The HOLDO moment...

No doubt it was visually beutiuful, (even if it does raise a lot of questions )

But for me the most visually impressive scene in Star Wars history was the opening few shots Of 'Revenge of the Sith' and the battle of Coruscant. Think what you want about the rest of the film, but that bit is stunning.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 30, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 30, 2017 ---

didn't Obi-Wan also say "Flyings for Droids"

 

Many characters in this movie behaved strangely just to justify a certain scene or plotwist later on. There is no explaination why Holdo sacrificed herself other than the script requiring her to add more gravitas to the scene. If she had told Poe about her plan then the whole casino subplot could have been avoided but Rian apparently cared more about the "how" than the "why".

Btw to those asking themselves the question why the Raddus did such an insane amount of damage and why flying ships into other ships at lightspeed wasn't a thing before here is my explaination. Spacehsips usually have pretty weak hulls. They are mainly protected by shields but don't require strong hulls because there is no pressure in space. This can be seen in R1 when one stardestroyer basically cuts through another stardestroyer with ease. Now let's have a look at the Raddus. The Raddus is a Mon Calamari ship. Mon Cala ships were often repurposed, underwater habitats (which is why Ackbar's ship is called "Home One"). This means that many of the Mon Cala ships were built to be used underwater which would probably require them to have a hull much stronger than the average spaceship. I think this is the reason why the Raddus turned into such a deadly projectile while other ships (rogue one) did little damage to Vader's stardestroyer. This explaination however might not be 100% Canon since I am not up to date if Mon Cala ships have been reestablished to be repurposed underwater skyscrapers. But Ackbar's ship is still called "home one" so...

 

Or use the formula for kinetic energy (E=m*(v^2)/2). The Raddus is a huge ship, so it's mass (m) in kilograms is quite big. At the moment of impact, it was close to lightspeed, so its velocity was close 300,000 metres per second. Additionally, you square that value, what makes it even bigger and turns the Resistance's capital ship into a bullet of unimaginable destructive potential.

Also, I find it quite surprising that people find it so strange that Holdo didn't share her plan with Poe. This is a summary I wrote after my first viewing of the film under a post by @Darth Daigo (it still holds very much true after two additional viewings and I'm not going to change my mind on it.) The only thing that I would add is that in their first interaction Holdo is very clear about not giving her plan away because of his impulsiveness and lack of compliance.

 

Love your theory about the hulls! It’s hereby officially my head canon. As a bonus that prevents stuff like droid piloted x-wing hyperspace projectiles.
But let’s agree to disagree (I hate that phrase btw) about the necessity of vice admirals telling demoted captains about their plans.

 

This might answer your question why Vice Admiral Holdo didn't inform Poe regarding the plans.

 

You cannot 'remote control' the ship. The ship needed to manoeuvre and adapt to the situation. You'd need a captain, a helmsman/woman , to do just that. One live was sacrificed to save many and in the process she took out a million.

But these are all lies fabricated by the resistance. Our new supreme leader Ren the Patient, in his extreme wisdom, managed to lead our glorious armies to victory, destroying the remnants of the loathsome resistance fleet and routing its forces on the desolate world of Crait. He personally bested the leader of the treacherous Jedi Order. Luke Skywalker, that servant of chaos. That killer of millions. That slayer of emperor's

Long live the glorious first order, may she restore the glory days of our enlightened empire and bring back peace and prosperity to all dark corners of the galaxy. Let the oppressed in the galaxy know our symbol. We will save them!

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 30, 2017, Original Post Date: Dec 30, 2017 ---

Simple: there might be traitors

or

the narrative demanded it. Poe needs to learn to trust his superiors and know that bravado isn't always the right solution. Seriously if you people would nitpick Schindler's List or the Godfather you could go on for days.....................

It's just a movie. Narrative is always something artificial. Don't emplot your own logic into a story where it doesn't belong. People in narratives make decisions. Wrong one, bad ones. All serve to shape character and progress plot. That's the way of things. It worked wonderfully in a movie that by all respects is a narrative masterpiece.

 

Nice. Couldn't remember if he was on the bridge with ackbar and the others. Losing ackbar off screen was bad enough

 

This was one of the bad moments of the film that purely came down to poor screenwriting. Holdo only needs to stay on the ship if she has read the movie's script already and knows that she's going to need to turn it around after they start firing on the shuttles. Without knowing that would happen, there would be no reason to not use auto-pilot. Simple as that. RJ wanted a dramatic moment and he sacrificed the logic of the fiction to make it happen. I mean, it was a cool moment, I just don't see why it couldn't have been a well-written one too; are they not paying writer/directors enough at Disney? =P

 

They did set this up, though in a fashion you probably don't really expect. The first captain, the one of the siege dreadnaught, goes down with his ship. He doesn't run, but stands to face the explosion which tears apart his bridge. The second captain, the one of the medical frigate, stays aboard his ship until the very last moment. He then dies whilst piloting the frigate. By his example it is implied that the captain of the blockade runner did the same. Now, because the Raddus is the last ship and is now being abandoned, it is proper for its captain to stay put on the vessel 'until she sinks'. But since the fleet is the vice admiral's responsibility and the Raddus is its flagship and final ship in the flotilla, it is her duty to be the last and go down with her ship.

This is all just naval logic and morality. Captains die with their ship. Admirals die with their fleet. The difference is that Holdo's sacrifices herself with the ship by taking out the enemy.

Edit: also note that Holdo is trying to shield the transports by placing her ship sideways towards the supremacy as cover. It just wasn't very effective, so she rammed the enemy.

 

I had mostly problem with the timing of her "ram" maneuvre - she watches many their transports being wiped out before she starts acting.

 

Now let's not get too far into the weeds regarding kinetic energy at light speed, military strategy, script writing or logic.

It all pales in comparison to...

Spoiler

Her magnificent purple dress

That alone justifies her role in the movie.

 

Laura Dern is like a fine wine - she gets better in every aspect with age.

 

Her death did nothing for me, since we barely knew the character. Additionally, she was initially portrayed as a "bad guy" to the audience since she was being a jerk to a character the audience cares about - Poe.