this new movie because of course he is. We'll give him another one somehow. Hey, maybe he builds himself another one for character & Jedi growth? Yeah, that works."
2. The production & marketing departments all proceed as if Luke is gonna have a Graflex again. That's Luke's lightsaber, right? Just like Han is gonna have his usual blaster even though Darth Vader bogarted the last one in Cloud City. Don't overthink this stuff.
3. Lucas & Marquand & Kazanjian consider the filmmaking problem: "How do we explain Luke having a lightsaber again so the audience doesn't get distracted when he whips it out? Umm, let's make the new one look different so there's no confusion." Lucas's comment in the Rinzler book doesn't indicate anything about the blade color. IMO he might have only been thinking about the metal hilt. Up to that time lightsabers only had two colors, blue or red. Good or evil.
4. Eventually it's time to shoot the sandstorm scene. The lightsaber problem finally reaches the front burner and has to be dealt with. (Lucas didn't think it all through earlier because he's busy with 46,000 other issues including his wife leaving him.) They end up grabbing one of the old ANH Obi-Wan hilts because it's convenient. Maybe Lucas has a passing thought: "Yeah, that's not bad. Luke's new saber is inspired by Obi-Wan's." Or maybe Lucas decided to give him the Obi-Wan style hilt before they started shooting but the prop department didn't get the message.
This explains the hilt change.
5. Finally, late in the game, they are cutting the preview trailer and they realize the blue saber blade is hard to follow against the Yuma sky. (They've been seeing concept art & marketing images for months. But this is the first time Lucas has actually been confronted with moving footage of the Yuma battle with the blue saber blade rotoscoped in. There was never a lightsaber scene in bright daylight during ANH or ESB.)
6. Lucas (or somebody else) finally has the brainstorm to change the blade color, and that kills two birds with one stone. Now the scene of Luke assembling the new saber isn't needed. The green color makes it obvious that it's not the Anakin saber. Everything is solved from a filmmaking POV and that's what matters. They probably spent 10 minutes thinking of in-universe explanations for the saber changes, and 10 hours making sure all the merchandise companies were alerted.
This might also explain the ROTJ poster image of the hands holding up an Obi-Wan hilt with a blue blade. In my timeline the hilt change happened several months before the blade color changed.
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Sorry for digging up your 'old' post, Halliwax , but I would like to add something to this topic.
I do think too that teecrooz is right about Randy Johnson being the stand-in for Hamill at the day of the cave shooting. But Hamill DID shoot the scene himself. Don't ask me why he can't remember it, maybe he was a little fuzzy from the christmas drinks when they shot the scene after the christmas party.
But aside that one can see Hamill's face contoure in the shot when the camera moves up while Luke ignites his saber, there is this photograph still that most probably is from the cave scene, if you ask me:
Jabbas palace, I’ve seen other photos from this set
I agree with seeing his face though
I like logic
Dude…you are crossing streams with your franchises….
For this franchise, use “It is The Will of The Force that Hamill filmed the scene…” vs. “Logic dictates…”
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Dude…you are crossing streams with your franchises….
For this franchise, use “It is The Will of The Force that Hamill filmed the scene…” vs. “Logic dictates…”
View attachment 1728817
"The will of the Force" gave us Abrams killing both franchises.
I'll stick with Spock.
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