I read Star Wars in 1976. I believe there was an intro in which Lucas said he intended it as the first book in a trilogy that was the middle of 3 trilogies. I remember this because I thought the writing was terrible, and thought, “Wow! Eight more volumes of this drek?” I’ll double-check when I get home.
It was clear to me as a 14 year old that “Darth Vader” was “Dark Father” and I thought it was all a pretty huge rip-off of LOTR in certain ways.
Anybody know what Charles Foster Kan–er, I mean, George Lucas-- is planning on doing with his personal papers after he dies? That would be about the only definitive way to answer some of the questions that have arisen about the whole Star Wars saga. (Supposedly, the original draft for Star Wars was strictly about C-3PO and R2-D2.)
You’re kidding right? The way he’s revised what he’s said so many times I suspect he’s shredded any that don’t agree with his current thought. I have read the “original” draft of Star Wars (the one that was sold in stores about ten years ago so there’s no guarentee it’s really the original) and the movie was definitely not about the droids.
The Vader thing might have fueled the decision to make Vader into Luke’s father as speculation about it grew but it’s doubtful that it started out that way. “Vader” pretty clearly short for Invader, chopping the first syllable off a word for a name is something that Lucas has done many times. Not a bad thing but considdering the lack of any other German inspired names I think it’s safe to say that he didn’t plan on the connection there.
I must have seen that thing fifty times between 1977 and 1979.
At no point did the opening crawl say “Episode IV” or “A New Hope”.
The first time I ever saw with the add-ons was on a rented video during the late 1980s.
I saw STAR WARS several times at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA (just outside of DC) in 1977. The first time I saw the “Chapter 4: A New Hope” imprint was during a 1979 re-release (several months before THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK had come out).
Whatever Lucas had originally hoped to turn this into, 20th Century Fox was very nervous about this movie before it was released. It cost a lot (in 70s terms) to make, and there had never before been a science fiction movie that had recouped that kind of money; the prior big-money SF movies were PLANET OF THE APES and LOGAN’S RUN (2001 and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE were art house hits but not multiplex seat-fillers and arguably weren’t SF), which cost a good bit to make but earned less than a typical Burt Reynolds car crash flick. STAR WARS was the first big-budget SF spectacular and Fox execs made it clear that if it didn’t set the world on fire, there wouldn’t be any sequels. It was hyped shamelessly in Fox-owned TIME magazine, but they were deathly afraid that they’d sunk 30-40 million into a massive flop.
The “in the beginning it was all about the droids” may come from confusion about Kurasawa’s Hidden Fortress, which Lucas borrowed extensively from. The two peasant farmers that the droids are modeled on are pretty much the central figures. Toshiro Mifune’s surly hero provided inspiration for both Luke and Han.
If the “first draft” script that’s been floating around unchallenged all these years is the real deal (and I think it is,) Luke has been central from the beginning. Hell, in the first draft, he’s the one being held captive by Vader.
The original Star Wars movie cost 11 million dollars.
My source for this was a “factoid” that appeared innumberable years ago on some program about Star Wars. Which, of course, doesn’t mean that Lucas did say it, and that he was being honest if he did.
Some of the “quotes” attributed to George are out of context or totally mis-remembered. However, he’s only human. Sometimes he exaggerates or gets details mixed up, just like anyone can.
I believe pretty much what Badtz Maru says near the top of this thread is closest to the truth.
Okay, I know thiis is off-topic, strictly speaking, but something tells me there is a piquant appropriateness to having it in this particular thread.
What, exactly, does “retcon” mean?
I was ahem,cough cough years old when Star Wars Originally and first hit theatres. Let’s just say I wasn’t a little kid. Was closer to adulthood. Could drive and all.
It DID in fact say Episode IV (or VI, whichever one means FOUR for crying out loud). It didn’t have the words “A New Hope” after Episode IV though.
Well, I saw it three times the day it opened. I’m absolutely positive that it was titled Episode IV: A New Hope, with no mention of Star Wars.
CanvasShoes - GuanoLad’s link proves pretty conclusively that it did not in fact say Episode IV until around 1980. Unless you have some sort of evidence to lend credence to your memories then I think we have a case of a false memory here.
Sxyzzx - You’re joking, right? Just making sure.
I can’t speak to the film, but I have the 1976 SFBC edition in front of me. It’s entitled “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker.” The half-title page simply says “Star Wars.” It does not have an intro from the author, so I’m guessing my note above refers to comments I heard in the late 70’s (perhaps at BaltiCon?) or read in an SF magazine. Sorry, no cite.
Retroactive Continuity. It’s when a new plot element or a change to an existing plot element is introduced into an existing fiction franchise, and the logic of backstory dictates it should have been there all along.
My non-SFBC hardback is the same way. No introduction and “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker”. That and all the cool pictures made it work for me. I’ve been lugging that book around the country for 25 years now.
I always thought it was pretty obvious that the “I had it planned all along” and the “nine movies” lines were bullshit from the get-go.
And yes, originally it was supposedly NINE movies - a trilogy of trilogies, of which “Star Wars” was the first film in the middle trilogy. Uh-huh. These days Lucas declares that no, it’s six movies and it “always was” six movies. Also, it “always was” supposed to be the story of Darth Vader, rather than the story of Luke. Uh-huh.
It’s all true. From a certain point of view.
From Clerks: The Cartoon
Episode 4
Randal: Do you think Phantom Menace is as good of a movie as Empire?
George Lucas: Well, certainly, I think it’s the best movie I’ve made yet.
Randal: Permission to treat this witness as hostile. Mr. Lucas, how do you explain that in Star Wars Obi-Wan tells Luke when he met his father he was a great pilot, but in Menace he’s just a little boy?
Lucas: Well, my kids thought…
Randal: And how come Obi-Wan tells Luke that Yoda is the Jedi that trains him, but in the movie Liam Neeson trains him?
Lucas: Um, well, the power of myth…
Randal: Isn’t it true you knew this was a bad movie, that you wrote it over a weekend but told people you had it written for years?
Lawyer: Objection! The pod race was pretty cool.
Where is the original screenplay available? I would give my left arm to read it.
IIRC, the Alan Dean Foster ghostwritten novel of Star Wars opened with a “quote” from Episode I: The Journal of the Whills. I was fully expecting that to be the title instead of Phantom Menace.
I took a quick glance through amazon and while they had script facsimiles they were all of the shooting script not the early draft. The easiest way to tell them apart is the early drafts have “Luke Starkiller”.