It's a clever video, combining Star Wars' striking visuals with a canny recreation of Lynch's dreamy editing, as well as his haunting, creepy, thunder-in-the-distance soundscapes. But in the humble opinion of this David Lynch maniac, it's also dead wrong.
As Lynch later revealed, he never really came close to directing Jedi. Yes, he took a meeting, but that was it. More important, though, is to consider the relationship between Star Wars overlord George Lucas and the two directors he hired to helm The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Over the course of those two movies, we see that Lucas quickly squelched most creative input in favor of his more family-friendly vision.
And that's a shame, because Star Wars really has legs when it's not in Lucas' hands. Irvin Kershner packed Empire with vast practical sets and moody visuals. In addition, he displayed a light touch with character, pulling one of Harrison Ford's best performances out of him. He also knew how to stage an intense scene. Have you watched Han get frozen in carbonite recently? It plays like an execution, as well is should.
Lucas and Kershner famously clashed on set about Kershner's set-up times. Lucas is a director in the Clint Eastwood mold. He shoots fast and with as few set-ups and takes as possible. There's a virtue to that kind of organic filmmaking sometimes, but in Lucas' case, it really sapped the life from the prequel trilogy. Lucas' no-nonsense approach also sapped life from Return of the Jedi, which features a zombielike Han Solo, weird dialogue rhythms, and an overall lack of flavor. I can't imagine what Jedi director Richard Marquand (Jagged Edge) might've done without Lucas' meddling, but I suspect we might've had a darker, more satisfying movie. (And there's also every chance I'm wrong, and that Marquand's vision made it onscreen. I welcome correction in the comments.)
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see a Lynch-directed Star Wars as much as the next person. But it wouldn't have looked like a Lynch movie. My guess is that it would've resembled something like Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus -- an impressive production by a master director, but one that lacks his signature style and vision.
