I thought it was funny that in the first movie…errr…episode IV, Vader says about the Death Star, that the power to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the force, but watching episodes I, IV, V, and VI, it was the force that seemed pretty insignificant. I mean, it seems you could choke people with it, levitate small objects, and use mind control on week minded people, but that’s about it…oh, I guess you could feel the death of a million souls too.
Also, for all the reverence Vader seemed to have for the force, he helped to wipe out a large majority of those who practiced it. I mean, the Force was refereed to as a religion. Most people want to spread their religion, not destroy it. I know that the Jedi were enemies of the Emperor, but, unless they mention something in Attack of the Clones, I saw no efforts by the Emperor, or Vader, to train any new recruits in the ways of the Force. In fact, it seemed to me that, except for maybe a surviving Jedi or two, who escaped slaughter, the “religion” would have died out with Darth Vader and the Emperor.
Oh and hey, in Return of the Jedi, when Java drops Luke into the pit with the monster, why didn’t Luke use the Force against it? I mean, he was a full fledged Jedi knight, right? The power of the force is more significant than the ability to destroy planets (Darth Vader’s own words) right? But Luke didn’t even try to use the force, he just panicked. So much for the power of the Force.
Actually, the Emperor was human. His ravaged appearance was due to his use of the dark side. While giving the user great power, the dark side takes an extreme toll on one’s physical appearance.
And, yes, Dooku was from Attack of the Clones.
He was definitely caught off guard, but I’m not sure if that’s the entire reason. Anything he could have done with the force to get him out of there was probably beyond his abilities at that point. I mean, he couldn’t choke the thing to death, or open the gate so he could run out, etc. I think his first instinct was just to try to get out. Plus, he was still making the transition from Jedi in training to Jedi Knight. Now, stick Yoda in a pit with that thing and I bet he could bring him down without even moving an inch, but Luke wasn’t that powerful. 
You’re dealing with two different branches of the Force religion – the Jedi and the Sith. The Jedi were numerous, as we have seen, and were constantly recruiting and training. The Sith, however, only allowed there to be two Siths at any one time. Whenever one of the two Sith died, the survivor would train a new apprentice. Thats one reason why they’re generally not hanging out together, either.
Luke wasn’t quite a Jedi until he faced Vader. Also, Vader is NOT a Jedi-he’s a Sith.
Joel, AOTC is much better than TPM-which I loved, by the way. (I even like Jar Jar!)
Yeah, I might rent it one of these days.