When Lucas penned Star Wars he drew his inspirations from a hundred places. The opening
crawl is pure Space Opera and lifted straight out of “Flash Gordon”. Yet let's not forget other
genres that influenced the film. Tatooine is reminiscent of Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon
a Time in the West”. The Death Star run is based on dog fights from World War I
& World War II films. Luke Skywalker & Obi-Wan Kenobi are clones of
King Arthur and Merlin. Lucas was influenced in a big way by Kurosawa films,
specifically “The Hidden Fortress”.
For this “May the Fourth” holiday
celebration I wanted to reimagine Star Wars in a different setting. Something
other than a Space Opera. Directors do this with Shakespeare plays all the
time, so why not Star Wars? Let’s take Star Wars back to one of the genres that it
sprung from. Let’s adapt “A New Hope” into a Samurai film.
Shogun Wars
Episode IV: Dark Island in the Sky
Setting: Shogunate Japan
(It is a period of civil war. Princess Lana’s palanquin is
being escorted to the village of her birth by a company of soldiers loyal to
her cause. When in the road they meet two bedraggled peasants. One is tall and skinny Sitri Piyo and the other is stout little Otu Diyoto who are trying to sell cabbage)
Sitri -
Please, Sir. Cabbage for your troops. Only 2 yen for a whole pack!
Commander -
We don’t need your rotting cabbage!
(Suddenly a messenger comes over the hilltop)
Messenger- Imperial
troops are on their way! Only a few rods behind us!
(The princess emerges from her palanquin and approaches the
peasants. She turns to the silent round one, places a scroll under the cabbage
and whispers something into his ear)
Princess
Lana- Hurry!
(Otu lumbers into the bushes with his cart and Sitri follows
in a panic)
Sitri - Wait! Out! Where are you going!
(The princesses' company is surrounded by white riders and one
dark one. He is Lord Vadir, a fallen Samurai)
Scene Two
Seetri -Just
where do you think you are going? Wandering off into the farmlands. We are
supposed to be going to Kyoto city to sell our goods!
Otu - We
have to get to Yamato.
Seetri- Yamato? What is in Yamato? Just what did that princess tells you and what does that scroll say? You know I can’t read!
Seetri- Yamato? What is in Yamato? Just what did that princess tells you and what does that scroll say? You know I can’t read!
Otu- We
have to get to Yamato.
Seetri - Fine.
You go to Yamato! But I’m going to Kyoto City! Good riddance to you, you short
little pile of dung!
(They split up, but a couple scenes later they are reunited
after they have both been kidnapped by bandits and sold into slavery.)
Scene Five
Otu - We still
have to get to Yamato
Seetri- Yamato?
Are you crazy! The Skywalako family is our rightful owners now. If you try to
flee, they’ll cut our ears off!
(Cut to Hiro Skywalako, a turnip farmer)
Hiro –
Unlce Owin. I was thinking if those new slaves work out I want to submit my
application to the academy this year.
Uncle Owin-
You mean before the next turnip harvest!?! The harvest is when I need you the
most.
Can’t you submit your application next year?
Hiro- But
it’s a whole ‘nother year!
Uncle Owin-
But it’s only one more season!
Scene Six
(Hiro Skywalako gazes off into the sunset as he dreams of
future days. Suddenly there is a movement in the bushes.)
Hiro -Hey!
Who’s there?
(Sitri Piyo lumbers out of the bushes)
Sitri- I
told him not to go, sir. But he kept babbling on about his mission. Please
don’t cut any of my appendages off.
(Hiro looks to the tracks in the mud. Otu has fled.)
Scene
Seven- In which Hiro and Sitri ride ponies, catch up to Otu, run
into bandits and are saved by a very old hermit, who turns out to be an old samurai.
Scene
Eight- In which the old samurai turns out to be Old Bendu Kenodobi
who fought with Hiro’s father many years ago and presents to Hiro his father’s
sword.
Scene Nine- In which the bandit camp has been destroyed by Imperial soldiers because the soldiers were looking for the cabbage peddlers and Hiro realizes that if they tracked the peddlers this far they would have learned who they were sold to and that would lead them “HOME!”
Scene
Fourteen- (Within an old tavern in the crime-ridden village of Moshisee, Falcon
Rider Hun Solo and his partner a strongman named Bok Chewie are seated at a
table with Hiro and Bendu.)
Bendu- Is
she a fast bird?
Hun- You’ve
never heard of the Minamoto Falcon?
Bendu-
Should I have?
Hun- I’ve
outrun imperial dragons and I’m not talking about the yearlings, I’m talking
about big black wyrms. She’s fast enough for you old man. What’s the cargo?
Bendu- Only
passengers. Myself, the boy, two slaves, and no questions asked.
Hun- Well
that’s the trick isn’t it? And it’s going to cost you something extra. One
Hundred Yuan. All in advance.
Hiro- One
hundred? I could almost buy my own Flying Bison for that!
Hun- And
who’s going to fly it, kid. You?
Hiro- You
bet I could. I’m not such a bad pilot myself. We don’t have to sit here and
listen to this…
Scene Twenty-Three
(The six characters are sitting comfy aboard the massive
Minamoto Falcoln)
Hun - We’re in the right place, except for no Yamoto.
Hun - We’re in the right place, except for no Yamoto.
Hiro- What
do you mean? Where is it?
Bendu-
Whiped out. By the Empire!
Hun- That’s
impossible. It would take an entire swarm of dragons to wipe out a village the
size of Yamoto.
Hiro- Look.
A hatchling!
Bendu- That
hatchling is quite far from its nest.
Hun- There
aren’t any dragon caves around here. Where did it come from?
Hiro- Look.
It’s headed for that dark cloud.
Hun- That’s
no cloud!
(As they lift into the stratosphere the “dark cloud” comes
into view. It is a floating island swarming with dragons of every color, shape,
and size. They have found the island of Laputa Disastrous”
Scene
Twenty-Nine- In which our heroes realize the Princess is being held
captive inside of a volcano on the floating island.
Scene
Thirty-Six- In which Bendu Kenodobi is struck down by his old apprentice
Lord Vadir.
Scene Thirty-Nine- In which the rescued princess and band of misfits join up with the Ashikaga Alliance and reveal their plan to attack Laputa Disastrous.
Scene Forty
(The Ashikaga Alliance are riding flying bison toward the
dark island in the sky)
Red Leader
- Accelerate to attack speed. This is it, boys!
(The bison dip down toward the Island to intercept the entire
legion of dragons including Lord Vadir on his Red Nāga)
Red Leader-
Porkon! You've picked one up... watch it!
Porkon- I
can't see it! Where is he?!
Red Leader-
Right behind you!
Porkon -
He's on me tight, I can't shake him... I can't shake him!
(Suddenly Porkon’s Bison explodes into a fireball as Lord
Vadir’s dragon engulfs the hefty Porkon)
Vadir (with fire in his eyes) - The leader is mine, boys!
(Vadir’s dragon closes in on Hiro’s bison. Hiro’s bison
dodges left, dodges right)
Vadir- I have you now!
(And just when all hope seems lost)
Hun-
Yeeeeeeehoooooo!
(The Minamoto Falcoln drops down from the clouds above and starts
dropping stones onto Lord Vadir and his dragon riders)
Vadir-
WHAT!?!
Hun- You’re
all clear kid. Now let’s blow this thing and go home.
(Hiro’s bison drops it’s payload of explosives into the
volcano of Laputa Disastrous. There are a few internal rumbles before lava
starts to spew from every corner of the island and the island breaks into pieces,
tumbling toward the ground)
Ghost of
Bendu- The “Life-Force” will be with you… always.
(Cut to Throne Room Scene!)
Seriously though, who wouldn’t pay to watch that movie? Maybe
it got a little “Airbender-ish” toward the end, but still totally amazing!
Tomorrow for “Cinco de Mayo” we take a look at “The Empire Strikes Back” reimagined as a Steampunk Western.
See you then and "May the Fourth Be With You!"
May the 4th Specials
2020 - 40 Ways to Strike Back
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2020/05/40-ways-to-strike-back.html
2019 - 151 Star Wars Aliens
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/05/151-aliens-how-many-do-you-know.html
2018 - Star Wars Polls
Movie Polls -https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/05/star-wars-polls.html
Character Polls - https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/05/more-polls-characters.html
Expanded Universe Polls- https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-polls-that-define-us.html
2017 - 40 Years of Fandom https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/05/40-years-of-fandom.html
2015 -Genre-Bending the Original Trilogy
Samurai New Hope- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-new-hope-as-samurai-film.html
Western Empire Strikes Back - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-empire-strikes-west.html
Pirate Return of the Jedi - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2015/05/return-of-jedi-as-pirate-film.html
2014 - Recasting Star Wars
Prequel Trilogy 70s Casting - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2014/05/recasting-trilogy.html
Original Trilogy 90s Casting - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2014/05/recasting-star-wars-original-trilogy.html
Sequel Trilogy Casting- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2014/05/recasting-trilogy.html
2013 - The Prequels Rewritten: A Fanfic
Episode I - The Saga Begins - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2013/05/may-fourth-trilogy-re-written.html
Episode II - The Clone War - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2013/05/may-mayo-be-with-you-episode-ii.html
Episode III - Rise of the Sith - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2013/05/episode-iii-remake-rise-of-sith.html
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