Where’s Gary Kurtz when you really need him?
We’ve needed him since 1983!
Why would we need him after rotj was already complete?
1980 then
NeverarGreat said:
Mace would have to be in his 30’s, and Obi-wan would need to be in his 50’s. This actually makes more sense than the continuity of the prequels, since we are supposed to believe that Obi-wan ages from 35 to 75 in the span of 19 years. If Obi-wan was aged appropriately, he could genuinely be a father figure to Anakin.
Good point. In Retrospect, I’m not sure why George didn’t just combine the Qui-gon and Obi-wan characters in the first place. We didn’t need to see Obi-wan as a padawan, and Obi-wan having a master that died didn’t add anything to the other movies. An aged up Obi-wan could have easily done what Qui-gon did in The Phantom Menace.
An old member named SSWR had some similar ideas years ago - trying to turn Mace Windu into a sort of Snape character, who was a sort of tragic hero. Sadly he closed his youtube account a while back so some of his videos are lost - but there are some here -
AOTC COUNCIL
ROTS WINDU
ROTS ANAKIN’S TURNA lot was achieved with adding different context to various head turns and grumpy expressions. He had a bunch of other videos, including a brilliant ending to ROTS that was never recovered.
Ah yes–the fan-o-matic!
I’m fairly new around here, but the 'matic has always impressed me every times I’ve seen a clip of it.
Those ROTS clips were quite chilling–in a good way. Too bad that’s not what George did.
Anakin’s fall to the dark as presented in the PT never rang true to me. Worried that his wife is gonna die (due to a DREAM), and killing children? Sure, it explains how he became evil, but it doesn’t explain how he became Darth Vader. Darth Vader isn’t Darth Maul (vicious, mindless animal) or Kylo Ren (emo baddie).
The PT would have worked best like this:
EPISODE ONE:
(basically the phantom menace and attack of the clones rolled into one film)
Obi-wan (no qui-gon, (I thought Yoda trained him?)) helps free Naboo from the Confederacy of Independant Systems (already a thing at this point), which is led by a Count Dooku figure. Somewhere along the way Kenobi meets (in his late teens) Anakin, who eventually becomes his apprentice. Mace Windu is opposed to this. Anakin also meets Padme (not a queen) and it’s obvious they like each other.
The Republic is freaked out about the Separatists and wants action immediately. Chancellor Valorum is criticized for letting the situation get to the point where it’s basically coming to war. (to make matters worse, the republic has no galaxy-wide army. individual planets may have forces, but the entire galaxy does not)
Meanwhile, we get a subplot about the Jedi council finding out about some clones that have been grown on Kamino. The makers of the clones simply say they are ‘opportunists’ who have seen the war coming. (of course they’ve really been planted by Palpatine)
The Jedi Council and Valorum are leery, but the Senators and people of the galaxy don’t care. They want action! Naboo must be rescued! So Valorum, realizing that stuff must be done, gets a law passed that creates a GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. This army is under the command of the office of the chancellor, and will be assisted by the Jedi.
Then Valorum, under criticism for his handling of this situation, resigns. (this is a practice unfamiliar to the USA, but in many other countries, the Prime Minister will resign when things “go bad” under his watch.)(or it could be a ‘vote of no confidence’, either one). Either way, Palpatine becomes Chancellor, partially out of pity (Naboo is the planet he represents) and partially because he has been a strong voice against the Separatists, and it seems now he’s been validated.
Anyway, the brand-new clone army attacks Naboo, and frees it…but begun, the clone wars have!
EPISODES II AND III
With the political story of Episode I out of the way, I don’t think we need much more politics. I think the audience can accept that over the course of the war, Palpatine simply became more and more powerful with the army under his command, and the senate became more and more irrelevant yes-men. Also Palpatine appointed regional military governours.
Episodes II and III are really focused on Anakin and Obi-wan.
Anakin (between I and II) has married Padme (no Jedi forbidden love). He is a stong Jedi commander and often works with Obi-wan under the command of Bail Organa (this validates the OT).
Basically, Anakin is one of the most powerful jedis ever. He is frustrated by Mace Windu’s percieved attempts to hold him back and snub him.
He is also frustrated by the incompetence and idiocy of the army-men under his command. One time, after they lose a battle they should have won, he starts to force-choke a lieutenant in anger. Obi-wan is alarmed by this and makes Anakin stop. Anakin apologizes, but he’s still angry.
The story would end much like the fan-o-matic presents. Anakin is hungry for even more power. He is fed up with stupid bureaucrats and a Jedi order that seems to hate/fear him (personified by Mace Windu). Palpatine and Obi-wan seem to be the only ones who understand him. Palpatine’s vision of a galaxy ruled by a strong leader (an emperor) is attractive to him. Obi-wan agrees that Mace Windu focuses too much on himself, and not on the Jedi principals, but concedes that Mace is an incredibly powerful Jedi and has a right to be at the head of the Order.
Of course, eventually Anakin learns that Palpatine is a Sith! He’s shocked, and Anankin turns him in. Mace, knowing Anakin is a friend of Palpatine, uses this opportunity to accuse him of fraternizing with the enemy…
And you get the point. Anakin ends up killing Mace Windu, and, with Palpatine’s approval, begins to use his new powers in dark ways. Somewhere along the line the clones execute order 66…
“I thought I could be as good of a teacher as Master Yoda. I was wrong.”
As events get worse and worse, Obi-wan realizes that he has, in effect, failed. Anakin is becoming a monster of a man–a ruthless, cold military commander.
They end up on Muustafar together, where Obi-wan says "Wrongs (meaning Mace’s treatment of Anakin) do not justify other wrongs."
They talk for a little more, and anakin gets very angry. Obi-wan says something along the lines of "perhaps Mace Windu was right about you, Anakin!"
Anakin can’t believe his master is saying this and sees it as a betrayal. It gets to the point where Anakin pulls a lightsaber on Obi-wan…
and this is where Obi-wan realizes that Anakin’s new powers he’s learned from palpatine are the beginnings of his training…in the ways of the Sith! (only Mace was told palps was a sith)
Obi-wan becomes very alarmed and says that Anakin is following an evil path!
Eventually, they end up dueling, and Anakin falls into the lava pit.
FIN!
WEIRD, WACKO IDEA:
Mace Windu’s title, as head of the Jedi Order, is Darth Vader, which means “master of all force users” or something like that. The symbol of this office is the purple lightsaber, which has been handed down since ancient times. It represents the user’s mastery of all the force–the head of the Jedi Order was supposed to understand (not use, mind you) the dark and the light, or something like that.
This lightsaber is destroyed when Anakin kills Mace Windu.
This way, the audience is tricked into thinking that Ben isn’t lying–Anakin’s hatred towards Mace is the reason Anakin had to be killed. We assume Mace Windu somehow survived his injuries.
In truth, though, Darth Vader is in actuality Anakin Skywalker. His taking of the name shows that he arrogantly feels “now I am the master”… because he’s killed Mace.
Wow…that went way longer than I thought it would. I wonder if I should make my own fan-o-matic based on this…I’m not sure it’d be possible… it would take a lot of dubbing!
Where’s Gary Kurtz when you really need him?
We’ve needed him since 1983!
Alternate Case made by same guy:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BS6429SB8MX/?taken-by=offtrackoutlet
Then, around the Special Editions, people started pushing the “A New Hope” name hard, and also episode numbers.
I thought the use of episode numbers only really started catching on when TPM was released, becoming firmly entrenched once AOTC arrived.
Yep. It was really quite brilliant what Lucas set up back in 1980. There are so many fans who accept the PT and give it a free pass, simply because it slots into the big gaping “Episode I to III” hole he left in 1980 and the saga feels incomplete to them starting at the actual beginning.Of course, it makes it all th e more frustrating to those of us who are critical of it. But it was a bit of well-planned marketing genius to make the films seem necessary regardless of how they turned out.
Agree totally. If you sort of have OCD, it almost bothers you if you only watch the originals (4,5,6) and don’t watch the prequels.
a couple of nice looking Faces-based VHS covers/box for Rogue One - may give some inspiration / ideas if anyone is doing a complete Faces set… (if and when good quality photos that match the rest of the Faces series / style are available)
^ from https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/64ouvf/rogue_one_on_vhs_front_back_tape/
Wow…that looks fantastic.
I was going to use Director Krennic as well, but, I couldn’t find a hi-res shot of his face facing front with a mean look on his face. I was going to do the same thing, and make it look more professional, but there’s not a good image of him at around 1600x1600.
Yeah, that’s the problem. For the thing to turn out good, you literally have to find the perfect picture. Hopefully better pictures are available in the future.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ia8uyxr02nna2vb/Rogue One- A Star Wars Story.png?dl=0
This is a Rogue One faces cover I created really quick as a mockup.
I wanted to use Tarkin, but there aren’t any pictures of him I could find where he is looking at the camera. So I used Krennic, as LordStarkiller suggested. I also wanted to use the tower on Scarif, but I couldn’t find any pictures of the whole tower, just the base of it. Also, all the pictures I could find were stale pictures–not from battle action, which is weird because the OT faces covers all have some sort of action going on. I felt the picture of the heroes running worked better in that respect.
Since this is just a concept mockup, I didn’t create a back cover or spine.
Here’s my TFA cover… decided to continue the trilogy color scheme
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zigbx42eia3r6mp/Force Awakens.png?dl=0On the one hand I enjoy the symmetry but on the other I think for a new trilogy it should have a new color scheme. I think a yellow-ish gold would be preferable and red for “The Last Jedi”.
On a similar note, I feel R1 should have a turquoise color scheme.
I think you’re right about the turquoise
Great work. The box looks fantastic.
Hey, just wanted to pop by and say great job, darthrush! I’ll be sure to leave a review as soon as I can.
FULL REVIEW:
I just watched the edit. I love the original trilogy, including ROTJ. I think it has some of the best moments in the saga. However, the movie is make weaker than the others by some key “distractions”, when the movie should be about the Rebels winning and Luke and his father. These distractions are:
-Jedi Rocks/Lapti Nek/dumb stuff in Jabba’s palace
-Han’s jealousy of Leia, which makes him seem immature and lame.
-And Ewok silliness in the final battle.
Your edit takes care of the all three perfectly. I like the Ewoks, and I like how they’re cute. But when (in the battle) they somehow take out armoured stormtroopers, it kinda kills suspension of disbelief.
The edits you made in the Endor ground battle scenes are basically perfection. It’s completely believable. Han and Leia get trapped in the bunker, C3PO and the Ewoks realize this and get help. They arrive as a distraction when the rebels are brought outside with their hands up. The Imperials go after them, and get a nasty suprise from the Ewok’s bow&arrows. From there on out, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and the rebels fight the fight and get their job done. The Ewoks do their part and run around and distract the empire. They try to fight but their sticks and stones just can’t beat the imperials. Finally, Chewie breaks into an AT-AT, does some real damage, Han and Leia get into the base, and the rest is history.
Great job! Except for the standard cleanup editors always do in v2.0, I don’t think anything should be changed regarding the Endor ground battle.
Regarding the rest of the film that I haven’t mentioned, I could really care less. There are a couple lines you cut out I think could have been left in. There are also 1 or 2 lines that I think would have been better left out. But others would probably disagree, and in the end it doesn’t really matter. Good luck with whatever cleanup you do in v.2.0
What really matters are the “3 pillars of weakness in ROTJ” that I went over above. You’ve taken care of all three.
Taking this issues into account, I feel it best to revert to the original sequence of Lando and Wedge destroying the reactor which I feel is just as awesome in the original cut.
Sounds good. It’s a cool idea but probably not worth creating plot holes for.
In other news:
I have to cast my vote with the people who support keeping the “somehow I’ve always known” line.
darthrush said:
-New city celebrations/new song (SE)Add the new song, but please don’t add the cities. It’s so out of place and makes no sense.
I like the cities cause it gives the victory more scope and it can explained by means of the holonet. I will keep this in mind, in case I get more complaints. Then I will reconsider it. Thanks for the suggestion 😃
I think (as long as Naboo is not in there, I hate that prequel planet), the cities are fine. George originally envisioned Coruscant celebration for the ending, but cut it for budget reasons.
I tried this out (cutting Naboo), and it seems pretty nice. I feel the edit is a little bit too noticable but I might be a bit too picky 😉 Below is a preview of the city celebrations without Naboo. Thoughts on how well the edit is executed would be much appreciated.
Password: rotj
It looks good to me.
darthrush said:
-New city celebrations/new song (SE)Add the new song, but please don’t add the cities. It’s so out of place and makes no sense.
I like the cities cause it gives the victory more scope and it can explained by means of the holonet. I will keep this in mind, in case I get more complaints. Then I will reconsider it. Thanks for the suggestion 😃
I think (as long as Naboo is not in there, I hate that prequel planet), the cities are fine. George originally envisioned Coruscant celebration for the ending, but cut it for budget reasons.
That aside, I’m loving this edit! It is basically exactly what I would look for in a ROTJ edit. Very interested.
I think, if executed well (which it seems it will be) this will be my go-to version of ROTJ.
If it isn’t any trouble for anyone, can someone make a version of the shot from RotJ where they’re all leaving Tatooine, but instead of Luke leaving for Dagobah, he follows the Millenium Falcon?
ditto this request!
Edit sorry, meant to add to previous post.
Could someone create a star wars opening crawl with these words? I would really appreciate it. :
Episode VI
RETURN OF THE JEDILuke Skywalker has returned to Dagobah to complete his training. Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian has infiltrated the palace of Jabba the Hutt, preparing to rescue Han Solo.
Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new armored space station even more powerful than the first Death Star.
When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy…
I made this custom crawl blender template not too long ago. Feel free to use it.
https://digmodification.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/custom-crawl-creator/
Thanks, I will
Can someone PM me the original Harmy Blu-ray cases that he made? I can’t find them anywhere in good enough resolution to print. I don’t need the pics to be ridiculously huge, just big enough to print.
Utterly fantastic! It is beyond professional grade. Thanks for sharing it and how you did it.
Yeah, same. Not sure if he’s active anymore.
Hey There,
Heres an update of my custom set. Finally got the positioning right to fit the covers perfectly in the 15mm Criterion Blu-ray boxes and was able to track down some higher resolution art for the back. As for the inside/reverse, I printed them with the Noriyoshi Ohrai collage style prints. All in all, pretty happy with the results. Hope you enjoy.
Any chance I could get a PM of these? They’re EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for!
I sent ‘samlowry’ a message about those amazing covers a while back now, and got no reply. I hope he’s OK.
Wow… this edit sounds too good to be true. I like how you’re rearranging things instead of doing the usual “cut out the typical stuff”. Prequel edits have bored me for a while but I am very, very interested in this one.
Very interesting preview… I think this may become part of my official Star Wars cannon.
However, what were they thinking (back then), showing the whole movie? It’s great for 2016, but not before the film came out.
The above solutions helped me a lot. I just use a Blu-Ray cover I find online as a template and put the stuff I want over that. I then print it out with Undercover 10, which makes sure it prints out the right size on regular paper.
Could someone create a star wars opening crawl with these words? I would really appreciate it. :
Episode VI
RETURN OF THE JEDILuke Skywalker has returned to Dagobah to complete his training. Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian has infiltrated the palace of Jabba the Hutt, preparing to rescue Han Solo.
Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new armored space station even more powerful than the first Death Star.
When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy…
It needs to have the same starfield as the original opening crawl in VI, or just have no starfield (just black) so I can put it into the video. I would do this myself, but my stupid video editing program only has a perspective scroll that goes sideways (what the heck?)
I’m sorry I had to
Wow that looks better than the one in the movie
