I think almost every big Star Wars fan has that point in their life when they find out who Ralph McQuarrie is and check out a bunch of his concept art for the original Star Wars trilogy. It's almost like a rite of passage.
While George Lucas and the teams of people he employed to help make the Star Wars trilogy did a great job converting McQuarrie's images into live action, and I love the way the original trilogy turned out, many of McQuarrie's concepts during the early development stages of each of the movies create this alternate Star Wars universe in my head, and I can't help but wonder, "What if?" What would it be like if the movies more closely resembled McQuarrie's concept art? For a long time now I've thought it would be interesting to remake the Star Wars movies to more perfectly mimic much of McQuarrie's artwork. Maybe even just certain re-shot scenes. Imagine the picture of C-3PO and R2-D2 roaming the desert above converted perfectly into live action. I always loved the blank canvas that is Darth Vader's helmet in the movies, where you can see different emotions in his face depending on the context of the scene even though the helmet is actually exactly the same throughout. But at the same time, how can anyone not also love the more sinister looking version of Vader in the image above? I even have the action figure inspired by that painting proudly displayed on my movie shelf.
Anyway, McQuarrie's work is undeniably beautiful, and is a huge part of what made the original Star Wars trilogy so amazing. The fact that he wasn't involved in the making of the prequel trilogy is one of the many reasons that it is sub-par.
If you'd like to read what George Lucas wrote in response to Ralph McQuarrie's passing, as well as view a high-quality slideshow of some of McQuarrie's concept artwork, visit the "Ralph McQuarrie Remembered" page on starwars.com.
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