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I'm sure I don't have the post count to justify creating my own threads, but here goes...
For my first thread, I thought I would present to SW fans the most outrageous of concepts. :)
This thread is for concepts beyond what can be accomplished in a fan-edit, where a remake would be required. The entire SW6 saga, even the OT, is open for reconsideration 8-0. All are welcome to contribute.
When I first came here, I only meant to make a few suggestions for fanedits. I thought I could drop the suggestions in a unique manner that would cause faneditors to just take the points- without worrying about me. Then, I thought it would be nice to develope some thoughts further and - "In for a penny...."
Why remakes? Three reasons: First, even the most excellent can be improved. Second, the SW6 (including the OT) contain serious flaws. Third, I believe that, if a remake of the OT could be accomplished to at least equal the originals, those new films could belong to the younger generations in the same way that the OOT will forever belong to my generation.
In release order, a remake of the SW6:
What is the OT? I began playing a game in '77 to guess where GL was taking us (and from where he had developed his story.) In '83, the game turned into a project to try to improve an already maginificent tale. The first thing I did (with the help of some screenwriting primers) was to try to understand exactly what it was I was working with.
I came to the conclusion that the OT was actually two grand story arcs, intertwined.
The first grand arc was about the relationship between father and son (F-S). Luke redeems his father and thus completes his hero's journey. Ben and Yoda are logistical. They exist to deliver what is needed to propel Luke to his confrontation. Ben even sacrifices his life ("Escape is not his plan") to ensure that Luke cannot fall to the dark side. F-S was handled brilliantly. Lucas&Co deserve the highest praise. Let's set F-S aside for awhile.
The second arc was the love triangle between Luke, Leia and Han. This is the most perfect love triangle that I know of in cinema. Luke and Leia would give their lives for each other, Han and Leia also. Han and Luke would each sacrifice his life to save the other. Would Rhett or Ashely do that?
The triangle grand arc was introduced perfectly in ANH. In the very last image of ANH, we see a perfect representation of the triangle. We see them standing in triangular formation with Leia in her place at the center and raised above the other two. Every thing we see in the OT that isn't specifically there to serve the F-S arc (Yoda), is there to serve the triangle grand arc. The droids provide an outside POV and Lando helps to make it possible for the grand arcs to find their conclusion. The triangle is not there to fight the empire. The entire empire- all of the SDs and STs and AT-ATs-everything- is there to give the triangle opportunities to interact with each other in very dramatic ways. F-S aside, the sub-arcs for Han, Luke and Leia are there to resolve the place of each with respect to the other two.
In ESB, the triangle was almost entirely derailed while they are on Hoth. Han and Luke demonstrated that they loved each other like brothers. Sparks were flying furiously between Leia and Han. Hoth is the last opportunity for L&L to interact, before the very end. There is effectively no interaction between Luke and Leia there. They don't say one word to each other. It's true we get the impression, visually, that they care, but that isn't nearly enough to sustain one side of a triangle. If one side collapses, the entire structure falls. Half of the OT fell upon Hoth. It's a testament to the genius of the creators and the power of F-S that ESB could carry through and become exquisite in spite of this.
By ROTJ, the loss of half the story becomes noticable. It wasn't just the cutesyness of the ewoks that took some of the sense of gravity and grand purpose from that film. Again, the brilliance of the creators, with their even more powerful presentation of F-S, carried that film to greatness
It's understandable, no doubt inevitable, that a problem like this emerged, given the production challenges and difficult subject matter.
I will address that problem. But before that, I will suggest some possible slight improvements to the nearly perfect (for what it is) ANH. :)