• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Don’t give George Lucas more credit than he deserves. “Episode IV” wasn’t even added to the opening crawl until it was re-released.

      • SSTF@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        And even then, the “IV” was meant to evoke the feeling of being dropped into an ongoing narrative, as opposed to actually being part of one. Lucas hadn’t actually set anything in stone. In 1978, he was still going with the idea that Vader wasn’t Luke’s father. That reveal in Empire Strikes Back is the most influential movie retcon of all time.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        It was a huge deal when ‘Empire…’ came out and it had ‘Episode V’ in the title. iirc

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      For further clarity for people unfamiliar - in medias res is not starting in the middle of the story exactly, but rather not beginning at the beginning of everything. Star Wars begins in medias res without a prequel or sequel trilogy at all - famously beginning with a Rebel ship being fired upon.

      Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark starts in media res as well, as a related example.