The Death Star makes no sense. This super-advanced military installation built to obliterate entire planets has absolutely baffling design choices. There are bottomless pits aplenty. There are walkways without guardrails (some of which can retract without a failsafe to make sure anyone on said walkway is safe). The controls for a tractor beam are only accessible by shimmying around a narrow ledge (over a bottomless pit, without a guardrail). A vent in the detention block leads to a trash compactor that, for some reason, has a tentacle monster in it (as in, inside a compactor with walls that squish everything in it).1
As I’ve said, the Death Star makes no sense.
In fact, it might even be dismissed as downright stupid and a massive plot hole in the movie. We, the audience, are supposed to believe that this is the height of Imperial power? This nonsensical piece of design? Come on.
And to that, I saw: So what?
Part of the joy of Star Wars is that it’s this grand, romantic adventure filled with heroics and derring-do. Bottomless pits are exciting. Obi-Wan having to inch along a ledge to turn off the tractor beam adds much more tension to his task. Going from a firefight in the detention block to a trash compactor that has a monster that grabs Luke before walls start closing in keeps the momentum and excitement going.
The Death Staris a space fortress and military installation, yes, but in the story of Star Wars it is a dungeon filled with trials and tribulations that our heroes must navigate. The point isn’t for it to have airtight lore, the point is for it to be the means of excitement and adventure. It’s like how the Death Star has to orbit around Yavin Prime before it can destroy the Rebel base rather than just appearing right above it. Sure, dropping out of hyperspace on top of the planet and instantly obliterating it makes more ‘logical’ sense, but what a boring story that would be. You’re not watching Star Wars for a treatise on industrial design and military strategy, you’re watching it for a thrilling adventure in a galaxy far, far away. While egregious plot holes can certainly get in the way of that fun, the quirks of the Death Star hardly qualify. Besides, where’s the fun in watching a movie just to nitpick every tiny detail and inconsistency? Let’s get invested in a moving story and feel something.
So yes, the super-advanced military installation built to obliterate entire planets has absolutely baffling design choices. But the Death Star makes perfect sense.
- The pedantic Star Wars fan that I am has to say that there were spaces within the compactor and/or pipes (depending on the canon) for the dianoga (put there to help break down organic waste) to avoid getting squished. But anyway. ↩︎
Essays, Not Rants! 