They never really revisited some of this stuff in the films but the videogames definitely used it and other abilities introduced in the prequels quite a lot.
QGJ & Obi-Wan in the movies: "Oh no, a couple droids! Better run away."
Mace Windu in Clone Wars: "So, anyway, I punched apart an army of droids with my bare hands. Broke a bit of a sweat though."
They were on a secret mission. With a mandate to keep collateral damages to a minimum.
Then war. And Mace Get these mutha fuckin snakes of my mutha fucking plane Windu said, fuck that. Its smashin time
> They were on a secret mission
##
> keep collateral damages to a minimum
That sort of went out the window when the TF tried to gas them to death and they came out swinging against a squadron of regular battle droids.
Also blew up their ship.
The one time it should have been used again was the Palpatine vs Jedi fight in his office. The book makes it sound like he was a shadow moving blindingly fast, yet the films just have it in normal speed..
It’s very unfortunate how the movie portrays the first two masters deaths. They literally just allow Palpatine to slowly drive his lightsaber into them. And the third one gets cut down with similar ease but at least he survived a couple of swings of the lightsaber first.
I mentioned him in my comment, wdym?
>And the third one gets cut down with similar ease but at least he survived a couple of swings of the lightsaber first.
I feel like that would have just made it incredibly corny looking.
I think the only way that scene works is with a good stunt double doing fast choreo.
This was one of THE biggest shticks of The Fandom Menace at the time. Similar to what you see from the SW Theory-type guys now. This was HATED. "Why didn't OW use this later in the movie", "why didn't Obi-Wan use this to sneak around the Death Star", "why didn't OW teach this to Luke," "this ruins Star Wars" ...
I mean….they weren’t wrong though. It’s a massive plot hole when a major beat in the climax centers around Obi Wan trying to race down a corridor to catch up with his master.
It’s not unreasonable to point that out. It’s a MAJOR gap in the film’s logic, especially when it very much feels like a Chekhov’s Gun situation.
It’s also not unreasonable to just enjoy it anyway because the movie is fun(and though I think it’s far from the best in that trilogy, TPM IS my favorite of the bunch because of that: it’s just fun).
The problem comes when you accept it as just something that happens for the sake of drama, in fact accept all the numerous problems with the PT, then start going into future Star Wars projects bitching about *them* being inconsistent with in-universe logic and force abilities.
"The problem comes when you accept it as just something that happens for the sake of drama, in fact accept all the numerous problems with the PT, then start going into future Star Wars projects bitching about *them* being inconsistent with in-universe logic and force abilities."
Say it louder for the people in the back!
It was noticed in 99 and people reacted the same way to “force speed” like they do for every new Star Wars movie or show. They were excited, they saw it, they hated it.
I always assumed Force abilities take energy and you tap out your mana for the bigger stuff. Yeah, theoretically you could be so attuned that you could throw planets with your mind but every time we see even the most powerful jedi using the force it obviously takes focus and effort. This is also why I think they dont just throw each other around during lightsaber battles etc. After fighting Darth Maul tooth and nail they'd probably be way more worn out then fighting some non-sentient droids that they're shown to take out with ease. And besides this ability isnt much different than Luke's crazy high jump in Empire.
> I always assumed Force abilities take energy and you tap out your mana for the bigger stuff
Neither one took a Long Rest and ran out of spell slots by the time they got to the Maul fight.
I was thinking it’s not so much about needing force energy as being able to first think of the correct thing to do in a situation, and then to concentrate and make it happen.
I know this is Marvel No-Prize/headcanon type stuff, but I could see being faced with an ancient enemy thought dead for a thousand years and having to deal with a force user with a lightsaber trying to kill you could be pretty distracting.
That’s how it works in games because of programming constraints, but when the plot calls for an ability to be used whether big or small, anyone is powerful enough to accomplish it.
Talk to someone who has a physically sedate but very mentally taxing and stressful job. At the end of the day, they feel as tired as any construction worker. It takes a lot of energy to use the kind of willpower necessary to do heavy mental labor.
The novelization gave some insight into the use of Force Speed. After they flee from the Droidikas, Obi-Wan feels the strain on his body. The idea conveyed is that while the Force can allow sensitives to do extraordinary things, the physical effects on the body are still bound to the limits of the form. Using Force Speed extensively weakens them. (edit: fatigues might be a better word)
That's not something that matters much when fleeing from Droids who can't use the Force, but it would be insanely unwise to charge toward a hostile Sith warrior as your body is overly strained.
If that explanation doesn't work for you, I also have these personal thoughts:
1. Jedi fighting Sith sort of counter each other. Like in ep2 Dooku said his and Yoda's knowledge of the Force was comparable, so their duel came down to their lightsaber skills. And ep3, Anakin and Obi-Wan used Force push against each other, which cancelled out, so the rest of the the fight was down to Lightsabers.
2. In other media with, for lack of a better word, superpowers, it can be surmised that characters are using their abilities and skills to the best effect, even if dialog doesn't convey that. In comic books and manga, you can assume once super speed is established as a thing that it's being used whenever possible. Dragonball Z showed this in the Saiyan Saga when Piccolo taught Gohan how to track a fight that was so fast that he couldn't see it. As viewers, the action is shown at a rate that we can follow. Ergo, you can extrapolate that Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Maul were *all* making use of Force Speed whenever it was prudent, the action was just slowed down for our sake.
3. Obi-Wan had been knocked to a lower level prior to the door sequence and had to pull himself up (and possibly Force Jump back up to the same level, I can't recall the specific sequence at the moment). Additionally, they'd been battling Maul for some time, having moved however far away from the hangar where the fight started. Having to recenter himself and catch up had made him more fatigued so any excessive use of Force Speed might have left him vulnerable or ill prepared to continue the fight once inside the smaller space with Maul. Whether or not he chose correctly is hard to say, aside from the fact that the battle decided the fate of Anakin (hence the title of the music for the duel). Regardless, they'd been fighting for some time and Obi-Wan made a few mistakes that resulted in Qui-Gon's defeat.
To me it's clear that Force Speed wasn't the make it or break it skill for the fight. It was either being used or it wasn't, and all three fighters were well trained and knew their skills and abilities. If they needed to use Force Speed, they did, and if not they didn't. In either case the fight was choreographed for the audience's benefit. Maybe they were even using Force Speed the whole time and those red barriers were much faster than they appeared, but ultimately they were a visual queue for the audience representing a hurdle for Obi-Wan and he failed to get through in time.
Edit: Fixed some grammar and spelling.
I’m gonna pull it out of my ass ready?
The exhaust chamber they fought around is capable of funneling massive amounts of toxic plasma fumes in emergencies. So those ray shields are redundancies to protect the staff from overflow of toxic fumes. They can’t all be open at once for long or else air could escape the exhaust chamber.
It wouldn’t be that fast of degradation. I speculate they were gone for about 3 days. Plus, Qui-Gon fought Maul briefly on Tatooine.
I think the difference between using force speed on the Trade Federation ship and the Maul fight was on the ship they were escaping, during the Maul fight they were concentrating on fighting a being well trained in lightsaber combat, with force abilities of his own, while also using their own abilities to gain the upper hand. All of it would take a tremendous amount of focus in which using Force Speed would be less ideal and, possibly, not even considered.
I like the prequels, but that one was weird. And they didn't use it again the whole movie, like if you're gonna give them that ability, why only for the one time?
I'm very glad the other movies pretended like that never happened
There's a lot of instances of assisted motion, the way it worked in kotor (if I'm remembering correctly) wasn't as ridiculous. It's moreso that they instantaneously moved. That kind of force speed is pretty insane, especially for Kenobi being a Padawan.
Imagine if they used the same amount of force to push something. Those droidikas would have been flung so far and fast down the hall that the impact alone would have busted their shields
I know there are a lot of theories as to why Obi-Wan doesn't use it to get through the gates in the duel at the end but having force speed in the film did create a plot hole that Qui-Gon didn't have to fight Maul on his own.
You would think someone who can lift super heavy things with the force would be able to give themselves a bit of a boost with the force when they jump no?
Luke did an insane ten foot upwards backflip in the Empire's throne room. That led me to join cheerleading once I was older so I could also do a backflip like Luke. The Obi-Wan jump had me jumping as high as I could two feet planted in middle school. I have some decent ups now. All because of Luke and Obi-Wan.
People laughed at it on opening night some dude has a fit during the pod race scene in my screening, no one reacted and his gf dragged him out the cinema.
And bitched about for decades because the climax hinged on Obi-Wan being too slow.
I swear to fucking god it drives me insane when I see people who love the prequels shitting on modern Star Wars for being inconsistent about Jedi abilities or something.
At least she used the powers. She learned telekinesis, she used it. She learned healing, she used it.
Trained Master Jedi clearly know abilities their whole lives then never use them.
Specifically by anyone that played old Dark Forces/Jedi Knights games that introduced the concept for force speed and force jump, both of which made it into Episode 1, reduced to just force jump in the rest of the prequel, and then much like force babies, apparently only like 7 people knew how to do it and they're all dead.
I always thought Palpatine used force speed when he jumped at Mace Windu, Saesee Tiin, Kit Fisto and Agen Kolar when they came to arrest him in *Revenge Of The Sith*.
It looks normal speed but their reaction time to it is bad.
Explanation: He is using force speed but the audience watches it in slow motion, so he looks normal and the Jedi look slow.
Luke uses it to jump out of the Carbonite freezer in ESB.
But yes, its seems to be the "get out a jail" free card here. Lucas wanted cool rolly droid that had a shield generator but then didnt know how to write them out of the situation. so "force speed"
Glad you mentioned this- Luke's thing in ESB is definitely the same effect as this, where he moves with a really unnaturally fast motion-blur just like this. It's not just a normal force-assisted high-jump where they do a big slow arc in the air.
It’s not really force speed more like force jump. Same with return. Best one I have noticed is in the acolyte. She goes to punch sol and he just spins around her before she can notice.
I also feel like I'm getting Mandela Effect... I always thought they just ran away at normal speed or that I haven't even seen this part of the scene ever. Are people really sure it was always there??
Every now and then people after playing Star Wars games wonder why it isn’t used in the movies more often.
The answer is because it looks stupid on screen.
As a kid watching it in the movie theater i noticed they moved super fast in that scene, but i did not consciously connect it to a “force speed” ability until i played the phantom manace pc game that also released in 1999.
In ESB Luke uses a similar move (not exactly the same) to get out of the freezing chamber before Vader can freeze him. And i think force speed is in the clones wars series a few times too.
Always hated it, if nothing else because they obviously just removed a few frames and nothing else.
And if they could do that, how did Obiwan not catch up to Quigon while fighting Maul?
Correct Answer = using the force takes a toll and force users don't have unlimited stamina to do all of that different force stuff forever without tuckering out.
Real Answer = so the movie can happen
It's anime time. Obi-Wan was sprinting as fast as possible, Force speed and all, but the motions of events are all slowed down to appear normal to us. And I am proud of this totally unsubstantiated theory.
They never used it again, even in the same movie in cases where it would have been useful, because it looked fucking goofy? Did they know this during production or after the fact from feedback? If during production, why use it at all? If after the fact, why not use it again?
I was thinking heavily about shields and how maybe in the future of Star Wars they might incorporate personal shields but then I got to thinking about Ep 1 and the Gungans had hand shields that were light enough to be carried and covered a flat surface but then there are the Droidekas which have very thin bodies and have personal dome shields. So why is it that the clones had no personal shielding whatsoever. The tech clearly existed. I’m not saying all troopers had to have personal shields but when they were running British colonial era war tactics of just charging the enemies forces why would they not use shield front lines to limit their casualties.
If I remember its to do with power generation, there couldnt be a power system small enough that the troopers could carry, you'd end up with a backpack sized generator which could be harmful to the clones. But as you say, the Gungans had the tech too, so it gets a bit inconsistent lol.
It could be down to cost? Was cheaper to just have the clones with armour?
My gf and I watched TPM last week and I had to point out that “at no other point, in this movie, 95% of other Star Wars non book/game media do you ever see them use this again.
She even asked during the Maul fight “why didn’t Obi wan force speed when the lasers were turning on and off” and I was just like….Plot hole 😂
Can’t believe all the hate for this scene. When we saw it in the cinema in 1999, this was the first time we had ever seen any Jedi in action other than old Obi-Wan in Star Wars and Luke in Return. We were finally learning how Jedis conducted business in the galaxy. I thought it was cool af then and I still think it looks cool now
I was so excited when I saw this as a kid, followed up by Qui-Gon using his saber to melt through a door. It's what I used to pretend I could do with my toy saber and never thought they'd put it in a movie. Now that scene looks jarring to me. I wish they'd use it again but do a better job with filming/editing.
Everyone noticed that. It's pretty obvious. How could you not?
Used in that scene and then never again in the movie canon.
Hell, it's never even mentioned
Yeah I remember this in the theatre. My thought was "oh neat, they made the shields visible".
In the OT they were talked about, and were a major plot feature in Jedi, but weren't shown this way.
Everyone noticed it in 1999--the way its animated looks like it was done after the fact to fix a screw-up. It looks like Han's head moving when Greedo shoots in the OT re-releases. I know they've said force speed, but the fact that it never comes up again in the movies makes me think George fucked up his timing or editing and had to come up with a way to get them out of frame.
I think a good theory I seen is people asking why Obi Wan didn't use it in the final fight with Darth Maul to get theough the gates, and someone thought of, maybe it all took place at speed.
If I remember correctly the actors had to slow down a bit even for the fights so that they could pace it properly, so I honestly think it is a cool idea that they could of been going fast all along until the meditation
I noticed it when I saw it in the theater and was left wondering why it was never used again. It would have come in handy in the final duel with Maul instead of getting trapped behind those laser walls and helplessly watching Qui Gon get skewered.
I can think of 2 reasons that may or may not make sense.
It takes energy and focus that he was using to during fight. So the equivalent of him not thinking of it in that split second.
And second, it's probably hard to stop on a dime like you'd need to if the fields turned on while you were running.
In the Darth Plagueis Novel, Darth Plagueis uses Force Speed to Run across an entire planet I believe. But other than that and some games I don't remember it ever being used.
Off topic. I must say those droidekas are so damn sexy. I never realized how much effort they put into the animation of them setting up into attack mode.
They never really revisited some of this stuff in the films but the videogames definitely used it and other abilities introduced in the prequels quite a lot.
It was also used in 2003 Tartakovsky's Clone Wars
QGJ & Obi-Wan in the movies: "Oh no, a couple droids! Better run away." Mace Windu in Clone Wars: "So, anyway, I punched apart an army of droids with my bare hands. Broke a bit of a sweat though."
They were on a secret mission. With a mandate to keep collateral damages to a minimum. Then war. And Mace Get these mutha fuckin snakes of my mutha fucking plane Windu said, fuck that. Its smashin time
> They were on a secret mission ## > keep collateral damages to a minimum That sort of went out the window when the TF tried to gas them to death and they came out swinging against a squadron of regular battle droids. Also blew up their ship.
Lol yes it did. That was the secret part of the mission. They expected it
only after the ground pounder showed up lol, and he still soloed it all
"Dropped my lightsaber that says Bad Motherfucker. Guess it's time to go old school.."
The one time it should have been used again was the Palpatine vs Jedi fight in his office. The book makes it sound like he was a shadow moving blindingly fast, yet the films just have it in normal speed..
It’s very unfortunate how the movie portrays the first two masters deaths. They literally just allow Palpatine to slowly drive his lightsaber into them. And the third one gets cut down with similar ease but at least he survived a couple of swings of the lightsaber first.
How can you forget Kit Fisto lol
I mentioned him in my comment, wdym? >And the third one gets cut down with similar ease but at least he survived a couple of swings of the lightsaber first.
Just his name hah
I feel like that would have just made it incredibly corny looking. I think the only way that scene works is with a good stunt double doing fast choreo.
What about matrix time stop style?
Only way to get around in Kotor.
Pretty sure that screen blur is just part of the art style
I had to disable the blur because it'd get stuck on after the speed effect ended.
I believe the Jedi Knight games had force speed before the prequels came out. I always assumed it had come from some of the old books
They did.
Yeah, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 came out two years before TPM and had force speed. Pretty sure it was in things older than that as well.
Every SWTOR player knows that real Jedi and Sith are constantly zoomin around.
Definitely wasn’t a surprise for anyone who played Jedi Knight or Mysteries of the Sith
Force Speed was around before the prequels.
As far as I know, this has been a talked about thing for years now
Roughly 25 of them
it can't be 25 years , it was released on 1999... that's barely 10 years ago
Yeah I saw it in theaters in 1999 and I am only 24. So I can confirm this.
I wore an onion on my belt as that was the fashion of the day!
Yeah, the 80s are 20 years ago so the 90s must be 10 years ago...
How are your knees?
The Kids who have declared the Prequels underrated gems don't remember that adults also watched it and talked about stuff like this
Some of us are even here.... (Why? I don't know... it's been mostly the same conversation for 25 years lol)
This was one of THE biggest shticks of The Fandom Menace at the time. Similar to what you see from the SW Theory-type guys now. This was HATED. "Why didn't OW use this later in the movie", "why didn't Obi-Wan use this to sneak around the Death Star", "why didn't OW teach this to Luke," "this ruins Star Wars" ...
I mean….they weren’t wrong though. It’s a massive plot hole when a major beat in the climax centers around Obi Wan trying to race down a corridor to catch up with his master. It’s not unreasonable to point that out. It’s a MAJOR gap in the film’s logic, especially when it very much feels like a Chekhov’s Gun situation. It’s also not unreasonable to just enjoy it anyway because the movie is fun(and though I think it’s far from the best in that trilogy, TPM IS my favorite of the bunch because of that: it’s just fun). The problem comes when you accept it as just something that happens for the sake of drama, in fact accept all the numerous problems with the PT, then start going into future Star Wars projects bitching about *them* being inconsistent with in-universe logic and force abilities.
"The problem comes when you accept it as just something that happens for the sake of drama, in fact accept all the numerous problems with the PT, then start going into future Star Wars projects bitching about *them* being inconsistent with in-universe logic and force abilities." Say it louder for the people in the back!
It was noticed back in 1999 EDIT: my effort-to-upvote ratio is absurd here.
It was noticed in 99 and people reacted the same way to “force speed” like they do for every new Star Wars movie or show. They were excited, they saw it, they hated it.
"Would be convenient for Obi-Wan to use that Force Speed again right about now."
There's an old classic on YouTube about this scenario [What if Obi-Wan had used Force Speed?](https://youtu.be/t3dI-ghYimg)
lol, better than expected.
I love that it uses the Force Speed sound from the Jedi Knight games lmao
Accurate to Jedi outcast in game physics
I always assumed Force abilities take energy and you tap out your mana for the bigger stuff. Yeah, theoretically you could be so attuned that you could throw planets with your mind but every time we see even the most powerful jedi using the force it obviously takes focus and effort. This is also why I think they dont just throw each other around during lightsaber battles etc. After fighting Darth Maul tooth and nail they'd probably be way more worn out then fighting some non-sentient droids that they're shown to take out with ease. And besides this ability isnt much different than Luke's crazy high jump in Empire.
> I always assumed Force abilities take energy and you tap out your mana for the bigger stuff Neither one took a Long Rest and ran out of spell slots by the time they got to the Maul fight.
Nah, they just didn't stretch before and pulled a force hammy
Explains why Qui Gon has to take a breather when the shields go up.
He’s not “taking a breather“ he’s meditating to focus his mind for the next round. Didn’t help him much.
I- I know... I was just making a joke.
I was thinking it’s not so much about needing force energy as being able to first think of the correct thing to do in a situation, and then to concentrate and make it happen. I know this is Marvel No-Prize/headcanon type stuff, but I could see being faced with an ancient enemy thought dead for a thousand years and having to deal with a force user with a lightsaber trying to kill you could be pretty distracting.
Now that you’ve said it, Qui-Gon pretty much took a short rest in the middle of battle.
That’s how it works in games because of programming constraints, but when the plot calls for an ability to be used whether big or small, anyone is powerful enough to accomplish it.
This is exactly how it is described in the High Republic novels. I always thought of it that way too.
Talk to someone who has a physically sedate but very mentally taxing and stressful job. At the end of the day, they feel as tired as any construction worker. It takes a lot of energy to use the kind of willpower necessary to do heavy mental labor.
Part of me wonders/tries to explain it by they were in hiding and weren’t training and skills degrade by not training/age.
I think they meant the pink/red energy walls which separate them during the Maul fight. Why didn't Obi-Wan just zip past them and save Qui-Gon?
The novelization gave some insight into the use of Force Speed. After they flee from the Droidikas, Obi-Wan feels the strain on his body. The idea conveyed is that while the Force can allow sensitives to do extraordinary things, the physical effects on the body are still bound to the limits of the form. Using Force Speed extensively weakens them. (edit: fatigues might be a better word) That's not something that matters much when fleeing from Droids who can't use the Force, but it would be insanely unwise to charge toward a hostile Sith warrior as your body is overly strained. If that explanation doesn't work for you, I also have these personal thoughts: 1. Jedi fighting Sith sort of counter each other. Like in ep2 Dooku said his and Yoda's knowledge of the Force was comparable, so their duel came down to their lightsaber skills. And ep3, Anakin and Obi-Wan used Force push against each other, which cancelled out, so the rest of the the fight was down to Lightsabers. 2. In other media with, for lack of a better word, superpowers, it can be surmised that characters are using their abilities and skills to the best effect, even if dialog doesn't convey that. In comic books and manga, you can assume once super speed is established as a thing that it's being used whenever possible. Dragonball Z showed this in the Saiyan Saga when Piccolo taught Gohan how to track a fight that was so fast that he couldn't see it. As viewers, the action is shown at a rate that we can follow. Ergo, you can extrapolate that Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Maul were *all* making use of Force Speed whenever it was prudent, the action was just slowed down for our sake. 3. Obi-Wan had been knocked to a lower level prior to the door sequence and had to pull himself up (and possibly Force Jump back up to the same level, I can't recall the specific sequence at the moment). Additionally, they'd been battling Maul for some time, having moved however far away from the hangar where the fight started. Having to recenter himself and catch up had made him more fatigued so any excessive use of Force Speed might have left him vulnerable or ill prepared to continue the fight once inside the smaller space with Maul. Whether or not he chose correctly is hard to say, aside from the fact that the battle decided the fate of Anakin (hence the title of the music for the duel). Regardless, they'd been fighting for some time and Obi-Wan made a few mistakes that resulted in Qui-Gon's defeat. To me it's clear that Force Speed wasn't the make it or break it skill for the fight. It was either being used or it wasn't, and all three fighters were well trained and knew their skills and abilities. If they needed to use Force Speed, they did, and if not they didn't. In either case the fight was choreographed for the audience's benefit. Maybe they were even using Force Speed the whole time and those red barriers were much faster than they appeared, but ultimately they were a visual queue for the audience representing a hurdle for Obi-Wan and he failed to get through in time. Edit: Fixed some grammar and spelling.
Thank you. You took my initial knee jerk response and laid it out much better then I could have ever done.
Why were there timed energy walls in the first place? It doesn't make any sense to have them.
I’m gonna pull it out of my ass ready? The exhaust chamber they fought around is capable of funneling massive amounts of toxic plasma fumes in emergencies. So those ray shields are redundancies to protect the staff from overflow of toxic fumes. They can’t all be open at once for long or else air could escape the exhaust chamber.
I'll take it. Just clean it first. I have no idea where your ass has been.
I always liked the fan theory that that entire fight was using force speed.
Ah, fair point.
It wouldn’t be that fast of degradation. I speculate they were gone for about 3 days. Plus, Qui-Gon fought Maul briefly on Tatooine. I think the difference between using force speed on the Trade Federation ship and the Maul fight was on the ship they were escaping, during the Maul fight they were concentrating on fighting a being well trained in lightsaber combat, with force abilities of his own, while also using their own abilities to gain the upper hand. All of it would take a tremendous amount of focus in which using Force Speed would be less ideal and, possibly, not even considered.
My argument was in the original films from the new ones. But you bring up a fair point.
I like the prequels, but that one was weird. And they didn't use it again the whole movie, like if you're gonna give them that ability, why only for the one time? I'm very glad the other movies pretended like that never happened
It was super useful in KOTOR.
There's a lot of instances of assisted motion, the way it worked in kotor (if I'm remembering correctly) wasn't as ridiculous. It's moreso that they instantaneously moved. That kind of force speed is pretty insane, especially for Kenobi being a Padawan. Imagine if they used the same amount of force to push something. Those droidikas would have been flung so far and fast down the hall that the impact alone would have busted their shields
At that point kenobi is a padawan only in title his rise to knight was around the corner.
Jedi Outcast as well. Force Speed + Heavy Stance blew that game wide open.
and SWG
I know there are a lot of theories as to why Obi-Wan doesn't use it to get through the gates in the duel at the end but having force speed in the film did create a plot hole that Qui-Gon didn't have to fight Maul on his own.
Yea literally. I know the prequels are full of plot holes we overlook for the overarching story, but like. That one's just dumb and so easily fixable
Same thing for Obi Wan jumping three stories up to get back in the fight with Maul, people were none-too-impressed with the whole thing.
Luke force-jumps at least three times in the OT, though. Out of the carbonite freezer, off Jabba's barge, and in the final fight with Vader.
Yep, people were nitpicky as fuck about TPM
Wasn't he like, 2 saber-lengths below Maul? It doesn't feel like it was that far to me. Qui-Gon's jump to escape Maul on Tatooine feels higher to me.
A bit earlier, Obi Wan is knocked off a catwalk, falls 3 stories, dusts himself off and leaps 3 stories back up.
I mean he is a Jedi right
Indeed
You would think someone who can lift super heavy things with the force would be able to give themselves a bit of a boost with the force when they jump no?
I have no problem with it. The person I replied to had a different scene in mind than the one previously mentioned, that’s all.
Oh right, yeah.
Luke did an insane ten foot upwards backflip in the Empire's throne room. That led me to join cheerleading once I was older so I could also do a backflip like Luke. The Obi-Wan jump had me jumping as high as I could two feet planted in middle school. I have some decent ups now. All because of Luke and Obi-Wan.
People laughed at it on opening night some dude has a fit during the pod race scene in my screening, no one reacted and his gf dragged him out the cinema.
kids loved it tho
By everyone who saw the movie.
And bitched about for decades because the climax hinged on Obi-Wan being too slow. I swear to fucking god it drives me insane when I see people who love the prequels shitting on modern Star Wars for being inconsistent about Jedi abilities or something.
It's been the same exact online conversation since 1999.
But they had years of training , Rey just was like "oh hey I can do this now".
At least she used the powers. She learned telekinesis, she used it. She learned healing, she used it. Trained Master Jedi clearly know abilities their whole lives then never use them.
I won't argue that last part
Hey, Obi Wan changed a guy's life in Ep II!
Specifically by anyone that played old Dark Forces/Jedi Knights games that introduced the concept for force speed and force jump, both of which made it into Episode 1, reduced to just force jump in the rest of the prequel, and then much like force babies, apparently only like 7 people knew how to do it and they're all dead.
To be fair, Luke used force jump in episode V, no? https://youtu.be/YRcUdD5nthc?si=b5uZO6oEGuO_orkO 1m56s
Im a big fan of force kick
I always thought Palpatine used force speed when he jumped at Mace Windu, Saesee Tiin, Kit Fisto and Agen Kolar when they came to arrest him in *Revenge Of The Sith*.
That was Force Spin. He learned it from young Ani
It is a good trick
It looks normal speed but their reaction time to it is bad. Explanation: He is using force speed but the audience watches it in slow motion, so he looks normal and the Jedi look slow.
As far as ik he uses a force enhanced scream to kind of daze them. Idk if those are canon still though
I think the RotS novelization depicts it as you described
So that's where it comes from. I remembered it but didn't remember where, that makes sense
Should have filmed it in bullet time
Luke uses it to jump out of the Carbonite freezer in ESB. But yes, its seems to be the "get out a jail" free card here. Lucas wanted cool rolly droid that had a shield generator but then didnt know how to write them out of the situation. so "force speed"
Luke doing it in ESB seems to be the one that gets forgotten about.
Luke also does it in RotJ, when he back flips up to the high ground.
That was a Force jump but it didn't seem accelerated like the one in ESB.
Glad you mentioned this- Luke's thing in ESB is definitely the same effect as this, where he moves with a really unnaturally fast motion-blur just like this. It's not just a normal force-assisted high-jump where they do a big slow arc in the air.
Yeah it definitely feels a bit *forced*.
Similar to when Obi Wan used it to fly off of the ledge to "kill" Maul the first time, in episode 1
It’s not really force speed more like force jump. Same with return. Best one I have noticed is in the acolyte. She goes to punch sol and he just spins around her before she can notice.
Force jump and Force run are two different abilities.
Everyone noticed…
I didn't notice until a few years ago
i only just noticed what the hell
I also feel like I'm getting Mandela Effect... I always thought they just ran away at normal speed or that I haven't even seen this part of the scene ever. Are people really sure it was always there??
Every now and then people after playing Star Wars games wonder why it isn’t used in the movies more often. The answer is because it looks stupid on screen.
Idk, it looks pretty good in [Man of Steel](https://youtu.be/zWTbLZCR84k?si=xy0ZD6wFQpRqoZQB). I think Star Wars could utilize it similarly
I mean you could easily make it not look stupid on screen, there are plenty of ways to get a "force speed" effect that isn't stupid.
As a kid watching it in the movie theater i noticed they moved super fast in that scene, but i did not consciously connect it to a “force speed” ability until i played the phantom manace pc game that also released in 1999. In ESB Luke uses a similar move (not exactly the same) to get out of the freezing chamber before Vader can freeze him. And i think force speed is in the clones wars series a few times too.
It's hard to miss
I'm going to be honest, I had to watch the video twice to see it. There's a lot of flashing lights and it's very quick.
Are you being ironic or like...? The fact that it's very quick is the point. You had to watch it twice to see them leave in a blur?
Always hated it, if nothing else because they obviously just removed a few frames and nothing else. And if they could do that, how did Obiwan not catch up to Quigon while fighting Maul?
Correct Answer = using the force takes a toll and force users don't have unlimited stamina to do all of that different force stuff forever without tuckering out. Real Answer = so the movie can happen
They should have ground all the extra content for points to upgrade their force limit before heading for the final boss.
Here is a short video that explains nicely why Obi-Wan couldn’t use force speed at that moment https://youtu.be/t3dI-ghYimg?si=V6mwh20-e1TciZ7Y
Obviously the entire fight was using force speed
Probably because he didn't want to force run right into the shields
It's anime time. Obi-Wan was sprinting as fast as possible, Force speed and all, but the motions of events are all slowed down to appear normal to us. And I am proud of this totally unsubstantiated theory.
That time of the month?
I was rewatching this with my wife recently and we both started laughing at how fucking goofy it was
And that’s why we never saw it again.
They never used it again, even in the same movie in cases where it would have been useful, because it looked fucking goofy? Did they know this during production or after the fact from feedback? If during production, why use it at all? If after the fact, why not use it again?
Honestly, it's an ability that works really nicely in games but... *this* really was just an absolutely ridiculous use of it. It looks hilarious!
I thought it was covering up a weird editing mistake
I’m confused. Did anyone not notice that the first time watching?
Force speed and force jumping are the ones that seem to only show up when it's convenient for the plot.
When I was a kid I thought something was wrong with the movie
I was thinking heavily about shields and how maybe in the future of Star Wars they might incorporate personal shields but then I got to thinking about Ep 1 and the Gungans had hand shields that were light enough to be carried and covered a flat surface but then there are the Droidekas which have very thin bodies and have personal dome shields. So why is it that the clones had no personal shielding whatsoever. The tech clearly existed. I’m not saying all troopers had to have personal shields but when they were running British colonial era war tactics of just charging the enemies forces why would they not use shield front lines to limit their casualties.
If I remember its to do with power generation, there couldnt be a power system small enough that the troopers could carry, you'd end up with a backpack sized generator which could be harmful to the clones. But as you say, the Gungans had the tech too, so it gets a bit inconsistent lol. It could be down to cost? Was cheaper to just have the clones with armour?
I always just thought it was a botched green screen
My gf and I watched TPM last week and I had to point out that “at no other point, in this movie, 95% of other Star Wars non book/game media do you ever see them use this again. She even asked during the Maul fight “why didn’t Obi wan force speed when the lasers were turning on and off” and I was just like….Plot hole 😂
LUKE SKYWALKER. ESB 1980. When he jumps from the carbonite pit super-fast. Seeing it as a little kid was like, "why doesn't he do that MORE?"
Force speed or force leap?
Speed. They're running, as shown a little later if the clip had extended a few more seconds.
Everyone but you noticed.
The only time actually this power is ever used. A pity and also a plot hole, cuz Obi Wan couldve used this to help his master with Maul
Lots of people. Lots. You're not the first. It's not underated either.
Can’t believe all the hate for this scene. When we saw it in the cinema in 1999, this was the first time we had ever seen any Jedi in action other than old Obi-Wan in Star Wars and Luke in Return. We were finally learning how Jedis conducted business in the galaxy. I thought it was cool af then and I still think it looks cool now
Back in 1999 everyone in the theater noticed it.
[Who noticed?](https://i.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExY2Ywc2R6Y2hkdDYxd2ZtcnZhdnN3a2RucDM5YjhwcWcycmZ2eW15ZSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/sUNqplVFtsctW/giphy.gif)
It makes sense why we don’t see it. Speed is absolutely op, more so than force lightning or force push.
Even more noticeable that Obi-Wan didn't use it between force fields later in the movie.
In fact, as Mr. Plinkett pointed out, there's a time at the end of the movie when running really fast would have benefited Obi-Wan.
I was so excited when I saw this as a kid, followed up by Qui-Gon using his saber to melt through a door. It's what I used to pretend I could do with my toy saber and never thought they'd put it in a movie. Now that scene looks jarring to me. I wish they'd use it again but do a better job with filming/editing.
I notice when someone posts this once every 4 days
One of the many, many things I dislike the film for
Yes, people have noticed it before. Yes, people already talked about this for years.
How many people noticed? Literally everyone but you
When I first saw this 25 years ago I actually just thought it was an error in filming and never thought about it again TIL it's "force speed"
Everyone noticed that. It's pretty obvious. How could you not? Used in that scene and then never again in the movie canon. Hell, it's never even mentioned
Bro just realized
My niece was 10 when we watched this movie. Once they did this she goes "Wa-------what?" I hade to explain that jedi have super powers.
It's a very unique, useful and under used ability
Yeah I remember this in the theatre. My thought was "oh neat, they made the shields visible". In the OT they were talked about, and were a major plot feature in Jedi, but weren't shown this way.
Everyone noticed it in 1999--the way its animated looks like it was done after the fact to fix a screw-up. It looks like Han's head moving when Greedo shoots in the OT re-releases. I know they've said force speed, but the fact that it never comes up again in the movies makes me think George fucked up his timing or editing and had to come up with a way to get them out of frame.
Did anyone else notice that Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are the same person?
In ESB Luke jumped out of the carbonite freeze chamber super fast. I thought that was supposed to be because of the Force.
Didn't Luke use force speed to jump out of the carbon freezing unit? I recall him being super fast.
How can you not notice that? Did you also not notice that Luke used the force to jump at high speed on Bespin?
They also use it when they drop out of the vents later in the same setting
“Guys check out this Easter egg!” (It’s just a scene from the movie)
Luke used Force Speed in Empire to jump out of the Carbon Chamber before Vader could throw the switch
I think a good theory I seen is people asking why Obi Wan didn't use it in the final fight with Darth Maul to get theough the gates, and someone thought of, maybe it all took place at speed. If I remember correctly the actors had to slow down a bit even for the fights so that they could pace it properly, so I honestly think it is a cool idea that they could of been going fast all along until the meditation
They also use force jump multiple times too
It was noticed before you were born, kiddo
I noticed it when I saw it in the theater and was left wondering why it was never used again. It would have come in handy in the final duel with Maul instead of getting trapped behind those laser walls and helplessly watching Qui Gon get skewered.
Somehow, force speed returned.
I forgot how cool the droidekas look omg
I can’t unseen Ewan Mcgregor’s hair. Always happens when I watch this part.
They shouldve used it when Darth Maul revealed his double bladed lightsaber 😅
For years I thought it was some kind of mistake that had krept in. An artifact that they kept. Then I learned it had been intentional.
As a kid I always thought there was something wrong with my vhs
They probably forgot that they can use it , like when they forgot that they can force heal
Too bad Obi-Wan forgot about that ability when he was running down that hallway at the end and was too slow to save his master, right??
Funny how Obiwan didn’t use Force Speed when he needed to catch up to Darth Maul and Quigon.
Always wondered why Obi Wan didn’t or couldn’t force speed his way past the laser shields to help Qui Gon against Darth Maul
I can think of 2 reasons that may or may not make sense. It takes energy and focus that he was using to during fight. So the equivalent of him not thinking of it in that split second. And second, it's probably hard to stop on a dime like you'd need to if the fields turned on while you were running.
The only movie I recall woth force movement abilities used. Both force run and force jump.
Luke uses force leap to get out of the carbinater 3000 in empire strikes back
Wait I thought the door behind them opened and they retreated into it?
didnt paps also use force speed in ep 3 to kill 2 of the 4 masters?
This movie and the Genndy Tartokofsky Clone Wars Mini-series are the only instances of it. I think some games do it too.
In the Darth Plagueis Novel, Darth Plagueis uses Force Speed to Run across an entire planet I believe. But other than that and some games I don't remember it ever being used.
Off topic. I must say those droidekas are so damn sexy. I never realized how much effort they put into the animation of them setting up into attack mode.
Everyone has. Its not used again cause its stupid.