On Star Wars: Ep III Revenge of the Sith

First off, I'll just say that I really enjoyed episode III.

Did it live up to my expectations?

NO

Is it a good movie though? I'd say YES. My expectations for Star Wars are unnaturally high. There are many scenes in SWepIII which I thought were sub-par (Hayden can't act, plot inconsistencies, campiest romance dialogue ever, weak Jedi and finally: NOOoooooo!) but overall I really do think that Lucasfilm did the best that they could within the restraints that they had.

So those who have somehow managed to avoid this show should still go for it... to show you how good SWepIII is, I'll just say that I took my mother to see it and after it was over, we went home and loaded up SWepIV: A New Hope (special Edition) at HER request. Which was stunning because this is the same woman who has never been a big fan of special effects movies. (We took her to see LOTRIII:RotK in New Zealand during the opening week and booked the expensive VIP class chairs and during the show she fell asleep! Had to wake her up every so often because we were afraid her snoring would disturb others...).



So I'm a raving fan boy... so what's new?


Anyway, instead of my continued praise for the show or talking about how SW politics shadows real life... I want to point out what seems to be the main topic of this thread which is:
'What comes next?'



So far, we've had people saying there will be a 7, 8 & 9 ... then there are those who say that this is the end... and of course there are the usual puns and jokes.

What I'm here to do however is point out that originally there were NEVER 9 Episodes.

Not many of you will recall, but when Star Wars was released in 1977, it was called: "Star Wars: A New Hope".

Only when it was re-released in 1978 was it called "Star Wars IV: A New Hope". The reason for that was George Lucas was trying to secure funding to film 2 additions to Star Wars (no hint of 7, 8 or 9) and it was only in the mid-80's AFTER SWepVI:RotJ that Lucas said that there were plans for 9 episodes in total. HOWEVER...

Old George fell prey to licensing and all the money staring in his face (and he didn't really have a solid idea on how he wanted his 7, 8, and 9 to go) so he let everyone else license out the future of Star Wars but tried to keep its past under wraps. Basically he went and told all his licensees that they could have free reign on the future within guidelines.

Now, I'm not going to bother explaining the storyline after Ep6 because it get's all whacky with Luke turning to the Dark Side and Anakin Solo (yes, SOLO... OMG Anakin's BACK) being the new ubber Jedi (for those who guessed, Han Solo married Leia Organa and had the twins Jacen and Jaina followed by the new Anakin) and Luke marrying Mara Jade (a sort of Dark Jedi who was sent to kill Luke) .. the list goes on, the death of Chewbaca, the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong (aliens from another galaxy and because of that they have no midi-chlorians and thus are immune to force powers) and Maryanne consenting to my marraige proposal....





.. alright I'm digressing...

Back to what I was saying:


Quote:
What I'm here to do however is point out that originally there were NEVER 9 Episodes.


Originally Star Wars was just Star Wars... in fact.. it was:

"Adventures of the Starkiller, the Star Wars"
-only in the second screenplay draft did it become "Star Wars: A New Hope" The film was prefaced with the statement, "in the times of greatest despair there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the 'Son of the Suns.'"

.... freaky, I know.


The freakiest bit was that Star Wars was actually heavily influenced by Japanese film. Specifically the film "The Hidden Fortress" by none other than Akira Kurosawa.

Basically old George had latched onto the idea that you could take an Akira Kurosawa film, and re-film it as your own in a different setting and it would become a huge hit a la "Magnificent Seven" (itself derived from "Seven Samurai") which has since been copied over and over again most recently seen in "Last Man Standing." (starring Bruce Willis)

The Hidden Fortress is a 1958 film where a young princess escapes from an enemy clan with her faithful commander. They travel through the countryside dressed as peasants, hiding their fortune in bundles of firewood. They are helped along by a pair of farmers who hoped to share in their wealth.

Here were the original freaky characters for "Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode One of the Star Wars":

Darth Vader
-the evil General of the Imperial army, Vader overthrew the Alliance and proclaimed himself Emperor in the original story treatment of Star Wars: A New Hope. In the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Vader is a General to Valarium. In the second screenplay draft, Vader was set forth as the primary villain, the seven-foot-tall black knight who controlled the Bogan Force. He was searching for the Kiber Crystal, hoping to retrieve it before the Jedi Bendu.

... at this point you're already saying "Bogan Force", "Kiber Crystal", "Jedi Bendu" ??? WTF??? ... hehe, but stick with me a bit longer. The bright side here is that Darth Vader at least from the very beginning is George Lucas 'bad guy'. Everyone else is not in the form you know them to be...


Valarium
-the evil Black Knight, and Darth Vader's right-hand man, from the original story treatment of Star Wars: A New Hope. In the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Valarium is the Black Knight of the Sith, the head of the sinister warriors opposing the Jedi Bendu. Darth Vader is his grim-looking General.

... notice how Valorum first started out as the lackey? Incidentally, initially it was the Sith Knights vs. the Jedi Templars. (to give it a sort of middle-ages Crusades feel) And now we move on to the heroes:


Leia Starkiller
-in the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Leia Starkiller is the daughter of Kane Starkiller. She was sent away to a distant galaxy for safekeeping until the Jedi bendu can eliminate the threat from the Knights of the Sith.

... Leia is central to the whole plot of Star Wars, because of this she is the one character that remains almost unchanged from the original concept, (Basically the young princess from the 1958 film) she and Darth Vader are basically the central axis of Star Wars. (her last name does change a lot though from Starkiller to Lars to Aquilae and finally Organa) All the other characters were basically changed around her. Which leads us to:


Luke Skywalker
-the character of Luke Skywalker was originally that of Princess Leias faithful commander and protector. He was a long-time friend of Kane Starkiller, and agreed to continue the training of Kanes son Annikin. This character was introduced in the second draft as Deaks brother. Luke later became a Jedi Knight, one of only two surviving, who helped Leia Aguilae and her family escape Darth Vader and Valarium. From the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke is one of two surviving Jedi Bendu. The other is Kane Starkiller.

... notice that Luke starts of being something like Obi-Wan but that changes towards the 3rd draft (by then Leia is no longer a Starkiller, but becomes an Aguilae - the name before Organa) but even then, the Skywalker is still a minor character... (and most importantly, Luke is an old man just like Kane Starkiller! The original description for Luke made him out to be something like Gandalf and George had in mind Sir Alec Guiness to play him) the main heroes are still the Starkillers as we shall soon see:


Annikin Starkiller
-one of the two surviving Jedi Knights, and friend to Luke Skywalker, from the original story treatment of Star Wars. Annikin was revised in the first screenplay draft of Star Wars as the eighteen-year-old son of Kane Starkiller. Annikin's brother, Biggs, searches Annikin out in hopes that the two of them can rescue their father from the Emperor. In the rough draft, Annikin was sent to rescue Leia. This later version of Annikin became Luke Skywalker in the final script. Annikin was used again in the third screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, this time as the deceased father of Luke Starkiller.

... here we see that originally Anakin was the hero of Star Wars, the so called 'Son of Sons' but was eventually dropped out of the picture. After Star Wars was completed, George then went back and tried to see how he could once again make Annikin play a role and came up with the strange fallen-anti-hero that Anakin/Vader would eventually become. Note that originally, Anakin and Vader were two separate characters, it's only during SWepV:ESB that the two characters combine since Star wars was filmed as a complete standalone movie.

Kane Starkiller
-in the first screenplay draft of Star Wars, Kane Starkiller is one of two surviving Jedi Bendu. He was the father of Annikin, Deak, Biggs and Windy Starkiller, and hid on the planet Utapau from the Sith Knights. Kane was described as a burly man dressed in the distinctive robes of a Jedi, and was training his sons to be Jedi. Kane was a native of the planet Aquilae. The story treatment for Star Wars indicates that he wore his Jedi robes to disguise the fact that except for his head and right arm - he was a cyborg. He and the other survivor, Luke Skywalker, believed in the "Force of Others." Kane's character evolved into the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

... here you can see that Kane and Luke actually merged to become Obi-Wan and then Annikin got supplanted. What's noteworthy about Kane is that George already had in mind that he wanted a cyborg, eventually Vader would inherit this cyborg trait. (Vader was NOT a cyborg in SWepIV:ANH) It should be noted that the "Force of Others" is none other than the "Kiber Crystal" which was a small diamond like stone which could intensify either side of the force, Ashla or Borgan.


Deak Starkiller
-in the first draft of Star Wars, Deak was the 10-year-old brother of Annikin Starkiller. In the treatment, he was a blond-haired boy with a large scratch on his cheek. He was killed by a Sith Knight who lands on Utapau and attacks the Starkiller family. In the second
screenplay draft of Star Wars, Deak Starkiller is the 25-year-old brother of Luke Starkiller. He is also the captain of a group of Jedi Bendu, and commanded the ship on which R2-D2 and C-3PO were working. He is captured by Darth Vader, and his brother comes to his rescue. The second draft indicates that Deak was captured on Alderaan, after a lasersword duel.

... another character that completely disappears. (but re-appears in Ep I in a rather strange form) While he may initially seem to be the source for Han Solo, he is not. (Han Solo may have been captured by Darth Vader in EpV and Luke rescues him in Ep6 but keep in mind that Ep5 and 6 came about way after the script for SW:ANH was finalized.) The key thing that Deak contributes is actually the lazersword duel, which later evolves into lightsabers. (And where would Starwars be without Lightsabers?) Note that the original lightsabers in SW:ANH served as little more than fancy glowing swords, it is only in SWepV:ESB where you see them put to greater use in reflecting blaster bolts and cutting open bellies of Taun-Tauns and AT-ATs. (In SW:ANH Luke did use them to block attacks from a training droid, but could not reflect attacks.)



R2-D2 and C-3PO were originally named simply A2 and C3. Originally they were Imperial agents who had been captured by the rebels (watch "The Hidden Fortress" to see who they originally were) but eventually evolved into droids. A2 became R2-D2 when George happened to spot the label on a film can which read 'R2D2' - short for 'Reel 2, Dialogue 2'.

Speaking of "The Hidden Fortress", you might be miffed to know that even before they were the Starkillers, they were the Valor... as in:

Valor, Akira
-this was the name used for Kane Starkiller in the early treatments of Star Wars. It was derived from the name of the director of The Hidden Fortress, Akira Kurosawa. Akira Valor was described as a Dai warrior from the Townowi System.

Valor, Bink
-this was the name used for Deak Starkiller in the early treatments of Star Wars. Now you know where Jar-Jar came from... ugh...

Valor, Justin
-this was the name used for Annikin Starkiller in the early treatments of Star Wars.