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Post by glorbes on Jul 16, 2015 19:32:03 GMT -6
Hi everyone,
This is something that I've been thinking about for a while. I'd like to do a detailed watch/re-watch of the things that directly inspired the original Star Wars. This would include looking at such things as the Flash Gordon serials (and comic series), The Hidden Fortress, etc. I'd like to contrast this line of inspiration that informed the original movie, with the films that followed it in the rest of the franchise. Are the original inspirations still present? Did Lucas abandon Kurosawa and Alex Raymond as the series went on, and the world he created took on a life of its own? Will other film makers reconnect with those same sources of inspiration?
Sound interesting?
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Post by cstower on Jul 16, 2015 21:04:41 GMT -6
the influence of Jack Kirby's "New Gods" is clearly visible in both trilogies, both in plot and visuals. (Indeed NEW GODS issue 7, "The Pact",is practically a template for the entire series, with the revelation of the hero Orion being the son of arch-villian Darkseid(THAT NAME!), the transformation of the Kenobi-esque warrior Isayah into the holy man Highfather (via "The Source", no less!) and even the depiction of Darkseid as having discretely manipulated events to facilitate his rise to power, much as emperor-to-be Palpatine did in the prequels.
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Post by glorbes on Jul 17, 2015 3:50:37 GMT -6
the influence of Jack Kirby's "New Gods" is clearly visible in both trilogies, both in plot and visuals. (Indeed NEW GODS issue 7, "The Pact",is practically a template for the entire series, with the revelation of the hero Orion being the son of arch-villian Darkseid(THAT NAME!), the transformation of the Kenobi-esque warrior Isayah into the holy man Highfather (via "The Source", no less!) and even the depiction of Darkseid as having discretely manipulated events to facilitate his rise to power, much as emperor-to-be Palpatine did in the prequels. YES!!! Oh my God, you can see so much of the DNA of Star Wars in the New Gods stuff. Lucas seemed to take the tone and cliffhanger nature of the Flash Gordon strip, and infuse it with the opera-like drama of New Gods...as you lay out here, lifting a large chunk of the mythology and changing the names.
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Post by Gillianren on Jul 17, 2015 10:25:44 GMT -6
That does sound interesting. I'd definitely read that analysis.
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Post by Tyrannorabbit on Jul 17, 2015 15:28:56 GMT -6
On another board I frequent, every time Star Wars comes up there's this one guy who always posts the same picture of Frank Herbert. (any actual argument about just how much or how little Lucas bit off of Dune has long since been exhausted, he just wants to make sure no one ever forgets I suppose)
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Post by glorbes on Jul 19, 2015 16:43:17 GMT -6
On another board I frequent, every time Star Wars comes up there's this one guy who always posts the same picture of Frank Herbert. (any actual argument about just how much or how little Lucas bit off of Dune has long since been exhausted, he just wants to make sure no one ever forgets I suppose) Oh, there is no question. Star Was is a grab bag of so much stuff, and I think that Lucas did well to admit to that. He may not have acknowledged Dune is quite as up front of a way, but that is probably because Dune has a very different kind of vibe all together.
So, I re-watched the first few chapters of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (the third serial based on Raymond's comic strip), and there are all kinds of elements scattered about that are closely related to Star Wars. The opening crawl between chapters (angled so as to taper off at the top of the screen) is one of the most famous "homages" that Lucas made:
Clearly, the man knows what sort of adventure he's creating, and while it is a blatant reference, it does set the stage for what Lucas is shooting for. What's interesting though is that, even though Star Wars is an adventure film through and through with lots of great set pieces, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom would be far more adept at recreating the thrill a minute cliffhanger nature of the serials, while the Star Wars and Empire would be paced with a much slower and more character-driven structure. Return of the Jedi, for all of its flaws, seems to be the film in the original trilogy that feels most like what Lucas probably intended the first film to be (it helps that all the world building has already been established).
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (thus far) has Flash working with the Arborians (under the leadership of Prince Barin) and the Frigians (under Queen Fria, who has Princess Leia hair buns that are very close to Raymond's illustrations) against the terror of Ming the Merciless and his soldiers, who are planning to take over the universe by killing all smart people, and turning the dim-witted into slaves. There's a pretty nifty aerial dog fight between three rocket ships, Flash wears enemy armour to infiltrate Ming's palace, and there's a whole lot of fighting "cannon fodder" masked soldiers. I'm amazed at the production quality and rapid pacing...these really are a lot of fun, even after 75 years. And again, Lucas did a remarkable job capturing the flavour of these films with the original Star Wars, even if he spends a lot more time on establishing character and setting.
More to come.
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Post by glorbes on Jul 19, 2015 21:34:15 GMT -6
Just wanted to pop in with a quick scan of the original art from Raymond's strip depicting Fria's hair-do:
Also, the people of Frigia ride around on two-legged giant ostrich-like birds-lizards, which bear a striking resemblance to Tauntauns. Actually, it's pretty amazing how shameless the pilfering is from both the strips and the serials.
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Post by cstower on Jul 20, 2015 7:04:45 GMT -6
Reportedly Lucas specifically requested Al Williamson as artist for the STAR WARS newspaper strip because of his earlier work on Flash Gordon comics.
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Post by Tyrannorabbit on Jul 20, 2015 15:54:48 GMT -6
No doubt, Lucas was biting off of everything in sight - but that's the GOOD way to be derivative. (this guy is one of those guys who'll point to Jabba and say "See? Sandworm." and then point to the Sarlaac and say "See? Sandworm.")
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Post by glorbes on Aug 6, 2015 6:43:34 GMT -6
Watching The Hidden Fortress for the roots of Star Wars is obviously not the right way to watch Kurosawa’s grand scale fairytale. But, the two films are connected, as has been well documented. Lucas, in an effort to create his own Flash Gordon-type adventure, was looking for a plot to hang the action, romance, and ray guns on, and felt that The Hidden Fortress would be a good starting point. I’ve read excerpts and summaries of the script, because I have to admit that reading the whole thing would be torture (the Lucas who would write the prequel scripts was there all along), but even after four drafts and countless adjustments, there are elements that survive. Both Star Wars and The Hidden Fortress start from the perspective of the lowliest characters. In Fortress, Kurosawa’s POV characters are Tahei and Matashichi, two squabbling peasants that fight, cheat, and undermine each other, but are also the best of friends when the chips are down. At the beginning of the story, they are wandering through the countryside, having been displaced by war and no longer wanting to bury the dead. They have a falling out and go their separate ways, but are eventually captured and have a joyous reunion in the film’s biggest and most impressive set-piece (the slave revolt on the steps). When they reunite and set out on their own, they eventually wind up being lorded over by Mifune’s stoic general Makabe, who uses their greed against them to help transport a shitload of gold and Princess Yuki through enemy territory into the hands of allies. Threepio and Artoo basically follow the the early part of this arc, since they too are cast out from a battle, argue and split up, and then are joyously re-united. However, in Star Wars, the droids become supporting characters as soon as Luke shows up, whereas The Hidden Fortress is more like an ensemble, but tells the story mostly through Tahei and Matashichi.
Another element that I think informs Lucas’s final film is the Princess character. The Hidden Fortress explains Yuki’s strong willed personality and bravery with some bullshit about being “raised like a boy”, but the fact is she’s a pretty solid and willful character who forges her own path. The idea of handmaidens sacrificing themselves to save the princess’s life is given a lot of play in the prequels (this also being the main plot point in Kagemusha), but I really do think that Yuki’s personality and agency are reflected in Princess Leia as she is written and played in the original Star Wars. They are not the same character, but Yuki does not take orders passively, is passionate about her people and her cause, and uses her cleverness and cunning throughout the movie to achieve her goal. I would say that Princess Leia, who is still a pretty great character after all these years, was very much informed by Kurosawa’s character.
Makabe, as played by Mifune, does not have a direct surrogate in the original Star Wars. I think Lucas was going for a similar character with Qui Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace, but was defeated by his shitty script. Princess Leia and the plans to the Death Star do have to travel through hostile territory to get to their home base, but the adventure in Star Wars splits Makabe into Han, Luke, and Obi Wan. The idea of an “old general” as Makabe is described very much is the root of Obi Wan Kenobi (and Lucas apparently wanted Mifune for the role – how awesome would that have been?), but once Luke became the focus, things changed dramatically. On the whole, Star Wars became an amalgam of all kinds of things. The Hidden Fortress was the spark to get things started, but the final film is a combination of Lucas’s pulp science fiction obsession fused with the hot rods and teenagers milieu of American Graffiti. Honestly, looking at all the Star Wars films, you can see elements and homages to so many things. But, I suppose that as a basic template, The Hidden Fortress will always loom large, as it was from this substantial bit of pilfering that the entire Star Wars saga began to take shape and become its own thing. Lucas could have done a lot worse for a starting point.
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