Why doesn't George Lucas just reshoot Episodes IV-VI (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

Please bear with me, this is not a Lucas bashing thread! I would like it not to turn that way. This is something I just pondered and wonder if others might agree.
I was just thinking about all the SE'ing of the original trilogy and how it has upset some fans of the originals, especially with its revisionist attitude toward history (i.e. Greedo/Han, Luke screaming, Bring My Shuttle, etc.).
I asked myself, Why Would Lucas Do All This? Well the answer I came up with is that he wants it to match Episodes I-III. That's why he re-CGI'd Mos Eisley, added the stuff in Cloud City and made the end celebration in Jedi so broad and sweeping. To add scale. Because it's obvious in Ep. 1 with Coruscant and other places that the universe is now much larger than it was depicted in Ep. 4-6.
But no matter how much he adds to the OT, he won't get it to match, with the film stocks being what they are and all. Watching the SE of the OT it's PAINFULLY OBVIOUS where the additions are and all that.
So why not just re-shoot the OT with new actors, use total CGI like he did with Ep.1 and leave the OT for those who liked it? Surely there's money to be made if he made new Ep.4-6s and cast new actors in it.
I know, people will say "SACRILEGE!" but hasn't he already violated that principle by SE'ing the originals? And if his true intent is to make a seamless viewing experience out of Eps 1-6 in order, this would be the easiest way for him to do it...
Just my ramblings.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Every filmmaker I've heard interviewed says, in words or substance, that you have to be willing to devote several years of your life to making a film. Somehow I can't imagine that level of commitment being an attractive prospect (or even possible) for a story that the filmmaker has already told, literally.
This is probably a poor analogy, but I wouldn't want to do high school or college all over again, even though I'd probably do them better (and certainly differently) the second time.
M.
[Edited last by Michael Reuben on October 25, 2001 at 11:31 AM]

 

[Coressel]

"...use total CGI like he did with Ep.1..."
They certainly used a lot of CGI in TPM, but the film isn't "total" CGI. There are a few people in rubber suits and models blown up in front of cameras just like in the 70's and 80's films.
I think Episodes 4, 5 and 6 will match up just fine with 1, 2 and 3 when it's all said and done.

 

[Carlo_M]

Coressel, I didn't think you'd take my meaning 100% literally. I know there are some aspects of 1 that are real, but you have to admit, 90% of what you see is CGI'd in.
I also would not want to re-do HS and college. But I don't keep digging out my old term papers and making corrections on them...

[edit]
I don't want my original point to be lost. Lucas has obviously spent millions already CGI'ing the OT. It took many years, just as long as it would have to remake the films. And word has it that he's NOT DONE re-CGI'ing the OT. If this is true, I think it might just be easier to reshoot them. And don't tell me people wouldn't line up around the block again to see a remake of the OT. Okay, I wouldn't, but there will be those who would.
[Edited last by Carlo Medina on October 25, 2001 at 11:53 AM]

 

[TheoGB]

Lucas spent a lot on the OT but as I understand it (correct me please) he said a time and budgetry limitation on the team. One of the reasons I am interested in the new SE's he finally produces on DVD is to see whether these effects are better, especially after they've done three films of it. I am quite hopeful that we will get to see versions that are better than last time out as I think the SE's were rushed to make the 20th anniversary.
I don't, therefore, think it would be at all feasible for Lucas to try to re-shoot the final 3 movies. Take, for example Obi Wan. Ewan Macgregor is doing an impression of Alec Guinness so the new actor to play that role will also have to? Stupidity, surely.
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[Patrick Sun]

Lucas needs to look forward, not backwards.
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[cafink]

I think Episodes 4, 5 and 6 will match up just fine with 1, 2 and 3 when it's all said and done.

Do you mean the original versions of Eps. 4, 5 and 6, or whatever "Special Edition" versions Lucas has in mind for down the road?

 

[Carlo_M]

I think Episodes 4, 5 and 6 will match up just fine with 1, 2 and 3 when it's all said and done.

The SEs as they stand right now don't even match themselves (i.e. uniformity of look). In order for them to truly match Lucas would have to essentially CGI over most everything that was not a principal actor. Because the scale just isn't there, despite his CGI efforts.
I'm just saying instead of constantly re-tooling, why not start it from scratch again (I mean he already has the screenplays written, it's just a matter of filming it) so that he can truly obtain a match with Ep.1. You can't tell me that the SEs as they are match Ep.1, and unless he does major, major retooling it never will. If he's going to undertake such a severe retooling, I think he should just refilm them so that he can leave the originals as close to intact as possible and let them stand as historical pieces.

 

[Romier S]

UGH! Just leave the original trilogy alone. They are fantastic movies they way they were released originally. They got Star Wars where it is today. Just leave them alone.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Reshooting the OT would almost seem a logical step, considering the frustration Lucas has long evinced over not having been able to have absolute control of every element. Presumably, the time and expense involved, along with a rudimentary level of respect for the achievements of the surviving talent and the trilogy's place in film history, will preclude this.
On the other hand, I'd be all for him re-shooting Episode 1, provided the script is rewritten from top to bottom.
Yes, I know that's even less likely than a reshot of Eps. 4-6, but still...viewing the DVD made me once again realize how much of a placeholder Phantom Menace really is, IMO. It's like watching someone carefully set a dining table for two-hours without actually serving you any food.
--Jefferson Morris

 

[PhilipW]

Carlo,
Do you mean re-shoot stuff where the principal actors are not in the scene. Most of the battle stuff, like both Death Star fights, the battle of Hoth and asteroid chase.
If so, I could see where he could make faster paced sequences, as in the asteroid it seemed like everything was moving kinda slow. These could really be sped up like the podrace.
Besides, he could also get rid of the ewoks in ROTJ and make them into some sort of creature that had a little fight in them. Then the moon battle would be half believable.
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[Carlo_M]

Philip,
I mean reshooting the whole MOVIE. That's basically his next logical step. He's touched almost everything in the OT with ILM's wizardry and it still doesn't match Ep.1. He has declared that he makes these changes to the OT in the name of the whole "series" meaning 1-6. So instead of trying to touch up and repaint an old classic car to make it look like a new Dodge Viper, why not just build a brand new car and leave the classic car for those who appreciate it for what it is?

 

[Patrick Sun]

I thought Lucas had to wait until the CGI technology was good enough to make Episode I-III, but with IV-VI, the climate of the galaxy didn't quite require the amount of CGI that the 1st 3 episodes as the galaxy goes a bit backwards technologically under the rise/rule of the Empire, led by the Emperor (Palpatine).
Plus, it's always easier spending other people's money, isn't it?
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[GaryEA]

This is an interesting idea.
While I'm no fan of revisionist history in film (i.e. the SE's), I'm always open to new interpretations or approaches, as long as the originals are still made available.
I'm aware that Lucas has said that after Episode III, he's done with Star Wars. So that leaves the big differences between the two sets of films to remain. And I have zero problems with that (unlike the OT/SE thing).
A new set Episodes IV - VI. An interesting idea, but I don't think it will happen, and no matter how frustrated Lucas may be, he's not going to commit to a remake. Plus, I think the OT fits. They always say that it's darkest before the dawn, and compared to EI and the look of the new films, the OT is dark. They seem appropriate to me. The SE's were the problem, retrofitting modern SFX technique into a late seventies, early eighties filmmaking.
This may be a tangent, but in the same line of thought; What about Episodes VII-IX? I know Lucas has reversed himself in the original notion that this was a nine film epic. I always loved that ambition. He was primed to give us nine of these. Now, it seems it will be six.
But like Spielberg, doesn't Lucas have a protege, like Chris Columbus is to Spielberg? Maybe a Lucas protege can pick up the ball after Episode III and start fashioning the latter trilogy. Mark Hamill is old enough to be Skywalker again, even if in a small role, much like Yoda.
If anybody is going to remake (not replace) the OT, it would be a protege rather than GL.
Or me. I have the time!

Gary
[Edited last by GaryEA on October 25, 2001 at 03:44 PM]

 

[MickeS]

Carlo, I've never thought about it before, but I think it's a GREAT idea.
I would certainly see them, and I think it would be a cool thing to do. Kind of like how Gus van Sant made a near "replica" of "Psycho". No matter what you thought of the end result, it was a cool experiment.
Or, to make another analogy, how some artists re-record their songs. Clapton's "Leyla" comes to mind, first the electric fast version, then several years later the acoustic, more mellow version. Both have their place.
In fact, I would rather have seen a completely new version of ANH than the SE (which I liked).
I'm sure it won't happen, but it's a great idea.
Hey... maybe it won't even have to be Lucas that does it? Some other director could take a stab at it, with Lucas as executive producer or something. They could still match the look with Episode 1.
/Mike

 

[Coressel]

"Do you mean the original versions of Eps. 4, 5 and 6, or whatever "Special Edition" versions Lucas has in mind for down the road?"
By "when it's all said and done," I mean when Lucas has completed part 3 and then does whatever he does to parts 4, 5 and 6. I'm sure the Star Wars Saga will work just fine in order, Episodes 1 - 6, without having to "re-make" the earlier films.

 

[Dave F]

Maybe he should just let Gus Van Sant have a go at it!

-Dave
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[Morgan Jolley]

Use your imagination in watching 4-6, that way Lucas won't have to remake them.
I say he should make 7-9 instead of remaking 4-6. Of course, that means another 9 years spent on making movies. After spending as much time as he has on the original 6 films (around 20 years or more, including the remaking of the SE's) I don't think he's ready to spend 10 more. I heard he is not making 7-9 but will willingly help produce them or make a script.

 

[Carlo_M]

Use your imagination in watching 4-6, that way Lucas won't have to remake them.

I'd love to use my imagination on the Original Trilogy so lucas won't have to do ANYTHING to them.
But that's not the way it's panning out, is it? He's already re-SE'd them once. Rumor is that he's going to do it again for the DVDs. So what I'm saying is by the time he's done, and trust me CGI'ing isn't cheap, he'll probably have invested pretty close to the same time and money as if he'd just re-shot them, and the results won't be as "seamless" since that seems to be what he's going for.
Meanwhile, we've lost an important piece of film history, the Original Versions of the trilogy.

 

[Tom-G]

He's already re-SE'd them once. Rumor is that he's going to do it again for the DVDs.

Star Wars rumor number 7,632. I'll believe it when it comes from the flanneled-one himself.
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