Force Kick was a Force power that enabled the practitioner to interrupt an enemy's combat action.[1]
Behind the scenes
The Force kick from Return of the Jedi.
The term "Force kick" jokingly refers to a particularly poorly choreographed and shot fight sequence within the "Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon" scene of Return of the Jedi, in which Mark Hamill/Luke Skywalker kicks one of Jabba the Hutt's henchmen in the head, causing him to fall into the sarlacc pit while Boba Fett is flying helplessly by in the background.
The choreography flaw consists in the stuntman reacting to the impact of the kick too late when Hamill is already lowering his leg, while the shooting flaw consists in the camera being placed such that it is very obvious that the kick does not actually hit the stuntman.
The sequence is referred to as the "Force kick", which jokingly speculates that Luke uses Force telekinesis to make the henchman fall into the sarlacc pit rather than the physical impact of the kick.
A group of similar bloopers happen in Episode III. The first example taking place during the two on one fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker taking on Count Dooku on the observation deck of General Grievous' ship. The scene takes place whenever Count Dooku Force Lift / Force Choke's Kenobi, and simply kicks his leg backwards at Anakin which appears to send him unrealistically flying across the platform into a nearby wall. The next occurrence in the movie takes place during the Mustafar fight scene. When Vader dropkicks Obi-Wan Kenobi on the tabletop, his feet clearly do not connect with Kenobi.
Yet another similar blooper happens a short time later, where Kenobi returns the kick to Vader. Here, not only is Vader pushed back before being kicked by Kenobi, he is kicked on his lower waist, yet his torso is affected and he is forced into a vertical backward spin.
Coincidentally, another Force kick occurs in Willow, when Madmartigan kicks one of Bavmorda's soldiers in Tir Asleen castle.
The Force kick sequence sparked off a minor fad within the Star Wars-oriented part of the YTMND community, in which the term might have originated.
Eventually the Force kick was made a canonical mention in Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel, albeit as a joke, and then was fully canonized in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
The "Force kick" sequence
Appearances
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
- Kinect Star Wars
- Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel (Mentioned as a joke)
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (First appearance)