CT If "A New Hope" was made after the prequels, how would it be different?

But if made after Game of Thrones, they would lean into that ****.

 

Well, you have to keep in mind that CALIGULA came out as the original trilogy was being made, and the relationship between Malcolm McDowell and his sister is probably the healthiest, most normal thing in that movie.

 

That's funny, when I saw JJ Abrams' Star Trek, I thought to myself that Kirk as played by Chris Pine is what I wished Luke would have been like in ANH, personality-wise. Not quite as cocky and womanising as Kirk, but certainly less of a dweeb than what we got.

 

Like yum! chris Pine... maybe the plot wouldn't be that much different. Maybe drop different kinds of clues, although probably Kenobi would be just as cryptic about Anakin

 

In this scenario, Luke'd still be played by Mark Hamill. I'd just change a lot about the way he acts.

 

This thread question was thoroughly & meticulously answered here: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/rewriting-the-ot-to-suit-the-prequels

 

I actually think that, due to different scale expectations, a lot of the story would probably be fairly different-Luke and Obi-Wan would have actually gotten to Alderaan and met Bail, and somehow gotten off the planet (maybe with some additional Rebel characters but probably not Bail), before it was destroyed. There would also be more of Luke's training and him beginning to use his powers especially using the lightsaber. Or Luke and Leia would be/look younger (more like 13-16), more like Anakin and Padme in Episode I, as Lucas was always interested in having protagonists that young and finally did so in the prequels.

Lucas probably would have continued with the stormtroopers clearly being clones for the creepiness factor (and OTOH so that it would, like droid troopers, really feel non-controversial that they were being killed).

 

If ANH came out after the prequels, I don't think Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie would be depicted quite the same. They might even have came off as more morose. Indeed, their escape from the Death Star, among other things, would be depicted as more stressful. Granted, I think the actors did a good job of being stressed. I mean, they and Alec Guinness had to put up with Lucas saying, "Faster and more intense," a lot. I have a photo of Alec Guinness breathing whilst annoyed at Lucas's direction in ANH. Lol. Maybe the stress of dealing with Lucas helped them to make the scenes more harrowing. Don't get me wrong. I like how Lucas worked with others during the making of ANH and TESB. Lucas as a collaborator (director or producer) is better than Lucas as a dictatorial director. That's just my take.

It has been openly stated by some that the actors largely directed themselves during ANH. The scenes in TESB flow more naturally, but you can tell that many of the scenes in ANH were made when everyone was under a lot of stress. It was hard to get that movie out. It seems like the only completely calm persons are Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing, given their professionalism. But it also adds to how Tarkin was traumatized by the loss of his son (according to the EU), and he did not care what he had to do for the Empire. Guinness's Obi-Wan is a great mentor, but I think Guinness was trying to portray Obi-Wan without many flaws. The irony is that he is retconned into lying to Luke about his father, and he could be seen as a hardened, tougher, traumatized Obi-Wan who survived a war and much of the EU. Yet Guinness' performance still works for a more morally complex Obi-Wan. Such a skilled actor. I'm sad that he came to hate Star Wars so much, but that's because he wanted to be remembered more for his other work.

 

I can't be objective. The entire saga would have been made when I was an adult and likely it would have had only a minimal impact on my life - whereas the OT occuring during my childhood imprinted on me permanently.

There also would not have been almost a 20 year gap where SW became part of popular culture. They'd just be dropping like marvel movies. Honestly, the expression tnat comes to mind would be 'diminishing returns'.

How would they be different? Just less relevant.

 

No idea.... it would be VERY different I imagine. For some reason I can't imagine Luke/Vader would not have had some sort of direct lightsaber confrontation.

 

They'd all smoke deathsticks throughout. Even Vader.

 

I agree with that. Compare the ending of Rogue One to the Death Star escape in ANH, for example.