I am going to readily agree that all the land stuff and battles could have easily been pulled off as Ben Hur and Cleopatra showed well.
But I think the use of men in suits for robots would have been much preferred to the PT's clankers. The moment that
CopperRevan started down this path the image was wandering in my head and then you mentioned it as well. The famous art deco robots like 3PO, the ones I imagine as Isaac Asimov bots would look near terminator level at that time in movie history.
I would be all in for that.
(Fritz Lang's Metropolis 1927) where, apparently, Amidala would have been a clone and a droid...
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Now you've taken the imagery and provoked me down a path that digs deeper into the message and the story...lol. It is much deeper than meets the eye and it's a silent film, which by nature, forces your mind to think and all i can say is...Very prophetic film of our world today on so many different levels and clearly a callback to Revelation chapter 17. (the woman that rides the beast). One thing films lack today is 'Intrigue'. As these themes circle around in my mind i can't help thinking that films of yesteryear reflected the thoughts of the generation yet, in my view, looked ways ahead, whereas films of today, which also reflect its own generation, sort of stagnate in a swamp of despondency. To properly wrap my thought up on this subject, it makes total sense as (talking about AI) that the reason for such despondency is that, as a society, the technology has replaced the heart and soul of a person and a people and no wonder the lack of vision. Where lack of vision is, the people perish.
As "Metropolis" points to,or is predictive of, society becomes so enthralled by a technological image, preceded by apathy and a lack of moral foundation beyond 'self', that calls to them like a siren to worship this image and to exalt it, thereby enslaving themselves to it. In other words, when you've arrived at the pinnacle of the imagery (AI) it is still not enough to please people, it must be ascribed to something tangible.( which is proven through many addictions). So, because mankind can't really create because he was created, for he can only re-create what already exists, the pinnacle of his re-creation would be a technologically built person with AI imagery. For one man/machine to have all known information at its disposal for immediate use and to have its' creators (Mankind) bow down to it, it would be the ultimate pinnacle of mankinds fall, as what started in his heart has now been revealed "in the flesh" and he now worships the creation of his own hands. A societal Mystery Tower of Babel, if you will, to exalt 'self' above all and worship mankinds greatest achievement as man declares himself to be the ultimate authority in the universe. Any who dare oppsose this is deemed an immediate threat and labeled as "evil" and the natural result of this is death as the persecutors bask in their drunkenness, believing themselves to be the ultimate good.
You must have something physical in order to understand something spiritually and just as there was a physical tower of Babel back in Genesis chapter 11, there is a spiritual or "Mystery" tower of babel predicted in Revelation chapter 17. ( These scriptual references were just swirling in my head and are being used to support my thoughts on this)
The thing that blows my mind on this is that Fritz Lang was supposedly an atheist but believed religion to be useful for teaching ethics. If Metropolis was any inspiration at all to George Lucas, it becomes very indicative of Anakin Skywalkers fall and the overrall deception by Palpatine. Keeping in mind, Metropolis being in the 1920's, appeared before the rise of Adolph Hitler and WW2, all of which themes are incorporated into the Star Wars universe. Lucas, of course, has openly stated his religious themes and inspirations that were woven in as well. The expression of thought or theme by both Lang and Lucas still hinges on good and evil, not ambiguity, and provokes the audience to contemplation not conformity. One of the biggest mistakes movies make(not just today) is instead of provoking thought, they try to tell you how to think or are just plain thoughtless anyways.