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Whereas it appears unattainable to think about now, there was a time when Star Wars wasn’t one of many largest franchises in leisure. The ballooning finances, advanced particular results, and fears that it was nothing greater than a foolish children movie precipitated twentieth Century Fox to fret that the unique movie, directed by a New Hollywood maverick named George Lucas, would flop. As an alternative, the studio put most of its power behind The Different Facet of Midnight, even going so far as to demand that every one theaters that wished it additionally needed to order Star Wars in an try to minimize any potential losses. However hindsight is an interesting factor, and it’s humorous to replicate on twentieth Century Fox placing all their eggs within the mistaken basket. Star Wars opened on Might 25, 1977, in simply 32 cinemas. The film instantly broke field workplace data and, after a fast enlargement into a large launch, grew to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. Work promptly started on a sequel, with Lucas crafting a narrative of significantly extra scope than the unique. The consequence was 1980’s The Empire Strikes Again, extensively thought-about one of the best movie within the collection and the entry that solidified Star Wars as a pop-culture phenomenon with no equal. And the remainder, as they are saying, is historical past.
However that historical past may have turned out very completely different. Whereas the unique movie was nonetheless in manufacturing, issues relating to its viability on the field workplace led Lucas to rent Alan Dean Foster to pen a novel that might type the premise for a low-budget sequel ought to Star Wars not achieve success sufficient to warrant a much bigger, dearer follow-up. Foster, who had already ghost-written the novelization of the primary movie and was below contract for a second e-book anyway, was given a considerable amount of inventive management for the story, assuming he saved to the mantra that it could possibly be made for a fraction of the unique’s finances. The novel grew to become Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye, however by the point it hits cabinets in March 1978, any plans for an adaptation had lengthy been deserted, main it to change into only a enjoyable distraction to tide followers over between movies. The e-book grew to become the primary in a protracted line of Star Wars novels that shaped the now discarded Expanded Universe, and its origins because the potential second movie is now nothing greater than a bit of amusing trivia. However what had been Foster’s plans for the sequel, and the way wouldn’t it have modified the franchise if Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye had been made quite than The Empire Strikes Again? It’s one of many largest “what if?” questions within the collection, and one that might haven’t solely modified Star Wars as we all know it, however cinema typically.
The plot of Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye is, as to be anticipated, a lot smaller than the earlier escapade into this universe. Two years after the occasions of the unique movie, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are on route to satisfy a possible ally for the Insurgent Alliance after they crash-land on the mysterious planet of Mimban. Their escape is halted by the presence of the Empire, concentrated round a mine that’s stated to carry the Kaiburr crystal, an object of unknown origin that strengthens the Power talents of anybody who wields it. Following an altercation in a bar that ends in our heroes being briefly imprisoned in an Imperial jail, Luke and Leia start a journey throughout the swampy wilderness of Mimban searching for the crystal. Alongside the way in which, they encounter numerous predicaments, reminiscent of bumping into a very aggressive Wandrella (a worm-like creature that grows as much as 15 meters in size) and a short detour into the planet’s cave system the place they need to improvise their method throughout an underground lake. Finally they arrive on the Temple of Pomojema, however their victory is minimize quick by the arrival of Darth Vader and a bunch of stormtroopers. A battle erupts, culminating in Luke slicing off Vader’s arm. (Vader additionally falls right into a pit, leaving his destiny unknown.) With the crystal in hand, Luke and Leia recuperate from their accidents after which escape into the mists of Mimban. Supporting characters embody Halla, a local of Mimban with nice data of the Kaiburr crystal, together with returning favorites R2-D2 and C-3PO, resuming their comedian reduction roles from the movie.
Eagle-eyed readers could have observed the absence of one of many franchise’s main characters: Han Solo. This was not an inventive alternative on the a part of Foster, nonetheless, however quite one imposed on him by necessity. Whereas Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher had each signed contracts for 3 extra movies whereas making Star Wars, Harrison Ford had not. As Lucas was not sure if he would return for a sequel (and even when he did, whether or not the finances would be capable to afford him), he requested Foster to not embody him in Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye. Consequently, the core dynamic between our heroes feels hole, lacking an important piece whose significance is simply made clear when it’s not there. Han was the “each man,” the character who didn’t depend on the Power or Jedi methods however as a substitute on his personal expertise and ingenuity. He was te basic smuggler with a coronary heart of gold, whose cynical persona contrasted completely with the unflinching optimism of Luke and Leia that made each second between them fascinating. With out the wisecracking appeal Han delivered to the movie (or the banter between him and Chewbacca, who additionally sits out the novel), the story lacks the joyfulness that made Star Wars such a success with audiences, and the makes an attempt to recapture that lightning in a bottle (reminiscent of an awkwardly written play battle between Luke and Leia) simply come throughout as extra infantile than anything.
This necessity to take away core components of the unique movie to maintain prices down for a possible adaptation affected extra than simply the primary characters, however the narrative as a complete. If Star Wars was a galaxy-spanning epic that set the stage for a decades-long franchise, Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye seems like nothing greater than a detour that exists solely to fill time between movies. Gone are the large number of locals to focus on simply how expansive this universe is, changed by a single planet so shrouded in mist it’s onerous to inform what you’re . Whereas it does give Mimban a creepy ambiance the place hazard lurks behind each nook, it’s onerous to shake the sensation it was a choice made primarily as a result of a manufacturing crew may simply flip up the smoke machine and keep away from having to construct advanced units. The motion additionally takes a lowered strategy, favoring one-on-one battles towards the monstrous beings that inhabit Mimban, a far cry from the climactic house battle in Star Wars that showcased among the biggest particular results ever put to a movie. Apparently, Foster had meant the same sequence to open the novel to elucidate why Luke and Leia crash-land on Mimban, however Lucas requested its removing over finances issues.
Characterization additionally suffers. Whereas Luke had an entire arc within the authentic movie, beginning as a easy farmer on the primitive world of Tatooine and ending as a significant determine within the Insurgent Alliance, right here he appears fully stationary, simply going by the motions with out growing in any vital method. Even Vader’s remaining scene echoes his ending within the authentic movie (the place his TIE fighter is knocked into house no concrete reply given relating to his standing), a second that encapsulates the central downside with the novel. It seems like precisely what many spin-off novels to bigger franchises really feel like: a enjoyable tour right into a universe the reader already loves, populated by characters who can’t bear any vital growth lest the collection begin alienating everybody however the hardcore followers. Not that such tales are inherently unhealthy, in fact. Reveals like The X-Recordsdata and Star Trek have confirmed that monster-of-the-week episodes can work completely nice in the proper context, giving writers an excuse to mess around with the probabilities of the universe with out the requirement of tying the whole lot again to the identical ongoing narrative. And whereas this strategy works nice when analyzing Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye as a novel, because the second movie in a franchise it will have did not propel the collection ahead in a significant method, and it’s unlikely the collection would have captivated generations in the way in which it in the end has.
Evaluate this to The Empire Strikes Again, which rejected the childlike enjoyable of the unique movie for a extra advanced and mature narrative that challenged the notions that persons are fully good or unhealthy, whereas additionally pulling off an incredibly darkish ending with probably the most iconic plot twists in cinema. It’s an ending that surprised the world, and it set the precedent for sequels taking a darker tone with cliffhanger endings that continues to this present day. A extra advanced narrative additionally allowed for better characterization than its predecessor, shifting its core characters nicely past the place the earlier movie left them. Luke evolves from a trainee to a grasp Jedi while additionally studying a horrible secret about his previous that basically adjustments who he’s as a personality, whereas Han and Leia lastly confess their love for one another moments earlier than Han is frozen in carbonite, closing one arc that began within the earlier movie while additionally beginning a brand new one which carries over to Return of the Jedi. New characters reminiscent of Yoda and Lando Calrissian are launched, every including their very own distinctive dynamic to the proceedings that cease it from feeling like a rerun. Evaluate them to Halla, whose function as an aged, Power-sensitive information smacks too near Obi-Wan Kenobi from the earlier movie, or the pair of pleasant Yuzzems known as Hin and Kee who simply really feel like Chewbacca with one other identify. (Star Wars lore even states that Yuzzems and Wookiees are believed to share a standard ancestor as a result of they appear so related).
The Empire Strikes Again isn’t solely one of the best movie within the franchise’s 45-year historical past, it is likely one of the most ground-breaking movies in historical past. And whereas it’s unattainable to know what a live-action model of Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye would have regarded like, the premise Foster supplied was unlikely to come back inside 100 miles of Empire. The simplicity when in comparison with Star Wars, whereas nice within the context of a spin-off novel, wouldn’t have translated nicely to the large display screen. Star Wars is at its greatest when it’s exploring the huge universe Lucas created the place the one limits are a author’s creativeness, not a narrative on only one planet so cloaked in fog it simply seems like a low-budget imitation. And with none standout motion sequences the place Industrial Gentle & Magic coulddemonstrate their skills because the special-effects masters of Hollywood, or a twist akin to Empire’s that might solidify its place among the many annuls of movie historical past, it’s probably Splinter of the Thoughts’s Eye would have introduced the collection to an abrupt finish if it had change into Star Wars 2. For followers of the collection, it makes for an gratifying if predictable learn, however it’s most likely for one of the best that it by no means made it past the web page.
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