Reviewing and remembering Yavin

[Jedi Master Spock]

It's been - I'll be honest - too long since I sat and watched Star Wars and paid close attention. By Star Wars, of course, I mean the one just labeled "Star Wars."

However, when I was reviewing the Battle of Yavin the other day (FYI, you can review the whole thing on YouTube these days) and it reminded me of how old it is. If it was made today, we probably wouldn't see the hand-swiveled anti-aircraft mounts reminiscent of these, and we probably wouldn't see X-Wing pilots desperately craning their necks back and forth to try and see TIE fighters.

The prequel trilogy's military equipment looks so much more modern. It's the same problem that Trek has, I suppose - Enterprise looks so much more modern than TOS.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Actually, I don't see anything, safe the gloss, that shows the prequel fighters or turrets being more modern.

We saw the turrets on pretty much all heavy warships.

If anything, they're doing exactly the same stuff, and above all, we got introduced to the fixed artillery piece: Invisible Hand and the Venator exchanging fire like two old galleons.

The rebels in the trench were going through a lot of jamming. This explain why they were looking around.

[Sothis]

Ah, Yavin- I mourn those who perished in that battle- Reds 1 2 3 4 and who knows how many others....

ANH feels.... romantic, compared to the prequels (with the partial exception of ROTS, which was brutal in it's intensity to me). The Battle of Yavin felt real, with the urgency of the situation and the dogfighting- and who doesn't like the trench run?

[Mike DiCenso]

On the realism issue, I don't really think from a modern warfare standpoint that the Battle of Yavin as portrayed in Star Wars (ANH) is all that great. From a WWII standpoint, which it was inspired by, it's fine (read: "The Dam Busters"). But it lacks much of the tactics that would be (or would be) employed in the 1970's when Star Wars was released, never mind today in 2007. We never see, for example, the Rebels actually systematically destroying gun emplacements, shield generators, ect, and then some of the wings take up protective positions to hold off enemy fighters until the fighters making the trench run can unload their torpedoes into the target exaust shaft.
-Mike

[Mike DiCenso]

The prequel trilogy's military equipment looks so much more modern. It's the same problem that Trek has, I suppose - Enterprise looks so much more modern than TOS.

Oh, I don't know. I think that "In a Mirror, Darkly, parts I & II", did a great job in portraying cheesy 1960's TOS as advanced compared to the submarine look of the ENT ships. :-)
-Mike