Tag star wars
In 1976, a relatively unknown actor named Harrison Ford rented a flat near Elstree Studios while filming an as-yet-unknown space opera named Star Wars. When he finally departed, he left a few things behind.
Kristian Brown, a lucky librarian at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, came across a Revised Fourth Draft “Shooting Script” of Star Wars while digitizing some of the library’s content.
COMMENT: Screenplay is a cross between a phantasmagoric Walt Disney cartoon and an exciting, juvenile FLASH GORDON adventure story. It is a fantasy world that has obviously been well thought out by its creator George Lucas.
Han’s backstory: Han was an orphan rasied by Wookiees, flunked out of the Space Academy and met a rich trader until they had a falling out.
ARTOO DETOO (R2-D2) an old and battered construction robot. Artoo is a short (36 inches), claw-armed, tri-ped R-2 unit. His face is a mass of computer lights, surrounding a radar eye. He has a metallic claw arm for grasping and one for computer interface, a hologram projector, and a small floodlight on his forehead. He makes a series of electronic sounds that only a robot could understand, an elaborate combination of whistles, beeps and clicks. He served Master Deak for three years and eight months. He now chooses to continue to serve Master Luke.
COS DASHIT the dark Lord of Alderaan, Consul to the Supreme Tribunal, and ruler of the Galactic Empire. He is a thin, grey-looking man, with an evil mustache which hangs limply over his insipid lip. He plans the conquest of Aquilae, the last of the independent Systems, and the last refuge of the “outlawed, vile sect of the Jedi”. This is the last frontier and the final stone in the great wall of the Galactic Empire.
Star Wars, George Lucas’ lavish space opera, is a fantasy for our times, this generation’s Wizard of Oz. Nevertheless, whereas Lucas’ film was almost universally praised for its costuming, sets, technical perfection, and wondrous special effects, its plot was largely dismissed by reviewers as corny or hokey, strictly kids’ stuff. “The film’s story is bad pulp, and so are the characters of hero Luke and heroine Leia,” says Richard Corliss.1 “I kept looking for an ‘edge,’ to peer around the corny, solemn comic-book strophes,” writes Stanley Kauffmann.2 And Molly Haskell sums up the critics’ objections: “Star Wars is childish, even for a cartoon.”
“A Long Time Ago… In A Galaxy Far, Far Away….”
Even now, some seventeen years later, those words still strike such an emotional response of awe and wonder in the hearts of audiences worldwide. Without doubt, the most popular space age adventure of all time, the “Star Wars” trilogy mesmerized filmgoers with the exploits of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Ben Kenobi and Darth Vader, and delighted both young and old alike with the antics of See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo.
The Star Wars Trilogy, comprising Episodes four through six “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” (respectively), did not begin as one fully-developed, high-concept pitch but rather evolved over a five-year period through a variety of scripts and story treatments. In fact, the origins, original storylines and development of the characters are just as fascinating as anything that has appeared in George Lucas’s final vision, and provide the impetus for this article.
The Development Of Star Wars: A New Hope Version 3.0, Third Draft available (Version 1.0 Second Draft available; Version 2.0 First Outline and First Draft available)
THE DEVELOPMENT OF STAR WARS AS SEEN THROUGH THE SCRIPTS BY GEORGE LUCAS Written by JAN HELANDER DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGES – LULEÅ UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY MARCH 1997 Table of Contents Introduction 1. The Writing of Star Wars 2…. Continue Reading →
Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier wrote an essay in 1983 about the genesis of the SW scripts. The article was published in a French Sci-fi magazine. In 1987, the article was printed in English in STARLOG’s SW issue. This article was one of the first ever to deal with the original scripts. This article is reprinted in its entirety with full permission from the author. You can find the original article at http://www.lofficier.com/starwars.htm.
“The way I work is that I cut the movie together, I look at it and figure out what I’m missing. At that point, it’s more about how the movie flows together rather than how the script flows together. I’m acknowledging more and more that a script and a movie are two different things.” – George Lucas
Download (Right-click – save link as…) The Star Wars – From the Adventures of Luke Starkiller – Third Draft 110 pages 229 scenes Aug 1, 1975 “THE STAR WARS” From The Adventures of Luke Starkiller By George Lucas “… and… Continue Reading →
The eerie blue-green planet of Aquilae slowly drifts into view. A small speck, orbiting the planet, glints in the light of a near by star.
Download: Adventures of the Starkiller The Star Wars – Episode One – “The Star Wars” – Second Draft 115 pages 138 scenes Jan 28, 1975 ADVENTURES OF THE STARKILLER (episode one) “The Star Wars” by George Lucas SECOND DRAFT January… Continue Reading →
Download: The Star Wars – Rough Draft 132 Pages, 191 Scenes May 1974 THE STAR WARS BY GEORGE LUCAS ROUGH DRAFT LUCASFILM LTD. 5/74 1. FADE IN: SPACE A sea of stars is broken by the vast blue surface of… Continue Reading →
Download: Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the “Journal of the Whills” by George Lucas (Saga I) Star Wars Revised Fourth Draft 156 pages 252 scenes The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the “Journal… Continue Reading →
Download: Star Wars (Public Version of Fourth Draft) Published Script: Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, from the Journal of the Whills. As published in The Art of Star Wars, Ballantine 1979 Labeled: “Revised Fourth Draft, January 15, 1976.”… Continue Reading →
Download: The Star Wars – Revised First Draft 146 pages 191 scenes July, 1974 THE STAR WARS BY GEORGE LUCAS FIRST DRAFT JULY 1974 LUCASFILM LIMITED FADE IN: 1. SPACE A sea of stars is broken by the vast blue… Continue Reading →
Download: Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the “Journal of the Whills” by George Lucas (Saga I) Star Wars Fourth Draft, January 1, 1976 171 pages 252 scenes Jan 1, 1976 The Adventures of Luke Starkiller… Continue Reading →
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