MovieChat Forums > Star Wars (1977) Discussion > EPISODE IV? REALLY?

EPISODE IV? REALLY?

posted 7 years ago by gcarras (2729)
33 replies | jump to latest

That's like calling the original 1980s My Little Pony Gen 3 and the modern one Gen 4 instead of, respectively, Gen 1 and Gen 2.:)

A big shout out to George Lucas, please just keep it Stars Wars. And Carrie Fisher, up in the sky, look forward to the next installment as your posthumous self will be there (too bad your mom Debbie Reynolds, who passed the day after, never appeared, especially as your own mother, in the films. Can you imagine, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and Debbie Reynolds as Queen Amidala? But then Natalie Portman would lack a tasty role.)

[–] PaladinNJ (20459) 6 years ago

It is Episode IV. George Lucas wrote the whole nine storyline outline but was unable to sell the treatments for the first three. After the success of the fist three movies, the studios suddenly became interested in the first three. The long time between them was because he had to rewrite them to accommodate the changes he made.

[–] subratjain1 (203) 6 years ago

And the fans think it was a genius move on his part.. He he :-)

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

Yeah, well there's a reason he had to fund episodes 1-3 himself.

[–] gcarras (2729) 6 years ago

Thanks everyone replying for those replies..

[–] janelsenor (2042) 6 years ago

He only decided it would be Episode IV when he decided to make ESB Episode V....

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Yup. Lucas never had any intention of making more than one Star Wars movie.

[–] JoWilli (16097) 5 years ago

no, he only intended to make one movie...

[–] kwestmo (4237) 4 years ago

correct

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

He never wrote all nine at once. He wrote the 77 film with the idea of it being in the middle of a larger epic. I'm sure he bounced ideas around in his mind, but he really BS'ed his way around the sequels and prequels. It's pretty easy to see they were written on the fly. If he really had written all nine they would have just used his writings for episodes 7-9 instead of coming up with all this new stuff (BTW, how's that working out?). They would have saved money on the writing.

[–] ILJtheFirst (1947) 4 years ago

As it turns out, George Lucas submitted the story outlines to Disney, they pretty much said:

Cartman: "I'll do what I want."

[–] PaladinNJ (20459) 4 years ago

He wrote treatments for all nine. Basically outlines. They had to be rewritten to accommodate the changes made to the stories in production.

[–] furiousstyles (4363) 6 years ago

He had plans for more films but they had no idea it would be so successful, if it wasnt for Alan Ladd JR , star wars would never of made the light of day , the studio wanted to end production as it was significantly over budget.

With the success came the demand for a sequel, so star wars was re released in 1981 with the new title of Episoide IV a new nope, i actually think its genius of him.

[–] PaladinNJ (20459) 6 years ago

Alan Ladd, Jr. aka "the Skipper" or someone else with the same name. Sorry. I'm not familiar with this story.

[–] furiousstyles (4363) 6 years ago

He was head of Fox studios at the time, was very pro Lucas , gave him funding to finish the movie

[–] PaladinNJ (20459) 6 years ago

Got it. Thanks

[–] Moonglum9 (10789) 6 years ago

Do you think he ever took off his hat and walloped Lucas when he did something silly?

[–] furiousstyles (4363) 6 years ago

He didn't wear a hat so no, I do not believe so

[–] doomydoomdoom (34) 5 years ago

Um you're all getting Alan Ladd confused with Alan HALE.

[–] PaladinNJ (20459) 5 years ago

You're right. Sorry about the mix up.

[–] mikethemartian (6201) 5 years ago

Alan Ladd Jr’s father was a famous actor and played the title character in a famous western called Shane.

[–] whynotwriteme (7283) 6 years ago

I still just think of it as "Star Wars" myself. I saw it at the movies in 1977 at the age of 12 and it's always just been "Star Wars" ever since to me.

[–] TandyMan (10533) 6 years ago

When I was a kid I didn't understand roman numerals anyhow.

[–] whynotwriteme (7283) 6 years ago

When I was a kid, the roman numerals were not even part of the title!

http://www.coronacomingattractions.com/sites/default/files/star_wars_1977_poster_001.jpg

[–] jasonbourne (1027) 5 years ago

That's the movie poster. I remember distinctly it was Episode IV.

https://mattsmoviethoughts.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/60060111_640.jpg

[–] MaximRecoil (4195) 4 years ago

The "Episode IV" and "A NEW HOPE" text was added to the opening crawl in 1981 (it was spliced into existing theatrical film prints, and it has been on all home video releases except for the 2006 "GOUT" DVD bonus disc release), to make it conform with The Empire Strikes Back, which had the "Episode V" and "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" text in the opening crawl from day one. The original title was simply "Star Wars," and this is what the opening crawl originally looked like:

https://i.imgur.com/zUtVoS8.jpg

[–] JBran (1585) 4 years ago

https://youtu.be/iXDnFYu91vY

Yessir. In video.

[–] janelsenor (2042) 6 years ago

It was always released as "Star Wars" up until the prequels were released. Even though the subtitle was in the crawl since 1981, it was released as "Star Wars" until early 2000s....

[–] Gd5150 (11224) 5 years ago

Agreed. It was Star Wars then, and it’s Star Wars now. Followed by Empire Strikes Back. Followed by crap that shouldn’t have been made.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7469) 4 years ago

I disagree. I liked The Return of the Jedi. I don't care that much for the 1999-2005 Prequels. I did like Rogue One and the Han Solo movie though. I don't care for the new sequels.

[–] sjdrifter (14) 4 years ago

As an 11 year old in 1983, I loved Return Of The Jedi. As an adult, it's my least favorite of the OT, mainly because of the silly Ewoks and the fact that they reused the Death Star when they should have come up with something different. Was massively disappointed with the Prequels (George Lucas raped my childhood) for its bad acting, even worse dialogue, and that it ruined the backstory leading up to the Original Trilogy. It also ruined the backstories of both Anakin and Boba Fett, so I find it hard to accept the Prequels as canon. I haven't watched them in their entirety since 2006. As for Disney, I knew back in 2012 when George sold it that they were going to ruin it. I never fell for the hype and took a wait and see approach. When Disney got rid of the Expanded Universe and the scathing reviews came in from longtime fans I have boycotted every single Disney Star Wars film. All that crap is non canon to me, even Rogue One and the Mandalorian. The only real Star Wars to me is the unaltered non-cgi Original Trilogy and the EU, nothing else.

[–] mikethemartian (6201) 5 years ago

Did Lucas ever try to rename Raiders of the Lost Ark?

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Joogle83 (4177) 4 years ago

yes its the Fourth Film in a 9 Story Arc