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It wasn’t until I’d seen the summary written down, but I never realised how much Ran is similar to King Lear before.

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Ikiru: Ben Kenobi, an elderly Jedi Knight who has served as a paper push at the Jedi Temple for his entire life, discovers that he is dying of cancer. Wandering through Coruscant in a state of grief and shock, he happens to meet young Leia Organa, and become infatuated by her youthful exuberance.

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Damn, I was going to ask for Ikiru. I guess everyone was going to go there.

And Jake, Ran is meant to be King Lear, just like Throne of Blood is MacBeth.

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Regarding the Star Wars Yojimbo: With three versions of Red Harvest having been made into films (Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing), why hasn’t anyone made a sci-fi version yet? I’d watch it. It would be awesome.

@ Jake: Ran is intentionally a Japanese retelling of King Lear just as Throne of Blood is a retelling of MacBeth.

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The Crazed Spruce said on April 10th, 2011 at 1:57 am

After reading this column, two thoughts come to mind:

1) Han Solo hooking up with Aunt Beru is a mental image I really coulda lived without; and

2) I REALLY need to see more Kurosawa films….

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Gustopher said on April 10th, 2011 at 2:03 am

Madadayo — Chewbacca runs away in a storm, and Han Solo mourns him.

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@Jonathan: Maybe they haven’t since it would turn out like Battle Beyond the Stars, the science fiction version of Seven Samurai.

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I’d like to see what you’d’ve done with Sanjuro.

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Now I *really* want to see the Rashomonization of the Vader/Kenobi duel. I can see it working quite well as an animated feature, with a different team working on each version a la Animatrix.

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Edgar Allan Poe said on April 10th, 2011 at 9:47 am

Some have even described Lucas’ movie as a science-fiction remake of ‘The Hidden Fortress’, much the same way as ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ is a Western remake of ‘Yojimbo’.

Some are sorely mistaken. “Sort of inspired by” and “a direct remake of” are very different kettles of fish.

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John 2.0 said on April 10th, 2011 at 9:47 am

Well, if you’re interested, The Clone Wars tv series already did a Seven Samurai episode. It was well done, but a bit on the nose.

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[…] Alternate Star Wars. What if George Lucas had been inspired by a Kurosawa film other than HIDDEN […]

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If you look at the original draft of the script, it’s also based on The Seven Samurai to a marked degree. The attack on the Death Star shared much in common with the village battle, originally.

I would actually sort of enjoy a Kagemusha thing, with someone different inside the Vader costume to continue to inspire fear.

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Of course, “Battle Beyond the Stars” was a Star Wars ripoff that modeled itself on Seven Samurai, and it was fairly awesome.

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Desumaytah said on April 10th, 2011 at 1:23 pm

Kurosawa wanted to direct a Godzilla movie, but tragically never had the chance. Something about the execs at Toho being afraid of how much the whole thing would cost. Now I’m wondering what this hypothetical Star Wars movie would be like were it based on Kurosawa’s hypothetical Godzilla movie.

And now I need to lie down.

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The two most awesome things in “Battle Beyond the Stars” were Sybil Danning.

Thank you! I’ll be here all week!

(Actually there was plenty in the movie that was awesome in a large wheel-shaped and cheddar-flavored fashion.)

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“Rashomon: In the aftermath of the death of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi at the hands of Sith Lord Darth Vader, we see differing interpretations of the event from Vader, Kenobi, Leia, and finally the droid duo of C-3P0 and R2-D2. In the end, though we see many versions of the final battle between the two, the truth remains elusive and unknowable.”

…except, of course, for the fact that droids are robots, and therefore perfectly objective observers. Really, you could probably just hack into them and see their sensory input to see how the whole thing went down.

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What, no Stray Dog?

Oh well, we can’t have everything we want in life. Good column, boss.

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John 2.0 said on April 11th, 2011 at 8:35 am

@Grazzt: Maybe all that rain messes with their circuts.

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Stray Dog: Just as the Clone Wars begins, Anakin discovers that his light saber has been stolen by the young clone Boba Fett. Teamed with his older, wiser mentor Obi-Wan, the two Jedi claw their way through the criminal underbelly of an increasingly corrupt Corsucant, hunting down young Boba who’s taken to hiding among Twi’lek dancers and deathstick dealers.

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Christian said on April 11th, 2011 at 10:00 am

They did; “Omega Doom”, starring Rutger Hauer and directed by the guy who did “Cyborg” and “Kickboxer 4”. It is not very awesome.

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Christian said on April 11th, 2011 at 10:00 am

Whoops. That was supposed to quote this: “With three versions of Red Harvest having been made into films (Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing), why hasn’t anyone made a sci-fi version yet? I’d watch it. It would be awesome.”

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@Christian: Ooh, I want to see that!

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@Jonathan: You could do a double bill with Omega Doom and Blind Fury, Hauer’s americanized version of Zatoichi.

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If we can just delay Star Wars long enough, there’s a Tarantino-inspired scene I’d like to see, on the scene in the Corvette:

(Darth Vader interrogating crewman)

“Where you from?”

“What?”

“‘What’ ain’t no planet I ever heard of. They speak Galactic on ‘What’?”

“What?”

“GALACTIC, (censored)! DO YOU SPEAK IT?”

“Yes!”

“WHAT! DOES THE EMPEROR! LOOK! LIKE!”

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So long as the comparisons are being made, Roy Thomas’ first story for the ongoing Marvel Star Wars series was a play on the Seven Samurai (SW#7-10).

Sanjuro is conspicuous by its absence! How about:

Ben Kenobi meets a hapless band of Rebels who hope to rescue Princess Leia from the clutches of Tarkin, but their misplaced idealism makes them soft targets for the Empire; Kenobi’s pragmatism guides the band as he feigns kinship with the Empire, befriending Tarkin’s right hand man Vader. Even after the mission succeeds, Kenobi must reckon with Vader in one-on-one combat.

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Of course, Ran was based on King Lear, so there’s that consideration.

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Dreams (or at least the only two segments I clearly remember):

1. Obi-Wan Kenobi, on his way home from the Clone Wars, is confronted by the spectres of the clone troopers who died under his command. Then he is chased into the desert by a snarling, emaciated Bantha.

2. In training on Dagobah, Luke Skywalker enters a dark cave. There, he meets Vincent Van Gogh, who is portrayed by Francis Ford Coppola.

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“– If we can just delay Star Wars long enough, there’s a Tarantino-inspired scene I’d like to see, on the scene in the Corvette: –”

So the plans for the Death Star were the glittery thing in the suitcase?

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Desumaytah:
“– Now I’m wondering what this hypothetical Star Wars movie would be like were it based on Kurosawa’s hypothetical Godzilla movie. –”

OH NO! THE SARLACC IS ATTACKING THE CITY!

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These ideas open up whole new avenues for speculation on different ways that Lucas could have gone back and fucked with the films and made everything worse, not to mention entirely distinct new ways for the prequels to be terrible.

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Janissari said on April 11th, 2011 at 7:09 pm

Mr. Seavey, you just blew my mind. I only have a single thing to say to you:

“You were fantastic! Absolutely fantastic!”

– The Doctor

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I really like the Seven Samurai and Yojimbo pitches.

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…except, of course, for the fact that droids are robots, and therefore perfectly objective observers.

This would be amazingly pedantic, if it were even correct, but you’re talking about C3P0, who is utterly capable of subjective self-delusion, and R2-D2, who lies like he invented it.

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Dreams:

Young Luke Skywalker witnesses an Ewok wedding procession. Later that evening, Aunt Beru encourages him to kill himself with a lightsaber, as a means of atoning for his transgression.

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[…] are some entertaining reimaginings of Star Wars, as though George Lucas had taken his inspiration not from The Hidden Fortress, but other Akira […]

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