Anakin Skywalker

[Jahled]

In a recent interview I read George Lucas stated there will be no more movies because they were essentially the story of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. So, after six movies how do you react to this statement?

 

Part of me thinks it has become clear GL has made a lot of his vision up as he has gone along, and the above statement might not have been in his mind circa 1974... or whenever it was.

 

Personnally, I think this 'evolution' is a little strange, and am not just wondering where the myth of nine episodes came from in the first place,

but how much of this mythos he has quite frankly made up on the spot.

 

....

[Trejiuvanat]

I think (an unconfirmed statement, it must be proven if Trej is capable of thinking after watching ROTS):

 

Lucas had an idea for a story. He wanted a hero, a hero that was free of an specific earth mythos, rather being a combination of all of earth's mythos.

 

He came up with a story that was frankly too big. As he reduced it, much of the development of other characters was a mystery. Regardless he filmed the story and amde a hit. He had now the money to complete the story of that hero. He made it, to add a twist to that story Lucas made him confront the archetypical element in all myths: his ultimate enemy being the one person he would not kill. his father. the fight between father and son, becomes light vs dark and the tirumph of love over darkness.

 

lucas made money, much money but in the end he felt that the story of the father needed to be told to be fully understood. In a twenty years lapse Lucas was frozen in carbonite and taken by boba fett to jabba, and when he returned he had come up with a light-pop culture story for the father, with some old post-its from the 70s, he might have sketched the sotry but i doubt lucas was only thinking of the present, never giving much thought to everything else.

 

To keep in with tradition he would complete it in another three movie cycle.

 

Though there are still mythical elements in play, the story of an anti-hero is not as quiet as exciting as the story of a young farmer who becomes the hero of the galaxy and even Kenobi's road is opaqued by Anakin's story and one does not fully appreciates how tiresome and harsh was Ben's path. In the end he has closed the circle. The trilogy is not linear, it's a ring. The ending of ROTJ, the showdown of Palpy and Luke, forces ne to be interested in the prequels, and when the prequels and one must continue witht he story of VAder. There is no place for anything else.

 

Lucas of course will do what his wallet believes is right, but it would be wiser to keep it with six movies, and let Lucasfilm startrek* the franchise.

 

*startrek is a verb used when an essentially good idea is ultimately extremely overdone in TV, books, comics or other form of mass media, and leading to the death of the franchise

[Jahled]

 

Ok. Just to clarify before I pass out, but I didn't get any sense with the original three movies that it was all about Vader... actually far from it; it started about a young lad in Costa Rica going nowhere because of his uncle's water moisture-thingy-farmy-thingy-business, caught up in galactic events because by chance Princess Leia's Corvette JUST BY CHANCE was taken out over his wasteland of a home.... in the subsequent two movies our young hispanic lad gets severe climate shock with a polar-bear, goes off to learn under yet another strange university tutor with huge ears, meets his dad, and subsequently rescues the galaxy from some guy with severe skin disorder.

 

...but not much to account for the whole vision being about Anakin Skywalker...

[Trejiuvanat]

In most of his initial drafts he always wrote about Annikin who was the hero of the story, in the last drafts there is no Anakin only Luke.

 

In the movie Anakin, though not mentioned by name, but in GL's notes probably well known as Anakin's father, is referred by Obi-wan to Luke.

 

Originally intended to be a device to advance Luke's plot, provide him with a link to a greater nobler past, through a 'falic' (does that exist in english?) item a sword namely which psychologically has a huge effect. It's the father weapon, and luke has always wanted to follow the father's footsteps.

 

The saga is originally played out to be that, Luke following the father's footsteps, joining with BEn Kenobi, become a Jedi like his father, become a great pilot like his father (deleted scene with REd Leader talking to luke about anakin skywalker being a great pilot).

 

So Luke's father was always an important part of the story, because it added mystery and greatness. Whilst reading the paper in the 'thinking cubicle' (oddly abbreviated to WC) Lucas must have come to realize this:

Masked Vader == Mystery;

Luke's father == Mystery;

Mystery + Mystery + Twist = $$$$$$$$$

He had laid them out to share many qualities. Both were Jedi, both good pilots. So he finally discovered how a great twist for ESB would be if Vader was in fact Luke's father. The moment he did this, the character of Vader finally took over the story. One wants to see the end of ROTJ, not because one wants Luke to triumph (one knows he will win), but because one has wanted to know how Vader ends. (Only at the end does one understand).

[Evaders99]

In fact, in the first published interview stating how many epsisodes George Lucas planned... the answer is 12. I will find the corresponding source, but obviously Lucas has changed his tune quite a bit.

 

We don't really know what he would have done post Episode 6, he hasn't really stated anything. But the 9 was also mentioned after the 12 because he wanted to do a true trilogy of Anakin Skywalker... his rise (or fall), his redemption, and the aftermath/consequences. Finally he decided he'd wait until the technology was ready to do the prequels. It would be another 20 years, and then he would figure out he probably couldn't live to do sequels, much less post-sequel movies.

 

Thus we are stuck with 6. I'm sure he has lots of ideas in his head for more movies. Maybe he'll screenplay them, or novel them, before he dies -who knows?

[Skynxnex]

I have no doubt in my mind that Lucas has more or less made this up as he went along.

 

You can clearly see in the originals that the story revolves primarily around Luke. I dont see how it revolves around Vader. Vader is instead Luke's enemy...well until ROTJ comes out.

 

 

I also think Lucas made a big mistake in directing the originals himself. The originals were so good because Lucas had help with directing!!!! Even in the very first one, that is ANH Lucas had help with that. It blows my mind that he decided to the prequels himself and thats why we get this wooden acting nonsense. Harrison Ford (Han Solo) I recall seeing an interview one time where he kept telling George that writing the lines that the character says is one thing...but getting them to talk that way is another. Harrison and others kept fighting Lucas on some of his choices for the dialogue. Its a shame that in the prequels that none of the actors or anyone else really challenged Lucas on some of his choices for lines.

 

On the other hand though, it is his concept and idea...so if he wants to do it one way then thats his right.

[Mad78]

Harrison Ford (Han Solo) I recall seeing an interview one time where he kept telling George that writing the lines that the character says is one thing...but getting them to talk that way is another.

Faster and more intense

 

I think Lucas is more interessted in working on other stuff such as a TV series and rerevamping SW (in 3D from what i understand)

 

Trej, i know of the adjective "phalic" but not of "falic".

[Jahled]

Getting back to my original point, who assumed in the seventies, eighties, or nineties that the Star Wars saga was ultimately the story of Darth Vader?

 

Sure in the prequals we had to see how Anakin is suduced to the Dark Side by the devil; but for GL to announce no more movies (to complete the myth of the nine), because it was all about Darth Vader is in clear contradiction to what we got out of the original movies. Hence me saying he's been making it up as we go along with these three prequals.

 

On a broader note; but if all six films are now ultimately about Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker seduced to evil then redeemed by his kids, how boring and unromantic is that! Pol Pot, Stalin, and Adolf Hitler were each corrupted to evil in one aspect or another somewhere along the line, but redemption is not on anyone's wish list for them, to much evil had been done. Vader's casual contempt of his own Imperial Officers or crews (Star Destroyer in asteroid belt) equals someone who is beyond any redemption.

[Paul]

I prefer a Darth Vader who is beyond redemption, and have him in my version of Star Wars. I also like the Emperor and Grand Moff Tarkin, which is why I am a Grand Moff- power is an absolute and absolute power corrupts absolutely.-Grand Moff Conway

[Evaders99]

The source: http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/timeline/

Timeline Gold, under the Appendices

Appendix I: Understand the Lost Episodes

 

When Star Wars (not yet subtitled) became a phenomenal hit, future episodes entered the picture. This

wasn’t the current six-episodes or even the long-stated nine-episodes, though. It was twelve. In the Official

Star Wars Fan Club Newsletter’s second issue, it was reported that “on February 23 [1978], it was

announced [by Lucas] that the Star Wars Corporation [Lucasfilm, in the terminology of the time] will begin

production on the sequel to Star Wars [ANH] this summer [of 1978] . . . based on the second of 12 stories in

George Lucas’ Adventures of Luke Skywalker series.â€

[Guest Scathane]

I think he's made things up along the way as well. But then again, we should realize that a story is almost never fully planned in advance. For instance, it took Tolkien about nine years to write Lord of the Rings, the rewrite it back-to-front and then again, front-to-back. A lot of things continually changed throughout this time.

[Darth_Rob]

Lucas should definetly continue the story. If he chooses not to, then he should give the rights to somebody else who dreams of continuing the saga. I think it would be so sweet to have a third 3-part trilogy that was animated. It would be (in my opinion) based on the best SW novels, Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. It would be cool to be animated because maybe they could convince some of the OT's talent (Hamil, Ford, Fisher) to reprise their roles. I just couldn't watch a SW movie that had a Han Solo that was not Ford. Or maybe even have a totally new story, with no returning characters.

[Jahled]

and encompass a saga centering on Luke Skywalker.

 

This is more or less what i'm on about!

[Mad78]

Lucas should definetly continue the story. If he chooses not to, then he should give the rights to somebody else who dreams of continuing the saga. I think it would be so sweet to have a third 3-part trilogy that was animated. It would be (in my opinion) based on the best SW novels, Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. It would be cool to be animated because maybe they could convince some of the OT's talent (Hamil, Ford, Fisher) to reprise their roles. I just couldn't watch a SW movie that had a Han Solo that was not Ford. Or maybe even have a totally new story, with no returning characters.

I don't really want SW to become, as Trej mentioned higher, a Star Trek.

[Stellar_Magic]

Its to late Mad, Star Wars has already been trekified. It just has used a different device to continue on.

 

Star Trek has around 10 films, Star Wars has 6.

Star Trek has had 5 TV series, Lucas is planning one and there were 2 previously.

Star Trek has had 0 made for TV movies, Star Wars had 1 (The Ewok Adventure).

Star Trek has fewer and more poorly written books.

Star Trek has had on average worse computer games with a few exceptions (Bridge commander, Elite Force...)

 

So guess what, Star Wars is already trekified.

[Trejiuvanat]

and encompass a saga centering on Luke Skywalker.

 

This is more or less what i'm on about!

 

Yu could say that the prequels are centered on Obi-Wan...

 

Whole SW SAga: Rise and FAll of Anakin Skywalker

 

E I - III: The adventures of OBi-WAn Kenobi and the Clone Wars

E IV - VI: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker and the GAlactic Civil War.

 

[Stellar_Magic]

I can't help it... so tempting.

 

Whole SW SAga: Rise and FAll of Anakin Skywalker

 

E I - III: The adventures of OBi-WAn Kenobi and the Clone Wars

E IV - VI: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker and the GAlactic Civil War.

E VII-IX: The Adventures of Ben Skywalker and the Rapora Wars.

[Trejiuvanat]

E VII-IX: The Adventures of Ben Skywalker and the Rapora Wars.

 

Send that to supershadow so he can put that on his site...

 

Seriously, you really are GL, aren't you?

[ThomasG86]

I think at some point Star Wars will return to the big screen. Forget the VII-IX thing though, the actors are too old (and likely not willing) to continue that story. Start a new triology. About someplace else in the Star Wars universe. Set it 100 years before the current 6-pack... 100 years after, whatever.

 

I mean how many worlds described in the various novels/comic books have we not seen on the big screen? Hundreds... dozens of fascinating places/people. Some will probably say to leave it be, don't destory Star Wars by "Trekifying" it. That's already happened with the prequils/toys/tv specials.

 

What needs to happen is to get a very dedicated team on the job. People who love Star Wars and understand why us fans love Star Wars. Craft some stories, make them interesting, get tons of feedback and take their time.

 

Or better yet, take some of the book series that have been so huge. I haven't read any of them (my sister read all of them) but I hear the Thrawn triology is pretty good. Make each book into a movie.

 

The point is there is plenty of material to continue making Star Wars movies, and the fans to support it. Look at Revenge of the Sith. The third prequel after two pretty coldly received ones (I thought TPM was decent, AOTC wasn't very good IMO but that's not the point). It rakes in 50 MILLION DOLLARS on its first day, shattering previous records for not only a Star Wars movie, but ANY movie.

 

People love these things and will continue to support them, as long as they stay decent. I was born too late to be an original fan of the original series, but I recognize how big of an impact they had. My sister got me hooked on Star Wars, she was a big fan of them and bought the boxed Speical Edition set in 1997. I remember watching those things over and over again, never getting tired of them. I didn't even see TPM in theaters (my sister camped out for a week), AOTC I saw a week after it came out, but I was at the midnight showing of ROTS (completely worth it!).

 

Even though I've kind of jumped on the bandwagon so to speak, I still think the originals are on a different level than the new ones (maybe not so much with ROTJ). They'll never be surpassed in the minds of many people, and probably mine too. They are what started everything, they've achieved almost a god-like status that cannot be easily reproduced.

 

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, more movies. I think they'll be another triology, about a topic completely different than the "Skywalker" line. 10-15 years down the road maybe a project will pick up. It will be released and people will realize that Star Wars is much more than just the originals. We can maybe then settle down and get ready for a triology or two more.