Nicholas J. Michalak said:
I'd like for the scale between the ships and the Death Star to be more apparent. This is mainly because the DS2 is larger than the first Death Star, and if this scale is anywhere remotely accurate, the crashing of the Executor into the DS2 would be nearly inconsequential to the overall structure.
The problem is, they put the Death Star next to a moon which makes it appear quite small. And that's just a moon. Next to a full size planet, it would look terribly puny. Maybe put the Death Star larger in more of the background space battle shots to make it more ominious as if it's overshadowing everything.
-NJM
I concur, as well as change the scale of Endor/the moon of Endor (?) to be smaller as compared to the DS2 (ie all shots of it in the sky the DS2 is twice as large; all shots in orbit it is 1/4th the size of Endor/the moon of Endor).
Of course, this would be bad for M.O.E. when it blows up, unless a scene is added showing the rebels trying to escape and the Emperor orders the DS2 to go after them, thus moving it away from Endor/MOE.
Also keep in mind that if "Endor" is a gas giant like Jupiter or Saturn (or Yavin), then MOE could be Earth or Mars sized. Still, I agree that if the DS2 is twice as big as DS1, this needs to be identified in some way on screen to visually depict this (show SDs coming out of hanger bays in the equatorial trench?).
Also also, since the Executor (as pointed out in the image above) is so small, especially compared to the DS2, maybe it could crash into the superlaser dish - thus even for it's relatively small size the impact would be in a critical place. That or develop a subplot where the "fully operational battle station" never needed the MOE shield device, which was a macguffin to draw the rebels out, and the Executor drops into the "under construction" part of the DS2, which in turns opens up the DS2 shields and allows fighters to go inside.
- if the "Executor rams the super laser dish " scene is created [and the Emperor's tower is put in the dead center of the SL dish], you could create a scene where the Emperor sees the Executor heading full speed for the dish/his tower. He orders the DS2 to fire, but the Executor is too close; the beams form a cage, as the pinpoint is above the Executor, which flies between the multiple beams going above it. The Emperor's eyes get bigger as it approaches, covered in fire (ala FLASH GORDON), but it rams the inside of the dish just before hitting the Emperor's tower.
- of course, there is nothing saying that each of the individual "outer rim" dish lasers could not fire independently on separate targets (ie they can converge into one, big super laser, or each of the lasers could act as 12 "ship killer" weapons, firing on 12 separate targets at once). Modified shots of the ion cannon in EMPIRE could be used to create the effect (ie the modified "ion cannon (minus the pointy laser gun part)" shown firing long, green pulses, with a smaller version in the background to the side, as the main battle rages in the background.
- on another side note, I agree with showing the B-wings in action, to depict just how much firepower they have (as well as to showcase the new fighter) - show them raking across an SD hull or even punching holes through one. The larger Calimari ships could have gattling lasers - the Rebels have to have SOMETHING to "keep them in the fight" without getting wiped out within seconds...
- you know, here's another idea. Who has to say that when the rebels sabotage the shield generator on MOE that it has to blow up? What if the DS2 had fully functional shields and never needed the MOE shield... rebels disarm it, but DS2 still has full shields up. Executor (whether Piett turns and purposefully rams DS2, or Executor just takes too much damage from ramming fire ships and the like) plows into the beam weapon dish, inadvertently taking it out. When Lando tells everyone he is entering the DS2 and heading to the reactor, Han and co. reactivate the MOE shield generator, which protects the planet from the DS2 explosion.
Can me crazy, but I would still love to see the DS2 rake its beam through the rebel and imperial fleet, with the Emperor laughing like a madman at the sheer carnage he is creating; Piett realizes the Emperor is targeting them all (in his mad attempt to destroy the rebels) and again, not that he "becomes the good guy and sides with the rebels" but is loyal to "Rome" not the emperor (who is threatening to destroy "Rome"), thus him ordering the fleet to attack the DS2, which leads to him making the sacrifice so rebel and TIE pilots both go in to destroy the reactor (with TIEs maybe leading the way, since they have a map/GPS of the DS2 internals).
Turn the Emperor into a Nero or Caligula, where the underlings realize the guy is just plain mad and needs to be stopped, which would lead to the Endor/MOE "imperial officer reluctantly shaking hands with rebel general ala Frtiz Lang's METROPOLIS." I could buy a more benevolent Emperor/leader being elected/selected (ie Caligula being replaced by Claudius, or Constantine making Christianity the official religion of Rome after hundreds of years of persecution, or even better still, something akin to the end of FLASH GORDON - General Dodonna or Mon Motha is made the new leader of the "new republic") and the Empire retaining its physical integrity and changing in mindset from the top-down, as opposed to believing that just because the Emperor died that the entire empire is going to be toppled...
Just saying....