The unrevised version of the fourth draft for Star Wars (ANH)

[Unimatrix Q]

Seems that a lot of fans don't know that there's not only the revised fourth draft to be found on the internet, but also the unrevised version.

http://www.starwarz.com/starkiller/...ller-as-taken-from-the-journal-of-the-whills/

A major difference is that Kenobi survives in this version.

 

[fireproof78]

There were a lot of drafts. Obi-wan survived until people realized he had nothing to do in the 3rd act.

 

[Noname Given]

Seems that a lot of fans don't know that there's not only the revised fourth draft to be found on the internet, but also the unrevised version.

http://www.starwarz.com/starkiller/...ller-as-taken-from-the-journal-of-the-whills/

A major difference is that Kenobi survives in this version.

How many drafts before Luke's last name was changed from Starkiller to Skywalker (yeah, GL's: "...Jedi's don't take vengeance..." my ass. )

 

[Unimatrix Q]

There were a lot of drafts. Obi-wan survived until people realized he had nothing to do in the 3rd act.

Yep. The difference is that many fans know all the other drafts, but only the revised version of the fourth one and heard or read only what was written by others about the original fourth draft.

 

[fireproof78]

Yep. The difference is that many fans know all the other drafts, but only the revised version of the fourth one and heard or read only what was written by others about the original fourth draft.

I would recommend the Making of Star Wars book for those curious about the draft process.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

Wonder what ESB and ROTJ would have been like and how much influence it would have had on the Prequels if George Lucas didn't kill off Kenobi in ANH, like it still was the case in the fourth draft (before the revisions).

How different would these movies have been in this case? Would Lucas ever had created Yoda and would the Jedi have become the bureocratic order we have seen in the prequels?

Would Star Wars ever have become as succesful as it has and would the second and the third movie actually have any kind of resemblance to ESB and ROTJ?

How much impact on the progressing story would this decission have had?

 

[Reverend]

I mean . . . the fact that there was a revised 4th draft (at least two of them I know of, in point of fact) by it's very existence implies that of an unrevised one, else what the hell does one think is being revised? Indeed, through the arcane wizardry of basic mathematics, one might even infer the existence of not only a third draft, but a second AND first one too!

And yeah, as has been stated there were a LOT of draft revisions over the years before a single frame had been shot, and there were more done later both during the shoot, and later in the editing process. Mark Hamill famously recounts not knowing he was playing a character called "Luke Skywalker" until the day they shot the detention centre scenes, as the scripts he'd had up until that point had all had him down as "Luke Starkiller", None of this is new information. I mean the fact that that blog in the link hasn't been significantly updated in 6, going on 7 years should be a clue.

I will say though, if one wants to get a reasonably definitive overview of the making of the first movie, from conception, through all the major drafts, pre-production, shooting, post-production, release and response, I'd recommend reading J.W. Rinzler's 'The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film'. Yes, it even covers the part mid-shoot where George decides to kill off Ben on the Death Star instead of have him survive to the end, where he was scripted to do little but stand around looking worried.

As for the way that decision shaped the later movies; most just in that it resulted in the creation of Yoda. Presumably he would have eventually been killed off in the 3rd one, one way or another. But then which part of the multiverse are we talking about here? The one where the movie is only modestly profitable and the 'Splinter of a Mind's Eye' script is the even lower budget follow-up? Or the one where George doesn't get burnt out and goes ahead with the full 12 movie plan, well into the 90's in which case ILM is probably too busy to do either Abyss, Jurassic Park, or T2, and the history of digital VFX gets rewritten again?

 

[Unimatrix Q]

I mean . . . the fact that there was a revised 4th draft (at least two of them I know of, in point of fact) by it's very existence implies that of an unrevised one, else what the hell does one think is being revised? Indeed, through the arcane wizardry of basic mathematics, one might even infer the existence of not only a third draft, but a second AND first one too!

And yeah, as has been stated there were a LOT of draft revisions over the years before a single frame had been shot, and there were more done later both during the shoot, and later in the editing process. Mark Hamill famously recounts not knowing he was playing a character called "Luke Skywalker" until the day they shot the detention centre scenes, as the scripts he'd had up until that point had all had him down as "Luke Starkiller", None of this is new information. I mean the fact that that blog in the link hasn't been significantly updated in 6, going on 7 years should be a clue.

I will say though, if one wants to get a reasonably definitive overview of the making of the first movie, from conception, through all the major drafts, pre-production, shooting, post-production, release and response, I'd recommend reading J.W. Rinzler's 'The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film'. Yes, it even covers the part mid-shoot where George decides to kill off Ben on the Death Star instead of have him survive to the end, where he was scripted to do little but stand around looking worried.

As for the way that decision shaped the later movies; most just in that it resulted in the creation of Yoda. Presumably he would have eventually been killed off in the 3rd one, one way or another. But then which part of the multiverse are we talking about here? The one where the movie is only modestly profitable and the 'Splinter of a Mind's Eye' script is the even lower budget follow-up? Or the one where George doesn't get burnt out and goes ahead with the full 12 movie plan, well into the 90's in which case ILM is probably too busy to do either Abyss, Jurassic Park, or T2, and the history of digital VFX gets rewritten again?

And if Lucas went with this draft, there would have been no Greedo and no Jabba. Could be that he introduced them later in Episode V or VI, but maybe not. Perhaps Montross would have had a bigger role instead.

 

[fireproof78]

Or the one where George doesn't get burnt out and goes ahead with the full 12 movie plan, well into the 90's in which case ILM is probably too busy to do either Abyss, Jurassic Park, or T2, and the history of digital VFX gets rewritten again?

I would honestly be very curious to see this version. While I know many, many, people value those films I would be very curious to see George go full at least with the 12 films, or at least a different version ROTJ where Leia isn't Luke's sister, setting up the sequel trilogy.

 

[Reverend]

I would honestly be very curious to see this version. While I know many, many, people value those films I would be very curious to see George go full at least with the 12 films, or at least a different version ROTJ where Leia isn't Luke's sister, setting up the sequel trilogy.

Honestly, I don't think there's any world where that actually happens without George getting bored and making it really REALLY weird by the end. Say what one will about the PT, he never played it safe and he never just repeated himself (with one or two minor exceptions.)
At his core he'll always be the avant garde indy film student, making social and political allegories disguised as pulp adventure.

 

[fireproof78]

Honestly, I don't think there's any world where that actually happens without George getting bored and making it really REALLY weird by the end. Say what one will about the PT, he never played it safe and he never just repeated himself (with one or two minor exceptions.)
At his core he'll always be the avant garde indy film student, making social and political allegories disguised as pulp adventure.

True enough, and I don't see the full 12 films being made. But, honestly, his ideas with the sequel trilogy at the time of ROTJ interests me greatly. Largely because I think the expansion of the world would be in line of not playing it safe, as you note.

But, the prequel trilogy was definitely an interesting experiment. I just want to see that experimental nature with the OT characters.

 

[Ithekro]

I wonder how the sequel series would have been influenced if his marriage had survived the OT. What would be in store for the Skywalkers?

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I mean . . . the fact that there was a revised 4th draft (at least two of them I know of, in point of fact) by it's very existence implies that of an unrevised one, else what the hell does one think is being revised? Indeed, through the arcane wizardry of basic mathematics, one might even infer the existence of not only a third draft, but a second AND first one too!

These aren't the drafts you're looking for.

 

[ichab]

These are all points I bring up anytime I hear "THE SEQUAL SERIES HAD NO CLEAR VISION." Neither did the OT as Lucas was changing the story even after shooting began on the very first one. The only time he did have a clear vision was the PT because he knew where everyone had to end up by episode 4. And even episode 3 was tweaked slightly after shooting because Lucas wanted padme to be a more important factor to anakins turn than just the quest for power.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

"THE SEQUAL SERIES HAD NO CLEAR VISION."

Vision, dision... The sequels failure was rushing the ending, all while trying to walk back from everything that happened in the previous film. It may even have been all right if it only tried to do one of those, and even when it did both, the greatest fallout for me is lack of desire to rewatch TROS because it was a mess. I don't even have any particular problem with where the story ended up – Pershing successfully cloning Palpatine, First Order turning out to be a puppet, Palpatine being a bitch to get rid of, and Ray getting star acknowledgements and all that. I guess even the hidden fleet that never answered the call in TLJ appearing makes some sense after more planet killers, but it was botched in portrayal.

Oh, and Attack of the Clones was a huge mess portraying the start of the Clone Wars, that has mostly gone away for me now that's it in context.

 

[fireproof78]

These are all points I bring up anytime I hear "THE SEQUAL SERIES HAD NO CLEAR VISION." Neither did the OT as Lucas was changing the story even after shooting began on the very first one. The only time he did have a clear vision was the PT because he knew where everyone had to end up by episode 4. And even episode 3 was tweaked slightly after shooting because Lucas wanted padme to be a more important factor to anakins turn than just the quest for power.

If it had been done well enough to satisfy fans it would have been ignored. But, in my opinion, the PT is a mess for different reasons and the ST works well enough with the Star Wars lore.

Both are rough executions of interesting ideas. No vision is just a buzz word.