4 Rules to Make STAR WARS Great Again - Animated Open Letter to Abrams
Here's an open letter to director J.J. Abrams done as a creative, fun animated video sharing four rules he should follow to make Star Wars great again. Almost every Star Wars fan has their own opinion on what should be done with Star Wars: Episode VII. I've seen a ton of open letters to Abrams since he was brought on as a director. Some have been good, others have been crap, but this video gives their advice in an awesomely unique way. I ultimately really like what it brings to the table.
The video was created over a five month period by Prescott Harvey and his team. He explains to io9,
"Like so many people, I've spent most of my recent years wondering why the original Star Wars trilogy was so awesome, and the new movies were so terrible. What are the factors that make Star Wars, Star Wars? I took an empirical approach, determining what elements were in the original movies that differed from the prequels. My first major epiphany was that, in the originals, the characters are always outside somewhere very remote. The environment and the wildlife are as much a threat as the empire. All three movies had this bushwacky, exploratory feel. Contrast that with the prequels, where the characters are often in cities, or in the galactic senate. In order for Star Wars to feel like a true adventure, the setting has to be the frontier, and this became my first rule. After that I started brainstorming with friends, and reading online opinions. Gradually a script took shape."
When talking about the rules of the franchise his adds,
"My favorite rule that didn't make the cut is "The Jedi are Pacifists". In the prequels, Qui Gon, Mace Windu and Yoda are a bunch of acrobatic ninjas with crazy special abilities. But what makes the original movies so interesting is that the Jedi (Yoda and Obiwan) are true pacifists. They refuse to fight, even to the point of death. Now, that doesn't make them as interesting for the action sequences, but it really contrasts the good guys from the bad guys. It also made Luke's internal struggle more compelling. Who do you choose, the morally sound boring guys, or the corrupt guys with all the awesome abilities? I think this rule really contributed to the strong mythology created in the original films. But it was difficult to explain this concept in twenty seconds of video. Plus I don't speak for all fans on this one. Lots of people cite the Darth Maul lightsaber battles as the best part of 'The Phantom Menace'."
It was also explained that the reason they did the soundtrack a cappella is so they wouldn't run into any copyright issues. What do you think of their rules and ideas for how Abrams should handle the franchise?
