McQuarrie's a genius. Beyond Lucas- Ralph, Ben Burtt's, and John Williams' work was a huge part of why those movies worked; they're almost co-creators in a way. John Williams get some mentions, but overall none of these guys get enough credit.
Good mention Sci-Fi.

"Darth Vader is one of the coolest—and coolest-looking—characters in science fiction"

Well, he WAS ... until someone decided to elaborate on his backstory and it turns out he's just a whiny, petulant teenager

I always loved McQuarries original early Darth Vader Sketch where the helmet had a longer face plate. Always made Vader look more evil.

From the way Ralph describes Vader's design evolution, it reads as though Lucas didn't even consider issues of vacuum until someone brought it to his attention. Seems like a certain filmmaker watched too many episodes of "Space Ghost". ;-)

Also, for the older people like myself who saw the original flick in '77, did you get the impression that Vader was originally intended to be little more than an "Odd-Job" or "Jaws" type henchman to Moff Tarkin's "Blofeld"? remember Leia's comment, "I should have known you were holding Vader's leash." That implies Tarkin held some sway over Vader's actions. In retrospect with the other films, I just can't see Tarkin being able to control him. But when it was still titled "Star Wars" and not "Episode IV, A New Hope", I suspect Lucas had a very different vision.

Just my pennies' worth of discussion.

Sincerely,

Bill

Let's be grateful that Lucas saw fit to drop the premise of Vader and Luke having a lightsabre duel in space on the surface of the Death Star, where Luke was only wearing what looked like a scuba/diving mask rather than a full pressure suit, and then he drops a bomb (by hand) into the Death Star's exhaust vent.

I too always loved Vader's earlier sketches that made him look more scary. I never saw him as merely an Oddjob or Jaws type character though as he already had a considerable back-story set up in the first film and was really the only one of the villains to survive. I always wondered what hold Tarkin had over him though. I think him being a whiny petulant teenager (i.e. - undisciplined) is exactly who Vader would have been when he was younger though.

Further proof Lucas never thought things through besides the practicality of breathing in space was Luke and Leia kissing in Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back.Unless they were suppose to be worst twins in the world like the ones from Euro-trip! lol

Real Vader fans already know this. This is old news...

@malohombre ...I was just thinking the same thing. So many people have argued that Lucas had the whole of 6 movies meticulously planned out in his head for years before he made Episode 4. I disagreed, and here's the proof.

The whole midichlorian thing sounded like a late entry when that was first introduced, as well as the revelation that someone else other than Yoda personally trained Obi Wan, after we were led to believe otherwise.

I still love most of Lucas's work, but it also shows just how much of a living script he was working with when he started making these movies.

I was fortunate enough to see the Smithsonian exhibit when it came to San Diego.
For me, the entire event was akin to a religious experience, with the highlight being that McQuarrie legendary concept drawing of Vader.

Yeah, I got the McQuarrie interview DVD these quotes were from too, guys. At least credit your source.

@redfern...it was always called episode IV a new hope...only a nitwit would think it was changed afterward....its in the opening crawl, always was...thanks

It might sound mundane, but the very look of the mask is cool; it could easily have looked ugly. I remember I used the Darth Vader visual design for a paper mask in a Grade 7 art project with another student; we had a nice time.

'@redfern...it was always called episode IV a new hope...only a nitwit would think it was changed afterward....its in the opening crawl, always was...thanks'

I think you need to check your facts as refern is absolutely correct.

and to back up redfern, check out IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/faq#.2.1.7

These guys are absolutely right, @ihatefanboys. The episode number was a late addition to the crawl.

First, go buy and read "The Secret History of Star Wars" (google it). It makes it pretty clear what Lucas did and did not have "planned out" before filming "Star Wars".

Second, "Episode IV: A New Hope" was not in the original movie release. I know -- I saw the film on its opening day back in 1977. It was, however, the title of the script as presented in "The Art of Star Wars", which came out not long after the movie.

Third, I very much agree with the comments above, namely but for the outstanding work of McQuarrie, Burtt, Williams, and the folks at IL&M, the movie would have crashed and burned. ..bruce..

P.S. Can you folks fix the $#^#$@@ capcha system?

Way back when, I owned a Star Wars comic book that on the cover featured Han Solo fighting against space pirates (sic) wearing nothing (aside from normal clothing) but a breath mask. Probably a story made by Lucas, who should be forbidden to work anymore, other than as a consultant.

seems like boyan from http://kontakt-ero.freehostia.com/

I always thought that the helmet was designed along Nazi Germany's soldiers' helmets. Seemed like I saw some early sketches somewhere.

McQuarrie's work rocks. To be brutally honest, I'm not a big fan of Vader's look. I feel that it's dated really badly. I always thought the black Tie-Fighter Pilots looked cooler. As for out and out Villain, Darth Maul looked scarier (although not suitable for the breathing issues and subsequent back-story here).

There is also more substance about terminology expanding as the series evolved. Along with Midichlorians, there's no mention of the term "Sith" or the Planet Coruscant (I think) in the original Trilogy

Thanks, ET II and others, for backing my statements. People CAN be nice here.

Sincerely,

Bill

I had also read that it had a gas mask/Nazi helmet/Samurai influence going on.

The redesigned Vader for ROTS was far too "off model" for me. The helmet was too wide and the rounded edges on the mask were really awful, IMHO.

When I first saw the original Star Wars in 1977, i remember leaning over to my sister and saying "look, he's wearing a Nazi helmet" like the German soldiers in WW2. That's where I honestly thought the influence came from, and it always solidified in my mind that the empire is sort of like the Third Reich.

Well, I saw Star Wars on opening day in 1977, and remember distinctly wondering why it was Episode IV and not Episode I. However, since I was only 9, and saw it about 25 time in the theater (the thing to do in those days), I could be remembering it from subsequent viewings...

he wore the mask cuz it looked really cool. nuff said.

Masked villains were common in movie serials. Vader has been compared to the Lightning, villain of the Republic Pictures serial Fighting Devil Dogs.

I do remember first reading the book with pictures and been amazed by the Storm troopers and Darth Vader in the Pictures, then I learned they were the baddies :)