thejediknighthusezni said:
1.) The rebels have transport ships.- No problem there. But what if, instead, the viewers are tipped off by a pre-battle cut to the control center. A voice on the receiver says "Transports 3 and 5 have landed. We need the loadmasters, NOW!" Then a quick shot of the ships. An opportunity to increase the tension and sense of urgency? Better than leia's simple reveal that they have transports?
The fact that the Rebels have transport ships is established well before Leia's speech.
Rebel Officer: "Groups 7 and 10 will stay behind to fly the Speeders. As soon as each transport is loaded, Evacuation Control will give clearance for immediate launch."
(Hey look! What are those things behind the Rebel Officer... could those be "Rebel Transport Ships"?)
During Luke's conversation with 2-1B:
2-1B: "Sir, it will take quite a while to evacuate the T-47s."
Luke: "Well, forget the heavy equipment, there's plenty of time to get the smaller modules on the transports."
2.) The fighters will be guarding the transports.- That's a little bit "Duh" once we know they have transports. What else would the fighters be doing? Sightseeing? Could save that reveal for first launch.
The point of her dialogue was that there would ONLY be TWO fighter escorts per ship. This implies that there usually were normally a larger amount of escorts.
3.) There are only two fighters per transport.- "Oh no! it's almost hopeless!" Good idea, but does it help all that much? Doesn't everybody already think that they are vastly outmatched?
The pilot's response, "Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?!" shows that he was poopin' his pants at the thought. It certainly raised his level of dramatic tension.
4.) They have an "Ion Cannon" powerful enough to blow star destroyers out of the way.- This is where they blew off far more tension than they had managed to build up with "Two fighters..." "Oh, it might be okay. they can beat back enormous star destroyers." Pre-battle, what if, instead, we hear a voice on the PA saying "Prepare for ion cannon test." then a quick shot of the cannon traversing and extending the gun? "Oh, they've got some kind of 'Ion Cannon'. Is it enough to help them at all? Is it going to be some kind of pea-shooter? Just a futile, vainglorious gesture?" That tension would build up all the way to the star destroyers spinning out of their path.
Thanks to Kersh's direction and the tight editing, the Ion Cannon reveal has all the tension you could hope for. We have heard the Ion Cannon mentioned, but we don't know, we haven't seen what it will really do. The tension of the battle begins with the rebel snow soldiers looking to the horizon...
...then to the entrance of Echo Base
...then into the Command Center "Prepare to open shield!"
...2 X-Wings escort a Transport
...Star Destroyer bears down on Hoth "Good, our first catch of the day!"
..."Standby Ion Control.......... FIRE!"
If you don't think that sequence puts you on the edge of your seat, I don't know what to tell you.
Actually, I liked the 'Joan of Arc 14 year old girl leading the assault on the castle.' I didn't think the acting was that important (N.P. became quite a good actress by ROTS.) That and the sabre duel were the two brighter spots in TPM. The big problem was pre-battle. Stiff mattered there, and her only military advisor was...JAR-JAR??!... WTF??! A big problem is costume. At least Padame wore something from a very different time and place. Leia looks just precisely like she's going to snap on her ski's and head for the chairlift.
As a leader of the Rebel Alliance, Leia would be well briefed on military matters. She's more than qualified to deliver a briefing and may have done so to provide more motivation for the troops. Did Eisenhower need to go visit troops before D-Day? No, but I bet you the troops who saw him before they went to Normandy never forgot it.
Who of us would not fight for that Princess?
Oh, and unlike the ridiculous costumes that Padme wore, Leia's costumes actually made sense in Empire Strikes Back. They were realistic, functional and she looked DAMN HOT in them!
But this storm I've managed to kick up (I like it. Pissed off makes better points :-) has got me thinking. Compromise? Would the 21 year old snowbunny tellin' the 55 year old General the business in "Two transports...", together with taking over the C.C. after it's hit, be enough to satisfy the 'Joan of Arc' thing?
I might be able to handle that, but the 'Hanger Briefing' is a hopeless mess for several other reasons I could mention. To that I say "NI', NI',NI'!"
Hopeless mess? Only to you.
Compromise? Are you kidding?
Your suggestions sound like something Lucas and his sychophants would do and we don't serve their kind here!
