Trade Federation at Naboo.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Even if they did hit, multi-megaton hits on the edge of nowhere is going to cause what, exactly, difference in what we observed on film?

[McC]

None whatsoever, but consider the implications of such an act: indiscriminate bombardment? Isn't that against intergalactic law or some such?

[Techno_Union]

On a side note I would like to add that this is why the Death Star was an effective weapon of terror. Imagine a planet like Alderaan, with an effective planetary shield preventing invasions. If such a planet could sustain itself and its population, the Empire most likely couldn't have done a thing about it. The Death Star changed all of this.

The Empire had ways to go around planetary shields, i.e. sustained fleet bombardment and torpedo spheres. But yes the Death Star was more effective.

[President Sharky]

It doesn't matter if the bombardment violates laws, the whole invasion was illegal anyways!

[Lord of the Farce]

It doesn't matter if the bombardment violates laws, the whole invasion was illegal anyways!

There's a huge difference between some squatters suddenly planting their butts on the median strip in front of your house, than doing that and taking pot shots at your property with a gun.

[Connor MacLeod]

Weapon effects will depend on how the energy is delivered - if the beam is highly penetrating, it might slice deeply into the crust of the planet, minimizing surface side effects (of course, a suffiicently powerful beam even in this fashion might cause visible effects in addition to others.) rather than a more "explosive" effect (like we see aginst say, asteroids.)

It might also be possible that the beam was configured to decay rapidly over a shorter distance (someone mentioned "Rogue Planet" I believe), which might explain it. However, the problem is that much of the energy would have to radiate away invisibly, otherwise I believe we would see an increase in brightness of the TL "pulse" (the pulse, in the massless beam theory, being the decay of the TL particles into visible light - a greater degree of decay should mean more brightness.). Not neccesarily impossible, but difficult to reconcile.

However, there are other explanations that one might consider: One is that many of the "missed" bolts were not full powered shots, but lower power ones designed to "box" the craft in and increase the odds of a full-power shot hitting. (note that some of the shots WERE aimed at destroying the Droids, as Mike notes.. the possibility of precision fire cannot be ignored for at least some of the battle.) The tactic I believe is called a "limited barrage pattern." (mentioned in the Hutt Gambit.) and is also analogous to "splinter shot" tactics in the NJO. (Something similar was also used by pirates in Wedge's Gamble.)

Yet another possibility is that the "bolts" were actually projectile-type "blasters" (Mike has previously noted that the Trade Fed repulsor tanks main cannons may be some sort of projectile weapon, IIRC, in which case assumign they might have other such weapons is not unreasonable.) and that they "detonated" close to the ship.

[Illuminatus Primus]

I think HDS did one of his trajectory and burst analyses on that scene and concluded it was beam-type weapons. I don't know if he's still hosting that modified video, however.