What if the Prequels had been made in the 80's?

Hmm what do you think would have been different? Would there be as much focus on the crumbling of democracy or would there be influences from the Cold War?

When would they have come out. Episode I in 86 and the others in 89 and then 92?

Obviously there wouldn't be as much CG as is evident in The PT. I can only say my opinion that that would have been a good thing. There probably also wouldn't have been Yoda fighting or at least not with a lightsaber (probably more of a Willow style battle of the wizards.

Hmm would it have been better?

 

I think it would have been better. I'm not a great fan of CGI. I much prefer the effects used in the original trilogy. Much more artists and carefully crafted. I feel for me personally, that it just kind of takes something away from the whole magic of it all, knowing that it was all done infront of a computer screen.

 

It's just as hard to make something in front of the computer screen as it is on film. You can ask any person who works with CGI that.

 

I'm not saying I don't like it becuase I think it's too easy. It's just my personal opinion that I prefer the original effects to CGI.

 

It is probably just as hard to work with CGI, but as a movie watcher it feels different to watch something you know is not really there at all.

 

It is probably just as hard to work with CGI, but as a movie watcher it feels different to watch something you know is not really there at all.

And in reference to the old Special effects, as a movie watch I feel strange about watching something I know obviously isn't real, like many of the puppets and models in the OT.
With a few exceptions (ex. Count Dooku's flip), just about the only thing that gives away that it's cgi anymore is that it obviously can't be real because there's no makeup, puppet, setpiece, etc. that can look that good. Yoda is a prime example, i'd like to see them build a puppet that can pull off his new facial expressions, there's no such thing as little green men though.

 

For me its not about the movement and looking pretty. The CGI yoda and other characters and background look good...but they still look like computer generated elements. They just have something about them that cannot emulate real life actors and scenes yet. It looks like a nice video game, honestly. But in the OT with the yoda puppet, even though he didn't have a thousand facial expressions or couldn't fight with a lightsaber...he actually looks real. Like Luke could have reached out and actually touched him. Same with the creatures...even thouhg movements were still..you could they were actually standing were they where. And not some green scene behind two real actors.

It just shows you technogly isn't that advanced yet to fool the human eye into thinking these things are real. Maybe the prequels should have been made 20 years from now.

 

I think the prequels could have started in the 80s and yet still managed to tell pretty much the same story we saw with the real deal. I know it?s commonly said that Lucas? story had to be put on hold until technology could catch up with his vision, but to me it seems like while all the extravagant CGI effects complimented the story nicely, they weren?t the integral factor in the telling.

When I look back on the PT, I?m not sure I can recall any story elements that would have been impossibilities if it wasn?t for current special effects technologies. Yoda dueling with a saber is pretty much the only thing I can think of, but like someone noted earlier a more subdued fighting technique could have been implemented that still managed to show off Yoda?s mastery of the force. Blade Runner showed us that an expansive futuristic city was possible to put onto film back in the 80s, while personally I feel that the speeder bike chase of ROTJ proved that ILM had the ability to create an adrenaline pumping race scene long before they started working on the sequence from TPM.

As to my thoughts on the perceived quality differences between OT and PT-caliber effects, let?s just say that sometimes I feel less is better. While the Yoda puppet cannot come close to duplicating the facial expressions of the CGI incarnation, to me it looks more realistic. After all, a puppet is a real thing. The CGI Yoda, while animated by a group of folks that did a fantastic job in bringing the character to life, still looks animated.

 

Then instead of episodes 1,2,3 in 99,02,and 05, we would be watching episodes 7,8,9. Damn that would have been cool. But everything happens for a reason and i like it better this way.

 

Cold War Baby, 007 time, shaken, not stired.

 

Would there be as much focus on the crumbling of democracy or would there be influences from the Cold War?

Yes I do. Lucas was not drawing on current politics. He was drawing on the era surrounding the Vietnam War. I believe he has stated that Palpatine is based partially on Nixon.

 

What if the PT was made in the 80s?

Well, how does a Richard Pryor Mace Windu sound....?

 

i do think Lucas went too far with some aspects of the PT, effects wise.

It would have been interesting seeing these stories with an ESB/ROTJ look, i think the toning down would have done wonders for the storytelling itself, and hopefully a more impressive list of actors would have been selected to feature alongside Ian McDiarmid, Peter Cushing (maybe?) and others from the classic trilogy.

Would we have seen Winona Ryder as Padmé?
River Phoenix as Anakin?
Kenneth Branagh as Obi-Wan?

 

Would there be as much focus on the crumbling of democracy or would there be influences from the Cold War?

Hey it's not Lucas's fault the gov't is fulfilling his worst fears, and the prequels are full of them.


Well, how does a Richard Pryor Mace Windu sound....?

 

The prequels made in the 80s would have solved one of my main problems with Star Wars, and that is continuity. It's hard to swallow that the Star Wars universe could look so much more beautiful in the first 3 episodes, then look so dull in the next 3 (this is ameliorated by the new scenes, but the difference in film quality, colour crispness and general feel is there).

The thing which affects me the most is the quality of the lightsabre fighting - we've degenerated from high-quality Chinese wuxia in the prequels to simple Japanese kendo in the sequels. While watching the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight in ROTS, I just couldn't believe these were the same two people poking about aboard the Death Star in ANH.. surely age didn't make such a difference to fighting skill? Fight choreography has come leaps and bounds (even within China's own wuxia movies - "the Swordsman" in the early 90s kind of revolutionised the whole concept of what was acceptable in swordplay), and this is one gap which is impossible for me to swallow between the prequels and sequels. If the prequels were shot in the 80s, we wouldn't have these spectacular swordfights, which would make the transition to the OT much smoother.

I remember when I saw Ray Park's Darth Maul in TPM, and it was like "WOW! Finally, some Chinese wuxia-style fighting.." - never realised the impact it would have on me, and the expectations for lightsabre battles. Watching that duel in ANH is painful, and the one in ESB even more so. The one in ROTJ wasn't quite as weak, but that's more because it was Luke flailing madly in his rage (although Vader still put on a VERY poor show). I really don't know how they can touch these scenes up in the next 'restoration', if any.

 

In terms of the Creator I think it would have benefitted the saga to have been made in the 80's as George himself would still be fresh on theOriginal Trilogies high.

In terms of CGI vs Puppets. I think that Yoda on CGI is probably the best CGI character ever put on film, but he still pales in comparison to the amazing puppet work of Frank Oz and the sheer lifelike vibe that that puppet had. I mean just look at it when you watch TESB You never doubt that it's a living breathing character, frank oz and Jim Henson were just that good. Also in terms of the Saga's matching up I think it's strange that In the OT Yoda is a puppet then in TPM he is this Jack Nicholson looking Yoda then in ATOC and ROTS a CGI character.

 

This thread asks a question that many are interested in, not specifically what the PT would be like had it been made in the 80s, but how could Lucas have crafted the PT to make it feel like the OT.

Unlike a previous poster, I dont for a second think that the PT is a reference to Vietnam. First of all, such a reference would be archaic. Any statements made about Vietnam have been made.

Secondly, Star Wars has not historically acted as a direct artistic response to current global events. It is sheer escapism that gets its references from B-movies, comics and serials, with intermittent links to WW2 - Stormtroopers, Triumph of the Will etc.

Therefore, I dont think the Cold War would have forced Lucas' vision to be any different. I just think he makes it up as he goes along, with little political referencing. The only modern reference in the PT being Anakin's "You're either with me or you're my enemy", which mirrors George Bush's ridiculously simplistic and inflammatory remarks post 9-11.

Lucas always said he waited for the technology to catch up to his vision for the prequels. The wish for a PT made before CG became 'Jurassic Park' sophisticated is a romantic one that yearns for a set of Star Wars films that has as much charm and character as the originals.

 

the reason the lightsaber duels in the OT are so pitiful in comparison to the PT are because the skill is lost in the OT. There are only four jedi/sith left in the OT (yoda, obi, vader, n sids) not including Luke (this also is not counting jorus c'boath because we don't kno about him in any of the movies). the skill of lightsaber fighting diminishes because there is no1 left to fight.

Granted, that scene on the DeathStar in ANH between obi and vader was pitiful, but age definitely caught up with obi. No excuse really for vader, except maybe that he hasn't fought anyone with a lightsaber for about twenty years, but even that is a sad excuse.

 

If the PT was made in the 80s, there'd be know cg, effects wouldn't be so damned easy, anmd they might *gasp* have actually tried to focus on the writing,
on the other hand if this was still supposed to be after the OT then Lucus would still be rich and arrogant, would still be i charge of the largest FX company on the planet, and would still be able to bang out effet after affect for very little,
but it would still have a ton more substance just due to 1980s technological limitations

 

It's stupid of people to connect Palpatine with Bush, and it's equally as stupid for Lucas to push his mislead politics into his films.

 

I don;t think that Lucas directly makes references to today's leaders. Only that the current Post Cold War period does have an effect on his craft. I mean everyone says under their breath that democracy is becoming the plaything of the rich and powerful.

 

on second thought, I'm undoing the edit, there's obviously no limitations on political discussions here, so "equally as stupid for Lucas to push his mislead politics into his films."

I get the feeling you'd call him a communist if he wasn't one of the richest men on the face of the earth, but I suppose that's a different story

oh and, 'equally as stupid' <--thanks for the laugh, I find the best way to deal with unedjucated people, is to late them speak, and to let other people hear them

 

'misled politics'? You're contradicting yourself. Either you believe that he delibrately put the link there, in which case it's your defensive, jumped-to-conculsion opinion that it is misled, or you believe that there is no link, in which case you haven't a clue as to what Lucas' real political stance is. Try to cover all your bases in a single statement and you normally end up covering none.

Lucas himself mentioned that he had written that part of the script before the real-life parallels occured, so if it makes some political leaders uncomfortable, then all the better to give them a quick wake-up call and a quick look at themselves before it's too late.

 

The ONLY benefit I see of having the PT in the 80's would be less Jar-Jar. The less we see of him the better, he's my only real complaint about Episode 1.

I'm sure they would of made a costume for Jar-Jar back then but there's something about his computer animated look that bugs me.

 

Lucas did make an anti-Bush reference in ROTS, and that is fully within his rights. Who has the right to advise him on the content of his films?

Also, the reference was completely valid and quite adept. When Anakin says "You're either with me or you are my enemy", he is reflecting Bush's "You're either with us or against us".

ObiWans "Only a Sith deals in absolutes" is said with deserved disdain.

For the US President to come out with such a simplistic statement also deserves disdain, because it shows a total lack of understanding.