SilverWook

The fake script pages have long fascinated me. One interview in the old fan club newsletter Bantha Tracks dropped the misleading tidbit that Aunt Beru was still alive! That made my brain hurt for a while at the time, trying to figure out how it was even possible. ;)

How does Dave Prowse fare in this? We've only had his interviews about the miserable time he had on the set, after being blamed for a script leak, and the frosty relations with Lucas ever since.

Since he was the "new kid", I imagine he wanted to remain in George's good graces. And George apparently got the sort of "malleable" director he really wanted. I recall that term from some old article about the film, possibly the original making of paperback?

I'm sincerely glad we're getting to read Marquand's words in all of this. He was barely represented in the Blu Ray extras, and there was plenty of vintage stuff with Kershner. His untimely passing denied us the more candid interviews we've gotten with the other key personnel over the years.

Can't find them anywhere on my drives, I guess I never actually downloaded them. I do have the 1978 reissue trailer.

Archive.org has the page, but the download links don't work. :(

Weird that the specific particular blog entry about the THX ads has vanished from the official site. I dug pretty far back into their archives, and it's gone.

If all else fails, we just have to nab that pesky record next time it pops up on Ebay.

Maybe George wanted it both ways? He didn't really want to direct, but didn't want to relinquish control to the degree he did on Empire.

Was old film stock used by accident, or to save a couple bucks?

I hope Luke is still wearing black in the sequels.

I have no idea. I'll have to dig into the external HD with everything off my old laptop to check.

Are you sure the internet archive doesn't have that page cached?

There's no onscreen evidence that "droid rights" is a burning issue in the galaxy. A droid spartacus is an interesting idea, but that could end up being like The Matrix's backstory, or a really preachy TNG episode.

I think the CW series has at least touched on the issue of clones having rights, but we don't know how many are still around in the OT.

Han was warning Wookiees are bad losers, not advocating forcible droid arm removal. ;)

ATMachine said:

Got my hard copy today! I wasn't expecting it for another couple of days, so I'm extra pleased.

So far it all looks very interesting--there's quite a lot of never-before-seen concept art. There are also a lot more passages from the various script drafts than in the ESB book--it's more like the one about ANH in that regard.

Rinzler does (thankfully) acknowledge that Leia wasn't always meant to be Luke's sister and that this was a decision Lucas took in brainstorming ROTJ.

On a more skeevy note, I noticed a rather alarming passage from the second draft (Kasdan's first crack at the story), which is the first one where Leia shows up at Jabba's palace.

JABBA

(to Leia, in Huttese)

I have seen you like to kiss. I like the way you kiss.

(he grins)

And I like to kiss, also!

Leia looks at Threepio, questioningly.

THREEPIO

You're not going to like it, Your Highness.

LEIA

Death?

THREEPIO

Worse.

Jabba speaks to the Guards holding Leia and they bring her toward him. Inexorably, her tiny face crosses the distance to his immense blob of a head. Jabba puckers up. Leia looks sick.

Later on the script describes Leia's slave girl outfit: "dressed in the skimpy costume of a dancing girl; a chain runs from a manacle/necklace on her neck to her new master, Jabba the Hutt."

The word-for-word invocation of the old euphemism "a fate worse than death," taken along with Leia's offscreen forced costume change, is a pretty ugly reminder of the subtext of these scenes. I don't think I really needed that mental image, thanks, Lucas.

Even Ming the Merciless had his "personal" slaves. It's just more disturbing when the bad guy is a giant slug who's taking hits off a frog bong.

Frink should steal that unused dialog for his ridiculous edit. ;)

Is this a recent adaptation? Doesn't look like the old DC comic at all.

It's been speculated in the past that Edith Keeler is Kirk's secret pain. Yeah, Spock and McCoy know about it, but it's arguably the toughest command decision he's ever had to make.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/global-showbiz-briefs-star-wars-no-1-film-050051101.html

Damn! You're right! *facepalm*

Interesting idea. Maybe Artoo gets his new speaking voice the moment Luke removes the whatever the heck it was jammed in his port, and triggers the message?

TV's Frink said:

Is that first one from MST3K?

Both. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGIGYP0rX9A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le2eB2xtvBQ

"Watch out for snakes!"

Or

"Noooooo springs!"

Replying to a post in the Star Wars J.J. Abrams thread so as to not go way off topic...

thejediknighthusezni said:

    Whatever they had in mind, they should have dropped it when they didn't bring Kirstie back. The whole Saavik-David subplot was very offputting. ST has delved a little too far into the loss of loved ones. TWOK Spock worked because there was a promise of bringing him back. They had already sunk to their nadir, TSFS was about the journey back up. A black-eyed full-blood Vulcan chick with a red-shirt partner could have carried that water. Protomatter could have been an unexpected problem. The subtle art of getting us to care enough but not too much before bumping em off. Too bad "Adventure" couldn't have been menuevered into position. "I...HAVE HAD...ENOUGH...OF YOU!!!" would have had at least as much heft if it was about sheer exasperation without any revenge.

My understanding is Alley's agent suggested she was going to end up typecast if she continued in the role, so she bailed on a sequel. (That and salary issues.) Now she's better known for her role on Cheers, and those weight loss ads.

A planned Saavik cameo on TNG, standing at Captain Bateson's side in Cause and Effect almost happened though.

If Bibi Besch didn't want to come back for TSFS, fine. But her character was implied as being the main "cook" of Genesis in TWOK, and suddenly it's all on David for using unstable mattery wattery stuff. The problems of which never manifested themselves in the Genesis cave, which is presumably several months to a year older than the planet.

JEDIT:Got my blonde Trek actresses mixed up.

thejediknighthusezni said:

    Whatever they had in mind, they should have dropped it when they didn't bring Kirstie back. The whole Saavik-David subplot was very offputting. ST has delved a little too far into the loss of loved ones. TWOK Spock worked because there was a promise of bringing him back. They had already sunk to their nadir, TSFS was about the journey back up. A black-eyed full-blood Vulcan chick with a red-shirt partner could have carried that water. Protomatter could have been an unexpected problem. The subtle art of getting us to care enough but not too much before bumping em off. Too bad "Adventure" couldn't have been menuevered into position. "I...HAVE HAD...ENOUGH...OF YOU!!!" would have had at least as much heft if it was about sheer exasperation without any revenge.

See my reply in the general Star Trek thread in off topic.

I thought it was needlessly cruel and forever puts a grim pall over the Family episode. At least David died protecting Spock and Saavik on some level, and his death at the hands of the Klingons colors Kirk's attitudes in TUC.

If any of our heroes have to go to the big cantina in the sky, let it be a death that counts for something, not a cheap plot twist for it's own sake. And no dropping a moon on any Wookiees!

It does exist...

Yeah, I wasn't too happy about that plot point. However, there was never anything onscreen to indicate Saavik stayed on Vulcan in TVH because she was pregnant.

Ryan McAvoy said:

But the ST films explored the characters aging in a beautiful melancholic way. Sometimes it was even quite tragic, McCoys father, Kirk having no kids etc. Hell UC is all about aging.

Not an approach that would work for the fun atmosphere of SW I feel. Just show the OT gang as older, don't make it a running gag JJ for christ sake.

Um...David Marcus doesn't count?

I don't mean the movie should be downbeat or melancholy, just that our heroes act with some maturity and experience gained in the thirty years since we last saw them on Endor. And knowing when to let the new characters do the heavy lifting. Luke can still get away with Jedi derring-do though and throwing the old JK rulebook out the window.

Some of the later original cast Trek films are a good model for Abrams to look to. Especially The Undiscovered Country, as the characters were older, getting ready to retire, and readily acknowledged this was the last hurrah.

If Luke and the gang have one last grand adventure, and then pass the torch, whether all at once, or over the next three films, I'll be happy.

Can't wait until we see the cast in costume again. The first photo leak is inevitable.

What I refer to is one of those tabloid style magazines usually included in the Sunday paper. The sort of thing few people thought to save. The article was only a couple pages long.

It was a lucky ebay find from someone liquidating another person's collection. There were other items that related to early Lucasfilm productions pre SW, IIRC.

Thanks for the AC link though!

1. "John Harrison" didn't exist before being thawed out by Marcus, so it's unlikely they would cross paths. Dad wouldn't want them interacting anyway lest she start asking too many questions.
2. Kirk's Mom was simply a member of the Kelvin's crew. Marriages among starship crews was not unknown in the series. See:Balance of Terror.
3. Scotty objected to anything being brought on board he couldn't personally inspect and guarantee the ship's safety. Hint: It's not protomatter.

As Bugs Bunny likes to say, what a maroon!

I would think reading an entire copyrighted book aloud on tv requires the permission of the publisher?