What I find most interesting in this article is reading a G. Lucas having good point saying that Yoda does not fight because he's not really a Jedi but more a teacher, AND Kasdan answering that he does not like it (so basicaly Kasdan was okay for a Yoda fighting Vader scene in the prequels back then, and Lucas not). It's a bit of a shock to read.

Add to that the fact Leia losing her mother at 2 years old (makes sens in ROTJ context, but not in the actual PT's one) and the fact anyone can learn the ways of the Force (this does not "really" contradict the PT, but well, you better have good midichlorian's count if you want to be a powerful Jedi, all right) and you realize that Lucas knew very well what he was doing when he made the PT... and it was the complete opposite of what the younger Lucas wanted.

All I can suppose, if I still want to look at Lucas as an artist, is that when you think about making a piece of art for too long and stop thinking about it for some years, then when you come back to your first ideas... well, it's kind of boring of just using them as they always were. Know what I mean? Even if they made sens, even if they were the best: just using your 20 years old ideas is boring. You want to find new ones, I can understand that. It's either find new ideas or not making the movies. That's the only good excuse I can find for Lucas after reading this article.

TMBTM said:

What I find most interesting in this article is reading a G. Lucas having good point saying that Yoda does not fight because he's not really a Jedi but more a teacher, AND Kasdan answering that he does not like it (so basicaly Kasdan was okay for a Yoda fighting Vader scene in the prequels back then, and Lucas not). It's a bit of a shock to read.

Add to that the fact Leia losing her mother at 2 years old (makes sens in ROTJ context, but not in the actual PT's one) and the fact anyone can learn the ways of the Force (this does not "really" contradict the PT, but well, you better have good midichlorian's count if you want to be a powerful Jedi, all right) and you realize that Lucas knew very well what he was doing when he made the PT... and it was the complete opposite of what the younger Lucas wanted.

All I can suppose, if I still want to look at Lucas as an artist, is that when you think about making a piece of art for too long and stop thinking about it for some years, then when you come back to your first ideas... well, it's kind of boring of just using them as they always were. Know what I mean? Even if they made sens, even if they were the best: just using your 20 years old ideas is boring. You want to find new ones, I can understand that. It's either find new ideas or not making the movies. That's the only good excuse I can find for Lucas after reading this article.

Bingowings said:

In my ideal PT Yoda isn't even in it.

We are are obviously meant to be surprised by Yoda's appearance in ESB so the PT spoils the surprise.

I think that point depends if you watch the movies in chronological order or not. Me personally, 4-6 and then (begrudgingly) 1-3. And I would certainly propose to anyone who hasn't seen Star Wars to watch them in that order. As for Yoda, I was one of those people in the cinema who was saddened to see him bouncing of the walls and spinning around everywhere. 

Apologies for calling you an ignorant twat Bingowings btw. 

Darth Lucas said:

I like that you made the comparison to Harry Potter, Bingowings.  I actually think comparing it to wizards in Harry Potter perfectly explains it.  Magic is passed down as a hereditary thing, but there are also the muggle-borns who can use magic, but have no magical bloodline.  That's the way it is, but it's never explained in any more detail than that, and doesn't have to be.  I think the same kind of principles could be applied to force-users in Star Wars.  I would make some variations on it though.  Basically, here's how I see it:  Some individuals are born with a higher potential to manipulate the force.  This cannot be measured by any scientific means, but can be sensed by those whose minds are in tune with the force, however, anybody has the ability to manipulate the force with training, some are just born stronger with the force than others, thus have an easier time learning and are more likely to be more powerful.  This natural strength with the force is passed down through generations.  Ben's line "I was amazed how strongly the force was with him." perfectly fits in with this ideology.  The Skywalkers simply have a very high natural connection with the force.

The same could be said about any skills that people have, would it be a surprise that David Beckham's son had football skills etc

J

I wander if this sort of reveal will have any input in ady's version of PT...

Mithrandir said:

I wander if this sort of reveal will have any input in ady's version of PT...

 

Reveal? There was nothing revealed. Fans have known all of that stuff for as long as I can remember, and those things are part of what made the PT so very disappointing to us. It seemed like a really cool story, and we waiting so many years to see it, then it was nothing like we expected. Not being like we expected would have been totally fine, maybe even a really good thing, but it was done really poorly, and established continuity from the first films was ignored and forgotten.

The only part of it that was new to me was Lucas saying that Yoda doesn't fight. Between being a wise sage and making statements like "War does not make one great", I think most of us just assumed that he doesn't fight and that he'd just use the force to protect himself if it came down to it. It is nice to hear young George agree on this, though.

Mostly off topic, but an interesting somewhat related mention: There was an old animated chess game called Star Wars Chess, Yoda played the role of the white Rooks. Anytime one of the white Rooks/Yodas captured a piece, he'd use the force against them. For example, white bishop taking black pawn would be a Stormtrooper pointing his gun at Yoda, and Yoda waving his hand and saying, "Backwards is your gun" which caused the Stormtrooper to flip his gun around shoot himself instead of Yoda. To take out the black rooks, which were AT-ST's, Yoda would levitate it into the air and use the force to squeeze it into a ball, if I remember right. Hardly canonical, being a silly chess game for Star Wars fans, but I played it when I was fairly young and I think it went a ways into shaping my perception of how Yoda might go about a fight. I mean, when you have the ability to lift space ships out of swamps with just your mind, why use a stupid laser sword?

Something I've been thinking about for a while, and it's actually been suggested on this site once or twice before.  I really think a small band of OT members needs to get together, and write, produce, and edit our own version of the prequels.  Given the popularity of Kickstarter I don't think raising funds would be a problem, and given what I've seen on just this thread alone shows that we are more than capable of coming up with a much, much better story than what Lucas crapped out.

CP3S said:

Mithrandir said:

I wander if this sort of reveal will have any input in ady's version of PT...

 

Reveal? There was nothing revealed. Fans have known all of that stuff for as long as I can remember, and those things are part of what made the PT so very disappointing to us. It seemed like a really cool story, and we waiting so many years to see it, then it was nothing like we expected. Not being like we expected would have been totally fine, maybe even a really good thing, but it was done really poorly, and established continuity from the first films was ignored and forgotten.

The only part of it that was new to me was Lucas saying that Yoda doesn't fight. Between being a wise sage and making statements like "War does not make one great", I think most of us just assumed that he doesn't fight and that he'd just use the force to protect himself if it came down to it. It is nice to hear young George agree on this, though.

 

Mostly off topic, but an interesting somewhat related mention: There was an old animated chess game called Star Wars Chess, Yoda played the role of the white Rooks. Anytime one of the white Rooks/Yodas captured a piece, he'd use the force against them. For example, white bishop taking black pawn would be a Stormtrooper pointing his gun at Yoda, and Yoda waving his hand and saying, "Backwards is your gun" which caused the Stormtrooper to flip his gun around shoot himself instead of Yoda. To take out the black rooks, which were AT-ST's, Yoda would levitate it into the air and use the force to squeeze it into a ball, if I remember right. Hardly canonical, being a silly chess game for Star Wars fans, but I played it when I was fairly young and I think it went a ways into shaping my perception of how Yoda might go about a fight. I mean, when you have the ability to lift space ships out of swamps with just your mind, why use a stupid laser sword?

I never believed in Lucas when he said it all was planned. Even if there were things we knew previous to the PT, this document shows a rather high level of plot elaboration for that time. Which is surprising for me at least.

Based on this fact, that even while a lot was changed, some other structural elements of the plot have always been there, my concern was wether now ady's prequels will be "the closest possible to the 1981 prequels plot", or if he will keep his creative freedom when he approaches the trilogy.

Ofc, I've no dubt he will be taking some points of that story treatment, but those are the exact points he said he would be taking before this document came out:

yoda doesn't fight

continuity with ot

no midiclorians

However how important will this new information be for those elements that go beyond these basic pilars of his PT:R, which have always been part of his pov.