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

CT Let's say Star Wars saw the light of day in 2020...

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by Lulu Mars, Dec 10, 2020.

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Read the opening post, then vote! :)

  1. Game-changing mega hit

    3 vote(s)
    11.1%
  2. Not game-changing, but still a huge hit

    8 vote(s)
    29.6%
  3. Definitely big enough to get a sequel, at least

    6 vote(s)
    22.2%
  4. Modest hit - POSSIBLY a sequel

    4 vote(s)
    14.8%
  5. It would break even - No sequel

    2 vote(s)
    7.4%
  6. FLOP!!

    4 vote(s)
    14.8%
  1. Lulu Mars

    Lulu Mars Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2005
    Imagine an alternate reality where a movie that was not Star Wars revolutionized the movie industry in 1977, in the exact same way that Star Wars did.
    In other words, the cultural climate of today is exactly the same, with the same movies and TV shows, the sole exception being that a different movie franchise exists in Star Wars' place.

    Also imagine there's no pandemic so people can go to the movies as usual.

    Now imagine ANH popping up, out of the blue.
    It stars a couple of young, fairly unknown/up-and-coming actors, with a few esteemed veterans in supporting roles.
    It's made with filmmaking technologies available today.
    The story, the world-building, the script, the designs and the acting performances are virtually the same as in our ANH (except that they may not have been forced to merge the Imperial capital with the Death Star due to a limited budget, plus it looks... not so 1970's).

    How big a hit do you think that movie would have been?
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2020
  2. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Darths & Droids did that once:

    http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0050.html

    In the universe the players inhabit, Star Wars does not exist. That's the premise of this entire comic, after all. But most of the other things we know and love (such as Mad Max) do, albeit modified by the lack of Star Wars:

    • Spaceballs is a serious documentary about the practical applications of Buckminsterfullerene.
    • Mark Hamill is known (barely) for doing voiceovers for poorly selling computer games, but gains widespread fame after his appearance in the first Futurama movie.
    • Harrison Ford is known primarily for Indiana Jones.
    • Nerdy guys make YouTube videos of themselves wielding crossbows instead of lightsabres.
    • Without the success of Star Wars to spark interest in science fiction in the late 70s and early 80s, Star Trek was never revived with movies and new series, and remains an obscure short-running TV show.
    • Moonraker was never made. James Bond fans never had it so good.
    • The major science fiction background that pervades all of Western culture is Battlestar Galactica, despite it never being much good. It was remade recently as a new, updated television series with a bigger budget, high-tech computerised special effects, and edgy writing. And it sucked.
    • Throughout the 80s and 90s, all the greatest Hollywood blockbusters were big-budget family-oriented musicals.
    • The Comic Irregulars exist and are making a screencap comic based on Harry Potter.
    :D
     
  3. Lulu Mars

    Lulu Mars Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2005
    Haha! I love Darths & Droids [:D]
     
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  4. antitoxicgamer

    antitoxicgamer Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2020
    I'm sure all the reviewers would nitpick the movie to death.(Similar to their prequel reviews.)
     
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  5. Cynda

    Cynda Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 20, 2014
    Thinking on this thread and having put The Empire Strikes Back on in the background the other day I'm amazed at how long some segments of the movies last, how many scenes there are that just breathe. In the first, we watch R2-D2 and C3PO wander around Tatooine by themselves. It takes two minutes for Han, Luke, Obi-Wan, and the droids to leave the captured Falcon and just find where the tractor beam is located. In Return of the Jedi we follow Luke from the front door of palace as he slowly walks up to Jabba. Later, our three protagonists wander through the woods and Leia chats with an Ewok. And in the Empire Strikes Back the main antagonists don't show up for fifteen minutes! I LOVE IT.

    I think viewers would be split on this aspect of the trilogy, some saying it's a breath of fresh air and building atmosphere versus others saying it's a boring waste of time where nothing happens that advances the main plot.
     
  6. darthvader88

    darthvader88 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2005
    For one, I would say A New Hope with today's technology would look similar to The Force Awakens..

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
     
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  7. Lulu Mars

    Lulu Mars Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2005
    I'm pretty sure it would've been a big hit and spawned a sequel. The GFFA is so fantastic and special that I can't picture it not capturing the imagination of millions of kids.
    It would probably have appealed mainly to young kids, though, as opposed to the kid in all of us. So not a huge hit like the MCU.

    I think that level of success was what GL imagined would be the best-case scenario back in the 70's.
     
  8. darthvader88

    darthvader88 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2005
    Who would you see doing the music, since I assume John Williams would be retired by now in this hypothetical alternate timeline?

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
     
  9. Lulu Mars

    Lulu Mars Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2005
    That is a really good question! I suppose Hans Zimmer would be a possibility, if he'd be interested. Michael Giacchino is another (and not because he did Rogue One in our reality). Ludwig Göransson would likely be of interest after Black Panther, I imagine.
    Don Davis?

    I'm just spitballing.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2020
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  10. darthvader88

    darthvader88 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2005
    Okay. Now for the obvious question; as of right now, who would you envision playing the characters?

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
     
  11. Lulu Mars

    Lulu Mars Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2005
    I have no idea.
     
  12. QUIGONMIKE

    QUIGONMIKE Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Thats a tough one. Honestly, it might not do nearly as well as it did back then. In 1977, the world "needed" a big sci-fi/fantasy adventure with good effects, a competent plot, interesting characters, etc, etc. We we're like a dry sponge for such a thing an Star Wars was the liquid. I think now the problem is that everything is so ramped up, big, etc. I dont know if it would have the same impact. I'd still love it but I dont know how much the 12 to 30 year old crowds would embrace it.
     
  13. darthvader88

    darthvader88 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2005
    Also, what helped A New Hope in a way was that almost next to no marketing was done to promote the film. You had that trailer that had a few interesting shota to generate interest but didn't give the whole movie away. Charles Lippincott had to really put the work in to help promote the film so people could see it.

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  14. Internets

    Internets Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2008
    It would tank. It's not a sequel, reboot, remake, spin-off etc
     
  15. AEHoward33

    AEHoward33 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2019
    I don't know.
     
  16. Jedi Knight Fett

    Jedi Knight Fett Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2014
    I don’t think it would do nearly as well, but it would still be a hit
     
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  17. darthvader88

    darthvader88 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2005
    So if a different movie franchise essentially took Star Wars place and changed the movie industry, then I can 't see Star Wars doing well at all if it was released right now..

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  18. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    SW made movies what they are today, so it's kind of a moot point.
     
  19. GregMcP

    GregMcP Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2015
    In parallel to Star Wars, Steven Spielberg was on a high at this point.

    Jaws was considered the first Blockbuster, and Close Encounters came out in the same year.
    Raiders, as said above, came out soon. ET obviously influenced by the success of Close Encounters.

    I think he is just a big of an influence, maybe bigger. He set the template.
    Anyway, here in the 2020's I'd say that the Marvel movies are the dominant Blockbuster factory.

    A New Hope today? Marvel gave us Guardians of the Galaxy. A fun space movie would do just fine. Obviously it'd have more effects, and a faster pace. But yeah, it'd work.
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2020
  20. DARTH_BELO

    DARTH_BELO Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2003
    Interesting topic. If I understand the history of SW correctly, it only really had such a strong cultural impact cos of the fact that it occurred during a time when sci-fi wasn't really mainstream, and most films had sort of a cynical tone-and SW was a breath of fresh air and very innovative from a SFX standpoint. If it were first released today, IMO it would just come out as another CG laden, mindless-action sci-fi film, and similar to certain superhero films, may warrant a sequel or two. Depends on what kind of space-related movies had come before it. But it definitely wouldn't have been the groundbreaking thing it was in real life.
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2020
  21. GregMcP

    GregMcP Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2015
    There was plenty of Sci Fi movies being made at the time. Things like Logans Run, Damnation Alley, Rollerball...
    A good deal of 1970's style political commentary.

    Star Wars showed that Sci Fi could be done in a lighter, more fun sort of way.
    It built on the growing Disaster movie genre of the time... things like Airport, Jaws, the 1976 King Kong. Giving thrills, spectacle and that rollercoaster ride experience.

    In 1978 we saw Superman. I think that was the birth of the superhero movies of today. From it we arrived at Infinity War.


    not sure where I'm going with this. Just a ramble.
     
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  22. darthvader88

    darthvader88 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2005
    Probably wouldn't be popular since in this scenario, another franchise changed the way Star Wars did in our timeline

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  23. MotivateR5D4

    MotivateR5D4 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2015
    The thing about ANH is that when it came out there were so many things about it that had never been seen before. If another movie had taken its place in doing that, then a movie like ANH today would be seen as derivative. I'm sure it would be a commercial success in the way that big budget sci fi movies today usually are. But I don't think it would be seen as some masterpiece or make any all time lists.
     
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  24. darthvader88

    darthvader88 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2005
    I also would say that we would probably see a more diverse group of actors than caucasians

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  25. AllTheSingleMaras

    AllTheSingleMaras Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2019
    I fear it wouldn’t have faired well now. The star wars lore has evolved with the times and nostalgia is the glue. I’m afraid the story, even with amazing effects... wouldn’t capture the audiences of today.

    Without the nostalgia and fan base, do you see it holding its own against something as action-packed and well-paced as The Guardians of the Galaxy? Audiences aren’t relating to new worlds that have to explain themselves anymore... they have to see their own culture and humor projected to them in sci-fi.
     
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