George Lucas on the Meaning of Star Wars.
Recently we caught up with some more news regarding George Lucas’ coming Museum of Narrative Art to be constructed in Chicago. He sat down with Charlie Rose for an interview last week and revealed what Star Wars truly means.
As loyal readers know I like to analyze the mythology of Star Wars from time to time. There’s one very good reason why – Star Wars has become synonymous with mythology. As a kid growing up on the saga to me it was always a “really cool” space adventure, “science fiction” as it used to be called. Then as I grew older and, supposedly, wiser I realized that Star Wars was, in fact, NOT science fiction at all but a mythology that happened to be set in space, a sub-genre of science fiction called “space opera.”
Recently George Lucas sat down with Charlie Rose. The interview, which was held before a live audience on stage at “Chicago Ideas Week” on October 17th, aired few days ago on PBS. In their discussion George waxed philosophical about the dysfunctional Hollywood system, as well as the new museum he’s building in Chicago – wife Mellody’s idea by the way – but especially about the achievement he’s most known for. This is how George defined Star Wars:
“When I was trying to pitch Star Wars, I had an idea to do this kind of film. It was just an idea I had about psychological motifs that are in mythology and if they’re still accurate today […]
Heroes, what makes a hero, what’s friendship, what’s the idea of sacrificing yourself for something larger. They’re all really basic things. So you say, well, you don’t have to make a movie about that, it’s very obvious, but it’s actually not. It’s not that obvious to a lot of people unless you have somebody tell you, every generation, that this is what our country believes in, or this is what we believe in.”
As I’ve mentioned in past articles George was a student and then eventually a friend of Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell was the foremost expert of comparative mythology of the world. He participated in a series of interviews from Skywalker Ranch in the late 80’s in which he talked with Bill Moyers about mythology and Star Wars which became the mini-series entitled “The Power of Myth”:
Enter JJ Abrams. While directing 2009’s Star Trek re-boot, JJ made it known that he was always more of a Star Wars than Star Trek fan. And while JJ knows and understands the mythology of the characters and story motifs, that won’t keep him from exploring new ground: (via goexplore)
“Abrams says he will ‘honor” but not “revere’ the original films, which has sent internet fans into a frenzy of speculation. There is much excitement, but fans fear change – Star Wars fans more than most.”
And while Abrams brings a great film and television production resume to the Episode VII table it’s perhaps his personal philosophy and attitude that will come to encapsulate the Sequel Trilogy:
“I would like to think that I am an optimist about the future,” he says. “I think it’s sometimes difficult to remain bullish about the future, when you see the state that certain people live in, certain conflicts, the disparity between the haves and have-nots, the brutality of wars and terrorism, it is a daunting thing to be bright and shiny about where we are going. By nature I am a romantic about where things are going. There’s a need for hope – and that’s something I hope comes through in the stories we are telling.”
Which brings us back to the beginning of the George Lucas Odyssey better known as Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. Mythology and psychology are nothing if they do not provide a deeper understanding and a strong hope for the future of one’s beliefs.
A BIG “Thank you” goes to Tim Morrison from Bloomberg for the heads-up on this interview. Check out the Charlie Rose clips and don’t forget to join us in The Cantina to discuss George Lucas & JJ Abrams and all topics related to Star Wars!
Oh Georgie Georgie Georgie…
Why does everyone hate George? I mean, sure he totally messed up the prequels, but isn’t that it? Or did he do something else? Someone please tell me. I need another reason to hate George so I can be like a lot of other SW fans (no offense), and no, I’m not joking. I’m always this way. 🙁 It’s another reason why I have low self-esteem for myself, if that makes sense.
Lucas didn’t mess up anything.
Some folk are neither too bright nor too deep or educated, thus they fail to understand what Lucas meant to achieve with SW; kind of like trying to explain simple math to a cat.
Simple truth is that those who hate on Lucas do it b/c deep down inside they know they could never come up with a brilliant, beloved story of their own if their lives depended on it (b/c make no mistake: SW *is* brilliant even in its most lackluster moments).
Sadly, there are far many more unimaginative minds in this world than creative geniuses. It’s not the man’s fault that so many failed to grasp or agree with his complete vision. That’s the haters problem.
The Internet is filled with mindless sheep like you who go out of your way to praise Lucas’ fecal matter at the expense of its critics. I hope you can handle the new films leaving that crap in the toilet where it belongs.
Actually it is the Lucas haters that are the sheep in this instance. Very rarely do I see someone praising him, everyone else just jumps on the Lucas Hating bandwagon with little appreciation of what Lucas was trying to do. The truth of the matter is, Star Wars didn’t change, just we all grew up. It’s just amazing how little people understand this. The good thing is that children today love all Star Wars films and don’t differentiate between prequels and originals. They don’t know what that’s about. I have four nephews, they all love Star Wars. When I talk about originals and prequels, they think I’m talking nonsense. They love it all, and that’s what will last. Our generation will be gone, the complainers forgotten, all that will be left is the Star Wars Saga.
If we really all “grew up” as you have mistakenly concluded, then we would no longer have any interest in Star Wars whatsoever. No, it’s because the Prequels were poorly made films.
Band together and stuff your fingers into your ears all you want, it won’t make your beloved crappy films any better. Look how sad you’ve become that you rely on the wisdom of children to justify the Prequels’ worth! All praise be to Disney and company for having the good sense to focus the bulk of the Sequels’ inspiration where it belongs – the Original Trilogy.
I’m grateful to George Lucas, both for giving us Star Wars and for selling it to Disney, but I also recognize that so much of Star Wars’ early success came from the talented and intelligent people around George Lucas, a number of whom challenged his poor ideas. Would you have wanted to see Luke as an old man, Han a lizard or C-3P0 with the personality of a used car salesman?
The Prequels should’ve had that kind of help.
The Sequels will.
Why should growing up mean we no longer appreciate Star Wars? Yes there are films that everyone liked as children that they move on from, but Star Wars is not one of them. If anything, I like the films more as an adult than I did as a child. You don’t appreciate the deeper meaning of the story when you’re little. So you misunderstood me completely there. What I meant was that people expected to feel exactly the way they did when they saw the films for the first time as children. They thought it would be the same excitement, wonder and so on. Of course it was never going to be. You can’t get that back because you have moved on. However, if you see the younger audience watching the prequels, they were reacting the same way we did as children.
Who’s putting fingers in their ears? Sadly, anyone who enjoyed the prequels has been forced to listen to the constant dribble of whiny, ungrateful so called Star Wars fans since 1999. And relying on the wisdom of children? Well, why not? I hate to break this to you, but these are children’s films. They aren’t for you. They aren’t for me either. They are children’s films made with children in mind, if you don’t appreciate that, well that’s your problem.
One thing everyone seems to have misunderstood about Lucas selling the rights to Disney, is that the conditions of the deal were based on the fact they had to use his story treatments for the sequel trilogy. So everyone who is saying ‘thank god Lucas is gone’…. Oh dear, oh dear… Sorry, but he’s not gone. These stories are his and his selling off to Disney was very carefully planned. They’ve been very clever to keep Lucas out of the picture because of how the so called fans react when he’s spotted. Lucas isn’t stupid, he would never hand over his baby without taking extreme precautions. Look into the deal with Disney and you’ll see what’s actually going on.
I seriously can’t wait until the sequels are out, mainly because they will be crediting JJ and such, not realizing how much Lucas was involved in the making of it. It’s a shame that people hate the creator of the films and universe they love so much. He’s flawed, but who isn’t? It’s more difficult to be a prick than to stand back and try to appreciate what Lucas is. An artist. And Star Wars is art. No one will ever agree. Some will hate it, some will love it. You can’t be an artist without facing these facts
If Star Wars hasn’t changed with the arrival of the Prequels, and the people who grew up on the originals have grown up and, thus, despise the Prequels, wouldn’t they generally grow to despise the originals as well?
But Star Wars has changed. The Prequels were poorly written films with boring characters and dialogue. The originals weren’t perfect, but their stories and characters connected well with audiences because the scripts were better written and the characters were well portrayed, with lots of courage, banter, humor and heart. If Lucas had made the Prequels in the vein of the originals and older fans somehow hated them anyway, I could see your point. But the Prequels were made very differently from the originals. They weren’t as fun overall.
Instead of recognizing that simple fact, you’d rather blame the fans who criticized the Prequels’ failings. I’m so glad Disney recognizes that the new films need to go back to what made the originals great in the first place – story and characters.
“It’s all about the screenplay. It has to be screenplay, screenplay, screenplay.” – Alan Horn
Of course I appreciate Star Wars as an adult. What I was getting at is your argument doesn’t make any sense because if the OT and PT are essentially the same, then I would love them both since I already love the OT. I didn’t even get into the OT until I was about 16-17.
Star Wars aren’t for children; they’re for general audiences. These aren’t kiddy films.
Where are the details of the conditions you speak of? I have no found them online.
I’m not bothered by Lucas being involved with Star Wars. I was bothered when he ran the show, because a lot of his ideas aren’t that good. Like with the OT, Lucas would need people around him today to challenge his bad ideas.
Great Galaxies! I did not expect to get this many replies. O_O And I don’t know how to respond. Although I will say I wasn’t trying to be rude. It’s just I’ve seen a lot of people bashing GL for a lot of stuff and I assumed that most SW fans (PT, OT, and EU fans) hated George but I stand corrected. I never really hated George though (even though I said I needed “another” reason to hate him). Yeah. I know. I’m totally contradicting myself. *sigh* Oh well.
“The truth of the matter is, Star Wars didn’t change, just we all grew up.”
LOLZ!!! Did you ever see something called “the special editions”?
If Star Wars didn’t change then why is there a turd Jabba in Episode IV & annoying Anakin ghost @ the end of ROTJ + the cut/pasted Darth Vader “NOOOOOOOOO!” from ROTS inserted into the Emperor’s death scene? I’m just going to say “NOOOOOOOOOO!” every time a Lucas worshiper says something about as obnoxious as what I just had to read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27RVJJfny4I
LOLZ @ 2:08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xezn-0xottw
Anonymous October 25, 2014 at 23:15 PM:
As Han would say, I must have hit pretty close to the mark for you to get all riled up like that.
If I was mindless sheep, I wouldn’t have expressed a personal and very sincere opinion in my previous post, w/o the slightest regard or concern for backlash, which I knew was coming, btw.
If I was mindless sheep, I’d be part of the status quo. You know, as in those idiots who hate on Lucas, only because not being part of the hive mentality takes them out of their comfort zone, and because thinking for themselves makes their head hurt.
If I was mindless sheep, I’d be just another cowardly pea-for-brains afraid to express a different opinion for fear of becoming a target for angry, albeit unimaginative, baseless criticism and offenses coming from those who feel compelled to criticize or sensor others, only because they don’t understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it differs with yours.
If I was mindless sheep, I’d be compelled to jump on the folk who express that very different opinion on Lucas or the PT, like you just did.
In other words, if I was mindless sheep filling the internet, I’d be you.
My comment’s below…
Never mind. I’ll repost it here.
@ Darth Vedder:
No. You’re a mindless sheep because you say such asinine garbage like “Lucas didn’t mess up anything” and then proceed to criticize fans for recognizing that the Prequels were poorly made films.
I can at least respect Prequel fans who admit to some of the Prequels’ shortcomings, like scripts that don’t make sense in places because they feel rushed and poorly thought out, characters who are boring and difficult to relate to by many people and an excessive reliance of CGI when making these films.
Episode III had no scenes shot on location with actors present, and there wasn’t a single clone trooper helmet or costume made for the entire trilogy, not even the close-up shots. These sort of poor decisions contributed to the movies’ infamous reputation for looking fake like giant video games.
Lucas didnt mess anything up??LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL….THANK YOu for that laugh..i really needed this today. i LOVE george Lucas…i do not like the George bashing…coming from people who owe everything to him…if not for george lucas i would not be who i am today, i would not have the imagination i have today…you can put blinders over you’re eyes ears and minds all you like..but it is a FACT, that he almsot destroyed Star Wars with the Prequels…people cant get passed the awesome view and special effects to see how bad he truly did fuck everything up..”almost”…there is no need for me to point out everything he messed up..and im not even talking about the gungans..i can care less about jar jar…its not about that for me…its actually more about him messing up the story and making half the shit not even make sense…things like Anakin creating 3PO , having r2-d2 in combat side by side with Obi Wan for most of the trilogy 3PO witnessed the events on Mustfar, both droids were on the ship when the twins were born and were present when the two Jedi went into exile, and yet Obi WAn has no memory of these two droids in episode 4…i litterlaly can go on and on..and if you are a PT fan and dont understand these things by now..then you never will..its like the lie you keep telling over and over until you finally beleive it is actually true…no point.. george Lucas is a gift and a fucking genius..but..he almsot ruined Indiana Jones too….He is just Simply too old to tell these stories now…he gave us all wonderful gifts..and it was Time he retired..and i was Glad to see him go, but at the same time saddened..there is no need to hate on the guy though…it was just his time to go, and it was time for someone else to step in and save Star Wars and clean up the mess he left us with with episodes 1,2 and 3. You PT fans crack me up…the fact that you enjoy them and think the scene where Anakin becomes vader was awesome..shows how much you fail at life, and how meaningless your opinions are and noone will ever take you seriously.. But seriously stop hating on George…we were lucky to have him. You should be thanking him…not only for giving us the wonderful gift of Star Wars, but also we need to thank him for knowing when to quit.
I dunno. George is definitely one of the greatest people in the world for me. He gave us Star Wars, man! That’s quite enough! And also prequels are kinda okay except some really bad moments/ideas/plot mistakes…So… George is fine. He didn’t ruin Star Wars, no. He just didn’t give us 3 new GREAT movies. He gave us 3 good movies… Cause they definitely have an unique feeling and some ideas are truly great!
And he gave us Indiana Jones and Willow…
He destroyed LucasArts.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/02/12/fall-of-the-empire-how-inner-turmoil-brought-down-a-legendary-studio.aspx
Anyone who hates George is a fool. He is one of the most creative people to ever live, is an incredibly talented filmmaker, is a razor sharp businessman and kind down to his soul. He is a tortured genius, who refuses to kowtow to a bunch of simpletons who pretend they know his own creation better than him. Instead people should just say, “thank you for the rich entertainment not just in your famous films but in what your companies have made possible.” People who bitch about Lucas remind me of people who bitch about Obama. Stand back sometime and actually see what they have done, away from all the noise of media and jealous folks and you will realize they have done things few would ever have believe possible.
Kind? Ha! Tell that to his first wife & adopted child.
Everyone who’s worked for him & talked about it said He doesn’t like people. That’s partly why he doesn’t like to do more than one take for a lot of scenes, because He doesn’t like being around people. You can see that in a lot of the behind the scenes footage for the PT… and those are the highlights!
Howard the Duck was the Citizen Kane of its generation.
“Honor but not revere.”
… And then he hires all the old fossils from the OT, ditches high definition for old fashion 35 mm, and resorts to miniatures.
as he should
>ditches high definition for old fashion 35 mm.
You have NO idea what you are talking about. You realise that?
Seriously. That may have been the dumbest comment to date.
Oh really? Star Wars VII is falling back on emphasizing original characters (when they should be emphasizing a new generation.) Star Wars VII is using old cameras, no digital, crisp film, a lot less CG and this is really going to limit the storytelling. I don’t know what planet you’re from, but this sounds a lot like “revering” more than just “honoring.” This is the year 2014, not 1977. Films, particularly Star Wars, which re-defined special effects, should strive to be state of the art, not old for the sake of pleasing you guys.
YES. THANK THE FORCE! THE RIGHT PEOPLE ARE ON THE JOB! ^_^
Don’t you realize film actually has more definition than digital currently? You can process a 35mm film negative to have near 8k resolution… not so with the PT which was shot @ 1080p (haha).
+ you have no idea how much CGI will be added to VII… it’s still over a year from release & the filming is just about done. You really think they will just be editing this whole time? There will be CGI, they just don’t want to CGI things that can be filmed in real life… that’s how it should be.
Lucas had always envisioned continuing the story of Luke… that’s what he told the fans & that’s what we expected. Sorry we are finally getting our wish after waiting nearly 3 decades… deal with it.
Why would they focus on new characters completely? its the fucking SEQUEL to Return of the Jedi dumbass……you are truly dumb…if you dont understand..then you fail at life and you have NO reason to even be here…go finish your homework kid
I don’t hate George, I felt sorry for him during the prequel era even though I was very vocal about those three disasters. I feel that George is untrustworthy with regards to STAR WARS, he’s said so many things going back and forth. My feeling is he got lucky with the original film and later took all the praise and analysis as if the film was always meant to be the phenomenon it became.
Don’t know if that makes sense but there it is.
I feel he purposefully disregarded the original trilogy when he made the prequels and through them showed that he wasn’t really able to capture all that magic he has heard he has always had.
GL didn’t dis-regard the OT for the PT, the PT gives the OT some pretty robust type Jedi/Sith thematic story mechanics that were not there before & which gives a context to all that core OT stuff. The prequel trilogy by design was intended to be more superficially confusing, but at the same time it tells a Jedi/Sith/& in between story mechanic that runs through to the OT. I’m not going to explicitly state what they are but they are not complicated. PT’s also established an pretty awesome vista of the galactic wide civilisation to boot.
The films themselves were just abit hit & miss with dramatic momentum & passing plot threads in a way the OT wasn’t.
Choppier Waters but greater depth is the PT contribution to Star Wars.
George was just as brilliant in the prequells. The difference was George was able to show the galaxy he wanted to in the OT but didn’t have the tech for. George likes to explain parallels of our society in his films.
In the OT it reflected the politics of the day, the fight against the “Man” killing us off for power. The PT was about how our Republic is crumbling due to lobbyists and how wars are now created to control the people and their emotions. He nailed it both times. If he had less technology he may have had to film the PT in the quick cut exciting way he had to do the OT, and I think THAT is what people missed and made them dislike the PT.
Star Trek 2009 was a good Star Wars film.
And yay for optimism. I’m so fucking sick of ever new movie trying to be darker and grittier. It’s just no fun if everything is like that.
people convice themselves that the films he makes are going to be the absolute perfect films made just for them , then get upset when they dont live up to the unrealistic expectations …. he can do what he wants , make what he wants , they are his films , we dont have to go and see them , but we convince ourselves we have no choice. and now we shouted at him so much that he sold the lot so he doesnt have to put up with us any more …. we got what we wanted and we still aint happy.
@ andychrist:
Yes. That’s why the PT failed so many people. It was US and our “ridiculous expectations”… of being entertained. -_-
yes it was, didnt matter what film he made it wouldnt be good enough for the fans who had already made their own version in their heads ….. went in expecting the best thing ever …….. nothing can ever live up to that.
those that were new to it liked them
Don’t defend the prequels 🙂
If the films’ story was simply different than what fans had expected but were otherwise well made, people would’ve been initially disappointed, but most would’ve warmed up to them over time.
That’s not what we got.
What we got were poorly written and directed films with dumbed down, sexless and un-engaging characters, boring dialogue, a story that felt rushed and not thought out, battle sequences that I either care didn’t about or looked like a confusing mess and gratuitous amounts of CGI-like fakeness.
Sadly we live in a me first, instant gratification, and low intellect society. Throw in that the PT was a downer story instead of the hooray story of the OT and people here just couldn’t handle it.
Wowwwahh…
The denial is STRONG with this one! o_0
I hope you guys are able to “keep the faith” when the Sequel Trilogy rips your beloved movies a new asshole – each.
Star Wars…a nightmare to make and a lot of good luck at the same time. A shed load of cash in the bank. Fortune and glory, Kid. Fortune and glory!
@ Anon 21:49 PM
I’m so looking forward to hearing you bitch about all the things I love! xD
GL was in the right place at the right time. And then he stopped making movies in order to build his corporate empire.
But in a way he did the right thing. Even Coppola had to make wine to make a living. Spielberg did ok (long ago), but now is out of touch with reality.
Scorsese has found a way to make movies (didn’t bother to watch his latest sleazefest). Very tough business, even for the most gifted artist.
I can’t think of many businesses which aren’t tough to be in.
double
Why in the world would someone who disparages Lucas be on this page? Star Wars is Lucas–we didn’t create it, he did. Like most long time fans, I prefer the OT to the PT, but seriously–I wouldn’t have missed them for anything. Nor will I miss the ST.
He should not be given the right to comment on what the meaning of Star Wars is; the prequels stink.
It´s remarkble that people still are so upset becourse of the PT. I remember when i saw ep1 at the Cinema with my brother, he was 12 and i in my mid 20s, there where cheers and high laughs and it feelt like the audience where entertained an caught. I must admit that my face “got long” becourse of midiclorians thing. But i liked the Movie in general, not loved it.It´s seems like “people” are taking these films a bit to seious. As an responsble older brother i introduced him to SW some years Before ep1. But still he have a special bond to ep1 when we talk sw today. For me the starwars got a bit more understandble becourse of these films. And one more thing, one of my worst starwars moment was when they used Walking Machines, the at-at in ESB. It seemed strange at the moment. They had floating devices but used clumsy legs. I didnt get it then and still do not really cant understand it still. Where am i going with this? Its a saga, is has it ups and downs just like Life in general. So i hope you all so called haters get over it so you some day can see the hole saga without cursing. Love Peace and may the force be with us all!
How come JJ is such rationally thinking towards reality, harshness of war and the general unknown state of the near future. Just as it was back in the days when people needed an uplifting adventure like star wars or star trek to make one dream, escape reality.
How come he takes upbeat good hearted star trek and turns it into something depressing, “pseudo realistic” modernism. Title it something like Into Darkess?
Yeah destruction, pain threshhold, remind one of the dark parts. Instead of going onto an adventure, far away, where there is still dream and heart left?
It’s so funny how all the “people” on here take Star Wars as seriously as grown ups take politics. It truly is amusing.
Especially when two dolts who are too lazy or stupid to create a pseudonym (and use the name anonymous) start battling it out.
It’s more fun than watching old episodes of Jerry Springer…
And sadder too…
Well.. You sound like a douche.
I don’t hate Lucas, the prequels were worse than the originals, but that happens. It’s time to move on.
I think that in the original tril. Lucas was under way more pressure (filming process-wise) than he was in ’99. I think that Lucas actually worked better under pressure, (which was not a bad thing).
With pt he could basically do whatever he wanted, which is the perfect setup for jumping ahead of yourself (which is what happened)
I visit this site every day, I love star wars, that said; you guys REALLY take this too seriously.
I can just imagine two 80 year-old men in a retirement home bitching about Episode IX.
@ Darth Vedder:
No. You’re a mindless sheep because you say such asinine garbage like “Lucas didn’t mess up anything” and then proceed to criticize fans for recognizing that the Prequels were poorly made films.
I can at least respect Prequel fans who admit to some of the Prequels’ shortcomings, like scripts that don’t make sense in places because they feel rushed and poorly thought out, characters who are boring and difficult to relate to by many people and an excessive reliance of CGI when making these films.
Episode III had no scenes shot on location with actors present, and there wasn’t a single clone trooper helmet or costume made for the entire trilogy, not even the close-up shots. These sort of poor decisions contributed to the movies’ infamous reputation for looking fake like giant video games.
The original Star Wars film might have been made to have this meaning. Everything after that meant $$$$$$$
You are posting comments too fast.
What the hell is this? You have killed half my comments with this thing.
Way to go! Mods can you please get rid of this feature? Viral, what is up with this?
Yes, PLEASE. That message is a needless pain in the ass. I’m just glad I can go back to the previous screen with my comment in tact.
BTW, I got that message again while trying to post THIS comment. TWICE! -_-
“You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.”
I like taco’s
You can opt to not comment. It doesn’t really matter anyway. And for people saying they,”Called it a month ago” no one cares and will not remember the posts on this site in a month from now. So in two years all of this is pointless, people come for what is new, thus why it is a news site. Viral may as well end the comments and leave the Cantina open.
i still like taco’s
Fuck the PT
I like StarWars as well as StarTrek. But if a Direktor like JJ states before taking up the Trek project, that he think ST sould be more like SW, than WHY did anyone give him the ST project??? He completely ruined a wonderfully complex StarTrek Universe, where elderly bald man in could have discussions about moral dilema in a turolift and be completely engaging at the it. And replaced it with Teenactors, beared Romulans. Honestly if I want to see a SF movie – I dont want to see teens driving through a desert in a convertible chased by the police. The birth scene in ST9 was one of the most emotionally retarted scence in the history of cinema.
How increadably arrogant does one have to be to reboot the whole universe, because ones IQ can not cope with the complexity of it? And when finally some Trekkies complained they were aggressively dismissed as idiots.
I am really happy that JJ the all-mighty happens to “like” Starwars, otherwise he would have simply rebooted it.
Any artist will tell you that there comes a time when you have to decide a piece of work is finished, put down your tools and leave well alone, let it be what it is.
Lucas made the fatal mistake of tinkering with something that was already finished. I can’t think of one person who has ever said, ‘well, this bit or that bit could’ve been a bit better’ with these films, no-one.
Of course if you look at something for long enough, you see its flaws, ironically the most obvious mistakes, he never even put right.
What Lucas did was bottle lightning, his initial surge of creativity and brilliance channeled into the original (and one or two other films!) Trilogy.
A genius and innovator, but even genius has it’s day and is a bright, transient, fleeting thing.
I really think that making star wars was such an instinctive thing for Lucas, he poured everything his mind and soul had accumulated up until that point into them.
The only meaning he has derived from it is in retrospect, as anyone would who looks back at their accomplishments.
It was a shame he tried to capture lightning again, he was a wiser, older more cynical man and I think in the prequels it shows, despite the sense of childish joy he tried to inject.
I would never be churlish enough to resent what that man has given me and the world, but I cant help but feel a little betrayed too.
Star wars has for so long needed a fresh pair of eyes, new minds and new hearts to guide it.
I think JJ just might be the man.
I have a good feeling about this….
I respect Lucas for the concept he gave us, but to be realistic it wasn’t only Lucas making those movies in the beginning. The visual concepts were largely Macquarie, and the dialogue was corrected by two other professional writers that obviously said,”George, no one would actually say that” not to mention a special effects master and team that went on afterwards to define how effects are done in movies. Now what does that leave us. Oh actors with personalities of
I respect Lucas for the concept he gave us, but to be realistic it wasn’t only Lucas making those movies in the beginning. The visual concepts were largely Macquarie, and the dialogue was corrected by two other professional writers that obviously said,”George, no one would actually say that” not to mention a special effects master and team that went on afterwards to define how effects are done in movies. Now what does that leave us. Oh actors with personalities of their own that questioned his dialogue frequently. Costumers that had a very original sense of style that remained accessible. And about a thousand other people, yes even a studio executive willing to take a risk, that made the first movie what it was. A phenomenon. After that Lucas hired other people to actually make the films. Why did he assume he could return to directing when his subsequent track record spoke volumes about his directing abilities. Because no one had the balls to say George, no one would really say that” anymore
their own that questioned his dialogue frequently. Costumers that had a very original sense of style that remained accessible. And about a thousand other people, yes even a studio executive willing to take a risk, that made the first movie what it was. A phenomenon. After that Lucas hired other people to actually make the films. Why did he assume he could return to directing when his subsequent track record spoke volumes about his directing abilities. Because no one had the balls to say George, no one would really say that” anymore
Sorry the thing cut me off the first time the second post is tho he I had in mind