FOLLOW US ON:
GET THE NEWSLETTER
CONTACT US
Polaroids from ‘Return of the Jedi’

01idej.jpg
 
Harrison Ford wanted his character, Han Solo, to die in Return of the Jedi. Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan agreed. Kasdan thought Solo’s death would freak out the audience and make ‘em appreciate no one was safe. George Lucas nixed the idea. Lucas wanted Return of the Jedi to deliver a huge payload from merchandising and as Ford later explained, “George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”

Merchandising was certainly one influence in making of Return of the Jedi. Stars Wars merchandise had given Lucas a “Golden Ticket” and he was determined to use it to get everything he wanted. Lucas had ambitions to use this money to fund his dream of an independent studio, Skywalker Ranch. It’s long been discussed by fans as to just how much Lucas changed things to help him achieve his ambitions. Keeping Solo alive was one. Changing the Ewoks from butt-ugly lizards to cutesy teddy bears was another. As were the multiple feel-good endings—something probably inspired by the double-ending of Oscar-winner Chariots of Fire. At one point in its development, Return of the Jedi closed on Luke Skywalker wandering off into the sunset like a war-weary samurai. In another, he turned to the Dark Side after the death of his father Darth Vader. These were a bit too downbeat for Lucas who wanted to make a “kid’s film.”

Aside from the merchandising and “Nub Yub,” Lucas had some far-out suggestions for the film’s director. He originally wanted Steven Spielberg, which is understandable, but then he offered the film to David Lynch and then David Cronenberg which would have been pretty awesome if one or the other had signed-up. They both turned the offer down. It was eventually given to BBC TV director Richard Marquand to helm, as Lucas wanted a safe pair of hands as he thought movie-making really happened in the cutting-room. It’s also been long rumored Marquand didn’t direct all of the film as he had a difficult relationship with the cast.

Return of the Jedi merchandise made Lucas gazillions. It may not be the best of the first three Star Wars movies made but it is a damned sight better than some of those that were made afterward.

As any fule no, during a movie’s production, make-up and wardrobe take Polaroids of cast members in their different costumes and slap to ensure continuity. Here’s a little collection of continuity Polaroids featuring Luke, Han, Princess Leia, and co.
 
02idej.jpg
 
03idej.jpg
 
More on-set Polaroids, after the jump…
 

READ ON
Posted by Paul Gallagher
|
04.02.2018
09:08 am
|
Crazy Hungarian posters for the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy


Csillagok háborúja: A Birodalom visszavág—Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
 
One of the differences between the first, “good” Star Wars trilogy and the second, “bad” trilogy is that the Cold War was happening when the first three movies came out. OK, it would be a stretch to argue that the Cold War with its more limited international audiences had an influence on how these movies turned out, but the fact remains that in the mid-1970s George Lucas was primarily addressing American audiences first and foremost; given the massive cult that has arisen around the franchise, when Lucas returned to telling the story of the ragtag band of space rebels in the 1990s, it was reasonable enough for him to suppose that he would be addressing all of humankind.

By the time the third movie, Return of the Jedi, came out, it was 1983, and the Cold War officially had six more years to go. The term “Soviet bloc” perhaps disguises the extent to which the various East European countries had differing levels of autonomy vis-à-vis relations with the West. After the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the country came under the control of the Soviet loyalist János Kádár, but even so, willful Hungary developed its own distinctive brand of “goulash communism” and always remained considerably less repressive than the USSR or East Germany overall.

The release dates of the three movies are an indication of how different things were then. All three movies came out in May in the United States—the first and third movies actually came out on my own 7th birthday (May 25, 1977) and 13th birthday (1983), respectively—Empire was released on May 17, 1980. Star Wars: A New Hope came out in Hungary in August of 1979, fully two years and a few months after its U.S. release. The Empire Strikes Back came out in Hungary in January 1982 and Return of the Jedi in September of 1984—so by the third movie the gap had narrowed to a mere sixteen months, still far longer than it would take today, of course.

The Rembrandt, the Michelangelo—well, let’s say the Hieronymus Bosch of Hungarian Star Wars posters is clearly one Tibor Helényi, who was also a respected painter in Hungary.

My favorite aspect of Helényi’s posters are his inclination to insert big scary lizard creatures who find no correlative in the movies—plus pretty much none of the famous characters are represented, with the obvious exception of Darth Vader, who gets the most play by far (you would think that this might be true of the U.S. posters too, but it’s really not).

Also, I don’t know if Helényi borrowed or invented that nifty notched font, but I really like it. Typographers, can we get that one into regular rotation?
 

Csillagok háborúja: Új remény—Star Wars: A New Hope
 

Csillagok háborúja: A jedi visszatér—Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
 
Oh yeah, here’s another Hungarian poster for Star Wars: A New Hope by an András Felvidéki, which is completely strange in a very different way.
 

 
via io9

Posted by Martin Schneider
|
04.27.2015
03:27 pm
|
If David Lynch directed ‘Return of the Jedi’
05.20.2014
03:09 pm
Topics:
Tags:


 
As some of you probably already know, David Lynch was approached by George Lucas to direct the third film in the Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi.

Here’s a short excerpt from an interview David Lynch did with MTV in the 80s addressing the Return of the Jedi rumors:

MTV: Is it true you almost directed “Return of the Jedi”? How close did you come?

Lynch: Not close at all. I had a meeting with George [Lucas]. I like George. It was his thing. I said, “You should direct this. It’s your thing! It’s not my thing.”

MTV: Did he flat-out offer it to you at the time?

Lynch: Yeah!

MTV: But you immediately declined.

Lynch: I called him the next day.

YouTuber “C-SPIT” re-imagined Return of the Jedi as if Lynch had actually directed it.

 
Below, an animation of David Lynch recalling his first meeting with George Lucas.

 
Via Nerdcore

Posted by Tara McGinley
|
05.20.2014
03:09 pm
|
Princess Leia’s ‘coke nail’ in ‘Return of the Jedi’

image
 
So some smartypants on reddit believes they’ve spotted Carrie Fisher’s coke nail in Return of the Jedi. I have no comment, other than it’s normally the pinky finger, right?

Via Nerdcore

Posted by Tara McGinley
|
09.28.2012
11:31 am
|
Darth Vader’s ‘United States of Noooooooooooooo!’
09.01.2011
03:12 pm
Topics:
Tags:


 
The Internet is up in arms over George Lucas tweaking the Star Wars films for the Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) Blu-ray box set. Lucas has managed to make Return of the Jedi quite silly with the addition of Darth Vader yelling “Noooooooooooooo!” at the Emperor. Like… why???

So, here’s some comedic relief of Vader’s “Nooooooooooooo!” mixed in with Liam Lynch’s “United States of Whatever.”
 

 
(via Nerdcore and Boing Boing )

Posted by Tara McGinley
|
09.01.2011
03:12 pm
|