What if The Phantom Menace came out in 1987?

[Shawnster]

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This video is pretty cool. It's a hypothetical look at how Lucas might have created Episode 1 if it came out in 1987, 10 years previous to when it really came out.

The commentator mines Lucas notes and takes into account what he was going through in 1987, along with current events at that time.

The overall broad strokes are the same - invaded planet appeals to Jedi to assist repelling the invasion. Along the way there is a stop on Tattoine before the Queen is able to plead her case to the senate. There is a final climactic space battle that results in defeating the invaders.

However, the details get quite a bit different

 

[suarezguy]

I think the biggest and most likely differences would be that Anakin and maybe Padme would start older (probably 16-17) and romance between them wouldn't be forbidden (so there would be some other aspects that initially alienate Anakin from the Jedi), 9 and 14 year old key characters and celibate Jedi sound like things Lucas initially briefly considered (pretty sure he initially did consider having Leia as child character) and decided most viewers would dislike, then only after 11 year break from 1983 to 1994 and deciding to then go back he decided he didn't care what most viewers did or didn't like.

 

[publiusr]

I don’t know that it would have worked.

Each decade of the 20th Century had its own theme (Roaring Twenties, peace&love 60’s)

But each year of the 80’s felt different.
The music of 1988 and 1984 were worlds apart to me.

Star Wars debuted only 10 years earlier—but much has changed…the era of the Space Movie was (to me) 1979-1982.

By 1987, Willow, Legend, MANHUNTER—that was the “in thing.”

I could see Forrest Gump being a contemporary of Back To The Future.

1983 (ROTJ) and 1976 (Logan’s Run) just felt…off…to me. Zeerust?

Now when the prequels hit—it felt like it took forever. The ground was left fallow.

Yet now, it feels the prequels premiered yesterday…

The Thing From Another World and Carpenter’s movie had more than 30 years between them in a sense—but the 2011 film also had a thirty year wait—but it didn’t feel that way to me.

The twenty-teens seemed to last only a week.

 

[Set Harth]

By 1987, Willow, Legend, MANHUNTER—that was the “in thing.”

that's... some grouping, there...

 

[Nerys Myk]

Each decade of the 20th Century had its own theme (Roaring Twenties, peace&love 60’s)

But each year of the 80’s felt different.
The music of 1988 and 1984 were worlds apart to me.

I think you'll find that the music in 1968 and 1964 could be described as "worlds apart" as well. There was a great deal of change in music and culture from 1960 to 1970.

 

[Shawnster]

I think you'll find that the music in 1968 and 1964 could be described as "worlds apart" as well. There was a great deal of change in music and culture from 1960 to 1970.

Yeah. Early Beatles music sounds more like Beach Boys than the Beatles.