From: jng53092@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon Gad)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars
Subject: Re: dumb Empire question
Date: 9 Oct 92 21:11:59 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.BvvHK0.EBI
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

rchao@well.sf.ca.us (Robert Chao) writes:


>I really ought to know this, but how did Boba Fett know what Han would
>be on Bespin? Was it just from following him after they flew off the
>star destroyer? (Keep in mind that Lando says that the Empire arrived
>shortly before the Falcon did.)

I've always assumed that he simply looked at a star chart, drew a line from
Hoth along the Falcon's course, and said "Ah ha!  They're going to Bespin!"
And then gives his old buddy Darth a call...

>Here's a tough one: if Vader knew Luke was on Hoth, why did he get his
>men to go down and smash up the base, at the risk of killing Luke?

I don't have much more to add than what has already been said, but I'd say
that the value of smashing the Rebel's main headquarters and possibly 
catching thier most important leaders as well was more important than the
possibility of getting Luke.

>How did Luke get off Hoth so easily?

Well, comparing Lukes escape with that of the Falcon is a bit of an error.
Consider:  The Falcon is taking off from within the main base, with a bunch
of Snowtroopers shooting at her on the way out.  So Snowtrooper X says on
his Comline "This is Snowtrooper X.  Vessal identified as the Millenium 
Falcon is currently outbound from these coordinates.  Known Rebels Han Solo,
Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and a droid are believed to be aboard.  Please 
intercept immediately."  Then he goes off and says, "Alright, the Rebels are
either dead or fled, and we control the base.  Its Miller Time."
Meanwhile a Star Destroyer launches a few Tie Fighters and starts chasing a
certain Freighter....

On the other hand let's look at Luke's departure.  He's at a Rebel redezvous 
(sp?)  point on Hoth that hasn't been discovered yet.  There isn't a
Snowtrooper to be found for miles around.  So when he launches, its just one
more small blip of many that's running around.  Its already been shown (and
confirmed in RoTJ) that the Rebels use a LOT of "snub-fighters".  So what's
an Imperial Star Destroyer Captain supposed to do?  Chase down each and every
one of the horde of small craft leaving Hoth?  Especially when they can ALL go
to Hyperspace?  So Captain Y (Snowtrooper X's cousin) says "Ok, this sector
of the planet is mine to cover.  Good thing I don't have to worry about th
God-Awful-Big-Gun that they've got down there.  Hmmm...There goes another
fighter.  X-Wing, I think.  I guess I COULD follow it, but it'll probably go
to Light Speed as soon as it clears the planet.  Whoops, there it goes.  Oh 
well.  Its Miller Time."  The odds are, the Imperials were ignoring individual
fighters and focusing on the larger Transports.  (like the one we saw in the 
backround when Luke came by to pick up his X-Wing)


>If you watch Empire in slow motion, do you see Luke's hand falling down?

Beats the hell out of me.
 
>When the Falcon is flying away from Bespin with Luke, it looks like it
>is not flying away from the planet but more like it is flying alongside
>the edge of a Star Destroyer. Do you kind of see that, too?

Ummm, not really, but then I havn't seen TESB in a while.

>Why does Lando say "what about those fighters" before any fighters have
>shown up?

Like others have said, I'd guess that long range sensors detected the fighters
as they were launched from the Super Star Destroyer.

>ESB is the film I've seen the most times; at least 40-50 times....
>-- 
>Robert Chao
>Oakland, California

Yeah, ESB kinda grows on ya.  After I watched it the first time, I didn't like
it as much as I had ANH, but since then I've liked it more and more, so that
I'm not sure which I like bes, ANH or ESB. 

Jon Gad 
jng53092@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars