movies Star Wars

Star Wars Episode III Amputations

While on vacation in Colorado this past week, I watched ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ with my 9-year old step-son.  He’s been begging us to let him watch this movie, even though it’s rated PG-13.  I decided to let him watch the movie, but only with his mother and I there to censor parts that we thought might be too graphic for him.  I guess that’s the very definition of ‘Parental Guidance’.

While watching the film, I was astounded at the number of amputations that were shown on-screen.  I never really noticed the frequency before, but this time I was watching for graphic material that might be too much for my step-son.  Now I realize there is a long history of lightsaber amputations in the Star Wars saga, however, this movie just seemed to have an overabundance of them.

Here are all the folks that had their hands chopped off on-screen in Episode III:

  • Count Dooku
  • Battle Droids
  • General Grievous
  • Mace Windu
  • Clone Troopers
  • Anakin Skywalker

That’s a lot of lost revenue on glove sales.  Lucas must have some sort of weird fetish for this.  I did a quick Google search, and was amazed to find a website dedicated to this very subject – The Chopped-Off Hands of Star Wars.  Funny stuff – check it out!

I guess it’s fair to say that amputation is a Jedi’s favorite way of dis-arming an opponent.  … sorry, the joke was just sitting there.  I had to use it.  If I didn’t, then someone else would have in the comments anyway.  🙂

7 thoughts on “Star Wars Episode III Amputations

  1. Excellent observation. My son is about the same age as your stepson, and he keeps asking when he’ll get to see the whole thing. The amputation thing, while non-bloody, is just creepy after a certain point. I’d say it’s meant to be symbolic, but … probably not.

  2. It’s a non lethal answer to resolving a combat situation where one someone is trying to kill you. The Jedi are all about the force – where is the force? “in all living things” said Yoda. While Jedi aren’t afraid to kill when necessary, it is a last resort. Think of it like the good guy shooting the gun hand of the bad guy in an old western.

  3. PS
    If you enjoy thinking outside of the box with geek related things – check this out:
    http://www.adpov.net/adpov-archives/
    A Different Point of View by TD-0013 of the 501st Legion. This is a fellow trooper that has a series of short audio commentaries about the star wars universe from the empire’s perspective. It’s pretty funny.

  4. I don’t think it’s all that surprising considering they are basically fighting with swords.

    If your opponent has a sword how do you stop them from using their weapon? Since your blade is so close to the “combat contact” anyway the hands are the first to go.

    As for the droids it’s also useful for holding weapons.

    Why go through all the motions of killing a target when you can simply disable them rather quickly without concern of them attacking you back?

    And if you take it from a purely militaristic view point, a wounded soldier takes more effort to care for than a dead one. Not sure if that is a similar philosophy with droids but in the SW verse they do do a lot of repairs so…

    Or maybe I’m giving Lucas too much credit? 8^)

  5. Thanks to everyone for the comments! Glad the post was interesting to you.

    To Steagus and Richard – I totally get and agree with what you’re saying. I was just surprised to see so many amputations in Episode III as compared to the other films.

    Thanks again for stopping by,
    Shag

  6. If I may add, it just somehow reflect the truth that using a weapon will get someone hurt. But nothing top the starting of the show of how Count Dooku was eliminated within mins. Either Dooku have not been working out or Anakin have been working out. Anyway I still prefer the old trilogy.

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