ADDENDUM #3 – DELETED SECTION FROM PART 4
Not original trilogy related and not enough to warrant a new thread. So here’s some examples of abstract Star Wars done right in the prequels and Disney era films/TV shows.
THEY’RE STILL JUST SPACE PLANES AND SPACE HORSES
Naturally Lucas continued telling abstract stories when making the Prequel Trilogy, but adjusted for the different type of story he wanted to tell—less Dune meets Flash Gordon this time, and more of a Fall of Rome type of story. And since he was telling story that would feel less grimy and WWII-like, he decided to go for an older and more historical approach. A good example of this is in Revenge of the Sith where Lucas incorporated visual themes we associate with 18th century colonialism into the “futurism” of Star Wars, as opposed to the more industrial feel of the Original Trilogy. In the first scene of the movie we get a shot of two dreadnaughts facing each other’s broadsides and firing upon each other with cannons in a manner one would expect more from films like Master and Commander or Pirates of the Caribbean than a film with spaceships. Yet, it is the kind of abstract storytelling that makes sense in an abstract space opera, while if it had appeared in a proper sci-fi film it would have seemed trite. I think the fact that very few people have pointed out and criticised this is very telling in what we expect from Star Wars. Say what you want about the films itself, but this one moment is a great way to differentiate it from the Original Trilogy, and despite other aspects of the Prequels failing at this, this particular scene succeeds in making it seem more “archaic” than the industrial era feel of the original three films. Though let’s not forget that the anti-starfighter cannons on the Death Star in A New Hope also fired out of ray-shielded windows/port-holes just like the cannons in this scene.
This style of storytelling has however been largely forgotten in a lot of modern Star Wars content. It is by no means gone, but there often seems to be little to no conscious effort into abstracting new Star Wars. The current filmmakers tend to copy what has already been done, and thereby only accidentally maintaining the surrealist quality of the franchise.
A modern example of throwing physics out the window in lieu of an abstraction with a familiar historical aesthetic, not too different from the Revenge of the Sith scene, is the opening of The Last Jedi. There was a lot of debate sparked by the bomber scene at the start of the film, people arguing about the physics of bombs falling from a ship in space. But again, like the scene with the dreadnaughts acting like ships at sea, the bombers where Johnson’s space-ified versions of B-52 bombers, but redesigned for the Star Wars universe. The EU has naturally come up with explanations for this scene, that being that the artificial gravity within the bomber provided the bombs with the momentum needed to carry them “downwards” through space, but again, the important thing here is that a WWII bomber dropped their bombs, and so did the bombers in the The Last Jedi. Regardless of what you might feel about the film story-wise, there is little point in arguing about the physics of space ships considering what the franchise has done in the past.
The Mandalorian is also a good example of a Star Wars story that doesn’t get bogged down in the details and shows a strong understanding of the more abstract elements of Lucas’ work. Take the alien with the flute summoning speeders in the first episode. Why didn’t he simply use a communicator or remote of some kind—e.g. the more sci-fi thing to do? Because that’s too obvious. So Favereau/Filoni opted for a more surreal and fantastical approach, that being a flute that summon speeders. Like all good Star Wars it doesn’t necessarily make logical sense, but it does add a mysterious fantasy like feel too it. It’s a type of Peter Piper moment, but for futuristic machines instead of mice.
And going back to Tippets comment about being relatable, though not necessarily logical, we have the Mudhorn’s and its egg in episode 2. The Mudhorn itself is basically a furry rhino, not the most Star Wars-y design ever done, but it gets the basic principle. The egg on the other hand is perfect Star Wars weirdness. I mean, it’s an egg covered in fur! But, it’s a hairy egg belonging to a furry creature, right? We all get it. Nitpickers on the other hand might waste time mulling over why a clearly mammalian creature lays eggs in the first place.
And the design philosophy of using the personality of a character to design aliens is not exclusive to the original trilogy. A great example of the same design principle that made Jabba the Hutt being used in reverse to create a relatable good-guy is Admiral Raddus from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The most obvious thing of course is that he is, like Admiral Ackbar a Mon Calamari, which allows for internal continuity as well as playing into fan nostalgia. But despite being a modern Star Wars design, he also has a real-life inspiration which immediately helped connect him to the aesthetic of the film. Rogue One, like the original three films, borrows heavily from WW2, even more so than Lucas’ films. So when tasked with creating a Mon Calamari that would fit within this aesthetic, it was decided to model him after Winston Churchill. Just like Jabba is an abstraction of a fat, slimy gangster, Raddus radiates the grand, dignified look of Churchill, immediately making it relatable to the (in this case) intended older audience.
