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Why mess with a winning formula? the massive gap between Empire and Jedi

#16 User is offline   Garth Vader Icon

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Posted 05 October 2004 - 05:11 PM

QUOTE (Vwing @ Oct 5 2004, 04:13 PM)
The reason he came back to do the prequels was because he felt he could now direct with much less effort put into squeezing the budget to get the desired effects.

I think that's why they're so diasappoiting. Regarding spielberg I think it was slightly selfish of lucas to deny his friend the opportunity to direct one of the prequels after he approached him before, but you're right lucas can do what he wants.

Also, lynch and croenenberg were quoted on the IMDB trivia section for jedi I believe, they might have made a difference but considering most of their films are disturbing to say the least they might not have got the correct feeling for a SW movie (mind you some of kershner's work like robocop were equally terrible).

This post has been edited by Garth Vader: 05 October 2004 - 05:12 PM

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#17 User is offline   ernesttomlinson Icon

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Posted 05 October 2004 - 07:33 PM

Cronenberg? That would have been strange. Lynch would have been disastrous; look what happened to Dune.

I have heard also, by the way, that Cronenberg was once set to direct the adaptation of Phil Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"; that instead went to Paul Verhoeven and became Total Recall just another movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger kills a lot of people. Cronenberg was supposedly going to case Richard Dreyfuss (I've also heard William Hurt) in the role of the protagonist Quail (turned to "Quaid" in Total Recall) and that would have been perfect because Quail really was just a meek office drone wanting a taste of danger and glamour, not a muscle-bound superhero.

Of course, if Cronenberg had made the film, it would have ended with its protagonist barking mad, hallucinating weird transformations of his body, and overwhelmed by grotesque psychosexual trauma.
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#18 User is offline   Stongbah Icon

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Posted 07 October 2004 - 06:17 PM

QUOTE (Just your average movie goer @ Oct 5 2004, 04:28 AM)
Give me a Darth Vader figure or Luke's X-Wing anyday. Or one of those Mellenium Falcon toys where you could open it up and put the figures inside...

damn, I always wanted one of those.... sad.gif

I've seen commercials recently for a Millenium Falcon toy like you're talking about. I almost want to buy it actually.
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#19 User is offline   Vwing Icon

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Posted 07 October 2004 - 07:47 PM

QUOTE (ernesttomlinson @ Oct 5 2004, 07:33 PM)
I have heard also, by the way, that Cronenberg was once set to direct the adaptation of Phil Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"; that instead went to Paul Verhoeven and became Total Recall just another movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger kills a lot of people.

I'll take issue with this. Total Recall, in my opinion, is probably, next to Predator, the best of all the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. And I actually just read We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, and you know what, I'm glad they did what they did. WCRIFYW was a stupid little short story that Dick wrote. Actually, a lot of his short stories seem to follow the pattern of WCRIFYW. Start out with an interesting, sometimes brilliant premise, make it seem like something interesting is going to happen, and then go for a sometimes predictable, sometimes not as predictable, and sometimes great, surprise ending, more like a Twilight Zone ending.

WCRIFYW (I love that acronym!) starts out with a great premise, looks like it's going to go somewhere, then goes for a predictable surprise ending. In short, it was a very disappointing short story. Total Recall took the premise (as the movie version of Minority Report did with The Minority Report) and just ran with it, which is what I wish Dick had done. They made it into an action movie, yes, but it was a thought-provoking action movie with fabulous visuals, good action, and really an actor in Schwarzenegger who was very good, very much like a lost puppy until he remembers who he was. It, like Minority Report, was a really good movie that took a great premise from a Dick short story and made an actual story out of it instead of just going for the payoff (although I will say The Minority Report was a good story, it just wasn't nearly as thought-provoking as the movie, and was almost like an Asimov 3-Laws of Robotics story).

Now, I heard that Verhoeven royally fucked Heinlein's Starship Troopers, of which I am not happy, but I must give him credit for Total Recall. He took a mediocre short story and made it into a really good movie. Although I will admit, it would be interesting how Cronenberg would have done it.
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