Tag: Lucasfilm

The Force Awakens…. Lost its way….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

As I stated, the movie started out with lots of potential. Yet, it didn’t know what it wanted to be. The writer and director didn’t create a natural extension of the Skywalker story. Instead, they created a story and production they thought the audience wanted. Or to be more precise, what the producer thought the audience wanted.

So, the new leadership at Lucasfilm decided to nix everything in the expanded universe. A horrible idea to millions of fans that spent decades enjoying the stories and respecting the chronology. But a fabulous idea for a new writing staff so they don’t have to worry about the past and all thats come before it. Or as I really think, they didn’t have a clue of any of that source material and like a slacker high school student, why actually read the book and know the material when you can just petition the teacher to throw out the textbook altogether. Yes, I am calling out those writers for not actually being SW fans and actually knowing the chronology. When you have a clean canvas you can create anything without remorse or worry.

As story development proceeded, The Force Awakens could literally be anything the writers could dream up. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that it fit in with the previous movies, character developement nor even the wishes of Mr. George Lucas. He handed treatments over yet Lucasfilm leadership decided to toss them and proceed with the what the rockstar director wanted.

Story may be the weak link but the saving grace was the art design and characters that were created. Except I think they needed a slight tweak….

Up next… a fan’s version of The Force Awakens….

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The Force Awakens …. had potential but failed….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

What many fans saw as a copy cat of Star Wars New Hope, I actually took was part of a long history of Star Wars formula.

George Lucas used a similar formula with the Prequel Trilogy thus seeing something similar in the Sequel Trilogy wasn’t that surprising. If you compare The Phantom Menace to A New Hope you see several formulaic concepts: the discovery of a threat to peace, an rescue mission, a introduction of a main character through accident, an old mentor dies, a big battle to help liberate the galaxy (or planet) and a big celebration ceremony. See, those two movies were very similar. Yet, I will admit that formula went a little bit too far with The Force Awakens and did appear to be a remake of A New Hope. The first strike.

The movie opened with a problem. Luke is missing. The First Order has risen and taken advantage of the disappearance of Luke. Yet, I think the movie wasn’t clear on what it was meant to do. Why’s Luke missing? And how did the First Order become so powerful just because Luke disappeared? Why isn’t there a new Jedi Order helping protect the Galaxy?

The Star Killer Base, this trilogy’s version of the Death Star, is literally thrown in with no real reason to the story elements we were introduced to in the opening crawl. It felt like JJ Abrams was like “oh yeah, I need a Death Star-like thing to be the threat to everyone.” If the First Order arose and became a galactic threat since Luke disappeared, how long has Luke been gone? Was it weeks? Years? Decades? We never know. We have to know its been a while because the First Order has had time to raise massive amounts of capital, built a fleet of Star Destroyers, and had time to convert a planet into a gigantic laser gun. This can’t just be done in a few short years.

With oblivious plot holes, I never really believed the First Order as a real threat to our characters. Nor did I understand how they got so powerful when the Republic was still governing the galaxy. Was this something like Cobra was to G.I. Joe? I believe this is why fans critiqued the First Order so much. In 1977, we didn’t know the specifics how the Empire was born, and we didn’t need to know actually. But when we know how the characters defeated the Empire, to see a new clone of the Empire arise, the audience needs a bit of back story. Thus, I think the film’s villain (i.e. the Empire in OT and now the First Order in TFA) is cliche trope. There were so many other threats our old and new characters could have faced.

So, where else did The Force Awakens stray? …..

Stay tuned….

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The New Trilogy…. How I would have done it!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

In 2005, we watched Episode III with great enthusiasm and excitement. Then, we were saddened when George Lucas announced that the Star Wars Saga was complete and there would be no more movies. The dreams of seeing Episode VII through IX (7-9) were destroyed. Yet, we excepted it as this was a story about the life and redemption of Anakin Skywalker.

Suddenly, George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney. Every fan suddenly realized maybe more Star Wars movies would be on the horizon. The news broke really fast that yes indeed Star Wars would return with a new Sequel Trilogy that would take place 30 years after Return of the Jedi. The movies would reunite the original trilogy cast and introduce new characters. When we got The Force Awakens, we were confronted with the truth that perhaps we were deceived. Just like the Jedi were deceived by Chancellor Palpatine and the Army of the Republic.

The new trilogy wasn’t going to focus on the classic characters. It was a clear and present bait and switch. The new characters were going to be the complete focus. The original characters weren’t even given the respect to be supporting characters. No, they were basically cameos. This was the first mistake made by Disney Star Wars. You sacrificed established characters. The right course would have been introduce the new characters but they should have been an extension of the classic character story.

Episode VII opens with a crawl that informs the audience Luke Skywalker is missing. I loved this concept. Like any classic fantasy story, we set up the quest. The journey the characters must take to resolve the conflict. Where could Luke be? Was he captured? Or was he just lost? I could see this resonating out of George Lucas mind and based on his appreciate for Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. Regardless of the reason behind Luke’s disappearance, it reminded me of the exile of Yoda. Yoda wasn’t running away from the problem. He was simply waiting for the opportunity of returning to the battle. After learning that Luke went in search of old and lost Jedi Temples, I figured this could have been his motivation. He was looking for the knowledge. He was waiting for the right time to return and take on the First Order.

Then, Last Jedi was released and our perception of Luke was destroyed….

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Star Wars….other possibilities….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

With the Skywalker Saga (as they are calling the core Star Wars movies nowadays) storyline coming to an end with Episode IX, I dream about the possibilities of what could have been.

I want to get my thoughts and opinions down on digital paper. When Lucasfilm sold to Disney I was very optimistic about the future of Star Wars. Unfortunately, my optimism was cut short with the release of the new ‘sequel’ trilogy of films. And the basic destruction of the expanded universe cannon. I will clarify that I never expected the expanded universe to become the stories of any new movies. Yet, I hoped that they would at least try to blend in. The reason I stand by this: Lucasfilm took such care and consideration of any and all post ROTJ stories. Thus, I figured George Lucas essentially approved it all. Yet, the films are truly the only ‘true’ cannon. Thus, if Mr. Lucas would have changed his mind, then that would be acceptable and understandable.

In this process, I hope it makes sense. I hope my thoughts and ideas are clear and find a audience. I think the narrative of my opinions would have made in some regards better Star Wars movies. I believe this as I would have written my Star Wars from the aspect of the known source material and universe. I would not have made decisions on the risk and ridiculous hope of ‘pleasing audiences’ and being ‘diverse’.

I think its best if I start from the beginning….

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George Lucas’ Lord of the Rings….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

I find fun to think of “what-if” situations — the alternate history that could have happened if only something played out just slightly different. Similar to my alternate 80s/90s take on a Batman and Superman movie, there could have been another movie produced in the 80s if only the right creative minds had come together.

With the popularity of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books, the Tolkien estate wanted to produce Lord of the Rings. There was hope that the animated feature of the 70s would have been their overwhelming achievement. Yet, the two projects just didn’t capture the hearts of minds of fans. So, the Producers decided the story had to be told as a life action movie. Tolkien family wanted something in the likes of Star Wars.

Star Wars was the biggest movie of all time in the 1980s. The three movies of the Star Wars franchise wasn’t just movies it was a licensee jugganaut. From books to toys, the intellectual property would eventually make billions. So, why not Lord of the Rings. After, George Lucas finished with Return of the Jedi and had no future plans of any other Star Wars films, he was the perfect choice for a massive Lord of the Rings project. The project is pitched to Lucasfilm. And in 1984, George Lucas confirms his next film project is Lord of the Rings.

Lucasfilm’s Production of Frodo in Hobbiton.

Being inspired by the books when he was in college, George is excited to tackle the story. One feature that George is most excited about is the story from the perspective of the hobbits — the halflings of Middle Earth. During the writing of Star Wars, George had considered filming it entirely with midgets — or small people. George was fascinated by the courageous “little people” living with the disability. He had worked with them to create iconic characters like Jawas and Ewoks. So, he knew he had to find the right ones to play Merry, Pippin, Samwise, Frodo and Bilbo Baggins.

Lucasfilm’s production of Gandalf warning the hobbits of the quest.

George quickly sums it up that if there was 3 books in the Lord of the Rings cycle, then it could only be done with 3 movies – focusing on 1 book per film. With all the pre-production concluded, filming starts in 1985. The first movie is released in 1986 to huge reviews and massive box office returns. The second film arrives 3 years later — in 1989 and the last film — in 1992. Toy stores were flooded with Lord of the Rings action figures, board games and puzzles. Kids would hit the first day of school with Frodo and the all seeing Eye of Sauron t-shirts. Lucasfilm stuns the world with 3 massive trilogies — Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Lord of the rings.

Lucasfilm’s production of Aragon and Frodo.

This would have blown our geek and nerdy minds…. And possibly put a new level to those that enjoyed D&D and modern fantasy!

[note: this is not real but a possible history in film. Images are from Willow.]

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