I had a thought last night. I remembered the scene where Obi-Wan died in Star Wars, and that George said it hadn't been that way until the last moment. Originally Ben got away, leaving Vader "with egg on his face," but, aside from Ben not having anything else to do, George thought it took away from the menace of Vader, so that's why Vader kills him. But then I thought about that. Does it really increase the menace of Vader if Ben just randomly gives up and lets Vader kill him? Yes, it was meant to make Ben seem more powerful, more in control, and it succeeded at that, but it doesn't seem like it makes Vader more menacing to play into Ben's hands. I thought that maybe it would have been more powerful if Vader had really gotten the upper hand in the fight, had Ben's back to a wall, and the confrontation seemed lost. Not go so far as to have Ben on the ground about to beg for mercy, but just in a corner, maybe disarmed, and, rather than struggle, gives in to his fate. Then it would serve both sides of making Vader menacing and formidable while still retaining Ben's dignity. What do you think?
But then, in between thinking of that and writing this thread, I remembered that there was a bit more danger than I remembered. He was surrounded by Stormtroopers at the end. I'd almost forgotten about that! He was cornered! He was trapped! It was pretty much exactly as I'd wanted it. But THEN I remembered that... these are Imperial Stormtroopers. They suck! In the prequels, Obi-Wan routinely fought his way single-handedly through regiments of droids and clones without breaking a sweat. He even stupidly jumped into a ring of battle droids and General Grievous in ROTS.
But, Gaffer, you will scoff. Those are the prequels. They're just ridiculous, they represent a different mindset than the original film, and we try to pretend they don't exist! Good point. What about the sequels then, where the heroes also mow down hoardes of Stormtroopers while only sustaining a single injury (Leia's arm)? Most of the time, they didn't even have laser-blocking lightsabers! Come to think of it, isn't ROTJ the first time we ever see a lightsaber used for that purpose? I think it is.
But, Gaffer, Anchorhead will scoff. Those are the sequels. They're just ridiculous, they represent a different mindset than the first film, and I try to pretend they don't exist! Good point. What about the first film then, when Han and Chewie manages to chase down an entire regiment of stormtroopers for a little bit? Still seems like the all-powerful Jedi might be able to manage something even in the context of the first film alone.
So while I'm on the subject of stormtroopers, how about stealth? Apparently they're supposed to represent some kind of a threat since Ben tries to stay in the shadows and avoid confrontation while he's on the Death Star. I suppose the only other time that really happens is in ROTJ when the rebels are trying to get to the shield generator undetected. But that fails, and they spend most of their time killing any imperials who happen to see them. I always wondered how that managed to work. They were there for a whole day. I find it hard to believe that none of the commanding officers found it suspicious that dozens of men never bothered to check in...
Well, anyway, those are some observations of mine. My fingers are sore now.