MovieChat Forums > Star Wars (1977) Discussion > Are light sabers really good weapons?

Are light sabers really good weapons?

posted 7 years ago by Otter (24464)
55 replies | jump to latest

For Jedi, I mean. If you were a Jedi, wouldn't you* want to carry a blaster* in addition to your light saber?

Because yes, a light saber is very useful in a Jedi's hands, it can deflect blaster bolts and cut through armor plating and you can flip it around while looking too cool for words. But it sucks as an offensive weapon, you can only use it offensively at close range if you're willing to get in close and grapple one on one with your foe. Which wouldn't be the first choice for someone who isn't big and strong, like say... Leia. Who had Force abilities all along, but apparently never learned the light saber, I don't suppose she ever did enough fighting to get expert with it, and face it, in the hands of someone small and not athletic, a light saber is useless unless they're a grand master level expert.

*goddamn autocorrect!

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

It's an "honor" weapon like a sword used to be.

Back in the time of knights they thought only cowards used arrows. So, that plus the idea that Jedi aren't going to go chasing down enemies and kill them. They will fight people who want to come up to them and fight.

That's because they aren't angry and chasing people, they are calm and don't want to fight anyone.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

Actually, the prequels made a point of showing that the light sabers were far more than an "honor weapon", that they could deflect blaster bolts and cut through armored doors and so on.

So the question is: Are they more useful than blasters?

Certainly they're not as good for offensive purposes, but that may be a Jedi thing. You can't attack anyone from a distance with a light saber, you can only defend.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

By honor weapon I mean that when you fight you do it a certain way that is honorable.

Like I mentioned, they used to think arrows were for sneaky cowards and not the right way to fight. A Jedi tends to deflect or fight another person directly.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

Well, "they" thought like that until longbowmen got the credit for winning the Battle of Agincourt. So while swords may have been considered the noblest weapon back in previous centuries, and continued to be used for contests of honor long after guns had taken their place on the battlefield... well, honor doesn't really have a place on the battlefield. What matters there is winning.

So that's my question, really. How useful are lightsabers at actually winning small-scale or large-scale battles?

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

Well now no one likes arrows, they like machine guns.

There no knights either.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Any normal gun would be better than a light saber or a blaster. The jedi using the light saber to deflect shots from a blaster is only able to do it because the blaster rounds are moving so slowly. Sure it looks cool on film to see the flying streaks of light but they move way too slow to be as effective as a bullet moving so fast you can't see it.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

Your limited view is a problem with science fiction movies.

Did you ever seen orthodox jews?

They shave their heads, but grow their sideburns, which is moronic. That's because another tribe had shaved off sideburns and long hair on top. So, they are just being dicks. They will cut the tip of penises off, because god. They will wear business suits and giant round bear skins hats---in the dessert.

They do that because they are insane and it's their belief that's the way good people ought to dress.

In movies about aliens, they are always naked, or wear military type clothes. Well, if our Earth jews dress like that, imagine what aliens might think is important to wear. Maybe they would dress in dotted cone hats, because that's what real warriors wear, who knows?!

So, given that Jedi are magic people who have to maintain a certain mindset, or else they become evil, maybe they have certain beliefs about weapons. We already know they do!

Maybe all people, like the jews I mentioned, aren't pragmatic. If jews were sensible, they would wear shorts and a hat that doesn't weigh fifty pounds in the dessert heat.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

The problem is if Star Wars is going to be science fiction then it has to obey basic laws of physics.. if not the it isn't science fiction it fantasy. Star Wars no matter how much some people want to claim it is science fiction is fantasy. Light could burn through something, but it can't catch another beam of light and hold it like a light saber.. and when a blaster shoots a laser beam then those beam shouldn't be visible because they are going the speed of light..So we aren't talking science fiction its fantasy.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

Star Wars is a fantasy.

Science fiction is where you have reasonable technology and it explores how people adapt to that in life. Star Wars isn't about science, it's about people and relationships, with wildly different science than is reasonable to assume could exist.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

So why were stating, "Your limited view is a problem with science fiction movies."

My whole point was that Star Wars isn't science fiction, but now your admitting that and accepting that its fantasy.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

It's not a limited view, it is THE VIEW.

You can't have a "Romance Novel" about an auto repair shop that goes into the all the details of fixing cars and has no relationships in it.

That's because the idea of Romance Novel is clear in your head even if you never read one. Meanwhile, Hollywood almost always makes science fiction films that are about family, relationships, and stuff like that. So, unless you are a reader and have read about the history of science fiction, you will not know what science fiction is.

Blade Runner is science fiction. If people created artificial humans, how would people adapt to that, is the theme of science fiction.

The movie where the guy is trapped on Mars and uses technology and learning to survive, is science fiction.

Anything with magic, telepathic powers, etc is fantasy. Technology that works in ways that probably could never ever happen is fantasy or borderline.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You missed my point. I have never said Star Wars was science fiction. I pointed out a problem with it that in my opinion moved it out of the realm of science fiction and into fantasy... you then said my view was limited but then made the exact same argument that I had made. I think you're confused here.

So let me be clear, I don't think Star Wars is science fiction, to me it is fantasy. I know that there are alot of people that think Star Wars is science fiction but they are simply wrong and don't know what science fiction is.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 5 years ago

Oh, yeah, I agree.

My whole point was that different cultures have weird rules and do not follow practical logic. So, the Jedi are doing that and in these movies. They have a bunch of ideas about having the proper attitude about life and there seems to be something sacred about their swords.

I doubt we will ever meet aliens, but I would love to see it. I would like to see what kind of nonsense they believed compared to us.

[–] MaximRecoil (4853) 5 years ago

"and when a blaster shoots a laser beam"

Blasters don't shoot laser beams:

A blaster,[1] also called a gun,[2] was any type of ranged weapon that fired bolts of intense plasma energy, often mistaken as lasers.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 5 years ago

So that's my question, really. How useful are lightsabers at actually winning small-scale or large-scale battles?

Not very, but Jedi were self-declared "peacekeepers," more like cops than soldiers.

[–] overseas7 (5071) 5 years ago

Oh yes there are.