Starwars Films...

[Nottingham89]

Why were they not filmed in order?

[bednobs]

because they didn't write the 3 prequels till after the others

[VHG]

Before Star Wars most sci-fi films were a bit of a joke. Dodgy special effects, spaceships made out of plastic or cardboard, and monsters that were obviously humans dressed up in badly made costumes.

Lucas had had a hit with American Graffitti but when Lucas tried to get the money to make Star Wars he met with little enthusiam from the studios (sci-fi films had never made money and were not taken very seriously).

So he had enough trouble making one Star Wars movie, without thinking about it becoming a series (also at that time making "follow on" films was not that common).

It was only when the first Star Wars film came out, and was such a massive hit, that the film industry (particulalry with the add-on merchandising) became interested.

So the next two films followed on from the first, until much later they decided to do three prequel films.

As any "Star Wars" film was always likely to make money Lucas could probably have done anything he liked but decided to do prequels.

[Postdog]

And personally I have suspicions the two original sequels didn't really exist until the first one actually became a success. I think a lot of the hype was just that - hype. Don't forget there were "supposed" to be another 3 that took place after the original trilogy.

[VHG]

I should add that during the 1950s and early 1960s by far the most popular type of films was "Westerns" (cowboys and indians, cavalry, wagon trains etc).

I think over 50% of all films made by Hollywood in the 1950s were Westerns, and any kid growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s would play "Cowboys and Indians".

The clever thing Lucas did was a use the "Western" genre (goodies versus badies, people chasing and shooting each other etc) but set it in outer space.

Which is probably why it was such a big hit.

However while Lucas does a great job with special effects I dont rate the Star Wars series and feel the special effects always took precedence over a good story and good acting.

I went to see Star Wars Return of the Jedi at the cinema, and the first of the prequals, and thought they were pretty poor.

[excelsior-1]

trivia for you ...

'return of the jedi' was originally entitled 'revenge of the jedi'
then it was decided that the benevolent jedi would not stoop to such a negative emotion as revenge, so they re=titled it.

i have an original teaser poster with 'revenge of the jedi' as the title.
i wonder what it's worth........

[Twenty20]

Er, 58p excelsior-1?

[IggyB]

If its real / original then it is worth a lot!

[dr pop]

As long as the poster s not one of the many fakes :)

[humbersloop]

I liked this as a take on the question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJlbPXZEpRE

[Mattk]

To my knowledge there should of been 9 films and all were basically sketched out in advance. They went with Ep 4 as it was deemed most likely to be a financial hit at the time.

I still swear when I first saw Star Wars at the cinema that the famous srcoling text started Episode 1...2...3...and then Episode 4: A new Hope but I have found no proof of this!

[MoonRocker]

It definately started with Episode IV - New Hope, I remember thinking, "that's odd" in 1977!