Star Wars on Spike TV

[TheSon]

Has anyone who owns the new blurays seen the HD broadcasts on Spike this weekend. I don't think they are the new versions, but wanted to check. If this is all the better they came out, it is not worth the cash for he upgrade.

[Jesse James]

TPM Yoda was just the puppet so I don't think they played any of the BR's.

God TPM's tough to watch at times.

[TheSon]

Thanks, that is what I thought. I am hoping that I find this under he tree this year, but if what I am seeing on Spike was the standard I was going to make sure we did not waste the money. One thing is for sure, when these are on tv I can't stop myself from watching them.

[Scockery]

I always wind up watching a little bit of any of them when I surf by, if only to nitpick. 

Many viewings and years later, I still have no idea what Jar Jar Binks says to Anakin when they are in the Coruscant air speeder. 

in ROTS, Yoda is sitting right there in view when Mas Amedda contacts Bail Organa about the senate session...either Mas Amedda received audio only or he's an idiot. They could've just caught the two Jedi when they landed.

How does Kenobi knows to call Palpatine "the Emperor" when the Empire was just being declared at that time on Coruscant and Kenobi is on Mustafar?

[Jesse James]

I thought the exact same thing about Yoda/Obi on the ship with Bail but somehow invisible to Mas Ameda's facetime call.

[Scott]

How does Kenobi knows to call Palpatine "the Emperor" when the Empire was just being declared at that time on Coruscant and Kenobi is on Mustafar?

I believe that has been explained that Palpatine mentions the word Empire in the Jedi Recording playback

[Jesse James]

Yes.  He says something abuot going out to bring peace and order to the EMpire or something along those lines IIRC.

[Scockery]

Something I noticed a few times recently.

Why does Admiral Motti call General Tagge "Commander"?

"Dangerous to your starfleet, Commander, not to this battle station!"

He's a general, and generals wouldn't seem to command fleets...or would they in the SW universe...General Calrissian's first(?) act is to pilot a ship in fleet engagement.

Or did the ranks come after the movie was filmed?

[Jeff]

After the fact.  In the script, he was just "Commander Tagge", not General.

[Jesse James]

Plus, Commander's a pretty vague term...  Moff Jerjerrod is referred to as a Commander...  Tagge could just be the Commander of the sector in which the Death Star was being built.  He could be the Commander of the ground forces aboard the Death Star (assuming they have invasion forces or something like that aboard).

At least that's how I've always viewed the very liberal use of the term in the movies anyway.

[Scockery]

So, really the after the fact ranks  are what's wrong, like most EU stuff.  No one considered the dialouge exchange, that an admiral would be telling a general that the general's starfleet is at risk.

Yes, "commander" absolutely a liberally used term...one of the silly things...like that there seems to no ranks between captain and general in the Rebel Alliance, (there are, but none used onscreen) and the Alliance gives out general titles like they were party favors.

[Jesse James]

Well Lando seemed to have some kidn of implied experience...  Kind of weird though that they never get into that, but yeah.  Han, I dunno.  He was supposedly of some rank in the Empire of course but I never got the impression it was high enough to justify "general".  Then again Riekean loved him, so who knows.  Maybe that's all it takes...

To be fair, field commissions in military conflicts aren't all that uncommon in history though.  A man's experience in a previous war could often earn him immediate high rank, such as in the American Revolution, where leaders with any experience were in short supply.  But in Star Wars I kind of like to think the Alliance didn't have this shortage of experience, they just had a shortage of men in comparison to what they were facing, ya know?

I always have looked at Tagge's position though, as being over a greater force, including the aforementioned "Starfleet".  In WW2 for instance, Eisenhower was the Commander of the invasion forces for D-Day...  Including naval command, which had an Admiral in charge of it, but who answered to Eisenhower.  So a General can command all phases of a military operation, and I just assume Tagge's that kind of guy.  It's not really a bad explanation then when you think about it, but it's pretty typically covering up the "flaws" that turn up.

The only time I can think of the actual rank of Commander being used in the movies, or at least it seemed that way, was Luke being called "Commander Skywalker" by the troopers on Hoth.     There isn't really much mention of any rank outside of General when you think about it (I can only think of Captain Antilles being mentioned in ANH, and Cmdr. Skywalker in ESB), but there's also very little interaction with the lower soldiers either, except pilots....  well, that and the "Deck Officer".  Lots of implied rank I think, but nothing really ever said, anywhere.

Vader maybe mentions something in ANH aboard the Tantive IV to some of the guys he's chatting with but I can't recall off-hand if they're ever called by any specific rank, or possibly specific rank.

[Scockery]

That would be "Commander, tear this ship apart until you find those plans, and bring me the passengers...I want them alive!"

Again "commander". Is it any wonder Kenner called them Imperial commander, AT-AT Commander (even though that guy had an onscreen name and rank), Rebel Commander and the inaccurate Star Destroyer Commander?

[Jesse James]

I suppose his rank could've gone either way then...  The EU I think puts him at Commander though (isn't that Cmdr. Praji?  I forget).  But well, that's one at least other than Luke.

[GrandMoffNick]

I've said this a million times before so probably have posted it here too, but I was watching some ANH, Empire and Return this weekend on Spike and I ask again "When will they make the drug/machine/whatever that allows you to temporarily lose a certain memory for a short period of time?"

I want to hear "I'm your father" or see Vader grab the Emperor, etc. for the "first" time again.