How to Improve the Wampa scene in TESB's Extended Edition
Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 9:16 pm
In response to Yukaphile's post on the Star Wars Extended Edition I decided to go over a particular scene from the Extended Edition of The Empire Strikes Back, that being the Wampa Cave scene and how it can be improved by taking the best of both worlds to make an already great moment all the better. First up let's go over the overall best element of the EE's version of the Wampa scene, that being the costume itself.
Don't know about anyone else but I think this costume is Fantastic and is, IMHO, better then the actual design of the Wampa that has been used from the Deleted scenes. However, I Do agree with the argument that seeing to much of it diminishes the threat of it and the implied threat is always going to be more terrifying then the seen terror.
Which is best shown in the Original version where we hardly see the Wampa at all, only getting a brief look at it's claws and head. The original version is, overall, much stronger then the EE version because we never get a good look at the Wampa for most of the scene. However, I also think never seeing the monster was, in the end, a missed opportunity cause it would be like never seeing the Shark in Jaws or the Alien in, Um, Alien.
So here's how I would change the scene to make it a even better scene. Keep the scene in the cave mostly the way it was with Luke, and the viewer, never getting a good look at the Wampa until we get to the point where Luke cuts himself down from the ice. Just as Luke does so That is when the EE version takes over as we see the image of the Wampa's arm coming into frame. And right after Luke cuts off the Wampa's arm we get that shot of the Wampa screaming in pain only a much shorter version of that moment so it's onscreen for less then a second.
This helps give Luke's reaction of terror most weight to it as we now see what he sees and him running for his life is all the more relatable. To help give this more context imagine for a moment that the viewer never saw the Shark just as Brody saw it in the "You're gonna need a bigger boat." scene, that we just cut away right before it's head comes out of the water and we only saw Brody's reaction of him jumping into frame.
Without that moment the terror would be somewhat diminished. That's my thinking for this, I Do want to see the Wampa but not as much as we did in the EE version. By doing it this way I think the scene would have been improved as it adds a sorta jump scare as you see this monster the way Luke sees it, hurt and likely pissed off. Thoughts?
Don't know about anyone else but I think this costume is Fantastic and is, IMHO, better then the actual design of the Wampa that has been used from the Deleted scenes. However, I Do agree with the argument that seeing to much of it diminishes the threat of it and the implied threat is always going to be more terrifying then the seen terror.
Which is best shown in the Original version where we hardly see the Wampa at all, only getting a brief look at it's claws and head. The original version is, overall, much stronger then the EE version because we never get a good look at the Wampa for most of the scene. However, I also think never seeing the monster was, in the end, a missed opportunity cause it would be like never seeing the Shark in Jaws or the Alien in, Um, Alien.
So here's how I would change the scene to make it a even better scene. Keep the scene in the cave mostly the way it was with Luke, and the viewer, never getting a good look at the Wampa until we get to the point where Luke cuts himself down from the ice. Just as Luke does so That is when the EE version takes over as we see the image of the Wampa's arm coming into frame. And right after Luke cuts off the Wampa's arm we get that shot of the Wampa screaming in pain only a much shorter version of that moment so it's onscreen for less then a second.
This helps give Luke's reaction of terror most weight to it as we now see what he sees and him running for his life is all the more relatable. To help give this more context imagine for a moment that the viewer never saw the Shark just as Brody saw it in the "You're gonna need a bigger boat." scene, that we just cut away right before it's head comes out of the water and we only saw Brody's reaction of him jumping into frame.
Without that moment the terror would be somewhat diminished. That's my thinking for this, I Do want to see the Wampa but not as much as we did in the EE version. By doing it this way I think the scene would have been improved as it adds a sorta jump scare as you see this monster the way Luke sees it, hurt and likely pissed off. Thoughts?
