For a man whose career is essentially built on mystery, filmmaker J.J. Abrams can be shockingly candid. He earned our respect two years ago when he apologized to Crave for his overuse of lens flares. And now he’s earned a least another respectful fist bump the next time we see him for admitting that he made mistakes on the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
“When I was on the set of the Millennium Falcon and we started to do work with Rey and Finn, the first time we did it, it didn’t work at all,” Abrams recently told the Tribeca Film Festival (via io9). “It was much more contentious. I didn’t direct it right. It was set up all wrong, and when Harrison Ford got injured—which was a very scary day—we ended up having a few weeks off, and it was during that time that I really got to look at what we had done and rewrite quite a bit of that relationship. So when we came back to work again, we actually just reshot from the ground up, those scenes. It was an amazingly helpful thing to get these two characters to where they needed to be.”
Also: Crave Reviews the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray in :60 Seconds (Video)
That level of candor is refreshing from a filmmaker. Sure, Abrams is admitting that he eventually got it right, but the fact that he was originally wrong is the sort of honesty you don’t normally see. Take, for example, the recently released Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray, which looks and sound great but only boasts special features that make the production seem like a non-stop joyous experience. There isn’t much talk about Harrison Ford’s on-set injury, or anything else that might derail the narrative that everything about Star Wars: The Force Awakens was perfect from start to finish.
Which means that there are probably a lot of other stories about the production that aren’t completely rosy. It will take time, maybe even until after the new trilogy is over, for some of those stories to see the light of day. But we do look forward to hearing them, because hype is fun, but history is better.
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
10 Mythical Artifacts Indiana Jones Hasn’t Discovered Yet:
Top Photo: Disney/Lucasfilm
10 Mythical Artifacts Indiana Jones Hasn't Discovered Yet
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Indiana Jones and the Golden Fleece
Jason and his Argonauts pursued the Golden Fleece to prove that Jason was the rightful king of Thessaly, fighting off giants with six arms, harpies and more in the process. Indiana Jones would have a heck of a time fighting off those beasts, even with his trusty whip.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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Indiana Jones and the Hammer of Thor
Thor may be the star of his own Walt Disney franchise, but he's still a mythical being and his hammer is still a work of fiction. A crossover between Indiana Jones and the Marvel Cinematic Universe will probably never happen (although the fans would probably like it), but there's still room to explore traditional Norse mythology in a franchise where myths are very, very real.
Photo: Marvel Studios
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Indiana Jones and the Magic Lamp
Disney has told the story of the magic lamp before, and several times, but the possibilities are endless once you add Indiana Jones into the mix. If you thought Nazis and millionaires went to great lengths to recover the Holy Grail, just imagine what they'd do to acquire three all-powerful wishes.
Photo: Walt Disney
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Indiana Jones and Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box opened, and all the evils of the world spilled out. Perhaps if you found the box today, all the evils could be forced back inside, for better or worse. Indiana Jones could solve all the world's problems in a moment, or possibly make them much, much worse.
Photo: BBC
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Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone
Yes, Harry Potter got there first, but the Philosopher's Stone is an ancient concept that fits tidily into Indiana Jones's own universe. Our archaeologist could pursue the artifact to stop a selfish antagonist from using it to topple the world economy (and live forever, naturally).
Photo: Warner Bros.
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Indiana Jones and the Spear of Longinus
Indiana Jones has dealt with the relics of Jesus Christ before, but in a tale that takes place during the Cold War's nuclear proliferation, the weapon that killed the Son of God might have added dramatic weight. If the Ark of the Covenant could liquify Nazis, imagine what a weapon coated in the blood of God could do...?
Photo: Funimation
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Indiana Jones and the Staff of Moses
Indiana Jones has found "The Staff of Kings" before, but that was in a video game, and Disney probably doesn't think those are canon. Regardless, the fabled walking stick that could part the Red Sea and transform into snakes is certainly a valuable artifact that belongs in a museum. Indiana Jones would risk life and limb to keep it out of the wrong hands.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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Indiana Jones and the Sword in the Stone
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade our hero met a knight who found the Holy Grail, so revealing that the king who sent those knights on that quest was a real personal wouldn't be a stretch. But if Excalibur is real, where is it, and who is worthy to wield it and protect the United Kingdom? (It couldn't possibly be an American... could it?)
Photo: Walt Disney
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Indiana Jones and the Undersea Kingdom
Another archaeological myth that Indiana Jones discovered in a video game, and the subject of several drafts of never-produced Indiana Jones screenplays. Atlantis remains one of the most infamous lost treasures in the history of the world. Finding it would be damn near impossible, even for Indiana Jones, and doesn't that sound exciting?
Photo: DC Comics
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Indiana Jones and the Waters of Life
Harrison Ford will be 76 when the next Indiana Jones movie comes out, so seeking out the Fountain of Youth makes a lot of sense from his character's perspective, and might give fans a meaningful way to say goodbye to the character. Sure, Disney already told a Fountain of Youth story in the last Pirates of the Caribbean film, but nobody liked that movie anyway. Indiana Jones could make the myth his own.
Photo: Walt Disney
