Lucas's Revenge
Old-time Star Wars fans may recall that the advance word about the title of the third movie in 1983 was that it would be Revenge of the Jedi. There was plenty of promotional material made with that title, including some trailers that can now be found on the net if you look hard enough. But of course we all know that the final title of that film was Return of the Jedi.
There are two or three different stories about the difference. The official line is that Revenge was really the original title, until somebody suggested that revenge might not be appropriate for a Jedi, so it was changed. Another version is that they didn't want it too similar to the second Star Trek film, which ended up being called The Wrath of Khan.
Still another version -- the one I've always believed -- is that the Revenge title was simply misdirection, to avoid unlicensed products (such as t-shirts) with the correct title. Remember that the anticipation for that movie was huge, so there was lots of incentive for both knockoffs and studio secrecy.
So with that history in mind, what are we to think of the news that Episode III will be titled Revenge of the Sith?
In my recent entry about all the upcoming movies, I almost joked about not believing anyone who tells you that this movie would have Revenge in the title. So are we to believe it, or wait for the inevitable change to the REAL title? Or did Lucas just need to put that in a title sometime, was dissuaded once before, and now finally gets his chance? Revenge does seem to be more appropriate for a Sith than a Jedi, which precludes using the official line again; but then, I suspect that the official line for Jedi was invented relatively recently with this new title in mind anyway.
There are two or three different stories about the difference. The official line is that Revenge was really the original title, until somebody suggested that revenge might not be appropriate for a Jedi, so it was changed. Another version is that they didn't want it too similar to the second Star Trek film, which ended up being called The Wrath of Khan.
Still another version -- the one I've always believed -- is that the Revenge title was simply misdirection, to avoid unlicensed products (such as t-shirts) with the correct title. Remember that the anticipation for that movie was huge, so there was lots of incentive for both knockoffs and studio secrecy.
So with that history in mind, what are we to think of the news that Episode III will be titled Revenge of the Sith?
In my recent entry about all the upcoming movies, I almost joked about not believing anyone who tells you that this movie would have Revenge in the title. So are we to believe it, or wait for the inevitable change to the REAL title? Or did Lucas just need to put that in a title sometime, was dissuaded once before, and now finally gets his chance? Revenge does seem to be more appropriate for a Sith than a Jedi, which precludes using the official line again; but then, I suspect that the official line for Jedi was invented relatively recently with this new title in mind anyway.