MovieChat Forums > Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) Discussion > Production design failed this film. Ralp...

Production design failed this film. Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnson were greatly missed.

posted a month ago by JohnBraun604 (289)
5 replies | jump to latest

A HUGE miss in the prequels was that these did not seem to be set in the same universe.
The ships, too fanciful looking with huge long extending wings, solar sails...etc...
The only time it feels like Star Wars is literally the last few seconds inside the blockade runner variant.

No I undersand it's a big, diverse galaxy...but the designs did not look believable at all.
If you look at the production photos of original trilogy, the classic vehicles literally look like they can take off and fly.

Doug Chiang, yes talented, but WRONG for Star Wars. Maybe his K robot in Rogue One several films later was alright, but rest was just garbage. Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnson were greatly missed.

[–] Tam87 (1173) a month ago

I agree. Every design in the prequels sucked but I think McQuarrie was retired due to health.

The ships, too fanciful looking with huge long extending wings, solar sails...etc..

That was the intention. I remember someone saying that the ships in the originals were supposed to represent Vietnam-era american military hardware, while the prequels were going for pre WWII era look. I dunno. I just think everything looked stock and unmemorable.

[–] JohnBraun604 (289) a month ago

Thank you for the reply. Yes read and saw the inspiration and process of Doug Chiang - he is incredible talented, but his designs just didn't fit. The prequels looked like it was set in the extreme far future or from another movie universe entirely, probably Babylon 5 or something with long spires and wild colors.

The Naboo cruiser is literally a US Air Force stealth fighter with a mirror body.

Even in Rogue One, directly before the A New Hope you have vehicles that look like another franchise. The shuttle, with the absurdly long wings.

[–] Tam87 (1173) 25 days ago

I think the designers come up with what Lucas dictates to them. In the originals, Lucas would describe what he wanted to Ralph McQuarrie and he'd come up with stuff like the Millennium Falcon and X-Wing after going through a few drafts with Lucas and refining it.

For the prequels, Lucas would tell them to design something different, and it didn't work. Like you said, it looked like something from Star Trek or Babylon 5. It didn't look like a star wars movie and that was mainly because it was all different looking designs. It was pretty crap.

The Naboo cruiser is literally a US Air Force stealth fighter with a mirror body.

That was pretty lazy, making a chrome SR-71 Blackbird. They did the same thing for the other naboo cruisers in the other two prequels, copying the flying wing design of the B-2 Spirit.

The one good thing about the second and third prequels is that the ship designs started to move back towards the look of the originals, namely the jedi starfighters and republic gunships.

[–] MyPhoneAccount (235) a month ago

I like the look of the film on its own but I agree it looks too different from the original trilogy. I always assumed Episodes 3 and 4 were like 60 years apart, not 17. I get technically changes but imagine going from Telsa Cybertrucks and Lamborghinis to beat up Ford Pintos and Soviet-era Lada’s in just 17 years.

[–] howgamer (3927) a month ago

Agree. I always thought it was like 40 or 50 years apart considering Vader's age. The look of the prequels are really different, colorful and much less dirty. But I think that has more to do with Lucas' desire to show a larger world and utilize the current CGI.