The whole "I am your father" thing is ruined

There's no possible way that this surprise could be retained for future generations that watch them in order, 1-6.
Even if EIII never mentions the babies by name, everyone's gonna know who Luke is, because of the Lars' and the homestead.

 

Yes, it is ruined for future generations, but GL is not concerned about that. You can't expect him to center an entire movie series around a single moment.

Besides, as far as I'm concerned, the suprise of Anakin turning to the darkside will be ten times more powerful and surprising than the "I am your father moment".

 

(1) If Lucas feels like it he can cover the surprise. Although at this point it doesn't seem like he wants to.

(2) It may be that people encourage future generations 456123.

(3) It may also be that "I am your father" is so freakin' famous now that everybody knows and that it's not a surprise no matter what.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

maybe he dose

 

I agree, but when people find out that Palpatine is Darth Sideous, that will be the big surprise for them.

It should become a practice that any Star Wars newcommer should watch the saga in the order it was meant to be seen: the OT, then the PT. However, it is such common knowledge to most people that it is ruined before they see the movie anyway.

 

Actually it's not completley ruined. You can still think "Wow, he actually told him!!"

 

Yes, and the "I am your father" moment between Vader and Luke in ESB will just be ridiculous after two similar moments in Ep3: the "I am your father" from the Emperor to Vader and the "I am your creator" from Vader to Threepio . ;-)

Edit: I forgot about the "NOOOOOOOOO!!! We are your father" from the midichlorians. ;-)

 

maybe, just maybe, Lucas somehow manages to let it look like Anakin dies after falling to the dark side and then there is just Vader. If that succeeds (which, I must admit, is pretty hard to imagine) then people still would only know that Luke is Anakin's (and Padme's, but she matters not) son, but not that Anakin is actually Vader.

Nah, scratch that, I agree, it's ruined when watched 1-6. Anakin gets the freaking Imperial March (aka Darth Vader's Theme) in AotC! There is no way to keep the surprise that Vader is Luke's father. What a shame.

 

I guess that the PT is to some extent created for us who have seen the OT.

Maybe Lucasfilm can edit the movies afterwards so that you don't get who Vader is?

 

Leia being Luke's twin sister can still be a surprise in ROTJ. Lucas won't mention baby Leia's name in Episode III.
The only thing is that people who never watched the OT before will probably be saying all through ANH, TESB, and most of ROTJ, "Weren't there two children that were born in Episode III? What happened to Luke's sibling?"

 

The power of the "I am your father" statement will remain, but in a different form. With the completion of the PT, rather than a revelation to the viewer, its power will remain in the impact it has on Luke.

Actually, for me, a lot of its power has always been in the implications of the revelation to Luke, rather than the simple statement. Its the ramification, not the revelation

 

I can't imagine the "I am your father line" surprising anyone in the near future. It's too cliche now, that and SW fandom is increasing to further make it known that Vader=Luke's father.

 

On top of all the others have said, if there happens to be a few newer fans who have no idea about the storyline, and they watch from I-VI, then they will still be surprised, only now it will be the same surprise as Yoda's: Vader actually told Luke, thus throwing a wrench in Luke's mission (or what we the audience first percieve it as).

 

One would have to live in a bubble or Beirut to be surprised by Vader's paternal revelation these days.....

 

Vader: Obi-Wan never bothered
Tellin' you about your father.

Luke: He told me enough
He told me you killed him.

Vader: There is something that I must
reveal then;
I'm your father,
I'm your father,

I'm your father,
I'm your father...

 

Um, who the hell doesn't know by now that Vader is Luke's father? I mean, c'mon!

This thread does remind me, though, of that episode of The Simpsons, where they do a flashback and show how Bart was conceived. Marge and Homer go to see The Empire Strikes Back on opening night, and as they're leaving the theater, Homer goes, "Wow, I can't believe that Darth Vader is Luke's father!" And all these people in line start screaming at him.
"Oh thanks, Mister-ruin-the-movie-for-me!"

 

I think Lucas should worry more about tellig a strong convincing story moreso than preserving a suprise that isn't... suprising.
Besides, isn't SW more than just a single moment?
And in the end, watching it 1 - 6 will give you an infinite amount of more suprises. We don't see it like that, because we already saw the OT.
Heck, even the dark turn the saga takes will be a suprise.

 

As someone else said, it really doesn't bother me. And I think it would have been silly for Lucas to center the entire prequel trilogy around one moment in the OT.

I think he's doin' it right.

 

First of all, when someone on the movie screen is talking...they are not talking to you (and this applies to people talking back to the movie...they can't hear you!!!)

Now that that's off my chest...the "I am your father" scene isn't ruined, because as an audience (see above) what makes that scene an important moment in the SW saga...is Luke's reaction to this disturbing bit of news. Everything he has been lead to believe is a lie ("from a certain point of view") and what makes that scene so powerful for the audience (re-read above warning) is that we watch as Luke's entire belief system is shattered/put to the test.

 

Those of us who saw the OT first enjoyed the surprise. Lucky us.
Those who see 1-6 in order will enjoy seeing the whole story. Lucky them.

Its all good.

 

LOL Marbe.


Best. Song. Ever.

 

I got the spoiler wrong and thought Emperor Palpatine was Luke's father.

 

I disagree.

Or at least, it's not anymore ruined than it was after the movie had been out a few weeks. Anyone who saw SW in the late 80s or 90s knew Vader was Luke's father, even though it was their first time seeing it. And yet amny of them still like the scene as much as people who were their for the original revelation.

Or for instance, take the power of Charleston Heston's "You finally did it, you blew it all up!" line from Planet of the Apes. Or again, the more recent Usual Suspects, in which people were surprised to find that Kent was really Kaiser Soze.

My point is that its the cleverness of the surprise that makes it powerful. The fact of what's being revealed is not nearly so powerful as the way in which it's revealed. That's what people like about the scene. If you ddon't believe me I would point yyou to the equally surprising--in light of the ESB sexual tension--revelation that Luke was Leia's brother. But it was executed so poorly that its one of the most unmemorable scenes of the Saga.

So in conclusion, I think the majority of that scene's impactis still intact.

 

good point, I still got shivers when hearing "No, I am your father" for the first time in its Original Version (only knew "Nein, ich bin dein Vater" until then).

 

You just have to show the OT to future generations when they are very small before they have the opportunity for spoilers and the PT to ruin Star Wars for them.