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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

PT Would Lionel Richie have made a more compelling Mace Windu?

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by Pendulous_Dewlap, Oct 25, 2011.

  1. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    Oh. I guess I should respond to this...

    No, wait! No, I shouldn't!

    Lionel has appeal a-plenty. I'll let you know when I find some of it!

    Seriously, I enjoy his songs. Just, er, keep the music videos away. AWAY, I say!
     
  2. Darkwish

    Darkwish Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2001
    Hell yes!
     
  3. Pendulous_Dewlap

    Pendulous_Dewlap Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 21, 2011
    Yet another reason Mr. Richie would fit seamlessly into the PT.:p

    I know you own this. There's little use in pretending otherwise.
     
  4. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    :eek: [face_laugh]

    BLASPHEMY!

    *looks at link*

    I am sooooooo getting that!


     
  5. MrFantastic74

    MrFantastic74 Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2010
    Bwahaha! I can just picture Mr. Neville aplying cocoa butter to his biceps while singing this song.
     
  6. Jedi_Ford_Prefect

    Jedi_Ford_Prefect Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2003
    Considering the fact that Mace Windu was originally going to be some kind of a CGI alien before Samuel L. Jackson voiced his interest in being in a "Star Wars" movie, I think it's a little... interesting... that people are only coming up with the, shall we say, more "superficial" casting choices in their heads. Before SLJ came onboard, probably any Hollywood A-Lister could've become Mace if they showed similar interest. George Clooney could've been Mace. Benecio Del Toro didn't like the part of Darth Maul because there was so little dialogue-- maybe he'd have been happier playing a Jedi Master. SLJ's castmate John Travolta could've been Windu, perhaps even recycling his Vincent Vega hair. Hell, perhaps in a parallel universe Samuel L. Jackson would've stuck with the show 24, which was originally being developed around him in the lead as a CTU agent, and Kieffer Sutherland would've gone on to be cast as Mace Windu and Nick Fury.

    Still, at the end of the day, Mace Windu was either going to be a bunch of CGI pixels, or Samuel L. Jackson. And I'll take SLJ any day over pixels.
     
  7. shanerjedi

    shanerjedi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 17, 2010
    I would love to hear Lionel Richie songs sung by prequel Yoda:


    Party, we're going to have hmmm?
    Night Long, All
    All Night
    All Night
    Night Long, All
    everyone dancing in the street they are as we meet hmmm?
    Night Long, All
     
  8. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2011
    We need more silly threads like this in this forum.
     
  9. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    I know what you're sayin', JFP. I know what you're sayin'.

    Let's see...

    What other black actors can we think of? C'mon, people.

    Black, black, black!

    - Sidney Poitier
    - Morgan Freeman
    - Forest Whitaker
    - Ving Rhames
    - Denzel Washington
    - Wesley Snipes
    - James Earl Jones
    - Michael Winslow
    - Danny Glover
    - O.J. Simpson
    - Robert Downey Jr.

    Surely, any of these would have made a better Motown Windu, right?
     
  10. Alexrd

    Alexrd Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2009
    Correction: He wasn't going to be CGI.

    P.S: But Jack Bauer on Star Wars would be awesome.
     
  11. Jedi_Ford_Prefect

    Jedi_Ford_Prefect Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2003
    Wasn't he? I can't remember where I heard this, that Windu was originally going to be CGI, but I'm not pulling it out of thin air. Perhaps he was just going to be an alien of some kind, like Ki-Adi, through practical effects?
     
  12. Sistros

    Sistros Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2010
    Anakin you're once, twice, three times a Jediii
     
  13. Alexrd

    Alexrd Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2009
    Yes, he was going to be a alien. Similar to a twi'lek and not CGI:

    [image=http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090612043604/starwars/images/thumb/a/ab/UnknownDarkSiderAdept.JPG/200px-UnknownDarkSiderAdept.JPG]
     
  14. Jedi_Ford_Prefect

    Jedi_Ford_Prefect Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 9, 2003
    Well, he could be a missing member of the Commodores, couldn't he?

    Anyway, you get my point.
     
  15. NelanisGhost

    NelanisGhost Jedi Youngling star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2006
    Mace is the only Jackson role I think he actually proved he could act in. He stepped out of the mold of every other role he's played (the angry/black/ghetto typecast), to be a great jedi. I was amazed because I didn't think he could do it. The only other thing I loved him in wa The Long Kiss Goodnight, but I love that movie all together. Ahhh, back in the days of original movies.....

    [face_plain]
     
  16. Pendulous_Dewlap

    Pendulous_Dewlap Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 21, 2011
    Jackson is a powerful, charismatic actor who allowed himself to be turned into a lifeless drone in Episodes I-III. If anything, the prequels proved that Jackson was more than capable of giving a truly horrific screen performance (although I'd place most of the blame on Lucas).
     
  17. NelanisGhost

    NelanisGhost Jedi Youngling star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2006
    Well, Lucas does that to every actor.

    What I meant it, you look at Mace and think, That's Mace. Not "that's SLJ!"

    Ewan doesn't come out in Obi-wan. So that is good acting. Even though he doesn't think so. Obi-wan is probably the most fully realized character in SW.
     
    Valairy Scot likes this.
  18. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2008
    Would Lionel Ritchie have made a more compelling Mace? When pigs fly. Would the author of this thread have made a more compelling Mace? Ditto. Is the author of this thread forever stuck on the idea of Samuel Jackson portraying Shaft and other similar character? I wonder.
     
  19. DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR

    DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 8, 2002
    Yes to Freeman, and no to Sam Jackson who should've never been in these films. I think Lucas, who wanted to avoid being called a mother******* racist, folded to the idea when he heard Jackson was interested in playing a small part in the Prequels.
     
  20. Manisphere

    Manisphere Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Well, this thread doesn't have any racist tones in and of itself....

    I'll say Denzel Washington. That guy would have actually been good. Not that I don't like Jackson. Heck, maybe no director could have made Mace interesting.
     
  21. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    Gary Coleman.

    Just so Yoda could have another proper sparring partner when EP and Kasdann were away.
    ;)
     
  22. sith_rising

    sith_rising Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 7, 2004
    That Colin Salmon guy from AVP and Bond would have been an awesome Mace Windu.
     
  23. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2008
    Mace is the only Jackson role I think he actually proved he could act in. He stepped out of the mold of every other role he's played (the angry/black/ghetto typecast), to be a great jedi.


    You honestly believe that aside from the Mace Windu character, the rest of Samuel Jackson's roles were "the angry/black/ghetto" types? If so, I can only wonder if you were really paying attention to his career in the past twenty years or so.
     
  24. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009
    In all seriousness, this thread has degenerated into a certain stereotypical line of thinking which seems to be veering into territory that I can't believe the mods haven't stomped on. You all know exactly what I'm talking about, even though you're all treating it as a big joke. For shame.

    I'd like to see some proper discussion about just who might have been a reasonable alternative, casting-wise, to Samuel L Jackson as Mace Windu, the effective Chairperson of the Jedi Council - a discussion which isn't centred around the race of Samuel L Jackson as an African American, as if that was an integral part of a character which supposedly existed in a galaxy far, far away.

    If GL was so determined to integrate racial diversity into his space saga, in a far more tasteful way that he did with the likes of Nute Gunray, Boss Nass & Jar-Jar Binks, then the simple fact of the matter is that Mace Windu should have been played by the great James Hong:


    [image=http://www.emmytvlegends.org/files/chineseresthong.png]
    YODA: How long to determine, the boy's results, will they take?
    MACE WINDU: Five, ten minute.


    [image=http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/1982_Blade_Runner/982BLR_James_Hong_002.jpg]
    OBI-WAN: But is Anakin not the Chosen One, the one who will bring balance to the Force?
    MACE WINDU: I do eyes. Just - just eyes. Just genetic design. Just eyes.


    [image=http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsH/8169-3365.jpg]
    ANAKIN: I need him!
    MACE WINDU: You wait!
    ANAKIN: No, you wait, pal!


    [image=http://www.lucychalk.com/http://www.lucychalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/LOPAN.jpg]
    ANAKIN: I don't get this at all. I thought Mace Windu...
    MACE WINDU: Shut up, Anakin Skywalker! You are not brought upon this world to get it!


    [image=http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/Pictures/Pictures/TwoJakes11.jpg]
    MACE WINDU: I see you survived the war.
    OBI-WAN: Yes.
    MACE WINDU: It's been a long time, but I read about you once in a while.
    OBI-WAN: What can I say? Publicity's part of my business. The less you want, the more you get.
    MACE WINDU: Please. I enjoy it. I'm sure many people do. Besides, you are very successful.
    OBI-WAN: I can't complain.
    MACE WINDU:Does that mean you are happy?
    OBI-WAN: Who can answer that question off the top of their head?
    MACE WINDU: Anyone who's happy.
     
  25. janstett

    janstett Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    May 29, 2004
    Jackson is at his best when his character is unhinged and screaming. Total miscast.

    I love Freeman as an actor, but I'm left with a question before I can speculate about who would have been a better choice. Was Mace's character thrown in there just to have a black guy in the Star Wars movies? He serves as a confidant to Yoda and not much else. We are teased with periphery details such as being a devotee of a Jedi style that flirts with the dark side, et al but never really see any of that on screen. The character really only serves as a bored skeptic on the council.

    So what could Mace's character have been, assuming it wasn't just a cynically marketing plot to appeal to black audiences? Is he supposed to be an anti-hero, is he supposed to be a cynic, is he supposed to be a duplicitous authority figure like Alan Rickman's character in Potter? I think we have to define what Mace Windu was actually supposed to be, or define what we would have liked to have seen if his character was intended as nothing from the beginning. Mace's character could be removed entirely from the trilogy and not much would change, aside from Yoda not having a right-hand man.