The Force is Irrelevant in Star Wars

I've been watching the new 4K77 fan-releases of Star Wars (AKA - A New Hope). It is amazing seeing the graininess of the original picture and hearing just how lush the original stereo soundtrack is. There's even some good bonus content in terms of a long-lost LaserDisc commentary.

But rewatching the film made me re-asses what I thought I knew about The Force. My childhood was dominated by trying to perform telekinesis and mind-reading. In retrospect, those are mostly artefacts of Empire and Jedi.

In the original Star Wars, it feels like The Force is irrelevant to the plot. The tiny glimpses we get of a Jedi's awesome powers are (in order):

• Obi-Wan screams at the Sand-People to make them run away. I'm not sure if that's a retconning of a Jedi's powers, but it certainly made no impact on me as a kid.
• Darth Vader uses The Force to choke an Imperial officer. Despite, during the opening scenes, physically choking an Rebel soldier.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi uses The Force to convince some Storm Troopers to let Luke pass without identification. "The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded". Yet, a few minutes later in the Cantina, Ben chooses violence and chops off a dude's arm rather than gently mess with his mind.
• Obi-Wan "senses" the destruction of Alderaan. But that doesn't change the ship's destination.
• Luke is able to sense the remote and deflect its blasts - even with the blast-shield down. But, again, not really relevant to the plot.
• Vader thinks he senses Kenobi's presence. This eventually has a pay-off when he reveals Kenobi's presence to Tarkin.
• Kenobi distracts the Storm-Troopers who are guarding the tractor-beam. That's probably the most impactful use of The Force in the whole film!
• Finally, at the end of the movie, Luke switches off his targeting computer and manually fires his proton torpedoes. Does he guide the torpedoes into the exhaust port with the force? Is it skill or luck?

Basically, what I'm saying, is that if The Force didn't exist - the story of Star Wars would remain unaltered.

Think about all the times The Force could have been useful.

• Obi-Wan could have helped Luke get more money for his speeder - and could have convinced Han to ask for less money.
• Obi-Wan didn't sense that they were being followed by Garindan (the guy with the long nose) after selling the speeder.
• At no point does Darth Vader use The Force to read Princess Leia's mind - indeed, he says "her resistance to the mind probe is considerable". Implying that mind-reading isn't in a Sith Lord's skillset?
• Similarly, he doesn't realise that Leia's confession about Dantooine is a lie - although obliquely suggests he know she wouldn't "consciously betray the rebellion".
• Vader's abilities don't seem to extend to distracting the X-Wing pilots he's targeting - nor sensing the Millennium Falcon approaching.

Perhaps my entire childhood was a lie? The Jedi are nothing more than cheap magicians and their main source of power is distraction!