Meetings that made history… Darth Vader – “I find your lack of faith disturbing”

The inter-galactic warlord utters the famous quote to Admiral Motti as a small group of military leaders meet to discuss the Empire’s battle against the Rebel Alliance – just moments before Vader reveals the gruesome dark side of The Force by inflicting intense pain on the unfortunate Motti.

The quote pops up everywhere on the internet and has remained Darth Vader’s most famous line since it was spoken in the first Star Wars film, which was released in 1977.

It was so memorable that before the film’s prequel, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was released in 2016 – as the first episode of the sci-fi anthology – Pablo Hidalgo, its creative development executive, teased fans that the quote would take on renewed significance, more than 40 years down the line!

This sent fans’ sites into meltdown, while YouTube clips of the original 1977 scene suddenly started getting even more hits – 1.7 million at the last count – as people tried to work out the storyline.

For the uninitiated, the original Star Wars, later renamed Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, was an epic space adventure written and directed by George Lucas. As the beginning of the multi-billion dollar franchise, it became the highest grossing film of the time, taking $775 million at the box office worldwide.

Mark Hamill, then an unknown actor, catapulted to global stardom after winning the role of Luke Skywalker, who was brought up as a lowly farmhand, but learned the ways of the Jedi from the Jedi Master Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi, played by Alec Guinness.

On his quest to help the Rebel Alliance in their battle against Darth Vader’s evil empire, Luke teams up with cynical smuggler Han Solo – arguably Harrison Ford’s most famous role – and alliance leader Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher.

The role of Darth Vader was played by British bodybuilder Dave Prowse, although the Sith Lord’s heavy-breathing, rasping voice was dubbed later by American actor James Earl Jones due to Prowse’s distinct West Country accent!

The film’s plot focused on the Rebel Alliance’s attempts to destroy the Death Star – the Galactic Empire’s space station which had the power to blow up whole planets.

At the meeting on the spaceship, a small group of top-level military leaders sit around a circular table awaiting Darth Vader’s arrival. They chat about the military campaign to wipe out the rebel forces and Cassio Tagge points out that until the Death Star is fully operational, it remains vulnerable.

His counterpart, Conan Antonio Motti, scoffs that the rebellion is dangerous only to Tagge’s Starfleet and not to the battle station.

Darth Vader makes his majestic entrance and hears the tail end of the conversation, as Tagge insists the rebels may find and exploit any weakness in the Death Star. Motti is still scathing, saying the Death Star is the “ultimate power in the universe”.

Vader turns on him and warns that the “technological terror” of the Death Star and its ability to destroy a planet pale into insignificance against the power of The Force.

Motti should really have known when it was best to keep quiet, but instead, he scoffs at Vader’s remark, telling him scathingly not to try and frighten them with his “sorcerer’s ways” and suggesting the war lord’s “sad devotion” to the “ancient religion” hadn’t found the Rebels’ secret fort or recovered stolen data tapes.

It is at this moment that Vader utters the famous phrase, “I find your lack of faith disturbing,” while simultaneously lifting his hand and using The Force to almost choke Motti to death, without even touching him!

He stops short of actually killing him after another delegate intervenes and asks Vader to release the unfortunate Motti.

When Rogue One was released in 2016 by Walt Disney Studios, it became the first episode of the Star Wars anthology, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. It was loved by fans and critics alike. After Hidalgo had teased about the link to Vader’s famous quote, fans were delighted to see how this played out.

The original Star Wars scene showed Darth Vader and members of the Empire discussing how the Death Star’s plans had been stolen. This was the main focus of Rogue One, in which the Rebel Alliance went on a mission to steal the blueprint.

Fans also believed this was the reason for an empty chair at the meeting table in A New Hope: it had belonged to Lieutenant Orson Krennic, director of the Empire’s Advanced Weapons Research, who had led the Death Star project but lost his life at the end of Rogue One as he battled the rebels who were trying to take it down.

The scene in A New Hope containing Vader’s famous quote – and the re-emergence of the theme in Rogue One – emphasise the ultimate power of The Force and Vader’s allegiance to it. The fact that the Death Star’s main weapon is powered by Jedi crystals – mocked as “sorcery” by Motti in the famous scene – further emphasises the ancient religion’s power, which is superior to any technology.

Who knows, quotes from your meeting may still be trending online 40 years on…! &Meetings can certainly ensure you start off on the right foot with the best venue – the rest is down to you! For fully-equipped and strategically placed meeting rooms in London, phone us on 0800 073 0499.