The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
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Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#2Was looking for Yoda bit, saw they named him MINCH !
Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#3Was looking for Yoda bit, saw they named him MINCH !
Also no sign of "I am your father"
Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#4Look on page 117 of the PDF (the paper says 113):
> Vader: You're very good, Luke. But I'm twenty years older and stronger than you in the use of the Force. You haven't a chance with me... any more than your father had.
This draft was written before they came up with the idea that Vader could actually be Luke's father!
Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#5Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#6Look on page 117 of the PDF (the paper says 113): > Vader: You're very good, Luke. But I'm twenty years older and stronger than you in the use of the Force. You haven't a chance with me... any more than your father had. This draft was written before they came up with the idea that Vader could actually be Luke's father!
Honestly, what strikes me about this line isn't even that Vader isn't Luke's father, but how wordy he is. I imagine they didn't spend too much time on phrasing and instead just tried to capture the gist with the expectation of polishing later, but even with the James Earl Jones's trademark slow, menacing Vader drawl, this just feels like it would sound weirdly verbose coming from Vader, especially in the middle of a fight.
Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#7Was looking for Yoda bit, saw they named him MINCH !
yeah, he was originally designed to look more like something out of Lord of the Rings https://www.starwars.com/news/5-early-star-wars-character-co...
I love these looks at drafts and revisions… I even collect a few, I've got Eliot's The Waste Lands and just found an edition of J.G. Ballard's Crash, all with the typewriter scratches and penciled in notes. Would definitely grab one of these if it got formally published someday.
Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#8Look on page 117 of the PDF (the paper says 113): > Vader: You're very good, Luke. But I'm twenty years older and stronger than you in the use of the Force. You haven't a chance with me... any more than your father had. This draft was written before they came up with the idea that Vader could actually be Luke's father!
Honestly, what strikes me about this line isn't even that Vader isn't Luke's father, but how wordy he is. I imagine they didn't spend too much time on phrasing and instead just tried to capture the gist with the expectation of polishing later, but even with the James Earl Jones's trademark slow, menacing Vader drawl, this just feels like it would sound weirdly verbose coming from Vader, especially in the middle of a…
Much of what you actually see in Empire is written by entirely different people.
> George Lucas initially hired Leigh Brackett, the sci-fi novelist who also wrote screenplays for Howard Hawks—including The Big Sleep (1946)—to write the sequel to Star Wars (1977). Brackett died in March 1978 while the film was still in pre-production, though, and Lucas wasn't satisfied with her script. Lucas wrote the next draft himself, which established structure and twists close to the final film, but suffered from dialogue. When Kasdan delivered his script for Raiders, Lucas asked him to rewrite The Empire Strikes Back. Kasdan suggested he read Raiders first, but Lucas reportedly said: "If I hate Raiders, I'll call you up tomorrow and cancel this offer, but basically I get a feeling about people."[9]
Brackett was a sci-fi author, Kasdan was a screenwriter by trade.
Despite seeming like similar tasks, screenwriting and book-writing actually have pretty distinct skillsets in some ways.
Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#9A bit of context: Leigh Brackett was a sci-fi author and screenwriter that George Lucas hired to write the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back in 1977. She wrote it based on a story conference the two had but unfortunately passed away from cancer a month after submitting it in 1978. Lucas then wrote a few drafts himself but wasn't satisfied. Eventually, he brought on Lawrence Kasdan, who would also write Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi. This draft is a lot different from the movie that would eventually get made but you can still see hints of it in the final film. Both Kasdan and Brackett got a screenwriting credit for the film.
Re: The Empire Strikes Back First Draft by Leigh Brackett (1978) [pdf]
#10Look on page 117 of the PDF (the paper says 113): > Vader: You're very good, Luke. But I'm twenty years older and stronger than you in the use of the Force. You haven't a chance with me... any more than your father had. This draft was written before they came up with the idea that Vader could actually be Luke's father!
What was the relationship then? In a New Hope, it’s known that Anakin was Vader, right?
And they knew Luke was Anakin’s his son. Obi wan mentions Anakin being corrupted by Vader. And the fight at the end, Vader now the master, etc. Was it really still a question of Vader and Anakin were different people until the second movie came out?