What are some of the worst flying scenes in Star Wars?

OK, we all know Star Wars disregards many of the laws of physics.

• Laser blasters don’t fire at the speed of light…
• People don’t float around in zero gravity…
• Explosions boom in the vacuum of space…
• Light sabers…well, let’s not go there!

Despite all this, we can get into the stories (when they’re good…) and accept the fantastical elements of this space opera. I can enjoy a good sci-fi space battle like the next person, even with the booms and sub-light-speed blaster fire.

But given my background as a fighter pilot and test pilot, I can’t help but cringe at some of the flying scenes.

So what are the worst flying scenes in Star Wars?

In this post, I’ll share 3 of my worst flying scenes from the movies.

3. Millennium Falcon Crash Lands (Episode IX)

The Rise of Skywalker has many elements that fandom might label The Descent of a Franchise. But I won’t delve into those here.

As a story-teller, I hate it when lazy screenwriters force an event just to salvage their plot. It’s not driven by a character’s motivations. Nope. It’s the proverbial ghost in the machine.

So let’s talk about the Millennium Falcon crash-landing on some random planet (Kef Bir). Never mind that it crashes at just the perfect spot for Rey to use the dagger-sextant thingy to find the Sith wayfinder.

Why should it have crashed at all? Who cares if the landing gear has a problem?

The Falcon could have hovered in like it always does. When has it ever needed a runway?

This is shoehorning in an obstacle just so Rey can look heroic as a master mariner. (And Poe incompetent as a pilot…)

2. Light-Speed Skipping (Episode IX)

Once again, I turn to The Rise of Skywalker for one of the worst flying scenes in Star Wars.

This is another example of a “convenient” plot insert. How will they escape now? Ah, let’s invoke a special power Poe has discovered to fly into random places with hyperspace jumps…

But “random” isn’t random at all.

Despite the fact the universe is mostly empty space (hence the term space…), Poe manages to jump the Falcon to a planet every single time. And not just to a planet: to skimming the surface of a planet. With convenient obstacles to smash pursuing TIE fighters. Hooray!

Everyone should take Poe with them to Las Vegas. He’s a man who laughs at the odds, defies all probabilities. Maybe a dust storm on Tatooine could randomly assemble an X-Wing so we can fly with him.

And let’s not forget that Poe suspends all laws of thermodynamics. Jumping to lightspeed within multiple planetary atmospheres…can you say frictional heating?

So the next time you find yourself in a jam, just turn to a friend and ask, “How thick do you think that ice wall is?” And then go skipping, skipping, skipping away…

1. Anakin Crashes Grievous’ Ship (Episode III)

Let me start by saying that Revenge of the Sith has the most going for it of all the prequel movies.

This flying scene isn’t one of those positives.

After taking over General Grievous’ ship in orbit, Anakin pilots it to a safe landing (with a bit of help from Obi-Wan, and fearful looks from Palpatine…).

Let’s start with the issue of speed.

Going from orbital velocity to that of an airplane is no trivial matter. Remember how the Space Shuttle had to do a series of S-turns in the atmosphere to slow down?

But Grievous’ ship comes apart right away, taking its thrust reversers with it. Only tiny speedbrakes that look like whiskers on a walrus stick out to help slow it down.

Even so, Anakin states, “We’re coming in too hot…” (These are the insights Jedi training provides)

Then there’s that pesky thing called lift.

“Grab that…keep us level.” That’s what Anakin directs his copilot, Obi-Wan, to do. Is he referring to roll control? “Keep the wings level”? I might buy that, if those little whisker things were in play.

But if Anakin means “level out”…well, they’re flying a falling blob of metal. The blunt shape would generate a bit of lift (the technical term is lifting body), but certainly not enough to bring that huge mass to a smooth belly landing.

Which leads me to my final critique: heading control.

As in, they never had to change their heading. Nope, from orbit to the ground, just steady-as-she-goes in a straight heading to a perfect line-up on a convenient runway. Not just the location of the runway, but its orientation. Imagine your friendly airline pilot shutting off the engines and announcing, “Well, folks, we’re gonna take our chances that we’ll glide in to a nice strip of concrete in a few minutes…so please fasten seat belts…“

Oh, apparently Jedi don’t need seat belts when experiencing sudden deceleration upon crash-landing. May the Force be with them.

Or perhaps it was the invisible hand of lazy screenwriting.

What’s your take on the worst flying scenes in Star Wars?

Comment below!