3. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Things go badly for our lovable bunch of star warriors, as Darth Vader and the Empire return after the events at the end of the first film, resulting in Han Solo being left in the cold and Luke Skywalker suffering from the mother of all Oedipal issues.
How Did The Original Script Differ?The first draft, written by Leigh Brackett, was completed a month before the screenwriter died of cancer, leaving no chance for her to do any rewrites. As a result, George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan performed many redrafts and rewrites before hitting upon one of the biggest twists in 1980's cinema - the widely misquoted "No, Luke, I am your father". In Brackett's original draft, Luke did have a twin sister, but it wasn't Princess Leia. A girl called Newth Skywalker had also been squired by an Anakin Skywalker who had no interest in wearing dark, gaspy headgear, and the twin Skywalkers hidden from the Sith at opposite ends of the galaxy.
Did The Change Improve The Film?Of course it did. While Empire was expertly directed, and key elements of the finished film were in place in the finished film, the key appeal of the film, and one of the reasons that it is the most critically lauded of the saga, was the Big Reveal at the end. No Daddy Darth, no backstory trilogy and far less emotional investment in Return Of The Jedi with the dilemma facing Luke at the conclusion. For anyone who throws the brickbat at Lucas that he is a poor writer, this one line and idea changed the course of the Star Wars mythology forever.