October 15, 2011
October 11, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] The Early Drafts of Star Wars, Part 3
Previously published at Hope Lies.
In the first installment of this article, we explored George Lucas' March 1973 outline, where he used Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as the springing point for what would become The Star Wars. In the second piece, we looked at the first full draft, written over a year later in July of '74, where he poured all of his thoughts onto the page in a massive, rich, sweeping first draft that, as amazing as it is, would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to film at the time. So it's with his second draft, dated January 1975, that Lucas started to strip things down and find his focus.
The Adventures of the Starkiller
Episode I
The Star Wars
In the first installment of this article, we explored George Lucas' March 1973 outline, where he used Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as the springing point for what would become The Star Wars. In the second piece, we looked at the first full draft, written over a year later in July of '74, where he poured all of his thoughts onto the page in a massive, rich, sweeping first draft that, as amazing as it is, would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to film at the time. So it's with his second draft, dated January 1975, that Lucas started to strip things down and find his focus.
Episode I
The Star Wars
October 8, 2011
October 1, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] The Early Drafts of Star Wars, Part 2
Previously published at Hope Lies.
In my previous installment, I explored Lucas' original outline for The Star Wars, where he used the plot of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as a springboard for his ideas. Now it's time to dig into Lucas' first full draft, written five months later in July of 1974.
We open on a desert world where Akira Valor lives in hiding, teaching his sons Justin and Bink the ways and philosophies of the Dai warriors. The Dai were instrumental in spreading the reach and influence of the Galactic Kingdom before it turned on them, declaring them a rebel cult and all but wiping them out with a rival sect called the Legions of Lettow. One such Lettow warrior, clad in a black cloak and face mask, tracks the Valor clan down and attacks. He's defeated, but not before little Bink is slain. The teenaged Justin tells his father he's tired of hiding and the two decide to return to the front lines.
In my previous installment, I explored Lucas' original outline for The Star Wars, where he used the plot of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as a springboard for his ideas. Now it's time to dig into Lucas' first full draft, written five months later in July of 1974.
We open on a desert world where Akira Valor lives in hiding, teaching his sons Justin and Bink the ways and philosophies of the Dai warriors. The Dai were instrumental in spreading the reach and influence of the Galactic Kingdom before it turned on them, declaring them a rebel cult and all but wiping them out with a rival sect called the Legions of Lettow. One such Lettow warrior, clad in a black cloak and face mask, tracks the Valor clan down and attacks. He's defeated, but not before little Bink is slain. The teenaged Justin tells his father he's tired of hiding and the two decide to return to the front lines.
September 24, 2011
September 22, 2011
[Unfulfilled Hopes] The Early Drafts of Star Wars, Part 1
Previously published at Hope Lies.
Discussion of the origins of Star Wars must, of course, begin with Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, the tale of a bearded General and a young Princess, both in the guise of peasants, trying to sneak across enemy lines while pursued by the clan who overthrew their kingdom and having to work with a bumbling pair of lowly goons who keep shifting between helping the leads and trying to sell them out and make off with their gold. It's very common to hear comments along the lines of "Star Wars is totally a ripoff of The Hidden Fortress!" but these are overblown and are often made by people who haven't even seen Kurosawa's film. There is a bearded general in Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a feisty young princess, Leia, but not only has the plot of them fleeing across enemy lines together been removed, they never actually meet on screen, and Leia is never disguised as a peasant (these elements would, however, pop up in The Phantom Menace). The scene of the droids R2-D2 and C3P-0 arguing as they wander through a desert is almost identical to the two goons in the opening of The Hidden Fortress, and both pairs are quickly rounded up by slave traders and then freed, but they otherwise have no connection in terms of persona or story. There's also a duel between old allies and the frequent use of wipe cuts, but the point I'm making here is that the influence of The Hidden Fortress was so diluted by the time Star War came to be that claims of how much the final film owes to the earlier work can seem a little unfair.
Discussion of the origins of Star Wars must, of course, begin with Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, the tale of a bearded General and a young Princess, both in the guise of peasants, trying to sneak across enemy lines while pursued by the clan who overthrew their kingdom and having to work with a bumbling pair of lowly goons who keep shifting between helping the leads and trying to sell them out and make off with their gold. It's very common to hear comments along the lines of "Star Wars is totally a ripoff of The Hidden Fortress!" but these are overblown and are often made by people who haven't even seen Kurosawa's film. There is a bearded general in Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a feisty young princess, Leia, but not only has the plot of them fleeing across enemy lines together been removed, they never actually meet on screen, and Leia is never disguised as a peasant (these elements would, however, pop up in The Phantom Menace). The scene of the droids R2-D2 and C3P-0 arguing as they wander through a desert is almost identical to the two goons in the opening of The Hidden Fortress, and both pairs are quickly rounded up by slave traders and then freed, but they otherwise have no connection in terms of persona or story. There's also a duel between old allies and the frequent use of wipe cuts, but the point I'm making here is that the influence of The Hidden Fortress was so diluted by the time Star War came to be that claims of how much the final film owes to the earlier work can seem a little unfair.
September 17, 2011
September 10, 2011
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