NeverarGreat

Reegar said:

This reframes ROTJ in a sinister light across the board. The Emperor here would put Dumbledore or Jigsaw to shame. Some of the details of his master plan may be difficult to convey without exposition dumps in the story, but that might be compensated by the fact it's so fascinating. 

Much of what you have here seems to be in hindsight, though. It's revelations of past events. How will Luke, if he's the one to do it, arrange another assault on the Empire in the future? The Rebellion here sounds all but destroyed. We end up in much the same place as in the beginning of ANH, but with a cast of different faces perhaps, and the potential for another Force-sensitive.

I hope you can get around to writing this, even in prose. That'd be a huge task. I can understand if not. But it'd be nice to see you at least continue to develop the plot.

I've kind of taken a hiatus from Star Wars writing, but I may flesh out this idea in the future. So far this idea is my favorite for a post-ROTJ world, as it "fixes" ROTJ to be much darker as you said.

The opening crawl of Episode VII would be the most difficult aspect to get right, as it's basically a revelation on the magnitude of "I am your father". I'm thinking that it may have to be a bit longer than normal, and the music should change. Still brassy and bombastic, but with a heavy undercurrent of choir for the Emperor's triumphant theme. Here's a variation of the above crawl:

It is a time of galactic tyranny. The evil EMPEROR OF THE GALAXY, using a twisted clone decoy, lured a fledgling rebellion into attacking and destroying an Imperial superweapon at the moon of Endor.

This rebel victory was short lived, however, as Imperial forces regrouped, and the moon of Endor was soon pulverized under the firepower of the entire Imperial starfleet.

The rebel heroes Luke and Leia Skywalker, narrowly escaping the devastation, evaded the Imperial starfleet and escaped into exile, gathering new strength in the fight for justice and freedom among the darkening stars....

Who is this General Star who Wars against the Random Thoughts Thread?

I'm having some difficulty following who is talking. I originally thought that Luke was in a cave on Tatooine, mentally communing with Yoda, but the moss and the light years make it sound like he is back on Dagobah talking directly to Yoda. I assume that he is also hearing Vader's voice in his head while this is happening.

It's a good start, but would be easier to follow if we were told who was speaking.

Reegar said:

Is there anyone who would have at least a slight interest in reading a short story that acts as an "alternate universe" to ROTJ? 

Some proposals in this thread can string together for quite an entertaining tale. My word count goal would be 10 - 20,000. Nothing major. Everybody can walk away saving a lot of time if the story turns out less than exceptional.

I'd prefer to know before I start writing that a couple of people besides myself will read it. And maybe those people, if they are feeling gracious and in the mood, will write reviews. 

I'm always interested in reading other interpretations of the lesser Star Wars episodes, as they're usually more interesting than what happened in the movies. I'd recommend creating a thread in the scriptwriting forum and linking to that thread from this one, just to keep everything organized.

+1 reader.

I would like to issue a formal apology as to the contents of Imperialscum's mind.

I am on the panel that approves Imperialscum's thought processes, and we were unaware that the list of things he hates was so small. Accordingly, he is now experiencing an intense dislike of shuffleboard, 80's hairstyles, and and the sound of someone biting into a crisp apple. You may add these items to your list at your earliest convenience.

Signed,

Imperialscum's Personal Brain Care Specialist, PHD, PDH, NYPD, ETC

My beef with the new villain is that he doesn't look so much like a villain so much as the winner of a "Design a Sith" competition. A double bladed lightsaber was a cool novelty. In 1999.

As far as Luke and Leia being non-siblings, it's curious: What if someone wrote an "alternate" ROTJ fan script or even directed an animated film, and had Luke and Leia romantically paired together? Even if everything in the story was objectively excellent, I suspect the fact they're siblings is too ingrained in fans, and they'd never be able to accept romance between the two. 

 

Strangely, they may be more willing to go for a Jaime/Cersei type romance, if only because "Game of Thrones" is big right now. Check back in two years or so when it loses steam.

 

The book you're looking for is "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" The quasi-romance between them kind of works if you can remember that it was written before Jedi, but I couldn't keep from cringing.

Hindsight is always 20/20. So I would go back to the original script meetings and steer the conversation into a new direction. For example, they were discussing Had Abbadon for the setting of Jedi. The theme of the movie was to be a more primitive people overthrowing a technological regime, and Endor was a moon over Had Abbadon. I would have consolidated the final battle to simply be a group of enslaved aliens on Had Abbadon being feed by the Rebels, including Luke, Han, and Leia, and using their knowledge of the imperial complex to infiltrate it and take out the Emperor. Meanwhile, the Imperial fleet would engage the Rebel fleet over the planet. Luke and Vader would have a final confrontation in the presence of the Emperor, while the complex slowly destroyed itself from within. The outcome is largely the same, as in the completed movie, and there could even be a few Ewoks in the mix of freed alien slaves.

It would be cool to see a villain who was neither Sith nor Jedi, but who used the Force in its entirety. No focus on anger or fear, nor a demand that these emotions be removed. More a Sequel Trilogy idea, where Luke would have to face an opponent who defied simple classification.

Harmy said:

I don't know, looking at the scene now, it doesn't make much sense in the progression of the conversation - maybe I assumed that, exactly because I thought he couldn't be talking about Luke and it seemed to fit Anakin (even as described in the OT) and Yoda mentioned him before.

Huh, I never got that impression. When Yoda says he looked to the horizon, I pictured Yoda watching Luke's sunset gazing on the farm and his failure to recognize the significance of the droids.

And look over there; TV's Frink is waiting for us.

TMBTM said:

NeverarGreat said:

Has everyone forgotten that Yoda clearly stated in ROTJ that Luke was the last of the Jedi? I figured that if he was able to sense Luke on Tatooine and watch him, he would easily have been able to locate any other Jedi who managed to survive the purge. If another Jedi did survive, that makes two Jedi who lied to Luke's face.

Yoda did not sense Luke on Tatooine. He sent Luke on Tatooine.

And not to forget that he never felt that a Sith Lord was running the republic under his nose. That makes Yoda's power to "scan the galaxy" from Dagobah in search for other Jedi  more than doubtful. (all this if you acknowledge the prequels existence, of course!)

This one a long time have I watched.

               All his life has he looked away...

               to the future, to the horizon.

               Never his mind on where he was.

It seems like in Empire Yoda was watching him "a long time", which I assume means he's been keeping watch over Luke for years.

OT Yoda was a wise mentor, but he would be no good in a fight, and certainly would be no match for the Emperor. The villains in the OT either do not realize that Yoda exists, or underestimate his subtle powers (such as psychic vision) and his wisdom.

Prequel Yoda on the other hand was a hyperactive lightsaber wielding frog who was just as stupid as the other Jedi on the counsel and simply gave up after going up against the Emperor and matching him blow for blow. I don't think that you can argue that these two characters are really the same.

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

NeverarGreat said:

On one hand, it would be a breath of fresh air to dispense with the EU. On the other hand, it would be admitting to the fans that a vast swath of the Star Wars universe simply doesn't exist anymore. I find that to be a less than creative solution. In my opinion, the most important, most sacred duty of writers is to their created universes. If the creators and stewards of a fictional universe treat it with contempt, why should anyone else do otherwise?

Lucas has already shown contempt for his created universe, and has shot out the legs of both the OT and the EU in his pandering to Generation Stupid. If someone else decides to pick the gun up at this point and continue the target practice, who cares? The damage is done.

 

I don't think that Lucas has contempt for his universe. He's certainly not adept at reconciling the chapters of his changing story, but I honestly think that the prequels were the best that Lucas was able to do, given the twenty years he was out of practice and his misguided view of special effects.

I'll echo a previous point and say that a skilled writer can solve a million story problems by simply being careful about the time and place of the story. Framing is much of what makes a story work, especially in a universe with pre-established history and rules. If Han Solo is not the focus of these movies, there is no need to explain where Chewbacca has gone. If our heroes are in the middle of a new war from the outset, there will be little time to slow down and explain the events of the past thirty years, and a few words of exposition may be enough to get us up to speed. I don't want to hear about things that happened in the EU, as we're supposed to be focused on the present and the future. My point is that it may be easier than it seems to gloss over thirty years of history in a way that seems natural.

DuracellEnergizer said:

lineral storytelling.

Is that like literal plus linear storytelling?

If they really wanted to milk the Star Wars cash cow, they could film Episode 7 from like 3 or 4 different angles, and release each one of them as:

Episode 7: From A Certain Point of View

On one hand, it would be a breath of fresh air to dispense with the EU. On the other hand, it would be admitting to the fans that a vast swath of the Star Wars universe simply doesn't exist anymore. I find that to be a less than creative solution. In my opinion, the most important, most sacred duty of writers is to their created universes. If the creators and stewards of a fictional universe treat it with contempt, why should anyone else do otherwise?

Has everyone forgotten that Yoda clearly stated in ROTJ that Luke was the last of the Jedi? I figured that if he was able to sense Luke on Tatooine and watch him, he would easily have been able to locate any other Jedi who managed to survive the purge. If another Jedi did survive, that makes two Jedi who lied to Luke's face.

I got tickets for Gravity in 2D. The woman says: "It's in 2D. Is that Okay?"

YES! THAT'S ABSOLUTELY OK! SOME PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE IN 2D, AND WILL DRIVE TO A THEATER THAT IS FURTHER AWAY SO THAT THEY CAN SEE IT IN THAT FORMAT RATHER THAN PAY MORE FOR A BLURRY DARKENED IMAGE AND ANNOYING GLASSES!

"yep."

In a somewhat non-random tangent, I think that the Prequels would have been really cool if they had made Anakin more like one of the Mercury 7. Recruited from the best terrestrial pilots to test the smaller, faster "stunt fighters" of the Republic. He would have already been a celebrity by this time, and Obi-wan recruits him after the public loses interest in his piloting skills.

You know what's really weird? I began watching The Right Stuff for the first time last week, but then only got around to finishing it this Friday. Then I learned that Scott Carpenter had died on Thursday. So in essence, one of the seven men that I was watching a documentary about died in the time between starting and ending the movie.

These things don't just happen.

Or they do, I don't know.

Tobar said:

NeverarGreat said:

Star Wars: The Tournament of Death would be an awesome stand-alone movie.

Captured by Shark Men, not so much.

What's wrong with Shark Men?

I love how the history of the Karkarodons ends with this:

Later, another Unidentified Karkarodon was shown at the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center who provoked Rako Hardeen (Obi-Wan Kenobi in disguise) and got his hand stabbed with a fork.

Lolwut.

SilverWook said:

People keep forgetting the chapter titles of the very thing that inspired Lucas in the first place.

http://flashgordon.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Serials_Chapters

Star Wars: The Tournament of Death would be an awesome stand-alone movie.

Captured by Shark Men, not so much.

Episode VII: The New Republic

Not a particularly catchy title, but at least it lets us know what is in the movie, unlike "A New Dawn", and also incorporates the word "new" into the title as a reference to A New Hope.

JEDIT: Hoth-Nudist already got this one on page 5, so I believe this increases the likelihood that it will be a real title.

http://latino-review.com/2013/10/exclusive-working-titles-star-wars-episode-vii/

The short:

Rise of the Jedi and Return of the Sith were titles given by Lucas to Disney for consideration.

So IF Latino Review's story is truthful (big IF), then this is potentially very spoilerish of the ideas that George has "downloaded" to JJ Abrams, and does not give me much faith in where this series is headed. If Lucas really has so little inkling of the possibilities of this franchise that he can only think that bringing back the Sith after they were finally destroyed is a good idea, then JJ might as well give up right now. Either that or ignore Lucas's suggestions and do his own thing.

Moth3r said:

NeverarGreat said:

What really happened to those four imperials on the Falcon? ... It's questions like these that keep me up at night, people!

Well, you could worry about the fact that there two dead technicians and two dead, naked stormtroopers somewhere on the Millenium Falcon for half the movie.

Or you could just forget it and enjoy the movie.

I was kiiiddddinggggg!!!

It's just a 70s movie. Like Zardoz.

Sheesh.