# Reexamining Star Wars 50 years later **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 19, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810 "2026-01-19T00:48:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/241 "2026-01-27T14:42:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Yea, I was thinking Amazon rain forest or viet nam jungles. 50 foot canopy trees, dense underbrush. IMO that’s exactly the terrain an AT-AT would traverse with ease where an Attex, even one with a thousand horsepower, would be utterly stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/242 "2026-01-27T14:47:03Z")
Eh, the AT-ATs and other Imperial vehicles, including the Death Star itself, were also a take on German WWII superweapons. The Nazis spent a lot of time and resources on failed superweapon concepts that would have been better spent elsewhere. As above, the setting was a mish-mash of pulp elements like Flash Gordon (itself inspired/stolen from John Carter/Barsoom) and actual historical elements from Rome, WWII, etc. The weapons and setting didn’t need to make sense - many of the historical and fictional analogs didn’t either, and the point was cool adventure story, not internally consistent world building. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/243 "2026-01-27T14:47:18Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Theoretically, couldn’t an AT-AT just walk through or under any water? If it was deeper than the legs are tall, I think no. They don’t look water proof, and the bottom of a deep lake or ocean is not always smooth. Get one of them stuck in the muck and that’s as bad as tripping one. Heck, underwater cables are the perfect defense. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Return of the Jedi, but were AT-AT plowing over trees on Endor?\* \*Is it the “forest moon of the planet Endor”, or is it the moon named Endor? (yes yes I could look it up. What fun is that?) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/244 "2026-01-27T14:50:39Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > \*Is it the “forest moon of the planet Endor”, or is it the moon named Endor? (yes yes I could look it up. What fun is that?) It’s named after the gas giant planet Endor which in turn is named after Darren Stevens’ mother in law. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/245 "2026-01-27T14:54:34Z")
Who was herself (possibly) named after the biblical Witch of Endor. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/246 "2026-01-27T14:59:24Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Endor which in turn is named after Darren Stevens’ mother in law. Endor? Ah! And those damned teddy bears are about as annoying and dangerous as Endora. She’d have probably cooked Derwood if she thought she could get away with it. eta Wookiepedia says both the moon and the gas giant are named Endor. As are the two stars they all rotate around. Not very imaginative. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/247 "2026-01-27T15:12:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > the only times we ever see them used are on flat, smooth plains … until the new trailer for _The Mandalorian & Grogu_… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/248 "2026-01-27T15:32:47Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Eh, the AT-ATs and other Imperial vehicles, including the Death Star itself, were also a take on German WWII superweapons. The Nazis spent a lot of time and resources on failed superweapon concepts that would have been better spent elsewhere. Such as the Ratte, a tank design so large and unwieldy that all it’d have been able to do would be to defend the factory where it was made. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/249 "2026-01-27T15:53:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Ratte Official name, “_Landkreuzer_”. 1000 tons? it should have been “_Landbrecher_” (Land cruiser - Land crusher. If my German ist korreckt. 🙂 ) That rat would really have fit into the Star Wars universe. It’s perfect. It’s like a [Bolo](https://bolo.fandom.com/wiki/Bolos), without the AI. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/250 "2026-01-27T15:57:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It’s been a while since I’ve seen Return of the Jedi, but were AT-AT plowing over trees on Endor?\* No, we only saw the smaller AT-STs there, walking between the trees. And then tripping on a pile of logs deployed by the Ewoks. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/251 "2026-01-27T15:59:48Z")
No, there’s also a shot of an AT-AT walking amongst the trees as well near the shield base. It’s around the time Luke gives himself up ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/252 "2026-01-27T16:02:48Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > No, we only saw the smaller AT-STs there, There _is_ actually an AT-AT shown, briefly; it’s how Imperial troops brought Luke into the base, so Vader could take him up to the Death Star. But, you are correct, the AT-ATs weren’t shown in the battle at and around the bunker. [![](https://external-preview.redd.it/1p3tPLLenpRihpe3d1Gl9ymMVE05ETQfctm84qO-UQo.jpg?auto=webp&s=1a94d830010d3422c724bffcb5f126baf84fd6c3) ](https://external-preview.redd.it/1p3tPLLenpRihpe3d1Gl9ymMVE05ETQfctm84qO-UQo.jpg?auto=webp&s=1a94d830010d3422c724bffcb5f126baf84fd6c3) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/253 "2026-01-27T16:05:26Z")
In other words, they landed a few for the intimidation value, and then discovered that they couldn’t actually do anything with them, in that terrain. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/254 "2026-01-27T16:15:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suspect an AT-AT can walk through a jungle with ease, crushing the vegetation with each footfall. As long as the trees aren’t tall enough to reach the underside of the cabin. To me the biggest question is how flexible the ankles are. We sure never saw them plant a foot on a 45 degree slope. But there’s no reason they couldn’t be engineered with that range of motion in their ankles. Like this? > **[Pin by Dee Lee on Star Wars ⭐️ | Star wars background, Star wars art, Star...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/2885187255791948/)** > > This Pin was discovered by Dee Lee. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/255 "2026-01-27T17:47:19Z")
In the real world running off in the middle of a battle to have a personal meeting with a high ranking official of the enemy is a court-martial offense. It doesn’t matter that you just discovered he’s your father. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/256 "2026-01-27T17:56:44Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > In the real world running off in the middle of a battle to have a personal meeting with a high ranking official of the enemy is a court-martial offense. It wasn’t a “personal meeting.” Luke, knowing that Vader could sense him, and was hunting him down, turned himself in, in part, to draw the Empire’s attention away from the rest of the Rebel strike force. He was willing to sacrifice himself to allow the Rebels to achieve their goal. Luke _also_ hoped that, by meeting face-to-face with Vader, he could turn his father away from the Dark Side. Granted, that’s a personal mission, but it’s also a strategic mission, as it would rob the Empire of one of its leaders. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/257 "2026-01-27T18:13:00Z")
But isn’t that something he should have discussed with his commanding officer, General Solo? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/258 "2026-01-27T18:14:30Z")
They made some random recently unfrozen smuggler a general. It does not appear that a formal military hierarchy and legalistic framework were a particularly high priority for the Rebel Alliance. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/259 "2026-01-27T18:17:39Z")
I mean, it’s a rebellion. That’s what I do, I rebel. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810/260 "2026-01-27T18:18:09Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > But isn’t that something he should have discussed with his commanding officer, General Solo? We don’t know that he didn’t, though it obviously wasn’t depicted on screen. Either way: space fantasy, and not a documentary about realistic military procedures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reexamining-star-wars-50-years-later/1026810.md?page=14)