Personally I think we're not hard enough on him, a lot of people let him get away with things they wouldn't/don't tolerate from others because he's George Lucas/it's Star Wars. If he hadn't made the original trilogy and we'd just started with the prequels then, they'd have made vastly less money, been nowhere near as successful, and probably have lost all steam after the second one at best.
As a Star wars fan, I've been saying the same thing for years. Who'd have though a split second alteration with Greedo would cause such outrage from butthurt fanboys that somehow felt that made the entire 2 and a half hour movie worthless garbage? I'd have called it quits then if I were him for the same reason: any fanbase that particular about that minor an alteration is not worth the effort to try and please. Granted not all changes were smart (or good) but there seems to be a focus on ones that piss people off. I don't hear anyone complaining that splicing in the deleted scene with Biggs before the trench run, or flashing to other planets at the end of RotJ ruined anything. Now doing it a second time after seeing how well it went over, that was a pretty braindead move.
Now the prequels, those are a harder matter. They're flawed movies to be sure, but a lot of whining stems less from the same fanboy rage. OMG an annoying sidekick character (never seen those before). Oh no, a sixty second bit "demystifying" the force (admmittedly, I read the expanded universe books that aluded to other force schools not as limited as the jedi's so kind of ignored that). This isn't the Anikin I envisioned for 20 years (why prequals seldom go over well). I know Anikin turns bad and see the signs, why is no one in the movie without my knowledge of the future so perceptive? (why tragic prequels almost never go over well) Too much CGI (ooo Avatar looks so shiney). Far fewer complaints about pacing, acting, script, the second movie being an ad for Clone War books, comics, and cartoons.
Either way, they still aren't the worst thing to happen to star wars. I'll gladly take the prequels over reading the Crystal Star again.
Given he hasn't really MADE anything of any quality since making Greedo shoot first, I'd argue he SHOULD have quit then and the world (or at least the little corner of the cinematic one) would be a better place for it frankly.
He only directed the first movie, so all the edits he made to five and six are really more like an artist going into a gallery and changing the paintings of people he worked with 20 years ago. I really could care less if he wants to add a cgi shockwave around the deathstar, or a few robots for laughs in Mos Eisley. Most of the edits he made were superficial, but there are several he made that literally began to undermine the dramatic tension within the story, and that is unforgivable.
For instance:
in The Empire Strikes Back when Vader corners Luke on the gantry, Lucas added a scream as Luke begins to fall, this undermines the entire fucking movie and I'll tell you why. The entire movie up to this point we're watching Luke, we're watching him be afraid, we're watching him be impatient, we're watching him be the same whiny little ***** that he was back on Tatooine. Then for 10 minutes before this scene we see him calm and collected, facing his fear, concentrating against his mortal foe. Only to learn that it's his father. In this moment, it would be easy for Luke to accept his father's invitation, tempted onto an easier path, but no, here is when Luke finally shows his resolve. The entire movie has been dramatically building to this point, the climax of this movie is not Luke finding out that Vader is his father, it's Luke rejecting his father, and calmly, quietly and bravely committing suicide to prevent himself from becoming a tool of evil as his father did, he would rather die than join the dark side, and it's the silence as he's falling that brilliantly communicates his resolve to that cause.
When you add the scream, Luke turns back into the whiny farmboy he was at the beginning of the movie, unable to commit to anything on a serious mental level, not even his own selfless suicide.
I'm convinced after seeing the prequels that Lucas either never had any sense of drama, or that it's been totally eclipsed for his love of CGI and money. Because the edits and scripts that he's botched since the nineties show the dramatic depth of a tea saucer.
George Lucas doesn't have a lot of qualities as a filmmaker. He's not a good writer, and he's not a good director. However, the man is a master at crafting worlds. The striking locations, the memorable aliens, the unique technology. The universe of Star Wars is something that couldn't have been conceived by anyone else, other than George Lucas.
Do I think that he deserves the criticism that he's getting? Yes.
The Star Wars prequels were horrible movies, for a variety of reasons, and he's made a number of terrible edits to the original trilogy, some of which undermined key aspects of the movies.
The fans have every right to criticize these things, and Lucas should've listened to them right after he was done with The Phantom Menace. But why listen to the fans, when your next film is guaranteed to sell better than sliced bread anyway?
Lucas ignored the fans, and for that, and the uninspired changes he made to the original trilogy, he deserves every bit of criticism that he gets.
My only question is: What does he owe us? He got his money by making a movie we enjoyed we gave him money to enjoy it. If you don't like is new changes then don't buy his new movies. Find an old copy of the original. As far as I am concerned George Lucas does not owe me anything. He does not need to keep releasing his original movies when a new format comes out. At the same time though I don't need to watch or buy his new movies and can just watch the old ones.
In terms of my opinion though his new movies and changes sort of take away from the original movie.
He only directed the first movie, so all the edits he made to five and six are really more like an artist going into a gallery and changing the paintings of people he worked with 20 years ago. I really could care less if he wants to add a cgi shockwave around the deathstar, or a few robots for laughs in Mos Eisley. Most of the edits he made were superficial, but there are several he made that literally began to undermine the dramatic tension within the story, and that is unforgivable.
For instance:
in The Empire Strikes Back when Vader corners Luke on the gantry, Lucas added a scream as Luke begins to fall, this undermines the entire fucking movie and I'll tell you why. The entire movie up to this point we're watching Luke, we're watching him be afraid, we're watching him be impatient, we're watching him be the same whiny little ***** that he was back on Tatooine. Then for 10 minutes before this scene we see him calm and collected, facing his fear, concentrating against his mortal foe. Only to learn that it's his father. In this moment, it would be easy for Luke to accept his father's invitation, tempted onto an easier path, but no, here is when Luke finally shows his resolve. The entire movie has been dramatically building to this point, the climax of this movie is not Luke finding out that Vader is his father, it's Luke rejecting his father, and calmly, quietly and bravely committing suicide to prevent himself from becoming a tool of evil as his father did, he would rather die than join the dark side, and it's the silence as he's falling that brilliantly communicates his resolve to that cause.
When you add the scream, Luke turns back into the whiny farmboy he was at the beginning of the movie, unable to commit to anything on a serious mental level, not even his own selfless suicide.
I'm convinced after seeing the prequels that Lucas either never had any sense of drama, or that it's been totally eclipsed for his love of CGI and money. Because the edits and scripts that he's botched since the nineties show the dramatic depth of a tea saucer.
I agree with you completely, including your example. That's one of my pet peeves too. The Han Solo bar shooting change also really trashes his character. (originally he shot first, in the edit he shot second) Han was SUPPOSED to be the bad guy with the good heart. He needed a bit of darkness.
And another big one... the "Noooooooooooooooo" added to Vader in RotJ. That was well acted and directed originally. You can see what's going through Vader's head as he watched his son dying and as he fought with himself. His actions were that of a dedicated father... and a calm, rational, JEDI. Screaming no is the opposite you would expect to hear and it destroys the moment.
And it goes on...
As for the prequels, he crapped on his original continuity, bad move.
Nope, people are too easy on him, not too hard. And he's acting like a whiny selfish jerk who can't see that going back and adding a bigger smile to the Mona Lisa would not be a good thing.
As for the Noooooooooo scene, the only way I think Lucas could have fouled it up more is if he super imposed a clown nose over Vader's mask and googly eyes over the emperor.
If serious, please re-watch The Phantom Menace right now and then tell me what your favorite part was. I want some insight into the people who liked that movie.
If trolling, please try to find a more clever way to troll.
Up until Revenge of the Sith came out, I think most of the hate was excessive, sure Ewoks were dumb, Jar Jar was one of the most hateable characters ever and the Hayden Christensen-Natalie Portman romance was bad... AND THEN, everything that he or his companies have done since 2005 has been a resounding meh or absolutely terrible, so yeah, in the last few years, I think he's earned it. All the shenanigans with that Clone Wars film and the awful Force Unleashed games; basically he's largely sunk his own franchise since 2005. TOR may be somewhat redeeming from what I've heard, but I won't regard it as such because I haven't played it yet and indeed may never play it.
I'm gonna be honest, i liked the first Force Unleashed and really don't understand why so many people seem to hate on it.
Between say original Trilogy Quality and Prequel Quality, i'd say it sits roughly in the middle and it did a rather good job of telling an interqual between the two series. The lead was interesting as were the other cast members, and the gameplay fun. Plus, those fucking Rancors and AT-ST's were finally given what they deserve for all the shit they put me through in the Jedi Knight games. The ending was good and it tied everything together well. I'm glad to call this game part of the Star Wars canon.
Force Unleashed 2 was a cashgrabbing piece of shit that you are free to inflict any amount of fan rage on as you please, as is that CGI mess of a series and movie that they thought was a good idea for some weird reason. So i'll agree with you there: Those things hurt me and have almost destroyed my love for star-wars entirely. I'm not sure what to think about TOR, i'm considering it but seeing as Star wars has hurt me badly in recent years...yeah, I'm gonna be cautious.
Heh, for a minute I thought this was a mother 3 thread going in and I was totally perplexed.
George Lucas is a lot like Tim Burton, They really don't have a lot in the way of writing or directing which is what they are perplexingly and constantly doing. Both should just go into art direction.
If serious, please re-watch The Phantom Menace right now and then tell me what your favorite part was. I want some insight into the people who liked that movie.
If trolling, please try to find a more clever way to troll.
I have no real feelings on him because he doesn't effect me at all. Nerds love to throw their two cents into anything because they always think they could of done it better. If you ever listen to their ideas, there terrible most of the time.
part of what makes somone a nerd (or movie/sci fi nerd to be more specific) is understanding all the different elements that go into any movie/story...and being able to judge if somthing is good or if somthing is shit...its called having taste..taste varys ALOT from person to person obviously..you dont need to be a genious to know that choping and changing the original films was a FUCKING TERRIBLE Idea....and some people have suggested lucas was never that brilliant to begin with..the first time around was jut him in combination with the right people
and I dont agree the "YOUR JUST AN ANNOYING NERD" as a way to dissmiss critcism...sure it gets annoying but no matter how whiny or annoying or how many times you hear it that doesnt neccicaryly makes such arguments invalid.....but then again you get some who are NEVER satisfied...unfortunatly its opinion, it is both a good and terrible thing
anyway, simply put the prequels just weret that great,(personally) there was good and bad but you put all the peices together and in the end they just werent as good as were expected or should have been
but if somone likes them..then good, this entire debate has been going on too long, its painful
I have no real feelings on him because he doesn't effect me at all. Nerds love to throw their two cents into anything because they always think they could of done it better. If you ever listen to their ideas, there terrible most of the time.
part of what makes somone a nerd (or movie/sci fi nerd to be more specific) is understanding all the different elements that go into any movie/story...and being able to judge if somthing is good or if somthing is shit...its called having taste..taste varys ALOT from person to person obviously..you dont need to be a genious to know that choping and changing the original films was a FUCKING TERRIBLE Idea....and some people have suggested lucas was never that brilliant to begin with..the first time around was jut him in combination with the right people
and I dont agree the "YOUR JUST AN ANNOYING NERD" as a way to dissmiss critcism...sure it gets annoying but no matter how whiny or annoying or how many times you hear it that doesnt neccicaryly makes such arguments invalid.....but then again you get some who are NEVER satisfied...unfortunatly its opinion, it is both a good and terrible thing
anyway, simply put the prequels just weret that great,(personally) there was good and bad but you put all the peices together and in the end they just werent as good as were expected or should have been
but if somone likes them..then good, this entire debate has been going on too long, its painful
I was using this as bait. I stuck a troll out on my fishing line and got my first victim. It was just in good fun, I don't really care. This might not make sense right now, but I like other people to prove my point for me sometimes. Have a nice day.
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