On re-viewing Star Wars: A New Hope"

I decided to re-watch the original first three Star Wars movies before we go see “The Force Awakens,” and last night was what I continue to think of as “Star Wars,” but is actually “A New Hope.”  I remembered the movie remarkably well, given that I haven’t seen it since 1977, and it also holds up remarkably well.  There are a few things, though…

(If you haven’t seen “A New Hope,” or are planning to re-watch it, there be spoilers blow.)

First of all, the Imperial forces are lousy shots…and lousy tacticians.  Dozens of them firing at Han, Chewy, Luke and Leia, and no hits.  (Apparently, aiming blasters is hard.)  Good tactics would call for simultaneous firing to blanket the field.  This is strange, because earlier Obi-Wan told Luke to notice how precise the blast points of the blasters were on the ruins of the ‘droid sellers’ camp, 

Second, our fearless foursome dives into a trash chute.  Didn’t the bad guys notice?  Tell anyone?

Finally, the big thing.  The gang has rescued Leia and are ready to board the Millennium Falcon, but for the guards.  Off to the side, through a large entryway, Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi appear, flailing at each other with their light sabers.  The guards desert their posts to watch.  (These guys are really dumb, you know?)  Obi-Wan observes the good guys heading for the Falcon, and smiles.  He has a plan.  His plan is to stop fighting (which he does) and allow Darth Vader to kill him (which Vader does).  Luke screams, “NOOOOOOOOOO,” and begins blasting away.  The troopers return fire, and Vader paces toward the falcon.  No one calls for back-up, or notifies anyone that the ship is about to take off.  So far, regulation Imperial stupidity.

But consider this.  What is Obi-Wan’s plan?  Doesn’t it have to be to enrage Luke, to make him thirst for vengeance?  And isn’t that the first step toward the Dark Side?  So what’s he  up to here? 

For a very different take on the entire saga, there's always this.