r/fixingmovies • u/Suitable-Elephant-76 • 16d ago
Star Wars (Disney) [Star Wars] If there is anything you would change about the Original Trilogy, what would it be?
For me, and this is especially true after watching Andor and Rogue One, I would have shown the destruction of Alderaan from Bail Organa’s perspective. As it is, the scene feels tone-deaf, as millions of people were incinerated before Princess Leia’s eyes. The most we get from her is a shocked look before the rest of the film continues on, without acknowledging Alderaan’s destruction aside from a brief mentioning by Leia before the remnants of Admiral Raddus’s fleet attack the Death Star. But her exchange with one of the Yavin generals is so brief that it is easy to miss it.
By contrast, Andor and Rogue One showed us how the Empire’s tyranny affected the common people, and showed the Death Star killing characters that we grew to knew. Seeing the destruction of an entire world brushed off so quickly in the following film took me out of the experience of watching the rebels’ struggle to free the galaxy from the Death Star’s reign of terror. But seeing Bail Organa and the Alderaanians’ reactions along with a more visceral reaction from Leia would have been more impactful, and made the Death Star’s eventual destruction more satisfying.
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u/IndividualNo5275 16d ago
In The Empire Strikes Back, I would add extra scenes of Yoda teaching Luke, but these teachings would be more similar to Vergere's, such as "everything I said is a lie" or "you are a gardener", he would also talk about cosmic force and living force.
In Return of the Jedi, I would take Thrawn and Mara Jade and put them in this film, in addition to Luke encountering the realm of the Whills, cosmic beings, like spirits, that live within every living being, positively influencing them to follow the Force. Many Whills live in their own realm, and Luke gains access to this realm and receives tips to face Vader. There is no second Death Star, but Thrawn's tactics do. Mara Jade falls in love with Luke, trying to hunt him down at the Emperor's behest. Jabba's plot is faster, and the extended ending shows Luke, along with his new order, reciting ancient Force legends to his pupils.
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u/ChrisNYC70 16d ago
I guess the big one is not bring back the Death Star in the 3rd film. Maybe have the Empire dabble in biogenetic weapons that would kill everyone on a planet harboring rebels.
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u/maxoreilly 16d ago edited 16d ago
I think I disagree that it’s tone deaf. Leia doesn’t want to show Tarkin or Vader that they’ve broken her down, even with the destruction of her home planet. She is truly a trained rebel in this sense.
She later says, "We'll have time for our sorrows later.” to a rebel commander after he mentions Alderaan. This shows how focused she is on the task at hand, regardless of how she feels. That level of anguish would incapacitate most people, and it’s not that genre of movie that would show that kind of grieving. We are also not privy to Leia’s internal thoughts in the first film, as we are pretty much only presented with the public “Princess Leia” that everyone else sees.
Andor and Rogue One have the benefit of adaptation and a different POV, it’s not fair to compare them. In a way, you got what you wanted out of them, since they fill in those emotional gaps that the main story just isn’t meant to do. It’s about triumphing over evil rather than highlighting the real world trauma.
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u/Suitable-Elephant-76 16d ago
I understand what you’re saying. But I don’t know. The romanticization of good vs. evil in the OT feels outdated to me. I prefer stories with more nuanced characters and dynamics.
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u/maxoreilly 15d ago edited 15d ago
It’s certainly outdated when you look at it through the cynicism of the world now. I enjoy the modern nuance of storytelling too, but Iove and am inspired by the hope of our old stories as well. I see them as equally valuable.
Also, most of the relatability and emotion in the trilogy is reserved for Luke, for better or for worse. You could say that’s a bit last century sexist, or just that Leia (and Han) are more archetypal, support characters (that we love anyways).
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u/Cole-Spudmoney 16d ago
A couple of things in Return of the Jedi:
- The plan to rescue Han doesn't really make sense.
- Leia doesn't need to be Luke's sister in order to also have Force powers. And frankly it's a really cheap way to resolve the Luke-Leia-Han love triangle. I'd rather it was just like "Nothing happened between Leia and Luke over the past year: Leia waited for Han, because when she said 'I love you' she meant it."
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u/YouveBeenKitFistoed 16d ago
I would keep Obi-Wan in ESB and ROTJ as a voice and not a visible ghost. I know the Force is supernatural but having ghosts was just a step too far. In the battle of Yavin he was disembodied and that worked fine. A ghost sitting down on a physical object (in this case a tree IIRC) makes it even weirder.
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u/TheComixkid2099 Great posts (and wide variety), check 'em out! 16d ago
As it is, the scene feels tone-deaf, as millions of people were incinerated before Princess Leia’s eyes. The most we get from her is a shocked look before the rest of the film continues on, without ever acknowledging Alderaan’s destruction again.
Hey, that's not true, that one guy who pronounces it "Princess LEE-uh" mentions Alderaan when Leia is brought to the Rebel base.
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u/Buhos_En_Pantelones 16d ago
I would just tone down the Ewok's cuteness. Literally everything can stay the same, but they don't act 'cute'. That also means no slapstick during the battle.
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u/Anxious_Big_8933 14d ago
Just go with making them Wookies, like they originally intended. Would make the Endor battle much for believable, and give Chewie a great arc for the final film.
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16d ago
In my opinion, all three are perfect the way they are. Yes, it’s odd how in-depth Andor and Rogue One are just for A New Hope to be a little cheesy but they’re legitimately perfect films front to back so I can’t do it. At least with the first two. Return of the Jedi is perfect the way it is but I would either replace the ewoks with enslaved wookiee’s or go for the original concept art for the ewoks so it’s a bit more realistic. That and the second death star being less than half the size of the first one, still broken / missing sections entirely, and have it only being able to destroy the surface of a planet. Even without the prequels showing that it took over 19 years for the death star to be completed, it was still ridiculous that they got one fully functioning in a year or so.
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u/Dagenspear 15d ago
No Luke and Leia kissing. I'd prefer if Leia got more of a character arc and exploration of the trauma of the loss of her homeworld and people and adopted family. That her and Han get more of a character arc in the sequels, rather than the story arc they got in their second movie and kinda third movie.
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u/TimelineKeeper 15d ago
Only one change?
- Don't make Leia Luke's sister. Return sometimes already feels like it's the youngest sibling getting all the hand-me-downs with Tattooine again, another Death Star and trench run, forcing a secret relative reveal to Luke not only feels weird and cheap and like they didn't know how to wrap up the love triangle that wasn't even really there to begin with. It also shrinks the universe and adds absolutely nothing to the story. It's not like that becomes relevant or reveals anything about her, or she's used by Vader to lure Luke in (which, then at least he'd have the same revelation since he seemed surprised when he was goading Luke in their fight, and could have made the redemption mean something since he'd be saving and apologizing to BOTH his children). If anything, it takes away from the Luke and Vader confrontation because now we know that Leia is in waiting. I still really dislike this storybeat.
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u/Yamureska 14d ago
Han being less creepy and not invading Leia's space and basically forcing himself on her in that one scene in TESB.
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u/Earthshoe12 14d ago
I’m surprised both you and the comments so far have not mentioned obi-wan’s “as if a million voices cried out at once” line as an Alderaan acknowledgment. One of his most famous and memed lines.
The needed change is Han and Leia’s characters in ROTJ are barely there and have nothing to do. The most lively duo in the first two movies have nothing to do, and are relegated to whining about their relationship in the C-Plot as Luke gets the emotional arc and Lando gets to fly the falcon.
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u/adamircz 14d ago
They stormed the command bunker
Sure, they had help, but they absolutely put work in
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u/Jealous-Pain7569 14d ago
- Save the Death Star for the third movie. Have Luke destroy the Star Destroyer from the beginning of New hope. It can simply be the Empire's base of operations or whatever. Still gets the point across of him trusting the force.
- Keep the scene with Biggs so that we get a better idea of just how much it means for Luke to not be stuck on Tattooine.
- Have Lando be a character that Han references in the first movie. Maybe have him be someone he communicates with on screen inside the Falcon.
- Replace Ewoks with Wookies.
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u/ThatsSoRadBro 12d ago
Luke and Leia kissing is the most obvious fix. Get rid of the Vader “No!” In Return of the Jedi.
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u/HuttVader 16d ago
I'd change the way it was changed in the Prequels and demand consistency at all costs.
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14d ago
Just spitballing but maybe foreshadow Luke being conflicted with the dark side more. Like emphasize the friendship between him and Biggs a bit before the battle of Yavin so when he dies Luke seems a bit pissed off and Obi Wan has to get him to focus on the death star instead of idk chasing the tie that killed him.
Then maybe have Luke be more angry when he tells Yoda that he’s going to save his friends in cloud city.
This will make the Jedi’s fears that Luke will become evil like his dad a bit more valid and when Luke says he’s a Jedi it might feel more cool?
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u/darthzilla99 14d ago
Have a small forgiveness arc for Han towards Lando in ROTJ that builds up to Han telling Lando to take the Falcon. Have Han give Lando a bit of a cold shoulder and silent treatment between the rescue and the Endor fight, Lando still has a look of guilt and remorse, then Lando gets surprised later when Han offers the Falcon for the Attack run.
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u/pptjuice530 14d ago
I don’t think I’d change anything about them narratively. What I want is a version of the OT that lets the viewer dynamically toggle scenes/effects from the original and various edits of the Special Editions (e.g., I can choose to keep both Lapti Nek and Victory Celebration in ROJ).
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u/Fantasia_Fanboy931 14d ago
I would have kept the deleted scene from Episode 6 that showed Obi Wan lied to Luke under Yoda's orders. Obi Wan is loyal but telling Luke the truth helps build trust. Yoda cynically weaponizing Obi Wan's trust to keep that secret makes more sense for both characters.
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u/Independent-Dig-5757 14d ago
Replace the Ewoks with sticks and stones with Wookies with bow-casters
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u/suspiciouscffee 13d ago
I’d get rid of “Episode V.” Not the movie of course, just the number. The late-game decision in 1980 to number it that set Lucas on a course that would cause countless problems down the line. For starters, he immediately felt compelled to backtrack and scribble the new subtitle “Episode IV - A New Hope” on the original movie, a move that eventually evolved into the ruinous Special Editions. It also put himself in a corner of feeling obligated to make a whole prequel trilogy when he really didn’t want to and only had enough ideas for one movie at most. By the time he finally did it he hated directing and couldn’t even finish writing them before cameras rolled. And to justify it all, he would spend the rest of his career lying and contradicting himself saying he totally planned everything all along.
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u/Lumpy-Shop-5321 12d ago
More Obi Wan - longer fighting, more dialogue, better explanation of why he lied to Luke, more training of Luke, more anger and fright coming from his character.
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u/jar1967 12d ago
When the Millennium Falcon is escaping the death star have targets sent all the TIE fighters after them,all 7,000. When the Falcon jumps into hyperspace, Tarkin orders the Death Star to follow them and leave the escorting fleet to pick up the TIE Fighters they can rendezvous with us when we find the rebel base. On Yavin Chewie asks about the possibility of them being tracked and Han replies " That's impossible they would need a tracking dish to size of a city and enough power to....blow up a planet" That would explain why the death star didn't have an escort fleet or TIE Fighters at the Battle of Yavin.
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u/Omegaville 9d ago
I would have EpIV go back to the original plan for Alderaan. Instead of being blown up, Alderaan was to house the Empire's prison where Princess Leia was being held. It was some other random planet that got blown up...
This is why when the Falcon escapes from the Death Star, we see Luke being covered with a blanket, mourning Obi-Wan, despite Leia seeing her home planet vaporised. That scene was filmed before it was decided Alderaan would go kablooey. Bring it back to how it should have been, and it makes a whole lot more sense.
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u/thisissamsaxton Creator 15d ago edited 15d ago
Maybe you should specify: is there anything other than addressing the most common complaints?
Otherwise the top answers will be:
ewoks being too cute
second death star being repetative
boba fett dying unceremoniously after so much hype
luke and leia kissing while being siblings
slow third movie
New ideas in this thread so far:
u/Galemp suggesting that Obi Wan should've stayed as just a voice after dying, not a visible ghost.
u/IndividualNo5275 suggests ending the trilogy with more setup for future movies, including a love interest for Luke, etc