Poll: Are We Too Hard On Lucas?

[Tom Artingstall]

So, with the announcement of his retirement from major productions, seemingly because of the widespread nerdrage his recent efforts have earned him, I do wonder. DOES he deserve it?

I mean, no denying the prequel trilogy was worse than the originals. But apart from a few notable exceptions, how many good prequels can you think of? Or sequels for that matter. He at least managed two of those against all expectations.

Yes, he likes to edit his movies, but that IS his rite. Plenty of us like to draw, or write, or compose music. How would you feel if something you really didn't think was complete, you couldn't change to your satisfaction without massive hatred from your fanbase?

The other side of the coin, yes he MADE those movies, but we're the ones who adopted them into the public psyche. Without Us (captialised to refer to Them, They, Us, We, The People, etc), there would be no Star Wars as we know it today. We turned an obscure, ridiculous Sci-Fi concept into a Pop Culture Juggernaut. It's his dream, but it's our childhood. And he keeps monkeying around with our memories.

Okay, both sides of the coin there. Personally, I think we're giving him a bit too rough a time. I mean, fine, the prequels weren't all that good and the constant edits are getting annoying. But the black hatred I see for the man sometimes online ought to be reserved for child molesters and people who talk at the theatre. It's just another knee-jerk reaction of the internet (" movie/franchise/reboot sucked!").

 

[Loop Stricken]

Jar-Jar Binks.
Midichlorians.
Hayden Christiansen shopped into the ending of RotJ.

JAR. JAR. BINKS.

No, I don't think people are too hard on him at all.

 

[RJ 17]

While George does have a perfectly valid wish to re-hash his own movies to fit his original vision for them now that movie technology has advanced to the point that he can do so, he is forgetting one crucial thing: movies are made for the public, not for your own personal interest. The reason he gets backlash is because the public already fell in love with what he was able to do with his vision in the original trilogy. So really, in short, apparently no one ever told George "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The original series captivated audiences and catipulted George from obscurity to instant fame...there was no need to add anything more to them as anything that was added would just seem like extra bells and whistles on an already outstanding product.

Is it fair for George to say he isn't happy with his own series because when it was originally created movie technology limited what he was able to do with it? Sure it is. It's his creation. But what's done is done, write an autobiography and mention all the things you wish you could have done, but like I said: movies are made specifically for the public, and if the public liked the movies as they originally were, then there's absolutely no reason to go around changing them. As an exagerated example, it'd be like Leonardo going to the original Mona Lisa and drawing in some braces for her teeth saying "I wanted to express how even flawless beauty is imperfect, but braces hadn't been invented yet." Sure it's fine for him to feel that way about his own work, but to the public who enjoys said work he's ruining his own masterpiece.

Here's what I posted to the news article, so I'll just paste it here.

Edit: In summation, while he's well within his right to /say/ "I originally wanted to do this and that with the movies", to go back and actually implement such changes into movies that people loved as they were originally created does justify all the criticism he receives.

But yeah, as for the first response to this topic, the Midichlorians was just blatantly retarded. We go from the force being this magical, mystical, mysterious energy that flows through all living things and binds us all together as being "Yeah, they're just a buncha microscopic symbiotes and if you have enough of'em you an do crazy shit." I mean I know why they were created, they needed some way to quantify just how powerful young Anikan was with the force. But surely they could have just said "I sense that he is incredibly strong with the force" and not "His Midichlorian count is off the scale! FOR GREAT JUSTICE TAKE OFF EVERY ZIG!"

 

[lRookiel]

I wouldn't say he ruined the classic trilogy (Havn't seen any of the films for like 10 years, it's a bit hazey). but yeah, I don't care for how much of a fucking sell out he is so that's also going to be a source of peoples dislike for him.

Star wars burgers, what a fucking joke....-.-

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Let me put it this way: I don't wish death on the man, but I'm in the camp that is just biding their time until he kicks the bucket, and hoping his heirs have a bit more sense about the movies than he does. We're never going to get a good transfer of the original original trilogy as long as the man lives. It's not because the original negatives have been destroyed; you don't really need those to get a good transfer when there's still three strip technicolor prints extant -- those things, along with vinyl records, are one of those formats that pretty much never decay as long as they're properly stored. What we're seeing here, sadly, is a man with a bruised ego who is too proud to admit he made a mistake. Until he either admits his mistake[footnote]meaning he gives the original cuts the respect they deserve; a transfer of a master made for laserdisc that looks worse than the fan transfers of the actual laserdiscs does /not/ count.[/footnote] or dies, I'm unlikely to ever buy a new transfer of the old films. And that makes me sad; lord knows the man has made a small fortune off of me alone over the years, and there would be plenty of money left if he would just give the fans (including me) what they want.

 

[RJ 17]

I still say that out of all the Star Wars parodies, Robot Chicken had the best gags. The Family Guy ones were pretty good, but I gotta say the Robot Chicken ones are better.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I still say that out of all the Star Wars parodies, Robot Chicken had the best gags. The Family Guy ones were pretty good, but I gotta say the Robot Chicken ones are better.

It helps that Mark Hamill actually voiced Luke in that. He and Anthony Daniels tend to jump at every chance they can get to reprise their old role from Star Wars. Since it's mostly voice work, it's a pretty low impact way of paying the bills. Also, as much of a Star Wars fan as I am, I like Mark Hamill more as a voice actor than as Luke Skywalker. I don't thing there's been a voice actor with a range like his since Mel Blanc.

 

[RJ 17]

I still say that out of all the Star Wars parodies, Robot Chicken had the best gags. The Family Guy ones were pretty good, but I gotta say the Robot Chicken ones are better.

It helps that Mark Hamill actually voiced Luke in that. He and Anthony Daniels tend to jump at every chance they can get to reprise their old role from Star Wars. Since it's mostly voice work, it's a pretty low impact way of paying the bills. Also, as much of a Star Wars fan as I am, I like Mark Hamill more as a voice actor than as Luke Skywalker. I don't thing there's been a voice actor with a range like his since Mel Blanc.

You know what's really sad, though? After Batman: Arkham City, Mark Hamill has said he will never voice The Joker again . Seriously, NO ONE plays The Joker like Mark Hamill, and he never even played him in live action! That insane, maniacal laugh and the constantly shifting range in his voice simply cannot be matched by anyone else.

 

[Erttheking]

I don't know, I think people are too hard on him, but then again I LIKE the prequels, so what do I know? OP, the word nerd rage is so fitting you have no idea.

 

[Vault101]

no..we are not hard enough

not by a friggen light year

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

no..we are not hard enough

not by a friggen light year

At least 12 parsecs.

 

[Tom Artingstall]

I don't know, I think people are too hard on him, but then again I LIKE the prequels, so what do I know? OP, the word nerd rage is so fitting you have no idea.

Brave man to admit it. I'm perhaps the only person in my collective of friends who can happily sit down and watch the entire prequel trilogy without complaint. Mind you, I managed the same with everything ranging from Hot Fuzz to Lord of the Rings to even Twilight. How you ask? Laptop. When I say watch, it's more like half-listen while mindlessly clicking through image links...

 

[Do4600]

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:

Spoiler

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.

 

[gigastar]

No. Ever since The Phantom Menace, Lucas has been to his own creations what Epic had been to People Can Fly.

If he came up with something original in the last two decades that was actually good then i might be less inclined to criticise.

But he still has the Star Wars Expanded Universe to play with.

 

[JesterRaiin]

DOES he deserve it?

Of course.
I understand - he wanted to recreate his success and made prequels. Ok, fine, some people actually liked them, so no hard feelings.

But messing with Holy Trilogy ?
Wasn't that Americans that coined the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ?

For God's sake, Han shot first and i'll bet six-pack of good beer that there was noone in the galaxy that wasn't fine with that.

Also : Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

F*ck Lucas, may he retire to his billion $ worth mansion and spend the rest of his life there never to be heard again.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

yes, he earns every bit of critisism that he gets, but on that note, I think that the good he DID accomplish is somewhat overlooked.
I mean, look at all the awesome bits of star wars, he made that too, give some credit where it's due.

 

[duchaked]

yes...

I respect and admire him & for what he's created and given us. I've definitely grown up since the final prequel film was released, and since then it was just a take it or leave it relationship, but I mostly just peeked back at the occasional thing or two. Doesn't bother me too much, but I don't thrive off of the attitude a lot of fans do soooo...I'm in the minority again. Guess I'm a bit used to that too.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I would look more favorably on him if he had restored the original before making his infamous changes, but it seems that he made the changes and destroyed the originals in the process, so yes, he deserves the criticism in full. The last option is the most accurate; he literally destroyed a classic piece of film history.