And yet didn't McCallum try to discourage Lucas from a totally CGI Jar Jar in TPM purely for monetary reasons?
I would second that in regards to From Star Wars To Jedi. Excellent documentary.
Well, Brackett didn't "remain" because she died. Apparently the treatment that she turned in was not up to scratch but out of respect her name remained on the credits. It was never on the cards for Kersh to return for the next one. And I really think that anyone who was hoping for episode six to be TESB part two is entirely missing the point of the arc of the three-act play.
What is so great about TESB is that any lesser writer would have followed up Star Wars with simply more of the same, based on the premise that if it ain't broke etc. Certainly, if Lucas had not been canny enough to retain sequel rights then Hollywood would undoubtedly have churned out a repeat of the first film.
Too much to drink last night. The wife's just let me in the house now. How embarrassing.
Oh, I was talking about what they said in interviews where they both attributed the film to the other. So I suppose you could go with whichever quote suits your perspective or, better, take both as the truth. Lucas didn't want to be hands on with TESB, choosing instead to make the editing suite his place of work and he trusted Kersh anyway, being his one-time mentor, which would easily explain his absence from the set.
Hang on, I was just about to own up to making that noise. So, who's window is it that I've been standing under for the past hour?
Yes, that Lucas has always said it's Kersh's film. And Kersh said when the SE changes were made that the Star Wars films were George's.
It's modesty, pure and simple. An appealing characteristic.
I don't deny HMV is a terrible place to shop - the pricing is so random as to be laughable and their online service is appalling - but I could have picked the name of any shop out of the ether.
Fact is, most people I know don't care for Blu-ray. Indeed, most people I know don't have a 5.1 set-up so they're not even getting the best out of their DVDs.
Then again, the "most people" argument is always suspicious - look how many people here use it to support the anti-PT stance.
Is that just modesty on Lucas's part, though?
Of course, folk who post on internet forums don't have an ego, do they? No, nary a whiff of ego round here...
Now, where's that coffee?
I've never seen Adolf Hitler as a worthy comparison to Darth Vader. But, then, at this moment in time, I don't know who would be (it's early in my part of the world right now and I've yet to have my first coffee).
Regarding Yoda's death, I've always seen it as Yoda holding on to life until he tells Luke what he has to - that there is another Skywalker (the last thing we hear him say in TESB is "there is another" so this seems logical to me).
And while the rescue of Han Solo is a sizeable chunk of the film it's also incredibly fun - the cantina scene of ANH writ large if you will. The choreography in the fight scenes is bloomin awful, though.
Irvin Kershner said that the characters move from one set piece to another and never seem to be in any real danger. I agree with him there with the exception of Luke being fried by The Emperor - although before the addition of Vader's "No. Noooo." he seemed to deliberate just a few frames too long before making his sacrifice (ooh, that's going to make me some friends round here). He also said that he felt the actors were going through the motions - well, he may be right there, too. Carrie was too pre-occupied with the old marching powder and both Harrison and Hammill had had ideas for the development of their characters turned down so maybe they were unhappy at what they perceived as being too lightweight a film. However, when Kersh says he would never have shown Vader's face I disagree with him absolutely. The moment between the unmasked Vader and Luke is extremely tender and one of the most moving scenes in the entire saga.
ROTJ has a job to do, which is to tie up the loose ends and bring closure to the story. It also serves to remind us that Star Wars is kids' fare. TESB developsthe characters and adds depth to the whole thing. That job done, we can now go back to having fun and if one word can sum up ROTJ then "fun" would be it.
"They can like it all they want but its [sic] shit." Well, there's nothing like an open mind...and yours is nothing like an open mind!
Personally, if you're talking in terms of how dark the film is, then ROTS knocks TESB into a cocked hat. You simply don't get darker than your main character being burned to a crisp or little kids being murdered in cold blood. Unfortunately, the film seems like a knee-jerk response to all the whingers and whiners (who think they are so great in number but in reality are only a tiny minority of the audience who saw the film...probably!) who moaned about Jar Jar and the love story (eurgh, girls and kissing!), almost as though Lucas was saying "Oh, you want dark? Well here you are then." Of course some people still complained because Lucas dared to introduce a vageuly comedic element with the buzz droids - oh no, how awful!
Sorry, I'm a defender of the film and if ROTJ isn't my favourite then ROTS is. Oh, and it's easy to say that most people you know think the prequels suck if you only know three people!
(I have my tongue in my cheek, skyjedi2005; I'm not especially bothered what you like or don't like so please, don't take the ribbing personally, I'm only having a laugh.)
ROTJ is certainly my favourite of the OT films and possibly of the entire series. It brings the fun back into Star Wars. People who wanted another TESB are missing the point entirely. The saga has to end on a high note, all the good guys have to survive and the bad guy has to redeem himself. It is the very definition of the old adage "all's well that ends well". I still get a lump in my throat when Luke looks at the three spirits at the end (admittedly, the sight of Sebastian Shaw gave a warmer feeling - I don't object to Hayden Christensen, it's just not shot well and he's wearing the wrong clothes!).
Snobbery may be the reason the internet fans (who hardly represent Star Wars fans as a whole, let's face it) have turned their back on the film but I think it's more to do with the original fans who reached adulthood in the nineties and felt a bit embarrassed by a movie that had Ewoks in it.
Viva la difference.
I know that the players have come down in price - my own cost me about a hundred quid when I got it last year (bought specifically for the Blu-ray release of six films of which you might have heard) - but the format has not been anywhere near as successful with the general public as DVD was. Joe Public is happy that they can see the film and hear it and isn't really interested in 1080p or lossless soundtracks.
And certainly in the high street shops in England, the Blu-ray section has yet to match the space taken up by DVDs.
I have no idea but walk down the aisle of your local HMV and tell me how big the Blu-ray section is in comparison to the DVD section.
I thought TESB was a bit of a snooze fest when I was a kid. As an adult I love the perversity and bravery of following a film like A New Hope with something that seems to be anti-everything that made that film so good.
I think it's bollocks, though, that it was the film with which Lucas was least involved, a myth perpetuated by some who have a grudge against the man. I do understand the grudge but I don't understand the economical tampering with the truth*.
As for why it became so popular in the nineties? Easy. By that decade, us old fans felt that the film, with its mature overtones, somehow justified our obsession with a series of "kids' films". We could hold up TESB to the naysayers (you know, those peculiar people who just don't get Star Wars) and say "No, it really is quite good".
*Someone's going to provide a link now proving that Lucas had very little to do with the film thus putting so much egg on my face.
That link isn't working for me I'm afraid.
I wasn't aware until now that people had their own personal canon to be honest. In speaking to you about it, I've gone from being bemused to quite sanguine about the whole thing. I suppose it's like me not really digging the EU books as they don't feel like Star Wars to me while some love them and get upset when what they feel has been established in the EU is contradicted by The Clone Wars or revisions to the films.
I take what you mean about Superman (I've always liked the third one actually) but were those films the result of one person's vision, as with Star Wars? I've not seen the fourth Superman although I did see Superman Returns and unfortunately fell asleep halfway through. Man, those first two Superman films are classic fare, though.
I'm loving it. I'm still struggling through my first chapter - I got 7,000 words in before starting again as there simply wasn't enough action - but I like coming back to read your screenplay and it's interesting where certain ideas converge with stuff that I've thought of.
I like the name Jeni and I understand where you're coming from in the simplicity of it. I had Sara Jay as a name for the key female character in my story...and then I realised it's the name of an adult movie star!
Keep up the excellent work. It doesn't wink knowingly at the audience too many times which is nice; the references are a lot more subtle.
I first came to this site a while ago. I was - as one member put it - like a boorish drunk gatecrashing a party, making lewd remarks at other peoples' girlfriends and throwing up in the pot plants (or something like that). Basically, I was very dimissive of the movement to get the original films released in their original format - which makes my registering on this site pretty stupid, really.
Anyway, that was a while ago and in the interim I've mellowed. I've considered the overall stance of this site and, in light of the recent news about a third trilogy, I returned in the hope that I wouldn't throw up in so many pot plants. Since coming back, I've softened even more to the idea of the OT being released in its original format. No, I don't feel my childhood has been raped, no I don't think George Lucas is the antichrist and yes, I love the prequels. But if folk want something, and it's not harming anyone, why not give it to them? For me, I think the original iteration of the OT has an archival appeal and I think it's very interesting to see how the films have been altered over the years. I even have a vague curiosity about the various fan edits of the prequels.
I don't want a medal for this. I don't want plaudits and I certainly don't want a slap on the back accompanied by a "Now you're one of us" (because I'm not; I'm simply one of me) but I see no shame in changing one's mind and there's nothing wrong with admitting it either. So, there we are. Sorry about the pot plants.
I saw each of the prequels twice at the flicks only because other people who I knew wanted to see it with me (first viewings were with the missus). I'm not into seeing films more than once at the cinema as a rule.
TPM, despite being aimed at a younger age group, was still not as accessible and cut-and-dried as ANH. All that stuff about symbiosis, midichlorians and dualty, as well as the political skullduggery, would be hard for any six year old to get their head round. Likewise, AOTC required a lot of investment from the viewer with only the final 45 minutes providing anything approaching what we'd come to expect from a Star Wars film.
That said, I really like the film and I've always felt that multiple viewings paid off. But it's very heavy-handed for a kid's movie.