SW Episode III: Birth of the Empire

[tom64ss]

I'm getting "Escape from LA" flashbacks.

Oh god, it sucks! It sucks!

[Majestic]

I would pay good money if they played Beach Boys' music while they were surfing on lava. (the Hawaii Five-0 idea is also great).

That would be comedy gold and actually make me feel as if the ticket purchase was worth it, unlike the first two atrocities. The prequels are so bad, they might as well turn the third one into a "Naked Gun"-style parody of itself.

Any more "spinning kung-fu Yoda" or "Your skin is soft, not like sand, sand is coarse, and grainy, and kind of sandy" -crap and I WILL WALK OUT OF THE THEATER SIR!

[Mr March]

I really don't like those main stream papers reporting supposedly "insider" news on film. They get it wrong half the time and the way they report it just sounds like gossip. TheForce.net reported on the title about a week ago and rumoprs of the lava thing have been going on ever since fan speculation about concept art on the original trilogy. I'm not really sure what to beleive as true, but I do like the idea of the film being called Birth of the Empire. Much better title than some of the others.

As for lava surfing, well, I'll let a movie analogy talk for me...

*enters Jack Lord mode*

"...boom"

[Pat Payne]

That would be cool, since Episode VI was Return of the Jedi... and the original name was supposed to be Revenge of the Jedi but they changed it because Jedi's aren't supposed to take revenges!

That wasn't the REAL reason, IIRC: Actually, they had used the "Revenge" name early on as a "leak/copyright trap" for those who might try to steal and sell preproduction goodies or make bootlegs thereof. Some movie writers do this on scripts for highly-anticipated movies -- small pieces of dialogue [an address or planet name] will be subtly changed between different actors' copies, so that if one somehow gets sold, they can find the culprit.

[Black Valkyrie]

I bet in the end Lucas will surprise us with something un expected again

[yellowlightman]

It's very annoying to see characters staying so close to lava (remeber the Hobbits?) Thermal radiation is a very serious issue with things as hot as lava!! You don't need to touch it to get severely burned. They would be roasted very quickly if they surf on lava!!

So a movie with giant spaceships the size of planets, jedi's, aliens, nearly-sentient robots.... and you complain about thermal radiation?

[bsu legato]

That wasn't the REAL reason, IIRC: Actually, they had used the "Revenge" name early on as a "leak/copyright trap" for those who might try to steal and sell preproduction goodies or make bootlegs thereof.

I've heard that one before, but I don't buy it. The first big clue is that major licensing partners like Kenner went ahead and bega producing merchandise with the name "Revenge of the Jedi" on it. Heck, Drew Struzan even made the famous "Revenge" poster. I wouldn't really term that a leak. I believe that LFL has said that these things were done by accident, but...come on. Lucas himself even publically stated that Ep VI would be called "Revenge of the Jedi" back during the promotion of Empire. Finally, if you read some of the behind-the-scenes material for Jedi, you'll see that even the crew were surprised when the name changed.

[Gerwalker]

It's very annoying to see characters staying so close to lava (remeber the Hobbits?) Thermal radiation is a very serious issue with things as hot as lava!! You don't need to touch it to get severely burned. They would be roasted very quickly if they surf on lava!!

So a movie with giant spaceships the size of planets, jedi's, aliens, nearly-sentient robots.... and you complain about thermal radiation?

Gotcha...but...in those small details (like people don't get burned when so close to a lava river) is were credibility of a fantasy movie should be. I mean: I can accept all the magic rings, light sabers, and so because they have some background (magic, force, overtechnology, etc.) but IMHO to be effective a fantasy (or Sci Fi) movie should "respect" those little details. If the fight were in vacuum (space) without a protection (i.e. Breetai style) would it be more unbelieveble than fighting on lava?

[Winkle]

That wasn't the REAL reason, IIRC: Actually, they had used the "Revenge" name early on as a "leak/copyright trap" for those who might try to steal and sell preproduction goodies or make bootlegs thereof.

I've heard that one before, but I don't buy it. The first big clue is that major licensing partners like Kenner went ahead and bega producing merchandise with the name "Revenge of the Jedi" on it. Heck, Drew Struzan even made the famous "Revenge" poster. I wouldn't really term that a leak. I believe that LFL has said that these things were done by accident, but...come on. Lucas himself even publically stated that Ep VI would be called "Revenge of the Jedi" back during the promotion of Empire. Finally, if you read some of the behind-the-scenes material for Jedi, you'll see that even the crew were surprised when the name changed.

Actually I have a behind-the-scenes book on the production of Return of the Jedi... and the executive producer of the movie (cannot remember his name now off the top of my head) did state in the book that the movie was originally named Revenge of the Jedi.

They also had a fake name to throw off people, called "Blue Harvest", and it was supposed to be a horror film until someone snuck onto the Desert Barge set and took some photos.

[bsu legato]

Actually I have a behind-the-scenes book on the production of Return of the Jedi... and the executive producer of the movie (cannot remember his name now off the top of my head) did state in the book that the movie was originally named Revenge of the Jedi.

Yeah, Howard Kazanjian. I think it's also mentioned in the old Cinefex Jedi issue. But whatever the case may be, I still think that "Return" is a better title anyway.

Incidentally, when checking the IMDB for the correct spelling of "Kazanjian" I noticed that they list none other than David Webb Peoples as an uncredited writer! Has anybody ever heard of this?

Edited May 21, 2004 by bsu legato