hey Stillakid, the opening shot of AOTC did NOT rip off The 5th Element.

[2-1B]

If anything, the 5th E ripped off Predator. :crazed:

[Beast]

I thought they were all homages to Metropolis, myself. Massive cityscape with multilevel traffic. Later homaged in Blade Runner. And then 5th Element and AOTC. Seems pretty silly to say the opening rips off 5th Element. The Imperial City Planet with Multi Level flying traffic was an early idea for the Saga that couldn't appear in any of the movies at the time. :)

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[stillakid]

sigh. Somebody's missing the point...again! (shaking head avatar here)

Aside from the cityscape stuff which, yeah, is all Metropolis and can be seen in several variations in several films...that's not what I'm talking about (I repeat again for the umpteenth time).

The shot in question is shot numero uno when we see the planet up ahead coming into frame from the top of screen. (That clarification is for the guy who can't seem to read above).

But Caesar, I haven't seen Predator in a while so I'll take your word for it. :) I just remember when seeing 5th Element for the first time that the "planet from the top of screen" thing seemed "new" and "innovative." To me at least. So when, lo and behold, it showed up a short time later to kick off the new installment of the Star Wars saga (which just so happens to be chock full o' "homages" ) the comparison didn't seem to be a stretch at all. Whether it was an idea of Lucas's or one from the fine folks at their workstations, I don't know...and don't care. But the comparison is there to be made. I'll have to run out to get Predator to see what you're talking about though. Got a screen capture device by chance?

[Rocketboy]

I thought I remember hearing it was actually an homage to a classic sci-fi movie (I forget what one - "2001" maybe?).

[2-1B]

But Caesar, I haven't seen Predator in a while so I'll take your word for it. :) I just remember when seeing 5th Element for the first time that the "planet from the top of screen" thing seemed "new" and "innovative." To me at least. So when, lo and behold, it showed up a short time later to kick off the new installment of the Star Wars saga (which just so happens to be chock full o' "homages" ) the comparison didn't seem to be a stretch at all. Whether it was an idea of Lucas's or one from the fine folks at their workstations, I don't know...and don't care. But the comparison is there to be made. I'll have to run out to get Predator to see what you're talking about though. Got a screen capture device by chance?

Sorry, no screen caps here. Don't even have a DVD-Rom drive. :D

I hadn't seen Predator in many many years ( I loved it as a kid) so I got the new edition and when I watched it I thought of the ol' 5E vs AOTC debate.
The Predator mothership enters the shot from the left and as it pans right, it spits out the smaller solo ship which then goes to Earth as the shot tilts up to the planet. I dunno, at least I THINK that's how it happened.

I started this thread more as a joke than anything . . . just FYI in case anybody thinks I'm really accusing 5th E of ripping off Predator.

BTW, I posted awhile back that I don't think the 5th E and AOTC opening shots are identical in the first place. ;)

[JediTricks]

I thought this thread was in reference to the discussion started over 2 years ago in this post: 90902

Talk about holding a grudge. ;) Seriously though, going back to a lot of our older discussions in this section while looking for that post has given me a wealth of interesting topics that never got resolved or certainly have more argument to play out.

[stillakid]

Sorry, no screen caps here. Don't even have a DVD-Rom drive. :D

What! :eek: Does your computer run on gas? :sur:

[JediTricks]

What! :eek: Does your computer run on gas? :sur:
If it's anything like mine, coal... a big step up from my Pentium 166mhz with 16 meg of ram, it ran on steam. :D

[scruffziller]

What! :eek: Does your computer run on gas? :sur:
Don't forget to change the processor belts.:D

[stillakid]

If it's anything like mine, coal... a big step up from my Pentium 166mhz with 16 meg of ram, it ran on steam. :D


So you use a sundial to measure clock speed?

[JediTricks]

So you use a sundial to measure clock speed?
Pendulum... with MMX technology. :D

[JEDIpartner]

I dunno... All of the opening shots from the series have panned to a planet below. This time they panned to a planet above... to which the cruiser rolled to adjust for approach. This sorta suggests that, perhaps, WE were the ones who were upside down and that the pan was technically from above to below. :D

[JediTricks]

I thought all the opening shots started with a space vehicle in open space (except for AOTC), the OT had Star Destroyers and TPM had the Republic Cruiser.

[stillakid]

I thought all the opening shots started with a space vehicle in open space (except for AOTC), the OT had Star Destroyers and TPM had the Republic Cruiser.

Yeah, they did and as soon as any planet entered the picture, it was from the bottom of screen. Fast forward a bunch of years to just after 5th Element and whalla!...we see a planet enter from the top of screen. Coincidence? I don't think so. In a series famous for "borrowing" from other stories and films, I don't think it's a stretch at all to suggest that somebody over at the Ranch thought it was cool (in 5th Element) and decided to use it for Star Wars.

[JEDIpartner]

Technically this one starts with empty space, panning to the planet as two fighters enter the shot, followed by the Nubian vessel. Still the same concept. Different execution.

[JediTricks]

Yeah, they did and as soon as any planet entered the picture, it was from the bottom of screen. Fast forward a bunch of years to just after 5th Element and whalla!...we see a planet enter from the top of screen. Coincidence? I don't think so. In a series famous for "borrowing" from other stories and films, I don't think it's a stretch at all to suggest that somebody over at the Ranch thought it was cool (in 5th Element) and decided to use it for Star Wars.
Ah, ok, gotcha, I see what you mean. It could have been from the 5th Element, but it could have been that Lucas did such a big reveal of the Coruscant planet in TPM that he wanted to try something new and forgot about the tradition or never actually intended for this to be a running them at all. I definitely did notice that it was awkwardly different from the other films though, that's for sure.