Question: Both David Bowers and Jerome Blake play Mas Amedda in this movie. Are there any noticeable differences in appearance between each actor playing him?
Question: Before the movie came out, I read about a possible scene where Anakin calls Obi-Wan "Ben". Was this in a deleted scene, or did Anakin ever call him "Ben" in any of the SW books?
Answer: Not that I've seen or read. There's no indication that Obi-Wan began to use the name until he went into exile (but was seen using it to discreetly contact the council while posing as a convict in an episode of The Clone Wars).
The Clone Wars actually rectifies this, it's revealed that "Ben" was a nickname Obi-Wan picked up from Dutchess Satine in their youth.
Question: In some of the fight scenes in the Star Wars movies, and other ones, one of the people fighting will quickly twirl/spin around. Is there any reason for doing that move?
Answer: If you are talking about the light sabre fights, that is a sword fighting move that some fighters will use. Occasionally, a sword fighter will find himself in a weak position that would give the opponent an easy strike to move in a more conventional way. The spin is a way to strike while putting distance between yourself and your opponent. I have some experience in Japanese katana fighting and the spin is not a move I like because it puts your back to the opponent - but it is useful in the right conditions. And it looks exciting - which is probably why they used it in Star Wars.
Question: What exactly happens to the bodies of the Separatist leaders during the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight on Mustafar. When they first enter the control room fighting, the floor remains littered with the corpses from earlier (Nute Gunray most prominently visible). Yet as the fight progresses the Separatists' bodies either shift position or partially/completely disappear in the scene. Is there a logical explanation for this or is this simply a digital error and thus a visual mistake?
Answer: I'd say its most likely just a lazy mistake. Unless all the vibrations on the planet surface moved them around, or one of the Jedi moved them using the force during their fight (unlikely).
Question: Knowing that every other major character from the original trilogy (IV, V, and VI) who was old enough (even Jabba) had a cameo of some sort in the new trilogy, is there anywhere in the movie that Han Solo appears? I know he's several years older than Luke (he always calls Luke 'kid'), and Luke was just being born in the end of episode III, so Han was definitely alive then.
Answer: No, he's not in there. He'd only be about 10 years old at the time and living as a thief and pickpocket on an old trading vessel plying the spacelanes near Corellia - as the storyline never goes anywhere near there, there's no way that they could have got him into the story, even if they'd wanted to.
Question: Is it me, or is there a different cut between the theatrical and DVD versions regarding the birth scene? I remember more shots of the baby children. Specifically, one of Leia, who has her eyes wide open. This shot is mentioned in the Making-Of book. The shot is important series-wise, because this is how Leia is able to remember her mother (as mentioned in RotJ). However, it is absent from the DVD.
Answer: There is no difference in the two scenes.
Question: In Episode II, the symbols on the Republican ships had eight spikes on them. In this episode, there are only six. Why did the symbol change? It cannot be due to the forming of the Empire because we can see the changed symbols early in the movie, before the Empire is formed.
Chosen answer: The symbol seen in Episode II is the general all-purpose symbol of the Republic. The symbol seen in Episode III (which also happens to be the symbol of the Empire) is the designation for wartime. War was only declared at the end of Episode II, the old symbols had simply not been repainted.
Question: An Easter egg is mentioned that you highlight THX and enter 11,3,8 to get a clip. But when I enter this, nothing happens. In fact, I can only enter up to 3 digits at a time, not 4. How do you exactly unlock this clip?
Question: What happened to General Grievous? Was he badly injured and put inside a droid-ish body?
Answer: That's pretty much it, yes. Grievous originally refused to take up the leadership of the Seperatist armies, so Dooku secretly planted a bomb on a shuttle carrying Grievous leaving behind enough evidence to implicate the Republic in the assassination attempt. The critically injured Grievous was then reconstructed into his cyborg form by the Geonosians. Filled with rage directed towards the Republic that he thought had maimed him, Grievous finally agreed to lead the Seperatist forces in battle.
Question: One of the deleted scenes shows a number of politicians discussing with Padme how they wish to form a rebellion. One of the characters is played by Ahmed Best. In Episode II, Ahmed Best has a cameo at the night club on Coruscant. Had the scene of the discussion of the formation of the Rebel Alliance not been deleted, would Ahmed Best's character have been the same between the two movies?
Chosen answer: It's unlikely. Best's appearance in Episode II was fleeting, to say the least. Had he been intended to be a character with greater significance in Episode III, then he's undoubtedly have been given more than just a brief shot in the middle of a crowd. The character being referred to in the question is in fact Giddean Danu, Senator for Kuat and he was played by Christopher Kirby not Ahmed Best.
Question: I am just curious as to how they make the lightsaber clashing sound. It's the sound made when General Grevious turns on his lightsabers, in Ep. II right before Obi Wan is cut by Dooku's lightsaber, and in Ep. IV whenever Darth Vader and Obi Wan clash their lightsabers and hold it together. It's a shhhhh, clickity, clickity, clack, clack. I just was wondering.
Answer: It is metal on dry ice and the ignition of carbon arc lamps used in old movie projectors (sounds strange but true!).
Question: The end of the movie, where Luke is brought to Tatooine, is often jokingly referred to as "The Harry Potter scene." However, every time I hear the tunes played at the exact moment Obi-Wan hands the baby to Beru, I can't help thinking about the Harry Potter theme. Was this done on purpose by John Williams, who also composed the music of the Harry Potter movies?
Answer: According to IMDb: "Composer John Williams included a small 11-tone musical cue in the scene reminiscent of his score for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). It can be heard when Obi-Wan arrives at Owen and Beru's house."
Question: If Padme is pregnant when she first greets Anakin, why wouldn't he be able to feel it? The scene that takes place later shows Padme with a big belly, wouldn't he have noticed?
Chosen answer: The film takes place over a considerable period of time, as Palpatine works on turning Anakin, Anakin grows increasingly dissatisfied with the Jedi Council, the search for Grevious goes on and so forth. There's enough time for Padme to have only had a relatively small pregnancy bump in the early scenes.
Question: Why are the tips of the lightsabers in this movie pointed? In the original trilogy and the other prequels, they've always had rounded tips.
Answer: They've always been pointed, it just depends on what angle you view the blade from.
Question: Obi-Wan says to Anakin- "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." Isn't this line an "absolute" as well?
Answer: Not really - it's just a factual statement. The term 'absolute' tends to mean things like good and evil, life and death, that sort of thing, rather than simple facts like what Obi-wan says.
Question: Who is exactly in charge? In ANH it seemed that GM Tarkin was Darth Vader's superior, but in Episode III, Darth Vader seemed to be above Tarkin. Who has been mentioned to be a General at this time?
Answer: Vader's military rank is unclear - it may be that he has no official rank and is therefore not technically part of the command structure. However, as the personal representative of the Emperor, he holds an enormous amount of personal power within the Empire and, as we see, can have military units assigned to do his bidding. Most officers will respect that power (plus his tendency to kill those who displease him) and will show him the proper subservience - just as we see the younger Tarkin show deference to the Emperor and Vader in Episode 3. By the time of Episode 4, however, Tarkin has advanced to become one of the most highly-ranked officers in the Empire, has acquired considerable personal power of his own and is held in high esteem by the Emperor himself. All of which serves to put him on the same sort of level as Vader himself, allowing him to skip the fawning and grovelling. In Episode 4, Vader is on the Death Star, Tarkin's command, so the Grand Moff has the ultimate say in what goes on there, although, as we see, he does follow Vader's suggestions, even when he has his own misgivings.
Question: How long did Darth Sidious keep Darth Maul, Tyrannus, and Vader on as apprentices?
Chosen answer: We have no particularly accurate way of telling how long Maul was his apprentice, although it's stated that Maul was trained as a Sith from a very young age, so it was probably some considerable time. As far as we know, Tyranus became the apprentice after Maul's death, so he held the position for roughly thirteen years. Vader then took over, holding the position until the events of Return of the Jedi, a period of about twenty-two years.
Question: Considering that only Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa knew the truth about Luke and Leia's existence, do we know if Bail told his wife about the truth of Leia's background? Also, in episode IV, when Owen says, "That's what I'm afraid of," in response to Beru's comment that Luke has too much of his father in him, it seems to imply that he knows that Anakin is Vader, and that Vader is Luke's father. So how much of Luke's background did Obi-Wan reveal to Owen and Beru?
Answer: I think it's fairly unlikely that Obi-Wan told Owen and Beru everything - had he told them the truth, they might well have refused to take Luke. Owen is obviously aware that Anakin was a Jedi Knight, from their encounter in Episode 2, and he's also aware that the Jedi have been hunted down and exterminated. With this in mind, a more likely interpretation of his statement is that he worries that Luke will learn about his true heritage somehow and start learning about the Force. This could easily have the effect of bringing him to the attention of the Empire, which would probably end with his death. Owen's simply concerned that he'll get himself killed on some adventure or other, which is probably what he thinks happened to Anakin.
Question: We've only seen Sith like Dooku and Palpatine generate force lightning. We've also seen Jedi like Yoda, Mace Windu, and Obi-Wan repel it, but not generate force lightning, so is force lightning a weapon used only by the Sith?
Answer: Yes force lightning is a dark side power. Dark side powers are aggressive in nature (like the choke hold or force lightning) while light side powers are defensive.
Question: If I wanted to read about the events that took place between III and IV, what would be the most accurate and authorized book or series of books to read?
Chosen answer: There aren't any at the moment, as the books have been under orders to stay away from that time period. There will, however, be books coming out in the near future that deal with that timeframe.
Answer: No. The make-up required for the character is extremely comprehensive, covering the entire face in prosthetics. As such, any differences would be hidden by the make-up.
Tailkinker ★