Know Your Movie History

Hot Air is reporting about a Zach Snyder Star Wars Movie based loosely on The Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa.

This isn’t the Episode VII promised by Disney but something extra, suggesting they’re going to explore the “Star Wars” universe beyond the linear Obi-Wan/Anakin/Luke plot line. No surprise — when you’ve just bought Hollywood’s biggest cash cow, you’re going to want to milk it — but I’m still ambivalent. If they use generic Jedi characters then it could be that all you’re watching is a movie you’ve already seen except with lightsabers, which feels more like “Star Wars” licensing than a true “Star Wars movie.” If they use Obi-Wan et al. then the characters you’re familiar with risk losing some of their integrity, as if they’re just, er, action figures being made to act out whatever classic plot the studio thought would be neat to remake. Coming soon: “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” starring Han, Boba Fett, and Chewbacca?

Well first, Star Wars: A New Hope, was based loosely on the Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress. Also his reference to “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” seems a bit silly, as its predecessor, “A Fistfull of Dollars” was a direct Kurosawa remake, matching down to the dialog and scene-for-scene.

Still I’m not terribly excited about yet ANOTHER “Seven Samurai” remake, as its been done to death. When the Pixar film “A Bug’s Life” is a “Seven Samurai” Remake, the story has been done to death!

Still the Jedi as envisioned by Lucas have always been a sci-fi take on the feudal Samurai of Japan….Still if they’re going to do a re-make story, “Tsubaki Sanjūrō” could use a fresh remake.

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5 Responses to Know Your Movie History

  1. Old NFO says:

    Good points… sigh…

  2. bluesun says:

    I just like how they’re avoiding the “Episode blahblahblah” formula and simply exploring the setting.

    • Weerd Beard says:

      Yeah, I hope they start treating the franchise like the Jame Bond franchise, where films are stand-alone, or like Aliens where the style, direction, and cast are totally different. (Also note that I’m in the camp that the Aliens series needed to dump Ellen Ripley from the roster MUCH earlier than they did, and start introducing all new casts in different scenarios where the Aliens were encountered)

  3. Will Brown says:

    I’ve thought for a long time now that the whole Jedi concept would be much more interesting being modeled after the Knights Templar history and legend. Stipulating The Force as substitute for the Roman Catholic Church, all the rest of Lucas’ construct would fit quite well. The Templar’s are credited with creating the basic structure of modern banking; they had a booming business transporting tourists to and through very dangerous locales; espionage and political intrigue were fundamental to their performing their basic function. I think the Knights Templar would make a much more interesting model to base a Star Wars movie on than would Japanese Samurai, and anyway that movies already been done to death as you say.

    • Weerd Beard says:

      There were also massive purges of them by various changes in the Church structures, forcing many Knights to go into hiding, even tho they were once proud and powerful.

      Of course the Samurai Clans of Japan have a similar, tho not as global history.

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