What if Lucas has 2003 technology in 1977?

Suppose George Lucas had the technology available to him today back in 1977. How would the original trilogy be different?

Here's a few thoughts:

? Obviously, far more CGI would be utilized. More CGI characters, especially. The Mos Eisely Cantina would be almost all CGI. Characters like Yoda and C-3PO would likely be CGI.

? More different planets. In the prequels, Lucas shows his fetish for creating new environments, such as Naboo and Kamino. For this reason, I think we'd have seen a lot more different planets in the OT. As it was, in ANH, we only saw Tatooine and Yavin. Everything else was inside a ship. Perhaps we'd see scenes of Alderaan or perhaps Coruscant. Lucas would find a way to work them in, sacrifcing storyline if he had too. ESB's Bespin would likely be far more elaborate.

? In ROTJ, midgets in Ewok suits might be replaced by CGI wookies.

? I think the ships would have a sleeker look, kind of like we see in the PT. I know, there's that whole "dark ages" explanation to the industrial appearance of ships in the OT. I accept that. But from a filmmaking standpoint, working with models is more conducive to the kind of ships we saw in the OT; working with CGI allows the kind of ships we see in the prequels.

? I think we'd see more black and Hispanic actors. Even in the lily-white Empire.

? Chewbacca? Replaced by Jar-Jar Binks.

 

I'm glad he didn't have the technology, I think the OT would have been more shallow as far as plot and character development, like the PT...

 

In ROTJ, midgets in Ewok suits might be replaced by CGI wookies.

This, I think, would be vastly unlikely. GL wanted the beings that the heroes ran into down on Endor to be technologically unsophisticated. It's been show throughout the OT that Chewbacca, as a Wookiee, is well-acquainted with technology be it something as complex as a space ship or something as simple as his crossbow. The reason why the beings on Endor for ROTJ were changed from Wookiees to Ewoks was to accomodate this desire for a technologically unsavy species to help fight the technologically advanced Imperial Troops.

 

It was certainly quite possible to do smooth-skinned ships using miniatures back then; main reasons they weren't done was that smooth skinned hulls weren't terribly convincing in terms of scale (see the 1980 FLASH GORDON.) As far as reflective surfaces (like that silly SR71 clone that the queen/senator has in the prequels), that would have been a big problem for ILM's bluescreen operation in the 70s, but other facilities could have done that kind of work back then. For example, Doug Trumbull handled shiny models rather expertly on his part of the first STAR TREK movie, so again, it certainly was possible -- just NOT NECESSARY.

The whole 'hot rods in space'/leave the hoods off the engines aspect in the original fims is integral to those pics, and part of the AMERICAN GRAFITTI IN SPACE feel, so I doubt any difference in tech would have affected the LOOK of the ships in those stories.

Remember also that back then, GL had what is for me a better idea of audience understanding. He specifically wanted the primitive-looking wireframe CG to have the hidden lines showing, because that is the kind of crude look audiences expected. So using fancier tech would have worked against that expectation, creating a more slick-looking product than he wanted or needed. The true anti2001 look is in SILENT RUNNING, but the original SW has some of that as well.

 

I agree that there would be some VERY different looks in Star Wars if this happened. Without sacrificing the story, the film would just look a lot cooler.

ANH: All of the space battles would be CGI. All the explosions would be a mixture of live action and CGI. The mattes would be far more convincing. Tatooine would be far more interesting (like the landscape scene of Anakin on the swoop in AOTC). The Massassi Temple would have seemed much larger with CGI...looking farther into it. The landscape of Yavin would have been a lot crisper (not just trees...actual landscape).

ESB: Hoth would look SO cool. The hangars would be more convincing. The Battle of Hoth would be so awesome. They would have been able to add more to the battle and make it look so much cooler. With CGI, you'd be able to have a lot more troops fighting. Stormtroopers would be CGI. Yoda would have been CGI. The Dagobah swamp would've looked a lot better than it did. Bespin would have looked amazing!

ROTJ: Again, Tatooine would've been better. Jabba's Palace would have had more to it. The sail barge scene wouldn't have looked out of place like they did in the originals. The Battle of Endor would have been (more) amazing! The Vader/Luke duel would have look a lot better with deeper sets (that whole Throne Room would've looked cooler if it seemed large and everything).

Those are just my thoughts on everything. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's just my take on it.

 

John Travolta's polyester suit would have been CGI.

Imagine the dances moves we would have seen with that!

 

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned something else:

The stories themselves would likely have changed. The limitations of technology also limited what kind of story could be told.

I think more would have been shown, all in all.

 

The story may have had more scope, but the plots, characters, preformances would probably have all been the same.

 

It would also be interesting to see how well the film actually would have been recieved. Assuming that other movies could use modern day techology, I wonder if it would be passed of at just another one of those.

 

I'm glad he didn't have the technology, I think the OT would have been more shallow as far as plot and character development, like the PT...

My sentiments exactly. The problem with today's CGI is that some filmmakers stop relying on old-fashioned methods of making films more interesting (i.e. personal drama and character interaction) when they realize they can do ANYTHING in CG. Unfortunately I think Lucas is one of those filmmakers. Thankfully, his FX limitations in the OT forced him to pay more attention to characterization, which is a major part of what made them so great.

Besides all that, I actually think the effects in the OT are better than they are in the PT. More visceral and real IMHO.