It's because they successfully graduated from the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy.

Not to get into a Star Wars geek debate, but I think Lucas's idea at the time was that the Stormtroopers weren't all clones anymore and their skills had diminished somewhat. I also think it appealed to him that the little guys with no technology but with heart and pureness of spirit would win out over soulless evil.

That or he saw the merchandizing opportunities with regards to little kids.

Its hard to tell what's the truth anymore. I don't think he lies about it so much as he's made himself believe certain things. He swears up and down now that it was only ever supposed to be two trilogies, when I swear when I was younger I always heard there would be a prequel and sequel series.

Totally agree about the ewoks, though. They seemed out of place. I thought the original idea was Wookies, but for some reason they changed their minds.

Yeah I find it hard to believe that there wasn't a little bit of Viet Kong (or the American Colonial Army) inspiration in the Ewoks.

As for the Stormtroopers, I love you for bringing it up because I've always wondered about that, but as SW geek I was afraid they'd take away my credentials if I let on that I was in the dark about the clones. Was there, is there, a point in the mythology when the clones went out because I sure never saw or heard mention of it in the movies. My first reaction to the Episode 7 trailer when you see the helmetless Storm Trooper freaking out was "He doesn't look like Jango Fett!"

I'm not an expert, but as far as I've been able to tell there are two answers. One is the in-universe answer: As far as canon goes (the movies) we don't know when or really if they ever stopped being clones for sure. But I think just looking at the troopers in the original trilogy, they aren't all the same height, so at some point they started recruiting people. I know there are various stories in the Expanded Universe that talk about clones from other sources (i.e., not Jango Fett) and recruitment of regular human men (and some women) beginning roughly just after the actual formation of the Galactic Empire.
Of course, the real-world answer is that George Lucas hadn't fully fleshed out the story and the Clone Wars mentioned in the original trilogy by Obi-Wan was molded to fit the stormtroopers. Its so hard to know. I remember when I was a kid around ten or so between Empire and Jedi there was discussion that the reason Vader's head was so scarred up when you catch a glimpse of him from behind in Empire with his helmet off was because he was burned in a volcano after his duel with Kenobi. That ended up being mostly true, so maybe Lucas did have that planned out. Who knows, though, because he swears he knew Luke and Leia were siblings as far back as Episode IV, but I don't buy it. I think he decided that while writing Jedi, and Yoda's comment in Empire about "No, there is another," was just a vague open-ended comment to make you think Luke could die in Empire.

Wookie hobbits.

Seems better than buying Age of Empires 2 HD on Steam. I was wanting to replace my disc of that which won't work on this computer but a Star Wars themed one will work.

Lucas explained this. When he got to doing Jedi he wanted a race that was primitive but by that time he already showed that Wookies could operate blasters and fly star cruisers. It wouldn't have worked to show up on Chewie's home planet and see a bunch of Wookies using sling shots.

Except I think the real reason was marketing. That seems to have driven most of his decisions by the time Jedi rolled around. I've read interviews with Harrison Ford and Gary Kurtz both who have said that. Han Solo was supposed to die by the second act saving the lives of the other two. Ford said Lucas wasn't interested because there would be no market for dead Han toys.
Even before the Wookies idea the residents of Endor's moon were supposed to be primitive lizard-like creatures, but again, it was supposedly deemed too scary and not marketable.

All that said, I still enjoy all the Star Wars movies, with the exception of Phantom Menace, and even that has a few redeeming qualities. Unfortunately I think it all went downhill after Empire. I don't have a lot of faith in J.J. Abrams either. His first Star Trek movie was entertaining while still not being Star Trek in anything but name, but Into Darkness is just absolutely abysmal. Just bad in too many ways to number.

For me, I rate the Star Wars movies in order from best to worst:
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (5/5)
Star Wars (4.5/5)
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (3.5/5)
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (3/5)
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2.5/5)
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1.5/5)
As if anyone cares to see one more person's ratings of Star Wars movies.

Yeah, that was most likely the main reason. Personally, though, I do think that it was better than using wookies in that movie. I feel that it would have made Chewbacca less unique and interesting within that story and also likely would have come across like the kind of horrid fanservice the prequels indulged in.
Also, I always kind of liked the ewoks, because when you think about it, they're incredibly messed up. Even though they're made to look cute and cuddly, one of the first things they do in the movie is capturing the heroes with the intention to butcher and eat them. The ewoks don't even care when Leia tells them they're her friends.

I'm pretty glad they didn't kill off Han. I always liked him way more than Luke.

I'd rank The Phantom Menace over Attack of the Clones. Then again, I'd also rather rewatch the entirety of the Holiday Special than Attack of the Clones. TPM may have been boring, pointless and moronic; but AOTC was downright insulting.

By the way, in regards to the "Luke and Leia as siblings" thing: Just like Darth Vader wasn't intended to be Luke's father prior to the making of The Empire Strike Back, Leia wasn't supposed to be his sister before Return of the Jedi. Apparently, at some point, Lucas wanted the series to span about nine films or so, and Luke's sister was a separate character from Leia, to be introduced in a later "episode". That is, if I remember this correctly.

There are really good comparisons of the theatrical versions and the special editions on movie-censorship.com, which also go really deep into the creative process behind the films and the various things that got changed and shifted around in between the first drafts and the finished movies (possibly NSFW ads):
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi


P.S.: Has anybody here played Anachronox? That game has a hilarious sequence taking the piss out of the whole "storm troopers vs. ewoks" thing. In that, you're in a jungle environment, helping an army of terrified, armoured soldiers to fight vicious teddy-bear monsters.

I doubt. He does every other gogs twitch livestream which are more like presentations of the game then real gameplay.

me too, i have the 4,5,6 and an extras dvd when i bought them on dvd(no blue ray but standard dvd)
i like 4,5 and 6 better

better animations and more hightech does not always mean a movie will be better , nowadays filmakers seem to forget that :D
same story goes for gamedevelopers :D


got it :D


STAR WARS™ GALACTIC BATTLEGROUNDS SAGA € 5.09

Order total: € 5.09

My cat prefers FPS games. Doesn't have the attention span for strategy games. Maybe when he gets older.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask to see your Nerd card. Any TRUE Star Wars geek knows how to spell "Wookiee" correctly. =)