Flashback: The original Star Wars script

Mystery Man on Film devoted yesterday to a repost that I’m pretty sure I linked before… But it’s still worth a second look. The premise, if you will:

Let it be said, my friends, that the early drafts of Star Wars should be a rich source of encouragement to every aspiring screenwriter the world over – because they royally sucked.

And they do. One example: Annikin Starkiller punches the princess in the face. Sure, she’s a hell of a lot more Vespa than Leia at this point, but… In the face. Oh George, no.

Read on for a compare and contrast of the scripts from 1974 and 1977. The difference is nothing short of amazing.

If your trainwreck syndrome is strong, you can find many of the early drafts at the Jedi Bendu Script Site.

Explore the cracktastic early drafts of Star Wars

Very early poster concept by Ralph McQuarrie: Luke\'s a girl! Han\'s a Jedi! Chewbacca\'s... I don\'t know.

Try not to be totally surprised that Star Wars is #2 on Cracked’s list of seven terrible early versions of great movies. After reading the early drafts, some of the prequels less-stellar quirks make a lot more sense.

You can read early drafts of Star Wars for yourself at The Jedi Bendu Script Site, and see the (considerably less painful) Ralph McQuarrie concept art in Michael Heilemann’s Flickr collection.