Writing "Jedi"
 |
| Kurtz & Lucas had two different visions for Jedi |
When you ask someone, "Who made Star Wars?", George Lucas will be
the first person to spring to mind. But throughout my blogs I try to expose
some of the other great minds behind the series. Star Wars would be nothing
without the art of Ralph McQuarrie or the music of John Williams. The Empire
Strikes Back was written by Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Irvin Kirshner.
This blog is about another individual who made Star Wars what is was: Producer
Gary Kurtz, the producer of 'Star Wars' & 'Empire', but not 'Return of the Jedi' because of the creative arguments he had with Lucas. Moreover, this blog is about what could
have been if Gary Kurtz had gotten his way.
Let me introduce an alternate
universe where Gary Kurtz does get his way…. 'Return of the Jedi' Kurtz style. The
first part of the movie is pretty similar. Han Solo is rescued from Jabba, but
Han isn’t safe for long. In fact he is killed during a raid on an imperial base
in the middle of the film. This is an alternate way to tackle the Luke-Han-Leia love
triangle of the series, (Rather than having Leia & Luke be siblings)
There is no second Death Star is Kurtz’ version (Kurtz didn’t like the idea of recycling things from the first film). The end of Return of the Jedi is actually quite dark. The rebellion is in tatters, Leia is struggling with her new duties as queen, and Luke walks off alone, like Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western.
It is quite different than the film we know, but imagine the
possibilities. 'Jedi' doesn’t end with a big Teddy Bear Luau, Vader doesn’t
die, the series continues through the eighties and the nineties. Hell, we
could be on Star Wars Episode XIX by now. |
| Ewoks Sell Toys |
This version of 'Jedi' seems strange,
but it was the version both Lucas and Kurtz agreed on in early talks. So what
happened? According to Gary, Lucas got greedy. It became less about making a
good movie and became more about action figures. IE: If you kill off Han Solo,
you’ll sell less action figures. Bittersweet endings don’t sell toys, Ewoks having
a BBQ sells toys. Second Death Stars sell toys. Dare I say it? Jar Jar Binks
and Darth Maul sell toys.
This is another long line in
articles about what Star Wars could have been, but in this case, we see Star
Wars veering off on the wrong track. To some fans, Ewoks were the first sign
that the ship was sinking. Next came the Ewok films, followed by the special editions, followed by the
prequel trilogy, followed by things like that awful 'Clone Wars' cartoon film and
a Star Wars animated sitcom.
Gary Kurtz left Lucasfilm over the arguments and instead of producing 'Return of the Jedi', Gary Kurtz made 'The Dark
Crystal'. Gary Kurtz and Lucas stopped making films together and, like the rest
of us, Gary despised the prequels.
So what would have happened if Lucas
had listened to Gary? What if Lucas had never met “Yes-Man Rick
McCallum" who would produce the prequels. Could we have had 30-years of quality
Star Wars films instead of 30-years of waiting in line for junk? My feeling is yes.
Next Time: "Filming Return of the
Jedi" AKA “Ewoks Attack”
The following is all in good humor and not meant to be an attack on anyone's opinion on the film:
ReplyDeleteI love Return of the Jedi and the Ewoks too, but I also like a darker version of ROTJ, which arguably could the the test version where Lando died at the end.
Just a thought, but I believe ROTJ to be quite dark as it is and in fact needs the Ewoks to mask the psychological drama at play. Luke's falling towards the dark side and the Rebels are outnumbered and trapped, sustains heavy losses; plus Yoda died, which bummed me out as a boy quite a bit. Much thanks to Lucas, from me.
P.S. Are you going to tell me that the dead Ewok scene isn't effective?
And with due respect, it would have been awful to kill off Han because it would have made Star Wars into just another film that disappoints children and adults alike.
ReplyDeleteAnd even though I'd like to see the alternate Lando ending, keeping him alive was the right thing to do as it bookends the series with a fairy tale ending.
Would we even be talking about this if the originals weren't what they were in the first place?
If you want harsh, gritty movies that remind you of real life, there's plenty of existing choices, so why squander all of that whimsy and wonder with a jarring reminder of reality, while being asked to suspend disbelief in a space opera, no less?
Thanks for the opinion!
ReplyDeleteI think that most people are like me and preferred "Empire Strikes Back" to "Return of the Jedi". Many fans complain about ROTJ and the prevailing opinion among fans is that it would have been better without Ewoks. In the original draft the Ewoks would have been Wookiees. A much cooler scenario!