Will Kürlich Kerl
Banned
What happens if George Lucas doesn't decide to make the Star Wars Prequels?
WI: No Star Wars Prequels
- Thread starter Will Kürlich Kerl
- Start date
After return of the Jedi I would be left begging for a follow up. Now, after the prequels, I don't think episode 7 will be remotely close to the originals.
The original films were made in 1977-1983. That's a fundamentally different era compared to 1999-2005 ( which is a different era compared to 2015)
I think it's possible to make good sequels or prequels that are decades apart. 2001: A space odyssey was made in 1964-1968 and it's sequel (2010) was made in 1984.
I think they honestly tried. I think the action scenes were amazing, but the plot and characters just tried and failed. I don't wish the prequels never happened, but I wish they had better writing and plots. They didn't need to happen, but they could have been much better than they were. I'm not somebody who thinks episode 1, 2 and 3 were terrible and never should have happened. They fell short of their full potential.
The original films were made in 1977-1983. That's a fundamentally different era compared to 1999-2005 ( which is a different era compared to 2015)
I think it's possible to make good sequels or prequels that are decades apart. 2001: A space odyssey was made in 1964-1968 and it's sequel (2010) was made in 1984.
I think they honestly tried. I think the action scenes were amazing, but the plot and characters just tried and failed. I don't wish the prequels never happened, but I wish they had better writing and plots. They didn't need to happen, but they could have been much better than they were. I'm not somebody who thinks episode 1, 2 and 3 were terrible and never should have happened. They fell short of their full potential.
The Star Wars Expanded Universe would fill the gap for some. Obviously it would be a lot more niche than the Prequels but I'd expect to see more multimedia 'event stories' like Shadows of the Empire.
If the Prequel era was still 'out of bounds' (as it was for EU writers until 2000) you'd probably see more experimental stories along the lines of the Stackpole/Allston X-Wing novels.
Great, I'm making myself sad now.
If the Prequel era was still 'out of bounds' (as it was for EU writers until 2000) you'd probably see more experimental stories along the lines of the Stackpole/Allston X-Wing novels.
Great, I'm making myself sad now.
If Lucas still decides to make the 20th-anniversary Special Editions, he re-numbers ANH, ESB and RotJ as Episodes I, II and III respectively. His excuse is "Yeah, I totally did have a well-thought-out plan for a sprawling nine-film trilogy-of-trilogies epic [*cough*bullshit*cough*] but I've moved on and there's no point keeping the numbering for movies that are never going to happen."
What happens next for Star Wars depends on why he decides not to make the prequels in the first place. Perhaps if Young Indiana Jones lasts longer than one season, Lucas decides to make a prequel TV series for Star Wars instead (which honestly seems to me to be a better fit for the story he came up with). On the other hand, if his motivation is sitting down and trying to plan a prequel trilogy before deciding "Fuck it, it's not working", then he probably opens up the prequel era to the EU and lets other writers deal with it. (I'd like to imagine that Zahn writes an amazing trilogy of books that the fandom unofficially accepts as the "missing" three prequel episodes.)
What happens next for Star Wars depends on why he decides not to make the prequels in the first place. Perhaps if Young Indiana Jones lasts longer than one season, Lucas decides to make a prequel TV series for Star Wars instead (which honestly seems to me to be a better fit for the story he came up with). On the other hand, if his motivation is sitting down and trying to plan a prequel trilogy before deciding "Fuck it, it's not working", then he probably opens up the prequel era to the EU and lets other writers deal with it. (I'd like to imagine that Zahn writes an amazing trilogy of books that the fandom unofficially accepts as the "missing" three prequel episodes.)
I like the television option, but what network would be able to afford a Star Wars show in the late 1990's? That would be a prohibitively expensive proposition unless the show was animated. I would be curious to see what the plot of the prequels would look like if it were stretched out into three seasons of a show. If someone could figure out a way to deal with the cost issue and decide what network it would air on, this could be an enjoyable timeline. Given Star Wars' popularity and the built up anticipation by the time Episode I was announced, I think "Star Wars: the television show" would be a massive hit, even if there was some disappointment that it wasn't a film.
I would love to read a timeline about such a show.
If there is a prequel television show wouldn't Lucas leave the episode designation alone, given that "Episodes I-III" will exist in some form even if they aren't films?
One of the problems with the prequels are that they WERE prequels. You just knew too much. You knew Palpatine was the emperor going in. If you didn't it might well have come as a surprise to you. For the most part he looked like a decent man trying to cope with a bloody war. The Stormtrooper Revolt would have come as a shock as well as the Rise of the Empire. If they came first the expectation would be if the Republic goes down it would be to the CIS not to its own chancellor. If the prequels actually came first there would have been enough plot twists to make it interesting.
And if you didn't know Palpatine was going to be the Emperor (and none of my family did at the time Episode 1 came out) the first film basically hit you over the head with the fact they were the same, and the back of the freaking VHS said as much. That said, for maximum non-spoilerification the best order to watch the films (if for some bizarre reason people want to torture themselves) is probably 4,5,1,2,3,6. That path keeps the most secrets from new viewers.
AdrianEverett74
Banned
No Star Wars Prequels
So good old Georgie Boy Lucas decides not to make the Prequels.
The Original Star Wars Trilogy still gets the "Just kill me now" Special Editions.
Old Star Wars Fans are violently pissed about the Special Editions and they begin rioting online and at theaters by stealing prints. Some use them to Fan Edit them back to more better looking and sounding Original Theatrical Prints and make them available in bootleg VHS Laserdisc and early DVD format. The rest of the prints are burned in public bonfires.
The Fans who were expecting and looking forward to the now canceled Prequels begin hacking and defacing starwars.com with messages like "Eat Bantha Fodder you Nerf Herder" and "I hope you Fall into the Sarlaac Pit, George Lucas !"
Lucas goes deep into hiding for a long while and knows he has committed a serious error but he is still unemotional and uncaring about his final decisions.
Lucas comes out of hiding only briefly in the mid 2010 or so and sells out everything to Disney with no strings attached and then goes back deep into hiding.
So good old Georgie Boy Lucas decides not to make the Prequels.
The Original Star Wars Trilogy still gets the "Just kill me now" Special Editions.
Old Star Wars Fans are violently pissed about the Special Editions and they begin rioting online and at theaters by stealing prints. Some use them to Fan Edit them back to more better looking and sounding Original Theatrical Prints and make them available in bootleg VHS Laserdisc and early DVD format. The rest of the prints are burned in public bonfires.
The Fans who were expecting and looking forward to the now canceled Prequels begin hacking and defacing starwars.com with messages like "Eat Bantha Fodder you Nerf Herder" and "I hope you Fall into the Sarlaac Pit, George Lucas !"
Lucas goes deep into hiding for a long while and knows he has committed a serious error but he is still unemotional and uncaring about his final decisions.
Lucas comes out of hiding only briefly in the mid 2010 or so and sells out everything to Disney with no strings attached and then goes back deep into hiding.
If the prequels came out first you wouldn't know there was even going to be an emperor not talking about who it would be. It could well be just a war between the Republic and the CIS and the series ends with the final triumph of the Republic in the last film as far as anyone would know.
CthulhuFhtagn
Banned
You would have annoying fans like me whining for Lucas to make them.
Wait, what? I can maybe understand somebody thinking Episode III was one of the best (the writing was terrible, but the action scenes were great), but Episodes I and II were both shit.
Wait, what? I can maybe understand somebody thinking Episode III was one of the best (the writing was terrible, but the action scenes were great), but Episodes I and II were both shit.
I've gone at length on this in the past, but the problem with the prequels was on every basis, they hit the wrong mark, they were not done well, and nothing came together in any right way, and the components that were to come together weren't right anyway. The scripts were bad, the tone and narrative was bad, the characterization, and just all of it. Not even just "it's not Star Wars"; just bad. Had those prequels existed and not the originals, it would have been a cult series which was liked only on the basis that the basic ideas were good, even if the execution was absolutely terrible. We have the originals, so we don't have to make excuses; the prequels stink. Every fan wanted them to be good, looking at the Originals they should have been good, every fan went to the subsequent ones after the previous was bad hoping they'd be good, and finally saying "good enough" with Episode III (even though it was abysmal too when you don't try to hide it). But at the end of the day, despite every hope and benefit of the doubt given, they stunk.
It really ruins the whole franchise because those films linger on when you're watching the Original Trilogy (not to mention that the Special Editions are the only way to see them). On a personal note, it annoys me that Timothy Zahn's brilliance is no longer canon but the prequels are and Disney won't kill them.
Had the prequels been avoided, Star Wars would still have the Special Editions, which would taint Lucas and the franchise to a heavy degree, but not as heavy as the prequels. The prequels and his subsequent actions towards his fans, the franchise and his other intellectual works totally delegitimized George Lucas, who before then had been a major icon and viewed as an artistic genius and a brilliant creator. The Special Editions would do that to a large degree too, but nowhere near the way the prequels did. If Lucas remains more at arms length, we could also avoid the Indiana Jones fourth film turning out how it did (the bad things were the result of George Lucas in that film; check out the earlier versions. I think Frank Darabont was the one who wrote what was essentially what the final film was, but good, which Lucas rejected). That film, if made and more importantly made terribly, would still hurt Lucas.
http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/
It really ruins the whole franchise because those films linger on when you're watching the Original Trilogy (not to mention that the Special Editions are the only way to see them). On a personal note, it annoys me that Timothy Zahn's brilliance is no longer canon but the prequels are and Disney won't kill them.
Had the prequels been avoided, Star Wars would still have the Special Editions, which would taint Lucas and the franchise to a heavy degree, but not as heavy as the prequels. The prequels and his subsequent actions towards his fans, the franchise and his other intellectual works totally delegitimized George Lucas, who before then had been a major icon and viewed as an artistic genius and a brilliant creator. The Special Editions would do that to a large degree too, but nowhere near the way the prequels did. If Lucas remains more at arms length, we could also avoid the Indiana Jones fourth film turning out how it did (the bad things were the result of George Lucas in that film; check out the earlier versions. I think Frank Darabont was the one who wrote what was essentially what the final film was, but good, which Lucas rejected). That film, if made and more importantly made terribly, would still hurt Lucas.
http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/
At the end of Episode III, the now disfigured Palpatine announces how he's going to transform the Republic into the Empire.
"Why did no-one make Star Wars prequels?! Anakin could have had such a rich character!"
True, I forgot about that but it would have been a surprise at the end of III.