Welcome to The Stormtrooper Effect

This is where i will review and discuss toys, video games and movies. I collect 3 3/4 inch to 12 inch Star Wars, Iron Man, Batman, Halo toys and other movie memoribillia that appeal to me! As of late i am into Hot Toys 12' inch figures. Thank you for visiting my page and I hope you enjoy browsing through my site as much as I enjoy sharing it with you!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Why the name, The Stormtrooper Effect???

You troopers have dissapointed me for the last time!!!

Just fun facts for viewers.....how the name of this blog came about. I had always found how the stormtroopers in the star wars original trilogy somehow never seemed to hit on target (at a main character ) no matter the amount of blasterfire, or seemingly large numbers of troops they have.


Hence derived that terminology for this site.



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The Principle of Evil Marksmanship (also known as the Stormtrooper Effect among Star Wars fans) is that enemy marksmen in action films are often very bad shots and almost never harm the main characters. The term was coined by film critic Roger Ebert in the 1980s.


Imperial Stormtroopers in the original Star Wars trilogy, despite overwhelming numbers, professional military education and training, full armour, military-grade firepower, and noticeable combat effectiveness against non-speaking characters, were incapable of seriously harming or indeed even hitting the films' protagonists.


Obi-Wan Kenobi even comments to Luke Skywalker, when the pair finds the destroyed Jawa sandcrawler, "These blast-points... Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise." Additionally, in Return of the Jedi, stormtroopers are easily dispatched by the technologically inferior Ewoks, who are primarily armed with primitive weapons such as slings, rocks, and sticks.


The GURPS roleplaying game makes reference to an "Imperial Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship", whose graduates are inexplicably poor shots; for example, "The Nazis in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade must all have studied at the Imperial Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship.", and even included optional rules titled Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy designed to make large numbers of nameless characters ineffective.

sourced from http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Principle_of_Evil_Marksmanship

7 comments:

LEon said...

Hey I learn something new today! It is the first time I heard about this term.

If I remember correctly, the Storm Troopers did hit on target in the beginning of the new hope when they set the blaster to stunt mode to apprehend Princess Leia.

Then again they are not the elite Storm troopers too. I think the storm troopers are no long clone anymore right? Or somehow due to in Breeding or budget cut that they became more and more Bobo? Which is which?

Joshua said...

actually in the intro where they show vader boarding the tantive IV, it can be seen that the stormtroopers actually ''kill'' rebels by shooting them on their arms and elbows or stomachs....when technically people don't die immediately when shot there...

and with blasterfire rampant abroad it was still possible for c3p0 and r2d2 to walk in the middle of the crossfire...which kinda emphasizes the ''stormtroopereffect'' which doesn't kill main characters...


but lucasARTS' official statement for such an effect is due to the fact that stormtroopers no longer are clones but are actually different humanoid cadets taken in hence the ''lousier grade'' of marsksmenship....this is the official released statement to bridge the story...

but still a hilarious effect to note.

The Rebel said...

Heheh...nice lesson on the terminology!! I've learnt something valuable frm the world of Star Wars today...and this time its not 'force'-related!!! :p

Lousier marksmenship u say, eh Joshua? yup, I think so too...thru some darkhorse comics, sometimes we cld see these Stormies taking off their helmets, revealing different individuals' faces = no longer endless repetitive carbon-copies of Mr Fett.

Dennis aka Katsuden said...

Really funny posting indeed! If they so good, why couldn't they hit the target. Seems that we are even dumber watching all six episodes.Ha! Ha!

Joshua said...

@ the REBEL! - thanks for dropping by bro...and yep you're right darkhorse comics does have an issue on the stormtroopers and yeah they're all humanoids not jango fett clones...sadly....quality goes down...haha!


@ dennis aka katsuden - yep we all get dumber watching the old trilogy but hell its still somethig worth watching!!! but yeah...stormtroopers are highly cost ineffective...all the gear....and that kinda results...haha!!

Little Plastic Man said...

So they are bobo troopers!
Imagine they have to have white tape on their helmet to indicate they are bobo shooters...(for those who served NS in Singapore)

Joshua said...

@ Adrian - LOL!!!!!!!! NO COMMENTS! HAHA!