ST Ralph McQuarrie Influence on Episode VII

With what they did to the X-wing i am not loving it.
That better be some side plane rather than the mass produced one thats used as a standard.

The RM designs were not followed 100% for different reasons. Stuff was adjusted, stuff was developed, etc, so simply grabbing old designs and basically copy/pasting is a step back if they are going to go all out and use them everywhere.

A bunch of folks thought that the new X-wing was a headhunter because that RM X-wing design was already put to use in the Headhunter. They should develop his stuff in some cases instead of just copying it.

 

Very few Headhunters looked exactly like the RM design. Most were different in one fashion or another.

By far the closest to it, was the one in the comic Rogue Squadron: The Phantom Affair:

 

Don't kill me but I am actually getting a little tired of hearing about it. Don't get me wrong, he did a very good job, but let's make the ST its own thing and not the OT 2.0 please. I feel like I've heard more about McQuarrie's influence on Episode VII than Lucas's! Lol.

Although I do love the new X-Wing


Sent from my R2 unit

 

To be fair, I think even George deferred to McQuarrie at times regarding the way the OT should look. Didn't Lucas say he could just point the art department to McQuarrie's work and say "Do that" or something? McQuarrie and Star Wars are synonymous.

Having said that, I also understand your desire to see something new for the ST. The OT had McQuarrie, the PT has a different aesthetic with folks like Doug Chiang, so it feels natural the ST would be its own thing too.

 

Yeah but the point is when he pointed at it and said do that the "that" is him. His ideas that he described and RM then realized. Lucas was very adept at picking really good people and knew how to work with them.

He gave them his vision they came back to him they discussed things and then the process went on. The point that people have to remember is that RM did lots of stuff that went nowhere, wasn't used and abandoned or simply changed and developed by others or to fit a better realization.

 

Its a sequel dude. Its not a reboot. Its not really supposed to be its own thing. Thats the disconnect some people seem to have on this board. You dont seem to want more of what you signed up here for in the first place, you want something completely different for some reason. It'll be band new, Its not the OT 2.0, but its more Star Wars, which is essentially the same thing. McQuarrie may well have more influence on VII than Lucas.

 

I want the ST to be like the PT and OT - to have its own distinct feel. Basically I don't want an OT nostalgia trip.


Sent from my R2 unit

 

Sequels are by their very nature always something of a nostalgia trip. If you dont want a nostalgia trip dont see the movie. The "distinct feel" youre referring to in the PT is because that was basically a reboot, and because it was made with different filmmaking philosophies. Yet the familiar elements like McQuarrie inspired designs, amongst many other OT referencing things, were certainly still there.

 

Was there ever a book of ALL Ralph McQuarrie's Star Wars work? Because there should be.

 

The new X-Wing is not 100% a product of, "copy/pasting," McQuarrie's vision.

While the overall shape, and engine design are similar (quite frankly, they are similar to the OT X-Wing as well). The wings/S-Foils seem to open very differently from McQuarrie's prototype images.

Look into the X-wing thread for more details about the split in the center of the wings, which is clearly not a product of the old protos.

 

How was the PT a reboot?

 

The prequels weren't a reboot.

 

old characters played by new actors, fairly differerent production design, different filmmaking = basically a reboot. I didnt say it was a reboot.

 

I read it just fine the first time around, and I don't agree that it was basically a reboot but to each his own.

 

The definition of a reboot is when all existing material is decanonized.

 

For all the people concerned that we will only see McQuarrie designs, we have Bob and the Hogsquattle/GG. Those are original designs. I think we will see a lot of original work, but I like the nostalgia sprinkled in there by referring to McQuarrie designs.
Rebels on the other hand is at least in it's first season pure McQuarrie. They have even developed a digital brush that mimics McQuarries work.

 

No.

 

Yes.

 

Nope. He was fine for the OT. Time to move on to greener pastures. The boxy, angular 1970's look should be used sparingly, if at all.

 

The PT and OT are definitely different enough that they can be considered their own thing, since they work by themselves too. I too feel like the ST will be too dependent on the OT.

 

They already are using McQuarrie's art as inspiration.

 

Love the McQuarrie look. He should definitely receive the attention and credit he does. Lucas, like most directors, receives more credit and blame than he deserves.

Was not a fan of Doug Chiang's work in the PT.

I especially didn't like how AOTC and ROTS relied too much on the OT style.

However, I think more OT style makes more sense for the ST than the PT.

 

Big fan of McQuarrie, especially his Coruscant concepts--would love to see some of those used in the ST. I'm probably more excited to see some new Chiang work, though. TPM is definitely my favorite episode from a visual perspective.

 

More Chiang work? No thanks. I hope his influence is limited on the ST.

Please remind me of one design of his in the PT that wasn't insipid.

 

Well fortunately you weren't part of the hiring process for the VII design team! I'll be thrilled if we get something half as good looking as TPM. I dig ROTS but I think Chiang's absence was felt in the overall design.