spectrum,
Palps creating Anakin was part of an early version of the script that never made it through to the screenplay or the actual film.
Lucas does seem to have some idea of when to hold back.
“Luke…I am your genetic engineer!”
I believe the idea was scrapped because the first few versions of Anakin kept popping out with four asses…
Well, enough of the backstory to set it up is left in the graphic novel to make it clear that that is what happened, even if it’s not explicit. It’s too bad that was taken out. it provides a context beyond the way he’s treated generally for Anakin, who clearly clings depserately to the people he loves or feels a connection to, to side with Palpy.
Nah, they actually kept popping out even whinier than he currently is. Palpatine just couldn’t tolerate it. 
Oh my God, you aren’t kidding. I’m a huge fan of 4, 5, and 6 but I was horrified at the scripts and acting in Episodes 1 and 2. Holy crap, it was awful. The worst was in Ep 2 when Anakin goes into that whole “sand is corse…but your skin is soft” bullshit wooden speech. ARGH! I actually said out loud in the theater “You have GOT to be fucking KIDDING.” I’ve never seen actors that were supposed to be so passionately drawn to one another seem so distant and mismatched in a movie.
I’ll see episode 3 and I really hope it’s the best of the prequels, and I think George L should do what he wants with his money and make movies his way, but I still can’t help thinking in the back of my mind “How the hell can he think this is OK after how good the first 3 were? How?” It’s like he never even watched the first 3, much less actually made them.
Can I steal this?
Count me among those who loved episodes 4-6. I was thrilled when I heard that episodes 1-3 were finally going to be produced. Jar-Jar Binks almost turned me off of the whole thing, but then I remembered that this isn’t my vision of how things came to be–it’s Lucas’ vision. It’s his universe and his money. He can do whatever he pleases.
I have no problem with the people who hated Episode I and decided not to watch the rest. I have no problem with the people who loved Episode I and bought Jar-Jar plush toys. It bugs me, though, when people watch these movies multiple times in the theaters, buy the DVDs, and then rag on them endlessly. I don’t understand the people going into the theater with a notepad ready to record every perceived error they can find.
They’re really just movies. Overall, I like them.
And, by the way, Soapbox Monkey, I had no idea what ROTS was either, so your warning about unboxed spoilers was pretty useless.
Would it be too hard, even at this late date, to reword the currently useless title so “Sith” replaces “ROTS”? That should clear up any ambiguity…
You whippersnappers don’t know what you’re talking about!
The future Mrs. Mercotan & I saw Star Wars the day after it opened in general distribution, with absolutely no clue what it was going to be about! And for years, we had only that one episode, and we were happy to have it! None of this “Episode 4” this and “Prequel” that! We didn’t even have action figures! Or a videotape of it! We bought the soundtrack on Vinyl or cassette tape or 8 track, and cranked it up in our dorms! And then we, uh…
We were, uh, I think…
What’s this thread about again?
Please do.
Just so you know, “Star Wars” has ALWAYS been Episode 4: A New Hope. Fox forced Lucas to remove the “Episode IV” and the “A New Hope” title because they feared audiences would be confused as to why this, the first movie in a series, was numbered as being the 4th.
So sorry, you can’t get uppity about how Lucas decided to “change” that. He restored it to the way it originally was.
Not to tread on another fan’s toes, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Why else, in the official magazine in 1978, would Lucasfilm initially announce that SW was the first of 12 movies in the series collectively known as The Adventures of Luke Skywalker?
The truth, AFAICT, is that Lucas knew he wanted to do sequels, but the idea of doing prequels didn’t occur to him until he was making ESB. I can imagine Lucas wanting to use an episode number on SW, but I very much doubt it would have been IV.
He wanted it to be Number IV because he wanted it to be in the tradition of the Saturday Morning serials. He wanted audiences to feel like they were being dropped into a story where they weren’t up to speed on the history of what has happened thus far. Hence the scrolling text which serves as a lead in to that particular episode of the series, bringing viewers up to speed.
Did he have the prequels in mind? Most likely not. But he still wanted A New Hope to be titled Episode IV because of his desire to make it feel like a Saturday matinee serial.
Lucas obviously hadn’t seen Galaxy Quest, where Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver are a corridor in the bowels of the ship trying to avoid the totally pointless stompy crushy things: “Well, it’s badly written!” Why did a droid factory resemble an 18th century Dark Satanic Mill anyway? Saruman’s forges in Isengard, OK, sure - the guy was just feeling his way - but a supposedly state-of-the-art robot factory?
Soapbox Monkey, to quote Captain Jack Sparrow, “You need a girlfriend, mate.” Or a boyfriend. Or a sheep. Or a melon.
Star Wars isn’t supposed to be a blueprint for the future – it’s about using images to evoke emotional responses. Why put the tractor beam controls in the middle of a huge chasm in the Death Star? Why does the Emperor’s throne room on the Death Star II have a built-in shaft straight to the reactor? Why go to the trouble of building attack vehicles that walk when wheels or tracks would work better? You could continue like that forever.
True, but there’s a fine line between using images which evoke emotional responses and sticking in cliches because they look cool, and Lucas crossed it long ago.
I’d argue that it’s one of the things that made Star Wars appeal to people in the first place. Luke and Leia swinging across a chasm? That sorrt of thing was a cliche long before 1977.