3. The Trash Compacter Scene Is A Mess
Im not normally one to pick plausibility-holes in films or scenes (and of course a suspension of belief is vital to a film about intergalactic space-hopping and ancient battles between good and evil), and the trash compacter scene of A New Hope was one that I was eager to see again - Id always remembered it as one of the quintessential Star Wars moments. And while it certainly is one of the series most memorable moments, I was disappointed to find it so, for lack of a better word, stupid. Thats not stupid in a good-Jedi-versus-evil-Sith-in-space kind of way, but stupid in a purely logistical way. For a start, the Dianoga (the one-eyed trash monster which pulls Luke beneath the water) must surely have been placed in the compacter just before Luke and co. dived into it, or else how else would it have survived all the prior compacting? (The Star Wars wiki suggests it hid in the walls, but this seems like a convenient out, and its one Im not buying). Moreover, Luke is clearly standing in shallow water, but is then inexplicably pulled down beneath it by the creature. Theres no deep-spot, because when the walls begin to close in, characters are clearly standing in the same place, so how does that one work? I usually find this level of scrutiny annoying, especially in blockbusters, but that it occurs in such a key scene renders it unavoidable and bothersome, and the trash compacter scene loses its tension as a consequence.